Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Author's note: Bit of M fluff halfway.


"Don't do it, Emmett," Jasper warned.

"Dude, shut up."

"It's a death wish, Emmett," he tisked.

"Oh, I hardly think so."

Jasper shrugged in defeat and continued pretending to eat his lunch. His brother grinned and, after checking the alignment on his spoon, catapulted a large chilli pepper at Bella's sleeping figure across the table.

Bella jolted awake amid cries of outrage. Though too sleepy to raise her voice beyond the isolation of their table in the cafeteria, she nonetheless glared at the offending chilli pepper before it instantly combusted. It turned to ash and fell like a powdered snow onto the table.

Rosalie appeared with her tray and immediately whacked the back of her husband's head.

Edward shook his head. "You do understand she could've missed and burned your manhood away, don't you?"

"At least I have one," Emmett mumbled back.

"Now, now, play nice," Alice admonished while giving Bella a concerned look. She looked terrible.

Rosalie pushed her energy drink towards her. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

Bella shrugged and opened the can. She looked so miserable that Alice and Emmett didn't have the heart to joke about what she (and Rosalie) might have been doing to forgo that much sleep. It would have been a poor joke though because Rosalie wasn't with her last night.

The cafeteria was its usual noisy affair on this nondescript February day. The family's table, always quiet as a rule since all of them could hear the quietest of whispers and all but Bella could and often did whisper as softly as they could, was even more obviously hushed when compared to the flurry of excitement in the student body around them. There was another fire last night.

Six separate incidents. Three homes, two businesses, and a car that had not moved from its parking spot for over a year. Six fires in two months...an unheard of record for this sleepy town.

Bella felt as if she were trapped in a nightmare.

Never one to follow any sort of news before, she now felt herself a slave to the local papers. She dipped into her small stash of money and drove out to Port Angeles without telling anyone to buy a police scanner. It was continuously kept on when she wasn't in school with her friends. What she was hoping to hear, Bella couldn't be sure. Something the firefighters caught but didn't understand? A description of the yet-nonexistent suspect?

Her father's voice?

Charlie had been working overtime since their dinner at the Blacks, no doubt attempting to make some sort of headway on the case. Bella had seen him only a handful of times since. Each time, Charlie was as kind to her as he had been of late. They always greeted each other with a soft smile, always asked about the others' day, and in Charlie's sake, always passed along a greeting to the Cullens. But Bella saw a new hardening in Charlie's features. The invisible blockade between the two of them that was there for much of the previous year was slowly rebuilding itself. Charlie hasn't outright said anything about the fires, but Bella could see the seed of suspicion in his demeanor. And it was driving her crazy.

Two tables down, a bunch of pimply freshmen were talking animatedly about the latest event. One of them, a boy named EJ, had a father in the fire department which propelled his popularity a great deal this year.

"Dad says it was coleman fuel this time," the boy regaled to his friends excitedly. Bella could easily hear them without using her gift.

"The stuff they use in camp stoves?" Another girl asked.

"Yeah, and get this!" EJ leaned closer to his friends though his voice remained loud enough to be heard by half the cafeteria. "Dad says Chief Swan and Mr. Newton looked through the store's entire inventory and…"

He paused for dramatic effect. The girl to his right squealed and held his arm.

"There was a shitload of that fuel missing!" EJ grinned, wide-eyed. "Like seriously, a shitload! Mr. Newton was stunned!"

Bella closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Coleman fuel...what would Charlie think if he knew that she knew perfectly well that coleman fuel was an excellent accelerant? And that she knew which brands of windshield washer fluid had the greatest concentration of methyl alcohol? All those hours in libraries weren't just spent playing the piano and reading about the Kennedys. For a short time she had thought that if she understood the science of fire she might have a better shot at controlling it.

It was a foolish hypothesis. Understanding how fires start and spread did nothing to alleviate Bella's brand of arson.

"They went through all the security footage and guess what they found?" EJ continued. "Nothing! Not a goddamn explanation for how all that stuff just vanished into thin air!"

Last fire it was rubbing alcohol. The one before that it was wicker. Was this some sort of game? It sure seemed like it. The arsonist must be having a real laugh watching Charlie and the fire department run circles trying to catch him.

"Bella," Jasper looked very concerned. "Why are you letting this affect you so much? I'm sure the police will catch the perpetrator."

"You know why," she mumbled back. "Charlie thinks I have something to do with it."

"Bella Bear, that's nuts," Emmett stated emphatically. "Hell, you were hanging with me last week when the Rite Aid went down. I took you home that day and Charlie was there. He knows we were together."

