So I finally gave in and let Twilight consume my mind. *headdesk*. Here is the result. Also posted at my LJ.

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Oh come on. No way.

[EDIT] Took me long enough to realise my computer had a spat with the dividers when I first posted this. All fixed now.

.: Conceding Defeat :.

"I have a new biology partner. New kid."

"Uh-huh."

"He's an arse."

"Cool."

"Total smartarse. I swear he thinks he's god or something."

"That's nice."

Bella frowns. "Are you even listening?"

"Nope. Are you gonna eat that?"

She smirks. "He's pretty."

Jacob's head snaps up and he gives her a wicked grin. "Oh?"

She throws a chip at his head.

"He's weird. Why are the new kids always weird? Was I weird?"

"As weird as they come, Bells," Jacob assures her.

She pauses to smack him, then resumes pacing. "But at least I wasn't so…" She wrinkles her nose. "Mean. It's like he exists solely to show me up and piss me off. Eugh."

Jacob puts a hand on his heart and says wistfully, "I think I'm in love."

Bella stares. "Oh god. Don't even joke about it."

Jacob slides out from under Harry's car with a grin and sets his tools aside with a loud, satisfied sigh.

Bella snaps her calculus book shut, slings it in her bag, and says, "Finally."

He waves her off, scoffs "Perfection takes time", and gets to his feet. He frowns, then - "Food," he demands. He opens the garage door. "Do you want - oh now he's pretty."

Bella rolls her eyes and steps up to the door, about to commend him on his subtlety when the sight stops her up short. As of now, she hates silver Volvos.

"Oh please no."

Bella glares and jerks her head in the direction of the front porch. "He's here again."

Jacob grins as he throws his rag down to join her at the garage door, just in time to see the 'he' in question start up the front steps.

"He is very pretty."

"He's also several other things," Bella snaps, craning her head to see properly while cursing Jacob's ridiculous height.

"Oh?"

She presses her lips together. "Yes."

Jacob's grin only widens. "Do tell."

Bella eyes him suspiciously before dropping her head back to its normal position and stuffing her hands in her pockets, no longer fancying a cricked neck from staring at that wanker. She blinks. Well.

"Wanker," she says tersely.

"He's a boy, yes. It happens."

She wrinkles her nose. "Charming."

"Is he?"

"No. He, is an arse to the nth degree. Stuck-up. Irritating. Weird. Mean. Know-it-all. Crazy. Self-absorbed. Ego the size of Europe -"

"Now you're talking about me."

"Straight as a ruler."

"The bendy kind?"

"No. The metal kind."

"Bella?"

Bella groans quietly and mutters, "Oh, fun," under her breath.

Jacob laughs and adjusts the pile of firewood in his arms.

She turns around with a fake smile plastered on and says loudly, "Edward, hi! Fancy seeing you here." She grips the axe in her hand.

He smiles his infuriating crooked smile and shrugs. "Yeah, Dad's making me run errands for him."

Bella nods, "Nice", and an awkward silence stretches.

Jacob's grinning like a fool, she notices. She sighs.

"Edward, this is my unbearably gay best friend, Jacob, and he fixes cars. Jacob, this is my know-it-all biology partner, and he's not interested."

"Bio- oh." Jacob's grin turns evil. "Wicked."

Edward's laugh, embarrassed and amused, peters out when neither of the other two join in, and he looks between Bella's axe and Jacob's insane grin when she stands on her friend's foot. He messes up his already messy hair and nods an awkward "Uh - hi" at Jacob.

Jacob nods back, and the evil look doesn't let up.

He's plotting, and Bella wants to kick him.

Rats are gross. Biology is gross. Cullen is gr- well, not really.

Bella pushes a clean palm to her forehead. It's been forty-six seconds since she last looked at the clock.

"So, you and - Jacob? You been friends long?"

Bella sighs. "Practically forever."

Edward nods. "He's… interesting."

"That's one way of putting it," she mutters.

"Is he always so quiet?"

She can't help but give a short burst of laughter. "Kid could talk a skeleton out of its grave."

Edward smiles, and Bella wrinkles her nose.

"You have a visitor."

Jacob pauses with the fork halfway to his mouth. "Huh?"

Bella nods at the door. Jacob follows her gaze, and suddenly he's bounding over, wicked smirk firmly in place.

Bella drops her head onto the table.

"Hi - um. These - these are for Mr Black. Your dad. Yes."

She lifts an eyebrow and bites the inside of her cheek to keep in the tide of laughter. A fumbling Cullen is like music to her poor, Jake-abused ears.

"He's not in at the moment, but I'll be sure to pass them along."

