I of course own no part of Twilight or any of Stephenie Meyer's wonderful characters...


Chapter 4

The end of August marked our return to school, the familiar routine that it brought had a healing effect. Well, except for the fact that I just couldn't prevent myself, upon entering the cafeteria, from looking over at their table. I never expected to see any of them, and I was never surprised; but my eyes always went straight there as if needing to verify again that they were really gone. It seemed so very odd at first to see their table – once such a lovely place to let your eyes rest – overrun by mere humans like every other table in the cafeteria. Somehow I had expected it to remain empty, as if in remembrance. A sort of shrine to the beautiful ones who had once touched our lives… well, my life…

I sat at our table with Angela, Ben, Mike, Jess, and some lower classmen that I didn't know. I did notice that Lauren wasn't with us; I scanned the room curiously and found her sitting at a smaller table with a couple of girls I didn't recognize and… Tyler Crowley. I smirked at the irony…

Angela and I had 6th period Calculus and 7th period Gym together; we were walking toward the gymnasium when I heard the distinctly familiar sound of a motorcycle engine approaching through the parking lot. We both looked up at the noise as Jacob Black rode right up onto the sidewalk coasting to a stop just ahead of us. Angela turned a wide-eyed, imploring look my way as I broke out in a warm smile and without thinking, ran into his warm embrace. "Jake!"

"Missed you," he breathed huskily, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "Haven't seen you forever," he chided softly.

In reality it had been a week since I'd been out to La Push. It really did seem longer though.

I gave him another squeeze before I pulled myself out of his arms. I blushed fiercely when I remembered Angela, my eyes flashing guiltily to hers trying to read her reaction. She was smiling softly, almost knowingly; I caught her stealing another look at Jacob before she started moving toward the gymnasium again.

"I need… to… talk to... Coach Clapp before class starts." she offered weakly. She increased her pace and waved back over her shoulder, "See you in class Bella!"

"So where ya been?" he asked, reaching out and catching my hand in his, tracing patterns on the back of my hand with his thumb.

"Home… School…I'm sorry Jake, I wanted to come out." I offered in earnest. He'd left a couple messages with Charlie, and I'd really meant to call him back… I thought about it almost daily usually at work or as I was drifting off to sleep. "Was planning on coming out Saturday… I worked 5 shifts at Newton's last week, 4 this week and the homework…" I sighed and unthinkingly leaned against his broad chest.

"Well", he brought his free hand to my back and ran his finger up and down my spine. "I have a couple of errands to run for my dad, I was kinda hoping that maybe you'd have some free time this afternoon?'

I shivered, my heart skipped a beat and set off at an exaggerated pace. I stepped just out of reach his tingly touch, and he chuckled softly.

"I have some homework, but I'm not working at the store tonight," I said thoughtfully. "What did you have in mind?"

He shrugged, his expression almost pained, "I dunno, I just missed you... It really doesn't matter what we do, I just wanted to hang out with ya. You have homework, we could just hang out at your house. Maybe I can even help you…" he grinned at that last part.

I grinned and rolled my eyes at him, "But wouldn't you actually have to go to school yourself to be able to help me with my homework?"

"Hmm…" he smirked, his eyes seemed to liquefy into deep black pools as he pulled me tight against him. He leaned his face down, his lips grazing my ear – I gasped, his breath felt so very hot on my neck and cheek. "I'm pretty sure I could teach you a thing or two about a thing or two," his deep voice not much more than a whisper.

My heart was pounding so fiercely I just knew he could hear it. I felt my face flush, and my breath caught in my throat when I tried to speak. I closed my eyes and willed myself back under control. I looked up into his face, which was slowly, purposefully closing in on mine; his eyes holding mine, his tongue flicking out to moisten his warm full lips…His sweet breath on my face, my arms somehow encircled his neck, my fingers wrapped into his shaggy black hair…

The sound of the late bell almost knocked me off my feet. Not to mention the fact that jolted me back to reality just in time to avoid… I stepped away from Jacob and stared around stupidly for a moment. What just happened? Or almost happened anyway?

Jacob laughed at me, "You okay Bells?" I nodded dumbly and picked up my bag – the one I didn't remember dropping at Jacob's feet – and slung it over my shoulder. "I'll meet you at your place after school," he called. He took a deep breath shaking his head and chuckling to himself again before he rode off.

I still felt dazed. I couldn't seem to get my head around the scene with Jake… I started walking toward the gym and then broke into an awkward run, praying to stay vertical, as I realized I was way late!

Jake was parked in front of Charlie's when I got there. He met me at my truck and grabbed my bag from me catching my hand in his. We walked to the door in silence, and I let us in with the key under the eave.

Once inside he sat my bag on the couch, plopped down in Charlie's chair and grabbed the remote. I went straight into the kitchen to start dinner. Once the roast was in the oven and the vegetables were cleaned and chopped I returned to the living room to get started on my homework.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye as I silently went about getting my books out of my bag and setting my stuff up on the coffee table. He almost looked too big for Charlie's chair; or maybe it was just the way he was half laying across it - one leg flung over the arm, the other stretched out in front of him. He got up and sat by me on the floor once I opened my Calculus book.

He leaned back against the couch and kept his attention on the television, unheedingly playing with a lock of my hair. He'd reach forward and brush the hair back from my face every time I sighed and bowed my head I frustration. It was almost instinctual on his part; he never actually seemed to be looking away from the television screen.

