A/N: I own nothing


Three days later found me curled up on Charlie's favorite lounger. I was trying to make a dent in the pile of books waiting to be reviewed, trying being the operative word. I had a deadline coming up but I'd been stuck re-reading the same page for what felt like the better part of forever. Try as I might, my thoughts kept venturing off in frustrating directions. Any progress I thought I was making would be lost when my mind released me back to the same jumble of words, useless in my oblivion.

I threw my book down in defeat after it finally hit home that I didn't have the focus for this today. My feet began to tap an anxious beat on the floor, I couldn't sit around the house any longer. I took a quick look down at what I had thrown on that morning and decided that my jeans and vintage tee would do. Grabbing my keys and cell I headed out to my truck, no longer feeling my earlier discontent when the light Washington air hit my lungs. My intention had been to drive around aimlessly, but as I passed the 'Welcome to La Push' sign I couldn't fool myself any longer.

I parked the truck and hopped out, my gaze lingering on Jared's home as I knocked on the door. It didn't take long for Emily to answer and lead me gracefully into her home.

"Bella, I thought you would have known by now to just come on in"

"Thanks Em, but I think I'm just going to stick with the knocking if that's okay with you. You don't mind me stopping by do you?"

I threw myself down on the couch and chuckled to see Emily had been watching some terrible daytime soap full of beautiful people.

"Of course not Bella, you know you're welcome anytime. It's always nice to have female company with the amount of testosterone I have to put up with on a daily basis. Do you mind watching this? It drives Sam crazy but I'm completely addicted"

So that's what we did. We watched, Emily provided a running commentary on the characters and the impossibly fantastical lives they led. I found myself being easily sucked in by the poorly acted over dramatics. It was just so terribly bad that it somehow made it good. Only when the credits rolled did Emily finally let her curiosity loose.

"So Bella, what brings you on down to our little neck of the woods anyway?"

I raised an eyebrow and a devilish grin told me that Emily already had a couple of ideas running through that pretty little head of hers. I couldn't help but find her obvious enthusiasm to be endearing.

"I needed to get out for a little while and my aimless driving somehow found me at your door Em"

"Hmm"

Emily's eyes narrowed a little as she spoke.

"So you didn't have plans today with a certain somebody, who just happens to live nearby?"

I could feel my cheeks warm with a faint blush and even though I wasn't lying I didn't feel like I was necessarily telling the entire truth either.

"Nope, just came to see you Em!"

"So then Bella, now that I officially have you all to myself, what do you want to do today?"

I thought about it for a minute, I did have some questions for Emily, but now that I had plans to speak with Jared sometime this week I decided to hold off for now.

"Not sure Em, you sure you don't have any cooking to do?"

I had said it as a joke but she obviously didn't take it that way. Emily had already sprung to her feet and was now blabbering away, I caught something to do with freezers. I didn't really feel like spending the day in the kitchen. However, it did beat repeatedly reading the same annoying three hundred words as I had been doing that morning, so I put my grimace in check.

Cooking ended up being far more fun that I had anticipated. We spent the entire time laughing, singing and dancing around each other to the random selection of songs Emily had on her ipod. I'm sure we looked like idiots but I just couldn't find it in myself to care when we having such a good time playing around. The fun came crashing down when over the beats of the music we heard loud shouts coming from outside.

Emily and I immediately stilled like statues looking at each other our brows furrowed in consternation. We moved as one to the ipod but it was Emily who reached out to alter the volume. With the music down low we stood braced, our ears pricked for the source of the interruption. When the shouts began again we both moved hastily in their direction. I pulled the front door open cautiously to see a Jared and Paul standing chest to chest in confrontation. Both were clearly too involved in their spat to notice their audience had just increased in numbers.

"She's a Leech fucker dude"

Paul's shout rang out and I felt Emily's petite arm wrap around my shoulder in a gesture of comfort. It didn't take a genius to figure out I was pretty much the only candidate in town with a heartbeat fitting that description, even if it was flawed. Jared was now pacing back in forth like a caged animal in front of an amused Leah, as Paul smirked victoriously at her.

"She's probably over there right now giving it to him"

They moved too fast for my eyes to keep pace, but even I couldn't miss Jared slamming Paul up against a big black truck. Each word out of Jared's mouth sounded pained while even from this distance I could see the tremors of anger ripple through his body.

