"Why are you so serious all the time?" Jacob groaned, throwing the tv remote across the carpet, "What's so interesting about all this Shakespeare stuff anyway, the guy died like a hundred years ago."
"The man was a literacy genius Jake, all the modern romances stem from his themed classics, and it's only …"
"Forget I asked," He interrupted, rolling his eyes, "it's finished now anyway, can we do something fun?"
Bella sighed, talking to Jake about Shakespeare, Mozart, or anything remotely classical was like talking to a wall, however, if it was a classic car you were interested in, he was the go to guy.
"Like what sort of fun? Like, cliff diving fun? I've had my fair share thank you! We could go hang out with Sam and Emily, it's been a while…" she suggested.
"Nah, believe me, they're newlyweds, and I don't want to be anywhere near Sam's head anymore than I have to right now."
Bella had the modesty to blush scarlet, "Oh, yeah, I forgot about the whole pack mind reading thing."
Jake looked up at her as she sat on the edge of the couch and smirked, "Or we could….if you really wanted to see Emily…"
"No!" Bella answered quickly, "I mean, they probably don't want to be disturbed anyway…"
Jake chuckled, and playfully pulled her shoelaces undone, "What about camping?"
"Camping?" Bella gawked, "Me? Jake, hello, talking to Bella Swan and you suggest camping?"
He shrugged, "Why not? That bloodsucker got you on a leash?"
Bella glared down at him for mentioning her other half who was away with his brothers hunting, it had taken a great deal of convincing him that she'd be safe with Jake, but she couldn't remain annoyed at Jacob for long, not when he was giving her his charming and mischievous smile.
"The only person who needs to be on a leash is YOU Jacob Black!" she said, shoving him away from her forcefully and standing to her feet, only to go neck-up over her shoelaces.
He let out a loud guffaw and pulled himself up from the floor.
"Common' it'll be fun, we'll pull the bikes out for a spin in the mud eh? Toast marsh mellows on the open fire, I'll bring the guitar and we can howl at the moon!" he grinned, throwing his head back and letting out a lonely and very natural howl.
It took a moment to recover from the beautifully haunting sound, "Give me one good reason why I should allow myself to trollop through the wilderness when I have a perfectly good bed at home that'll keep me toasty warm and hot water on tap," she said, glaring up at him underneath her hair that had fallen across her face.
"Because… I've had your motorbike in storage for like, ever and its nice weather out?"
He was making reference to the motorbikes they had done up last year, well, mostly he had fixed them up while she would watch, but it was well worth the effort, they'd come up very nicely.
"Yeah, like, the bike you were supposed to destroy after you dobbed me into Charlie…"
Jake raised his eyebrows.
Fail one.
"Because I am irresistibly charming and plenty warm enough for the both of us?"
"Not even close to good enough…"
Fail two.
"Fine. You can have your own sleeping bag, and I'll invite Seth?"
Bella's face lifted into a victorious smile, "Winner."
Jacob rolled his eyes and helped her up onto her feet.
"I don't know why you're so scared of camping alone with me, it's not like I'm gonna bite you or anything…"
There was a soft thump as a cushion landed squarely in his face, "okay, guess I deserved that," he mumbled.
"Bella!" Charlie called from downstairs, "Where'd you put my beer? Billy and Jake are bound to be here soon, the game starts in fifteen minutes!"
She could hear him rummaging through the refrigerator, and then something shattered on the hard wooden floor. She sighed and rolled off of her bed, forcing herself out of her pity party, just how was she going to be able to leave him for the weekend?
Downstairs, she found Charlie sweeping up a broken jar of coffee. He glanced up at her sheepishly,
"It was on the wrong shelf," he offered.
She smiled and went and pulled something up from beside the lounge. She held it out.
"How'd that get there?" He asked, puzzled.
"It's called a cooler, dad, or an 'I'm-too-lazy-to-walk-to-the-fridge' box", She placed the six pack of Budweiser back inside the chest and flashed a shiny packet of chips, "complete with corn chips and pistachio dip."
