Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight story or any of the characters. I just love to write using them!

As I pulled into the small town of Forks I gently took my foot off the gas. I felt no desire to reach my destination in a hurry. The rain fell steadily outside making everything appear a simple blur of grey and green as I drove on. Even though my home was only a few hours away in Seattle, the significant increase of rain and general bleakness always surprised me. No one could say that Washington's Olympic Peninsula wasn't beautiful, but they also couldn't say that Forks was the major social hub of the area either.

The small town feeling was overwhelming to me. I could see it in every face that I drove by. It was surely known by now that Bella Swan, the police chief's daughter, was coming back from her big life in Seattle where she was going to the University of Washington for medicine. For most towns this wasn't news, but it was Forks. About the coolest thing to happen to this community in the last 20 years was an author using the small town as a dreary back drop for several of her bestselling books. Forks had been put on the map for a few years, but eventually the popularity waned and it all quieted down.

Turning left and pulling away from the main strip my hands became fidgety and I could feel my chest start to tighten. It had been almost a year since I had seen my father, Charlie, and several years since I had spent more than the occasional weekend at his quiet house in Forks. It wasn't Charlie that was making me nervous, he really was great. It was the whole situation.

Somehow at the age of 21 and heading into my Junior year of college, I was only a few miles away from spending the entire summer at my dad's house. I was leaving the place and people I was comfortable with for a place that I hardly knew anymore.

Being a young girl I had loved staying the summers at my dad's house. We would visit the breath taking beaches of La Push, go hiking on trails in the Hoh rainforest or visit the Sol Duc hot springs. One summer we had even worked on putting in a wraparound porch, complete with a swinging bench. He had said that it was so I had somewhere peaceful to read. This had quickly become my favorite place of the house. I don't know how many nights I had taken a blanket and book and just spent night swinging and reading.

Only a few summers later it had became that staying at your dad's house for the entire summer wasn't cool anymore. Around the age of twelve I wanted to spend more time with my friends. The next two years it was only a couple of weeks at my dad's house during the summer. After that Renee had convinced him that it would be best to visit me in Seattle when he could take the time off of work and I would come out for some holidays or the occasional weekends. He never complained to me, but I knew it wasn't what he had wanted. That was just Charlie though. Sometimes he would go along with things for the sake of making it easier.

"It's ok, 2 months, its only two months." The closer I got to Forks the more I was giving myself these little pep talks. I preferred not to think that I was talking to myself.

"You'll have time to relax and focus on your studies, there won't be any interruptions or any distractions… that's also because nothing happens in this town!"

My plans for this summer had been much different up until about a month ago. In Seattle I had roomed with my two great friends, Angele and Jessica. We had known each other since High school and it only came naturally that in college we would all share a place together. The both of them had planned to take the summer off from school and spend it enjoying our time with each other, friends and family. Out of us three I was always the more serious one when it came to school, in general really. I wasn't so easily convinced when it came to the idea.

At first I had admittedly told them that I just couldn't go along with them this summer. Being my friends though, they wouldn't take no for an answer. Angela was especially persistent. Over the course of a few weeks and much convincing I had decided that it MIGHT be an ok idea.

"Come on Bella! You have… YEARS of school left in front of you. You study all the time and are always doing extra classes. Just take a little measly summer off with Jess and I!" Angela was practically begging me in the kitchen of our apartment.

"I don't know… maybe I'll take a few less credits, but I really need to take one or two classes. The class size is usually smaller in the summer so I'll be able to focus in some of the harder Chemistry courses."

"But it will be fun! I promise that you'll have fun, we're all going to have fun!" Ang whined.

"Yeah Bella! Just think it, No homework or class schedules. We'll be at the beach or pools, taking trips to Eastern Washington… you never know, you might even have a summer romance!"

I shot Jessica a look with my brows raised. "Seriously, that's your defense? Boys?" She should know better.

All of a sudden she broke out into song. "SUMMER LOVIN', HAD ME A BLAST! SUMMER LOVIN', HAPPENED SO FAST!"

Angela and I couldn't help but laugh at her impromptu Grease performance. I still wasn't sold though.

"Though that was entertaining, I'm still not sure…"

"See Ang, I told you she wouldn't be into the idea." Jessica was a great friend of mine, but always became snobby when she wasn't getting her way.

