Author's Note: I know I haven't written anything in forever, but I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year, so I figured I'd better get back into a writing mood. And the only characters (aside from my own) that I want to write are Jacob-and-Bella. I reread New Moon recently and fell in love with them all over again, so this idea sprang forth. It's sort of like my other Twilight story, Five Times Jacob Black Kissed Bella Swan, but in this one, each 'way' is a lot longer. So I broke them up into chapters. These ideas are a little bit more formed than the little snapshots you get in Five Times (I'm also writing them out one at a time, and they take a while). Jacob and Bella could have happened easily, in a lot of different ways. Here, I'll focus on three ways our kids could've been happy. This first one is titled 'No Monsters, No Magic'. Bet you can't guess what this one's about...
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight, Bella, or anything else mentioned in this story aside from the idea itself. I am only responsible for their fictional corruption.
I.
Bella is seven when she spends her first real summer in Forks.
She's sitting outside in the chilly, June air. At least it isn't raining. Charlie's taken her down to La Push. He's watching a Mariners game with Billy. And Bella had been lumped with Rachel-and-Rebecca, Billy's twin daughters who were just a few years older than she was. But the twins were much more interested in trying to swim the surely frigid waters down by First Beach and Bella had never been a strong swimmer. Besides, she was wearing her good shoes.
So she's perched on a log around the now silent fire. Last night, there had been a bonfire. She can still smell the hint of dying flames on the air. Bella has The Chronicles of Narnia propped open on her lap, though she really is too young to read it all on her own. She recognizes most of the words, but some are too big for her and they make her eyebrows pull together at the center. She frowns and tries to decide what suspicious means.
An old truck rumbles up into the Blacks' driveway behind Charlie's cruiser. Bella's gaze lifts from the weathered pages of Forks Library's C.S. Lewis novel and to the red pickup truck. It's old and makes a lot of noise, but that old truck seems homey somehow, familiar. Sarah Black hops out of the cab and waves at her.
"Hi, Bella! You probably don't remember me…"
"Sure I do," Bella says, grinning faintly. "You make really good Christmas cookies…"
Sarah smiles faintly and shrugs her shoulders. "Well, thanks. The girls out at the beach?" Bella nods, watching as a little, dark-haired boy leaps from the passenger seat and onto the ground. He lands in a crouch and Bella notices the same dark skin-tone of his sisters. The little boy's hair is long, and worn in a loose ponytail. Sarah sighs and pulls her son up by a hand. "Come on, Blackbear, be careful." The little boy grins impishly, dimples poking out.
Bella finds his smile warm and inviting, even if she doesn't know him personally. "Go play. But don't get in the water. Understand?" He nods and runs off, arms swinging beside him. He pauses near the fire pit, head tilted a bit to the side as he surveys this newcomer.
He stares at Bella.
Bella stares back, though she feels rude and looks away first.
"Hi," he says, sticking out his hand. It's covered in dirt. "I'm Jacob. Jacob Black."
She takes his hand. "Bella Swan."
-
Jacob is ten.
He has a lot of friends. Embry and Quil have been his left and right hand since kindergarten. Paul and Jared play with them sometimes, too. Little Seth Clearwater follows him around like a little lost puppy.
But nothing's quite the same as his 'summer friend'. During the summers, Embry's mother sends him off to camp in Oregon and Quil goes to visit his aunt in Portland for three weeks. Those weeks of Jacob Black's summers had always been bleak and boring. But ever since that fateful day many years ago, he's found someone else to fill that void.
It's not quite the same, because she likes to read and she doesn't like swimming and riding bikes like Quil and Embry do. But it doesn't really matter. She'll read her books and watch him try to fix Paul's broken bike. They'll watch bad movies and sometimes Bella will read to him. And his summer goes by more quickly than he'd ever imagined.
June melts into July and July fades into August, and soon, the somewhat warm air of Forks is getting chilly again and Bella's stopping by to say goodbye. She fidgets a little bit and Jacob thinks she looks sad.
Jacob grins at her and shrugs. "Don't worry, Bella," he says. "You'll see me next summer. You can't get rid of me that easy."
