In My Heart

Chapter Two

Jacob, Embry, Angela, and myself ended up walking to the sidewalk, leading away from Forks.

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously and Jacob chuckled.

"My house." He pointed out the red house off into the distance. It was like a big red barn. Black shingles covered the roof. The house was equipped with white siding and red paint on the doors and window sills. It was beautiful and simple yet old and worn down looking.

Trees cascaded the perimeter of the house and blocked out the view as we closed in proximity to it. There was a dirt driveway which lead to the front door that had a red wooden porch with a porch swing and three lawn chairs. The driveway then lead to what looked like a large shed a few hundred feet back towards the edge of the woods behind the house.

"Embry's mom doesn't like me so we usually hang out over here or at the beach." Angela explained why we were here instead of somewhere else. It was sad that her boyfriend's mom didn't like her, but at least they had somewhere they could hang out together.

"Billy is okay with you guys hanging out over here?" Angela snickered as she took Embry's hand in hers.

"Okay with it? Billy loves me. He is probably secretly hoping that I dump Embry and start dating Jacob." Her and Jacob looked at each other before laughing and rolling their eyes.

"Yeah, like that would ever happen." Jacob muttered and I giggled to myself. Jacob and Angela definitely didn't seem like two people who would fit together in any scenario other than friends

"Aw, Jake! You just say that because it would squash your hopes of getting into Bella's pants." My jaw slacked as she said this with a big grin on her face.

"Angela!" I protested her saying something like this aloud. I glanced at Jake and he looked thoroughly embarrassed by her accusation. I liked Jacob, but I wouldn't go that far, especially with a boy I just met a couple hours ago.

"Don't 'Angela' me." Jacob shook off his embarrassment and rolled his eyes.

"Alright, you can shut up now." I blushed as he smirked at me and the four of us strolled up the steps of the porch. With a creak of the old wooden door and screen door, the four of us entered the house, welcomed by the sound of a booming tv off to the side. "Dad?" Jake called out and we heard a soft chuckle around the corner.

"In here!" I heard the familiar, deep voice of Billy Black call out to us and Jacob guided us down the hall, past a bunch of door, to where his father's voice was coming from. We found ourselves in a small dining room complete with a kitchen table that looked like only four people could sit there comfortably. Billy sat at the end of the table with a finished TV dinner in front of him as he shoved the last bite in his mouth as if he was a starving man who couldn't wait to get another bite. He sat down his silverware before turning in our direction. "What's up?" He said with a calm, but tired voice. I was so used to seeing Billy as upbeat and happy. I didn't understand how he could be so different.

"Just letting you know I'm here. Do you need help with anything?" Jacob was so helpful to his father. It was nice to see his ailing dad was being taken care of.

Suddenly, Billy broke into a big smile, one that was similar to his son's grin.

"Bella!" I blushed as his eyes zoned in on me and I gave him a shy wave.

"Hey, Billy." He wheeled himself towards us and shook my hand.

"What are you doing here?" He asked curiously and Angela giggled.

"I dragged her here kicking and screaming." Angela joked and I giggled.

"She's kidding. I was just at the beach with some friends from school." I shrugged nonchalantly as Angela giggled.

"Yeah. I conned her into coming out tonight. Just some puppy dog eyes and she was putty." Angela joked around. She was being ridiculous. I found myself scooping at her.

"No, you guilt tripped me by saying you would be bored and lonely if I didn't come because everyone else would be surfing except you. You just left out the fact that you would be alone with the exception of your boyfriend and his friends." Embry laughed aloud as Angela snuggled into his embrace like the love struck teenager she was. It was strange. In the whole week that I had been hanging around Angela at school, she never mentioned she had a boyfriend, but she seemed so in love with him. Most girls our age, when they were dating someone, they would always come up in conversation, but Angela kept those two parts of her life separate. For what reason, I wasn't sure quite yet.

"Angela, are you scheming again?" Billy inquired with a mischievious grin and I thought that look was so funny upon his face. I looked to Jacob and he seemed just as confused as I was by this comment.

