A/N: Here's chapter two for you guys! Thanks for the reviews and a special shout out to my extraordinary beta, I freaking love you!

Chapter 2

It had been easy enough to keep Edward out of my mind at school, but being home was a different story. I kept thinking about Jacob. For some reason we smelled just fine to each other. It was weird, to think that a group of beings that I'd originally been taught to hate could actually illicit a happy reaction in me.

But Jake did that. He was happy, smiling, go lucky, and everything I would have wanted in a man as a human. That was certainly an interesting train of thought.

I groaned and sat back on the long leather couch I'd stealthily managed to steal from Edward in our move. It had been his back in Alaska-where we moved from-but I found that I was using it more than he was. While I liked to sit around and think, Edward was more of the wander in circles type.

A musical chuckle could be heard from the doorway to my room and I looked to see Edward standing there with an amused expression on his face.

"Haven't you stressed enough about the wolf boy already?" he asked. I looked at him confused, trying to act like I didn't know what he was talking about.

"I have no idea to whom you are referring to," I said to him, mocking the sophisticated tone Edward always used.

"Oh but I think you do," he said. "You can't hide your thoughts from me nearly as well as you think you can." he teased. I narrowed my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Very mature, Bella,"

"I thought so,"

Edward rolled his eyes.

He walked into my room and sat down on the one part of the couch that my tiny body wasn't occupying. I went to kick his thigh with my foot but he caught it with his hands, pulling both of my feet into his lap.

"Now now Bella, you don't want to hurt anyone do you?"

"Define anyone?"

"Someone's a little feisty today," he teased.

"And someone feels the need to invade my personal space today," I thought for a moment. "Oh wait, you do that every day." Edward laughed and I couldn't help but smile. I was about the only person he felt comfortable enough around to tease and annoy.

He sighed and gave me a knowing look. "Bella,"-I groaned-"Please talk to me,"

I pulled my feet away from him and folded them into me, resting my head on my knees. I shook my head, feeling very much like a child not wanting to divulge where she'd hidden her sister's doll.

Edward rolled his eyes and poked my nose. "You know I'll figure it out eventually,"

I knew it was true. Edward had this way of getting me to divulge what I knew, maybe it was my lack of ability to be able to lie. Who knew, really.

I sighed but decided that I'd tell him; maybe he'd be able to help me sort out the mess in my brain.

"We got along," I said to Edward. "We talked, laughed, and I felt no need to actually kill him. It's weird but I feel like if I'd been human I would have been his friend. It's like he carries this sunny persona, unable to be mad. I just-"

"And you got all of this from one visit?" Edward asked. His tone was slightly amused as well as concerned. It wasn't right for a vampire to be thinking this about a werewolf, I knew that.

"I had a whole lunch period," I mumbled. "I mean, did you guys really think we discussed a meeting the entire time we were gone?"

"Well no, but we didn't think you were getting along either. Alice can't see their future, so you were blocked out as well."

That startled me.

"Wait, what?" I asked. "Alice can't see the werewolves' futures?" Well that explained why we were caught off guard yesterday. "But why?"

Edward shrugged. "We don't really know," he said. "But Carlisle's best guess is that they have some defense mechanism that allows them to keep their futures hidden. We'll be going in blindly to the meeting tonight. Needless to say Alice is a bit apprehensive."

I nodded. "We all are," I said. "And especially now that we're going in blind. I really have no clue what to expect. Jacob won't be anything like the rest of the group, I'm almost positive."

I could see the growing concern on Edward's face and I fidgeted under his gaze. I knew he didn't like the idea of vampires and werewolves getting along anymore than he liked moving every four years. This was going to be hard to deal with.

But he didn't get to press the subject any further, as Alice came into the room and told us that we'd better hunt before the meeting tonight. I looked at the clock and saw that it was just around nine o'clock at night. I had time to go hunting and I could clear my head while I was at it. With a wink to my brother and sister I ran lightening speed out of the house and into the woods. They could've caught up to me if they wanted to, but I secretly prayed they knew I wanted to be alone.

