Disclaimer:

Seth: Donna doesn't own Twilight y'all.

Me: 'Y'all'? Jasper you are not.

S: It's not like he coined the phrase, jeeze woman.

M: I also do not own the song that this chapter is named after it belongs to Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift. Although the chapter is not based on the song.

Sunday morning and early afternoon passed in a blur since Bella had so much to do before she went over to Sam and Leah's. She still had to grocery shop and when she was packing up her stuff to take over she found out that her best pie plate had a huge chip and crack in it so she would have to buy another one. Grocery shopping for a large crowd was not easy and she didn't think that the guys would mind that she had enlisted help as long as they got what they wanted. By the time she was ready to pick up Angela to drive over to Jessica's so that she could follow them it was after three.

Angela peppered her with questions about her night and Bella answered her questions freely, knowing that she would fill Jessica in the first chance she got. It would save Bella from having to tell the story a second time. No one had shown up at Sam and Leah's when they showed up and Sam was nice enough to bring everything in while Leah showed Bella how to start their grill.

"So, where's lover boy?" Leah teased, nudging Bella with her elbow.

"He's probably just getting home from work."

"Are things serious with you two?"

"I don't know yet, but it looks like it. Fingers crossed," she joked.

"You could do a lot worse than Jake. I'm not saying that I'm secretly in love with him or anything but he's a good looking guy."

"Yes he is," Bella agreed.

"Hey Bells, do you want these potatoes to go in the oven yet?" Angela asked from the back door.

"Wait another half an hour," she said with a shake of her head.

"Why exactly are they here? Not that I don't like having them over."

"To help me," she answered, not meeting Leah's gaze.

"Right," Leah said slowly, letting Bella know that she didn't believe her.

It wasn't exactly a a secret that Embry had a crush on Angela but since Angela was rendered clueless when it came to picking up on that type of thing it was up to Bella to give Embry a nudge in the right direction. He would thank her since she was pretty sure that Angela harbored a secret crush on him too.

People started arriving around the time that Bella put the steaks on and it wasn't long before a pair of arms slid around her waist.

"Why aren't wearing your jacket?" Jacob asked, his mouth inches from her ear.

"So that you would come out here and keep me warm," she said turning her head to kiss the corner of his mouth.

"Very sneaky, but smart," he said, smiling into her neck.

"Do I have to turn the hose on you two?" Leah asked from the back door.

"Please, we aren't as bad as you and Sam were when you first got together," Jacob said with a scoff.

"You two were all over each other," Bella reminded Leah.

"And look what it got us. We're married with a kid and another one on the way."

Bella swiveled out of Jacob's arms, giving Leah a questioning look.

"We were going to tell everybody tonight," Leah said with a defeated sigh.

"I'm gonna be a big brother!" Leah and Sam's son Jaymeson called excitedly from behind his mother.

"You two are adorable, don't let Misses Cynical tell you any different," Jessica said through the kitchen window.

"You hear that, we're adorable," Jacob said, poking Bella lightly in the stomach.

She laughed trying to get away from him. Leah shook her head not able to hide the small smile tugging at her lips before shutting the door. She picked up Jaymeson and carried him to Sam who took him willingly. Jaymeson had been a surprise and also the reason why Sam had asked her to marry him. She appreciated that Sam had wanted to do the right thing and to be honest they had talked about getting married not long before she found out but Sam hadn't had time to find her a ring. She wouldn't change her life for anything.

Jacob sat on the stairs watching Bella as she checked on the steaks one last time before deciding that they were done. He opened the door for her before following her in. The potatoes still had another twenty minutes and the the pie was out and the fridge was stocked with more beer than Bella had seen in her life. She sat at the kitchen table, looking into the living room where most of her friends were. Angela sat on the love seat with Jessica but she was deep in conversation with Embry who sat at the floor at her feet. Maybe she wouldn't have to give them that big of a nudge after all.

Jacob placed a soda in front of her before sitting next to her. He took her hand underneath the table, drawing circles on her palm with his thumb. Her chin rested in the palm of her free hand before she turned her head to face him. He continued to look forward until she squeezed his hand to get his attention.

"How was your day?"

"Long, not nearly as nice as yesterday," he said with a sigh.

"Yeah, it's gonna be a while before we can top yesterday. Did you go and see your dad before you came over?"

"Yeah. I had to make him dinner since Rachel's working and I've gotta go back later to get him settled for the night."

"Have you told him about us?"

"We talked while I was there," he said with a nod.

"Charlie called me first thing and wouldn't let me off the phone. I swear, I probably answered thousand questions," she said with a sigh.

"Well, he is a cop," he rationalized.

