Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does.

You're all going to hate me for this chapter, I know it. There's no Edward/Bella-ness (maybe a little near the end, not sure if you'd count it), Jacob returns, Bella acts kind of 'oddly', and it's super ridiculously dramatic – at least, I thought so. Sorry!

Reviews are greatly appreciated, as is constructive criticism. If there are MAJOR flaws in the personalities I've given the characters that belong to Ms. Meyer that you simply feel would kill you if I don't fix them, let me know in a way that is not rude. K THNX.


Chapter Ten

"Jacob?"

Of all the people she had expected Angela to help get in touch with her, Jacob was not one of them. She was certain that the surprise in her voice was completely unmasked, a surprise that made any and all responses she had in her mind – even the one that screamed 'HANG UP THE FUCKING PHONE!' – impossible to voice.

"Bella, babe, don't hang up, okay? Just…hear him out, you'll be doing it for me…and, really, yourself…not him, so don't even think of that."

The fact that Angela wanted her to listen to him finally managed to draw a second word from her, "What?"

"Bella, I won't let him speak unless you'll listen, I mean really listen…and consider."

Bella nodded, then realized she couldn't be seen and spoke instead, "All right. Fine, but it better not take a long time."

"Bella."

"You seem to be saying that a lot recently, why don't you just say what it is you need to say."

"I know that I said…well, I didn't really say it so much as imply it, but that's not important. I know that you didn't expect to ever hear or see me again, but…the truth is…I can't stop thinking about you. I don't know why, especially after that one night, but…I don't feel like it's over…"

Bella began to speak but he cut her off, knowing what she was going to say.

"I'm not talking about our relationship, I'm talking about…"

"Jacob,"

"Bella, please, I've all ready said everything I want to say to you…to Angela."

Angela piped in then, "It's true; it took forever."

Bella inhaled, tonight, she didn't have forever, in fact, she didn't even have ten minutes; all she wanted to do was sleep. "Jacob, I don't have the time tonight…can't we do this some other time?"

"Tomorrow?"

"I don't…"

"Please, I want…no, I need to say this to you…and it'll work out so much better in person. I'll pick you up and we can talk over lunch somewhere, please, Bella, this is important to me."

"He really has put a lot of thought into this and, I swear, it's sincere; I can sense it," Angela said, backing him up.

"Wait, I'm confused…Jacob, where are you?"

"My grandparent's house…in Florida…hour away."

"But…"

"Three way calling," Angela said, "He's paying me back for this call."

"So," Jacob asked, his voice hopeful, "What do you say? Can I speak to you tomorrow?"

Bella sighed and rubbed her starting-to-throb temples, "What will it take to end this conversation?"

"A yes."

Bella groaned, "Fine."

"Awesome! I'll pick you up at twelve-thirty, we'll go to this little café I saw last time I was there."

"All right, goodbye…"

Without waiting for a response – from Jacob or Angela – Bella flipped the phone closed and got ready for bed.

--

The next morning came far too soon for Bella's liking. Normally, she wasn't up until sometime around ten or ten-thirty, but today, she awoke at a little past seven. Groaning, she rolled away from the sunlight streaming in her window and pulled a blanket over her head.

She could all ready tell that the day was going to be bad. As if waking up three and a half hours early wasn't enough, the portion of time she had before recalling all the events of the previous day was drastically cut back, instead of coming back somewhere within ten minutes of waking up, they all came back in a flash. She curled in a ball and attempted to fall back asleep.

After twenty minutes of unsuccessful attempts to go off to dreamland, Bella got up and began getting ready to face Jacob.

--

Just as he said, Jacob arrived at twelve-thirty. He had rung the doorbell twice before she got the courage to open the door, she was afraid that she would open it to find either the enraged or pleading face Jacob had worn the last time she had seen him; neither seemed appealing. Lucky for her, it was neither of these expressions were the one he wore.

"Bells!" A goofy grin was spread across his face and his dark eyes sparkled as he grabbed her and picked her up into a bear hug, "I'm so glad you're giving me another chance!"

"…You do realize I haven't forgiven you and I'm not taking you back, right?" She asked as he sat her back down on the concrete of the front porch. The tiniest hint of a smile had placed itself on her lips, she had forgotten just how much she used to enjoy being hugged like that by Jacob. Probably because he hadn't hugged her like that since before they went out.

"Oh, I know, I know…I meant another chance to make things right. Bella, I just…for the past two…"

"Would you like to come in?"

