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Disclaimer: Need I even say it? I own nothing, of course.

It was Saturday.

Bella Swan was driving aimlessly after work, unwilling to go home just yet. She was not paying much attention to where she was going - empty side roads, mostly. She only knew that she was avoiding the empty house that her father called home.

On that fateful day she had first met Cedric in Civics - the strange English boy who looked so like and yet so unlike him - she had been initially overwhelmed with the crushing pain that inevitably returned whenever she thought of him, or any of the Cullens (with the possible exception of Rosalie). But the pain had brought her out of the shell of numbness that she had built for herself, and made her aware of her surroundings, from which she had withdrawn entirely.

"It will be as if I'd never existed." Ha! Had he truly thought so - he whom she dared not name, even now? A bubble of harsh, strange laughter left her lips, even as the pain returned to drown her again. She braked, hard, and pulled the gear stick to P, knowing she had no business driving in such a state, and returned to her dark musings.

Would she ever heal from having known and lost him? Would she ever come to the point where she could remember him without ripping herself to pieces all over again? Or would she even more fortunate, and perhaps lose all memory of him eventually?

Who am I kidding? She asked herself darkly. How could he possibly keep a promise like that? How could it ever be for me as if he never existed? That promise was broken the moment he made it, in fact before he ever made it.

How then? Was there any point in keeping her promise to him, as his promise to her was already broken? Was there any reason not to be reckless or stupid if that was what she wanted?

She laughed again, struck by the folly of it. This was Forks. How on earth could one be reckless in a place like this? Now if she were back in Phoenix, on the other hand - well! But she was not in the city, she was in a tiny town of which her own father was the chief of police. How could one accomplish recklessness under those circumstances?

She took a look around to make sure she wasn't near the home of anyone who knew her and might see her there - and of course she found that she was sitting directly in front of the Marks home, where lived one of her own classmates' family. Luck was against her once again.

Or was it?

For in the front yard of the Marks house was a big cardboard sign that read FOR SALE, AS IS, and next to it were two rusting motorcycles that looked as if they were both on their last legs. Motorcycles! Now there was a way to be reckless, even here. Charlie had been called in on far too many fatal motorcycle accidents to consider them as anything other than reckless and stupid. He had made her promise, when she was ten years old, that she would never, ever, ever accept a ride on a motorcycle.

Recklessness and stupidity and motorcycles all in one go - it was a sign. Bella cut the noisy engine, climbed out of the truck, marched up to the Markses' front door, and knocked. It was answered by one of the two boys - Casey, if she remembered his name correctly.

"Bella Swan?" he asked in surprise.

"How much d'you want for the bikes?" she asked, going straight to the point.

"Are you serious?" he asked incredulously.

"Sure I am."

"But they don't work."

This she had already inferred, from the sign. "How much do you want for those bikes?" she repeated.

"Well, if you really want one, just take it. My mom made my dad move them down to the side of the road so they'd get picked up with the garbage."

Bella glanced over her shoulder at the bikes. "Okay," she said. "Can you help me get one in my truck?"

"Might as well take them both," said Casey Marks. "Maybe you could scavenge some parts from one of them."

And true to his word he immediately helped her lift both the heavy motorcycles into the bed of her old truck. He seemed eager to be rid of them, and she asked no questions.

"What are you going to do with them anyway?" he asked curiously. "They haven't worked for years now."

Erm . . .

"Maybe I'll take them down to Dowling's," said Bella, naming the local auto shop.

Casey raised his eyebrows. "Dowling would charge more to fix them than they'd be worth running," he remarked. This was, in fact, true. John Dowling had earned such a reputation for his pricing that most people with car problems would attempt the drive to Port Angeles. Bella had been very fortunate in that regard - her truck was nearly fifty years old, but she hadn't had a problem with it in the year that she had had it. Jacob Black, the son of her father's old friend Billy, had kept it in excellent condition while he had owned it. . .

Aha!

"Don't give it a thought," said Bella with considerable relief. "I know someone who builds cars."

"Oh. Okay then," said he, looking much relieved himself. Bella could not help smiling as she climbed back up into the driver's seat of the truck. What a nice boy.