She shook her head. It didn't matter. Bella had a feeling she could've spent every moment with Charlie and he'd still suspect her. And let's face it, who could blame him?

"They'll catch him, Bella," Rosalie said softly before reaching for her hand. "It's only a matter of time."

Bella nodded. Rosalie's words had no effect but her voice gave her some comfort. Her voice always gave her comfort.


What good was it to be a terrifying predator when Rosalie couldn't even protect the people she cared for the most? She should be able to hunt down the person doing all this damage and, more importantly, causing her girlfriend this must stress without a second thought. So why wasn't she doing precisely that?

Well for one thing, the world could end and that still wouldn't get her to leave Bella's bed. Nothing but a family emergency would ever compel her to leave Bella's side, especially when the girl slumbered inside her arms like this. Rosalie hunted just the day before. She was full and sated. Did that mean Bella didn't still smell insanely delectable? No, of course not. But it meant Rosalie could rest her face in the crook of Bella's neck without losing her mind. She could breathe her in without accidentally ripping the sheets - something she had done last week when she pushed her luck and delayed the hunt.

But even if the previous reasoning did not exist, Rosalie still couldn't go out there and take matters into her own hands. It was the curse of eternal life and the lifestyle she was bound to. The Cullens were able to move city to city and repeat their lives not in small part because of their commitment to noninvolvement. With the exception of Rosalie's and Edward's excursions on their own many years ago, none of them have ever deliberately set out to change the natural course of events...even for altruistic reasons.

If a car was about to run Bella over, Rosalie would of course throw caution to the wind and save her. The whole family would, she was sure of it. But anyone else? It had taken Rosalie less time to adjust to this policy of noninterference than the rest of her family. Unsurprisingly, she had seen death as a blessing and had envied all those people, even those whose time came far too soon. Also unsurprisingly, Emmett had the most difficult time of it. He still did.

And that was why, though she wished she could abolish every reason for Bella's pain, Rosalie lay still beside the girl. Movement in the house...Charlie got into his car and left for work. Rosalie quickly jerked her head back away from Bella's neck. She was so angry she couldn't risk the proximity. That son of a bitch...Charlie was the other exception to her rule. Should Bella say the word, Rosalie would not hesitate to tear that sorry excuse for a human being apart. His demeanor towards Bella had gone south so fast just because he couldn't do his job and catch the arsonist. He had no idea how lucky he was...lucky that Bella would never allow him to come to harm by the Vampires' hands.

A few minutes later, Rosalie forced herself to calm down and enjoy the moment. Bella was so peaceful when she slept. She looked like an ordinary girl with nothing more on her mind than getting through high school. This was something Rosalie did often - watch Bella as she slept. There was little she could do after she drifted off after all, and she knew the young girl liked waking up next to her when she did stay over. On the best of nights (on most nights) Rosalie would fall into a meditative state, the closest thing to sleep her kind could muster, as she took in everything that was Bella. On the worst nights, she'd mull over her plans for the future as she went back and forth with herself. Would Bella want to wait a few years before she was turned? Would she want to experience college first? How would they deal with Charlie? Where will the family go next? How would it work with Bella and Emmett in one house? Will Emmett be all right once he and Bella were truly on the same level? All of those questions weighed equally on Rosalie's mind but they paled in comparison to the biggest one of all:

How will Bella's gifts evolve when she changed?

It was enough to give her a splitting headache on the worst of nights. Tonight, fortunately, was not one of those nights. Tonight, or rather this morning seeing as it was light out already, she could shut out all thoughts and just be with her Bella.

Ever so softly, Rosalie traced Bella's face with her hand. She lightly brushed her fingertips to her hair, her forehead, eyelids, cheeks, lips. It was hardly touching at all, but it still left tingles on her own skin. Greed overtook her. It wasn't enough just to brush her skin along hers. Rosalie gulped down another deep breath of Bella's scent. She had to be sure. She had to be sure of herself before she proceeded. Her intentions, like exotic spices, added another delicious element to the aroma before her...but her control held true.

Her lips marched in step with her fingers...where they went, her lips followed. She spent many tantalizing minutes covering her lover's face with kisses, resisting the pull to deepen them when her lips touched hers.

Bella's neck wasn't even an option. It didn't matter how many deer she slaughtered. Even if she had hunted an hour ago, this was a self-imposed line Rosalie would no longer cross. Forget bloodlust...Rosalie wanted it badly enough she feared her rational mind would cease to function if she ever got so close to her jugular. No, Bella's neck went undisturbed as she maneuvered in the bed and went further down.

Bella didn't stir when she rolled her nightshirt up her body. The blonde moaned softly as she traced around Bella's areolas and the underside of her breasts before plunging one of Bella's soft nipples into her cool mouth.

