A/N All Twilight character's belong to Stephenie Meyer

this woulda been up sooner but there was all kinds of drama going on in my life while I was away and so finding a spare second to type this was damn near impossible...so this here is a totally fluffy little "aww i kinda wish I had a Jake" chapter..the next one will be better...I promise...

Jake

The cell phone that I'd forgotten I had buzzed sending the sleek black phone hopping across the table. The buzzing stopped shortly, the picked right back up again.

Figuring the only way to get whoever was calling to leave me alone was to answer it; I reached out and snatched the vibrating phone off the edge of the table before it took a swan dive onto the wood floor. Snapping it open I barked, "hello?"

"Jake, my buddy, old pal. You run off to Seattle and forget us poor schmucks back home?"

I chuckled at the voice of my friend Jared all the way across the country."Hey Jared, how goes it?"

"Eh, you know, another day, another dollar. How's Seattle?"

"Eh, you know. It's good. I saw my mom and Richard, staying with my grandmother now. Getting ready to head back over there, you know."

"Yeah tell me about it. So look, you have a few days before you actually fly out right?"

"Yeah why, what's up?"

"Well, I asked Kim to marry me, we're gonna get married before I deploy. I wanted to invite you. It's not gonna be anything huge or fancy, just a couple of us, and the clerk of the court. You think you can make it?"

I shook my head. These stupid guys getting married then running off to Iraq. Personally I thought it was stupid. If you really loved someone, you'd wait until you go back. Deployment put a strain on a couple, even couples who'd been together for a while sometimes had a hard time with it, but newlyweds? That was just seven shades of fucked up. However, I kept my concerns to myself and said, "Sure man, send me the date and time, and if I can, I'll be there."

"Alright Jake, I'll send you the info later. See you soon man."

"See you," I replied and hung up.

I would never do that to Bella. I might be falling in love with her, but I would never subject her to the pressure of being a newlywed, a military wife, and deployment. It was just…wrong.

"Jake?" Liz called from across the hall. I got up and went to her room. She was standing in front of the closet, the light on, she had a pair of pants and a pair of shorts in her hands. "What's the weather like in Miami?"

"It's warm Nana. You could probably wear shorts all year long, but maybe you should take a few pairs of pants just in case."

"Okay," she said happily.

I went to take the clothes from her but she smacked my hand away. "I can do it," she scolded. "Sit down and tell me about Bella from across the hall."

I sat down in one of her easy chairs and watched as she packed. "what do you want to know?"

Liz shrugged, "whatever you want to share," she said.

"Do you know why she doesn't get along with her mom?" I asked.

Liz shook her head no. "I've never seen her folks, just the tattooed fella, the one she was always fighting with."

"What tattooed guy?"

"Oh he was some man she dated; he stopped coming around a week or so ago. He was in a band or something similar, a real troublemaker, he did nothing but give that poor girl grief. Personally, I'm glad he went wherever he went. You're much better for her."

"I agree," I laughed.

"Are you taking her out again tonight?"

"Um, you know I'm not really sure. We made plans but there was an incident with one of her friends so I'm not sure what is going on." Liz nodded. "Are you excited to be going to Miami?" I asked.

Again, Liz nodded. "I am. I'm a little nervous about flying on the plane, but I'm sure it will all be okay. You sure you'll be okay here all alone until the end of the week?

I nodded. Richard and my mom were coming to pick Liz up tomorrow to take her to Miami. I would remain in the apartment until the end of the week, then my mom and Richard would pack up and put the apartment up for sale. "You know Nana, it kind of makes me sad to see you sell your home. I mean, you've lived here all of your adult life. All the memories you must have of this place. Aren't you sad to be leaving it?"

Liz sat down on the edge of bed and smiled sadly. "You know Jake, normally it would make me sad, but truthfully, in time – it might be a month or it might be a year, but eventually, I'm not going to remember much of anything so I suppose it doesn't really matter. Besides, I think it might be time for someone else to make a lifetime of memories here."

"It's just so…I dunno, sad I guess."

"It is sad, but you know what? That's the way life is. The old makes way for the new and the cycle repeats itself. In forty years, history will repeat itself and it will be another grandmother and another grandson sitting here having this same conversations. If these walls could talk," she motioned the wallpapered walls of her room, "they'd have one helluva story to tell."

