Special thanks to cretin, Idunnowhy and Naranwien, both for their constant and voluble feedback, and for helping me out when I was drawing a blank concerning Bella's employment. You gals rock!

I'm sure you know this by now, but Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me.

Twelve – Jacob

It was both like living a dream, and knowing it could still be so much more.

My sudden impulse of asking Bells out hadn't left me with much time to prepare for our date, and I couldn't help but think that I wouldn't get a second chance if I fucked this one up; so to say that I looked nervous on Thursday would probably be the understatement of the year. Of course, the guys, starting with Quil and Paul, picked up on my mood quickly, and they were more than happy to offer their suggestions when I told them that Bells had forgiven me and had agreed to the whole dinner-and-a-movie thing. Within fifteen minutes, I was convinced they either wanted me dead, or castrated.

"Forget the movie – an expensive dinner and a motel room is all you need." Paul was a moron, I'd always known that, but to think he'd convinced my sister to marry him with bright ideas like that… I hated to think what it said about Rachel, honestly.

"Nah, movie's a good idea – dark room, ambient noise… Make sure you're alone in the back row, and you can get frisky all you want." I wasn't sure if Jared was actually joking or not: he had that good of a poker face.

"Just make sure to stock up on condoms," Quil added (Quil! Who hadn't had a single date in forever-and-a-day!), while laughing like a hyena. "You've been lusting after her for so long, you'll need to put on some layers if you want to last more than thirty seconds!"

They were all idiots, the lot of them. Only Sam refrained from commenting, but I could hear him sniggering behind my back all the same. Of course, they all had had supernatural help in scoring their women (or toddler, in Quil's case), so I shouldn't be surprised they had no idea how to treat a girl who'd just broken up with her boyfriend, and who wasn't at all sure she was ready to move on yet. Sex was really the last thing on my mind for Friday night.

Just as I had told her, I simply wanted a chance to show Bella that being romantically involved with me could be just as easy and natural as our friendship had always been. I wasn't going to try to dazzle her with expensive restaurants and whatnot – I'd lose in the comparison with what Eddy had treated her to through the years, I was sure. No, my plan was to make the evening as comfortable as possible, as close to what we would usually do together, but with a few gestures to let her know that it was different now, that I wanted something more for us.

Despite how stupid they were currently being, one of the great things about sharing a mind with a bunch of other guys was all the tips I'd picked up when it came to romance (Leah, to nobody's surprise, had never shared anything about that). Embry in particular, who had played the field up, down, and in diagonals, knew an awful lot about those weird things we guys didn't even know existed, but that girls found oh-so important. Like the significance of the colour of roses.

Red-tipped yellow rose: friendship and falling in love.

I was never going to admit to having retained any of that information he'd once flooded our minds with on a boring patrol, but I was grateful for it right at the moment.

The rest was easy: pizza wasn't exactly classy, but it would put Bells at ease (she hadn't tried to cancel our date when I'd called to suggest we meet in Port Angeles, but I was pretty sure she'd thought about it), and I would let her make the final decision on the movie. I didn't think she'd go for a chick flick anyway – she'd be too afraid to see any parallels with our situation in it. There was a good action movie in the theatre these days, it would be perfect. And if the weather held, we'd walk down the waterfront afterwards, like we did after the bonfires, only with less sand.

Much to my surprise, it went off without a hitch. Bells was maybe ten minutes late (and apologetic about it as if I'd had to wait two hours, or something), but the look she got on her face when she took in my appearance was worth every single day I'd thought we'd never get to this first date. I hadn't obsessed about my clothes or anything, but I'd grabbed the same nice pair of jeans as the week before, and a t-shirt I'd been told looked good on me. It was way too hot to wear a long-sleeved shirt, anyway. And since Bells looked to be speechless, I guessed I hadn't messed up.

I heard her heartbeat speed up when I handed her the rose and kissed her cheek before entering the restaurant, and I made every effort through our meal to put her at ease. Once she'd gotten past her nervousness though, conversation was easy, full of our usual banter, and I relaxed at last. She wasn't going to run off screaming. Score one up for the werewolf.

We had already walked halfway to the theatre by the time I realised we were holding hands – I'd done it on instinct, it seemed. Bells hadn't reacted to it though, so I guessed she really was okay with it, and that was a relief. It would really suck to have to be careful of these things around her now, since I was so used to touching her in some way pretty much all the time. She completely nullified my fears when the movie (I knew she'd choose the action-comedy!) started and she leaned into me to put her head on my shoulder. She let me link our fingers on my thigh, and I had a flashback of the first time we'd been to the movies together, that ill-fated outing with the Newton kid, when I'd left my hand on the armrest between us, hoping she would take the invitation. Man, I'd been so young!

The movie was funny, prompting us to whisper an ongoing commentary to each other. The closeness of her, of her soft and wonderful-smelling hair, of her moist lips, of her nose that kept brushing against my jaw each time she turned to say something in my ear, was driving me slowly crazy. She wasn't ready for it, and I knew better than to even think of pressuring her, but suddenly Jared's harebrained idea was looking really good.