I hunted some deer near the house and I felt better, less thirsty. Being around humans in a high school was very interesting for a vampire. There were so many hormones floating through humans. Rushes of adrenaline made their blood boil. Girls often became embarrassed and that enticing liquid would rush to their cheeks. Forks was no exception to this, especially when the school was so small you seemed to be compacted together. I think a better mascot for Forks High would have been sardines, but maybe that's just me.

It didn't take much to satisfy my thirst; I'd learned to drink in moderation because of my general dislike for killing anything. I knew it was necessary and I did it, but that didn't mean I had to have fun doing it.

I was walking back towards my house when a familiar rustling came from the leaves. This time I didn't tense up, I just looked over expecting to see the wolf I'd met the other day.

Except this wolf was different.

He was larger and his russet brown fur seemed to glow in the moonlight. His dark eyes looked right at me, as if in recognition. But just as before, the wolf ran off after seeing me.

Only this time, someone came back.

Jacob stood in front of me in all his half naked glory. I guess shirts weren't 'in' anymore. He had a bright smile that reflected into his eyes. He was very alluring, even to a vampire such as myself.

"Hey Bella," he said in a conversational tone.

"Hey Jake-cob," I corrected myself. Shortening his name meant that I was comfortable around him, which meant we could be friends, which in turn meant that a whole large mess would be coming our way. I couldn't do that, not for a boy I'd literally just met.

He noticed my slip up though, I could tell from his smile.

Have a mentioned how gorgeous his smile is?

If I'd had the ability to blush I would have. I'd been very prone to do so as a human. My family used to joke that I was meant to have red hair, but the joke kind of wore on me as years passed.

Jacob looked at me and stood there easily, as if he wasn't standing in front of the very thing he was created to kill. Just another thing that confused me.

"Come here a lot?" he asked. I shrugged. I could tell he was trying to be funny by using one of those very tacky pick up lines but I now had a resolve. I could not afford to be friends with Jacob Black. Seeing him there, just so comfortable, made me realize that things could end badly.

"I have to feed somehow," I said, waiting for him to flinch.

He didn't.

"Yeah, I guess you do," he said. "Plenty of wildlife around here, we run into a ton as a pack." I just stared at him incredulously. How in the world was he okay with this? I mean, I was a vampire. I drank blood. Werewolves-and even humans in general-found something wrong with that. Hell I found something wrong with that.

But Jacob just stood there as if he was having a normal conversation with a good friend. I shook my head and ran a hand through my long brown hair, a human habit I picked up after watching way too many girls deal with boys.

"You okay?" Jacob asked. I looked down at my shoes, not knowing how to say what I wanted to.

"We can't do this," I said. "Be...friends. It's not right."

Jacob's brows furrowed and his smile turned once again into a straight line. "What do you mean?" he asked. "We got along pretty well this afternoon I thought,"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, we did. But don't you see, that's a problem. Vampires and werewolves, we don't get along as a general rule. In fact, I remember hearing that you're supposed to want to kill me," I laughed without humor. "Can't you see that there's something wrong with this picture?" I motioned between the two of us. Jake looked puzzled.

"I would have thought it'd be a good thing, no rivalries."

I just shook my head. "Jacob I guarantee that for as long as vampires and werewolves exist there will be a rivalry. One fluke from two insignificant beings won't stop that."

"Hey I resent that. I don't think I'm insignificant," I rolled my eyes.

"To each his own," I said. "But in all honesty, even if we were to tell our families we got along, even if we were to try and bring them together, it wouldn't work. When your very instinct is to kill what's right in front of you there generally is no rhyme or reason to it. Tell me I'm wrong, tell me you told someone in your pack and they were okay with it. Did you even tell anybody?" I asked.

