Only When You Stop To Think About Me, You Know

Edward paced his room silently, his eyes drawn every few seconds to the large floor to ceiling window, while Bella slept fitfully. Edward knew that he could slip down to La Push and back in no time, he was faster than the rest of his family, faster than the pack he was sure. Besides, the pack would let him through, they had to. Esme had been there earlier, her memories of leaving Jacob broke Edward's heart as much as it had hers. The fierce motherly bond she felt for Jacob, which was partially Edward's fault, still surprised him sometimes. Esme wanted to protect Jacob so badly, even above the rest of their family at times. If the pack had let Esme go to Jacob, if Esme could see Jacob, then Edward could too. Why couldn't he? Bella? Bella was asleep, she didn't need to know, and Edward could be back before she even woke up. He didn't even need to talk to Jacob; he just needed to see Jacob.

Edward could hear Jasper's thoughts downstairs, wondering when Jacob might be back, and a low hiss issued from his lips. It was silly to let his jealousy get the better of him as it had, he'd only made the situation worse. Still, it was hard to live the way he had been. Jasper's familiarity with Jacob had turned into an peculiar desire to understand what it was about Jacob that made Edward so interested in him. Jasper would watch Jacob's lips when he spoke, pay keen attention to the way Jacob's clothing pulled against his muscles, the smooth dark russet of his skin. It had been Jasper's most recent imaginings that caught Edward's ire, Jasper wondered if, since Jacob ran without clothing as a wolf, that beautiful golden bronze color had spread to the whole of Jacob's body. Alice was no help since she encouraged Jasper to 'play' like it was a game. As close as she and Jasper were she probably shared some, most likely all, of Jasper's curiosity. Jacob's thoughts as of late had done little to ease Edward's mind. Jacob rarely thought of Edward anymore, instead he planned ways to busy himself, strongman competitions with Emmett, anything to do with Jasper, anything. It drove Edward crazy.

As Edward paced Jacob's voice continued to fade in his mind and it aggravated him. It was Jacob's diminishing presence in Edward's mind that made Edward pace like a caged animal. Jacob voice shouldn't be vanishing; even now Edward could sparsely hear Jacob's thoughts. Jacob wasn't like Bella, he was Jacob, he was special, he was Edward's Jacob. At night Edward would watch Jacob sleep, listening to his thoughts and envisioning his dreams, during the day he would listen to Jacob's every thought. The only reason that Jacob's voice would fade would be if he was harmed, dying.

That was why Edward had gone to Esme, told her what was happening, he'd relied on her super mom instincts to kick in but they hadn't. She'd only called Jacob's house and spoken to Paul who had assured her that Jacob was fine, and she believed him. Edward had witnessed Paul's transformation, seen and heard Paul when he'd come to join Jacob; he knew that Paul was almost a completely different person. Edward knew that if Jacob were in any sort of trouble that Paul wouldn't hesitate to call. He could hear the devotion in Paul's thoughts even from their distance. Paul was devoted to the pack, to his Alpha, to Jacob… his brother. But, if Jacob was unharmed then why was his voice fading, why was Edward losing him? Edward had never lost Jacob's voice before, not any of the times that Jacob had run away, even if all that had remained was the smallest glimmer, so why now was Jacob being blocked off?

It was infuriating Edward to only be able to hear Jacob's thoughts sporadically. In one hundred and eight years Edward had never had a person's voice fade from his mind unless they were also fading from this world. The idea that Jacob might be in trouble killed Edward, the idea that Edward couldn't go and see Jacob and knowing that it was Edward's own fault was heartbreaking. He could have controlled himself, he shouldn't have snapped at Jacob, he should have dragged Jacob back into the house and declared his love for Jacob, hand-in-hand, in front of Bella and everyone. But Bella, sweet Bella, she needed him and he couldn't abandon her. He couldn't desert her when she was three months pregnant. Edward glanced over at Bella asleep in her grand bed, her swollen stomach forcing her to sleep on her side, her hair matted to her head. He hadn't been there for her at all, not really, she had to have noticed. He was always with Jacob no matter where they were physically. If she noticed she hadn't let on, she was all too happy to prattle on about the baby, EJ; Edward Junior.

