"Here is Chap 7! Hope you like it Thanks for all your comments! =D if you read, please comment back. Thanks,

Dani Moon"

CHAPTER 7 – FLOUR

Jacob's POV

Leah was, with every day, more distant. I was surprised on her change of mood, she behaved as she did a long time ago; that bitterness in her voice every time she talked.

Every time she'd pass through me, she'd try to avoid touching me as much as possible. If to avoid any contact with me, she needed to go around the entire house to reach a place that was just inches from her before, she would.

She wouldn't tease anymore nor would she laugh at my good jokes, nothing… But I could see, when I stared deeply in her eyes-when she didn't realize it because she would turn over if she saw I was looking at her- that what she showed, how she acted, wasn't really how she wanted to act. As if she was somehow faking all this serious Leah.

That was even more evident, when sometimes I'd joke about anything in particular and she would be so distracted that she would laugh… or just smile silently. But every single time she did, she then would put that mask on her face again, looking at me nonchalantly…

It had taken me too long to realize something that was really very simple. Maybe I really didn't want to realize it, but the mind always plays a complex game with you, a game sooner or later you would resolve.

All this started when we were painting the house- not really because of painting the house, but because of that stupid thing I needed to do to make things just great. Why did I have to ruin everything with my immense urge to touch and kiss her? My heart was so determined to fulfill what it wanted that didn't let me think straight. And without even thinking it consciously I started asking her if I could kiss her! I was going to ask her that, when the cloud that was making difficult the use of the good part of my brain faded, letting me see what I was about to do.

Even though my lips were craving to meet hers, I restrained my urge and ran away as fast as possible. I was positive that if I looked behind I wouldn't help myself and I would just lunge over her and kiss her…

That was too wrong. Even if those past weeks had been showing a different connection between us -a kind of magnet that made us smile whenever we were with the other or laugh at silly situations- she was still my friend, my best friend. And I wouldn't screw everything with her, all we had achieved... And besides, how could I think she would want me back? I was an immature child, as she'd always told me when I behave wrongly…

We were beyond those feelings, we were better than a couple of lovers, we were almost one and an only person. We endured almost the same situations in our past lives, those that made as tough and strong. And we would endure anything that came through us, as we had promised long ago… That amazing relationship we reached couldn't be spoiled by some stupid feelings of love.

But all those good and constructive thoughts I had reached in the following hour after almost asking her if I could kiss her, faded away when I dreamt about her…

In my dream we were kissing passionately before I pulled away telling her we shouldn't do this, telling every realization I had the past hour in my wakefulness… After some minutes of thinking, she spoke, telling me something that made me change my mind completely.

"Jake, why fighting something it should be in first place? Why fighting destiny? We are similar in so many ways… We both suffer so immensely for an unrequited love… We deserve healing, we deserve happiness, we deserve you and me forever…"

With that, my perception of the situation changed radically. I knew those words were only the creation of my mind, however, they seemed right. So instead of fighting it, I decided to live with it, to see what this feelings that emerged from every angle of my mind and body could mean.

But Leah was always avoiding me as much as possible, though I knew deep inside she felt something too. She should, shouldn't she?

Luckily we both started working, because having to deal with those feelings 24 hours and having to see her too, was too difficult. The garage kept me busy; cars always would be the best and least troubled of all my loves. Leah started working too, she worked as a nanny for a family named as the Badeys, according to what she'd told me. They were nice and had a baby girl name Kath and a five year old boy named Thomas. But ever since she started working on that house, something changed… and changed even more than her regular "not friendly' posture towards me. She was always more well-dressed and more mysterious- if I can put it that way- Because every time I wanted to ask her something about her day at work or something about the family –despite the regular sharp replies- she would avoid it changing the topic, leaving the question unanswered.