Jacob hung his head. "No,"

I nodded. "See? There's something wrong with the picture. And I'm sorry things couldn't be different but I won't make our four year stint in Forks complicated. We already stand out enough, I'd like to at least try and just be thought of as the weird new kids, and not something else," Jacob smiled at that.

"And what else would you be known as?" I scoffed and turned around.

"I don't know," I said. "I'll see you at the meeting tonight," I said.

"Wait!" I turned around and looked at him.

Slowly but surely Jacob walked up to me. He took a very large, warm hand and placed it around my small cold one. I inhaled at the touch, shocked by the contact and looked up at him with wide eyes. Dumbfounded, I couldn't even protest to this invasion of personal space.

"I don't know what this is, and I certainly can't figure out why I like being around you so much but I do. And I can't help but think this could be the start of something, because its so off and so weird. I haven't told Sam or any of the pack because I can't wrap my head around any more than you can. But I don't want you to pull away because you're scared. And I know you are I can see it in your eyes." he gently squeezed my hand.

"Don't run away from the unknown. You never know what you'll find."

I knew I would think about what he said, that his close proximity and powerful words would reply over and over in my mind until I found my next resolve. But I couldn't give in. I couldn't let this go farther. The inevitable rivalry would come, and exposure soon afterwards.

"Good bye Jacob," I said, pulling my hand from his grasp.

I ran towards my house and away from him, hoping that the old treaty line would keep him from from following me. The Quileutes should honor the old rules for now as we had come back to Forks.

Unfortunately, nothing in my house could distract me from that encounter. No matter what I did- read, listen to music, watch TV-I would always think about him. Jacob Black was like an enigma, forcing its way into my mind whenever possible.

I was lucky that Edward was hunting with the rest of the family. Sure my thoughts were jumbled but he'd get the gist.

My resolve wasn't as firm as I would have liked it to be. Don't run away from the unknown. But wasn't it the unknown that had gotten me into this mess? Hadn't wandering into the open night 90 years ago proven that the unknown was trouble?

I'd followed a random stranger who'd piqued my interest. He was beautiful, his eyes as black as night. I'd been at a dinner party with my family, sitting with my friends when the stranger caught my eye. I remember following him when he left. My friends had called me crazy, saying I didn't even know who he was. But I didn't care. I had to know him.

My memory becomes blurry from there. I remember it was dark and I was scared. And of course I remember the searing pain emanating from the gaping wound his sharp teeth had left. I had faded in and out of consciousness of the next three days, the only constant being the pain.

Finding Alice a month later had been a godsend. I'd never liked killing people, but my thirst had come before my conscience that first month.

So that blanket curiosity, going for the unknown, had taken me spiraling out of control. How could I not run away from the unknown now, when bad things seemed to happen when I did the opposite?

Midnight came soon enough, and my family ran to the boundary line, Edward in the front remembering exactly where to stop.

When we arrived the wolves were already there-and they literally were wolves this time. I wasn't shocked at seeing them, as I had encountered two before this, but the rest of my family stared wide-eyed.

You could feel the tension emanating from both sides of the line. Grumbles could be heard from all around and only stopped when Edward stepped forward, his hands raised in a placating gesture.

"I will be translating for them," Edward said, looking at us. He turned to the wolves. "I can read minds so I will be able to pick up what you want to say," he explained.

The tallest wolf bowed his head in a nod.

"Forks must become neutral territory," Edward said in a monotone voice. I guessed that was how Edward would help us decipher his voice from the wolves' thoughts. "We all wish to go to school at Forks High,"

"Yes, we would not have it any other way," Carlisle stepped forward. "My family and I think it best to cut back on the restricted properties as you will be spending time in Forks. All we ask is that you refrain from phasing on the old boundary lines, though you are free to come and go as humans. And in return we will not come on Quileute land."

A low grumble could be heard and I figured the wolves were discussing what had just been presented.

"Your proposition seems fair enough, we will abide by the new treaty rules. But we must warn you of one other portion of the treaty," Edward kept translating. "You must not bite or kill a human,"

I laughed at that statement and everyone looked at me, including the wolves.

