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Chapter Four

I wasn't sure where Jacob was taking me, but I knew from the direction he went that we were going west and I assumed that he was taking me somewhere in La Push. Exactly where, however, I did not know. For the first half of our ride, I had kept my eyes closed out of fear as I pretty much clung to Jacob. However, Jacob drove with such ease and confidence that I had gathered my courage and opened my eyes.

There was nothing but trees around us and we passed by them with great speed. Of course, I still couldn't tell where we were because outside of 'downtown' Forks, everything looked the same to me because it was nothing but trees, mountains, and open spaces. Without really thinking of what I was doing, I rested my chin on Jacob's shoulder as I looked around and I could feel his body relax even more as I sat there pressed against his back.

We rounded a familiar bend and it was then that I realized where Jacob had taken me. His house came into view and while his red car was out front the truck that had been there yesterday was gone. He turned onto the gravel drive that led from the road to his house and he slowly brought his bike to a stop next to his car. He put his long legs down and settled his feet on the ground, balancing the bike, before he turned off the engine. I slid my arms from around him and with shaky legs I climbed off the bike.

Jacob smiled at me once I was standing and I gave him a small smile in return as I started to unfasten the helmet. He put the kickstand down and climbed off the bike just as I pulled the helmet off my head and vainly smoothed my free hand over the top of my head and fingered my hair to try and make sure that it wasn't sticking up all over the place. Without a word, Jacob took the helmet from me, sat it on the bike seat, and then held out his left hand to me. I put my right hand in his left and he was quick to lace his fingers with mine before he led me towards his house.

"Is Billy home?" I asked, breaking the silence that had settled between us since before Jacob had drove out of the Forks High School's parking lot. I had a feeling that Billy wasn't home since the truck was missing, but I had to ask. Jacob looked at me and shook his head negatively.

"Not right now," he said as we walked up the ramp and into the house. Jacob had yet to let go of my hand as he closed the door behind us and then walked me further into the house. My heart was once again hammering in my chest as we walked through the kitchen, the living room, and down a short hall into what I realized was Jacob's bedroom. Once we were in there, Jacob turned so he was facing me and his eyes locked with mine.

"What happened yesterday?" he asked and I frowned slightly at the question. "I know that the – Alice said something to you that upset you. I could tell, but I let it drop because I realized you didn't want to talk about it. What did she say?"

"She didn't say anything, Jacob," I said as I tried to pull my hand from his, but he tightened his hold slightly before he took half a step closer to me. There was now less than half a foot of space between us and once again the heat emanating from Jacob's body washed over me as my heart started racing. The expression on his face read anger, but looking into his eyes I knew that the anger on display there was not directed at me; and I could only assume that he was angry with Alice.

"I don't believe you," he said and I sighed quietly as I averted my eyes to stare at his chin since the intensity of his gaze made me feel uncomfortable. It was almost like he was looking into my very soul and his close proximity only magnified the feeling and was causing my stomach to do summersaults once again.

"Why does it matter what she said to me, Jacob?" I asked and he sighed quietly before he squeezed my hand, the angry expression on his face melting into a softer, indescribable expression as he looked down at me.

"Whatever she said to you is what led to you start pushing me away, and I want to know why. I thought we were becoming friends," he said and I sighed as I looked down at our entwined hands.

There was no way to tell Jacob what Alice had said to me without completely embarrassing myself in the process. I had let the fact that a guy I knew next to nothing about had feelings for another girl affect the blossoming friendship that we had started. It was sort of pathetic really, but it was what I did; and it was all because I just happened to like him more than I should have. And it was because I liked him that I knew that I had to tell him the truth. Even though I'd known him for barely a day, I knew that I wanted Jacob to play some role in my life and having him as a friend was better than not having him in my life at all. Plus, for whatever reason, Jacob wanted to be my friend as well and it was only fair to be honest with him.

"Rory?" he asked and I looked at him just as he opened his mouth to speak again, but I cut him off.

"You're in love with Bella," I said simply and he blinked at me.

"What?" he asked, his voice soft and filled with the surprise that was clearly written on his face.

