Chapter Five

Plan

.

The next morning I woke up with a mission. It was Saturday and Charlie was already gone for the day to go fishing with Harry Clearwater, so that left me free to carry out my Plan uninterrupted.

There was only one problem. My Plan relied heavily on one major issue. On one person, to be exact. I sighed, baffled at the fact that the future of my relationship with Jake and even my sanity now depended on the whim of Jessica Stanley.

I had time to kill before I could call Jessica to get the Phase One of The Plan in motion. It was too early to call her house and I had no idea what the number was to her cell phone. I would have to wait it out. Besides, it would be better not to agitate her with a morning call anyway. She was still peeved after our last phone conversation where I had hung up on her. She hadn't called me since.

I made my way into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Getting ready would take up at least forty-five minutes, maybe an hour if I drew it out long enough. I stepped into the hot water and let it run down my hair and my face. I took time to shave and wash my hair and even used the apricot body scrub Renee had sent me.

When I finished drying my hair and putting on my clothes, I sat down in front of my computer and started it up. It was taking an excruciatingly long time come alive. I drummed my fingers along the keyboard with impatience.

Once it was ready I checked my email, mostly to kill time before I could call Jessica, and saw that Renee had emailed me. The subject line read: URGENT!

I opened it up and capital letters blared at me from the screen.

I groaned.

It seems Charlie had called my mother about the accident yesterday. Her email was messy- with misspelled words and missing periods or commas. She must have been frantic while typing this. Yet, her message was cluttered with a mix of emotions ranging from concern to…praise. She was worried and anxious about my health but in the same sentence went on to congratulate Jacob on owning his first "hog". Then she weighed the fact that he was a bit young to ride one, especially with her daughter on the back, but skipped on to describing the proper way to ride double. This email seemed to sum up my mother's personality: all over the place.

I hit reply.

.

Mom,

Don't freak out. The doctor here says that it's mostly bumps and bruises. I'm sure Charlie made it sound ten times worse than it is but believe me—I'm fine.

Yes, the bike belongs to Jake. I don't know if it makes him any cooler owning one, but I wish you could have seen him on it…he looks really good. Although I doubt that we will ride it again, Charlie might have the thing burned just to make sure. But if we ever do, I'll heed your advice and remember to hold on next time.

I was sleeping and had practically passed out on the bed so don't be too mad at Charlie for not waking me up for your calls.

Don't worry. Jacob and Charlie are taking good care of me.

We'll talk soon,

Bella

.

It took a good minute and a half for my computer to successfully send the response. I turned it off and checked the clock. Still early.

I swiveled my chair to face the clock directly and watched the second hand make its way around very, very slowly.

To call or not to call? That was the question.

.

.

Finally, I decided I had waited long enough. I had the feeling that for Jessica, 9:53 in the morning was still early, but I knew I couldn't bring myself to wait another hour. I would lose my nerve.

I sat on the bottom of the stairs and cradled the house phone in between my uninjured shoulder and my ear. The sound of Jessica's line ringing trilled once loudly and then I heard the click of her picking up the phone.

"Hello!" she shouted with over-excited urgency. I pulled the phone an inch or so away from my ear so I wouldn't go deaf from the sheer volume of Jessica.

"Jess? It's Bella."

"Oh. Hi," she replied.

Now there was disappointment in her voice, a very obvious and heavy disappointment. Clearly she was hoping the call was from someone else.

I bit my lip, not knowing what to say next. Suddenly The Plan felt very stupid. Would Jessica even help me, or would she just laugh at my inexperience? My heart sank at the thought of the latter. She would definitely laugh at me, or even worse, prod me for juicy details on my very fleeting and anti-climatic physical intimacies.

My thumb flickered to the END button on the phone. I could simply hang up, not see Jessica, save myself the humiliation…and completely forgo the entire Plan.

But I thought of Jacob. No, I had to go through with it. I gulped silently and then forced myself to speak.

"Um," I mumbled, "I was wondering if you might want to get together today. You know, hang out?" I tried to sound as casual as possible, but the words seemed to trip their way out of my mouth.

"You want to hang out with me?" Jessica's asked as if she couldn't believe that I would suggest such a thing.

I decided the best way to go about this was to play dumb and pretend that the tension between us from the last few months wasn't there. I wanted to sound like this is what we did all the time. That, like any normal teenage girl, I just wanted to hang out with my friend.