Bella hadn't meant to blurt it out, hadn't even intended to have Jacob in her house, but talking in the doorway was something she had a problem with, it felt too open, too exposed.

Jacob grinned as she shut the door behind him, "I was wondering when you'd ask that."

They walked into Bella's kitchen and she stopped, this was as far in as they'd go, "So, anyway," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and turning to face Jacob.

Jacob grinned down at her, "For the past two months, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about you. It seemed…it seemed everything I did reminded me of you and what I did to you and that…well, quite frankly, it made me feel so shitty. I didn't know what to do. I felt…I felt…" He paced around the small kitchen, "I felt like things weren't over…"

"But we are over."

"Not our relationship, Bella. I felt like we aren't over. Romantically, I know we're done, I know we're not going to ever be a couple again, but I had to come back. I really needed this chance to explain to you, to try and – obviously not make things right, because there's absolutely no way what I did was right or can ever be righted, but – I want some closure, at the very least."

"Uh-huh…"

For some reason – she speculated it was being upset over what happened with Edward the night before – Jacob was sounding shockingly…noble.

"Bella, if you give me the chance, I've come to explain and to apologize and try to regain some of the friendship we used to have, before I was an idiot and ruined it." He paused, "I guess," he rubbed the back of his head, "I'd like to start by apologizing for the most recent stuff…if that's all right with you…"

He circled behind Bella and sat at the kitchen table, she turned and joined him a second later, "Okay, sure…"

"I'm really sorry about what I said on the phone," Bella's eyes widened, she'd almost forgotten about that rude comment, "I shouldn't have said it. It was…the most horrible thing I've ever said in my life and…the saddest part is, I didn't even mean it. For some reason, I thought that…by saying it…I could…I don't know, convince you of something…"

"All you did was upset with that."

Jacob sat his hand on top of Bella's; she simply looked down at it, but didn't remove it.

"I wasn't thinking straight, I don't know what was going through my mind when I said it, but it couldn't have been anything valid. I also want to apologize for just showing up at that party, I shouldn't have done that. I was stupid and I shouldn't have tried to force myself into your life and I definitely should not have picked a fight with your boyfriend…"

Bella tensed at the mention of Edward, "He's not my boyfriend."

"Oh, I just…he seemed…"

"Well, he's not. Okay?" She pulled her hand from under Jacob's and got to her feet, "How about we go to that café now? You can finish your thoughts on the way there and…over…like…lunch, okay? I just…I wanna go out, okay?" She grabbed her purse from the counter and slung it over her shoulder.

Jacob got to his feet with a shrug, "All right, let's go."

--

"So," Bella asked, sipping her drink, "Anything interesting happen after I left?"

She and Jacob had spent the last hour talking about everything he needed to say and, as much as she disliked to admit it, she was starting to have fun. It felt like the old days, before they had gone out, when they were in the 'just friends' stage.

Jacob looked thoughtful a moment before shaking his head, "Nope, absolutely nothing," he took a bite of his sandwich. "Oh! Except Mike tried to jump the community swimming pool with a dirt bike, as you can imagine, it didn't work out. His father was pretty pissed and, apparently, there's some law somewhere prohibiting stunts like that, so, he got some hours of community service down at the old folks home…" Jacob grinned at Bella, "I bet you can imagine how thrilled he was about that."

Bella couldn't contain her laughter and had to cover her mouth to keep herself from spitting juice all over the table at the thought of Mike sponge-bathing old people, a look of utter disgust on his face, "Oh, man, that's great…"

"Isn't it? I mean, if anyone deserved it…he did…" Jacob paused, "The only problem was that, afterwards, he bitched about it for weeks and weeks…"

Bella laughed again, "That does sound like him."

The thought was just too overwhelmingly funny and Bella couldn't control her laughter, she silently laughed for what could've been minutes, but stopped when she noticed Jacob looking at her curiously, "What?"

Jacob shrugged innocently, "I don't know, I just…" He looked sheepish, "I never thought I would see you this happy again."

Bella smiled and shrugged, taking a small bite of a fry, "You know what? I never thought you'd see me this happy again, either. It's weird, but – and don't misunderstand what I'm saying here – I…don't have that numbness or hate for you anymore…I…I feel like…"

"Like when we were just friends?"

"Exactly!"

"I know what you mean and, honestly, I'm much happier with this. I should've stayed with this instead of moving into something that we should've never had…"

Bella silently sipped her juice, unsure of a response.

"So!" Jacob said after a moment, growing tired with the silence far too quickly, "How about we go catch a flick? See a movie? You know, like the good ol' days, again. I'll buy you some popcorn or…do you still like Junior Mints?"

