Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight of anything else written or produced by Stephanie Meyer.

The following Monday Bella couldn't get through with school fast enough and that shocked her. It had been so long since she looked forward to anything as much as she did spending time with Jacob. She ate lunch with the group of people she considered more acquaintances then friends, struggled through gym class and all but ran to her locker after last bell. She had just slung on her jacket when Angela walked up to her with a kind smile. Bella actually considered Angela a friend, not like Jessica or Lauren, she and Angela bonded almost immediately over their love of photography and Angela had even offered Bella a spot on the year book committee but Bella kindly declined.

"Hey Angela" she greeted

"Hey, some of us are going to the grille to hang out and Mike's been reminding me since lunch to ask you if you want to go" Bella looked over Angela's shoulder to see Mike trying to act like he wasn't watching them.

"I can't I've already made plans" Bella answered, Angela raised a brow and smiled

"With a guy?" she asked, Bella rolled her eyes

"Technically but it's not like that" she insisted to her pretty friend, who was digging through her back pack. Bella raised a brow when Angela placed two small objects in her hand "and these are for?..."

"One is concealer for those bags under your eyes and the other is lip gloss" Angela explained

"I said it wasn't like-"

"Either way you should always try to look your best in front of the opposite sex" Angela interrupted with a smile "you can give them back tomorrow" before Bella could say anything back Angela had fluttered out of hearing range. Before Bella pulled out of the school parking lot she looked at herself in one of the over head mirrors. The bags under her eyes were pretty dark and noticeable and her eyes themselves looked sunken in. Not sleeping or eating didn't do much for her appearance but some things couldn't be helped.

When she knocked on the Black's front door she was greeted by Billy.

"Hey Bella" he greeted with a warm smile "Jacob's not home yet, come on in" he wheeled out of the way to let her enter his humble little home.

"So Charlie tells me you haven't been sleeping" he stated as they sat at his kitchen table, Bella froze "he didn't tell me why though so you can relax" he quickly added

"You'd figure you and my father would have something better to talk about on your fishing trips than my sleeping patterns" she commented dryly, Billy shrugged

"Not really, fish, work, kids, that pretty much sums up all the conversation until March Madness" Bella chuckled and watched him wheel to his pantry and pull out a box, on closer inspection Bella saw it was a box of tea bags.

"Sue Clearwater's homemade sleep easy tea" Billy told her

"Billy, no offense but I'm taking sleeping pills that should put a three hundred pound guy in an instant coma, and they don't do a thing for me" she informed him

"Humor an old cripple" he asked, Bella rolled her eyes

"You just love pulling that card don't you?" she asked, putting the box into her pack back.

Billy smiled widely "It comes in handy when you have a teenage son"

As if his ears were burning, Jacob walked through the front door and smiled widely when he saw Bella. His long hair was pulled into a ponytail and he was had his worn, leather jacket slung over his shoulder in spite of the chill that followed him in the door.

"Hey you" he said, causing a chill to go through Bella at the intimate greeting.

"Hey" she responded

"What are you kids planning to do today?" Billy asked, bringing Jacob's attention to his father.

"Heading to the scrap yard to see if we can salvage some cheap parts for the Rabbit" Jacob answered quickly, Billy nodded then sent them each a stern look

"Make sure you both make time for some school work" he told them before letting them head to the shed.

"I don't want you getting backed up on homework so we don't have to do work on the bikes today" Bella told Jacob, who shot her another white smile.

"It's no problem I swear" he said and took another look at each bike before frowning "I don't think I'm entirely comfortable with you paying are these bikes though"

"No way, I'm bank rolling this insane idea of mine" at his insistent frown she continued "if I took either of these bike to Drowling's, how much would he charge?"

"That's because John Drowling is a prick who over charges" he commented with a hint of contempt for the guy, then he smiled "okay you're getting a pretty good deal"

"Good, then let's go" Bella announced and walked them both to her truck. It had started raining on the way to the scrap yard and Bella only had her jacket instead of an umbrella but it was still surprisingly fun rooting through the stuff, probably because she was with Jacob. She didn't want to admit that in the short (very short) time they were together she already felt a connection between them...at it scared the hell out of her. After Jacob had found a dozen greasy (unidentifiable to Bella) parts, they were making the two hour truck ride to Checker's Auto Parts south of Forks. He added up the time they would get back he insisted she eat dinner at his place and called his dad to let him know before continuing to tell her about Quil hitting on La Push's new French teacher. Bella was put on the spot when he asked her about going on's in Forks.

"Come on there has to be something new" he asked

Bella shook her head "Not really" she said

"Okay well, tell me about before in when you lived in Phoenix" Bella gripped the wheel so tight her knuckles turned even paler than her skin (if possible) and Jacob immediately regretted his words.

"Well" she croaked out before clearing her throat "I was about as social as I am here, did some jobs to make money but didn't really spend a lot of it, then-" she stopped as her voice cracked and the scar on her neck itched.

"It's okay" Jacob said quickly "you don't have to tell me"

"Just, tell me more stories about you and your friends" Bella told him, he nodded and started with a story that ended with people thinking Embry was allergic to girls. He made her laugh all the way to Checker's when his attention moved from her to the objects on his list. He found everything and even managed to talk down the overall price much to the pleasure and amazement of Bella. He was in a good mood all the way back to La Push and had a glow around him that made her smile even more. As soon as they were back in the garage, Jacob got to work all the while continuing to talk her. She sat back and watched him intently and even snapped a few pictures of him when he wasn't looking.

"Did you just a take picture of me?" he asked without turning around

"How the hell did you know that?" with all the tinkering he was doing with the tools there was no way he could have heard the near silent 'click' of her camera.

"Heard it" he answered, turning to look at her just as Billy called them in the house for dinner. Charlie was there, not surprising, and was more than happy to see Bella actually eat and smile for the first time in weeks.

Later that evening, after the Swan's went home Jacob sat on his bed thinking about what he was going to do the next time Bella came over. She made him happy, and he knew he made her smile but he also knew she had something that stopped her from really enjoying herself and it had something to do with the ugly scar on her neck.

"Jacob!" he jumped at his dad's frantic call, thinking his father had fallen too far from his chair Jacob jumped up and entered his dad's room to see him sitting in his chair.

"What?" Jacob asked inspecting his dad for any visual injuries, Billy gestured to his bare feet and with amazement Jacob watched as his father wiggled the toes on his right foot.