Disclaimer: Read it in Chapter 1.

-SurrepTRIXus

From Chapter 13: Visitor... a reminder of what just happened...

"Get out of my head, you filthy bloodsucker!" Jacob screeched. His expression was tortured. I couldn't bear it any longer. I wanted Edward out of his head; to just let Jacob be!

"Would it have been better, Jacob," Edward continued, "if she died? If she didn't become a monster?"

It was too much.

"Stop it!" I cried, forgetting my invisibility. "Leave him alone!"

Edward did stop. Jacob looked at me perplexed as I appeared to show up out of nowhere. Edward turned to look at me quickly, all traces of anger gone from his face, before he turned back to Jacob. He still stood between us, but now he was crouched, ready to attack. Jacob noticed the change, but did not phase in defense. He took a step back and stared at me with wide eyes.

"Bella," Edward said without looking at me, "what did you just do?"

Chapter 14: Repair

I looked from Edward to Jacob and back again. Jacob gaped at my visage, unsure of what to make of my sudden and unfamiliar appearance. Edward's face was frozen in a mask of frustration and panic.

"I- I don't know what I just did," I stammered.

"I can't hear him anymore," Edward said in a low tone, his voice strained.

"Oh!" I gasped as realization dawned on me of what I must have done. "You were hurting him..." I said quietly to Edward.

Edward's voice was calm, but he still positioned himself between Jacob and myself in a protective crouch, still ready for it if Jacob attacked.

"But now I don't know if he's going to hurt you," Edward defended his verbal assault, his voice a low hiss.

"I'm not going to hurt her!" Jacob protested loudly.

"I just wanted you to stop," I said.

"Please, Bella. Whatever you did, undo it. I don't like not knowing what he's thinking, if he's going to hurt you."

"I said I wasn't-" Jacob began.

"Please, Jake!" I interrupted him, "Just give me a second."

I focused on that protective film, the barrier that kept my thoughts secret and saw what I had done in the heat of the moment. I wanted to protect Jacob from Edward's probing thoughts, to keep him from hearing his own doubts thrown back at him. In my haste to shield Jacob I let a piece of that barrier get away from me. I felt it now, clinging around Edward's mind, thwarting him from hearing anybody's thoughts but his own. I carefully pulled it back from him and returned it to myself.

Immediately, Edward breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up straight, no longer poised to attack. He looked at me, expression relaxed and grateful.

"Bella, where did you come from?" Jacob demanded. "Will somebody please tell me what the hell just happened?"

"Oh, Jake!" I cried. I started to go to him, but my better judgment stopped me. "Jake I'm glad you're here! I missed you!"

"Sure, sure," he said, confused, "What happened?"

"Bella is… unique," Edward explained. He was relaxed now that he knew the threat was gone.

"Unique how?" Jacob asked suspiciously.

I grinned. "You know my glitch? The one that keeps Edward out of my head?"

"Yeah," he grumbled, "You have no idea how lucky you are."

I ignored his remark.

"It's a little bit more than just keeping him out of my head," I explained.

"Bella can affect how people perceive her. She can hide herself from them if she wants to," Edward continued. I thought I saw a spark of understanding in Jacob's dark eyes. "It seems it doesn't just affect her though." He looked at me questioningly.

"I accidently blocked you off," I said demurely. "I didn't want you to be able to read his thoughts anymore and I put the barrier around you. I didn't mean to…"

Edward contemplated this.

"Barrier?" asked Jacob.

"It's not a glitch," I explained. "Not really. It's like I have a wall around my mind, and I can keep people out of it. Now that I've- that I've changed, I can move it around so it's not just my mind that's covered. I can keep people from seeing me too, and now I guess I can put the barrier around other people."

Something flickered across Jacob's face before it cracked in a real smile.

"Bella, you really are a freak!" he laughed. "It was almost worth it to see the look on his face when he couldn't read my mind any more. Man, am I glad you're not dead!"

He started to come toward me, but I quickly took a step back. I glanced at Edward.

"How do you feel? Does it bother you?" Edward asked. I knew he was talking about the smell of Jacob's blood.

"No, it's fine," I said truthfully.

Edward nodded to me. "I'm going to call Carlisle. You two talk."

"What? You're not worried about her anymore?"

"Not anymore," Edward said. "I'll be close," he said to me before he turned and walked back to the cabin.

Jacob crossed the short distance and enveloped me in a bear hug.

"Are you… mad?" I asked timidly.

"About what?"

"About me. About all this," I gestured to my new body.

Jacob sighed. "No. It's my fault anyway. I should have been there. I should have protected you better."

"Jake, don't beat yourself up. It was going to happen sometime anyway."

"But it didn't have to," he cried. "It may have just been one of those freak things that happens, but I should have been there. I can't blame him for doing this to you, because if it wasn't for me you'd still be alive! You got hurt on my watch. You were at La Push, you were with me, I should have been watching out better. The last thing you were telling me was that you wanted to be human a little longer, and because I was stupid that snake bit you and then what were your choices? Either death or some kind of monster."

The word stung. I knew he had no affinity for vampires, but to hear him call me a monster, not just all vampires but me personally, hurt more than I could fathom. I took a step back from him.

"It's true what Edward said, isn't it?" I asked with dawning realization. "You thought you would want to kill me."

Sadness fell on Jacob's face. There was nothing but remorse in his eyes.

"I didn't know how I'd feel when I saw you," he said softly. "I didn't know if my instincts would win out."

"And now?"

"Bella, as soon as I saw you I knew. I knew I could never hurt you, vampire or not. I was just so relieved that you weren't dead, that you were okay. Well, kind of okay. I'd rather you be like this than dead. I don't think I could handle it if you were. And like I said, it's my fault anyway. I can't be mad at anybody but myself. But I'm not even mad. You're not dead! And I'm happy about that."

"Are you really happy?" I asked. "Even though I'm like this now?"

He smiled. "You look good, Bella."

I wrapped my arms around him in a hug. "Thank you, Jake. Love you still."

"Love you more, Bells. You don't even stink that bad."

I laughed. "Neither do you."

"Really?"

"Really."

We stood together for a moment in comfortable silence.

"Is everything going to be okay?" I asked. "I mean between you, and me, and the Pack and everything?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," he sighed. "The treaty is still on, but you're one of them now, Sam's words, not mine, so you can't come back to La Push. It's probably best anyway, because everyone thinks you're dead. And about you and me… Well, I already knew your choice, Bella, and it's my fault it's a little more permanent now. I'll always be your friend, Bells."

"I'm glad," I said.

"Me too," Jacob replied.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Edward exiting the cabin. I couldn't fully read the look on his face, but I knew something wasn't right.

Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate them. Sorry to leave you with yet another cliff hanger, but you have less than 24 hours to wait for the next chapter! I can tell you it's called "The Inevitable."

I want to go back and edit that last chapter (ch 13) eventually, but I have other stuff going on that's more pressing, so it might not happen, and if it does it won't be for a while.

In response to obsessedwithjamespotter and like minded individuales, if you're still confused about what happened, there's a chapter of exposition down the line.

-SurrepTRIXus-