I looked around, that was possibly true. The walls saw everything – indiscretion, tears, happiness, love fear, sadness, and the mystery the future held. It would be interesting to hear the walls' story.

Liz patted my knee. "Want to know the secret of life?" she asked with a conspiratorial whisper.

I grinned and said, "Sure, lay it on me."

"Love," she said softly. "The secret of life is to love wholly, fully and without bounds. If you've loved like that then your life will be full. Promise me you'll remember that," she implored.

"Wholly, fully and without bounds but never foolishly."

Liz clapped and exclaimed, "I have taught you well."

"Yes, you have," I agreed and got up to help Liz pack. As I put clothes into suitcase, I idly wondered what Bella was up to. I left shortly after she did. The situation with her friend seemed important and I thought it best to leave them to their own devices. I wandered out of the room and down the hall breathing in the scent of Murphy's wood soap and lemon Pledge.

I went into my room, throwing myself down on the bed, my fingers itched to write something so I reached for the pad of paper beside the bed and withdrew the pen from where it was encased by the silver spiral binding the blank sheaves of paper. I flipped to a blank page while waiting for the words to come. A few minutes of empty silence went by; the wordsmith in my head searched for the right words; the ones that would calm her cautious soul and reassure her I wasn't your average run of the mill asshole that would love her and leave her in a few days time. Slowly but surely the words came; my hand flew over the pages, the only sound in the room was the scratch of the pens tip as it flew over the blank page.

Dearest Bella,

Until you, my life was like a moonless night – dark and lonely and completely lacking any sense of directions. Love was never something I thought much about, it was something I wasn't sure I even wanted until you. I found a better part of me when I found you. With you everything seems different, better somehow. I mean that sounds cheesy trust me, I know it does, but for some reason I thought you needed to hear that. I know it probably does little to calm your fears I wish I knew what I could say or do to ease your fears.

I said it once I'll say it again; hell I'll say it until I'm blue in the face. I am falling in love with you. Every second of every minute that I'm with you, I am falling harder in love with you. Earlier this afternoon Liz shared the secret of life with me. She said that the secret was to love wholly, fully and without bounds. I plan on doing that with you. In fact I've already started. On another note, as amazing as last night was I want you to know that was not my intention. I won't lie and say I didn't want to but it was not my plan to seduce you on the floor of your ridiculously oversized closet. You simply looked too stunning standing there with that pouty expression on your face as you sulked about being surprised. I'd like to know why it is exactly you don't like surprises. All in good time though, right?

"Jake," Liz called down the hall. "There's someone here to see you."

I shut my notebook and got up off the bed, padding down the hallway wondering who was here for me. Standing in the living room was Bella, dressed in a pair of tight fitting dark blue jeans, a hunter green sweater, and a heavy black pea coat.

"Bella?" I said. "Is everything okay?"

She nodded and tapped her watch. "We had a date, remember?"

Surprised I said, "Oh, I just thought your friend needed you."

"Yeah, about that. How do you feel about a group date?"

I shrugged and said, "That's fine with me, just let me change and we can go."

If I was a chick this would be the part where my heart would've leapt with joy, however, I smiled, pleased that I was going to be able to spend time with her as well as her friends. I changed into a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt. When I exited the room, Liz and Bella were seated in the living room talking about Liz's impending trip to Miami. They both smiled when I entered the room.

"You look handsome, just like your grandfather. Where are you kids heading out to this evening?"

I glanced from Liz to Bella and shrugged. Bella grinned and turned to Liz. "My friend Rosalie's fiancé called off their wedding, so we are taking her on the ferry and out to Bainbridge Island for some dinner and music. I spent all day with her but I'm not sure she's ready to be along just yet so hopefully a few hours in the company of friends will be good for her."

Bella raised her eyebrows and blinked, rolling her shoulders, gracefully up, then back down. The gesture said, "Who really knows but I guess we'll see." I smiled to myself, amused that some of her habits were already becoming familiar.

"Well we should probably get going," I said. Bella stood and said goodbye to Liz. "I'll go get Rosalie and meet you across the hall," she said squeezing my arm.

