Bella PoV

I slept safe and sound this night. No nightmares, no waking up screaming in the middle of the night, nothing. Just a good night's sleep.

The sun was shining clearly on my face, warming it up to the point where it got so annoying, I woke up. At first, I thought Jacob must have been coming over during the night because I was sweating like hell with my long-sleeved pyjama top and my long pants but when I opened my eyes and looked around, I was all alone. Quickly I put my hand to my forehead but as far as I could tell there was no fever.

I decided to stand up and open the window to let in some cool late spring air. But instead of a cooling breeze, warm sunshine and tweeting birds greeted me. It seemed like summer had finally decided to show up in Forks.

For a while I leaned against the open window, letting the sun shine on my face, warming it up. After all this time it felt good to see the sun again. I took a look on my phone. It was already half past ten. Another sleep-in. Seemed to become a habit of mine. Maybe my body needed to catch up on all the sleep it had been missing the last few months?

Yawning, I made my way downstairs to check on Charlie but found only the usual note, telling me that he had already left and would be home for dinner. It wasn't anything new until I read the small P.S on the bottom of the note:

Jacob called. Asked me to tell you to call him back when you wake up.

I grinned and folded the note carefully before I went on to the kitchen to get myself a glass of orange juice. I wasn't really hungry despite the late hour, so I decided to return Jake's call.

Seriously, when does this guy ever sleep? I wondered while I waited for my phone to connect. He'd probably been on patrol last night and he already called me?

The line was picked up after the second ring. It was Jake's deep voice and instantly my heart began to beat a little faster.

"Yes?"

"Hey, Jake. Charlie told me you wanted to speak to me."

"Bella!" He sounded as happy as a little child at Christmas. "So, you finally finished your beauty sleep?"

"Not really, but it was too hot to sleep any longer. Seriously, the weather in Forks sometimes is nuts. Cool and windy on one day, hot and sunny on the next."

"Yeah, about that." He sounded amused at my outrage. "Some of the others want to go to the beach today, enjoying the sun and swimming and stuff. I wondered if you wanted to come, too? Gives you a chance to meet the rest of the pack. Only if you want of course." I grinned at his sudden shyness and decided to tease him a little. "I don't know..." I began slowly. "Will there be cliff diving as well?"

He groaned. "Bells! I really thought we were through with all that. No. more. cliff. diving. for. you. Ever." He emphasized each word as if he were explaining something to a child and I couldn't control it anymore. "Relax." I laughed. "I've learned my lesson. But it would be very nice to meet the rest of your pack."

"Great. Best if we meet at my house and go down together, alright?"

"Give me an hour and I'll be there. And Jake? I love you."

"I love you too Bells. And now hurry up, the day's not getting any younger."

I hung up and got back to my room. So, I only got to find out where I've left my swimming wear...

Almost one hour later I pulled down the way to the Black's house. Jacob was already waiting for me outside; he'd maybe heard my truck from a million miles away. Quietness was definitely not one of its qualities, but I would never trade my truck for anything else. I had gotten quite attached to the car and wouldn't want to miss it now.

Taking my bag from the front seat, I exited my truck and smiled at Jake who strolled over and drew me in a tight hug and a soft kiss. "I missed you", he confessed against my lips and I nodded. "Me too..."

"So ready to meet the rest of the guys?" Jacob asked as he took my bag and slung it over his shoulder. "I should probably warn you; they can get a little rough sometimes."

"I think I can handle a little rough." I answered. "Besides, I have my big, bad, bodyguard wolf to protect me."

The walk to the beach didn't take more than ten minutes. The shouts and laughter were audible long before that. It must be quite a group down at the beach. I've never really thought about how big the pack actually was. I only knew a few of them, Embry, Quil, Paul, Seth and his sister Leah and Sam. I wanted to ask Jake about it but in this moment, we arrived at the beach. It was beautiful and warm Sunday, a very rare thing here in Forks, so the beach was rather crowded. People from town occupied one side of the beach while the reservation people had taken the other. The Werewolves had claimed an extra part of the beach for themselves, which was maybe a good idea because they weren't exactly quiet. Just as we approached, two of them were wrestling down in the sand while four others watched, shouting, and cheering loudly.