"NO! I am not giving up yet." She exited the kitchen and came back shortly with a very used calendar that had sticky notes peeking out from the edges and writing throughout. "Ok, I know that you like to be busy and structure is, well your thing. So I came up with this Calendar of what our summer would be... LOOK!"

Flipping through the few summer months I saw that some of the weekends were highlight with where we would be, where we would be staying, with who and even what time we would be leaving Seattle. Other days were marked with easy things like Shopping in Pikes Place or Celebrating Ang's birthday. Free time was in a separate color with a list attached to the back of the calendar of things we could do.

"Wow. This is, thorough. Do you guys really think I am this anal?"I asked looking up to them.

"No!" They both said together shaking their heads.

After talking about the calendar for another weekend I had decided to take the summer off. Part of me knew that my friends had been right. I did just need some time to relax and I was genuinely looking forward to all we had planned. Looking back I guess I can't really blame Angela and Jessica for not keep up their end, lord knows I was trying though.

Shortly after agreeing on not taking classes, Jessica had been invited to do a last minute summer internship in London. Ang and I were upset that she would be gone but we knew she couldn't pass it up either. It only took one night and a bottle of wine before Ang and I had revised the calendar. We didn't know that in another week our plans would be changing once again.

Angela and her boyfriend, Eric, had been dating for two years now and Angela had been talking about moving in with him possibly next year or for their senior year. They had met during our Freshman orientation and haven't spent more than a few weekends apart during their relationship. Eric was a film major and shared a house off campus with a few of his friends. It really shouldn't have been a surprise when he asked her to marry him!

Angela was ecstatic and I was so happy for her! The first thing she did was ask if Jess and I would be bridesmaids. She and Eric had already set a weekend in August right before school started again. Jessica would be back from London so it would be perfect. She also mentioned that her and Eric had planned on moving into their own place at the start of next month. They had found a small one bedroom place that they couldn't pass up.

I was upset that none of our summer plans would be able to happen but I also just figured that this would give me the time to take the Chemistry classes that I still needed. My heart had sunk when I saw that the deadline for summer registration had already passed. Now I was stuck with no plans for an entire three months!

Being a mere college student there was no way that I could keep a three bedroom place for myself. Finding two roommates wouldn't work since I would only need them for a few short months. I had asked a couple of our friends if they were looking for a temporary roommate but they either didn't have the space or were leaving for the summer. Unfortunately my mom and her boyfriend, Phil, had just moved down to Arizona. I barely wanted to move houses in Seattle, little lone relocate to another state.

Staying with Charlie wasn't something I had given any serious thought. It had crossed my mind but I was waiting till the last minute to ask him, just in case something else came up. One night I was looking over wedding magazines with Ang when Charlie had called saying he had talked with my mom. She was worried about me not having plans for a place to stay. Charlie generously offered up his place. He went so far as to say that he would stay with a friend while I was at the house. "I know you're all grown up now, I'm just trying to help out. This might not be Seattle but it is a place for you to stay, even if it is with your old man." It wasn't like him to be persistent or pushy, but I could tell that this was something he had already gotten excited about. I just couldn't say no.

Turning one last time I could see Charlie's house at the end of the road.

"College students do this. They come home during the summer to save money and eat food that's edible for a change… right? Ugh." Ok, maybe I was talking to myself.

I pulled up to the front of the house but kept my foot on the brake for a moment before finally putting it in park. Rubbing my face, I pressed my thumbs into my eyes and took a deep breath. Figuring that Charlie would be out soon I jumped out of the truck to start unloading my bags. I had assumed that there would be rain so I covered all my bags with a tarp, I had been right. Behind me I could hear the screen door open and pause a moment before closing. I reached over the edge of the bed for the largest case to hand off to Charlie. I got the bag halfway out before it got stuck on something. Frustrated I gave it a strong heave, this was my first mistake.

The bag didn't budge but I could feel my feet slide out from underneath me. I reached for the truck which was so slick from the rain I just slid down the side, this was my second mistake. I hit the muddy puddle below me with a harsh thud. Mud splashed up on me and I could feel that my back side was soaked.

"DAMMIT! This is what I get for having to pack it all with me! You stupid..." Before I was able to release the slew of curse words floating in my head I was cut off by a deep voice running towards me.

