A/N: Big thank you to all who reviewed last chapter but I never got around to thanking! It truly means a lot to me that you guys care so much! I'm thoroughly impressed with the success of this story so far. Far better than my past ones! All thanks to you guys! I greatly appreciate the fact that you've enjoyed it enough to come this far, or even think about opening up the story in the first place, I couldn't ever thank you enough! I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON THIS STORY! I've just been busy because of my school musical which I took part in, events, friends, family, holidays, school, unfortunately, FF has to come after all of those things, so I apologize deeply for taking so long! Like I've said before, I make no promises that it won't happen again, by I will try my hardest to do better!

Check out Cassia4u, my lovelies! Now, after reading chapter 3 of her story, it's hard to top her way of saying to read my shit, but I mean it just as genuinely that you will be left breathless and begging for more! :D

This is a fairly short chapter.

Just wondering, WHO ELSE WENT TO THE PREMIERE OF BREAKING DAWN PART 2?!

Cheesy, but I loved it anyway. I was on a roll while texting a friend the other night.

Friend: I want Adam Levine to blow me a kiss . . .

Me: I want Jacob Black to show me his wolf. ;)

Friend: Hahahahahaha! That made my night!

Me: Ha! Mine too! You know, I'm a dog person. I hear they do good breeding in Washington, La Push reservation especially. ;)

Friend: :O HAHAHAHAHA! It's so nice to know that I'm not the only person being perverted tonight, just ask [INSERT NAME HERE]!

Chapter 4: Flightless Bird, American Mouth

I stepped through the door of Emmett and Rosalie's house soon after Jacob left. I small smile tugged towards the corners of my lips, threatening to spread across my face. I tried to shut the door as softly as possible, hoping not to start a riot with my arrival. Sneakily, I tip-toed towards the stairs, hoping to just go to bed in peace.

Someone cleared their throat.

Damn.

I slowly, more than necessary at that, turned to face Nahuel, who was leaning casually against the wall next to the window, the perfect spot to see where Jacob and I had just been. He had a smug grin on his face, his eyes roaming over me, seeming to scrutinize my demeanor. "Who was that?" he asked casually.

"Nobody," I lied unconvincingly.

He nodded, not pressing the question further. "You weren't really mad, were you?" he continued.

"Yes, actually, I was," I said, allowing some acid to leak into my voice as I crossed my arms stubbornly.

"Oh, please, you were more than happy to leave. Nearly leapt out of the door," he added, smirking.

I rolled my eyes, taking a step towards him. "I'd leap out of a window to get away from you."

He glared, moving closer to me as well. "Just tell me who it was. A random guy? A friend? Your boyfriend?" he demanded, having gotten close enough to have to look down to see me.

"Goodnight, Nahuel," I hissed, spinning on my heel to charge back up to my room.

I jumped as Jacob's front door opened abruptly, nearly tumbling to the ground with my hand still raised as if I were to knock. My knees had buckled from beneath me, one giving out and sliding behind the other as if it had been yanked on from the ankle. Jacob, as usual, had his arms ready to catch me, getting a firm grip on my elbows before pulling me back up in one swift movement.

Still a slight startled, I looked up to Jacob's smiling face, glimmering with happiness as if I'd made his day just by showing up at the door - which was doubtful with how his life was.

I did my best to smile back, surely not comparing to the white shine of his teeth - to think that he hadn't even been trying. "You scared the living shit out of me."

"'Hey Jake! How are you?' 'Oh, I'm great, Nessie, thanks for asking!'" he rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "It's good to see you."

I beamed. "You too. Where is everybody?" I asked, taking note of the silent house, not even the murmurs of a television or the like.

"To be completely honest with you, I don't really know. I think that Rachel and Paul went out to buy some groceries, but I have no clue about Embry," he admitted.

I laughed. "I should have guessed."

He chuckled as he lead the way to the very familiar stairway, me following clumsily behind, but not enough to completely fall on my face.