Tomorrow was another doctor's appointment, Edward went with her to every appointment, and they had a new appointment every two weeks, soon every week. Bella and the baby took up so much of Edward's time that there hadn't been any left for Jacob, and every scheme Esme concocted to get them together had failed. All but the grocery store, which had turned into a disaster, and the trip to locate "Seth" which had failed in large part due to Edward's stubborn refusal to accept Jacob. Bella needed him, Bella always needed him. Edward loved her so much but he couldn't help feeling trapped by her. Unable to love who he wanted or to be where he needed to be, Edward could feel his resentment towards her building.

Edward glanced once more at the window then slipped silently into the hallway and down to Jacob's room. Jacob's strong musk hung heavy in the air. Edward could remember a time when Jacob's scent would have been akin to rotting milk, now it was seductive, powerful, heady; Jacob. Edward inhaled deeply then moved to the bed and laid down on it. For weeks the only way Edward and Jacob could be together was in memory. Edward would come into Jacob's room while Jacob was out, lie on the bed, and breathe in Jacob's scent that lingered on the pillows. Edward would imagine Jacob there with him while letting his hands gently caress the empty bedspread, wishing that Jacob were actually there. Edward would remain as long as he could bear, this fragile fantasy both a comfort and a curse, an echo of what seemed would never be. Then he'd rise; walk around Jacob's room, touching Jacob's things lovingly, giving extra attention to those things that held Jacob's scent the strongest. Tonight his ritual seemed more a torment than a salvation.

Every breath he took reminded him that Jacob was gone, again. The image of Jacob that Edward had created in his imagination seemed to fade with Jacob's voice. Jacob's bed became as cold and as empty as a tomb, the room that housed it a hollow hole, even Jacob's scent seemed duller. If Edward were capable of crying he would have been sobbing with grief. He curled into a ball on the bed spread, wrapping his arms around his shins. Each breath he drew was like inhaling shards of glass until finally he stopped breathing. It did nothing to ease the ache in his chest, the dark inky void that spread to envelope him and engulfed him with a dark hollow pain. It ripped at him, this pain, threatening to tear him asunder. Edward felt as though he were imploding in slow motion, his chest cavity slowly squeezing in on itself, pulling together, locking up, until it'd burst and he'd be pulled into himself.

Jacob was gone, and this time felt different than the others, this time Jacob had really left him. Jacob was closing himself off to Edward in ways that didn't seem possible. Edward had thought their connection was magical, mystical, a product of the old world, it was the first time Edward believed in magic.

Edward vaulted himself into an upright position, his eyes as wide as saucers. Hadn't Sam had been looking for an old world "remedy", had he found it? Was this Sam's doing? Had Sam finally found a way to break them apart, even found a way to shelter Jacob from Edward's ability? What would be the point? Even if he succeeded in making Jacob break the imprint Edward still felt the same as he did before. Edward still felt the same towards Jacob, still needed Jacob, still loved Jacob, he still desired Jacob. Edward rose from the bed quickly, he needed to see Jacob. He needed to go to Jacob, see him, pull Jacob into his arms and kiss Jacob's warm face. Edward just needed to see Jacob with his own eyes and know that Jacob was okay, and then he could leave… Or he might wait outside Jacob's window until morning, just to be sure. Maybe he'd stay until the afternoon, just in case. And―

"Don't do it," Alice called from the doorway. Edward had barely gotten to the balcony doors. Alice glided across the room, leaned on the out facing wall, and tsked at Edward while shaking her head petulantly. "You'll leave and you won't be back by the time Bella wakes up. You'll miss the doctor's appointment, you'll―"

"I know, Alice." Edward growled. He didn't need her to summarize it for him; he could see the vision she'd had for himself. Alice shrugged her thin shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest. Edward sighed in frustration. "I just need to see him, Alice." Edward said softly. "I need to know that he's alright. I can hardly hear him anymore."

"Maybe it's for the best," Alice said. She might as well have punched her hand through Edward's chest at least that would have hurt less. "Maybe it's better that the two of you… separate."

"There is no separation!" Edward thundered. "He's still here," Edward tapped his chest, over his heart, roughly. "He's still here," Edward touched his temple. "I can't hear him but he's still everything to me, he's still my world."

'Bella―'

"Forget about Bella!" Edward yelled. "Not everything is about Bella!"

"It is now," Rosalie barked from the doorway. "She is going to give birth to a beautiful, precious, baby boy and you have promised to be there for her. You married her. This baby and Bella come first; you can deal with the mutt later."

"Rosalie," Alice sighed, "you never help. Every time you speak Edward's future becomes harder to see. You push him towards Jacob."

"He's a fool," Rosalie hissed.

