I was surprised and some what disappointed that Jacob had come at that precise moment.
"I came to see you. I called yesterday and Charlie told me you weren't home, so I told him to tell you to call me when you got back. And when you didn't, I got worried," Jacob announced. Though, I realized when he said 'I was worried', he looked towards Edward as if in accusation.
Stepping closer to me, he gave me a hug, right there in front of Edward. His arms were too strong for me to get free from, so I just waited. When he let go, he asked, "What is that smell?" Again it seemed as if he was asking Edward.
"I was about to ask the same question," Edward replied, stepping back, his face hard.
Then, Jacob's eyes widened a bit, realizing something. Without warning, he pulled me close to him.
"I think you should go inside, Bella." It sounded like a demand. His eyes were fixed on Edward.
"Why?" was all I could ask.
"It's pretty slippery, and I don't want you to hurt yourself out here," he explained.
"Oh, right," I said, agreeing. Turning to Edward, I suddenly remembered something. "Oh!" It made both of their heads turn toward me. "I almost forgot to ask you something," I directed this to Jacob. "The Cullens are going to go camping and I'm going to go with them, so"
"What?!" Jacob demanded. "You are certainly not going to go camping with those bl" Stopping himself, he sighed. He looked down at my expression, which I realized must have revealed the surprise of the tone he was using. "I mean, you can't go camping. If you can barely walk a perfectly smooth surface, imagine the forest where there are millions of things on the ground."
"That's why I was going to invite you. And if you don't want to go, I'm still going," I cleared up, defiantly. Smiling in Edward's direction, who was standing calmly about four feet away, I added, "I'll have Edward there to help me."
Edward gave me a small smile, but his jaw was hard.
Jacob, knowing how stubborn I could be sometimes with things, knew he wasn't going to change my mind.
After a moment of thinking, he answered. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather just stay with me? Hiking-not your thing, remember?"
"No, I want to go. So, are you coming or not? It's on Friday, I think. You don't have much to do," I mentioned.
He looked down at me intently with is dark eyes and replied. "Fine, I'll come. Now let's get you inside," he ordered, pushing my back toward the house kind of urgently.
I looked back to see Edward staring after us. It almost looked as if he were ready to jump after us. I gave him a weak smile. I still regretted Jacob having to come at that precise moment. But I would be able to spend some time with him later on.
I didn't see Edward leave because Jacob's big body was in the way, but I heard as his Volvo accelerated away in a short matter of seconds.
I unlocked the door and went inside. Jacob followed silently behind me. Were boys usually this awkward sometimes? Jacob went to take a seat while I went to call Charlie to tell him I was home. When I hung up, I walked to the living room and sat besides Jacob.
"Who was that?" he asked, referring to Edward.
"Edward Cullen."
"Why was he here?"
"Why are you interrogating me?" I demanded.
He looked away, ashamed.
"He followed me home," I answered.
Jacob's face turned quickly to me.
"Did he hurt you?" Weirdly enough, his left hand came up to my neck. He analyzed it until I blushed and pulled away.
"Why would you ask that? He was following me home because I stayed over at the Cullens' last night when it was raining. He was making sure I got home alright."
"Are you sure it was only that? You two seemed pretty comfortable when I came."
I scowled at him.
"Jacob Black…we…he was just…nothing happened. He was just saying goodbye," I defended.
He smirked. "Can I say goodbye, too?" he asked. Without waiting for a response, he leaned his face closer to mine. I cringed back.
"Jake, what are you doing? It's not funny, he really was just…" He was about to tell me something.
"Just what?" His eyes were frozen on mine and his face was near enough so that I was able to feel his hot breath on my face.
Irritated by his little game, I tried to get away from him, but I only succeeded in falling to the ground, off the sofa. He had a shocked expression for a second before starting to laugh like a maniac. Glaring at him, I watched as he lay on the sofa, trying to calm his laughter, but not succeeding.
I got up and was about to storm off when Jacob grabbed me by the waist and brought me down on top of him.
"Let go! You've made enough fun of me for one day. Go home!" I yelled, wiggling around.
He held me down on his chest and I noticed how hot it was.
My hair fell past my face, down onto his. He had stopped laughing and was now looking at me seriously. He put his hand on my cheek, moving the hair out of his face.
"Bella," he began. "I need to tell you something."
I stared at him, unmoving.
"I" But before he could say anything else, the phone started to ring. I looked up, frightened by the sudden sound. Jacob didn't loosen his grip.
"I have to get the phone. What if it's Charlie?" I asked.
"It's not Charlie. Has he ever called during the day?" He had a point.
"I still have to go see who it is. It could still be important," I arguedSighing heavily, he let me up. I almost ran to it, but when I got to the phone it had stopped ringing. I turned to Jacob, who had followed me.
"It might have been important, but now I guess I'll never know," I accused.
"At least I'll be able to tell you what I have to tell you now," he declared.
I groaned.
"What is there for you to tell me then?" I asked.
He looked around for a second and then said, "Lets take a walk."
The ground was damp and muddy, and the sun was hidden behind the dark gray clouds in the sky. I walked along side Jacob toward the trees behind the house.
I stopped suddenly as we were hidden in green.
"Yes?" I said.
He faced me.
"Bella, I…well…I don't know how to say this exactly." He ran his hand through his long dark hair. "Can I show you?"
I got a feeling I didn't want him to show me. What could it be?
"I guess, yeah." No, I'm not sure.
He stepped forward. I almost stepped backwards, but decided against it. I didn't want him thinking I was scared of him or something? Did I?
Grabbing the back of my neck, he bent his head down.
"Jacob," I gasped, realizing his intentions.
His lips were no more than a centimeter away when someone called my name.
"Bella." It came again, and I recognized the caller's voice.
Jacob raised his head, listening, too. Then, he sniffed the air, which was weird of him.
I opened my mouth to call out to Edward, but Jacob put is hand over my mouth.
"Why do they always ruin everything," he muttered to himself. They who? I asked myself. "Sorry, Bella. Could you tell him to leave?"
I raised my eyebrows and then I shook my head.
"I still have to tell you something," he said, and at the same time, Edward appeared.
"Get away from her, dog," Edward ordered in a low, menacing voice.
"She's safer with me than with you. I thought you should know that by now," Jacob replied, huskily.
I still had Jacob's hand over my mouth, so I started to move around. Edward reached for me, not taking his eyes off Jacob. Neither looked away, but Jacob tightened his grip on my arm, now.
"Jake, please let go," I said, breathlessly.
"Not while he's still around," he replied.
I shook my head. "You two barely met each other, and you are fighting verbally already. What's next, a fight right here? I don't think so. I don't see what you are fighting over, so I am going to pretend like it never happened. We have a camping trip on Friday, and I don't want either of you to have a bad time."
"I don't think a camping trip is such a good idea anymore," Edward explained calmly.
"Of course it is, and now more than ever- so you two can get to know each other better," I suggested. "Now, what were you fighting over?"
They both looked at me as if I had missed something important.
Oh!
My eyes widened.
"Yeah, I am just going to pretend none of this happened," I said.
After I led them back to where they had their cars and saw them off, I was glad I would have some time to think. I went inside and went up to my room to lie on the bed. I looked up at the ceiling. Tomorrow would be another day, and without realizing how fast time was going to go by, I closed my eyes and my mind floated away.
And in my mind I asked myself why Edward and Jacob had been acting so strangely. What were the things they had had to tell me?