Little Jake N' Bells

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-this story is dedicated to my niece who loves stories about young Jake and Bella. This is for you Amy!

Chapter 1-Fishing

Jake put on his wellingtons and raincoat, he made sure to pull the hood up because his mom had told him that he could catch a cold if he got wet. He lifted up his miniature fishing rod; the exact replica of his dad's and grinned. It had been his special birthday present for his fourth birthday; it was a bright red colour, his favourite. He had been begging his mom and dad for weeks to buy him one, his best friend Quil had a blue version and had been boasting that it was way better than any fishing rod that anyone else owned. Jake had become annoyed by Quil's bragging and had told him loudly that he could catch more fish with his red fishing rod. Quil had shaken his head mutinously and the two had finally settled the argument after fighting it out. Jake had emerged the victor and a sullen Quil had declared they were no longer friends, which only lasted until lunch time because by then they had forgotten what they had argued about.

Today Jake and his dad were going to be joined on their fishing trip by his dad's best friend, Charlie Swan. Jake liked Charlie Swan because he always failed to catch any fish. His dad would tease him, which made Jake laugh, as he saw Charlie's moustache bristle in annoyance. Jake wanted one of those when he was grown up. His mom had told Jake that all boys got hairy when they were older and would have liked his dad to grow one, just to see if it would suit him. Jake had asked his dad about that and he had burst out laughing. His dad said he had enough trouble keeping the tangles out of the long hair on his head without having to maintain a caterpillar along his lip. Jake had escaped to the yard and dug for a worm, he had taken it into the bathroom and laid it along his top lip just to see if a moustache would suit him. He had smiled at his reflection in the mirror and thought he was definitely a handsome boy, like his mom always told him.

Jake trudged out into the yard, holding his fishing rod carefully out in front of him. His two sisters, Rebecca and Rachel were hanging around his dad, demanding to come along for the trip.

"Sorry girls not this time. This is a man's trip only today." Billy had laughed as the twins both stamped their feet at the same time.

"That's not fair..." They whined in unison.

Billy hunkered down in front of his daughters and pulled them into a quick bear hug. "Come on girls, I promise I will take you into Port Angeles at the end of the week that will be your treat."

"I suppose so..." Rebecca gave in grudgingly.

"Yeah..." Rachel pouted. "It would be boring having to babysit Jake anyway. Will you bring home a special fish for me daddy?"

"Of course sweetheart, one for each of you..." Billy stood back up and ruffled his daughter's hair. "Tell your mom that we won't be gone for too long."

"Yes, daddy..." The twins turned around and ran into the house completely ignoring their younger brother like they always did. Jake didn't care; he thought all girls were stupid, except for his mom.

"Ready Jake," Billy smiled at his young son.

Jake pushed the hood back from his head and gave him a big grin. "Yeah, I'm ready to be a man now..."

Billy laughed at his son's declaration. "Not quite yet, Jake. It will take a few more fishing trips before you become one of those."

Jake frowned and poked out his bottom lip. "How many?"

"Ooh at least a hundred..." Billy replied playfully.

One hundred! No way, that was a big number, way more than he could count. This growing into a man business was more complicated then he thought. Maybe there was a quicker way to become one, he really wanted that moustache. An idea formed in his mind; perhaps he could ask Charlie Swan how he grew his caterpillar. With that settled he followed his dad toward the truck and let Billy lift him into the front seat to buckle him up.

XXXXXX

Jake was not happy, this was supposed to be a man only trip and there standing in front of him was none other than a girl, just like his sisters. She was pale and skinny, with long brown hair. She held a fishing rod limply in her hand.

"Daddy, you said this was a man only trip. Why is the girlie here?" he demanded.

Billy gave his son a sheepish smile. "I know, but Charlie's daughter is being an honorary boy today, aren't you sweetie?"

The girl looked taken aback by Billy's declaration and shuffled behind her dad's legs to hide. "I don't like boys." She mumbled.

Charlie exchanged an exasperated look with Billy. "Now Bella, Jake is a nice boy..."

Bella poked her head out from behind her dad's legs and stared at the dark haired boy who was glaring at her, his bottom lip poking out in annoyance. She made sure her dad was not watching and she stuck her tongue out at him. Jake's eyes opened wide in shock. This girlie was horrible. He stuck his own tongue out and waggled his hands behind his ears in retaliation. Unfortunately Billy saw what his son was doing and told him off for being rude.

"I not rude, girlie is being mean." Jake tried to explain.

Bella stood next to her dad, holding her fishing rod tightly in her hands, looking wide eyed and innocent. "I never did anything daddy." She said softly.

Charlie patted her gently on the head. "Come on Bells, young Jake was expecting this to be a man only trip. Be a good girl and join in the fun. I am sure Jake will say sorry."

All eyes turned onto a red faced Jake. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and shook his head no. "Girlie did it, not me..."

