It was all very childish. Why on earth should Edyth have to leave for Julie to come over? Weren't we past this kind of immaturity?

"It's not that I feel any personal antagonism toward her, Bella, it's just easier for both of us," Edyth told me at the door. "I won't be far away. You'll be safe."

"I'm not worried about that."

She smiled, and then a sly look came into her eye. Sh pulled me close, burying her face in my hair. I could feel her cool breath saturate the strands as she exhaled; it raised goose bumps on my neck.

"I'll be right back," she said, and then she laughed aloud as if I'd just told a good joke.

"What's so funny?"

But Edyth just grinned and loped off toward the trees without answering.

Grumbling to myself, I went to clean up the kitchen. Before I even had the sink full of water, the doorbell rang. It was hard to get used to how much faster Julie was without her car. How everyone seemed to be so much faster than me…

"Come in, Jules!" I shouted.

I was concentrating on piling the dishes into the bubbly water, and I'd forgotten that Julie moved like a ghost these days. So it made me jump when her voice was suddenly there behind me.

"Should you really leave your door unlocked like that? Oh, sorry."

I'd slopped myself with the dishwater when she'd startled me.

"I'm not worried about anyone who would be deterred by a locked door," I said while I wiped the front of my shirt with a dishtowel.

"Good point," she agreed.

I turned to look at her, eyeing her critically. "Is it really so impossible to wear full clothes, Jules?" I asked. Once again, Julie was wearing a tanktop so short it should just beba sports bra , and nothing but a pair of old, low-riding, cut-off jeans. Secretly, I wondered if she was just so proud of her new muscles that she couldn't stand to cover them up. I had to admit, they were very impressive—but I'd never thought of her as vain. "I mean, I know you don't get cold anymore, but still."

She ran a hand through her wet hair; it was falling in her eyes.

"It's just easier," she explained.

"What's easier?"

She grinned. "It's enough of a pain to carry the shorts around with me, let alone a complete outfit. What do I look like, a pack wolf?"

I frowned. "What are you talking about, Jules?"

Her expression was amused, like I was missing something obvious. "My clothes don't just pop in and out of existence when I change—I have to carry them with me while I run. Pardon me for keeping my burden light."

I turned bright red. "I guess I didn't think about that," I muttered.

She laughed and pointed to a black leather cord, thin as a strand of yarn, that was wound three times below her left calf like an anklet. I hadn't noticed before that her feet were bare. "That's more than just a fashion statement—it sucks to carry jeans in your mouth."

I didn't know what to say to that.

She grinned. "Does my being half-naked bother you?"

"No." I blushed deeper.

Julie laughed again, and I turned my back on her to focus on the dishes. I couldn't shake the blush from my face, and I was fumbling with the dishes. I dropped another plate, splashing my shirt with more water. I huffed in frustration.

"Well, I suppose I should get to work." She sighed. "I wouldn't want to give her an excuse to say I'm slacking on my side."

"Jules, it's not your job—"

She raised a hand to cut me off. "I'm working on a volunteer basis here. Now, where is the intruder's scent the worst?"

"My bedroom, I think."

Her eyes narrowed. She didn't like that any more than Edyth had.

"I'll just be a minute."

"I'll go with you, I need to change my shirt—it's soaked."

She followed me up the stairs into my room. Her nose immediately wrinkled in disgust. I moved to the closet to grab a dry shirt while she paced about the room.

"It reeks in here, Bella."

"I'll buy some air freshener." I joked as I pulled my shirt off.

She laughed, and then abruptly cut off. I turned around to see what was wrong, and caught her looking at me, slightly wide-eyed.

"Eyes front, soldier." I laughed, pulling on a dry shirt.

"Sorry, sorry," she blushed turning away.

I couldn't help but smirk a little as I walked toward the door. "Knock yourself out, I'll be downstairs."

When I got to the kitchen, I went back to the dishes. The only sound was the brush's plastic bristles scraping round and round on the ceramic plate I was holding. I listened for something from above, a creak of the floorboard, the click of a door. There was nothing. I realized I'd been cleaning the same plate far longer than necessary, and I tried to pay attention to what I was doing.

"Whew!" Julie said, inches behind me, scaring me again.

"Yeesh, Jules!"

"Sorry. Here—" Julie took the towel and mopped up my new spill. "I'll make it up to you. You wash, I'll rinse and dry."

