Many thanks to the lovely people who put this story or me on alert and of course, hugs&kisses to my wonderful betas Pooks79 and Willow2883 (if you haven't already, you really should check out their stories, because they're 2 of the best authors I know on FF)

And yea, cuz I forgot it the first time :p – Disclaimer : I don't own Twilight or any of the characters in it, they're all Stephenie Meyers' babies.

CHAPTER 2

The next morning, Jacob woke up early, looking preoccupied or irritated. Jebediah thought it wise not to venture into risky territory again, so he kept his mouth shut and just tagged along to breakfast and back. Oddly enough, Jacob didn't object to this in any way. He didn't even seem to take much notice of Jebediah following him around.

The reason was probably because Jacob had a group therapy session that he had to attend later in the morning. He hated it with a passion and counted the minutes and seconds until time was up. For him, it seemed to be the same excruciatingly boring and annoying routine every week: he had to sit in a circle with four or five inmates, some of which he knew, some he didn't, and the therapist would specifically and persistently try to make them open up about subjects that were sensitive to them. Jacob hated the mask of sympathy and concern he saw on the face of the recently-graduated-magna-cum-laude-in psychology woman, and the way she relentlessly seemed to regroup and try different approaches – the kind that Jacob imagined wore the pompous name of a German psychiatrist.

Each and every time, Jacob maintained his evasiveness, and let out no other information than what he thought she'd expect to hear from him. He was expecting at any time now to be called in for a private discussion by her or the warden, in regards to his lack of cooperation. He almost felt sorry that he couldn't put on a heart-breaking show like Leon and Diego, and break down into tears in front of her over past behaviors and decisions.

Jacob couldn't see the use in pouring his heart out in front of a stranger and a bunch of kids who could care less about his problems. He'd had it up to his neck with hearing about taking responsibility for and acknowledging the effect of one's actions on the people in his life. He wasn't the one who needed to hear that.

If anything, having to sit through two hours of this made Jacob feel drained, and all he could think of on the way to his room was how much he missed sitting on a driftlog and watching the waves crash onto the rocks of First Beach...

Amazingly, Jebediah was on his best behavior, and he showed that he understood the meaning of the phrase 'don't hit a man when he's down'. Or, in his case, don't bug the hell out of him by blabbering about things he had no interest in.

When lunch time came, Jacob hauled his apathetic self to the dining hall and Jebediah followed closely, just as he had at breakfast.

After lunch, Jacob noticed that some guys had gathered in the yard to play basketball . Suddenly, breaking some sweat to take his mind off things seemed like a very good idea. He knew that any of the guys would be happy to have him on their team, so he rushed out, not even considering telling Jebediah about the game.

Almost an hour later, Jacob and the others were drenched and mollified. Most of them decided to sit on the benches or concrete in the yard for the remaining time, until the warden would decide that they'd had enough sunshine for the day.

As Jacob was sitting and watching nothing in particular, someone sat right next to him. They didn't ask for his permission, or even announce their presence with any type of greeting. Jacob didn't even need to turn his head to know who the tiny, braided figure and guts sitting next to him belonged to.

„If you want to shoot some hoops, you're kind of late. Like, an hour late." Jacob informed him, with what came close to an actual smile.

„Um, no, I'm not so much into basketball..." Jebediah replied, slightly flattered. Jacob wasn't even surprised that the kid hadn't caught the irony in his words, or the unuttered 'you don't say!' floating in the air.

„So, is Black your real name? I mean at first I thought it was a nickname or something, because of your uniform. But then I saw others with black uniforms and black hair too, so it couldn't really be about your hair; then again your skin is not black either. I mean it would've made more sense to call you Red in that case then, wouldn't it?" Jebediah spoke again without taking a second breath, and stopped only to flash a nervous grin at Jacob.

Indeed, old habits die hard, Jacob thought scowling in disappointment. He wiped the sweat off his face and concocted an answer before Jebediah could come up with something to add:

„Yes, Black is my last name. It is my real name just as much as yours is... what's your name again?"

„Jebediah Wil-"

„It's Jed."

„What?"