"Hey, you went shopping?" he said, smiling.
She laughed, "Someone had to, besides, I had to pick up some stuff for this stupid camping trip Jake is dragging me on."
"That excited huh?"
Almost on queue, a loud rumble echoed in the drive and minutes later there was a rap on the front door. Charlie answered and pulled the door open to two bright smiles.
"Billy! Old man! All set to pay up that twenty bucks?" he said, wheeling Billy in his wheelchair into the living room.
Billy Black let out a loud laugh, "They haven't won yet Charlie!"
Jake stepped into the kitchen, "So Bells you ready? Excited?"
"Thrilled," she breathed with a small smile.
Jacob threw his head back with laughter, "That's my girl, always putting on a brave face. I've got everything we'll need, so don't worry about anything."
"You do realize it's going to be cold, right?"
Jacob gave her his irresistibly charming smile, "Hey, portable space heater, remember?"
She rolled her eyes and threw her backpack at him; it was easy to forget that Jacob wasn't a 'normal' teenage boy.
"I'll just say goodbye to Charlie."
It was late afternoon when Bella's truck pulled off onto the dirt trail, the bikes strapped securely in the tray.
"Are you sure you know where, we're going? I mean, somewhere my truck will actually be able to make it?" she instantly regretted giving up the steering wheel as the truck flew over grass and dodged shrubbery.
"Of course, re-built the engine myself, didn't I?" Jake replied confidently, making a sudden left hand turn and causing Bella to fly nearly into Jake's lap.
"Hey, I thought you said you didn't feel that way about me Bells?" he grinned cheekily.
She blushed; removing her hands that had entangled around one of his thighs and sliding quickly back to the passenger side and strapping on her seatbelt.
"You're impossible Jake, and take it easy on the truck; it's not as young as it once was."
It was wet and it was cold and Bella didn't like it.
Jake thought it was hilarious watching her go ass up all the time whilst they tried to set up camp and he pretty much ended up doing it all by himself.
"Wow, you really are bad with outdoorsy stuff aren't you?" he said, giving her his warm lopsided grin.
Bella faked a smile," No I love the outdoors and quite good with it really… at least it looks easy when it's on TV."
"Where's Seth?" she asked, "it was apart of the agreement, remember?"
"Oh yeah, about that…"
She looked at him, he returned her stare, although, somewhat more sheepishly.
"Jacob Black, you did invite Seth Clearwater didn't you?"
"Yes."
"Then what's the problem?"
"He said he couldn't come…"
"Why not?"
"Something about a crisis with Leah?"
"Oh." Bella left the subject of Leah alone. The two girls had never really got along. Not that Bella blamed Leah for disliking her so much, she had treated Jake pretty horribly in the past and as Jake's Second-In-Command, anything that hurt Jake nagged at Leah.
As it started getting dark, they stuffed all their belongings into the little two man red tent and Jake went about starting a fire.
It lit up the night sky and silence ensued as Bella stared into the flames, mesmerized.
A soft sweet music filled the air and it was then she realized that Jake had pulled out his guitar and was strumming it gently. She enjoyed its hollowed and tender sound mixing with the noise of the woods surrounding them.
"This is nice," she smiled.
He grinned back, "Hey you're smiling."
She looked at him in puzzlement, "What do you mean? I smile all the time."
He shook his head, "You haven't really looked happy, genuinely content, for a long time Bells. What's up?"
Bella sighed heavily, she'd forgotten how observant Jacob could be, her happy charadé had been working so well for a while now, at least; she thought so.
"I miss this." She said softly, unsure how to continue.
"This?"
"Yes, this; us." She said looking down at her hands, "It's been such a long time since we've been able to hang out. Things just get so… complicated."
Jake snorted, "You got that right, and you're the sort of girl that doesn't really come with a handbook Bells."
"I wish things didn't have to be… complicated." Bella sighed once more.
