A/N Twilight is not mine.

Hello all :) Sorry to have left you hanging for so long. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I'm not happy with this chapter but I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer. I was planning to write a long note here, but I'm not going to. I just want to say, I do update when I can, I do not have 10 chapters up my sleeve, and yes I update Torn more often than this one. So is.

As ever thanks to Sherryola for pulling me through this. You know why, honey.

We all hurried to where we heard Rose's voice and there she stood, a good few feet away from what looked like a stuffed animal sitting against the porch door. Attached to it was a pink envelope with hearts drawn on it, the name Edward written on the front in curly letters.

We all halted and looked at the bear, confused, upset, and beyond pissed.

And then I smelled it. I looked up at Edward in utter confusion and disgust just as he looked over to me, his brows raised and his eyes wide.

"What did she do?" Jasper murmured, aghast.

"More importantly, what did she do with it," Emmett rumbled angrily. "Fucking hell."

"Did she actually…" Ness started.

"She actually did," Jacob replied for her. "God, that's so disgusting."

We stood looking at the stuffed animal like it would jump up and bite us. The scent emanating from the thing was something I had hoped never to have to smell in my entire life. It was clear Dana had rubbed it in between her legs before she left it here.

Thinking, probably, that we would never notice it as she left her mark on her gift to my husband.

It was Esme who came into action before either of us could do anything. She stepped forward without hesitation and kicked the bear off the porch with force. Then she leapt after it and landed next to it before it hit the ground. She produced a lighter from her jacket pocket and without blinking, set the animal on fire.

When the flames caught, providing thick black smoke as the plastic burned, she stepped back.

"Nobody pollutes my porch like that," she said so quietly I could barely hear it.

Around me, we were all equally surprised. Emmett broke our stupor by cheering loudly and clapping his hands. "Way to go mom!"

Esme looked up, a proud smirk tugging on the corner of her mouth. She wiped her hands as if to clean them, then leapt back up to the porch with us in a lithe, graceful movement.

I smiled. Esme rarely gave in to her vampiric urges like that at home and it was nice to see her doing so.

"Good riddance," she announced as Carlisle walked up to her and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"You didn't see this coming?" Jacob asked Alice.

She turned to look up at him with one eyebrow raised. "You think I was keeping an eye on Dana last weekend? Believe you me, I had much better things to do."

Jacob huffed as we laughed. Of course Alice would not have foreseen this and even if she had, nothing dangerous happened. It's not like we would have done anything to prevent it.

"All right, let's get ready for the day," Carlisle announced. "Unless you want to talk about this?"

Edward shrugged, I shook my head. Nobody felt the need to discuss what Dana had done. It would not get us anywhere nearer to a solution, although I did strengthen my resolve to be very clear with Dana should the situation arise.

We took turns to shower quickly and Edward and I lay on the bed for a moment after while we waited for the rest of the house to get ready for the day.

"I can't believe Dana did that," Edward mused, his fingertips tracing every dip and curve of my bare back as I lay on my stomach beside him.

"After all that happened, I wouldn't put it past her anymore, but, you know, ew."

"I'm actually glad I will never know what she wrote in that letter."

I chuckled softly. "Esme took care of that efficiently enough."

Edward smiled and leaned in to press a kiss to my shoulder. "Sometimes she truly acts like a mom."

I turned so I could face my mate. "What will we do, Edward? What happened now only shows she's not going to stop."

Edward sighed, a hand traveling to his hair and tugging it. "I know. Just ignore her, I guess."

"Maybe you should tell her that you didn't like the gift."

"I was thinking of not referring to it at all. That way she won't get the satisfaction of me giving her attention."

"Wouldn't it be better to just tell her to stop her games?"

"Do you think she would listen to that?"

I frowned at his question. Of course she wouldn't. We had been clear with her before. In fact, she knew we were together, and it hadn't helped. If anything, it seemed to have fueled her determination.

"Maybe you should scare her off, like you did with Dennis," I offered.

"Actually, I went through that possibility with Alice. But Dana is too perceptive for that. And truly, we don't want to go down that road."

Now it was my turn to sigh. "If you don't tell her to back off, Edward, I will."

