Tripping

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the awesome reviews and for following this story!

Chapter Thirteen

Jacob didn't know how to answer Bella. He knew of James. He had heard the whisperings and rumour mongering among his own pack. He knew that this particular vampire and his red headed mate had been responsible for the deaths of some hikers who were trekking through the wilderness and also one of the locals, a well-liked individual called Roy, had been killed. The deaths had been blamed on animal attacks, possibly by bears. That theory was perpetrated by Carlisle Cullen who had volunteered to autopsy the bodies. The wolf pack had conducted their own investigation after the hiker deaths. They knew it was committed by rogue vampires travelling through the area. They had come across nomads before, but these two were particularly skilled at evading capture. Neither Jacob nor his brothers had ever come across them physically. They had only ever witnessed the aftermath of the killings. Then Bella had her so called 'accident,' and the wolves hadn't come across the rogue vampires since. Any attempt to get any information from the coven leader proved useless. Carlisle Cullen was adept at avoiding answering direct questions, just citing that the situation had been dealt with.

"Someone was after us." Bella whispered fearfully. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples as she tried to focus. But already the images that her mind had conjured up were gone. She ground her teeth in frustration. "I can't remember. I can't remember."

"It's okay. Just relax." Jacob urged Bella as he held her carefully against his warm body. She sagged in his embrace and hid her face in the crook of his neck. He rubbed the top of her arm comfortingly.

"The Cullens are liars, Jake." Bella whispered against his throat. He tightened his hold on her. "They are covering up what happened the night I ran away. But I can't accuse them of anything when I can't recall what happened."

"It's gonna be alright, Bells. You're not alone in this. I'll protect you." Jacob vowed.

Bella sniffed a few times and drew in a ragged breath. He was so sweet and adorable. She was touched by his promise to protect her, even if it was impossible. To do that he would have to be with her every waking moment to make sure that she didn't come into contact with Edward or one of his family, especially in school. She had to pull herself together. Bella hated feeling so weak and dependent. "I'm okay now." She said quietly as she sat up straighter. "Thanks for looking out for me and putting up with all my craziness."

"Anytime, Bells." Jacob smiled softly. "Anytime."

After the Swan's went home after spending the evening at the Black's, Jacob confided in his father about what had happened with Bella. Billy was quiet for a while as he mulled over Jacob's words. Hearing Bella's brief memory of the night she had run away and her resulting accident only cemented in his mind what he had suspected ever since learning that his best friend's daughter had been hurt.

"They kept us all away on purpose." Billy mused. "I made several attempts to get to see Bella. But of course Carlisle Cullen kept everyone away from her under the guise that she needed space in order to heal properly. It was all a ruse so that he could have full control of the situation."

"I tried to sneak in a few times to see Bells." Jacob admitted for the first time. "But the vamp doctor or one of the others was always around. I couldn't get past them."

Billy raised his eyebrows at this little snippet. "You kept that quiet."

Jacob just shrugged. He was frowning as if trying to work out a complicated maths problem in his head. Bella's brief memory had shed a whole new light on things. They had already been suspicious about the Cullens bullshit story, but hadn't any proof. In every way possible the coven adhered to the ancient treaty which had been made by their ancestors and the alpha of the last pack, Ephraim Black. But they were beginning to suspect that Carlisle Cullen and his family were overstepping their bounds. If Bella ever did recover her memories of what happened the night she had run away it could be all the proof the wolf pack needed to drive the Cullens out of the area for good. But what worried Jacob the most was the toll it could take on Bella during the process if she ever did finally remember everything.

Bella decided to focus on Jacob's school dance. It proved a good distraction. She had to admit she was feeling slightly nervous. She was going to be mixing with a whole bunch of people she didn't know. But she calmed herself down with the knowledge that it included everyone in her life right now. But at least the kids at Jacob's school dance would have no preconceived notions of her. She tried on her dress a few times beforehand as she practised accessorising with it. She tried on some makeup but decided to keep it minimal, just a dash of mascara and lip gloss would suffice. Angela came over a few hours before Jacob was due to pick her up, to help with her hair, and to offer her silent support. She could see how nervous Bella was. Bella was acting like a girl going on her first date and was desperate to impress. Angela, ever the diplomat, kept those thoughts to herself.

"How do I look?" Bella was biting her lip nervously. She twirled around before fussing with her hair. She had decided to keep her hair down. The silky strands swept around her slim shoulders in a satin wave.

"You look lovely." Angela said honestly. "You really do."

"Thank you." Bella was touched by her friend's sincerity. "I really appreciate you coming over tonight."

"I enjoyed it." Angela smiled shyly as she hugged Bella. There was the sound of a car horn outside. Ben had arrived to pick her up. Angela rolled her eyes. "One day he might actually come to the door to get me." She laughed and hugged Bella one last time before she left.

Jacob was almost if not more nervous than Bella. He had to endure constant teasing from his father. He had spent ages in the bathroom fiddling with his hair, only to come out with it swept into its usual tousled style. "Well that was worth it." Billy had laughed. "You used half a ton of hair gel for nothing. I hope you haven't blocked the sink."

"Shut up." Jacob protested as he rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows. He had decided to keep it simple. He had pressed and ironed a white shirt and teamed it with a dark pair of jeans.

"Use this." Billy suddenly threw a bottle of aftershave at his son.

"Why?" Jacob asked suspiciously. He looked at the glass bottle like it was a bomb about to explode.

"You want to smell nice, don't ya." Billy shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't smell." Jacob lifted each arm and sniffed his pits carefully.

