Author's Notes: A visitor for dinner? Who could that be?

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ProjectTeamBeta: mcsc2008 -- No one gets better than her.

Chapter Eleven -- The Treaty

Edward's scheme to get me out of my PE class came to nothing, so he made other arrangements that made him almost as happy. He'd charmed Ms. Cope and both teachers so that he could trade his Spanish and PE classes. Now, he attended both of those classes when I did. This was wonderful even if I had to have him witness some of my less graceful moments as I missed shots and deliberately fell on my face. Edward found it endlessly amusing to watch a vampire attempt to seem so human, but his presence kept me distracted from Mike's relentlessness.

As Edward had warned me, Mike hadn't given up on me entirely and seemed to be hunting for ways that he could disrupt whatever relationship building was going on between Edward and me. He went out of his way to get me alone and bumped into me during class, no matter the sport we were doing. Edward put a stop to most of his antics pretty early, reacting fairly strongly when Mike tried to fall into me one day. I started to wonder if his plan was to annoy me until I gave in and went out with him. I was eternally grateful that Edward was there to make sure that Mike didn't "volunteer" himself into an early grave when we had to pair up in teams for badminton.

After the first couple of days, Edward starting picking me up for school in his car. The rest of his family traveled back and forth in Rosalie's bright red BMW. I loved the time we had alone together, back and forth from school, though it often made me nervous. He drove like a maniac, and I would pester him about being the Chief's daughter and having to turn him in for breaking so many traffic laws.

In the afternoon, we'd linger at my house for the most part. Both of us were very reluctant to share each other while we were getting to know one another. We'd do our homework and then I'd work on Charlie's dinner. Edward always disappeared when we heard Charlie's car coming down the street, but he was always close by, either outside or up in my room waiting for me.

Nights were my favorite part, we spent the first half of the night in the forest, hunting at first and then walking quietly together. The rest of the night was often in my room in case Charlie got up and checked in on me. We spent the entire time talking. We were getting to know each other; our likes, dislikes, habits and histories.

Edward had so much more to say than I did, naturally; I made sure of it since he had so much more time to cover. This time between us was easy and pleasant. It distracted me from the still unfamiliar feelings and thoughts that I had learned were normal and so much more enhanced in the usual newborn vampire.

I was constantly coping with the rampant thirst, mood swings and sudden aggression. All of these things were absolutely uncontrollable in the usual newborn, and I'd learned this was the main reason why Jasper always watched me so closely. I'd seen his scars, the mark of a dangerous and experienced fighter. Jasper was formidable, any vampire who saw him would know it immediately. He'd survived every one of the fights in which he had gained each one of those scars, and each vampire who'd marked him thus had met their end.

Edward explained Jasper's history to me, why he was so careful around me and why I made him so nervous.. Jasper didn't trust any newborn and my apparent control mystified him. He'd interacted with countless newborns in his lifetime, and not a single one of them had ever exhibited the strength of mind that I did. It took some vampires up to ten years before they could even remotely function around humans without attacking them. Jasper still had issues with controlling his thirst even now. It was a constant struggle to reign in his need to feast on humans. As difficult as it was for him to resist, it was nearly impossible for him to believe that I wasn't going to suddenly lose control and start slaughtering the town.

I didn't laugh when Edward had revealed this to me; sometimes I felt like I was going to go on a spree of pain and death all over Forks. Edward did make it easier in many ways. It was really difficult for me to think about bad things at all when we were together. But also, being around him made it so much easier for me to think about things other than my need to quench my thirst. More than that, after the time we spent together, he was now absolutely sure of my control even more than I was myself. I had never been a girl that needed the validation of someone else's opinion, but I could not avoid my new reality that Edward's belief in me made it easier for me to be stronger.

A week after my arrival in Forks, Charlie invited his best friend, Billy Black, over for dinner. They'd been fishing together since my arrival, but I hadn't gone to the reservation with Charlie. Edward had warned me about the treaty, so I knew I had to stay out of Quileute territory. In taking me under their wing, I became a part of that, which meant I didn't cross the boundary line, which he showed me one night.

That afternoon, Edward stayed with me until the time for Charlie to come home, and then he faded out into the back, presumably running home to spend some time with his own family. He didn't like leaving me alone for this but felt that it probably wasn't a big deal. People didn't believe in the supernatural anymore, and he didn't think it would be any different than having anyone else in the neighborhood over.