She laughs and it sounds like Bells. Bells, Jacob thinks. I'll call her Bells.Jacob gives a little sigh and holds out a bracelet made of different colored string, all braided. One end has a loop to tie it off, and there's a single, little wooden charm on the end. It's the sun. "I made this for you, Bells," Jacob says, looking away sheepishly. His fingers rake through his hair and his shoulders raise and fall in a shrug. "I can be with you all the time. Sort of."
"Thanks, Jake." Bella smiles softly and lets his nimble fingers tie the bracelet to her right wrist. She admires his work and sighs. A little bit of sunlight in Forks…That's just what Jacob was to her. And she'd take a little bit more sun back to Phoenix with her now.
-
Bella is thirteen.
It's dark and she can barely see two feet in front of her face. She trips several times, but Jacob's always there to catch her arm and steady her. "Whoa there, Bells," he says as they reach the bonfire pit. "Careful. Wouldn't want to have to take you to the hospital…" He grins an easy grin and she automatically smiles back. It's a natural reaction that she can't really help…He's always such a happy person that his good mood just seems to spread to everyone else.
"Why do you guys have to do these things when it's dark, anyway?" Bella complains as she sinks down onto one of the logs around a roaring fire. Her left hand is toying with the little wooden sun charm at the end of her bracelet. She's never taken it off. Not yet.
"Because," Jacob says, sighing and sliding his hands into his pockets. He's still standing, and Bella finds that strange. Jake always sits next to her. He's shifting his wait from foot to foot, almost anxiously, and his smile has disappeared, though there's the faint undertone of laughter in his voice. "It usually needs to be dark to have a bonfire, Bella." He rolls his eyes at her.
Bella sighs and stretches her legs out towards the fire. She's cold. Granted, wearing shorts in Forks wasn't the wisest thing to do, but it was July for God's sake! She's glad she has Jacob's oversized sweatshirt to compensate for her lack of preparation, but she vaguely wonders if he's cold. Jacob looks odd silhouetted by the fire, half of his profile cast in shadow, and the other half lit up orange by the flames. He looks like he's thinking. Hard.
"Jake?"
"Hmm?"
"What exactly are we-" He holds up a hand to stop her and jerks his head toward the middle of the pit. An older boy Bella's heard Jacob call Sam is standing at the center of a group of kids, all noticeably the same age –or younger- than he is. Bella's one of the oldest here and she wonders what this bonfire is about anyway.
"When the moon is round and full," Sam Uley says, stepping around the fire and throwing in a mixture of feathers and spices and sand. They catch in the wind and swirl for a moment before the fire engulfs them, flames licking up the feathers before they disappear completely. Bella is mesmerized, but she notices out of the corner of her eye that Jacob is watching her, his lips curled up in the shadow of a smile. "We are closest to our brothers in the forest. And we would do best to remember…"
He paused then, and Bella thinks that something big is about to happen. She leans forward expectantly, and is surprised when Sam Uley makes eye contact with Jacob. Jacob nods and takes a step forward. "The legend claims that we descended from wolves…and that the wolves are our brothers still…"
He speaks with an eloquence that doesn't sound like an eleven-year-old boy. He weaves a tale of wolves and humans, of wives and husbands, of wars and warriors. And Bella can't look away, not even for a minute.
Jacob tells her later that he doesn't believe the stories, but Billy does. And he just wants to make his dad happy.
-
Bella turns fourteen.
She decides that she's too old to be running off to Forks every summer and has Charlie come and visit her instead.
No one tells Jacob this. He spends an entire week sitting on his front porch and waiting for Charlie's cruiser to roll up. It never does, and Jacob worries.
It's not until he answers a phone call from Charlie asking what's happening with the Mariners because they don't get their games down in Phoenix that Jacob realizes she's not coming this year.
He hangs up the phone with a lingering sense of loss.
-
Bella still wears the bracelet.
Stubbornly, obstinately, the little sun charm presses against her wrist as she rests her arm on her desk during school. When she writes, it falls into her palm in an almost annoying way. But she can't bring herself to take it off. The ends of the yarn are fraying and she's broken off a few of the sun's rays, but it reminds her of Jacob.
