Solar Flare

Chapter One

The wind was wailing through the small town and the rain was pounding hard against the glass of a particular restaurant, daring to rip the front door off its hinges every time a patron dared to enter. Then again, it was just a normal evening in the town of Forks, Washington. Stormy weather included.

"Business slow today?"

The restaurant was vacant with the exception of Chief Swan who was sitting at the bar with a cup of coffee. His jacket was slick from the rain, his collar turned up to try and keep the cold rain from touching his neck. Currently he was the only customer which was fairly typical for the heavy rain days. The waitress didn't mind though. Chief Swan was always so pleasant, plus he and the owner got along well, which only endeared him more. He was one of her favorite regulars.

"That's about how it goes. The rain either washes people in or scares them away," joked the waitress. "More coffee, Chief?"

"That's alright. I've got to head back out there," he politely declined, rising up from his chair. Taking one last drink, he set the now empty mug back on the counter before zipping up his jacket.

"Have a good night, Jo. Tell your old man I said hey," said Chief Swan.

She grinned. "Yes sir. Try to stay dry out there."

The bell was barely heard over the weather as the chief of police stepped out into the rough rain. When the door finally closed, the restaurant was enveloped in quiet once more.

Jo cleaned the ceramic mug, left it on the drying rack and returned to her post at the bar. She was the only one working as the other staff members had been sent home due to the slow business. So the only ones working were her and her dad. Currently, her dad was in the back office doing paperwork and payroll while she held down the front of house. Not exactly difficult with the staggering guest count of zero.

Everything was clean, stocked, in its proper place, and she was bored.

Sighing, she brought out her school bag and took out her planner and opened to where she left off. She tapped her pen against her lips as she looked over her latest assignment. It wasn't that the homework was difficult, it was just that she didn't like to work on group projects. One partner, three group members, she just didn't like it. She would much rather just do the work herself. Not to mention that the teacher was the one who picked the partners, which was every student's nightmare.

English: project partner Bella Swan.

Bella Swan wasn't in class that day and she had forgotten to ask Chief Swan if she was sick or out of town. She didn't have a lot of experience interacting with the brown haired girl. Bella tended to keep to herself (and the Cullens, a classmate told her) and Jo was typically busy on her own as well, with work and keeping up with her studies. Their paths just never crossed and she didn't know what kind of project partner she would be. She really hoped that she wasn't someone who would expect her to do all the work. She had enough of that, thank you very much.

She leaned against the heel of her hand, her blonde braid falling over the front of her shoulder as she looked out the rainy windows. Well, she wouldn't be biking home, that was for certain. She would have to load her yellow bicycle into the back of her dad's pickup truck after they closed for the night. Actually, she should really go ask her dad if they were going to close early due to the lack of customers.

Jo had just turned her back to go the office when the front door was suddenly thrown open, banging loudly from the wind. Whirling around, she witnessed a large figure stumbling inside, knocking into the wall and making the framed photos rattle.

"Whoa, hey—are you all right?" she yelped.

The person was drenched to bone and water was dripping from every point of him, instantly creating a puddle on the floor. He was breathing hard with his head bowed and she noticed immediately that he wasn't wearing a shirt or shoes for that matter.

"My god, you're soaked!" she cried out, panicking. "Here—sit down!"

She disappeared into the back and returned a moment later with an armful of towels, an empty mug looped around one finger, the coffee pitcher in her other hand. A Forks fixer-upper. How long had he been out in the awful weather? And without a jacket or shirt for that matter? Like every other restaurant establishment, they followed the no shirt/no shoes/no service rule but she was going to make an exception. She couldn't possibly send him back out there. Not like that.

The boy had slumped onto the bar stool, the counter becoming wet from the water dripping from his black hair. He didn't seem to even react her bustling around and that only worried her further. She poured him a cup of fresh hot coffee and placed it directly in front of him. He dully reacted to the roasted scent and slowly reached out and wrapped his hands around the now warm ceramic. Frowning with concern, she grabbed one of the towels she collected from the back (living in Forks, towels were a staple item) and carefully tossed it over his shoulders, trying to be as gentle as possible.

"Hey…are you all right?" she asked again, keeping her voice soft. "Do you want me to call someone for you? To come pick you up?"

Finally, he lifted his head and she got a look at the darkest brown eyes. The boy went very still, staring right back as if he just realized that she was there. A little startled by the intensity of the stare, but she gave him a soft smile anyway.

"Hey there," she tried again.

"…H-hey…" he croaked.

"Are you all right?" she asked once more. She wasn't about to stop until she got a proper answer. After all, he showed up in a whirl of rain and cut-off shorts. Which was just as strange as it sounded.

He nodded. "Yeah…I think so…"

"That's good to hear." She leaned back so that she was fully on her side of the bar and the towel settled around his shoulders. "So, mind telling me what you were doing out in all that?"

"I was…" he cleared his throat. "I was out for a run…when the storm hit…"

"Did the rain knock your shoes off too?" When the boy looked at her with a confused expression, she raised a brow and gave him a grin.

"Relax. I'm kidding," she reassured him. "I'm not going to throw you out for not having shoes. It's too awful out."

"I appreciate it," he said. He even gave a smile at her attempt at humor which only made her smile even more. "Sorry—but have we met before?"

"Hm?" Jo blinked at the question and gave a shrug. "Maybe. I'm always here so maybe you've seen me working?"

He shook his head. "No, I'd remember you."

Jo's face burned instantly at his words and she pretended to clean a nonexistent spot on the counter. "Well, I-I don't know what to tell you then."