"How do you think it looks when you are the one telling Dana to stay away from him?" Alice asked from her room.

Stupid vampire hearing.

"I don't care how it looks," I replied. "If we want this high school thing to be even remotely fun, I say we stop waiting and start to act. The sooner we get this over with, the better."

"Give Edward the chance to stand up for himself, first," Alice said softly. "There's a good chance she'll get the message sooner or later."

A good chance, I huffed to myself. I was done with chances. I was done with subtle, too.

Dana thought the same apparently, as she bounced up to Edward the moment I left his side to give Renesmee some attention during first break at school.

I growled reflexively, and surprisingly it was Jake who placed his hand on my lower back to calm me down.

"Hi Edward! Where have you been? I missed you."

"I've been away," Edward replied curtly.

"Away where? Gee, you're not very talkative."

That's because I don't like to talk to you, I answered for Edward with lowered shield. I could tell he heard me, but he ignored it all the same.

Instead, he shrugged, which in Edward's book was rude enough.

"Well, my weekend was fabulous, since you asked," Dana continued, undisturbed but a bit sarcastic. "I went to this crazy party last Saturday, but it wasn't really complete of course because you weren't there."

"Too bad," Emmett grumbled.

I felt for Edward. What was he supposed to reply to her?

Luckily the bell rang just then, and Edward simply nodded to Dana before he walked away brusquely to Study Hall.

Today would be a relatively short day. We sat through the first period of Study Hall like good students, doing homework and for once not Truth or Daring like our lives depended on it. We were all happy and quiet after a weekend of hunting, our anxiety eased significantly. We agreed on hunting more often, as it felt like we could handle Dana-induced stress better as well when we were properly fed.

"She's purposefully not letting us know we're together," Edward whispered without looking up from his book. "But I don't know how long she will be able to keep it up. She's getting desperate."

In the second period of Study Hall, Rose, Em, Ness and Jake joined us and it wasn't long before we heard Dana and Jodi approaching, too. Of course.

We all made a point of ignoring her and fortunately, for once they did not join us at our table.

I turned to Ness, who had a worried look in her eyes.

"What's wrong honey, are you nervous about the audition results?" At lunch, the list of names that made it into the cheerleading squad would be published.

"No," she frowned.

"Then what is it? I coaxed. I noticed Jacob was tense, too.

Ness didn't speak, but simply put her hand in mine and showed me what had happened in class that morning. The teacher had complimented her on her work for Math and had suggested that he would propose her going to a more advanced class, so she would have more of a challenge in her work.

Ness had declined, but the teacher had persisted.

"I don't want to be away from Jake," she whispered, worried, and then looked up to Edward, who had been listening in.

"Don't worry about that," Edward said softly. "They can't put you in another class without your parent's permission."

I realized we would have to talk with Carlisle and Esme about this, in case they were called for a meeting at school. It stung more than a little bit that Edward and I would not be able to act as Ness's parents in this case.

"Nothing will happen this week, at any rate," Alice said reassuringly. "And Ness, if you don't want to be in another class, you won't have to. It really is that simple."

Ness smiled, assured, and turned from me to help Jake with his homework.

Of course Dana wandered over to our table before the hour had ended.

"So, Edward," she started, and I rolled my eyes, "did you perhaps find a certain gift on your porch yesterday?"

Edward acted the part of being confused very well. Around me, my siblings looked up to see the show.

"Gift?" Edward asked.

"Yes, a teddy bear?"

I noticed with glee that she sounded a tiny bit less certain of herself.

Edward thought for a long moment, his brows furrowing in confusion. Then his face lit up. "You mean that rag that was by the door? Oh my, was that you? We thought perhaps a stray dog left it there, as it smelled so repulsive, so my mom burned it."

The image of a Dana lost for words was a glorious sight to behold indeed. We were all utterly surprised by Edward's words and I could tell I was not the only one who had to fight a laugh.

"Score," Emmett uttered under his breath, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"She b– But there was a letter attached to it."

"Was there? We didn't want to come too close. You know, rabies, and all that."

"Oho," Rosalie breathed, looking proudly at Edward, eyes wide.

Dana frowned. "Well next time look better," she said incoherently, then turned to leave.

