Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
A/N: Alright, so I feel terrible. I promised you all Edward soon, but I have to delay it a bit. Before you start hating me, I'm making a compromise. I started writing this chapter (where I was planning to debut Edward) but it wasn't working. Things just didn't fit together. So I needed to add another chapter to smooth things over – the now chapter 8, with no Edward. But I hate breaking my promises, so I'm posting this tonight (which is on with my every other day schedule) and I'm going to try my hardest to get out chapter 9 (with Edward) by tomorrow night. So I'm only delivering Edward a day late, but I think that would be better than putting him in a chapter that didn't work.
And secondly, I apologize for this chapter. It is a bit rushed, and therefore, not my best work. I tried rewriting my original chapter 8 (with Edward) several different times until deeming it unsalvageable. Just giving you fair warning before you all tell me it's horrible. Anyway, here it is…
But first...thank you SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed last chapter and let me know your opinions about chapter length. You guys are the greatest! Keep letting me know how I'm doing!
Enjoy!
-perfectshadeofdarkblue
Best Definition of Good Intentions
8 – Aesthetics Don't Hurt One Bit
Life was good again. So good in fact, that Bella could hardly remember when it hadn't been. There was something about pure, utter bliss that swept her up into its wind, enveloping with all its good feelings. It gave her a sense of security; surely nothing bad could happen when a person was this happy – that would just be cruel. Life's purpose was to find happiness. Bella had achieved that goal and now nothing could bring her down.
The end of the school year was rapidly approaching with graduation a mere two weeks away, which meant the junior-senior prom was only a week away. Bella's friends were all complaining about how sophomores couldn't attend unless with a junior or senior date, but Bella was relieved. She possessed no desire to go to the prom, opting for a much quieter low-key evening.
Jessica Stanley had been the head of the charge to find older dates, but once she realized her dream wouldn't come true, she settled for convincing everyone that prom didn't matter. She decided to host a party of her own that night instead. She invited their group of friends, saying that just because they weren't going to the prom didn't mean they couldn't have fun. Bella, in her newfound excitement about everything, was actually looking forward to it. The only thing that could make it better would be Alice's attendance. The two were trying to spend as much time together as possible since Alice would be leaving the day after graduation for her family vacation while Bella would be staying in Forks. Although she didn't think she'd be too badly off since she'd reconnected with her friends lately, Bella knew she was going to miss her best friend.
Alice was looking forward to the prom more than Bella had thought possible. Jasper wasn't really into the whole prom scene, but Alice really wanted to go so he obliged to take her. Alice tried convincing Bella to go with one of Jasper's friends that had asked her, but Bella refused, even making Alice promise to stop his friends from asking. By lunch the first day of the prom fever, she'd turned down three upperclassmen and she just didn't have the heart to disappoint anyone else.
The previous weekend, Bella had accompanied Alice shopping in Seattle to find the perfect dress – one that no one else would have. And they certainly succeeded. With a sweetheart neckline and rouched body, the yellow dress fit Alice perfectly. The fashionista paired the dress with a sequined gold belt with black piping that made her already tiny waist look almost nonexistent. Between the dress's length, which was quite a few inches above the knee, and her four-inch gold heels, Alice's legs gave a never-ending impression. But standing next to Jasper, she was still almost a foot shorter.
The Saturday of the big event, Bella spent the day with Alice, keeping her company while she readied herself for the dance.
"Are you sure you don't want to come? I've got another dress in my closet that you can wear!" Alice pleaded as she was putting her jewelry on, the finishing touches.
"No, Alice. I'm not going. Now, please, stop trying to convince me. You're starting to sound desperate!" Bella was lying on Alice's bed reading a magazine and didn't even look up as she responded.
"Fine, but you really owe me next year!"
"Alright, Alice. Whatever you say," Bella rolled her eyes, thinking Alice wouldn't remember. Bella knew that, of course, Alice would remember, but she didn't care. Being this happy, she figured she might as well do whatever would Alice this happy, too.
"How do I look?" Alice said, turning around and spinning so Bella could get the 360-degree view.
"AMAZING!" Bella jumped off the bed and stared in awe at the petite girl.
"Come on, kid. Mom wants to get some pictures of us," Emmett knocked on the door and looked inside at Bella. "What? She couldn't convince you to come?"
Bella just laughed. "No. Even the dress couldn't convince me."
"Way to hold out! Rose owes me now!"
"What do you mean?"
