Hi,

Sorry the update took so long, real life crept up on SeptemberSkies and I, all I can say is that I can't wait for spring break to star next week, I need some serious down time! Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter go to Astilbe, Rose, melodia, Dottyanne, Tala Channing, and Mandy may, your reviews have all kept me motivated to keep writing even when history papers are killing my will to live. Thank you for the encouragement. I appreciate your thoughts and comments very much so when you're done reading please do type a quick note and hit the review button, getting them in my inbox makes my day and keeps the muse happy.

This story is Beta'd by SeptemberSkies without whom it would rougher than rough and there is a good chance it would also be a lot more confusing. Thank you for your time, effort and words of encouragement!

Lastly, the same disclaimer from the introduction still applies.

Happy reading (and reviewing)

Chapter 5

(BPOV)

I shoved the last of my school books into my bag with a sigh and tugged the zipper closed. The family had been subdued last night; I made dinner, ate it, and then retreated to my room where I did homework until I couldn't focus anymore. I kept thinking about the werewolves. Were they prowling around outside? Would I fall asleep only to find my house under attack the minute that I was defenseless? Jacob had promised me that no one would be hurt if the Treaty remained intact and part of me believed him for reasons that I had no way of explaining or understanding. However, I had seen the way that he had reacted as a wolf toward my father, how quickly they had appeared snarling on our doorstep, and there were so many more of them than there were of us.

"You have to eat something and we have to leave in five minutes." Rosalie's voice floated through my door as she knocked.

"I'm good." I said as she opened it and I slid my feet into a pair of Uggs. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "What? I'm allowed to be comfortable," I grumbled and she gave a light laugh.

"Wanna talk about what's put you in flannel, ripped jeans and Uggs?" She stepped into the room even as I stood. I looked down, yes I was wearing a light blue and green flannel shirt over a black t-shirt, there was a small hole in one of my knees that my Ugg boots didn't quite cover and my hair was pulled up into a messy bun at the back of my head. I had opted for comfortable.

"Do you?" I shrugged at her as I pulled on a light jacket.

"The wolves or the boy?" Rosalie persisted.

"I thought we had to leave for school in five minutes?" I shouldered my bag and made for the doorway she stood in.

"Your funeral." She winked but thankfully dropped the inquisition. "How bout we take the jeep this morning?"

"Don't think my truck will survive me?" I asked nodding as she looped an arm through mine and we headed for the stairs.

"How many hours of sleep did you actually get?" She looked critically at me.

"Enough to function." I replied as I reached out and took the toast topped with peanut butter and sliced banana that Esme was holding out for me at the bottom of the stairs. "Thanks, Mom."

"Are you going to be alright going to school?" Esme's thumb brushed the back of my hand. I smiled at her as encouragingly as I could.

"I think it would cause more problems if I didn't go." I said as the rest of my siblings joined us in the hallway and we filed out the door, Alice muttering about my wardrobe choice the whole way to the Jeep.

School was uneventful, I had even managed to convince myself that my only problems were the fact that I couldn't get warm and that the headache that had plagued me the afternoon before was threatening to make a comeback. That was, until second period AP Biology, when I asked Alice for a spare pencil at the wrong moment and got moved next to the werewolf girl. She gave me a look that told me she wished that I had gotten moved anywhere but next to her.

"Today you'll learn how to isolate DNA from onion cells, separating it from other cellular components in a manner that still preserves its structure and sequence. Hopefully by the end of class, you'll have enough DNA to see without the use of a microscope." Mr. Stephenson started handing out the big plastic boxes that contained the materials that we would need to complete our experiment to each pair of students and I looked at Leah skeptically.

"What?" She gave me a look as if just by looking at her I had managed to offend her.

"I didn't realize that we had gotten off on the wrong foot." I said as I pulled out the tubs and beakers we would need for the experiment.

"You live with them and you're a -" It literally looked like she choked on the word that she was trying to say. Her nostrils flared and her jaw clenched as color spread across her cheeks.

"A what?" I asked handing her a couple of beakers and stoppered bottles. She took them, her lips pressed tightly together.

"It doesn't matter. In a nutshell, I don't know what I think or feel about you." She responded, some of the tightness around her neck and jaw disappearing as she mixed a solution of dishwashing detergent and salt.

"What will make you decide?" I asked as I started chopping our onion. She was tall and strong and more of a bitch then Rosalie in need of a good meal. I understood that she didn't like my family but we hadn't hurt anyone and we weren't about to.

