"You have got to be kidding me!" Edward cried, outraged. But the thoughts he was reading from the other told him that it wasn't a joke.

Jacob scoffed as he tried his best not to reveal too much of what he was feeling. "Yeah, because I want to go through the humiliation, scorn, and ridicule of Imprinting on a Leech! I'm that masochistic."

"It's got to be some mistake. Or a way to reverse this! I can't be your mate!" Edward insisted, his calm facade falling.

"Whoa!" Jacob raised his arms in defense, causing Edward to pause enough for an explanation. "No one said anything about mating!"

"But I thought-"

"Look, does it happen that Imprints fall in love and get into a relationship? Yes. But that's not the automatic outcome. Imprints are part of something that helps us ground ourselves to our humanity. When my people first became wolves to protect our people from your kind, it was so easy to get lost in the mind of the animal. Let instincts take over completely where the man inside disappears. An Imprint anchors us to our humanity. In turn we become whatever our Imprints needs. A guardian. A brother. A friend..."

"So what you're saying is..."

"I just need you to accept me into your life. If we hang out, maybe do a version of patrol together...bond in a bros sorta way, I'll be fine. Please." He added the last part. Jacob's mind supplied memories of his father and others explaining to him what would happen to a wolf if they're rejected by their Imprint.

"What do we tell Bella?" Was Edward's next question.

Jacob shrugged. "The truth is usually the best. She knows that Imprints don't mean lovers. And well...you can rest easier now. Because I'm done chasing Bella in that way."

"What?" Edward asked, eyes slightly more wide in shock. He had not expected that.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Hitting on Bella, causing uncertainty and doubt in your relationship, that'll hurt you. That's not my goal. That is the opposite of my goal. So...she gets you as her epic love and me as he best friend and hopefully we'll make it work. But if you're expecting me to be polite and civil, don't. I'll still use as many nick names I can think of for Leeches and make as many blonde jokes to that sister of yours."

"Um...okay." Edward hated that he knew how to speak so many languages and knew plenty of idioms, metaphors, and sayings...and he was rendered speechless. But with the turn of events, he would not risk anything and just accept the blessings life has handed him.

"Okay." Jacob nodded. "Then...I'll text you later about hanging out?"

Edward nodded and then watched Jacob disappear into the forest. It took him a while to get back in his car. Part of him thought it might be a prank, but eventually he made it home to a panicked Alice who chided him from disappearing from her visions.

He had to explain to his family what had happened, which wasn't easy. But...accepted. Not without some crude jokes from Emmett and Rosalie, but for the most part, he didn't expect less. He excused himself to go see Bella and tell her the news.

Her reaction...didn't really sit well with him. She was jealous, angry, disappointed, and a bit freaked out. He immediately went to remind her of what Jacob said. That Imprinting was about the wolf being what the Imprinted needed.

"He'll be my friend. Our friend. You can have us both." He told her soothingly.

Though he couldn't read her mind, he's been able to read people well from afar in crowded areas unable to hear their thoughts among the masses. Bella wasn't happy despite that she constantly told him she wanted them both, though Jacob in a friend way. Seems she wasn't happy Jacob wouldn't be vying for her attention anymore. It made for an awkward departure.

He spent the next few days hunting with Emmett and Jasper to help clear his mind.

Bella didn't really get a better attitude about the situation. She sulked and brewed in a way that made Edward seem like the life of a party. That gave him time to hang out with Jacob. He felt...weird at first, but Emmett tags along and between the three of them it was like...a guys night out at college. Minus the drinking.

Still fun. And that angered Bella. She couldn't fathom the two getting along if she wasn't there. When Jacob suggested the three of them hang out, Bella did try, whether she knew it or not, to be attractive to Jacob. To entice whatever told flame used to be there.

Edward thought it would work. That Jacob had been lying to him from the beginning and it was just a sick joke, a clever plot, to get Bella's attention. But it didn't work. Jacob would shut things down before they could really start. He was polite and friendly and not in the overbearing and false way. It was genuine and it was nice.

He enjoyed showing off to someone who wasn't a vampire and knew all he could do. He enjoyed being challenged the way Jacob challenged him and that if they got into a tussle, Jacob wouldn't break. If he got hurt, he'd heal by the end of the day.

Bella grew more jealous and angry, it brought Jacob and Edward closer. Until one night have have sex. How did it lead up to that? Edward didn't know. But the moment Jacob fell asleep, he was out of there.

He spend the next week making it up to Bella, without telling her what happened. Edward treated her extra nicely and showered her with love, attention, and pricey gifts. She loved it, of course she did. With how little of Jacob they saw, she assumed things were back to normal, which she happily enjoyed.

And Edward should too! Or at least he tells himself.

He's out refueling his car and stopping by to pick up a few craft things that Esme wanted for some new project when he hears Jacob's laugh.

Edward hated how he looked for it like a starving man looked for food.

"So you're coming to the party tonight, right?" The man standing next to Jacob asked.

He was standing really close to Jacob...like really close. Edward's mind supplied the 'He's got super hearing, he won't have a problem hearing you. Step back!' The amount of jealousy he felt at the moment was staggering. But before he could think much on it, the conversation pulled him back in.

"Sam's not really too happy about me being away from the reserve for things like wild parties." Jacob replied with a teasing grin, as he leaned against his Rabbit.

"And since when do you need Sam's permission. Aren't you a rebel?" He asked in a husky murmur and the images that popped into his mind, made Edward growl. They were imagines of Jacob and his man in Jacob's garage with the man on his knees sucking Jacob like his life depend on it. Then it switched to Jacob pounding into the man in front of him in what looked like a motel room.

Before he knew it, he was looming behind them.

"Cullen?" Jacob questioned, noticing him.

"May I have a word?" He asked, but didn't wait for a reply as he grabbed Jacob's hand and pulled him over to his car.

"What's up?" Jacob asked, trying to figure it out by Edward's appearance. He looked pretty ticked but nothing too telling.

"Maybe you can answer that. Who the hell is that?" Edward asked, glaring towards the guy.

Jacob looked back towards the other guy and then back at Edward. "My boyfriend. Or you know...sorta." He gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Boyfriend? You have a boyfriend? Since when?" Edward demanded.

"Well...after I gave up on Bella, I did a bit of soul searching. I went to a club and met this group. We club hopped like three times and then ended up at a bi-club. I was hit on and went home with someone. He made me breakfast. We've been on and off...nothing too concrete but sorta basically boyfriend?" He shrugged again.

"But we...we..."

"Had sex? Yeah..." Jacob scratched the back of his head. "That did happen. But we're not really a done deal and he's sorta maybe moving because of school, so...just having fun, ya know? Sides, you're with Bella. What we had was just...physical fun. But it doesn't mean anything...not really."

Before Edward could form a sentence, Jacob's boyfriend, came over and hugged Jacob to him possessively. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, my friend Ed here just freaked out because he forgot his anniversary and I was supposed to help him, and I forgot...because someone distracted me." He told the other,smirking his way.

The guy seemed to relax a bit and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry man."

"Don't worry. Um, but we should get going." He nodded to his boyfriend and then waved at Edward. "I'll see you later yeah? You, me, and Emmett can go for a run."

And he was gone before Edward could form a sentence.

"What the hell just happened?"