"Alice told me that you're in love with Bella," I said before I laughed lightly and pulled my hand from his slackened grip. I tightened my ponytail and shrugged my shoulders as I turned away from him to look out his bedroom window, which looked out into dense trees that rested on the other side of his yard. "I wasn't exactly sure how to process it since she also told me that Bella's dating her brother, and that you hated him because she choose him over you. I guess I didn't want to make things awkward for you since Bella's my cousin," I said as I took my bag off and sat it down on the floor by my feet with a soft sigh. I threw in that last sentence to try and take away a bit of my embarrassment, but I doubt he believed it because my face was about as red as the outside of his house.

"I'm not in love with Bella," Jacob said after a few quiet beats and I frowned slightly as I turned my head to look over my left shoulder at him. He was looking at me with an expression on his face that I couldn't read very well. It was as if he was trying to say something to me without actually saying it, but whatever it was I just wasn't catching on.

"You're not?" I asked and he shook his head once.

"No."

"Then why would Alice say you loved her?" I asked as I turned to face him once again, that time with a little more distance between us than before.

"Probably because I do love Bella," he said as he once again closed the small distance between us until there was barely any left and I tilted my head back a bit to look him in the eyes, my frown only deepening at his confusing words.

"You just said-," I started but he interrupted with me.

"I love Bella like I love my older sisters or my friends," he said, "which means I'm not in love with Bella. There's a difference." He had me there. Those were definitely two different things, but the way Alice had said that Jacob loved Bella didn't lead me to believe his feelings for Bella were strictly platonic or brotherly. There had to have been more to their relationship, and Bella's reaction to seeing Jacob with me and how close he had stood with me in the foyer of the house told me that there had been.

"Were you ever?" I asked quietly, unable to stop myself, and he frowned.

"Was I ever what?" he asked.

"Were you ever in love with Bella?" I asked, actually fearing the answer when Jacob's eyes left my face as he turned his head towards the window I had just been looking it out. Selfishly, I wanted him to say 'no,' but the fact that he looked away from me was really all the answer I needed. He had been in love with Bella at some point over the course of their friendship, but how deep it went I wasn't sure I wanted to know. My stomach was twisting and my heart hammering as I waited for him to answer the question, but I didn't have to wait long.

"I used to think I was," he said quietly before he turned his head towards me. "I cared about her a lot, and I thought it was love, true love even, but I was wrong." He wasn't lying, I could tell that simply because his eyes never waivered once from mine as he spoke, but I found it hard to believe. He'd only known Bella for a short period of time, a little over two years, and for most of it she'd been in a relationship with Edward. If he cared about her so much that he had once thought it was true love, how was it possible for his feelings to change in that short amount of time and become purely platonic?

"You sound so sure of that," I said, my voice barely above a whisper because I felt like I couldn't breathe. Jacob was staring at me in that way of his that left me feeling stupid and it was then that I felt the warmth of his hands on my hips as he shuffled his body even closer to mine. I swallowed hard to try and get the lump that had formed in my throat to go down, but it didn't work.

"Because I am," he whispered back. Once again, my heart felt as though it was going to burst out of my chest and I was actually light headed as Jacob pulled me into him, my chest pressing softly against his as we stared at each other.

My brain was telling me that I needed to take a step away from him, that I needed to put distance between the two of us because it was all moving way, way, too fast. However, I remained where I stood looking into Jacob's seemingly endless dark eyes because he made no move to kiss me and his hands remained where they rested on the curves of my hips with his fingers resting on my lower back and not on my butt. He wasn't grabbing at me or groping me. He was just holding me in place, and if I wanted to listen to my brain, I could have easily stepped back and out of his grasp. That, however, was not going to be happening anytime soon.

"How?" I asked him quietly. "How are you so sure?" He smiled at me then as his right hand ghosted over my back and then my shoulder before his warm hand was gently holding on to the left side of my face.

"I'll answer that question someday," he said, leaving me hanging just like he had yesterday when I asked him about going to college.

"Someday soon?" I asked and he ran his thumb along the apple of my cheek as he nodded.

"Yeah," he said quietly with a small smile on his lips. "Someday soon," he promised and I couldn't help but smile back at him. However, my thoughts were going a million miles an hour as I tried to process everything.

