A/N: Hi there. I'm really curious to see how many of you will be back this week since most of you who reviewed were very upset with Bella. But one guest was upset with Edward instead. I'm surprised to see how many strong emotions my writing seems to stir. Anyway, thanks to all of you who reviewed. I hope everyone who used their account to review got a reply. Unfortunately, I can't answer guest reviews although I really felt the need to last chapter.

As always, I want to thank my betas EdwardsMate4ever and evelyn-shaye for their help and advice. Without them, I doubt you'd want to read this story. I also want to thank my friend and prereader Vampgirl79 who surprised me with a new cover last week. I hope you like it as much as I do.

So, now I let you read about the trip to La Push. See you at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything …

******POMH******

Chapter 25 – Old Friends

During the drive to La Push on Sunday morning, Jake talked about how long he hadn't been there, how much he'd missed his dad, and how his sisters were doing. Both were married with children. Rachel was married to Paul, an old friend of Jake's. They were living in La Push near their families. Rebecca was currently living in Hawaii with her family.

I listened, answered, and even laughed, but my thoughts were definitely elsewhere. After Edward had left last night, I'd stayed for another thirty minutes before I'd gone home, too.

I hadn't slept well. The pent-up sexual energy and the fact that I'd missed Edward's warm body next to me had made it impossible to relax. Add to that the feeling that something was wrong, and my peace of mind was gone.

"Bells, what's up?" Jake asked when I hadn't said anything in a while.

"Nothing. I just didn't sleep well." Jacob was the last person I would confide in about my feelings for Edward.

"Would you rather spend the day with him?" he asked. Without him saying the name, I knew who he was talking about while his eyes locked on my face.

"Edward's one of my best friends, and we're very close. We spend a lot of time together. That's why I asked him if we had any plans." I kept my eyes on the road, afraid Jacob would see that I was lying.

"That was not what I asked. It was unmistakable that you two are close. You'd rather be with him right now than driving to Forks, I think."

"No, and he has to work anyway," I said, determined to close the conversation.

We didn't speak much and the remaining hour of the drive was awkward and uncomfortable.

****POMH****

"Bella, I haven't seen you in ages. How are you doing? You're looking great," Billy said, hugging me hello after greeting his son.

"Hi, Billy. I'm fine. But you, you're looking just the same, although it's been years," I answered, taking a look at him. His black hair only had a few streaks of gray in it, and his face was almost free of wrinkles. Until now, I hadn't been aware that I'd missed him. As my dad's best friend and Jacob's father, he'd been an important part of my childhood and youth. But after the incident with his son, it was hard for me to be around Billy.

"You know, I'm hangin' in there. And the grandkids are keeping me on my toes. They're great." He shared with contentment.

"Dad, did you talk to Charlie? Are they coming?" Jacob asked a little nervously as we sat down on the sofa in the living room.

"Yes, boy, they're coming over in a few. And your sister is coming as well. She and Sue are bringing the food, and I already set the table. We haven't been together like this in over ten years." Billy was beaming with happiness.

But he was wrong. It had been eight years. During my childhood, we'd had many of these get-togethers, and the last one was the week Jacob had been home in 2004. After that, everything had changed.

Billy made Jacob tell about his job, his apartment and whatever there was to know about his life in the Big Apple. Jake answered them all without complaint, although he seemed to feel uneasy about some of his answers.

So, we were kind of relieved when there was a knock on the door, and Charlie and Sue came into the small house.

"Hey, Bells. Good to see you. Twice in three weeks, that's a real treat." My dad hugged me tightly before he pulled away a little. Then he turned his head as if he was looking for something. "How's Edward? Why didn't you bring him?" he asked after taking a step back.

"Hi, Dad. He's okay. He had to work." He gave me a strange look before he turned to glare at Jacob. He stared at him with a steely expression before extending his hand.

"Jake, how are you? Long time no see." His voice was cold as well. So it seemed that, no matter how much I'd hoped that I'd kept Charlie in the dark for all these years, he knew very well that Jacob had hurt me, and for that, still held a grudge against him.

Jacob on the other hand seemed to squirm under my dad's gaze. "Hello, Charlie. I'm fine," he answered insecurely.

