The last few weeks had been stressful for Bella Swan. Though the winter break was fast approaching, so were finals, and a tumultuous personal life was a luxury she couldn't afford. The pain of Edward's departure, which had finally eased into faint, intermittent ache, was replaced with a hard punch in the gut. She'd been spending too much time in bed since Jacob had broken off their friendship, but the bigger news was worse: Her nightmares were real, Victoria was back in Forks, and there were more monsters.

She thought that she had finally left that life behind. No more secrets. No more lying. No more danger. She could be a normal high school student again, planning for college and the weekend instead of eternity. And yet here she was, slowly processing Jacob's transformation into another snarling beast. A new set of responsibilities were pulling him away from her. Other people needed him, and she had taken for granted that he would always be there. The members of the pack were nice enough, and she couldn't hold any of this against them. That is of course, except one.

She woke to a tapping sound on the window, like the beginnings of a rainstorm, but rhythmic. It grew louder and more persistent. Hail couldn't be that uncommon in Washington, she supposed, but it was the wrong time of year. She roused herself enough to turn on the lamp and pull back the drapes. She peered down to find a tall figure looking up at her. Instead of the pale redhead that still haunted her nightmares, that familiar face was looking up at her.

"Bells!"

He had a lot of nerve showing up here after that afternoon. If she hadn't walked into the garage at that moment, how long would he have tried to keep this from her? Sam was just as guilty, but it was Jake's silence that hurt the most. Begrudgingly, she wrenched the window open.

"Jake!" she whispered hoarsely, her throat still sore from crying. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk. To apologize. Can I come up?"

She frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be holding up a boombox when you do that?"

"Bells, come on-"

"No, seriously. Let me go get John Cusack on the phone. Maybe he can give you a few pointers."

"Can I come up or not?" he sighed, somewhat exasperated

"Ok, but you need to be quiet about it because Charlie-"

Before she could finish, he was already scaling the tree outside her window. He swung through the opening like a trapeze artist, landing on the wood floors with a thud that she was sure would wake her father. She didn't need the Forks chief of police to find a boy in her room at all hours of the night.

He had grown since she saw him last. Was that even possible? He felt taller, and more muscular, though it could have been the way the misty rain accentuated the lines chiseled into his body. She wondered if this newfound bulk was part of his powers as a new member of the pack, or if Sam just kept them to a strict gym regimen. His russet skin glowed in the lamplight, along with the fresh tattoo on his shoulder.

"Shh!" she hissed.

He stifled a laugh. Bella held up a finger to shush him, but it was too late. A high pitched creaking echoed up the stairs, followed by slow, heavy footsteps.

"Great, now you've done it.

She grabbed him by the wrist and shoved him onto the floor beside the bed and jumped under the duvet. She should have put him in the closet. He probably wouldn't fit anymore.

The light above the stairs began to creep in through the ever-growing crack in the door, and Charlie's head appeared.

"Bella?" Charlie whispered. "You okay?"

"Yeah sorry, Dad," she replied nonchalantly. "One of my textbooks fell off the bed. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Well, a book definitely beats the alternative. Just don't study too hard, alright? You still gotta sleep."

"I won't. I promise. Just a few more minutes and I'll call it a night."

"Alright," he replied. "G'night, Bella."

"Night, Dad."

He closed the door behind him, drowsily thumping back down the stairs. She listened carefully for the sound of his bedroom door before jumping out of bed again. She leaned over the side of the bed to see Jacob snickering as if he had pulled off some prank.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you. You just barely escaped getting shot."

He rolled his eyes, making her throw a pillow in his face, more annoyed than before. He raised up his hands in defeat, his goofy smile still lingering on his lips. He seemed contrite, but that wouldn't stop her from giving him an earful.

"Just letting you know that this apology isn't going very well," she said as Jacob got back on his feet.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect your dad to be checking up on you every time you make a noise." Her face darkened.

"Yeah, well, the nightmares have been pretty bad these last couple months. They were getting better, but it still wakes him up sometimes." His smile disappeared, accompanied by an awkward silence.

"I'm sorry," he began.

"Sorry for what?"

"That you found out like that. I never wanted to hide it from you in the first place, but it wasn't my choice. I've been under strict orders from Sam that everything is on a need-to-know basis-"

"-And you didn't think that I needed to know that Victoria was back? Or why you changed? Or why they wanted you to bail on me? Jesus Christ, Jake.

It had been forever since she felt real anger. Her fists clenched as she tried to keep her voice down.

"I'm sick of being coddled. I think I have a right to know if someone is trying to murder me. I expect that crap from Charlie, but not from you."

He looked hurt by the accusation. His eyes moved to the floor, and his voice grew quiet. Oh no. She couldn't stand that look.

"I didn't bail on you, Bells," he said. "I could never..."

He was suddenly staring into her eyes as his voice trailed off. He quickly looked away.

"They have us patrolling the town and the rez every night. It seemed like you were doing better since the summer and I didn't want to undo any of that when we had the situation under control."

"Clearly, with the way dead hikers are piling up."

"That was the black-haired leech, and now he's a pile of ashes. Bells, Sam gave us an order, and I shou- can't disobey the alpha."

She pressed her lips into a hard line, wondering how to proceed. She wanted to be mad, but he was better at calming her down than Jasper ever was.

"Okay," she said, resolute. "Well you can tell Sam I'm giving you an order this time."

"Oh, really?" he said, bemused.

"Yes, really," she said, unleashing a piercing look that seemed to cut right through his scoffing.

"Never lie to me or hide things from me again. The only way this works is if we're honest with each other."

"'This'?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, 'this'. Us. Whatever. Pick a noun. Just don't lie to me, capiche?"

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. I'm glad that's settled.

He was smiling at her again, and the tension lifted from the room. He was probably misinterpreting her again. She really needed to work on her choice of words.

"So every night, huh?" She smiled back awkwardly.

"Yeah. We switch off to catch a little sleep. I barely have any time before school, lately. It's going to be harder to see you like we used to before...everything."

She felt herself take an involuntary step forward, as if the rest of her was ignoring what her brain had been telling her.

"I know. But we can figure it out, right? I mean, I don't want to add stuff to your plate-"

"-You're not my laundry, Bella," he said sternly. "You make all this easier. I'll just have to come up with something."

"You know," she started, "if you need a break sometime, you can always crash here for a bit..."

He took a step towards her, shortening the space between them, but her hand reached out stop him, landing on his naked torso. She glanced down at her hand, starting at his abs, her eyes traveling lower and lower to the v-shape etched downward from his hips. He'd grown up practically overnight, and it was very distracting. Of course he was attractive. She wasn't blind. It didn't mean anything.

She quickly realized that she had lingered there for far too long, and snapped her attention back to his face. She could feel the color rising in her cheeks.

"School," she blurted out.

"What?"

"Schoo-school night. I should hit the sack. You should too...you...delinquent."

He snorted and hugged her before turning to climb out the window.

"Night, Bells," he winked. Still red, she closed the window and collapsed into bed as he disappeared into the darkness.