I still wasn't quite sure what my relationship with Edward was exactly. We'd never sat down and defined things exactly, but I wasn't ready to clue Charlie into the fact that there was now a man in my life. He was protective enough as it was, and I didn't think he was ready for me to have a boyfriend. Almost always, Edward spent the time when Charlie was awake out in the trees behind the house or hiding in my room, but Esme had been insisting that she missed him, so Edward had taken the opportunity tonight to go home and spent some quality time with his family.

I'd taken some care with dinner since Billy's wife had died some years earlier and he only had a son, just a couple years younger than me, at home. Charlie had to remind me of this small fact since most of my human life had faded into foggy memories and this wasn't something I had retained. I figured a nice home-cooked meal wouldn't be horrible for them. I didn't know if Billy, or his son, was a good cook, so I thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

I'd found a garlic rub for the fish that seemed like it would be yummy even though human food didn't appealed to me anymore. I was in the kitchen frying up the fish when Billy and Jacob arrived. Charlie wasn't home yet, but I let them in anyway. Billy's face was instantly startled when he caught sight of me, which was really surprising.

"Jacob," Billy said as he rolled into the house on his wheelchair and followed me into the kitchen. "Run out and check in the trunk of the car and get those pictures of your sisters. Charlie wanted to look at them."

Jacob looked surprised at being sent out into the cold rain again but only shrugged and went to do what he'd been asked. Billy looked like he wanted to talk, but I didn't want the fish to burn, so I went back to the kitchen and over to the stove. I turned the fillets carefully, trying to keep as much of it from sticking to the pan as I could.

"Bella," Billy started, trying to get my attention. He sounded uncomfortable. "How long have you been like this?"

"What do you mean?" I glanced back at him over my shoulder.

"You are a cold one now, Bella," he said softly. "Like the Cullens. A vampire."

I stilled then looked up from the stove to meet Billy's eyes. He knew. I saw it in his face. Edward was wrong. People did still believe in the supernatural.

"The Cullens? I didn't know you knew them," my mind was scrambling for options, explanations. I wasn't sure how to respond.

I heard Jacob close the trunk of the car and start climbing the front steps. Billy heard him too, and realizing our time was short, he sighed softly.

"We need to talk about this, but it isn't time for Jacob to know yet," there was a worried tone in his voice. "You are friends with the Cullens?" He seemed to want confirmation. I nodded.

"Come with the leader of the Cullens to the boundary line straight west from Forks at midnight. We'll meet you there," Billy said quickly and then rolled over to a spot at the kitchen table where he set down the six-pack of beer that had been sitting in his lap. Jacob had made it to the kitchen door by then, shaking his head like a dog and flinging wet drops of rain all over his father.

"There aren't any pictures of the girls in the trunk, Dad," Jacob said, smiling at the grimace on Billy's face as he got sprayed with rainwater. "You must have left them back at the house."

"Ah, I must have," Billy agreed easily, and I knew there never had been any pictures in the trunk. "I'll have to bring them another time."

I flipped the fish out of the pan and onto a serving dish just as Charlie's patrol car rolled into the driveway, and I held back a sigh of relief. I was suddenly worried. I didn't want my father to know about all this supernatural stuff, and I didn't know that Billy wouldn't insist on telling him that his only child was now a vampire. This could easily turn very bad, very fast.

Once again, my life here in Forks, which was so much better than I had ever expected it to be, felt threatened. Knowing about vampires would put Charlie at risk from the Volturi. Considering what Edward had told me, keeping Charlie in the dark was part of keeping the secret, the only vampire law.

Charlie came stomping into the house, pleased to see his old friend, and the two immediately started talking about their planned fishing trip this weekend. They were going together to a spot they loved at Ozette Lake, just north of La Push and they easily dominated the conversation with speculation about how their trip would go and what they might need to take with them.

Dinner was nice, though I had to eat more than I usually did; Jacob watched me curiously throughout the night, but less closely than his father. After dinner, Billy and Charlie went into the living room to watch whatever game was on tonight, and Jacob stayed in the kitchen with me to help me clean up.

"That was something new with fish," Jacob said as he came over to help me with the dishes.