Bella smiled weakly, thoughts of Edward and herself at the movies suddenly popping up, what he'd said when they'd both ordered Junior Mints…

"Junior Mints."

Bella looked at him, her mouth slightly open, "You like Junior Mints, too?"

Edward grinned her favorite crooked grin, the one that showed off one of his two pointed teeth, "Of course, as someone famous once said: Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate, it's peppermint, it's delicious."

Bella snorted and shook her head, "You like Junior Mints and you like Seinfeld, we're going to get along swell, I think."

He smiled at Bella as she bought some, too, "You know, I think you're right."

"Hello? Earth to Bella, did you hear me?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry…I'm sort of…taking a break from the Junior Mints; I'm more a…SnoCaps girl now…"

"Huh, that's weird…I seem to remember you saying you hated SnoCaps…"

Bella shrugged once again, "Things change."

--

"Welcome…to the Fraternity. This gun you're holding belonged to your father; he could conduct a symphony orchestra with it."

Bella shifted in her seat and fiddled with the box of SnoCaps she held in her hands. She thought that seeing a movie with Jacob would be fun, would be like seeing it with Jacob, but she realized quickly that it was nothing like seeing a movie with Edward.

Where Edward had been quiet and into the movie and she had been wanting to talk to him, Jacob was loud and voiced his thoughts on almost every little thing while Bella merely wanted to watch.

Where Edward had been careful to either give her the whole armrest or give her as much room as she needed, Jacob let his entire, over-sized arm hog the entire thing, causing her to have to sit with her hands in her lap; something she found annoying and not altogether comfortable.

Where Edward had not made a move to kiss her or grope her, she suddenly found Jacob snaking one of his freakishly muscular arms about her shoulders, a large and rough hand reaching down to grope her chest.

She leapt from her seat, from Jacob, "What are you doing!?" She demanded.

He looked at her, his eyes as innocent as a sheep's while a wolf's smile was on his lips, "What does it look like I'm doing? Sit back down; please don't make a scene…"

She was so angry she was trembling, "It was all a lie, wasn't it?"

"No. I did think of you these past couple of months…of doing things with you, Bella, you have no idea how much I need you…" He stood from his chair and made a step towards her. Horror crossed Bella's face, "Ugh! How can you be such a dickhead?"

His grin widened, "I'm not…but if you…"

"Shut up!"

With all her might, Bella shoved him, and was rather amazed when he fell backwards to the food covered floor. Without a second thought, she grabbed her purse and made a break for the exit.

Once outside in the parking lot, she dashed behind a car to steady her breath, watching the entrance for Jacob, worried he'd be following.

He's not going to follow you, he bought both your tickets; he's too cheap to run out on the movie.

Bella sighed, she didn't care about the fact that she had just heard a voice – she had heard it before, after all – all she cared about was getting away. She had been, up until that point, fairly sure that Jacob would never, never do anything to hurt her, but now…it certainly seemed as if he would take what he wanted to.

Without giving any more attention to the glass doors of the theater and the people going in and coming out, Bella made towards the sidewalk, towards the direction she knew (from having walked it with Edward quite a few times) would take her back to her house, using the cars for coverage; just on the off chance Jacob decided to not be a cheap bastard and give into the urge to chase her. As she headed off down the sidewalk, she was blissfully unaware of the car that had slowly pulled out of the parking lot and was, equally slowly, following her.

She was halfway home – at least, fairly sure that she was halfway home – when it finally all came together. She flopped on the concrete and tugged her knees to her chest, sitting her face on them and crying freely. When had she become such a terrible judge of character? When did I become so stupid? She thought venomously as cars drove by, How could I not see he was just pretending? How could I not see that Edward was just…

Thinking of Edward made her feel worse than thinking about Jacob and she cried even harder. Any and all strength was zapped from her body, she couldn't even begin to think about getting up and walking again. Oh god…how am I going to get home? She figured the best way was to call Phil or her mother to come pick her up…if only she could summon the strength to even move her arm.

A loud sob racked her body as she realized she didn't even know where she was, "Oh god!"

A light hand was set upon her shaking shoulder, causing Bella to inhale and look up, terror spread across her face.

"Whoa, whoa…calm down…"

Bella breathed a sigh of relief as Alice knelt down next to her, "I thought…I thought you were someone else…"

Alice grinned at her, "Nope, just myself! C'mon, I'll give you a ride home."

