A/N: One more to go after this one, plus the epilogue! Enjoy!

Ch. 10

We're Cool

"Bella."

"Holy shit!" I jumped and spun around. Jacob was standing behind me. I was in my hallway, about to unlock my door, and he'd appeared out of nowhere.

"Jacob! What the hell!" I shouted.

"Calm down," he said, rolling his eyes. "I just want to talk to you."

"Fine," I said. "Come in." I unlocked my door and let him in. Once again, my roommate was out.

"I really am sorry, Bella," he said to the floor, sitting on my bed.

"It's alright," I said. "I forgive you. And I'm sorry for not ever answering your calls. And avoiding you. And all that stuff."

"Yeah, that wasn't very nice," he said.

"You wouldn't quit yelling at me," I said. "You deserved it. Just accept the apology."

"Alright, alright," he said. "Apology accepted." He took a deep breath. "Anyway, I talked to Angela last week. She told me you and…Edward…are actually dating and that you seem really happy. And she said Edward's a really good guy, so…I decided I'm ok with it."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for your permission, Dad."

He gave a small smile. "You know I'm just trying to look out for you." He frowned. "But it kind of hurts my feelings that you can just cut me out of your life like that."

"I wasn't planning on cutting you out forever, Jake," I patted his hand. "I love you, you're like a brother to me. But I couldn't be around you while you were yelling at me about something so ridiculous. And waking up my R.A."

He grimaced. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's fine," I said. "No more apologizing. What's done is done, I forgive you as long as you promise to be more reasonable."

He nodded. "I solemnly swear to try my hardest."

"Good," I said. "You know, you were way off base thinking that all Edward wanted was sex. He's actually waiting until marriage."

His mouth dropped open in shock, and I laughed.

"You mean…you…" he gasped.

I laughed. "Calm down, Jake! I'm a grown woman, I can do what I want."

He glared at me. "You're making this really hard on me," he growled.

"Hey, I just told you we aren't having sex! And that we won't be any time soon."

"But you want to," he grumbled.

"And that's none of your business," I said. He just pouted. I laughed. "So, do you want to meet him?"

He sighed. "If I must."

"You must," I said. "We're practically inseparable. I'm surprised you caught me when he wasn't here."

"Where is he?" he asked.

"He has a class. But I was going to go meet him when it was over. You want to come?"

"I guess so," he said.

Together, we walked over to the building that Edward's class was in. I was secretly very relieved to have Jacob back in my life. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed him.

"Alright," I said once we were there. "Be civil!"

"Once again," he grimaced. "I'll try my hardest."

"You better," I said. "I love him."

"You what?!"

I frowned. "Jacob Black, please do not shout. I said I love him. That should make you happy."

He growled for a minute, but then calmed down. "It does," he said. "As long as he loves you back."

"He does," I said confidently.

"But I swear, if he does anything to hurt you…there won't be enough of him left to bury."

I rolled my eyes and gave him a hug. "You're so incredibly caring and sensitive," I said.

"Yeah, it's one of my many fine qualities," he grumbled. I felt him stiffen.

"There he is," he whispered. I looked around. Sure enough, there was Edward, looking at us curiously. I stepped away from Jacob, embarrassed that Edward had seen me hugging him. I hoped he didn't get the wrong idea.

"How did you know what he looked like?" I asked suspiciously.

Jacob shrugged. "I might have followed you once or twice. I've been trying to get you alone for about a week."

My jaw dropped.

"What?" he said defensively. "You wouldn't answer my calls!"

"You're such a stalker," I mumbled. "Edward!" I wrapped my arms around my boyfriend.

"Hello, Bella," he said, kissing my forehead. He looked up at Jacob.

"You must be Jacob," he said politely, holding out his hand.

Jacob narrowed his eyes, but accepted his hand. "Yes. And you must be Edward."

"Indeed I am," he replied. "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm glad to see that you and Bella are on better terms now."

Jacob nodded slowly. Apparently he hadn't expected Edward to know anything about him. I giggled.

"Yes," I said to Edward, since apparently Jacob had decided that Edward wasn't worthy of words. "Jacob surprised me at my dorm earlier and apologized for being so rude. We're cool now."

"That's wonderful news," said Edward. "So, Jacob, Bella and I were just going to lunch, would you like to join us?"

I laughed. Once again, Edward surprised Jacob with his niceness.

"He's too perfect" said Jacob over the phone later that night.

I laughed. "I know. Isn't he great?"

"There has to be something wrong with him."

I rolled my eyes. "Jake, just accept it, he's a good guy! You have no choice but to like him. Face it. Be his friend." I grinned.

Jake just mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?" I asked, laughing.

"Nothing," he sighed. "I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Ok, good night Jacob."

"Wait…Bells…"

"Yes?" I said patiently.

"The truth is…I was a little jealous."

"Really?" I asked sarcastically. Apparently he didn't catch it.

"You know how I feel about you," he said. "It's no secret. And I'm not asking you to break up with this guy for me, I can see that you like him a lot, and I can also see…" he took a deep breath and then sighed, "that he cares about you. I just want you to know that you don't ever have to be alone. I promise never to give up on you, so if this guy ever hurts you, or you get tired of him, or whatever, I'll always be here for you. I don't expect anything back from you, but whenever you need me, I'll be there."

"Wow, Jake," I said. "that's really sweet. You really are a good friend, I'm lucky to have you."

"Nah," he said. "I'm the lucky one. Just…be careful, ok? I don't want to see you get hurt, even if that means I get you back to myself."

I smiled. "I promise I'll be careful, but I don't think you have anything to worry about. Promise me that you won't wait on me, though. If you find a girl you like, go for it. I can't guarantee that I'll ever be available again."

"Hey now," he said, "don't start talking like that already. Keep an open heart, open mind."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, Jake, don't push your luck."

He laughed sadly. "I love you, Bells."

"I love you, too, Jake. Thanks for being a good friend."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I sighed and hung up the phone. It hurt me that I couldn't make Jake happy, but I just didn't feel that way for him. I never had. But I was glad that he understood, and I knew he would find someone wonderful someday. I just hoped he didn't pass up any chances on happiness for me. As much as he irritated me, I loved Jacob Black, and I wanted him to be as happy as I was with Edward.

A/N: Hope you guys liked that one! I did, this was one of my favorites so far, completely on accident! I love Jacob, I wish he had a little more luck. So this is what happened: originally, the chapter ended with Jacob's first 'goodnight' without all the hearfelt talk and stuff, but I put it on here and the chapter was so short, and I couldn't have that, so I decided to beef it up again. So I had this idea for Jacob to spill his guts, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out, I hope you are, too. I don't know though, I may not be as happy with it tomorrow, that's usually the way I work. I'll write something one day and be happy with it, then I'll go back and reread it later and be like, oh, wow, this is crap! I hope this isn't one of those things.

Anyway, enough about me, you guys! You guys are awesome, I love my reviews! Keep up the good work! Oh, and let me know if you guys want me to mention you down here for really good reviews and such, I've been trying not to do that, because I would be embarassed to be singled out, but if I have a lot of people saying they don't mind I will.

Anyway, that's enough talk for one chapter. This story's almost over, but stay tuned for Standing Still and hopefully The Unnamed Story Called Blossoms of Love! And, of course, Breaking Dawn, I'm freakin' ecstatic!

Thanks for reading!