Jacob stopped playing and put aside his guitar before sliding over to where Bella sat wrapped in blankets. He motioned for her to scoot over and she settled in the nook of his arm comfortably.
"Well, life's full of complications Bells. But we always manage to find a way through them," he said whilst wrapping his arms around her tightly.
"Will we ever get through this Jake? Really? You think it's possible?"
He grinned down at her, "Well if you'd let me show you how uncomplicated things could be…" he chuckled unflinchingly.
She couldn't help but smile in response, even if she knew she couldn't give him the answer he wanted, "You know I can't do that…"
"Yeah, sure-sure, I know. But this is ok, right?" he gave her a quick squeeze.
"Sure," she responded and cuddled closer, enjoying the warmth of his body.
There was nothing but the sound of a crackling fire and the occasional hoot of an owl nearby, and for a while the two enjoyed the silence and watched the stars, as the clouds dissipated.
"There's yours," Jake said, pointing to one of the brightest in the sky, "and there's mine," he continued, pointing to a star just opposite but equally as bright.
Bella smiled, "You've given me a star?"
"Sure thing," he replied, "It's the only way I can have you with me all the time, even during the day, and I know that you're still there, wandering through life beside me. We're two peas from the same pod Bells, but together, I think we make a pretty good team; no, a great team."
"We are pretty awesome," she chuckled keeping the mood light, "Hey, do you know any scary stories? Charlie always used to tell me scary stories when he dragged me on fishing trips as a kid and isn't there, like, some sort of rule, when you're camping and sitting around a fire? Scary camp stories are a must have!"
"Hmmm, scary stories, "he said thinking hard, "My mom used to tell us about Dásќiya when my and my sisters were little."
"Who's Das-keeya?" she replied, curious.
He wiggled, getting up from her side and standing in the flickering shadows of the fire, "Right, "he said, getting into storyteller mode.
"There was a woman, a long time ago, who live deep in the woods. She had wrinkly red skin and long slimy hair made of seaweed. And her eyes; were like those of a snake, beady and black like the night."
'He's enjoying this way too much' "She carried a big basket on her back, made with her claw-like fingers and the reeds she weaved it with had been cut with her razor sharp teeth." Bella raised an eyebrow, "Razor sharp teeth? Really; Jake? You're going there?" He brushed her off, "No, listen. She was a nasty piece of work, she'd find children wandering alone in the woods, or misbehaving, and she would snatch them away, stick them in her basket and cover their eyes with pitch so they couldn't see where she would be taking them." He squatted down beside her, screwing his nose up in both disgust and amusement, "but you know the most disturbing thing, and Mom, always swore this was true, when Dásќiya got back to her dwelling, she'd boil the kids up and eat'em!" "Eww, Jake, that is disgustin…" Suddenly, a loud bang sounded from the bushes just beyond their campfire and Jake dove to cover Bella instinctively. Bella squealed, scrambling backwards, trying to melt into the log and clinging to Jake's large body that covered her. She saw a sudden blast of red light sparkle in the sky, closely followed by more explosions and colourful fireworks lighting up the campsite and for a few minutes, she was terrified. Recovering quickly, Jake stood up and moved protectively in front of Bella. "All right, you've had your fun, you losers, get out here!" He yelled. The bushes moved violently, followed by the sound of two voices laughing hard in amusement. In seconds, Embry Call and Seth Clearwater emerged, holding their sides and smothering their chortles of laughter. "You knew about this?" Bella gaped. Jake turned around and grinned, "Nice huh?" Bella yelled a long list of names at him before she too couldn't hold back her laughter and they were enjoying the moment as a group. "Well aren't you the happy family?" Came a sarcastic drawl out of the dark. Everyone turned to see the approaching visitor. "Hey Leah" Seth greeted his sister, in his usual happy manner. "Oh, hey Leah," Bella added, surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?" Embry asked, straight to the point. "Don't worry, I haven't come with official business," she said and casually collapsed next to Bella, "Well, not really," she added speaking to Bella directly, "I came to keep the testosterone levels at bay and save Bella from the war that is bound to follow over which of you boys has the bigger muscles." Bella stifled her surprise, and looked up at Jake. He shrugged a response. "Besides, someone had to stop you lot from killing yourselves on those motorcycles, although I imagine it'll only be their ego's getting the bruises," she attempted to give Bella a genuine smile. Bella returned it, sincerely. 