We did end up walking down the boardwalk afterwards, until I noticed Bells shivering from the breeze coming off the water. My arm around her shoulders would only do so much to keep her warm in the light camisole top she was wearing, so before she caught a cold (that would not be a good way to remember our first date, thank you very much), I steered us back up the street where she'd parked her car.

"Do you want me to drive?" I asked, holding up my hand for the keys. Not that I didn't trust her not to bend the Volvo around a tree, but the highway was dark as a coalmine at this hour, and I had better vision and better reflexes to avoid the wildlife that often came out at night.

She handed me the keys without a word. I kept the windows down on the drive back – I didn't want to mention it and ruin the mood, but the car still reeked of leech. I took a mental note of offering to do an oil change on it soon, and take the opportunity to air it out thoroughly.

The silence in the car was a comfortable one, I was pleased to notice. Even better, Bells reached out to take my right hand once we were cruising on the highway, her small fingers entwining with mine while she stared out the window sightlessly. I brought our linked hands up to my face to place a gentle kiss on her fingers, and I saw the corner of her lips turn up into a small smile in my peripheral vision. Incongruously, my heart chose that moment to start thumping hard in my chest – I hadn't messed it up; I might have a chance after all.

I was disappointed that the evening was over when I turned into my driveway, and a little nervous about how to end this date without undoing the pleasantness and comfort zone we'd reached. I met Bells in front of the car when she exited it to switch to the driver's side, and simply went with honesty – it was what she'd asked of me, after all.

"I've had a wonderful time tonight, Bells," I told her, gathering her into a hug. She made a few sputters, pretending I was cutting off her air supply, and I chuckled. This was exactly what I'd wanted for us: just the same as always, just Jake and Bells.

I released her before air really became an issue, and she looked up into my eyes to tell me that she had enjoyed our date too: "Good pizza, good movie, awesome company."

I wanted to kiss her. God, how I wanted to kiss her! But I knew it was too soon, so I settled for kissing her on the forehead as I usually did, before adding another kiss on her cheek to the mix, just to let her know it wasn't like usual. She'd managed to pin the rose to her hair above her ear, and I touched it lightly before stepping backwards towards the porch. If I didn't let her leave now, I was likely to do something I'd come to regret.

"Goodnight, honey," I called out as she sat behind the wheel. "Drive safe."

I stared after her until I couldn't see the taillights anymore, and then stayed out on the porch steps a little while longer, just basking in the feeling of having managed to survive my first date with Bella Swan without somehow fucking it up completely. When I realised there was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep, I took my clothes off and phased, hoping that a good long run would tire me out enough to get a little rest at least. Besides, Seth and Embry were on the night patrol shift, and they'd want to know how the date had gone.

I called Bells the next morning (okay, so it was more like just before noon – I'd run until daybreak after all), and asked if she wanted to join the pack at the Clearwaters' for an afternoon of lounging around in front of movies. To my relief, she didn't hesitate to say yes; neither did she on the next day, when I mentioned the oil change the Volvo was surely due for, and we hung out in the garage for hours as I made sure to get all the bloodsucker smell out of the upholstery. After that, we saw each other every day, except for Tuesday when I had class, either hanging out or doing something a little more date-like. I only had two weeks left before I was back on the patrolling rotation and scheduling became a bit challenging, and I wanted to make the most of it. Besides, it wasn't as if I could come off as too eager: she already knew I was in love with her, and that I'd waited four years for this.

I was trying to keep up with the mixing of typical Jake-and-Bells activities and new stuff: we went bowling with Seth and Quil (that was a disaster – Bells wasn't kidding about having two left feet!), we had long walks on First Beach (we talked about absolutely nothing for over three hours, one evening), we had dinner with Angela and her fiancé (Angela kept smirking at me, and I couldn't stop grinning back), and we hung out in the garage (the Rabbit was functional again, although I couldn't tell for how long). Bells seemed comfortable most of the time, although her heartbeat would start racing sometimes, when I stepped close to her. I longed for the easy flirting we'd normally indulged in, the complacency and simple well-being we'd once had together. I understood though, and I didn't push. When she was ready, she'd let me know. So every day, when we parted ways, I hugged her close and kissed her cheek, rejoicing in the hitch of her breath, and praying for the day she'd let me kiss her lips instead. I could wait for her.

Kim finally went into labour three days past her due date. Jared was starting to drive us all crazy with his worrying, even though Emily kept telling him it was perfectly normal, and I found myself back on patrol earlier than anticipated when Sam asked me to take over Jared's shift until things settled down with the newest addition to the pack-family. Little Sean was as healthy a baby as could be, and I suspected Bella to have fallen in love with him the moment she laid eyes on him. Good thing I rather liked the little bundle of crinkly skin myself, or my jealousy might have shown through. Seeing Bella holding him and cooing at him prompted all sorts of images of our own children to invade my dreams for a few nights though, and I had a hard time restraining myself from sharing them with her the following Saturday when we spent the rainy afternoon at her house. I'd brought my college books over because Bells had promised to let me study while she did a little cleaning and cooking, but my heart really wasn't in it.