That hadn't been expected.

"What?" I asked. "None of us have fed from a human in years!"

"Even so," came Edward's monotone voice. "We feel we must warn you just in case."

I nodded my head. "Read you loud and clear sergeant."

A coughing sound that could only be read as a sort of laugh came from one of the wolves. His russet brown fur bounced lightly-Jacob.

I lowered my eyes so he couldn't catch mine.

The wolves's heads seemed to turn in unison to look at him, and Jacob shut up abruptly.

"It's getting late," Carlisle stepped in. "And most of you have school tomorrow. Let's call this meeting to an end and enjoy the rest of our night."

"Yes and thank you for negotiating the treaty with us." Edward said.

"It was not a problem," Carlisle said. The wolves retreated then, leaving my family and I standing in the woods. "Let's go home, children," Carlisle said.

The rest of the family turned to leave but I stayed in my spot. Edward turned to look at me.

"Bella are you coming?" he asked.

"I'm um, I think I'm going to go for a walk before I come home, clear my head," I didn't want Edward in my head just yet. He nodded his head and my family ran back towards home, leaving me in my thoughts.

I just started walking, my pace leisurely and not at all akin to a vampire. The general need for speed that was normally in me lay dormant as I walked through the woods, wondering what on earth I was going to do for the next four years.

Jacob wasn't going to go away. I could tell from the fire in his eyes and the urgency in his words. There was something between us alright, and I seemed to be able to read him like an open book. I couldn't deny that the connection scared me. Two people who were supposed to hate each other couldn't get along, it was a Romeo and Juliet situation waiting to happen.

I shook my head and just kept walking. I found myself praying that Jacob both would and wouldn't show. I wanted to see him, but was afraid of seeing him at the same time. I was, for all intensive purposes, a mess. As much as I didn't want to admit it, he could be right. Getting along with a werewolf could start something good between our two families, but I knew it wouldn't negate the rivalry. That was one thing I was sure of.

Jacob never came, and by the time I got home from my walk it was almost time for school to start again, though Alice didn't look the least bit surprised by this. She whisked me off to my room to dress me for school-again. This became a sort of routine. I'd walk off the night and come home to have Alice dress me for school the next day.

I thought it would bug me, having Alice play Bella Barbie on me every day, but the truth was I didn't really care much. I knew that Alice meant well, and she did have good taste, though I'd never admit that to her.

School was the hardest part of my day. And it wasn't because Jake was bugging-because he wasn't-it was from the lack of contact I had with him. I hated that I was so drawn to him, and I hated him for making me that way. I could be afraid of the unknown if I wanted to, right?

We had no classes together, but I could still tell he was avoiding me. My family and I kept ourselves isolated at lunch, and no one really dared to try and penetrate our invisible 'bubble' of sorts. It gets lonely sometimes, being with the same people every day. I think one of the reasons I'd like talking to Jacob so much was that I could talk about things with him that I used to only be able to talk about with my family. It wasn't old news to him. But I couldn't even do that anymore.

About a week after the meeting at the old treaty line I'd had enough. Why Jacob thought he could pull a 180 on me in a matter of hours was beyond me, and I wanted answers. After school that Friday I stalked over to him, a fire in my eyes that I hadn't had since I was 17 and still human.

"Hey!" I called to him, pulling at his very warm arm. It wasn't very hard to see that I'd provoked him, well good. "What's going on? You've been ignoring me all week."

Jacob's eyes narrowed. "I thought that was what you wanted. You said we shouldn't be friends,"

I guess I had, huh. "Well yeah but I didn't think you'd actually listen." I said. Jacob rolled his eyes. I could see that I was pissing him off, but I didn't care.

"Well why don't you make up your mind," he said. "What do you want?"

"I want to know why you've been ignoring me after it was so important to you that we be friends!" I said, wondering where this was coming from. "And I want to know what the hell bit you in the butt that made you act like this."

