A/N: I bumped the rating to this story from a 'T' to an 'M', just to be safe. Sorry if this causes any inconvenience.


"I'm doing this for you, you know," Mia announced as she pulled her car onto the shoulder of the road and parked adjacent to the Clearwater's house.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella asked grouchily. "You're the one who forced me to come tonight."

"Because it's for your own good," Mia snapped. She ran a hand through her hair and glared at the Clearwater's house. "I'm not Leah's #1 fan and this is her party—"

"Which is why I suggested we didn't come tonight," Bella ground out, trying to keep a hold on her patience. Mia had all but dragged her into her car and driven her here in the hopes that she and Jacob would reconcile their relationship tonight. Bella didn't think there was anything to reconcile, since Jacob had made it quite clear from the beginning that Haley was the girl he wanted to be with, that Haley was the one he wanted to fight for. It had taken Bella a couple of days to go from feeling raging self pity to raging frustration. Maybe if she had just stayed out of Jacob's life from the beginning then none of this would have happened. She should have just let him go, like she had originally planned to do, because he didn't deserve any more of this drama.

But Bella Swan was never really good about being selfless when it came to dealing with Jacob Black.

"Do you want to know what I think you should do?"

"Nope." Bella leaned her head back against the car seat and crossed her arms in an attempt at defiance.

"You should tell Jacob that you still have feelings for him, and that you think that Haley is a skank bitch and that you think that he's much better off being in a relationship with you, not her."

Bella let out a sigh. "But Jake isn't better off with me. And who am I to try to tell him who he should or shouldn't be with? No, I think it's best for everyone if I just let it end. Besides, Haley isn't so bad. I mean, she makes him happy. That's what he said. She's probably much better at relationships then I am." She paused to take in a breath. "Jake deserves better than me."

Bella jumped when Mia slammed her fist against the car's horn. "Oh shut the hell up. I am so fucking sick of your 'woe is me, I'm just not good enough for anyone' bullshit! Instead of cowering in the corner, hiding your feelings and convincing yourself that you don't deserve him,fucking grow a pair and tell him how you feel! If Jacob doesn't feel the same way, which I highly doubt, then you can move on. If he does have feelings for you, then you deal with Haley and then have really great sex. Just stop being a fucking coward."

Bella felt tears prick the corner of her eyes and she quickly climbed out of the car before Mia could see them. But Mia had gotten out at the same time and was in front of her, arms crossed over her chest.

"Just leave me alone for a moment, please," Bella said, voice shaking.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Mia observed.

It took Bella a moment to work up an answer. "Yeah. I guess," she mumbled.

Mia shrugged. "I would be surprised if you weren't."

"What's surprising is that you think I should tell Jacob how I feel, when you're the one who said I should fake-date Embry for the sake of making Jacob jealous."

Mia held up a hand in her defense. "Okay, that would have worked if Embry had managed to keep his hands on you and off me. Then the whole charade would have been much more convincing. Let's face it; we were done as soon as Jacob picked up on our…attraction to each other."

Bella smiled in spite of herself. "So you and Embry…?"

Mia glared at her. "Oh don't look so smug."


One hour and three beers later, Bella had her arm flung over Embry's shoulders. "And then Mia slapped me!"

"I did not slap you! I hit my horn! There is a huge difference. Though there are times when I really want to slap you, mind."

"Oh whatever. It startled me. Like a slap."

Mia quirked an eyebrow and looked over at Embry. "Am I like this tipsy?"

Embry grinned. "Nope, you're much more amusing."

Mia narrowed her eyes. "Good to know."

"You know what," Bella began, pausing to throw her other arm around Mia's shoulder, "I don't even care if Jake shows up or not. I am content to be here amongst friends."

"Sure you are Swan," Embry said as Mia avoided the beer that was sloshing out of Bella's beer cup.

"No really," Bella insisted, "who needs Jacob Black? I sure don't—"

Speak of the devil. Jacob walked through the door at that moment, Paul at his side. Haley was nowhere in sight.

"Holy crow," Bella muttered.

"It's 'holy shit' Bella," Mia corrected. "Where are we? In kindergarten?"

Bella pulled her arms away from her two comrades and pushed herself away from the couch she had been sitting on. She gestured to the red cup still in her hand before setting it down on the coffee table. "You were right Mia. That's pretty much liquid courage."

Mia snorted. "I'm always right." She scooted over next to Embry and leaned her head against his shoulder. He looked absolutely thrilled.

Bella marched through the small but noisy crowd that made up the party, mostly the Pack and friends, and made her way to Jacob. Before he could open his mouth to offer her a greeting, she flung her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "Hi Jake!" she exclaimed as she pulled away from him and swiped nonexistent dust away from his shirt sleeves.

"Hey Bells," he greeted, returning her hug.

"Oh my god, hey Bella."

She spared a glance at Paul, whose eyes were glazed over and red as rubies. "Oh shit, I spy chips and dip. Oh shit oh shit oh shit." He left them for the snack table without another word.

