Chapter 21: She's Back!

I jerked back, would have fallen to the floor if not for Peter holding me. "What was that?" My voice was high and shaky.

"I don't know." He turned invisible as he headed off to check the source of the disturbance.

"Peter!" I hissed and hurried to follow him. I felt his hand close on my forearm, and my body disappeared. Although looking down at where my feet should be and seeing nothing was still unsettling, I was grateful – for the protection, and for him understanding that I wouldn't hide under the bed while he faced some unknown intruder.

He took me with him, but kept himself in front of me. I couldn't object to that; if it was Victoria and she could smell us enough to attack without seeing us, he could handle it better than me.

All the downstairs lights were off, but something glowed faintly from the kitchen. Upon entering, we discovered that it was the refrigerator light; the fridge was open, its door hiding all but the feet of whoever had opened it. Finding what she was looking for, she turned away and shut it, but not before the light let Peter and me see her face.

My knees went weak with relief, and Peter let go of me and turned visible again. "You could've called and let us know you were coming back, you know."

Claire squeaked in surprise and dropped the milk carton, from which a white puddle quickly spread. "Peter! Send me into cardiac arrest, why don't you?"

The lights blinked on just as I wet paper towels to clean up the spilled milk. "Hey Bella, I didn't expect you to be here!" She knelt and hugged me, accidentally clunking our foreheads together.

"Ow!" I complained, hugging her back. "That hurt!"

"No it didn't."

"Maybe not for you. I can't believe how much I missed you."

"Me too. Do I have a ton of homework to catch up on? Is it spring break yet?" She bounced back to her feet and hugged Peter as well. "What about you? What've you been up to? You and Bella didn't do anything too exciting while I was gone, did you?"

Peter glanced at me over Claire's head, silently asking how much to tell her. I shook my head a fraction of an inch to either side and pointed to myself, trying to convey that I would tell her about Laurent, Victoria, and the pack. He seemed to get the message, because he said, "Nothing too exciting," then changed the subject. "Why didn't you tell us you wanted to come home? We would have met you at the airport."

The corners of Claire's mouth twisted. "I didn't think about calling you because I left kind of quickly."

"Why was that?"

"Angela showed up." Claire said the name through gritted teeth.

Peter said nothing, but his expression darkened.

"Angela?" My mind jumped to Angela Weber, but Claire obviously wasn't talking about her. I dumped my handful of sodden paper towels in the trash and faced my best friend and boyfriend with a confused frown.

"My mother," Peter spat angrily. "What was she doing in Costa Verde?" Blue fire licked his fingertips; he appeared not to notice.

"I don't know exactly, but I think it had something to do with me – that's why I left so fast," Claire explained. "I saw her come in and eavesdropped on her conversation with Dad. She said he'd done well getting me back and told him to keep me there-"

"Damn it!" The fire in Peter's hand flared brighter. Worried that it might catch on something – like the table he'd just replaced – I quickly blocked him, putting out the flame before he even realized it was there.

Claire continued as though there'd been no interruption. "I called the airline right away and snuck out as soon as she drove off. Bet Dad regrets not finding out where we went besides 'somewhere around Seattle' now." She smirked.

"That still narrows it down more than I'd like. If it was him he probably wouldn't stay here…"

"No!" Peter turned blank eyes my way; preoccupied with Claire's problem, he wasn't really paying attention to me. I kept talking regardless. "You promised! You said you're not going anywhere!" The floor seemed to be falling out from under my feet, my memories looping back to the worst day of my old life – the day that truly marked its end…

I'd said something similar to Edward, reminding him of his promise to stay with me, but he just said that promise only applied as long as it was best for me, then said I wasn't good for him and left! I thought of that day as the end of my old life because I didn't feel like the same Bella I had been – certainly not the empty shell I'd become after Edward left, but not the same Bella I'd been when I was with him either. Peter had brought me back but changed me in the process – so much of who I was now was thanks to his influence that I no longer knew who I was without him.

Hearing the panic in my voice, Peter's eyes refocused. "Sorry, I should have said 'I'm not going anywhere without you'. I didn't mean that I wanted to stay here the rest of my life – but I wouldn't leave you!" he quickly added. "You believe me, don't you?"

I nodded shakily. "I'll believe anything you tell me."

He pulled me close in a fierce hug, then seemed to remember that Claire was still in the room. "Ah…when you asked what we did while you were gone, about that-"

Claire held up a hand. "Peter, I've seen how you and Bella are with each other – I'm not that much of a blonde. I'm happy for you. Really. Thanks for telling me, but just…keep a lid on it while I'm right here, okay?"

