Jaz

Maybe I overreacted a little.

All right, maybe I overreacted a lot. And maybe, after he left, I felt like an idiot. But I couldn't stand it. He was just sitting there, with that look in his eyes like…like…Well, okay, I knew he hadn't imprinted on me. That was something. But he was staring at me like he loved me. Like I mattered. Like maybe, just maybe, we actually had a future. After five years, if he didn't feel it he didn't feel it. It was impossible to believe that anything less than an act from down under was going to make him change his mind.

Nope. Better to shut it down now, before we killed any chance to stay friends after all this. We could give each other a pretty wide berth for, oh, say, the rest of our lives, right? No big deal.

Yeah, sometimes I thought I was a total ditz too.

"Jeez Jaz, wha'd you do to wolf boy? He looks pissed."

David lounged against the door jamb, his muscular frame silhouetted by the warm glow of the hallway lights. Hair tousled, an amused smile on his lips, he was definitely not what I needed hot on the heels of my fight with Quil. No matter how wrong Natalya had been about anything else, she'd been right on the money there. I wouldn't be happy with David until I'd managed to purge my system of anything and everything even remotely related to Quil Ateara, and something told me he wasn't going to be willing to wait that long.

My thoughts must have been written all over my face, because his smile turned wry.

"Yeah, I had a feeling it was something like that." Shrugging, he strolled into the room and sprawled out in the chair Quil had been sitting in when I woke up. "For what it's worth, he's a lucky guy."

"I don't think he'd agree with you."

I hadn't really planned on discussing any of this with anyone, especially him, but when he just arched an eyebrow and reached out to squeeze my hand it all came tumbling out. Apparently some things never changed. Even after a decade of hard feelings, David still had a great shoulder to cry on. He just patiently rubbed the back of my fingers while I dumped the whole confused, messed-up saga right in his lap.

"I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

Miserable, I scooted across the bed so I could lay my head on his shoulder. The heat from his body was comforting, as was the gentle scrape of his chin when he rubbed it across my hair.

"Maybe a little bit."

"Hey! You're not supposed to agree with me," I grumbled, lifting my head. He just chuckled and used his chin to nudge it back down again.

"I said maybe. And only a little bit. Bottom line is, it's a crappy situation. On one hand, I'd love to bust his face for acting like an ass when you finally 'fessed up. On the other, you said yourself the two of you have been playing it cool for the past however many years. It probably never occurred to him that you might eventually start wanting more. Which still makes me want to bust his face for acting like an ass."

Laughing, I nuzzled up against him, breathing in the cool, crisp smell of his shirt and the slightly stringent stench of the antibacterial gel Esme had kept by the kitchen sink for as long as I'd known her. He'd been pilfering something to eat in the not-so-distant past.

"You always know just what to say to cheer a girl up."

David chuckled. Then his voice grew sober.

"You can't avoid him forever, you know. Not if you're going to stay here."

"The Devil's always in the details."

"You could come back with me."

"Oh, David…"

Oh boy. I pushed back to look up into his. Hadn't we just talked about this? All right, so I never actually told him I didn't want to try and pick up where we'd left off. Not yet, anyway. But he'd never been slow.

"Has anyone ever told you you'd make a terrible poker player? Your face is like an open book." Damn him, he was actually laughing at me! "That's not what I meant. Although the offer is still on the table. I'm just saying!" he said, raising his hands innocently. "Wouldn't want any misunderstandings between us. But I was actually thinking that if you really wanted to leave Wolf Boy in the past, it would be a lot easier to do if you didn't have to see him every day. You could ride back down with me. I can guarantee you wouldn't have to worry about finding a place to stay."

Understatement of the year. I knew Nathaniel would welcome me home with open arms, and even if he didn't I could always stay with Orrin, or Eli and his wife. It would be a much-needed, a chance to get my head on straight, but…Bella and Billy and Jake were here. And Max. And Carlisle, who had always been there for me when I needed him. Over the years, they had become my family. They'd welcomed me, loved me, supported me. Could I really walk away just because I was afraid that a stupid demon had refused to listen, and I'd spend the rest of my life trying to work up the willpower to remind Quil over, and over, and over again that he didn't really want me?

They could always come and visit.

"Take your time, think about it. I don't need an answer right now." David gently extricated his fingers from mine and bent down to kiss me on the forehead before standing up. "Jacob, Bella and Max are dying to see you. I had to do some fast talking to get a few minutes alone with you before they came barging in here en masse."

Pausing where the darkness of the room met the light spilling in from the hallway, David spoke in a low, grave, serious voice. "You're sure this is over?" He flicked his finger between the two of us. Guilt spread through my belly.

"Pretty sure. At least for right now. I just…I'm not ready to be with anyone else."

