Once we got the motorcycles in the garage, we had no worries about being seen. Billy's wheelchair can't maneuver the uneven ground separating the garage from the house. Allowing Bella and I to relax in the garage while Jacob pulls apart the first bike - the red one, which is ours - to pieces. He opened the passenger door of the Rabbit for one of us to sit and I offer it to Bella while I help Jacob by handing him the tools he needs. He has the motorcycle bare down to its skeleton and I lean over his shoulder to take a better look.

"Do you like motorcycles?" Jacob asks me, looking up at me with his brown eyes I can see now in the light. They are a nice chocolate brown, mixed with a little caramel in the center.

"An ex of mine had a dirt bike," I shrug. "But he drove like a mad-man so I never got on it but I'd be the first to say, I've always wanted to get on a bike"

"I'll be teaching you, you should be fine," he smiles.

While he works, Jacob chatters away, barely needing either of us to continue the conversation, which makes me happy since the topics are about his senior year. He goes to school on the reservation whereas Bella and I go to Forks High. Both of us are seniors as well but as Bella takes more advanced classes, Jacob and I take the average ones. He also mentions his two best friends.

"Quil and Embry?" Bella interrupts. I'm surprised she's paying attention. For a bit there she was staring off to outer space with a blank expression. "Those are unusual names."

Jacob chuckles. "Quil's a hand-me-down, and I think Embry got named after a soap opera star. I can't say anything, though. They fight dirty if you start on their names - they'll tag team you."

"Good friends." Bella accuses, raising a thin brow.

"No, they are. Just don't mess with their names."

"Jacob?" Someone shouts.

The voice sounds like a boy but not too young, maybe another teen?

"Speak of the devil," Jacob mumbles, "and the devil shall appear."

"Jake? Are you out there?" The voice is closer.

"Yeah!" Jacob shouts back and sighs.

I wonder if he's embarrassed by his friends, or did he want to spend this time alone with us?

I hand him a small wrench and he smiles at me again, taking it gently. His fingers tenderly scrape across my fingers, sending a heat rolling through them and along my hand. I blink, never having felt such a sensation before. Jacob doesn't seem to notice or receive the same sensation so I go about pretending I didn't feel it either.

Two tall, same colored skin boys stroll around the corner into the garage. One is slender, his black hair chin length and parted down the middle. One side of his hair is tucked behind his left ear. He's nearly as tall as Jacob. The other is shorter but burly. His white T-shirt strains over his well-developed chest. His hair is shorter in an almost buzz cut.

Both boys stop short when they see us. Their eyes shifting between the three of us. The brawny boy's eyes stop on me, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Hey, guys," Jacob greets them with a slight frown.

"Hey, Jake," the short one says without looking away from me.

I glance over to Bella who smiles weakly at me. I look back and notice that his smile has turned into an impish grin. He winks at me. "Hi, there."

"I'd watch out, Quil, she bites," Jacob chuckles, eyeing me with a knowing look.

"I like it a little rough," Quil, the short one, replies.

I cringe internally.

"Quil, Embry, these are my friends. Bella and Danica."

"Charlie's children, right?" Quil steps over to me and holds out his hand.

A single brow raises as I stare down at his hand before hesitantly shaking it. His grasp is firm, engulfing my petite fingers, and he's flexing his bicep.

"I'm Quil Ateara," he announces proudly before releasing my hand.

"Danica Swan," I reply. When he looks away, I wipe my hand on my hoodie and shove it into my middle pocket.

"And I'm Embry Call - you two probably already figured that out, though." Embry smiles shyly and waves with one hand, which he also shoves into one of his jean pockets.

"Nice to meet you two," Bella replies to their introductions.

"So what are you guys doing?" Quil asks, looking back at me after observing the two bikes in the middle of the garage.

"The girls and I are going to fix up these bikes," Jacob explains.

At the very word 'bikes,' both boys went to examine Jacob's project. They ask him educated questions that didn't come to mind from Bella or me since many of the words are unfamiliar to us.

After an hour of them still immersed in talk of parts and pieces, Bella slides out of the Rabbit with a sigh, earning the attention of Jacob.

He looks apologetic at us. "We're boring you, aren't we?"

"We have to head home," I nod over to Bella who nods in agreement.

"I have to cook dinner for all of us," Bella continues.

"Oh…well, I'll finish taking these apart tonight and figure out what more we'll need to get started rebuilding them. When do you two want to work on them again?"

"We could come back tomorrow?" Bella asks.

Tomorrow is Sunday and since I have only been here for a day, I don't have anything to do. No homework and no makeup work for the semester.

Quil nudges Embry's arm and they exchange grins.

Jacob smiles in delight. "That would be great!"

"If you make a list, we can go shop for parts," Bella suggests, shoving both hands into her jacket pockets.