"She is always scheming." Embry replied for Angela and she gave a big grin.

"Angela's mom is going to pick her and Bella up in a few hours so we are gonna hang out in the garage for a while." Billy nodded to this statement that didn't seem like Jacob was asking. It was more so like Jacob was just updating his dad on his plans for the evening. It was strange, like he was the parent and not Billy.

Jacob Black seemed responsible beyond his years and I wasn't sure why.

"It was nice to see you, Bella. Wish we could get to see you more often. You should come down next weekend with your dad. We are having a nice little barbecue." I blushed with embarrassment and nodded happily.

"Thanks, Billy. I'll try to keep my schedule open." I joked with him and he smiled as Jacob led us out the back door towards what he called the garage.

From a distance, it looked like a large shed, but in actuality, it was a couple pieces of sheet metal put together with a pair of sheet metal pieces as the doors. Jacob pulled open the door and the soggy dirt held it open as we all strolled in.

I was surprised by the inside of the building we entered. It seemed much bigger from the inside than the outside. There were an array of tools spread across a handmade workbench with a backboard covered with hooks that held a couple of different power tools that I had no idea what they were. Against the wall perpendicular to the workbench, a clothes line hung covered in men's pants, shirts, jackets, and underwear. I blushed as I saw this. Finally, I saw a red car that I couldn't recognize the model, but the faded paint said it was at least a decade or two old. Next to the car was a tarp that was covering something rather large, almost the size of one of those sooped up pickup trucks that men in the country drive.

"What's that?" I pointed to the forest green tarp and Jacob chuckled.

"That's classified." I teased me and I blushed at him, biting my lip a little.

"I see." I muttered as Angela and Embry strolled over to the broken in couch, cuddling together. I gazed at the red car in the garage and realized that Billy couldn't drive. "Is that your car?" I asked Jacob and he flashed a big grin.

"Yes. This is the Rabbit." I nodded my head. It looked like your average car, nothing extraordinary about it poked out to me. What was it about this model that made him want to build it from the ground up? "I have to replace a small part in it so it's out of commission for the next week." I nodded as he said this as I walked around it, surveying the appearance. I glanced inside and the interior was pretty worn. Tears in the leather upholstery, scuffs and scraps across the dashboard, and burns and discoloration marred the floor. What was so special about this car to him? There was nothing I could see. "You should really come take a ride once it's back in working condition." I giggled as he said this and I looked over to him. I glanced behind him and noticed both Angela and Embry was staring at us with knowing looks in their eyes.

"Is it fast?" I teased him. Suddenly, he looked embarrassed and nervous. He seemed to jumble over his words as he scratched at the back of his head.

"Um, ah, it's-uh, it's decent." I laughed as he said this and he joined in before Embry huffed.

"In other words, slow as a damn slug." I giggled as Jacob groaned.

"He has no room to talk since he doesn't even have a car." I shrugged nonchalantly as I strolled back around his car.

"Neither do I. I didn't even have my own in Arizona. It was no big deal though. I just walked everywhere." I stood beside Jacob and listened as him and Embry bickered for a while. It was nice, listening as two lifelong friends argued like two old ladies who headbutted about who remembered what correctly. Every once in a while, Angela threw in a comment, always siding with Embry, and I also made statements how what sounded more realistic. Usually siding with Jacob.

Jacob would looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes and a dashing smile across his face and I would look away, blushing like a shy little girl. I was very nervous and I wasn't sure if I actually liked how he was making me feel or not. Maybe he was doing it on purpose and maybe it was all by accident. I wasn't quite sure.

There were a lot of things about Jacob that made me curious, perplexed, and pensive, but a lot also was exciting, different, and almost supernaturally unreal.

I listened as Jacob and Embry reminisced about cliff diving, jumping off a hundred foot cliff into the black, deep waters off of Second Beach, the beach of La Push meant mostly for those who resided there or came to visit, and their hysterical, ridiculous adventure as adolescents, just two kids being carefree and reckless like anyone else would be at that age.