"What you do next." She stopped and looked at me, the expression on her face one that was half way between ferial and calculated. We didn't say much for the next thirty minutes, just coexisted as we made the DNA become visible. It was then she stopped and looked at me, her lips pressed together and her jaw working. "I can't tell you what's going on but do yourself and Jacob a favor, don't fight it."

"Fight what?" I asked but she refused to look at me again for the rest of class.

Leah was the first out of class when the bell rang and I was still left wondering what her cryptic phrases meant. Freaking werewolves! I was beginning to think that I should suggest to my family that a change of scenery would be in everyone's best interests, especially after the events the day before. We could go anywhere, Canada maybe or better yet Scotland or Ireland. It had been a dream of mine since I found out about St. Andrews to attend the university there or if not St. Andrews then Glasgow or Oxford. The weather would be perfect for my family and we would be close enough to Europe that I would probably be able to see some of the places that I longed to visit.

Suddenly I felt out of breath and dizzy, like I had run a marathon. My heart was trying to pound its way out of my chest and I felt hot and cold all at once as I stumbled, one arm reaching out, my hand connecting with the lockers as I paused and squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to take deep breathes. Searing heat suddenly wrapped around my waist and pulled me toward a body just as warm. My backpack was swept off my arm as I felt my knees give way just a little but it didn't matter because I was being held up and anchored to that spot in the hallway.

One of my arms reached around his body, my hand taking root in the back of his t-shirt and I held on for dear life. The arm wrapped around me curled my body toward his until my forehead was pressed against his sternum, my other hand pressed against the solid muscles of his stomach. He was here, I wasn't alone. He smelt like the woods, rain and trees, motor oil and spice… His arm tightened and I could feel a light growl start from the pit of his stomach and travel up his chest until it was an audible sound.

"Let her go, dog!" Jasper's hiss cut through the moment. I gulped in another breath filled with his scent and then one more before releasing the death grip I had on his shirt and using my other hand to push gently against his abdomen. His arm loosened as I took a step back and looked at my brother.

"I'm fine Jaz." I moved away from Jacob's arm and shivered, it fell back to his side but he made no move to go anywhere and he was focused on my face. I felt a blush rise from my chest and cover my cheeks. "It was just a dizzy spell. I stumbled; Jacob was making sure I didn't fall." I grabbed my backpack and tossed it as nonchalantly as I could back over my shoulder only to over balance and take an unbalanced step back. One large hand shot out and settled on my hip, fingers applying gentle pressure as he steadied me again. I looked up at him; dark orbs were looking at me out of a face set and serious.

He was beautiful. Dark, expressive eyes peered from long thick lashes that were set above high cheekbones; there was the slightest bump in the bridge of his nose that subtly spoke of a time when it must have been broken, his lower lip was slightly plumper then his upper lip and his jaw was set in a way that pushed his chin forward just a little. His skin was russet and sun kissed, the grip he had on me strong but oddly tender. I should have felt awkward, unnerved even by his proximity but it seemed like the moment he fixed his eyes on me I couldn't quite think straight. The thought itself was enough for me to take a step to the side, just enough for his hand to release me and questions I wasn't in the right place to ask to jump to the forefront of my mind.

"There you guys are! Silly me, I thought you were right behind me!" Alice had decided that an intervention was required. She threw her arms around Jasper's neck and planted a kiss on his cheek, distracting him just long enough to relieve some of the tension in the air. "We haven't properly met yet, I'm Alice." Alice extended one of her tiny hands to him. I looked between it and him and blinked as I raised an eyebrow at her. He seemed taken aback, and tension ran quickly through his shoulders and neck, but he extended his right hand to her, engulfing her tiny hand in his for just long enough to be seen as polite.

"Jacob." He nodded once, bringing his hand back and clenching it at his side like he wasn't sure what to do next. Neither did I, I felt like I had just walked into an episode of the twilight zone. Yesterday everyone wanted to rip each other's heads off and today they were shaking hands, what was Alice up to? "You okay?" Jaob was focused on me again.

"Didn't eat a proper breakfast, just a little dizzy, I'm honestly fine now." I affirmed and I was, only I had a nagging feeling that it was due to the instant calming effect his presence appeared to have on me once again. Maybe, like my family, werewolves had their own set of special talents and abilities; maybe Jacob was an empath like Jasper. "We have Math right Jaz?" It took actual effort for me to drag my eyes away from Jacob. Jasper nodded, Alice grinned and I looked at Jacob once more before nodding myself and moving in the direction I needed to go to make it to class.

"See you at lunch, Bella." Jacob said, his voice sending a small shiver down my spine as I looked back over my shoulder at him and smiled softly.