Not only did Jacob's confession about his feelings for Bella confuse me, but my own swirling emotions were helping to add to my utter confusion as I stood there in Jacob's arms. If Jacob were any other guy, I would have been beyond uncomfortable standing wrapped up in his arms in the middle of his bedroom. However, like I mentioned before, I knew I could trust Jacob and something inside of me assured me that Jacob would never hurt me.

It made absolutely no logical sense for me to feel the way I felt when I was with him, and it was both exciting and terrifying at the same time because the whole thing was completely new to me. It was like that feeling you get after getting off a twisting and looping roller coaster; it was a constant heart pumping adrenaline rush when I was around Jacob, and despite my aversions to roller coasters, I loved it.

"Rory," he whispered breaking the long silence that had settled between us as we stood there, before he started to close the very small distance between our faces. However, just as I felt his breath on my lips, we were interrupted.

"Jake, you home?" came Billy's voice from what I assumed was the living room and I gasped quietly in surprise while Jacob's right hand lowered from my face and returned to my hip. My face warmed with a blush as I started panicking. What if Billy came into Jacob's room and caught me standing there wrapped up in his son's arms when both of us were supposed to be at school? Billy may have liked me after our brief meeting yesterday, but if he walked in now, his opinion of me might not be all that favorable anymore. Even though Jacob and I weren't doing anything, I doubted Billy would see it that way.

"Oh crap," I breathed as I tried to step out of Jacob's hold to hide somewhere just to be safe, but he tightened his hands and held me in place as I turned my eyes up to his face.

"Relax," he whispered, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, Dad, I'm home," he yelled as he turned his face from mine.

"You might want to put your bike in the garage," Billy said from the other room. "It's starting to sprinkle outside, which you know only leads to rain."

"All right," Jacob yelled, his smile turning into a crooked grin as he looked down at my red face. "You've got nothing to worry about," he told me softly.

"You can't be serious, Jacob," I whispered. "If your dad catches me in your bedroom when both of us are supposed to be in school, it's not going to end well."

"The only thing that would tick my dad off would be the fact that I made you skip your first day of school," he whispered back. "He wouldn't care about finding you in my bedroom." I raised a skeptical eyebrow at that and Jacob chuckled as he slowly slid his hands from my body, causing goose bumps to race across my skin.

"You know I don't believe you, right?" I asked him and he grinned once more.

"I know, but you will someday," he said and I scoffed a laugh as I shook my head. That was like the third or fourth time that Jacob had thrown the 'someday' card at me, however, I continued to let him get away with it. After all, we were barely friends and he owed me no explanation for anything he did. "I'm going to go and put my bike away, talk to my dad, and take a quick shower. Just stay in here and relax, okay?" he asked and I nodded my head before I sighed softly.

"Okay, but what if-," I started, but he interrupted.

"He won't come in here," Jacob said with a smile. "I promise."

"Fine," I said quietly. He chuckled and left his bedroom, closing the door behind him and leaving me on my own. With a heavy sigh, I walked over to his bed, which I noticed for the first time, and much to my surprise, was a twin. I had no idea how Jacob even fit on the thing let alone slept comfortably on it since the bed looked so small and Jacob, well, wasn't.

I sat down on the edge of the bed before I grabbed a car magazine from the small pile that he had on the floor by his lone nightstand. Jacob was obviously into cars given the number of magazines he had and looking around his room I saw that for the most part his walls were empty, but there were a few posters of what looked like classic sports cars. It was then that I found myself wondering what else Jacob was into, but I knew that sooner rather than later I would find out.


For about forty-five minutes I sat by myself in Jacob's room, paging through his car magazines and not really understanding any of the tips the articles gave or the various workings of the cars they were describing. However, the pictures were nice to look at; well, the pictures that didn't include bikini-clad girls modeling with the cars that were on display. Those I wasn't much of a fan of.

I had taken off my boots and was completely sitting on Jacob's bed with my back propped up against the wall at the top of his bed with his pillow offering a bit of support. My knees were drawn up and the last magazine that had been in the pile was resting on my thighs as I paged through it. Despite trying to distract myself with the magazines, my thoughts kept wandering back to the whole Bella conversation I had had with Jacob. I still wasn't sure why I had let the whole 'Jacob has feelings for Bella' thing bother me in the first place, but I was glad that Jacob and I were able to talk about it even if I still wasn't sure if he was being completely honest with me.

