Wow. So, I haven't updated any of my stories since summer, and I feel like a complete idiot.

I just want to apologize AGAIN. I know you are all getting fed up with my WAY overdue chapter updates, and you guys have been awesome and totally don't deserve that. I have been so busy; I just can't find time to update anymore. I'm not exactly a fast writer, and I really try to make these chapters good for you guys. There was family stuff, midterms and a whole bunch of other stuff that just kept me from doing ANY writing. I hope and PRAY that someday you can forgive me.

I owe you guys

~Izzie

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, much to my dismay.

Chapter 4- Grease

It's Saturday. I'm sitting in my room, staring at the clock. Its 12:32 and a half right now. I timed it yesterday, if I leave at exactly 12:35 taking back roads to avoid stop lights, (and hope not to hit traffic), I will be at Jake's house at 1:03; the perfect balance of late and on time. I brushed me teeth three times, and made sure none of my clothes were ripped or stained. I put on slouchy jeans and a v-neck tee shirt, because I figured we would be working with grease and such.

I don't know why I want to impress Jake. He seems nice, and if I play my cards right, I could have myself an actual friend. I decided early in the week that I need someone to help me through my charade. If I trust him enough I might even tell him about the mysterious man I saw, and maybe even my stalker.

I'm not going to lie and say that Jake isn't physically attractive, because he is. But, that's not exactly what is on my mind when I think of him. I think, "Gee, I wonder if he would think I'm a mental case as any case I break down crying in front of him" But, for some reason, I know he won't. He seems loyal.

0o0o0o0o0

I knock on the door. I stood there for a minute or two, and rang the doorbell again…and again. I waited, listened, and hoped he hadn't forgotten about me. I flinched at the very thought of that. If one more person decided that I was too weird to bother with I might just have to give up trying to put myself back together. The wind blew strong, breezed through my hair and gave me goose bumps. I gave up and walked back to my--Sarah's car. I put the keys in started up the car, or at least tried. The engine rumbled, and gave up. I tried again several times. Finally, with a thud, the car stopped trying and just sat there.

I let out a calming breath, and tried not to freaking out, realizing what this initialed.

First, I'm stranded on the reservation outside Jakes house. Jake. I barley knew him, and didn't even know if I should be here in the first place.

This brings me to number two. I never told Sarah I was here. This gets me a week of driving her around if I don't get home before six.

Oh, and lucky number three would just have to be the fact that I'm outside in forty degree weather with no heat and only a flimsy jacket. Fall is announcing itself with an exuberant "Hello! I will make you so sick; you won't be able to breathe out of any of the holes in your face!"

I rested my head on the steering wheel and tried to think of a way to get out of here. I got out of my car and paced. I could feel the air pinching at my sinuses, threatening to disable them. I was already sniffling. I would have to be a mouth-breather for the next month. I don't want to be a mouth breather. This thought gave me motive to be mad at Jake for not showing up. No one makes Bella Swan a mouth breather. On a strange hunch that he might be avoiding me, I marched right into his backyard, not wanting to crack the lock on the front door with a bobby-pin.

I thought I would check out the back and see if there was a back door that might be unlocked. Instead, I spied a small shed in the very back of the property. I heard the faint pound of music coming from it. I shook my head. He was going to get it.

I walked up the shed, opened my mouth to make a snide comment about Jakes ignorance, but stopped dead in my tracks. Jake was under an old red truck. I could see from where I was standing the he was wearing a muscle shirt of sorts that exposed exactly what it was supposed to, muscles. I gasped, and I knew he couldn't hear me because of the heavy metal booming in the background. I rolled my eyes, seeing the he was busy and hurt that he forgot, and turned to leave. I'd just have to find another way home.

Just as I turned to leave, Jake rolled out from under the car, bumping into me. I slipped on some sort of grease and fell face first on the concrete. I held out my hand to stop myself. The crunch was more than audible.

"Bella?!" Jake's voice was a mix of confusion, surprise and concern.

I answered him with a cry of pain.

"Oh crap!" he put his hands on his head, trying to figure out what to do, and got grease on his forehead. This alone was enough payback for me. That and, it was hilarious. Maybe it was the pain that coursed through my body making me act so strange, but I started laughing like I had never seen someone get something on their face.

"Bella, why are you laughing?!" he was freaking out.

"You." Laugh, wince. "…some…" laugh, wince. "…thing." laugh. Laugh. Wince. "…on your face!" I laughed and winced more.

He gave me a concerned look, wiped his hands on a towel and carried me inside. He put me on his couch. I was still laughing hysterically. "I'll be right back, Bella." He told me and left the room.

My laughs subsided as Jake left, and I got up to look around the room, holding my arm up, pretending it didn't hurt.

I walked over to a wall that was covered with pictures of family and friends. I saw two women in most of the pictures. I guessed they were Jake's mom and sister. I kept walking. Slowly, Jake was getting older. At some point, the older woman disappeared from the pictures. I might ask Jake about that later. After a while, I started seeing pictures of my dad. He was at thanksgiving, campfires, fishing. I was even in some of the pictures as a little girl, running around with chocolate ice cream all over my face, playing with the other kids. Billy wasn't kidding when he said I was like family.