Except for me. I was never reckless and hardly ever carefree. Before Renee and Phil got together, she was irresponsible, careless, and often selfish about her actions. There were times when I wasn't sure we would have enough food to get through the month. Once I became a preteen, I took over our finances. She worked for the money and I budgeted it out properly. She was legally the parent so she did have the final say, but she mostly went by my recommendations. Along with that, I also kept the house clean and cooked since Renee even burned water. How someone could burn water, I had no idea.

After some time, Jacob and Embry were chatting over by his car while me and Angela were on the broken in couch, talking together. It wasn't about anything specific or note worthy. I would have much rather be talking to Jake, but I wasn't one to interrupt a conversation and they seemed pretty engrossed by they discussion. It was as if they didn't even notice anyone else around. I wondered for a moment if they suffered from ADD due to their their focus on some topic about car parts. The vocabulary they spoke was almost a completely different language that I figured you needed a Y chromosome to understand.

"Do they get like that a lot?" I asked Angela quietly as I tilted my head towards the boys who had Jake's hood open, pointing at different parts and speaking mechanic dialect.

"Don't worry about it. It's just boys and their toys." She shrugged it off nonchalantly as if this was something she had grown accustomed to over the years. She probably had. She did mention that she had known Jake since her and Embry first got together. She must have seen them get this engrossed about mechanic before.

"Is it just me or do you have to be a guy to understand that lingo?" Angela laughed at my joke which I thought was odd. No one had ever laughed at my jokes before and actually thought it was funny. It was always just a way of people trying to make me not feel like an idiot, but it had the exact opposite effect. It made me feel like an outcast.

"Like I said, boys and their toys." I giggled and nodded as I stole a glance at Jacob, seeing his concentrated gaze trained on me. I blushed and gave him a shy smile before averting my eyes down to my palms that were twisting together with nervousness.

"I guess." I whispered to Angela, hoping Jacob couldn't hear me. I hoped that maybe Jacob and I could escape these two who seemed dead on spying on me and Jacob as if they were waiting for us to start making out at random. It was weird, almost as if they had a glance into the future and knew something I didn't know about.

Angela leaned over and quietly whispered in my ear the words, "We will give you and Jake a couple minutes alone." It was like she could read my mind. Was I really this transparent? If I was, could Jake see how badly I wanted to be alone with him or how much I wanted us to continue chatting away like we had back on the beach before we returned to our friends? "Hey, babe. Come on. I got to call my mom and see where exact she is at." Angela jumped up and grabbed Embry's arm, whispering something to him, before dragging him out the door. Both of them chortled in unison as their shadows disappeared into the dark night. Soon, the sound of their voices and footsteps silenced and I looked up to Jacob, seeing his sunny grin directed at me.

I blushed before I stood up, clasping my hands in front of me. Now, we were alone and I was nervous. No words were said for a moment, deafening silence ringing through the air, before he chuckled.

"What was that about?" He nodded his head towards the door and I shrugged.

"Hell if I know. I didn't make them run off." He snickered before strolling over to me.

"Yeah, you're not so scary." He teased me and I blushed.

"Is that so?" I replied with a quiet tone before looking at him before behind my eyelashes. I noticed him biting his lip in what seemed to be nervousness.

"Yeah." My heart hammered so hard in my chest I thought for a moment that he might be able to hear it. The closer he got, the harder the muscle pounded away in my chest. My breathing became harder and I had a difficult time controlling it. I bowed my head as I felt my nerves become overwhelming. Here we were, all alone, and I couldn't even find the right words to say. That's it, I was a freak. I was nervous a lot of the time, but it wasn't something I was accustomed to in this situation. I had never been in this place.

I had never met a boy who had my interest, but Jacob did. I couldn't pinpoint what it was about him that had drawn me in, but it was something special and captivating.

"Hey." I heard his low, quiet voice as his hand came up and pressed under my chin, tilting my head up. His hand was on me. Even if just my face, his touch sent electricity through my body with excitement coursing through my veins. I gazed up into his onyx, concentrated eyes as he stared down into mine. I wasn't sure what my eyes said to him, but it must have been what he was looking for. "You don't need to hide." His voice was still quiet as if he was afraid to burst our private little bubble that cocooned us away from outside forces. My breath caught in my throat, her gut clenched, and my hands trembled.