She lost no time in dialing up the police station, and when the deputy answered the phone, she asked for Chief Swan. "Tell him it's Bella," she added.

"Oh, hi, Bella," said the deputy. "I'll go get him."

"What's wrong, Bella?" asked Charlie as soon as he picked up.

"Can't I call you at work without there being an emergency?" asked Bella.

There was a moment of silence before he said, "You never have before. Is there an emergency?"

"No, I just wanted directions to the Blacks' place - I'm not sure I quite remember the way - and I'd like to see Jacob."

When her father spoke again he sounded much happier. "That's a great idea, Bells. You have a pen handy?" And he proceeded to give her a good simple set of directions.

She had to talk him out of coming down to La Push (that was the name of the reservation where the Blacks lived), and she hoped she could get Jacob alone for a bit, so as to keep the motorcycles a secret. She sped off in the direction of the house. It was vaguely familiar to her when she arrived, small and wooden and painted red.

She saw Jacob look out of one of the narrow windows as she pulled up - no doubt he recognized the loud engine - and he came bounding out of the house with a wide grin on his face to meet her. "Hi, Bella!" he boomed, and Bella couldn't help pulling up short with surprise.

He was much taller than she remembered him being on that day she'd gone down to the beach with Mike and Jessica and the rest the year before. His long dark hair was loose about his not-yet-broad shoulders, and his face had lost all hints of childhood. His eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"Hi Jacob!" she said, and for the first time in what felt like ages she felt her face relax effortlessly into a real smile, a wide, lighthearted smile. And this was the lesser surprise - what really took her off guard was that she was honestly happy to see him.

"You've grown!" she couldn't help adding, tipping her head up to look at him.

Jacob laughed. "Six five," he said proudly.

Bella whistled. "Is it ever going to stop? You're huge."

"Still a beanpole, though," said Jacob with a grimace. "Well come on in, if you don't mind meeting a couple of my dad's friends."

"No, I don't mind," said Bella, and she followed him into the house, watching in amusement as he ducked his head to get in the front door. "Hey Dad, look who stopped by!" he said.

And Bella Swan got a severe shock.

In the tiny living room Billy Black sat in his customary wheelchair, talking to two other people who seemed to have just arrived - a man and a woman - and all three turned to greet Bella as she came in.

It was the sight of the two strangers that had pulled Bella up short - at least "man" and "woman" were the closest that Bella could come to describing them. To her trained eyes it seemed impossible that they were human, and yet she did not think they were vampires either. They were taller even than Jacob, lithe and long-limbed, and their loveliness, while far beyond what was possible for a human, was totally unlike vampire beauty. Their faces were unwrinkled and without blemish, but their eyes were deep and profound, full of memory and wisdom.

The woman's hair was an unusual but beautiful shade of bright silver, rather like raindrops in moonlight, and her eyes were a bright sparkling blue. The man had a thick bundle of very curly jet-black hair pulled over his shoulder, and clear grey eyes. To complete the enigma of their appearance, both were unassumingly dressed in blue jeans and comfortable sweaters.

"Well, what do you know!" Billy wheeled himself over to her. "It's good to see you, Bella!" He shook her hand.

"Hi," said Bella, feeling more than a little tongue-tied.

"Elrond, Celebrian, this is Bella Swan," said Billy to his other guests. "Bella, meet Elrond and Celebrian."

Jacob choked. "Dad! Seriously?!" he protested.

Bella blinked and did a quick double take. "Oh, right, yeah, Celebrian and Elrond," she said. She was something of a reader, and though she stuck mostly to classics, she had occasionally picked up more modern and popular works every now and then.

The grey and blue eyes twinkled mischievously. "It's wonderful to meet you too, Bella," said the silver-haired woman in a voice that was far too lovely to be human and entirely un-vampire-like. She held out a long, slender hand, and Bella shook it, noting that for all its model-esque beauty (and very human warmth) it was quite strong.

Bella glanced at Billy, who was trying not to smirk, and blurted out, "This is a joke, right?"

Billy winked. "Of course it is," he said. "These are my old friends Ethan and Carmen Stebbins."