'This night is just getting more and more interesting,' The night continued with the boys going over the bikes in detail and playing with the fire. Their ability to occupy themselves seemed to come more naturally than the conversation between Leah and Bella, at least to start with; "You didn't have to come all the way out here for me Leah, I mean I appreciate it, but you didn't have to trouble yourself." Leah shrugged, still lying casually by Bella, watching the fire. "To be honest, I didn't come out here for you…" "Oh…" Bella said quietly, returning her attention to the flames. "Jake asked me to come… to make an effort, to try at see you, as he see's you." "Really?" Bella asked in surprise, she quickly glanced over to where Jacob was collecting more wood for the fire and then back to Leah. "Yeah," the girl said, turning to face her. An awkward silence followed for a few moments, but then Leah started to share something Bella never expected. "I've been a bitter person for a long time Bella. I've hated seeing you use and abuse Jake, but I understand now why you did it, why you had too…." Bella wasn't sure what to say, she knew everything Leah said was true. She'd hurt Jake, wounded him and still she wouldn't… couldn't make him happy. She couldn't be the happiness he deserved and yet here he was, trying to get the one person Bella thought would never have anything to do with her to understand, to be a friend, to be family like he was family. "Jakes a pretty awesome guy," Leah continued, "He's like…no" she stopped and corrected what she was about to say, "He's more than family to me. We get each other, we click. Watching him throw himself at you all the time is disgusting, but I also understand, at least to some extent, why you can't love him that way back." Leah sighed, picking up a twig with her slim fingers and throwing it into the fire, "When you love someone as strongly as I suspect you love your….Cullen," she struggled to spit the name out, "no one else compares. They are your sun and your world all rolled into one. You revolve around them and worship them and when they love you back, there's nothing to describe it. You are theirs and they are yours." Bella listened intently, an instant compassion for this other girl surfacing faster than she could think to hold it back and rationalize just where she may have been going with this conversation, but Bella had nothing to feel insecure about. She watched as a tear escaped and slid slowly down one of Leah's soft copper coloured cheeks. "It was like that for Sam and Me, at least until Emily came down and then, I wasn't his sun anymore. I was his moon. A constant reminder of his past and the darkness that changed the way things were before… all of this happened." She motioned to the boys who were screwing around and now phasing in and out of their wolf form just to prove who was the most agile. "Do you think;" Bella started tentatively, "that you'll ever imprint?" Leah gave her a sad smile, "Maybe, one day… But what man is going to stick around for someone like this, one of them?" she said referring to her own ability and duty to phase in and out of wolf form. Bella felt the sudden need to reach out and take Leah's hand, the native girl turned and looked at her in surprise. "You're a beautiful, smart, strong and passionate woman Leah Clearwater. You're confident, level headed and these guys, Jake especially, appreciate you more than you could know… even with the whole 'I can read your thoughts' thing you guys have going on. You're not alone." "Hey! You girls got the marsh mellows roasting yet or what?" said Embry loudly as he approached them at the fire, interrupting their deep and meaningful conversation. Bella let Leah's hand drop from her own, but not before giving it a slight, reassuring squeeze and offering her warm smile, one Leah returned hesitantly, but at least this smile reached her eyes that were glistening with tears. She wasn't sure, if they would ever be best friends, or even ever really close, but one thing Bella was positive about, Jacob was her best friend and these boys, and Leah, they were her family. They always would be; regardless of how each of their journeys turned out. And that thought, made Bella sigh contentedly, and for the first time in so many months, she began to feel truly happy.