Alice gently took Bella's arm and helped her to her feet. Wiping her eyes, Bella realized that Alice's yellow Porsche was parked next to the sidewalk. "How did you know I was out here?" Bella asked as she climbed into the passenger side of the front seat.

Clipping her seatbelt, Alice smiled sheepishly, "I saw that jerk come to your house earlier and decided to follow you, I had this…I dunno, feeling. Jasper calls it my 'Spidey Sense', but I think it's just my woman's intuition." Her grin turned boastful, "But whatever it is, it certainly comes in handy."

Bella leaned her head on the window, "It certainly does."

The ride was spent in an almost-silence, neither Alice nor Bella spoke; the only sound came from the stereo. Bella closed her eyes and let herself lightly doze. Before she knew it, the car was slowing down and, when she looked, they were in front of her house. She started to undo her seatbelt and mumble a sleepy 'thank you' to Alice when she felt Alice's small hand grab her wrist; she looked at her confused.

"Bella, I'm supposed to give you something…from Edward," she smiled warmly.

"Um, okay…"

Alice removed her hand from Bella's wrist and reached to the mirror that was folded above her, she flipped it down and an envelope and CD case fell in her lap; she flipped it back up.

"Now, this is important," she said, waving the envelope in front of Bella's face, "You have to read it before you go to bed; promise me."

Bella took the envelope and looked at it; plain white with her name scrawled neatly in the dead center, "I promise."

Alice beamed and picked up the CD case, she turned it a couple times in her hand before handing it to Bella, "He also told me to give you this and to tell you that he made it awhile ago and never got the chance to give it to you."

Bella took the case and looked at it, this had a simple 'cover' that proclaimed it to be 'Music You Should Listen To'; she tucked it in her purse.

"Well, thanks Alice, for…following me and…giving me the ride home…and…"

Alice waved her hand, "Say no more; you're welcome," she smiled her impish smile, "Now get the hell out of my car before I have to get rough."

Bella smiled and hopped out of the car, heading into her house, get ready for bed, and – since she wasn't one for breaking promises – read the letter Alice had given her.

--

When she got in her room, she dropped her purse to the floor by her bed, the contents spilling out and the CD Edward had made for her sliding under her nightstand. She kicked off her shoes and flopped onto it, already ripping the envelope in her hands open and pulling the letter from Edward out.

Bella,

I realize that I am probably one of the last people you'd want to hear from right now. Despite what you may think, I do understand how you feel about liars – at least, I think I do.

There's no way I can undo what I did, I can't go back in time and not spy on you nor can I go back in time and not tell you that I didn't, the only thing I can do is promise to never, never lie to you again.

I hope that you'll forgive me and, if you do, I request that you will meet me Friday at nine p.m. in the movie theater. If you don't come this Friday, I'll be there next Friday and the Friday after that and the Friday after that; every Friday until you show up, I will be there.

You mean a lot to me, I can't just let you go.

Edward

She stared at the letter, thinking in-depth on it. She turned her eyes to the calendar she kept tacked to the wall, that day was a Wednesday. That meant…she had all of Thursday to make up on her mind on whether or not to see him.

The words seemed sincere, but then again…Jacob's had, too. What if she met with Edward and the same thing that had happened with Jacob happened with him? She shook her head, no, Edward wasn't like that…

She looked back to the letter and saw there was more, a PS at the bottom…

PS – You have to see me sometime; you still have my sweatshirt.

She couldn't contain her snorting laugh; in her mind, she could just see him grin that cocky and crooked grin he always did when he knew he was right – or when he wanted to see her blush, although, she didn't know that.

She stood up, sat the letter on her nightstand, and quickly changed into her pajamas; she'd slept in her clothes the night before and discovered how uncomfortable it. Once she was comfortable and ready for bed, she paced over to her closet and looked at Edward's sweatshirt hanging among her clothes before heading back over and getting into bed; she'd decide tomorrow whether or not she'd meet Edward on Friday – even though, deep down, she all ready knew what the answer was.


Wow, thank you for reading this far! I hope that no one has any questions or got confused with this chapter.

If you're wondering how Bella could get on good terms with Jacob, the answer is that she was really torn up by Edward lying to her (by the way, she's not really mad about him spying on her…she would've thought it was kind of flattering…she was just angry that he lied about it; lies are something she takes very seriously) that…Jacob's niceness was magnified tenfold and when confronted with that amount of niceness from anyone, you're bound to get on good terms with them. I hinted at this, but wasn't sure if it was obvious enough.

Send a review my way; they fuel the fires of inspiration!