Chapter 10

Masen walked back toward Leah's house after throwing the trash out. He could see by the edge of the woods far away that Paul, or so he thought, was removing the stakes that separated the boundaries between the divided Quileute tribe. As much as he wanted to run over to him, he decided to talk to Leah first to see what was up.

He hurried inside as Leah was finishing up drying a few dishes that they'd left in the sink. She took a sip of coffee and smiled at him. "I love this Keurig machine my mom got us... well got me." She laughed.

Masen smiled, "Let me try a sip to see if I'd like it."

She grinned and handed him over the light green mug, "This could be funny."

He took it from her hand and put the cup to his lips, looking at her while he did. She continued to smile as he let a small swig of coffee slide into his mouth. Before she could say anything, he made a face of disgust and handed it back to her. "Yeah, that's not going to work."

Leah laughed and took a long sip, "Well, I love it."

"Love... is a strong word," Masen said playfully, pulling her toward him by the belt loop on her jean shorts. He began kissing her for a minute before both of them separated at the scent of Seth nearby. A few minutes later he let himself in without knocking.

"Can you come with me?" Seth asked, looking at his sister.

"What's wrong?" she asked, a little alarmed.

"Nothing, really. Sam's pack wants to talk to us. Jacob's already meeting with him."

Leah looked at Masen, knowing there was a small part of him that hated when she and Sam had to interact. He was very mature about it and she knew deep down he understood that there was nothing between the two of them anymore. It was just the thought of their past that made him uneasy.

"Go ahead," he said with a smile, "I can hold the fort down here for a little bit."

"You sure?" she asked.

Masen kissed her forehead, "You don't need my permission." He laughed lightly.

"I know but-"

He turned her around gently and put his hands on her hips, then slowly pushed her toward Seth with smile. "Buh-bye."

She laughed and Seth flashed him a smile before they went to meet up with the rest of the wolves.

As they made their way toward the top of a cliff where the boys still liked to go cliff diving, Seth and Leah thought they sensed some sort of tension, though quickly realized that Jacob and Sam were just in the middle of an in depth conversation. The rest of the pack members had gathered around, all in human form. Jacob stood with his hands on his hips and nodded, as Sam mirrored the pose, occasionally talking with his hands to emphasize his words.

"Nice of you to join us," Embry joked as they settled into the small crowd.

"Oh shut it Embry," Leah told him.

"Let's see the ring Leah," Jared said like a middle schooler, waving his fingers around, "Ooooo Masen."

"Shut up," Jacob said, turning to him.

"Sorry Chief," he said with a salute.

Jacob shook his head and continued his chat with Sam.

"I think it would be best to get back to the way things were," Sam said, "After the incident with Luciana awhile ago," he peeked over at Seth as he spoke her name, "Our views had changed and things seemed to make sense. But we know the Cullens aren't... bad." He looked over toward the Clearwaters, "I've been very intolerant to your imprinting experiences. It was wrong. It's just a very complicated situation because of the nature of things." They all knew he was referring to the vampire-werewolf couplings.

Jacob looked back toward Leah and Seth. They all seemed to agree with their eyes, not saying anything aloud.

Sam stood waiting for Jacob's response and held out a hand.

"You did say you were wrong right?" Jacob asked with a smirk.

"Don't push it Jake," Paul said firmly, taking one step forward.

"Shut it Paul."

Sam didn't say anything, he still stood with his hand out and Jacob soon returned the gesture. "I'm glad we can come to terms," Sam said honestly.

"Me too," he said.

"Party tonight?" Jared asked, taking a bite of a twizzler.

Paul snickered. Seth nodded and lended a suggestion, "Down at the beach."

"Okay," Sam said dryly. He looked at Jacob.

"Fine," Jacob said back.

"Feel free to bring your bloodsuckers," Jared teased, making kissing noises.

Jacob made a move like he was going to go after him, causing Jared to flinch and move back a step.

Seth and Leah chuckled, as did Paul. Sam tried to hold back a little smirk.

"Two for flinching," Jacob said, raising his fist.

Jared let a scowl linger on his face and allowed Jacob two light hits to the top of his arm.

"Back to normal..." Quil said, looking around at all of them.

"Normal for us," Sam said.

"So everyone's allowed everywhere now?" Seth asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention Seth?" Paul asked, half serious.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Yes, Seth," Sam said to squash a prolonged conversation.

They all began to part ways. A few of the boys jumped off the cliff into the water, a few made their way through the woods. Leah and Seth returned to their respective houses and Jacob made his way toward the garage where he continued to work on a motorcycle for a local man in town. He'd been busy with the machine all day and he was about done with the job - one of many that he was responsible for. Upon graduating from high school, he found his calling as a mechanic, preferring to work on motorcycles, though he took in all the business he could get, regardless of the type of vehicle.

Renesme frequently visisted, dropping him off lunch of something to drink. He appreciated her support, as she tried her best to sound interested in the in's and out's of the automotive world. Though he suspected she just humored him by asking frequent questions about his work, he appreciated it all the same. It showed how much she cared for him.

He eyed the bike in the corner of the garage that he'd been working on for awhile. It was his own personal bike and the hours of hard labor he put it to making it special were long and full of lots of sweat and muscle. He put his life into it. Jacob loved that bike. He loved it so much that he couldn't help staring at it. The time he'd spent washing it and waxing the spokes of the wheels...

Jacob's thought changed and he pictured Renesme's face. He loved Renesme. She wasn't a piece of metal, or made of rubber. She didn't run on gasoline. She made his heart beat. She saved his life. She provided him with something that nothing else in the world could.

The feel of the breeze on his face as he cruised through town on the motorcycle was nothing compared to the feel of Renesme's hand on his face, or her tender kisses on his lips. She was the meaning of his existance. She was his world.

Jacob made his way to a small locked box, that was locked inside a safe screwed into the top of his work bench. He removed a large wad of money, all earned by his own hard work. He was still about a thousand dollars short and knew it would take him some time to save up that amount. The money was all saved so he could give the girl of his dreams the most beautiful ring in the world. He knew exactly what she wanted, as he'd taken her around several times to stores in the past.

He eyed the bike in the corner of the room again and knew what he had to do.