Full summary: A talented fighter with Olympic goals, Jacob Black only has two loves, boxing and Bella. Forced into decisions to reach his Olympic dream, his passions collide in the most destructive ways, and it may end up costing him everything.

Bella Swan has known her type ever since her first book crush in the sixth grade. Confident, talented, tough, and determined to succeed, Jacob Black is just that. But like a cruel twist of fate, it's those very qualities standing in her way.

This is a story of young love, self-discovery, perseverance, and finding out that life truly is about the journey.

These are Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga characters. They are just acting out my plot. No copyright infringement is intended.

Inspired by the songs Time Won't Let Me Go, The Bravery, and Adele's Chasing Pavements.

A/N I poured my heart into this story. It took me years to complete, but it haunted me until it's completion.

You will grow up with the characters, skipping through time from youth to adulthood.

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"But if I tell the world, I'll never say enough 'cause it was not said to you and that's exactly what I need to do if I'm in love with you." -Chasing Pavements, Adele

So, this is me telling the world.

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The playlist songs with key lyrics introducing each chapter, provided inspiration, encompassed a character's emotions or situation, or simply played in the background of the scene. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 1

If I could do it all again
I'd go back and change everything
But time won't let me go—Time Won't Let Me Go, The Bravery

Bella

Friends didn't come easy for me, a lesson I learned in kindergarten. But I was practically a teenager, heading into junior high, and since I outgrew some shyness, I was positive starting over in a new school would go better than expected.

Hopefully.

I wrinkled my nose at the paint smell lingering in the room's air and hung The Outsiders movie poster on the sage-green wall above my bed. My mom, Renee, bought it for me because I loved the classic novel, and I admit; the actors chosen for the movie were cute back then.

Dallas Winston was my favorite character and my first crush. Mom had teased that it meant I liked the bad boys, which scared me a little. But after thinking it over, I decided it wasn't because he was a juvenile delinquent. I liked him because he was described as a complex and tough, fearless leader, who could take care of himself. He buried his sadness beneath his rough persona but he loved and protected his friends. Mom and I had Dallas Winston in common, because when she was a teenager in the eighties, the actor cast to play him was her celebrity crush, and I could see why.

To evaluate my over-all decorating, I hopped from the bed when a pounding on the front door grabbed my attention. I rushed from the bedroom and hurried down the stairs. "I got it, Mom!"

"What, Bella?" Coming from between the many moving boxes cluttering the kitchen, her voice barely penetrated the Like A Virgin song blaring from her radio. "Did you say something, hon?"

I swung open the door, and my knees turned to Jell-O. The cutest, most gorgeous guy I ever saw in my life—a dark-haired, dark eyed, bronze skinned angel—stood right before my eyes, holding a football in his hand.

My breath caught in my lungs, and my heart stuttered. Frozen for the most part, a large gulp slid down my throat, making my face hot.

"Is Emmett home?" he asked in a husky voice.

For some weird reason, my mouth disconnected from my brain and nothing came out.

He smiled. His lips appeared a little chapped and cracking. Tall, fit, and built muscular for his age, his deep dark eyes sparkled as he cleared his throat and grinned with half his mouth. "Are you Emmett's sister?"

Unable to gather my wits about me, I nodded, imagining how idiotic I must have appeared to him.

"Well, ah... Is he here?"

"Oh... uh... Emmett, no. He's not. He's in town... Ice cream!"

His brow furrowed, and I glanced down momentarily to hide my reddening face and keep myself from making things worse by running away. "He was going for ice cream."

He full on grinned. "Yeah, I ran into him there earlier. I thought he'd be home by now. When he comes home, tell him I stopped by to see if he wanted to play football with me and some of my friends. I'm a few blocks down the street." He turned, pointing toward his house. "That-a-way." He stepped backwards, down one step. "The name's Jacob, by the way."

"Bella!" Sounding as if I blurted again, I cringed. "I'm Bella."

"Welcome to Forks, Bella." He smiled again, and my soul resonated with the most fantastic feeling, like nothing I'd ever felt before. It was as if little bells woke my sleeping heart. I was positive it was love at first sight.

After I closed the door, I sprinted up the stairs to look in the mirror. Dust and grime covered my thin, white tank-top from when I cleaned and unpacked my bedroom. Ugly smudges of humidity melted mascara—the only makeup mom allowed me to wear at twelve years old—darkened my eyes like a raccoon. I screamed in horror. "Oh, my God!" I met the guy of my dreams, and not only did I act like a loser, but I looked gross. Would he ever look at me again?

Eager to find out about the boy who took my breath away, I sat on the porch tapping my feet against the cement as I waited for my brothers to come home from exploring our new hometown. Once they arrived, I said, in a casual tone, "Somebody named Jacob came by looking for Emmett to play football."

"Shh," they said, putting their fingers to their lips. They motioned for me to follow them up the stairs. When they shut their bedroom door, Jasper said, "Emmett was in a fight."

"A fight!" Surprised, I gasped, noticing Emmett's blood-splattered shirt.

"Sh-shut up, both of you. You're talking too loud. Mom might hear," Emmett said through gritted teeth. "Dad will have a heart attack if he finds out."

My voice lowered. "A fight? With who? Tell me what happened!"

They whispered in unison, so I could hardly catch a word.

Emmett glared, backhanding Jasper in the chest. "Shh... I'll tell her."

"Owee, that hurt."