"Yes, of course. We are still friends, right?" I asked, emphasizing the word "friends". Maybe she would take pity on me and excuse my distant behavior towards her…well, towards everyone really.

"Sure Bella," her tongue clucked as she said my name, "Why don't you come over here and we can just hang around my place today?"

Relief waved through me.

"Great! Can I…come over now?" I asked, picking myself up off the stairs and snatching the keys to my truck.

"Um," she paused, "Sure."

"Thanks, Jess. Really. I'll be over in a bit." I clicked off the phone and scribbled a note to Charlie where I was going before I darted out the front door.

I got to Jessica's house sooner than I had expected but was glad for that anyway. I had been rehearsing questions in my head the entire ride over, only to reject every single one of them. Just thinking about them made me blush.

I rang her doorbell with a shaking hand.

Jessica opened the door and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She stared at me, taking notice of all my injuries, giving special attention to my arms and wrist. Then she relaxed her gaze and smiled with false sincerity to greet me.

"Bella, come in! What happened to you?"

I walked inside and felt her eyes on me as she shut the door. It might have been an innocent enough question, considering my physical appearance was marred by cuts and bruises, but coming from Jessica' mouth, it sounded more like someone digging greedily for gold.

I shrugged and winced from the twinge of discomfort in my shoulder.

"The usual calamity of being me," I sighed, trying to avoid getting Jessica started on that conversation. I wasn't up for retelling my brief encounter with Jacob's motorcycle…and especially not for the reason why I had fallen off of it.

Jessica rolled her eyes. Apparently my answer wasn't satisfying.

"Jessica, dear, who's at the door?" A woman's voice came from somewhere in the back of the house. It must be Mrs. Stanley.

"Just Bella Swan, Mom!" Jessica called back.

I shifted my weight on my feet and turned around, peering around the corners of Jessica's house, trying to find the perfect spot for Phase One to commence. I didn't see her bedroom anywhere close by and figured it must be upstairs. I was able to make out the kitchen. It seemed to be far enough away from where Mrs. Stanley's voice had come from, promising quiet privacy so her mother would be unable to hear us. Plus, it would help put me at ease if I kept my hands busy by making something.

"You like coffee?" I asked.

"Yes," Jessica sighed, confused, "Do you, like, want some or something?"

"I can brew some, if that's okay?" I asked. I started inching my feet closer to the kitchen, trying to sway her to lead me there. The sooner we started, the sooner it would be over.

"Yea, follow me," she said and then stepped in front of me.

Jessica walked into the large kitchen without bothering to turn on the lights. She flicked her hand in the direction of the coffee maker that rested on the counter by the fridge and then stood curiously in the doorway trying to figure out where the rest of the ingredients would be. She twirled her hair aimlessly around one finger as she thought to herself.

She was making me anxious by her extensive pondering. I didn't need her to point out every cup and spoon for me. In fact, I'd rather search for it myself… there would be limited eye-contact if I was busy rummaging through cabinets.

"Just sit, Jess. I can find my way around," I said and then smiled to reassure her. She just sent another confused stare in my direction and then plopped herself gracefully on one of the barstools at the kitchen's center island.

The can of coffee grinds was in the fridge, not much hunting needed for that. I went to work making the coffee, and decided to make it strong.

Jessica was engrossed in peeling off all remnants of her nail polish from her fingernails. I sat down on the stool across from her, waiting for the coffee to brew and watched her flick tiny strips of metallic purple onto the floor.

She let out a dramatic sigh and placed her hands down on the countertop.

"Are you upset about something?" I asked. She looked bothered and I hoped it wasn't due to my presence.

"Yes, I am upset!" she frowned. "Mike still has not asked me to be his Valentine on Monday." She caught herself and narrowed her eyes at me. "He didn't ask you, did he?"

"No!" I said, shocked, "I'm sure he's going to ask you," I added quickly, "But you know how Mike is. He's… oblivious to what is right in front of him."

Jessica pursed her lips and watched me intently. I shifted on the stool, feeling uncomfortable as her eyes scrutinized my face. Her hand went to her mouth and she pressed her fingers to her lips distractedly as she examined me.