The bell rang not long after, and Dana fled the room like the wind, Jodi hurrying along in her wake.

We remained seated in the library for a moment, howling with laughter and holding our sides and each other to prevent falling off our chairs.

"Her face!" Alice wheezed, unable to get more words out.

"I'm proud bro', didn't know you had it in you," Emmett complimented.

"You can say that again," Rosalie said.

I was laughing too, but I noticed the tension in Edward's smiling face.

What's wrong? I asked in my thoughts.

"This isn't the end," Edward said, getting serious again.

"So? It sure as hell was a nice beginning!" Jasper exclaimed. "Some more of this man, and high school can actually become fun."

At this, Edward smiled again and he relaxed a little as he sat back in his chair, shaking his head in bewilderment at what had just come to pass.

After the last stray chuckles died away, Ness spoke up softly. "Ehm, the results of the cheerleading auditions are in the main hallway."

"Oh! Then you must go check it out!" Rosalie said enthusiastically. "I'd come with you, but we have to go to next class now and I was told skipping was not a good idea." She looked and met Alice's gaze as she spoke, and the irritation with actually having to go to class was clear on both their faces.

Yes, high school wasn't as much fun as we had hoped.

When Ness got up we all followed her out of the library. Rose and Em said goodbye and went to their next class — they'd have lunch after that.

Ness was up front with Jacob by her side, and Alice was close behind. When we reached the hallway however, Ness turned to me, wringing her hands in anxiety. I tried to calm her, but she wouldn't go up to the list with names without me, so I let her take my hand and drag me through the tiny crowd of students who were looking at the piece of paper on the wall.

My daughter was remembering the audition as we advanced, thinking back on everything she thought she messed up. The images filled my head and I squeezed her hand to reassure her. I spotted her name first, right under Alice's. Ness saw it a moment later and she squealed happily, turning to embrace me in a crushing hug.

"I did it!"

"Congratulations," I beamed as I kissed her cheek. "I'm so proud of you!"

A quick glance on the list told me that Dana had made it into the squad, too, but that Jodi hadn't. Somehow I had the feeling that Jodi wouldn't mind it as much, but I was sure Dana was going to blame Jodi for not making it anyway.

Edward stepped up to hug Ness as well, when Jasper mumbled, "I need some fresh air."

He didn't need to say that twice. We all turned on our heels without blinking and walked out to the parking lot, where Jasper took deep, cleansing gulps of the air outside.

"God, what a crowd," he swore, frustration clearly lacing his voice. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that. I'm sorry."

"It's better every day," Alice said soothingly.

"Even I notice that," Renesmee said sweetly.

Jasper turned to her and the hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"I'm sorry, but I'm hungry," Jacob said softly. "Will you stay outside? Because then I'll just go in quickly to grab some lunch."

We looked at each other for a moment.

"I'd like to stay here," Jasper then said, almost apologetically.

"Then I'll go with Jake," Ness announced. "We'll get the coats too. It's too cold outside to be here without them."

That left just the four of us. Jasper excused himself then and walked towards the trees that surrounded the parking lot, followed by a worried looking Alice.

I looked at Edward, who was focusing intently on Jasper.

"Will he be all right?" I asked softly, wrapping my arms around me as if I was cold.

Edward snaked his hand around my waist and pulled me against him.

"He will be. There are some very potent scents in this school. He was taken off guard, that's all."

"Will he ever learn to cope better?"

Edward looked down at me, concern etched on his face. He didn't need to answer me. I knew what he was going to say.

I swallowed and felt sorry for Jasper, and hoped that he was far enough away to not feel this emotion from me. It wouldn't make it any easier on him.

"You know," I mused, looking at the point where Jasper and Alice had disappeared between the trees and trying to change the subject, "you didn't keep your promise."

Edward stiffened beside me and looked down, alarmed. "What promise?"

I turned to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, letting them come to rest on the small of his back. He copied the gesture, pulling me against him, but keeping enough distance so he could still meet my eyes. Our hips and lower bellies were touching, the feeling warm and comfortable. Intimate.

He waited for me to speak, but I could see his eyes were burning with impatience and curiosity, and worry.

When I opened my mouth to start talking however, Edward winced fiercely and turned his head to the right, a scowl on his face.

