Chapter Eight

Ecosystems

I came back to the present, when Jake pulled into my driveway. The trip had been too short, and we hadn't really talked that much, even though volumes had been spoken silently. But we had enjoyed each other's company and held each other's hands. It was just ashamed that I had to let Jake's go.

"Well, I guess this is it," I said quietly, looking down at our clasped hands.

"Yeah. Um, do you mind if I walk you in? I can say hello to Charlie and let him know that you're okay," Jake asked, seeming concerned.

"Sure, but I'm okay."

"Come on. I'd just feel better if he knows I got you home safely," Jake said, as he got out of the car.

He came around and offered his hand as I was climbing out of the car, then he pulled me close and looked down into my eyes.

"I said I'm okay, Jake. Really," I said, looking back up at him.

He didn't even need to ask. I knew exactly what he was thinking. He smiled at the realization that we were on the same wave length, then pulled me gently toward the house. Jake opened the door, saying, "knock, knock. Charlie, it's us."

"Hey, Jake. What's going on?" Charlie asked as he came to greet us at the door.

"I just wanted to let you know I brought Bella home and that my friend Embry is driving her truck up. He and Quil Ateara should be here shortly. Bella was a bit upset and I didn't want her to drive home alone," Jake said, as he watched Charlie for a reaction.

"So what happened? Bella, Jake, either of you care to share?" Charlie asked, putting one hand on his hip right where his gun usually hung when he had on his rig.

Jake looked at me, and I at him, then we both said, "well," at the same time. We laughed uncomfortably and I looked down at the floor, but then I heard Jake began to speak so I looked back up at him.

"Well, Bella made cookies for me as a thank you for working on her truck. I was at the store, so she drove down to pick me up when she had a little run in with Sam Uley. But I think I've straightened everything out. I don't think there will be any more trouble."

Charlie looked at me, then back at Jake.

"Bella. What do you have to say about this?"

"I'm fine and Jake did as he said. Besides, Sam apologized and it was just a misunderstanding. That's all," I said, looking away from him.

"Well, Jake if you say you took care of it...."

"Yeah Charlie," he said, nodding.

"Okay, well, do you want to come in?" he asked, looking at Jake.

"The guys should be here any minute with Bella's truck, so we'll just wait outside if that's okay?" Jake said, looking in my direction, so I nodded.

"Sure," Charlie replied as he went back to the recliner to resume his nightly television watching.

Jake took my hand and we walked outside. He sat down on the edge of the porch and pulled me down beside him. My mind was trailing back over the things that had happened earlier when Jake spoke up, "it was really good to see you again today, even if it wasn't under the most pleasant circumstance," he said, looking over at me.

"Yeah. I hope you liked the cookies," I whispered.

"They were great, but seeing you was the best part. Bella, um, would you....."

Jake was just about to ask me something, when the guys pulled up in my truck. They both had a look of concern on their faces as the parked and got out.

"Bella, Jake," Quil said, as he nodded an acknowledgment to us both.

"Hey Bella. Nice to see you again. Jake, what's up?" Embry said, handing the keys to my truck to me.

"I'll fill you guys in on the way back home," Jake said, as he stood up.

"Thanks for bringing my truck home guys. I really appreciate it," I said, as I too stood up.

"Well Bella, we better be getting back. I'll call you later to check in," Jake said, as he gave me a quick hug, then turned toward Quil and Embry.

They both smiled and looked like they had been let in on some big secret, before waiving and going to get in Jake's car. I waived back and told them all goodbye, feeling like there was something different between Jake and I for the first time as I watched them drive away.

That night I was just about to climb in bed, when the phone rang and my dad called me downstairs to take the call.

"Hello. Hi Jake. No I'm fine. I was just getting ready for bed. Okay. Sweet dreams to you too. Night," I couldn't help but smile at the idea of Jake calling to check in on me.

I lay in bed and went back over the afternoon and the conversations with Sam, Jake and Billy. I had no idea what Sam was so uptight about. As far as I was concerned, I was as safe, if not safer, in La Push then I was in Forks. I knew that Jake would never let anything happen to me.

