RISE || TWILIGHT x PERCY JACKSON

eight | motorcycle mania

She tried to do what Jasper asked of her. She really, really tried. But, in the absence of the Cullen family, Bella had become a shell of her former self. Ruth went to the Swan house when she could, tried talking to Bella and bring her back to life. But Bella was dead. She tuned everything, everyone, out. She didn't want comfort, empathy. She wanted the very thing that would never come back. She wanted Edward. Ruth didn't mean to, but she gave up on the Swan. 

Rumor had it, though, that Bella was coming back to the land of the living. She had gone a movie night with Jessica in Port Angeles and, if anything Jessica said was true, it was less than stellar. But it was an effort, so Ruth ventured over to the Swan house to see if Bella really was alive once more. 

When she arrived, Bella was about to go inside her house. A tarp was thrown over top the back of the truck, but Ruth could still see a bit of a motorcycle peaking out. "Hey," Ruth said.

Bella turned. "Hey."

"Whatcha up to?"

Bella looked back to her truck, then to Ruth. "Was going to go up to Jacob's place. I was about to call my dad and ask for directions." 

"I know the way," Ruth said. "I was planning on going up there myself, actually." 

"You're friends with Jake?" Bella asked. Her eyebrows were raised, her mouth falling open slightly.

"Yeah, we got close after..." Ruth chose her words carefully. Bella was still in a very sensitive state. "After the Cullens left."

She nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. "We could go up together?" 

"That'd be nice."

Bella explained she was going inside to leave a note for Charlie, and Ruth decided to sit in the truck while she waited. Bella was out a moment later. She started the truck as Ruth explained how to get to Jacob's house. And so, they began their adventure to La Push.

"So," Ruth began as they crossed over onto the reservation, "where'd you find the bikes?"

Bella nearly swerved off the road. "What...What bikes?" 

"The ones you've haphazardly hid in the back." Ruth nodded her head in the direction of the back of the truck. "Charlie wouldn't like what you're doing, you know." 

"I can explain." Bella's hands fidgeted, one hand remaining on the wheel as the other tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"No need.  Your secret's safe with me." Ruth sent a wicked grin her way. "But only if I get to ride 'em after Jake's finished fixin' 'em."

"How...How did you know that's why I was going to Jake's?" 

"I may be blonde, Bella, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid." 

Bella's mouth fell open, then shut again. 

"It's cool, though. What you're doing. Every teenager needs to do something ridiculously reckless at least once. I mean, I know I've definitely had my fair share of dangerous moments. It's about time you had yours, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes." 

"Yeah, it's about time," Bella mumbled.

Bella pulled up to the small, red house and parked her truck. As both the girls got out, Jacob came running up to them. He reached Bella first, wrapping her in his arms and spun her around. Then he turned to Ruth, wrapping his arms around her waist while she hugged his neck.

"Bella! Ruth!" he said, looking between them with the biggest grin on his face. 

"Hey, Jacob." Bella smiled back at him. Even she wasn't immune to his enthusiasm. "You grew again!"

Ruth nodded. "I swear, it's like you grow another foot every time I see ya." 

His smile widened. "Six five!" 

"Are you ever gonna stop growing?" Ruth laughed.

He shrugged. "Still a beanpole, though. What brings you by?" 

"I brought something for you," Bella said, pulling back the tarp. "Ruth tagged along." 

"Scrap metal? You shouldn't have!" Jacob said. 

Ruth snorted, shaking her head.

Bella rolled her eyes, the corners of her mouth curling upwards. "I rescued them from the dump. They'd cost more than they're worth to fix."

"Unless," Ruth jumped in, "one had a mechanic-type friend to help us out."  

"Me being the mechanic-type friend?" Jacob grinned at the girls. "Since when are you girls into motorcycles?"

"Recently," Bella said while Ruth added, "Just explorin' new interests."

Jacob looked at the motorcycles, thinking it over. "The parts alone will be pricey."

"I have a college fund I can dig into," Bella said.

"Charlie's gonna love that."

"Charlie won't know."

Jacob's eyebrows shot up. "Wow! Lying to dad, huh? Blowing through college money, repairing dangerous machines...That I'm guessing you'll want to ride?"

"I get it if you think this is stupid and reckless." 

"Oh, it's totally stupid and reckless. When do we start?"

Bella grinned the largest smile Ruth had seen in a long time. Jacob and Bella started to take the bikes off the truck, while Ruth became distracted with something else. As the duo started to wheel the bikes to the garage, Ruth had noticed something on the edge of the woods. Flanked by two teenaged boys, stood Sam Uley. Despite the cold, they all wore sleeveless shirts and shorts. They were watching the group with such ferocity that Ruth wondered what was going through their minds. Then, she shook her head and followed her friends to the garage.

Sam turned and began to walk away, the other boy following. But Paul Lahote stared at the Black property for a moment longer. With his newfound heightened sense of smell, he could easily tell that the beautiful, sarcastic Ruth O'Connor wasn't as human as she appeared. There was something different about her, and he was willing to do whatever it took to figure it out.

A/N: lmao this kind of sucks but there are better things to come i promise