A/N:

Ok I know you all have been waiting for this chapter all week, so here it is. I have developed Jake and Bella's friendship a bit more.

I wanted to clarify a few things before I continue. First of all, this story takes place five years after New Moon. Bella is 23 years old and Jacob is just turning 21. Next off, I have decided to make this a rated "M" due to future lemons in my chapters, so don't fret my dears, I won't give them what they want yet, but it will come later. ;) As for why Bella hasn't realized her feeling for Jake in 5 years that will be addressed in chapters coming up, so be patient :P!

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THE PAST WHICH HAUNTS ME

Heat…

So hot…

Scorching hot...

Sweating...

I opened my eyes and was greeted by a wall of russet skin. I had somehow managed to turn around in my sleep and was propped up against Jacob's bare chest, it was very hot and I was covered in sweat.

Jacob's mouth was slightly open, he was snoring like a freight train and his knee was pressed right between – my thighs.

Oh great. This is perfect.

I needed to get out of bed and fast, before I felt the urge to give into my sudden feline instincts and rub up against his knee like a big pervert. I shifted a little and tried to free myself from his arms.

"S'early." Jacob groaned and pulled me closer to him.

His arms wrapped around me tighter and his knee slid up, right against my center. Oh God, yes, I mean, no! I closed my eyes tightly and tried to focus on anything – anything other than his knee. Jacob began to snore again and his body was now vibrating against mine. Oh God.

"Jacob." I whispered, in a feeble attempt at waking him. I might as well have been trying to wake a hibernating bear, he didn't ever stir. "Jake!" I said a little louder.

"Hmm?" He moaned out still half asleep.

Think fast Bella. "I need to go to the bathroom."

"M'go then." His eyes were still tightly shut, his arms still tightly wound around me and his knee – oh God, his knee.

"I can't. You need to let go of me." I dreaded hearing myself saying those words, I loved being in his arms, but this was just a recipe for disaster if ever I had seen one.

"M'kay." He groaned and released me.

He mumbled something incoherent and turned over. His loud snores started once again. I quickly scrambled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. I locked the door breathlessly. Oh, my, God. Ok, get a grip Bella, Jake's your best friend, come on.

I looked in the mirror, my face was flushed and my hair clung to my face in a sticky sweaty mess. Hence the perks of sleeping with all 108.9 degrees of Jacob Black, you inevitably wake up the following day a hot and sweaty mess. I opened the shower curtain and turned on the cold water.

Once I was showered and fresh I got dressed and went back to my bedroom. Jacob was sprawled out on the bed still asleep. His feet hung off of the bed and his chest – his beautiful chest was exposed to the world for its glorious viewing. I stopped in the doorframe and took in his beauty.

His skin was a flawless deep russet, his dark nipples stood at attention while his stomach muscles expanded and contracted with every breath he took. My eyes slowly drifted down every sexy curve of his well defined eight pack, down past his belly button to where his trail of happiness began.

Jacob wasn't a very hair man – well not in the literal sense, I mean, he was part wolf, so hairiness was a given. But in human form his body was perfectly smooth. His chest was completely soft and hairless, the only small patch of hair was right bellow his belly button. That patch, that led down towards where his well defined V dipped past the waistband of his low slung shorts…

"What's so interesting?" Jacob's voice startled me.

I jumped back with surprise.

"I – I…" I can't believe he caught me looking at him. My face felt very, very hot.

Jacob's chest rose and fell with his silent laughter.

"See anything interesting?" His head popped up to reveal a wide smile.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you always this cocky when you wake up?"

"Nope." He popped his P. "Only when I'm being checked out by my beautiful best friend." He waggled his eyebrows at me, his smile widening.

"Well, I wasn't." I crossed my arms over my chest tightly.

"Sure, sure." He lifted his arms up above his head and stretched his whole body out with a loud groan. "You know – s'ok if you were lookin'. I know you think I'm sort of beautiful. So I don't mind if you look." He shot me a quick wink and then chuckled deeply.

I felt my face get hot, but I wasn't going to let him win this time.

"Yeah so I can boost your already, overly inflated ego? Thanks but I'll pass." I rolled my eyes at him again.

