(A/N): As usual, thanks Meesh/immzw4 for your invaluable second pair of eyes.

This story is kind of a departure to my usual style, but interestingly enough, not as boring as I thought it would be writing it. Hope it's not to boring reading it

Don't forget to leave a review, any and all comments are welcome. I don't bite I promise and criticism is as welcome as praise.

Hope you enjoy this new chapter. It's a bit long.

"Let us be grateful to people who makes us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." – Marcel Proust

Chapter V

Bella's POV

I couldn't believe how time was flying by lately, only a couple more days before the beginning of April.

Jacob was on vacation for lack of a better term. Sam gave him some time off from his duties. I spent a lot of time in La Push, sharing time between the Black's house and Emily's.

Emily had grown on me very quickly, and I rather enjoyed spending time with her. She was opening to me, less guarded as she realized I didn't care about her scar anymore. To be honest, the only time I noticed it was when Sam kissed it.

And that was my cue to leave them, as their love was still too much for me to handle.

But even if I missed her the last couple of days, I loved spending time at my place with Jacob. I know it will sound weird, but I loved the lack of distractions and having Jake's attention all to myself.

And of course, knowing he was safe and not running around looking for trouble was another added perk.

Tonight Charlie was heading down to La Push to watch the game with Billy and we would have the place to ourselves. I had cooked for us, Mushroom Risotto.

I doubled the recipe, since I knew a normal portion for a werewolf was the equivalent of a meal for a whole family. I had thirty minutes before Jake would show up, so I had been slowly working on it.

The secret to a good Risotto, according to the website I had printed this recipe out of, was patience. Well, it passed the time and kept my mind occupied on something.

"Smells delicious, Bells. I am not sure I want to head out to Billy's just yet," my father exclaimed as he walked in the kitchen.

He hovered around me, looking at the sheet of paper on the counter has I added another part of vegetable stock to the Arborio rice.

"Seriously, you would never do something that fancy for me", he teased.

"Anyone special coming tonight?" he asked curiously, feigning ignorance.

I continued paying attention to my rice, making sure it wouldn't stick to the pan before glaring back at him.

"Look Charlie, better head down there and grab a pizza before Billy sends a rescue party for you. There is no way you are getting any of this Risotto. I am not even sure there will be enough for Jake," I added with a grin on my face.

Charlie leaned back against the fridge, suddenly becoming serious.

"You guys are going to be good or should I stick around and make sure?" he replied with his Chief Swan voice.

"Come on Dad, we are simply watching a movie and I have to feed him since you are feeding Billy. It's simply being polite," I retorted rolling my eyes at him.

He stared at me for a short while and nodded, grabbing his jacket on the chair at what had become the head of the table, because that's where he usually sat.

"I won't be back too late, call me if there is anything", he replied, heading toward the door.

The last week had been great, and I could say it for once without lying to myself. Jake had been true to his word, he spent as much time as he could with me and behaved like he had promised. I felt like a sunflower lately, always reacting to my sun while he was around.

Time revolved around Jacob, and school hadn't felt like an escape in a long while. Time there slowed as of late, I counted the hours before I was heading back to La Push to spend time with either Jacob or Emily.

I couldn't explain it, but being able to be myself with him without having to push him away when he decided to be pushy once again was a relief. At first I was convinced it would last a couple of days and he would revert back, but he hadn't.

I glanced at the clock. The risotto was ready. I kept it warm while waiting for Jake to show up.

As if on cue, he knocked on the door gently. I rushed quickly to the door and opened it. He was smiling, with a DVD box in his right hand.

"Smells great Bells, thanks for inviting me over," he greeted me, walking inside and closing the door behind him.

I stepped back a little, taking a good lock at him. Something wasn't right and for a moment I couldn't put my finger on it. He stared back at me, questioning.

After a moment it dawned on me. I just wasn't used to seeing him fully dressed. He looked good in worn out jeans and an olive button-down shirt.

"Didn't know you owned anything other than shorts anymore," I said with a teasing grin.

He ran one hand on his neck with a shy look on his face.