"Okay," I murmured and went to kneel before Liz. Grasping her hands in mine I said, "I feel bad. I've hardly spent any time with you these last few days and you're leaving tomorrow. Is there some way I can make it up to you?"

Liz squeezed my hands smiling. "I don't mind, its nice just having your in the house. My grandson, the marine." She patted my cheek, her palms cool. "I'm so proud of you." Tears clouded her baby blue eyes and she looked like she went somewhere far way. "There is one thing I want you to have. You don't have to use it now, or ever, but I want you to have it nonetheless. Stay here, I'll be right back."

Liz shuffled down the hall and came back with a small, red jeweler's box. She handed it to me smiling. "Open it," she implored. The old box creaked as the lid gave way, opening. Tucked into the folds of red velvet was a ring, antique gold, a princess cut emerald sat in the center nestled between four small diamonds. "My Wesley gave this to me. I kept it all these years and I hate for it to stay smothered in that box never getting to see the world. I want you to have it. Now go on, go out and have a good time; you deserve it."

I leaned down and kissed Liz's cheek. "You are the best grandmother in the world. Promise me you'll always remember that."

Liz's eyes clouded over becoming misty as I realized the err of my words. "I'm sorry Nana; I didn't mean it like that."

She patted my cheek fondly. It was a move that went back to the days of my childhood. It meant she was sad, not because of something I said or did but because a situation or event was unavoidable. "I'll tell you what," she said. "Write it and anything else you want me to remember on a pad of post it notes and I'll hang them up when I get to Florida."

My heart broke just a little as I pictured her house I'm Miami papered with post it proclaiming things like 'You are the best grandmother in the world' or 'your husband passed away' and 'your name Is Elizabeth but everyone calls you Liz.' 'The golden girls are legit."

Not like she knew what legit meant, at least not in the slang, watch-me-use-cool-words-in-a-weird-way kind of way, but still, you get the picture. "Okay," I finally said. "I'll do that."

Liz nodded, motioning toward the hallway. "I believe your lady is waiting for you. Go on and have a good time. You don't need any money do you?"

I chuckled at her question feeling sixteen all over again. "No Nana, I have some money. Thank you though." I kissed her cheek once more and put the ring in my room. "I'll be back later," I called.

"Have fun," she replied as I walked out the door.

I could hear voices coming from Bella's apartment when I walked across the hall. I knocked and waited. Bella's voice came to the door. "Hey," she said as she opened the door.

I leaned down and kissed her cheek. "How's your girlfriend?" I asked.

Bella shrugged and said, "She's been better, but I've also seen her much worse. Emmett is…well, he's like that super obnoxious, overly testerone filled guy who is a total macho man and wants it his way or the highway and Rosalie is…well there are times when she's as docile as a lamb, but then there are times when she just puts her foot down and wants what he always promises but never delivers. Its hard on her but I think she'll be okay."

I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything. I didn't know her friends or her friends' fiancé so there wasn't much I could say. Instead of commenting on the situation I asked, "Where exactly are we going?"

Bella laughed, tossing her head back, her brunette hair cascading down her back like a chocolate waterfall exposing her elegant neck. "It's a surprise," she said, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. Payback was a bitch I guess.

"Come on," Bella said motioning me inside, "Come meet my friends."

I followed her into the apartment and looked around at the three people seated inside on the couch. "This is Alice," she pointed to the raven-haired pixie girl from a few nights ago, "and Edward, and Rosalie." She pointed to a tall, lanky, and ridiculously good-looking guy with maniacally tousled bronzed hair and electric green eyes. He looked as if he'd just stepped out of a photo shoot. Across from them sat Rosalie, her long blond hair held a certain curl, her doe brown eyes seemed watery even though she had a smile on her face.

"Guys," Bella said grasping my forearm, "this is Jake."

"How's it going," I said suddenly nervous.

"Good man, how are you?" Edward asked.

"Good," I said.

"Well, we should probably get going," Alice chirped. "It's going to be nuts getting on the ferry."

The four of us shuffled toward the door. Alice, Edward, and Rosalie started toward the elevator. From over her shoulder Alice called, "We'll meet you there."