I looked into the same direction and saw Dana approaching, looking at us. She was below the wind, so we couldn't smell her. But of course Edward had heard her thoughts as she approached.

Edward turned back to me, his eyes still intense, but now with a look I recognized as his love for me. Tilting my head back by lifting my chin with his thumb and forefinger, he pressed the softest of kisses to my lips.

I heard Dana making a sound that held it between annoyed and repulsed. As if on cue, Edward deepened the kiss, his hand moving to the back of my head to cradle it as his other hand pulled me tighter against him on the small of my back.

"Honestly," Dana muttered.

When Edward finally pulled back, I smiled like the cat that ate the canary. Edward looked at Dana again, not letting me go.

"For the record," he told her slowly, lowly, "I'm with her." He nodded at me, just in case the message wasn't altogether clear yet.

Dana blinked, momentarily lost for words. Then she frowned and turned to walk away, muttering, "we'll see about that."

"I'd like to see her try," Jacob said as he approached us, seeing Dana walk away. He was holding food, and Ness had our coats.

I loved that she paid so much attention to keeping up human appearances.

"I don't," I muttered in response to Jake's statement.

"Well, at least you made the message clear," Ness said lightly. "You know, in case she misunderstood last week?"

Edward chuckled humorlessly. "She understood perfectly last week."

At a light gust of wind however he frowned and stood aside to get to the other side of Jacob, who looked surprised and vaguely offended.

"Honestly," he rumbled, annoyed. "You still not used to my scent by now?"

"It's not you," Edward replied, exasperated. "It's the milk you're holding." He shuddered visibly and I suppressed a smile.

Renesmee laughed out loud.

Jasper and Alice joined us at the end of lunch. Jasper was significantly calmer and his eyes were lighter.

"Good hunt?" I guessed.

"Sort of," Jasper smirked.

Edward laughed, and Alice not-so-subtly wiped the corners of her mouth, but did it in such a way that Ness and Jake wouldn't see.

I coughed out a laugh too. "Guess there are more ways to ease anxiety indeed," I grinned.

Then the bell rang and we went to homeroom, after saying goodbye to Ness and Jake.

"I wonder how O'Neil will be around us," I mused as we approached the classroom.

"Does it matter?" Edward asked.

"Maybe not," I agreed.

The rest of the day went relatively easy. Dana stayed out of our way and I had good hopes that Edward's messages had been clear. In Music, we learned that Jodi wasn't all that put out about not making the cheerleading squad indeed.

"I don't have time for it anyway," she whispered softly when I asked. "Besides, I don't have the confidence to be a cheerleader."

"I beg to differ," Edward said. "You just need to find it inside yourself."

She smiled at him; weakly, but grateful.

"I'm sure Renesmee will shine," she then said, slightly hesitating over our daughter's name.

Edward and I both beamed.

"I think she will," I said.

"And your other sister too. But I don't think she likes me very much."

"Oh she likes you. We all like you," I replied. "We just don't like Dana, is all."

"I've noticed," she said softly. "You know, Dana is not so bad, really."

"I beg to differ," Edward said again, but this time so softly only I could hear it.

"She'll back off, eventually," Jodi said when she turned back to face front again. "Once she sees what you have together, she will."

"I'm not so sure," I whispered, not sure if Jodi would hear or not.

"Oh, I didn't say she would go down without a fight. You guys better brace yourself. That trick with the teddy bear? That was nothing compared to what she can do."

It didn't even really sound as a warning. It was merely an observation.

"And I suppose you can't provide any help in getting her off our backs?" I asked, the hopelessness clear in my voice.

Jodi didn't turn around when she answered. "I'm not going against Dana. I like you guys, I really do, but you've not been here for very long. You don't know what she's capable of. And I'm not going to go against her and risk her wrath."

"Her wrath?" I asked, surprised.

"Her wrath," Jodi repeated, decisively.

Edward's warning glance told me to not push it any further, so I exhaled my frustration away and tried to focus on the lesson.

After school I thought Ness was decidedly quiet. Edward's puzzled gaze told me that he was trying to get a read on her, but that she was blocking him out. She very rarely did that, but never without good reason. Deciding to help her and knowing she would come to us when she was ready, I shielded her.

