A/N Hmmm, okay I'm putting out this one early again cause I want to get rid of the Jacob chapters already. There's only about one or two more, promise! I am not planning to involve Victoria or Laurent in this story much, I just want to write about the vampires already. I'm not even sure if I plan on letting Bella know about Jacob being a werewolf.
P/S, I might have taken down some previews from the last chapters. Just to add more suspense for the up coming chapters.
I do not own any of this...except KPOK! The KPOK! is mine.
The car ride to La Push was comfortably silent. Charlie insisted on us driving together in my truck since we were going to the same place anyway. He had often tried to get me to come with him on his fishing trips before but I had never had a reason to, until now.
"So what will you and Jake be up to today?" he asked as we pulled up into their driveway.
"I don't know, I'm sure Jacob will have some ideas." He gave me a look when he noticed my phrasing.
KPOK!!
I got out of the truck before he could start up an uncomfortable conversation with me.
"Bella!" Jake was running to me and I could tell he was about to attack me with another hug, just like the morning before. He stopped two feet away from me when he noticed Charlie getting out of the car.
"Hi Jake." I beamed. He smiled back but still looked disappointed at the fact that he didn't get to wrap his arms around me.
"Hi Charlie, my dad's inside waiting."
"Okay, you two be good." Charlie was looking at Jacob as he spoke and then he was off.
"So, you guys rode together?" He smirked at the truck.
"Yeah, Jake. Charlie said he didn't see any reason in bringing police cruiser...yet." I looked at him darkly the way Charlie had done to me earlier trying to pass on the implied threat.
"Haha, you had to be the police chief's daughter."
"So, what crazy antics will we be up to today?"
"Well, I was sort of planning to introduce you to the guys." I grimaced.
"Are you sure?" I tried not to say anything negative about his friends.
"Positive. Besides, I doubt you'd like to spend the day fishing with our fathers," he said trying to lighten my mood. My expression still had not changed. "Don't worry, they'll like you. I'll make sure of it."
"How will you do that?" I asked, not looking forward to the tension I expected after meeting his friends.
"Easy. I'll tell them to." There was a commanding air to the last part of his reply. He was so confident that I just had to trust him.
"Let's go, they're probably at the cliffs by now." He held out his hand for me and led me towards the his car.
We arrived at a part of the beach I had never been to before. It was so isolated, but beautiful at the same time. There were a group of guys standing near the shore talking. They were all shirtless and looked like they just got out of the water. I recognized the biggest one as Sam. He was talking to the rest of the guys at the beach. He looked pretty upset.
We walked over to them and Jacob practically had to drag me every step of the way. All eyes were on me, then after a second, everyone was looking at Jacob. The faces I saw held looks of awe or utter confusion as they gawked at Jacob.
"Hey guys." Jacob greeted, ignoring their looks.
Suddenly, most of the guys walked up to Jacob and started patting him on the back. A round of 'cheers' and 'congratulations' were given. Sam stayed where he was. I didn't know why Jacob was receiving so much praise, but I didn't think it had anything to do with me. At least I hoped not. Jacob didn't bother to explain to me and just shrugged it off.
"Guys, this is Bella," he gestured towards me and put on a big smile.
Before I knew it, I was surrounded. I was surrounded by half-naked men. I was surrounded and casually being touched by half-naked, dripping wet, well-toned men. My face grew hot. I was being bombarded with'hellos' and being embraced by a group of guys I didn't even know. Some shook hands, some patted me casually, and some hugged. It was very awkward.
As things died down, Jacob rescued me and pulled me away. He began with the introductions and pointed out to me Embry, Quil, Paul and the others.
"Just thought it would be nice for you to know the names of the people who you've gotten to know so well," he teased. It did start to become a lot less tense now that I knew all of their names. I was still a little nervous because of Sam though.
"Umm...Jacob, is everything alright with me being here?" I asked quietly so that no one else could hear. I glanced over at Sam and he was looking at me as if he had heard what I said. I Immediately dropped my gaze.
"Don't worry about Sam, Bells. He just a little crabby because we had a disagreement earlier today. He'll get over it."
"This disagreement...it wasn't because of me, was it?" I didn't want to be the cause of any bad blood between them. Jacob looked at me knowingly.
"Actually, Bells, it sorta of was." I winced. "But that's not why he's mad, so relax. He's just mad at me because I decided I wanted something that was mine. He wasn't excited to part with it, but like I said, he'll get over it. It's just an ego thing."
I didn't understand what he was talking about. I was about to ask what the thing was but he was dragging me back to his car.
"Wait, aren't we going to stay with your friends?" It seemed odd that we would leave so soon after arriving.
"I only said I would introduce you to them Bella. Even a pack of hungry wolves couldn't get me to share you." I rolled my eyes at him. "Besides Bells, they'll be going back into the water and you didn't bring any clothes with you." His lips curled upwards into a big grin. "Unless you intend to go skinny dipping ..."
I knew he was only playing with me, but my cheeks flushed. The embarrassment of my reaction caused my blush to deepen even more. Jacob laughed lightly.
"Did anyone ever tell you that you're cute when you blu-"
"No." I finished for him. I looked him in the eyes. "I mean, no one has told me that before," I said calmly. I continued walking to the car with him.
We had spent the rest of the day at his house. I helped him with his homework, which there was a lot of.
"I can't believe you have so much work to do. I think you need to prioritize better."