"Why are you so serious all the time?" Jacob groaned, throwing the tv remote across the carpet, "What's so interesting about all this Shakespeare stuff anyway, the guy died like a hundred years ago."
"The man was a literacy genius Jake, all the modern romances stem from his themed classics, and it's only …"
"Forget I asked," He interrupted, rolling his eyes, "it's finished now anyway, can we do something fun?"
Bella sighed, talking to Jake about Shakespeare, Mozart, or anything remotely classical was like talking to a wall, however, if it was a classic car you were interested in, he was the go to guy.
"Like what sort of fun? Like, cliff diving fun? I've had my fair share thank you! We could go hang out with Sam and Emily, it's been a while…" she suggested.
"Nah, believe me, they're newlyweds, and I don't want to be anywhere near Sam's head anymore than I have to right now."
Bella had the modesty to blush scarlet, "Oh, yeah, I forgot about the whole pack mind reading thing."
Jake looked up at her as she sat on the edge of the couch and smirked, "Or we could….if you really wanted to see Emily…"
"No!" Bella answered quickly, "I mean, they probably don't want to be disturbed anyway…"
Jake chuckled, and playfully pulled her shoelaces undone, "What about camping?"
"Camping?" Bella gawked, "Me? Jake, hello, talking to Bella Swan and you suggest camping?"
He shrugged, "Why not? That bloodsucker got you on a leash?"
Bella glared down at him for mentioning her other half who was away with his brothers hunting, it had taken a great deal of convincing him that she'd be safe with Jake, but she couldn't remain annoyed at Jacob for long, not when he was giving her his charming and mischievous smile.
"The only person who needs to be on a leash is YOU Jacob Black!" she said, shoving him away from her forcefully and standing to her feet, only to go neck-up over her shoelaces.
He let out a loud guffaw and pulled himself up from the floor.
"Common' it'll be fun, we'll pull the bikes out for a spin in the mud eh? Toast marsh mellows on the open fire, I'll bring the guitar and we can howl at the moon!" he grinned, throwing his head back and letting out a lonely and very natural howl.
It took a moment to recover from the beautifully haunting sound, "Give me one good reason why I should allow myself to trollop through the wilderness when I have a perfectly good bed at home that'll keep me toasty warm and hot water on tap," she said, glaring up at him underneath her hair that had fallen across her face.
"Because… I've had your motorbike in storage for like, ever and its nice weather out?"
He was making reference to the motorbikes they had done up last year, well, mostly he had fixed them up while she would watch, but it was well worth the effort, they'd come up very nicely.
"Yeah, like, the bike you were supposed to destroy after you dobbed me into Charlie…"
Jake raised his eyebrows.
Fail one.
"Because I am irresistibly charming and plenty warm enough for the both of us?"
"Not even close to good enough…"
Fail two.
"Fine. You can have your own sleeping bag, and I'll invite Seth?"
Bella's face lifted into a victorious smile, "Winner."
Jacob rolled his eyes and helped her up onto her feet.
"I don't know why you're so scared of camping alone with me, it's not like I'm gonna bite you or anything…"
There was a soft thump as a cushion landed squarely in his face, "okay, guess I deserved that," he mumbled.
"Bella!" Charlie called from downstairs, "Where'd you put my beer? Billy and Jake are bound to be here soon, the game starts in fifteen minutes!"
She could hear him rummaging through the refrigerator, and then something shattered on the hard wooden floor. She sighed and rolled off of her bed, forcing herself out of her pity party, just how was she going to be able to leave him for the weekend?
Downstairs, she found Charlie sweeping up a broken jar of coffee. He glanced up at her sheepishly,
"It was on the wrong shelf," he offered.
She smiled and went and pulled something up from beside the lounge. She held it out.
"How'd that get there?" He asked, puzzled.
"It's called a cooler, dad, or an 'I'm-too-lazy-to-walk-to-the-fridge' box", She placed the six pack of Budweiser back inside the chest and flashed a shiny packet of chips, "complete with corn chips and pistachio dip."