Edward swallowed once when he noticed but nodded almost imperceptibly, accepting. And sure enough later that night, after homework and before she was going to bed, she knocked on our bedroom door and asked timidly if she could sit with us for a bit.

"What's wrong?" I asked as she settled in between us on the couch.

Not speaking, she simply took my hand and Edward's, and showed us what had come to pass.

Right after school, Renesmee had seen Dana in the hallway and she hadn't been able to resist. I looked at my daughter as her memory unfolded in my mind's eye.

"How did you know where we live?" Renesmee asked at Dana's back before her.

Dana froze for a moment, so briefly humans might not have noticed it, before she turned back.

"What?" she stalled.

"How did you know where we live? How did you find the house?"

"I have my means," she said slyly.

"Then how? We live pretty far away from the main part of town."

"My uncle was at your house for a family dinner," Dana explained finally, and I was surprised she told the truth. "I got him to tell me where your house is. It's beautiful by the way."

"Thank you," Ness replied. "But why did you come to our house?"

"I wanted to find Edward."

"Why?"

"Because I want him."

"He's taken," Ness said softly.

"Well, honey," Dana drawled in response, "that has never stopped me before and it sure as hell won't stop me now. You can tell that sister of yours she better watch out, because I won't stop until I've had him."

Dana turned and left, smiling wickedly, leaving Ness stunned.

"I'm worried," Ness breathed when she was done showing us what had happened.

A short knock on the bedroom door, and Emmett, Jasper and Alice trailed in.

"I saw," Alice said by way of explanation. "And there's no need to be worried. We can deal with this."

"Between Edward's mind reading and Alice's foreseeing, there's little she can do we won't know of beforehand," Emmett said.

"I beg to differ," Ness objected, and I suppressed a smile when I heard her using her father's words. "You said so yourself she makes snap decisions all the time and her mind is a mess."

"Still," Emmett said. "What could happen? Even if she decided to attack any one of us, would she succeed?"

"No," Ness replied.

"And do you really think your daddy would ever look away from your mommy for just one second?"

"No."

"And do you think that if Dana would ever try anything with any of us, I'd let her get away with that?"

This time Ness chuckled. "No."

"See? Nothing to worry about."

I smiled at Emmett's logic. Still, he had skirted around one important aspect we couldn't possibly help should things get out of hand. Should Dana really decide to become violent and attack us, we'd have to be very careful so she wouldn't notice that we were different.

I looked at Edward and saw he was thinking the same.

The next day we followed all our classes like the good kids we were, and were pleasantly surprised that Dana left us alone.

"She's hatching plans with her pack," Edward said, hooking his fingers through the belt loops of my jeans to keep me close during first break.

Following all classes meant we were blatantly disregarding the non-pda policy instead. We'd keep safe distances when teachers were close, but as soon as they were out of sight, Edward and I were touching again. As were Alice and Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie. Even Jake and Ness were holding hands more often. A quick glance around me told me lots of students weren't so strict with the non-pda. I wondered why I never registered that before.

"Please don't call her herd a pack," Jacob told Edward. "That's pretty rude. And offensive."

Edward laughed, a happy, carefree laugh. "Herd?"

"Yeah. They're all sheep," Jacob shrugged, smiling, "following their leader without a mind of their own. In a pack, each member is an individual at least."

"You do have less privacy though in a pack," Jasper mused. "I still can't fathom what it must be like to hear each other's thoughts like that."

Edward quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Oh well, I'd rather have thoughts than emotions. I'd rather handle imagery than feelings. Did you know Seth imprinted? A girl his age, he's over the moon."

"Oh that's wonderful," Ness smiled dreamily as Jasper and Emmett guffawed loudly, knowing why Seth would be over the moon with imprinting on a girl his age.

"Images over feelings?" Emmett laughed. "Didn't know you were such a visual person, Jake."

But I knew why Jake would rather share the visual, and not the raging hormones.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I can do anything to relieve certain tension," Jake said so softly it was almost a monotone.

A very painful silence followed.

"Well done," Rosalie hissed as she swatted Emmett's arm. "Truly. Fucking A."

Even Ness looked uncomfortable.

