Third wheel
I watched Bella pull around the corner the huge grin already fixed on my, face thanks to my excitement about the rabbit, widened as I took in the shocked expression fixed on her beautiful face. Maybe tonight wouldn't be that bad, after all any time spent with Bella was great for me.
"No way!" Bella almost flew out of her truck and in her haste to get over to me stumbled slightly, but she didn't seem to notice "You're done. I can't believe it! You finished the rabbit!"
"Just last night. This is the maiden voyage." "Incredible" her hand was held high in front of her ready for a high five, but instead of letting her hand drop I twisted my fingers through hers. "So do I get to drive tonight?"
"Definitely." But then she sighed. Hmm that sound was enough to momentarily put a downer on my radiant mood. "What's wrong?"
"I'm giving up – I cant top this one,. So you win. You're oldest."
I tried to remain nonchalant as I answered "Of course I am."
She was distracted then by a suburban coming around the corner. She was looking away when she pulled her hand out of mine so I could afford to be petulant and grimaced at this movement. "I remember this guy." I mumbled as he parked across the street. "The one who thought you were his girlfriend, is he still confused?" I can put him in a permanent state of confusion if you'd like. I added in my head.
Her answer then pulled me out of the fantasises in which I was imagining this mike - or anyone else who had ever looked at Bella in that way- in a coma. "Some people are hard to discourage" I thought about that for a moment before deciding she didn't mean it. "Then again, sometimes persistence pays off."
"Most of the time it's just annoying though." She doesn't really think that or she wouldn't of stayed with me for so long, would she?
"Hey Bella" mike said as when he reached us.
He turned up to look at me his face hostile, this did not bother me though I was too busy processing the way Bella was looking at me. She seemed to be weighing me up against mike. I liked that.
"Hey mike! Do you remember Jacob Black?" "Not really." He was a bad liar. He remembered me for just the same reason I remembered him. He held out his hand and I shook it with perhaps more force than necessary. "Old family friend." I introduced myself and then bit back a laugh when mike relaxed my grip and flexed his fingers.
I heard the shrill ring of the phone in the kitchen. "I'd better get that – it might be Charlie." Bella said as she ran inside.
"So. You're the guy Bella's been spending all her time with lately?" mike asked me in a rude tone of voice. "Yep that's me. So do you know Bells from school? She's never really talked about you." I tried to keep my tone polite and questioning but I'm sure he could hear the mocking in it at the end. He took a step back from me and looked away in an attempt to seem bored of me. Good. I was annoying him.
I was determined not to let this guy put a damper on any time with Bella so I smiled widely when she came back out the house moments later but she looked glum. "Ang is sick, she and Ben aren't coming."
"I guess the flu's making another round. Austin and Conner were out today too. Maybe we should do this another time." Mike suggested.
I grabbed the opportunity before Bella could reply. "I'm still up for it. But if you'd rather stay behind mike –"
"No I'm coming." Mike interrupted. "I was just thinking of Angela and Ben. Let's go."
"Hey do you mind if Jacob drives? I told him he could – he just finished his car. He built it from scratch, all by himself."
Nobody could miss the proud, bragging tone Bella used when she spoke about me. Well Bella seemed to like me more than this guy anyway. "Fine" mike snapped.
"All right, then" I said feeling oddly comfortable with the situation now. Bella and I chatted away as usual as I set off down the darkening roads. Bella acted as if she had forgotten all about that idiot sulking in the back seat and this pleased me.
Then mike changed strategy. I gritted me teeth as he leaned forward to rest his cheek next to Bella's. She moved away slightly from his close proximity but still. I didn't like it.
"Doesn't the radio work on this thing?" mike asked interrupting me when I started speaking to Bella in an attempt to forget him again. "Yes." I answered, shows how well he knew the beautiful, brave, quiet girl next to him. "But Bella doesn't like music."
She looked up at me her eyes widened slightly in surprise. Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Would she realise how I hung on every word and action of hers and learned as much about her as possible?
"Bella?" He was annoyed again. Good.
"He's right" Bella mumbled seeming deep in thought.
"How can you not like music?" Mike demanded. I didn't like the tone he used toward her. Maybe I'd have to teach him a lesson on how to treat girls properly.
"I don't know it just irritates me." I had wondered about why she didn't like certain things like listening to music and the answer she gave mike now didn't seem entirely truthful. "Humph" Mike leaned away, defeated.
When we got to the cinema I handed a ten dollar bill to Bella still ignoring mike scuffling along a few feet behind us. "What's this?" Bella objected. "I'm not old enough to get into this one remember." She laughed at this as if she had forgotten all about my age.
"so much for relative ages. Is Billy going to kill me if I sneak you in?"
I made a joke out of it not showing her how much our age difference bothered me. "No. I told him you were going to corrupt my youthful innocence." There were other ways I wished Bella would corrupt my innocence too …
Her snickering and the sound of mike quickening his footsteps behind us brought me out of my fantasies and back to the present.
