At the redness on her eyelids and the warmth on her face, Bella blinked her eyes open and stretched luxuriously, a smile blooming on her face at the bright golden light that spilled into her room from the three wide windows that almost took up the entire east wall. It had been a while since she’d had such a good, restful sleep, where she actually slept the whole night through. It used to be vampires and mythical creatures that haunted her dreams. Now it was a mortgage and bills.
All very grown-up, she supposed.
Something niggled at the back of her mind, but she ignored it. She didn’t want to ruin the mood. She could hear the sound of birds laced with the hum of traffic. From the cheerful swing music pounding from the speakers downstairs, she knew Lulu was already in, working her magic. She was so very tempted, too much so, to flop on her side and burrow into the warm cocoon of her blanket, but being the irrational creature she was, it was the very same feeling that made her sit up and drop her bare feet onto the cold morning floor. Wincing—hopping from one foot to the other—she made her way to the kitchenette, where she knew a pot of coffee was ready for her consumption. The niggling sensation persisted so strongly that she was forced to stare at her room with bleary eyes, trying to figure out what it was that she’d forgotten. Her eyes focused on the steaming coffee pot and, inhaling the rich aroma of the dark liquid, she decided whatever it was, she’d deal with it.
Later.
Possibly after a shower.
Maybe even after a muffin.
Lifting her cup of coffee with rapturous concentration up to her mouth, she sucked in a breath when last night crashed into her languid brain. “Jake!” She exclaimed, in a sudden fit of realization, to no one in particular.
“You called?”
She splashed hot coffee on her hand when she turned swiftly toward the low, husky voice and saw the face that came with it as Jacob leant comfortably on the doorway to her bathroom. “Jake!”
A grin lifted his cheeks in a smile she had long ago thought of as one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen—and she’d seen more than her share of beauty. “Yes, Bells. That’s my name.”
She blinked, thinking that this was probably some kind of twisted version of her usually vague but vivid dreams. She knew, knew that it was too good to be true to wake up feeling so good. “Why? What?” She frowned, trying to put together all of her scattered thoughts, repeating the happenings of last night once again—slower this time—inside her mind. “I fell asleep.”
“Yep.” He nodded, and it was only when he lifted it to his lips that she saw that he was also holding a mug. She suspected strongly that it was her coffee he was drinking. Embarrassment warred with confusion and…guilt. “I’m sorry.”
His dark eyes were bland on her face. “For what exactly?”
Bella winced inwardly, sensing just how loaded that simple question was. She couldn’t help but shuffle her feet. Besides, her toes were getting cold. “For crying. For falling asleep on you—literally.” She hesitated and lifted a hand to brush her hair. “For not calling.” Bella’s eyes watched Jacob’s face for any kind of movement, any sign of…whatever. Sunlight slid across the floor and climbed up the walls, tinting his reddish skin bronze. It was hard for her to keep looking when the warm rays hit his face, strengthening the power of his dark eyes, but she kept her gaze on him.
Her heart was beating a bruise on her ribs.
Finally, finally, he shrugged. “Yeah, OK.”
She was taken aback by how easy his answer was that it didn’t give her the expected overwhelming relief. Instead, suspicion smeared doubt across her face. But then again, she couldn’t keep the suspicion up when her eyes landed on his bright smile.
A thought passed through her chaotic mind and rose above all others. “Did you stay over?”
He shook his head, his shoulder-length hair whispering against his cheeks “No, after I put you to bed, I went home. I had to drive Matt, Gabe and Tina, remember?”
“Oh yeah.” Her wrinkled brows straightened, but once again, another thought snapped to her attention. A rather embarrassing thought that made her whip her head down on herself—taking in the oversized green T-shirt she usually wore in lieu of jammies—and look back at him. “Did you…?”
Jacob cocked an eyebrow, still casually leaning on the doorframe, the cup of coffee in his right hand. From his expression and the glint in his eyes, she knew that he wouldn’t make it easy for her. She watched the slow grin that brightened his dark eyes with a sinking heart. “Did I…what?” He asked, the tone of his voice silky smooth and riddled with mischief.
It was the grin that did it.
She snorted. “You didn’t.”
The grin was replaced by a smirk. “Lulu came up to check on us and saw you sprawled all over my lap. She took pity on me and wrestled you away. You put up a fight too.”
She fought the blush that crept to her cheeks, but, as always, lost. “I didn’t.”
“You did. You also drooled.” She glared at the pitying look he sent her. “And snored.”
“Shut up. I do not snore.” She felt her stomach lurch in embarrassment. Surely, Edward—her stomach lurched again—would’ve mentioned it if I did. Right? I mean, he would know.
She propped her cup of coffee on the kitchen counter, then realized what it was that bothered her. When she turned toward him, he already had his back to her. “How did you get in?”