Jacob's happy expression dwindles. "I'm still not sure I should let you pay for everything."

She shakes her head. "No way. I'm bankrolling this party. You just have to supply the labor and expertise."

Embry rolls his eyes at Quil.

"That doesn't seem right," Jacob shakes his head.

"Think of it like this, Jake, if I took these to a mechanic, how much would he charge me?" Bella points out.

He smiles. "Okay, you're getting a deal."

"Not to mention the riding lessons," Bella adds.

Quil grins widely at Embry and whispers something that I don't catch. I give him a glare. Jacob's hand flashes out to smack the back of Quil's head. "That's it, get out," he mutters.

"No, really, we have to go," Bella raises her hands, she grabs a hold of my wrist with a gentle squeeze and leads me to the door. "We'll see you tomorrow, Jacob."

As soon as we're out of sight, we hear Quil and Embry do a chorus of, "Woooo!" and then, from Quil. "Which one are you after?"

We both pause when we hear a brief scuffle following the question, looking at each other in trying to decide if we should see if everyone is okay but an "ouch" and a "hey!" Comes from the boys.

"If either of you set so much as one toe on my land tomorrow…" Jacob threatens. Bella tugs me back to the truck and I struggle a little, wanting to know his threat. His voice is lost as we walk through the trees and I frown.

The seriousness of Jacob's tone has chills running down my spine. I giggle quietly, and even hear the sound come from Bella as well. She looks over her shoulder with wide eyes and I see a smile on her face.

My smile falters and I come to realize she's comfortable around Jacob. Comfortable enough to let loose and feel good enough to not feel the hole that her ex opened up in her. I should be happy - I am happy. So, why am I bothered?

We get home before Charlie and Bella gets to work on dinner. I sit at the kitchen table with the mix matched chairs with my chin on my palm.

The front door opens and Charlie walks in just as Bella takes the fried chicken out of the pan and lays them down on a pile of paper towels.

"Hey, Dad." Bella flashes him a grin.

Shock crosses his face and it lingers there for a few seconds until his expression returns to normal. "Hey, girls," his voice sounds like he's unsure of the situation. "Did you two have fun with Jacob?"

"Yep," we both say in unison. Bella brings the chicken to the table. I wait for Charlie and Bella to sit down before I pick a leg for my plate.

"Well, that's good." He says cautiously. "What did you three do?"

I keep my eyes down at my plate as they converse, unsure if Charlie would be able to pull the truth out of me since I haven't ever gotten in trouble before.

"We hung out in his garage and watched him work. Did you know he's rebuilding a Volkswagen?" Bella says.

"Yeah, I think Billy mentioned that."

Charlie starts eating, quieting the rest of the questioning and allowing Bella and I to eat as well without the need to answer. After dinner, I help Bella clean up the leftovers and then the kitchen before walking up the stairs to my small bedroom. I hear Bella and Charlie head into the living room where the television clicks on and a hockey game plays. I know Bella won't be watching the game so maybe she's working on homework. Heading into my bedroom, I close the door until there is only a crack open and take off my hoodie and jeans.

Bella's screaming woke me up last night and I am sure it'd happen again tonight. Getting as much sleep as possible will help me prepare for tonight and tomorrow. Lying in bed, I curl up with the blanket wrapped around me and a pillow between my legs and close my eyes.

I wake up to the sunlight peering through the window in the hallway, leaving me confused and a little startled. Sitting up, my long hair falling around me as I stare at the open door. Someone must have opened it to see or come in, but what shocks me the most is that it's morning. Climbing out of bed, I quickly get dressed in a pale blue dress with black lights and my knee high black boots. Grabbing my hoodie and my ipod, which I take everywhere with me, I race down the stairs to see Bella making breakfast with Charlie at the table reading the newspaper.

The smell of eggs, toast, and coffee fills the room including that of the faint distant aura of depression but at least it's not overwhelming. I sit down at one of the few chairs just as Bella sets down a plate of eggs and toast in front of me.

"Thank you," I say, gently taking the fork from her.

She smiles weakly, but it's a smile nonetheless, and she puts down a plate in front of Charlie. He places down the newspaper and chows down almost immediately.

"What are you two up to today?" He asks.

"We're going back to Jacob's," I say with a smile. I gather my eggs onto my toast and eat the two together.

Charlie nods. "Oh," he says.

"Do you mind?" Bella asks, picking at her food but making an act to at least eat it. "We could stay…"

He glances at the two of us, panic filling his eyes. "No, no! You two go ahead. Harry was going to come up to watch the game with me anyway."

"Maybe Harry could give Billy a ride up," Bella suggests. She looks at me with a small smile and I am unsure how to respond. Maybe she wants less witnesses to our crime?

"That's a great idea."

