Smile

By: unpinned grenade

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: I love Bella and Edward together, but I felt like Jacob needed to find the love of his life too.

Chapter 1

Life sure can suck, especially when you're on the outside looking in. I felt like a little boy again when I had begged and begged my dad for a new bike but was told it wasn't "economical". I remember that day so vividly because that was the beginning of summer vacation in my 6th grade year and all my buddies were headed to the new mall. All their bikes piled into the back of Sam's beat up old truck.

Whoever had planned and designed the new buildings had obviously been in tune with his or her inner teenager, because it was by far the best (and only) great hang out spot in all of Forks. There were fast food joints, roller and ice skating rinks, a movie theatre and right next door a newly installed playground where the younger kids could run wild and the older ones could skateboard and do stunts on their bikes all courtesy of the awesome ramps.

I had stood alone watching them drive away a small smile on my face. No one saw the tears in my eyes, no one saw me run into the woods after they drove away blaring rock music and talking excitedly with each other. No one saw me, and no one heard my muffled sobs. I stayed out there for hours, long enough to calm down and dry my eyes. My dad asked me why I hadn't gone with my friends and I'd given some lame excuse about there not being enough space. He'd looked at me strangely but must have seen something in my eyes that warned him not to take his questioning any farther. The very next day I went and got a job at the first place that would hire me.

I may be older (I'm in my senior year of high school) but I still felt the pang of unfairness like a scab over my heart that some cruel person kept picking and tearing on, sending sharp shots of pain throughout my body. One of the reasons for my inner turmoil was that I had never gotten that bike even though I'd worked all summer long at the cannery. Every cent I made went towards furthering my education, because let's face it my options were little to none. I lived on the reservation with my dad who was in a wheelchair, had been for awhile, and we couldn't seem to get together enough money for the paying of bills let alone a luxury like bikes. He still received his monthly disability checks but there never seemed to be enough, we were always spread thin trying our best to pretend like life was grand when in fact my dad had become so depressed he had been hospitalized for a few weeks back in September.

There was one bright spot in my life, but an ache all the same. Anan. I googled her name and it means "clouds". She wasn't full Quileute only on her dad's side, her mom had been a waitress at a nearby truck stop and Anan's father had fallen for her hard, they were married less than six months after they met and moved down here to be closer to his relatives. There were a lot of wagging tongues like there is in any small town, but everyone had loved Alissa. She was of Puerto Rican and Middle Eastern descent and from stories I've heard a beautiful woman who loved her husband and daughter more than life itself. When Anan was still very young her mother had died in a horrible car accident. Some say old Jimmy never got over it completely but cherished his daughter and tried to raise her up as best he could all alone. She was glorious.

She radiated light in my otherwise mundane existence. I could smell her perfume, and not just the kind she sprayed on her wrists and neck every morning, that smelled like cherry blossoms. I could also smell the coconut shampoo she uses in her hair. But her own personal smell was even more mouthwatering. I knew this fact because I had snuck into her room on many occasions familiarizing myself with everything about her. I had gone so far as to borrow, I use that term loosely, a silk scarf she had worn everyday for a month straight. I felt guilty about depriving her of it, but I so desperately needed something of hers to keep with me at all times. I was addicted, head over heels in love and we barely ever spoke. Only long looks and discrete smiles when no one else was looking.

She was standing in front of our local store sipping a diet soda and giggling with her friends not remotely aware that she was outshining the sun above us. No matter how many times I saw her it was like the first time all over again, that fist to your gut that makes you suck in a deep breath and hold it. It wasn't as if she was the prettiest girl in town or even the best looking among all her friends it was the fact that she was mine, she just wasn't aware of it yet.

"Hey Jacob!" I turned around slowly towards the sound of my best friend Quil's voice. He was waving at me frantically making with the kissy faces . He looked like a fish caught on a line. I rolled my eyes and turned back to more important matters, my girl. She was looking right at me her green eyes wide and alert ; waiting. I wish I could read her mind, girls are evil that way. Us guys are never sure if you really like us or not, and are usually so scared of rejection we don't want to rock the boat with to forward of a gesture.

She gave me the once over starting at my long black hair that flowed down past my shoulders. Then on to my top half where her eyes seemed to have x-ray vision. I was already bigger than all of my classmates, hell most of the guys in Forks, but I still made sure to puff out my chest a little.

Her eyes continued their journey down my jean clad legs to my boots, then back up again to zero in on my crotch. Her tiny pink tongue slipped out to moisten her lower lip as she looked up at me through her lashes. Damn her. As if I didn't have enough problems in my life, trying to will away an up and coming hard on was more than I could handle. I raised my eyebrow at her and she smiled at me. Oh dear God, the ground seemed to give way for a minute and the earth moved. She actually smiled. I could feel my heart pumping like mad but I had to remain aloof, act like her smile wasn't making my knees shake or my hands sweat. I idly hooked my hands in my belt loops acting as if I was a perfect pillar of ice. And then she did it, I mean she really did it. I was floored and she had me. There was no going back now, no pretending like our little visual flirting meant nothing to me. All Anan had to do was wrinkle her little perfect nose at me and wink and the wolf became a freaking puppy dog.