Finding The Light!
Title: Finding The Light
Chapter: Six - The Rabbit
Pairing: Jake/Bella
Rating: PG-13
Notes: SMeyer ownes the characters, I just borrowed them.
Summary: This story follows somewhat along with canon in the beginning, but then you'll see Bella really find Jake and want to be with him, not for the fulfilment of her Edward illusions, but because she wants to be with him, for him. It is a natural progression of friendship that turns to something much more.
Chapter Six
The Rabbit
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Well, I hope everyone is liking this story so far. Jake and Bella together, what more can I say? Okay, but here is where we will start to pull away from canon some, so I hope everyone can keep up. Thanks to all who are reading and especially those who are reviewing.
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Driving home, I couldn’t help but worry about how upset Jake seemed to be when we talked about Sam and the other guys on the rez. When I got home, I started dinner and ran upstairs to get my book about the Quileutes, so I could thumb through it while I waited on dinner to cook.
I was deeply submerged in the legend of the wolf, when my dad came home and I had to get things ready to eat.
"Hey kiddo. How was your day?" He asked, smiling at me broadly, as he hung up his gun rig.
"It was good. I didn’t have any homework for a change."
"And how was Jake?"
"He was okay, for the most part," I said, smiling to myself.
"So, did he get finished with your truck today?"
"No, actually he, um, forgot to have me get the spark plugs and wires, so I have to go back tomorrow."
"Well, isn’t that convenient?" I thought I heard him mumble.
"What?"
"I mean, isn’t that convenient that you can go right by the part’s store after school?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smile at me, as he shook his head. I could only guess what he must be thinking. The same thing I was thinking, but I liked what I was thinking about Jake having forgotten the parts on purpose forcing me to go back to La Push tomorrow, so I smiled too.
After dinner, I took a shower and got in bed. I read some more about the Quileute legend and feel asleep with the book on my pillow. I soon found myself in a mist filled forest setting, not like the one from the night Edward left, but instead a peaceful place where I felt safe and warm. I was alone, wearing a long white nightgown and it was blowing gently in the breeze hugging to the shape of my body.
I looked through the mist and saw a large figure approaching me, slowly, cautiously, and with every step it took I could see its shoulders rise and fall one at a time, under its taut muscular flesh which was covered in a beautiful russet fur. It was a giant wolf. He walked right up to me, lifted his eyes, and looked into my own. I felt no fear, only comfort and again warmth. Then the white mist came between us and I couldn’t see him anymore. Only then did I become afraid, and began to panic, looking for the wolf, my protector.
Startled, I sat up in the bed, and realized it was only a dream. I lay back down, and drifted back to sleep, hoping I would see my protector again, but I must have slept the rest of the night without dreaming, and the next thing I knew it was morning again.
I got dressed and made it downstairs quickly, drank a glass of orange juice and ate a slice of toast with butter on it, before grabbing my backpack and making my way to my truck so I could go to school.
When I arrived, everyone was filing into the side door, so I got out and followed the steady stream of bodies. As luck would have it, I bumped into Mike Newton, who turned and smiled at me, as soon as he saw I was the one who had hit him.
"Hey, hey, hey Arizona. What’s happening? I haven’t caught up with you in ages. Have you been dodging me?"
His question was stupid really. He knew that I had been right there every day, but I had always avoided eye contact with him and many of the others, so I could spare myself the misery of trying to explain things. I had been living in my own little world, walled up away from everyone else.
"No, of course not. I’ve just been minding my own business," I replied, without thinking.
He slid his arm around my shoulder and walked with me the rest of the way into the school. I wanted to grab his arm and remove it, but I was trying to be sociable, so I endured the contact.
When we got inside, he walked me to my locker, arm still around my shoulders. I shifted, trying to remove my backpack, so he let his arm drop to his side.
"So. When are you going to maybe go do something with me? You know, maybe go out with me?"
I felt the blood drain from my face, and found myself momentarily at a loss for words. I thought he and Jessica had been dating, so why was he again lavishing his attention on me?
