Thank you to anyone who took the time to favorite/ follow/ review :) I appreciate all of you. All credit belongs to S. Meyer.
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Days were dragging on in my anticipation for Christmas. For the first time, since being a small child, the magic of Christmas began to feel real again. I had half a mind to suggest to Charlie that we put up our tree a little early, I was thinking about the first week of October. I planned on suggesting it over dinner, when Billy came to visit. I wasn't sure if he had known about Jacob coming back or not, I doubted it would be a surprise. Curiosity was taking over my mind, I had to know what happened the last time he visited, what happened that made him leave so abruptly. Billy had gotten a phone call every once in a while from Jacob, I was a bit jealous of that, but our time change difference made it harder to actually communicate. They had only physically spoken on the phone two or three times since Jake first landed, and Billy would mention how staticy the phone call was. There was always some sort of background noise that made it almost impossible to hear anything he was saying. Letters were the most effective, and tortuous way of contacting him. I wondered how things would differ once he was back in the states, he had mentioned once that he was living in North Carolina before deploying. I wasn't sure of much about his career, or much about anything in fact. After his Christmas leave, I was assuming he'd be going back to North Carolina. This was a sad reality for me, what if we had really hit it off? Did I plan on uprooting my life again? Going back to the East Coast? I guess I would be closer to Renee, but I would be leaving Charlie again. Here I was, planning my possible future with someone I haven't even gone on one date with yet. I needed to pull it back a bit, I was too excited for his homecoming that I had been putting all my eggs in one basket.
It had been two nights since I received the letter from Jake about his homecoming, and it was all I could talk about. I was anxious for Billy to be coming over for dinner, someone else I could talk about it with. As excited as Charlie was, I'm sure he got tired of me bringing it up whenever I could. Lasagna was on the menu for tonight, a mutually liked dish that wouldn't require hours and hours of prep. Work was slow again, once Christmas season was more prevalent I'm sure business would be picking up, but we were in an odd place. Too cold for regular sports, and Christmas still being months away. I sighed as I marked another day off my calendar. One day closer, but still so far. Once the clock struck seven, I punched myself out and grabbed my bag. I had prepped the lasagna last night, so it would only need to be warmed. I wanted to make sure I had enough time to pick Billy's brain, as well as knock out a few letters to Jake.
On my way out, I passed Mike Newton. A friend from high school, as well as the son of the owners of the store. We would talk here and there, but it was mainly about work. I had always thought he'd end up with Jessica, but they had a falling out at some point after she left for college. He remained nearby, attending a local community college, and she left for California. I attended Forks high school in my Junior year, and finished the following summer. It was awkward coming into a new school mid-year, but I made some close friends. The accident occurred early in my Junior year, and that's when I decided to come back to Forks. I wanted to get away from the pain. I needed to bury it deep inside me, and never have to face it. I'd only graduated a few months ago, so I was still pretty indecisive about what I wanted to do with my life. Jacob was becoming more and more of a factor that needed to be included in any decision making.
"Hey, Bella!" I heard Mike call out as I walked past him. I barely noticed, as I was caught in my own thoughts.
"Oh, hey Mike. Sorry, I was a bit distracted."
"No worries, I'm sure after a long shift you're tired. I get that. Hey...I was thinking, maybe we could get dinner sometime?" He seemed a bit more confident than usual, as he'd always ask me to do something with him. A movie, get ice cream, anything.
I was silent, thinking about what to say. I didn't wanna mess anything up with Jacob, and I wasn't even slightly interested in Mike in that way.
"We could go...tonight, if you're free." He added in, shuffling his hands around.
I still wasn't sure what to say. I felt bad rejecting him...again, but I just didn't wanna lead him on in any way.
"Or not...if you're busy, I totally get it. Long day, right?" Ah, there it was. He wasn't so confident anymore, now chuckling nervously.
"Yeah, uh...Dinner. I am uh, having dinner with my dad and a family friend...so tonight isn't good for me. Maybe uh...some other time." I felt bad. I didn't wanna completely turn him down and wreck any confidence he had left. I had tried getting my point across over the last few years that I didn't see him in that way, just as a friend, and he would always try and change that.
"It was good seeing you, Mike. I really have to head-..." My sentence was cut off before I even noticed I wasn't speaking. Just behind him, was someone I could swear was...but couldn't be.
Pushing Mike out of the way, I walked towards the man walking away from us. My mind had to be playing tricks on me. I followed him away from the sporting goods store, and up the main road. My stomach was doing flips, my legs shaking as I was now at a run towards someone who could be a total stranger. He never once turned around, as I was now chasing him. He entered a large crowd of people all outside an outdoor bar, and vanished. I pushed through crowds of people hoping to find what I thought was...or who I thought it couldn't have been. Fifteen minutes into my search, I decided to give up. I was probably wrong, and let my mind get the best of me.
Defeated, I walked back to the store and into the parking lot. There Mike was, leaning against my truck. I silently let out a groan, and rolled my eyes.
"Hey, what was that? Is everything alright?" He asked, as I put my hand to the door of my truck.