"You think if I had a choice it would be this"

A sharp intake of breath sounded from my right and three pairs of eyes turned to see Emily and I standing in the doorway. Everything stopped, no breaths were taken, all movement ceased, I couldn't even be sure that hearts were still beating. For a long moment we all just stood there looking at one another. Suddenly the world began to rotate again and Paul was released, dropping to the floor on unsteady feet. I could feel the soles of my feet tingling in anticipation of our escape. I wanted to run away, to liberate myself from the intense stares, but I couldn't move. My eyes were now locked on Leah who was staring back at me with an expression I couldn't fathom.

"Come on Bella"

I felt myself being tugged back inside the house, the others only following us with their eyes. I moved on autopilot as Emily maneuvered me into the kitchen and sat me down gracelessly on a stool.

"Are you ok?"

Emily was looking over me in concern as if I might have some physical manifestations of pain for her to cure.

"I'm fine Em, really"

I gave Emily my most reassuring smile which didn't even dent her armor of concern. While my world wasn't falling apart I was willing to admit that I felt a little unsettled. The silence and Emily's concern was making the air around me feel oppressive so I moved away from both to the couch. I played around with the remote until I found the same wicked yet terribly addictive show we had watched earlier. I switched off my brain and allowed the characters melodramatics to take over.

I was thoroughly entranced by a love pentagon dilemma when something big and intrusive moved in front of the screen. I tried to angle my head around the obstruction but the object moved with me. Angered I looked up ready to give the object a piece of my mind. My words got caught in my throat when my eyes found an amused Jared looking down at me. I raised an eyebrow when he reached a hand out to me in expectation.

"Walk with me"

I chewed on my bottom lip while considering my options. It didn't take me long though, all conclusions led me to the truth. I wanted to put my hand in his, I wanted to walk with him and most of all I wanted some answers.

Jared led me out of the house and we walked down the beach in silence. When we reached the edge of the lapping waves our movements ceased and I felt the warmth dissipate as my hand became my own again. I kept my eyes trained on the horizon as Jared's voice sounded from behind me.

"It's dangerous to listen in on private conversations you know"

My head whipped around to see if his expression would match the hard tone of his voice. Jared was looking off into the distance but I didn't know him well enough to read what his eyes were hiding.

"I don't think I would consider what I heard earlier a private conversation would you?"

I turned back around, to look once again on the horizon. I wasn't sure why but I knew I didn't want to see Jared's face when he answered me in the affirmative.

"Did you mean it?"

I heard him sigh behind me.

"I meant what I said, but what you heard and what I meant are probably not the same thing"

I could feel the vexation bubbling angrily within me. Needing to find some release I walked away down the beach. I had expected to feel like I was getting answers when I spoke with Jared, not more layers of cryptic nonsense designed to keep me awake at night.

I had made it about half way down the beach before I felt the tension ebb from my body, done with walking away I moved a little further inland and sat down. I pulled my knees to my chest as I sifted the minute grains of sand through my fingers. It didn't take long for Jared to move into my visual path. He didn't sit next to me as I would have anticipated. Instead he placed himself directly in front of me, his legs surrounding mine forcing an intimacy between us. I felt both protected and slightly daunted by his large presence surrounding me.

My hands continued their methodical ministrations in the sand and while I watched Jared, he was busy watching me right back.

"When I said it was dangerous to listen in on private conversations I meant it. Sometimes you hear things you shouldn't, other times you hear things but they aren't what you think"

"What like that I'm a leech fucker?"

I tried to keep the teasing tone from my voice or my eyes.

"Paul didn't mean that"

I let out a huff of laughter at his attempt to appease me with a lie.

"Yeah he did"

Jared's cool eyes bore into mine with intensity, searching for something unknown. Finding whatever it was he was looking for his eyes lit up, his smile now matching my own.

"Ok, yeah he did"

As the smiles faded from both our lips Jared cocked his head to one side. After a few minutes of appraising the situation it seemed he was now ready to speak.

"Have you ever spoken a word over and over, so many times that it comes to a point where the word no longer sounds like itself anymore. Something about it just feels strange, wrong somehow"

I inclined my head slightly and considered what he was trying to tell me.

"Am I that word?"

His eyes narrowed slightly in response to my interpretation of his words. Had I of not been watching him so intently I was sure I would have missed it.

"No Bella, this moment, this situation is that word"

I rolled the thought around in my head, feeling it form and take shape until finally it made sense. Sometimes over thinking a situation beforehand can be a bad thing. Suspecting I had caught up with him Jared continued.