The two men gave heavy sighs as they looked at their children. It looked like the battle lines were drawn.

XXXXXX

Jake was placed next to his dad and Bella sat beside hers. They both sat in their little picnic chairs, fishing rods in hands occasionally shooting each other dirty looks. The two men relaxed and chatted idly as they kept an eye on their bait. Twenty minutes passed and the two youngsters were getting bored. Bella began to fidget and when she glanced over at Jake out of the corner of her eye, she noticed he was doing the same. A smile crossed her lips as she picked up a lump of mud and threw in his direction. It landed on his head and splattered over his hair. He gave a loud yelp and stood up trying to brush the wet earth off of his head. Bella began giggling to herself at his reaction and bent down to pick up another lump of mud. While she was distracted she didn't notice that Jake had recovered from his shock at being pelted with mud. He quickly scooped up some dirt and flung it in her direction.

"Take that, girlie..." he crowed as he saw it sail through the air and hit her in the face.

"Daddy," She bellowed loudly. "That boy threw mud at me..."

Charlie broke off his conversation with Billy and glanced at his daughter in concern. Her face was covered with dirty streaks. His head whipped round as he stared at Jake, he too was covered in mud. Something told him that his sweet little girl was not telling the whole truth. He nodded at Billy and the two men each took hold of their respective offspring and marched them over to the truck.

"Right, Jake. I know that you were expecting it to be just us men today but well, Charlie's daughter is paying him a visit and we thought you would have the good grace to behave and make friends. I am very disappointed in you, son." Billy said sadly making his son's head hang in shame.

"That applies to you too, Bells." Charlie reprimanded his daughter. "You are two years older than Jake and I expected more from you. Now we are going back to our fishing, we want you two to sit here and think about what you have done. Is that clear?"

"Yes daddy..." Bella hid her face behind her long hair.

"Yes daddy..." Jake replied at the same time, sneaking glances at the girl beside him. She was really two years older? She was small for a six year old, he was only four and way taller.

The two men nodded in satisfaction and went to sit back in front of the small lake, leaving the two children to sort their own problems out. Bella glared at Jake and crossed her arms in a defiant pose. Jake copied her movements and glowered back at her. Bella scowled and Jake mimicked her expression.

"Stop copying me..." She whispered fiercely so her dad wouldn't hear.

"Stop copying me..." Jake said at the same time, using a whining tone.

"I don't speak like that..." Bella declared stepping closer to Jake and poking him in the chest.

"Yes you do..."

"No I don't..."

"Do..."

"Don't..."

"Do..." Jake said loudly.

Bella's anger began to boil over, all boys were idiots, but this one was the worst she had ever met. "You're stupid..." She yelled at him.

"No, you're the stupid one, girlie."He roared back at her.

"My name is Bella, not girlie..."

"Bells..." Jake stumbled over her name, his irritation with her making him pronounce it incorrectly.

Bella stamped her foot. "B-E-L-L-A spells Bella, not Bells."

Jake's lips quirked up into a smile. He was enjoying annoying this girlie, she had barged in on the men only fishing trip after all. "Bells," he repeated stubbornly.

"You are so annoying Jake..." She snapped at him, finally using his name.

"You are annoying too, Bells" he said in agreement.

Bella rolled her eyes at him and sat down on the ground, not caring that the wet earth soaked through her jeans. She leaned her elbows on her knees and propped her chin in her hands. "I am no good at fishing..." She admitted.

"All girlies are no good at fishing. Rach and Beck never catch anything," Jake informed her agreeably as he sat down next to her.

"Who are Rach and Beck?" Bella asked curiously, her irritation completely forgotten.

"My stupid sisters," Jake informed her. "They can't do anything, not even build a mud pie. "

Bella's face brightened. "I can do that. I am brilliant at making mud pies."

Jake looked at her dubiously. "Girlies can't make mud pies, only boys."

"I'll show you..." Bella stood up and waltzed over to a particularly wet patch of earth. She started to gather the mud in her hands and pile it into a heap. She then began to mould it into the shape of a pie. Jake's mouth dropped open in surprise as he watched her make the best mud pie he had ever seen, it was much better than his or even Quil's.

When she had finished Bella sat back on her heels and gave him a smug smile. "Well?"

Jake dropped onto his knees beside her and assessed her handiwork. There was denying it, this girlie was a superior mud pie maker. Maybe she wasn't so stupid after all. He gave her a friendly grin. "Good work, Bells."

Bella was about to state once again that her name was Bella and not 'Bells' when she saw the sunny grin spread across Jake's face. She liked it when he did that. Her own mouth formed into a smile and they gazed at each other for a moment. Bella broke the stare and began scooping up some more mud to make another pie.

"Wanna help me?" She asked politely this time.

"Sure..." Jake agreed, deciding that he would like this girl to be his friend after all.

A/N-thanks for reading!