We all finish up our breakfast and I help clean up. Charlie heads for the phone just as Bella puts on her rain jacket, and I slide on my hoodie. With my wallet already in my pocket, I shove the ipod behind it since it's pouring rain again outside. Bella leads the way, grabbing her keys and heading out into the rain. I wave at Charlie who's on the phone and he waves back and I head off into the sheeting rain.

Bella drives us slowly to Jacob's house since the rain is coming down harder today than it was yesterday. She struggles to see ahead of the truck but given, I must have better vision than her, I help instruct her on whether or not a car is a good length away. After finally making it through the muddy lanes to Jacob's house, she kills the engine and we sit in the truck for a split second.

The front door opens and out comes a huge black umbrella. I grab the umbrella from the back of the seats and wait to see who he goes to first. He arrives at Bella's side, holding the umbrella above her door so she can exit and I follow by opening my side, popping open the umbrella and stepping out under it.

"Charlie called - said you two were on the way," Jacob explains with a grin.

"Hi, Jacob." Bella says.

I wait in front of the truck for them as they converse, my head tilting as I watch a smile spread across Bella's face.

"Good call on inviting Billy up," he holds up his hand for a high five and she reaches up to slam his hand. He laughs and when I hear it, my heart feels lighter. My brows knit close together in confusion at the subtle feeling.

We head inside and Jacob shows us around his house, including his tiny room, while Harry shows up to get Billy. After they leave and we're finally unsupervised, Bella relaxes.

"So where to, Mr. Goodwrench?" She asks.

Jacob pulls a folded paper out from his pocket and smoothes it out. "We'll start at the dump first, see if we can get lucky. This could get a little expensive," he warns. "Those bikes are going to need a lot of help before they'll run again. I'm talking about maybe more than a hundred dollars here."

She pulls out a checkout from raincoat pocket and fans herself with it, rolling her eyes at his worried expression. "We're covered."

—*-

It is an interesting day, watching Bella and Jacob communicate about the bikes and the pieces we need. Bella obviously had no idea what he was talking about and nodded to most of what he was saying but I remain quiet, more interested in the two's companionship. It is like I am not even here. Even as we were at the dump with the rain sloping down on us, mud to our ankles, they were giggling about the parts they found and how cheap it'd be compared to a regular shop.

When we got back in the car, Jacob finally asked the question I didn't consider asking because I just always had my ipod on me.

"Did the stereo break?" He asks. There was a big, gaping hole in the dashboard where a stereo would have been but I figured it was just from the fact it was an older car. It lacked the pieces she probably required and was in need of a new one.

"Yeah," she responded.

He poked around the empty cavity like a dentist looking at teeth. "Who took it out? There's a lot of damage…."

"I did," she admitted.

Jacob laughs. "Maybe you shouldn't touch the motorcycles too much."

"No problem."

According to Jacob, who found several grease-blackened pieces of twisted metal, we were very lucky at the dump. I wonder how he was able to tell what they were because to Bella and I, they were just that. Twisted pieces of metal. I smile at his excitement, feeling a lightfullness within me I haven't felt before.

From there we went to the Checker Auto Parts down in Hoquiam. In Bella's truck, it was more than a two hour drive south. I sat in between the two of them, it being a surprise to me since it's become clearer to me that Jacob has some sort of crush on Bella, but he offered the seat to me so I took it. The winding freeway has me holding onto my seat belt as cars zoomed by us so quickly and the downpour of the rain pushes the truck here and there. But, time passes by pleasantly with Jacob. He talks about his friends and school again, but this time, Bella would ask him questions about each subject, while I chimed in on occasion.

"I'm doing all the talking," he finally complains after a long story about Quil and the trouble he's stirred up by asking out another senior's steady girlfriend. "Why don't you two take a turn? What's going on in Forks? It has to be more exciting than La Push."

I shrug in response. "I just moved here so I have nothing to say on this subject." I pat my hands on my lap.

"He's wrong anyways," Bella sighs. "There is nothing really going on. Your friends are a lot more interesting than mine. I like your friends. Quil's funny."

I roll my eyes. Quil is the one that was kind of flirting with me the day before.

Jacob frowns and looks at me. "I think Quil likes you."

"Not interested," I frown.

"Not into guys like him?" Jacob asks.

"To be perfectly honest, I am not sure what type of guy I am into. I've dated quite a few but never found myself falling for anyone. My last boyfriend broke up with me simply because I was moving and wouldn't do anything with him before I'd leave. We were only dating for a month," my frown deepens. Maybe a month is just the right length to have sex with your boyfriend, I am not sure. My heart wasn't in it and neither was my body.

"Seems he was being pushy," Jacob raises a brow.

"Quite."