"Mike can be oblivious," she finally agreed. "But he's also very sweet…"

"I know what you mean. Mike's a decent guy. He always… understood when it came to me. You know, after I…came back…" I stopped myself from elaborating. There was no other way to put it really. I was gone and then part of me, a very small part, had returned. Mike had been one of the few to welcome me back with, in his case, open arms. But the others, Jessica, Lauren, my teachers… were less trusting.

The coffee maker beeped and I nearly fell off my chair at the sound. I jumped up and grabbed two mugs for us. I set hers down in front of her and poured the coffee. She shoveled sugar into her mug while I hastily gulped at mine in an attempt to keep my mouth busy.

"So Bella," Jessica purred, stirring her coffee slowly. "What was it that happened to you? You know, a few months ago you were like a zombie." She looked up at me with patient eyes—waiting for me to spill.

I hunched deeper into the stool and took another sip, buying myself time. I had tried to prepare myself, knowing that Jessica would ask questions about before. But I didn't expect her to dive right in, to ask me what had happened so bluntly… and to put it in such a perfect way. Like a zombie.

She was right.

"I died," I said flatly to her. "Zombie is the right word. I was the walking dead." I looked away and shifted my face so it was somewhat hidden behind my hair.

She pressed on.

"And now? Jacob?"

My response was automatic.

"Life support."

My insides twisted at the words. Jacob is keeping me alive…just barely. The part of me that is functional, I owe to Jake.

And I'm here to fix that, I reminded myself.

"Actually, that's kind of why I'm here," I said, not looking Jessica in the eye.

"Why is that?" she smiled sweetly, leaning across the counter.

I turned to look over my shoulder, checking to see if Jessica's mother had moved at all. I didn't want this part of the conversation to be overheard.

Jessica seemed to catch on to my hesitation.

"She's sewing in the den," she said confidently, "We're totally out of range." Then she flashed me a gleeful smile, knowing she was just so close.

I swallowed hard, preparing myself.

"Last night," I started, "Jacob and I…"

"Slept together?"

"No," I corrected, "We were just…kissing and stuff."

"Well that's nice," Jessica yawned, bored.

I rolled my eyes at her.

"That's not all I was going to say," I clarified.

Here we go, I thought to myself. I inhaled and let all my breath out in one gust of air.

"I need some advice. On sex," I stated blankly. I fixed my attention on the counter again, waiting for the laughing to begin.

Jessica was silent. I couldn't bring myself to look at her, instead I found myself inching closer to the countertop.

"Bella," Jessica's voice was calm and reassuring, "Have you ever…?"

I winced and shook my head quickly. No, I have never.

Jessica's eyes widened. She wasn't expecting that answer.

"And you want to…? With Jacob." She said the last part as a statement, not a question.

I nodded, too nervous to speak. I didn't know if it was the caffeine taking effect or because I had just admitted to Jessica Stanley that I was a virgin.

"Well," she said, clinking her cup on the counter top, "what have you done before? So I know what I'm working with."

"Nothing," I whispered and then corrected myself. "Well…no. Last night, Jacob put his hand up my shirt."

Jessica laughed and then caught herself.

"Sorry Bella," she shrugged.

"It's okay, you can laugh. I know I'm pathetic."

Actually, I was surprised she hadn't laughed sooner.

"Okay, first, pick your head up!" Jessica ordered, raising her voice. "How are you going to manage having sex when you can't even look at me to talk about it?"

I then realized how low I actually was to the counter. My breath was forming hot circles of condensation on the marble. I lifted my head and met her eyes.

"Thanks," she smiled. "So you're saying you have never done anything other than that? Ever?"

I frowned. The digging was back.

"No," I said flatly.

"With anyone? Not even someone besides Jacob?" she pressed.

She wanted details from last year…from my past life. There was nothing at all to tell her. No steamy bits of information to share. And not because of me. I was not the reason behind the mortifying innocence. Because the object of my affection had not wanted me.

I stared at her and spoke each syllable of each word sharply. To make it clear.

"No. One. Ever."

"Alright," she said quickly, obviously trying to back peddle. "So, Jacob got a little boob action. Good for him," she laughed. "When are you planning to do more? Gradually or all at once?"

I relaxed a little. She was taking control of the conversation and for that I had to be thankful. I don't know how far I could take this on my own.

"All at once," I said.

She raised her eyebrows and nodded. Intrigued.

"Ok," she said as she sipped at her coffee, "When?"

