True to my word, I cleaned up and off we went to the Blacks'. As we rounded the curve into a long driveway, we parked and went up to a small house with a ramp leading to the front door. We walked up the ramp and rang the doorbell. Billy Black answered the door, a smile lifting all the creases in his face that wrinkled as easily as worn leather. His skin was a rich color that was much darker than my cream skin, but only a tiny bit darker than a nice tan that most of the girls back in Phoenix frequently got on each school vacation. He was sitting in a wheelchair, but was as agile as me and Charlie, or in my case, much more agile than me. Billy offered his hand out to me.

"Bella! It's been a long time since I've seen you. You've grown up quite beautifully. You'll have to watch out for the boys in town going after her, eh Charlie?" Charlie's eyes tightened slightly. I expect this was the exact news he was hoping not to hear. Billy laughed in a carefree way. "She'll be fine Charlie. After all, everybody in the town is intimidated by Chief Swan." Billy winked behind Charlie's back and I stifled a small smile of my own. I had almost completely forgotten about Billy, but it was good to have reintroduced ourselves, because he was such an interesting, optimistic spirit. Billy looked around in an almost confused sense. "Now where is Jacob? He was just here…" his voice trailed off and his forehead crinkled. "JACOB!" he yelled. A tall, younger version of Billy ambled around the corner with an embarrassed smile. He was much taller than me, although Charlie said he was about my age, he looked a bit younger in the way he carried himself. He was not yet comfortable in his own skin. However, he had a very interesting skin…

He was easily 5'9" and had skin the same color as Billy's. His hair was a deep midnight black and his eyes were a luxuriously warm shade of brown. As embarrassed as his smile was, it was soft and beautiful. Overall, Jacob was quite…handsome. He stepped forward towards Charlie and me and offered his hand out to me.

"Hi Bella. You probably don't remember me, but as you heard, I'm Jacob." His voice was overwhelmingly pleasant and warm. It was nice, like the sun had just entered this rainy little part of the world. I smiled.

"I don't remember you at all I'm afraid, but it's good to meet you." I took his hand and shook it gingerly. Charlie and Billy, satisfied that we had properly met each other, went off somewhere else, leaving me and Jacob in the living room. Jacob started walking towards the sofa, and I followed. As we sank down onto the cushions, I looked at my feet. Small talk was not my strong point. Luckily, it seemed to be Jacob's.

"Charlie has been talking about nothing but you coming for the past month. Billy has had to hear it over and over again." He rolled his eyes and nudged me in a teasing manner. I smiled. Jacob continued, "Billy tried to show me some old pictures that Charlie had a while back, but they do you no justice. You were like 5 and it would appear that you had an extreme interest in staying as far from worms as possible." I cringed slightly. I knew exactly what picture he was talking about. Me frantically trying to get away from a worm Charlie dangled over my head, while Charlie was almost in tears laughing so hard. One of the many fishing trips that I had tried so hard to forget. Jacob laughed at my expression.

"Laugh if you want, but those worms were disgusting. And freakishly long. I do not know how in the world they managed to catch such monster worms. Probably injected them with steroids or something…" Jacob laughed at me, like I was actually funny. I just shook my head and rolled my eyes. Monster sized worms were no joking manner. I tried to change the subject from my mortification as a five year old to something about Jacob. "So, how old are you? If we never met, I'm guessing that you're a bit younger?" He nodded before responding.

"Yeah, I'm 15, but I turn 16 in late February. How old are you?" he asked politely.

"Um, I'm 16 but I turn 17 next month in September." I picked at the sleeves of my shirt as I said it. I had forgotten it was so close. I hoped that Charlie wasn't planning on getting anything that could be considered expensive. A card would suffice.

"Really? What day?" Jacob leaned forward with a curious glint in his eyes.

"The thirteenth. I haven't had a birthday in Forks since I was about 5 though, so I have no clue what'll happen, or who should come." My brow furrowed. If I did, by some odd chance decide to have a birthday party, who on earth would I invite? School would have just barely started, and I certainly wouldn't know anyone besides Billy and Jacob. This same idea had apparently just occurred to Jacob too though,

"Who should come? Me and Billy of course. We'll have dinner and Billy and Charlie can watch the game and we can go to the beach or out to Port Angeles. We'll have a blast." He seemed confident in my 'party' being a success. I couldn't help but smile for the hundredth time this evening. Something about talking to him just seemed right. I suddenly realized how close we were sitting to one another. There was one, two inches in between us at the most. As soon as I noticed this, however, I heard Charlie call out almost excitedly.

"Bells? Jake? Come out to the garage for a sec!" Jacob threw a quick smile in my direction.

"Guess we better get going…Charlie hates waiting." I nodded. I knew just how little patience Charlie had when he was anxious about something. Although, he sounded excited for a reason I couldn't fathom. We began to make our way through the house, Jacob leading the way to the garage. On the way, I saw pictures of the family, of Jacob and his sisters and Billy. Then I noticed some older pictures with Jacob as a baby, and Billy standing with another woman who must have been Jacob's mother and Jacob's sisters. I squinted at the picture; she had long dark hair and a smile identical to Jacob's. So that's where he got it.

"You coming Bella?" Jacob's voice shook me out of the little train of thought I had been in.

"Yeah, just hold on..." I rushed to catch up with him and we went into the garage together.