"Tell me again why you didn't believe Sam?"

I felt the air escape from my chest. My fingers began to nervously tug on the frayed edges of the rips in my jeans. I tried to work through the pattern of words assembling themselves in my head.

"It's not that I didn't believe him exactly, it just didn't all add up from everything I had been told"

The silence between us was palpable, only being broken once Jared had considered my words for a long minute.

"Do you think that the way you feel happiness is the same way I do?"

I looked up to meet his eyes knowing that mine would be full of intrigue. Who was this man in front of me? I wasn't sure what I had expected from Jared, but I was embarrassed to admit that his depth of thought was taking me thoroughly by surprise. I wasn't even sure if his question had been rhetorical or not, but I decided to take it as such and think on his words later. I was feeling out of my depth and I needed to take back some control of the conversation.

"You said that you hadn't been as distant as I thought, what did you mean by that?"

I caught a flash of guilt in his eyes before Jared angled his head away from me, turning to look in the direction of Emily and Sam's home. He was still facing away from me when one word slipped from his lips.

"Leah"

It took me a little while to discern just why he had spoken her name. Memories of the times we had spent together cascaded through my mind, from the supermarket all the way through to the previous Sunday's dinner. Each moment was now stained with the blush of something other than the innocence of friendship. For the second time in fewer weeks I felt like I was getting the punch line but didn't understand the joke. Of course our friendship didn't make any sense, Leah had always been one of the Wolves who possessed the most vehement hatred of the Cullens. How pitiful I must have seemed to her, believing she gave a damn while all the while she was busy enduring my presence through gritted teeth. I had been so naïve that I hadn't even thought to question her motives.

"How?"

I wasn't sure what emotions I had been emitting as Jared brushed my hand aside with his own. He took over playing with the frayed edges of my jeans, worn at my knees through time. Tingles of contentment shot through my body as his fingertips brushed hints of my exposed flesh. I watched enraptured as his fingers continued their ministrations while his husky voice filled my ears.

"Leah called from the supermarket telling me that she had found you staring at fruit or something, she tried to ignore you of course but she said something didn't feel right. She knew by then, everyone did and we have an obligation to one another in these circumstances, so she called me. I asked her to take you home, nothing more. After that she came to me with a proposal, something that we would both benefit from; so I ran her patrols and she kept in contact with you"

There was a sadness apparent in the tone of his voice. The words flashed in my mind and somehow I just knew them to be true. If Jared had been running her patrols, then Leah had not phased around the others since that first night in the Supermarket.

"But she didn't tell you I left Edward did she"

I looked beyond Jared to the ocean behind him trying to gather my thoughts while he shook his head in my periphery confirming what I already knew.

"I feel like we're all playing out our parts in some intricately choreographed dance routine and I've been too busy singing the song to learn the steps"

I let my eyes wander back across to Jared's face to see him intently studying his fingers still dancing across the rips in the fabric my jeans, leaving me with no indication that he had heard my words.

"How do you feel about…this?"

His eyes looked up at me through his dark lashes, the angle and a mischievous smile only enhancing his rugged beauty.

"You can say the word Bella"

Something about saying the word aloud made me nervous. Apparently my avoidance hadn't gone unnoticed but it didn't mean I wasn't going to try playing dumb.

"What word?"

All I got was a raised eyebrow and a chuckle in response. I let out a huff of air knowing I was up against a wall.

"Fine, how do you feel about this whole imprinting thing?"

I knew I was blushing but I tried to push that thought to the back of my mind when I noticed that Jared's eyes had lowered and his smile had swiftly faded. He took a deep breath before answering.

"I don't know if I should be honest with you Bella, my answer will probably hurt you and in turn me, but I just don't like having my choices taken from me"

I felt like he had just punched me in the gut. It was all I could do to turn my eyes to the ocean, hoping to hide from Jared the intensity what I was feeling. I hadn't realized just what a hold he had over me or my emotions until my body had reacted so violently to his words.

"Me"

I hadn't even realized I was going to speak until the word escaped my mouth in a desolate whisper

"That's the point Bella, I don't know you to say whether I would chose you or otherwise. My feelings on imprinting have nothing to do with you though, and I need you to see that. Hell if Sam hadn't told you then we wouldn't even be here having this conversation"

"Why did he tell me?"