"Ouch. Well, I guess I deserved that." He smiled. "You've been hanging around us for too long Bells, you're starting to get good at this sarcasm thing. S'not fun to poke fun at you anymore, you always bite back."

"Well, I learn from the best." I smiled back with a new found confidence. "And my best friend is part wolf, so he's taught me a thing or two on the art of biting."

"Touché." He let out a long yawn. "What are you doing up so early anyway?"

"I had to go to the bathroom, and take a shower." I walked over to the bed and sat on its edge.

"Did I get you all sweaty again?" He smiled proudly.

My stomach clenched. If only he knew exactly how sweaty I wanted him to get me.

"Yeah, the blanket was left on high again last night." I deadpanned.

"Porump pomb ching." He pretended to play an invisible air drum set. "You're a regular comedian Bells."

He yawned again, making me yawn. We both looked at each other and laughed.

"Ok – back to sleep." He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me onto the bed.

"Ugh, but Jake, I don't want to get all sweaty again." I whined.

"Baby – you don't even know, what sweaty is." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and bit down on his bottom lip.

My stomach clenched hard at his words. Did he honestly not have a clue what he was doing to me?

"Quit it." I smacked his chest loudly.

"Hey, ouch." He pretended to be hurt, but I knew better, it was all smoke and mirrors, Jake was tougher than that.

"Ok drama queen." I rolled my eyes. "I know that didn't hurt you."

"You're right." He chuckled and pulled me up against his chest. "But I try to make you feel like you've won. It's the least I can do, just trying to be a gentleman you know." He winked.

"Right." I rolled my eyes again.

"I'm still tired." He yawned. "Can we sleep for a little longer?"

"Yeah…" I yawned in response.

He laid back and pulled me up against his chest pressing a soft chaste kiss against my forehead.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked rubbing my back softly.

"Mmm… very, you?" I nuzzled my cheek into his chest.

"Mhmm…" He drifted off and fell asleep.

I lay there in silence listening to the beating of his heart and his soft sighs as he slept and was finally lulled into my own peaceful slumber.

******

"So what are we going to do for you big twenty-one?" I asked Jacob the next day. "It's only five days away."

"Yeah." He scrubbed his hand through his messy hair. "Jared has something planned, but he won't tell me what." He smiled a nervous smile.

"Oh oh." I could see the distress in Jacob's eyes.

Knowing Jared it was going to be one hell of a celebration. For Jake's 18th birthday Jared had hired an exotic dancer which was quickly dismissed by Billy when she arrived wearing a black leather dominatrix outfit and carrying handcuffs. Get that perverse filth out of my house! He had yelled at Jared, but Jared just smiled like a moron and let the whole incident roll off of his back as if it were nothing.

"Sam wants to go to the Roadhouse in town and shoot some pool, and get me drunk." He snorted. "Like that's going to happen."

The Quileute boys had shown a very high tolerance to alcohol, we figured it had something to do with their extreme body temperature, the heat within them practically burned away the alcohol instantly. I had seen them buzzed, but never drunk.

"Yeah, not unless you plan on chugging a whole bottle of whisky." I chuckled.

"Wanna test that theory out?" He bit down on his bottom lip tauntingly.

"Nope – I will not aid illegal underage drinking. You still have five more days Jacob Black."

"Figures." He rolled his eyes. "You know, just because Charlie's a cop doesn't mean you have to abide strictly by the rules Bells. You can let your hair down and go wild every now and again."

He quickly reached behind me and tugged out my hair tie without notice, causing my curls to spill over my shoulders. I looked at him with annoyance.

"You know…" He grabbed one curl and played with it softly between his thumb and forefinger. "I don't know why you always pull it back, you have beautiful hair Bells. You should leave it down more."

My cheeks flushed. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

I playfully swatted at his hand, pretending to be annoyed.

"Of course, it is – your hair – so, don't worry about what – I – think. Do what you want to do." He tucked the curl behind my ear and smiled sweetly.

I was very glad that I was sitting down, because, my knees felt like jell-o.

"You know what tonight is?" He leaned back into his chair.

"What?" I let my eyes linger on his bottom lip as his tongue swept across to moisten it.

"It's Friday night." He smiled widely. "Date night."

Jacob and I had started a tradition within the last few years – if ever one of us was without a date on a Friday night, we vowed to go out with each other, and as of late, it seemed that neither one of us was very interested in dating any of the locals.