We all banter like this till Hoquiam but we stopped when we reached Checker because Jacob had to concentrate again on what parts we needed. Luckily we found everything on his list and he felt confident that he could make a lot of progress with our haul.

On the way back to La Push, Bella was telling me about some of her friends, letting me know who I should be aware of and who is good company to be around. Apparently, Mike, who I've met and Bella works with, is normally a big flirt to any girl he comes across. She didn't tell me to avoid him though, so I wonder how innocent he could be.

Billy hasn't gotten back home yet, so we didn't have to be sneaky as we carried our spoils to the garage. We lay everything out on plastic on the floor next to Jacob's toolbox and he went to work, still talking and laughing while his hands expertly took hold and took care of the metal pieces in front of him. Bella and I both watch Jacob with intrigue. His skills with his large hands are fascinating. They appear too big for delicate tasks but he performs them with ease and precision. He's graceful as he works, his eyes concentrated but his mind is able to still converse with us without fail on what he's doing. It's like a dance.

I frown. Having not danced in the moonlight last night makes me feel low and succumbed to weight I can't control. If I were out dancing, even in the rain, as the moon basks on me, I'd be able to fill myself with a lightful energy. I'd be able to take on any challenges.

The day passes too quickly and it gets dark outside faster than expected.

And then we hear Billy calling for us.

Bella jumps off her seat, about ready to help and hide what we purchased but Jacob waves her off.

"Just leave it," he says. "I'll work on it later tonight."

"A man true to his commitment, how attractive," I smile weakly at him.

Jacob chuckles. "After your eye, I see?"

I giggle. "How'd you know?"

Bella rolls her eyes at the two of us. "Just don't forget your schoolwork or anything."

"Bella, Dani?"

All of our heads snap out at the sound of Charlie's familiar voice coming through the trees, sounding closer than the house.

"Shoot," Bella mutters. "We're coming!"

"Let's go." Jacob smiles. We head to the open garage door, and Jacob snaps off the light. Jacob leads the way through the trees, his feet always finding the familiar path but even knowing the path, we all three were tripping in the darkness over only God knows what. We laughed as we came up to the house where Charlie stands under the little back porch and Billy sitting in the doorway behind him.

"Billy invited us for dinner," Charlie says to us in an absentminded tone.

"My super secret recipe for spaghetti. Handed down for generations," Billy says.

Jacob snorts. "I don't think Ragu's actually been around that long."

Bella and I giggle at his comment.

The house was far more crowded than I expected. My claustrophobia clicking in almost immediately. Harry Clearwater and his family are inside as well, which include his wife, Sue, and their two children, Leah, who is the same age as us. She and her mother are beautiful in the exotic kind of way - perfect copper skin, glistening black hair, eyelashes like feather dusters, and then there is Seth who is younger than all of us. At the age of fourteen, he hung on Jacob's every word with idolizing eyes.

Fortunately for me, there weren't enough chairs for the kitchen table so Charlie and Harry brought chairs out to the yard and we ate spaghetti off plates on our laps in the dim light from Billy's open door. The men talked about the game and Harry and Charlie made fishing plans. In between their conversations Sue would tease her husband on eating greens and leafy foods due to his cholesterol but it was unsuccessful.

Jacob talked to Bella, Seth and I but mostly to Seth, who interrupted eagerly whenever he felt Jacob was close to forgetting about him. After we were done eating, I got up, put my plate away and snuck to the opposite side of the garage to where the house is located and pulled out my ipod. The moon isn't too bright tonight but it'd be enough to refill me with what I require.

I scroll down to 'Deliver me' by Sarah Brightman, a slower song, but one that has enough rhythm to have me swaying back and forth but since I am close to the house in a sense I can't sing out loud without being caught, I hum to myself as quietly as I can. As the song comes to an end, I feel the pitter patter of rain falling onto my face and forehead. The water drips down my skin, sending an icy chill through my bones.

I hear Bella calling my name through the low tone of the song just as it ends and turn off my ipod. Feeling reverberated, I skip back to the group and see that the party has been broken up and are mostly inside except for Bella and Jacob who stand outside under the black umbrella, waiting for me.

"What were you doing?" Bella asks.

"Dancing."

"Alone? In the dark?" Bella raises a brow.

"Why would I lie about dancing in the dark?"

"I swear, sometimes you're a little weird," Bella smiles, though, weakly and turns to head back inside, leaving Jacob and I alone.

"What song was it this time?" He asks, smiling.

"Deliver me by Sarah Brightman, have you heard of it?" I ask.

"Not that one, I'll have to check it out."

"I am not sure you'll like it, you don't seem the type to enjoy a song like this," I smile back at him.

"Hey, you never know. Besides, it wouldn't be bad to get inside your head," he winks down at me but before I can reply, he closes up the umbrella and heads back inside.