Spiralling

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

Bella refused her childhood nemesis' offer of help as she struggled to rise on her own. It was humiliating enough that he had used her old nickname 'Belly' but the smug smile on his face only compounded her misery.

"My name is Bella not Belly." Bella said defensively as she dusted herself down.

Jacob was struggling to hide his amusement. It was meant to be a joke but she was clearly offended by his lame attempt at humour. He had forgotten how prickly she could be. "I'm sorry, Bella." He put extra emphasis on the a, but it still didn't seem to appease her, as all he got in response was another glare. "Jeez, I'm not making a good impression here am I?"

Bella assessed him with a critical eye. Charlie hadn't been lying when he said Jacob had grown into a giant. The guy was well over six foot tall with a physical stature to match. He must spend a lot of time working out to achieve that kind of muscle mass. He still had the same twinkling eyes she remembered from the past, though his face had hardened into those of a man-the planes of his cheekbones were sharper, his jaw squared off, all childish roundness of his youth gone. It was impossible that he was a whole two years younger than she was. He looked much older-twenty-five at least.

"Let's start again." Jacob suggested, holding out his hand again. "Its nice to meet you, Bella."

Bella knew it would be churlish to reject his offer of friendship, especially now that she was going to be residing permanently in Forks with Charlie. With their fathers being best friends, they would probably be in each other's orbits quite a lot. It would be best for all concerned if they could try and get along.

"Its good to see you again, Jacob." Bella took his hand grudgingly, her eyebrows rising slightly as her hand was completely engulfed in his. His touch was incredibly warm, making her own temperature rise in response. At least that is what she told herself anyway.

"You're looking good, Bella." Jacob continued with an enthusiastic smile.

Bella felt an unfamiliar surge of pleasure at the unexpected compliment, especially coming from him. She decided to be magnanimous. "You don't look too bad yourself."

Jacob laughed- a deep, rich sound. "Wow, thanks, I think."

Bella finally smiled. Jacob stepped forward a few paces and it drove home again how tall he was, she had to lean her head right back to get a good look at his face. "What has Billy been feeding you to make you so tall?"

Jacob laughed again, his smile widening impossibly. "You can ask him yourself. He's just over there."

It was only then that Bella noticed the older man in the wheelchair watching them both in quiet amusement. He wheeled himself over, reaching out with his hand to greet Bella properly. "I'm glad you're here at last, Bella. Charlie has been talking about nothing else…and so has Jacob."

Jacob gave his farther a frosty glare. "Shut up, Dad." He said in embarrassment.

"I'm only telling the truth, son." Billy chuckled.

Charlie appeared then to rescue Jacob from the clutches of his father's teasing, "Hey, Billy." He said, jabbing his friend on the shoulder with a mock punch. "Thanks for bringing the truck over."

"Ah, that was all Jacob, Chief. Once he knew that Bella was arriving today, I couldn't stop him." Billy informed them all with a wink.

Charlie grinned slyly as he watched his daughter's face redden. Jacob looked like he wanted a hole in the ground to open and swallow him whole. It was too funny. Jacob's crush on Bella was legendary. Although, he was certain that Bella had no idea. She was under the mistaken assumption that Jacob's hapless attempts to engage her attention during their younger years was his way of tormenting her.

"I think I might go up and put my things away in my room." Bella muttered, any excuse to escape the awkward situation.

"I'll help carry the bags." Jacob offered, trying to remedy the situation.

But Bella was still too mortified to accept. She shook her head. "No, I'm fine, thanks. See you around, Jacob."

Jacob watched in despair as Bella ran into the Swan house as if the hounds of hell were after her. Sounds of laughter engulfed his ears as Charlie and Billy cracked up behind him. So much for making a good impression. It was a complete disaster.

Bella's room was the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The room was familiar, it had belonged to her since she was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellow laced curtains around the window-they were all part of her childhood. As she stood at the window, watching Charlie bid Jacob and Billy goodbye, she actually felt sorry for Jacob. He looked utterly dejected. The olds had embarrassed both of them with their stupid antics. She hoped that they would tone it down for the foreseeable future, otherwise it was going to prove awkward for any subsequent encounters.

Sighing, Bella looked around the room again. Charlie had made a few changes. There was now a desk in one corner of the room, where she could place her laptop. He had also added a desk lamp. And wasn't the duvet cover new?

One thing that had remained the same was the old rocking chair from her baby days still in the corner. She hated the damn thing. It gave her chills every time she looked at it. She always imagined she would turn suddenly and find it swaying back and forth by some invisible means, like something out of a horror film. The first chance she got-without hurting Charlie's feelings-she would get rid of the thing.