Then I remembered again what Jake had told him and how when I had wanted to know what exactly Jake had meant. He told me not to worry about it right now. I had so many questions, but the answers didn't seem to readily fall into place and sleep clouded my thought process.

It was finally Friday and my day seemed to creep by at an unusually slow pace. I wasn't sure if it was because I was uncertain about where I stood going back to La Push, the strange things Sam had said to me, or the fact that I had not excuse for going to see Jake that day. But regardless, I pressed on and made the most of the day, knowing that at least I would get to see Jake tomorrow, if nothing else.

When school was finally over, I gathered my things and walked to my truck with a heaviness about me. I had been so used to going to see Jake, but today I just felt lost. I drove home, not really even thinking, just letting my truck lead the way.

I got everything together and put it all in a pot for the beef stew I was making for dinner, then I pulled out my homework, not that I had much, but I didn't want to have to worry about it over the weekend.

By the time Charlie got home, the stew was ready, and my homework was finished. We ate almost the entire meal in silence, until my dad finally asked what was wrong.

"Oh, nothing," I said, as I began clearing the table.

"Bells. I think I know what's wrong. I think you are missing Jake," he said, and I turned to look at him.

"Dad. You don't know everything you know," was all I came up with, but I knew he was right.

I had just climbed out of the shower, when I heard the phone ringing. I hurried and got dressed in my sleep clothes, then stepped out into the hallway.

"Bella. Are you out of the shower?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Then you have a phone call," my dad called up the stairs.

I went down to the living room and retrieved the cordless telephone. Jake had called to talk and honestly when I heard his voice on the other end, I had so many emotions running through me, but the one that meant the most was the comfort of hearing his voice.

We talked for over an hour about our day, about the car Jake was to work on this weekend, them coming over for dinner tomorrow, and anything else the popped into our minds. I felt relieved after I hung up, and went upstairs to lay across my bed and read The Quileute book.

I thumbed through the book, which was now becoming familiarly worn, looking for something, but I wasn't sure what it was. The thumbing kept bringing me back to the legend of the wolf so I read and re read that part until I fell asleep.

That night I dreamed again of the great wolf coming to me in the mist. Then he disappeared and I felt lost without him again. I sat up in my bed, and got up to walk around for a moment. I felt like I needed to remember something or know something, but I couldn't figure it out but I was so exhausted that I climbed back into bed and fell back to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and the first thing on my mind, was the smile that Jake always gave me. I lay in my bed, pulling the covers up to my chin as I lazily remembered how bright Jake's smile was and how it warmed me.

I finally got up about an hour later and got busy around the house. I vacuumed, dusted, and worked on the coleslaw for dinner, along with making a coconut cream pie. This passed the day for me and when I finally sat down for a moment, I realized how late it was getting.

It was almost three o'clock, so I went upstairs and changed clothes. After all, I wanted to look fresh when Jake and Billy got there. Then I went back downstairs and checked the coleslaw that I had prepared earlier and left in the fridge to marinate. It needed a pinch more sugar, so once I added it, it went to the living room to wait.

It wasn't long before I heard the sound of Jake's car and I jumped up and went to the back door to tell Charlie. He was busy getting the fish fryer ready in the back yard. He told me to have Billy come on back to the back porch.

I made it back to the front door and opened it just as Jake was about to knock.

"Hey, glad you guys could make it. Come on in," I said, moving to the side, so Jake could wheel Billy into the living room.

"My dad's out back working with the fish fryer, he want's you to come out to the porch Billy. I'm going to go mix up the hush puppy batter," I said, and watched as Billy took off down the hall.

"I know the way, you two go talk. Charlie and I have to work out the terms of our wager on the game for later," he said with a laugh.

That left Jake and I standing there. Granted it had only been a day and a half since we had seen each other, but I thought it might as well have been a week or more. I was standing there smiling uncomfortably, with my hands in my back pockets, rocking back and forth on my heels, feeling sort of lost, not knowing exactly what to say, then I remembered the hush puppies.

"Well, you want to go help me make the batter for the hush puppies?" I asked, as I walked past Jake.

But he caught me by the arm, and held firm, turning me around to face him.

"We haven't even really said hello."

