Moonlight

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter Twenty-Five-Waiting

Nature can bring the rain, but it did nothing to dampen Jacob's inner sunshine. He was happy. Deliriously happy. The downpour had turned into a thunderstorm. The sky was like molten silver, the dark clouds cocooned in black.

"Let's get out of here." Jacob said, grabbing Bella's hand and pulling her back toward the waiting Volkswagen.

It was so gloomy that Bella could hardly see to put one foot in front of the other. Without Jacob's guiding hand, she knew she wouldn't have made it. He opened the passenger door for her and she tumbled into the front seat. Once he was certain she was securely inside, he shut the door against the driving rain and hastened around to the other side of the car.

As if it were starlight pulsing through the graphite sky, lightning came in great networking forks. Bella pushed her drenched hair out of her face as she watched the battle raging above them. She had never seen a storm like it.

"You okay?" Jacob asked as he slammed his own door shut and automatically reached for her hand.

"Are you?" Bella countered. She stared at him, still awestruck by what had happened.

"Yeah…. I mean…. the kiss…I didn't…" Jacob was fumbling for words now. "You wanted it, too. I didn't take advantage of the situation."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Bella's mouth. "I seem to remember being the one who initiated the kiss…. maybe I should be the one apologising for taking advantage of you." She teased.

Jacob's answering smile was one of happiness growing, it extended to every part of him. His eyes danced with joy. "You can take advantage any time you want, Bella, honey."

Bella ducked her head as she felt the familiar blush coating her cheeks. The shy part of herself, the cautious spirit, battled with the adventurous part. She was such a contradiction at times, it was maddening. Bella glanced at their joined hands. There was a deft confidence in the way Jacob's hand covered hers. This time when he grazed his thumb over the smooth skin of her left wrist, she felt no pain at all. The scar was completely healed, like it had just faded out of existence.

"How did you know what to do?" Bella asked in wonderment.

Jacob's expression turned thoughtful. "It was something you said."

Bella looked at him confusion. "What did I say?"

"When you were freaking out, you mentioned my regenerative healing powers. It was like a lightbulb moment, I guess." Jacob swallowed thickly and met her enquiring gaze. "I could feel your fear and pain as if it was my own. I couldn't bear to see you suffering like that… even if it didn't work, I had to try something…you know?"

Bella nodded in understanding. How many times had she felt the same thing? The compulsion to nurture and protect Jacob was strong-she felt his pain, the same way he did hers. "Thank you." She said gratefully. "How can I ever repay you?"

A smirk took over Jacob's face. It brought out a sense of mischief, of innocent fun, and in that moment, he looked exactly like the teenager he still was underneath all the muscle mass. "How about another kiss?"

Bella's colour infused cheeks dimpled with her blossoming smile and her eyes shone in a way that only deep happiness can bring. "You are such a boy!" She laughed as she reached out with her free hand and used it to pull his head closer to hers.

Despite their newfound happiness, Jacob still had a dangerous job to do. They mutually decided to keep their burgeoning relationship on the down low as much as possible-which was easy on Bella's part, but hard on Jacob's, considering he shared head space with so many others when he ran as a wolf.

Over the next few days, Jacob did his best not to think of Bella when he was phased, instead trying to concentrate on the task at hand, but sometimes little things slipped out as he replayed some of their stolen moments together in his head. His brothers mocked him for being such a sap, but Jacob didn't care. He was happy. So far, he had managed to keep the knowledge of Bella's healed scar locked inside his mind. He wasn't ready to share something so significantly lifechanging with the rest of the pack yet. He was waiting to speak to Old Quil, but the old man had his hands full with his grandson. Quil had taken Jacob's advice to heart and was demanding answers from his grandfather. Old Quil was struggling to deny him.

Change was on the horizon. They could all feel it coming.

As for Bella, she found herself often alone, stuck in La Push for safety while Jacob patrolled long hours with the pack in pursuit of Victoria. Time went fast when they were together, but when he was forced to leave, it slowed down and she had nothing to do but worry and wait.

Bella felt awkward always taking up space at Billy's. She did some studying for another calculus test she had coming up, but she could only look at math for so long. When she didn't have something obvious to do with her hands, she went on a cooking spree instead. Billy often joined her during these times, doing his best to attempt casual conversation. He was still grieving his fractured relationship with Jacob. There was still lingering tension between father and son, the trust had been broken, and Jacob was struggling to forgive Billy for keeping him in the dark for so long.

Bella was a cook because she cooked from the heart. She gave of herself, always being creative, always nurturing with what she made. It didn't take long before the pack gravitated toward the Black's house, utilising it as their new hangout as they sampled Bella's elaborate meals, quickly becoming addicted to her culinary excellence.