I reached for my locker door, trying to think of something to say, just as Angela came up beside me. I saw her eyes searching our faces, and looking embarrassed that she had interrupted, but right now I could actually hug her.
"Hey Angela. How are you this morning?" I asked, in a very happy tone.
"I’m fine. I didn’t mean to intrude."
"No. It’s fine. Mike and I were just about to go to class," I said, giving him a smile that felt more like a smirk.
"Yeah, but you didn’t answer my question, Arizona," he said, tapping the side of my locker.
"I’ll have to think about it. Okay?"
"Okay. I’ll talk to you about it later then," he said, with a slightly triumphant look and pranced away.
"What was that all about?" Angela asked, leaning down to almost whisper in my ear.
"I’ve never been so glad to see you in all my life. You saved me just now," I said laughing, as I grabbed her hand and started pulling her with me to our first class. "He was trying to ask me out, or something. But I thought he and Jessica were dating?"
"They broke up over the weekend, or should I say ‘they are taking a break for a while’ as Jessica phrased it," She said with a giggle.
"Oh great, so I’m the rebound material. Thanks that’s good to know. That will help me in pushing the words no thank you."
We were both giggling, by the time we made it to our desks, and I settled in for a long day of tolerating being at school when all the while I was wishing I could see a certain someone.
Angela saved me again at lunch by asking me to go outside with her and eat at the picnic table. I gladly followed, and we ate our lunch, which consisted of pasta and fruit salads and bottles of water. The fresh air was nice and it made me even more antsy to be in La Push.
I was able to avoid Mike the rest of the day, and only had homework in one class, so I felt very relieved to make it out of school alive, so to speak.
I stopped at the auto part’s store, and the familiar face behind the counter smiled up at me when the door bell rang announcing my entrance into the store.
"How can I help you today Miss Swan?" The man asked still smiling.
I smiled in return and handed him the list Jake had given me. I was reaching into my purse to pull out my money, when he turned to walk back to the storage area, and I thought I heard him say something like, "he’s good, very good, smooth even," but I wasn’t sure. Either way, I felt a few butterflies dancing in my stomach, at the thought of my return visits to the store being carefully orchestrated and strangely enough, I didn’t mind. I felt a somewhat flattered.
He returned with my parts, I paid out, and told him thank you as I left the store. He smiled and waived as I left, and I was content as I pulled onto the roadway and turned toward a now very familiar route. The one back to Jake.
My radio was playing softly in the background, and it helped make the trip seem much faster. As I pulled around to the small garage, I saw him standing there with his arms crossed over his broad chest, smiling that breathtaking smile at me. I had to concentrate on the narrow doorway in front of me, and not look at him, as I squeezed my truck in and came to a stop.
My door was whisked open, and I felt a rush of cool air and warmth as Jake almost pulled me out of the truck to give me a bear hug. The butterflies returned and were working a number on my insides, as he lifted me off the ground and hugged me tight against his chest. I liked being in his warm embrace, but the lack of oxygen I was receiving was making me dizzy, so I gasped.
"I’m glad you’re here," he whispered through my hair and I heard him inhale deeply.
"Me....too....." I said, almost coughing as I replenished my air supply.
I looked up gazing into his warm and inviting dark brown, almost black eyes, and was lost for a few moments in just being there finally with him. Our smiles mirrored each others and I realized that his hands were still on my shoulders and mine were on his waist. I had to hold onto something, when I was trying to get my breath, but I had never let go. I even found myself thinking that I liked being right here with him like this and wouldn’t trade the moment for anything.
"How was your day?" He asked quietly, through his smile.
"It was good. I was just...." I had to stop myself.
In my current state of bliss I had almost said exactly what was on my mind. But he wouldn’t let me off that easily.
"Yes?" He pried. "You were about to say something else."
"No. I....no....I had a good day," was my muddled attempt at keeping my true thoughts to myself.