By this time we were at his car and he opened the passenger seat.

"Get in," he said.

"What?"

"Get in. I suggest if you want answers you do what I tell you."

I looked over to my family, who were all looking at me strangely. I didn't even look for the rest of the wolf pack, I was sure they were furious. I realized then that I didn't really have a choice, I wanted answers, and I was going to get them.

I got into his car, a tiny one that looked like he'd fixed up himself, and watched him close my door. Slowly but surely as he got in and drove away I could see the iciness in his stare start to fade.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

His shoulders slumped and his chest rose when he let out a breath. "Some place that's neutral, and where no one will find us."

A part of me thought I should be scared at this statement, but I was already dead, what more could he do to me.

The tension in the car was heavy, despite the fact that we were alone. I was still pissed at him for being ignored, though I probably didn't have a right to be. I'd been the one to call the friendship off, maybe he really had been just listening to me.

Jacob turned into the parking lot of a playground. It was oddly quiet there, like it hadn't been used for some time. I looked around, puzzled. Of all the places he could have chosen, he'd chosen a playground. I gave him a confused look and watched him get out of the car. I did the same and waited for an explanation.

"No one comes here anymore," he explained. "So I thought it would be a good place." I nodded my head and walked over to the wooden perimeter. It kept the rich mulch in that was spread out around the playground equipment.

I felt Jacob walk up next to me and I looked at him. He stared back and neither of us moved from our spots, I think we were both waiting for the other to speak. But then Jacob's shoulders relaxed and he broke our gaze, looking towards the jungle gym.

"I'm sorry," he said. That startled me. I hadn't expected that.

"Why in the world are you sorry?" I asked.

"You were right, and I was sending mixed messages. For that I'm sorry," he sighed. "Sam wants us to keep a good distance, to be on the safe side. I guess I thought it would be easier to listen to him." he turned to look at me with a wry smile. "I hadn't counted on you changing your mind."

I scoffed. "I didn't change my mind. You just had me confused."

"Either way," he said, still amused. "I hadn't planned on things becoming complicated."

"It became complicated the moment we started getting along," I laughed. "No matter what course you take, it'll be complicated." I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders.

"Well aren't you the optimist," Jacob said, walking onto the playground. I followed him and took a seat on a swing.

Over my many years as a vampire I'd watched a number of children play on these swings. But when I had been that little I'd never seen a swing in my life. I sighed and pushed back on my feet and let myself swing a little bit. I looked up to see Jacob watching, a smile playing on his lips.

"What?" I asked, stopping myself. He shook his head.

"Nothing, its just-I find it a bit amusing to see a vampire on a swing set," I laughed with him and watched him sit next to me.

"What are we going to do?" I asked him. "We tried ignoring each other, that didn't really work. And getting along lead to the ignoring part so where is it that we go from here?" Jacob shrugged his shoulders.

"We could be secret friends," his smile became really wide.

"Jake I'm serious,"

If it was even possible he smiled wider. It was then that I'd realized I'd called him Jake.

I sighed. "There's no turning back now is there?"

He shook his head.

"I like you, Bella, and I know that you like me too."

It hit me like a ton of bricks and I sucked in an unnecessary breath.

"What?"

"You like me," I said simply.

"Well yeah, you already knew that."

I shook my head. "No, Jake," I'd said it once I didn't think saying it again would hurt. "You only think that you like me. It's who I am, part of my power."

"What?" Jake asked incredulously.

"I'm...very...likable," I said, lowering my head. "And not just with the vampire charm. Carlisle thinks I must have been charismatic as a human because as a vampire it seems like I can get anyone to like me, whether they want to or not."

It was quiet for a moment, and I think that Jake was trying to process this information but I couldn't exactly bring myself to look at his face. How could I have been so stupid? Of course he'd liked me, he'd been in close enough proximity that he'd been affected. I was such an idiot for...

