The Five Year Plan

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews.

Part Nine

Jacob didn't bother to rest before he headed over to see Bella. He had a shower, yelled a quick goodbye to his dad, and left. Billy couldn't hide his amusement. He was just happy to see his son happy. The worry and anxiety he had felt during his son's absence was wiped away. In his mind things were looking up. He heard the sound of the Rabbit starting up and he listened to the crunch of the tires on the hard ground as Jacob drove down the dirt track leading away from the house. Then it was quiet again. Billy didn't mind that. He worked best when there were no distractions. He pulled out his tools and began to carve again. It had been a long while since he had indulged in his favourite hobby. It was something he had learned in his youth. In fact he would often sell his work at the local markets to make some money when he was a teenager. Now he began to think about maybe doing the same thing again. He was skilled at what did, that wasn't an idle boast on his part. It had been a long while since Billy had felt so hopeful. With his son back home, and with no threats hovering over their heads, he finally felt able to plan for the future.


Bella was alone in the house. Charlie was back at work. He hadn't failed to overhear her confrontation with Renee. At one point he thought about intervening, but then decided against it. Bella was an adult, if she had things she needed to get off her chest, then Renee should be forced to hear them. So many people tiptoed around his ex-wife's feelings, himself included. It was a long time coming. Charlie had told Bella he was there if she needed to talk, he didn't push her. He could see that she wasn't ready to open up just yet about what was going on in her head. It had been a momentous few days. She needed time to heal and figure out where her life was heading.

It was raining outside. Bella heard the thrum of the droplets on the roof of the house. The wind whistled through the chimney stack, forcing the rain to smack against the window panes. She remembered how she felt when she had first moved to Forks. She hated the rain, had loathed the constant cloud cover and the cold. She had confided to Edward once, before she knew what he was, that she hated cold, wet things. No wonder he had laughed to himself at the irony of her statement. She had been oblivious as to why at the time, but now she knew. Her feelings about Forks' unique environment had changed the longer she had resided there. She was used to the weather, in fact enjoyed the fresh feel after a rainstorm. The picturesque landscape, the lush greenery and the miles of wooded area were beautiful. She wouldn't trade it for the world now. You could feel things growing around you here, there was life.

A knock on the front door signalled Jacob's arrival. Bella had been so lost in her own head again she hadn't heard his car pull up. Her heart lightened at the thought of seeing him again. It struck her just how much she missed his steady presence when he wasn't there to prop her up. His happy smile upon seeing her was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. His black hair was plastered to his head. He laughed joyously, scooping her up into his warm embrace and carrying her back inside the house, using the heel of his foot to kick the door shut behind him. Bella breathed him in, slipping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. "I've missed you." She confessed, snuggling closer.

"I've missed you too." Jacob replied, running his fingers through her hair. He loved the feel of the silky stands slipping between his fingers. He could feel the tension in her body. He was so attuned to her moods that he could tell when she was upset even if she was hiding her emotions behind a smile. He fell back on the sofa, pulling Bella with him. He adjusted her on his lap, so her legs fell over one side and her head was resting on his shoulder. Jacob put his hand on her left knee, his other still tangled in her hair. "What's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong." Bella was tracing circles on his chest with her fingers. She envied the tight t-shirt that covered his skin; she could feel the heat exuding through the thin material. He was so warm. How had she suffered the cold for so long when she had every opportunity to soak up the warmth?

Jacob cupped her chin and raised her head so he could look at her face. She glanced up at him from under her thick eyelashes, giving him a serene smile, trying to hide what she was feeling. She didn't want to burden him with the turmoil that was going through her head. She was already feeling guilty about the harsh words she had said to her mother. She had gone into overkill. Now she was ashamed. "Tell me what's going on in that head of yours. Did Charlie say something?"

"Only a few things that got me thinking." Bella tried to avoid the subject, but Jacob wasn't having it. He raised his brows, gazing at her expectantly, determined not to let her off with this vague reply. Bella sighed. He always seemed to know. "Alright it was quite an intense chat we had. He found the letter you wrote to me."

"He did." Jacob hadn't expected that. He paused, his brow furrowing this time as he felt anxiety welling in his gut. "He wasn't meant to see that."

"It was for the best that he saw it. It really opened his eyes to the depth of your…um…feelings for me." Bella felt shy expressing it like that. She picked at the material of his t-shirt, lowering her eyes again so she could avoid the intensity of his gaze.