"How about your name?" he asked. Her smile returned at the unnecessary question as she pointed at her rectangle nametag that was pinned to her apron and clearly read 'Jo'.

"Joanne, but everyone just calls me Jo," she answered. "What about you?"

"Joanne." Goosebumps broke out across her skin with the way he said her name. Simply, yet deliberately with his low voice. "My name's Jacob."

He held out a large hand out to her and she wiped her hand on the towel before shaking it. His skin was hot to the touch, which was quite odd since he should be freezing from being caught in the rain or at the very least clammy. Her green eyes narrowed as she studied the boy a bit more closely. In fact, even his hair was damp rather than completely water logged like it was moments ago. Brow furrowed, she reached across the bar and pressed the back of her hand against his forehead. She hadn't even touched him before she felt the heat emitting from his skin.

"My gosh-you're burning up!" she gasped. She made to turn around but Jacob had kept ahold her hand from their shake and she was pulled back. Concerned, she looked from their locked hands to his face again, her body tense.

If anyone else, let alone a complete stranger, had pulled that move she would've ripped her hand free, pinned them with a glare so sharp and, not to mention, a very alarming scowl. It wasn't that she was an overly aggressive person, but she was very particular about physical contact. Especially if that contact was restricting her, like right then. She was cautious as she looked back at the boy but she made no move to yank herself free. There was something about him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Which was strange in itself because she like to think that she could read people rather well after working at her family's restaurant. Jacob's grip wasn't tight, it was more like he was just stronger and just so happened to be holding her hand when she turned to move, thus stopping her.

She was instantly relieved when his own flustered reaction kicked in and he carefully and quickly let go of her hand.

"Sorry-!" he apologized. "It's just—don't worry. About me, I mean. I have a higher body temperature than most. I'm not sick or anything."

Jacob was rather tall and carried a very impressive figure. For someone who was so large and muscular, she supposed that it would be fairly normal of him to have a higher temperature than the average person. She felt embarrassed by her earlier outburst, and was positively certain that she must have acted like a lunatic, taking on the motherly role and checking his forehead. If only the earth would open up and swallow her whole right then, that would be great. Her cheeks were bright red from her own inner embarrassment.

"That's all right—I suppose I shouldn't have gone into mom-mode," she admitted sheepishly. "Sort of running on work-autopilot, trying to take care of everything, y'know."

He gave soft laugh and smiled again at her, making her blush remain just as vibrant. Despite being flustered, she grinned in return and leaned against the counter again. Odd, because in any other situation where an attractive boy was talking to her, or even near her, she was usually quick to find something else to do that would keep her busy or get her out of said boy's immediate vicinity. But then when she was at work, people didn't bother her, guys or girls alike because they were just customers.

And now there was this Jacob boy who was smiling at her and she couldn't stop grinning and blushing like a fool. He was breaching the customer status and she found that she wasn't at all bothered by it. He leaned closer, his dark eyes as bright as his smile.

"Hey, by any chance are you—"

"Jo!" called a booming voice from the back and footsteps could be heard. A tall man in a chef's jacket appeared from the back of house, giving a friendly grin when he spotted Jacob. "How's it going, buddy? Storm blow you in?"

"Yes sir," he agreed with a guilty smile. "It sort of threw me off course."

"I hear ya," the man laughed. He looked to the blonde waitress who was no longer leaning but standing upright and smiling, her gaze hopeful. He gave a rueful laugh, reading her expression easily, especially when she gave a victorious grin at his next words.

"Go ahead and shut it down, Jo," he said. He looked to Jacob again. "If you want to order anything, just let us know and we'll whip it up for you, but we're closing early tonight."

"Thank you, sir, but I'm all right," Jacob politely declined. "I'll be out of here soon."

"Have a good night," he waved before disappearing into the back again.

Jo was already out in the dining room collecting the napkin holders from the tables, stacking them like a pyramid in her left arm. She turned around a bit too quickly and the top holder slipped away. She tried to reach out to save it but moved too late and she closed her eyes and cringed, waiting to hear the sharp sound of the metal crashing against the ground.

Surprisingly, it never came.

"Here."

Beyond confused, she opened her green eyes to see the item being held out to her.

"Oh, thank—" her words came to a halt when she had to crane her neck upward to look him in the eye, "—you are very tall."

He gave a loop sided grin at the comment. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Six foot seven."

Both of her brows went up and he laughed again.

"That's usually the next question," he answered without being asked.

"Right…" she cleared her throat before accepting the caught holder. "Thank you."

"No problem." He brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck and she couldn't but notice that the towel that was once around his shoulders was on the counter and he was shirtless. Her face burned bright red again and she moved around him and started to line up the napkin holders in short rows of three.

"Well, I've got to get this all cleaned up, so—" Footsteps approached her and she turned to see Jacob near her again, his dark eyes still so bright. He was smiling and the expression was contagious because she felt her lips twitching into a smile once more.

"Are you free tomorrow?"

Jo blinked.

"Sorry?"

He took a step closer and she was hyperly aware of his hand drifting nearer to her own. Her fingers twitched a smidge toward him.

"Tomorrow, are you free?"

Her mind went blank but thankfully her voice seemed to work just fine.

"Yes."

To be honest, she couldn't even hear the storm with the smile he gave her.

REVIEW! I may be ten years late to the party, but ta-da! A Twilight fanfiction! At the request of a beloved reader of mine, I thought I'd give it a try. I think it should be fun! After all, Jacob was always my favorite ;)

I would love to hear your thoughts and I hope you all enjoy!