This was going to be a log two hours I thought as I watched the opening credits of crosshairs and saw four people being blown into smithereens and then lying in a pool of what looked like ketchup.
The film was ridiculous, it was a good job I'd been planning on watching more of Bella than the actual film.
I sniggered at the people around us that were cowering into there seats as blood poured from a guys open wound on screen.
Bella turned to look at me questioningly. "What" she whispered.
"Oh c'mon, the blood squirted twenty feet out of that guy. How fake can you get?" I chuckled again as we watched a flagpole spear another person into a concrete wall.
Bella laughed with me from then on and I really wished she would agree to being on a date alone with me. We had such fun together.
My hand was laying across our shared armrest the palm facing upward, ready. I did not reach over to take Bella's hand though, as I usually would, afraid that would be the opposite of helpful. In this darkened cinema each movement either of us made would be significant and I knew Bella wanted to keep our relationship on the friendship level.
"Mike are you okay?" I looked over to see mike leaning forward into his hands, a sheen of sweat covering his forehead and Bella leaning over him her face concerned. He groaned and the couple in the row in front turned to stare at him. "No." Mike gasped "I think I'm sick."
He ran toward the door and Bella followed him so of course I did too.
"No stay, I'll make sure he's okay." There was no way I was having that.
"You don't have to come, get your eight bucks worth of carnage." She insisted. "That's okay" I whispered and then I raised my voice as we reached the outside of the darkened room, "you sure can pick them Bella, this movie really sucks."
There was no sign of Mike in the hallway so I checked in the men's room and was out again in a few seconds. The opening of the door had brought with it a retching sound and a green mike collapsing over a toilet.
"Oh he's in there, all right," I rolled my eyes at her. "What a marshmallow. You should hold out for someone with a stronger stomach. Someone who laughs at the gore that makes weaker men vomit."
"I'll keep my eyes open for someone like that."
We were all alone in this quiet hallway and I was prepared to take what advantage I could of that. I sat down on a bench against the wall, patting the empty space beside me. "He sounded like he was going to be in there for a while." I said settling in to wait. She sighed as she sat beside me and I was sure she knew my plan and disapproved of it. I reached over anyway to put my arm around her shoulders.
Just as I had predicted she leaned away from my touch. "Jake," she protested so I let my arm drop but I took her hand firmly in my own and held it there when she tried to pull away again. "Now, just hold on a minute Bella, Tell me something," She made a face at me and her tone was sour when she spoke "What?"
"You like me, right?" "You know I do."
"Better than that joker puking his guts out in there?" I asked gesturing toward the bathroom with my free hand.
"Yes." She sighed but that still wasn't enough I needed more
"Better than any of the other guys you know?" I asked sure I knew the answer but also not taking anything for granted with her. "Better than the girls too" she said and I felt the warmth spread through me from head to toe at her hedging answer. "But that's all." I wasn't going to let her escape until she answered me properly.
"Yes" she whispered and my mood was soaring. I was sure I would always remember this night.
I grinned down at her and decided telling her the truth was the best option so that no miss-communication stood in our way.
"That's okay you know, as long as you like me best. And you think I'm good-looking sort of. I'm prepared to be annoyingly persistent."
"I'm not going to change," she said the sadness evident in her voice.
She has admitted she likes me so it must be something else. The tone of her voice suddenly made everything fall into place. I know how she had felt after Edward Cullen had left her. But I did not realise the extent of the damage he had done until now. A strong feeling washed through me and I realised that I hated this guy. Hated him for what he had done to her. I knew she wouldn't want to think about it too much so I kept my tone off hand as I asked her, "It's still the other one isn't it?"
I knew her answer already and I didn't want her to have to tell me, I didn't want to make her sad. "You don't have to talk about it"
She just nodded, grateful.
"But don't get mad at me for hanging around okay?" I patted her hand trying to pull her out of her stupor "Because I'm not giving up. I've got loads of time."
"You shouldn't waste It on me" she told me, but that's not what I heard in her tone of voice. I thought she wanted me to waste it on her. And I was usually right about Bella, some deep connection we had that kept us linked.
"It's what I want to do, as long as you still like to be with me."
"I couldn't imagine not wanting to be with you, Jacob." The hope swelled up inside me and made me feel like I was going to burst. I beamed at her, "I can live with that."
"Just don't expect more." She warned me severely and she tried to pull her hand away. No way. I held onto her hand like it was a lifeline. "This doesn't really bother you does it?" I squeezed her fingers. "No." it sounded like she meant it. Good, she'd better get used to it too.
"And you don't care what he thinks I demanded. My thumb jerked toward the bathroom where Mike was probably still lying on the floor.
"I guess not."
"So what's the problem?"
"The problem" she said slowly "is that it means something more to you than it does to me." I tightened my hand around hers determined not to let her escape. "Well, that's my problem isn't it?"
"Fine." She gave in. "Don't forget it though." Her tone was sulky so I decided that now she knew how I felt I could afford to joke.
