Chapter 10

aahh sorry for not posting for a while! i've been a bit busy so this is kinda a filler chapter but hope you enjoy anyway :)


January 14th, 10:12 a.m.

A bitter breeze blew over Bella's cheeks, kissing her awake. Her eyes blinked open and immediately reverted to the window, which had been left open.

Ugh.

She threw the covers off and scurried over, slamming it closed. Nothing good ever came from that window.

Then it struck her.

"Jake's birthday!" she gasped.

Between school, homework, and whatever else she managed to find herself caught up in during those weeks, she hadn't found time to get him a gift. Not that she even knew what to get him in the first place. Each time any reminder crossed her brain, she shoved it away, telling herself she could risk another day. It was just a birthday present, after all.

But now as the thought hit her she only tried to ignore the twinge of guilt pricking her brain. How incredibly idiotic of her. Her only comfort was that he'd never know she forgot again.

Except that wasn't quite true.

Had she been avoiding it?

She hated to admit it.

Did it matter?

Maybe not, but the party was tonight.

"Crap, crap, crap," Bella muttered frantically, yanking her dresser drawer open and flinging clothes aside until she found something decent to wear. She gave up quickly, pulling a loose long sleeved shirt and sweatpants on and dashing downstairs.

Charlie stood in the kitchen, coffee on the counter, bacon strips sizzling on the stove.

Bella was taken aback for a moment—she couldn't remember the last time she saw her father cook. Impressive.

"I need mon—" she began awkwardly, but her request got cut short by Charlie turning around with a handful of dollars wadded in his palm. He pressed them into hers and nodded, in classic half-awake dad on a Saturday morning style.

"Get him something nice," he said gruffly, and returned to the pan.

Bella stared down at the crumpled pile of bills in her hand. Great. Just her luck that Charlie remembered it over her.

"Thanks."

...

Bella didn't know what exactly she was expecting to find for Jake at the Forks grocery store. But there she was standing in aisle A in a wrinkly grey shirt, ratty pants, and her dad's checkered flannel, poring over the vegetables. Because surely there was nothing that screamed "happy-birthday-to-the-best-friend-I've-ever-had-who's-practically-my-brother-but-also-makes-me-question-literally-every-single-thing-about-myself" more than two week old brussels sprouts.

She wandered down some more aisles, debating whether to just pick up some snacks for the party. Everybody appreciates finger food.

But that wasn't special in the way that she wanted it to be special she decided, although she had a feeling Jake would be grateful for anything. Along with that, she wasn't sure if a personal gift was meant to be shared with everyone there. That painfully narrowed down her options.

Gosh, why does choosing a birthday present have to be so hard?

"Bella!"

She whipped around, half expecting Jacob himself to be behind her. Instead, there stood Mike Newton leaning awkwardly against the bread rack with a goofy smile on his face.

"Mike. Hi. Um... what're you doing here?"

"I could ask the same about you," he smirked, motioning to her clothes. "You sleepwalking or something?"

She was well aware that the outfit was no improvement from her pajamas. "Very funny. Did the circus disband? Looking for another job now?"

"Actually, my mom works here. She runs the place," Mike informed her, fumbling with a packaged loaf. He had twisted the bag around and around until it formed a tight knot at the top and was now trying to get it to unravel.

"So you get full right to abuse the goods. Awesome."

"You know it. So awesome." Mike gestured toward the frozen pizzas, sweeping his arms around in a wide display of his wingspan. "Did you find what you're looking for in this vast wasteland?"

"Actually, I'm here to pick up a birthday present," Bella told him, immediately wishing she hadn't. The idea sounded even stupider out loud. She would now be known as Bella Swan, the girl who buys birthday presents at the Farmer's Market. Diced onion, anyone?

She jerked her head towards the orange juice in her hands in an attempt to salvage the remaining shreds of her reputation. Huh. She didn't even remember picking that up.

