Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 21

Wild

The sun shone through the window and curtains to where I was laying in my futon bed. I was on my side and I turned on my back to lift my arm up to let the rays warm my hand.

I imagined my Edward sparkling in the same sunlight.

Spring was on the horizon and the cold weather was letting up slowly as the days passed. Today, the sun decided to peek out over our cloudy little town.

Alice had anticipated this, of course. She was more reliable than a weather girl.

Since Edward wouldn't be able to pick me up during the day, he lent me his car the night before so I could drive myself over when I was ready.

But since it was a rare, sunny day, I decided to stop by town to check out some stores before I headed over to the Cullen residence.

I took my time getting ready, and I put on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a plaid buttoned shirt, and a sweatshirt.

I drove the Volvo into town and saw that I was not the only one to decide to take advantage of the nice weather. I searched for a spot and I ended up having to park the car a bit away from the stores and walked over.

I checked out the usual places I went, like the thrift store and the bookstore. After I had looked around, I started walking back to the car. When I had gotten near the end of the long street, a big scruffy dog walked up beside me.

I slowed when I saw the dog, and so did it. When I came to a stop, it looked up at me. I didn't notice a collar, so I looked around me. There weren't any people around where I was, but I could see some pedestrians further down where I had come from. None seemed to be searching for a missing pet.

The dog was some sort of mutt and I figured it was a stray because it looked pretty dirty.

I wasn't in the habit of petting strange dogs, and I certainly wasn't going to touch a scraggly stray.

I started walking again and the dog followed. I hope it didn't think I was going to take it home with me.

"Shoo," I said, waving my arm but it just looked at me.

Just then, there was a noise near us. The dog perked its ears and it let out a low growl. It ran away from me and turned the corner into an alley. I heard yelling and voices, and I ran to where the dog went.

When I turned the corner, I saw the dog snarling in a crouching position at a couple young boys in dark hoodies. They were holding up empty glass beer bottles, looking ready to attack. The two boys stood nearly back-to-back, one facing the angry dog and the other facing the other direction.

That's when I noticed there was another person in the alleyway where the other boy was facing. I hadn't noticed him because he was hidden in the shadow of the building and because he was low to the ground, crouched like a lion, looking ready to pounce.

"Hey!" I yelled. I don't know what in the world compelled me to yell out like that, but it worked.

The boys, who seemed to be on high alert, got startled, and that's when the dog started barking at them.

One of them dropped the bottle he was holding where it smashed onto the pavement and shattered. He ran close to the wall, avoiding the dog and past me. The other one, left behind, yelled "Wait up!" and started running after his friend flinging the bottle behind him. The second bottle made a loud clang sound as it rolled down and to the side.

The dog skipped a few steps barking after the boys.

I walked, stepping onto some of the broken glass that crackled under my shoes, toward the other person, who was still crouched in a defensive position and said, "Hey, are you all right?" His face was mostly hidden as it was in a lowered position and his long, messy hair concealed it.

He slowly stood up, and my eyes widened in shock as I saw that he was... completely naked.

I quickly averted my eyes up and turned around. I blushed.

"Oh my God," I said. "You're naked." Way to state the obvious.

"Seems so," a voice said behind me. It was a slightly deep, but friendly voice. He sounded amused for someone standing stark naked in an alleyway in the daytime.

The dog walked back toward me, wagging his tail, and sat down looking at me.

"Did those kids steal your clothes?" I asked.

"Um, no, but they are destroyed," he said, still behind me.

"Okay," I said. Whatever that means. "Do you want me to call the police? Should we report those kids?" I felt awkward standing there, talking to the air with a naked man standing behind me.

"Nah," he said. "No harm done. I'm just going to go home."

"Wait!" I said. I turned around, with my eyes tightly shut and hands out. "Wait. How are you going to get home, like that?"

"I was going to run through the woods. Nobody will see me," he said.

There was going to be a naked man streaking through the woods. "Someone might see you. It's a nice day, there's a lot of people out. Let me get you some clothes," I told him, with my eyes still shut.

There was a pause. "No thanks," he said.

I felt ridiculous talking to him with my eyes closed. I lifted my head up to the sky and to the side and opened them. I still felt kind of ridiculous. "No, really, I insist. If for the poor child out hiking with their family who might catch a glimpse. You're not some weird pervert, are you?"

I took his silence as his thinking it over. I think the opportunity to push my case further.

I said, "I'll be real quick. The stores are right down the street. At least let me get you some pants."

He was quiet. I wondered if he was still standing there, since I had my head awkwardly to the side. No, I think I would've heard him leave, even if he had no clothes to make sounds.

"Just pants," he said.

"Okay, I'll be right back," I said. I turned around, and I stopped. "Oh, and watch out for the glass," I warned him. I slid a foot across the pavement, without looking of course, to scrape some of the shattered glass pieces to the side.