"Bella. Tell me what you were about to say? Please?" He said with the sweetest pleading look I had ever seen that melted me right where I stood.
I felt my face burning as my cheeks filled with red heat. He was going to force me to tell him. But it was the truth. What could it hurt to tell him the truth?
I dropped my gaze to the ground, searching for an object to anchor myself to, but he wouldn’t have that either. He slowly pulled one of his hands from my shoulder and tucked his warm finger under my chin, pulling my face back up to meet his warm questioning eyes.
"I was....I just....I wanted to be here, with yo....you," I stuttered, and tilted my head to the side slightly as I let myself feel the gravity of what I was saying.
I did want to be here with him. I felt good here, I wanted his company, I wanted to hear his voice, I wanted to feel his warmth. It was just a little honesty. What could that hurt, I thought? And the thought made me smile even more, as the rose coloring again came into my cheeks.
The realization of what I had just said, must have finally sunk in somewhere inside of Jake, and a dawn of understanding washed over him, bringing on a smile so wide that his white opal tinted teeth shown against his perfect dark skin tone.
"I like you being here too. I like it very much," was his simple, but honest reply, and I liked what he had to say as much as he must have liked what I had said.
"So. What do we need to do today?" I asked, in a whisper, which pulled us both from our daydream of possibilities.
"Did you bring the spark plugs?" He asked.
I turned to reach inside the truck, pulled out the bag with the parts he had requested, and handed it to him. He hesitantly pulled away and went to his work bench, where he spread the contents of the bag out.
I leaned against the side of my truck trying to pull myself together from the very short but honest conversation we had just had, and watched him as he opened the end of each box carefully, removed the spark plugs, and lay them out all in a row. He then took each wire, also laying them out, after inspecting each end.
He was meticulous with each piece and I wondered if he was that way with everything he worked on. My guess was that he was, and I liked that about him. He was careful, thoughtful, and filled with an air of pride as he worked in his little Taj Mahal. The thought made me smile again as I continued to watch him.
After he had inspected each part and made it ready, he turned back to me.
"Bella, we have to wait for it to cool down again. Come on, let’s go for a drive. I’ll show some more of the rez," he said, as he bridged the distance between us. He closed the door of my truck, took me by the hand, and we started walking toward a car, which I assumed was the Rabbit.
"Did you finish your car?" I asked excitedly, moving my legs quickly trying to match his wide stride.
"Yep. And I want you to be the first to go for a ride with me," he said with pride.
"The first. Does that mean you’ll have every girl in La Push going for rides with you before long?" I asked, feeling a sudden jolt of, some feeling I had never know before, and I wasn’t even sure why I was feeling it.
He came to a halt, but I kept walking, until I reached the end of his arm. He carefully pulled me back to him and squared off to face me.
"No ma’am it doesn’t," he said firm and serious.
I don’t even know why I would think of such a thing, or why I should care. It was his car and he could let anyone ride in it that he wanted. I felt so embarrassed and I thought I might have hurt his feelings, so I looked away.
"I didn’t mean that," I said quietly.
"Yes you did and I’m glad you feel that way. I don’t mind," he said bending down to look up into my worried face. "So you’ll be my copilot for the first trial run?"
His silly gesture made me laugh and I said sure, then we were off again. When we reached the small red car, he opened the passenger’s door for me and closed it carefully after I had gotten seated.
He climbed in, and I was amazed that someone his size could fit into the car, but he had the seat pushed back all the way and the steering wheel tilted up, so he looked right at home, like the car was built just for him.
When he pulled out of his yard, he turned toward the beach front, and we took a road that wound around following the shoreline. I noticed that we were climbing as he drove, and soon realized that we were on the cliffs overlooking the ocean.
The view from this height was breathtaking and I wouldn’t have missed being with him on this maiden voyage for anything. He had made me feel special and I appreciated that.
"Jake, it is so beautiful up here," I said, as he slowed the car and came to a stop.