"Sure." I gave her the plate.

"Well, the scent was easy enough to catch."

"That's good."

I washed and she tried in companionable silence for a few minutes.

"Can I ask you something?"

I handed her another plate. "That depends on what you want to know."

"I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything—I'm honestly curious," Julie assured me.

"Okay. Go head."

She paused for half a second. "What's it like—having a vampire for a girlfriend?"

I narrowed my eyes. "It's pretty great."

"I'm serious. The idea doesn't bother you—it never creeps you out?"

"Nope."

She was silent as she reached for the bowl in my hands. I peeked up at her face—she was frowning, her lower lip jutting out.

"Anything else?" I asked.

She wrinkled her nose again. "Well… I was wondering… do you… y'know,kiss her?"

I laughed. "Yes."

She shuddered. "Ugh."

"To each her own," I murmured.

"You don't worry about the fangs?"

I smacked her arm, splashing her with dishwater. "Oh, knock it off, Jules. You know she doesn't have fangs!"Just really sharp teeth.

"Close enough," she muttered.

I rolled my eyes and scrubbed a boning knife with more force than necessary.

"Can I ask another one?" she asked softly when I passed the knife to her. "Just curious, again."

"Fine," I answered.

She turned the knife over and over in her hands under the stream of water. When she spoke, it was only whisper. "You said maybe a few weeks… when, exactly…?" She couldn't finish.

"I don't know, Jules," I whispered back, watching her face warily. "Maybe after Graduation."

"So soon," she breathed, her eyes closing. It didn't sound like a question. It sounded like a lament. The muscles in her arms tightened and her shoulders were stiff.

"OW!" she shouted; it had gotten so still in the room that I jumped a foot in the air at her outburst.

Her right hand had curled into a tense fist around the blade of the knife—she unclenched her hands and the knife clattered onto the counter. Across her palm was a long, deep gash. The blood streamed down her fingers and dripped on the floor.

"Damn it! Ouch!" she complained.

My head spun and my stomach rolled. I clung to the countertop with one hand, took a deep breath through my mouth, and forced myself to get a grip so that I could take care of her.

"Oh, no, Jules! Oh, crap! Here, wrap this around it!" I shoved the dishtowel at her, reaching for her hand. She shrugged away from me.

"It's nothing, Bella, don't worry about it."

The room started to shimmer a little around the edges.

I took another deep breath. "Don't worry?! You sliced your hand open!"

She ignored the dish towel I pushed at her. She put her hand under the faucet and let the water wash over the wound. The water ran red. My head whirled.

"Bella," she said.

I looked away from the wound, up to her face. She was frowning, but her expression was calm.

"What?"

"You look like you're going to pass out, and you're biting your lip off. Stop it. Relax. Breathe. I'm fine."

I inhaled through my mouth and removed my teeth from my lower lip. "Don't be brave."

She rolled her eyes.

"Let's go. I'll drive you to the ER." I was pretty sure I would be okay to drive. The walls were holding steady now, at least.

"Not necessary." Julie turned off the water and took the towel from my hand. She twisted it loosely around her palm.

"Wait," I protested. "Let me look at it." I clutched the counter more firmly, to hold myself upright if the wound made me woozy again.

"Do you have a medical degree that you never told me about?"

"Just give me the chance to decide whether or not I'm going to throw a fit over taking you to the hospital."

She made a face of mock horror. "Please, not a fit!"

"If you don't let me see your hand, a fit is guaranteed."

He inhaled deeply, and then let out a gusty sigh. "Fine."

She unwound the towel and, when I reached out to take the cloth, she laid her hand in mine.

It took me a few seconds. I even flipped her hand over, though I was sure she'd cut her palm. I turned her hand back up, finally realizing that the angry pink, puckered line was all that was left of her wound.

"But… you were bleeding… so much."

I ran my fingers along the line, and looked up her eyes, steady and somber on mine.

"I heal fast."

"I'll say," I breathed.

I'd seen the long gash clearly, seen the blood that flowed into the sink. The rust-and-salt smell of it had almost pulled me under. It should have needed stitches. It should have taken days to scab over and then weeks to fade into the shiny pink scar that marked her skin now.

She screwed her mouth up into a half a smile and thumped her fist once against her chest. "Werewolf, remember?"

Her eyes held mine for an immeasurable moment.

"Right," I finally said.

She laughed at my expression. "I told you this. You saw Paul's scar."

