That's Bella's first mistake. She got caught by Jacob of all people. She knew once he got his nose on a scent, he wouldn't just let it go. Their dad's old truck wouldn't be able to catch the cars in the group that had hit Charlie, so Jacob spends all of his free time with the pack. He spends it under some old, rusty car that he'd gotten out of some junkyard, trying to fix it up as best he can. When he's not under that car, he's at the bait shop trying to get extra money to spend on the car. It's an obsession. An obsession that worries Bella enough that she starts following him into the shack. He shakes her of course, leaving her with Leah. Though, if it means keeping an eye on him, she'll take it.
To Leah's credit, she tries to be a good host, tries to include Bella in whatever she's doing. Maybe it's the empathy from trying to keep an eye on Seth, but she seems determined to make sure Bella feels welcome.
Currently, they're in the kitchen preparing some kind of lunch for the pack. Leah's humming something as she slices up meat and Bella's trying to help, but her mind is outside. The boys made a run into town to get something from the local auto parts shop and now they were carrying their haul into the garage.
It was just a car. Bella knew it was just a car, but she also knew what building it meant. She knew that if he succeeded, there would be no stopping him, nothing she could possibly do. If Jacob couldn't get the hunk of junk to go Mach 10, which was the more likely option, she also knew what that meant. He'd lose so much time, so many years, trying to get it to work. He'd only get angrier when it didn't. Instead of being happy Billy was still with them, he'd spend the rest of the time his dad has bitter.
"Hey," Leah's hand on her shoulder brings Bella back to the kitchen, "he's going to be fine. We'll keep an eye on him."
It'd be nice if Bella could just put trust in that, but she had the sneaking suspicion that Jacob hadn't told them everything. He hadn't told them all of the details of that night, why he was suddenly putting all of his interest into this shitty car instead of into his motorcycle. The boys are happy to go along with the new development as well, Embry and Quil bickering under the hood while Seth plays around with the interior. They seem happy just to seemingly have Jacob back, Jacob who had always had an interest in working on anything with an engine and wheels.
"So, you think she's gonna tell her?" Embry asks, trying his best to discreetly glance up at the kitchen window.
"Like ever or today?" Quil responds, not taking his focus off of the wires around the engine.
Embry looks like he's about to respond, but pauses as they hear the quiet, little shuffle of Seth sliding out of the backseat.
"Will you two drop it already?" he huffs, shaking his head as he yanks the carpet with him.
"Aw, c'mon, Seth. Don't you want her to be happy?" Embry mutters in a surprisingly serious tone.
Seth glances up at the window for a long moment, eyes catching Bella in the window. Her eyes are on Jacob, whose legs are sticking out, as he drips oil into a pan underneath the hunk of metal he calls a car. She's not here to spend time with them. She's clearly here because she's worried about her brother and she was well known to do anything to protect him. Anything.
"Yeah, but I don't want her getting hurt again." He mumbles, turning away as he tosses the putrid carpet over into the rest of the pile.
Embry's about to say something, but it's covered by the sound of Seth starting the vacuum.
Jacob almost looks as if he's back on track, back to the old Jacob who everyone was fond of. Matter of fact, he seemed to make an impression everywhere he went. Even on a Cullen, specifically Edward Cullen. Bella hadn't shared her theory with Jacob. She didn't want him chasing after them if they were actually dangerous, and didn't want to put them in danger if they weren't. She hadn't even had time to study them from afar, because Edward would stop in the middle of whatever they were supposed to be doing in Biology to ask about Jacob.
"He's fine." she'd snip every time, trying to get back to whatever assignment they were supposed to be doing.
He seemed to take this as good enough of an answer every time he asked. Although, being so close to him and with the potential knowledge that Bella had, had her stumbling into the office, begging to be moved to a different class.
Honestly, she thinks she's gotten rid of him until she's stocking the shelves at the bait shop, and in he walks. He doesn't even look like he belongs in the store let alone this part of town. His eyes wander around the shop, but what he's actually looking for saunters out of the back room.
Jacob doesn't even make eye contact, doesn't even really look at the kid as he waits for him to grab whatever he came for and get out. Edward grabs some random hooks off of the first aisle he sees and places them on the counter before opening his mouth. From the safety mirror, it looks as if he's trying everything in the book just to get her brother's attention. All of it, seemingly, a swing and a miss as Jacob keeps his head down and waits for payment. Bella thinks that maybe this is it, maybe Cullen will finally drop it and stop asking about Jacob. That is until he says something that has Jacob's head tilting up ever so slightly. Bella can't hear whatever it is, but it gets the smallest smile out of Jacob. It's the first time he's cracked anything, even a smirk, since the accident.
Bella wants to look away, give him some privacy. Though, as soon as she goes to turn her head, Edward grabs for a pen. He grabs for a pen and scribbles something on the back of the receipt Jacob had printed for him before handing the piece of paper back to Jacob.
Then, he leaves...
and Jacob watches him go.
He watches him go and he gets that look in his eye, that wonder that Bella thought he'd miss in his mission to find whoever hurt Billy. He looks like a teenager who's got teenager priorities. That's good. Finally, something truly good. Something she'd gawked at a month ago felt like a relief now.
