A/N: So I'm writing Bella/Paul again… Yay or nay?
"Maybe we shouldn't do this." I said nervously.
Bella gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder. She was bad at hiding the grin quickly forming on her face.
"Stop grinning. It's not funny."
"No, it's actually a little sad."
I glare at her. "I'd never needed to drive before, Bella. Running through the woods in wolf form is actually must faster."
She ignores me and hands me the keys to her truck. I could not believe Bella Swan was about to teach me how to drive. This was the last way I had expected to spend my Saturday afternoon.
I took the keys slowly and wondered how the hell I had ended up here… It was all because Bella has come over Jacob's Friday night and I had happened to been there. Somehow we got to talking about her truck and for some idiot reason I mentioned that I had never gotten my drivers license. That lead to her finding out I cannot drive at all. That lead to her grinning and telling me she would teach me.
Why had I agreed to this?
"Are you really nervous, Paul? The great tough Paul?" she said, breaking me from my thoughts.
I glanced at her, almost glaring. "I don't get nervous." I snapped. It was lie, I was nervous. Driving looked… I will not say scary, I will not even think it. But maybe it was.
"We don't have to do this…" she trails off. I know she really wants to do this, why I do not know, but I can tell this means a lot to her.
You are not a wimp, Paul, I tell myself, if you can kill vampires you can drive.
"No, we're doing this." I reassure her. I put my hand on her knee and stare into her eyes. There is a tense pause, and I cannot tell what the friction is between us, but it is strong. Finally she gulps and looks away. I remove my hand and put it on the wheel.
"Put the key in." She tells me quietly.
I listen. I turn the engine one without her needing to tell me and the car comes to life, as do my fears. My hands are suddenly sweating. I run them along the wheel in an attempt to dry them off subtly.
"Now put it in drive." Bella tells me slowly. Her voice sounds so caring. I wonder when she started to give a shit about me.
I follow her directions, and soon enough I am actually driving. It is almost amazing how simple it is, and suddenly I do not know what I was so worried about. Bella cannot stop smiling, like she had spent years training me for this or something, when really it has only been about fifteen minutes.
I pull her truck back into her driveway and park it there, which she had to tell me how to do. I hand her the keys and smile.
"What?" she asks, pocketing the keys.
"Thank you."
"Really?"
"Yeah, this might come in handy one day, who knows."
She chuckles and nods. "That's the idea. And it wasn't so bad, was it?"
I narrow my eyes. "Don't you dare tell anyone I was nervous. I wasn't, anyways."
Bella laughs this time, and I must say it's a beautiful sound. I find myself hoping I can hear it again.
I glance at her, catching her eye. We are suddenly locked, staring intensely at each other for the second time today. It was wrong, but my found my heart beating faster, like I… like I had a crush on her or something.
I looked away quickly. Those thoughts were not okay, and they would make me wind up with teeth on my neck. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat.
"Well, thank you." I open the door and climb out of the truck. I hear Bella follow suit and she ends up standing in front of me, my back against the truck. That nervous feeling comes back in my stomach. I hate it, I do not get nervous… It is not my nature.
"You should think about getting your license." She tells me.
"Maybe."
Silence hits us, and I feel forced to look at her. Her hands are shoved into her jacket pockets, her feet close together, and her eyes focused on me. She looks truly beautiful…
I curse under my breath, sadly loud enough for Bella to hear. She looks right at me, her eyes narrow slightly, then opens her mouth to speak quietly.
"I'd better get inside. Charlie's expecting me." She motions over her shoulder and takes a small step back.
"Right, yeah. See you, uh, soon?"
"I'm sure you will." There is no emotion behind her words, and I cannot tell what she means by it. She does not give me a enough time to figure it out, though. She waves and smiled before turning around and walking up to her house. I watch her, hoping she will turn around, or that I will think of something to say… that something, anything happens before she goes inside. But nothing happens. She does not turn around and I am left there tongue tied and confused. It is a feeling almost as bad as being nervous about driving.