The bell rang then, the piercing sound cutting through our silence.

"I'm sorry," Jake said. "I didn't mean…"

"It's all right," Ness assured him.

They both sounded very insecure.

"We'll talk later," I promised, annoyed the time limits being at school brought, then made my way to next class.

The next couple of periods were uneventful and during lunch again nothing much happened. We talked seriously about dropping some classes though, since we were all sure that it really wasn't necessary to have such an ambitious curriculum. Whatever we wanted to do after high school, we'd get the necessary papers. No need to actually to those subjects when we already had the knowledge we needed about almost everything.

Jake and Ness were quiet during lunch, obviously uneasy. I wondered if they had had a chance to talk about what happened during first break, but their tense silence made me guess they hadn't.

"How are Jake and Ness doing?" I asked Edward quietly during Homeroom. I wondered if Edward could even hear them, they were quite a distance away in a different building, surrounded by thousands of other minds.

"They're fine," Edward answered, frowning a little in his concentration.

Then he went rigid, and anger flared in his eyes.

"What?" I asked, alarmed. "What's wrong?"

Edward couldn't answer me as he was trying very hard to keep his breathing under control. His hands were clenched in fists, tendons standing out.

"Edward? Please talk to me."

Finally, his gaze shifted and he met my eyes.

"That dog is thinking about Renesmee," he finally snarled. It was barely quiet enough to not be heard by our classmates.

"So?"

"Improper thoughts," he clarified through clenched teeth.

Ah. Well, it was bound to happen, especially after the painful conversation we had during break. Jacob wasn't always going to be Ness's big brother, and if Seth had indeed imprinted, then Jake would have gotten some nice images indeed when he visited La Push last Saturday.

I knew that it would bother Edward more than me. She was his daughter, and his angel. He could not stand her losing her innocence. And she was very young, she'd grown up so quickly you forgot about that. I myself was not sure what to think. I hadn't allowed myself yet to form an opinion, hoping it would be a long time before this actually became an issue.

I had pushed it away for too long. Ness's physical age did not match her mental age. She was a young adult by all means and purposes. Still, I would have her wait until she was seventeen before she ever tried anything if I could.

However, Jake wanting more was disconcerting indeed. What if he would make Ness believe this is what she needed from him? As per imprinting rules, he would give it ho her.

I placed my hand on Edward's arm to soothe both myself and him. "It was bound to happen," I tried to reassure him. "We'll talk about it later with them."

"She's seven!" His voice was desperate.

"I know. Edward, we can talk about this, but not here." I was starting to get angry too, but I had to be calm. One of us had to be calm. We were in a classroom full of students. And Jacob was thinking about our daughter in certain ways. We couldn't blame him. But we did.

"He should know we will not tolerate it." Edward was seething.

"It's his thoughts, Edward. You cannot blame him for thinking, surely?"

"I can. Watch me," he said as he started to get up.

I pulled him down with inhuman force. "Edward. Sit. Down," I hissed. "Be rational. Please. Not now, not here. We'll discuss it later, when you're calm." I noticed students were starting to pay attention to the hissing fit that was taking place behind them in class.

He looked at me as if I was the cause of his anger. When he wouldn't calm down, I sighed in frustration. And I shielded Jake and Renesmee.

He noticed it immediately. Now he had a reason to be pissed at me.

"You did not just do that."

"Apparently I did. Edward, you need to calm down."

"No. I'll tell him to not get his paws on my girl." He said this too loud in his anger. Even more students started to look around at us. I stared them down before turning my attention to Edward again.

Edward raised his hand to ask permission to go to the bathroom.

He waited for me at the door of the classroom, beckoning me with a simple nod that he wanted me to follow him. I rolled my eyes, but followed him, ignoring Mr. O'Neil who was too surprised to ask anything. Oh dear, we'd have some explaining to do later, especially after assuring him that Edward and I were very happy indeed.

Edward held the door for me — ladies always went first with him. There was nothing that could make him forget the protocols of his upbringing.

As I walked out of the room, I heard Dana whisper. "Hmm, trouble in paradise."

Another student turned around to Dana and Jodi. "They're a couple too?"

"Not for much longer, I hope," Dana replied victoriously.

