BPOV

My eyes fluttered open in the early morning Sun. I snuggled into Jake, who was laying on his side before realising I was no longer on the couch. I laid on my back and looked around. I saw my bra, shirt and pants in an armchair Jake had in his much too small bedroom. Vague memories of Jake helping me undress popped into my head. I would have been embarrassed had Jake been awake but I was too busy feeling something else. When I rolled onto my back, Jake's hand which was wrapped around me on my back fell down my side just below my breast, under the shirt that had ridden up to just barely cover my ribs. My hand went to Jake's and I trailed my fingernails up his arm.

"Mmm. Bells." He muttered snuggling into me, his face buried in my hair. "Good morning." I could hear the smile on his lips. "I could get used to waking up next to you. He placed a kiss on my shoulder despite practically drowning in my hair.

"Thank you, for last night. I was exhausted."

"Not a problem." Jake went to rub the skin under his thumb and his eyes widened when he realised where his hand was. "I'm sorry. I…"

"It's ok." I interrupted, not wanting him to feel like he did something wrong.

"It's ok like, you knew it was an accident or like…you don't," he cleared his throat before continuing, "mind?"

I had to think about that for a second because of course I knew it was an accident but did I mind? I didn't really seem to mind anything Jake did, regardless of if it was intentional or not. Plus if I had to be honest, it felt good. Not just his skin on mine but the thought of what might come next.

"Both?" I replied.

Jake glanced down at my bare midriff, his eyes cautious yet curious. His fingertips trailed along the skin just below my breasts, his eyes followed his fingers, looking at my skin in fascination. My breathing came out heavy which seemed to encourage him. He glanced at my face, looking for something before his fingers caught the edge of the material covering me and slowly lifted it up, his fingers gently gliding across my breasts as he uncovered them. My eyes struggled to stay open as a low moan escaped my lips. His expression was hard to decipher as he looked down, taking in the view of my naked upper half. He licked his lips before cupping one of my breasts in his large hand.

"So beautiful." He whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear. Jake was so quiet that the loud bang on his door made me jump. I quickly smoothed the shirt down as my heart raced in my chest.

"You're gonna be late for school if you don't get a move on." Billy said from outside of the room.

"Ok. I'm up, I'm up." Jake said, faking grogginess before whispering to me. "my door is locked, you can relax. I also locked the twins door then closed it. I just need to help you sneak in through the window."

"The window? I can't."

"You can… come on." Jake said, standing up and pulling the shirt over my head to take in the full view. "Damn. Beautiful doesn't even come close. I'm going to hate this but you need to get dressed." I nodded, unable to speak after the way he looked at me. I got dressed and he helped me out his window, quietly and into the opened window of the next room. Once I was in, he gave me a quick kiss through the window before hopping back into his bedroom. I changed into some clean clothes and brushed my hair before packing up my things and heading out the door.

"Morning Billy," I said, stepping out of the bedroom as he went into the kitchen, his eyes suspicious.

"Good morning Bella. I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised to see you coming out of that room."

"Why?"

"Just figured you would have snuck into Jake's room at some point." He replied. I grabbed a bowl and spoon, as well as a box of cereal and some milk and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Well I'm not much for sneaking." I said through a spoon of Cheerio's, hoping the food would hide the lie in my voice.

Jake came out from his room then and smiled at me. "Good morning, beautiful." He said, grabbing an apple off the counter and taking a bite. He grabbed a bowl and spoon of his own and sat down to eat breakfast with me. Billy shook his head and wheeled himself into the living room to watch some gameshow rerun to keep himself busy. When we were done eating, Jake took my things out to my truck while I washed the few dishes we dirtied to make Billy's day easier then we drove to the treaty line to meet up with Alice and Edward. In hindsight, having both Edward and Jacob at the same place at the same time was probably not a good idea but there was no way I could have known this morning would happen.

I was pleasantly surprised when Jake took off into the woods to head home before school started and no words were spoken between him and Edward.

"So…" I said, awkwardly.

"You smell like a dog." Alice chimed in.