"For Jake."

Mike looked up from his bread situation. "Jake?

"Jacob Black. He's my best friend," Bella explained.

Mike nodded slowly, clearly trying to connect any dots available. "Orange juice. Dang, Bella. He sure is lucky."

She turned away hoping to hide her face, realizing how utterly insane she looked. Who bought their best friend orange juice as a birthday gift?

"You're right," she admitted. "He deserves so much better. I just—I still don't know what to get him and I've had ages to prepare. And nothing here seems right."

Mike laughed. "Yeah, that's 'cause unless his favorite soup is chicken stock, you're at the wrong place."

Bella marched over to the drinks aisle and shoved the offending object back on the shelf. "I know that, and I have no idea why I came. I should go."

She squeezed past Mike and made her way to the exit, almost tripping over the red shopping baskets stacked on top of each other.

"Maybe you're thinking of the wrong type of gift, Bella. Maybe it's not something you can buy," Mike called after her flailing form.

She paused for an instant. "What?"

Mike turned a lovely bright pink as he realized the amount of heads his loud declaration had turned.

"Like…a hug. Or a smile," he mumbled. "Something dumb and poetic like that," and he cursed their English teacher under his breath.

A hug.

Jacob might like that.

Nah.

What was it, two people squished against each other for an extended period of time?

It was almost meaningless, really.

...

The two sides of her mind warred the entire day. One conservative and prim, the other reckless and intrusive, they argued back and forth until Bella was sick and tired of her overthinking. By the time she left the house to go to the party, she had nearly settled on scrapping Mike's idea. She'd found another present anyway.

Yet she hated how she knew for a fact Jake would appreciate the hug more than anything else she could give him.

Because wasn't the whole idea of giving presents to make the other person happy?

Oh she knew he'd be happy. More than. Ecstatic, almost.

But Bella wasn't sure if she was ready. A hug was just the tiniest bit too close to another person's body than she felt comfortable with yet.

Plus. The repercussions could be damaging to say the least.

It's just a stupid hug, Bella. Stop making it weird.

But what if he takes it as some kinda go-ahead to confess whatever stupid thing he's been hiding? Then I wouldn't be the one making it weird. For by now, she was almost convinced he wasn't telling her something, whatever it was.

God, no. That couldn't happen. She couldn't imagine if he still thought of her that way.

They were seriously just friends. They agreed on that a long time ago.

For now, a tiny voice inside her head that sounded suspiciously like Seth piped up.

Bella shut down that thought immediately.

Of course not. There was no chance of anything...else. Because that wasn't what she wanted. What she wanted was to remain Bella and Jacob, best friends until the end of time.

Yes. It's a friendly friendship between friends, she sang to herself as she got in the truck.

Then again...

...

Seth opened the door for her, eyes gleaming with an untold secret, his smile as bright as ever.

"Bella's here!" he called over his shoulder, and an uproar of whoops and whistles greeted her as she entered the room.

At first glance, Bella realized there were a lot more people invited than she thought there would be. She could even hear a couple of wailing babies upstairs. She had assumed it was just going to be Jake's friends plus Emily and possibly Billy, but the families spilling out of the room and into the yard told her Jacob was popular among the tribe. He was the chief's son, after all.

As she stepped into the room, Bella found herself having to ditch her coat and scarf for her cable knit sweater underneath almost immediately. There weren't any decorations hung up yet but everyone already seemed excited and happy. In fact, the combination of energy and tension was so vibrant she could almost feel it reverberating through the walls.

Her eyes traveled over the sea of heads, searching each one for a familiar face, but she couldn't manage to find the one she wanted most to see.

She wondered, almost desperately, where he was.

No matter, she reminded herself. She could wait.

Bella waved to everyone she could recognize and hugged a beaming Emily, setting down the glass dish she'd brought with her.