“Lulu let me in. She’s already downstairs.” His voice echoed, telling her he was in the bathroom.
“I know.” Bella muttered, distracted with her spice rack. Is it just me, or is that spice rack straighter? Wait, Bella straightened, what is he doing in my bathroom?
It was so familiar—having Jacob around her—but also so strange—having Jacob around her outside of Forks—that her brain just couldn’t sort things out. It kept going back and forth between the past—how they were with each other then—and the present—awkward silence, implied questions, guilt, guilt, guilt. Did Jacob really mean what he said? That he’d forgiven me for not telling him where I was all these years? Why? Because I cried? Was it really that easy? Somehow, she doubted it.
“Jake? What are you doing in the bathroom?”
“Normally,” His voice echoed back to her. “I would give you a big fat duh and tell you to mind your own business, but since, this is your bathroom…” His brown hand poked out of the doorway, waving a wrench at her. “I’m fixing the faucet.”
She frowned—guilt pressing her like a giant hand—and walked to the bathroom. “Did you fix the spice rack too?”
“Yeah.” She heard him chuckle. “You must have been really out of it if you didn't hear me banging away at it.”
She saw him hunkered over the sink, his left hand on the wobbling faucet, twisting away with his other hand that held the wrench. “Jacob. No.”
He didn’t even look at her. “No, what?”
“Leave it alone. Don’t fix it.”
“Why not? I’m already halfway done.”
“You can’t keep fixing things for me.” She didn’t mean to sound so morose, so solemn.
Are you crazy? A voice inside her screamed out, He’s willing to let it go, he’s willing to go on as things were. Why are you reminding him? She watched his back straighten. We don’t know that. Besides, we should remind him. It’s the right thing to do.
Bella’s heart twisted in her chest when his hands stopped moving. She felt her lungs shrivel when he turned toward her, but his face was still easy, still casual.
“Bella, I’m already halfway done. The sooner I’m done, the sooner you can take a shower.”
Fear and guilt were defeated by a flash of self-consciousness. “Are you implying that I smell?”
The grin that flashed across his face was the grin that she missed, but somehow, she knew it wasn’t the same. “I’m just saying, aren’t you late for work?”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, letting Jacob know, without words, that she was not going to ease off the argument. “On Saturdays and Sundays I can get in late and get out early if I want.”
She saw something like interest run over his face before he managed to tamp it down. He sighed loudly before directing an aggravated look at her. “You leave me no choice.”
Wariness fluttered inside her and pain scrabbled against the walls of her chest. “What do you mean?”
But Jacob didn’t answer, without taking his eyes off of her, he pulled her towel from the shower curtain pole, then holding it by its ends, started to swing his left hand so that the towel twisted in the middle in the classic locker-room towel-whipping method.
She glared at him. “You wouldn’t.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t I?”
Their eyes met in a battle of wills. Jacob couldn’t possibly…right? She sniffed, her nose in the air. “Fine.”
She huffed when he put a hand against the small of her back and pushed her out of the way. “Wait.” She stuck her head in before Jacob could close the door.
“Bells, I’m warning you—”
Bella couldn’t help the laughter that trickled up her throat when she saw him twist the towel again. “No, I mean, can you run the shower for me? The hot water needs time to…”
“Sure, sure.” He pressed a hand on the door. “Now go away. Make me a sandwich or something.”
She pouted at the closed door then stuck her ear on it, finally walking away when she heard the rushing sound of water.
“Bells, you can’t call this stingy trickle of water a shower.” She heard him yell from inside the bathroom. “How can you wash your hair in that? I can’t wash my hair in that.”
“It’s fine, Jacob.” She yelled back at him, a smile on his her face when she could practically see his disgusted expression. “Don’t even think of touching it. I want my shower.”
“Sure, sure.”
It was impossible for her not to feel comfortable around him. They had too much history, went through too many things, felt too strongly for each other to ever be strangers. But that also made things much more complicated. It was too easy to fall into the familiar pattern—and how she wanted to—but it’s different now. She knew she owed him too much to let things just go on as if nothing had happened. He deserved an explanation from her. She needed him to understand, wanted him to understand. She’d jump through whatever hoops he wanted her to jump through and smile as she did so if she had too. I will answer his questions, she closed her eyes as a selfish part of her won, when he asks, no matter how painful it is.
It was the very same guilt that prompted her to ask again. “Jake, I’m serious, you know. You don’t need to fix it. And I’m serious about the payment.”
“Bells, you know how you are with the cleaning?”
She blinked, her hands pausing in the middle of wiping off the coffee stains on the kitchen counter, and smiled sheepishly at her reflection on the fridge. “Yeah.”
“That is how I am with the fixing.” He replied distractedly. “There, all done.”