Though, it's still Cullen, and she still has no clue if they were the ones who hit Billy. She doesn't know anything about cars in general, but Jacob had rolled off the names of the cars as if he'd taken a snapshot in his brain. From the pictures that Bella was able to find from the names Jacob had given her, none of them ever pulled into the school's parking lot. She'd seen the group in different cars. Emmett would show up in a different model of Jeep every now and then, but Edward seemed to stay loyal to his Volvo S60R. They were flashy for a high school parking lot, but they weren't too flashy.
It didn't mean they didn't drive different vehicles when they weren't pulling up to school but, from what Bella could tell, they weren't currently obvious suspects. Her best way of ruling them out would be to have an excuse to see them outside of school, see what they pull up in when it's a laxer environment.
"Will you stop glaring at them?" Jessica sighs, nudging Bella.
"I think it's good Jacob's got a little crush," Angela chimes in, biting an apple slice, "maybe it'll take his mind off of Billy for a little while.
"Yeah, and maybe you need something too, " Jessica throws in,"like a party on the beach that's happening this weekend."
She tries to subtly slip it in, but Bella's rolling her eyes before she can finish her sentence.
"That parties going to be sick." Mike says, goofy smile in place, as his eyes find Jessica.
They were basically asking her to be a fifth wheel essentially.
"Maybe you can bring Jacob and some of his friends. We can show 'em how to actually have fun." Mike huffs as he finally drags his eyes away from Jessica to beam at Bella.
She's not exactly excited to go to anything social, but she had a feeling that if it was a party, the most popular kids in school would be there. The Cullens would be there.
"Fine." she sighs around a fry.
The shack is quiet when she steps inside, the boys heading straight to the back to work on the car. Usually, Leah would be seated on the old leather couch in front of the TV or in the kitchen making something for the pack, but today there was just silence. Bella almost believes that she had no intentions of showing today and Jacob just hadn't said anything, until she catches sight of her on the stairs. Bella notices a few things other than her location. Things like the fact that she wasn't in her usual casual attire. She often wore a sleeveless top with some cutoff shorts and a pair of boots, but today she was in a dress and sandals. Bella assumes maybe she has somewhere to be after this.
They go about their usual routine of empty banter while they watch TV before they move over to the kitchen to make something for the boys. Bella's in her own head, trying to figure out how to extend her friend's invitation. She wasn't necessarily a part of Jacob's group. She just sort of showed up and they agreed to let her stay because they liked Jacob. So, she wasn't expecting much. Didn't really seem like their type of scene anyway.
"Hey, Leah," she calls and watches as Leah whips around from the stove as if she'd been expecting it, "uh, my friends and are going to a party on the beach this weekend and I was wondering if you guys wanted to come."
Bella nods her head toward the window, glancing over at the boys, who are spraying each other with the water hose, before glancing back over at Leah. She's expecting maybe a noncommittal shrug. Maybe a half-promise that Leah will ask the guys and see if they're interested. Instead, Bella's caught off-guard as Leah looks at her as if she's said something important. She pushes her hair behind her ear as if she's flustered by whatever it is.
"Party?" Leah almost whispers it as if she's talking to herself.
"Y-Yeah, everyone's going to be there..."
Suddenly, Bella's nervous, unsure of what exactly is going on.
"Uh, y-yeah, I'll ask the boys if they want to go." Leah says, still looking over at Bella as if she's said something monumental.
Bella just smiles and shrugs it off. Maybe she just wasn't invited to many parties, maybe she really enjoyed them.
Jacob says no. Of course, Jacob says no. Before the accident, he'd be foaming at the mouth to be invited to a party like this. Now, he was glaring at Bella through his cracked bedroom door, rolling his eyes as she tries to convince him.
"C'mon, Jake," she leans in, voice dropping down to a whisper, "Edward's going to be there."
She knows it's a low blow, a desperate move, but she also knew that any mention of the kid was the only thing that got her brother's attention these days. He'd get all red and embarrassed, but that small little smile would make its way onto his face like he couldn't help himself.
She watches as he subconsciously tugs the door open a little further, eyes going wide at the new information. He looks like Bella's told him Cullen's downstairs, cheeks ruddy as his eyes start to dart around the hallway.
"Whatever," he says before slamming the door in her face.
Doesn't matter, she knows she's got him.
Bella doesn't put much thought into what she's wearing, throwing on a bathing suit before sliding into some shorts and a loose shirt with a light jacket over the top because it's Washington. Jacob on the other hand, looks like he's about to have a meltdown as he rips through his closet.
"Jake it's a beach party. A pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt will do fine." she sighs as she watches yet another shirt fly by her head.
They're about twenty minutes late as they kiss Charlie and Billy goodbye and promise to be back before 11:00 PM. Jacob climbs into her truck in a pair of swim trunks, a t-shirt and a pair of flipflops, looking as if he'd run back into the house and change if Bella doesn't put the car in drive immediately.
"Hey, relax. It's supposed to be fun." Bella reminds him and watches as he throws her a look before going back to staring out of the window.