I believed him when he told me that he loved Bella like he loved his sisters, sisters that I hadn't known he had until he said that, but there was something he wasn't telling me. It was something that he promised to tell me 'someday soon,' but I wasn't sure if that 'someday' would really come as fast as I wanted it to. However, despite all of that I was decided that for once in my life I was going to take a chance, and I was going to take a chance on Jacob. I hadn't misread the signals that Jacob had been sending me yesterday, and if the way he was touching me and looking at me that morning was any indication, he obviously felt the same strange connection to me that I felt to him.

After everything that morning I knew that Jacob was the kind of guy I could easily see myself falling head over heels in love with. Hell, just being close to him left me feeling winded and light headed, and my whole body had felt like it was on fire when I was pressed up against him. I had wanted him to kiss me so bad, and I knew that if Billy hadn't gotten home and called out to Jacob that he would have done just that. The very thought of even kissing Jacob left my head spinning, and I could only imagine what would happen if, or when, I ever actually did kiss Jacob. Knowing me, I'd probably pass out or something equally embarrassing.

I sighed to myself as I shook the thoughts from my head before I closed the magazine and tossed it onto the floor with the others that I had stacked in a much neater pile than they had previously been in. It was then that Jacob's bedroom door opened and I nearly had a heart attack out of fear that it was Billy. However, when I saw that it wasn't, I nearly had a heart attack for a completely different reason. Jacob walked into his bedroom, hair wet, and dressed only in a freaking towel that was wrapped around his hips. My eyes widened as he closed his bedroom door behind him and I was rooted to where I sat on his bed. He too stopped short when his eyes landed on me, but he smiled at me after he awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Sorry, but if I would have taken clothes into the bathroom with me, Dad would've known something was up," he said as his russet cheeks tinted red as he looked at me.

"I-i-it's okay," I finally managed with a small smile. "It's not like I haven't seen you shirtless before," I threw in and Jacob chuckled as he walked over to his dresser. I took a deep breath and I swung my legs over the side of the bed, my black sock clad feet resting back on the wooden floor. I stood then and Jacob looked over his left shoulder at me with a frown.

"Going somewhere?" he asked and I was pretty sure I was about as red as could be as I gestured towards his closet.

"I'm just going to stand in the closet while you get dressed," I said before I walked over to it, doing just as I said. The second I closed the door of the very cramped and small closet I heard Jacob laugh. I blushed, but smiled to myself as I stood there surrounded by Jacob's things. It wasn't a very comfortable place to take refuge, but I was only in there for barely a minute because soon the door was opened to reveal a fully dressed and smiling Jacob. I smiled at him while he rolled his eyes, grabbed my right hand, and pulled me out of the closet, before he closed the door.

"You're crazy," he said, throwing my words from yesterday back at me, and I laughed quietly.

"It's been said," I said, doing the same thing, and Jacob chuckled as he gently pushed me back. I was trapped between Jacob's imposing body and the closet door behind me, but I wasn't afraid. In fact, I couldn't stop smiling as I looked up at Jacob and his dark eyes practically danced across my face.

"There's a party on Saturday," he said when his eyes finally settled with mine, "and I want you to come with me." My heart started racing again, but I kept my face neutral at the question.

"As your friend or as your date?" I asked, as my hands automatically found their way to rest on his black t-shirt covered chest. I had tried to sound flirty, but I probably had failed miserably at my attempt. However, the small grin that played across his lips as he glanced down at my hands on his chest told me that maybe I hadn't. His eyes returned to my face and his hands left the door/wall behind me and settled on my upper waist.

"If I ask you to come as my date, what would you say?" he asked.

"I'd say . . . I'd have to think about it," I teased with a grin as I pushed at his chest, catching him off guard and causing him to stumble back a bit and away from me before I started to quickly rush around him. However, I had forgotten all about his fast reflexes. He easily caught me around the waist before he turned me around in his arms so I was once again pressed up against his chest and looking into his dark eyes. I was laughing, rather loudly I might add, and Jacob was smiling as he looked down at me. "I am not a rag doll you know," I said through my laughter and Jacob chuckled.