"Yeah, everything is fine...I just thought I saw…" I stopped myself, not wanting to say it. Mike didn't know anything about him...and I'd rather it not be brought up.
"Who?" He inquired.
"No one, anyway I really have to get going. I'll see you around." I gave him a slight smile as I hopped into my truck. Shifting gears, I had to get home. I was already late, Billy was coming at 7 to watch the game, and here it was already 7:30 and I wasn't home yet.
I pulled into the driveway, slamming the door and rushing into the house. I was relieved to see Billy and Charlie on the couch watching the flat screen a few empty beer cans already disposed of in the open trash bag beside them.
"Hey Bells. How was work?" Charlie asked as I passed him, approaching the kitchen. He seemed to be a lot happier with a friend around.
"Good. Slow." I answered, pulling the premade lasagna tray out of the fridge and turned on the oven to preheat.
"Hey Billy." I came back around with a smile, offering them a bag of chips. Surprisingly they didn't have snacks laid out, only beer.
"Hi, Bella. Have you heard? Jacob will be home for Christmas." I could see a smile in his dark eyes. He had truly missed Jake, it was difficult on him when his only son decided to enlist and leave home. Lucky for him, Rachel had come back when she started dating Paul. He needed someone to take care of him once Jake left, and he was very fortunate that she began dating one of Jake's long time friends.
"Yes, I heard. I'm very excited to see him."
"See? I told you they would hit it off!" Charlie chuckled, taking another sip of his beer.
Billy laughed...nervously. It didn't seem like he was happy for what could be happening to us, potentially? I raised a brow, coming up with multiple scenarios in my head.
"Yup, chief. You were right. I'm glad they have each other to write to." Billy took a sip of his beer, and reached into an envelope he had laying beside him.
He pulled out another picture of Jacob. One I hadn't seen before. Of him in his formal uniform, looking handsome as ever.
"This was a picture taken when he was promoted." He smiled warmly, pride radiating. He was so proud of his only son. He extended his arm out to show it to me.
I smiled, taking hold of the picture.
"You can keep that. I have a few copies at home." His eyes went back to the tv, as we waited for dinner to warm up.
"Thank you, Billy."
His smile told me "you're welcome" without him having to say a word.
Dinner was done soon after, we all sat around the small table in the kitchen and ate. Charlie and Billy going on about the game, and me, smiling and nodding. I didn't have much of an understanding of sports, despite where I worked. Charlie pushed himself from the table, saying he needed to grab a few more beers from the garage. This would be my opportunity to try and get some information about what had happened a little over a year ago.
"Billy…" I began, pushing my food around with my fork. "Can I ask you...what happened with Jake when he was here to visit about a year ago? My dad said he left in a hurry. Did something happen?"
I could see a bit of apprehension in his face, as he bit his lip.
"It really isn't my place to tell you...that would be something you would need to speak about with him."
I understood. It wasn't really his father's place to tell me, but asking Jake in letters that would take weeks to receive would drive me crazy.
"I'll just say...he got into an altercation...of sorts." He started, looking into his lap. He didn't wanna look at me for some reason.
"I see...was it...on the reservation?" I asked, not hoping to pry too much into it. As it already seemed like something that shouldn't be discussed openly.
"Yes...and no. I'm sure Jacob will tell you more about it when he gets here." As he finished speaking, Charlie walked back in. Dangling a beer can over Billy's head.
"Thanks, Chief." Billy smiled, cracking open his can. He flashed a suspicious look at me, or what I took to be suspicious, and rolled away from the table.
"Thank you for the dinner, Bells." Charlie patted me on the shoulder, giving me a small smile as he returned back to the tv.
"Yes, thank you Bella." Billy turned around, offering a small smile.
I felt a little better about our interaction after this, but things were still a bit...odd. I was hoping I wouldn't have to wait until Jake came back to find out what had happened, but it looked to be as if that's what would be happening.
"Hey, dad?" I asked, walking over towards the tv with all the dirty dishes in my arms.
He turned his head around, beer to his lips.
"Yeah?" He asked, realizing that I was about to be cleaning all the dishes after having made dinner.
"I'll do that, Bells, just leave it out for me. I'll take care of it after the game."
I chuckled, knowing I would just be rewashing them anyway. I appreciated the offer, though.
"No, no dad, it's fine. I was just wondering...could we maybe, uh, put up the christmas tree?"
Charlie raised a brow, putting his beer down.
"It's only september, Bella."
He was right, It really was a tad early to put up the tree.
"It's for Jake. So it doesn't feel like he'll be gone much longer." I smiled a bit, knowing how ridiculous I sounded.
Billy smiled, looking at my dad.
"I like the idea, I'll put mine up this weekend." Billy stated, looking towards me. I became a bit more hopeful.
"Sure, Bells. We can put up the tree. The neighbors may think we're crazy, but I'm sure Jacob will appreciate it."
I felt a sense of relief, knowing this was a real countdown now to him coming home. I finished washing the dishes, and waved goodbye to Billy. I would be upstairs for the rest of the night. I'd write to Jacob, take a shower, and fall asleep beside the new photo of him I had. But there was one thing still bothering me...who did I see outside the sporting goods store? And why did it look exactly like...him?