Heartbeat

Jacob could not stop thinking about her. He hadn't slept at all. Instead, he lay awake for hours, replaying the scene at the beach over and over in his head. The fact that she knew his name was highly bothersome because he had no recollection of ever seeing her before last night. She wasn't the kind of girl you easily forgot about either. Try as he might, he had no idea how she knew him. Eventually the sun began to peek in through his curtains and Jake figured it was as good a time as any to get up. He stumbled to the bathroom and found that the menial task of showering would be no help in freeing his mind of the thoughts which plagued it.

He thought of the way her emerald eyes danced as he turned on the water. He thought of the way her long brown hair rustled slightly when a breeze had blown in off the ocean. He thought of her full lips, how they'd been set in a frown, as he stepped into the tub and pulled the plastic curtain shut behind him. Steady beads rained over his body from the shower head and he closed his eyes. He could see the way moonlight had illuminated the curve of her hips and the swell of her breast. Jacob let out a frustrated sigh and then turned the faucet over to COLD.

After getting dressed, he fixed some breakfast for his dad then decided to go out. Embry was just walking up the path as Jacob closed the front door. He waved and Jacob waved back.

"Hey, bro, what's up?" Embry asked, clapping him on the back.

"Nothing," Jake shrugged.

Embry opened his mouth to speak but stopped abruptly and broke out into the biggest grin Jacob had ever seen.

"Who is she?" He asked, giddy with excitement, "When do I get to meet her?"

"Meet who?" Jacob raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Don't be a dumbass," Embry laughed, "You imprinted. Now give me all the dirty details."

"You sound like a girl," Jake deadpanned.

"I'm not a girl," Embry defended himself, "But I do want to know all about your girl."

"There's nothing to tell," Jacob said softly, "I don't even know her name."

"Well, you'll figure it out," Embry clapped him on the back again for reassurance, "Until then, you want to come to the beach? Quil's already there. Breeze too."

"Breeze Quehpa?" Jake's eyes were round as saucers.

"Yeah. He didn't tell you she was back?"

"Nope." He popped the 'p'.

They made their way to First Beach in relative silence. Embry could tell Jacob really didn't want to talk so he didn't push. Jake was lost in his thoughts again. He was entertaining the idea of Breeze being the mysterious girl from the beach. Breeze had been such a plain looking child though. She had mousy brown hair and an overbite. She couldn't have blossomed into the buxom beauty he couldn't stop thinking about. He would have recognized Breeze.

He and Embry arrived at the beach within a few minutes and he could see Quil in the distance. He was sitting on a towel with a pretty brunette leaning into his shoulder. Jacob sucked in a shaky breath. It was her. His mystery girl was Breeze Quehpa. He felt like the biggest idiot in the world. He should have known. Maybe everything else was different, but those big green eyes, they were the same as they had been all those years ago.

"Yo, Quil!" Embry broke into a run, leaving Jake to meander slowly the rest of the way.

He didn't say anything as he approached the trio already sitting in the sand. He picked up his hand in a halfhearted wave and sat down on the other side of Breeze. Quil glared daggers at him. Breeze was apparently ignoring his existence. He sighed and reached out to her, the inexplicable need to touch her momentarily overwhelming him. She flinched, he frowned.

"Let's climb the cliff," Quil suggested, "I wanna jump."

Breeze stayed where she was while Embry and Jake followed her cousin. Once he was sure they were far enough away, Quil grabbed a fistful of Jacob's shirt and shoved him. Hard.

"Stay away from her," he growled.

"You know I can't," Jacob replied evenly.

"You can and you will," Quil hissed.

"Would you listen to me if I told you to stay away from Claire?" Jake asked coolly.

"That's different."

"No it isn't."

Quil's fearsome facial expression softened slightly and his voice dropped to a whisper, "You don't know what she's been through."

Jacob wanted to ask exactly what he'd meant by that but Quil had already pushed past him and continued up the cliff. Embry followed but Jake did not. He watched for a moment as his friends climbed higher then turned and sauntered back toward the spot where Breeze sat alone on her beach towel, absentmindedly twirling a chestnut curl around her finger.

"Hey," he said as he sat next to her.

She didn't respond.

"It's been a while," he tried again.

Her green eyes flickered to meet his warm brown ones, and Breeze nodded in agreement.

"How have you been?" Jake asked, "How was Boston?"

Breeze's gaze fell downwards and Jacob could swear she was blinking back tears. Without thinking, he reached toward her. He meant to offer some sort of comfort but as soon as his hand came in contact the soft skin of her upper arm Breeze jerked back violently. She scuttled to her feet and took off at a run.

"I told you to leave her alone!" Quil roared, shaking water droplets from his hair like a dog, "What the hell did you do?"

"Nothing," was Jacob's bewildered reply.

He watched as Quil darted off after Breeze and sighed heavily. As far as he could tell he really hadn't done anything wrong. And yet, he had seen the tear drops pooling just under her brilliant emerald eyes, threatening to run down her sun kissed cheeks. He must have done something to cause them and that did not sit well with him. At all.