She rested her head on his shoulder he and draped an arm over her shoulders, kissing her temple as a way to tell her not to worry. Her dad had always liked Jacob, Charlie thought of him as his son, but things were changing and Jacob was taking on a different role in her life, one that Charlie would more than likely have at least one objection to. He never thought that anyone was good enough for his little girl and she was not looking forward to the line of questioning that Jacob would have to sit through.

Everyone ate outside since it was one of those rare nights where it was actually nice out even for February. Leah's mom and dad had let them borrow a few extra sets of fold out tables and chairs and Sam and Paul had set them up while every one else was inside. It had been a silent agreement between them all that Embry and Angela should sit together and the two of them seemed to be in their own little world just like they had been in the house. Everyone complimented Bella, Jessica and Angela on the food and when it came time to clean the kitchen Angela offered to do it. Embry helped gather the leftover food without Bella and Jessica having to ask him to.

"Look at him, he's so smart," Jessica said in wonder.

"He's not smart, he's whipped," Jared said with a scoff.

"He is not whipped," Bella disagreed with a shake of her head.

"It's about time," Leah said watching Angela and Embry walk through the back yard.

"Looks like our job is done," Jessica said holding her fist out to Bella.

Bella pounded fist with her and Jessica nodded her head once. No one could ever say that Embry was stupid, he was the most observant person that Bella knew other than herself. She knew from an early age that he was destined for great things and she got to see how talented he was everyday since he worked as a photographer for the paper. He was her closest guy friend after Jacob, always looking out for her even when he didn't need to.

A little while later once everyone had come back inside Bella got Embry's attention. He walked over to her with his hands shoved into his pockets.

"What's up?" he asked.

"How about you take Angela over to see your dark room? She'd love to see it," she suggested.

"I know what you're doing," he said, giving her a stern look.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" she said, shrugging innocently.

"Don't do that. We both know you're not as innocent as you seem. Thank you for the push," he said, pulling her to him.

"You're welcome," she said hugging him tightly.

"For the record, I've already asked her and we were about to leave when you asked me to come over," he said with a teasing smile.

"Can you give her a ride home?"

"Yeah. I haven't had that much to drink," he promised.

She let go of him, brushing her lips against his cheek before pulling away. She saw someone come to stand at her side a few seconds later and she knew instinctively that it was Jacob.

"Should I be worried about him trying to sweep you off your feet?" he joked.

"Easy tiger, he only has eyes for Angela. You know that," she said placing a hand on his chest.

"I've gotta take Seth home since he's too drunk to walk and I don't like the idea of letting Jess give him a ride. I told Leah not to let him drink," he said with sigh.

"What are you going to tell Sue and Harry when they ask?"

"That he got hold of a bad bag of pot. Don't give me that look, they know that he does it sometimes," he said shaking his head when she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Call me when you get home?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her closer. She leaned up on her toes to brush her lips to his but didn't pull away, letting him hug her until he decided to pull away. She looked across the room to see Jessica watching her with a knowing smirk. Bella gave her a confused look as she made her way across the room.

"What?" Bella asked in confusion.

"What?" Jessica mocked, hitting her lightly on the arm.

"Seriously, what?" Bella asked with a roll of her eyes.

"That lameo kiss," Jessica whispered aggressively.

"It was our first time kissing in front of anyone that we knew. I'm not big on public displays of affection, you know that," Bella argued.

"If I had a chance to kiss a guy who looked like Jake I would kiss him senseless in front of anybody who would watch. Plus, everybody was watching from the kitchen window and back door while the two of you were outside so it's not something that we hadn't already seen."

"All of you were spying on us?" Bella asked flatly.

"You really like it when he nuzzles your neck, it's totally obvious" Jessica said with a teasing smile.

"Keep it up and I am going to tell Seth that you're hung up on him," Bella warned.

"I am not, there is nothing wrong with a little harmless flirting," she retorted with a huff.

"Flirting? You don't touch a guy the way that you touch Seth if you are just flirting, Jess."

"He's too young," Jessica said sadly.

"He's nineteen and you're twenty three, not forty."

"It's just a crush, seriously," she whispered, and Bella didn't believe a word of it.

"I'm not saying that you need to jump his bones anytime soon but you need to stop lying to yourself. Give him a couple more years; by the time he's twenty one you'll be done with your master's and he'll be more mature and able to handle a real woman."

Bella knew that Jessica had had her eyes on Seth ever since they had met three years ago and at the time Bella had cautioned her friend not to do anything drastic. Over the past three years she had watch those feelings grow from crush to intrigue to infatuation and finally those feelings had settled into something between love and friendship, which was where she found herself so she could understand where Jessica was coming from.