"I take it he wasn't thrilled then." Jacob muttered.

"No, he was very impressed. He was." Bella insisted, suddenly realising that Jacob was misinterpreting what she was trying to say. She smoothed out the wrinkles she had created in the thin material of his shirt because she had been tugging at it agitatedly. "He was just trying to get me to think that's all."

Jacob tried to hide his frustration at Bella's cryptic statements. He knew this was her way of sorting through her thoughts, but he was impatient to know exactly what she was thinking. Was it regret? Panic? Worry? Fear? What? She was unaware of his feelings as she became lost in contemplation. She continued to ramble as if speaking to herself. Jacob listened, trying to make sense of her jumbled thoughts. "Was it the plan? Was it too much?" He asked eventually when Bella fell silent. "Am I pushing too hard again? Is that it?"

"No." Bella said quietly. "The picture you painted of a possible future together sounded beautiful."

"Possible future." Jacob echoed her. His gut twisted painfully at her words. "Are you worried about imprinting? Is that it?"

Bella shook her head. "No. You're too stubborn to imprint."

"Stubborn am I." Jacob stroked her face with his fingers; a fleeting smile lightened his face for a second. "You got that right."

"I know." Bella replied with all seriousness. "No other guy would put up with what you have. I've put you through hell. I don't deserve you, but you're still here. If that isn't love then tell me what is." Tears were welling in her eyes as her emotions became too much to handle. "I don't want to hurt you anymore, Jake."

"Then don't."

"But I can't promise that." Then it all came tumbling out. Bella told him about Charlie's revelations concerning his own marriage to Renee and his warning regarding taking time to make certain about what she wanted. Jacob listened in silence as she castigated herself for her past actions and how scared she was that she was just like her mother. "I run away from things, Jake. When life gets tough I bail. I don't want to put you through that when I've tortured you enough already. What if I promise that I will give you all the things on that list, then one, two, three years down the line I find I cannot cope just like my mom? I can't do that to you. I don't want to be that person…."

Jacob caught Bella's hands which had begun to flail about in her hysterics. He encased them with his own, reassured when he felt the pressure of his mom's ring under his palm. Bella was still wearing the ring. She wasn't having regrets or changing her mind about him. It was her own self she was questioning. He understood now. "Bells, listen to me." He hushed her. Her brown eyes widened, still glimmering with tears. It broke his heart to see her doubting herself so much. "You are not your mom and as much as I respect your dad I'm not Charlie."

"But…."

"But nothing." Jacob stopped her protests. "That list I wrote. The five year plan, it's great, but it's just a fantasy. It's not real. This, us, this is what is real. None of us knows what the future is gonna hold. Now is what matters. Love is what matters. We love each other; the rest can work itself out. Alright. Stop stressing."

"I don't want to let you down." Bella continued despairingly. "I know you want everything that you wrote on that list, you can't fool me. I don't want to be the person who promises you the world than takes it away from you."

"You are not that person. I trust you, Bella. I know you." Jacob gently pushed her off of his lap and stood up. Bella gazed up at him in bewilderment, suddenly frightened that she had really pushed him away for good this time. He held out his hand toward her and she took it tentatively. "I'll show you why I know that you won't renege on any promises that you make me. Come." He helped Bella to rise. She blinked back her tears as she let him lead her out of the house and into the rain.


The rain was lashing down on them as they stood in Jacob's front yard. The hood of Bella's rain coat was pulled tight around her head. She blinked rapidly as she tried to see through the streaming water. Jacob was hunkered down in front of her. His hair was dripping with water; it ran in rivulets down the bare skin along his arms. It didn't seem to affect him like it did her. He gazed up at her smiling. "This is where is started. I remember the first time that Charlie brought you here."

Bella's tears mingled with the rain as she nodded. Jacob sounded wistful. His lashes were coated with droplets as he began to make up a mud pie. He patted the wet mud with his hands, flattening the top with his palm. He glanced up at Bella again and motioned for her come closer. "Do you remember what happened next?"

"You held out your hand." Bella edged closer, holding out her own toward him, fingers trembling. He reached up and took hers, enclosing her hand in a warm grip. "You smiled and said we were friends, even though you didn't even know me."

"Oh I knew." Jacob smiled warmly. He tugged her closer until she was standing tall in front of him. "Then what happened." He asked.

Bella scrunched up her nose. "I tripped and squashed your pie. Jeez, you yelled the house down."