And she does think about him, sometimes, and she feels bad about not keeping in touch with him…But the feeling bad comes less often than the thinking about him. After all, Jacob Black is nothing but a childhood friend and she's growing up now.
One day, while Bella is taking a shower, the bracelet's strings come apart. The yarn frays and she tosses it away. She keeps the little sun charm, but it's shoved into a drawer of her jewelry box, only to be forgotten.
The boy who gave it to her follows not long after.
-
Jacob is fifteen when Bella moves to Forks.
He is excited to have his friend back, of course, but he's a little wary. After all, she left without a warning three years ago. But he can't be mad at her long, because she's Bella and he's Jacob and they just fit. As soon as he hops out of his father's old truck, he grins. And, as if no time has passed, a slow smile spreads across Bella's face, too.
"Hey, Bells." Bella doesn't miss the fact that his eyes automatically dart down to her wrist or the faint frown when he notices she's not wearing his bracelet. But it doesn't linger and soon he's smiling again, face all white teeth and dimples. "Long time no see."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Bella does him the courtesy of looking ashamed and looks at the ground. Jacob shrugs. "So, what brings you guys here?"
"Charlie and Billy are going to watch the game." He pauses and pats the rusty, red truck affectionately. "And I think you're getting something out of it, too."
"What? Really?" Bella's eyes widen and she pulls open the driver's side drawer of the truck. "It's mine?"
"Sure, sure," he says, nodding. "I actually fixed it up. The clutch is a little shaky, but it still runs alright." Jacob chuckles softly, a low, throaty sound. "Actually, I'm glad you like it. I had to get rid of it so Billy will let me start work on my Volkswagen…"
"You fixed it." Bella doesn't sound surprised. Jacob has always been good with his hands.
-
Bella is seventeen when she has her first 'serious' boyfriend.
His name is Mike Newton and he's adorable in that puppy-dog sort of way. He'd liked her since her very first day at Forks High and, after getting to know him, she'd decided to take him up on his offer. Movies, prom, the works. And they're good together. Mike was everything a first boyfriend should be. He was kind and he loved her and she (might have) loved him, too.
But like all good things, Mike-and-Bella came to an end. It was a rough end, really, with Bella getting fed up with Mike's constant presence in her life. She never had any time alone…And once she'd told him that, Mike seemed to get the hint. He wasn't around as much. He gave Bella her space. And she even started to miss him a bit. She missed his wry grin and his tousled blond hair and those pale blue eyes. She missed the way he said I love you, Bella and seemed to really mean it.
So, late one Saturday night, Bella drove her truck to Mike's house. She knocked, but no one answered, and so she used the spare key under the mat. And she walked right in on Mike Newton cheating on her with Jessica Stanley.
That was the end of it. Bella didn't think she'd be so upset, considering she'd been thinking of ending it only weeks previous, but she was. First loves are always hard to get over, and Mike Newton was no different. But even when he came to Charlie's doorstep with chocolates and flowers begging for her forgiveness, Bella refused. Not because she didn't forgive him (because they still remained friends) but because she knew he wasn't 'the one'. High school relationships were meant to end, and theirs had.
-
Jacob Black came over to look at Bella's truck soon after her breakup.
The truck's brakes had been acting up lately and Billy had said Jacob would know how to fix it. Even though she'd pretty much solidified her breakup with Mike herself, Bella still wasn't particularly happy about it. But she'd spent two days sitting in her room listening to Linkin Park and decided she needed some sort of distraction. So she walked downstairs and plopped herself on the porch steps to watch Jacob work.
She was silent for a while, just watching as he leaned over the hood of the truck, every so often pausing to reach for a tool in the box at his feet. His muscles would tense as he loosened something here or tighten as he reached for something farther back in the hood. And once or twice, the bottom of his t-shirt would slip up just a little bit, so she could see a thin strip of dark skin beneath the white fabric. She was beginning to feel self-conscious and wondered whether she should leave when Jacob spoke.
