Ok, this is classed technically as a second chapter, however it's actually a look into Bellas story up until now. History chapters you could say. This is History Part 1 (of 3), I hope you enjoy. Feel free to ask any questions. Huge wonderful thanks of course to ElectricEvie, she's a top-class beta!
Oh and I don't own Twilight.
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History - Part 1
My life hadn't always been this responsible.
Up until the age of 23, I lived with my Mom in Phoenix. Her & Charlie, my Dad, divorced when I was barely out of diapers. Mom always wanted the best for me and certainly did not want my life to emulate her own.
I visited my father occasionally, but he was over 1400 miles away in Forks, so they were few and far between. I could have easily lived with him at any point, had I wanted to, but my Mom and I just had a connection. She was more like a best friend. We talked about clothes and boys, her lack of a stable love life was something that surprised me greatly. She was a young-looking athletic woman in her early forties, with a excitable vivacious nature. In many ways, she was the child and I was the parent. She nearly re-married, a minor-league baseball player called Phil Dwyer. She got cold feet 10 days before the wedding and called it all off. When we found out that he'd since married someone else, my Mom seemed somewhat offended;
"She's barely older than you Bella, I swear!" A severe case of the green-eyed-monster, even though she was the one who had dumped him. I had liked Phil. He was a good guy. You don't get many of those these days.
High school came and went and I applied to several universities to study Biology. I'd always loved the classes, so it seemed the natural choice. My teacher, Miss Meyer, was as enthusiastic about teaching the subject as I was to learn it. It was she, who suggested I look into teacher training
"I think you'd be a great teacher Bella. You have this amazing approachable nature to you and your enthusiasm shines through. You could change the lives of children you know...." Miss Meyer told me one day, as we spoke about it. I felt a rush of blood to my face, but the idea that she believed in me, egged me on.
When I was accepted into Arizona State to study Biology, my parents were thrilled. It was hard work, but great fun and completely worth it. Four years soon flew by and to celebrate graduation, me and my three girlfriends Satsuko, Angela & Jessica decided to travel the world, or as much as we could do. As we lived in my home town of Phoenix, it was decided we would visit our respective other home towns. Satsuko, although born and raised in Chicago, had family in Yokohama, Japan. Angela was an overseas student from Brisbane, Australia and Jessica was from Forks, Washington. Coincidentally where I had been born and where my Dad still lived.
After a month in Japan and a month in Australia, we caught a plane from Brisbane to Seattle. My Dad was thrilled we would be visiting and insisted on picking us up personally. We all piled into his Police car – 4 girls plus luggage. Surprisingly, the old sedan coped well. We arrived in Forks in good time and I admired the forest views. Although Forks was classed as a city, there were barely 4,000 people, if that. Although he didn't have enough space to put up all of us, Dad had agreed that Satsuko and I would stay with him and Angela stayed with Jessica at her parents place. It all worked.
My Dad had welcomed me with open arms, but I had never intended to stay more than four weeks max. I spent a lot of time with him, we even fished together. It was nice to have some alone-time; just me and my Dad. I had rarely seen him in my life and it was like I was getting to know him all over again. I met his friends and his fishing buddies. Most importantly, I met my Dads best friend Billy. He was a jolly man with a kind face that just lit up when he spoke. Apparently he and his late wife used to babysit me when I was young. He was a wonderful man and I fell in love with him instantly. Considering he was unable to walk and confined to a wheelchair, he looked at life in such a positive light, I never thought there was another being alive who had such an infectious grin as Billy Black.
That was until I met his son, Jacob.
Jacob was 22. He was a mechanic who worked at Crowleys, the local garage. The first time I met him, he had obviously been working on a car, he was covered from head to toe in grease, dirt and oil. He had smears of oil on his face and wore a tight, white vest which showed off his large arms and defined pecs. He was so dirty he refused to shake my hand, which irked me somewhat. Maybe he's standoffish? I just wanted to touch him, wipe that dirt off his brown skin and bring him a little Bella style filth instead. I shook those thoughts away – he was younger than me and more immature no doubt.
Needless to say, I was incredibly attracted to Jacob. He seemed to be very sweet, very attentive to his fathers needs and good buddies with my Dad. I saw him in passing several more times during my time in Forks, never saying more than a brief "Hi" or "How are you?" It was becoming ridiculous. The more I saw him, the more attractive he seemed.
I was the one who plucked up the courage to ask him out. I was close to leaving Forks to fly back to Phoenix and had confided in Satsuko, who was, for all intents and purposes, my best friend.
"Bella, if you like the guy, just spit it out! Say it! The worse that can happen is that he doesn't feel the same way, right?" Satsuko told me matter-of-factly, while she was carefully folding her clothes into her case
"But what if he doesn't, I mean I'll look like a fool" I replied, passing Satsuko a pair of jeans for her to fold. "I'm old enough to know better!"
Satsuko paused in thought for a moment. "Yeah but lets be honest Bella, your relationship history isn't exactly.... shall we say..... varied. You always wait for a guy to make the first move and you either end up with someone you don't like that much because you feel sorry for them or a total jerk who ends up playing you because you're too nice. You've never really experienced a 'real' relationship. You need to take control. You're a modern, independent woman remember!"
Satsuko wasn't wrong. In university I was all about the work. I rarely had the time, or the patience for men. I'd met a couple of guys traveling, but I was more the shy, silent type. Jessica easily won over both of those. I was pretty sure on the same night at the same time. Jessica was the man-magnet.
"So you think I should just bite the bullet?" I asked her, in the vain hope she would tell me not to bother.
"Definitely. I saw him at the garage. He's hot! If you don't get in there, someone else will. The guy is prime beefcake" Satsuko winked. She always had a way with words.