I kneeled down and dug the bleach out of the cabinet under the sink. Then I poured some on a dusting rag and started scrubbing the floor. The burning scent of the bleach cleared the last of the dizziness from my head.

"Let me clean up," Julie said.

"I got this. Throw that towel in the wash, will you?"

When I was sure the floor smelled of nothing but bleach, I got up and rinsed the right side of the sink with bleach, too. Then I went to the laundry closet beside the pantry, and poured a cupful into the washing machine before starting it. Julie watched me with a disapproving look on her face.

"Do you have obsessive-compulsive disorder?" she asked when I was done.

Huh. Maybe. But at least I had a good excuse this time. "We're a bit sensitive to blood around here. I'm sure you can understand that."

"Oh." He wrinkled his nose again.

"Why not make it as easy as possible for her? What she's doing is hard enough."

"Sure, sure. Why not?"

I pulled the plug, and let the dirty water drain from the sink.

"Can I ask you something, Bella?"

I sighed.

"What's it like—having a werewolf for a best friend?"

The question caught me off guard. I laughed out loud.

"Does it creep you out?" she pressed before I could answer.

"No. When the werewolf is being nice," I qualified, "it's the best."

She grinned widely, her teeth bright against her russet skin. "Thanks, Bella," she said, and then she grabbed my hand and pulled me into one of her tight bear hugs.

Before I had time to react, she dropped her arms and stepped away.

"Ugh," she said, her nose wrinkling. "Your hair stinks worse than your room."

"Sorry," I muttered. I suddenly understood what Edyth had been laughing about earlier, after breathing on me.

"One of the many hazards of socializing with vampires," Julie said, shrugging. "It makes you smell bad. A minor hazard, comparatively."

I glared at her. "I only smell bad to you, Jules."

"Well," she grinned. "You smell great. The vampire stink on you, not so much."

"Thanks," I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"See you around, babe."

"Are you leaving?"

"He's waiting for me to go. I can hear him outside."

"Oh."

"I'll go out the back," she said, and then she paused. "Hold up a sec—hey, do you think you can come to La Push tonight? We're having a bonfire party. Emily will be there, and you could meet Kim… And I know Quil wants to see you, too. He's pretty peeved that you found out before he did."

I grinned at that. I could just imagine how that would have irked Quil—Julie's little human guy friend down with the werewolves while he was still clueless. And then I sighed. "I'd like to, Jules, but I don't know. Things are pretty tense right now…"

"C'mon, you think somebody's going to get past all—all six of us?"

There was a strange pause as she stuttered over the end of her question. I wondered if she had trouble saying the word werewolf aloud, the way I often had difficulty with vampire.

Her big dark eyes were full of unashamed pleading.

"I'll ask," I promised.

She made a noise in the back of her throat. "Is she your warden, now, too? You know, I saw this story on the news last week about controlling, abusive teenage relationships and—"

"Okay!" I cut her off, and then gave her a playful shove. "Time for the werewolf to get out!"

She grinned. "Bye, babe. Be sure you ask permission."

I pinched her arm and she let out a surprised yelp before bursting into laughter as she ducked out the door. I giggled to myself once I was alone.

Seconds after she was gone, Edyth walked slowly into the kitchen, raindrops glistening like diamonds set into the bronze of her hair. Her eyes were wary.

"Did you two get into a fight?" she asked.

"Hey," I smiled, throwing my arms around her neck.

"Hi, there." She laughed and wrapped her arms around me. "Are you trying to distract me? It's working."

"No, I didn't fight with Jules. Why?"

"I was just wondering why you stabbed her. Not that I object." With her chin, she gestured to the knife on the counter.

"Damn! I thought I got everything."

I pulled away from her and ran to put the knife in the sink before I doused it with bleach.

"I didn't stab her," I explained as I worked. "She forgot she had a knife in her hand."

Edyth chuckled. "That's not nearly as fun as the way I imagined it."

"Be nice."

She took a big envelope from her jacket pocket and tossed it on the counter. "I got your mail."

"Anything good?"

"I think so."

My eyes narrowed suspiciously at her tone. I went to investigate.

She'd folded the legal-sized envelope in half. I smoothed it open, surprised at the weight of the expensive paper, and read the return address.

"Dartmouth? Is this a joke?"

"I'm sure it's an acceptance. It looks exactly like mine."