Then before I knew it, he had scooped me up in his arms and was giving me a bear hug, with the bag of what I assumed was fish fry dangling at my back. Finally, it felt right again. I let out a heavy breath and heard him inhale as his face buried deep in my hair, "mmm you smell good. I'd almost forgotten how good," he whispered, and I felt a shiver run up my spine as his warm breath caressed the side of my neck.

He lowered me back down, and I sort of stumbled backward, causing him to reach out and grab me, placing his hand on my lower back as he steadied me.

"Hi," I said in true Bella fashion, feeling awkward and knowing that my face was nine shades of red.

"Hi," he said, giving me that Jake smile that made me feel so good.

We walked into the kitchen, he placed the bag on the table while I got out the mix, milk, an onion, some garlic salt, and a chopping board placing them on the counter, as he came to stand beside me, leaning down on one elbow to watch what I was doing.

"So, what have you been up to the last day or so? I've....mi....missed you," I said under my breath, as I started peeling the onion, not wanting to make eye contact with him yet.

"Not much. Some friends and I went for a ride last night. I had two girls in front with me and Quil, Embry, and two others were crammed in the back. My Rabbit was loaded. You should have seen it. It was.....Bella, are you okay?" he asked, coming to grab my hand and pull me to the sink, where he began washing the blood away, where I had just slipped and cut my finger.

I felt my knees getting weak and knew that they were about to buckle, so I leaned over almost into the sink.

"Bella, I was just kidding. I didn't mean for you to hurt yourself. Here, let me get you a wet paper towel. You don't look so good."

I hadn't really heard what he said, but I felt better when a cold paper towel was plastered to my forehead. Then I was being ushered into a chair, and he was wrapping another paper towel around my finger.

He sat down in another chair that he had pulled up in front of me, and applied direct pressure to my finger with one hand and pulled my face up to look at him with the other.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just slipped. The knife just slipped that's all," I replied feebly.

"Did you hear what I said? I was just kidding you. Don't you remember the promise I made you the other day? I didn't have anyone in my car except Quil and Embry and we just went down to the pier to fish. That's all. I was just seeing what you would say. It wasn't very funny, was it?"

I shook my head, still trying to clear the red haze out, and trying to get some fresh air.

"Where's your band aid stash? I know you have to keep some around here somewhere?"

"Um, upstairs in the bathroom in the cabinet under the sink," I said, trying to breathe normally.

He was up and bounding out of the room with those long legs of his and back in no time. He took my hand carefully and tucked it under his arm, blocking my view while he cleaned it and placed a bandage over the cut. Then he let go and kissed my finger.

"There, good as new. I'm sorry. I'll try not to let my mischievous side get the best of me again, especially where you're concerned," he said, looking down at me.

"It's okay. I just don't do blood very well."

"I know, I know. Well, now where were we? You were about to chop the onion. I guess I will have to do it, now that you are wounded," he said, getting up and making his way back to the cabinet.

"No, I have it."

"No, you just sit right there and I'll do it," he said, holding up a hand to stop me.

He took the knife, washed it off, washed his hands, and went to the cutting board. He handled the knife beautifully and I was amazed at how skilled he was with his hands, even chopping an onion. When he had finished, he said, "there. Is that fine enough?" as he looked up at me.

I got up, having fully recovered, and walked over to the cabinet.

"Oh yes, fine, just fine," I said, but I think my thoughts were on something other than the onion.

I proceeded then to mix up the batter, adding a dash or two of garlic salt, then stirred in the onions. Once the batter was ready, I placed it in the refrigerator, and took the bag of fish fry Billy had brought and poured some into a bowl.

"I guess we need to see if they are ready for the fish yet," I said, as I started walking out of the kitchen and down the hall with Jake was right on my heals.

"Hey Charlie, thanks for having us over, he called to my dad as we stepped onto the back porch.

"Glad to have you guys, and I know Bells is," my dad said, giving me a great big dad telling a secret sort of smile.

I just blushed and looked down at the floorboards, fidgeting with my hands behind my back. Jake surprised me by moving closer and wrapping his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close in a playful sort of way, "yeah, she wouldn't admit it, but I think she likes having us around. Don't you Bella?"