Jacob tried without much success to stifle a sigh.

Bella suddenly wondered what it was all about. Billy had known for a while that she knew that they (she could not name them even in thought) were vampires, so he knew that she knew that vampires existed. He knew that they had left the area. Could it be possible that vampires were not the only legendary creatures who were not merely legendary after all?

Jacob was obviously embarrassed, and annoyed at his father, and Bella gathered that he at any rate still believed in nothing supernatural.

But first things first. She needed to do something about the two motorcycles sitting in her truck. "Jacob, can I, um, talk to you for a minute?" she asked.

"Uh, sure," said Jacob. He took her out to the back of the house, where there was a space of shrubs and trees that separated the house from the garage (It was really just two big sheds bolted together with the inside walls knocked out). "Shoot," he said.

"Well, it's just this," began Bella, looking up at him. "I don't know how much you know about motorcycles, and I just acquired two bikes that are not in the greatest condition. Could you - could you get them running again?"

"I could give it a try," said Jacob, and he began to look more excited. "Yeah, I could definitely go for it."

Bella held up her forefinger. "But the thing is, Charlie doesn't approve of motorcycles," she cautioned. "Honestly, he'd probably bust a vein in his forehead if he knew about this. So you can't tell Billy."

"Sure, I understand," said Jacob. "On the other hand, my dad's friends - the ones you just met - are pretty sharp, and I don't know how we'd keep this from them. I can try, though." A roguish grin was beginning to spread across his features, and his eyes had brightened again.

"I'd pay you, of course - " began Bella, but this seemed to rather offend Jacob. "No, no, I want to help. You can't pay me," he protested.

"How 'bout a trade, then?" asked Bella. "I only need one bike, and I'll need lessons too. So how about this - I'll give you the other bike, and then you can teach me."

"Sweet!" said Jacob, and his white teeth flashed once more in one of his frequent smiles. He really had a contagious, not to mention gorgeous, smile, Bella noticed.

"Wait a sec," she said suddenly, brought up hard by an unexpected difficulty. "Are you legal yet? When's your birthday?"

"You missed it," said Jacob rolling his eyes. "I'm sixteen."

It occurred to Bella that his age had probably never stopped him before, but all she said aloud was, "Sorry about your birthday," for she had missed it.

"Don't worry about it, I missed yours. What are you now, forty?"

Now Bella rolled her eyes. "Close."

"We'll have a joint party to make up for it," suggested Jacob.

"Sounds like a date."

Jacob's eyes sparkled, and Bella wondered what had gotten into her. Probably it had been such a long time since she had felt so carelessly happy that she was having a hard time reining herself in.

"So when'll you bring the bikes down?" asked Jacob.

"Well," Bella flushed a bit. "They're actually in the back of my truck now."

"Great!" said Jacob enthusiastically.

"Won't Billy or - his friends - see if we bring them around?"

Jacob gave her a conspiratorial wink (it might also have been a flirtatious wink, but I'm not going to confirm that). "We'll be sneaky," he said.

So they made their way along under the trees towards the front of the house. As they were walking, Bella asked, "Billy wasn't being serious, was he?"

"Huh?" said Jacob. "Oh, back at the house. Geez, Bella, I don't know. You know he believes the old tribal legends, or half believes them, but they don't have anything to do with all that fantasy stuff. I really don't know or want to know, seriously. Hang on, here we go."

It was now time to sneak the bikes from the bed of Bella's truck into the trees. Bella stayed behind the shrubbery, and Jacob swiftly got the bikes down onto the ground and one at a time wheeled them over to her. Once the bikes were safely undercover, they proceeded to wheel them back to the garage.

"These aren't half bad," said Jacob as they went. "This one here will actually be worth something when I'm done - it's an old Harley Sprint."

"That one's yours then," she told him.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

"They're gonna take some cash, though," said he, looking down at them. "We'll have to save up for parts first."

"We, nothing," Bella was firm. "If you're doing this for free, I'm paying for the parts."

Jacob looked uncertain. "I don't know. . ."

