Edward was driving Bella in the Volvo, as Alice and Jasper followed in Alice's new car. They had been used to taking Bella to the boundary line with only one companion, but the talk of missing people and newborn vampires had roused Edward's protective instincts. It would be enough of a struggle to even allow Bella to go onto their territory, to stand and watch her drive over the boundary line to a place where he couldn't go. At least she'd be well guarded on the way.
They all parked and gathered momentarily beside the parked cars, Bella promising once more to really talk wedding the next time she was at the Cullens', and Edward handed Bella his cell phone and the keys to his Volvo. Sensing her slight reluctance to kiss Edward goodbye in front of them, Jasper led Alice a few feet away, pretending to make some comment on the plant life. He picked up a small surge of affectionate gratitude from Edward for his sensitivity; then realized that Bella had also understood his intentions. She gave off appreciation, a touch of embarrassment, but also a little surprise, what felt to him like 'I didn't think he'd take the trouble'. He remained something of a mystery to his newest sister, Jasper realized - with reason, as he still kept his distance from her much of the time, emotionally as well as physically. He hoped he could rectify that, once she was transformed, and safe to be around. She was Alice's best friend, after all, which was reason enough; and she had an intriguing emotional climate. He looked forward to knowing her better - in time. For now, he was mostly her guard. He felt the surge of warmth and affection as Bella and Edward embraced, a sprinkling of lust, and the familiar reluctance to separate, - along with, he was pleased to note, a definite decrease in Bella's insecurity - then the tiny but sharp trace of sadness as they released one another and Edward stepped away. Jasper was well acquainted with that feeling, from every time he and Alice parted from one another.
"Bye, Bella!" Alice called. Bella turned to wave at them from the car window, and Jasper raised his hand in farewell also. The car crossed the boundary line and drove off along the winding road. Jasper and Alice moved to get back in the car, but stopped when they saw Edward standing, still watching the trace of dust raised by the distant, now invisible car. Picking up some unusual emotional activity, Jasper stood where he was, expectant.
Edward turned toward him. "Jasper," he said, rather apologetically, "I need to ask you a question."
Jacob was nowhere to be seen when Bella pulled in beside Billy's house. She heard his voice, slightly muffled, call out, "Bella?" and she looked around. She finally spotted his legs sticking out from under his car.
She walked over to the car. "Hey, Jake."
He dragged himself awkwardly out from underneath. "Hi! Sorry, I had to finish up."
"Problem with the Rabbit?"
"Just maintenance." He got to his feet and walked to the back of the house, where he washed his hands under the outdoor water tap. "So, how long have you got?
"How long?"
"Yeah, how much time did your keepers grant you?"
"Jake, do we have to start every single visit this way?"
"I know he doesn't like you coming here."
"Edward drove me here, Jacob."
"As far as the boundary line." He started for the house.
"What, you want him to cross the boundary?" she retorted.
Jacob gave her a rather sinister grin. "I wouldn't mind. It would give us an excuse."
"Right. 'Cause what's the good of being lean, mean killing machines if you never get to kill, right?"
Her reaction seemed to make him draw back a bit. "Look, I'm not trying to start anything."
"Could've fooled me," she said coldly.
"Okay, can we start over? It's nice to see you." She gave him a curt nod. Acknowledgement, but just barely. Her sense of obligation toward Jacob, and her genuine fondness for him, fought with her growing dislike of his attitude. "Um, want something to drink? We've got..." He opened the refrigerator. "Ginger ale?"
She decided he was trying to be polite, and met him halfway. "Sure, thanks." She accepted a chilled can from Jacob, and he took one for himself. "Where's your dad?"
"Doctor's appointment. Rachel drove him."
"Is he okay?"
"Sure. Just maintenance."
"Like the Rabbit."
He snorted. "Exactly."
"So what are we doing? Want to take a walk?" It was not quite raining, more like misting, but Bella had learned to accept that condition as technically non-raining and suitable for outdoor activities, by local standards.
"Uh, maybe in a while. First I... sorry, but I have some homework left I've really got to finish. I promised Dad I'd get it done before he got back. Could we hang out here a while? It won't take too long."
"Sure, no problem. So that means you're back in school?" He'd stopped attending regularly when his werewolf transformation began.