"Hey, you went shopping?" he said, smiling.
She laughed, "Someone had to, besides, I had to pick up some stuff for this stupid camping trip Jake is dragging me on."
"That excited huh?"
Almost on queue, a loud rumble echoed in the drive and minutes later there was a rap on the front door. Charlie answered and pulled the door open to two bright smiles.
"Billy! Old man! All set to pay up that twenty bucks?" he said, wheeling Billy in his wheelchair into the living room.
Billy Black let out a loud laugh, "They haven't won yet Charlie!"
Jake stepped into the kitchen, "So Bells you ready? Excited?"
"Thrilled," she breathed with a small smile.
Jacob threw his head back with laughter, "That's my girl, always putting on a brave face. I've got everything we'll need, so don't worry about anything."
"You do realize it's going to be cold, right?"
Jacob gave her his irresistibly charming smile, "Hey, portable space heater, remember?"
She rolled her eyes and threw her backpack at him; it was easy to forget that Jacob wasn't a 'normal' teenage boy.
"I'll just say goodbye to Charlie."
It was late afternoon when Bella's truck pulled off onto the dirt trail, the bikes strapped securely in the tray.
"Are you sure you know where, we're going? I mean, somewhere my truck will actually be able to make it?" she instantly regretted giving up the steering wheel as the truck flew over grass and dodged shrubbery.
"Of course, re-built the engine myself, didn't I?" Jake replied confidently, making a sudden left hand turn and causing Bella to fly nearly into Jake's lap.
"Hey, I thought you said you didn't feel that way about me Bells?" he grinned cheekily.
She blushed; removing her hands that had entangled around one of his thighs and sliding quickly back to the passenger side and strapping on her seatbelt.
"You're impossible Jake, and take it easy on the truck; it's not as young as it once was."
It was wet and it was cold and Bella didn't like it.
Jake thought it was hilarious watching her go ass up all the time whilst they tried to set up camp and he pretty much ended up doing it all by himself.
"Wow, you really are bad with outdoorsy stuff aren't you?" he said, giving her his warm lopsided grin.
Bella faked a smile," No I love the outdoors and quite good with it really… at least it looks easy when it's on TV."
"Where's Seth?" she asked, "it was apart of the agreement, remember?"
"Oh yeah, about that…"
She looked at him, he returned her stare, although, somewhat more sheepishly.
"Jacob Black, you did invite Seth Clearwater didn't you?"
"Yes."
"Then what's the problem?"
"He said he couldn't come…"
"Why not?"
"Something about a crisis with Leah?"
"Oh." Bella left the subject of Leah alone. The two girls had never really got along. Not that Bella blamed Leah for disliking her so much, she had treated Jake pretty horribly in the past and as Jake's Second-In-Command, anything that hurt Jake nagged at Leah.
As it started getting dark, they stuffed all their belongings into the little two man red tent and Jake went about starting a fire.
It lit up the night sky and silence ensued as Bella stared into the flames, mesmerized.
A soft sweet music filled the air and it was then she realized that Jake had pulled out his guitar and was strumming it gently. She enjoyed its hollowed and tender sound mixing with the noise of the woods surrounding them.
"This is nice," she smiled.
He grinned back, "Hey you're smiling."
She looked at him in puzzlement, "What do you mean? I smile all the time."
He shook his head, "You haven't really looked happy, genuinely content, for a long time Bells. What's up?"
Bella sighed heavily, she'd forgotten how observant Jacob could be, her happy charadé had been working so well for a while now, at least; she thought so.
"I miss this." She said softly, unsure how to continue.
"This?"
"Yes, this; us." She said looking down at her hands, "It's been such a long time since we've been able to hang out. Things just get so… complicated."
Jake snorted, "You got that right, and you're the sort of girl that doesn't really come with a handbook Bells."
"I wish things didn't have to be… complicated." Bella sighed once more.
Jacob stopped playing and put aside his guitar before sliding over to where Bella sat wrapped in blankets. He motioned for her to scoot over and she settled in the nook of his arm comfortably.
