A/N: Twilight - I own nothing! Thank you to all the wonderful people who have reviewed/alerted or favourited this story. You mean the world!


It was officially two weeks since I had last spoken with Alice. Two weeks since she prophesized that today would be the day. The day where I would finally face the past and explain my actions to the now not-so other half of my soul. I had barely managed to do anything productive all day, all week in fact; my world had been slowly rotating around this pending phone call. While my phone was busy glaring at me from the table; cold and silent. I wasn't sure what I was waiting for, only that I'd been waiting all day. Something just kept holding back my fingers from bringing the phone to life.

I cursed Alice for the thousandth time. I couldn't fathom the circumstances that would have led me to decide to make this call today; nothing except for her meddling words of course. I was fairly sure by this point that there was no vision, that she was only manipulating the situation as she saw best. A part of me wanted to call her bluff, to take a chance and bet against Alice. But a stronger part knew that the call was a long time coming, I had just been avoiding making it.

I thought over the blueprints of what I would say. The whole conversation had been intricately mapped out in my mind; complete with escape routes and alternate endings. Earlier in the day there had even been a script, several scripts in fact. But each had been balled up and thrown across the room in frustration. Seeing the words on paper felt wrong, they had commanded an undeserved innocence, becoming nothing more than script on a page. It felt like a betrayal to the monumental, life altering sentences that they were.

I picked up the phone and felt its barely there weight in my palm. Steeling my nerves I pulled up Edward's contact information. For the first time that day I considered the possibility of him having been in contact with Alice, had she promised him a call, just as she had promised I would make one? That thought left me with no doubt in my mind. If there even a fragment of a possibility that she had, then I knew I couldn't back out now. I hit dial.

As the ringing sounded in my ear I stood up. My nervous energy couldn't be contained.

"Bella"

One word, just one simple word in his melodic, ethereal tone, was all it took for the tears to fall silently from my eyes.

"Edward"

We were both silent for the longest time, before my mind managed to catch up with my emotions.

"How are you Edward?"

It was a selfish question. I wanted him to tell me that he was wonderful, that the world had been kind and we could live out our lives as friends. But I knew it wasn't to be.

"I'm fine"

And there it was, the dreaded phrase, rounded out with a terse tone for emphasis. There was possibly no other quite like it in the world. He wasn't fine, nobody was ever just fine. It was a throwaway comment meant for strangers and lies, and everybody knew it.

"I need to explain some things to you and I hope you're willing to listen"

When he didn't answer I took it as a sign that he was going to at least hear me out.

"Edward there was something that I didn't tell you. Do you remember that weekend when you all went hunting and I went down to La Push. Well that night I met one of the new Wolves…"

My words began to unscramble themselves in my carefully constructed blueprints and I was floundering around helplessly. I could think of words, but not how to form them into viable sentences.

"He imprinted on you"

The words were quiet and controlled but I could feel the pain behind them stab me sharply in the heart. Edward had always been such an open book to me.

"Yes…I didn't know though, not for months, months after I had moved back to Charlie's even. I'm so sorry Edward"

I cringed as I heard the whiney pleas in my voice. With silence radiating back at me I thought for a moment that our call had been disconnected, until suddenly Edward was back, stoically so.

"Bella, I'm sorry, Alice just sent me a message asking me to call her urgently. I have to go"

And the phone went dead. I stood there wondering what had just happened.

If Alice had truly seen my phone call, then she would also have known her message would interrupt us. I could gather all of the pieces together but I knew that something wasn't right. Either Edward had lied about Alice. Alice had lied about the call. Or, she had put the idea to call in my mind with the intent to interrupt us. The only scenario that really made sense was the first. Alice would have seen me making the call after she planted the idea in my head, wouldn't she? My mind began to swirl with the possibilities all focused around Alice's power. The complexities of a subjective future were too intricate for me to contemplate in my frazzled state.

Unfortunately though, that wasn't it for my internal debate. Suddenly I was wondering why if Alice had seen the call and had known that Edward would lie, then why had she wanted me to make it? I felt like I was playing a game of chess, only my opponent was a pro and I was wearing a blindfold. I quickly pulled up Alice's number and hit dial.