I couldn't exactly call it a date though, Jake and I just enjoyed going out and hanging out together around town and Port Angeles. But, I never knew what kind of mischief we would inevitably get into.

"Unless you already have plans." He said nonchalantly.

"Nope, you?" I didn't want him to feel stuck with me either.

He rolled his eyes. "You know it's more fun to hang out with you Bells."

I couldn't help the smile that spread across my lips.

"So, what do you want to do tonight? Hey Revenge Of The Dead Corpse is playing!" He perked up.

"I don't know Jake?" He knew I didn't have a very strong stomach when it came to blood, guts and gore.

"Oh c'mon sissy it'll be fun. And don't worry I'll hold you through the scary parts." He winked mockingly.

"You just like to take me to these movies so you can have a lame excuse to grope me." My eyes rolled, not that I minded, but I wasn't about to clue him in on that little fact.

"Hey you use the blankie excuse to grope me all the time so I say we're about even."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're delusional?"

"I hear that from you all the time Bells." He smiled widely. "So you wanna go or what?"

As much as I didn't want to go see some scary horror movie, Jake's proposition to hold me through the scary parts was too hard for me to resist. I nodded in agreement.

"Ha, I knew you'd give in eventually." He said proudly.

"Sure, sure." I waved my hand at him.

"Well, shall I pick you up around five then?"

We both glanced at the clock.

"I'll be ready." I agreed.

"Great. Well, I'm going to go check in with the pack, so I'll see you later." He stood up from the table and bent down to give me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, don't eat anything. I'll make something for us here." Well, it was the least I could do to thank him for taking me out, right?

"Are you sure you want to eat before the movie? We could go get a bite afterwards."

"Is it that gory?" I asked nervously.

"It got a five axe rating. So, bring your bucket baby." He sniggered walking towards the door. "We're eating out."

"Fine." I gave in, an argument with Jake and his belly was an argument lost.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house. I scrubbed the kitchen floor like a mad woman on crack and then cleaned the bathroom and finally my bedroom. Once I felt satisfied with the cleanliness of my house I headed downstairs and turned on the television. I flipped through the channels but didn't find anything worth watching.

The phone rang, I hurried to get it which was a stupid mistake, I ended up bumping my shin against the coffee table when I jumped up to answer.

"Ouch! Hello?" I answered a little annoyed.

"Hey kiddo." Charlie's voice greeted me. "You ok?"

"Hey dad. Uh – yeah just bumped my shin on the living room table." Charlie's deep laughter sounded on the other end of the receiver, I smiled. "You know me, once a klutz, always a klutz." He chuckled again, I really did miss having him around. "How are you?"

"I'm great, just thought I'd check in to see how you were." Well that was sweet.

"Great. I was just watching TV."

"Oh, were you watching the Mariner's game?" He asked with excitement. "Did you see that homerun in the last inning?"

"Uh – no sorry missed it." He knew I wasn't that into sports on TV.

"Right. So you got any plans for this weekend?"

"Well, going to the movies with Jake tonight."

"Oh, a date? That's great Bells." He said enthusiastically.

"Friday night date night." I reminded him.

"Right. Well good for you kid. I really wish you two would reconsider this whole dating thing, Jake's a good kid Bells, I wouldn't let him go if I were you."

Charlie and Billy seemed to be on a crusade these last few years to make it painfully obvious how wonderful Jacob and I were together. And Jake is wonderful, but up until lately I really hadn't thought of him in that way, he was just my best friend, comfortable and – well, Jake.

"Dad…" I whined.

"Yeah, I know Bells, sorry, minding my own business now. Oh well, if it's meant to be it will happen for you two. My pushing isn't going to make a bit a difference either way." He never failed to remind me of that fact.

"Well what plans do you and the misses have this weekend? Anything special?" I tried, not so casually to change the subject.

"Sue's cookin' up a storm. In fact, I was calling to invite you kids over but I see you've made other plans."

"Yeah, sorry. Tell Sue I said thanks for the invite and that I promise I will come over next time."

"You got it kiddo. Well, it was sure nice talking to you Bells. I hope you and Jake have fun tonight." He cleared his throat. "And be careful."

"Yes sir."