"I've known you were there for the last five minutes, Bells." Bella's eyes widen. "If you wanted to look, all you had to do was ask…"
Bella blushed, but stayed, just to talk. Jacob Black was a good listener. He listens to her rant about Mike, and Jessica, and life. And, after he fixes the valve that needed replacing and wipes his dirty hands on his clean t-shirt, he leans against the hood of the truck and shrugs. "Maybe you just need time to yourself." He raises his eyebrows at her in a knowing sort of way. Bella frowns.
A car pulls up to the driveway and honks. Jacob turns to go. He pauses, throws a look over his shoulder, and says, "Come see me sometime. I miss you, y'know." And then he's gone and Bella's left wondering what exactly just happened.
-
Bella doesn't wait long to go and see him. It's only the next day that she makes a spot for herself in his garage, sits down in the passenger seat of the Rabbit, and reads gossip magazines as he works. Almost every day after school is spent with Jacob, either watching him work on his car, or a pair of old motorbikes Embry found by the side of the road, or walking along the beach. Jacob likes to talk, which is nice, because sometimes Bella doesn't have much to say. But sometimes, they just walk in silence, and Jacob always takes the opportunity to take her hand in his and swing it absently. He never says anything, but Bella thinks he might be thinking of her as more than a friend.
And a nagging voice in the back of her head says she might be thinking the same thing.
-
"Come on, Bella," Jacob sighs.
"Are you trying to kill me, Jake? I trip over my own feet on a daily basis!"
"But I'll be driving the entire time! All you need to do is hold on." He doesn't let her get another word in and hands a helmet off to her. Bella stares at him, but it doesn't look like he's backing down. So, with a resigned sigh, she shoves the helmet onto her head and adjusts the buckle. Jacob's already on the seat of the sleek, black motorcycle. It's huge. Bella hesitates.
"Bella," Jacob says, his voice losing the irritated tone it had held just moments before. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." He pats the seat beside him and, without much hesitation, she comes to sit behind him. She does hesitate on where to put her hands. At first, she just sets them on top of his shoulders, but Jacob's getting so tall that it's a bit awkward. Jacob barks out a laugh, a deep, echoing sound crawling from his chest.
"Jeez, Bells," he says, moving to wrap her arms loosely around his waist. "For someone who doesn't want to die, you've got a pretty weak grip…" And then, without warning, he starts the bike and releases the clutch and then they're flying. Jacob's hair, even in its ponytail, whips about in the breeze as he leans low over the handlebars. Bella's heart is in her throat, her arms in a death grip around his waist. She buries her face into his back and jams her eyes shut. Watching all of the trees zoom passed as blurs of green is making her sick.
But this, her face buried into the leather of Jacob's jacket, her arms wrapped tightly around him, the wind whistling passed, isn't so bad. In fact, she thinks she might like it.
-
"I want to go cliff diving."
Jacob looks up from the inside of the Rabbit, eyebrows arching back towards his hairline. He cleans out his ears with a finger. "What? I must have misheard you…"
Bella sticks her tongue out at him and leans forward on her seat. "The other day you said you guys do it for fun." She tips her head to the side, trying to gauge his reaction. But Jacob's always been better at reading Bella than the other way around. "Besides, it's your fault for giving me a taste of adrenaline with those bikes."
"The bikes are different." Jacob sets the wrench he's holding down and reaches for the can of soda resting on his workbench. He takes a sip before continuing. "See, I control the bike when we're riding. You'd have to jump all on your own and, knowing you, you might hit your head on the way down and get a concussion."
Bella rolls her eyes. "Thank you for that vote of confidence, Jake."
Jacob shrugs. "I speak the truth."
Bella doesn't respond directly, because he's half right. "Well, why don't you go first and show me how to do it. And then you'd be down there to save me if I start to drown." Jacob doesn't shoot the idea down right away. In fact, he seems to be considering. After a moment, he sighs loudly and speaks.
"Okay, okay. Let's do this." Jacob's already pulling off his tool belt and heading for the garage door.
Bella's eyes widen. "Now?"
"Well, yeah. Unless you're scared." Jacob raises his eyes in a challenge. Bella stares at him for a moment before getting to her feet and following him.
