Title: Sunshine

Pairing: Jacob x Bella

Summary: When shy, introverted Bella Swan hits Jacob Black with her truck one rainy night, her whole life changes. And in that night, she decided that she, though loathing the male race, would like him. But he had a secret that wasn't his to tell. A beast lurked within, and he was determined never to hurt her like he did the others. "You're the closest I'll ever be to heaven," he murmured. "So I'll enjoy you while I still can, sunshine."

Author's Note: Yup, it's me again! I'm back to the Twilight fandom...I think...but anyways, I've had little muses here and there that inspired me to start writing this fic. So please, feedback is like, everything. 'Cause I don't know if I will continue this if people don't seem too enthralled with it. Anyways, this is rated M for later chapters if you know what I mean ;)

Chapter One:

The rain pelted down on the rusty old truck as she drove through the pouring rain. Of course, she was used to it. It was Washington, after all.

Working at a bar and waiting tables wasn't exactly Bella's cup of tea, but she put up with it. Whatever got her some money to pay her bills was good enough. And that meant she had to endure all of the catcalls that the greasy bar-dwelling men gave.

One would call Bella an introvert. She hated being around too many people at once (it was a wonder she could do her own job, but she had to work somewhere) and didn't even talk to her own father.

Bella's father was a police chief. It was a long story, and she'd probably stay on the topic of why she and her father didn't get along for a full twenty four hours.

Besides her two co-workers Lauren and Angelina, she didn't really talk to anyone in particular. She hated being surrounded by large groups of people who were talking and chatting and having a great time.

It just wasn't her forte to be outgoing. But the funny thing about Bella Swan was that the petite brunette could be outgoing with someone she felt comfortable with. She could seem like the funniest, most intelligent and outgoing person if she really felt like the person she was talking to was worth spending time being talked to.

Bella turned the corner in the road, her headlights casting a bright shadow down onto the wet road before her.

It had been a long day at the bar. She'd spent at least an hour being tormented by a man named Joseph. He'd buggered her for her number, but she didn't want to give it to him. She'd taken to calling him 'Greasy Joe' but it still didn't drive him away. It wasn't until the manager, Mike, took the drunken gentleman out of the bar.

She had a pounding headache and the storm was making it hard for her to see the road clearly. She used her free hand to rub her aching temples in small circular motions. She flipped on the radio, and out swam tunes from some old radio station that no one ever listened to, except her.

"Chimney falls and lovers blaze, thought that I was young…" Bella gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, sighing as the heat kissed her chilled knuckles. She wasn't the best singer, but she had no one to impress anyways. "Now I've freezing hands and bloodless veins, as numb as I've become."

She yawned, cutting off the next verse.

I'm so tired

I wish I was the moon tonight

Last night I dreamt I'd forgotten my name

"Cause I sold my soul but I walk just the same," she yawned again, rubbing at her eyes. The windshield wipers flicked away the rain in rhythm with the song, flicking crystal beads of water to the sides of the glass. "I'm so lonely…I wish I was the moon tonight."

The moon was a beautiful full moon, shining brightly against the rain clouds up above. She stepped on the gas pedal a little harder, making the rusty old truck go a little faster down the road.

She needed to get back home so she could have her nightly cup of tea and dip her aching bones in the water of a hot bath. "That would be lovely," she whispered, just thinking about her tea and bath.

Thunder rumbled and lightning flickered across the sky. The simple rainstorm had quickly turned into a thunderstorm. It wasn't uncommon in May, but they still frightened her from time to time. Her father Charlie had called to check in on her the last time they'd had a thunderstorm and it blew out the power. Bella was curled up by the fireplace with a blanket, a book, and of course, her cup of tea.

Just as she was thinking about it, her pink cellphone buzzed on the dashboard and distracted her for a split second. It was Charlie, probably calling to check on her. But she didn't talk and drive. She had a hard enough time concentrating on driving without someone blabbing in her ear about being safe.

It was in that split second that Bella's whole entire world changed. She looked up when she saw a flash of brown and a thump against the front of her truck. She hit the brakes as fast as she could, stopping the truck from making whatever had collided with her truck a total pancake.

The music streamed loudly from the truck. Bella's heart pounded as she contemplated what to do. She sat frozen, her mouth in an 'O' shape and her eyes as wide as saucers. She'd just hit an animal. She brought her frightened eyes to the road in front of her.

The lights casted down on the figure of a naked young man, curled up in a fetal position in front of her truck. "Holy crow," she whimpered. She hadn't hit an animal. She hit a person—a real live human being.

