Matched

"No, no, it's just I don't have the hands for switching gears right now," she said waving her cast at him, her arm had been broken in several places in the car accident.

He smiled a little finally feeling a little more at ease since she was near," Good to know, I think when I came last week the place was short," he said as he looked around - he felt so lame at his attmpt at conversation.

“Well, lucky for you, we got a new shipment and we should be stocked up for a bit,” She said as she came back to the front and handed him the container. “What are you building?” She asked curiously, leaning against the counter and finding bags for him.

---

His eyes widened and he looked apologetically at her. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean it, I just meant if you wanted it I’d be happy to do it, I didn’t mean to bring it back up.” He said softly, stopping on the other side of the car.

"I'm re doing my moms bathroom - the tiles are cracking so it's time to redo them," he said smiling a little, "Decided last minute to paint the walls again since the paint is a couple of years old, do you... need any handy work done? I'm pretty good at this stuff- and I like helping out where I can," he offered.

Alex smiled a little then laughed, "relax, I'm okay," she said to him as she opened the car door, "You comin' Bells?" she asked as she looked over her shoulder at her cousin.

She shook her head and laughed a little. “Oh no, it’s okay,” She said, ringing everything up. “The house is older but I couldn’t ask that of you.” She said to him.

---

He looked back up. “Oh Bella yeah are you coming?” He asked as he climbed into the passengers seat and looked over at Alex. He waited for her to start the car and smiled a little. “So everything is fine but feel free to bring it by to me and I’ll fix it. Tomorrow there’s a bonfire on the beach, so you want tdon’t come?”

She smiled a little as she climbed into the driver seat, "Alright, I'll do that then, and that sounds like fun I've never been to a bonfire before," she said as she looked at him then fixed her mirrors and adjusted her seat so she wasn't too far back.

He smiled a little as he looked at her, "I really don't mind, uhm.. here is the house phone and then Sam Uley's house if you can't reach me there - Emily is almost always there so shell answer," he said to her as he wrote it down then pushed it accross the counter.

She looked at the number and chewed on her lip. She didn’t know what to say but this man handing her his number out of nowhere was a bit strange. “Okay, I’ll use it if I need something,” She said, sliding his bags across the counter. “Anything else I can help you with?” She asked curiously.

---

He smiled a little, leaning back in the seat and watching. “So are you going to school in Forks?” He asked curiously

She waited till Bella was buckled in and nodded,"Yep, I start at the end of the week so I can get adjusted to everything, but its my last year of school then I plan on doing community college - nothing crazy,"

He smiled and shook his head, "I might be back though who knows whatelse I forgot," he said sheepishly as she really did make him lose his head.

She smiled a little. “Well, I’ll be here,” She said, looking down at her homework and sighing. “So no worries about that,”

---

He nodded as he listened to her, everything she said would now remain in his memory. He wondered how he would tell her, he knew he had to, otherwise she may never know how he felt.

"In two weeks I'll go into the hospital to have my pins removed from my arm then I start physical therapy," she said to him as she began driving - slow at first then once she got comfortable.

He smiled a little and nodded, "I'll see you around," he murmured lightly as he walked out of the store sighing feeling deflated once she was out of sight.

She sat back down on the stool and looked at her homework, before sliding his number into her books but not sure what to do with it.

---

“You sho hang down at La Push sometimes, we have great food and when you’re better we can take you out to some of the stuff we do for fun?” He said smiling a little.

Alex smiled, "Sure, I'll have a bit of free time on my hands, so when you're not in school we could hang out or something," she said as she looked at him then back at the road.

He smiled a little At her. “So what do you think of it? I think it drives pretty well,” He said to her, looking at the dashboard. “Actually, are you hungry? There’s a good place we can go to down the road,” He offered.

“I’ve got to go soon though, my shift starts soon,” Bella said quietly from the backseat.

“Well, Alex is free, right? She’s never been there before.” He said as he looked at her

She nodded a little, "Yeah I'm free I can bring you some food once we're done there?" she offered as she looked at her in the mirror then smiled a little, " A part of her tugged when she saw his hopeful smile - how could she say no to that face?

He smiled and pointed for her to turn down the road that would lead her back toward the house. He needed to decide when to tell her, but he knew they would talk about it at the bonfire and he could use that as his chance.

Nadia switched everything around behind the counter, making sure to finish everything she needed to do before her shift was over. She still had a few hours but she wanted everything out of the way anyway.

Alex nodded a little as she pulled into where they'd left, "What time do you work Bells? I can bring you some food before your shift ends," she offered with a smile as she turned to face her but looked confused when she saw how angry she looked. "Bells?" she murmured, "Whats wrong?"

Jacob looked into the backseat and sighed when he realized what had happened. He had been ignoring her but he couldn’t help it, not with Alex heee now. He just hoped she would understand and give him time to explain to both of them.

Bella shook her head, "I have to go to work, I'll... see you later," she said and climbed out of the car making Alex look to Jacob in confusion.

"Wonder whats up with her," she murmured lightly."What food place were you talking about?" she asked.

He smiled weakly and looked at her. “Maybe she’ll tell us later,” He said softly. “But you’ll come to the bonfire tomorrow, right?”

She nodded,"Sure, its not like I have anything else to do," he said and smiled a bit as she looked at him unsure why she felt so comfortable with him then looked down with a small smile. "It's nice to .. be somewhere I'm wanted," she said as she looked at him again.

Nadia walked down to the beach, her jacket wrapped around her to keep warm. It was freezing and she was dying to get to the fire. Her brother said he’d come by once his shift ended, so she came alone since she had gotten off early. She went over by the fire, hoping to make some friends since she was basically alone from being new that year.