Bella can hear the sexy grin Jacob's wearing - she's seen it so many times she could recognise it a mile away. She rolls her eyes when Edward's stuttered farewell and refusal to come in for a drink floats through from the doorway, and flings spaghetti sauce at her friend when he waltzes back in and winks at her.

Bella twirls a lock of brown hair around her finger and switches the phone to her other ear.

"I don't approve," she says.

Jacob makes a strange sound of confusion. "Of what?"

"Of whatever you're thinking - doing - whatever."

There's an audible chewing sound. "That's nice," he says around a mouthful. "What are we talking about?"

"Pretty boy. I don't approve."

Jacob sighs, and she can hear his grin as he says, "But Bells, it's not up to you." He takes another Jake-sized bite and slurs, "It's up to him and my charms."

"Ruler," she reminds him.

"Bendy," he retorts.

She groans into her pillow and he laughs.

"My god. Can his dad not do his own job?"

Jacob pats her on the head patronizingly as he wipes his hands on a dirty rag. Bella's brow furrows.

"It's called being irresistible, Bella."

She raises her eyes to the roof and bites her lip. A tap on her nose brings her gaze back down, and Jacob winks at her.

"Or maybe my charm has something to with it," he says on his way out.

And he's never heard of the word 'subtle '. She's sure of it.

"Your friend's nice."

Bella weighs up the pros and cons of ignoring him, and eventually says, "Really? I never noticed."

She glances over at him for half a second to see that ridiculous crooked smile as he asks bluntly, "Why don't you like me?"

She feigns surprise. "What gave you that idea?"

His laughter sounds both frustrated and apprehensive. He takes a breath. "Do you like Jacob?"

Bella pauses in her note-taking, blinks, and bursts into loud, inappropriate laughter. The teacher shushes her, and she slaps a hand over her mouth. Wide-eyed, she shakes her head sadly at an amused Edward, and only just resists the urge to 'tsk' and scoff "Children," in her most patronising tone.

A hollow clang and a muffled "Bloody fucking - ow!" follow Jacob as he crawls out from under his latest job, wrench in one hand and the other in his mouth.

"Ouch," he says around his fingers.

"Looks it," Bella winces.

Jacob glares at the wrench and shakes his hand, flexing his fingers experimentally. He makes a face, then says conversationally, "I saw him yesterday."

Bella withholds her kneejerk disapproving reaction, and sticks with a safe "Mmm?"

Jacob suddenly grins. "Yep. I help him carry all this…" He waves his hand. "Hiking… whatever. Is he always so awkward?"

"He's the King of Smooth."

Jacob taps his fingers on the concrete floor. "Must be the charms. They can do that to a person, you know."

Bella nods solemnly. "Of course."

Jacob waggles his eyebrows.

Jacob cuts the engine before he's even moved, and Bella groans.

"Jake, don't…" she warns.

He ignores her and the punch to his arm when he calls out, "Hey, Edward!"

Bella scowls. "I hate you."

Jacob laughs, and Edward appears by the window. "Hey." He nods at Bella.

Bella can almost hear Jacob switch on the thousand watt smile as he says, "We're having a bonfire this weekend down at La Push with some friends of mine from the reservation."

Edward's eyebrows knit together. "Yeah…?"

Bella gives him an exasperated look.

"I'm inviting you to join us, Cullen," Jacob laughs.

"Oh no," Bella mutters. "It's really starting. Run while you can. Next it'll be romantic candlelit dinners and long walks on the beach at sunset."

Jacob winces and says in his embarrassed-teenager voice, "Nice one, Bells. Thanks."

Edward glances between them and can't help but laugh. He slaps his palm down on the windowsill of the car and gives Jacob his crooked smile as he says, "Yeah - great. Definitely."

Bella wonders how easy it is to get away with murder.

"Jake, you're staring again."

Jacob doesn't even blink. "I know. But - he's talking. To Paul."

Bella tilts her head. "Jealous?"

Jacob makes a negative sound. "Amazed, more like. No one can hold a conversation with Paul. Well, one that doesn't involve insults as the primary mode of communication, anyway."

Bella laughs, and only laughs harder when Seth flicks Jacob in the back of the head and grins, "You're hopelessly gay, you know that?"

Bella relaxes against the log behind her and Emily's warmth at her side, and watches.

Edward's bronze hair looks like fire in the flickering light of the bonfire, and Jacob is practically glowing, especially when he flashes his winning smile. Bella, and therefore probably everyone else, can see that they're completely wrapped up in each other, sitting a little bit too close and staring at each other far too often.

Edward seems so have absorbed some of Jacob's unfailing confidence, and Bella kicks herself for smiling with them when Jacob cracks a joke and they both laugh loudly, Edward punching Jacob in the shoulder.

