The Movement of the Earth

Chapter 9: Distance

"Sorry, no." I fumbled with the pewter buttons on the right sleeve, then sighed. I couldn't manage it left-handed. "Hey, Mike? Can you help me with this?"

Mike glanced down at my sleeve. "Yeah, sure, no problem." I held out my arm, and he started fastening the buttons carefully around my cast. "I guess this isn't too easy by yourself."

"Yeah, doing things one handed hasn't been much fun." I felt a prickling all over my skin, and glanced over Mike's shoulder to see Jacob scowling at us from the front of the store. Caught looking, he quickly dropped his eyes to the floor.

So much for Jake's good mood.

"There, all done," Mike said, fastening the last one next to my neck. "Hope that'll-" Then he cut off, catching the look on my face, and followed my eyes to where Jacob was drumming his fingers against the counter restlessly. "Uh... am I stepping on his toes?"

"Don't worry about it," I assured him. "Jake's just... in a weird mood." Permanently.

"Right," Mike said disbelievingly. "So, what, you guys are dating now or something?" He didn't do much to hide the jealousy in his tone.

"Not really." Somehow it was much more serious than that without actually being anything at all. "We're just friends, but... it's kind of hard to explain."

Mike observed Jacob for another moment, watching as he bit his lower lip and tried to look anywhere except back towards the office. "You do know that kid is head over heels for you, right?" Mike said. "I mean, it's really obvious."

"I know." I sighed again. "Life is complicated."

"And girls," Mike said under his breath, "are cruel."
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As soon as we'd made it into the Rabbit, I took a deep breath and steeled myself. "Jake, about last night-"

"It's okay, Bells," he said quickly.

"No, it's not." I was beginning to develop a callous on the pad of my thumb from where I was rubbing it against the cast. "It was stupid and it was thoughtless and I let you down. I promised you, and I just..." I swallowed. I was not going to cry and have him comfort me. "I should never ever have done it, and I won't ever let it happen again. I'll watch myself and I'll be more careful if I get upset, I swear... but I totally understand if you don't believe me."

I winced. The apology was a lot less elegant than I'd hoped for, but at least it was out there.

Jacob was silent for a long moment, until he finally said, "You shouldn't have to worry about being careful." His tone was frustrated. "I don't want you to have to watch yourself with me. It's not fair."

I studied my fingernails, unable to look up. "I don't think it's fair that you have to worry about keeping your temper all the time, either," I whispered. "But that's kind of the way it is, isn't it."

"I guess."

We drove without speaking for a few minutes. Finally, more to break the silence than anything else, I said, "So, do you have to go out running after you drop me off, or do you get some time?"

To my surprise, Jacob smiled widely. "Time, actually. Emily's having a bonfire. Hot dog roasts and everything."

"Great!" Hoping to keep the smile on his face, I asked, "Who's coming? Am I invited?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course you're invited. And it's the guys, and Emily, and Kim, I think. Wolf-centric so no one will have to watch what they say. We get enough of that everywhere else."

"All the guys?" I said, surprised. "Sam's giving you the night off?"

"Kinda. Still have to do short runs, just to keep an eye on things, but everyone's going crazy, so we're getting a few hours to relax." Jacob smirked. "I think it was Emily's idea."