"Well, life's full of complications Bells. But we always manage to find a way through them," he said whilst wrapping his arms around her tightly.
"Will we ever get through this Jake? Really? You think it's possible?"
He grinned down at her, "Well if you'd let me show you how uncomplicated things could be…" he chuckled unflinchingly.
She couldn't help but smile in response, even if she knew she couldn't give him the answer he wanted, "You know I can't do that…"
"Yeah, sure-sure, I know. But this is ok, right?" he gave her a quick squeeze.
"Sure," she responded and cuddled closer, enjoying the warmth of his body.
There was nothing but the sound of a crackling fire and the occasional hoot of an owl nearby, and for a while the two enjoyed the silence and watched the stars, as the clouds dissipated.
"There's yours," Jake said, pointing to one of the brightest in the sky, "and there's mine," he continued, pointing to a star just opposite but equally as bright.
Bella smiled, "You've given me a star?"
"Sure thing," he replied, "It's the only way I can have you with me all the time, even during the day, and I know that you're still there, wandering through life beside me. We're two peas from the same pod Bells, but together, I think we make a pretty good team; no, a great team."
"We are pretty awesome," she chuckled keeping the mood light, "Hey, do you know any scary stories? Charlie always used to tell me scary stories when he dragged me on fishing trips as a kid and isn't there, like, some sort of rule, when you're camping and sitting around a fire? Scary camp stories are a must have!"
"Hmmm, scary stories, "he said thinking hard, "My mom used to tell us about Dásќiya when my and my sisters were little."
"Who's Das-keeya?" she replied, curious.
He wiggled, getting up from her side and standing in the flickering shadows of the fire, "Right, "he said, getting into storyteller mode.
"There was a woman, a long time ago, who live deep in the woods. She had wrinkly red skin and long slimy hair made of seaweed. And her eyes; were like those of a snake, beady and black like the night."
'He's enjoying this way too much'
"She carried a big basket on her back, made with her claw-like fingers and the reeds she weaved it with had been cut with her razor sharp teeth."
Bella raised an eyebrow, "Razor sharp teeth? Really; Jake? You're going there?"
He brushed her off, "No, listen. She was a nasty piece of work, she'd find children wandering alone in the woods, or misbehaving, and she would snatch them away, stick them in her basket and cover their eyes with pitch so they couldn't see where she would be taking them."
He squatted down beside her, screwing his nose up in both disgust and amusement, "but you know the most disturbing thing, and Mom, always swore this was true, when Dásќiya got back to her dwelling, she'd boil the kids up and eat'em!"
"Eww, Jake, that is disgustin…"
Suddenly, a loud bang sounded from the bushes just beyond their campfire and Jake dove to cover Bella instinctively.
Bella squealed, scrambling backwards, trying to melt into the log and clinging to Jake's large body that covered her. She saw a sudden blast of red light sparkle in the sky, closely followed by more explosions and colourful fireworks lighting up the campsite and for a few minutes, she was terrified.
Recovering quickly, Jake stood up and moved protectively in front of Bella.
"All right, you've had your fun, you losers, get out here!" He yelled.
The bushes moved violently, followed by the sound of two voices laughing hard in amusement. In seconds, Embry Call and Seth Clearwater emerged, holding their sides and smothering their chortles of laughter.
"You knew about this?" Bella gaped.
Jake turned around and grinned, "Nice huh?"
Bella yelled a long list of names at him before she too couldn't hold back her laughter and they were enjoying the moment as a group.
"Well aren't you the happy family?" Came a sarcastic drawl out of the dark.
Everyone turned to see the approaching visitor.
"Hey Leah" Seth greeted his sister, in his usual happy manner.
"Oh, hey Leah," Bella added, surprised to see her.
"What are you doing here?" Embry asked, straight to the point.
"Don't worry, I haven't come with official business," she said and casually collapsed next to Bella, "Well, not really," she added speaking to Bella directly, "I came to keep the testosterone levels at bay and save Bella from the war that is bound to follow over which of you boys has the bigger muscles."