"We heard Alice begging on the phone to you one night, pleading with you to change your mind. I told Rose that Alice was going to be sorely disappointed when she couldn't convince you and Rose bet against me saying she couldn't imagine how a person could turn prom down. You know how she is; she lives for this kind of stuff. I tried telling her that your stubbornness would win out, but she wouldn't listen. So now she owes me!" Emmett's booming laughter echoed throughout the house as he made his way down the stairs as Alice and Bella trailed after him.
Downstairs, Bella watched Alice and Emmett pose for picture after picture and even stood in some herself. Carlisle looked on proudly as Esme directed the photo shoot. After about twenty minutes, Emmett left to pick up Rosalie and Bella took that as she cue to leave before Jasper whisked Alice off into the night.
"You can still change your mind, Bella!" Alice walked her to the door.
"I've got my own party to go to!" Bella argued back.
"Alright, but remember, you really owe me for next year!" Alice tried to keep a stern look on her face, but soon both girls were laughing at the ridiculousness. "Have fun!"
"You got it. And you have fun, too - I'll talk to you tomorrow!"
And with that, Bella started her truck and made her way across town to get ready for Jessica's shindig. Yesterday in school, Jessica had informed everyone that her parents were going to Seattle for the night so the kids would have the house to themselves. Meaning the shindig would be more of a party than the get-together that they had all been expecting.
Bella smiled at her thoughts when she pulled into her driveway. Her mother's car was gone and the house was quiet – her parents had gone out to dinner tonight. Their first official date since peace was restored. She showered quickly and was soon standing in front of her closet, deciding what to wear. She was holding two different shirts up, a blue one and a green one, trying to pick one when she heard her cell phone chime, alerting her to a new text message.
She threw the shirts on the bed and grabbed her phone from her dresser. She knew who it was without looking. Jacob had been texting her throughout the week. He'd been a little upset about the fact that they wouldn't be able to see each other very much since they went to separate schools, but he vowed not to let that get in his way. To make up for it, he would send Bella texts throughout the day, telling her about funny pranks he and his friends had pulled or updating her about the cliff-diving adventure he was planning to take her on. Bella was always excited to see Jacob had sent a message, but she tried to remain cool in her responses.
It was obvious already that Jacob had a crush on her and she didn't want him to think she had those same feelings for him. She really did enjoy his company, and loved talking to him, but she didn't think she felt anything that was more than friendly towards her new friend. However, feelings are hard to express through a text message and she didn't think she'd done a very good job of letting him know what was going on.
"My friends and I are hanging out at First Beach tonight. You should come :)," the text message read.
For a second, Bella actually considered the possibility of blowing off Jessica's party and going to hang out with Jacob and his friends at the beach. She'd hung out with Jacob, Quil and Embry the day after dinner before they went on their cliff-diving excursion. She'd had a really great time talking with Jacob's sidekicks while he worked on his car and she wanted to meet the rest of his friends. She wished she'd hadn't committed to the party because she knew there was no one she'd be able to get out of it now.
"Wish I could! I'm already going to my friend's house. Sorry!" Bella wrote back. She didn't want to give him false hope.
She pulled the green shirt over her head and finished getting ready. Within no time, she was on her way to Jessica's. When she pulled into the driveway, ten minutes later, it was difficult to find a place to park her truck. It looked as though she was the last one to arrive. She left her truck at the end of the driveway, parked next to Ben's Suburban and made her way inside where it was verified that she was the last one to arrive.
"Bella!" Jessica yelled, jumping off the couch to tackle her in greeting. Unlike Bella, Jessica loved being the center of attention and was in her element as the hostess of the party. She grabbed Bella's hand and pulled her into the living room where everyone was gathered. "Hey guys! Bella's here!"
There was a round of "hello" from the group as Bella took a seat between Angela and Tyler.
"What's going on outside?" Bella leaned over to whisper to Angela.
"Oh, it's just Lauren and her whole crew. You know how they are," Angela whispered back, referring to Lauren's arrogance and how she liked separate herself from others.
"I guess we're lucky to be inside," And then to the others, "So what's going on?"
"We're playing catch phrase! You want in?" Mike looked up hopefully.
"Sure, why not?"
"Awesome! Now we're all even and I don't have to play for both teams," Mike got up to get another drink from the kitchen.
"I didn't hear him complaining about that before," Tyler pretended to say under his breath, which earned a titter from Eric.
Mike came back in the room and threw a bottle of water to Bella. It was apparent he had alcohol in his system because he obviously didn't remember Bella's troubles with coordination. Bella blocked her face with her arms as Tyler's hand shot up and grabbed the bottle out of the air.
"Thanks," Bella took the bottom from him and unscrewed the cap.