Peter nodded, I nodded and blushed, Claire laughed, and the phone rang. Claire, still giggling, picked it up. "Hello? Hey, Charlie! Yeah, it's me… Well, I just got back… I missed you too. Yeah, she's here; she forgot to leave a note? I didn't know she was that excited to see me again. Okay, here she is." Claire held out the phone.

I adopted a properly chagrined tone. "Hi Dad."

"Bella, I don't blame you for wanting to see your best friend, but you should have told me where you'd be. With people disappearing again, I got worried when I came home and you weren't here."

"I know, Dad, I'm sorry. But you don't have to worry; I'm perfectly safe here with Peter and Claire."

"Thank goodness for them; I know I leave you alone too much." Charlie sounded slightly guilty.

I decided to use that to my advantage. "I don't mind being alone…but I haven't seen Claire in so long, and we have a lot to catch up on – can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure, sure… Say, how'd you go over there? Your truck's here."

"Claire had Peter swing by to get me on their way back home," I invented, knowing I wouldn't have to ask them to corroborate my story any more than Charlie had to ask if they minded me staying overnight.

Charlie accepted that without question, said he'd see me after school tomorrow and good night, and we hung up.

"You just decided to stay here, didn't you?" Claire asked. I sheepishly said yes. "Wish my dad let me do that; you don't know how lucky you are not to have to live with parental lockdown."

###

Claire and I shoved her luggage into the closet; she said she could unpack when I wasn't here, that she'd do it tomorrow. Knowing her, I thought it more likely that she'd do it when she ran out of other things to wear. I kept my mouth shut – I wasn't much better.

I sat next to Peter during dinner, and though eye contact was the only contact we had Claire still asked if I wouldn't rather bunk with him when I went into her room after putting on my pajamas. I responded by hitting her with a pillow.

Soon she was chasing me around the room, both of us laughing as we thrashed each other with our fluffy weapons. "You're not hurting me at all, you know," Claire taunted, blocking my pillow with a fist. "I didn't even feel that!"

"Guess I'll have to change tactics, then." I threw my pillow aside and tackled her to the bed, pinning her wrists with my knees and tickling her ribs mercilessly. "You feel that, huh Claire-Bear?"

Laughing too hard to answer, she kicked and twisted, trying to throw me off. "Stop – stop, or I'll – !"

"You'll what?"

The door opened to reveal a disgruntled Peter. "What's going on in here?"

"Get – your girl – friend off me!" Claire panted. Taking advantage of my distraction, she pulled out of my slackened hold, grabbed my shoulders, and flipped me onto my back but didn't pin me, choosing to catch her breath instead. "We were having a pillow fight, and she cheated!"

"There are no rules in pillow fighting," I protested. "Tell her, Peter."

He shook his head, torn between amusement and exasperation. "I'm telling both of you – quit playing around and go to sleep."

I pouted. "You're supposed to back me up!"

"I just don't want you tired tomorrow – you have school, remember? Good night, girls."

Claire said good night, but I dashed across the room to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you."

###

After he left I lay awake, tired but unable to fall asleep. "Claire?"

"Huh?"

"Are you awake?"

"No, I'm talking in my sleep."

We rolled onto our sides and propped up on our elbows. "Are you sure you're okay with this – me and Peter, I mean? I know you said you were, but-"

"But you didn't believe me?" She paused; I guessed she was examining her feelings carefully, determined not to tell an unintentional lie. "No," she said at last, "I really am all right with it. I want you to be happy and I want him to be happy and if you're happy together, then who am I to gripe about it? It's probably for the best anyway – you're both…"

"Super-freaks," I finished, using Paul and Jacob's term.

Claire sighed. "Yeah, we all are. Do you ever wish you were normal, Bella?"

"I've never felt normal – I never really felt like I fit in with anyone – until I met you and Peter. If I didn't have you two I might want to be normal, but it's not so bad…like this."

"Peter and I feel the same way about you, you know."

I flopped onto my back with a sigh, realizing that the moment had come for full disclosure. Now that Claire was back, she should be warned about the dangers of associating with me. "We'll see if you still feel that way now that having me around is more dangerous than it used to be. Claire, there's something I need to tell you."

###

"So…explain again why we're here?"

I sighed. "As I've already told you, Peter and Sam agreed it'd be safest for me to stay in pack territory while Peter's at work in Seattle. I can reach him telepathically when he's anywhere in Forks, but it's harder the further from me he is."

"I understand that. What I don't understand is why I'm here. I can't get hurt – I hardly need werewolf protection."

"Brain trauma can kill you," I reminded her. "And what if Victoria bit you?"

Claire made a face. "Yeah, you told me about vampire poison, but poison doesn't affect me."

"Vampire venom won't kill you – it can actually heal injuries, so I don't know if your ability would recognize it as something you need to be protected from. But it will turn you, and-"

"That would be bad?" Claire finished.

