Chapter 4: Burning

XXX

Thankfully, my dad picked me up from school so I wouldn't have to ask around for a bus that would take me back home. Bernard was in the backseat of the car already, wriggling around in excitement. As soon as I closed the passenger seat door:

"Hey Nel, what do you think of your new school? Mines is awesome, I really like it! I made a bunch of friends, everybody wanted me to talk about Long Beach and why we moved here, and--"

Damn it. Was it going to be like this for the rest of the day?

Bernard kept on chattering about his day, until my dad motioned for him to quiet down, which I was grateful for because I was beginning to get a headache. But then dad turned to me, "Well, my day consisted of applying for jobs," he smiled, "and I found one. They just have to do some background checks, and then I can start my job at the hospital when they call me in."

I raised an eyebrow; I was glad for my dad's job success, but I knew he was no doctor. He worked as an assistant at a law firm back in Long Beach, which is polar opposite to a medical practice. What was he up to? But he seemed to read my face, and his smile widened, "No, I'm not going to be cutting anyone up on an emergency table. I'm a documentee! I file patient and hospital staff papers. Kinda like I did at my old job, only it's obviously at a hospital and the pay is better." I nodded in understanding. Then he asked me, "How was your day, Nel?"

I thought about my answer for a minute, then, "Well, I made a few more friends, so I guess it turned out good. I got a really mean P.E. teacher, though."

Dad chuckled at that, "What teacher?"

"Some Mr. Potato Head looking dude. I think his name was Mr. Meloni?"

"I was sure I'd know him, but the name doesn't ring a bell." The rest of the drive home was filled with quiet laughter and Bernard complaining that he wasn't finished telling us about his day. I swear, on some days, I just felt like shoving a toilet paper roll in that kid's mouth.

We made our way up the long drive way, and pulled up in front of our house… my eyes nearly bugged out of my head as I set my sight on a tall figure. Sitting on the walkway of the house, was my beautiful new friend Jacob Black.

A million questions ran through my head, and I could hear my heartbeat pounding through my ears. What is he doing here? Is something wrong? Wait, why would he come to me if something was wrong? Gah, just shut up Nel, shut up!

I didn't care if my dad frowned in suspicion; as soon as the car engine shut off, I jumped out of the car and pretty much jogged towards him. Jacob met me half way in a few short strides, and I suddenly felt stupid again, because I knew I was way too excited to see him. "Uh, um…" I tried.

"Sorry," Jacob sighed, suddenly seeming as weirded out as I was, "uh, I was just wondering if… if you left this at the bonfire last night?" Jake placed a beaded, green, hand held purse into my hands, and I was confused. I didn't take anything with me last night; surely he noticed that, we had spent quite a bit of time together. Or maybe he just didn't pay attention to little details like purses, and he genuinely thought it was mine?

"No, this isn't mine," I replied, and for some reason I heard laughter lining my voice. This seemed to please Jacob, because a grin of his own crossed his handsome face. The beginning awkward tension was gone instantly.

"Jeez, I was just wondering! I've asked a few girls already who were at the bonfire too, and none of them said it was theirs. I didn't remember seeing you carrying anything, but you know, I just wanted to make sure."

How many guys did you meet like Jacob Black? Zero, zip, zilch, that's how many. He'd spent his free time looking to return a lost purse to a girl. Who does that, honestly?

"That's so… gentleman like of you, ha…" I was blushing slightly, but I knew it was more because of Jake's mannerisms rather than his looks this time.

"Aw, stop it. I was tempted to keep it for my own collection, but Emily convinced me to be the better person and return it."

I laughed suddenly, so loud, the way I had when I had been with Ruth. I hadn't laughed like this since I left Long Beach, and jeez, did it feel good. Jacob laughed with me, until my dad cleared his throat. I looked to him and Bernard, my younger brother who seemed to have a smug smile. I'd get him later, that's for sure.

"Nel…" My dad said in a weird tone of voice.

"Dad, of course you remember Billy's son, Jacob?" I rolled my eyes, trying to shrug off my dad's wary gaze.

"Yeah, yeah… how's your dad, Jacob?"

"He's good," Jake said without fret. "He told me last night that he looked forward to catching up with you."

Nice touch, I thought.

"Tell him it's the same for me," My dad nodded, gave me one last look, then unlocked the front door and dragged my complaining brother inside.

"Sorry about that," I said a bit nervously as the door shut behind them. "My dad's just…"

"Being a dad," Jacob finished, a grin still on his lips.

"Yeah, ha."