"You would give up Emmett," Edward asked, "to be with someone else? You could forsake Emmett? You could live your life without him?"

'It's only for a short while,' Rosalie thought. 'One human life span―'

"Even for a moment," Edward countered, "could you forsake Emmett and swear your life to someone else for even a moment?"

'No,' was the resounding answer from both Rosalie and Alice's minds.

Edward nodded then turned to jump from the window but he froze once he had the window open. The night breezes swept his face, the starless sky waited above his head, and Edward was poised in the doorway unable to move. Bella, Bella, always Bella. She deserved more from him. Edward remembered how he had felt for her once upon a time. Emotions that had once been the deepest he'd ever felt were now shallow compared to the depths he felt for Jacob. He couldn't leave her, not even with Alice's silent urgings for him to go, to leave and go to Jacob. Edward couldn't risk causing her more pain. The shattered look on her face when he's told her he was in love with Jacob, the memory of that moment, still haunted him. For Bella he would stay, for Bella he would shatter into a million pieces, for Bella he would be consumed with his unquenchable longing for Jacob. For Bella, Edward would forsake the man he loved.

"Guess it's just not meant to be," Rosalie said as she slipped from the room.

Jacob's whisper of thoughts dulled in Edward's mind, faded until it finally stopped, leaving behind a loud echoing void. A thousand psychic swords pierced Edward's body and he slumped to the ground. Alice wrapped her arms around him, stroked his hair, and rocked him slowly back and forth. Suddenly Jacob's room seemed cold and empty, uninviting and Edward wanted nothing more than to leave but his body wouldn't allow him to. He sagged limply in Alice's arms, feeling a thousand tiny cuts slice again and again on his heart. What was there without Jacob? What was he now without Jacob?

'Hollow.'

After several moments strength returned to Edward and he rose, pulling free from Alice's grasp, and turned away from her. He wasn't a child; he didn't need her to coddle him. He would get through this and besides, Jacob would live longer than Bella, it was as simple as that. That was all he needed to know, that was all he could think about. It was all just a question of mathematics, it was easier to deal with that way. If he took the emotion away from it, if it was just logistical, it didn't seem so bad. Without the crushing emotion factoring in it was easier to deal with. Bella would live, roughly, eighty more years. Given a proper diet, baring all unforeseen accidents, and that she didn't get sick with a virus or some hereto unknown faulty genetic trait. Jacob, however, would live much longer, even if he suffered a horrific accident, and Jacob's genetics were flawless… compared to most humans. As long as Jacob continued to become a wolf, Jacob wouldn't age. Jacob would remain perfectly frozen in time, as if fate wanted him to wait for Edward, to be with Edward, forever. Eventually Edward would have to leave Bella; he'd have to fake a tragic accident to avoid the suspicions of their neighbors since Edward would never age. When he did he could return to Jacob and they could finally be together.

"You move," Alice said. Her voice took on an ethereal quality, one Edward knew only too well, the one she used when speaking through a vision. Alice stood and addressed Edward's back. "When you and Bella have been in one place too long you move and start over somewhere new."

Edward could see the words of truth in her mind; he used them to see her vision as if it were his own. As soon as their neighbors began to grow suspicious of Edward, still as young as the first time they'd met him, Bella would have them move. Bella would tell people they were married, then her younger brother, then her son, anything to keep Edward at her side. She'd tell her son the truth, that Edward was immortal, that he would never age, and that moving was the only way to keep them together... the only way to keep "Papa" with them.

In Alice's mind Edward could see Bella's child, beautiful, happy, healthy, vivacious, but he could feel no attachment to it. The child was everything a person could hope for in a child but Edward didn't love him, not like a father would. As beautiful as the child was, he was still a flesh and blood reminder of the chain around Edward's neck. He was a walking talking reminder of the reason Edward wasn't with Jacob, the reason he couldn't have Jacob, the cause of Edward's imprisonment. Edward had no doubt of the affection he would feel for the child, that of a cherished uncle, but never would the boy be "his".

'You'll get over this,' Alice urged him silently; 'you're strong enough.'

Alice touched Edward's back lightly before quietly leaving the room. She meant well, Edward needed to remind himself of that, but at that moment all he wanted to do was rip her limb from limb. She thought he'd get over it, as if there would come a time when he wouldn't ache, when his heart wasn't constantly being wretched from his chest. He was strong enough to get through this, to overcome this debilitating hollow in his soul, and somehow that made his sacrifice worthwhile? 'She means well,' Edward reminded himself.