"Whoa Bella, are you ok?" I whipped around laying my eyes on a tall dark figure.

The person running up to me had a familiar face, but not one I could place. It was a younger guy, probably around my age, and very attractive. He was wearing a grey sweater that stretched across his broad chest and hugged his muscles in all the right places. His skin was a dark russet color with perfect complexion. What I found most striking was his long black hair that rested just past his shoulders. As he leaned down towards me I noticed his dark eyes showed some concern but his perfect smooth lips were curled into a half smirk showing off his perfect white teeth.

Had I hit my head as well?

"Uh… yeah. I, I'm fine." I whimpered from the ground.

"Your dad said that you'd need help but I figured I have at least 30 seconds to get out here." He grabbed my hands and effortlessly pulled me up from the mud.

I didn't say anything, just stared at him trying to place his face. I can only imagine how this looked.

"You don't remember me do you?"

"No, I know… your, uh, one of my dad's friends." Smooth.

He let out a slight chuckle. "I didn't think that you'd remember me, but… did you hit your head?" I think so, I thought to myself. "Jacob… Billy Black's son, we knew each other years ago, uhm, our dads would meet up for dinner out my place on the res. I was always shy but I remember you sitting on my couch reading the same book for hours."

"Huh, that was a long time ago, or so it seems like that." I said staring into his deep brown eyes. I remembered going to Billy's house, but only barely remembered his son. Jacob would always be out in the garage or on his dirt bikes only showing up for dinner. "How is your dad, Billy, by the way?"

"Still the same old stubborn man, he'll never change in that aspect. I'm sure you'll see him around. He's at your dad's place almost every week watching a game. How long do you…"

He was cut off abruptly by Charlie calling from the front door.

"Jacob, I sent you out here to help Bells with her bags… how did she get all covered in mud?"

I became suddenly aware that we were still holding hands. Taking a quick step back I turned my shoulder, hoping to hide the fact that I was blushing, and started to brush myself off.

"I found her in this condition Charlie." He said raising his hands into the air. "You weren't kidding… she really needed help."

I threw my hands to my side. "What is all this talk about me needing help? I could have managed just…!"

"Jake! You just finish grabbing the bags. Come get out of the rain Bella, you're getting soaked."

Like it matters, I thought.

When I reached the front porch I was greeted by Charlie's open arms. "Good to see you again kid. It's going to be quite the summer around here."

"Yeah, it'll be different. I really appreciate you letting me stay here. I'm sure you're probably used to having the place to yourself by now."

I looked over my shoulder at Jacob unloading the last bag from my truck. It had felt like I packed a lot but he was managing to get it up to the porch in one trip. All the bags looked so small under his arms. "So, what's Jacob doing over here?" I was attempting to hide my intrigue by sounding nonchalant.

"I bought a truck!" He said proudly.

"So that explains having Jacob here how?"

"Jake here is a mechanic at Billy's shop in La Push. Since Billy can't spend a lot of time at the shop Jake here pretty much runs the thing. He's really a great mechanic and had been working on this truck for awhile now and was looking to sell it… so I bought it from him." He pointed to a blue Chevy that was by the side of the house.

"Ah, I see. That's great Dad." I could hear Jacob coming up the stairs behind me.

"Where should I put all of these down?"

Before I could say anything Charlie spoke up. "Why don't you just put them up in Bella's room Jake." He turned towards me then. "Why don't you show him your old room Bells, then you can change and we'll catch up, maybe even grab some food down at the diner or something."

"Wonderful!" I spit out with a large grin through gritted teeth. OK, that may have been a little too enthusiastic, but come on! I had just gotten done with a long drive that was followed by a quick dip in a mud bath where I was finally pulled out by an extremely attractive guy, who I have supposedly known for years now, which I now had to show to my room, before I changed and was about to be shown off at the local diner. Is it possible to sleep for two months? Maybe I could achieve a sort of hibernation.

"You need help with the bags there He-Man?" I asked looking at all the bags he was carrying.

"Just lead the way there She-Ra." I could feel my pale skin blush red again. Not only was he hot, but apparently a witty one too.

"He got you there Bells." Charlie said trying to hide his amusement.

"Yeah." I muttered walking through the front door.