Bella turned back to Jacob. "What's up with him?"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Don't ask." He paused. "Didn't you go to college?" He shook his head. "Never mind."

His eyes wandered over to where Embry and Mia were cuddling on the couch. "You and your boyfriend in an open relationship or something?" he said with a huff.

"Um…no. The thing is…Jake…" she felt herself falter a bit. "Embry and I aren't dating."

Surprise and happiness flashed across Jacob's face. "Really?" he whispered with excitement.

Bella but her lip and nodded. "Yeah, I'm single now. Jake I have something I want to tell you…um…I actually have…um…"

Jacob was too excited to notice the fact that she couldn't spit out a sentence. "Hold that thought Bells, I have to make a phone call." He disappeared out the front door in a flash. Bella gulped. She would need a lot more 'liquid courage' in her system if she was going to do this.

To tell Jacob that she was in love with.

That she was still in love with him. She turned and headed over to where the kitchen counter was, her hands busy with fixing herself a shot of anything when she felt someone grab her wrist and whirl her around.

"Wha—"

But Jacob's lips cut her off.

A feeling of warmth spread across her body that had nothing to do with alcohol. She felt herself immediately push herself against him, her hands gripping his shoulders. His hands were gripping her hips, causing her shirt to ride up and expose her hip bones and a sliver of her stomach.

"Get a room!" someone called. Someone who sounded an awful lot like Mia.

Jacob pulled back, his eyes searching her face, asking her what she wanted.

Bella nodded, her hand grabbing his in a death grip. He towed her down the hallway, away from the party and pushed open the door leading into a small office with a dingy computer and a worn leather loveseat propped up against the window. Thankfully the curtains were drawn.

In a flash Jacob had pushed her onto the loveseat, his large body looming over her, his hands raking over her body, feeling her, exploring.

It was all happening so fast and there was a small voice in the back of Bella's head that was telling her that they should stop and have some tact. That making out or heavy petting or whatever was about to happen should not happen in the Clearwater's office.

Bella decided to take a page out of Mia's book and tell that little voice to fuck off.

Jacob's fingers laced themselves through the belt loops of Bella's jeans, effectively pulling her hips up to graze against his. Bella bit back moan at the sensation, and her eyes nearly rolled into the back of her head when Jacob's mouth pulled away from hers in favor of her neck. She felt his tongue trace its way up her neck and to her jaw bone, but Bella wanted it to go lower. She pushed away from him and pulled her t-shirt off in one swift movement. His eyes widened as they traced over the exposed skin, his fingers moving from her hips to her stomach, up to her ribs, and finally tracing themselves along the outline of her breasts.

Bella nearly wished he would just get it over with and tear her bra off right then and there. Instead, she reached for the edge of Jacob's shirt and succeeded in pulling it off. She let her hands glide down the muscles in his chest, his stomach. Once again he was on top of her, his hands sliding down her sides until they reached the top of her jeans. His fingers went to unzipping them and pulling them down.

Bella stiffened and he immediately stopped. "What's wrong Bells," he gasped breathlessly, pulling back slightly to search her face.

"Trust me, nothing." Bella said, her voice just as breathless as his. "It's just…I'm not very good at this." She gestured to their bodies in order to drive her point home.

Jacob shook his head. "No Bells, you're doing a pretty swell job, trust me. Besides, I've been fantasizing about this since I was sixteen."

Bella quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"

He pressed himself down against her in order to place kisses along her cheek and jaw bone. "Really."

Bella happily took note of the hard bulge that was pressing against her upper thigh. Jacob pulled down her jeans and flung them onto the floor, his hands moving to her bare inner thigh. He let out a low groan that had Bella nearly clawing at him to do something with that tongue of his when—

-he did.


The cries from inside the office were steadily getting louder. Mia and Embry clinked beer bottles in celebration.

"Not gonna lie, I'm feeling pretty proud right now," Embry said after taking a swig.

Mia nodded in agreement. "After all that bullshit, they're finally doing something."

Embry snorted. "And in Leah's house to boot. She'll flip her shit when she hears about this."

Mia turned to him with a devilish glint in her eye. "I kind of want to be the one to tell her."

"You would."

A particularly loud cry came from inside the office, followed by a grunt.

Both Mia and Embry frowned at their beers.

"Mia, I think we need better liquor to toast with." He gestured to the bottle of vodka that was sitting on the kitchen counter.

Mia grinned. "Let's do this."


Bella's mind and body felt heavy in the most pleasant of ways. With her head resting on Jacob's chest and her legs twisted up under him on the cramped but surprisingly comfortable loveseat, she felt her eyes flutter shut in contentment. Jacob's steady breaths ruffled her messy hair, but Bella found the rhythm peaceful and felt herself being pulled into sleep.

"Love you Bells."

She jerked back into awareness for a moment, a small but happy smile forming across her lips. "Love you two, Jake."


A/N #2: ! This was my very first attempt at writing anything remotely sexy, so please be gentle with me! Review and let me know what you think!