"I see." I pleaded with him with my eyes, begging him to understand. He studied me intently. Then a small smile quirked the corners of his lips.

"In that case, do you think Max would go out with me?"

My jaw dropped. Then I reached behind my head, grabbed a pillow and let it fly. What a jerk. David laughed, dancing merrily out of the way and letting the pillow fly harmlessly into the wall.

"That's a 'no', then?"

"That's a 'not a chance in a hell," I promised.

"Oh, well. Just thought I'd ask."

Grinning cheekily, he disappeared out into the hallway, leaving me shaking my head behind him. What the hell was that? David and Max. I mulled the idea over for about two seconds, and the picture made me smile.

She would eat him alive.

"Should we go out and come back in again?"

Max stood at the foot of the bed, eyebrow raised. Jake towered over her, arms wrapped around Bella, fingers lightly stroking the skin on her forearms. The drool marks on her shoulders told me Rosalie had probably grabbed Billy on their way down.

"What?"

"You were giving me this incredibly sinister smile. Very cat that ate the canary. I was wondering if we should go out and come back in again so you could spit it out and finish whatever world domination thing you had going on in here."

"Dumbass." I smiled at all of them with affection. I was going to miss them all, so much. "I was just ruminating on something David said before he left."

"Oh?" Max nodded to Bella and Jake, and the three of them huddled around the bed. "Did he declare his undying love and appreciation and ask you to move back to the Mojave, where he could keep you barefoot and pregnant from now until death do you part?"

She was kidding, but the picture she painted made me cringe.

"Half right. I think we're going to skip that whole barefoot and pregnant thing, thanks."

"So you are going back?"

This from Bella, who looked incredibly sad as she squeezed my fingers. Smiling ruefully, I squeezed back.

"I think so. At least until things settle down a little bit. It's just…it's all a little too much right now."

"Understandable," Bella said softly. "You've been through so much the past week. We all have." She paused, looking up at Jake. "It's over now though, right? We can start getting back to normal."

Jacob sighed, wrapping his arm around his wife.

"We can…but are you sure you want to? What about Italy?"

"What do you mean?" She frowned, looking confused. "Natalya was just stirring up trouble, remember? It's over now. Better. I'm better. I'll just give Edward back his tickets. He'll understand."

I held my breath.

"Don't."

The air whooshed out in one quick, strangled burst. He didn't really just say that….did he? No, he must have. Max and Bella looked just as gob-smacked as I felt.

"Don't…what?"

"Don't give him back the tickets. Take them, got to Italy."

Bella's eyes filled with tears.

"Are you saying you…don't want me anymore? You want me to leave?"

"No!"

Spinning her to face him fully, Jake reached up to brush her tears away.

"Bells, honey, I haven't known what it feels like to not want you since the first time I saw you standing next to that POS truck I fixed up for you when you moved back to Forks. I love you. I want you here, with me, for the rest of our lives."

"Then why?" She stared up at him, eyes drowning in bewilderment. Max leaned forward, propping her elbows on the bed and watching the drama unfold with avid curiosity on her face. Unable to resist, I flicked her arm, laughing at the filthy look she gave me. The couple on the other side of the bed didn't even notice.

"You deserve to be happy."

"I am happy." Reaching up, she wrapped her hands around his face. I could feel the bewilderment and desperation rolling off of her from where I sat. "I'm happy here, with you."

Squeezing her hands, he dropped them back into his lap. Bella jerked back like she'd been slapped.

"No you're not. Not really. If you were, she wouldn't have been able to do any of this. And as much as I hate to agree with that bitch, she was right. You're too smart to spend the rest of your life trapped on this reservation, and I'm way too selfish to let you go and find someone who can give you everything I can't."

"Jake…"

"Shut up Bells, I'm talking." He laughed at the mutinous look on her face. "I know you love me. Knew it before you did. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to go to Italy. Take Billy, and take an entire damn contingent of bodyguards with you. I know the Cullens are all planning to go."

"How did you…?"

"I'm good like that." At her skeptical look, he added sheepishly, "And Cullen may have said something about it when I threatened to pound his face in."

"Jacob!"

"Don't give me that look. There was no way in hell I'd send the two most important people in my life halfway around the world without making sure they would be taken care of." Pausing, he smiled. "I'm sending Colin and Brady with you too. Just in case."

"You mean you don't want the Cullens to have all the fun if the Volturi attack."

Jake's grin went wolfish at Max's words.

"Well, yeah."

We all laughed, and Bella threw her arms around her husband.

"You idiot," she murmured, planting a kiss on his lips. "You're sure about this?"

"Go. Have fun. Eat lots of gnocchi. Then come back to me."

"Always."