"Bella!" Someone called from the left and when I turned my head, I saw Emily who lied under a sunshade on a towel. She waved eagerly and motioned for me to come closer. I looked to Jacob, who gave me a small kiss and handed me my bag. "Go on, I'll join you later."

With a very small and quiet sigh, I let him go and made my way over to Emily. Walking on the beach was hard, especially for someone as me who had the motor skills of a two-year-old. As hard as I tried, I couldn't walk all the way as gracefully as I had intended. It was more like a constant stumble but in the end, I let myself fall in the sand next to Emily who wore a sun hat and a pair of sunglasses which she took down when I sat down at her side.

"So, you decided to join us", she greeted me with a warm smile.

"I didn't really have a choice." I looked over at Jacob who stood with the rest of his friends and at the exact same moment looked at me. He winked and I blushed a little.

At my side, Emily laughed. "I am glad to have some female company at last. It's nice to have all the boys around but sometime women need to spend some time among themselves."

I thought of Leah but didn't ask. Jacob had never told me anything specific, but he had mentioned briefly that something not very nice was going on between Emily, Sam, and Leah.

So instead of asking I took out my towel and placed it on the sand beside Emily. I took off my shirt and trousers, so I only wore my red bathing suit.

"Nice one." Emily mused, looking at the bright yellow flower on the side, half in front and half in the back. I sighed. "I know. It's a present from my mother. It's the only one I could find. I didn't really need my bathing suits while I was here yet."

"I've lived here my whole live and I could probably count the days I spent sunbathing on the beach with my ten fingers", the other woman confessed. We both laughed while we watched the group of boys who had produced an old ball from somewhere and started a game that somehow looked like football but then again, not. It seemed to be mostly about tackling the others and bring them down in the sand than to actually score any points, but they had fun.

"Who's the one on the right? The one with the red trunks?" I pointed at the only face I didn't immediately recognise. Emily followed my finger. "That's Jared. He's second-in-command after Sam and a real teddy bear if you get to know him better."

Looking at Jared with his 200 pounds of pure muscles I very much doubted that.

"So, Sam's the leader. And then comes Jared?" I asked just to pass the time. Emily nodded. "Yes. Sam founded the pack after he first phased. In the beginning there were only a few of them but the process sped up when the vampire clan came and stayed."

I frowned. I hadn't known that. "The presence of vampires makes the men phase? I thought it was something everyone went through sooner or later."

"Not everyone carries the gene, and it is not activated until it's needed. Vampires and werewolves are natural enemies, so it is normal that this defence mechanism kicks in when there are vampires nearby. Although we hadn't had any phasings since the vampires left. Which is a good thing" Emily continued. "Because the next in line would probably be Brady or Collin and they are still so young." Her voice sounded sad with a touch of melancholy.

Someone separated himself from the bunch of boys rolling around in the sand and strolled over to us. I recognised Sam, the pack leader and Emily's fiancé. I had only seen him a couple of times and had never warmed up to him. The look in his eyes was always a bit too hard and too cold and I couldn't forgive him for the fact that he had ordered Jacob to stay away from me when he had first phased even if it were for the good of the pack.

He propped down on Emily's side and gave her a warm kiss. "Enjoying the sun?" he asked her and grinned. "Hey Bella", he added in my direction. "Come to get a bit of a tan?"

Ha, ha... "Well, since Arizona didn't succeed, I thought maybe Forks could." I shrugged, forcing me to return his smile. I doubted that I would ever really get along with him but for the sake of Emily and Jake I would do my best and try.