"Sure I do," I said, bumping him with my hip, but it didn't phase him, he just laughed and held me tighter.

"I think she came to ask you if you were ready for the fish yet Charlie?" Jake said, trying to fill in where I was obviously lacking in conversation.

"Yeah, I think were about ready. Now Bells, remember what I told you about sprinkling just a dash of water on the fish before dropping it into the mix, then put the pieces on a dry plate and bring them out. The grease is just about ready. Then we'll fry the hush puppies and french fries. I hope you guys are hungry?" Charlie asked, looking around at everyone.

"You know I am," Jake laughed, rubbing his stomach.

So he and I went back into the house and started getting the fish ready. Jake and I made an assembly line of sorts. He would hand me the fish and I would roll it in the mix. This process we repeated until all ten pounds of fish had been coated.

"This stuff smells sort of spicy. Is it good?" I questioned, washing my hands in the sink.

"Heck yeah it's good. Harry sells this stuff every year at the Quileute Days Festival and makes a killing. He won't give it out to anyone during the year, except to my dad, but that's because they always go fishing together. You'll like it. I promise," Jake said, tapping his finger on my nose.

"Ew, you haven't washed your hands yet. Now I smell like a big fish," I said, going to the sink to scrub my nose with lemon-scented soap.

His laughter filled the kitchen and it made me want to laugh. It was so nice to spend time with him again, even if it had only been a day or so since we last were together.

Jake took the fish to my dad, while I stirred the home made coleslaw that I had been marinating in the refrigerator. I was just taking a sample bite, when Jake came back into the kitchen.

"Hey, no fair. I'm starving over here and you're getting to sample the food?" he said with a fake pout.

"Sorry. It's a cook's thing. You get to taste stuff before you serve it to make sure it's good."

"I want a bite," he said, looking at me with pleading, innocent, eyes.

"Okay, grab a spoon from the drawer there," I said pointing to the drawer behind him.

But he didn't comply. Instead, he came over and took my hand, dipping the spoon I had just used back into the small bowl of slaw I had scooped out. He filled the spoon full and brought it slowly to his mouth, with my hand still attached to the spoon.

I had a new round of butterflies taking flight in my stomach and I know I've never felt anything like this before. Ever. Not even at the auto part's store when I thought how Jake was planning out each of my trips back to him.

After taking the slaw off of the spoon, he slipped it out of his mouth but held onto my hand as he brought it down in front of us. I just stared, probably with my mouth hanging open and what he had just done, and watched as he carefully chewed his sample.

"Oh, Bella, that was wonderful," he whispered, and I thought to myself that I would never be able to look at coleslaw the same way again, maybe not ever, without feeling those butterflies. "You really are a wonderful cook. Do you know that?" he asked.

"Thanks," I said in a whisper, still staring at his lips.

I had to snap out of it though when my dad started calling for us to bring out the hush puppy mix and the fries. I got them out of the refrigerator and freezer and Jake helped me carry them out back. We brought the fish back so we could put in the oven to keep it warm while the other things cooked, but I saw Jake snitch a piece before he slid onto the oven rack.

He looked up at me like he'd been caught, and broke his piece in half, holding the other up to me as a bribe. I smiled and reached for the piece, but he pulled it back and shook his head "no." I thought he wanted to share, now, but I was hurt. But his intentions were known in the next few seconds as he brought the piece of fish up to my lips and held it there. He wanted to feed it to me.

I blushed and smiled at the same time, and as my lips parted slightly, he started pushing the fish into my mouth. I had to open up, or he would have gotten it all over me. So, I stood there and let him fed me the piece of fish. And again, I though that I'd never look at fried fish again without it bringing a smile to my face.

"Mmm, it is good," I said, as the flavor mingled in my mouth.

"It sure is," Jake said, drawing out the word sure a little longer than should be expected, and he was now smiling with a glow of confidence on his face.

I got the plates ready, still smiling to myself at Jake's silly antics, and withing a few minutes we were all seated around our dinning room table, enjoying some of the best fish, coleslaw, and hush puppies I had ever eaten in my life. Whether it was the company, the fact that the majority of the meal was cooked outside, or Harry's secret ingredients in the fish fry, I'm not sure, but I smiled as I thought that it might be the first on my list and when I looked up Jake was smiling too.