Today was passing by like any random, after waking up and eating a good amount of more than a dozen scramble eggs, I went to the garage. It'd been really quiet all day when luckily a girl showed up. She told me her car was broken so I checked it and it was fine, it just needed more oil. After that we kept talking for a while, she told me her name was Marianne and came to live here with her grandma, after her parents die from a car accident in London. This girl was normal but pretty; she had light brown hair and honey-colored eyes. And she was rather short and skinny. She looked really friendly and nice. After talking for an hour or so, she told me she would come back tomorrow to check the she told "they make a funny sound" and then grinned. I grinned too, I was glad she would come tomorrow; I needed someone to talk about anything… as I did with Leah before all this.

When I came from the garage I saw Leah in the kitchen eyeing a recipe. She was going to make pizzas for dinner- news that put me in a really good mood. Commonly she was the one cooking, but I told her I wanted to help. The truth: I hated cooking with my life but I wanted to spend some time with her, to share a moment…

"So, how was your day at the garage?" She asked me while taking out the flour.

"Umm, well… interesting. There was this new girl that came and wanted me to fix her car. That was really nothing- the fix I mean, because the girl… well, she was ok" I chuckled while nodding frantically. She didn't look at me in all the explanation, she didn't even say anything; she kept looking for the ingredients.

"Yeah… seriously ok" I kept nodding, as if I was some kind of idiot.

Was I trying to make her feel jealous about this? Yes I was. Come on, come on! I know you want to peep from the corner of your eye! Come on, just do it! I kept thinking from my inside.

Yeah… there it is! She did, when she thought I wasn't looking at her anymore she peeped, repairing in my expression for a moment. I looked at her for a millisecond and I could see that 'I-own-you' face I was looking for…. When she realized I saw her peeping at me, she looked away from me, focusing her eyes quickly in the front, color involuntary emerging from her cheeks.

I had to laugh quietly at her reaction. That innocence she sometimes held made my feelings for her even stronger…

After some minutes the atmosphere was more relaxed, we- well, Leah started preparing the dough. I couldn't stop looking at her graceful way of adding the ingredients and mixing them.

It was the perfect moment, so I grabbed a bunch of flour from the bag and throw it to her face, just to tease a little bit longer with her, to be able to see a smile on her lips just some more minutes…

In response to my dare, she coughed a few times, waving her hand as wanting to remove the particles. And in the next second, she looked to the floor; eyes shot as if she was mad or hurt. The huge grin that invaded my expression suddenly faded away, I went to look to what could have possibly happened to make her feel that way… And when I was too close to her, she open her eyes and throw me the bunch of flour that she held in her hand, hided.

"Oh, you cheater!" I laughed. She stack her tongue out, and throw me some more.

With that we started playing to 'whose face was whiter, loses'; throwing flour to each other, marking our faces and our neck with little white spots.

These were the times in which I could believe we really had a connection. It was inevitable; there was a kind of magnet that made us laugh and joke whenever we were together… Though she tried to hide it as much as possible, I could see it was really there. At least that was what I wanted to think…

We went on like that; our faces looked almost as if we were leeches of how white we were, ugh. Everything was going in that innocent way, as if we were 13 again.

When suddenly…

"You touched my butt!" I choked, while looking surprised to the handprint on the back of my shorts. "You touched it!" I laughed in disbelief while double checking.

She didn't say anything. She just put her hands on her now crimson face, and kept shaking her head in denial while giggling awkwardly.

"Don't tell me you didn't!" I pushed. She was going to admit this, because if she did it would mean those things that passed between us weren't entirely the work of my vast imagination…

"I didn't!" She tried to say between guffaws.

"Oh well so there is a ghost around here that loves touching men butts, is that? I should be more careful when I drop the soap and look for it in the shower, so" I teased, faking a worried tone.

She frowned, "You are crazy, you know that? And I didn't touch your butt, I wanted to take something from behind you and I slipped, so to not fall I accidentally leaned against your butt" I could tell she was coming with the story while saying it, her eyes shaped differently when she was lying…

"Yeah sure… Well, I want to grab something from behind you too" I played, words full of implicit connotations.

"WHAT?" She chocked, surprised.

"Yeah, I think if you touched my butt, I have the right to touch yours." I stated, simply.