"Very bad," I said emphatically. "I haven't seen the pack in action, but I'm gonna take a guess that you don't want them after you, and they really seem to hate vampires. Can we go in now?"

Embry's mother directed us to the garage, where he and a couple of his pack mates were clustered around a toolbox and a dirt bike. My jaw clenched when I saw Jacob. His eyes darkened briefly as I met them, then shifted to Claire and took on the same look Embry and Quil were giving her: surprise mixed with admiration.

She quickly checked them out as well and evidently decided she liked what she saw, because she stepped forward to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Claire Bennet, Bella's friend."

The boys hurriedly wiped their hands on the grease rag or their shorts before shaking her outstretched hand. "Quil Ateara, and these are my friends, Jacob Black and Embry Call. Bella didn't mention bringing a friend, but you won't see me complaining."

Claire grinned. "Me either." To me she said, "I've suddenly decided hanging with the pack might be a good idea after all."

Quil, Jacob, and Embry looked surprised again, but unpleasantly so this time. "You told her?" Jacob asked me incredulously. "What part of 'this is supposed to be a secret' did you not understand?"

"You can trust Claire," I told him tersely. "She's Peter's niece."

Understanding instantly replaced their alarm. "So you're used to freaky stuff, then," Embry stated.

Raising an eyebrow, Claire slid between him and Jacob and placed her hand on the bike's engine, which had been revved after the guys worked on it.

"Hey, that's hot!" Quil exclaimed, reaching to pull her away. A smell like bacon cooking filled the air as Claire's skin made contact with the hot metal; Quil grabbed her wrist and yanked her hand back, wincing at her raw red burns. "No way," he murmured as she healed.

Claire smiled smugly at the wolves' reactions. "Way," she said simply.

As the afternoon wore on, I could tell Jacob was making a subtle effort to get me alone, either to continue our argument or to apologize – as well he should. I rebuffed his attempts for over two hours by sticking with the other three, though Quil and Embry were too busy flirting with Claire to pay much attention to me, and burying my nose in homework, but he finally succeeded in ambushing me on my way out of the bathroom.

I was startled to open the door and find him right outside but didn't show it. Instead I crossed my arms and fixed him with my darkest glare. "What do you want?" I asked rudely.

"To say I'm sorry…for what I said yesterday."

"Apology noted."

"Thanks, Bella."

"I said 'noted', not 'accepted'. What you said was way out of line."

"I know that! Look, you have no idea how hard it was for me… I wanted to call you after the bloodsuckers left, ask if you wanted to hang out sometime, but I heard Charlie telling Billy how depressed you were and I just…didn't know what I'd say to you. Then I joined the pack and they said it wasn't safe for me to be around you, but in all that time I still thought about you and it just never occurred to me that you already had somebody else! It just took me by surprise, you know?"

I nodded slowly. "I can understand that – but it doesn't mean you had the right to be such a jerk when you found out how things are. Peter's never done anything to you, and you shouldn't have taken it out on him just because you were jealous."

Jacob shifted under my heated gaze, which I liked to think was boring into him. "I think I took it out more on you than him, actually."

"I'm talking about you calling him a freak," I snapped.

"He is a freak, Bella."

"Then I guess it's a good thing you never got around to calling me and I ended up with Peter – us 'super-freaks' should stick together!" Jacob looked confused. "Outside my house, he was probing your mind and then it stopped, remember that?" He nodded, still puzzled. "That was me. I can't shoot fire from my fingers or cut up vampires with telekinesis, but I can shield, like I did for you, or block the powers of other people like me, Peter, and Claire – other freaks."

Now Jacob looked thunderstruck. "Bella, I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean you were a freak-"

"I know; you were just insulting my boyfriend, not me, right?" He had nothing to say to that. I scoffed. "Just leave me alone, Jacob. I've got nothing more to say to you."

Pushing past him, I reentered the living room and nearly collided with Claire. "Oh, there you are; I was just going to look for you. Sam called to say that he, Jared, Paul, and Leah found Victoria's trail and that she went by the Cullens' house, saw where you and Peter burned Laurent's body, and bailed. They don't think she'll come back for a while, and Peter's home, so we can leave now."

"Good; I've had enough of the pack for one day."

Happy to have Claire back? Me too! Question: should I do something with them visiting Renee during spring break and a bit of P/B fluffiness, or skip straight to the next stage of Victoria's dastardly Bella-killing plan? Right now I'm leaning toward getting on with the vampire slaying as I feel like there was enough 'human-type' drama in this chap (and I'm not crazy about fluff except maybe as a deleted scene) but I might do more if you want. I live to please the readers, right?