Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my college debt and a few pair of scrubs.

Stephenie Meyer is the genius behind the creation of this world and I am just diving in it.

"I'm trying to to keep my feet on the ground

I'm getting to like this feeling I've found

I'm getting to love the thought of having you around

And I will never let you go"

--Never Let You Down by Verve Pipe


Chapter 4: Awakening

"Vampire," he hissed.

The word shot right through my body and grabbed onto my heart, catching my breath in my throat.

"Victoria..." I whispered as a chill ran up my spine. The previous intimate moment between Jacob and I had now been lost. Jacob stuck his nose into the air and breathed in deeply. He stood slowly to his feet and then turned around with his back towards me, obviously searching for the culprit.

"No," he said stiffly. "This isn't Victoria that I smell."

"Well then…" I started to ask, confused, but something stopped me from finishing the sentence. It was a sudden thought that occurred to me, an impossible hope that filled my being. If it wasn't Victoria then who else did that leave? Could it be true? Did he come back for me? I didn't dare think his name.

Jacob turned around towards me as I managed to stand to my feet. He was staring at me intently waiting for me to finish my statement. His expression twisted to one of hurt as he must have seen the hope that now lit across my face.

"Edward," he said coldly. "That's who you're hoping for, right?"

I hated that he could read me like a book. I shifted my gaze to the ground as his name echoed in my mind. Edward .I was embarrassed for even thinking of the possibility. He didn't love me; of course it was not him. He was never coming back. To avoid answering his question I bent down and started to clean up our mess from the picnic.

"It's not him," I said barely audible. "He has no reason to come back to Forks."

I waited for the empty gaping hole in my chest to overtake me, but oddly enough it never happened. I still felt almost normal. I still felt the way I did most of the time whenever I was in Jacob's presence. It was a huge step in the right direction but I knew I still had a long road ahead.

"That's right Bella. He's never coming back. At least, he better not if he knows what's good for him," Jacob spat out cruelly, as he helped me finish cleaning up, and then picked up the basket.

His words, though I knew they were true, stung through me. Jacob's lack of sensitivity towards my feelings hurt and I found myself glaring at him. I was too angry to respond, so I just shoved past him instead and made my way towards Emily's house with my hands clenched in fists at my sides. I was so tired of Jacob's hatred towards Edward, even though I knew Edward deserved every ounce of it.

"Bells, wait..." Jacob said pleadingly. He caught up with me easily in no time and began walking by my side trying to get me to look at him. I refused to give in even though it was excruciatingly hard to stay angry with him.

"I'm sorry," he said softly and I could tell he meant it.

"You know what," I said stopping in my tracks. "There's really no time for us to argue if there's any chance of another deadly vampire lingering close by."

Jacob halted as well. "You're right. I really am sorry; sometimes I can be such a jerk to you. I just wish you felt about me the way you do Edward; the jealousy makes me an ugly person. There really is no excuse."

"It's okay, I forgive you," I told him, as I reached and grabbed the picnic basket from his hands. "Now, what about this vampire?" I asked after a moment, quickly changing the subject. I always tried to refrain from any conversation that involved my feelings for Jacob because I was beginning to feel unsure of exactly what those feelings were.

"Right," Jacob said and then extended his nose into the air again. "Well I can't smell the leech anymore, so whoever it was must have run off. I will have to speak with the rest of the guys to see if they saw anything and to let them know to be on alert. Why don't you go into Emily's house and stay there? I need to change in order to communicate with the others. It will only take a second."

I obeyed Jacob's instructions and walked up to Emily's house feeling awfully vulnerable on my own. I knocked lightly on the door and while I waited, I turned around and scanned the woods for any sign of Jacob. Nothing. He must've already taken off.

The door opened in front of me to reveal Emily in an apron as she so often was.

"Bella," She said delighted to see me. "C'mon in." Her lips curled up slightly on the unscarred half of her mouth as she opened the door wider. I smiled back at her warmly, trying not to stare as I walked into her small, but cozy abode. Her face was always a reminder of how dangerous the wolves can truly be and as much as I liked Emily I always felt uneasy around her.

"Hello Emily," I said a little too formally, looking around the empty house that smelled of something baking in the oven. I wasn't surprised, and I was very relieved to discover that Sam wasn't there. I never liked being alone with the two of them because their love for each other was so painfully obvious that it brought on memories I didn't want to think about.

"So what brings about this lovely surprise visit?" Emily asked sweetly as she sat down at the kitchen table gesturing for me to join her.

I relayed the news to Emily and told her about our picnic and the new vampire scent as I joined her at the table. If she was worried by the news, she didn't show it.

"Well, there are always new vampires that travel through this area with no intent of harm. It is something that happens all the time, though I guess, with the current situation with Victoria the guys want to be extra cautious. I am sure there is nothing to worry about Bella," she said reassuringly.

I smiled at her, though it was not genuine. I guess somewhere deep down inside I was still hoping that it was Edward and not some random nomadic vampire. What a stupid and pointless hope to have.

Emily and I sat and talked for what seemed like hours before Jacob and the rest of the pack plowed in through the front door, laughing and carrying on.

"Well maybe if you and your girlfriend wouldn't be such wimps then we wouldn't have to spend an entire evening hunting a vampire that's no threat to us," Paul teased Jacob as they entered the kitchen.