I groaned, too softly for any humans to hear, and filed this new development away for later. Right now, I had to focus on preventing Edward throwing Jacob through a wall.

I was glad to notice that my husband was walking towards the exit of the building. As I followed him, struggling to keep up at a human pace, my phone buzzed in my pocket; a text from Alice.

Calm him down.

She didn't bother to warn me of the consequences if I didn't get Edward calm again — she would not contact me if there were no danger.

I caught up with Edward near the exit of the building. He kept walking when he was outside, until we were on the parking lot. Students would be able to see us standing here, but at least we would be able to talk in a normal way.

Edward was pacing. His eyes were fire, his jaw was clenched.

"Edward," I started.

He kept pacing.

"Edward," I tried again. I knew better than to try and stop him from moving.

But he stopped, and looked at me for a long time. "I wasn't prepared for this," he finally admitted.

"I know. Me neither."

Edward started pacing again.

"But we knew it would happen." It was more a statement than anything. I knew it would happen. I just always thought it would only become an issue in ten years time.

"Not now. Not yet." Edward's voice was hard. "Jacob needs to know that we will not tolerate this."

"Tolerate what, Edward? That he's thinking about her? I'm guessing she's thinking about him, too?"

"Not to that degree," he spat. "Not in such intimate ways."

"It's just his thoughts," I tried again. Must have been triggered by the talk about Seth's imprinting. I'm sure Jacob got some nice tips when he was in his wolf form and heard all Seth's thoughts. Seth stopped aging when he was quite young still, but I guessed as with Ness, his mind was older than his body. A girl his age would probably mean that she was physically as old as he was mentally. He certainly looked older than a teenager, even though he hadn't aged since he phased for the first time. And he kept phasing as long as Ness showed up on the rez now and then.

For Seth, this simply meant that he could do everything he wanted, basically. Unlike Quil and Jacob, who were bound to a girl too young to have a more serious relationship with.

"Jake hasn't done anything yet." Sure, they cuddled and kissed and I was sure a hand disappeared under a shirt every now and again, but that was basically it.

Edward paused again and looked at me. "Exactly. Yet."

"Edward, you need to stay out of their heads."

He looked at me as if he saw water burning.

"It's private," I murmured, subdued by his fierce gaze.

He sighed, opening his mouth to speak, but then kept silent. He knew I was right. Then he tried a different angle. "Don't tell me you're okay with this."

I cocked an eyebrow at his assumption. "Absolutely not," I hissed, my words almost indiscernible by the feral sound. "Of course not. All I'm saying is that you cannot go and throw Jacob through a wall for thinking things. Have you not thought about certain things before we got married?"

He looked busted. "Well, yes, but..."

"And you never really intended to do anything, right?"

"Um, no. But that was different. You were still human."

"Watch your volume," I warned him.

He shrugged. "Nobody hears. People never really listen, anyway. But it was different, with you."

"So the whole virtue-thing was a lie?"

"What? Of course not!" he spat. "What are you implying?"

"That thoughts do not need to lead to action, Edward. You, of all people, should know that!"

He didn't reply, but started pacing again. Then he looked up at me. "Can you please lift your shield?"

I shook my head. "Not until you're calm again."

"I am calm," he tried.

I just looked pointedly at his hands, still clenched in fists and then met his eyes. I knew he saw the reflection of his pitch-black irises in my golden ones.

"You're not. Calm down, Edward. I'm not happy either, but this is a truth we knew we had to face one day or the other."

"We'll have to talk to them tonight," he said.

"We do. But we have to figure out a way to warn Jake off without giving him ideas instead."

"He knows he better not try anything," Edward said lowly.

"Exactly. So your hissy fit just now was not needed at all. And also? Please don't lash out at me when things don't go the way you want to. That's completely unnecessary. We're in this together, remember?"

He looked contrite. "I'm sorry. I'm just tense, I guess."

"No shit, Sherlock," I muttered as he stepped up to me and wrapped his arms around me in a fierce hug.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I love you."

"I love you too," I replied, my words nearly drowned out by the sound of the bell ringing. "Come on, we have to go to Gym."

Jake and Ness - we knew this would happen. And Dana is planning on new tricks... Suggestions are welcome ;)