"I've got some money saved," she wheedled. "College fund, you know." And in her mind she justified this by thinking, "It's not as if I've saved up nearly enough to go anywhere special - and I'm not leaving Forks anytime soon anyway. What difference does it make if I skim a bit off the top?"

And Jacob nodded, much relieved.

Once they got the bikes back to the garage, Jacob said that the bikes wouldn't have to be hidden any further than storing them there. "It's not like Dad can ever get his chair out here," he said, and Bella's doubts were laid to rest.

Jacob began pulling the motorcycle that was to be Bella's (it was red like her truck) to bits at once. He opened a door of the car that he had been working on before Bella's arrival, and offered her a seat so she did not have to sit on the floor. He kept up a steady stream of conversation as he worked, needing only occasional prods from Bella to move things along. He told her all about his sophomore year of high school, and of the misadventures of his two best friends, Quil Atarea and Embry Call.

"Those are unusual names," Bella commented.

Jacob chuckled. "Quil's a hand-me-down and I think Embry got named after a soap opera star. Can't say anything though - they fight dirty if you start on their names - they'll tag team you."

"Great friends," said Bella raising her eyebrows.

"Nah, they're good guys - just don't mess with their names."

"Jacob?" somebody shouted in the distance, and Jacob shook his head. "Speak of the devil," he muttered, and he seemed to be blushing.

"Is that one of them?" asked Bella amused.

"Jake? Are you out here?" called the same voice from not quite as far off.

"Yeah, I'm here," said Jacob.

Not three minutes later two boys came into the garage. One of them was nearly Jacob's height and reed-thin, with chin-length hair that was parted straight down the middle. The other was thicker in build and not quite so tall, with a well-toned chest and arms. His hair was cropped very close.

Both of them stopped when they caught sight of Bella, and the shorter one grinned impishly at her.

"Hey guys," said Jacob rather warily.

"Hey Jake!" said the one with the grin, still looking at Bella. She found she couldn't help but smile back at him, and when she did he gave her a wink. "Hi, there!" he said cheerfully.

"Quil, Embry, this is my friend Bella," said Jacob.

The two boys exchanged a look full of meaning.

"Charlie's kid, right?" said the broad-shouldered one, and he shook Bella's hand. "I'm Quil Atarea," he said pompously.

"Nice to meet you, Quil," said Bella.

"And I'm Embry Call," said the taller boy. "But you probably figured that out already."

"So what are you guys doing?" Quil cut in, never taking his eyes from Bella.

"Bella and I are fixing up these bikes," said Jacob. The word "bikes" had a magical effect, and both Quil and Embry had to examine the project at once, plying Jacob with questions about this piece or that. They were still engrossed in this kind of talk when Bella suddenly remembered that after all she did have to feed her father. Regretfully, she got up out of the car.

"We're boring you, aren't we?" said Jacob.

"No," said Bella truthfully. "But I really do have to go make dinner for Charlie."

"Oh. . .well when do you want to work on them again?"

"Can I come tomorrow?"

Quil and Embry exchanged grins.

"That'd be great!" said Jacob in great delight.

"If you make a list, we can go shop for parts," Bella suggested.

Jacob grimaced a bit. "Still not sure I should let you pay for everything."

"No way!" cried Bella. "I'm bankrolling this party. You're providing the labor and expertise." When Jacob still looked doubtful, she added, "Look, Jake, if I took these bikes to a mechanic, how much would he charge me?"

"Okay, you're getting a deal," Jacob admitted.

"Not to mention the riding lessons," Bella reminded him.

Quil whispered something in Embry's ear that Bella did not quite catch. Jacob whacked him on the back of the head. "That's it, get out," he said.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Jacob," promised Bella, and tramped out of the conjoined sheds. As she headed back to the house she heard Quil and Embry chorus, "Woooo!"

She laughed softly to herself as she went. Boys.

Back at the house, Billy was still talking to his two friends (Elves, possibly?). Bella had meant to just say a quick goodbye, but the silver-haired one - Carmen, or was it Celebrian? - actually stood up. "May I walk with you, Bella?" she asked.

Bella eyed her cautiously. She was not ready to fully believe in Elves just yet, but she was certainly past refusing to believe in anything unusual. "Sure," she said cautiously.