A loud clap of thunder snapped her out of her frightened trance and triggered her to race out of the truck. The rain pelted her like it was shunning her. To Bella it felt like she had stones being thrown at her.

But she disregarded it and flew to the young man's side. He was shivering, seemingly unharmed except for a gash across his tattooed arm and a split lip. She put her shaky hands on him, her breath coming out in panicked huffs of air.

"Oh my gosh. Are you okay? Mister, are you hurt?" Bella turned him over onto his back and looked into his eyes. He squeezed them shut in pain and cradled his right arm protectively. "Your arm…does it hurt?" she asked him.

He nodded. "I think it's fractured," he murmured. She was almost surprised at his voice. It was a smooth baritone bass and glided easily through her ears.

She was soaking wet, and felt like a drowned rat. Probably looked like one too. She pushed her drenched hair out of her face and helped him sit up. "Come on—I'll take you to the hospital. It's only a mile away, I think."

She tried to stay calm when he shook his head. "I'll be fine," he stubbornly said. "You go." Bella looked at him, completely aghast.

She took off her navy blue jacket and handed it to him so he could cover his privates. "Are you crazy or something? I…I mean, I just hit you with my truck. Mister—you need to get checked out."

He shook his shoulder length black hair out of his face. He wrapped the jacket around his waist and held onto Bella's arm like a koala bear. "My name's Jacob," he gruffly said.

She looked at him momentarily before sighing. "It's nice to meet you. Now get in the truck, please." He took her hand and stood up to his full height of 6'7, making the brunette feel extremely inferior. 5'4 was not a small height, but she felt like a total shrimp next to the man.

She helped him to the passenger side of her truck, and he sat down on the seat with a wince of pain. "I am seriously so sorry."

He shook his head. She shut the door and scurried through the rain to the other side of the truck. She hopped into the other seat and groaned as she felt her sneakers squish and her skin press up against soggy jeans and a soggy shirt.

She kicked up the heat, because she was freezing now that she was wet. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No!" Jacob shouted at her. "Don't. You can't take me to the hospital. You gotta take me home…my dad, he'll know what to do."

She raised her eyebrows and glanced at him through her peripherals. "Your dad will know what to do with a fractured arm? Is he like a doctor or something?"

Jacob shook his head. "No. But please—take me home."

Her shoulders slumped a little. She was defeated. "Fine…but where do you live?" He used his free hand to point down the road.

He glanced over at her. "I live on the Quileute Reservation."

Bella's ears perked up at that. "You do?" A nod from him. "Great!" she squealed. "I live near there—just on the outskirts of the Res. Sometimes I visit there to get this really good tea and honey that some women on the Res make for me."

He sighs and glances at her, clearly unamused. Suddenly he gasps and cradles his head in his hands and from his mouth emits an awful shriek of pain (or so she thought). She began to panic slightly.

"Oh my gosh, I killed you, didn't it? Please don't die—I'm so, so, sorry!" Bella was fussing about, while Jacob sat in the seat and fought the images racing through his head. He didn't know what was going on, really. He'd never experienced this type of feeling before. He needed to get back home to talk to the council, his father, and Sam.

Jacob's hand slithered over the dashboard and grasped her flapping hand and squeezed, stopping her mini-freak out. "You're…you're fine. Just drive faster! My address is 8320 La Push Road. It's the small red rancher with the big garage."

She stepped on the pedal, making the truck speed down the slippery road. She was going as fast as she could. "You sure you're okay?" she asked him. He nodded his head. She watched a droplet of his dark red blood slide down his cheek before shivering and turning her eyes back to the road.

He cleared his throat, leaning his head against the truck's window. "I told you mine," he whispered. She didn't quite hear him right, leaning closer to hear what he said. "I told you mine," he repeated a little louder.

"Oh!" she murmured, shaking her head. "Of course. I'm Bella Swan. I would shake your hand if I wasn't driving."

He laughed at her. Bella wasn't a funny person, and she was bad at making jokes. And she wasn't even trying to make him laugh with that comment. She was just stating the truth. "Takes the tension off, Bella," he said.

"What does?" she asked.

"Laughing," he told her. "Distracting myself. There's a lot on my mind right now."

She looked out towards the road and nodded. "There's a lot on my mind too, Jim."

He laughed again. "It's Jacob, not Jim."

She felt herself blushing, the red heat spreading like wildfire up her cheeks. "I'm such a brick-head. Sorry, Jacob-not-Jim."

He smiled. "It's alright, sunshine."