"I sure did." Jacob laughed as he leapt to his feet easily. He had his arms around her, holding her close. His heat chased away the cold and Bella felt calmer. His fingers curled around hers. "Come on, the next stop."

"Where?"

"You'll see." Jacob grinned. With his arm around her shoulders he began to lead her to their next destination.


It was the Taj of course. Where else? Bella pulled off her hood and shook out her wet hair as Jacob dragged a crate over to her and made her sit down. "This is where I began to fall in love, really in love." He knelt down in front of her and placed his hands on her thighs. He massaged them, sending pleasant tingles through Bella's body. Even his touch set her on fire. She blushed, fidgeting. If Jacob was aware of her response to him he hid it well. "You coming here every day was the highlight of my life." He gazed at her earnestly with those soulful eyes of his. Bella was lost. "You used to say that I saved you but in truth it worked both ways. It was like all my dreams had come true when the beautiful girl I had a crush on wanted to spend time with me. Even after the bikes were fixed you kept on coming. It was so peaceful, you sitting here, drinking the warm soda, watching me work. Then my life changed…."

"Yes." Bella whispered. She reached out and touched his wet hair. She ran her fingers through it making it stand up in spikes.

Jacob stood up and held out his hand. "Next stop…."

Bella knew where this was going. "First beach."

"Yeah." Jacob gently tugged her hood around her head again. It was still raining outside. He laced his fingers with hers and smiled.


The wind was wicked. The waves lashed at the shore, the white foam spraying high in the air. Jacob shielded Bella from the worst of the weather with his body. She was snuggled into his side. There she felt toasty warm, safe. He led her toward the old bleached out driftwood log that was set near the cliffs. It was something that Bella always felt belonged to them. It had been a silent witness to many emotional moments shared between them. Jacob sat down first and then pulled Bella onto his lap. He put his arms around her as they gazed at the wild ocean.

"This is where we came after you found out about the monster inside me."

"Jake, you're not a monster. I love who you are. I love your wolf." Bella interrupted him.

"You said something similar to me back then. I was so scared that I'd lost you. That you would be so disgusted by what I was that you would never want to see me again." Jacob rested his forehead against Bella's and closed his eyes. He felt choked up and emotional as he recalled the memory, his old fears and anxieties welling up inside. "But you weren't. My brave beautiful Bella wasn't afraid. You were fearless. You still wanted to be around me. To you I was still just Jacob, just me. That was the second time you saved me."

Bella's tears spilled out from under her closed lids as she finally began to see herself through Jacob's eyes. She wasn't always so weak. He was right, she could be strong. She could be bold. He made her that way. "I love you." She cried, kissing his hot skin, seeking his lips. They kissed under the cover of the driving rain, with the wind blowing around them wildly, stoking up their already heightened emotions.

"One last stop." Jacob said huskily when the kiss was over.

"The truck." Bella guessed.

"Yeah, the truck." Jacob agreed.


They were back in Forks now, outside the Swan house. They sat inside the Chevy which was parked in the driveway. The rain had lessened now. It still drummed on the iron roof in a quiet tattoo. They sat in the cab holding hands as they gazed at the house. "It was here I finally admitted to you that I was scared that I was losing myself. It was all getting too much. Was I the wolf or was I still Jacob. Do you remember what you said?"

"I told you how special you were." Bella said softly, eyes shining. She twisted around on the bench seat until she was kneeling beside Jacob, her hands resting on his broad shoulders, their faces so close she could feel his warm breath mingling with hers. "I told you that I would remind you every day. But then…."

"And then I should have kissed you." Jacob silenced her with just that. His lips lingered on hers for a moment. It was a gentle kiss full of unspoken promises.

"I should have let you." Bella said regretfully. "I felt it even then, Jake. I wasn't ready to admit it, but I felt it."

Jacob smiled. His eyes roamed her beautiful face. He loved her so much. "In the end, that's all that matters. You are the most beautiful courageous girl I know, Bells. Don't ever lose sight of that. You may not know who you are right now, but I do." He finished with conviction. "And I will remind you of that every single day."

The sun finally broke through the clouds and the shafts of light caused a rainbow effect as it hit the rain still dripping from the sky. "Look at that." Bella said in wonder as she settled down next to Jacob. He put his arm around her as he too gazed up at the beautiful arc glimmering above. They sat together in comfortable silence, enjoying the magical view in front of them.

A/N-thanks for reading!