She really couldn't help herself. Without any conscious thought beyond the body beneath her, Rosalie's own body started moving on its own. She had long ago gotten used to her unnaturally high sex drive with Emmett. When Bella came along, part of her assumed that surely with two people her desires would quell a bit but, no...she needed Emmett and she needed Bella with an intensity and frequency that would scare her if she wasn't already scared of so many other things. Maybe Emmett was right and there was something that linked her in some way to the Denali sisters. Maybe the only thing that spared her from their extra feeding requirements was Carlisle's venom, not Sasha's, that coursed through her veins.

Oh, who cares.

Rosalie withdrew her mouth and replaced it with a gentle hand as she transferred her attention to Bella's other side. If there was a chance of stopping, that chance was obliterated the second she heard Bella moan. It was slight and barely audible but it was enough to spur her on well past the point of no return.


Should she be pleased with Rosalie's wake-up call or be annoyed with the hour? No sooner had Bella asked herself the question than she dismissed it. Who the hell needed sleep when they could have this...

"Someday I'm gonna grow tired of sex," she said jokingly while simultaneously moaning when she felt Rosalie's tongue swirling faster. "And then what will you do?"

"Nice try," Rosalie growled. The vibrations from her mouth on her nipple sent tremors through the brunette's body. "You know you're as addicted to this as I am."

Bella grinned slyly. "Every addiction has a cure, Rosalie Hale."

Suddenly Rosalie's face was right above Bella's. Rosalie looked her right in the eye, her lips millimeters from Bella's. "I'm sure I'll think of something to keep you hooked," she whispered.

Bella closed the distance between them so their lips finally met. She would never get tired of this, she thought. Never mind the sex...she was addicted to these gentle kisses...to Rosalie's mere presence. Holding her hand did more for her general outlook than she had ever dreamed possible. Bella never hated herself when Rosalie was near. How could she, when Rosalie loved her so much?

Her legs spread themselves without any further prompting and wrapped tightly around Rosalie's waist. She opened her mouth slightly and accepted Rosalie's probing tongue. It was so cold...not uncomfortably so, but the shock of it sent her shivering in anticipation. Rosalie's kisses always held promises. Of what, she didn't really understand. But in all the time she spent with the older girl, Bella had never parted from her feeling those promises were unfulfilled.

She sighed deeply and relaxed her body. Rosalie withdrew and brought her hands up from her sides, kissing each knuckle carefully before setting them back down. They didn't take their eyes off of each other as Rosalie descended south, as she peeled Bella's underwear off, as she slowly kissed her way up each leg, and as she finally settled her face in Bella's center.

Bella's breathing changed to short, irregular gasps. Rosalie never needed long to bring her to orgasm. It was almost pathetic, or so Bella used to think in the beginning. A different lover might have stopped after her first peak, thinking their job was done. But Rosalie never stopped after one. Rosalie would probably be the death of her one day because she could on and on. And on.

She cried out again. She clenched up again. Her body shook again, and again, and again.

All over her body, her skin buzzed with electricity as she looked down at Rosalie. Her eyes, all that she could really see of her face for obvious reasons, were so dark. Rosalie must have seen the concern flash over her face because she moved to hold her hand in hers. She held it gently. She was fine.

A moment later, Rosalie wasn't. So quickly she sent Bella's heart racing, Rosalie leaped backwards and hissed. She had the strangest expression on her face.

"What is it?" Bella asked, worried. Did her scent finally push her too far?

"Outside," she answered slowly. "Your friend. Jacob."

Bella's stomach tumbled and joined her feet. Shit. She never told him to get lost, mostly to appease Esme, but she hadn't exactly sought him out since the dinner either. Apparently he never thought to ask Charlie for her number because he hadn't tried to contact her in all this time either. The two of them should stay in their respective towns, as far as Bella was concerned.

"Ignore it," Bella mumbled, looking down.

She looked up in time to watch Rosalie mentally struggle with something. One second she looked ready to kill, the next, ready to swoop down and kiss her. What seemed like a full minute finally passed and Rosalie settled on an expression of pained acceptance.

"No, sweetie," she said gently, though it was clear that it was taking every bit of Rosalie's self-control so maintain that demeanor. "You should see him. You should see what he wants."

"Rosalie! I -"

"You..." Rosalie showed her teeth. "...care about him. He's your friend. Now I'd be a pretty lousy girlfriend if I let you ruin this, even if I do want to rip his lungs out." She closed her eyes and stopped breathing altogether.