She blinked when he lifted a hand, palm up. His hopeful eyes turned—her heart plunged to her stomach—disappointed when she merely stood and stared uncomprehendingly at him.
“Where’s my sandwich, Bells?”
She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “You were serious?”
“Hell yeah, I was serious. I’m starving. I came here without breakfast, you know.” The same hand patted his flat stomach before rubbing it in slow circles.
She remembered how his hand felt on her back, how she felt when she was surrounded by him, and felt ridiculously miserable because she let him down—again—even though it was only because of a sandwich. “I’m sorry.” She said meekly, then suggested helpfully. “You can ask Lulu to make you one while I shower.”
“Sweet.” He threw her a smile before he walked out of her apartment door, leaving her staring at him with bemusement…and guilt.
*********
Jacob lifted an eyebrow when Lulu kept staring at him. He wiped a hand on his chin and swallowed. “What? Do I have something on my face?”
“Yes.” Lulu answered. “A sneaky smile.”
Jacob blinked dark eyes at her, trying to look as innocent as possible when you’re a 6’7” werewolf. “What sneaky smile?”
“The one that’s plastered on your face.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-huh.” Lulu topped his orange juice. “So, you guys go way back, huh?”
Jacob chewed, his eyes on the older woman’s pretty face trying to gauge what she knew from Matt and Gabe. Since he knew Matt and Gabe didn’t know much, she probably knew less. “Yeah.”
“You’re not going to tell me anything, are you?”
Jacob smiled. “No.”
“Even if I agree to answer any of your questions about Bella?”
His smiled widened and took another bite.
Lulu nodded, a satisfied smile on her face. Apparently she approved of him. “Because you want Bella to tell you herself.”
“Well, that and the fact that what I need to know, I already know.” He licked his fingers before meeting Lulu’s gaze head on. The smile on Lulu’s face grew to a grin and she burst out a gleeful, rollicking laugh. “Oh, you’re a wily one.”
He shrugged, but smiled when she gave his shoulder a good-natured bump. She shook her head at him. “Are you going to be trouble, Jacob Black?”
“Maybe.” He gulped down his glass of orange juice and looked over his shoulder as Bella wandered in, fresh from a shower.
Lulu snorted when she followed his eyes. “I bet you will be.”
*********
Bella looked up at the sound of bells at the front entrance, her smile trailing away to confusion when she saw Gabe, Matt and Tina enter. “What are you guys doing here?”
Gabe filched the apple muffin Bella had been snacking on. “We drove Jacob over here to get his bike, we also had to get some supplies for the bazaar.”
“Where is he?” Matt asked, taking the apple muffin from his brother’s hand. Tina, however, being a girl and disinclined to share her meal, took the straighter path and walked toward the kitchen, hollering Lulu’s name. “Hey, Jake.” She waved as she passed him. Jacob had his battered leather jacket in one hand, three muffins in the other. Bella shook her head. “Are you boys always hungry?”
Jacob merely grinned and passed the two younger boys the muffins. “You can’t say I didn’t work for it.”
She scowled. “Jake, I’m serious, if you keep fixing stuff around here, we need to figure out some kind of payment plan.”
He shrugged into his leather jacket. “The way I think of it, the free food is more than enough.”
“Jake—”
“Bella—” He cut her off with the same whining tone.
“Jake.” Tina came in carrying a box of goodies that had the young boys gravitating towards her like little planets to their sun. “You should ask her to come to the bazaar. I mean, today and tomorrow is her day off, she could spare the time.”
Lulu followed her with a bigger box. “Yeah, I’ll take care of the store. With Brian, Misha and Stephen coming in, you’ll be covered.”
Gabe and Matt grinned. “Yeah, Bella. Come with. It’ll be awesome.”
Bella spread her gaze at the faces that were aimed at her and felt slightly pressured. However, she noticed that someone hadn’t said anything. Her eyes sought Jacob’s.
He grinned. “It’ll be awesome.”
“Did you guys plan this?”
Tina smirked. “Come on, Bells. You need a day out. How long has it been since you just went out for something that was not work-related?”
She cringed at the look Jacob sent her. “I go out.”
Tina and Lulu scoffed.
“Dad, will be there. He’ll want to see you, and Charlie, too.”
Bella struggled not to pout. “That’s a low blow, Jake.”
Jacob merely smiled. “Emily would like to see you, so will—you know—the pack.”
Bella frowned at him and glanced nervously at Matt and Gabe, trying to search for any kind of clue that they knew about the werewolves. When her eyes returned to Jacob, he shook his head slightly. He leaned over the counter she was standing behind, using his dark eyes and that bright smile to his greatest advantage. She wondered whether he knew what it did to her. “Come on, Bells. You know you want too.” He grinned slyly. “I brought an extra helmet.”
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