Edward moved to Jacob's ―to the empty spare room's― bed and sat gingerly on the edge. He ran the back of his fingers lightly over the bedspread, trying to imagine the feel of Jacob's soft skin and the heat radiating off of it but the hallucination was gone. Jacob was gone. A part of Edward, a large part if Edward were admitting it, was gone with him… completely. No remnants remained; Edward had no beautiful tormenting visions of Jacob to keep his hopes alive. Jacob's thoughts were silent, Jacob's presence could no longer be felt, the house that had always seemed the most like home, was suddenly cold and foreboding. Edward felt every bit as cold as his temperature. Why hadn't he gone after Jacob? Why couldn't he leave Bella? Why couldn't he make a clean break from Bella instead of lingering, instead of letting the wound fester, never allowing either of them to heal properly?

'Jacob,' Edward thought. Edward didn't siphon the emotion from his inner voice; he allowed the millions of emotions that he could never communicate saturate that one word. He filled it with all of the tears that would never fall and it cut with an unending pain that he could never express. A hundred years of immortality hadn't prepared him for a pain like this. Edward wasn't prepared for a pain more agonizing than the fire that had taken the last of his mortal life. It was a pain so harsh that he almost believed that his body was trying to kill him; he almost believed that all of the romanticized stories people told. Where a lover died and the loved one left behind withered and died without them. It had always seemed a wistful, hopelessly romantic sentiment before, to believe that someone else would stop living if you did. Edward had just thought that it was the fantasist desires of humans, to believe that they could love each other forever, 'til death. It seemed to him now that that might be another of the legends that was based on truth. It seemed like Edward's broken heart might actually be murdering him in the most painful, slow way possible.

Edward could hear the others downstairs, hear their idle chatter; he could hear every word they said and every thought. He could hear the silent battles within them, deliberating the loss of their wolf brethren. Esme, of course, missed Jacob terribly, more so than she let on. She missed counting the fast beats of his heart, the steady plodding of his feet as he lapped the house, she even missed his scent. Carlisle felt for Esme, he enjoyed Jacob's presence too but it was Esme's pain that truly concerned him. Carlisle wanted to make her feel better. Edward would have told him not to bother; Esme loved Jacob with as much intensity as Edward did, albeit in a completely different way. Edward hadn't been paying close enough attention to her lately; he hadn't noticed Jacob and Esme's relationship. He hadn't noticed Esme and Jacob's growing level of symbiosis; she might as well be Jacob's flesh and blood mother for as much as she loved him. Carlisle would only waste his time trying to appease her, Jacob was her son, and you couldn't replace him with a new puppy.

Emmett, who Edward hadn't been aware had bonded with Jacob at all, was busy thinking up ways to make Jacob come back, a new tactic for him. The plans ranged from stealing Jacob from his bed at night, to abducting him on a run, to tricking Jacob by saying that Esme had been injured. The underlying key to his plan being that Jacob wouldn't be able to leave again once he saw Edward's pain. His plan also involved a contingency of chaining Edward and Jacob together so as to keep Jacob from ever leaving again. Edward wondered when things had changed so much. Emmett missed Jacob, the last Edward had listened to Emmett he was still sickened by the idea that Edward might actually love Jacob. Edward was sure all of these changes stemmed from Jacob, Jacob could be downright irresistible when he wanted to be. Edward knew that Jacob and Emmett would have been fast friends in a different life. Rosalie didn't think much on Jacob, rarely did anything but Bella's child cross her mind these days, but that night her thoughts swirled with Edward's need for Jacob. She seemed to think that Edward was exaggerating, that whatever Edward imagined he felt for Jacob was only Edward projecting Jacob's thoughts. Rosalie believed that without Jacob's mind around to reinforce the feelings Edward felt, and once the baby was born, Edward would be able to forget Jacob. She thought that the child would occupy Edward's entire consciousness and leave nothing to pine after Jacob.

Jasper, Edward growled low in the back of his throat even thinking on it, thought only of bringing Jacob home, thinking the word 'home' often while thinking of their house in Forks. When had Forks become their 'home', and when had Jacob become such an integral part of the Cullen family? Jasper spoke little but his thoughts were always so potent, on account of his special ability Edward had no doubt. Jasper's thoughts were always accompanied by raw, rough, baser emotions and they always floored Edward. The strong, animalistic feelings he felt towards Jacob were no different, they could be summed up in one word: "Mine." It made Edward's lips curl back in a silent snarl and he wanted to scream; 'Jacob's mine!' It was all Jasper thought, over and over; 'Bring my Jacob home'. It was his litany, hidden underneath all of his other thoughts, always in his head. It was always behind and underneath anything else he was thinking, underneath any schemes to bring Jacob back, under idle thoughts on the weather, behind his thoughts on Edward's well being. 'Bring my Jacob home.' He made it seem so simple.