She turned down the road that led to the Quileute Reservation and sped up a little. "Sunshine? I'm about as dull as the sky before one of these rainstorms."

He looked at her, his breath coming in short puffs. "When you blush, it's like a glow." Her eyes widen at the notion that he noticed when she was blushing like a silly old fool. "You've got bright eyes, you know? And I guess that you just seem like the kind of person that brings…uh, people happiness."

Her face fell. "I wish that were the truth."

He looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" She shook her head, dismissing him.

"It's not worth talking about really," she told him, giving a little smile. "Anyways…how old are you?"

"Eighteen."

She almost choked on her own spit. "Jesus, Jim—er, Jacob—you like you're twenty five years old! I mean…holy crow."

He nodded his head and gave her an amused little grin. "Sure haven't gotten that one before, sunshine," he said sarcastically.

Sunshine. Now that was a horrible nickname, if she ever heard one. She'd rather be called Shithole than Sunshine, because that way the nickname was true.

"Don't call me that," she whispered.

"Hey—" he snapped at her. "You just hit me with your vehicle. I think you owe me. So you can repay by letting me call you sunshine whenever you want."

She frowned and searched for his house in the dark. "It'll annoy me."

"I don't care." Then he added, "Sunshine."

She saw the red house a block away, and stepped on the gas pedal to get him there as fast as possible. "I think I see it, Jacob. 8320 is your house number, am I right?" The young man nodded.

She pulled into the driveway, hearing the gravel crunch beneath her tires. Before she'd even shut off the car, Jacob dashed out of the truck and hobbled on bare-feet over the gravel and up to the ramp that led to the front door.

It was funny watching him, really. He was drenched and the only article of clothing she had on was her soaking wet jacket wrapped around his waist. She scrambled after him and caught him just before his father opened the door.

A short man in a wheelchair opened the door. He wore a cowboy hat and had black hair similar to Jacob's, except it was longer and had feathers strung in it. "Son, I thought you were doing your first patro…" Jacob's father trailed off when he noticed the mousy, drenched girl standing next to his 6'7 foot son. "Hello. Who are you?"

Bella blushed and shook Jacob's father's outstretched hand. "That's Sunshine," Jacob told his father. She blushed even harder and scowled at him slightly. She just met this guy, and yet he was teasing her like he'd known her for ages.

"No, my name is Bella Swan." She gave Jacob's father a small smile.

"I'm Billy," the old man said, pushing his wheelchair back a little. "It's nice to meet you. What relation are you to Jake? Are you his girlfriend?"

She looked surprised, but she wouldn't have minded showing up as the beautiful Native American man's girlfriend. "No!" she told Billy. "I hit your son with my truck."

Billy's mouth fell open and his eyes widened. "You…you what?"

Bella blushed so hard that time that she thought she'd permanently turn pink. "Holy crow, I didn't mean that. I mean, I did hit him with your truck, but I didn't mean for it to come out like that…so crudely."

Billy nodded before turned his head toward his son. "You're alright?"

Jacob shrugged his shoulders and stepped inside, still cradling his arm. "Yeah, pretty much. Think I've got a fractured arm, though." Billy tugged his son inside and began to shut the door in her face.

But Jacob caught the door with his uninjured hand. "Wait!" he called after her, stopping her from walking away. She turned back to him and when her big brown eyes connected with his, he felt his heart jump a little. "Will…will I see you again?"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

Billy watched his son talk to the frail girl with more interest than he'd ever talked to someone. And lately his son had been going through a rough patch with his new 'transformation' and he'd taken it harder than any of the other guys had.

"Well…where do you work?" he asked her.

"Mill Creek Bar and Grill," she whispered. "I work the late shift—it starts at 5:30 and ends at 9:30. That's probably why I hit you with my truck."

He shrugged. "Yeah, probably." She blushed and smiled slightly before retreating to her truck. "Sunshine?" he called after her again. She turned around in the rain and stared at him. "Maybe I'll see you there, huh?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, probably." He smiled at her for mimicking his sentence. He closed the door slowly, rushing over to the window to watch her pull out of his driveway.

She sighed and saw him through the window watching her. She backed out of Jacob's gravel driveway and drove down the road. She was a wet rat and desperately craved a hot bath and a hot cup of tea and a session with the fireplace, the couch, and a good book.

Jacob was different than the other guys. He was very different. And she'd already seen him naked, so the tension of that was already gone. So with that, Isabella Swan, the despiser of all men out there, decided that she would like this Jacob.

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Please review! Love counts a lot (: You will be the judge!

Courtney xx