"It's not the same" now her voice was a bit more nervous, but I could see the amusement deeply on it.

"The hell is not!" I complained while putting one hand over the white flour.

"Jacob you're warned. Touch me even an inch and your precious butt will be crash to the floor"

"You think my butt is precious?" I grinned, arching an eyebrow.

"I-I didn—" she intertwined her fingers in her hair… I could see I was driving her crazy. "STOP IT! It doesn't matter what I did or what I said, you are not touching my butt and period!" she hissed, folding her arms in her chest.

"Hmm… I don't think so…" I grinned evilly.

"I'll shout" she said, determined.

"I don't think the dears will care, on the contrary they loathe us too much" I gave a step forth, slowly but confident.

"I'll run" She gave one back, faster than mine.

"Run… I'll get you anyway" By this time, I had her cornered between the wall and me. My arms one on each side of hers, forming a big cage.

"I-I'll hit you so hard you won't be able to remember your name again" Now her voice was lower, and not determined at all...She was almost stuttering. One reason could be because… well, we were just inches one from the other.

"I'll catch your hand before you do it" I was almost whispering now. I could hear her heartbeat go faster, as I could also hear mine...

"I-I can be stronger than you" she mumbled, nervously.

From this little distance between us, I could see a spot of flour on the corner of her lips. Irrationally, I raised my clean hand and stroked her skin with my thumb. It was amazingly soft and smooth…

I could hear a low moan coming from her mouth, but maybe I was imagining it. This amazing situation couldn't be happening…

In case it was, I trailed my finger to her lips, brushing them slightly… She responded parting them. With that answer, my lungs almost escaped my thorax of how hard I started breathing; making me move in fasts and non-rhythmic patterns.

"You can?" I whispered in her ear; my lips brushing it slightly. I couldn't stop looking at her, my eyes filled with desire.

"Mhm" she mumbled. She didn't move; her eyes were shut and her hands placed on the wall to support herself. The only thing that made me see she was still with me was her excessively loud heartbeats and her fast breathing.

I pulled myself even closer to her- so that our bodies were also touching, and separate my face just some inches to see her reaction… She responded with another moan, something I received as liking it- at least that was what I wanted to believe.

I put my arms lower in the wall, so my face could be at the same high at hers, and my lips just inches from hers… And then slowly, started finishing the gap between our lips that were craving one for the other…

Just one more inch and my lips would be touching their heaven---

Brrr, Brrr, Brrr

… In the second I was ending the gap and fulfilling my wish, something from below started vibrating.

I look at myself, just in case. But it wasn't me; it was coming from her pocket… She opened her eyes quickly, as waking up from a trance, and with an "Oh," she felt the pocket with her hand and grabbed a tiny thing from it…

"Umm…Hello?" she spoke after clearing her throat; her voice still went in a husky way.

"How are you?" She mumbled, there was a pinch of awkwardness in her I couldn't understand.

Without meeting my eyes, she pulled my arm off the wall and escaped the cage. Looking to the floor, she walked through the entrance and exited the house…

What the hell?! I thought to myself wall punching hard the wall, which in response shook a little bit, detaching dust.

I kept shaking my head, thinking how much bad luck I could have! Everything was going amazingly well and then something needed to happen to screw it up?! But more important, when did she get a cell phone?And WHO THE HELL WAS SHE TALKING WITH?!

I kept on formulating complex questions in my head of what this could be and what this could mean, when she came to the house again. She walked to the kitchen silently, still not meeting my eyes and went to grab the dishtowel.

"Since when do you have a cell phone?" I snapped, arching an eyebrow.

"Since the Badeys gave me one" she answered matter of factually, as she cleaned the flavor from the floor.

"Oh, really? I didn't know the way now was giving the nanny a cell phone" I said sarcastically while folding my arms on my chest. I didn't know why, but something didn't feel right…

"They gave it to me, so they can always be in touch with me whenever they need me to go and take care of the children" she explained, still eyeing the now wet floor.