"I Won't. The pins out of the grenade for me now, eh?" I asked poking her in the ribs. She rolled her eyes and the serious conversation was over. For now. I laughed quietly thinking about what had just been said, whilst tracing patterns on the side of her hand with my pinkie finger. Her skin felt nice and delicate under my warm touch. The design I drew traced my finger across a patch of her skin that was uneven and cold compared to the rest.
"That's a funny scar you've got there," I said twisting her hand up to look at it closer. I followed the line of the long silver coloured crescent shape, it was barely visible against her pale skin but the sight of it made me want to shiver.
"Do you honestly expect me to remember where all my scars come from?" There was a defensive edge to her voice that interested me, but again the cold texture of the scar made my always warm body feel cold and I lost my train of thought.
That's when mike stumbled out of the bathroom sweating and green.
"Oh mike." She gasped. I had to admit he looked pretty bad.
"Do you mind leaving early?" He whispered.
"Of course not." Bella said. And actually I didn't mind leaving either. I was starting to feel kind of weird myself, not sick just strange. My body was tense and I felt almost… angry.
"Movie too much for you?" I asked rudely. Mike's return glare was venomous. "I didn't actually see any of it, I was nauseated before the lights went down." He mumbled.
"Why didn't you say something?" Bella scolded as they stumbled toward the exit. Although I'm sure she new the answer to that just as well as I did. There was no way he would have left us there alone together. "I was hoping it would pass." He whispered.
"Just a sec." I said, mike looked just as bad as he had in the men's room and I wasn't taking any chances. "Can I have an empty popcorn bucket?" I asked the girl behind the concession stand. She seemed to agree with my assessment of mike, so she gave the bucket. "Get him out please."
I followed them outside watching mike's back as he took a deep breath. I helped Bella put him in the back of my baby and then handed him the popcorn bucket.
"Please."
We opened all the windows and the night air made Bella curl up, her arms around her legs. "Cold again?" I asked wrapping my arm around her.
"You're not?" I just shook my head. I could definitely feel the blast of air whipping through my window but it felt nice on my warm skin, it calmed me slightly from the strange tension I still felt.
"You must have a fever or something." Her fingers touched my forehead. They were cold and they stung my skin. "Whoa, Jake—you're burning up!"
"I feel fine, fit as a fiddle." She frowned at me and I wondered if she could tell that, that wasn't the entire truth. She touched my head again and the feelings that coursed through me were really strong, it didn't feel right. She shouldn't touch me like that, so casually. "You're fingers are like ice."
"Maybe it's me."
Mike through up in the bucket then. Please don't have gotten any on my car. I checked anxiously. Phew.
I thought about what Bella had said tonight while I drove. "You shouldn't waste your time on me."
She was wrong, I was sure. Bella and I were meant for each other, we had a connexion that ran deep. Besides I was selfish and even if I didn't think Bella wanted me around I was sure I would force my company upon her anyway. I thought about leaving her. I thought about the pain it was cause me. I thought about what it would do to her if I let now, after she had learned to trust me. Bella shivered under my arm and I tightened it over her shoulders. No. There was no way I was leaving her.
Bella drove mike home in his suburban and I followed to take her home again. I tried to keep my head clear as I drove down the dark streets, really concentrating on the road and where I was going. But I couldn't think right; it felt like there was hazy smog filling my brain it was almost painful, like a crushing weight on my head.
There was a strange silence that filled the rabbit on the way back to Bella's and I had to concentrate really hard to keep all my feelings inside, it felt like I would explode. I filled my mind with the image of Bella's face and it calmed me some, washed the anger and hatred from my body and allowed me to think clearly and decide I wanted to tell her something important.
"I would invite myself in, since we're early" I said as I pulled up next to the truck. "But I think you might be right about the fever. I'm starting to feel al little . . .
Strange."
"Oh no, not you too! Do you want me to drive you home?"
"No. I don't feel sick yet. Just … Wrong." Yes wrong was a good way to describe how I was feeling. "If I have to, I'll pull over."
"Will you call me as soon as you get in?"
"Sure, sure." She opened her door to get out, but I couldn't let her leave yet. When Bella was gone she would take ny calm feeling I had left with her.
"What is it Jake."
"There's something I want to tell you Bella … but I think it's going to sound kind of corny." She sighed but invited me to say it anyway.
"Go ahead."
"It's just that, I know you're unhappy a lot. And, maybe it doesn't help anything, but I wanted you to know that I'm always here. I won't ever let you down – I promise that you can count on me. Wow, that does sound corny. But you know that right? That I would never, ever hurt you?" Not like that scumbag Cullen.
"Yeah Jake. I know that. And I already do count on you, probably more than you know." That was just what I needed to hear. The smile that broke across my face couldn't show even a fraction of the happiness I felt inside. Then it was gone. Red haze clouded my vision and I needed to get Bella out of the car, right now,
"I really think I'd better go home now."
She jumped out of the car and yelled "Call me." As I drove away, but I hardly heard her.