I'm not sure how they did it, but all ten pounds of fish was eaten, along with everything else. As I got up to start clearing things away, I remembered the coconut cream pie I had made, "I don't know where anyone would put it, but I made a coconut cream pie for dessert, if anyone's interested," I said looking around the room at the stuffed bodies before me.

"Bells, I think I'm gonna wait a little while on mine," Charlie said, as he got up and came to kiss me on the cheek, "thanks for everything though, it was all good."

"Bella, I think I'll have to pass right now too. I'm stuffed," Billy said, as he rubbed his stomach.

"That's okay Bella. I'll just have two slices then, and make up for them not having any," Jake announced and I about fell over.

"Where on earth will you put it Jacob Black?" I asked looking at him like he was crazy.

"What? I'm a growing young man. I need all the energy I can get. Besides, I would never turn down a woman and her pie," he said, winking at me while he leaned back in his chair, and laced his hands behind his head.

"Well, you two eat all the pie you want, but Billy and I are going to the living room to retire for the evening. No, I take that back. You better not eat all of it Jake. Billy and I will want a piece in about an hour," Charlie said laughing as he pushed Billy into the next room.

So I sliced Jake two large pieces of pie, sat them in front of him, and began cleaning the kitchen. I was washing the dishes when I heard Jake exclaiming his approval of the pie, "this is wonderful. I don't think I've ever had a homemade coconut cream pie. We just buy the frozen type, if we get one," Jake said, and I turned to see him smiling as another bite went into his mouth.

"Thanks Jake. I'm glad you like it."

I was washing the last of the dishes, when I felt him standing beside me.

"Aren't you going to have any?"

"No, I think I'll wait too. I ate too much," I said, as I rinsed my hands.

"Will you have my last bite then? Just this one little bite?" Jake asked, as he moved the fork up to my mouth.

I looked at him from under my lashes and I could feel the blush rising in my cheeks, but I slowly opened my mouth as he fed me the last bite of his pie. It was good pie, and Jake was so sweet, that if I hadn't really concentrated, I think I might have let out a moan, but instead, I took the plate and fork from him, washed and rinsed them, then placed them in the drainer and dried off my hands.

We went upstairs to my room, while our dad's took their places in front of the television. I asked Jake if he wanted to watch the game, but he insisted on spending time away from the yelling groupies.

"So what have you been up to the past couple of days?" he asked looking around my room.

"Not much, just homework and housework, the usual stuff."

"Um, speaking of homework. I don't suppose you have any ideas for identifying ecosystems, do you?" he asked, looking at me with a hopeful plea.

"Is that your project that is due Monday?"

He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well have you chosen one yet? An ecosystem?"

"Not exactly, I just couldn't think of anything interesting. None of the examples the teacher gave caught my eye."

"Well, let's just think of what we have around here. There's the ocean, or what about the forest? Yeah the forest," I said, getting excited and jumping up motioning for him to come with me.

"I guess I waited too late to talk about this. It's already getting dark. We wouldn't be able to see anything right now."

"Come on silly. This will make it more interesting. We will use our ears instead of our eyes. Come on," I said, tugging him by the hand.

So we crept downstairs, being careful not to disturb our dads. Not that we would need permission to go outside or anything, but this made it more fun, and went out the back door. Jake took my hand as we walked to the edge of the forest and stopped.

"Okay. Let's just sit down here, and we will let nature talk to us," I said, as I sat down on the soft cool grass. We were fortunate that it hadn't been raining for a few days, so the ground itself was dry.

Jake plopped down beside me and let his arms drape loosely over his knees that were bent up in the shape of an "a," and I pulled my knees up under my chin.

"Okay. Now what?" Jake asked.

"Let's see. If you use the forest as your subject, let's listen to what might be out there. Jake, close your eyes and tell me what you hear?"

He did as I suggested, but I kept my eyes open. I wanted to watch him. There was a full moon out and it shown down on us and his features were illuminated in the bright moonlight. His jaw clenched as he seemed to be thinking about something, then he relaxed and started talking.