Jacob gathered all his patience and lowered his head to Jed's level in the manner of a coach giving instructions to his players during the game. He elaborated without further ado:

„Listen to me, do yourself a favor and don't ever tell your full name again to anyone in this place. When someone asks you your name, just say it's Jed, and stop giving answers that are longer than the questions . Even better, don't even answer, because most of the times they don't even want to hear what you have to say. Just pretend that you're mute or you don't understand English and that will work better for you."

„If you mean the guys in the cafeteria, they haven't said a word to me since then... But I honestly don't see what's the big deal about people being friendly and talking to each other here ... ", Jed reacted with confusion written all over his face.

„Look Jed... I don't know how you got here, but you need to learn to keep to yourself more, coz people here will use what they know about you and turn it against you... You should trust me when I tell you that some messed-up things happen here, and if you don't watch your own ass, you'll find out the hard way what I mean..."

Jed studied Jacob's face cautiously, trying to discern if what he'd just heard was meant to be a threat or a warning. He opted for the latter and shifted his eyes to the side of the massive grey cellblock, whose only adornments were the square barred windows. Jed quickly snapped out of his uncharacteristic pensive mood and commented with his usual geeky grin:

„It's funny how people in prison spend their time looking through bars from the inside wanting to get out, while people at work spend their time wanting to get out and inside bars."

Jacob was not even slightly annoyed that Jed had once again chosen to digress from the subject by answering with one of his silly jokes. He was getting used to it, and he knew that Jed had heard him well.

„What the hell are you in for anyway?" Jacob asked Jed, turning his head to look at him for the first time since he'd sat next to him.

„I...uh...not much...I kind of got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time..." Jed looked at Jacob and, much to his chagrin, was met with a look of sincere interest. Jacob was actually surprised to see Jed having a hard time finding his words for once, instead of releasing hundreds of them in between two breaths. After a moment of thought, Jed drew in a deep breath and went for the band-aid technique.

„Well there were these guys I knew in my hood and they said that if I carried something for them, they knew a guy at the club who could get us in. There was this girl that I liked and she was working there, so they said they'd introduce me." Jed paused abruptly and gulped, before resuming:

"So I said yes. I put the thing in my backpack and went to where they said someone would meet me to take it, and I waited. Then this guy came, but he was like, in a big hurry, and when I was unzipping my backpack, he just ran away." Another short pause and a gulp.

"And then a police car stopped at the curb and two policemen grabbed me and took me to the station and I was charged with p-possession..."

„Did you at least get to talk to the girl?" Jacob asked with an amused but pitying look.

„No."

„Did any of the other guys get busted?"

„No." Jed reluctantly replied with his eyes cast down, in the same posture he'd assumed since the last half of his confession.

„You'll get out of here quickly, so hopefully you at least learned something from it..."

Jed didn't answer, but after a couple of seconds, he lifted his eyes to Jacob and asked in a lively tone:

„What did you do to get here?"

Jacob seemed to think for a few moments , but the sound of officer Doherty's voice barking at them to get up and back to their cells interrupted his meditation. The only thing he answered as he got up was:

„I have bad luck with authority figures..."

Except for dinner, they spent the rest of the evening in their room. Jed asked Jacob's permission to look through some of his books. Booksalways helped him relieve some boredom, and in this instance to also get somewhat acquainted with the curriculum, since he would be joining classes the next week.

The next day was Sunday, the most boring and slowest day of the week according to Jacob. This one even more so, because it had been raining constantly since the early morning. It seemed very clear to him that he'd be spending his time the same way he did on any day like this - catching up on reading, studying or working on some school papers. He started doing just that as soon as he'd returned to his room after breakfast.

Jed didn't bother him much. In fact, except for telling him during breakfast that ostrich eggs take up to two hours to get hard boiled, Jacob didn't even remember hearing his voice for the first half of the day.

They went to lunch together, after which Jacob returned to his room and to his activities of before. A couple of hours later, he realized two things: first, he needed a book for some references in an essay, and second, Jed hadn't been in the room for quite a while.

On his way to the main library, there was a large hall with regular tables and a few soccer and pool tables that the warden let the kids use for a couple of hours on some days.