Since getting back to LA, Jacob and I had been growing close. I was at his house nearly every day, Alice always - grudgingly, on her part - busy with new designs and getting shipments out to the right places, and other complicated things that made no sense to me whatsoever. It had truly only been a week, probably less than that, but it seemed like we'd known each other much longer, already knowing what made the other tick, what the other liked or didn't like. By this point, we'd just been filling the blanks, to be honest.

I plopped down on his unmade bed hissing as something sharp from my bag poked into my side, causing me to jerk upright. "Oh!"

"What?!" Jacob showed his palms defensively, alarmed.

I shook out the contents of my bag, a crapload of random things dumping onto Jacob's chocolate colored comforter, blushing when a few toiletries fell out. I quickly stuffed those back into the bag before grabbing the clear CD case and tossing it to Jacob, who instinctively caught it with one hand. He grinned. "What's this?"

I walked up to him, pointing to the white disk with song titles and numbers scrawled on in black sharpie covering every inch of the thin CD. "It's a play list of all my favorite songs. Well, not all of them, just a few. Show you that my taste doesn't suck," I added.

He smirked, putting the disk in an aged CD player, pressing play. "I'll be the judge of that. Though, I presume that it's mostly country music." He made a face.

I rolled my eyes. "Not all country music . . . Just most of it," I laughed, lying back on the bed.

He grinned taking a seat next to me as the first one started playing.

I was a ferris wheel, in an empty field where nobody goes

Had all the curtains drawn, sitting all alone, feeling like a ghost -

Jacob gave me a look. "What's this?"

I blushed. "'Light Me Up,'" I mumbled, continuing when his face remained blank. "By Hunter Hayes . . ."

He made a face. "I hate that guy."

"Take it back!" I laughed, eyes widening in mock horror. "Be nice! He's one of my favorite singers! Take. It. Back," I said over-excitedly, fangirling.

He showed his hands in defense. "Sorry! I'll just change it," he said while clicking a button. He clicked it again, shooting me a playful glare when he heard the intro to "One Thing," by One Direction.

I was a quick wet boy

Diving too deep for coins

All of your straight blind eyes

Wide on my plastic toys

He paused thoughtfully when coming across a slow song, "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," by Iron & Wine. "This sounds familiar," he commented.

I nodded. "More people know it than they think. I like it."

He grinned as the music played, holding his hand out. "May I have this dance?"

I bit my lip, staring at his fingers. "What?" he demanded.

I shook my head. "I can't dance," I said simply.

"Oh, come on, everyone says that."'

"No, seriously, I think it's hereditary. My family says that my mother was the same way . . . I suck," I summed up.

He rolled his eyes, yanking me off of the bed, one hand holding my waist, his other lacing through my fingers. "Not so bad, now isn't it?"

"You're relentless," I accused, laughing.

He shrugged. "Perhaps."

Now I'm a fat house cat

Nursing my sore blunt tongue

Watching the warm poison rats

Curl through the wide fence cracks

Pissing on magazine photos

Those fishing lures thrown in the cold and clean

Blood of Christ mountain stream

[CHORUS]

Have I found you?

Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding

Or lost you?

American mouth

Big pill, stuck going down

I allowed him to lead me awkwardly, having moments where I wasn't exactly sure that he knew quite what he was doing, causing me to laugh. He twirled me one last time before I stumbled away, laughing as I fell in the bed again.

"Like I said, not so bad," he chuckled, sitting next to me.

I laughed harder. "No, not when you sing like a retarded pig in my ear!"

His jaw dropped. "Watch what you say, or I'll have to start again!" he laughed, his hands shooting out to jumper-cable my sides. I burst into an involuntary giggle fit while he pinned me down, tickling my stomach. I couldn't see much, just his large frame blocking my vision form everything else, not seeming to even struggle to hold me down, no matter how much I giggled and thrashed. I felt like a kid again, having to surrender to this guy, tossing around, trying to throw him off, my abs beginning to hurt from the laughter, which only worsened when he began to sing again - though much louder this time. "Have I found you?! Fliiiiiiiiiiiightless bird!" His voice died out almost instantly when his own laughter erupted, collapsing next to me, his shoulders shaking violently as we laughed.