I growled when her phone sang out with her perky, …it's Alice, leave me a message voicemail recording. I fought to keep my frustration out of my voice, but was entirely unsuccessful.

"Hey Alice, it's Bella. Can you give me a call back when you get this please?"

I hung up feeling too agitated for words, so my pacing continued. Deciding that Charlie's front room was too small for my requirements I moved my restlessness to the back garden. I was on my second lap when my phone vibrated in my hand.

"Hey Alice, I need some answers"

"It's not Alice"

I looked down at my called ID, to see that the amused yet masculine voice was correct.

"Sorry, I picked up without looking"

"Is there anything I can you help with?''

I chuckled thinking just how that conversation would go. Oh yeah hey Jared, I was just on the phone with my vampire ex… Just hearing that was enough, I knew I didn't have to go any further.

"No, nothing, just a little confused. What's up?"

"Sam called a pack meeting and he wants you there. Can you meet me at his house at eight?"

I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the time, eight o'clock would leave me about twenty minutes to get down to the reservation.

"Sure, I'll start out now"

"I'll wait for you out front"

I hung up and made my way back into the house. I took a couple of minutes to clean up my paper trail from earlier, before grabbing my keys and heading out.

Jared and I had managed to hang out a couple of times already this week and our relationship had moved on to something which didn't seem to fit in any of the traditional boxes. There was a level of intimacy too close for friends, but then we weren't quite anything else either. The silences were comfortable but the words were still filled with tension. I impatiently awaited each new encounter, eager to learn something new and unusual.

On Monday I had been stuck between impressed and amused when he told me that he worked for a small publishing house, drawing illustrations for comic books. But when he spoke so passionately about what he did, no matter what the medium, I knew I wanted to see everything he had ever drawn. Even if it did involve a mutant superhero or two.

Tuesday was filled with small tidbits of information that I began to store in the back of my mind. Like the fact that he had grown up with a cat, but Tails had apparently hated him on sight and hissed whenever he was near. I wondered if it had anything to do with the wolf gene, but he shot that down saying that every other cat he had encountered liked him, every cat but his own. It wasn't necessary the things he said though. It was the familiarity of his expressions, the things he would do to avoid a question or encourage an answer. All those small things made me feel like I was gently unraveling a mystery.

I pulled up to Sam and Emily's to find Jared, true to his word, sitting on their front step. Seeing me pull up he approached my truck, opened the door for me and proceeded to wait patiently for me to catch up with his actions. When I did he placed his large hand on the small of my back as we walked into the house. I had noticed on Tuesday that his small touches had become more prominent and persistent. Every possible opportunity to touch me was not wasted in any way and I smiled to see that a day apart hadn't dulled the familiarity.

As I entered Sam and Emily's I looked around to see that the entire pack had already assembled. Huge tanned bodies seemed to cover every available inch of the room and loud voices filled my ears. I felt my eyebrows draw down in confusion as Jared led me to towards two conspicuously open spaces on the couch. I felt my Spidey senses begin to tingle, my presence here was not simply to fill the imprint quota. Couch space was a sacred thing for these boys, they wouldn't give it up without a fight, a bribe, or a command. Having a coveted spot left open for us spelled trouble.

Sam stood and shouted for attention over the din of the room.

"Alright everyone, shut it"

I laughed at the craziness of the situation. Coven meetings in the Cullen household were a far cry from this raucous event. I couldn't even begin to picture Carlisle's poise governing this barely controlled chaos.

"Okay, pretty much all of you know why we're here. Seth and Embry tracked a leech yesterday while out on patrol. I spoke to the Cullens and they don't have anyone visiting. Bella, we are all in agreement that for the time being we would like you to stay either with one of us, or with the Cullens"

Sam looked directly at me with his next words

"If you really want to stay at Charlie's we can extend the patrols out to cover you there, but I would really appreciate it if I didn't have to do that"

I nodded and weighed up my options. I knew that staying with the Cullen's had always been a natural fit for me, but after my awkward call with Edward earlier it didn't feel right to stay there.