Jessica linked arms with her and steered her through the house, they both said goodbye to everyone they passed. Bella waited until Jessica had started her car before pulling out of Sam and Leah's yard. They parted ways once they were off the reservation and Bella was home ten minutes later.

Bella was reading a magazine when someone knocked on her door after ten that night. She made her way down the hall slowly, not knowing what to expect. Who would show up this late at night? She didn't bother turning a light so she made her way through the living room in the dark. Her knee struck the edge of the coffee table and she hissed before cursing loudly. The doorknob rattled and her eyes shot to the door.

"Bells?" Jacob called from the other side.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling herself together enough to limp to the door.

"I wanted to come by and see you before heading home," he answered through the door.

"So you drove twenty minutes in the opposite direction just to see me?" she asked opening the door.

"Yeah. Why didn't you turn on the hall light before coming through here?" he asked navigating the room with ease to turn on the lamp by the sliding door leading to her balcony.

"Because I didn't want anyone to know that I was home just in case you were a burglar. I did manage to grab my phone just in case I had to dial 911," she confirmed, holding up her phone.

"That doesn't look too bad, it probably won't even swell," he said, gesturing to the fading red mark on her knee.

"The pain is starting to go away," she answered, noticing the duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

"So you just came by to tell me goodnight?" she asked, folding her arms over chest.

"Ya got me," he said with a bashful smile.

"What if I said that I wasn't okay with you staying over?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"Then I would counter offer that I could sleep on the couch," he informed her.

"Go put your bag in my room," she said, shaking her head with a roll of her eyes.

She grabbed them each a bottled water before going back to her room. He was in her adjoining bathroom brushing his teeth when she found him. She leaned against the bathroom door, her arms folded over her chest once more as she took him in. He was only wearing a pair of boxers and more than likely the tee shirt that he had been wearing under his sweater from that night. She looked down, taking in her white tank top and loose flannel pajama bottoms sending up a silent thank you that she hadn't gone with the unicorn tee shirt and her sleep shorts emblazoned with rainbows she had originally pulled out of her drawer.

Jacob turned off the water and placed his toothbrush in the toothbrush holder next to hers before turning around slowly. Bella still stood at the door but her arms were no longer folded. She pushed away from the door and came to stand in front of him. He pulled her to him with one arm, his free hand cupping her neck. He pressed his lips firmly to hers applying enough pressure to let her know what he wanted. She opened her mouth to him, letting him in without thinking twice.

He walked them out of the room, navigating his way to the bed, holding her to him so that she wouldn't fall without breaking the kiss. The back of her knees hit the bed and she pulled away quickly, breathless.

"What exactly do you expect to happen tonight?" she asked wide eyed.

"I don't know, I thought going to sleep would be a novel idea since I've got to be at work by eight and you have to be at work early too."

"That's all?" she questioned, giving him an unbelieving look.

"Okay, so maybe I thought that I could hold you while we slept but that was as far as I am willing to go," he answered honestly.

She laughed nervously before flopping down on the edge of the bed, she would have fallen off if Jacob hadn't caught her just in the knick of time. He sat next to her, his hand on her back. She should have known that he wouldn't have come over because he wanted sex. That wasn't the kind of guy he was and if he had coming over for sex he would have been straight forward, not giving her a chance to questions his motives. Her laughter continued making him wonder just what exactly she found funny.

"Are you high?"

"No," she said in between a fit of giggles.

"Did you have more to drink after I left?"

She shook her head quickly, trying to control herself. She couldn't help it if she laughed when put in awkward situations, he knew that.

"Did anything happen after I left?"

"I put in a good word for Seth with Jess," she said after taking a deep breath to calm herself.

"Aren't you just a little match maker? First Embry and Ange and now you're helping the kid out?"

"I told her to wait a few years. She wants more than he's willing to give her."

"Pretty and smart, I'm a lucky guy," he murmured.

They decided to get into bed once she had finally calmed herself down. At first it felt awkward to have him in the bed with her since they hadn't shared a bed or sleeping bag for that matter since she was twelve and their dad's decided that they were too old since she was rapidly approaching puberty. Jacob turned over on his side, scooting himself closer to her. She loosened up when she felt his body heat so close to her. She rolled onto her side to face him, pushing him onto his back before placing her head in the crook of his shoulder and tangling one of her legs with his. He sighed deeply, tightening his grip on her shoulders. She kissed his his neck before closing her eyes. Something told her that it would be easier for her to fall asleep tonight than it had been the night before.

AN: Okay the rest is up to you guys. I had originally planned on this being the last chapter but I could be persuaded to write more if you all want. I'll leave the story as in-progress for a couple of weeks so that you all can let me know. If not, this is where it ends. Review, please!