"Yeah, and they've let me catch up so I won't lose a year. Here, I'll put a movie in while you wait."
"Not planning on giving the work your full attention? That should help your grades."
"My grades are fine! Well, they're okay. Anyway, this assignment doesn't take a lot of concentration, it's pretty much filling in the blanks and stuff."
He put a DVD into the player, and they settled down on the sofa. Bella sipped her ginger ale and watched while Jacob scribbled and occasionally looked up to laugh or comment on a scene in the movie. He finished his work in about twenty minutes, set it aside and leaned back on the sofa, stretching his arms out comfortably along the seat back. "This part's my favourite," he noted, nodding toward the screen with a grin, at the same time letting his left arm rest on Bella's shoulders.
It was a parody love scene, comical for its exaggerated passion. "Yeah, it's funny," she agreed. Something about Jacob, his manner or his posture, made her just a little uncomfortable, and she purposely moved the conversation along. "Are you thinking at all about applying to colleges?"
"Not yet. I've still got another year of high school, remember? I'm not as old as some people." He nudged her playfully. "Cougar."
She snorted but didn't otherwise respond, and they watched the movie in silence for a while. Meanwhile, Jacob's mind was percolating with a mixture of thoughts and feelings. The foundation of it all was the same affection he'd always had for Bella - first as a friend, then as his first real crush, then as...someone forced back into the friend zone. He still liked Bella, though; that was basic. But on top of that, there were other, murkier feelings. Resentment at being shut out in favour of one of them. Plain old garden-variety adolescent libido. A protective impulse, emerging from his newly developed instincts toward vampires, intensified by Sam's training, that made him want to save Bella from them by any means possible. From the same wolfish instincts, an inclination to dominate his rival.
Added to all that were the thoughts he shared with the other pack members, in the strange hive mind they all inhabited when they were in wolf form. Mostly, they focused on the business at hand, protecting the territory; but personal thoughts came through as well, especially when they were on long-term patrols. Some of the older pack members had girlfriends; most had at least some romantic experience. Jacob had been the epitome of mild-mannered, uncertain, inexperienced virgin boy; but now he was a boy carrying around the combined sexual background of half a dozen more experienced young men. The things he potentially could do with Bella, the things he could conceivably convince her to do, some day, were fizzing in his head.
The additional data that came from his enhanced wolf senses added to all that, in an exciting and empowering way. When Bella had first arrived that day, he had been able to discern not only that she was currently ovulating, but that she was very mildly sexually aroused. Jacob had optimistically attributed the latter to her meeting with him. The condition had subsided quickly, he was disappointed to note, but he didn't let that discourage him. He kept his arm around Bella as they watched their movie, giving her shoulder a companionable squeeze when they laughed together at a funny line, and sometimes idly rubbing her upper arm as if doing it absent-mindedly. He had picked up an almost unconscious thought from one of the pack members: including casual, seemingly unplanned physical contact, friendly hugs, pats on the back and such, in your regular interactions with a girl makes her more comfortable with your touch, and also makes moving on to kissing and so forth a much simpler task. He'd heard other things as well, about actually being with a woman, what women liked, what was likely to be effective at getting them into bed, and while Jacob was well aware that he wasn't anywhere near that level with Bella, he stored away the information for future reference. Jacob was pleased with the unintentional seminars he'd received, and hoped to make the most of it.
Anything he planned, or hypothetically imagined, about Bella was based on longstanding affection and friendship, though, so in his mind it was all perfectly okay, even wholesome, not remotely predatory in any way.
To his disappointment, when the movie ended, Bella immediately suggested going outside for a walk, and jumped up from the sofa and moved away before he could answer. He followed her out the door and down the familiar path. "Good movie," he commented.
"Yeah, pretty funny."
"We should go to Port Angeles some time, see something on the big screen, next time there's something good playing." He managed to swallow his automatic snipe about Edward permitting her to go.
"Yeah, maybe. Would Rachel like to come too, while she's here? It doesn't seem like she gets out much."
Jacob moodily kicked a stone. Bringing his sister definitely took it out of the category of date. "I guess she might."