Bella stifled her surprise, and looked up at Jake. He shrugged a response.
"Besides, someone had to stop you lot from killing yourselves on those motorcycles, although I imagine it'll only be their ego's getting the bruises," she attempted to give Bella a genuine smile.
Bella returned it, sincerely.
'This night is just getting more and more interesting,'
The night continued with the boys going over the bikes in detail and playing with the fire. Their ability to occupy themselves seemed to come more naturally than the conversation between Leah and Bella, at least to start with;
"You didn't have to come all the way out here for me Leah, I mean I appreciate it, but you didn't have to trouble yourself."
Leah shrugged, still lying casually by Bella, watching the fire.
"To be honest, I didn't come out here for you…"
"Oh…" Bella said quietly, returning her attention to the flames.
"Jake asked me to come… to make an effort, to try at see you, as he see's you."
"Really?" Bella asked in surprise, she quickly glanced over to where Jacob was collecting more wood for the fire and then back to Leah.
"Yeah," the girl said, turning to face her.
An awkward silence followed for a few moments, but then Leah started to share something Bella never expected.
"I've been a bitter person for a long time Bella. I've hated seeing you use and abuse Jake, but I understand now why you did it, why you had too…."
Bella wasn't sure what to say, she knew everything Leah said was true. She'd hurt Jake, wounded him and still she wouldn't… couldn't make him happy. She couldn't be the happiness he deserved and yet here he was, trying to get the one person Bella thought would never have anything to do with her to understand, to be a friend, to be family like he was family.
"Jakes a pretty awesome guy," Leah continued, "He's like…no" she stopped and corrected what she was about to say, "He's more than family to me. We get each other, we click. Watching him throw himself at you all the time is disgusting, but I also understand, at least to some extent, why you can't love him that way back."
Leah sighed, picking up a twig with her slim fingers and throwing it into the fire, "When you love someone as strongly as I suspect you love your….Cullen," she struggled to spit the name out, "no one else compares. They are your sun and your world all rolled into one. You revolve around them and worship them and when they love you back, there's nothing to describe it. You are theirs and they are yours."
Bella listened intently, an instant compassion for this other girl surfacing faster than she could think to hold it back and rationalize just where she may have been going with this conversation, but Bella had nothing to feel insecure about. She watched as a tear escaped and slid slowly down one of Leah's soft copper coloured cheeks.
"It was like that for Sam and Me, at least until Emily came down and then, I wasn't his sun anymore. I was his moon. A constant reminder of his past and the darkness that changed the way things were before… all of this happened." She motioned to the boys who were screwing around and now phasing in and out of their wolf form just to prove who was the most agile.
"Do you think;" Bella started tentatively, "that you'll ever imprint?"
Leah gave her a sad smile, "Maybe, one day… But what man is going to stick around for someone like this, one of them?" she said referring to her own ability and duty to phase in and out of wolf form.
Bella felt the sudden need to reach out and take Leah's hand, the native girl turned and looked at her in surprise.
"You're a beautiful, smart, strong and passionate woman Leah Clearwater. You're confident, level headed and these guys, Jake especially, appreciate you more than you could know… even with the whole 'I can read your thoughts' thing you guys have going on. You're not alone."
"Hey! You girls got the marsh mellows roasting yet or what?" said Embry loudly as he approached them at the fire, interrupting their deep and meaningful conversation.
Bella let Leah's hand drop from her own, but not before giving it a slight, reassuring squeeze and offering her warm smile, one Leah returned hesitantly, but at least this smile reached her eyes that were glistening with tears.
She wasn't sure, if they would ever be best friends, or even ever really close, but one thing Bella was positive about, Jacob was her best friend and these boys, and Leah, they were her family. They always would be; regardless of how each of their journeys turned out.
And that thought, made Bella sigh contentedly, and for the first time in so many months, she began to feel truly happy.