I heard Jake coming down the stairs and ran back to the couch. He gave me an ice pack and some Motrin. He told me to ice it, rest, and explain myself…but mostly the last one.

"Well, I was at your house at 1:03 and…"

He cut me off. "Exactly 1:03?"

"Yes, now let me finish." I told him. "I ran your door bell a couple times, and then I decided to just forget it and go home."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He spat out. "I lost track of time."

I held up my good hand. "Please, let me finish. I haven't even gotten to the good part." I waited for a second to see if he would be quiet. "So, I tried to start my car, but it didn't work." And just for the guilt factor I added. "Did you know its 38 degrees out there?"

"I'm so sorry…"

It was my turn to cut him off. "So, I went to see if you had a back door so I could break in and kill you." I got a small chuckle on that one. "But, I saw the shed and hear your music. I walked in, you slid back, I tripped, and there you have it."

"I'm sorry." He said again, this time he sounded rushed. "Now, can I see your wrist?"

I took the ice pack off and showed him my wrist. This was the first time I had seen it as well. We both winced. It was swollen and black and blue.

Jake said the oblivious. "You need to go to the emergency room."

I could handle it. I have been to the emergency room many times before. The only problem was that my car wasn't working. "How?" I asked him. "My car isn't working."

"I can barrow my dad's." he said simply. I figured that was the best and followed him out the door.

The ride to the hospital was quiet. I could feel him stealing glances at me. I was biting my lip the whole time, trying not to cry. It felt like daggers in my wrist. By now you would think my pain tolerance would be pretty high considering the multiple injuries I have suffered but, sadly, it remains the same each time. Jake was looking nervous. I was suspicious.

"Jake?" I asked and was acknowledged with an unenthusiastic "hmm?"

"You look nervous. Why?"

"I don't have my permit yet." He said in a fast, jumbled sentence.

Fear, then panic hit me hard. "Jake, you need to let me drive!" I almost shouted.

"If you think I'm going to let you drive like that, you're crazy." He said nodding to my hand.

"Jake!" I shouted. "I don't want to get in trouble."

His eyes were fixed on the road and he was concentrating hard. Amazingly, the car didn't swerve once. He must have had practice. He didn't answer me for a while. "Bells," he finally said. "We won't get in trouble if you just let me drive without shouting."

The air in the car was tense for a moment.

"Got it." I nodded.

The car was silent besides the hum of the engine.

My wrist was throbbing, and I tried to bite back the pain and concentrate on the passing cars, trying to read the license plates.

CDM12O

FH56H43

I gave up. I groaned loudly and Jake shot me a concerned look. "Eyes on the road!" I scolded though my pain. He chuckled lightly, but I could tell how nervous he was. His brow was furrowed, his eyes were tense, and he had a few beads of sweat on his brow line. I kept my mouth shut and watched him drive. Looking down at my wrist, I realized that it wasn't that badly broken. I gazed over a Jacob again. His eyes were still just as intense. I realized that this boy, who doesn't even know how to drive, is speeding down the freeway as though his life depended on it just because my wrist was potentially fractured.

Looking at him again, I realized that maybe he really could be the one that brings me back to life.

0o0o0o0o0

The waiting room wasn't crowded at all. I seemed like we were the only ones there. Jake went up to the counter and signed me in.

I sat down in one of the seats on the back wall, holding my throbbing hand. I looked around me. The atmosphere was diffidently that of a hospital. There was floral wallpaper and pictures of Seattle hanging on the walls. Next to me, there were stacks of magazines that no one will ever read.

Women of Good Taste

Your Garden and You

Water Sports Weekly

I rolled my eyes and continued to follow the wall with my gaze. In the corner, there was a small looking girl. I shouldn't say girl as she seemed about my age. She didn't look injured, and I wondered what she was doing in the emergency room. Her black hair was cropped at the edge of her chin and was spiky. It framed her pixie face perfectly. She smiled sweetly, and I gave her a strained smile in return. She looked at me for a few more seconds, and just as I was starting to get uncomfortable, her expression changes, and she opened her mouth, as if to tell me something.

"Sorry, that took so freaking long."

I nearly jumped out of my seat.

"Whoa, didn't mean to scare you there." Jake said.

I looked over at the girl again, and her nose wrinkled at Jake, her eyes widening. I wondered what her problem was.

"Bella?"

I looked up at him.

"Sorry, I was kind of out of it, wasn't I?"

He nodded and grinned, sitting down next to me. "Just a bit."

I smiled at him before looking back at the girl.

She was gone.

I looked around the room. The receptionist sat at her desk, typing way at her computer. The EXIT door was closed, not even swinging. My forehead wrinkled, and I wondered when the girl had gone.

"So, they said it should be about 15 minutes to a half hour before the doctor can see you." Jake started explaining. "I guess he's pretty busy." He said skeptically.

I hummed in response, and winced again at my battered wrist.

"You okay?" Jacob asked, obviously worried.

I turned to him and mustered up the best smile I could.

It was going to be a long day.