Bella started to tell a funny story about Jessica accidentally coming to school in mismatched socks and going to ridiculous lengths to hide the fact. He listened with a smile and occasional chuckle, and as they walked, casually took her hand. Bella didn't falter in telling her story; she also didn't reject his gesture, but continued walking down the path with him, hand in hand. They laughed and exchanged school stories, and as they reached the rocky shoreline, she gave his hand a squeeze and swung their arms back and forth. It was playful, but not in the least flirtatious. Finally, she squeezed his hand once again, giving him a grin. It was a friendly grin, warm but with a rueful apology behind it. She lifted the hand she held, rubbed the back of his hand - not stroked or caressed, but rubbed, in a warm but brisk and unsentimental way.
She released his hand and said, "Want to walk down to the water?"
"Sure," he said, careful not to sound sullen. For once, he shared a quality with Edward Cullen: he wished he could read her thoughts.
They wandered along the waterline, threw a few stones into the water, then the inevitable rain began, and Bella suggested going back. By the time they got to the house, Billy and Rachel were back, and they lapsed into group chitchat. Soon, Bella said she had to be running along. Billy sent greetings back to her father, and Bella wished Rachel good luck with the teaching job she was trying out for. Jacob walked her out the door, where she accepted his hug as usual. This time, he couldn't avoid the feeling that it was a hug of friendship and no more. He told himself that she was merely restraining herself, trying to be proper, trying to be loyal to him, suppressing her real feelings, but it was a little harder than usual to believe it.
Bella gave him a final smile before walking away from the house, taking out her borrowed cell phone as she went. As Jacob turned back to the house, he heard her speak into the phone, in a special tone of voice, one she never used when speaking to Jacob. "Hi, I'm ready. Can you come and get me?"
"Jasper, I need to ask you a question."
"Shoot."
Edward hesitated, looking uneasy. "I know you don't like to reveal emotions without the subject's permission."
Jasper gave him a ghost of a grin. "You're just as conscientious about what you hear from other minds. But there are exceptions." Edward nodded, seeming to contemplate the asphalt. "Just ask, Edward."
He sighed. "I've stopped trying to prevent her from visiting. I still think it's dangerous, but it's her choice."
Alice sighed. She wasn't entirely comfortable with Bella's visits either. She hated the way Bella's future went blank.
"I'm trying to understand her motivation. She seems so determined to see Jacob. She goes to great lengths for him; defends him; tolerates his rudeness."
Jasper raised an eyebrow, feeling Edward's jealousy, and his painful readiness to step aside if it were what Bella wanted. "I'm sure you don't suspect any kind of actual..."
"No!" Edward answered immediately. "I trust her implicitly. But I'm not entirely sure her feelings are altogether...resolved. If there is any ambivalence." He shrugged. "I need to know if I have a rival."
"From Jacob Black's perspective, you certainly have. I expect you know that."
Edward looked grim. "Yes. His thoughts on the subject are very clear, and he takes pleasure in having me know it. I gather he's a great deal more cagey with Bella."
"Sneaky," Alice corrected.
"But Bella's feelings toward him," Edward said cautiously, "are less obvious."
"Well now, those are more nuanced," Jasper began, pausing to give Edward a chance to bail. "She's not in love with the boy, first of all, so you can set your mind at rest there." He felt a surge of relief from Edward's direction. "She's quite fond of him, but loves him more like a sister, or a close friend."
Edward's eyes narrowed. "You're understating things, I think."
"Just summarizing. Emotions are complicated." He quickly ran through what he'd read from her when Jacob was present, such as when they'd spoken in the school parking lot. "Ah'rite, then. Sisterly love. Friendship. Pity, a fair amount." His Texas accent slid back into place, as it often did in private family conversations.
"Why would that be?" Alice wondered.
"The pity? He's been telling her what a hard time he's going through, emotionally," Edward said. "Also lamenting the curse of being a werewolf."
"I'd say it's workin'," Jasper commented. "Then too, she feels a sense of obligation toward him. That's strong."
"It makes sense," Edward nodded. "Jacob was a great help to her during...the time we were gone." Guilt and anguish hit Jasper in a short burst.
"Also guilt." He smirked. "Somethin' you two have in common."
"Why does she feel guilty?" Alice asked him.