He climbed out and came around to open my door, but I was already on my way out to meet him. The air was crisp and salty, as the wind blew up from the waves below. The sound of the water crashing into the rocks was muffled from this distance, but as I watched them rolling onto the rocks, I could just imagine how loud it was down below. We leaned against the fender of his car and I found myself sighing at the picture stretched out before us.
But I soon had a feeling that Jake wasn’t looking at the ocean, and sure enough, when I stole a peek at him from the corner of my eye, he was watching me.
"I’m not going to be asking anyone else to ride in the Rabbit anytime soon. Anyone of the female persuasion, that is. So don’t worry about that. Okay?" He said, looking very serious as he took my hand closest to him, in his.
"Okay," was my reply, and I felt bad for what I had said before, but I felt strangely relieved at his promise too.
We stood there looking out at the water, watching the water birds dive and spin as they plunged themselves into the blue and white water, only to pull out a fish for their evening meal. We laughed at a pair of birds that seemed to be fighting over a certain fish, and Jake continued to hold my hand, and we were good and comfortable just hanging out together.
I’m not sure how long we had been there, just quietly enjoying each others company, when there was a noise coming from the woods near the cliff. We turned to see two figures emerging from the tree line. I felt Jake stiffen beside me and he pulled me closer to his side, never letting go of my hand.
As my eyes focused on the figures, I realized, or at least I thought I did as best as my memory would serve me, that the two young men approaching us were the ones with Sam then night he found me in the forest.
"What are you two doing here?" Jake asked in a stern voice, as they walked around looking at his car and then at us.
They weren’t wearing much, just a pair of old cut off blue jean shorts. They were both very muscular with smooth dark skin like Jake’s, and their hair was jet black but cut very short, almost cropped. I noticed too that they weren’t wearing any shoes, which I found very strange.
"We came to see your car. So you finally go it up and running?" The tallest of the two young men asked.
"Yeah. What’s it to you?" Jake replied, and his tone became even more bitter.
I could tell that he was very uncomfortable around them, and I thought it was odd that they would come out here, away from everything and everyone to look at his car. How had they known we were there? Were they keeping an eye on him?
"Easy Jake. We were just passing by and saw you guys up here and thought we’d have a look. The old Rabbit looks sharp. You’ve done a great job on it," the other young man said, holding up his hands as a sign of peaceful surrender.
"Thanks. It took a long time, but it was worth it," Jake finally said, and I saw the pride of his hard work showing in his facial expression.
Then the young man turned to me, " how are you doing, Bella?" As he nodded his head at me.
I looked at Jake, "Bella, this is Jarred," he motioned toward the one who had asked how I was, " and that is Paul," pointing toward the other young man.
"Nice to meet you both. And I’m fine. Thank you," I said, feeling very nervous because of Jake’s behavior around these guys. He really didn’t trust them.
"Well we’ll be going then. We just wanted to see the car. See you around Jake. Bella," Paul said, looking back toward me.
I just nodded to them and tried to smile politely. They turned and disappeared into the woods from where they had come. It was several minutes though before Jake began to loosen up, and I could feel his grip lessen on my hand, which he had held through the entire ordeal.
"Are you okay Jake? What were they doing out here? Do you think they were, fo.....following you?"
I hadn’t even given him a chance to respond as the questions just kept flowing out one after the other. He kept his eyes on the thicket of trees in which the two had disappeared, and I saw a strange, look of what I thought was longing, cloud his face for just a moment, but then he pulled himself together and looked even more confused. I felt so bad for him right now, and I was still a bit uneasy myself. So before he could answer, I moved so that I was standing in front of him and placed my hand on his chest. I rubbed him gently, trying to get him to open up because I knew he needed to talk about this.
His tension seemed to roll away as I rubbed small circles on his chest. And before long he was looking down at me, trying to focus on me and my questions, but I could tell he was still thinking about what had just happened.
"I’m fine. I’m sorry you were afraid, but I wouldn’t have let anything hurt you," he said, looking now very serious.