"Yeah." I nodded as I looped an arm through my sister's and let my siblings lead me away with even more unanswered questions and an uneasy feeling in my gut.

(JPOV)

Patience.

It had quickly become my motto, it wasn't easy but it was what she needed. Sam and Dr. Cullen had been clear with each other. Bella was Switzerland - neutral territory. We were reassured she had never wanted to become one of them; she had much more human goals and aspirations for her life. Sam had informed them that there was a connection between her and I. He had told them that connections like it happened sometimes between wolves and humans but he hadn't uttered the word Imprint and he hadn't explained it properly, instead he used it as a threat; we would know if she so much as felt worried. They had agreed that she would not be stopped from getting to know us if it was what she wanted and they knew that we would be watching closely but the coven leader also made it perfectly clear that if she was endangered or they felt she was threatened while on Quileute land that the Treaty would be null and void and they would act accordingly.

The first couple of days were sheer torture. At school I kept a careful eye on her and when I was at the res school I had to trust that Leah was doing it for me. I saw how she interacted with her leeches, how they protected and cared for her. I saw the way that Leah's cold exterior frustrated her, I saw the desire in her to take up the cheerful but shy Angela Webber on her offer of friendship but I could also see the hesitation that stopped her from offering too much of herself.

I hadn't touched her since that first day back at school when I felt her concern take a physical toll on her body but I remembered what it felt like when she had turned her five foot six frame into mine when I had caught her. I remembered the weight of her body in my arm as her knees had stopped cooperating when she needed them to hold her up, what it felt like when she pressed her forehead against my chest and her muscles had all relaxed against me. I remembered the strawberries and spiced vanilla that drifted from her hair, all but obscuring the scent of vampire that lingered around her. For a millisecond my world had stopped and the only thing that existed in it was her and letting her walk away had been almost painful.

I lived on those memories.

Her eyes had sought me out at lunch, a slow smile turning up the corners of her mouth as she found me and before she was bustled off by the pixie to the lunch line. Just before she sat down at a table next to Angela she had smiled at me again and part of me felt like I was about to combust inside.

Life fell into a routine after that. I went to school at the res except for the days when I had AP Chem or AP English. Leah and I ate in silence at the same table in the cafeteria, Bella would cast glances at me from the table she sat at either with her family or her classmates who she was trying to connect with. We barely spoke ten words to each other but every now and then I would let my eyes drift across the cafeteria or the class room as if to reassure myself of her presence, sometimes I would even catch her looking at me. I would get home, do my homework and then pull as many hours as I could as close to her house as we were allowed before it was time to fulfill my prerequisite of five hours sleep before the whole thing started again.

"Imprinting is a sick business." Leah said as she dropped her lunch on the table and looked at me. I shrugged, I couldn't say that I didn't agree with her, I'd never felt so out of control in my life. "What are you going to do about it?" It was Friday and I had chosen to arrive for the afternoon early instead of sit around the cafeteria at the res school where I knew Bella Swan most definitely wasn't. Knowing she was nearby somehow made it easier to breathe.

"Nothing." I responded. "I won't force her into this, Leah."

"Should have told that to your DNA before it did." There was her characteristic layer of contempt. Nothing could just be nice or sympathetic in the land of Leah Clearwater, there always had to be a flip side, an edge.

"Invite her to the bonfire." She challenged me, both eyebrows raised, her eyes glued to mine. I gritted my teeth and glared at her.

"Yeah, cause that's a good idea." I shook my head, casting a glance to the door way. She still hadn't made it to the cafeteria. She was fine; if something was wrong I would know about it. Her emotions seemed to live in my chest; well at least the extreme ones and the pull that I had started to associate with her were content and quiet. God, it felt longer than the twenty-six hours and fourteen minutes since the last time she was in my sight.

"Your dad and Sam are right Jake, she needs to see us as people. How's she going to do that from across a cafeteria?" The grimace on her face told me how much she hated agreeing with anything that Sam had to say, even if he was right.

"And you think a bonfire is the way to go? With eleven wolves and the elders and their imprints looking at her like she's a freak of nature?" I gave her a look clearly meant to express how stupid I thought her idea was before my eyes snapped back to the cafeteria door.

"If you don't, I will." She looked over her shoulder as she followed the line between my eyes and the door. "All of this angsty, Victorian, gazing longingly at each other from across a room shit, has to stop. Like, now before I gag!" She was shaking her head as she opened her lunch and pulled out a sandwich and a bottle of water.

"I'll kill you!"