"Hey Nel, I was also wondering… Would you like to come to dinner at Emily's house tonight? It's a barbeque she's having in her backyard. Of course, your dad and brother are invited too. It's not a teen thing, mostly family and good friends function, but the guys will be there. My dad and all of the other boring old people will be there, too."

This stunned me, and suddenly my heart swelled. He really was trying to get me to feel comfortable in my new home, wasn't he? He actually cared (I'd like to think). "I'd love to," I said without hesitance, this time not wavering at the thought of seeing strangers. I was introduced to most of them anyway, right? "And I'm positive my dad will be all too eager to go as well."

"That's great!" Jacob said with genuine enthusiasm, which rubbed off on me and caused me to interlace my fingers over and over in shared excitement. "Then we'll see you tonight at around 7?" I nodded, and Jacob closed the distance between us and wrapped a long arm around my shoulders and hugged me into the side of his body. My heart beat became irregular once again, thumping wildly at such a simple gesture. "See you later, then" Jacob's breath stirred the hairs at the top of my head, and I felt goosebumps rise on my skin. He chuckled one last time, then bounded off towards the driveway. Wait a minute…

"Jake, where's your car?" I called after him, for he was already beginning the trek down the long driveway. La Push and my house weren't exactly in strolling distance-- maybe he parked it at the gateway and I didn't see it on our way in?

His eyes seemed to widen in realization of something, then, "Uh… it's good to walk. Yeah, I love walking."

… What? He seriously walked all the way here? "Jake--"

"Sorry Nel, gotta go!" Jacob took off sprinting down the rest of the driveway, and he was out of sight before I could even think to finish my sentence, leaving me confused as hell on my doorstep.

XXX

I dashed down the driveway to avoid more of Nel's unanswerable questions. I couldn't possibly be starting to forget simple human things like driving long distances, right? It may be more convenient and fun to run at inhuman speed for miles on end, but I had to keep in mind that I needed to not make it so obvious that I wasn't… well, normal.

"'It's good to walk'?" The usual unpleasant harpy greeted me at a break in the trees, "'Yeah, I love walking'? Jake, you're a moron."

"Shut up," I snapped. Leah always knew how to make a situation sour…

"You can't slip up like that, not even a little bit," Leah warned. Her usually bitter voice now had an uglier, serious tone to it. "Just be thankful I'm not Sam. You wouldn't hear the end of it."

I rolled my eyes, "The only reason you're not more upset about this is because you got the hots for Nel's little brother."

Leah's eyes regarded me coolly, and I knew I had something coming. "No one has control over who they Imprint upon," she used the oldest defense in the book, "Quil Imprinted on a toddler. Jared Imprinted on a girl he didn't even know existed before he turned. Sam Imprinted on my cousin," I noted that Leah, for the first time in my memory, spoke of Sam and Emily without any pain in her voice. I guess Imprinting on that kid Bernard was a good thing for her in that aspect, then… Now the pack would finally be spared of her horrid and depressing thoughts concerning our Alpha. "Remind me, who's your Imprint?" The last bit caught me off guard.

She was stepping on dangerous grounds with me, and her sarcastic remark further prompted me to meet her half way. "You're just all high and mighty now because you Imprinted, and you don't have to bitch and moan over Sam anymore. Don't let it get to your head Leah, because it's not true love." She wanted a fight? Hell, I'd give her one.

"And what has true love earned you, Jake?" She snarled. "A broken heart and the knowledge that Bella Swan is getting nailed by rich, pretty boy, blood-sucking Edward Cullen, that's what."

I should've burst into shreds right then and there, I didn't care what the repercussions would be. The idea of tearing her apart sounded appealing right now because that would mean she could never remind me again of what I didn't have. I looked down to see my body shaking violently. It didn't pain me that I was devoid of an Imprint, really… But it pained me that I was denied Imprinting on the only person I wouldever want, the only person I could see living out my life with. It sounded like a teenage cliché, but I knew— Bella knew most of all— that my feelings surpassed all normal meaning.

And she didn't want me.

As this familiar thought pulsed through my being again, I lost the will to retaliate against Leah. I turned away from her still shaking, walked a short distance, and sat at the base of a random tree. My thoughts of lossthat circulated through me forfeited any insight of caring of my current actions. Silence stretched on between me and the harpy, and I knew she was now aware of the full ill-infliction that her words had upon me.

"Sorry," she said a little too quickly for my liking, "I wasn't thinking."

"What a surprise," I said icily, trying to stifle my growing tremors of rage.

"Seriously, I'm sorry. I don't apologize unless I mean it. You started it, anyway… ugh, I mean!—Just forget it. Sorry."

Silence again.