"Hah! You live with a fisherman; you should know how the score goes. They bring home the fish; you are left having to find something to do with it because you have to make room in the freezer for the fish that they will bring home as soon as they can get away from work long enough," I reminded him with a wry smile as I buried my hands in the soapy water nearly to the elbow.

He grabbed a dish towel and started to help by drying the dishes as I washed them. "Nah, I make Dad figure out what he's going to do with the fish he brings home. I'll cook if I have to, but I'm not good at it. We tend to take turns."

Jacob's smile was infectious, and I returned it as I teased him about making his dad cook from his wheelchair. He took it all in good fun; it was almost like what I thought having a little brother would feel like.

We laughed a lot as we washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. By the time they were ready to leave, I was actually reluctant to see Jacob go. I'd enjoyed his visit more than I thought I would.

When they left, I escaped upstairs, telling Charlie I was going to work on homework, but I was just looking for some time alone. I loved being with Edward, but alone-time wasn't something that I had much of anymore, and I took advantage of it when I could. Just because I didn't need to sleep didn't mean that things couldn't sometimes get exhausting.

When I got to my room, though, Edward was waiting for me. I took one look at the expression on his face and sighed, crawling onto my bed into my favorite spot. I flopped over to the side and covered my head with my pillow.

"You heard that, huh?" I shouldn't have been surprised that he was aware of the little talk that Billy and I had earlier.

He must have waited before he headed home if he'd even actually gone all the way home. He moved over to sit on the bed beside me and leaned over to pull the pillow off my head. I rolled onto my back so that I could look up at him, and his expression was absolutely serious as his eyes met mine.

"I was listening to his thoughts as I left," he admitted, looking a bit sheepish. "I hadn't gone far when he noticed you were a vampire. I hadn't thought that the Quileutes kept up the old stories and traditions, but I should have expected it."

"More than that, I should have recognized the name. His ancestor, Ephraim Black, is the one with whom we made the original treaty," Edward continued, clueing me in on the things he would have told me earlier if he'd known I might need it. "Billy's a member of the tribal council and the direct inheritor of the line of chiefs. If the Quileutes had a real chief, it would be Billy Black," he brushed his fingers through my hair as he spoke.

"So I'm going tonight, I guess," I smiled at the way he touched me almost absentmindedly -- it was as though he couldn't help himself.

"It was nothing short of a summons from the tribal council," Edward agreed, "If we want the treaty to remain intact, the meeting has to happen. I don't like you going without me though."

Edward had become so protective, keeping me out of situations that might test my control or make me uncomfortable. No one had ever taken care of me before, and I liked not always having to be the reasonable adult in every situation. It made me feel cared for.

"He was pretty clear -- me and the leader, which is Carlisle," I explained, reiterating what he already knew.

"Well, you aren't going without me close. My brothers and I will stay a mile or so away, but close enough to help if it's needed." His eyes focused on me again, and he stopped brushing at my hair as though he just realized that he was doing it.

"You must have been a menace as a human, Bella," he complained gently. "Look at all the trouble you get into when you're warm and breakable."

I laughed at that because I knew he didn't want me warm and breakable in any way. Humans were too dangerous to be around unless you had a reason stronger than your thirst. I'd learned that with my parents. But he was right that I had been even more of a magnet for disaster as a human. He was so protective now, and I wondered for a brief second how much worse he would be if he had known me as a human.

"Well, Edward, I'm not going to apologize for not being human any longer," I informed him tartly.

"I couldn't have predicted this one. I wonder why Alice didn't," he said as he pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and looked at it quietly. He looked surprised to find that there wasn't an unread text on his phone.

"You're right. This isn't the sort of thing that she would miss. Doesn't she usually see the big things?" I confirmed his worry as he hit the speed dial that called Alice's phone.

"I see that Bella and Carlisle are going to the Quileute boundary line tonight, Edward, but I can't see why," Alice said as she answered her phone, skipping the greeting. I could hear everything as clearly as if Alice had been standing right beside us. Yay for vampire hearing.

"Billy Black was here at Bella's house tonight and had dinner with Charlie," he explained, though they'd talked about it earlier.

"Billy Black? You'd told me he was going to be by, but I didn't actually see him there at her house." Alice wondered quietly, sounding upset that she didn't already know.