"Anytime. You know I got your back, Bells," Tyler flirted, giving Bella a smile.
Angela inconspicuously tapped Bella's leg and raised her eyebrows. Bella just shrugged in response, shaking her head.
They clarified the teams and Jessica started the game. The ticking started.
"Umm, okay. It's a famous play by Shakespeare…"
"Romeo and Juliet!" Angela said at the same time that Mike yelled.
"Yes!" Jessica shouted back. Bella laughed at how easy it was to get into the game. Then she prepared herself as Eric grabbed the disk and changed words. It was her team's turn to shine!
"Alright…so it's what you say when there's water falling from the sky really hard…" Eric was struggling.
"Rain? Raining?" Bella tried.
"That's the first word! It's a four-word phrase. Two of the words are popular pets."
"Raining cats and dogs!" Ben shouted.
"That's it!"
And so the game continued. Every time a round ended, it was decided that the losing team had to drink. Bella rolled her eyes at her friends', or more specifically, Mike's, attempt to turn the family game into a drinking game. After about an hour of playing, they were all cracking up at Tyler's description of beach volleyball using slurred speech. They grew silent, wiping the tears from their eyes, as the glass door slid open and Lauren and company walked into the room.
"We're going to head to First Beach. Apparently some of Quileute boys are having a party out there," Lauren announced.
Jessica just stared at her, daring her to leave the party. Or at least hoping she would have the decency to invite the rest of the group. Normally, Jessica got along with Lauren, but easily got frustrated with her dominating personality. Lauren didn't need reassurances from others since her theory was "my way or the highway."
Lauren caught the look and corrected, "Any of you want to come?"
Politely, Jessica looked at the group around her, hoping one of them would speak up and say they wanted to go. It wasn't that she thought her own party was lame, but more the fact that she was tired of the same scene. Plus, those Quileute boys were hot – of course, they should jump at the chance to socialize with them.
"I'm in!" Bella shouted, surprising everyone. She was usually the last person to jump at these kinds of social interactions.
"Let's all go then," Jessica decided standing up.
Most of the group piled into Ben's Suburban, since it held the most people and was the easiest to get out of the driveway, while the few others trailed behind in Lauren's car. Angela drove since she hadn't been drinking and easily maneuvered the large SUV down the street and past the Forks-La Push border. First Beach, aptly named since it was the first beach on the reservation, was well-known to the group since it was the site of the Spring Bonfire that seemed so long ago. Back in another lifetime, a sadder lifetime for Bella.
There was a large fire set up to shed light on the beach, but the group of large, dark figures was off to the side. Laughter resonated over the sand, making the arriving group feel more at ease right off the bat as they approached. At the site of them, the dark figures met them half way at the fire.
"Hey," the largest man said in a deep voice.
Lauren stepped forward, "Hi. I'm Lauren, thought maybe we could join you."
"Bella!" the next largest figure shouted, crossing the unmarked line between the two groups. He pulled Bella into a hug, picking her up in the process.
"Hey, Jake," Bella said easily.
"I thought you said you had plans?"
"Yea, well, plans can change."
"That's awesome! I'm so glad you're here," Jacob stepped back as Quil and Embry approached and pulled her into their own hugs.
"Hey, guys."
"Glad you could make it," Embry replied.
"Let me introduce you to everyone," Jacob pulled her further into his group. He pointed out Sam, who had spoken earlier, standing next to Leah, who had missed dinner the previous weekend. Jacob continued to introduce her to the other ten people there, but she couldn't remember the names any longer than it look for him to say the next one. Then Bella introduced her friends to the group and they easily settled in together to enjoy the rest of the night.
As Bella spent the night with Jacob on one side of her and Quil and Embry close by, with the others spending sporadic amounts of time with them, Mike and Tyler took turns making their presence known at Bella's side. They were constantly asking if she wanted to take a walk, or join the others for a game. Every time she turned them down, choosing instead to remain with Jacob.
"What's the deal with those two anyway?" Quil asked, after the fifth time Bell had sent Mike away.
"Got some not-so-secret admirers, Bella?" Embry teased.
"Oh, yea. Now if only they could take a hint," Bella joked.
"Well, I've got a solution to that problem," Quil said.
"And what's that?" Bella asked curiously.
"Our boy, Jake, here," he answered proudly while Bella continued to look incredulously at him.
"He can pretend to be your boyfriend," Embry explained.
"Oh, no. No, he doesn't need to do that."
"I don't mind, Bella. Besides, would you rather they keep bothering you?" Jacob offered.