"Good grief, Edyth—what did you do?"

"I sent in your application, that's all."

"I may not be Dartmouth material, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that."

"Dartmouth seems to think that you're Dartmouth material."

I took a deep breath and counted slowly to ten. "That's very generous of them," I finally said. "However, accepted or not, there is still the minor matter of tuition. I can't afford it, and I'm not letting you throw away enough money to buy yourself another sports car just so that I can pretend to go to Dartmouth next year."

"I don't need another sports car. And you don't have to pretend anything," she murmured. "You might even like it. Just think about it, Bella. Imagine how excited Charlie and Renée would be…"

Her velvet voice painted a picture in my head before I could object. Of course Charlie would explode with pride—no one in the town of Forks would be able to escape the fallout from his excitement. And Renée would be hysterical with joy at my triumph—though she'd swear she wasn't at all surprised…

I tried to shake the image out of my head. "Edyth. I'm worried about living through graduation, let alone this summer or next fall."

Her arms wrapped around me again. "No one is going to hurt you. You have all the time in the world."

I sighed. "I'm mailing the contents of my bank account to Alaska tomorrow. It's the safest plan. It's far enough that Charlie won't expect a visit until Christmas at the earliest. That way if we have to run or if I… decide to change, we'll have an easy excuse. You know," I teased halfheartedly, "this whole secrecy and deception thing is kind of a pain."

Edyth's expression hardened. "It gets easier. After a few decades, everyone you know is dead. Problem solved."

I flinched.

"Sorry, that was harsh."

I stared down at the big white envelope, not seeing it. "But still true."

The washing machine thumped and stuttered to a halt.

"Stupid piece of junk," I muttered as I pulled away from her. I moved the one small towel that had unbalanced the otherwise empty machine, and started it again.

"This reminds me," I said. "Could you ask Alice what she did with my stuff when she cleaned my room? I can't find it anywhere."

She looked at me with confused eyes. "Alice cleaned your room?"

"Yeah, I guess that's what she was doing. When she came to get my pajamas and pillow and stuff to hold me hostage." I glowered at her briefly. "She picked up everything that was lying around, my shirts, my socks, and I don't know where she put them."

Edyth continued to look confused for one short moment, and then, abruptly she was rigid.

"When did you notice your things were missing?"

"When I got back from the fake slumber party. Why?"

"I don't think Alice took anything. Not your clothes, or your pillow. The things that were taken, these were things you'd worn… and touched… and slept on?"

"Yes. What is it, Edyth?"

Her expression was strained. "Things with your scent."

"Oh!"

We stared into each other's eyes for a long moment.

"My visitor," I muttered.

"He was gathering traces… evidence. To prove that he'd found you?"

"Why?" I whispered.

"I don't know. But, Bella, I swear I will find out. I wil."

"I know you will," I said, laying my head against her chest. Leaning there, I felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She pulled out her phone and glanced at the number. "Just the person I need to talk to," she murmured, and then she flipped it open. "Carlisle, I—" She broke off and listened, her face taut with concentration for a few minutes. "I'll check it out. Listen…"

She explained about my missing things, but from the side I was hearing, it sounded like Carlisle had no insights for us.

"Maybe I'll go…," Edyth said, trailing off as her eyes drifted toward me. "Maybe not. Don't let Emmett go alone, you know how he gets. At least ask Alice to keep an eye on things. We'll figure this out later."

She slid the phone back into her pocket. "Where's the paper?" she asked me.

"Um, I'm not sure. Why?"

"I need to see something. Did Charlie already throw it out?"

"Maybe…"

Edyth disappeared.

She was back in half a second, new diamonds in her hair, a wet newspaper in her hands. She spread it out on the table, her eyes scanning quickly across the headlines. She leaned in, intent on something she was reading, one finger tracing passages that interested her most.

"Carlisle's right… yes… very sloppy. Young and crazed? Or a death wish?" she muttered to herself.

I went to peek over her shoulder.

The headline of theSeattle Timesread: "Murder Epidemic Continues—Police Have No New Leads."

It was almost the same story Charlie had been complaining about a few weeks ago—the big-city violence that was pushing Seattle up the national murder hot-spot list. It wasn't exactly the same story, though. The numbers were a lot higher.

"It's getting worse," I murmured.

She frowned. "Altogether out of control. This can't be the work of just one newborn vampire. What's going on? It's as if they've never heard of the Volturi. Which is possible, I guess. No one has explained the rules to them… so who is creating them, then?"

