The weathered porch door creaked an old mans laugh before it swung shut behind me. It was around 6:45 in the morning and still partially dark outside; perfect condition for my routine run. As I pulled a few more stretches against my porch railing, a chilly breeze whirled around me and rustled the remaining leaves of our two giant oak trees in the front lawn. Autumn was almost over.

Tightening my dull brown ponytail settled on my head, I headed down the front steps and started to jog at a slow pace down the dirt road that stretched for miles toward nowhere. Around an hour into the run, I switched on my iPod that was strapped onto my arm as a way to relax my mind. There was a few seconds of silence until the first few notes of “Apologize” by One Republic were drifting in my ears. While I was absorbed listening to the soothing piano and watching the sun peek up behind the mountains into the pinkish blue sky, I was completely oblivious to the fact that a midnight blue Ford F-150 truck was coming towards me, going at least 35mph.

I felt the ground move underneath me and looked up. The scream of surprise, confusion, and pain caught in my throat as the trucks left headlight clipped my hip and swerved off the road, leaving the side of the truck bed in front of me.

“Oh my God...” I murmured, still in complete shock.

“What were you thinking?!” Still staring at the truck bed, I heard the engine cut abruptly and a door slam shut. Swift footsteps came in my direction.

I squeezed my eyes shut to block my tears as I turned gingerly towards the driver. Instantly my breath became trapped once again as my eyes looked upon the most beautiful man I’ve seen. I was there gaping, if not drooling, long enough to notice his eyes were a unique shade of blue-green with specks of gold flickering in the sunlight behind me. His tousled hair was the same shade as the gold in his eyes and curled at the ends, accentuating his square set jaw which was tense with either anger or worry. His skin tone, a lighter shade, gave me the idea that he wasn’t from around here.

“Are you hurt?” I jerked back to reality.

“Um...” I was so absorbed in how he looked even more intriguing with his face so intent that I couldn’t think of anything to say to him.

“Do you even realized you could’ve been killed?!” His voice was hard. I could tell he was getting frustrated. I shifted my weight onto my other foot, which was my nervous habit, gasping in pain caused by my injured hip.

“Y-yes...” I squeaked. This time I couldn’t hold back the tears.

Still gazing helplessly into his eyes, he took one stride towards me so smoothly I hardly noticed the difference in distance. He stopped two inches from my face, startling me with more kindness in his expression.

“Are you okay though?” I shook my head like a two-year old. He gave me a crooked smile which drew a dimple in his left cheek. He took a breath and looked over my head.

“Hey look, I’m sorry for overreacting like that. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like it was your entire fault...” he reached down and pulled my still trembling hand into his. It was as if fire met ice. The stranger held my hand so gently it felt as if I was made of glass. “But you really shouldn’t go running down a road completely oblivious to the fact it’s meant for moving vehicles.”

I inhaled sharply as I also withdrew my slender hand from his. All those brownie points he earned pulling that move on me; they’re gone with the wind. Now it was time for some interrogation, Montana style. Wiping my tears with my hand, I began.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” He looked amused and taken aback at the same time. Flashing a pearly white smile, he stood up to his full height.

“Jacob Henry Cutler. And I should call you...?”

“It’s Meredith Jade Belle.” I said curtly, trying to look at something other than his gorgeous face. I chose to stare at the ground, my arms folded tightly at my chest, two year old style. God, I’m so mature.

Hearing a slight laugh I took a risk and gazed upwards to his dangerous features. And that’s when I felt the first of the thousand raindrops showering down on us.

It landed square on the tip of my nose which took me by surprise. I stumbled backwards and about landed on my backside, but Jacobs arm snaked around my waist and pulled me into his chest. As he tightened his grip around me and lifted me upwards I could feel that his body was lean and defined. This man will be the death of me... I forced myself back to calmness so I didn’t go into hyperventilation.

“How far did you come?” He asked. It took a few seconds to realize he was talking about.

“Probably around five or six miles by the looks of it. At least. Why?”