"I know. I never had any doubts about that. But do you think they were following you?"
"Yeah. I know they were. They were watching us. Why else would the two of them have been out here?"
"Jake, if Sam is the one leading this, whatever it is, then maybe you should ask your dad to speak to him and tell him to leave you alone."
"Huh, that’s the worst part of it Bella. My dad doesn’t want me saying anything negative about Sam and the others. He has basically told me that they are the life force of the rez and that I need to respect them."
"What? Billy said that? Not the Billy I know? Surely you heard wron...."
"No. He told me those very words last night when I tried to talk with him after you left. I don’t know what is going on, but I guess I’m on my own."
"Oh Jake, you’re not on your own. I’m here. I’ll be with you. Maybe I could go and talk with Billy for you and make him see how concerned you are. He would listen to me. Wouldn’t he?"
"He wouldn’t listen to me Bella, so I don’t think he would listen to you."
By now Jake had taken my other hand, the one on his chest and was holding it too. I looked up at his dark tortured eyes trying my best to come up with a solution that would help him.
"I’ll talk with Charlie. I’ll tell him what you’ve told me, and then this weekend when you and Billy come over. He can talk with him. They’ve been friends for more than twenty years, Jake. He’ll listen to my dad. I just know he will."
"No Bella. I’m afraid this is a Quileute problem and if Charlie says anything it will be considered an insult and it might alter their friendship. We tend to take care of our own problems here on the rez, keeping it close to home. If you know what I mean."
I did know what he meant, but it didn’t stop me from worrying about him and trying to rack my brain for a way to help. So we just stood there, both of us in deep thought, as Jake and I continued to hold onto each other. If it hadn’t been for the circumstances and the tension, I would have been very happy to be this close to him again.
"It will be okay. Try not to worry," I said, as I inched closer, hesitantly moving to lay my head against his chest.
He took note of my hesitant intentions and helped me with my decision, as he wrapped his arms around me and drew me into his chest, resting his cheek against the top of my head, similar to the way he had the day before. I breathed a sigh of relief once I was there and felt the rest of the tension leaving him, as he sort of rocked us gently from side to side.
"This is more like the way I had planed to spend the afternoon, just being with you, instead of having the unwanted interruption. Sorry," he whispered into my hair and I felt his hot breathe against my scalp.
"It wasn’t your fault. And besides, we’re okay now," I said, closing my eyes and breathing in deeply to smell him all around me. I liked the way he smelled and hoped that I could remember it when I went to bed tonight.
At least twenty minutes passed, before Jake started to pull us apart, and I opened my eyes, to see him staring at me.
"I guess it’s getting late, and I still have some spark plugs to replace. Are you ready to go back?"
I just nodded, not really ready to give up our stolen moment, but I knew I must. After all, I still had some homework to do tonight, and I’m sure he did too.
He helped me into the car, got in and started it, pulling slowly away from the cliffs and back onto the road. We didn’t say much as we drove back to Jake’s house, and I knew that the event that had just taken place was still weighing heavy on his mind.
As he pulled up in his yard, he sighed, as he parked the car and killed it. He looked distant and I felt like he might not feel like working on my truck now.
"Jake, it’s okay if you want to wait on the truck. I don’t mind at all," I offered.
"No, no. Come on we need to get that baby taken care of," he replied, now smiling but not as big as when I got there earlier. I could tell he was putting on a front for me.
We both climbed out and I followed him into the garage. I watched as he grabbed two wrenches, a red rag, the spark plugs and wires, as he made his way over to the truck. He popped the hood and started pulling the old wires off the spark plugs, but didn’t remove them from the engine. He just laid them aside.
"Why did you do that?" I asked, wondering why he hadn’t pulled the wires out too.
This got him to talking and he went on to tell me about needing them in place so he knew which wire went to which plug and so on, and before long he had given me enough information about my truck’s engine that I thought I might have been able to change my own spark plugs, if I ever needed too. He sure knew his way around under the hood and I found myself very impressed with his abilities.