"You'd have to think about it? Really?" he asked and I smiled at him before I shrugged my shoulders as my hands once again rested on his chest. "Come on, Rory, you can't leave a guy hanging like that," he said softly before he pressed his forehead against mine. My heart was hammering away again and I swore that one of these days it was actually going to break a rib or something.

"Do you really want me to go with you as your date or were you just humoring me because of my question?" I asked him quietly and in all seriousness. He lifted his head then, his beautiful brown eyes catching my blue as he continued to hold me tightly against his body.

"I want you, Aurora Bishop, to be my date more than I have ever wanted anything before in my life," he said, his face completely serious and no lie in his eyes. I nervously licked my lips before I smiled softly at him.

"Okay," I said and his smile was blinding as he looked at me.

"You know, if you're going sneak around with a girl in the house, you should be a little more subtle about it," came Billy's humor filled voice and I was pretty sure my face turned fire engine red as I untangled myself from Jacob's arms and took a step back only to trip on my bag that I had put on the floor earlier. Jacob tried to reach out for me, but obviously his dad sitting in his wheelchair in the open door way had caught him off guard as well and his reflexes weren't as quick. With a high-pitched squeak, I landed hard on my butt facing a snickering Billy who was red in the face from holding in what was undoubtedly roaring laughter.

"Rory, are you okay?" Jacob asked as he squatted down beside me and I swatted away his hands as I quickly picked myself up off the floor and adjusted the hem of my sweater.

"I'm okay," I said quickly to appease Jacob's worried expression as he righted himself. My eyes shifted to Billy and Jacob looked at his Dad as he moved to my side, his right arm going around my back and his hand right hand settling on my hip. I stiffened, but didn't pull away from him as Billy finally got himself under control.

"Not that it isn't nice to see you again, Aurora, but if I'm not mistaken, weren't you supposed to start school today?" he asked and my face continued to burn red as I looked at Billy.

"W-w-well, y-you see . . . I . . . I . . . I got nothing," I finally said with a sigh as I looked up at Jacob who laughed before he pressed a warm (and surprising) kiss to my left temple.

"It's my fault, Dad," he said as he turned his eyes to Billy, but I found I couldn't look away from Jacob's profile as he spoke to his father. "I sort of kidnapped her."

"I see," Billy said, his voice knocking me out of my stupor and bringing my eyes back to him. "I'm going to let this slide, just this once, and I won't tell Charlie," he said as he looked at me, smile in place, before he turned his eyes to Jacob, "but it can't happen again. Aurora has to go to school, Jake, and summer vacation starts pretty soon. You'll be able to spend as much time together as you want then," he said, his expression turning serious.

"I know," Jacob said. "It won't happen again. I promise."

"Good," Billy said before he put his hand on the wheels of his chair. "Now, you two are more than welcome to join me for lunch since it's that time; but if you stay in here, keep the door open." With that Billy wheeled away and I groaned quietly out of embarrassment before I turned my face into Jacob's chest. He laughed quietly as his hand left my hip and he gently rubbed my back.

"I told you the only thing he'd be upset about was me taking you out of school," Jacob said and I looked up at him.

"Shut up," I said and Jacob laughed while I frowned as I shifted so his arm fell back to his side. "Why isn't he upset about you not being in school?"

"I'm sort of on a sabbatical," he said after a beat and I raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"I'll tell you-," he started, but I interrupted because I knew exactly what he was about to say.

"Someday," I finished for him as I crossed my arms over my chest and he smiled at me before he nodded.

"Yes," he said as he reached out and uncrossed my arms from in front of me before he slid his fingers down my forearms to take my hands into his. "And I promise it'll be soon." I nodded and Jacob continued to smile before he jerked his head towards the door. "Are you hungry?" he asked just as my stomach roared to life, making me blush yet again and Jacob chuckle. "I'll take that as a 'yes,'" he said. "Let's go see what Dad's throwing together."

"Okay," I said and he let go of my right hand, but kept my left firmly in his right before he led me from his bedroom; and I was smiling like an idiot the whole time.