"Yea well, I better not rip these, or I will effectively own nothing but shorts," he answered with a bit of shame in his eyes.

I stared at him from head to toe, amazed at how the olive complimented his russet skin.

He cleared his throat, visibly uncomfortable with the attention, and I felt the blood rush to my face as he noticed me checking him out.

"So, what did you get?" I inquired, trying to distract him.

"I got the gooiest romantic comedy I could get. I asked the girl there to point one out to me," he replied teasingly, keeping the box out of reach over his head as I tried to snatching it form his hand.

I pouted, looking up to him.

"You promised you wouldn't!" I countered trying to make my voice sound a mix between anger and hurt, but failed miserably.

He laughed out loud genuinely and handed the box to me. I lunged at it before he could put it out of reach again, and he yielded it to me. Jake headed toward the kitchen as I read the title of the movie: History of Violence.

I hadn't heard of it, but I smiled. He had kept his promise, no gooey stuff.

We ate mostly in silence, as he devoured his third helping. At first when I helped Emily and saw the wolf boys eating, it had shocked me. But I was used to it now. They needed a lot more sustenance then normal kids. He looked up at me as I played with the remains of my first plate.

"Sorry Bella, its second nature now. I'm so used to eating with them, if I don't wolf down quickly I don't get my share," he said grinning.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me Jake. I am now used to thinking of you as a cute russet pig when you eat," I countered keeping a serious face for a whole ten seconds before giggling at his exaggerated shocked face.

He finished his plate and we washed the dishes together. I washed, he rinsed and dried. I looked up at him while working hard with a scrubbing brush to clean the pan.

"How is everything on the reservation?" I inquired.

He shrugged.

"Same old, same old. Sam his helping Sue with the house, Harry was fixing the roof couple of days before," he replied but couldn't finish his sentence.

"Other than that, last time I checked with the pack, they hadn't found anything since that day. She hasn't been back since then," he added drying one of our plates.

I felt that he wasn't telling me everything, but I didn't want to push him. If something was on his mind, he would tell me eventually.

"But Sam thinks it's the calm before the storm. She hasn't stopped trying to test us for the last few months. Every couple of days we would smell her tracks on our land. And for the last week, nothing," he whispered looking out the window.

I felt something clutching at my stomach, I forgot about her, my own personal vampiric reaper for the last week. The threat still loomed, and it terrified me.

Not only for my own sake, but more for the wolves. Especially the russet one and his life size alter ego standing in my kitchen.

He sprayed me with some soapy water, forcing me to close my eyes. I let the pan drop in the sink with a loud thud and I turn toward him shocked.

He smiles and broke out laughing, I felt the soapy foam slowly running down my cheek. He braced for a hit from my part, still amused as I approached him. Slowly I bent down toward his chest and wiped my face clean on his shirt.

"Ah, come on Bells. That's low, the only shirt I own!" He responded clearly feigning annoyance.

We washed the remaining dishes in quiet silence, pretending to be mad at each other, biting on our lips to avoid from smiling. He was better at it than I was.

We then moved to the living room and he sprawled on the couch while I started the movie.

I went back toward the couch and I tossed the remote control toward him and he caught it out of the air easily without putting much thought into it.

"Hey, do you guys have any popcorn?" he asked patting his stomach.

I looked back at him with a puzzled look, spreading my arms.

"You just ate for three. You are still hungry?" I inquired half surprised.

He smiled sheepishly.

"What's a movie without some popcorn, Bells?" he replied with an apologetic look in his eyes.

I sighed with a grin, tossing my hands in the air.

"Hope you enjoy the microwavable kind," I retorted loudly form the kitchen.

I heard the previews starts with the usual cheesy voice.

Available soon in DVD.

And then the sound stopped. Jake was forwarding through the previews. I smiled. He remembered when I told him I hated those damn previews when we caught a movie together with Mike Newton.

The beeping sound of the microwave cycle ending brought me back out of my thoughts, and I opened the door to last fainting popping sound of the corn still excited by the heat. There, I did listen in my physics class. Or something akin to listening.

I ripped the bag open and threw the contents in the bowl before joining Jake on the couch.

