AN: Hey guys. Here's the next chapter. In the next one we will see some interaction between Grace and Embry, but I won't give too much away. Should be a longer chapter. PLEASE REVIEW. SM owns.

Chapter Twenty Five

Grace's POV

Jake drove us to his house. I had never been there before, but I never knew how close it was to Sam and Emily's; only about ten minutes. The house was small and red, and surrounded by trees. It looked very peaceful and homey. Out the back of his house I could see a garage that looked home-made. He let us in at the front door and called out for his father.

"Dad?" Jake called, as I took off my coat just inside the door.

"In the kitchen, son." His dad called back.

Jake guided me into the small kitchen where a middle-aged man was sitting in a wheelchair. He had wrinkly skin and dark hair and eyes. He looked very wise.

"Dad, this is Grace," Jake said, "Grace, this is my dad, Billy."

"Nice to meet you Billy." I said, shaking his hand.

"It's great to finally meet you, Grace. Jake here talks about you pretty much non-stop." Billy said. I bit my lip and blushed, as I looked over at Jacob. His cheeks looked a little darker than usual.

"Thanks, Dad. Uh, I'm gonna take Grace out to the garage." Jake said.

He grabbed my hand and took me out of a door in the kitchen that lead to his back yard.

We walked across rocky ground until we reached the garage.

"You have your own garage?" I asked in amazement.

"Yup. Built it myself."

"Wow."

"I work on cars and bikes and stuff in here. Mechanics."

"Cool. If my jeep ever breaks down you can help me fix it."

"Sure could. So what d'you want to do?" He asked.

"I don't know. Why don't you show me what you normally do in here."

"Well, I've been fixing up a bike for Quil. I could show you that."

"Sure."

He wheeled an old red bike onto the plastic mat that I stood on. Then he pulled a toolbox over and started poking around at the bike. I sat down next to him and watched. It was kind of amazing what he was doing. His big hands turning little knobs, and fiddling with screws and tiny pieces of metal. We were both silent as he worked.

"What did your dad mean earlier?" I asked after a little while.

"Huh?" He said, looking around. He had been so concentrated on his work that he hadn't heard me. I admired his determination.

"Your dad said that you talk about me."

"Oh. Yeah." He said, turning back to the bike.

"Do you?"

"I guess I do."

"Okay." I dropped the subject. It was clear he wasn't comfortable talking about it. I went back to just watching him.

After a minute or so, Jacob turned back to me.

"You wanna help me for a second?" He asked.

"Sure," I shuffled over to him, "What do you need me to do?"

"Just hold this still while I screw this thing in."

He pointed to a little metal piece. I held it as tightly as I could.

"Good, now hold it til I say." Jake said.

He began turning the screwdriver hard, and the little piece protested underneath my fingers, trying to twist with the screwdriver. I wouldn't let it though. Even though the little piece was cutting into my fingers, I held it until Jake told me to let go.

When I did let go, my finger tips were all red, and they had tiny little cuts on them.

"Ow." I said quietly, as I wiped some droplets of blood off.

"What is it?" Jake asked, his heading whipping around towards me.

"It's nothing. Just some little cuts." I said.

He moved over to me, and picked up my sore hand.

"From the screw?" He asked.

"Yeah, but its fine. It's a tiny little cut. You can hardly see it."

"It was metal though. You should probably wash it out, just to be safe."

"Fine." I said reluctantly.

He took me over to a little basin and washed the cut under water, his warm fingers rubbing the sore skin of my hand.

"It feels better now." I said.

"Good." Jake dried my hand on the hem of his old grey t-shirt.

I looked up at him and he looked down at me. He looked at me all the time, but this time was different. I couldn't pick what it was though. I blushed and looked down, away from his gorgeous brown eyes.

"I should go." I said, moving away from him.

"No, why don't you stay for dinner."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I want to go home." I said.

"Embry might be there. Olivia too." Jake warned.

I froze, just as I was about to walk out of his garage.

"I just want to go home, Jake. Just- I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I said.

"Fine. Bye."

I walked away from Jake's garage and through the back door of his house. Billy was still sitting in the kitchen, reading the newspaper.

"I have to be going, Billy. I'll see you sometime. It was nice meeting you." I said.

"Jake not even walking you to your car?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. I told him he should keep working on that bike."

"Oh. Well, bye then. It was good meeting you."

"Bye Billy."

I walked out of the kitchen and into the little hall, where I had hung up my coat. I grabbed it off the hook and walked out the front door, got into my car, and drove home.

Jake was right. Embry and Olivia were there when I arrived. So were Paul, Quil, and Seth. They were in the lounge room, and when I came in I saw Embry and Olivia sitting on the couch hand in hand. I kept walking; straight into my bedroom, slamming my door as hard as I could behind me.

I flopped down onto my bed, and shut my eyes, letting out a long sigh. I couldn't understand any of what was going on. Only a month after Embry had left me here, he was back. With another girl. But I couldn't decide whether I was angry, jealous, confused, or upset. That was because of the Jake situation. He made me feel happy even with all this going on. He was such a good friend; fast becoming my best friend.

I only hoped that everything would sort itself out.

AN: Please review this and read my other stories. That's What I'll Have has just been completed, and Sweetest Downfall is just heating up. Yay!