“You’re not in any condition to run back, and it’s raining.” I looked up to the now dark lavender sky, streaked with shades of silver and gray. Steering my gaze to his face, I saw he was staring at me.

“What?”

“You have a death grip around my waist.”

I blushed furiously and slid my arms to my waist. Feeling my bare skin against my arms I just remembered I was only wearing a sports bra and basketball shorts. I gasped and then shivered, for it was in that moment that the rain decided to go from showers to buckets. Feeling drenched and self conscious, I wrapped my arms around my torso and hunched over.

“Get in. I’ll drive you home.” Jacob put one hand on my back and the other gripped my arm. Deciding it wasn’t going to be easy to win an argument over this, I allowed him help me walk. He led me to the passenger side of the truck and helped me in. As he walked in front of the car towards the driver’s seat, I wondered how a guy could have everything. Looks, personality, and manners... well at least some manners. Before getting into the truck, Jacob pulled off his shirt which was clinging to his body and rung out quite a lot of water. As I had predicted, his body was sculpted with a heart-stopping set of abs.

Without putting the shirt back on, he climbed into the truck and started the engine. Setting the sloshing wet item of clothing behind the passenger seat, he pulled a dull moss green zip up hoodie out and put in on. Setting the gear shift into reverse, we heading down the dirt road back towards my home. We hadn’t talked the whole ride.

Once around a minutes distance from my house, I really wished he had zipped up his sweater. The whole time I was in his truck, my eyes darted from his head to abs, head to abs. What can I say? Here in Montana a girl doesn’t get a sight like this every day. But the thing was, I didn’t even get to know more about him. Disappointed, I hung my head slightly, feeling like a total jerk the way I had acted towards him earlier on.

After apologizing sincerely to me, I had asked him questions with a snotty attitude. And he was so polite to me and gave me a ride home. And now he was putting up with a soaking wet stranger who had been all but polite ruin his leather truck seats and have him drive in one direction for at least 20 minutes. I was so frustrated at myself that I felt the tears come to my eyes. I squeezed them shut hoping I would have the opportunity to apologize properly. I was an awful person!

Hearing my sniffle, Jacob turned to me with a worried expression. His eyes turned darker green than blue and his brow furrowed with puzzlement.

“Are you alright? Did you catch a cold?” I shook my head. “Then why are you sniffling?” I looked up to him. Seeing my eyes, he sped up to my house which was a couple hundred feet away, and cut the engine in the drive way.

Putting a hand to my face he wiped my silent tears with his thumb and dropped his hand lower to stoke my jaw line. “What’s wrong?” He said it with so much sincerity I thought I would melt right there in front of him.

“I feel so awful about how I acted this morning! I almost cost you you’re truck, I ask questions with a snotty attitude, I make you get soaked by standing out there with me while it pours buckets and I’m here making you drive me home while I drip rain all over your seats! I’m just a stranger to you...” I finished quietly, realizing how idiotic and lame I felt.

“A stranger I want to get to know.” I studied his face for a second. I saw no sign of sarcasm or a hint of a joke. That was good to know.

“When will I see you again?” I asked, secretly hoping it would be soon. He shrugged. Getting out of the car, he came around and opened my door for me. I stepped out and shut the door behind me. It was now only drizzling lazily, but I still shivered from the temperature difference from the truck and out here. He handed me the sweater he was wearing. I shook my head, “No, I’m okay. Thanks though.” Well now I felt a little better.

Jacob took a step closer and put his arms around me. I felt the warm cotton of his sweater touch my back. Since I obviously wasn’t going to be able to refuse taking the sweater, I slid my arms through the sleeves, which were another hands length too long.

“There you go...” His hair was starting to re-curl at the tips making him look irresistibly charming. Just standing in front of him made me feel self-conscious. I started fiddling with my hair and such until Jacobs hand grabbed hold of my wrist.

“That’s not necessary, you know...” He spoke softly reaching behind my head and releasing my hair from the top of my head, I snorted. I guess he didn’t know that we mere-mortals actually have to put some effort into our appearance.