They stared at each other for a minute before they took a step away from each other, and Charlie focused on Billy instead, who seemed very concerned about the strained interaction.

After Sue had put the casserole and the plastic boxes filled with food on the kitchen counter, she came to greet us as well.

Fortunately, before the situation could turn any more awkward, Jacob's sister came in, followed by her husband and their four children and, all of a sudden, there was a lot of positive energy in the small house.

****POMH****

After lunch, I needed some fresh air and left through the back door, strolling around the place that had been a second home to me when I was a child. Not much had changed here on the reservation, and even less had changed around Billy Black's house.

I walked the small path over to Jacob's garage, where he'd spent most of his time tinkering around with his ancient car. I halted a few steps away from the door, remembering the music that used to sound from within.

Out of nowhere, I felt someone behind me. "You want to go inside? I don't think much has changed in there. Nothing ever seems to change around here," Jacob said. He walked around me, opened the door and switched on the light.

He gestured for me to enter, and I passed him, looking at the floor to not accidentally trip on some screw or nut that was still lying around there as I used to back in the day.

Reaching the middle of the building, I stopped, and I had to smile at what I saw there in front of me.

"You still have the Rabbit?"

"Yeah. I think, no one has driven it in years." He walked over to the old, red car and lovingly ran a hand over the dusty hood.

"Is it still running?" I asked, overwhelmed by memories.

"No, I don't think so. But I don't have the heart to scrap it. After all, I lost my virginity in this car." He chuckled lightly as he walked around and opened the passenger door for me.

"Oh, yes. I remember. You couldn't stop talking about Leah that summer. It was really annoying." I rolled my eyes at him theatrically and took a seat.

"How can you know about all that? You were, what, ten at the time?" He closed the door and strolled over, sitting down in the driver's seat.

"I was eleven, and you were totally crazy about that bitch. You couldn't go five minutes without saying her name after she finally put out. I was actually glad when she broke up with you. At least, after that, your presence was kind of bearable again." I smirked at him.

"You're so mean. I really thought I loved her, at the time." His pout was fake, and we both started to laugh.

"Do you remember when you taught me how to drive? I was fourteen. You took me to that dirt road and just let me try. Charlie would kill you if he knew." I giggled lightly, reminiscing about our escapades.

"Yeah. I think I let you do a lot of stuff he wouldn't approve of. I'm still glad he doesn't know it was me who took you to see that horror movie when you were ten. It gave you nightmares for over a month." His hands were on the wheel, stroking the leather as if it was a baby. "We made lots of memories together. I'm so sorry we drifted apart. You were my little sister, and I've missed you all these years." He was looking out of the windshield, avoiding my eyes.

"Well, if nothing had happened back then, I guess we still might have lost touch. You're living on the other side of the country, after all."

"Maybe you're right." He used his hands to wipe the dust off the dashboard, deep in thought. "Why did Charlie ask about Edward earlier? Have they met?" He sounded nonchalant, but his stiff shoulders gave him away.

I looked at Jake, and our eyes finally met. "He was here for Thanksgiving. Charlie and Sue liked him. Charlie even took him to a bar."

This time, his words were more intense. "But you said he wasn't your boyfriend. Then why did you take him home with you for the holiday?"

"He isn't my boyfriend." It really hurt to say it out loud again, but as long as I hadn't had the chance to have a talk with him, I couldn't call him that. Being friends was the only thing we ever agreed on. "I invited him for Thanksgiving because he couldn't fly out to Chicago, and I didn't want him to sit alone in his apartment, eating take-out."

I remembered our conversation the night before Thanksgiving. It was the first time I'd ever really opened up to anyone. I had told him things I'd never told anyone before — things I didn't admit to myself most of the time. And he'd been more than understanding, loving even. After that night, I had finally allowed myself to let him into my heart. And there he remained. The memory of last night, of Edward leaving without me, weighed heavily on me.

"We should go back inside. We only have a few more hours, you know. And you'll be leaving Washington again soon. You should spend some time with your family." I stepped out of the Rabbit, and looked once more at the car that held so many memories before I left the garage and walked back to the house.

