"Bella?" Charlie's voice carried from downstairs. "Someone's here to see you!" I opened my eyes and looked over at the clock. It was nearly eleven in the morning. I'd slept late. I jumped up and ran a brush through my hair and brushed my teeth, as to not offend my visitor with sour morning breath. Not that he would be. I had a strong idea who was waiting for me downstairs, and I knew I could have appeared looking like a plague victim and it wouldn't matter.
"Bella! Stop getting pretty for my sake!" I smiled, and then rinsed my mouth out. I'm good at guessing games. The husky voice that belonged to the boy downstairs put butterflies in my stomach. I had to force myself not to fly down the stairs, because knowing me, I'd trip and break my neck on the way down.
When I saw him sitting on the couch. I melted. Flowers in his hands and a happy grin on his russet face, my boyfriend sat. Not that 'boyfriend' seemed the appropriate term. We were dating, had been for quite a while, but under the circumstances that we were surrounded by, 'boyfriend' seemed too… normal.
He threw his large, sinewy arms around me and squeezed gently. "Happy anniversary," he whispered into my ear. I stood back, looking into his warm eyes with my own questioning ones. Today held no importance to us, as far as I knew. He smiled, waiting for me to get it.
I gasped. A year ago today, I'd moved to Forks. "Jacob!" I jumped up and hugged around his neck. "You are amazing!" I laughed and kissed him.
This was a normal, happy moment in my home in front of my dad. It was one of those rare occurrences that I savored. See, when you're dating a teenaged were wolf keeping the Indian community safe from vampires, life tends to get complicated. I'd been near death several times since my move to Forks. I'm clumsy and tend to get myself into trouble. If it weren't for Jacob and his friends, the Protectors, as they like to be called, I have no doubt I'd be pushing up daisies.
I shuddered at the thought and held Jacob tighter. We'd come a long way. Our relationship was nearly ruined during Jacob's transformation. He'd been sworn to secrecy, and couldn't tell me why he was avoiding me. On top of that, his decision to cut me out of his life was hard to undo. He was convinced that us being together was too dangerous for me.
But I was in love with him. And nothing was about to change that.