We said our goodbye's and hung up. I glanced up at the clock, 3:20pm. I decided to start getting ready, since I really didn't have anything else to do. I took a long hot shower, followed by a pedicure. I decided to leave my hair down since Jake had expressed a liking to it that way this morning. Luckily my hair was cooperative and didn't give me any problems. It hung in soft curls over my shoulders.

I went to my room when I was done and pulled open the closet. I didn't have a clue what I was going to wear tonight, I mean, I wanted to look good for Jake, but I also didn't want him to think I was going over the top, or make it look like I was trying too hard either.

After rummaging for a while I finally decided on a fitted dark blue shirt with long sleeves and a low scoop neckline and a pair or black jeans. I looked in the mirror satisfied. I actually thought I looked kind of sexy, the jeans really accentuated the curves of my hips while the low cut top just barely gave a small peek at the swells of my breasts.

There was a loud knock on the door. I quickly ran downstairs, managing to trip on the last two steps and landing on my knees at the base of the staircase.

"Damn it." I groaned out annoyed. I quickly got up and straightened out. I stole a quick look in the hallway mirror and opened the door.

I was greeted by three very large Quileute boys. Damn it.

"Hey Bells." They all sang out when the door swung open.

I looked at Jake a little annoyed and confused.

"I hope you don't mind that Quil and Em decided to join us." He said with chagrin.

"Blood fest!" Embry raised his hands above his head and grunted out in true caveman fashion.

"Bring on the gore baby!" Quil gave him a violent fist bump. "Hey Bells. You look nice." He looked away from his testosterone buddy and smiled warmly.

"Uh – thanks." I shot Jake a look of annoyance.

"Bella!" Embry shouted out and before I could protest I was picked up in a bear tight hug.

"Can't breathe!" I choked out.

"Oh shit, sorry." He quickly released me.

"You fucking moron!" Jacob pushed him aside and ran to me. "Are you ok?" His eyes were full of concern.

"Yeah." I tried to smooth my ruffled hair and clothes out.

"Why don't you watch what you're doing you big ding dong?" Jacob growled at Embry.

"Sorry man, I forget that she's all tiny and breakable." Embry pleaded.

"I'm not that breakable." I argued in annoyance.

I really got tired of being the butt of all the little, breakable, albino jokes.

"Right, sorry, didn't mean it the way it came out Bells." Embry shot me a crooked smile. "I just meant that…"

"We know what you meant." Quil snickered. "Hey come on you guys, the movie starts in an hour and I don't want to miss the previews."

"Are you ready?" Jacob took a moment to run his eyes up and down my body.

Was it me, or did his eyes just darken? I felt my face get warm. I quickly turned around and grabbed my jacket off of the coat hanger. Jacob grabbed a hold of it and helped slide if over my shoulders. He then spun me around and helped zip me up.

"What are you, her dad?" Quil sniggered.

"Just being a gentleman." Jake turned and winked at me. "Unlike other idiots in this pack I am not a Neanderthal, I was taught manners." He shot Quil and Embry a stern look.

"Thanks." I smiled shyly.

"Well, the theater is that way." Quil pointed to the door. "So, can we leave now?"

I grabbed my purse and we headed out. Embry drove, Quil in the passenger seat while Jake and I climbed into the back of Embry's supped up silver Mustang GT convertible. Embry and Quil quickly reached up to put the top down.

"Are you crazy?" I protested. "It's freezing outside." Today wasn't the coldest day in Forks, but 45F wasn't exactly my idea of drive with the top down kind of weather either.

"S'nice outside." Embry rolled his eyes.

"Come here." Jake placed his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to his body. "I'll keep you warm." He reached up and pulled my hood over my head, softly tucking my hair back into it. "It'll help keep your pretty hair from getting all windblown." He winked and smiled sweetly. "Thanks for wearing it down. I know I didn't say it before but – you look beautiful Bells." His eyes warmed as he spoke.

"Thanks Jake, so do you." I said stupidly.

Embry and Quil busted out in laughter.

"You're so pretty Jake." Embry guffawed and turned to give Quil a high five.

Jacob kicked the back of Embry's seat hard and with a satisfied smile smacked the back of Quil's head.

"Hey!" Quil protested.

