"That's enough Jake. I think you're scaring everyone." I tried to sound humorous, but just sounded congested.

"I don't think they scare easily."

I looked to see if Jake was joking. He wasn't. If looks could kill, they would all have been flat out dead.

The silence intensified, threatening to snap at the very last minute.

"Dessert!?" Echoed Carmen's strangled voice. Her chair screeched back and she stalked away in to the kitchen, something I hadn't seen her do before.

We all sat speechless, as if we were in mourning or in the wake of a funeral. Even the chandeliers dimmed to darken the atmosphere. Nothing could brighten the dull churn or the chill of the condensed air that was determined to wreck my evening with Jake. Even if it was partly his fault.

The door swung open and in stepped Carmen holding plates of dessert. Esme followed dotingly behind her.

Since when did Carmen begin serving out food?

"Here we are." She laid down two plates of soufflé for Jake and me, then took more from the tray Esme was carrying, seeming crazy with her actions. When she sat down again, she didn't waste time in devouring her dessert. In fact, she looked to be in a hurry to finish it.

"Is it true mother?" Bree was brave enough to speak first.

There was no reply.

"Is there an Irina?" She persisted.

Carmen's spoon poked aggressively into her poor dessert. "Don't be ridiculous,' she snapped, the last word emphasising her impatience.

Bree lowered her head to poke at her food. I felt the need to make her feel less pushed out.

"I think I've seen her," I blurted. Hearing it out loud made me realise how illogical it sounded.

"You have?" Jake asked, pleased by my stupid announcement.

"I think so."

"Do tell!" Tanya shrilled, now wide awake.

"It was in the attic. At the window," I caught Edward look at me, maybe with some interest.

Emmett laughed, choking back his response. I was thankful, but it was short-lived. "Been at the gin 'n' tonic too have you?"

"Let her finish," Jake said to him.

Emmett swore and bashed his fist onto the table. Carmen placed her hand over it to restrain him.

I took a deep breath, fearing the night was heading exactly where I'd tried to avoid it.

"Very well. Go on," Carmen said, all kindness washed from her voice. Our close moment on the way home seemed to have never happened.

"Well that's it. I saw her at the attic window." My voice shook.

"There's nothing more you wish to share?" Carmen persisted.

I peered at everyone around the table. They glared at me as if I was a freak of nature. Only Edward's attention was diverted away from me, at Jake's hand placed over mine. I concentrated on the heat from his palm, the humming sensation climbing up my arm and into my chest, removing the heaviness that sunk my heart to unbearable depths.

"No," I said.

Jake's hand clenched tighter around my hand, sending tiny sparks of something to shoot right through me, cleanse me of self-doubt.

When I turned my head and peered into Jake's eyes, it made me realize I was close to his lips. He muttered something unintelligible.

"I think it's time you crawled back to the gutter where you belong," came that all too familiar voice.

I broke away to find Edward standing, wiping his hands with a napkin, all set to remove Jake physically from the table.

"Don't speak to my guest like that." I said, clearly above my usual range since everyone winced.

Edward glared without moving a single muscle. Somehow he managed not to blink. Suddenly his nostrils flared. His face turned a not so subtle red. Something was coming.

"A guest," he emphasised with a hissing 'st' "doesn't invite another guest without permission.'

"A guest," I hissed back. "Should be allowed the choice."

His hand balled into a fist. The whites of his knuckles looked set to tear through his skin. His eyes then changed to a deep morose black, angered yet inflamed with something less degenerate, something I couldn't fathom. An understanding? If only I were that lucky.

I stood too. He didn't look surprised, only curious and expectant, as if I was pleasingly predictable.

"And you can take that smug grin off your face," I snapped, unable to stop myself.

Gasps and sneers began to flourish around the table in-between slurps and giggles, especially from Rosalie.

'Do I look like I'm smiling?' He gritted out.

He was. I could see it as clear as I could see my own hands.

"Yes," I answered, adamant of the fact. "You must enjoy being a complete assho-"

"That will be quite enough," hailed Carmen, rising from the table. "Thank you for your visit Jake. However, I feel it is time you were on your way." Her smile was uptight.

