All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

CHAPTER TWO

I woke early the next morning after my early night, but Charlie had already gone to work. I had a shower, taking my time to dry my hair properly so that it was straight, then headed downstairs to make some breakfast. Just as I reached the kitchen there was a knock at the back door, and I opened it to find Jake standing there with a big smile on his face.

"Morning, Bells," he announced brightly as he pulled me into a hug.

"Morning. Hungry?" I asked, turning back to the kitchen and digging for ingredients for pancakes.

Jake took a seat at the table, giving me a look that seemed to say, 'what do you think?'

I laughed, "Right, stupid question. Wolf thing."

He gave me a wolfy grin in response, watching me as I cooked.

"Well wolf, you could help me out and get some plates out." I told him, glancing over my shoulder. He jumped up quickly and pulled two plates out of the cupboard before standing behind me.

"Smells great, Bells." He announced, sniffing the air appreciatively. Just then we were interrupted by a knock at the front door, which I sent Jacob to answer as I piled the pancakes onto his plate. I heard voices, then the door shut with a little too much force.

"Who was it?" I asked, turning round and letting go of the plate of pancakes in shock. Paul was standing there staring at me, with Jacob at his shoulder looking pissed off. Luckily he managed to catch the plate before it hit the floor.

"Oh… Hi, Paul." I said nervously as he straightened up and handed me the plate.

"Hi, Bella," he replied, scratching the back of his head with his free hand and looking uncomfortable. "Look, I just came to apologise. For the way I acted yesterday, I'm sorry if I scared you." He mumbled quickly, looking anywhere but at my face.

"No, it's fine-" I started, before he interrupted me with a hand raised towards me.

"It's not fine, I need to learn to control my temper better. I'm sorry, Bella." He said, finally looking me in the eye.

I gave him a smile, feeling a little uncomfortable. "Breakfast?" I asked him, earning myself an annoyed expression from Jake.

"Sure, I mean, if you don't mind?"

"No, it's fine. Take a seat." I told him, motioning to the table where Jacob had already sat down and made a start on the mountain of pancakes and syrup.

I turned back to the oven to start another batch, hearing Jacob muttering something too low for me to hear. I turned round and he smiled at me. "These are great Bells" he said through a mouthful of food.

"You should try getting some manners, dog" I laughed as I turned back to serve up the fresh pancakes. Paul snorted and I heard a thud that sounded like Jacob had kicked him under the table.

I dished up another pancake mountain covered in syrup and placed it in front of Paul, who gave me a small smile. I realised it was the first time I had seen him smile, and he looked much less intimidating. I sat down next to Jake with my own plate and tucked in, hearing Paul mumble his praise.

"These really are great Bella." He told me, and I noticed he had waited till his mouth was empty to speak which made me smile.

"Thanks."

We sat and ate in silence, before Jacob spoke up.

"I was thinking we should have a bonfire tonight." He said, looking to Paul and then me.

"Sure, if Sam will let us off patrol for a while." Paul answered, seeming happy at the suggestion.

"What's the occasion?" I asked, thinking it must have been someone's birthday.

"We don't ever really need an occasion," Paul laughed, looking to Jacob. "Just an excuse to hang out on the beach and eat all Emily's food."

"Well actually, we can celebrate Bella moving to La Push. Plus, it'll probably be the last opportunity we get for a while, what with hunting the red-headed leech."

"True." Paul nodded.

"I'll let Sam know when I've got Bells settled in at my place, so he can let Emily know to make a start on the food."

"I can help with the food," I suddenly spoke up, feeling a little left out. "I mean, you're all doing so much for me already-"

"Don't worry about it Bells", Jake cut me off. "It's what we do."

"Yeah well, I still worry about you." I replied quietly. Truthfully I was scared to death at the thought of Jacob, or any of the other boys, out hunting for Victoria.

"Your lack of faith in us is pretty insulting," he laughed, taking my hand across the table. I noticed Paul look away abruptly. "Catching the red-head will be a piece of cake now we know what she's after, and you'll be in La Push so we won't have to patrol such a big area."

I smiled and nodded, still not convinced. "Yeah well, I just know first-hand how strong vampires are, so I'm always going to worry." I told him, absentmindedly rubbing the scar that James had left on my hand. The small action caught both the boys' attention, and I instantly realised my mistake as I tried to hide my hand from view.

"What do you mean, Bells?"

"What is that, Bella?"

They both spoke at the same time, and Paul made a grab for my hand. He held it in his own much more gently than I thought he would have been capable of, studying the scar. He looked up into my eyes for a second and I know he must have seen my fear in them. His body started to convulse, and he ran for the door muttering something that sounded like 'sorry' over his shoulder.

The room was silent for a minute before Jacob spoke again. "Did he do that to you, Bella? And how are you still human?" he added as an afterthought. I could see he was struggling to keep calm, his face looked tense and his hands were shaking.

"No, Edward didn't do this. It was James, the vampire I told you about before. He was Victoria's mate. He came after me last spring, and Edward killed him."

"You didn't say he had bit you!" he stammered, his hands shaking even more but he continued to hold on to both of mine.

"Yeah, he bit me. And broke my leg. But Edward sucked the venom out, so I didn't turn into one of them."

He was silent for a moment, seeming to think through what I had said. "I would've thought he wanted to turn you."

"No, he wanted me to stay human." Talking about my past with Edward was beginning to cause the familiar pain in my chest, but Jacob seemed to sense this as he changed the subject.

"Shall we get going? I think Paul's probably going to need a spare pair of shorts, or he'll be walking home naked." We both giggled at the thought, and I went upstairs to grab my bag and the keys for my truck. I left Charlie a note in the kitchen to let him know I would call later, and we left for La Push.

When we got to Jacob's house, Billy was waiting for us on the porch.

"Hey Billy," I said in an attempt to sound friendly, feeling bad for being rude to him over the last couple of weeks when he had tried to keep me from contacting Jake, not knowing that he was trying to protect me from a volatile young wolf.

"Hi Bella" he replied with a smile and a nod of his head. "You just missed Paul, he knocked on the door butt naked and asked to borrow a pair of shorts."

We both giggled as Jake took my bag from me and led me inside. "Yeah, you know Paul." He laughed, and Billy gave him a knowing look. I let Jake go ahead of me to his room to deposit my bag, and turned back to Billy.

"Are you sure you don't mind me staying here, Billy?" I asked him, feeling really bad for intruding. He seemed to read my thoughts as he replied.

"It will be a nice change, Bella. Me and Jacob have been alone here for too long, we need a woman to kick us back into touch. Plus I've heard all about your cooking from Charlie, and I think you know how useless we are in the kitchen."

I laughed, knowing just how bad Jake was at cooking. "Well it'll be my pleasure to make sure you both get some proper meals."

"No, it'll be my pleasure." Jake spoke up from behind me, and I turned to see him patting his stomach with a big smile on his face. "She makes some mean pancakes, dad."

Billy smiled at me as he said, "I think Charlie will have to fight us to get you back." We all chuckled at that, and Jacob stepped forwards and took my hand.

"We're gonna head over to Emily's place, I was thinking of throwing a bonfire tonight." Jacob told Billy as we headed for the door.

"Yeah, Paul already mentioned something about it. Just make sure you're all on full alert, what with the present situation." Billy replied, sounding every inch the chief of the tribe.

"Sure, sure." Jacob gave his signature laidback reply as we stepped through the door and headed for Emily's.