"Nice one Bella." Sam winked then looked at Emily again. "Wanna go swimming? It's too nice a weather to spend lying around in the shadow." The other woman nodded. "Sounds good. Want to come too Bella?"

I hesitated and looked towards the others. They had finished their game of sand-tackling and went running down towards the water, all the while cheering and laughing.

One of them separated and came over to us. Jake.

As my boyfriend (yes!) came closer, I could feel the tension build up. Apparently, I wasn't the only one not getting along with Sam... Emily must have sensed that too because she stood up quickly, drawing Sam with her. "Come on now, I'm hot!" She and Sam had left by the time Jake had arrived. He didn't look in their direction but smiled down at me. I had to chuckle when I saw all the sand in his black hair and on the side of his face.

Sometimes the sixteen-year-old teenager shone through this body of a man and I was glad about that. Moments like this were far too rare since both our worlds had changed so completely.

He held out a hand and helped me get up. He eyed the bathing suit and looked amused. "Nice." I rolled my eyes. "Not you too... My mother's taste is a little bit different than mine."

"I didn't mean the colour or the flower. I like the way you look in it. You always wear these wide clothes and while you look beautiful whatever you wear, it's nice to see you wearing something body-fitting for a change. It fits you perfectly Bells."

I blushed. I did a lot of blushing lately. Not a very good sign.

"Come on, let's go." Jake took my hand and drew me towards the water. I was quite a good swimmer due to all the swimming lessons my mother had put me through and enjoyed the feeling of water all around my body. Forks had an indoor pool free for students, but it wasn't the same. I had gone swimming in the ocean at least once every month back in Arizona, much more during summer and it was one of the few things I actually missed here.

We arrived at the shore. Whereas Jacob just threw himself right in, I took my time, letting each body part getting used to the, unfortunately really cold, water before I took another step. Further out the other boys were again fooling around, throwing their football, and trying to catch it. A shriek from Emily showed that Sam had simply taken her up and threw her in the water. Her hair was dripping wet, but she laughed happily when she surfaced again.

"It's easier if you just get it over with a wild run. It's like ripping a band-aid. Painful but quick." Jake commented my slow getting-in from further out. I shot him a disgraceful look. "I know what I am doing, thank you very much." I was by now at the hardest part. My hips were halfway in and the next step would bring the water up to my stomach, the step I'd always hated. I considered following Jacob's advice and simply go in all the way, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right.

I shrieked when I felt my legs giving out from under me. I fell back, diving all the way under. Instantly the cold water wrapped around my body, causing goose bumps on my arm. Saltwater burned in my eyes and my hair was floating all around me. Just as quickly as I had fallen down, I resurfaced again, looking in the laughing face of Jacob. He had obviously decided to help me a little.

"See? Not so bad after all." He grinned and kissed me. I pulled my hair back and let myself float around in the water a bit. After a while you got used to the cold and then it was rather nice. The sun shone brightly on my face, warming it up. I had to remember to put on some sunscreen later or I would have one hell of sunburn tomorrow.

Two big arms circled me and I was drawn to a warm chest. Jake buried his head in the crook of my neck, kissing the salty skin. I was glad about the heat and snuggled a little closer.

"Hey there", I murmured and was greeted by a deep and satisfied growl. "Missed me?"

"Way too much." He turned me so he could look me in the eyes. "Thanks for coming Bells."

"Thanks for inviting me." I smiled back. Over his shoulder I could see Jared throwing Seth underwater, the younger boy coughing and trying to get up again. "I can see what you meant when you said that they could get a little rough sometimes." Jacob followed my look. "You haven't seen the half of it. Trust me Bells, they are on their good behaviour today."

I wouldn't want to cross them on a bad day then...

I traced a drop of saltwater that ran down Jake's chest. I didn't know how but he looked even more beautiful now with the sun shining, illuminating his copper skin and the water on it. I'd never know how someone as perfect as him would choose someone as plain as me, but I was far beyond questioning now. He loved me and I loved him, simple as that.

Nothing else needed