"Oh, so now you were talking to them?"

"Yep, to Mrs. Badey. She wanted me to go to her house tonight"

"Oh," I looked through the window, thoughtful. "On a Saturday?" My eyebrow arched alone, with that question.

"She and Mr. Badey have a birthday party tonight, so I have to look after Kath and Tom"

The way she wasn't meeting my gaze and the nervousness in her voice made me think that wasn't the entire truth. I couldn't restrain myself and pushed even more, "So you always ask her 'how are you' in that way?"

"Which way?" She frowned.

"In that 'how are you' way…" I mimicked with an over sweet tone.

She sighed loudly, splashed the dishtowel to the floor and looked at me with killing eyes… She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it and composed her features. So that bitter mask was in her face again "Yes, I do." She replied robotically.

We stayed silent for some seconds, submerged in our own thoughts, when I decided to bring up the topic my mind was craving to bring… What on earth would have happened if that damn phone wouldn't have rung?

"Leah, can we talk—"

"I-I really need to go" she cut me off, while standing up.

"To where?" It was Saturday, where would she go on a Saturday?

"I'm going shopping with some of the money I earned" now she was reaching for her bag.

"You, going shopping? Really? Why? We still have enough food…" I asked surprised, Leah hated to shop.

She looked at me sharply; I could see not a nice one was coming from her mouth…

"First of all, I can do whatever I want, if I want to go shopping I go and I don't need to explain you anything." She glared at me making a two with her fingers and continued with an annoying voice, "Second I'm not buying food. I'm buying some clothes for myself…" she said last part a bit lower, as if she didn't want me to hear it.

"But why now?" I kept on questioning her. There was something on her expression that made me think there was something more than just buying random clothes… She never care about clothes in these two years together, not even when she was in La Push… so why now? I echoed again in my mind.

"Because!" She snapped, pissed off. She started walking to the door, without a 'goodbye', a 'see you later', a nothing…

"Wait!" I yelled irrationally. She stopped by the door with her hand on the handle, giving me her back. "Can I…" …finish what I started and kiss you fiercely with all my will? "go too? I really need to get some clothes for myself" I didn't care a bit for the fabric, if it was up to me I would be with my ripped shorts forever, but I wanted to go with her… To spend some time with her even more after our almost kiss; and she couldn't tell me no.

She looked at me as if I had just said what she was fearing, "Well it's going to be really boring… I'm just going to try a ton of different type of outfits and just pick one. It'll be really annoying." she tried to persuade me to stay… It was obvious she was doing this so she wouldn't spend time alone with me, but I didn't care, I wanted to see what she was up to, I knew she was up to something. So I pushed more.

"Oh don't worry about that. With my sisters and all I was the judge for like a million times, I can help you choose" OK, so I just told her I was going to scrutinize her while she was trying on different things… Come on Jacob, can you make it a little more obvious?! I thought sarcastically.

"I really don't need a judge or anything, do you really don't see me capable of choosing my own clothes?" she snapped again. With that answer angriness and a bit of sorrow started emerging from my inside; this situation was tiring and frustrating.

"Of course I do! Leah why are you acting as if I were your enemy?! Why do you keep yelling at me? Why can't everything go as it was?"

"Because…" she looked at me deeply in the eyes, "because--This is who I am! If you like it, good and if you don't, there you have the door" she answered motioning to the main door. But I could see that wasn't really what she was starting to tell me when she looked at me in that way in first place; the same look she had those past weeks…

"I prefer the old one, but I could do with this one" I chuckled, to light a bit this tense atmosphere that was surrounding the house in every inch. I thought I saw sorrow in her eyes too, but she composed so fast I couldn't really tell.

"Can I go so?" I looked at her with puppy-like eyes.

She sighed loudly, "You really are a pain in the ass you know that?"

"Yep, I know" I grinned, childishly.

"Come on, let's go so" she rolled her eyes and with that we went to the car.

I let it pass today, but I would keep fighting for what I wanted- for what my heart wanted…