DISCLAIMER: I don't own any characters, places, etc. **Author's Note** Waaa sorry for taking so long. And sorry if my characters are OOT/OOC! I'd like to thank you all for the lovely reviews as well, and I'm really happy a lot of people think that I've kept to the characters well, so THANK YOU!! :D
I hope you enjoy this chapterrrr. Review kindly? :)
I stared at myself in the mirror. I'd tried on just about everything I owned, and nothing seemed to look good. I wanted to look, nice, for Jacob tonight. No, not just nice. I wanted to look beautiful. But nothing seemed to create that illusion. I settled on a newer pair of jeans and a fitted black top. I stabbed myself a few times in the eye trying to apply eyeliner, and brushed my hair through a few times. I was as ready as I was going to be.
"Bella, Jacob's here," I heard Charlie call out to me. God, he was here already? I sighed, and walked to the bottom of the staircase. Charlie was standing against the doorframe, his arms crossed with a smug look on his face. Jacob was hovering awkwardly by the door. His hair was tied up and he looked less scruffy than usual. He grinned over at me when he saw me, and leant forward to kiss me lightly on the cheek.
"Hey Bells," he whispered softly in my ear, taking my hand.
"Bye dad," I said, pushing Jacob out the door as quickly as I could before Charlie had a chance to lecture us.
Jacob opened the car door for me, and I instantly smelt pizza. Did Jacob already eat something? I glanced across the backseat, and sure enough, there was a box of pizza sitting there.
"Pizza?" I asked, looking at him confused as he got into the driver's seat.
"Oh, well, it's all I could afford," he replied, looking a little embarrassed.
"Great, I love pizza!" I replied enthusiastically. Whatever we were doing tonight, I would let him know just how much fun I was having. I had a feeling that Jacob felt a bit inferior, so I had to let him know I was happy.
"Great," he grinned in response.
We drove off to La Push, down a few streets I didn't recognise. It was getting dark, and it was unseasonably clear out. Jacob pulled up on the side of the road out of nowhere, and handed me a handkerchief.
"What's this for?" I asked, holding it up.
"It's a blindfold," he said, taking it from my hands again and pulling it over my eyes and tying it up.
"Uh…?" Okay, I was feeling a little scared now. He just kissed my cheek again and started driving again. I felt pretty stupid sitting here with a blindfold on.
"I know you hate surprises, but I think you'll like this one," he laughed, and gripped my hand. Soon after, he pulled over again and cut the engine.
"Jake?" I asked, bringing my hand up to the blindfold.
"No, no, not yet. Just wait here for a second, okay!" he said enthusiastically, and I heard him get out of the car, and shut the door.
"Oh, and no peaking," I heard him say sternly. Damn, how did he always know what I was thinking before I did?
I waited for a moment, and I heard him open my door. I felt his arms slide around me and help me up, holding me around the shoulder and edging me slowly forward.
"Can I take it off now?" I complained, feeling nervous. I could feel a cool wind, we were outdoors somewhere.
"Just a little closer," he whispered beside me, and after a few more steps, we suddenly stopped.
"Here?" I asked, feeling his arms drape completely around me from behind, pulling me into his body.
"Here," he breathed in my ear, and he brought his hands up to slowly untie the blindfold. He put his arms around me again, and all I could see was the ocean and the sky.
I forgot to breath for a moment; it was perfect. I could only just make out where the sky met the water, the stars glittering faintly in the still-light sky. The cliff where the others had been cliff-diving. I looked down in front of me, there was a blanket thrown across the ground clumsily.
"Jacob?" I asked, turning around to look at me. He just kissed me softly on the lips, pulling my body around so I was facing him.
"Do you like it?" he asked, looking down at me softly. He looked a little nervous, so I kissed him gently again.
"I love it, it's so beautiful," I replied, turning away from him again to look out across the ocean. It really was beautiful. This was better than any gift Jacob could give me.
"I knew you would," he sighed. I turned back to look out in front of us, he wrapped his arms around me again and we stayed like that for a moment.
It was when Jacob did things like this, it made me so happy that I was in love with him, and that he was in love with me, too. I don't know how I ever deserved someone as special as him, even after how terribly I'd treated him. He knew I didn't want anything complex and expensive, and that's exactly what he did. I wanted to say something to him, anything, but I couldn't find the words to thank him. He eventually pulled me down onto the blanket and threw open the box of pizza. We ate it slowly, and I stayed quiet. I couldn't think of anything to say to Jacob right now. He could be so stupid sometimes, but he had such a beautiful soul. The way he looked at me, so content, would have been unnerving if I wasn't so comfortable around him now. It was as though all of a sudden, because of tonight, every wall had come down and we could finally be completely comfortable with one another. I wanted Jacob to know everything about me, and I wanted to know everything about him. I had no secrets I wanted to hide from him.
Except of course, Edward's secret.
That was a different story. Jacob had been the one to tell me about the Cullen's in the first place, but he had no idea that his tribe's scary stories were real. How could I ever tell him that? How could I ever say: "Oh, yeah Jacob? Yeah, my ex boyfriend was a vampire. Just thought you should know."
I think he'd think I was going crazy. Or he was going crazy. So, I decided to bury that secret deep inside of me, it didn't have to effect Jacob and I. That was Edward's secret, not mine, and so I had no right to tell Jacob.
"Bella?" Jacob asked, breaking my train of thought. I smiled over at him.
"Mm?" I asked.
"You're being a bit quiet, is everything okay?" he asked. He did look a little worried. We'd finished our pizza now, and he'd cleaned up, and I'd just sat here uselessly.
"I'm sorry Jake," I sighed. He inched closer to me and put his arms around me, pulling me down so my head was in his lap and I was lying on my back, looking up at him.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do something amazing for you, but -"
"This is amazing," I insisted, stopping him before he could say anything else. He just smiled, and smoothed my hair down softly with his hand.
"This has been the best month of my life, Bella," he said quietly. I wanted to sit up and hold him, but I just stayed there. I ran one hand up his chest and to his face, resting on his warm cheek, and pulled his face down slowly so that he could kiss me.
"Me too," I whispered, looking up into his eyes. He didn't smile, but he had a very serious look on his face.
"I love you," he said simply, and that's all I needed from him. Its all I'll ever need from Jacob.
"I love you more," I replied, grinning up at him. He rolled his eyes.
"Bella, I doubt that I could ever make you love me as much as I love you," he scoffed. He really didn't know just how much I needed him. He thought this was just a silly little crush for me, didn't he? I sat up, but he was smiling softly. Even sadly.
I didn't know what I could do to make him understand just how much I loved him, how much I wanted him, how much I really did need him. I pulled him close to me and kissed him on the mouth; fast and hot, and didn't break away until he did.
"I love you more than you think, Jacob," I whispered, breathless.
I loved him more than I ever thought I would.