"Fine!"
So they take the truck up to the cliffs (Jacob insists on the lower one) and prepare to dive. The wind is harsh against her face, and Bella reaches to pull her hair back in a ponytail. Her hands are shaking, so it takes a few minutes. Jacob's staring at her with a look that says I-told-you-so. What he actually says is- "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes," Bella replies, not because she is sure, but because she doesn't want to let Jacob know she's scared out of her mind. "Now show me what to do." Jacob toes the edge of the cliff, takes a deep breath, and jumps. It looks effortless –like all he did was just fall right off the cliff. Still, she breathes a sigh of relief when his dark head breaks the surface of the water. She can do that. Right?
Bella walks to the edge of the cliff and takes a deep breath. The air is colder up here and the wind is harsh against her skin. It would be easy to just drive the truck down and meet him, but Jacob is waving up at her and she thinks he's smirking. And no way she's going to let him be right.
She jumps.
It's the scariest three seconds of her life, and that thing about life flashing before your eyes is totally true. Except all Bella saw was Jacob. Seventeen years of Jacob Black. She saw a little boy getting out of his mother's car, the same boy at a funeral, an older, but still grinning, Jacob giving her a friendship bracelet. Jacob telling stories. Jacob fixing her car…Jacob's hand in hers on the beach, Jacob's motorcycle, Jacob's warm, inviting smile…
And then she hit the water. Hard. Bella struggled for a moment, the waves giving her a beating. But then she's at the surface, gulping fresh air greedily, but she can't recall even moving. There are warm arms wrapped around her and Jacob's voice is in her ear.
"Jesus, Bella," he says, breathless. "Daydreaming while cliff diving?"
-
Bella and Jacob go to a movie.
It's Halloween, and the new slasher flick is out. It's Jacob's choice, of course. Bella absolutely hates the sight of blood. But when they get to the theatre, tickets for that show are sold out. Instead, they buy tickets to the corny new romantic movie, based on Romeo and Juliet. Jacob grudgingly buys his, muttering about wanting to go home and work on the Rabbit. Bella nudges his side with her elbow and buys him a large popcorn. This keeps him quiet through the credits.
"Oh, please," Jacob says, rolling his eyes as the film begins. He claims the armrest and leans his head on his fist, but as the film progresses, Jacob becomes more and more interested. He leans forward in his seat, brow furrowing more and more until the point when Paris and Romeo fight.
"This is stupid," Jacob hisses, pointing at the screen. "She's known Romeo for like a day and Paris forever and she's still going after Romeo! She could be happy with Paris, probably, if she gave the guy a chance." He sounds annoyed and a little hurt. His hand is back on the armrest, palm up.
Bella blinks at him, gaze torn away from the screen. Jacob watches Paris fall with somber eyes and Bella reaches for his hand and gives it a soft squeeze. Jacob is surprised, but he squeezes her hand back lightly. "Well, Jake," Bella breathes. "This play is all about star-crossed lovers. But do you know how often that happens in real life?"
Jacob smirks. "Not very often."
"Right. Besides, it's not like I even have a Romeo."
Jacob seems content with that answer and he settles in to watch the rest of the movie. He doesn't give her hand back, though.
Bella doesn't pay much attention to the rest. She might not have a Romeo, but she did have a Paris…
-
"Ah, Bella?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you something?"
Bella looks up at him, her eyebrows raising over her magazine. He's caught her attention now. "You already did."
"Right. Well…" Jacob's flustered. He's standing over by his finished car, the hood popped open, though he's not even looking at it. He trails his fingers through his hair and looks at the worn laces of his tennis shoes. "Do you want to…do something Friday night?" He sounds dubious.
"I thought we already had plans?"
"Yeah, right. Well…how about something different?" He's hedging. Bella sets her magazine down and sits up from her sprawled out position in the passenger seat of the Rabbit.
"Like what?"
"Well," Jacob says, drawing out the word. He's still not looking at her. "Would you maybe…go to my Junior Prom with me? I know it's lame and all but Billy suggested it and I just-"
Bella finds his rambling sort of adorable. She holds up a hand to stop him. "Of course I'll go with you, Jake."