Leah, of all people, should be more sensitive towards me. Just a while ago, she was in my place: longing for someone she could never have. Now her Imprinting instilled the idea that she was invincible… what an idiot. I didn't ask for much, especially from Leah, but some compassion on her part wouldn't kill her.

Then she cleared her throat, "So... did you pick up anything around the Gowan's house?" Hah, a subject change. A habit the pack seemed to hone in general.

I went along with it. "Not really. The smell gets stronger further into the woods… but they live in a pretty secluded area. Leeches might take advantage of that, so it'd be a good idea to keep an extra eye out for the family."

Sucks that I had to borrow a purse from Emily and act the part of a 'good Samaritan' supposedly looking for the purses' owner. What else could I use as an excuse to see Penelope? I was checking to see if the family in general was okay, but I'd look like a complete creep if I just showed up for nothing… the invite to Emily's was a genuine add from me, though. I did in fact, want to hang out with Nel of my own accord. God knows how much I needed a normal, non-supernaturally involved friend at this point of my miserable existence.

"That won't be a problem," Leah smiled slightly, probably anticipating getting to know Bernard better, "Now we need to skim over the local hiker trails," Leah reminded me. "Paul already went ahead North, I'll cover South. Guess that leaves you East."

I nodded and watched Leah bound off past the fir trees, hearing the familiar ripping of her transformation. When I knew she was a good distance away, I rose to my feet. I wasn't staring at anything in particular. Just the ground, the baby sprouts of grass.

I wasn't shaken anymore.

Instead, I was overcome with her familiar lavender scent, feeling the brush of her soft brown hair on my fingertips, reminiscing of the taste of her in my mouth…

Wishful thinking often came with the mention of her name, it didn't matter who said it.

I had to wait for my delusions to clear completely before I phased and bounded towards the eastern trail.

XXX

Dad didn't know how to say no to people outside of his own kids. I was thankful that Bernard and I had inherited the one good trait from my mother: she said no when she damn well pleased. Backbone, most people call it. Sadly, my father was an abundance of softness, breakable and often not speaking his opinion. Sure, I didn't always speak my mind either; but Dad's meekness was borderline pushover (which he isn't entirely, I assure you).

I could tell the moment the words flew out of my mouth, he did not want to go to dinner at Emily's. So much for "eager."

"But dad, Jake said all the adults were going to be there. So… what gives?"

"Look, ah… Penelope," Uh-oh, he only says my name in that tone when he's attempting to be serious. "I'm happy that you're making friends so quickly, but… I don't want Billy to think I'm already going to be an invasive neighbor. I don't wanna push a rediscovery of our friendship. So why don't we take the whole 'going to another person's dinner' slow?"

His reasoning made little to no sense to me. "Dad, Jake said Billy looked forward to catching up with you."

"Jake said this, Jake said that," my dad mocked me somewhat childishly, "He's a teenage boy and he'll probably say anything you want to hear so he can get you to like him."

I felt a blush rising to my cheeks, wishing oh-so much that I were capable of attracting someone like Jacob Black. But my dad didn't need to know that… "Dad," I tried again, "Why don't you call Billy yourself and--" I was cut off mid-sentence by our newly installed telephone ringing. My dad looked at me expectantly, and when I shrugged, he trudged over to pick up the earpiece.

"Hello?" He said in a fake-friendly voice. His plastered smile faltered, and then he was genuinely grinning. "Oh…?" He continued. "Billy, nice to hear from you!"

Score.

XXX

"… Are we ever getting out of the car?" Bernard whined, breaking the silence.

We had pulled up next to the sidewalk across from Emily's home over 15 minutes ago, and my dad had not budged from behind the driver's wheel, and refused to let us get out of the car. He stared nervously at the other cars that lined Emily's sidewalk, and some in the driveway. His hands gripped the steering wheel like a life line, his large knuckles white with strain.

This situation was a reminder of where I got my people skills from.

"Dad, seriously," I tried, "are we just gonna sit here until someone comes out here and sees us, wondering what the hell we're doing sitting in the car?"

"Watch your mouth," Dad warned.

"I'm just saying-"

"I know what you're saying. I just don't appreciate right now."

I shut my mouth. I had to understand that even though I had made a few friends, Dad had to get to know people… for the second time around. Of course these people were familiar with him, but they didn't know him. That was the thing; they knew Desmond Gowan the boy. And from what I've been told by my mother and by my grandmother, I knew my dad was a different man compared to the boy everyone had known then. He was no longer a reckless trouble-maker, as my grandma had once described him; I had never known that person, that boy. I only knew the soft-spoken, scatter-brained, loving man he is now.

I had to understand that. So, I leaned back into my seat.