With a grimace, I let the words—The Plan-slip between my clenched teeth, "I need to sleep with Jacob on Valentine's Day."

Coffee spurted from Jessica's mouth as she gasped in surprise.

"What?" she asked between coughs and swallowing the rest of her coffee.

I looked back down to the counter top, wishing I could just crawl under the island. Repeating myself was out of the question, so I waited for Jessica to continue.

"You need to?"

I shrugged, trying to appear non-committal, but my cheeks were giving me away. I could feel the blood rising; they were surely growing very red, very quickly.

"Is he pressuring you, Bella?"

"No!" I assured her, "He's not like that. He…he has no idea I'm even planning this. I just…I need to do this. With him."

The warmth from my cheeks seemed to be spreading to the rest of my body. I felt hot. Too hot. And the kitchen seemed to resonate with a pulsing thud, thud sound. It took me a second to realize it as my heart, beating with budding panic.

"Then why? Why on Valentine's Day?" she wrinkled her nose, as if the cliché was too much to bear.

I shrugged at her again. I couldn't admit to Jessica that I picked the date out of sheer urgency. Could she ever believe that I just needed to do this—now—to reclaim my sanity?

She rolled her eyes.

"How do you expect me to give you advice, when you won't tell me what's going on?"

"I don't know," I mumbled, "I just thought that you could tell me…"

"Tell you what, Bella?"

Everything was going wrong. My heart was thumping too loud, the room was too hot, Jessica too curious. I shook my head, trying to clear it. But I couldn't get the one question out of my head. The one question that drove me across town—had me confess to Jessica Stanley of my mortifying virginity—the one question on which my entire life teetered on the answer.

"Do you have to love him?"

"What?" Jessica blinked at me in surprise.

"Do you have to love him to do it?" I heard my voice break on the last words. I couldn't look at her anymore. I put my face to the cool countertop and willed myself to not come completely undone in her kitchen.

Even though I owed Jacob for the amount of revival he had given me, I didn't know if I could really go through with this. If I didn't love him… could I make love to him?

"Oh my God," Jessica cried, either shocked or excited by my outburst. She came around the island and put her hand to my back. This time when she spoke she actually sounded sincere. "You know, I think that if you're willing to give yourself like that to someone, then a part of you does love them. Even if the rest of you doesn't know it yet." She paused and then quickly added, "Do you love Jacob?"

I raised my head to her.

"It's not the same. I don't think it will ever be the same."

Jessica nodded, seeming content with that information.

We looked at each other, and Jessica shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

"So, do you need a condom or something?" Her eyebrows raised and then she shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

I coughed out a laugh, taken by surprise of her suddenly lighter question.

Actually, I did need one. So I nodded.

"Be right back," she muttered, patting me on the back to assure me she would return.

She stepped out of the kitchen and I heard her go upstairs, probably to her room. Leave it to Jessica Stanley to have a stash of condoms readily available.

I waited for her to come back. And the darkened kitchen felt cold and foreign without Jessica in it. I sat on my stool, hunched onto the countertop, completely and totally out of my element. My heart still beat fitfully, speeding and slowing almost at the same time.

Jessica popped back into the kitchen looking victorious.

"Here," she said and shoved several items into my hands, "take these."

I looked down and saw that Jessica had handed me two condoms and a pair of her underwear. It was tiny and lacy and…pink.

Stunned, I held up the underwear in front of me, pinching it between my fingers.

"You want me to wear your underwear?" I asked and grimaced.

"Grow up Bella! They're clean! Besides, do you have anything that would be appropriate to wear for Jacob?" She clucked smugly. She was right and she knew it.

"No," I admitted and then shoved the underwear into my pocket without another glance. "But I'm washing them again before I wear them."

I turned the condoms over in my hand. Printed on each was: X-tra Large. I tucked them in with the underwear, wishing I hadn't seen that. A little too much information about Mike Newton… or whoever Jessica was sleeping with.

"Jess," I said apprehensively, "do you and Mike have sex?" I blushed. Now I was the one digging for information.

"Of course we do," Jessica sighed, "That's why it's so annoying that he doesn't call when he says he will. He's being somewhat of a prick." She stopped and then added "But I'm, like, in love with him. So, you know…" She waved her hand to the side.

Jessica loved Mike even though he was being so horribly obtuse to her. I smiled sympathetically. She wasn't the kindest of people, but Jessica didn't deserve to be strung along by someone she loved either.