"It's either that, or we can not-so-nicely tell them to back off," Quil menacingly crack his knuckles.
"Alright, alright. Jake can be my pretend boyfriend!" Bella gave up.
"Come on, then girlfriend. Let's take a walk," Jacob stood up and offered his hand to Bella and didn't let go as she fell into step beside him.
"Be convincing!" Quil shouted, laughing with Embry as they watched the two make their way past Mike and Tyler. Very convincingly, Bella leaned into Jacob and he put his arm around her, fingers still interlocked.
Soon, they were past the stares and whispers and fell into an easy conversation.
"Your friends are really great, Jake. I'm so glad I got to meet them," Even though they were a safe distance away, they didn't move apart.
"They like you, too."
"How can you say that? You've spent the whole night with me and I haven't heard them say any such thing. And they've hardly spent any time around me," Bella didn't want his friends to think badly of her. She needed to be sure that she was truly accepted.
"I can just tell. Besides, how can anyone not like you?" Jacob stopped walking, taking a place in the sand and pulling Bella down next to him. He wrapped his arm around her again, pulling her close.
Bella leaned her head against his warm shoulder, fitting comfortably. A blush rose to her cheeks and she decided to ignore his embarrassing statement even though she appreciated it. She liked having the quiet attention from Jacob – he never made her feel uncomfortable. "How can you tell?"
Jacob laughed at her insistence, but answered anyway, "First of all, they wouldn't have been nice to you if they didn't like you. They would have scared you off, much like we're scaring off Mike and Tyler. They wouldn't want someone unworthy bothering me, just like I don't want anyone else bothering you."
"And second?" Bella was trying to move the subject away from the compliments he was so willing to give.
"Second, they left us alone. They knew I wanted to spend time with you alone. They could tell I didn't want to share you and they respected that. Now if only Embry and Quil could have figured that out."
That was too much. Time to set things straight. Bella titled her head up to look at him while she spoke, "Jacob."
"Bella, listen. I know I'm coming on kind of strong, and I hope it's not making you uncomfortable because, really, that's the last thing I want to do. But I have to tell you, I'm so glad I got to spend time together last weekend and I'm even happier you came out here tonight."
He fell silent, waiting for her to respond. Bella couldn't form words; she didn't know what to say. He hadn't exactly said he liked her in so many words and maybe she was wrong. That would have made more sense to her – he liked her as a friend, nothing more. She'd misread the signs.
She stared up at him while the thoughts raced through her mind.
Apparently, Jacob took that silence to mean something besides hesitation. He brought his right hand to her cheek, brushing the bone with his thumb, the other fingers wrapping around her neck. He quickly leaned in, closing his eyes just as his lips brushed against hers. His breath was hot on her face and Bella didn't know what to do. Jacob pressed his lips harder, throwing more emotion into the kiss. He pulled away, Bella's face still securely in his hand and looked into her eyes.
They fluttered open, Bella unaware she'd even closed them. She closed them again, breathing in deeply, "Jacob."
She could feel his weight shift as he leaned in again. Quickly, she pushed her hands against his chest somewhat unwillingly. She longed for another kiss – he was so skilled and it felt so good – but it would be wrong. She didn't have those feelings for him. She couldn't, wouldn't go on hurting him.
"What?" Jacob asked, looking at her hands pushing him away.
"Jake. I'm sorry, but…" Bella couldn't find the words. Tears welled in her eyes, but she was determined not to let them fall.
He noticed, and took the pressure off of her, "Don't apologize, Bella. It's alright. I'd said I'm sorry I kissed you, but I'm not. Though I am sorry it wasn't what you wanted."
"It's just that I don't feel that way about you, Jake. But I have loved every minute I've spent with you. You're a great friend, but only a friend. I'm sorry," she looked down ashamed.
"Bella, it's okay," he lifted her chin up so her gaze met his own. "I can understand that. But like Tyler and Mike, I'm not going to take a hint, either. But I will try to be less obnoxious than them."
Bella laughed at his joke.
"I'm serious. I really like you, Bella, and I'm going to do my damn best to convince you to like me, too. And until I do, I'm not going anywhere. In the meantime, I'll at least have you around as a friend."
"But Jake, that's not fair to you. I don't want to hurt you again if my feelings don't change."
"Well, you said 'if' not 'when,' so we're already making progress," he laughed. "Don't worry about me, though. I'm a big boy; I can make my own decisions. I know where I stand now so it's up to me."
"Jake."
"Come on, Bella. Give a guy a shot."
"Fine. But I'm not making any promises."