"Please—don't feel like you have to serve this," Bella told her. "Charlie's been experimenting lately, and I saw sweet potato skins and chocolate chips in the trash. I don't know what's in there," she added in a hushed whisper.

Emily winked in understanding and whisked it away towards the kitchen.

Bella stood alone for a matter of seconds before Quil materialized beside her from the corner of the room.

"I see you forgot a present. What's next on the list of things you forget?" he asked, slapping his knee through forced laughter.

"Ha-ha. Hilarious, Quil. Actually, I do have one. You just don't get to see it yet."

"Ooh, burn," Seth quipped, crawling out from under the table. He flicked her hair lightly.

Bella wondered when he would find a new catchphrase.

"So… where's Jake?" she asked, hoping she sounded casual enough. In the pocket of her jeans though, her clammy palms clung to the fabric.

"I told him it starts at 4," Seth said. "He doesn't know how many people are gonna be here. He thinks it's just us right now," he informed Bella, snickering. "Ooh, chocolate cake. You like chocolate, Bella?"

Did she ever.

Brown. Like his eyes. So warm. And sweet. Quit it, Bella.

Quil froze.

Seth seemed to sense that something was wrong because he stopped swiping frosting off the cake on the table and blinked up at him.

"You told him 4?" Quil repeated slowly.

"Yes…?"

Quil uttered the most profane cuss word Bella had ever heard. She was sure Charlie would go into cardiac arrest if he ever heard that under his roof.

Seth's face was now full of alarm. "What'd I do this time?" Then, as he checked Bella's wristwatch, realization slowly dawned.

Quil ignored him, and instead climbed onto a wobbly stool in the center of the room, rapping the head closest to him with his knuckles for attention. Everyone's heads turned expectantly. A bruised Seth rubbed his forehead.

Bella was surprised to hear Leah's chuckle from across the table. She didn't know Leah and Emily were on speaking terms again.

"Quill told him the wrong time!" Quil screeched. "He's gonna be here in ten minutes!"

The chaos that then flooded the room was anything but pretty.

Shouts and streamers filled the air, flung about at top speed. Toddlers and teenagers knocked into each other, both trying to help with whatever they could but failing miserably. The cake was swiftly rescued from Quill's grubby fingers and the huge banner hung above the living room table read "Happy Birthday Ya Filthy Animal". Three pairs of hands tugged at the tablecloth from each side, rearranging it until it draped down perfectly and platters of steaming food were placed on top. Emily dashed around shaking her head and tutting, informing everyone of any way they could help and piling more limp unblown balloons on Seth's lap.

A scowling Quill stood next to Bella. "It's not like he'll appreciate all this anyway," he said sullenly. "He'll still probably be late."

She smiled. Then an idea sprung into her head, almost as if a neon light bulb from a comic strip suddenly hovered above.

"Emily!" Bella waved her arms in the air, trying to get the girl's attention.

It didn't work.

"Emily!" bellowed Quill.

Emily was at their side in instant, hands on her hips, her face flushed with stress.

"I'll go get him," Bella told her. "If I rush, I can make sure Jake doesn't arrive too early."

Emily pressed her hands together gratefully, the worry lines disappearing from her forehead. "Thank you so much, Bella. See if you can lend us an extra ten minutes, will you?"

"Of course."

"I'll come too!" Quill offered eagerly.

Emily frowned and shook her finger at him. "You. I have balloons for you."

Bella watched as Sam suddenly appeared at the door, and instantly got sucked into the vortex of bodies. He popped up beside Emily seconds later, wrapping her in a tight hug and planting a smacker on her lips.

Huh. Why is he here? she wondered, and decided Billy must have invited him since it was pretty obvious the birthday boy wasn't the biggest fan of the man.

Quill grimaced, turning away. "Better leave quick, Bella."


tbh i wouldn't mind orange juice as a birthday present myself haha
thanks for reading! i'll aim to post the next update the day after tmr. i adore reading any comments too, love you guys~