Chapter 12: A Leap in the Dark

Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns Twilight

This chapter is dedicated to my faithful reviewer and banner creator, Peyton Marie James. This one's for you, kid.

I didn't worry about keeping to the trees. Luckily, there was no moon that night. Who—except for those crazy enough to be out here so late—would notice the blur of russet fur streaking by? I launched myself ever faster to Bella, and made it outside her bedroom window in 10 minutes flat. Would she be upset with me for harassing her like this? Too late to stop now—my mind was made up. I had to see her, and I couldn't relax until I did.

Sometimes I amazed myself. Here I was, totally exhausted. I had run all the way from La Push and I didn't even know what the hell I was gonna say to her. Could anything be any more idiotic? Smooth, Jake— real smooth.

I peered up at her window. Damn, the stupid thing was closed. Then a sickening thought wormed its way into my brain. Was Sparky in her room right now, filling her head with his sugar coated lies?

Jeez, there I go again. Why do I always do this to myself? I was a nice guy, wasn't I? Sort of beautiful too; at least that's what she once told me. And hot—phew! I was hotter than an Arizona sidewalk in the middle of August. Then why did Edward freakin' Cullen intimidate me like he did?

Whoa, wait a minute, was that his nasty odor that was wafting my way? Nah, it was my imagination playing tricks on me. It was just leftover stench from our close encounter of this afternoon, wasn't it? It seemed a little too strong though.

Just about then, the window flew open, and white lightening spewed out of the casement racing into the night. My hackles rose as I sensed the presence of that miserable leech. Should I follow him or check on Bella? Right, Bella was more important.

Man, I'd love to finish the job I started today, but I didn't want to put myself on even footing with that giant louse. I needed to phase back, and Sparky's presence made it difficult. I would begin to transform back and then vibrate again. Damn, him. Why did he have to be here?

It took me another good ten minutes—ten solid minutes I could be spending with my girl—to finally hold it together. Thank you, Edward! #%##**

When I decided I wouldn't be going wolf again, I pulled on my shorts. Bending over, I searched the ground for something to tap on her window with. I picked up a handful of pine twigs and chucked one of them at the window. It made a scraping noise, but didn't get me the response I wanted. The second one sailed through the air—bulls eye. Still no response. Crap, was she in the bathroom or what? The third missile reached its target, and yet, Bella hadn't made it to the window sill. I wondered if Romeo had this much trouble.

This was getting ridiculous. I buckled Charlie's belt around my waist and climbed up the tree outside her bedroom. I peeked in. Geesh, the things we guys have to go through . . .

What the . . .? Was she asleep? Edward was in her room while she was sleeping? That was so creepy—but then, vampires in general were pretty creepy; and believe me, he was definitely no exception. Made my skin crawl—ugh!

She looked absolutely beautiful, making my heart stop in my chest. I was so taken with the vision of my angel that I nearly lost my hold on the branch I was clinging to. Her hair was strewn about, with all those soft mahogany waves lying across her pillow. One long gorgeous leg was tantalizingly visible, uncovered by the sheet, and her pink lips were parted innocently. I licked my own lips at the sight of them. Maybe I couldn't blame Eddie after all.

I shook my head to clear it. C'mon, Jake, you need to focus. I didn't come here just to stare at her all night, although I couldn't think of a better way to spend an evening. But hanging from a tree branch, not so much . . .

"Bells, can you hear me?" I tried to keep the sound low so as not to wake up the chief, but jeez, I hoped she at least would hear my voice. I said it again, this time a little louder. Oh, hell, she turned over, away from me.

"I need to talk to you, honey. Please . . . can you open your eyes for me?"

Bella began to stir. She turned over again, the sheets getting tangled as she did so. All at once, her dark eyelashes fluttered and my favorite brand of chocolate circles blinked at me, then popped open in surprise. Her head jerked, and the covers immediately went flying to the foot of the bed. Her bare feet trotted to the window, and she leaned out the sill.

"What in the world are you doing in that tree? Are you crazy? You're going to kill yourself."

"I'll get to that. But first, you need to get out of the way, and you better hurry. This branch isn't going to hold me up here forever, and I don't relish another bruised butt cheek."

Bella moved aside, and I catapulted myself through the window and into her room. Unfortunately, I overestimated how much force I needed and so landed on her bed.

I was unbuckling the belt when Bella stopped by the edge of the mattress. "What is this? Did you think you could come here and get lucky all of a sudden?"

It dawned on me that this situation might actually look a bit compromising. There I was sitting on her bed . . . unbuckling . . . my belt. Oops.

Bella placed her hands on her hips. She was a little riled, I guess. "You can just forget it, Jake. What are you doing here anyway?"

Think, Jake, think! I . . . uh . . . came to return Charlie's belt." I handed the strip of leather to her.

Her eyes narrowed in disbelief, as she gazed at the belt in her hand. "A-two-o'clock-in-the-morning. You can do better than that—and you better if you know what's good for you."