There wasn't really any room left so I decided to sprawl myself in front of him so my head rested on his calf and my feet found their way under his chest for some heat. He looked at me with a puzzled look on his face, but then just grabbed the bowl from me and dropped it near his waist so we could both reach it by extending our arm.

I started to listen to the movie intently, but every time our fingers would graze each others when we reached for popcorn at the same time sent little jolt trough my arms and sent goose bumps all over my arms and down my neck.

I lost concentration on the movie just after the first time we saw the bad guy with the missing eye in the café where the main character worked or owned. I wasn't sure anymore.

I stared at Jacob, watching his chest rise and fall rhythmically as he drew in breaths and his eyes tensed a little bit and I knew without even looking at the screen that there was some action coming up.

The heat emanating from him and his breathing slowly lulled me to sleep, and before I knew it I was fighting against my heavier then lead eyelids.

****

I had a strange dream. I was walking in the forest around La Push alone. It was that magical moment just before the sun rose. The night sky looked on fire and was aflame with a purplish light as the moon tried to hold the sky a moment longer, as if to make the sun rise just a tad slower.

As I walked into a clearing, I could see shapes on a little hill farther away, but before I could take another step, I stood by them.

Now I could distinguish the forms. One was a huge wolf. I couldn't discern his colors as the sky distorted everything and made the grass look lapis lazuli and the stars deep amber.

Before him was a small broken tree, its leaves still full of life but it was broken and bent out of shape.

On the other side of him stood a man, tall and glowing like a diamond under the light. I stared into the light as the sun rose behind him, illuminating him even more. I peered at him trough my fingers as I shielded my eyes with the back of my left hand.

For a moment he gazed at me, with golden eyes, like molten suns.

I looked at them confused, and I finally could see movement. The wolf was shuffling hesitantly on his legs, visibly injured. The illuminated form was favouring his left arm, pinning the right one against his side.

I stood motionless, unable to speak or move.

They both jumped toward each other and everything faded away, I retreated form the scene in fast forward, moving backward toward the clearing then, in the woods before everything went black.

****

I jerked up straight on the couch panting and heard a muffled thud as then I nearly fell to the ground but Jake caught me before I did, keeping me on the couch.

I looked back at him, panicked.

"Hey Bells," he ventured hesitantly, still keeping me gently pinned with the back of his arm to the couch.

I looked around and saw the bowl that held the popcorn on the ground with a couple of unopened seeds on the carpet. The credits of the movie were rolling slowly on the screen and it finally all came back to me.

Dinner, movie, popcorn, couch, Jake. Not in any particular order.

"You know you have the cutest little snore right," he said with a huge grin.

"Very funny, at least I don't snore like my truck like someone I know!" I retorted, embarrassed by falling asleep.

He yawned and stretched and then retracted his legs toward him before sitting.

"Thanks for everything it was awesome Bella," he said leaning down to pick up the bowl and laid it down on the table.

I smiled back at him.

"Sure, sure," I replied back to him, trying to sound just like him. He snickered at that.

He started to get up and reflexively my hand shot out and I grabbed his arm to keep him from getting up. Well, I didn't so much keep him from getting up with any force but rather my touch did it.

I laced my fingers through his and looked back at him. I tried to look into his eyes to see if I could find something more there.

I felt great and content with him. Maybe I owed him more than this.

He smiled back at me, looking down at our interlaced fingers.

And then the front door opened with a loud thud as it banged against the wall. I let go of his hand reflexively and shot up.

"Hey dad!" I greeted him a bit too cheerfully.

Jacob waved at Charlie and headed toward the door passing beside him.

"Jake wait," I called after him, trying to rack my brain about the sequence of events that just unfolded, but I didn't have time for it.

"Night Bells, see you tomorrow," he replied back to me with a forced smile.

Charlie and Jake exchanged goodnights and before I could say anything else or force my feet toward the door I heard the Rabbit sputter to life and leave.

"So, how was the night? Any of that risotto left for your old man?" he inquired, visibly less interested in the latter part of his question.

I sighed and stormed toward the stairs to my room.