Okay, I added and re-wrote a bunch of stuff in this chapter. So I hope you like it. I've just been trying to go back and add alot of fluff. But not useless fluff. Important fluff. haha. I hope you like it.

What the--?: Bella

"Uh, Jacob, what was that? I saw that little wink coming from my dad." That's weird, very out of character for him. They were up to something, that much was clear.

"Nothing " Jacob said. That reaction was a little bit too quick. Something s up, I just have to figure out what.

Today was a cloudy day, just like pretty much every day in Forks, Washington. Sunshine and cloudless skies were never to be expected, and when they did come along, it was a pleasant surprise. Today was bleak and grey. Just like almost every other day in Forks, Washington. Perfect weather to match my mood. Grey and bleak. There was absolutely no hope of having a good hair day here. Not that I had cared lately. For the last six or seven months, I hadn't given a crap about my hair. But now that I was doing things again, I realized that I needed to do something about this mess of hair on my head. But of course, the moment I decide that my days of ponytails and buns are over, the weather was like this. I could just feel my hair poofing up underneath my hood. Great. Just great.

Then my thoughts drifted back to the whole wink thing Charlie had done back in Jacob's den. "No, seriously, what was that?" I persisted.

"Uh, if I tell you, you re probably going to hate your dad for life, so I m thinking maybe I should keep my mouth shut here," Jacob said with a smile creeping across his face. Then he finally gave in, saying, "Alright, if you really want to know, Charlie was telling me that you haven t been out in a while since they left, and that it was good that you got out of the house, even if it is only to come over here."

"Oh. You were right. I am going to kill Charlie for this." I started to stomp back to the house, but I felt Jacob arms wrap around me. Boy, was he hot. And not in a swoon over him way, but like literally hot. He was burning up!

"Oh no you don t. You re not going anywhere. If Charlie finds out I told you, I m not so sure he would be too thrilled with me." I guess that made sense. But if Charlie kept telling people embarrassing things like that about me, we were seriously going to have to have a little talk, police chief or not.

"Fine. Whatever you say, Jacob. By the way, are you sick or something, because, you're burning up!" It was weird. He didn't look any different. Maybe just a little bit more mature and taller. Okay, so maybe he was alot taller. He was already taller than I was when we had been re-introduced last year, but now he simply towered over me. But then I thought about that for a moment. Maybe he just seemed hot to me. After all, I was used to ice cold arms around me at night.

That memory brought up hundreds of others. Very painful others. I immediately wrapped my arms around myself, before my mind could take me on a very paiful trip down memory lane and open up this hole in my chest that was always there, just waiting for the moment when I am alone in my bedroom before it opens up, and the rest is history.

There was an akward moment in the conversation, and Jake quickly recovered by inviting me out to his garage to see all of the progress on the car that he was rebuilding. He told me all about it on the way there. After he told me that the car was a Volkswagen Rabbit, he went into all these details about parts and stuff. I was lost, but I listened all the same. I had been out to see the car once before and then it was only scrap metal and rust and random parts.

When we got out to his garage, which was a make-shift combination of a shed and one of those aluminum carports put together, I saw that there were parts scattered all over the place.

"Wow, Jake, this baby's really coming along." And it really was. I could see how proud he was of his handy work.

"Yeah, but I still have tons of stuff to do to it. Maybe you can keep me company while I work on it from now on?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"Yeah, that would be nice," I said with a smile. And it really would be nice. Me and Jacob, lifelong buddies just sitting in his garage drinking soda while he worked on his car and we chatted. It was amazing how Jacob managed to manipulate all those parts and tools in his gigantic hands, and put them all together like some sort of jigsaw puzzle.

The game would be over shortly, but I hoped Charlie would let me stay a little longer. After all, it was only four o clock, and it s not like tonight was a school night. Or, maybe he could at least drive me home and let me bring my truck back up here. Either way, being here with Jacob was fun. I felt oddly flamboyant. When I was around Jacob, laughing just seemed to come naturally to me. It's like, when I was around Jacob, all the stuff that I had been through in the last year almost didn't matter. It was like there had been no such thing as vampires, and that I was just a normal girl hanging out with her friend.

But even though it felt like that, I still knew that that wasn't the case.

When the time came to leave, which wasn't until about 11 at night, we all said our goodbyes, and I told Jacob that I would be up here around noon tomorrow, if it was alright with Charlie and Billy. Sure enough, they both said it was alright with them. Having no doubt in my mind that Charlie had told Billy about what he said to Jacob, it wasn't hard to guess what his answer would have been anyways.

I like the sound of that: Jacob

She's proud of my work. I liked the sound of that. Well, she didn't come out and say it, but I could tell. The pride was there. It was more implied than said.

As the weeks went by, Bella and I were growing closer. Weeks turned into months, and I could tell Bella was healing. She wasn't there yet, not even close, but it's a work in progress. Every now and then when a certain subject was brought up, she would wrap her hands around herself, seemingly unconciously, as if to keep herself together. She was doing that a lot less often nowadays, but every now and then, I had to change the subject to keep her from breaking down.

But I knew it was coming eventually. Something would happen and it would hit her. Hard. Half of me wanted to be there when it did. I wanted to be there for her then because that would be when she needed me the most. But the other half wasn't so sure. I didn t know what would happen if I was to see her like that. I might not like it because she wouldn t want me to see her like that, and I don t know how much pain I would be in to see her in that kind of pain. Either way though, it wouldn t be good.

Ever since Bella and I had started to hang out, my grades had been slipping, I don t know how Bella keeps her grades up when not only is she spending almost all of her free time here, but also in the state that she s in. Billy told me that until my grades went up, I wasn t allowed to hang out with Bella in the garage.

So for an entire week, which really isn't all that long, but when you really like somebody, it can seem like an eternity, Bella and didn't talk. Not once. And it was pure torture to me. While I was busy feeling sorry for myself, I was also worried about Bella. She needed me. And that wasn't the smug guy in me, it was the truth.

So, i think this chapter is alot better now. and its not quite as...bland. So...let me know what you think about how I re-did the chapter, which means reviewing, people!

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