Bernard groaned and slumped into his seat.

Another set of moments in silence passed, then, "No one leaves Emily's house perimeter," dad sighed.

"Duh, where else are we going to go?" Bernard rolled his eyes.

Then dad's eyes shifted in my direction accusingly. I immediately bristled, my expression undoubtedly one of anger, "What…? Are—are you serious!? Why would you even think that!"

"Don't get all defensive, I have every right to think that with Billy's boy on our doorstep."

"That was just today, and he was--" At this point, Bernard was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down his face.

"All I'm saying is," dad cut me off, "Don't leave the house, okay?"

"Fine," I grumbled. "Not like I would have, or not like they would've even offered…" I muttered.

We finally got out of the car, heading towards the walkway leading to Emily's front door. "I thought it was a BBQ in her backyard? Shouldn't we go 'round to the back?" Bernard piped up.

"It's more polite to knock and ask first," Dad reasoned.

I rolled my eyes, walking a distance in front of them and was the first to reach the door. I lifted a had to knock, but suddenly the door swung open—

And I wanted to die.

I was mentally brought to my knees, the breath knocked out of me the moment dark, burning eyes looked down upon me.

The strong, defined face, the curved, expressionless mouth… I knew whose face I was looking into, regardless that he was not in a vulnerable state of sleep after coming in from the rain. His full height had been achieved, standing at Jacob's stature. His shoulders stood broad and proud, and I was engulfed within the heat and obvious arrogance that emanated from his sculpted body, which was in no way deterred by his low-slung jeans and wife beater. I just stared at him, my observance of his invasive presence drowning out my family's entirely even though I knew they must be right behind me. There was a loud, persistent buzz circling my head, which I identified as the music blasting from inside the house, ringing through my ears and making me dizzy. I felt my eyelids sliding downward, another sign of my entranced state. Who the hell had this kind of effect on someone? It was… inhuman.

The fierce look in his eyes faded, changing to disinterest. Not that I could blame him; a plain Jane awe-struck in front of him. Big deal, he probably got it all the time. "You're Jake's friend?" He asked, and it took me a minute to realize he directed the question towards me. Wait, who else would he be talking to? My dad and brother weren't friends with Jacob…

And I felt stupid because then I had another realization: Paul had been waiting for my answer, and I had just stared stupidly at him. His eyes looked away from me, and I was torn between wanting him to continue dismiss me, or give me the pleasure of staring into his burning eyes for a moment longer. He asked my dad something, but I was too consumed with embarrassment to hear what he had said. "Yes, we are," my dad replied, and Paul left the door open for us as he walked back inside, not bothering to glance my way again. I stared after him until he rounded the living room and went out the back door.

My dad went ahead into the house, and I hadn't even acknowledged that Bernard had stayed behind with me until he lightly punched my arm and snickered, "What was that? Could you have not been any creepier?"

"Shut up," I snarled, fully pulled out of my reverie. Bernard shrugged me off, a smile still on his face, and followed my dad out to the backyard. I hadn't the heart to face people just yet. I plopped down into a cushioned chair in the living room, wishing so much that it'd swallow me up into oblivion. I really, really made a fool of myself. More so than I had with anyone else I had met from the Quileute tribe, which sucked because I had to make a fool of myself in front of the one person (I could no longer deny) that had left me stunned and longing for more.

I didn't even know him. Yet one would think my seeming infatuation with him was borderline desperate. I bet he didn't even know my name.

"I coulda sworn you looked way more excited to be coming when I talked to you earlier. Now it looks like you'd rather be anywhere but here," a familiar, good hearted voice rang through the small room. I perked up instantly at the sight of Jacob, who had come in at some point without me noticing. "What's wrong?" He asked, walking over to stand directly in front of me. I hated my expressive face, which no doubt gave away my negative vibe.

"I…" I trailed off, not looking into his eyes. "I just…"

Jacob seemed to think something over quickly, and flashed me a brilliant smile. "We don't gotta talk about it. I can live with not knowing things, if I can still make you feel better by making you laugh." I sighed in relief, and he tussled my hair, "C'mon, short stuff. Let's get you outside. It's too damn hot in here."

I eyed at him strangely, "Hot? It's freezing…"

"To you. Now C'mon," he said, wrapping his large, warm hand around my elbow and pulling me up from the chair with no effort. He gave me a brief half-hug for comfort and led me to the back door, banishing my previous embarrassment and bringing a small, genuine smile to my lips.

How I love thee, Jacob Black.

XXX

A/N: Sorry for the wait, real life's a bitch. Sorry if this chapter wasn't as good as my previous ones… And please, PLEASE review!