"Is everything okay, Bella? He wouldn't stop repeating a list of car parts in alphabetical order."

I smiled knowing that was Jake's strange way of keeping his memories to himself. "No. Everything is perfect."

We drove toward the school, Alice and Edward following behind me in the Volvo and stopped at my house to pick up my schoolbag on the way. The day felt like it was going extremely slow. I heard murmuring from classmates when they saw the Cullen's had returned. Jessica was talking to Lauren about how I must be back with Edward. I just ignored them and thought about my morning with Jake, knowing Edward couldn't read my mind.

When I reached my next class, and sat in my usual spot beside Jessica, I had a thought. It wasn't exactly a good thought but I was hopeful that she would agree to it.

"Hey, Jess? Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Are you kidding? You barely talk to me for months, then you pull that stunt at the movies and you want to ask me a favor?

"Sorry. I… never mind." I felt horrible. I'd completely neglected my friends for months and here I was trying to benefit from them?

Jessica sighed. "What is it Bella? What's the favor?"

"I, it's stupid."

"Come on. Spill." She encouraged.

"I have a friend, a guy friend, and he did me a favor and as payment he asked for a special birthday cake. Thing is, I can't make it on my own."

"I'm not much for baking, Bella. You know that."

"It's um, a different thing I need help with." I made sure my voice was extra quiet for my next words. "he asked for a stripper cake. And before you yell at me, I'm not asking you to get naked just like, jump out and yell happy birthday or something. Something to make it seem like I mostly kept my end of the bargain."

"That is absolutely ridiculous." She responded.

"It is, but did I mention it's for one of Jake's good looking native friends and he's single? And there will be at least 2 other single guys there as well?" If this didn't get her to say yes, nothing would.

"Fine, but you're buying my outfit."

"Thank you."

My need for Jake grew with every minute that I was away from him. By the time it was lunch I was practically hopping in my seat with anticipation for school to be over.

"Bella, did you drink too much coffee this morning?" Mike asked as he sat down at his usual spot to eat lunch, eyeing Edward and Alice who were sitting a few seats away chatting to themselves.

"Yeah, I uh, didn't sleep well." I replied. Realising my foot was bouncing and I was tapping my nails on the table. "Sorry. I'll keep it to one cup tomorrow."

Edward looked at me, either wondering about the caffeine or about the lack of sleep I mentioned but he never said a word.

"I gotta ask," Mike started before leaning in close to me and whispering, though it was loud enough that the other ears at the table could hear. "Are you and Cullen a thing again?"

"No. Definitely not."

"Good. Then well… I mean Prom is coming up and I was wondering, if maybe you wanted to go? With me?" he asked, hopeful. Jessica rolled her eyes at him., but he didn't notice.

"Oh Mike, I started dating Jacob. I'm sorry." I really was. Mike seemed like a nice guy and had my world not been so supernatural centric, maybe I would have given him a chance when I moved here, but life brought me in a different direction.

"Nah, it's cool." He turned back to his food but didn't seem too hungry anymore. The awkwardness continued until lunch was over.

My next class I sat with Angela and I couldn't believe how much I missed her over Spring Break.

"Hey Angie!" I called enthusiastically when I walked into Bio II. She looked up, confused but happy, and waved, though I could tell something was bothering her. I sat down beside her. "Everything ok?"

"No. Not really. Ben broke up with me over Spring Break."

"What? But you guys were so happy. What happened?"

"He said that my freakish height made him self conscious and he'd rather date someone 'normal', like being tall is somehow my fault?"

"Oh, Ange. I'm so sorry. You don't need him. Who even says things like that? You can do so much better. I've been spending most of my free time down at La Push and the weather has been getting nicer. You're welcome to join me anytime. And there's a birthday party coming up, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I invited some people. I miss you."

"You're such a great friend, Bella. I'd like that. I need a distraction. Are you going down there today? I don't want to be alone."

"Yeah. Pretty much every day." I started to blush and Angela smiled at me. She wanted me happy as much as she wanted her own happiness. She was so selfless and kind and I couldn't have asked for a better friend.