"That's what you guys get for being dumbasses." He pulled me closer to his body as Embry took off with a grumbled complaint.

It usually took me over an hour to get to Port Angeles when I drove, but these Quileute boys had a definite need for speed. We got there in a record thirty five minutes. Jacob, staying true to his word, cradled me close to him and made sure I wasn't cold.

When we got to the theater Quil and Embry went straight for the concession stand, they bought four jumbo sized popcorn tubs with four jumbo sodas, nachos with extra jalapeño peppersand if that weren't enough a few hotdogs for each of them. Jake handed me a huge bucket of popcorn. I looked down at the monstrosity in my hands and then up at him. Did he seriously think I was going to be able to finish this?

"I think that bucket's bigger than her." Quil laughed patting me on the back playfully.

"S'allright, I'll help you with that." Jacob assured as we took our seats.

He reached between us and lifted the armrest and scooted closer to me. I was secretly smiling and loving the extra closeness this had provided us.

"Gore, gore, gore!" Embry and Quil chanted lamely earning them a few shush'ings from other movie goers.

"Shut up!" The guy in front of us complained then turned back and saw the sheer size of Embry and Quil. He quickly recoiled in fear. "Uh, never mind."

Revenge Of The Dead Corpse was exactly as Jake had promised, a blood, guts and gore fest. I couldn't take it, it was just too violent and graphic. I cowered into Jake's chest as he laughed at the 'poor makeup' and 'stupid fake blood'. When the movie finally had finished I was feeling a little queasy.

"You ok Bells? You look a little pale." Jacob looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Yeah, great." I felt like I was going to be sick. My stomach wrenched painfully with nausea.

"You're not gonna pass out on me now, are you?" He led me to a bench in the lobby and made me sit down. "Put your head down." He commanded.

I wasn't about to argue with him, I did feel a little lightheaded, I quickly obeyed and bent forward and put my head between my legs. I took in a few deep breaths as his warm hand ran soothing circles around my back. I was starting to feel a little better now that the blood flow had been restored to my dizzy head.

"That decapitation scene was sick!" Quil said enthusiastically. "Blood must have shot at least twenty feet away. So awesome!"

My thoughts involuntarily carried me back to that particular scene in the movie. I moaned with disgust.

"Quit it!" Jake shouted out.

"Oh c'mon Bells. Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sick again." Quil quickly apologized.

"It's ok. I'm – I'm fine." I got up feeling a bit less dizzy, but my stomach still felt very, very uneasy.

"Do you think you'll be ok to go eat?" Jake asked putting his arm around me.

Food was the last thing on my mind. But I knew that they all must be starving, so I wasn't going to be the party pooper.

"Yeah, maybe that'll help settle my stomach." I looked up at him with apologetic eyes. I really hated that I couldn't be stronger, why the hell was my stomach so damn weak?

"Hey lets go to Bella Italia." Embry suggested. "I hear they have killer pasta."

I cringed with the memory of the last time I had set foot in that restaurant. The memory of Edward had almost faded away, and even though I didn't feel the same way now as I had in the past, the memories still stung a bit.

"Is that ok with you Bells?" Jake asked.

"Sure." I tried to not show the hurt I was feeling at the memories which suddenly came rushing back.

We drove up to the restaurant and I paused, the last night I had been here replayed itself painfully in my memory. I looked up at the familiar sign and was taken back to a time when The Cold One's ruled my life. My heart felt heavy and my feet even heavier as we walked up the three steps to the front door.

The restaurant had been remodeled since I had last been there, they had expanded the dinning room and added a few booths. We sat at a darkened booth in the back of the restaurant, the waitress handed us each a menu.

The guys were busy salivating as I cringed when I saw Mushroom Ravioli listed at the top of the menu. I quickly slammed the menu shut and put it as far away from me on the table as possible.

"You already decided?" Jake asked with a smile. "That was quick."

"Yeah, I'm just gonna have some chicken piccata." I said quickly hoping that was an option on the menu.

"Yeah, that looks good, but I think I'm going to have the sausage stuffed ravioli." He licked his lips and made an mmm sound. "It looks so good."

He took my hand in his and gave me a gentle squeeze. Suddenly everything seemed right again. Jacob was there keeping me from falling over the edge of insanity once again.

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