"Does it hurt?" I asked, "The first time?"

"Yes. But, if he's gentle, it won't be so bad because you'll be enjoying it too. Just the fact that you're with him feels good."

Jessica grimaced at something and then quickly added "Just tell him to go slow" as she patted my back again.

That wasn't very reassuring.

"So, how do you…start?" I sounded like an idiot, but I couldn't fathom how exactly I was supposed to go from seeing Jacob to… the rest.

"Oh that's easy!" Jessica laughed, "You just touch him. His arm, his chest, his hair. Let your hand linger on him for just a second too long. And make eye contact when you do it. He'll get the idea that something's up. The surest way, is to get him onto the bed, lay him down, and straddle him."

I think my jaw dropped at Jessica's words. Straddle him?

"That way always works for me," Jessica added, "Believe me, when you're on top of him, he's going to know what you want, and he's definitely not going to turn you down."

I was blushing again, picturing myself in Jacob's tiny bedroom and straddling him on the bed. Seduction was far beyond what I had prepared myself to do.

"You know how everything works, right Bella? Where it goes and all that?" Jessica looked at me skeptically. Now she just thought I was plain stupid.

"Yes," I said coolly, "I know that."

Jessica held her hands up in front of her, mocking defense.

"Just checking! Look you're going to be fine. Once he realizes that you're game, he'll just take over for you."

I looked away from her, embarrassed again. Jessica was thankfully unaware that Jacob's a virgin too. I'm his first girlfriend. We're both clueless. As much as I hoped that Jake would do all the dirty work, would he even know what he was doing?

I thought back to the day I had retrieved the motorcycles for Jacob, wondering if he would actually know how to ride them. Then I had decided that he would simply just know. Jacob was good at things like that.

And now I'm depending that he would be good at this.

Jessica sighed loudly—she was losing her patience.

"You don't have to worry about experience, Bella. Things will just happen naturally."

Naturally. The way things should happen. The way things should be. Jacob and I were natural. Or at least, we should be. We were human, a boy and a girl. Childhood friends. This is the natural course of events. The path my life should take. So The Plan would work. Because this is what would be natural for me, if I wasn't dead inside. Doing this was the only way to wake up.

Jessica was staring at me, waiting, but I had nothing left to ask her. So I stood, grabbed the coffee mugs, and placed them into the sink. I was about to plan my retreat to the front door when musical ringing noise came from Jessica's back pocket.

Jessica retrieved her cellphone instantly, checking the caller id and grinning to herself.

I didn't want to intrude on her phone conversation, but I couldn't just leave. I decided to focus my attention on the hem of my hoodie, pretending to study a loose black thread.

"Hey Mike," Jessica answered casually and then beamed at me with a bright smile. I gave her a small thumbs up.

Just ask her out for Valentine's already, I begged internally to Mike.

Jessica listened intently to the other line, her feet tapped happily on the floor as she listened. Yet her voice was cool and collected as she spoke.

"Not much. I'm with friends right now," she answered to Mike.

I lifted my eyebrow at her. Friends? Plural? Last time I checked I was only one person.

Jessica continued to smile and started biting her nails anxiously. I returned to the string from my hoodie and pulled on it.

"Hmm, I guess so. You know, whenever I finish up around here," Jessica said into the phone, then she added "I'll be over a little later. See you then."

She turned to me and caught my eye, then winked. I didn't need any more persuasion than that, Jessica was going to see Mike, and wanted me to leave. And I was more than happy to oblige.

"I'll get going," I said.

"Sure," Jessica said cheerily. She definitely wanted me out.

I stepped through the kitchen doorway and then turned back to her.

"Thanks again. For everything," I said. And meant it. I smiled weakly and walked out front door.

.

.

Phase One of the plan was complete. To my surprise, Jessica had actually been hospitable. And Mike had called her. I hoped he would ask her out for Valentine's Day soon. If he didn't do it today she very well may explode.

The right pocket of my jeans bulged. I was hyper aware of Jessica's underwear and condoms jammed into my pocket. Driving back to Charlie's, it felt as if every driver on the road knew what I was carrying. Attention: Nervous Virgin With Condoms On Board.