This change did not go down well with Emily. She voiced her unhappiness to Sam, who in desperation, paid Bella an unexpected visit and suggested she spend time with his fiancée and share cooking tips or something. Bella was surprised by Sam's taciturn offer, but decided to act on it, hoping that if she attempted to reach out to Emily, the other girl might do the same.

At first it was kind of nice. Emily did seem to be making an effort to find some common ground with Bella, but it didn't take long before her natural resentment began to shine through. She became increasingly competitive. Instead of working together, she worked against Bella, doing her best to try and outshine her supposed rival at every opportunity. She flitted around her little house and yard, scrubbing at the spotless floor, pulling a tiny weed, fixing a broken hinge, even tugging a string through an ancient loom, and always cooking, cooking, cooking.

However all her hard work didn't stop the boys from demolishing Bella's culinary delights. Their appetites had increased from all the extra running, but Bella didn't mind taking care of them. She found it easy to control their more boisterous behaviour while Emily struggled to make herself heard above the din. One word from Bella quickly tamed their exuberance. Emily stood on the side lines, her resentment continuing to build.

Sam often checked in on Emily when the others were patrolling. Bella only stayed long enough to ascertain that Jacob was fine and there was no news, and then she had to escape. The aura of tension that surrounded Sam and Emily right now was hard to take in concentrated doses, with no one else around to dilute it. Bella couldn't help but think she might be the cause of some of that tension, and everything she tried to do to ease it just seemed to backfire on her. She was beginning to think any kind of friendship with Emily was a lost cause.

Sometimes Bella was left wandering the beach, pacing the rocky crescent back and forth, again and again.

Alone time wasn't doing her any good. Thanks to her newfound relationship with Jacob, it was becoming increasingly difficult to be separated from him for such huge chunks of time. No matter how hard she tried to distract herself-and she had plenty to think about, she was honestly and desperately worried about Jacob and his brothers. She was terrified for Charlie and the others who thought they were hunting animals, she had done her best to put him off hunting for the so-called bears, but he didn't listen to her pleas, nor those of Harry and Billy, either. It was immensely frustrating and just made the packs job harder with so many humans stumbling around the forest.

Eventually, she couldn't even walk anymore, because she couldn't breathe. She sat down on a patch of semi-dry rocks and stared broodingly at the roiling ocean-the grey waves agitatedly turning in on themselves, like the nausea rolling in her stomach.

Jacob found her like that, and she could tell from his expression that he understood. "I'm sorry." He said right away. He pulled her up from the ground and wrapped both arms around her shoulders. Bella hadn't realised how cold she was until then. His warmth soothed her frazzled nerves, she could breathe easier now.

"I'm ruining your spring break." Jacob apologised as they walked up the beach.

Bella remained tucked under his arm. "No, you're not. Its not like I had any plans. We agreed its safer with me here. I don't think I like spring breaks anyway."

"I'll take tomorrow off. The others can run without me." Jacob said determinedly. "I'm due a break."

"Will Sam allow it?" Bella asked cautiously.

While there had been growing friction between her and Emily, the same could also be said of Jacob and Sam. Even though Jacob respected Sam as a person, he was beginning to chaff at being forced to constantly follow his orders. He believed Sam was playing things too safe, but the more vocal he became, the more Sam shut him down.

"I don't care what Uley thinks." Jacob pointed toward the southern edge of the beach, where the flat, rocky half-moon dead-ended against the sheer sea cliffs.

Bella stared uncomprehending. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"I feel like being reckless. How do you fancy going cliff diving tomorrow?" Jacob suggested, a grin forming on his lips. "I warn you it will be pretty cold-not as cold as it today, though. Can you feel the weather changing? The pressure? It will be warmer tomorrow. It'll be fun. You up for it?" He challenged her.

Bella looked at the dark water, it did not look the least inviting, and from this angle, the cliffs looked even higher than she remembered them. "It doesn't look fun to me." She said dubiously.

"It will be with me. I promise. We'll jump together. It will be perfectly safe." Jacob wheedled as he draped his arm around her shoulders. "I'll keep you nice and warm. We can bring a picnic."

"Of course, we mustn't forget about the food!" Bella exclaimed sardonically. He really seemed to want to do this for some reason and she was willing to go along with it, it if it made him happy. "Sure, I'm up for it. Fun." She agreed.

"It's a date." Jacob gloated. He leaned down to kiss her. In that kiss was the sweetness of passion, a million loving thoughts condensed into a moment. They were both breathless when he pulled away.

"Okay-now let's get you some sleep." Bella said, her cheeks glowing pink after their momentary display of passion. She didn't like the way the dark circles under his eyes were beginning to look permanently etched onto his skin. Taking his hand, she led the way back along the beach.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.