Knocking. He was at the door. How the hell did he know to check the shed? Shit, was it his nose? Was he developing wolf senses already?

"Rose! Don't!" But it was too late. Rosalie donned the pajama bottoms and tank that had come off at some point during the night or in the morning and was already downstairs before Bella could blink.

"You're gonna kill him!" Bella whispered frantically. Was Rosalie insane? Did she think Jacob's scent wouldn't be any worse up close? Oh god, oh god, she thought anxiously as she pulled her own pajamas back on as quickly as she could.

"You must be Jacob!" Bella tripped and stubbed a toe. She hobbled around her bed all the while wondering if that was really Rosalie's voice. Rosalie sounded...perky, friendly...fucking weird.

Bella ran down the stairs in time to see, truly, the funniest gobsmacked expression ever on Jacob's face. What the hell's wrong with him? She looked him over with concern for a second before it hit her. Oh, right. He was meeting Rosalie for the first time.

Despite the situation she found herself inwardly smirking. Bella had witnessed that look on his face dozens of times every time Rosalie accompanied her to the library, the supermarket, the mall...really, anywhere in which humans inhabited. And every time without fail, somebody somewhere would stop dead in their tracks, sweat through every layer of clothing, lose control of all facial (and sometimes, other) muscles, and emit little squealing, tortured sounds like -

"Uga, uhh"

Bella rolled her eyes but secretly agreed with Jacob. Rosalie did look particularly ravishing this morning. Her hair was tousled wildly, she didn't have an ounce of makeup on (something Bella found way hotter anyway), and that tank! Poor Jake. He really had no chance in making a presentable impression. Even Bella's eyes had trouble veering away from Rosalie's chest in that tank.

"It's nice to meet you, Jake," Rosalie continued in that weird sing-song, nice voice. Bella shuddered. That really was the scariest thing she'd ever heard in her life. "Bella hasn't shut up about you. I don't have any reasons to be jealous, do I?"

Both Jacob and Bella gave Rosalie an incredulous look as if to say, are you crazy? You, jealous?

"Uga, uhh"

Dear lord, Rosalie broke Jacob. The boy just stood there, staring at Rosalie like she was Juliet come alive while Rosalie struggled to maintain 1. her friendly, completely fake, countenance and 2. her desire to put as much distance as possible between herself and that awful stench.

"Uga," Jaco cleared his throat. "H-hi. It's nice to meet you too, Rosalie. Hi Bella."

"Hi," she replied quietly. Unsurprisingly her thoughts immediately turned to his mother.

Rosalie seemed to sense her discomfort because she put a strong, protective arm around her. "To what do we owe this pleasant surprise, Jacob?" Rosalie asked. She still sounded way too nice but Bella caught the covert tone anyway. She also heard her whisper, "answer or I'll skewer you with my nail filer, you mangy mutt."

"I, uh, Bella!" He exclaimed, finally seeing her for the first time. "I found you a motorcycle! I came to see if you wanted to come with me to grab it from the salvage yard!"

God, she wanted to say yes. She wanted to punch him playfully for staring at Rosalie. She wanted to tease him mercilessly for the bit of drool on his chin. In the end, though, it didn't matter what Bella wanted or didn't want. Rosalie was just too determined.

"That's great!" Rosalie exclaimed with an enthusiasm she had rarely heard before. "Bells mentioned that. You'll be careful with her, right Jacob?"

"Uh, huh." He looked ready to kiss the floor because Rosalie was speaking directly to him again.

"Watch yourself, ok?" Rosalie turned to her. She wasn't talking about the motorcycle. "I'll be out with Alice all day."

Then she whispered fast so only she could hear. "I love you. Don't hate me too much for this, but I hate seeing you in pain more than I hate his stench. Please try not think about that other thing? Try to enjoy the time that you have, ok?"

Bella nodded and let her draw her in for a deep, passionate kiss. She suspected it was partly a show for Jacob - a not-so-subtle warning that Bella was taken and that he better not try anything. In any case the kiss had Bella's (and Jacob's) knees shaking by the time she let her come up for air.

"I love you," Rosalie said again, louder so Jacob could hear.

The blonde sped upstairs before she knew it to "pack" her overnight things. Jacob, unaware that Rosalie could still hear everything, turned to look at Bella with reverence and awe.

He mouthed the words, 'holy hell, she's smokin'!'

'She's crazy and moody, unpredictable and downright cruel sometimes,' she wanted to say. 'But yeah...holy hell is right.'


Author's note: I got seriously stuck trying to come up with a name for this chapter. Still not sure if I like it. Anyone got suggestions? Also, would you rather Bella told Jacob the truth, have him find out on his own, or not tell him at all?