Edward's POV::
As Bella went into Alice's room to ask all the things she apparently wasn't completely comfortable asking me, I sat on my couch and stared unseeingly at my hands. Bella's last words hung in the air, "He must not have wanted me for my blood. His goal must have been to change me." Horror flooded through me, my dead heart almost pumped back to life. I sighed. Nothing could worry me more than the safety of my Bella. Now that she was a vampire, she was between two evils. She could protect herself from danger easier, but danger could butcher all the same. Someone had sent that vampire after her, someone that was most definitely not looking to be our friend. I breathed deeply through my nose, icy air filled my frozen lungs. I heard Bella and Alice talking about shopping and rolled my eyes; she had better things to worry about, never mind new clothes.
The day stretched longer like that. Bella was getting used to vampire life, skipping around the house and answering everyone's unimportant questions. Night came at last, I hadn't moved from my couch all day. I heard Bella running upstairs and down the hall, my bedroom door flung open and Bella stared, confused straight at me. I raised an eyebrow lazily, there were a lot of things on my mind, I didn't need to hear her simple problems.
She continued to stare at me, I could tell she wasn't breathing. What had gone wrong so quickly? I looked at her more clearly and stood in an instant, my vampire speeds bringing me to her side in less than a second.
Her eyes were pitch black; she was hungry.
I took her hand and pulled her down the stairs, my family didn't seem to notice, which I was extremely grateful for. I opened the door and yanked her out before shutting it behind me. "Bella, I'm going to let you go, and then you run. Run towards the blood. If it's a human, I'll know and stop you. You must only kill animals." She stared at me. I hoped like hell she could handle it, she hated blood. She nodded slowly and I let go of her; then she was off. I ran after her; she was fast, that was for sure, but not so fast that I couldn't keep up with her. It didn't take long for her to track down some deer in an open meadow. If we took a step away from the deer, we would be in La Push. I watched her pounce on a deer, breaking it's neck easily. She didn't seem to have a problem at all with the blood, she simply sunk her teeth into it's neck and sucked the lifeless animal dry. I smiled happily as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She was so beautiful. "You good"
She shook her head, her eyes were a great deal lighter, but if she wanted that to last she could use another deer. I nodded and she took a few quiet paces towards where the pack had gone. Then she was in La Push; I shrugged it off, we weren't breaking the treaty, the werewolves had no reason to kill us. She pounced on another deer, sucking the blood happily out of it's veins. She finished and pushed it aside, her eyes now a beautiful topaz. We headed back home, thankfully leaving La Push just as I heard a ripping sound about three miles back. I let Bella run free, it was obviously a pleasure to her and I strived to make her happy, so taking that away didn't even cross my mind. I wasn't exactly paying attention to where she was taking me so it came as a surprise when we were in front of Charlie's house. Bella skipped up the steps and unlocked the front door, Charlie's car was in the drive way so I was a bit confused about the reasoning for a locked door. I followed close behind her, taking in her scent. It was still irresistible, but it wasn't as strong and that disappointed me. I closed the door behind me and put my hands on Bella's shoulders, pressing my lips gently to her hair. She turned to me and flashed a brilliant smile. I should have been used to her by now, but she was so perfect I would probably still be shocked on my dying day, which I knew would never come naturally. I grinned back to her and reluctantly let my hands fall back to my sides. A muffled voice was heard from upstairs.
"Bells?" It was Charlie.
"Yeah, Dad. I'm here"
He stumbled down the stairs and looked questioningly at Bella. If she were human, she probably would be worried, but what could he do now? Ground her? I chuckled softly to myself, drawing Charlie's attention. He scowled toward me and turned into the kitchen.
"Where have you been, Bella"
We followed him in. I heard her curse lightly under her breath, but I knew she was witty enough to come up with something. "I went camping"
"With who"
"Edward" When Charlie gave her an unhappy look she quickly added, "and the rest of the Cullens." He raised one eyebrow but seemed to accept it.
"Why didn't you tell me"
"I did." What was she thinking?
Charlie seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "No you didn't, Bells"
She bit her lip. "I really did, Dad. Right before I left"
"What time did you leave"
"Two in the morning"
He nodded. "That would be why I don't remember, Bells. Next time, tell me when I'm conscious." Bella smiled apologetically at him and turned. "I'm headed upstairs, then I'm going out, okay"
"Where now"
"To Edward's place, they invited me for dinner." She flashed him another smile and hopped up the stairs.
Charlie stood in the same spot, glaring at me as I went up the stairs. "Leave her bedroom door open." He grumbled angrily at me as I reached the top. I nodded and rushed to her bed, being sure to leave the door wide open. She sat next to me and sighed.
"Sorry about that." She smiled weakly to me and leaned her head against my shoulder. I smiled back and pressed my lips against her forehead. My dear Bella. My fingertips traced her jaw and slid to her chin, lifting her head to mine. I stared into her eyes and kissed her one last time, passion filling my body. She took a deep breath and kissed me back with just as much love, this was real.
Bella's POV::
When we both pulled slowly away from each other, a new feeling came to me. Forgiveness. All the pain was worth it, if I could have this everyday, I would take the pain again. I bit my lip and stared happily at Edward.
Everything was perfect, I was whole again, and Edward seemed happy that I was going to be with him forever. He took my hand just before he stood up. His face turned cold, his eyes molten fire, burning into mine. I didn't understand, what was wrong? He let go of my hand and pressed his clenched fists against his temples. I stood, sheepishly, and put my hand on his upper arm. "Edward?" He shook me off and walked towards my door. I followed after him, downstairs and into the doorway of the living room. When I thought it couldn't get worse, Jacob Black was sitting on my couch. Violent shivers rolled down his back, his hands in tight fists and his eyes as hard as rocks. I took a quick, stunned breath.