Jasper sorted through it in his mind. He couldn't read minds, but he could usually put emotions in context and come to a likely conclusion. "Double edged sword there. She feels bad for making Edward worry by going on their territory to see the boy; and she also feels she's done Jacob wrong somehow." Before anyone could ask, he added, "I can't say why she feels that way, as y'know. She feels like she's done him wrong somehow. Is still doing him wrong," he corrected. The feeling was very much present-tense.
"By being with me - his enemy?" Edward suggested.
Jasper shook his head. "Don't know for sure, but that doesn't quite fit."
Alice glowered. "She wastes way too much effort on that insolent pup."
"Strong sense of obligation," Jasper repeated. "Gratitude, indebtedness. It overrides other things."
"I guess," she grudgingly agreed.
"One other thing. Feels like she finds going to their territory kind of soothing, sometimes. Gives her a break."
"Going to a place full of werewolves?" Edward exclaimed.
"It's a place she went to since she was a child. It's full of old friends and familiar situations. It's got Jacob, who helped keep her steady when she was poorly. That old man, who's a friend of her father's. She's human, and she needs a break sometimes."
"A break from me?" Edward asked.
"Naw, not you. There's lots of pressure on her, is how I read it. Waiting to be changed, having Victoria gunnin' for her. She loves us all, I know that clearly enough; but she's human, and sometimes she needs a breather." In his mind, he showed Edward the emotions of a man he'd once encountered in an airport, a man accompanied by a wife and two lively daughters. The man adored his family, that came across very decidedly; but at one point, he excused himself and went to the men's restroom, the one place his girls couldn't follow, and enjoyed two minutes of restorative calm before rejoining them.
Edward laughed at the image. "I think I understand."
"It's because she's human. Bein' with us puts a heavy load on her. I don't see her havin' any such troubles once she's changed. We're family to her, that's clearer'n anything."
Alice looked from one to the other. "So, to get to the central point, she doesn't have the hots for dog-boy? Edward can set his mind at rest?"
"He can."
Edward caught his eye, having picked up a faint, passing thought. "Are you sure you're not leaving anything out, just to placate me?"
Jasper rolled his eyes. "Mebbe so, just a trifle; but only because you'd surely make too much of it."
The thought clarified, and Edward tilted his head as if listening. "So she does have some feelings for him. Very slight, I can see, but she sees him as attractive." He kept his voice calm, nonchalant, but Jasper could feel his worry.
"Let me put this in context. You're not used to picking up these things, 'cause they're not in the conscious mind. I go with y'all to high school, and spend my days swimming in it." He made a grimace of distaste. "See, first of all, for humans, there's different levels. There's real, solid, conscious attraction. The person knows they want this other human. Bella's got none of that for this boy."
"I see." Edward felt a little more hopeful.
"Then again, sometimes they can just admire. See beauty, and appreciate it, and move on. Happens all the time. Bella sees Jacob as beautiful, but it's just seeing with the eyes of affection, y'might say. She thinks her pa's beautiful, too."
"Charlie?" Alice snickered. "I assume she thinks Edward's also beautiful."
He chuckled. "Oh, Edward she reacts to like he was the first sunrise over Paradise. No contest there." Edward responded with a little embarrassment, but a great deal of satisfaction as well. "Now, here's the thing. In humans, especially young adult humans, you get a little spark of attraction most of the time they're around another person who's a potential partner. Half the time it isn't conscious at all, just a latent reflex. Specially if th'other person, say a man, shows he's attracted, a girl is aware. She might even find th'boy repulsive, but she still has some reaction. In Bella, it's definitely unconscious. She never did have any interest in the boys at our school, though some of 'em paid court to her."
"And it's the same with Jacob?"
Jasper shrugged. "Just a bit. Thing is, what I mainly pick up from Bella are the normal reactions of a vampire's mate. She feels about you the way Esme feels about Carlisle. It's right odd to feel it comin' from a human. But she still has some human reactions too. Once she's changed over, that'll resolve itself. Even now, she's tied to you as strong as you are to her. It's why she suffered so last autumn. You know that, don't you?"
"I still find it hard to believe," Edward said, "but yes, I do know it."
"Then stop your worryin'. You can't have a rival, not really, any more than she can have one."
"I know. Thank you, Jasper."
"Don't mention it."
"It would help," Alice added as they moved toward the car, "if we could convince Jacob Black of that."