"But what if he likes me and I have to go back to Phoenix" I moaned.
"Then don't go back. What's there for you. A few friends and your Mom? You can stay here as long as you like.... or as long as he likes you" she teased. Our flight was due to leave at 11am the following morning. It was now 7pm.
Jacob had no cell, or I didn't have his number. Probably the latter. I told myself, I was starting to doubt this already. How embarrassed would I be to leave Forks with my tail between my legs because the local mechanic had turned me down?
I caught a cab to Crowleys and knocked on the small green metal door that lead to the workshop.
I waited. There was no answer.
Well thats that sorted then. Fate deals its blow. I turned to walk away, when I heard an engine roaring to life from behind the shed. Could it be him?
I walked slowly around the back, I very almost slipped over on a trail of oil coming from a rather large Chevrolet pick-up truck. I remembered it had been my Dads.
He must have heard me call out as I slipped and ran over
"Hey, are you ok?" He asked as he brushed his mop of black hair over his head. He grabbed my arm to steady me.
"Err yeah, sorry, I knocked but no-one answered" I replied sheepishly
"Yeah sorry about that, I've been getting this fixed up for your Dad as a side project" Jacob grinned "I had to rebuild the engine so it's taken a while, I just got it going, so as you can tell, I'm proper happy right now"
Boys and their toys, I chuckled to myself
"So, what can I do for you?" He looked at me. I felt my knees go to jelly at this point. "You don't have a car, so I'm assuming its not because you want me for my mechanical skills" he laughed.
I felt my face go a shade of deep crimson. He must know I fancy him.
"Oh, err, well...." I was making such a hash of this "Tonights kinda my....errr.... last night here and I guess I was thinking.... I mean wondering.... if you'd maybe like to grab a drink somewhere.... or something?" Smooth Bella, real smooth. Involuntarily I'd closed my eyes for the backlash but instead he touched me gently on my face, as if to calm me and surprised me with his response.
"Yeah, that'd be lovely. Let me quickly shower and change and I'll be right with you" His hand moved away from my face, where my skin tingled for a short moment. He smiled at me and turned on his heels to a room marked "Clean-Up". Obviously they have a shower on the premises.
10 minutes later he appeared. I'd never seen him clean. His skin shone a light shade of brown, he ha large piercing brown eyes and the most gorgeous smile. He wore a dark blue shirt and light denim jeans that showed off his body to perfection. He looked amazing. I felt myself gawking at him. It was a surprise that I wasn't drooling and panting like a bitch in heat.
"We can take your Dads truck if you like – it needs a run out" he smiled and showed me to the passenger side, opening the door and assisting me in. Old fashioned values always worked well.
The rest of the night carried on in a similar fashion. Jacob was polite and attentive, we ended up not only having a drink, but dinner too. He drove us to Port Angeles and we ate Italian food under the stars. It was a wonderfully romantic evening. He was a catch. Gorgeous and sweet. And my father would approve. I'd never met a man quite like him and the conversation flowed nicely. He inquired about my travels and my hopes for the future. I in turn, asked him about his career and his life in La Push. He explained about his tribe, the Quileutes and their beliefs and his childhood. It all fascinated me.
I didn't want the evening to end. As he drove me to my Dads, I could see Satsuko in the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the action. He killed the truck and turned to me.
"You know Bella, I've had such a great evening with you" he looked a little embarrassed "I wish you didn't have to go tomorrow". He looked at me, with sad brown puppy-dog eyes
"I've had a great night too Jake" I replied, touching his arm to comfort him, "I wish I didn't have to go either, I'd really like to get to know you better"
"Why do you have to go?" he asked, slightly bluntly
"Well, I have to get back to my Mom really" I replied, slightly defensively.
"Is she not old enough to look after herself?" Jacob smiled. He leaned up and touched my cheek lightly with his fingers. I felt myself blushing fiercely.
"Well, I could stay" I replied "Given some encouragement to do so" I figured if I was never going to see the guy again, I might as well attempt to be cheeky.
And with that, he leaned in and kissed me gently on the lips, which quickly evolved into a frenzy of passion. I desperately wanted to rip off his clothes here and now, in my Dads Chevy, in front of my Dads house, with my best friend watching from the 1st floor window.
All of a sudden, Jacob leaned away from my embrace. I felt a whimper of sadness escape my lips. He looked like he was summing up the courage to say something. Here comes the disappointment, I thought to myself
"Bella. I want you to stay here in Forks for a while. I want you Bella, more than I've wanted anyone else in my life. You're gorgeous, you're funny and you're smart. You're like my dream girl and I really don't want you to leave tomorrow. I'd even go so far as to beg you to reconsider your flight to Phoenix. When Charlie told me about you, he bigged you up, but you've surpassed his comments. You're amazing Bella. I know if my friends heard me say this, I'd get ripped about it, but I don't care. I feel so connected to you and I really want to see what could happen between us. Please say you'll stay Bella, or at least sleep on it"
What? I was completely bewildered. I wondered if I was dreaming, but as his brown eyes pleaded with mine for an answer I knew instantly it was all reality. I threw my arms around him. He feels the same as me! Not wanting to sound overly eager, I promised him I would consider staying and would sleep on it. He gave me his cell and asked me to call him in the morning with whatever decision I made. He told me he would respect me whatever but at least wanted a chance to say good-bye.
He gently kissed me good night and drove off. I knew Satsuko was on her way down the stairs to tell me she had seen it all and probably something about what a dirty stop-out I'd been.
I also knew I was staying in Forks. I wanted Jacob. And what Bella Swan wants, Bella Swan gets.