"Make an effort, son. Sheesh." Billy urged him irritably. He looked Jacob up and down. "I still think you should wear a suit."

"Find one that fits me then." Jacob retorted. "This is the best I've got. Anyway it's only being held in the school gym. It will be the same tacky decorations as every year with the same tired old music." He was getting glum now. He so wanted to impress Bella and hoped that she wouldn't regret coming or asking him to her own prom when she saw the miserable effort his school had gone to. He popped open the aftershave and coughed when the smell hit his sensitive nose. "I am not wearing this crap." He wheezed. "How old is this stuff?"

Billy glared at him as he snatched the precious bottle out of his son's hand. "I wore this the day I took your mother to our school prom. She loved it. She said it made me smell like a real man."

"I think you'll find that mom was joking. It reeks. Please don't tell me that's the original bottle." Jacob groaned when he saw his dad's frown deepen. It was. It was the original bottle. That made it a hundred years old at least. "Jeez, dad, I'll knock Bells flat on her ass if I pour that stuff on my skin. It's toxic. How did mom stand it?"

"This cost me a lot of money back in the day." Billy grumbled. "And Sarah loved it. She told me to keep it safe so we could open it on special occasions and relive the memory of a wonderful night."

Jacob refrained from calling his mom out on her obvious lie. Sarah had put a romantic spin on the whole thing in an effort to stop her future husband ever wearing the stuff again. "Kudo's to you, mom." Jacob thought in his head. Just thinking of Sarah made him all sentimental. "Well how do I look?" Jacob asked aloud.

"You'll do." Billy said grudgingly.

"Gee, thanks, dad." Jacob muttered. "I'd better go and pick up Bells now."

"Have a good night. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Billy warned him. "Are you sure you don't want to take this just in case you…"

"Bye, dad." Jacob practically ran out of the house before Billy could offer anymore pearls of wisdom.

Jacob wasn't often lost for words. But when he saw Bella standing in front of him looking like something out of a dream he was speechless. She was so beautiful. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Charlie stood behind them chuckling. Bella's cheeks were blazing at Jacob's obvious ogling. "I want you to have my little girl home by midnight, son." He warned Jacob, bringing both teens out of their stupors.

"Huh?" Jacob blinked as if he'd just woken up from a pleasant daydream.

"I'm not going to turn into a pumpkin, dad." Bella mumbled as she felt her face burn. "You look very nice, Jake." She complimented him.

"You look…." Jacob gestured with his hands creating a very curvy figure. "Wow…Bells. Just wow." How smooth was that? He groaned internally at how much of a tool he sounded.

Charlie wasn't impressed with the picture Jacob had just painted. "Don't get too handsy, son." He threatened Jacob. He frowned darkly, issuing a ton of silent warnings with his eyes.

Jacob gulped. The police chief could look quite intimidating when he wanted to. "I wasn't…I wouldn't…."

"Let's go." Bella glared at her dad as she captured Jacob's hand and led him toward his car.

"Have fun." Charlie called out after them as he laughed under his breath at their discomfiture.

Jacob gazed around the packed gym. It was the same people from school, of course, many of whom were acting like total idiots. The decorations were tacky and the music was thumping loudly, reverberating off the walls. The humidity generated by the dancing crowds was nearly too much for Jacob. He was hot enough already (no pun intended). In the distance Jacob caught sight of his two best friends, Quil and Embry, dancing. If that's what you could call it. As soon as they spotted him they gyrated in his direction. Quil was ginning goofily and shoving his way through the crowds, ignoring the other dancers' heated protests.

"Oh no." Jacob muttered.

"What?" Bella whispered anxiously. Her brown eyes were wide with curiosity as she drank in the scene before her. Jacob's friends were nearly as tall as he was. They had the same black hair and muscular physique. They dwarfed everyone else in the room. She noticed that most of the girls were staring at her cattily as she was suddenly swamped by the best looking boys in the room. It had suddenly got a whole lot hotter. She fanned herself.

"She's already melting in my presence." Quil winked at her teasingly. "You're looking good, girl."

"Thanks." Bella smiled as she looked toward Jacob for help. He was frowning.

"This is Quil." He introduced his friend mulishly. He had warned them to be on their best behaviour so as not to overwhelm Bella but Quil seemed to be suffering from his own memory lapse.

"She remembers me. I'm unforgettable. Right, Bella." Quil was having fun getting under Jacob's skin.

"Ignore him. I'm Embry." The shyer of the two introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you." Bella replied courteously.

"Look at you being all polite." Quil laughed. He grinned when he noticed Jacob scowling. "I'm only having fun, dude. Chill."

"Haven't you got somewhere to be?" Jacob said pointedly. "Where are your dates? Have they gotten sick of you already?"

"Susie's around somewhere." Quil waved his hand vaguely.

"You ditched her half an hour ago." Embry reminded him.

"She couldn't keep up with my moves." Quil blustered as he gyrated around in a circle. "Do you want to take a spin, Bella?"

"No, she doesn't." Jacob interjected heatedly. Quil was getting on his last nerve.

"Calm down, Jake." Bella remonstrated with him softly. She was touched that he was trying to look out for her but it was clear that Quil was only teasing.

"Don't worry, Bella. It's a wolf thing." Quil said carelessly as he laughed at Jacob's intensity.

"Wolf thing? What does that mean?" Bella questioned as she looked at each of the boys who were suddenly looking very uncomfortable indeed.

A/N-thanks for reading!