After what felt like forever I finished the last problem and closed my book with a deep sigh. Jacob scooted closer and looked away from the television long enough to give me that warm, goofy grin. I rolled my eyes at him and pulled myself up from the floor to check on dinner. I misjudged my clearance around the corner of the coffee table and caught my foot on the pedestal leg. I cried out, more out of surprise than pain, and landed quite ungracefully - almost knocking Charlie's chair over in my tumble.

"Bella!" Jacob was up and at me immediately, pulling me to my feet. "You okay?" he asked. Embarrassment flooded my cheeks as I nodded sheepishly. His concerned expression relaxed as he shook his head slowly and chuckled. "What am I gonna do with you Bells?" He asked affectionately.

I thought about how many times I'd heard him laughing at me recently; and glared at him before I stomped off toward the kitchen almost tripping again before getting out of the room. He just laughed louder.

I washed my hands and took the roast out of the oven. I added the rest of the veggies and stuck it back in setting the timer above the stove. I trudged upstairs and checked my email; there was a short one from Renee. I responded to it before shutting my computer back down and heading back downstairs. I washed up the few dishes that I had used in prepping dinner and set three places at the kitchen table.

I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and was headed back to the living room to see what Jacob was up to when he stepped around the door and scared me half to death! I practically choked on the water I was drinking, spraying him with it instead. That stopped his laughing at me. His shocked expression was absolutely priceless. But he recovered quickly and grabbed the water bottle from me. He covered most of the opening with his thumb and shook almost half the remaining water all over me.

"Jacob!" I screamed. "Stop it. Stop! Grrrrrr… Jacob Black!" I was slipping and sliding on the wet linoleum floor, trying to knock the water bottle out of his hand while trying futilely to shield myself. He finally relented when my foot slipped out from under me; he caught me, but lost his own balance and fell flat of his butt in the puddle of water. He pulled me down onto his lap, both of us laughing hysterically.

I tried to crawl away, but he grabbed my ankle and pulled me back onto his lap. He kept me pinned to him with one arm while tickling me with the other. I fought and kicked in vain and laughed so hard I had tears running down my cheeks; he was merciless! Finally after much gasping for air and begging for mercy he gave in – but wouldn't let go.

He gently brushed my hair from my face. My heart started racing when I watched his black eyes liquefy as he bent his head down to mine. He gently kissed my hair, my forehead, and the tip of my nose…

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! We both jumped as the oven timer announced dinner's need for attention.

"Charlie!" I said looking at the water mess all over the kitchen. He let go of me, gracefully hopped to his feet and pulled me to mine. I set the roast on top of the stove and threw a pan of dinner rolls in the oven.

Jacob was wiping the water from the wall, "I got this," he waved me on, "you might wanna go put some dry clothes on." He raised his brow and raked his eyes from my damp hair to my soggy socks and back.

I nodded and hurried back up to my room. I really was soaked. I yanked on a dry t-shirt and pair of shorts and pulled my wet hair into a ponytail.

I heard Charlie's cruiser pull into the driveway as I stepped off the bottom step; Jacob was just putting the mop back up. I washed my hands and took the dinner rolls out of the oven. I had just set them on the table when Charlie came through the front door.

"Bella?" He called.

I stepped into the living room, "Hey dad," I smiled, "You don't mind if Jake has dinner with us do you?"

"'Course not!" he said hanging his coat and gun belt up after stepping out of his boots. "Heya Jake!"

"Hey Chief!" Jake called out from the kitchen.

We ate dinner and as I moved to do the dishes Jacob offered to rinse and dry for me as Charlie retired to his television. We finished the dishes quickly; I had just wiped the table down and stepped to the sink to rinse out the dishrag when I felt him step up behind me.

I had just acknowledged his body heat when a pair of strong arms spun me around and engulfed me. He crushed me against him and brought his lips down to mine in one blindingly fast move.

His hand pressed into the small of my back, holding me even tighter against his hard body. I went onto the tips of my toes and wrapped my arms around his neck, my fingers in his hair, and moved my lips against his hungrily – breathing in the scent of him – an earthy, woodsy, musky mix. I felt his tongue against my lips and I parted them and met his tongue with my own. A soft whimper left my throat; he groaned in response.

With seemingly no effort he lifted me and sat me on the counter beside the sink. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pressed myself to him squeezing my legs as tightly around him as I could. I completely forgot where I was; there was no one else in the world but this big beautiful man and me… just me and 'My Jacob.' His hands cupped my face and he gently but firmly pulled his face away from mine.

"Charlie…" he whispered. We were both gasping, and when I buried my face in his chest I realized his heart was racing every bit as fast as mine was. He ran his hands along my legs and still struggling to control his own breathing he pried my legs loose and stepped back. I slid down from the counter trying to sort through what we had just done, trying to figure out just how I felt about kissing Jake.

I looked up at him, and thought something seemed… wrong.

"Jake?" concern evident in my voice.

He wouldn't meet my eye – all of a sudden he looked nervous.

"Everything ok in there?" Charlie called from the living room.

"I gotta go Bells," Jacob whispered, "I'll call you." He spun around and strode out of the kitchen. I heard him say goodbye to Charlie and then I heard the front door close behind him.

I stood there gawking after him. ""What did I do?" I whispered.