It was Alice's thoughts that cut Edward the deepest, slicing him on top of wounds that would truly never heal. Silently she urged Edward with an insistent, desperate litany; 'Go to him. Go to him. Go to him.' Her urgings mixed with Edward's urgings until it became nearly impossible to remain stationary. Alice's mantra mixed with his own until he couldn't distinguish between them, until he couldn't tell her voice from his own. He listened, both of their voices rolling through his head, burning already seared flesh, until Edward wanted to scream, clawing and scraping at his own skin. 'Go,' Alice urged, 'I'll stay with Bella when she wakes.'

In an instant Edward leapt from the window, as soon as his feet touched the ground he was moving through the outlying forest. Edward could hear Alice's mind constructing easy lies to placate the family, to soothe Bella, but he couldn't pay attention to her. He utilized his full grace of speed to race towards the reservation, at the border he paused. He waited for the pack to come and confront him, to tell him exactly what the consequences would be if he decided to cross their border, but no one came. Finally Edward crossed, feeling a small twinge of guilt, fearing the rest of the pack would be after Jacob for the frequent unannounced visits from vampires, but his need was too great to let a small twinge impede him.

Edward slipped easily to the heart of the reservation, up to Jacob's house, and in through Jacob's window. Jacob didn't stir as Edward came in, didn't wake when Edward sat on the edge of his bed, didn't even notice when Edward couldn't keep from tracing Jacob's jaw with one slender finger. Edward leaned over and gently pressed his lips against Jacob's, immediately regretting it as he was overwhelmed by his desire. Edward had to jump across the room to stop, pressing his body against the far wall to keep from touching Jacob. Edward wanted more of Jacob, he always wanted more, that was the problem. It wasn't enough to just be near Jacob, Edward wanted to claim Jacob. He wanted to capture Jacob's mouth with his own, press his body flush with Jacob's until they were one, touch every inch of Jacob's russet skin until Edward's scent permeated every inch of Jacob, until it exuded from Jacob's pores. Edward wanted to take in every piece and part of Jacob until there was no separation between the two of them, until they were one. Even across the room Edward could feel himself being drawn to Jacob, pulled in by Jacob's innocent sleeping form, the slowed thrumming of Jacob's heart, the subtle heat radiating off of Jacob's body.

Edward moved without thinking over to Jacob's bed and pulled Jacob into his arms. Edward held Jacob against him, pressing them together cheek to cheek, inhaling Jacob's scent. Jacob woke sluggishly and uttered a muffled exclamation of surprise. Edward brushed his cheek against Jacob's then, slowly giving in to the temptation, he began to kiss Jacob's cheek softly. Edward thread his fingers in Jacob's hair, kissed a path up to Jacob's ear, his temple, then placed a soft kiss on Jacob's forehead allowing his lips to linger there. Jacob shivered and Edward allowed himself a small smile, until Jacob pushed him forcefully away.

Edward allowed him to, moving back from Jacob but not any further away. Jacob wrapped his arms around himself, shivering, as he crawled across the bed, hopped off, and shut the window. Edward watched him carefully; worry winning out over his need to consume Jacob's closeness. Jacob came back to the bed and knelt on the edge looking every bit the seventeen year old boy he actually was. His pajamas, pajamas that Alice had expertly picked out specifically for him, hung loose on his frame. Jacob's big brown eyes looked up at Edward through a lock of his dark black hair. Edward straightened to his full height and towered over Jacob.

Edward lunged across the bed, easily knocking Jacob to the ground, and pinned Jacob beneath him. Jacob stared up at Edward, his dark eyes wide with surprise. 'He should have been able to easily dodge me,' Edward thought. Unless Jacob had intended for them to end up like that, and once Edward thought about it, it really didn't seem like such a bad way to have ended up. Edward gazed down at Jacob, Jacob's big eyes blank as he stared up at Edward. Edward reached between them, grasped the hem of Jacob's night shirt, and slipped his hand underneath it. Jacob's skin was tepid under Edward's hand, a decidedly cooler temperature. Edward slid his hand up Jacob's torso; his hand moved against Jacob's taunt skin, feeling the bones underneath, his skin no longer covered the hard sinew of muscle. Jacob's body had changed.