"Umm, I'll stay down here somewhere if that's alright with you"

"Great, just to let you know, you are more than welcome to stay with me and Em, though I'm sure you'll have a few more offers before the night is through"

I could feel my face redden as Sam obviously directed his gaze to Jared, while little whistles and hoots sounded out from around the room. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. A couple of months ago I would have stayed with Jacob. That was all but impossible now. He hadn't been seen since our little tête-à-tête of a few weeks past. Leah would have been my second choice, but as of revelation night that was out the window. I couldn't imagine staying with Jared at this point, even though I knew it was what I really wanted to do. I decided I would take Sam and Emily up on their offer instead. It hadn't taken all that long to decide and having made the decision I tuned back in to Sam.

"…so eight hour shifts. Is everyone is agreement? Seth, Leah, Quil you guys take the next shift. Paul and Jared will take over from you at six and then Embry and I will relieve you guys"

"Seriously Sam, what the fuck have I done this time?"

My head whirled around when Paul slammed his fist down violently, he was glaring furiously at Sam.

"You and Jared are two of our best fighters and you seem to do it best with each other. I don't give a damn if you like it or not"

I turned to see what Jared's reaction was to Sam's decision and was surprised to see him sending a look of pure disdain in Paul's direction. I made a side note to find out just what their problem was with one another. I tried to pay attention to what was being said, but as the talk moved on to encompass patrol areas and potential scent trails I began to lose focus. I was busy thinking over my Alice/Edward dilemma when I felt myself being nudged by Jared.

I looked around to see every single pair of eyes was now trained solely on me. I almost smiled back at Leah who was grinning diabolically, until I remembered that I was still upset at her. Focusing back on Sam, I cringed to see a hint of irritation in his eyes. I mumbled out a quick apology in his direction.

"The Cullens seem to think you might know the Vampire in the area. They said you might be able to tell us about her. Seth?"

I listened as Seth garbled out something about wild red hair and I didn't need to hear anymore, they were dealing with Victoria. What I didn't understand was why the Cullen's wouldn't just explain themselves.

"Sam, why didn't the Cullen's just tell you?"

"The one I spoke with seemed to think the story might be better coming from you"

I thought about it for a moment, the story did include me being hunted and bitten. Maybe it would be better hearing that from the human who survived, than the Vampires who couldn't prevent it.

"The Vampire you described, her name is Victoria.."

It took about an hour in total to explain about my encounter with James. Mainly due to the angry question and answer sessions that erupted every time I took a breath. Several times I had to stop so that certain members of the pack could curb their anger. I began to understand just how peculiar I was. This was only a story to them, but for me it was something I had lived through. Yet each and every person in the room was reacting with an intensity I had never shared. Even Emily seemed to have more emotional attachment to the memories than I did. It was fairly likely that my peculiarity had led me here though and if that was my means then I would embrace it.

The story did have a side effect though. Well, two actually. The first seemed to be that it had riled the pack up to hysteria. A previously fun trip to hunt down a leech or two had transformed into a blood thirsty mission for vengeance. The second was Jared fingers, as they were now crawling languidly back and forth across the crescent evidence on my wrist.

It took a while for everyone to calm down, but when they did things faded out fairly quickly. Seth, Leah and Quil left to take the first patrol, but not before Seth and Quil both offered me a place in their homes. Leah just stood by the door looking a little bereft until I politely declined. Paul and Embry followed next, as I suspected this time it was only Embry offering up room at the Inn. I smiled and thanked him but told him that I had decided to stay at Sam and Emily's. This of course brought on squeals of delight from across the room when Emily overheard. I caught something about a sleepover before Jared interrupted my attempts at decoding her piercing shrieks.

"You know that I want you to stay with me, don't you?"

I smiled at him but his eyes were still looking down at my scar in vexation.

"I know, but I think it would be a little too much, too soon. Don't you?"