Bella waved absentmindedly as she locked her front door. "Do you want to drive or can I?" she asked gazing up at me.

"You can drive if you want to. I don't mind either way." I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close to me. "So tell me about your day," I implored.

Bella shrugged and took my hand in hers as we walked toward the elevator. "I picked up Rosalie, brought her back to my place and we watched man hating movies all afternoon." She shrugged as we got to the elevator. I pressed the button and we waited. "This is kind of the norm for Rosalie. It's not a good month if Rosalie and Emmett are at each other's throats, cancelling the wedding or some other kind of nonsense."

I chuckled and the two of walked onto the elevator. "I take it they fight a lot?"

Bella nodded. "They were supposed to get married last summer, then she cancelled it, then the fall, and he cancelled it, then this past January, then she cancelled it and finally this summer and as you can see, he cancelled it." She shook her head, annoyed or disgusted, I couldn't tell.

I leaned down and kissed her, my lips brushing against her. "I'm sorry you had a rough day. Hope tonight will be better."

"Me too, but my day wasn't really that bad. Do you know where we are going?"

I shook my head no as the elevator doors slid open revealing the lobby. "I have no idea where we are going. But…unlike you, I happen to like surprises." I grinned down at her and stepped off the elevator.

Bella smirked at me, walked toward the door, and stepped out into the chilly night. I followed behind her and we walked toward her car, a spiffy little Jaguar XK, hunter green in color. I whistled as she unlocked the car.

Bella turned and wiggled her eyebrows at me. "Isn't she pretty?"

I nodded and opened the car door for her. "It is and again you never cease to amaze me, and again, the green."

Bella shrugged. "I like the perks of my life, and so what, I like green. It's pretty. So…" she stuck her tongue out at me as I walked around the car and got into the passenger seat.

Bella started the car, the Jaguars engine purred like a kitten as she pulled out of the parking spot and into rush hour traffic. As we crept toward the pier, Bella groaned. "Come on people, take your head out of your ass, your foot off the brake, and move. This is so damn ridiculous," she muttered as traffic crept along.

Two blocks before the pier Bella leaned forward and turned the radio on as the car in front of her braked again. "I swear if we miss the ferry I'm going to get out of my car and beat this idiot to death."

I laid my hand on her thigh and rubbed. "It's okay, calm down."

She growled as the car in front of us inched forward. I could see the pier ahead as we crept through the intersection. Directly in front of us was an accident, once past it, Bella sped toward the pier and screeched into a parking spot. I clung to the oh shit bar as the car whipped into a parking spot.

"You drive," I said, "like a madman."

Bella giggled as she got out of the car. "At least we made it here on time, now come on before you make us miss the ferry."

I followed as she ran for the loading dock wiggling my wallet out of my back pocket. From the top deck, Alice hollered down the wind muffling her words. Rosalie laughed a sound that tinkled on the wind and blew out to sea. Bella hollered back then turned and hollered at me to hurry up.

She was a different person when she was around her friends. Not different bad, but different – more carefree I guess. It was nice to see a more relaxed side to her, one that didn't care about jobs or bills or any of that stressful adult stuff. She was just Bella.

I paid for the tickets and followed her onto the ferry and up the stairs and she darted across the slick deck toward her friends. The March breeze blew a blast of frigid air into my face as I went to Bella's side. "So Jake, Bella tells me you're a Marine?"

I nodded and replied, "I am, getting ready to deploy."

Alice nodded, Bella scooted closer to me; I wrapped my arms around her pulling her into me. Alice leaned forward, placing a hand on my forearm. "Just do me one favor," she implored. "Just, stay…safe, okay?"

"I'll do my best."

Behind us, the ferry's horn blew, deafening us. Bella cringed and stuck her index finger into her ear, wiggling it. "Can you hear me now?" I laughed.

She gently smacked my chest then leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed me. "Ever made it in a ferry bathroom?" she murmured softly, peering up at me from under the long, thick eyelashes.

I gaped at her. "Why no, Miss Swan, I can't say I have. Why are you offering?"

Bella grinned at me. "As a matter of fact," she said smugly, "I am."

Reviews are better than group dates and Alice dating Edward (is that weird? I kinda think so...lol)

They Bring Me to You - Joshua Radin