"I hear the crickets and frogs," he said.

"Hum, what else?" I asked absent mindedly, as I contemplated reaching out to remove the leather string that held his soft black hair in place.

He went on to name a few other creatures that he heard and I was so absorbed in looking at him, that I apparently didn't hear him ask me a question, so he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at me. He caught me staring at him red handed. My face must have been so red but I quickly looked away, hoping that he couldn't tell in the moonlight.

"Okay. It's your turn," he said softly.

Well at least it was my escape from feeling guilty that I had been staring at him. So I nodded, closed my eyes, and leaned back placing my palms on the ground beside me, slightly lifting my head in the air, so I could listen more carefully.

"Mmm, I hear an owl. Do you hear it, Jake?"

"Uh huh, I hear it," he said, very softly this time.

"I can faintly hear the river bubbling over the rocks. So there is the water source for your ecosystem. I can also hear what sounds like a squirrel," I said laughing, "hear that chattering sound?"

"What else Bella? Tell me everything you hear," Jake said, so I listened, and a few seconds passed, maybe even a minute or two.

"I um, I hear breathing," I said as I opened my eyes.

He was right there. His face inches from mine. His breath was warm as it touched my face. Should I pull away, I thought? What's he doing? Was he going to ki....kiss me? I wasn't entirely afraid of being this close. We had touched, and held hands, and embraced on more than one occasion. We had even been almost this close that day at the beach, but there was something different about now, and I felt something stir inside of me.

My heart was racing like when you're on a roller coaster going down the long drop at the top and my stomach felt the same, like when it drops and you think you left it at the top. What was he doing to me? Why was I feeling this way?

I didn't move. I just sat there waiting to see what happened. It was obvious he was testing the waters to see if I would pull away, or if I was going to tell him no, but I wasn't. I realized that I wanted him to kiss me more than anything. I wanted to know what he felt like.

Almost instinctually, I reached up and pulled the leather string, letting his hair fall down his back and over his shoulder. He moved a bit closer and looked from my eyes to my lips, then back again, and then I felt him as I closed my eyes.

The most incredible feeling washed over me, as his soft, full lips touched mine. He was so warm. I never knew kissing someone could make you feel so warm. My only other kisses had been with Edward and even the thought of his lips on mine made me shiver. I felt sad, but only for a moment, as I thought of what I had been missing, then I pressed my lips a little closer to Jake's.

As I did though, he leaned against me, and moved his hand to the back of my head, and we went down, down against the cool dew lined grass, with his hand as a barrier between my head and the earth.

His lips moved with slow precision over mine and I was eager to return the movements. I let one hand rest against his firm chest, and the other I let venture up to his hair that was falling like a black satin drape all around us. I felt of his ear through his silk like strands and I thought he made a faint sound, but I wasn't sure.

He moved his free hand up to gently caress my cheek as he expanded our kiss, opening his lips slightly to pull playfully at mine. As he pulled back slowly, I opened one eye and looked up at him. I was checking to make sure this was real and not some dream that I didn't want to wake up from. And there he was, smiling down at me, with that smile. I'd never be able to look at that smile of his again without remembering this night.

But our moment of discovering each other was disturbed by the lonely howl of a wolf in the distance, and it bothered Jake.

"Maybe we should go back inside, Bella," he spoke softly against my lips.

"Um, sure," I said, not wanting to lose the closeness we had just shared.

So he got up and reached back down offering me his hand. I took it and he pulled me up so I was standing in front of him. He still held my hand to his chest between us, and I wanted to say something, but I couldn't make the words come out.

He ran his hand over my hair, brushing it off, then we started back toward the house. We walked quietly in through the back door and Jake motioned for us to go back upstairs. When my door was closed behind us, he let go of my hand and went over to my bed, setting down on the edge.

"So," he said looking up at me.

I think he was worried that what had just happened was too soon. I mean, after all, I was still having my bad days, even though they were getting fewer.

"So," I said, going over to my bed and sitting down at the head, so I could turn and look at him.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"Mm uh," I managed to choke out.