He just shrugged at me before continuing on with his ministrations in silence. I knew he was either hurt or angry at my choice but I wasn't sure I was ready to deal with certain situations; namely the fact that he only had one bed. My relationship with Edward had been so bound by his control. I had learnt many things from my time with Jared but one of the most interesting was the dichotomy between himself and Edward. There were so many things that created contradictions between the two. Trivial things such as their contrasting temperatures. But one thing lay prominent. One of them was compelled to protect my life, while the other was fighting against himself to take it. It made me wonder in kind if the control issue would be the same.

"I need to drive home to pick up some stuff, will you come with me?"

It was the first thing I had ever asked him to do anything with me and his eyes met mine in delight. He pulled me up and led me to my truck, I barely had a chance to tell Emily I was leaving. I was standing perplexed by the passenger side door when Jared turned to me, a pleading expression on his face. It took just a moment for me to realize what he wanted before I dropped my keys into his palm. I had forgotten that not everyone in Forks knew where Charlie's house was. It was only when we didn't make an essential turn that I began to give Jared directions.

"You know I met Charlie once"

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was on a class trip when I was in third grade, at least I think it was third grade. Anyway, he showed us around the station and then he locked us all in one of the cells. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I told my Mom when I got home that I wanted to be a Cop"

Jared smiled warmly at the memory and I reached across to take his hand in mind. I wasn't sure if he was aware, but just knowing that Charlie had met him, even fleetingly as a child, was ineffable to me.

It didn't take long for me to gather everything I could think of to take, even if I did have to work solo. Jared had proved absolutely useless the moment he had found ESPN and Charlie's favorite lounger. When I was done, I stood leaning against the doorway watching him. I wanted to walk across to him and bury myself in his arms and though I was almost certain it would be appreciated, I held back. I wasn't sure if it had been the comment in the car, or seeing him here in Charlie's home, but I felt a shift in my emotions. I didn't have long to dwell on the thought though. When he turned and saw me watching him a smile spread slowly across his face.

"Ready?"

I nodded and pushed off from the wall. I went to grab my bags but my hands were slapped away comically. We made our way back out into the night together.

When we arrived back at Sam and Emily's they were both sitting on the couch watching a movie. Jared decided to stick around and after throwing my bags in the spare room, he pulled me down onto the other sofa and tucked me securely into his side. It wasn't long after sitting down that I felt the day lay its weight on me, as I yawned and closed my eyes.

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night in Sam and Emily's spare room. I tried to remember getting there but the last thing I could remember was watching the movie, snuggled deep into Jared. It took me a beat before I realized that I wasn't alone. Soft rumbling snores were rising from the floor next to me. I hesitantly scooted to the edge of the bed and peered over. Having confirmation that my room hadn't been invaded by a narcoleptic burglar I threw myself back down on my pillows with a sigh. I already knew what I was going to do, now it was just a case of doing it.

I peered back over the edge and shook Jared's shoulder, rousing him gently.

"Hmmm"

"Hey you, so are you planning on sleeping my floor every night I'm here?"

Jared's voice was enticingly hoarse with sleep when he responded.

"I'm too tired to lie"

"Well, that's probably a good thing, I'll remember that"

"I went home. But I couldn't sleep. I just can't have you this close to me and not be near you. So yes, I'm going to do this every night"

"C'mon"

I moved across and patted the bed next to me. I knew what I was going to do. Tomorrow, I would move my bags over to Jared's. But for tonight I wasn't going to lie here taking up barely a fraction of the bed while he lay on the cold hard floor. As I felt the bed sink down under his weight my body began to slide down involuntarily closer to him. I didn't fight it though and neither did he. I fell asleep with a contented sigh on my lips and warmth enveloping my body. This was where I was meant to be, this was home.

A/N: Thank you to mauralee88 who pointed out that you all had no idea where Jacob was. Sometimes I forget that just because I know something doesn't mean you do to!

Chapter 11 is almost ready and hopefully I will have it up by the end of the weekend. I hope you enjoyed this... plenty more fun to come!