He got back into the drivers seat and rolled down the window, beckoning me to come over.

“Well hopefully we will bump into each other again...” He looked at my face and realized what he had said, “Well not literally speaking, of course.”

I laughed and turned on my heel. Gingerly limping up my porch steps, I heard Jacob honk.

“Meredith is a beautiful name for a beautiful woman...” And as he drove off I smiled to myself.

“Jacob Henry Cutler,” I said softly, chuckling to myself, “Your brownie points are through the roof...”

As the door shut behind me, I flipped on the lights and slid off my shoes. Noticing the fact that I had to stable myself on a table to do the task, I decided to go examine my hip damage. Stumbling through my study area to the bathroom I saw on the computer screen had a pop up.

One new email from “Mom” it read.

Ignoring it, I got to the bathroom and flipped the light switch. Standing in front of the sink for support, I slowly took off my shorts while checking my reflection in the mirror. My hair, that reached the middle of my back, was all frizzy and slightly curled at the ends. My tanned skin was all flushed and my lips badly chapped, which in all gave me the appearance of a homeless person. Next time I go out to run, I’ll consider Murphy’s Law and apply make-up to actually look decent.

Remembering my hip, I examined the severe bruises that now encircled it. Lightly pressing my finger to it, I whimpered in pain. I shivered at the thought of me having to of come back here on foot, which made me even more thankful for beautiful Jacob. Tenderly bending down to pick up the shorts, I turned off the light and headed towards my bedroom.

Taking in the familiar scene from the doorway, I smiled to myself. I’ve had this room for 10 years now. It was a simple square shaped room with pale green paint on the walls and a maple hardwood floor. Straight across from the door was a queen size bed with pale yellow sheets and a copper wire headboard. It was placed in between two windows, and to the left of the right window a cream colored dresser was set up against the corner with scattered picture frames and such resting on the top of it.

To the right of the left window held my reading area. I had one bookshelf with 4 levels. On the bottom was all my child-hood fairytales I used to love having read to me every night. Next was my short collection of chapter books I read in elementary school and on the shelf above those was full of my old sketch books. Stacked one by one, I counted fifteen of them all of which were full with my drawings on every page. My mom and dad once had a bet about my future career. My mom said fashion designer, but my dad said an interior designer was my calling. So far, I wasn’t even thinking of either. I was eighteen and college was far from my mind.

On the last shelf held all my family picture albums. I haven’t looked at those ever since the accident, so they were covered in dust. I walked over to the dresser and shoved the shorts into one of the drawers. I was about to pull out another pair, but decided against it. It would be too tight against my bruises.

Still ignoring the email, I undid the iPod from my arm and plugged it in to the computer. As I waited for iTunes to load, I couldn’t help but wonder why my mom now wanted to talk to me. When the program was loaded, I clicked on my “Current Faves” playlist. Dashboard Confessional’s “Stolen” played from the speakers.

“How ironic...” I thought about what I had just said. He hadn’t stolen my heart... I don’t even like him. Or do I?

I walked to the kitchen area and got myself a mug from the cupboard. Coffee or milk? I decided against coffee after thinking it through. Tonight I would definitely need a good night’s sleep and caffeine would not be very helpful. Once my milk was poured, I stuck it in the microwave to make it warmer. As it was heating up, I sat against the edge of the table. The soft murmur of the microwave sounded behind me.

I couldn’t stop thinking of Jacob. He was so...perfect. My thoughts were interrupted by the soft beep, signaling my milk was officially warmed. Getting it out, I drank, slowly.

Deciding to go back outside, I slowly shuffled over to the worn-out bench swing, swaying back and forth in the post rain breeze. It was a bit warmer, so I took the sweater off, rolling it into a ball and setting it down. Feeling my free hand against the wood to check the dampness, I sat down and brought one leg to my chest. My leg that was still on the ground rocked the swing as I thought of today’s events. But soon the rocking drifted me soundly to sleep as my thoughts slowly shifted to Jacob in my mind.