Jacob shivered and said; "You're freezing." Even Jacob's voice had a youthful edge to it.

"Jacob," Edward tested, "do you… do you remember who I am?"

Jacob chortled. "You crawled through my window, you kissed me, jumped me, and now you're groping me. If I didn't know who you were I'd have called for help a long time ago, Edward." Jacob sighed and pushed himself up on his elbows before continuing. "Why are you here?"

"I needed to see you."

"Why?"

"I missed you; I needed to be near you."

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

Jacob gaped at him, stunned into silence. It wasn't the first time Edward had said it, though it was probably the first time he had said it so matter-of-factly.

"You what?" Jacob asked.

Edward's brows creased as he said: "I love you, Jacob Black." Edward caressed Jacob's face, "Always."

Jacob seemed to think it over for several moments, Edward cursed angrily in his head at the lack of Jacob's thoughts. What had ever convinced him that not being able to hear Bella's thoughts was appealing? It was aggravating. Edward watched Jacob process the information, watched the nearly indecipherable emotions flit across Jacob's face. Edward leaned down slowly to kiss Jacob but Jacob turned away and Edward pressed his lips to Jacob's cheek instead. Edward tried futilely to kiss Jacob's lips again but Jacob pushed Edward away and crept out from underneath him. Jacob stood beside his window, a foot away from Edward, and opened the window refusing to meet Edward's eyes.

"That's… er, nice and all but I think you should probably leave," Jacob said.

"You think," Edward said. Edward let a mischievous smile play on his lips, "But you don't want me to go."

Jacob blinked, bewilderment clear on his face, and nodded slowly. "Y-y-y-yes, I do want you to leave."

Edward's smile died on his lips as Jacob's thoughts returned to thunder in his head. Edward was accosted by a chorus of 'Why is he here?' and 'What does he want? Why didn't anyone stop him? Why won't he leave?' All of it adding to the great cacophony of Jacob's thoughts that burned Edward's mind. Edward might have been able to withstand the onslaught of discontent from Jacob if it weren't for how Jacob perceived his visit. Edward could feel the emotion behind Jacob's every thought; feel Jacob's utter indifference towards his presence, towards his touch, his kiss. It was too much for Edward, he could handle losing Jacob when he knew that Jacob wasn't far. He could handle it when he knew that he and Jacob would always feel the same way for each other, if he knew that in some way Jacob would always be his. To lose Jacob, for Jacob to stand in front of him and feel nothing towards him, something inside Edward snapped.

Edward growled, snatched Jacob up and swung Jacob onto his back then swooped out of the window with him. Edward raced back towards the Cullen estate, hoping he could get far enough from La Push before Jacob's cries for assistance alerted the rest of his pack, or any other pack. Edward could feel bad about abducting Jacob later, once Jacob was better. Something was definitely wrong with Jacob, his appearance, his voice, his body, his temperature. It was like he was changing back into a boy, like he was turning away from Edward. Edward couldn't stand it, could hardly keep from screaming… or retching. His head clamored with Jacob's thoughts, Jacob's demands to be released, and his revulsion to Edward's cold hard skin. Listening to Jacob's thoughts, knowing how Jacob felt about him now, it made Edward's earlier pain seem like a pin prick in comparison. It sent shockwaves of pain so deep through Edward's heart he began to slow down in an attempt to appease the pain.

When Edward reached the Cullen estate he leapt easily up into Jacob's old room and deposited Jacob onto his bed. It was almost comical how much smaller Jacob seemed, more like a child of fourteen than the seventeen year old he was or the fully grown man he'd seemed to be. Jacob scrambled away from Edward, not attempting to leave the room just trying to gain a safe distance from Edward. Edward heard the curious thoughts of his family downstairs, heard them wondering what frightened mortal Edward had forced back to their house, wondering what nefarious plans Edward might have for the frightened mortal. As one they raced up to Jacob's room and the only thing that kept them from bursting into Jacob's room was a small gasp from Alice.

"Jacob," Alice hissed, "it's Jacob."

Esme threw open the door, bound inside, but froze midway. Edward knew what they all were thinking, even without his ability he would have known: This boy was not Jacob.

A/N: Ha ha! All that's missing is the Dun dun dun-dun-dun dun music.