I could have spat needles. "But…"

"It's fine Bella," Jake said, "I have a lot I need to get back to." He wiped his mouth with his napkin and pushed back his chair.

Edward had sat down to eat again, acting as if he had nothing to do with what was happening.

I turned to Carmen. "Why are you doing this?"

She wouldn't answer or look at me.

"Bella, please," Jake pleaded, "let it be."

"No. They're acting as if we've done something wrong.' I wanted to leave with Jake and sleep out in his apparent tent for the next few weeks.

"Bella, my dear, you must calm yourself," Carmen frowned.

"Why? So you can continue to berate me and my friends? Throw them out like lepers?" My voice quavered.

No one looked up or even acknowledged the fact that I was on the verge of becoming hysterical. Carmen was still standing unnaturally still and dignified, her derivative smile crippling me with a resentful anger.

I hadn't even noticed Jake leave. I ran to the door to see if I could catch up to him.

"My darling, it is late," called out Carmen. "When will you return?" The question faded behind me as I ran down the stone steps. Jake was walking through the open gates.

"Jake! Jake stop!"

He continued to walk ahead, ignoring my every plea. He was mad. I couldn't blame him. No-one, especially him, deserved to be treated like such an outcast. I felt somehow to blame for the way he must have been feeling, unworthy of being around the Cullens, when he was far more superior than each and every one of them.

I managed to catch up to him so that I was only inches away from his long strides. He was dissolving into the incoming night.

"Jake…Jake wait."

He turned, becoming concerned by my unhealthy gasps for breath. "Are you ok?" He stepped forward to hold me by the shoulders.

"Stitch," I moaned, pointing at my side-splitting ache.

He sat me onto a rock. It wasn't the most comfortable place to put me, but it had to do since I couldn't bring myself to walk another inch.

"Deep breaths," He advised me, rubbing both my arms. I felt like such a wuss, always the damsel in distress in his presence.

"Thanks," I sighed with a jittery smile.

He held me closer to his chest. The heat from him seemed to bathe me, like swimming in the sun exposed sea, where I drifted in and out of the waves of his body rhythm.

I blinked up at his face, unable to differentiate the difference between what was real and what wasn't again. It suddenly felt like there was nothing except us, not the world or the finer things to appreciate. There was no sun, no moon or trees. No re-growth or continuance. And it made me happy, fulfilled, and content. The softest lips ever so slightly brushed against mine, only a wisp, a soft veil of liquid fire, hovering just above the lingering sweetness on his rising breath.

"Are you feeling better?" Asked his smiling voice.

"Yes," I replied in a weird trance.

"Good. I have to go."

I opened my eyes. He was standing in front of me. His hands tucked deep in his pockets.

"Now?" I asked wearily, dazed and disorientated by what had just happened.

He nodded, then looked away into the distance, his eyes never resting on one particular place.

"I have to visit my Uncle."

"Oh," was all I could say. I could barely see his face, only the sun flickering through the row of trees behind him.

"Are you coming back?" I asked, suddenly aware of what he'd said.

He nodded again, smiling bleakly. "I'll be back in few days."

"A few days?" I gasped, unable to hide my disappointment.

He grinned and looked away again. "You won't miss me," he joked.

But I sensed he really believed it.

"I will miss you. You're all I have here,' I confessed.

He turned to me, unsmiling, yet his eyes shined with speckles of gold that danced within the curve of my reflection.

"That's good to know." He lowered his head to kick at some leaves. His sudden shyness tugged all my insides.

"I'm sorry about-"

"Don't," he interrupted. "Don't ruin this."

"Ruin what?" I asked carefully.

"This." He shrugged. "The way we are now."

I nodded, not quite sure as to what he was saying, but choosing to remain complacent.

Something told me it was better left unsaid.

"I really need to go,' he said, unable to look me in the face.

I stood and reached out to touch his arm. A bolt of something ran through me as he stepped back. It wasn't pleasant, my hands felt bitten.

"I'll see you soon," he muttered

"Okay," I waved at his fading back as he stepped among the foliage of trees, welcoming him inside the dark, dim, dictating night of unanswerable questions.