Charlie appeared again just as she finished unpacking. He told Bella that he had made reservations for them at the local diner. Apparently, he ate there pretty much every chance he got. Working such long hours meant there was rarely time for shopping, or cooking. So, for an easy life, he popped over to the one and only eating place in the small town and was served by the motherly waitress Cora, who clearly had huge designs on the police chief. Not that he seemed to notice. To everyone else who watched Cora fuss around him, it was obvious.

"You should ask her out." Bella said as they made the short walk home.

"Who?" Charlie was totally perplexed.

Bella was convinced her father could not be that dim. "Cora."

"Why on earth would I do that?" Charlie was genuinely bewildered.

"Because she has the hots for you." Bella pressed.

"Bells!" Charlie gave her a stern look. "I would prefer it if you didn't use that kind of language around me. Cora would never be interested in an old fool like me."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Dad, you're not even forty yet. And Cora isn't much younger than you. You should hook up. I won't mind."

Charlie's face went so red it was almost puce. "Its not up to you to mind or not, Bella." He scolded. "I am not interested in Cora. And she is not interested in me. So, there will be no 'hooking' up." He sounded completely disgusted at the thought.

"Dad, chill." Bella couldn't understand why he was getting so worked up by the whole thing. Surely, he must have dabbled in the dating pool a few times since Renee had left. He may not have been vocal about it, but she didn't think he had lived like a monk all these years. He wasn't a bad looking man for his age-he had his own hair and teeth-which was a lot more than most had going for them these days. "I'm just saying you don't need to change the habits of a lifetime now that I've come to live with you. If you want to stay out all night, you don't need to rush home on my account."

Charlie flushed red again. He couldn't believe his daughter was being so forward. She made him sound like a jack the lad, sowing his seed all over the place. Forks was a small town, he worked long hours, meaning the choice was limited. Any spare time was spent with his friends-fishing or drinking beer. "I can assure you the only time I'll be staying out all night is because I'm working. Now let that be an end to the conversation."

"Okay, if that's what you want." Bella gave him an apologetic smile. Charlie was a private man and she had obviously pushed him too far. She tucked her arm in his and they continued the walk home in companionable silence.

The coming morning brought its own horrors. It was her first day at Forks High. The school had a frightening total of three hundred and fifty-seven-now fifty-eight-students; there were more than seven hundred people in her junior class back home in Phoenix. All of the kids had grown up together-their grandparents had been toddlers together, etc. She would be the new girl from the big city.

Great. Just great.

It wasn't like she looked like a girl from Phoenix should. She wasn't the athletic type. Instead, she was more artistic. She was never without paint on her hands and a dash in her brunette locks. It was as much a part of her as the smile she wore whenever something caught her interest. Art was life, her ultimate form of expression. Only last night, after returning from the diner, she had pulled out her sketchpad and daubed an image of Jacob, Billy and her father sitting around a table, with Cora fussing around them. In the background was her new truck. It was an impressionistic piece, very much unlike her usual style, the small, visible brushstrokes offering the bare impression of form, unblended colour, the emphasis on the accurate depiction of natural light. It was a bit chaotic. Just like her thoughts had been when she painted it.

"Bells, get a move on." Charlie called up the stairs.

"I'm coming." Bella called back down. She hurriedly finished getting dressed and grabbed her bag, closing the door after her as she left her room to join Charlie for breakfast.

As she donned her jacket, she headed out of the house, only to find it was raining. It wasn't enough to soak her through immediately, not if she made a dash for her truck. Pulling the hood up over her head, she sprinted in the general direction, only to collide with something hard, which wasn't the old Chevy.

A familiar pair of warm hands steadied her. "Jacob, what are you doing here?" Bella asked breathlessly as she pulled her hood back and squinted up at him in surprise.

"I came to wish you good luck for today and to say sorry about my dad." Jacob replied huskily.

Bella stared up at his face. He looked tired. There were dark circles under his eyes that hadn't been there the day before, like he'd been up all-night partying or something. Maybe he had. As her gaze travelled lower, she sucked in a sharp breath as her eyes came into contact with the smooth expanse of his impressive chest. He had no shirt on, like he had dashed out his house only half dressed. He was wearing a pair of cut off shorts which barely clung to his hips, and his feet were bare and covered in mud.

"Did you run here or something?" Bella asked suspiciously. "With no shoes?"

Jacob's mouth twitched, lightening the exhaustion his face a little. "Maybe." He laughed without humour.

"Okay." Bella backed toward her truck warily. "Well…it was good to see you again, Jacob. See you around."

Jacob sighed, seeming to realise he'd made another misstep. "Look, Bells, you might think this is a weird thing to say…but just be careful, okay." His voice came out strained as though he was holding a lot back.

"Why do I need to be careful? Its just school." Bella scoffed.

Jacob sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "If only." He muttered. "I'm just saying trust your instincts, okay. That's all. I've gotta go. Bye."

And just like that he was gone again, his footfalls so silent, he made no sound.

A/N-thanks for reading.