Jacob, who had no intention of mingling with his inmates, passed by the tables and headed directly to the library. The sight he caught out of the corner of his eye as he was approaching the entry, made him slow his steps and take a proper look. He had a hard time believing what he saw clear as daylight: Jed was sitting at one of the tables, surrounded by none other than Leon and his boys and he seemed to be having a wonderful time playing a game of chess or cards - Jacob couldn't see exactly what from where he stood. He turned his head and went into the library, trying to hold his temper and remember what the initial reason was that he had come here for.

After he found the book he needed and picked it up, he intended to go back to his room without taking another look at the table where Jed was sitting. However, as soon as he stepped into the hall again, his ears involuntarily pickedup on the sound of Jed's timid voice and the monkey laughter that ensued. His legs seemed to have a mind of their own and with a few determined strides, he was right at the table.

Jed was so busy entertaining his game companions that he didn't see Jacob approaching. Unlike Diego. who noticed him in the distance and discreetly nudged Leon.

Jacob leaned forward and propped both fists on the table, so that what he wanted to say wouldn't reach beyond the perimeter of the table, and certainly not to the ears of the guards standing by.

"Move your ass to the room now and clean up that filthy mess you left there, or I swear I'll hang you by your pigtails."

Jed looked rightfully shocked and stupefied at hearing Jacob's words. It wasn't only the obviousness of the fact that his roommate was a scary looking and potentially dangerous giant, but now he seemed to not even need a justified reason to get pissed at him. He was sure he didn't leave a mess in the room, he just wasn't a messy person. So there it was...

However, the resolutely angry stare Jacob was giving him told him that it wasn't in his best interest to argue with him right now. So, without a word, Jed slowly got up from the chair and started walking towards the stairs, in the direction of his room.

The incident brought silence to the table and each of the boys seemed lost in some consideration of Jacob's attitude, whether it was that they wished they could master the daunting stare or that they were relieved not to be in Jed's shoes. Leon, however was not in the same boat, and he hadn't lost his smug face for a moment. When Jacob turned from the table to follow Jed, he spoke in a mocking tone, loud enough to be heard by everyone around:

„Aw, Chief got angry at us for stealing his squaw..."

Same as before, Jacob's feet reacted independently of him and refused to move him forward for a couple of seconds. Feeling the rush of blood to his head, Jacob clenched his fists and with an unnatural effort, he managed to will down the urge to let go of all self-control and turn Leon into a grease spot on the floor.

He went up the stairs, passing Jed in the hallway and stormed into his room. As Jed followed and closed the door behind him, he was met with the unsettling sight of Jacob pacing up and down like a caged lion.

„What the fuck is wrong with you?" Jacob burst out. "Didn't you understand anything I said?"

The befuddled look on Jed's face said that he didn't even understand why Jacob was shouting at him right now. Jacob realized he needed to explain himself and tone down his temper as much as he could.

"Of all people, you choose to hang out with that fake-ass-gangsta-wannabe Leon, his sidekick, and that bunch of lunks -"

„They weren't doing anything wrong, they were just being friendly" Jed cut in. He couldn't believe that he was hearing his own voice.

"They are not friendly, they are manipulative, for fuck's sake. Wake up, man! They play nice until they get you to trust them and then they'll use you any way they like, and you'll have no say in it... Jees, with what got you here in the first place, it should at least ring a bell with you!"

Jacob looked more worried than angry, but Jed wasn't impressed, so against his better judgement, he decided he'd just let his mouth run and worry about the consequences later.

"They're not that bad, they were actually nice to me, which is more than I can say about you. You've been talking down to me since I got here, and you always look like you want to throw me around. You have no friends here, so maybe you're the one with the problem, not them".

With every word he heard, Jacob's eyes grew colder and his jaw muscles tightened, until Jed paused and he decided he didn't want to continue this discussion any longer.

"You know what dude? If you're gonna listen to the shit that Leon and the others tell you about me, I'm not wasting anymore time on you. You're on your own."

With that, Jacob rushed out the door and slammed it behind him. He went to the gym to blow off some steam and didn't return to his room until dinner time. When he came back, Jed was gone, so he decided to just skip dinner. He didn't want to cross paths with Jed or his newly acquired 'friends'.