He blinks. "Really?"
"Sure, sure."
-
So Jacob picks her up in the Rabbit on Friday night and he gives her a blue flower because it's her favorite color. It clashes horrible with her red dress but she doesn't mind. She even wears it all night just to make sure he doesn't feel bad about it. He wears a suit and takes the jacket off halfway through dinner. His tie is blue, too, matching her flower and not the dress. The photographer grumbles about making the picture black and white so no one will notice. Bella tells him not to bother and that she'd like it the way it is.
Quil and Embry sit with them and Bella makes small talk with their dates. But mostly, she looks at Jacob, who keeps fiddling with something in his pocket. She wonders what it is, but doesn't ask, because he's Jake and she's Bella and she's sure he'll tell her eventually. They dance and they request crazy 80's songs and they laugh a lot. But mostly, they just sit. Jacob's not much into dancing.
But when the DJ gives his final curtain call and the slow music begins drifting out of the speakers, Jacob turns to Bella and holds out his hand. "Wanna dance?" She nods and he leads her to the dance floor. His hands are hesitant as they settle upon her waist and Bella wraps her arms around his neck. They sway back and forth to the music and Bella worries about stepping on his feet. Jacob chuckles and leans down to whisper in her ear.
"Don't worry about it. I can carry you." And, just like that, she's standing on top of Jacob's dress shoes and he's moving them gently back and forth. Without having to worry about stomping all over his feet, she can let herself enjoy this more. Bella's head rests upon his chest and she can feel his heartbeat thudding from his chest to her ear. It's fast-paced, as if he's nervous. This thought makes her smile.
"Hey, Jake?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for asking me."
"No worries."
-
They drive home in silence. Jacob's tie is thrown somewhere in the backseat and Bella's kicked her shoes off. The radio is playing softly in the background, but, for the most part, it's quiet. But it's not the awkward kind of silence that most people dread. For Jacob and Bella, they can share a silence and still feel comfortable, like home. Bella finally breaks the silence."So, was it as bad as you thought?"
He shakes his head, but doesn't turn his gaze away from the road. "No. Not with you there."
"Good."
"Did you have fun, Bells?"
"I did. Thanks again, Jake." He shrugs his shoulders like it wasn't his fault she had a good time at all. The Rabbit pulls into the driveway. The front lights are still on. Charlie's still awake, then, probably waiting up for her. Bella sighs at the thought and pushes her door open. "Great. Now I have to put these heels back on…"
"No you don't." Jacob's already at her door and he opens his arms for her. She gives him a look that says she has no idea what he's doing. Jacob sighs and lifts her from her seat. "At least let me pretend to be a gentleman for one night…"Bella squeaks softly as he carries her to the front porch. She's got her shoes in one hand and the other is wrapped firmly around his neck for balance. He sets her promptly on her feet once they reach the porch. "Well," he says, hands in his pockets again. "Goodnight, Bella." He pauses for a moment, expression thoughtful, and then he leans forward to press his lips lightly against hers. Jacob breaks away and steps back, but Bella's arm is around his neck again, her breath warm against his face as she pulls him back. Her lips open and close over his, tight and soft. Jacob is motionless for but a second before his lips respond, gentle at first, but eager. Her arms are around his neck and his hands are at her waist and they break apart only when they need to breathe.
Jacob's grinning in a bemused sort of way and Bella's touching her lips with her fingertips. His hand is in his pocket again. He finally withdraws the object inside, a silver bracelet with a single charm upon it. It reminds her of one from very long ago, but this one is more durable and the charm is different. It's a little wooden wolf and Bella recalls the campfire stories from summers passed. He reaches for her wrist and fastens the bracelet there, still grinning faintly. "I figured you'd need something a little bit stronger than string this time…"
Bella admires the bracelet and then promptly throws her arms around his neck, burying her face into his chest and inhaling the scent of pine trees and motor oil and Jacob that she's come to love so much. His arms loop around her waist and it feels like home. The door behind them opens and Charlie steps out. He glances between Jacob and Bella and sighs loudly.
"It's about time…"