I pulled into Charlie's driveway. His cruiser was parked in it already. He was home. Probably sitting in the living room waiting for me to come through the door so he can interrogate me about the motorcycle incident yesterday.

My hand went to my jean pocket. The underwear! The condoms! I poked them in deeper with my finger as I walked through the front door.

"Bella?" Charlie called.

"Yeah Dad, where are you?" I walked into the hallway and saw that he was in the living room watching TV.

Did I even have to ask?

"Bella, we need to talk," Charlie said, hitting the POWER button on the remote. The TV clicked off with a buzz.

"Ok." I sat in the armchair.

"You know about my job," Charlie began, "that I get calls about car accidents and… motorcycle accidents."

"Dad-" I started, but Charlie held up his hand to stop me.

"Let me finish. The car accidents are bad enough. But the worst accidents I have ever seen, the ones with the highest fatality rate, are the motorcycles. They are just plain dangerous. How many times have I said to never, ever ride one? There is no protection from your body and the pavement. Nothing to cover you and take the hit if you crash. When I see those victims, splattered on the road, I am always thankful that it isn't you.

"And then, yesterday at work, Jacob Black barrels into the precinct with you in his arms. You were limp, just draped over him like a sheet. Bleeding." Charlie paused.

I had no idea that Jacob had brought me to Charlie's precinct. Guilt crept up my throat. I felt like I had something lodged in there. I swallowed. It didn't move.

"He was crying, Bells. And you weren't moving. I thought you were dead." Charlie put his hands over his face and rubbed his forehead. His voice went very hard.

"And the first word out of that boy's mouth was "motorcycle". I could have killed him right there. But I had to know if you were okay. We tried waking you up and I saw that you were breathing, so that relaxed me. Then you started screaming." Charlie shook his head, remembering.

I winced. The screaming again. Poor Charlie.

"Some EMT's cleaned you up and I brought you back here. I called Billy to let him know what his son was up to and when he heard you were hurt, he wanted to come over to see you. So Jacob went to pick him up. I'm telling you all of this Bells, because I want you to know that when you do something you think is fun or dangerous, something that could really put you in harm, when you get hurt you're not the only one in pain. Your mother, Jacob, Billy…" he paused and cleared his throat, "…and me. We all suffer too."

I felt terrible. But how could I tell Charlie that my pain- my screaming- wasn't caused by the motorcycle? That it came from hearing a Voice. He would have me admitted somewhere for mental analysis. Depression, nightmares, screams, voices. How much could I put Charlie through?

"Dad… I…" I breathed, unable to make out the words of my apology. The air felt so thick and heavy. The lump in my throat bobbed.

It was definite. My plan had to be carried out, had to work. Not just for me or for Jacob, but for Charlie too. My suffering was worrying him. Hadn't he just said it himself? When I am hurt, I'm not the only one who suffers?

"I'm telling you right now Bells, if I ever hear about you on that motorcycle again, I'm going to dump that thing in First Beach," Charlie threatened.

"Don't worry Dad," I said, "I think I learned my lesson about what reckless behavior gets me."

It gets me a hallucinated Voice in my head, taunting me as a horrid reminder of everything I have lost.

Charlie nodded.

"Jacob called for you while you were out. I gave him the same speech."

"Dad!" I shouted.

"Don't give me that. He needs to hear it. I trust him, you know that. But this is my kid we're talking about here, and I'm not going to have anyone break her again." He darted his eyes to mine, aware of his last words.

"I'm trying not to be broken," I said quietly.

Trying, but not succeeding.

"I know," Charlie sighed.

I stood up without another word and went to the phone, dialing Jake's number.

I had to believe The Plan would work. And I had to trust Jacob. He had breathed life into me once, no matter how small; I had to believe that he could do it again. Stronger, deeper, and completely. He had to bring me back to life.

"Hello?" Jacob answered in his throaty voice.

"Hey," I said. It was time to put Phase Two of the plan into action. This wasn't just about me anymore. Nervously, I thumbed the lump in my pocket.

"Bella! What were you up to today?" Jake asked.

"I was visiting Jessica over at her house." I could hear his confusion, even though he remained silent. Jacob knew my friendship with Jessica was rough around the edges.

"Anyway, Jake, I wanted to ask you something." I said and took a deep breath. This was going to sound so lame.

"Yea, Bells?"

"Would you, uh, would you be my Valentine?"

.

.

a/n: . Please review!