"They've kept the old stories alive, Alice," Edward explained. "He wants to talk about the treaty. Billy knows that Bella is a vampire."

"Oh!" Alice's tone revealed her sudden understanding. "Why didn't I see this?" There was a pause. "I can't see the meeting either, Edward," Alice's voice turned suddenly hard, and she sounded upset again.

"They want to meet with just Bella and Carlisle, but I thought Emmett, Jasper and I could wait about a mile away in case something goes wrong," Edward explained. "Billy's thoughts weren't outright antagonistic, he was just worried why Bella was changed and wanted to know if we'd done it. He's worried we broke the treaty."

That didn't seem to mollify Alice and she made a rude sound of frustration.

"I'm coming with you, Edward. I'll let Carlisle know, and we'll meet you at the baseball clearing at 11:00. I don't like not being able to see what is going to happen." Alice hung up suddenly, and Edward's fingers curled around his phone, closing it.

"You heard all that?" He knew I had, but I nodded anyway.

We both paused when we heard Charlie moving around downstairs in his evening ritual before heading up to check on me. I jumped off my bed, spread out my homework and looked studious as Edward slipped into the closet. By the time Charlie opened my door with a quick knock, everything looked like my father expected, and I was able to look up at him innocently as he told me good-night and headed off to bed.

Edward slid out of the closet and came up behind the chair I was sitting in. It was only 10:00, and I didn't know how I was going to wait patiently until it was time to leave. Charlie had to go to sleep before I was going anywhere. I turned back to my desk and started on what little homework I had left as Edward looked down to see what I was working on. I often completed my assignments early, but I occasionally wanted the distraction of something to do while I waited for Charlie to conk out. Charlie usually passed out pretty quickly usually, but that didn't mean that I wasn't going to go nuts waiting for it tonight.

After a moment, Edward started to gather my hair, running his fingers through the strands and pulling it away from my face. I looked back at him in surprise and he shrugged, shooting me that uneven smile that I loved.

"I need something to occupy me too," he explained as though it should be obvious to me.

"Messing with my hair cannot be all that absorbing." The look of surprised disbelief on his face made me laugh, as I'm sure it was meant to.

He just shrugged again in answer, as though he didn't expect me to understand. His touch distracted me so much that it was impossible for me to even work on my homework. I could only concentrate on the feel of his long pianists fingers sliding through the strands of my hair.

After a few moments of me sitting there doing nothing but enjoy his touch, he tugged on my hair gently. "What about your assignment, Bella?" His voice was low and amused.

"Like that's possible when you're touching me," I still didn't like admitting these embarrassing things, but he'd gotten so persistent about making me answer his questions, and I knew he'd get it out of me eventually.

"It's just your hair, Bella," he said as though he didn't know the effect his touch had on me.

I leaned back to look up at him, resting my head on the back of my chair, and I smiled into his face. "No, I like it, Edward. Right now, it's relaxing me. It's soothing."

Even his touch on my hair sent an electric charge through me that I was sure would never fade in intensity, but it still brought a peace I rarely felt otherwise. He dropped my hair to rest his hands on my shoulders, and he smiled down into my face. After a second, he smiled unhappily.

"I really don't like you going without me tonight," he said softly and then stepped back as I rose from my chair and turned to wrap my arms around him.

"It'll be all right, Edward. No one broke the treaty and Billy will understand that. He's been Charlie's friend for a long time," I tried to reassure him. Unfortunately, I wasn't so sure myself.

Then again, what could a small group of humans do to a large group of vampires in retaliation for breaking the treaty, even if that were the case? I respected Billy, but he was one middle-aged man in a wheelchair. The tribal elders may not all be disabled, but I was pretty sure they were all older men -- older human men.

Charlie distracted me from my thoughts with a snort. He was snoring, and I laughed at the sound, dropping my head onto Edward's shoulder. I loved how predictable my father was. The minute we heard loud snoring from Charlie's room, it was safe to get going.

Edward drew back and walked over to the window, pulling it open and gesturing me out. "Come on," he directed me with a smile. "Even if it isn't time to meet the others, let's get out of the house."

I grinned at him as I walked over and hopped out the window, turning to watch as he closed it. We shimmied down the tree at the same time and headed out into the forest behind the house hand in hand.