I had watched, propped up on my elbows on the fender of my truck, while he finished the job and listened intently to all of his instructions. When he finally finished, he looked up and smiled.
"Well, I guess that about finishes it up. I’d say the tune up is complete and she should run like a top for at least another year," he said, wiping his hands on his rag and lowering the hood down until it latched.
A year. My heart sank, and I felt a little sick at my stomach. What would I do now that the truck project was over? Would this mean I wouldn’t be seeing him but every once in a while? My mood suddenly plummeted, and I felt sad like I’d just lost a tiny part of myself. Then I remembered Saturday and I thought maybe I could make it until then.
"Bella, are you okay?" Jake asked, lifting my chin up to look at him.
"Yeah, um, why? What?"
"I don’t know, I was saying I would like to take a look at yo..., I mean the truck, at least once a week, to make sure it was in working order. You know, with one this old, it needs to be inspected for everyday wear and tear. The parts that I replaced are not the only parts that need to be looked after. And I think I should be the one to look after her, you know, if you want me too," he said, quietly.
"I do, Jake. I do. I think you need to keep us running, I mean her running in tip top shape. I wouldn’t want it to leave me stranded or something," I said, as my breath caught in my throat, something about the look in his eyes held me captive.
He smiled at me and I knew we had both slipped, using the truck as our excuse, but I could see through it, and I hoped he could too. So I felt somewhat better knowing that I would at least be seeing Jake once a week, but was secretly hoping for more time with him.
I glanced at the Coca Cola clock on the wall of the garage, and realized it was getting late and knew my time was up once again.
"I know. You have to leave," he said, looking disappointed.
"Hey, are you going to be okay?" I said, looking up at him, as his head was now bent looking at the floor.
He reached out and placed his hand softly against my cheek, letting his thumb move up over my cheekbone. He left my skin tingling and warm where he was touching me.
"Yeah. I’m gonna be fine. Just fine," he said, looking at me like he wanted to say something more, but stopped himself, and was just standing there holding my face in his hand.
I wrapped my fingers around his hand, pressed it firmly to my cheek once, then pulled it away, and pulled him with me as I got into my truck. With a heavy sigh, I pulled the door open and climbed inside.
I cranked the truck and the music started playing from my radio, I reached to turn it down, but Jake reached in across my chest and grabbed my hand, pulling it down to rest in my lap.
"Don’t. I want you to listen to it on the way home. Who knows, maybe you’ll even think about, you know, maybe me," he said, and I thought I saw him blush.
"I already do," I whispered, then pulled his hand up with mine and brushed his hand across my lips, not really kissing them, but feeling his warm skin against my lips. It made my lips tingle, just like my cheek was still tingling from his caress.
Now I know he was blushing, I saw the hint of crimson creep up under his burnt sienna skin, as he started standing up and moved back so I could be going. He closed my door and backed away, but then motioned for me to roll down the window, just as I was about to back out of the drive.
I rolled it down and looked over at him tilting my head slightly to the side, as I tried to figure out what he wanted. He just seemed to need one more touch, one more moment of contact before I left, so he reached back in and touched my cheek again, as he said, "I’ll see you soon, okay? Take care of my baby until then."
And with that he pulled away, and gave me a little wave, as he moved his hand up to rub the back of his neck. I mouthed the words, "I will," as I waived too, and backed out of the garage. But I knew a part of me would be staying there with him, until I was able to see him again.
That night, as I lay across my bed, I rubbed my check and my lips and remembered how he had felt touching me, how I had felt touching him, our skin together, nothing between us. It was perfect that way, it felt right.
I leaned over to my night stand and picked up my book, turning over on my bed to turn the pages to a passage that I had read before, but tonight it seemed to take on a new meaning for me. I whispered it aloud, "certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture your heart."
So I drifted off to sleep, the book drawn tightly to my chest, and felt a smile feather across my lips as I thought about what that passage now meant to me, and I knew that it all had to do with Jake.