"Well, I'm not an organized person. Maybe you should come over everyday and tutor me," he gave me his big puppy dog eyes. They were surprisingly effective.
"I'm beginning to think that's not such a bad idea," I said as I pulled out another undone algebra packet from his bag. "This is pitiful Jacob Black."
It took us until nightfall to finally finish his homework. We had just settled on the couch to watch TV when Billy and Charlie walked in. Jacob was leaning back comfortably but immediately sat up straight as they walked in. I noticed that his right arm was positioned suspiciously close to my shoulders.
"Did you kids eat yet?" Billy asked holding up their day's catch.
"No, I totally forgot. I'm starved." Jacob was patting his stomach.
"Jacob Black forgetting about food? I'm shocked," I said with fake surprise. Billy and Charlie laughed.
"Well, I invited them for dinner at our house Bella. I already started to prepare the food before we came here this morning."
Charlie cooking? This wasn't good.
"What did you do?" I said it as an accusation.
"Nothing special, I just thought that it would be nice to simmer some ingredients for our fish in a pot for a couple of hours." He pointed at the fish they caught and smiled pridefully.
"Cha- Dad." I said it slowly, hoping he would tell me what I wanted to hear. "You didn't leave the flame on...did you?"
"Wasn't I supposed to? It's like what you do with the pot roast. It brings out the flavor if you cook it for a while." He pointed at the fish again, but there was no confidence to his movements this time.
"That's only when I have the roast in the pan first! You can't just leave the flame on the pot before you put the fish in it dad!" We looked at each other for a second, his mouth was stuck in the "o" position.
I ran to the truck and he was right behind me. Jacob was helping his dad out into his own car. I drove fast not waiting for the other two.
We saw the smoke before we actually saw our house. The sky was gray and the thick smell of ash made it hard to breath. There were two police cars and a firetruck in front of our lawn.
"Chief Swan, thank God you're safe," one of the police officers called out as we parked. "Oh, and your daughter's with you too." He looked relieved. "We just arrived five minutes ago. We couldn't search the house until the fire was taken care of."
"We're fine, Yorkie." Charlie was taking in the damage on the house. The fire wasn't completely out yet. There were still a few flickering flames coming out of the kitchen window. One side of our house was covered in black soot. There didn't seem to be too much damage around the rest of the house.
"Do you know what may have caused the fire Chief?" Yorkie asked.
"Charlie was cooking." I answered for him.
"Oh" The police officer, Yorkie, just shrugged and sent Charlie a sympathetic glance, not needing anymore explanation.
"Bella!" Jacob and Billy had arrived. Jacob was wheeling his father towards us. "How bad is it?" he asked.
"We're not sure yet." Charlie answered.
"Well, if there's anything we could do, we're here to help." Billy offered.
We weren't allowed to move any closer to the house, but once the fire was completely taken care of, one of the firemen started to walk towards us.
"Well, fortunately we came soon enough to prevent any major damage. It's mostly just the kitchen and the ceiling above it." Charlie let out a relieved sigh. "The smoke damage is still pretty bad. You won't be able to stay in the house because of the air quality. Do you have anywhere else to stay?"
"They'll be staying with us." Billy answered. Charlie was still dazed and I saw Jake trying to fight off a grin.
"We'll take you inside so you can grab a few things now, but it won't be safe until you get the damage repaired"
I packed my clothes in a duffel bag along with some books, my toothbrush and other essentials. Charlie did the same. The fireman escorted us out of the house and Billy and Jacob were still waiting for us outside.
"Billy, you don't have to do this. Me and Bella can stay at a Motel while we wait for them to fix the house."
"Don't be silly Chief Swan. We'd love for you and Bella to stay with us," Jacob was awfully chipper, but I couldn't blame him for not being able to contain his excitement. I was looking forward to staying with the Blacks.
"He's right.You should stay with family," Billy said kindly.
"We really appreciate you doing this." Charlie smiled, but I could tell he was still in a funk. He was probably blaming himself for the fire.
"Don't be so hard on yourself dad, the house will be ready in a week," I said.
"Thanks Bella." He put his arm on my shoulder. "Why don't you ride back with Jacob and I'll bring Billy home in your truck." He probably wanted to talk about the fire or our living arrangements without the kids listening in.
I got into the passenger seat and could see Jacob smiling profusely beside me.
"You know, you could at least try to act a little sad until after we leave my poor burnt house," I said trying to sound hurt. I was smiling as I said it, so my ploy was unsuccessful.
"I'm sorry Bells, but I'm not sad. We're roommates now!" His exuberance was infectious. I just hope some of it would rub off on Charlie later.
"Haha, I guess we are," I stared off pondering. "This week is going to be interesting."
I decided to go with the fire hehe. Hmmm...I probably won't go into the specifics of the week next chapter, unless you want me to of course. I'm just trying my best to get to the Cullens' return as soon as I can. Okay, my question for the next chapter is...If Bella could only bring a few things with her from her house, what would they be? Brownie points if they are Edward related. (Can't be stuff under the floorboards, cause she doesn't know they're there.)
Okay, preview, preview. I don't know if I should post it. I came up with so many good ideas, and that's why I can't wait for the Cullens' return. I'm afraid if I post a preview, it might ruin things...Oh to heck with it. I'll just take out the good parts.
How dare he try to dazzle me. It all can't just go away. It's not supposed to be this easy.