"The Volturi?" I repeated, shuddering.

"This is exactly the kind of thing they routinely wipe out—immortals who threaten to expose us. They just cleaned up a mess like this a few years ago in Atlanta, and it hadn't gotten nearly this bad. They will intervene soon, unless we can find some way to calm the situation. I'd really rather they didn't come to Seattle just now. As long as they're this close… they might decide to check on you."

I shuddered again. "What can we do?"

"We need to know more before we can decide that. Perhaps if we can talk to these young ones, explain the rules, it can be resolved peacefully." She frowned, like she didn't think the chances of that were good. "We'll wait until Alice has an idea of what's going on… We don't want to step in until it's absolutely necessary. After all, it's not our responsibility. But it's good we have Jasper," she added, almost to herself. "If we are dealing with newborns, he'll be helpful."

"Jasper? Why?"

Elsa smiled darkly. "Jasper is sort of an expert on young vampires."

"What do you mean, an expert?"

"You'll have to ask him—the story is involved."

"What a mess," I mumbled.

"It does feel that way, doesn't it? Like it's coming at us from all sides these days." She sighed. "Do you ever think that your life might be easier if you weren't in love with me?"

"Maybe. It wouldn't be nearly as exciting, though."

"For me, it wouldn't be much of a life at all," she smiled gently. "And now, I suppose," she continued with a wry smile, "you have something you want to ask me?"

I raised my eyebrow at her. "Oh, do I?"

"Or maybe not." She grinned. "I was rather under the impression that you'd promised to ask my permission to go to some kind of werewolf soirée tonight."

"Eavesdropping again?"

She grinned. "Just a bit, at the very end."

"Yes, I was going to ask you. I wasn't planning on you saying yes, though. I figured you had enough to stress about."

She put her hand under my chin, and held my face so that she could read my eyes. "Would you like to go?"

"Yes, I would, very much."

"You don't have to ask my permission, Bella. Perhaps you should ask Charlie, though."

"But you know Charlie will say yes."

"I do have a bit more insight into his probable answer than most people would, it's true."

I just stared at her, trying to understand what she wanted. I knew it was foolish of me to want to go hang out with a bunch of big wolf-kids right now when there was so much that was frightening and unexplained going on. Of course, that was exactly why I wanted to go. I wanted to escape the death threats, for just a few hours… to be the less-mature, more-reckless Bella who could laugh it off with Julie, if only briefly.

"Bella," Edyth said. "I told you that I was going to be reasonable and trust your judgement. I meant that. If you trust the werewolves, then I'm not going to worry about them."

"Wow," I said, as I had last night.

"And Julie's right—about one thing—a pack of werewolves ought to be enough to protect even you for one evening."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Only…"

I braced myself.

"I hope you won't mind taking a few precautions? Allowing me to drive you to the boundary line, for one. And then keeping your cell phone on, so that I'll know when to pick you up."

"That sounds… very reasonable."

"Excellent."

She smiled at me, and I could see no trace of apprehension in her jewel-like eyes.

To no one's surprise, Charlie had no problem at all with me going to La Push for a bonfire. Julie crowed with excitement when I called to give her the news, and she seemed eager enough to embrace Edyth's safety measures. She promised to meet us at the line between territories at six.

Since I had decided not to sell my motorcycle, I would take it back to La Push where it belonged and if I no longer needed it at some point… well, then, I would insist that Julie profit from her work somehow. She could sell it or give it to a friend. It didn't matter to me.

Tonight seemed like a good opportunity to return the bike to Julie's garage. As gloomy as I was feeling about things lately, every day seemed like a possible last chance. I didn't have time to procrastinate any task, no matter how minor.

Edyth only nodded when I explained what I wanted, but I thought I saw a flicker of consternation in her eyes, and I knew she was no happier about the idea of me on a motorcycle than Charlie was.

I followed her back to her house, to the garage where I'd left the bike. It wasn't until I pulled the truck in and got out that I realized the consternation might not be entirely about my safety this time.

Next to my little antique motorcycle, overshadowing it, was another vehicle. To call this other vehicle a motorcycle hardly seemed fair, since it didn't seem to belong to the same family as my suddenly shabby-looking bike.

It was big and sleek and silver and—even totally motionless—it looked fast.

"What is that?"