They make their way across the beach and Mike, Jessica, Angela, and Eric meet them half way, handing them drinks and ushering them into the crowd. The music is so loud, Bella can feel it under her feet. She shuffles around for a bit, throwing out greetings as people she doesn't even remember to call her name. She notices in her surveying that the Cullen's haven't arrived. She's almost convinced that they aren't going to show as the sun sets and whatever warm air they had turns cool. She internally grimaces at the thought of Jacob pouting all the way home, until she hears the sounds of engines revving as they pull up.
Same cars.
They climb out of the Jeep and Volvo and make their way across the sand.
"That him," Leah manages to say so close to Bella's ear that she can feel the brush of her lips, "the one Jake has a crush on."
She's not even sure when Leah had sauntered up, seemingly sitting about a hair's width away from Bella on the wooden bench that she'd plopped down on. Though, now that she was aware, it was hard not to notice it.
"Yeah." she mutters, trying to focus on what was going on around them.
Edward finds Jacob immediately despite the horde of girls greeting him. He talks to her brother for a second, clearly flirting.
"Maybe you should just let him have a little space," Leah cuts in to Bella's snooping, "probably would feel a lot more confident if he knew his sister wasn't watching."
Bella turns to see what Leah's so close to her face that she can smell her breath. Their noses are basically touching, if she gets any closer, Bella would be able to feel the air coming off of her eyelashes. She's got this look in her eye, that same look she'd had in the kitchen. It belatedly dawns on Bella that this was Leah's way of showing that she was interested, eyes half-lidded as she watches Bella's lips.
Suddenly, Bella realizes that Seth isn't here. Neither are Embry or Quil. She'd heard them agree to come and yet here Leah was on her own.
"Oh, who's your date?" She hears Angela's voice pass the mess of noise and her own thoughts.
Bella whips around to Jessica smirking from across the table of the bench as she leans into Mike. Angela and Eric have just sauntered over, holding new drinks in their hands as Angela waits for her question to be answered.
Date?
"I'm Leah," Leah introduces herself, waving over at Angela who smiles back.
"I'm Angela, this is Eric." she says, nudging Eric, who's staring.
"I'm Jessica, this is Mike." she informs Leah, as Mike also stares.
"You and Jacob, huh?" Jessica says unabashedly, "Thought you two would never loosen up."
Bella realizes that she'd taken her eyes off of him. She'd taken her eyes off of him and suddenly, she couldn't find him in the crowd.
"Oh, don't worry. He's with Cullen. I heard them say they were going for a drive." Angela answers Bella's unspoken question.
She says it as if it's the most casual thing in the world, like Jacob just did shit like this all of the time
Bella feels Leah squeeze her hand as a form of reassurance, but it only serves to remind her that she'd apparently, accidentally found herself on a date. For the moment, she lets it go. Jacob could handle himself. He hadn't done anything fun and spontaneous in a while and he needed this. So, she turns around and tries not to seem as surprised as she feels as Leah settles her head on Bella's shoulder.
Jacob's not sure what it is. He's not sure if it's the fact that he's been locked into a routine lately or if it's that wild look Edward seems to always have in his eyes, but somehow, he finds himself in the passenger seat of his car. It feels good to get away, to get from under his sister's gaze, to just feel the wind whipping through his hair without knowing that someone's worriedly staring at him from the other side of the car.
Thing is, he's still being stared at.
He can feel Cullen's eyes on him as they cruise through random parts of town with no concrete destination. He looks over and watches a smile bloom on Edward's face as if he'd just wanted to see his face.
It's good. It's good until Jacob can feel the car speed up underneath him. Until he looks around and suddenly, he has to focus to even see the buildings. Eventually, everything feels as if it's moving in slow motion around them, as Cullen glides around traffic as if there are no laws.
He can feel his heart sink into the pit of stomach as he glances out of his window to see a cop car stopped at a stop sign.
"Take me back." It comes out as a whisper that has Edward squinting, leaning his head a little closer as if he hadn't heard.
"Take me back!" Jacob squawks, yanking at the doors as if this fancy thing was going to let him roll out of it.
"TAKE ME BACK!" He yells even louder, and watches as it seemingly startles Edward into action as the car slows down and suddenly the cars around them are moving.
They head back to the beach in silence, Edward looking over at him as if he's trying to find something to calm Jacob down, but Jacob wants out. Edward's barely parked when Jacob stumbles out of the car, huffing and puffing as if he'd run back. He totters down the beach, eyes trying to find Bella in the crowd. He just wants his sister; he just wants to go home. He catches her seated on a bench with her friends. He's almost there where he feels a hand grab his arm and he spins around, eyes wild as he glares a hole through Edward.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Somehow, even over the music, Jacob's yelling catches Bella's attention. She stands up from the bench she'd been sitting on and stomps over as fast as she can with her sandals sinking into the sand.
"Hey, what's wrong? What happened?" She starts, looking him over.
"I just want to go home. I just want to go home." His voice almost comes out as a whisper, but she seems to understand as she glances over at Leah, before moving to head towards the parking lot.
They get home at 10:00 PM and Bella doesn't even bother acknowledging Billy's concerned glances as he watches them march upstairs.