OOM: The hurricane I'll never outrun.
Jacob had always been able to look at Bella and tell exactly what she was feeling, but maybe that had something to do with the sheer amount of looking he did. It was easy to see she was broken, The Cullens…Cullen had did something to her that had taken away a part of her; she was no less beautiful, but infinitely sadder. It had been a random day - just like any other - when she came back to him. He’d heard the rumble of her ancient, rusty truck from quite a distance away and was there to meet her, scooping her up in a tight hug. There had been new circles under her eyes, another pain that he couldn’t erase.
She had brought some motorcycles, bikes that were broken, like her and she wanted him to help get them running. He couldn’t puzzle out her reasons for it, so they teased and joked like always and it seemed to Jacob that the more they repaired the bikes, the more they fixed her.
She changed again, right before his eyes. She remembered how to smile. She dredged up the long forgotten art of conversation and wit to make him laugh. Sometimes Bella just stared, her eyes narrowed in concentration, watching his deft hands put together something that had seemed unsalvageable.
They ate pizza. She tripped over his wrenches, spread out on an old tarp. He told her about school. She scolded him about his cavalier attitude to homework. She was his best friend. Everything was perfect.
It was inevitable. The ending. Jacob had hoped that without the distraction of…he had hoped she’d stick around a little longer, but the day had come when he’d finished the bikes and promised to teach her how to use them; and then she wouldn’t need him anymore.
He’s driving the truck today, the only one of them who knows the best secluded spot to try out the motorbikes, the longest road. Around her, he’s almost always grinning and doesn’t even realise it.
“You excited?”