"Hey, I just want to keep Bella safe, you can't really blame me for that," Jacob shot back defensively, though he was laughing.

"Aw how schweeet," Paul said mockingly, plopping down in one of the seats at the table.

Once they all were gathered in the kitchen, Sam naturally took Emily into an intimate embrace and kissed her delicately on the cheek. The rest of the guys helped themselves to some blueberry muffins that Emily had taken out of the oven right before they came inside. Jacob stuffed one down in a matter of seconds and then walked up behind where I was sitting and placed his hands on my shoulders, giving me a gentle massage.

"Sorry Bells, that took longer than I thought."

"What did you find out?" I asked turning slightly in my chair to face him. I wasn't really worried for his response because of what Emily had told me earlier.

"Well we searched all over the area. We found nothing, so whoever it was must have just been passing through. There's nothing to worry about," he said to me smiling.

"Good," I said simply and smiled back. It was refreshing to know that it was just a false alarm.

Jacob looked around the kitchen at everyone else who was carrying on their own conversations and then turned his attention back to me.

"If it's okay with you, the guys were talking about ordering pizza and hanging out here for a while. We haven't really gotten the chance to just chill out together in quite some time. I know I promised you I would spend the entire day with just you, so if you want to leave now, we can.," Jacob offered to me.

"No, pizza sounds good. I don't mind hanging out here for a while," I replied in response to my growling stomach. It had been a while since I had anything to eat besides one of Emily's muffins.

I saw Jacob's face light up, he really loved hanging out with his friends and whatever made him happy, made me happy. I got up to allow Jacob to have my seat among the rest of the guys, and I moved to join Emily over by the sink. She was washing up the dishes that were left over from making the muffins so I grabbed a towel to help her dry.

"You know Bella, they are like a bunch of kids," she said laughing. Sam had left her side to join the guys at the table. They were in the process of calling and ordering 3 large pizzas with all kinds of toppings I didn't even know were sanely eaten on pizza.

"Yeah, I am starting to realize that," I agreed joining in her laughter, "I'm just glad to see Jacob happy."

"Jacob's a great kid. He has a good head on his shoulders and he seems to know exactly what he wants out of life. That is pretty uncommon for someone his age." Emily said as we both glanced over our shoulders to look back at Jacob who was completely oblivious that he was being talked about. He was playing rock, paper, and scissors with Sam to see whether the third pizza would have mushrooms or not.

"Yeah, he's a great best friend," I said emphasizing the friend part. I could easily tell what Emily was trying to do. Everyone seemed to be rooting for Jacob to win my heart.

"Right," Emily said smirking. She was finished with the dishes and began to put away the ones that I had dried. I just ignored her smirks because I was used to it by now. I really couldn't blame her, because even I knew that Jacob and I would be great together. It just wasn't that easy. Was it?

The rest of the evening seemed to be going by in a blur. I remember the pizza arriving and finally getting to satisfy my hunger. I thought that Jacob ate practically an entire pie on his own, but I could be remembering that incorrectly. I was so lost in thought, almost in a daze. I couldn't seem to get the idea of Jacob and me—together-- out of my head. It was almost as if Emily had planted this curse into my mind and no matter what I did, I couldn't push it aside. As if that wasn't confusing enough, I couldn't stop reliving the "almost kiss" in my mind. My stomach would fill with butterflies at the thought of what would've happened if we hadn't been interrupted.

Emily and I were standing in front of the sink for the second time that evening, washing the post-pizza dishes in silence. I was yet again thinking about the events that occurred earlier in the day whenever I had fallen on top of Jacob and could feel his hot breath on my face, his mouth just inches from my own. More importantly, I was wrapped up in the memory of the intense desire I felt in that exact moment to bring my mouth down on his. My daze was interrupted as I felt a set of warm arms wrap around my waist. Jacob's mouth was right beside my ear in the next instant causing my entire body to cover in goose-bumps.

"Wanna get out of here?" he whispered.

"Uh, sure…" I responded almost breathlessly, immediately sliding out of his embrace and heading for my coat and shoes. My head was starting to spin and I felt the familiar physiological reaction my body would undergo In the presence of the one person that seemed to have this effect on me. Only this time, that someone was not Edward. My palms were sweaty and I swallowed hard. Had Jacob been aware of my thoughts this evening? Did he somehow have a strange notion that I couldn't quite get him out of my head? Why else would he be doing this to me?

Jacob didn't seem fazed by my quick escape and happily went over to say his goodbyes to everyone, who were planning on seeing him in less than an hour anyhow. Apparently they were having a bonfire on La Push beach tonight, something that I must have missed while in my trance.

"Is everything okay?" he asked me, once we were outside and walking towards his car.

"Yeah, everything is fine, why?" I said a little too quickly.

"You just seem to be a little out of it, that's all," he said opening the car door for me.

"I'm fine Jacob!" I snapped back and shut my door in his face.

Jacob stood there for a minute completely stunned. He shrugged and then walked around to his side to get in as well. We both remained silent the entire car ride back to his place. I was feeling guilty for yelling at him, after all it wasn't his fault I was so confused by my new feelings for him, but I didn't feel like talking to him about anything at the moment. I didn't want to say-- or do for that matter--something that I would regret.

A/N: *yawns* I know, I know...its a slow start...it gets better I promise. Next chapter is a pretty big moment...