Maybe this was when I would get an admission or denial of any feelings he possessed towards me.

His hands glided from my cheek to my jaw as he stared down at me, appreciation and amazement in his gaze. I wanted to touch in someway, like how he was touching me, but my extremities were frozen with anxiety. His eyes closed for a moment, a shaky breath leaving his lips, before he opened those amazing eyes of his, his teeth running over his lips.

"Bella?" It sounded like a question, but I wasn't sure what he was asking by speaking my name.

"Yes?" I replied quietly and his body relaxed, a small smile gracing his lips, before his eyes drifted shut. His body moved closer to mine, not even a breath between us, and his face bent down. I braced myself, hoping silently that maybe he was going to kiss me. His forehead gingerly touched mine and his nose rubbed against the side of mine. My eyes drifted in response and I slowly craned my head back, giving him better access to my mouth. I hoped this hinted to him what exactly I wanted him to do.

Kiss me, please. I wanted to say aloud, but my voice failed me. I couldn't speak. I could only feel. His hand left my face and I felt his arms move around my waist. As he did this, I placed my palms on his shirt, feeling the soft cotton under my fingers. His breath cascaded across mine and I inhaled the scent that lingered over my features like a cloud of heaven. There was a hint of peppermint in the scent and the smell warmed my whole body.

"Bella…" He said my name again, but this time, I heard the affection in his voice, almost an overwhelming passion within his voice. I was breathing hard at this point.

"Yes?" Kiss me already. His lips hovered over mine and my lips parted with anticipation. I wanted this, I wanted this boy I just met to kiss me. No one had ever kissed me before and I wanted him to be the first to do it.

"Que quowle." He whispered something that I couldn't understand the tongue and I let out a ragged breath. I nodded and felt his bottom lip on mine before his mouth softly pressed to mine.

"Bella!" The sound of my name bursted our little bubble and the loss of contact was wholly. My eyes snapped open and I saw Jacob standing beside his car, avoiding my gaze. He seemed embarrassed and frazzled if anything. Angela waltzed in with a big smile on her face. "Am I interrupting something?" She must have noticed the deafening silence in the air as odd.

"No. You're good." Jacob muttered casually and I nodded at the same time, looking to Angela.

"What's up?" I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. I felt exposed after that intimate moment that had passed between me and Jacob. I was a little upset that Angela had stalled what had happened and I hoped she had caught on to what it was.

That Jacob Black almost kissed me.

I guess, technically, he did kiss me, but it left me bothered. His lips had barely even grazed mine.

"My mom just pulled up. Let's go." I nodded a few times, also an attempted to clear my fogged mind, and looked to Jacob, seeing his eyes barely able to meet mine. He gave me a small smile and I returned it.

"Bye, Jake." I spoke soft and low and a soft chuckle left his lips.

"Bye, Bella. I'll see you around." I walked out the garage and stole a glance back at him, seeing his gaze trained in my direction. Angela grabbed my arm and held her back to me.

"What was that?" She probed and I shook my head.

"Nothing." I denied. I knew it was foolish to get my hopes up that Jake and I might actually kiss, but I had thought it might have been because he didn't like me like that. Not because Angela interrupted us.

"Don't lie. What did I just walk in on?" She pushed even further and I flushed. Something clicked in her head and she gasped. "Did he kiss you?" My mind flickered back on how close he had been, his body almost pressed against mine, his lips barely out of reach, and his arms holding me close.

"No!" I protested, but she could see right through me.

"Yes, he did! Oh, my god!" She hugged her arms around my shoulder and I shrugged her off.

"No, he didn't. He almost did, but you interrupted that." She seemed to shrink a little as we got to her mother's blue car.

"Sorry." She gave Embry a kiss as I looked back at the garage, seeing Jacob standing in the doorway. I wanted to run over to him and finished what had started when we were alone in that garage, but I was too much of a coward.

I wasn't sure how long it would be until I saw him again, but I prayed it wasn't too long.