****POMH****

The rest of the afternoon was kind of nice and went by in a rush. I talked to Jacob's sister Rachel for a long time. She was two years older than him, which made her six years older than me. So, naturally, due to that rather large age difference, we hadn't spent much time together while we were growing up. But we seemed to be getting along very well now.

After an early dinner, we said our goodbyes and headed back to Seattle.

"I had a wonderful time today," Jacob stated when we had been on the highway for a good while.

"Yes, it was nice. Do you miss your dad?" I asked sadly. I'd noticed that he had a hard time saying goodbye to Billy.

"Yeah, I do. He's come to visit me in New York a few times, but I haven't dared to come home for eight years. I've been afraid to run into you, and I wasn't prepared for that."

"But now that we're okay, you can come back whenever you want," I said with a small smile.

"Yes, I think I can." He smiled back at me.

****POMH****

After dropping Jake off at his hotel, I drove home. It was almost ten p.m. when I plopped down on my sofa, feeling lonely.

All day, I'd been thinking about Edward and his strange behavior the night before. I felt the need to talk to him, to hear his voice, but I didn't want to seem clingy, all the more because we weren't even officially a couple.

I picked up my phone and put it down again at least ten times before I decided to write him an innocuous message.

Just got home. Charlie and Sue said hello. Have a good night. - B

I stared at the screen for a long moment, waiting for an answer. After a few minutes of silence, I got up and walked into the bathroom. When I was brushing my teeth, I was startled by the sound of Sexmachine coming from my phone.

I pushed the accept button, spitting into the sink.

"Hi," I greeted Edward, insecure but incredibly relieved.

"Hey, beautiful. How was your trip? Did you have a good time?" He sounded sleepy but, apart from that, exactly like he always did.

"The drive was long, but you know that." I paused for a moment, thinking about what to say next. I didn't want to say anything wrong and make him draw any wrong conclusions. "But it was nice. There was this get-together at Jake's dad's house. His sister was there with her family, and of course, Charlie and Sue. We had get-togethers like that a lot when I was a child, but I haven't been there in, well, you know how long."

"I forgot to ask you to tell your parents I said hello."

I didn't answer him right away. I wasn't sure what to say, but I needed to know what happened the night before. "Did I do anything wrong? You acted weird last night. I'm sorry if I offended you somehow."

He interrupted me quickly before I could ramble on. "No, you did nothing wrong. It was just that, you know, I had a long day, and I just wanted to have a good time with you, Jazz and Alice. The last person I'd expected to meet there was Jacob. I was surprised and not sure what to make of that." He sounded drained.

"It's like I said yesterday, I ran into him, and we talked. I was almost as surprised as you were when Alice and Jasper showed up dragging him along. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you about him being in town but didn't want to do it over the phone."

"It's okay. It's your decision. I just don't want you to get hurt again."

I exhaled slowly, relieved that we were good. "I won't. He's only a friend. So, what are you doing tomorrow night?" I needed to see him, to feel him. I was missing him like crazy.

"I have to go to dinner with a client, and I'm afraid it will get late. I'm sorry. I really want to see you." I could hear the sadness and frustration in his voice.

"So, another time then." I was so disappointed that I had to swallow my tears down.

"I'll call you tomorrow night if I don't get home too late, okay?"

"Of course." I climbed into my bed, pulling the covers up to my chin.

"Have a good night, beautiful. I'll call you." I could hear longing in his tone, and I was sure my voice sounded just the same.

"Yes. Good night, Edward." I hit the "end" button, set the phone on the nightstand and turned off the light.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I started to dream of Edward kissing me, holding me, making love to me. If only it had been reality.

********POMH********

A/N: So, Edward says they're okay. Phew! Are they really, though?

What did you think? I hope you got a little idea of what the bond between Bella and Jacob is apart from a sad love story. They share lots of memories. So maybe you'll understand a little better why Bella would want to give that friendship another chance.

For all of you who want a peek at next weeks chapter, here we go:

… I was close to exploding from just dry-humping like that, Edward only moments away from coming in his dress pants, when an alarm went off. …

Yes, it'll get a little hot again next week, but remember, we're not out of the woods by far.

Please, share your thoughts with me, here or on Facebook in the group Payton79's Fanfiction.

See you next week.