It was as if the house hadn't changed with time at all. Everything appeared to be the same as when I was here last time. It all screamed Charlie though, things were simple here. His house wasn't the type to have clutter. Everything he had, had a purpose for being there. That's probably why nothing ever changed.

Walking up the stairs I knew that my room would be the same as it always was. There would even be a few drawings left hanging on the tack board from when I was in Elementary school. I told Charlie that he could several times that he could change it into a storage room for all his fishing and hunting supplies but he always refused saying "You never know, just a few more years."

I must admit, now I was kind of glad that he never listened to me.

As I opened the door a familiar smell of lavender came flooding back. Nothing had changed, just like I thought.

"You can just put the bags down where ever." I said turning to Jacob.

"Sure thing" He said crossing my room to place them at the end of my bad.

As Jacob walked by me I could feel my body react to his proximity. He was the kind of guy that you noticed, it was hard not to. He must have been near seven feet tall. I couldn't help but look him over, he really was alluring and even sensual in his movements. Even though I was covered in muddy water I could feel my body flush warmth. He bent over to put down the bags a few strands of hair fell in his face. I fought an urge to walk over and brush them away.

"So Charlie was telling me that you were a Sophomore at the UW, what do you study there?"

I snapped back to reality when his rough voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Doctor." I blurted out. "I mean, sorry, I'm going into medicine, hopefully. I'm doing my undergrad in Bio Chem right now then I'll apply to the medical department"

"Wow, well that sounds ambitious." He ran both of his hands through his long hair before shoving them into his front pockets. The corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk as he rolled his head back and let out a small laugh.

"What's funny?"

"This town probably seems so small to you." He had no idea. I wanted to jump in and start explaining that I didn't have a choice and this was only going to a summer thing. Before I had a chance to say anything he started talking again. "So how do you plan on spending you short time here in lil' old Forks anyways?"

"Studying a lot really. The next couple of years are going to be hard so I might as well get in all the extra work I can. I don't really know what else. Spend time with my dad I guess."

"You won't be going back to visit your boyfriend?"

Where had that come from? I never mentioned anything a boyfriend, primarily because there wasn't one. College and friends were about all I had time for right now. Or at least that what I always told myself. The whole relationship subject was a sore one for me.

Almost a year ago I had broken up with Edward, my boyfriend of four years. Edward and I had been the couple that everyone always thought would make it. He was the handsome guy in high school that all the girls flirted with in hopes of being noticed. I was the quiet one with my small group of close friends. For some reason he had taken notice of me our second year in high school, since then we were hardly apart. Neither of us had to try, our relationship had always been a very easy one. Out of High school we had gone different ways. I decided on the UW since their medical departments was one of the best in our area. Edward's plan had always been to work for his father's law firm and was easily accepted into Yale. I always thought that it was his family's pull and several connections that made his acceptance so effortless. Either way he said that it was where he wanted to go and that we would work on our relationship long distance. It became obvious some time later though that it wasn't worth working on it.

Thinking about the details always made me feel angry so I shoved them out of my head.

"No, I don't have a boyfriend so it'll be all Forks for me, all summer!" I snapped back.

"Woah, ok, I was just asking! I needed some way to figure out whether or not you were taken." His dark eyes stared into mine.

I opened my mouth to respond but nothing came out. What could I have said to that? I couldn't tell whether he was joking around with me or not.

"Alright sweetheart, I'll let you change so that you and Charlie can get to dinner." He started walking across the room then stopped when he was at my side. He leaned in close enough that I could feel his breath on my neck when he spoke. "You know, La push isn't that far away Bella. This summer really doesn't have to be so lonely." Reaching up, he brushed away some mud that must have splashed up on my cheek. His hands were so warm and soft. I closed my eyes so that he couldn't see how much his touch was affecting me. "See you later."

My breathing didn't return to normal until I heard him shut the front door. I squeezed my eyes hard before opening them again, trying to ignore that I could still feel my skin blush red from where he touched me. Did Jacob Black just hit on me? Lord knows that it wasn't exactly unwelcome. The guy was gorgeous. My thoughts were dazed and I could feel my knees tremble when I stepped forward to change.

After changing clothes and taking a few minutes to clean myself up in the bathroom I went downstairs and found Charlie waiting for me at the kitchen table.

"You ready Bells?"

Sure thing, let's get this show on the road." I said clapping my hands together.