Jacob Black, here to ruin my life. Billy and Charlie must have been outside, because I didn't hear them.
"Bella." Jacob greeted, a sharp tone of anger in his voice. He stood and glared at Edward. "May I talk alone with you, please?" He was still talking to me, though he wasn't looking at me. Edward shot me a warning glance, but I nodded accepting to speak with Jacob. I pushed Edward lightly to the side; he sighed but went back upstairs anyways. When he was far enough away for Jacob to feel comfortable, he began. "Bella, do you realize what you've gotten yourself into?" I shook my head slowly, though I knew what he wanted. He took a step towards me and took my hand. "You've broken the treaty, Bella."
I raised an eyebrow. "How"
"Well, you didn't. Edward did. The Cullens"
He wasn't making much sense. "What did they do"
Jacob took a deep breath and pulled me closer to him, whispering his response in my ear. "They bit you"
I laughed lightly, causing a confused face to form on Jacob. "They didn't." He just stared at me. "I was bitten in La Push, waiting for you." A pained, sorry expression crossed his face. He was probably thinking it was his fault for making me wait.
"Who did it"
I shrugged. "I have no idea. He ran off afterwards"
Jacob winced. "I'm sorry, Bells." He looked away from me, regret in his eyes.
"It wasn't your fault, Jake"
"I shouldn't have left you"
"It's fine, Jake"
"No it's not, Bella! I can't ever see you again." Water gathered in his eyes, and it would have in mine. The traitor tears would be falling, but they couldn't. It was impossible. I hugged him tightly and stretched up on my tip-toes to kiss his cheek. He took a deep breath. "I love you, Bella." Just before I pulled myself to reply, Edward was behind me, growling angrily. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me easily away from Jacob, placing me to the side as anger pulsed through him. Jacob looked down to him, now he was angry too.
My eyes widened as Jacob began shaking uncontrollably. They fight; Paris falls. If I were human, I would have fallen, unconscious to the ground, trembling with fear. They were going to fight. One of them was going to win. And the other would die. It felt like a dagger was being stabbed into my stomach continually. They fight; Paris falls. They fight; Paris falls. I didn't know what to do, my mind was racing. Everything was blurry. I felt like I should have passed out minutes ago, but I was still very awake. I put my hand against my head and closed my eyes, stumbling backwards and falling, gracefully, to the floor. Edward and Jacob didn't seem to notice, they were glaring at each other, anger flooding through both of them. This was it. Good against evil. Who was evil in this situation? Night against day. Cold against warm. Love against friendship. I couldn't dream of living without one of them. My dead heart almost pumped out of my chest. Jacob took a half step away from Edward.
"I'm not here to fight, blood sucker"
Edward didn't reply for a few moments, but finally said, "Stay away from Bella"
"I came to tell her goodbye"
"As far as I'm concerned, you told her a little more than that"
"Are you jealous, cold one? Afraid she may leave you for me"
"She may do whatever she wishes, but I'm sure she's smarter than that"
I could tell Jacob was still shaking, because his voice was weak. "What's that supposed to mean"
"No vampire would wish to be with a werewolf." He spat the last word with disgust, which seemed very unlike Edward.
Jacob scowled. "We'll see about that. Let's take care of this somewhere we won't attract too much attention." He spun on his heel and walked out the front door, Edward close behind him. I closed my eyes and tried to tune everything out, I couldn't bear to watch.
Edward's POV::
I walked angrily out the front door, slamming it behind me and growling behind Jacob Black, Bella's werewolf friend that lived on the Indian Reservation in La Push. If he wanted to play with her heart, he would have to play my way. We crossed the street and headed into the woods, stopping about half a mile in, good enough.
Jacob kicked off his shoes as more violent trembles took over his body, soon enough a loud ripping noise was heard and before we was my enemy. A red-brown werewolf, three times the size of me, with sharp teeth and a vicious snarl. I took a deep breath and let my monstrous instincts take over.
The creature stood, towering over me. He apparently wasn't sure what to do first, I guessed that he was just a follower in his pack. Or possibly he couldn't act without his pack, either way seemed reasonable enough. I took a few steps back and glared up at him, the enemy must make the first move. He took about five steps away from me as well and before I knew it, he lunged towards me. I ran toward him and we soon collided. He wasn't expecting the strength I had put into the attack and fell backwards, helpless. We fought, inconclusively at first, and then I became harsher. This was going to end, soon; I had to get back to Bella. I was sure she hadn't followed us because she couldn't handle the thought of this. I jumped away from Jacob when that thought came through my mind. Bella wasn't here because she couldn't handle losing one of us. I stood dazed, which was a major fighting 'don't' because soon enough, Jacob tackled me, pinning me to the ground.
His claws made deep gashes in my skin. I growled and thought about biting him, pressing the blood from my veins into his disgusting animal mouth, forcing him to go through the pain, to be killed by his old pack. I decided against it and kicked the beast off of me instead. We both stood again, staring angrily at each other once more. I spoke to him, though I knew he couldn't respond in anything sensible.
"Do you know why Bella's not here"
He stared at me.
"She doesn't have the strength to watch us fight"
More staring. I tried to go into his mind, but beasts such as werewolves weren't very literal.
I spoke slower this time. "She can't manage to see one of us killed"
That started the fire. He still stared at me, but I knew he understood.
"It's a pity one of us will have to die"
The wheels in his head were turning, I could almost smell the rubber burning. "And it's not going to be me, Jacob"
He understood now, I was sure of it and he did the most unexpected thing I would have thought of. He ran. I stared after him, one eyebrow raised. What a werewolf thing to do, run from their problems. I shrugged and turned, walking slowly back across the street to get Bella.