The last of our chuckles relaxed soon enough, causing both of us to finally sit up. The muscles of my jaw started to ache from what I was sure was a now permanent smile that stretched too far across my face as I looked up at Jake to see if he'd recovered either. He seemed to have gathered himself, smiling his easy grin down at me, his eyes meeting mine. Every time I looked into them, I could swear that I could see forever, feeling warmth and protection flood through me each time. The brown seemed to get deeper and deeper the longer I stared. His eyes never wavered from my face, roaming over every inch, scrutinizing it in a way that was far more intimate than any kiss. But the thing was, I didn't mind. I didn't mind that his eyes were hooded with visible protectiveness, that he didn't seem to want me to leave. I didn't either. He had a way of making me feel normal. Like I belonged. Welcome. Safe.

I didn't know how long we sat there, probably far enough to disturb someone else, given the chance for them to be in the room. We were both leaning in, slowly but surely, unconsciously. Something clicked in the back of my mind, shooting through me like a dart. I knew I wanted to, and also knew that I couldn't hold off forever, but it was too soon, too brotherly, friendly. I used the first thing that I could see as a distraction. "Hey, is that Romeo and Juliet?" I asked, pointing to a thin, battered paperback book on his dresser.

His head snapped in the direction, seeming to have been pulled out of deep thought. "Err . . . Um, yeah."

I stumbled to my feet, shuffling over to the dresser to pull the abused copy off of the cluttered surface. "It's one of my favorite stories." I smiled, flipping through the yellowed pages.

I could almost hear a smile in his voice. "Mine too. It's what got me started, you know."

I raised my eyebrow, shooting him a speculative glance.

"Into acting . . ." he hedged.

I nodded, a gesture for him to proceed. He sighed. "It wasn't exactly on purpose. In eighth grade, Embry, Quil - my other best friend who still lives back home - and I made a bet . . . Whoever won had to audition for the school musical . . ." I smiled, leaning in, showing my interest. He grinned. "I didn't get it." I frowned. Way to build up a story, I thought. "Which is probably a good thing too. I couldn't sing to save my life," he said, laughing. "But the experience was great enough to cause me to audition for a play instead; I had better luck there. Well, hardly. I was a random townsman. Simply had to gasp, look intrigued, that sort of thing. Just another extra. But I remember watching the leads for the first time . . . I looked up to our Romeo." He smiled, pointing to the title of the withered book in my hand. "He was played by Sam Uley. Great guy. Told me too keep going and going and never stop. He was practically my mentor . . ." He paused.

"What happened?" I asked.

He shook his head, shrugging. "I don't know," he admitted in a gentle voice. "I followed all of his advice. It worked. One day he just stopped talking to me. To everybody. Dropped out of school . . . I haven't heard from him since. Come to think of it, I'm not sure that anyone has." He sighed, rubbing his face. "Some say that he got into drugs, some say that he was arrested, some say that died, heaven forbid . . ."

I looked down, not sure of what to say. What could I say, I mean really. This was someone who Jacob had looked up to, and had just been swept out of his life. I had to remind myself that it wasn't his first time with that feeling. Wouldn't have been for me either. "I try not to think about that. He was well respected, where I come from, and I refuse to think of him any less than he deserved," he murmured before smiling, his deep-set eyes years away, lost in thought. "I had a favorite part of the play," he said, holding his hand out for the book. I handed it to him without hesitation, hardly able to keep up with his constant change in thought. His large fingers flipped through the pages, finding a place towards the end quickly. "He did this part perfectly, far better than I could have ever done. It's what made me realize that this is what I wanted to do." I looked up at his face, a warm feeling flooding through me when I saw the pure enjoyment and ecstasy that flooded in the chocolate irises of his eyes, the grin on his lips stretching farther. The face couldn't have been more passionate.

I sat down as he recited it. My eyes closed, listening.