Wait a minute... An idiot for what? I couldn't be...no, there was no way in hell that I could be-

"Okay," Jacob interrupted my thoughts. "I want to try something,"

I finally looked over at him and I could see in his eyes that he had something he was planning.

"What?" I asked.

"You say that you can get anyone to like you, how do you know that?" he asked. "I mean, are there any indicators?" I thought about that for a moment, wondering where on Earth he was going with this. But the more I thought about it, the more superficial the liking seemed to be. When affected under my power, they all seemed to tell me how pretty I was or that I was a "good person". There was never any actual thought into their reactions; it was just there.

"When someone is affected, they generally have shallow reasons for liking me. I have the most beautiful golden eyes or the prettiest smile. Never anything real," I said.

Jake cocked his head a little. "If I told you why I liked you, would you believe that I'm not under your influence?"

I laughed at his choice of words but nodded my head all the same.

"If you're reasons are good enough I'll have to believe you," I said truthfully. Jake looked thoughtful for a second before smiling again.

"I like you, because you're different. Because you can make me laugh when you're supposed to be making me angry. I like you because you were so open that first day, you didn't hold anything back. You don't beat around the bush much," he chuckled. "And I like how I can read your face, even though you probably think that I can't."

My eyes went wide at his last statement. Blinking a few times I cleared my throat and shook my head. "What?" I asked.

"You're scared," he said. "I can see that. Everything about this freaks you out, because you don't know what's going to happen next. You're afraid of something you think is inevitable, but you really don't know what to expect."

He'd hit the nail head, and that scared me above all else.

"H-how...how did you?" I stuttered.

"You have a crappy poker face. I wouldn't go into acting if I were you,"

I rolled my eyes, where had I heard that before? Oh right, Edward.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said before sighing. "Okay, those are anything but shallow. I believe you," I stood up and kicked up some of the mulch as I walked, trying to preoccupy myself so I didn't have to look at Jake. "But that still doesn't answer where we go from here."

I heard him get up off the swing and no sooner than that he was in front of me and I had to lean my head back to see his face.

"I say we see where this takes us," he said. "You're right to be scared, I am too. But unlike you I don't want to run away from this, because I believe that maybe some good can come out of it. I liked talking to you, it was almost easy."

I nodded my head. "You have no idea what it was like...being able to talk to someone about this life that wasn't a part of my family."

"I might be able to relate more than you think." he said. I looked down from his gaze, noticing the intensity in his brown almost black eyes. It was then that I realized that he was going through the same thing I was, only he wasn't moping and pouting around as I was. Neither of us had chosen our lives. Edward had told me how becoming a werwolf was passed down through genetics. The change had come as a shock to Jake just like mine to me.

And yet, here was this guy who was still living his life, still happy with who he was, from what I could tell. I couldn't help but wonder if I could learn a thing or two from Jacob Black.

"Okay," I said. "I'd like to see where this goes too." I said. I felt a scorching hot hand wrap around mine and I looked down to see my small, cold fingers become engulfed in his large warm hand. "Slowly," I said. If my heart was beating, it would have gone into overdrive at the moment. Jake laughed loudly and I couldn't help but smile at the sound of it. Carefree laughter. It was certainly contagious.

"Slowly," he agreed, tugging gently on my arm to take me back to his car. "Though I have to say," his smile was growing wider by the second. "I think we've surpassed the 'just friends' stage."

I coughed out a laugh and looked up at him. "Forward much?" I asked.

"Just telling it like it is," I remembered I'd told him the same thing the day we'd met, not even a week ago. I laughed and shook my head.

He drove me back to Forks High School and I told him I'd run through the woods home, knowing I'd have an ambush waiting for me. Things were certainly going to get interesting really soon. But I couldn't bring myself to care all that much. As I waved goodbye to Jake when he drove away I'd seen the smile on his face and could sense that I'd been the one to put it there.

Nothing that back could bring about a smile as bright as that, right?