Okay, Jake, come clean. I ran my hand through my hair—nerves, I guess. "You've made a crazy person out of me, Bells."

She nodded her head in agreement. "I can see that." She placed the belt on her rocking chair.

I could sense that she was holding back a smile, because her mouth kept twitching.

"Oh, hell, I . . . I couldn't sleep. I couldn't even relax. My heart kept thumping around in my chest like a stampeding elephant. I had to see you. I'm still . . . I don't know . . . I . . . I guess I'm scared to death that you'll go back to Edward and leave me again."

Bella cocked her head to one side, listening intently to what I was saying.

"I don't know what's worse, making myself crazy competing with Edward for your love, or making myself even more crazy worrying that now I'll lose you. Either way, that still makes me crazy. Maybe I should be locked up. I feel all this tension inside of me like I'm a wound up spring ready to pop. Maybe if I look hard enough I could find a drug out there that can cure me."

Lifting my head, I spied those melted chocolate pools gazing straight into my heart, giving me the strength to go on.

"But then when I'm with you, holding you in my arms, I want to stay crazy. I want to dump the freakin' cure down the toilet." Burying my face in my hands, I apologized for my insanity. "God, I'm sorry. I'm such a mess right now. And yet, here I am babbling away, keeping you awake in the middle of the night.

"Sometimes I wish that I had never met you, but jeez, look what I would've missed? I'd never have experienced this intense feeling. I don't know if I would ever find someone who knows me and loves me like you do. If you left me now, I wouldn't be able to take it, not after what's happened between us. You wouldn't do that to me, would you?

A single crystal drop slid down my cheek. Damn, there they were; the tears I was trying to keep inside. Somehow, someway, they managed to sneak out of my tear ducts. It was useless to hold them back any longer. I hoped she wouldn't think less of me for being such a crybaby.

If Bella noticed, she didn't let on. Instead, she sat beside me and held my hand. "You know what a bad liar I am. I told you that I loved you, didn't I? Why can't you believe that? It was and is the truth. I could never go back to Edward. I've been soul searching and now I'm seeing things more clearly. I'm so happy when I'm with you—maybe not at two AM though." She smiled at me. "Nothing can stop me from loving you, especially not a possessive vampire."

My jaw clenched at her last words. The vision of him standing in her room spying on her while she slept played in my head.

Bella reached out and placed her hand on my cheek. "What is it?" she asked.

I let go of the air I'd been holding, and rubbed a finger over my chin. Should I tell her? Hell, yeah. "Before I came into your room, I saw Edward leaving. Did you know he was here?"

She stiffened. "Are you saying he was here, in my room?" Her pink lips formed a perfect 'O'.

I nodded. "Yeah, and when I showed up, he flew out the window and booked it back to his castle."

Her head shook in amazement. "He was here . . . while I was sleeping? Oh my gosh, that's so—"

"Creepy, yeah, I know!"

Bella stood up, and started pacing back and forth. "He used to stay here at night and watch me sleep, but that was when I invited him. This is like . . . breaking and entering. Come to think of it—it is breaking and entering!"

Bella began rubbing her hands over her arms—goose bumps? Were they freaked out goose bumps or the result of the fact that it actually was pretty cold in her room? She walked over to the window and closed it, shutting out the cool air.

I looked at her rather sheepishly. "Maybe you should get back under the covers. I could get in next to you and be your personal space heater. 108.9 degrees, remember?"

"I think I'll take you up on that; I'm freezing."

She dove under the covers, piling them up around her ears. I gleefully slipped in beside her, my arm winding around her shoulders. I yanked the blankets down slightly and pressed my warm cheek against hers, banishing the cold and letting my heat seep into her skin.

"Ooooh—that feels so good," she moaned.

I stroked her arm gently and left my lip print at her neck. "I can think of something that would feel even better—"

Bella quipped, "Red light!"

She hesitated for a moment. I wondered what she was thinking. "Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm worried about you climbing that tree, and phasing and all that. Why do you take such chances? I seriously thought I was going to faint when I spotted you hanging from that pine bough. Are you sure your collar bone's healed all right. I wouldn't be able to stand seeing you in pain again."

I ginned to myself. I really think she loves me. "Hey, it's morning. I told you I'd be fine by morning. And this is making me a whole lot better than fine. I'm totally ace. So quit worrying, will you? I have to admit, though, it's sweet that you worry about me. Now go back to sleep."

Satisfied with my answer, she snuggled up closer to me, as I breathed in her scent—that intoxicating Bella scent. Thankfully the breeze from the open window had cleared out the remaining traces of vamp odor, so that she was all I could smell at that moment. It swirled around my head making me dizzy with joy.

The tension in my muscles was slowly leaving my body. She started whispering something that I didn't catch. Her voice seemed to drift out farther and farther. The last thing I heard was, "Jake . . . are you listening? Jake . . ." Then it faded away softer than a sigh.

A/N: Ahh! Finally, poor Jake gets some needed rest.