"I wasn't the only one being affected anymore"

I ran my hands through my hair feeling a little too claustrophobic in the conversation. I just needed one question to be answered that would not lead to a million other others. Fragmented thoughts were laying malignant roots in the recesses of my mind. I knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon though and this conversation had been a long time coming. I was cycling through everything that I wanted answers for when something latched onto my mind. I had doubted the imprint due to his distance, but now that I knew he hadn't known of my split from Edward there was a possibility it wasn't so questionable.

"So did you stay away because you thought I was with Edward, or because you chose to?"

I had been looking out the ocean but I drew my focus in to see a wry smile on Jared's face, his eyes still not on mine though.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that we're here having this conversation less than a week after I find out you're no longer together do you?"

"What happened to choice?"

Jared's eyes flashed to mine and I was surprised to see them full of amusement.

"It comes at a cost"

"How much?"

The amusement was gone and a sadness was left in its wake.

"You don't want to know"

I left his response to linger in the salty air. I had other questions poised on the tip on my tongue when we were interrupted by a shrill ringing. Jared raised his finger to me in a gesture for me to remain silent as he drew his cell phone to his ear

"Yep"

I couldn't hear the voice on the other end of the line but I did note Jared pulling the phone from his ear, something he saw on the display caused a shift in his mood.

"Shit, sorry, I lost track of time, I'll be there in five"

The call ended and he was on his feet holding his hand out to me

"Sorry Bella, I need to get going, let me walk you back to Sam's"

I nodded and allowed him to help me to my feet, enjoying the warmth that his hand provided for the too few moments we were entwined. We spent the few minutes it took to arrive back at the house engrossed in our own thoughts. I led Jared around to the front of the house to my truck. I nodded in it's direction and broke our silence.

"Next time you want to have one of those not so private conversations of yours, you might want to take a look around to see who's home first"

I caught his eyes running across my truck in appreciation.

"Yours? Did Jake do this?"

"Yes it's mine and no he didn't, well, initially he did, but pretty much everything you see here is Rosalie"

"Rosalie?"

"I think we should probably save that for another day"

His eyes flashed with curiosity but he nodded and opened the door for me. I got in and rolled down the window.

"We're having a bonfire this weekend"

I nodded but my eyes were locked on his fingers as they ran nervously back and forth across the lip of the window.

"Will you come?"

I nodded again but this time my eyes wandered up to see the beginnings of a smile on Jared's lips. The smile broadened as our eyes met but then he was gone, giving my truck a quick pat on the bonnet as he jogged towards the black truck Paul had been thrown against earlier.

I watched in awe as Jared climbed into his truck. He sent a heart stopping smile my way before throwing on a pair of aviators and hauling ass past me. It took a few minutes for my head to stop spinning and a couple more after that to admit to myself that Jared had taken my breath away. I had known the moment I laid my eyes on him that Jared was handsome but seeing him there in his truck had been something else. He was everything that a man should be, raw, sexy and exuding masculinity. Remembering that I was parked out front of Emily's and knowing that I wasn't ready for a cross examination was all the incentive I needed to finally start the engine and leave.

All the way home I forced my mind out of Jared's truck and back to our conversation, berating myself for the things I should have said but didn't. Nothing had gone as expected. I couldn't refute that Jared had a strong influence on me, I was far more enamored with him than I could even begin to comprehend. However, I now had to contend with the thought that even though I was his imprint, I wasn't sure what effect I had, or he would allow me to have, on him. There were some questions bouncing around in my head that I knew wouldn't be waiting until the bonfire to be answered.

I arrived home to find myself both hungry and exhausted. I looked at the clock to see that it was barely 6:00pm but I couldn't figure out what hours of the day I had spent where. I didn't even bother to cook, instead I dragged my feet upstairs to my room. I threw off my shoes but didn't have the energy to change, so I just climbed into bed dressed from the day. I welcomed the exhaustion as it crawled through me, leaving me to dreams of wolves, vampires and moons of blood.


A/N: I had hoped this chapter would have been with you sooner but I've been addicted to editing it. I'll get the next chapter out to you on either Saturday or Sunday, I'm not sure which yet. The next couple of chapters are going to give you a lot more insight into Jared but it's not going to be a JPOV, this was just a Jared amuse bouche for you! Also I am seriously thinking of changing the rating from T to M, I'm not sure just how M rated things will get but I don't want to feel restricted in how I write. However, if this is something people are against I will keep things as they are. So please let me know.

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