"How's the new job going?" I asked her as she was cleaning up the slight mess she'd made while preparing dinner for us, trying to distract myself from the awfully domestic scene she painted. Charlie was over at Sue's this weekend, and I would have lied if I said the possibility of spending the night with Bells hadn't crossed my mind. We hadn't slept in the same bed once since our first date, a combination of my not wanting to make her uncomfortable, and the opportunity not having presented itself, this being our first night in since then. It was driving me nuts, all these little things that had been perfectly innocent before and now seemed so loaded with implications. I was trying to be good, I really was, but sometimes the flirting just came naturally. Luckily, I hadn't managed to spook her yet.

"I think it'll be fun," she replied, dragging me out of my inner thoughts. She'd had an interview with Forks' Forum, the local weekly paper, on Tuesday, and they'd hired her on the spot. "They only expect me in for half-days, but it'll be a nice experience, I think." She shrugged. She'd confessed to not having put a lot of thought on what she wanted to do with her life, and she felt a little self-conscious about it. It made me shudder every time I thought about how she'd expected to be a card-carrying member of the undead by now.

The lasagna she'd prepared from scratch was starting to smell awfully good, and my stomach made its presence known by loudly growling. Bella only looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, and I shrugged. Having a werewolf metabolism was something I'd grown accustomed to a long time ago.

"It still needs another half-hour," she mock-regretfully announced. "Think you'll survive?"

I grinned, standing up from the table to inch my way to her position by the counter. "Maybe I'll nibble on something else in the meantime," I playfully growled in as menacing a tone as I could manage while sporting a large smile.

Her reaction definitely caught me by surprise, nearly stopping me in my tracks: her eyes became huge as saucers, her heartbeat picked up a frantic pace instantly, and a strong draft of desire came to my nostrils. She half-giggled, half-shrieked, and made a dash for the living room. I was after her in an instant.

"You really think you can escape me for long, honey?" I laughingly asked her. She was at the end of the couch opposite me, Charlie's chair preventing her from stepping back any further, watching me carefully to see which way I'd go to reach her.

"You don't scare me, mister Big Bad Wolf," she replied between bursts of uncontrollable giggles.

I playfully growled low in my chest, and was rewarded with another whiff of arousal coming from her. It excited her – that was good to know! I feinted right, then left, and finally bounded over the couch, catching Bells around the waist before flipping us around so that she crashed on top of me when I landed on my back on the floor in front of the television, inches from the low table. Her shriek nearly took out my eardrums, but she was breathless with laughter, her face just inches above mine and her supple body aligned with mine from chest to hips, and it was so worth it.

"Gotcha," I whispered, tucking a strand of her unbound hair behind her ear and leaving my hand there. Her face was flushed from excitement, her breathing ragged, and I could literally feel the hard beats of her heart resonate through my own chest. It was my turn to be breathless. I'd never wanted to kiss her more than I did in that moment.

"Is there any way I can plead for mercy?" she playfully retorted. Her eyes were sparkling with amusement. "I kind of need all my fingers if you expect me to keep you fed on a long-term basis."

I loved how she said that. 'Long-term' held an awful lot of promise, in that moment.

"Just a little taste," I said, taking the hand she had pressed against my chest in mine and bringing her fingers to my mouth. A fresh wave of arousal hit her when I started lightly nibbling the tip of her fingers with my teeth, and I nearly lost it as the smell surrounded us. I hated to be thinking of the leech in that instant, but how the hell had Edward managed to resist her?

She shifted just so, and I groaned loudly, prompting her to simultaneously blush bright red and completely freeze. Her gaze was locked with mine, and I knew she didn't know what to do, how to react. Before the awkwardness could completely ruin the mood, I sat us up, sliding her off my body onto the floor. "Come on, I'm really hungry – I'll clear my books and help you set the table." I stood up, holding out my hand to help her up.

She sighed loudly enough for me to hear before taking the proffered hand and getting back on her feet. She wouldn't meet my gaze though, and I squeezed her fingers before she could release my hand. When she didn't react, I huffed playfully, and pulled her into a bear-hug, kissing the top of her head. I had no clue what to say, but I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable for the rest of the evening, when I'd been looking forward to having her pressed against me as we watched movies.

After a few moments, I felt her relax against me, and her arms came up to squeeze my waist lightly. I let her go then, and we went back to the kitchen and the delightfully good-smelling lasagna my stomach was nearly screaming for. The loud gurgles made Bella giggle again, and the tension oozed away as we settle down for dinner; but I could still smell a faint trace of desire coming from her.

The coming evening of snuggling on the couch promised to be… entertaining.

Ah! Anyone else really impatient to find out how the movie-night goes? Jake caught me by surprise again… Damn werewolves and their stupid appetites!