"Nothing," Edyth murmured.

"It doesn't look like nothing."

Edyth's expression was casual; she seemed determined to blow it off. "Well, I didn't know if you were going to forgive your friend, or she you, and I wondered if you would still want to ride your bike anyway. It sounded like it was something that you enjoyed. I thought I could go with you, if you wished." She shrugged.

I stared at the beautiful machine. Beside it, my bike looked like a broken tricycle despite Julie's extensive and impressive work on it.

"I wouldn't be able to keep up with you," I whispered.

Edyth put her hand under my chin and gently turned my face around so that she could see it straight on. With one finger, she tried to push the corner of my mouth up.

"I'd keep pace with you, Bella."

"That wouldn't be much fun for you."

"Of course it would, if we were together."

"That's sweet." I bit my lip and imagined for a moment. "Edyth, if you thought I was going too fast or losing control of the bike or something, what would you do?"

She hesitated, obviously trying to find the right answer. I knew the truth: she'd find some way to save me before I crashed.

Then she smiled. It looked effortless, except for the tiny defensive tightening of her eyes.

"This is something you do with Julie. I see that now."

"It's just that, well, it was mine and Jules's thing. I really appreciate the gesture though. It was really sweet of you."

"Don't worry about it, love," Edyth said, and then she laughed lightly. "Such a shame it won't get ridden though." She sighed, glancing at the silver motorcycle.

"Edyth, I—"

She interrupted me with a quick kiss. "I said not to worry." Then she smiled, playfully. "Do you like it?"

"The bike? It's beautiful."

"Would you like it?"

My jaw dropped open and I stared at her in disbelief.

"You're kidding right?"

She laughed and kissed my forehead. "I admit, it's a bit… reckless of me." She grinned. "But I think you'd enjoy it, and you'd look very impressive on it."

"I don't know what to say, Edyth."

"It's yours, if you do something for me."

"Whatever you need," I promised quickly.

She dropped my face and leaned over the far side of the big motorcycle, retrieving something she had stashed there.

She came back with one object that was black and shapeless, and another that was dark blue and easily identifiable.

"Please?" she asked, flashing the crooked smile that I loved.

I took the blue helmet, weighing it my hands. "I'll look like a bobble head."

"No, you'll look smart. Smart enough to get yourself hurt." She threw the black thing, whatever it was, over her arm and then took my face in her hands. "There are things between my hands right now that I can't live without. You could take care of them." Then she smiled. "Besides, I got it in my favorite color on you."

I sighed. "Okay, fine. What's that other thing?" I asked suspiciously.

She laughed and shook out some kind of leather jacket. "It's a riding jacket. I hear road rash is quite uncomfortable, not that I would know myself."

She held it out for me. With a deep sigh, I stuffed the helmet on my head. Then I shoved my arms through the sleeves of the jacket. She zipped me in, a smile playing around the corners of her lips, and I took a step back.

The jacket was fitted to my body in a sleek leather, I wasn't used to something so form fitting.

"Be honest, how bad do I look?"

She took another step back and pursed her lips.

"That bad, huh?" I muttered.

"No, no, Bella. Actually…" she seemed to be struggling for the right word. "You look… sexy."She said and i swear she licked her lips probably trying not to be noticed.

I laughed out loud. "Right."

"Very sexy, really."

"You're just saying that so that I'll wear it," I said. "But that's okay. You're right, it's smarter."

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me against her chest. "You're silly. I suppose that's part of your charm. Though, I'll admit, this helmet does have its drawbacks."

And then she pulled the helmet off, and wrapped her arm around me and pulled me close to her. Her lips kissed up my neck, along my jaw and then deeply on my lips.

When she finally released me, I felt lightheaded.

"So I look sexy, huh?" I breathed, and she laughed.

"Shall we go?" She whispered against my lips.

And then I felt an uncomfortable feeling in the back of my head, thinking about the drive to La Push. Like an unpleasant memory I didn't want to remember.

"You know what the thought of you dropping me off reminds me of?" I asked. "It's just like when I was a kid and Renée would pass me off to Charlie for the summer. Like when I was seven."

Edyth laughed.

I didn't mention it out loud, but the biggest difference between the two circumstances was that Renée and Charlie had been on better terms.

"Well, I don't want to make you unhappy." Edyth pursed her lips. Then she smiled her crooked smile. "I think, since you agreed to my safety terms, and since I'm trusting you more on what is and isn't dangerous…" she trailed off, and then threw a pointed glance at the silver motorcycle—my silver motorcycle.