The diner was just like everything else in Forks, exactly the same as the last time I saw it. It was even the same waitress. Charlie was obviously a regular here. When we had walked in he went straight past the wait to be seated sign to a booth in the corner. Ellen, the waitress, had been over shortly to take our order and tell me that Charlie had been talking about my coming to stay the summer ever since he found out about it.

"He was just so excited!" She said looking over to him giving a big smile. "It's been years since you've been around so I'm sure there are lots of things you want to do! Just don't forget to relax during your time here. Lord knows that a busy college student like you needs it."

A few minutes later our food came out.

"I know that school is going great for you... how about boys and stuff? You seeing anyone special over there in Seattle?" He didn't actually look me at me when he asked this. Instead he just concentrated on cutting up the piece of meat that was in front of him.

"I don't really have the time to think about a relationship right now."

"What about that Boy, Edwin? You still talk to him?" It didn't matter that Edward and I had dated four years. Charlie still couldn't get his name right.

"No Dad, I haven't talked to Edward in a long time."

"Is that his choice or yours?"

"Mine. When everything happened… it just wasn't very pretty. I just wanted nothing to do with him. It took him awhile to get the picture that I wouldn't forgive him. It's been months though since we last talked."

"Well good," He said stabbing a piece of steak and putting it in his mouth. "He never was my favorite and definitely not right for you."

I let out a surprised chuckle. "What?"

"I just didn't like how he would act, I don't know, maybe it was just around me. I felt like the few times I saw him he was falling all over me! Always calling me Chief or Sir, telling me about all his family has or who they knew. I understand impressing your girlfriends father, but it was… pompous."

"Yeah…" Really, Edward was the last person I wanted to think or talk about. Unfortunately I couldn't think of anything to talk about so I just spit out the first thing that came to mind. "So how often does Jacob come by?" I almost choke on my bite of food.

"I don't know, maybe once a week or so. He usually brings Billy up to watch a game. Sometimes he'll stick around awhile and watch the game. He's pretty busy with the shop though, that and hanging out with his group of friends out in La Push. Most of them work at the shop with him as well. Good pack of kids."

"Oh, sure. Well I was just wondering cause I noticed that my truck was making a weird noise on the way up here. I know he works at the shop so I was thinking that maybe he could take a look at it for me." I was trying hard to pack pedal, I don't think that Charlie noticed.

"I'm sure he'd be happy to kid." He said wiping his face with a napkin then throwing it on the plate. Leaning back in the chair he pulled out a cell phone from his pocket. "Let me call him real fast to see if he has time this week."

"No Dad! That's really not necessary… I'm sure it's ok!" I leaned forward so fast I almost knocked over my soda.

"Bella, calm down. It's not a problem. Besides, it might be nice for you to meet up with Jake again. You two could hang out this summer, it would give you something to do."

Part of me felt so embarrassed. My car was just fine! The last thing I wanted was for Jake to think I had made this all up to see him again or get his attention. I also pictured Jacob with his shirt sticky and soaked from him working hard on my truck. Using his strong hands and brushing his long hair from his face. Small black smears of oil blemishing his perfect skin.

"Hey Jake!" The sound of Charlie's voice interrupted my thoughts. Instantly I felt myself start to blush and slouched down further in my seat. This seemed to be happening to me a lot lately.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could take a look at Bella's truck for us. She mentioned something about it making a noise when she was on her way up here... Uh huh… Well you don't have to… alright, well I appreciate that kid. Thanks a lot and we'll see you soon." He hung up the phone. "He said that he would take a look at the truck tomorrow Bells. See, nothing to worry about."

"Great. What time are you taking it out there tomorrow?"

"Well Billy and I actually had plans to go fishing tomorrow. Jake thought that you could go down to the res with me and then you two will just take your truck into the shop while we're out."

"That's… perfect! I'll bring my books with me and maybe get some studying done while he's working." I said finishing up my salad.

I wasn't sure why I was so hung up on Jacob. Something about him had stuck with me. I wanted to argue that it was because he had been a familiar face, but it was something more. Since Edward and I had broken up there hadn't been anyone else like that I had thought about like this. It's not that the opportunity hadn't come up. I just simply hadn't been interested.

Now I found myself, only four hours into my time at Forks, thinking about a boy.