The doors swung open and she walked into the room. She had tied her long hair into a ponytail but a few pieces had escaped the binder and caressed her face and neck. She was laughing at something that the largest of the vampires, Emmett, I think he was called, was saying. As soon as she was in the door, her eyes swept the room until they found me. A soft smile lifted the corners of her mouth and I watch the tension in her shoulders disappear. I offered her a smile in return. For now knowing that she was aware of my presence was enough.

"You couldn't concentrate long enough to kill me even if you wanted to." Leah was coughing back a laugh. I focused on her long enough to throw a Frito at her. She caught it and popped it into her mouth with another roll of her eyes.

"No one asked you to be a bitch, Leah." I growled.

"No one asked you for your opinion." She snapped back before, turning and looking at the girl who was suddenly only a few more steps from our table.

Bella Swan was nervous. She was raking her lower lip through her teeth, her eyes kept flickering between me and Leah and she was gripping her lunch tray like it was bound to try and run away from her. She was also alone in her approach, her siblings sitting at a table across the hall all watching carefully without moving to intervene.

"Hi." She exhaled as she came to a stop, she looked quickly at me and then Leah and then back at me again. I blinked, she was a goddess in a human's body, the blush that was rising to her cheeks was the perfect shade of crimson, I could get lost in the perfectly shaped pools of chocolate she had for eyes.

"Hi." I smiled at her, sliding up the bench a little and indicating with a hand that she could join us if she wanted, all the while trying not to appear desperate. In truth there was nothing more that I wanted in the world at that moment than for her to sit down next to me and smile at me again. She took a deep breath and did just that as she let it out through a small part in her lips. The blush on her face only intensified when her knee bumped my thigh and I didn't move my leg away from the accidental contact, despite the flush on her cheeks she didn't move away from me either. "Settling in okay?" I asked.

"It's different than what I'm used to." She shrugged. "You weren't at lunch yesterday."

"I only take AP classes here. The reservation has its own school." I was surprised that I wasn't physically glowing after her statement. She was noticing my comings and goings just as much as I was aware of hers.

"But you're here all the time." She directed at Leah.

"I'm on babysitting duty." Leah shook her head scornfully.

"Oh." Her lips formed the shape of the word and I kicked Leah none too gently under the table. She ignored me and devoured the remainder of her sandwich in three bites.

"Got plans for your weekend?" Leah asked casually a moment later.

"No. Just homework." Bella looked at me and I realized that I was staring at her. I pulled my eyes away from her face and over to Leah with an expression that was clearly meant to state that if she continued in the vein she was going I was going to deliver on my promise.

"There's a big bonfire tonight, you should come." The words were out of her mouth before there was any chance of stopping her. Leah wasn't one to be intimidated by any of us, no matter how much larger than her we were, she was always faster.

"You want me to come?" She was looking at Leah in disbelief and then she looked back at me, her knee pressing a little more firmly into the side of my leg. I took a breath trying not to concentrate on that one small area of contact that made my heart beat just that little bit faster.

"It's a mostly just the Pack and their families, some of the older folks from the res, there's a bit of a cook out, my dad tells the old tribal stories and legends. Our loved ones have a big secret they carry around with them all the time; it helps to get together and lets us feel almost normal for a while." I explained quickly, doing my best to take as much pressure as possible off of her. "You are more than welcome but it's nothing fancy."

"You're going?" I could see her thinking, weighing out the pros and cons of going or not going. I nodded. "Leah too?" I nodded again. "But my family can't come onto your land."

"No." Leah was firm and a little sharp; Bella turned and frowned at her, her nostrils flaring slightly. Any of Leah's famously derogatory statements had the potential to spark a fight that could land us all in trouble. They just looked coolly at each other and then the tension seemed to dissipate.

"How do I know then, if I come, that you won't stop me from going home when it's over?" She asked.

"That would make us in violation of the Treaty." Leah said at the same time as I spoke.

"Because you have my word." Leah and I glared at each other and a small jingle of a laugh escaped from the angel to my left. I looked at her, knowing the look on my face was probably a strange combination of shock and bliss. I could listen to that sound all day, even more so if I was the one that brought it out of her mouth.

"Hey, Bella!" Emmett called her from across the room. He put an arm in the air and waved for her to come over. She waved back to him and nodded, gathering her tray and looking at me.

"I'll think about it." She offered me a smile that lit up her whole face before heading back to the table her family was sitting at.

"You have my word." Leah made a face and batted her eyelids as she mimicked me and snorted. "You fucking imprint people." She gathered up the remains of her lunch and headed outside before I could reach over the tabled and give her a good shake. Favor or no favor she was starting to grate on my last nerve.