Time for me to say it again; all characters belong to the wonderful [but slightly dumb for having Bella end up with Edward not Jacob] Stephanie Meyer. ;]
Without much further ado, chapter three. :]
"What was that about?" Jake finally asked. That beautiful smile never left his face.
"I'll tell you later," I said, he automatically pouted and I giggled. One of Jake's many talents was being able to make the worst situation feel like the best.
"Hey you wanna go to the beach?" he asked, leaning his forearms on the small wooden ledge.
I just nodded, suddenly aware of just how naked he was. Jake was standing there in a pair of low-slung blue shorts. Tight blue shorts. He grinned at me and I knew I'd been caught staring. I felt a blush creep over my cheeks.
"Let me grab a pair of jeans" he said, ducking down behind his window. I imagined a pile of clothes stacked against his wall with a smile. His head popped back up "I'll meet you out front, okay?"
"Sure" I smiled, I heard him chuckle as I began stumbling back towards the front of the house. Shut up Jake.
I crept around the front, even though I knew Billy was still asleep. I sat down on the porch, pulled my legs up to my chest and rested my chin on them. I stared out across the street; slowly my dream started coming back to me. Of course I knew who that laugh belonged to and of course I knew who the little boy was; he was definitely not Edward's son. Damn dreams.
The door opened, pulling me from my thoughts. "Let's go" he whispered, pulling the door closed behind him. I smiled up at him as he held out his hand to pull me up. I grabbed his hand and he grinned at me, my skin sizzled under his touch. I found myself grinning back, Like it's the most natural thing in the world.
"You think you can walk to the beach without tripping over?" he winked.
"Haha, very funny" I rolled my eyes and laughed. Jake grinned at me.
"I like it when you laugh, y'know, it makes your eyes sparkle" he stated, so matter-of-factly yet so sweetly that I almost cried.
"Thank you Jake" I smiled at him.
"For what?" he asked, walking off down the path, leaving me to stumble after him.
"For always being there, for letting me be myself, for making me laugh, for being the only person who seems to understand," I said as I caught up to him, he turned to look at me, "for being my best friend" My sunshine on a cloudy day.
He grinned at me "It feels like I should be thanking you Bells"
"Why?" I stopped to stare at him; he turned and looked dead at me.
"You were there for me too, y'know, you might not have realized it but you were," he brought his hand up to stroke my cheek "you made this whole wolf thing bearable, you gave me something to focus on"
I felt a blush creep over my cheeks again as his hand lingered at little longer, his eyes searching my face. I looked up into those dark brown pools and I saw something I'd never seen there before. Insecurity.
I knew exactly what insecurity looked like, I was the walking poster girl for it.
I felt my eyebrows pull together as I frowned, I didn't know why Jake looked insecure and it bother me to see him that way; he mistook my concern for something else and pulled his hand back, turning away from me. I opened my mouth to stop him leaving but it was too late, he'd already took off.
Dammit Bella, you're so dumb sometimes! I mentally screamed.
"Last one in the water has to help clean up tomorrow night!" he yelled with a grin as he stopped to drop his jeans. I grinned and took off after him.
That night I had the most fun I'd had in a long time. Jake and I swam around until I my leg seized up in a cramp, I was spluttering around while he laughed and just scooped me up in his arms. We went back to the beach, to dry off. We sat there until dawn, talking about everything. The only thing we didn't talk about was the thing I wanted to talk about most. Normally Jake would be the first person to bring up the subject of me and him, but he avoided it like it was the damn plague tonight.
We were laid back on the sand when I yawned and Jake said it was time for me to go home. We stumbled back up the beach to my truck, Jake holding me up.
"I'll drive" he said, putting his hand on the driver's side door, stopping me from opening it.
"How are you gunna get home if you drive all the way to Forks in my truck?" I said.
"I'm on dawn patrol Bells" he grinned at me and I felt my resolve weaken. I handed him my keys with a small groan and got in the passenger side.
I felt my eyes droop as Jake started the engine, I heard him chuckle as he slid his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. My head dropped onto his shoulder and my eyes closed completely, I felt him kiss the top of my head as we headed for Forks.
"Bells? Bells wake up, sweetie" I heard his husky voice whisper in my ear.
"Mm, no, five more minutes" I smiled and curled closer to his side, trying to get closer to his warmth.
"I'd give you a hundred more minutes Bells, but your Dad's looking out the window at us" he said, I could hear the grin.
"What?!" I sat up straight and tried to smooth my hair down a little. I could feel Charlie's eyes on us, I didn't even have to look at him to know that he was frowning. I pushed the door open and managed to climb out without falling flat on my face. I looked up and saw Charlie drop the curtain like it was on fire.
"I'll see you later Bells," Jake walked around the cab to me "You're still coming to the barbeque, right?"
"Of course," I nodded a little to eagerly "Me and Angela are heading out there early to help Emily set up" I grinned. Emily was like an older sister to me now.
Jake smiled and nodded at me. He leaned forward and pressed his searing lips to my forehead. I felt my breath hitch in my throat. I knew Charlie was watching us. Jake grinned at me as he turned and walked away. When he got far enough from my house; he stopped, winked at me and sprinted into the forest. Leaving me to stare at the spot where he'd just been standing, grinning.
First of all, let me thank you guys for all the story alert's and the reviews, it makes me smile when they pop up in my inbox. :]
Let me know what you guys think of this chapter, okay? 33