"On our way home, we met up with two guys about my age. They accused Jasper of staring at 'em. Nobody even looked at 'em. They just wanted to fight someone," Emmett said with a snarl. "We walked away, but they followed us to the park. Then the kid with the biggest mouth knocked Jasper's ice cream cone out of his hand. I stepped in front of Jasper and shoved him away. He punched me in the stomach and knocked the wind out of me. When I doubled over, he hit me in the face. The next thing I knew, we were rolling around on the ground fighting. I busted him in the nose with all my strength, and his nose started bleeding, but he still got on top of me. I couldn't get him off. All I could do was cover my face to protect myself."

"I tried to help," Jasper said, then frowned. "But the other guy grabbed me, and I couldn't get loose. That's when Jake and Seth showed up."

"Jake pulled the guy off me," Emmett said. "The mouthy guy wasn't happy about it. In the next minute, they were fighting each other."

"You should have seen it, Bella," Jasper said in excitement. "It was just like a boxing match on tv."

Emmett nodded. "It was. Jake ended up knocking the guy down. After he got back up, he threatened all of us but didn't try to fight anymore. He knew he lost."

"Who were those guys?"

"A bad kid named Paul and his friend Jared. I guess they do stuff like this. Jake said Paul's nothing but a bully. They have a boxing club in La Push, but they're not supposed to fight out of the gym. If their coach finds out, they'll get kicked off the team."

It took forever for Emmett to tell me more about Jacob. His last name was Black. He was thirteen, going on fourteen like Emmett. He lived in La Push with his dad, but he had said he stayed in Forks with his Aunt Sue and Uncle Harry a lot.

Seth was Jacob's younger cousin. He was the same age as Jasper and had a twin sister named Leah. We later found out Charlie knew Seth's dad. Harry Clearwater worked at the police station with him. He was a dispatcher.

A few days later, Jake and Seth introduced me to Leah, and the six of us became inseparable. We did everything together. By the end of the summer, we became like a family. Leah was my best friend. Seth was Jasper's, and Emmett and Jacob became best friends, too.

Everything was perfect, except that I had a secret crush on Jacob Black, my brother's new best friend. And the more time I spent around him, the more I fell in love.

A boxing talent, he was the best on the team, and the Silver Gloves State Champion in his weight class. People looked up to him. They admired his skills and his will to succeed. Even the older boys around La Push and Forks showed him a lot of respect.

"My coach says I have the potential to make boxing into a career if I work hard enough at it," he said, having caught me staring at him in awe, after watching him fight for the first time. I nodded, lost in the bright glow of happiness shining from his eyes and smile as he toweled the sweat from his face. "And someday I'll bring home an Olympic gold medal then turn into a professional, championship boxer." The unexpected wink he added melted me.

"I believe it," was all I managed from the sudden burst of butterflies tickling my stomach.

He was beautiful and amazing, and I dreamed of marrying him someday. All would be right with the world if he were mine. I guarded my secret with all my power, careful not to show any unusual interest in Jacob. I was afraid if he found out about my crush, he might stop talking to me or stop hanging out at our house.

He treated me like a sister. In some ways, that was better than being treated like a girl. We could behave "real" around each other instead of putting on an act. That isn't totally true; I always acted as if I didn't like him, but that was different.

I caught him sitting on our front porch by himself in a sad mood one day. To lift him out of it, I thought of something to say and sat down beside him. "Does it hurt when you box?"

"Not as much as it looks like it hurts," he said, frowning as he stared out into the quiet street. Not willing to pry about why he seemed upset, I kept watching him from the side. For a boy, his brown facial skin appeared soft and creamy and long, dark lashes framed his pretty eyes.

As I stared at him, he let out a loud sigh and turned to me. "When I get hit hard, and I see stars? I just do my best to make them see stars back." He smirked, and a smile claimed my lips.

"Your mom said everyone went to the park for Forks Days. How come you didn't go?"

I slid my foot out of the fuzzy blue slipper and showed him my bruised pinky toe, taped to the other toe for support. "I dropped a can of tomato juice on it. It's not broke, but it hurts when I walk."

"Ouch! I stubbed my big toe once and my toenail turned black and fell off."

"Gross."

He chuckled. "All right. I'm going to walk to the park and find them." He stood up about to leave. "They'll set off fireworks later. Are you sure you can't go? We can walk slow."

My insides expanded with happiness, like helium in a balloon. "It doesn't hurt that much, and if I keep the slippers on. Let me tell Mom."

I hid the wincing until we were halfway to the park and the pain became too much to fake it anymore. I stopped walking.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

My foot throbbed. "I need a break."

We stood at the crosswalk for a few moments, then Jake crouched down. "Hop on. I'll carry you."

I grinned with a warm face, a little laugh spilling out as I shook my head.

"Come on. I asked you to come, so let me help you."

I shrugged, then hopped on his back. He gave me a piggyback ride the rest of the way, and I thought I might die of excitement.

Emmett looked annoyed when he saw us approaching them, but he got over it. At least until it was time for us to leave. "I got her!" he said, when Jacob came toward me again. Then all the way home, he complained about carrying me.

He was big-brotherly protective of me around guys. My dad told him it was his job as an older brother to keep the boys away from me. I think Dad was only joking when he said it, but he forgot to tell Emmett that, so Emmett took the job seriously. He especially didn't like me liking one of his friends, which never happened until I met Jacob.

Emmett's protectiveness made him against the concept of Jake and me. He drew the line early on and made it clear to both of us—one cold, wet November morning. Our first winter in Forks.

Nothing sends my muse into overdrive more than knowing people are reading and enjoying my imagination with me, and looking forward to the next chapter. Please review. ❤️