"I give it a week," comes Quil's amused voice from beside her.

She raises an eyebrow.

Leah scoffs from somewhere to her left. "Oh please. Two days at the most."

"Try three weeks ago," Bella interjects.

There's a short silence.

"Boys," Emily sighs.

Bella narrows her eyes down at her page. "You're awfully happy."

Edward twirls his pen around his fingers and sends her a grin that is disturbingly like Jacob's. "I had a good time," he shrugs.

"I gathered." She presses her lips together and spares him a passing glance. "You and Jake get along well, then?"

The smile turns sickeningly sappy, and she tries not to vomit.

He clears his throat and refuses to make eye contact as he takes notes. "I wanted to talk to you about that, actually."

Bella pauses. "Oh?"

"I wanted to take him to a movie. This weekend."

"Uh-huh…"

"And - well -" He laughs. "I feel like I have to ask you for permission."

Bella's eyes widen. "I'm not his keeper," she defends.

Edward finally looks up at her, and he's smiling again. "No, I know, but you're his best friend, and - well, I know you're not my biggest fan, so… I wanted to check."

Bella inwardly cringes, and doesn't answer. She lets biology fill her brain for the rest of the class, and only turns to him once the bell's gone.

"Something funny, gory or both," she throws over her shoulder on the way out.

"He just couldn't resist my musk."

Bella chews her pen and nods absently. "I'll bet."

Jacob tugs on her hair and gives her a questioning look.

She shrugs and puts her pen down. "He - uh - he asked me for permission."

Jacob blinks, and his smile is blinding.

"Thanks, Bells."

"I think you're even happier," Bella muses.

"That's because I had an even better time."

She raises her eyebrows. "Yeah, I bet you did."

Edward looks down at the bench and Bella smiles, swiping a test tube from the rack. "I do hope you brought him back in one piece."

He nods once. "Returned in the exact same condition."

Bella doesn't look at him. "Except considerably more enamoured with you."

A short silence. "Hopefully."

She rolls her eyes.

The shiny, silver Volvo is already out the front when Bella arrives, and she wonders why she bothers being surprised.

"What's your excuse this time, then?" she asks by way of greeting.

Edward looks up from the fridge. "I ran out."

"Thought you might."

Jacob ruffles his hair as he sweeps Bella into a hug. Setting her down, he grins, "It's my charms, I keep telling you."

Edward snorts and cuffs him on the back of the head.

"I like him."

Bella frowns at his panicked tone. "I realised."

"No, Bells, I really like him."

"Yeah. And?"

"Bella," he huffs.

"Jake," she returns.

"Seriously."

"I know."

"And that's okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Oh, I don't know. Does 'wanker of a biology partner with an ego the size of Europe and a god complex' sound familiar?"

Bella falters. "I - don't -" She hears him snicker. "Oh, whatever."

It's not until they get to the car park that she realises they've talked the whole way, during class as well. She blows her fringe out of her eyes and glares up at the sky. A familiar voice pulls her back to earth and she smiles at Jacob, tightening her arms around his waist.

She steps back and glances between Edward and her friend with narrowed eyes. They don't touch or even speak, just grin, but - whoo, if looks could get you pregnant.

She orders herself to stop thinking.

And realises as Edward heads to Jacob's car as well that they're faced with a dilemma.

Edward's hand recoils from where he's reached out for the passenger door, and he gives her an apologetic look.

She stares at him, then at Jacob, and sighs. She climbs into the back, conceding defeat.

"Good news," Jacob grins.

Bella doesn't look up.

"Oh?"

She hears them step into the kitchen, but keeps her eyes defiantly fixed on the oven.

"She approves."

The silence is long. Bella is tempted. She looks up to see the two of them staring at her.

"Oh really?" Edward wonders.

She pulls a face. "Really."

He turns to Jacob, who smirks. "Then that means -"

"We can do this in front of her and she won't tell us off?"

Edward's answer is jerking Jacob forward into a kiss that is not the kind other people should be subjected to viewing - the kind with fingers twisting in hair and hands groping backsides - and Bella pointedly turns her back.

"Don't push it," she grimaces.

"You're lucky I was prepared." She nods her head in the direction of the front porch. "I think you scarred them for life."

Jacob laughs loudly and Edward punches him lightly in the stomach. Jacob just pulls him forward by the arm to plant a noisy kiss on his forehead.

Out of nowhere, Edward's crooked smile is back. "'Straight as a ruler'," he snickers.

Bella throws a chip at his head, and returns Jacob's grin.

.: END :.

So there it is, my first Jacob/Edward. If you liked it, please review. They make me wriggle. XD

Thanks for reading!