I grinned widely. "Really?"

She nodded once, smirking.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Julie's number. She picked up after two rings.

"Hello?" Julie's cautious voice asked.

"Jules, it's me."

"Hey, Bella," her voice immediately sounded disappointed. "Don't tell me. You can't come."

"Actually, I was going to tell you to meet me but leave the Rabbit at home." I grinned into the phone as Edyth watched, amused.

The silver motorcycle was exhilarating. I flew along the roads, laughing and hollering with pleasure. Julie was right; I had gotten very good at riding. Even with this beast of a machine, I still never felt unsafe. In fact, this motorcycle handled better than my old one. Edyth followed close behind in the Volvo, I was sure she was fretting about my safety, even with my helmet and jacket, but I fervently hoped she didn't change her mind about me keeping the silver motorcycle.

About halfway to La Push, we rounded the corner and found Julie leaning against a tree. Julie's carefully neutral expression dissolved into a confusion, shock, and then a huge grin when she realized it was me.

I came to a half about ten yards away. Edyth parked the Volvo another twenty behind me.

I pulled my helmet off and set it on the seat of my bike, I waved at Julie, and mouthed one second. Before running back to the Volvo.

Edyth was already standing in front of it.

"Call me whenever you're ready to come home," she said. "And I'll be here."

"Will do." I promised.

Edyth pulled my old bike out of the trunk of her car—I'd been quite impressed that it had all fit. But it wasn't so hard to manage when you were strong enough to juggle full-sized vans, let alone small motorcycles.

Julie watched, making no move to approach, her smile gone and her dark eyes indecipherable.

"You really did look remarkably attractive on that bike." Edyth smiled. "I may not have initially approved of Julie teaching you to ride at all, but I suppose I should thank her for teaching you to ride so well."

"Oh, stop." I laughed.

She sighed and leaned towards me. I turned my face up for a goodbye peck, but Edyth took me by surprise, fastening her arms tightly around me and kissing me with as much enthusiasm as she had in the garage—before long, I was gasping for air.

Edyth laughed quietly at something, and then let me go.

"Goodbye," she said. "I really do like the jacket."

As I turned away from her, I thought I saw a flash of something in her eyes that I wasn't supposed to see. I couldn't tell for sure what it was exactly. Worry, maybe. For a second I thought it was panic. But I was probably just making something out of nothing, as usual.

I could feel her eyes on my back as I pushed my old bike toward the invisible vampire-werewolf treaty line to meet Julie.

"What's all that?" Julie called to me, her voice wary, scrutinizing the motorcycle with an enigmatic expression.

"I thought I should put this back where it belongs," I told her.

She pondered that for one short second, and then her wide smile stretched across her face.

"What about that?" She nodded towards the silver motorcycle.

"Edyth gave it to me today," I smiled, balancing the red bike on the kickstand. "I hope you don't mind me keeping it here with you…" I said playfully, while she eyed the newer bike. "Of course, I won't be able to ride it all the time, so someone will need to ride it when I can't—to keep it in tune, of course."

Her eyes went wide with excitement and I laughed walking towards her.

I knew the exact moment that I was in werewolf territory because Julie loped quickly over to me, closing the distance in three long strides. She scooped me up into a tight hug and spun me around in a circle.

"You are seriously the best, I could kiss you." She laughed into my ear.

I heard the Volvo's engine growl, and I tensed up.

"Okay, Jules, that's enough." I gasped breathlessly.

She laughed and set me down. I turned to wave goodbye, but the silver car was already disappearing around the curve in the road.

"Nice," I commented, shooting her a glare.

Her eyes widened in false innocence. "What?"

I rolled my eyes and went to my silver bike.

"Don't I get to ride it?" Julie faked a pout.

"When you're being good, yes." I said.

She laughed and climbed onto the red bike while I mounted the silver one.

"Edyth's being pretty dang pleasant about this; you don't need to push your luck." I said as I put my helmet on.

She laughed again, louder than before—she found what I'd said very funny indeed. I tried to see the joke as I started the engine on my bike.

"Bella," she finally said—still chuckling—as she kicked on the engine of the other bike, "you can't push what you don't have.

lets do a twist guys are you team Julie or team Edythe also what do you think breaking dawn will be about ;)