"O here Will I set my everlasting rest

And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars

From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes look your last!

Arms, take your last embrace! And lips, O you

The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss

A dateless bargain to engrossing death!"

I opened my eyes as he ended. *I sucked in a sharp breath, not expecting his burning gaze. I felt a compelling need to look away, to run out of the house, to get a plane ticket and fly back to Forks, anything to escape the overwhelming emotion that was sent through his stare; but I couldn't. It was as overpowering as it was, it also gave me the will to breathe that I didn't know I didn't have. It filled my lungs with fresh air, compelled my muscles to will me forward in life. It was almost as if he were feeding off of my weakness, but strengthening me all the same. Or was I feeding off of him? I couldn't tell, but it took every fiber of my being to tear my gaze away and blink, keeping my eyes on his abnormally large feet.

"Erm, t-tell me about your friend, Q-Quil," I stammered, taking deep breaths, trying to figure out what had just happened.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "He was originally going to come out to live with us. I was told that I could bring out two friends to live with us. So that was the plan, Quil and Embry . . . Well, we were over at Embry's place, packing up what little he had when Quil's phone rang; it was his girlfriend, Claire, calling to tell him that she was pregnant . . . With his child."

He let the words hang in the air, seeming like he wanted to coax some sort of reaction out of me. I wasn't sure how to react. It could be taken so many different ways, I mean, some would look at it as an obstacle, something that just got in the way of what they wanted. Others would think of it as a blessing, a miracle that they never though to wish for. "Her name is Meghan," Jacob said finally, smiling. I couldn't help a small chuckle. "Meghan Joy Ateara-Young. You know, Quil is my second cousin, making her my third. She's two now, and full of energy." He laughed. "Doesn't take much to grow an addiction to her. I've only seen her a handful of times, but plenty more over video-chat. Cute kid, too. She's gonna provide some issues for Quil when she hits high school. Those attractive genes must be from the Black side of the family. The very distant, Black side." He grinned. "The first time that I met her, I walked into their house to see her hanging from his belt loop." He shook his head, stifling a laugh. "She'd barely been walking a few months but had already obtained the ability to carry hold herself up with her fist and a piece of denim. Claire was kind of pissed about that one." he grinned. "Kid seriously is adorable, though."

"Talking about me?" We whipped our heads around to see Embry leaning against the doorframe, taking a bite of a red apple, a grin on his face.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "That's funny. Ness, did you hear me say the word asshole?" He raised his eyebrows at me.

"No, I didn't," I grinned, playing along.

He looked thoughtful. "Hmm. Must not have been talking 'bout you, then," he said simply, looking back to Embry.

Embry rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Rach and Paul just got home and were about to start on dinner. They were wondering if you would like to stay." He looked at me.

I made a face. "Look, thanks for the offer, but I really don't - "

"She'll stay. We'll be down in a minute," Jake answered for me.

I gaped at him for a moment as Embry started to step into the hallway. "Okay, you two!" he called behind him. We heard a kissy noise as his feet thudded down the stairs. I rolled my eyes.

"Really, Jake, it's fine, I can - "

"No, no, no, you can eat here for one night. You've provided me with a social life outside of an eighteen year old with an X-box addiction, it's the least I can do."

I didn't argue as we went downstairs.

A/N: *The whole "overwhelming emotion" thing was all just kind of an imprint reference, but of course, they can't do that in AH, so for them, it was more of an epiphany thing like, "Holy mother of Spongebob; I cannot live without you!" I don't know, really, I just kept typing and didn't stop. I guess that might have been misplaced but . . . Oh, well. If you like it, then thank you, and if you don't . . . well, I'm sorry. :P

*CHALLENGE TIME* Do you know the song? (Before you all become smartasses, please let me point out that yes, it is the chapter title, but I wanna know if you know what it's from. Or where I got it from at least.) Let me know, and I'll tell you what it's from in the next chapter! :D (Wanted song part longer, but didn't want it to drag.)

What do you think? Make sure to tell me! Thanks for reading! :D