I ran down the street to the nearest clothes store. Luckily, they carried some casual men's clothing and I looked for the pants section.

Hmm, I had forgotten to ask his size. This was going to be hard. I had never shopped for men's clothing, not even my father's. I didn't know how men's sizes ran. And I doubt the naked man would wait again if I went to ask him his size. Fortunately, I spotted some sweatpants that went by the letter sizes. I still didn't know which size he was exactly, but better to overestimate than underestimate in this situation. I picked a gray sweatpants in a size extra large, I think he was tall, and I paid at the register. I told the cashier I wouldn't need a bag.

I thought of shoes for him, but sizing was more important for that and I didn't want to keep him waiting in case he changed his mind. Maybe I could persuade him to let me dress him further once he had some pants on.

I ran back toward the alley, feeling the burn (I was really going to have to exercise more), and turned the corner.

I realized my mistake as soon as I came around, that I shouldn't barge into somewhere when someone is naked, but I was saved the embarrassment because he wasn't there.

I was panting, catching my breath, wondering where he went, when the dog appeared from the other end of the alley where the forest began.

Still a little out of breath, I walked toward where the dog was. When I had caught up to him, he turned around and we walked to the end.

When I came out the other side, I caught the shape of a figure to my left in my periphery and instinctively jumped. I was right at the corner so I could see his profile as he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, with his foot closest to me propped up against the wall so his thigh hid his man parts from my view.

I flipped my back to him again and thought, you have got to stop doing that. He was obviously not shy about his body.

"I thought you left," I said, and I took the newly purchased sweatpants I had slung over my shoulder and extended my arm behind me.

The pants pulled away from my hand, and after a few seconds, I asked, "Decent?"

"As decent as I'll be, I guess," he said.

I slowly turned around. He was taller than I thought he was. And his hair had calmed down a bit. Or at least I thought it had. I hadn't looked too closely at his face that first moment I saw him.

He had long, dark, now less messy hair and his skin was a warm, tanned color. He had dark eyes and a serious, edgy expression that somehow didn't fit his boyish features.

His eyes were moving over my face, assessing me like I was him, when they stopped at my eyes and held its stare.

I remembered when I had first seen him. He was like a wild animal. I was reminded of this as I stared at him now.

"Thank you," he said kindly, startling me. "How can I pay you back?"

I shook my head lightly. "It's not necessary," I returned. "Do you live far?" I asked.

"No. I'll be fine. No danger of flashing anyone, thanks to you," he smiled.

I was instantly disarmed by his smile. Even though he looked disheveled and wild, his smile opened up his face, and I could see he was very handsome.

I couldn't help smiling back.

The dog stepped over to the no longer naked man and nudged his leg. He bent down and pet the dog's head.

"Good dog. What's his name?" he asked.

I raised my eyebrows. "I thought he was yours," I told him.

They both looked up at me. The man patted the dog's back a couple times and stood back up.

"He likes you, though," he said. I looked down at the dog. It yawned.

He started stepping away from me backwards towards the woods. As he was walking farther from me in nothing but the gray sweatpants, I could see his body better. He was not only tall, he was very muscular. He could give Emmett a run for his money, not that I had seen Emmett shirtless, but I imagined he would.

The dog which stood between us, looked to each of us. As the man got farther away, the dog looked at him, hesitated and then ran up to his side.

I thought it made the wiser choice. I would have had to just leave it here.

The man smiled at the dog and let it follow. He looked back at me and said loudly, "By the way, I'm Jacob. Jacob Black. What's your name?"

"Bella," I said. He was quite a bit away from me by then, so I was about to yell it louder, when he smiled and turned to run into the forest. Had he heard me?

I watched as he maneuvered deftly through the forest floor as the dog chased after him. I saw his bare feet and scolded myself for forgetting to offer to get him shoes. In a few seconds, he was gone from view, and I figured his feet would be okay.

I walked back through the alley to the car.

I made it to Edward's home without further delay.

The siblings and I were gathered in the living room. Rosalie and Emmett were playing chess and Jasper was reading a book. Alice was sitting next to him flipping through catalogs and I sat next to Edward.

"How was your day?" Edward asked me.

"It was good," I answered absentmindedly. After a second, I informed, "I went to town, found a stray dog, bought a naked man some pants."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and their heads turned to me.

"What?" Edward asked. He wasn't angry. He seemed more bewildered, like he had just misheard me. Like he could mishear anything.

I laughed. I laughed harder at their questioning, shocked expressions. I laughed even harder at the prospect of having to elaborate. I didn't know if I wanted to. It was such a ridiculous episode. I was sure Edward would say something like I was a magnet for trouble and he would never let me do anything by myself again.

Emmett joined my laughing. Then Alice joined in. And even Jasper. Maybe he was affected by everyone else's moods.

"Well, if anyone needs pants, it would be a naked man," said Rosalie, cracking a smile.