It was as if nothing had happened, as if the past months of confusion and hurt hadn't occurred.

Alex sat sandwiched between Embry and Jacob, Quil stretched out at their feet. He was squinting in the sun as he looked up to talk to them, but didn't seem willing to move away, and Embry was eating with his non-dominant hand in order to stay squashed together on the log. As for her and Jacob, she wasn't sure if he was feeling the live current that was running through every part of them that touched, but she couldn't bring herself to shift away, and even as they bumped elbows, Jacob stayed just as close.

It felt right.

Alex wiggled her feet from where they were trapped under Quil's thighs, and listened to Embry giggle like a schoolgirl, and felt Jacob's amused huff of breath against her neck. She smiled at nothing, at everything.

The sun had started to set, the 'lunch' bleeding into evening, and though the temperature had begun to drop, she was comfortable. Evidently, the universe decided too comfortable.

The phone in the house began to ring, all the wolves perking up near comically at the sound, and Sue rose with a faint smile to answer it. She looked happy, but strained. None of her smiles quite touched her eyes, and it was evident that her thoughts lingered on her late husband.

"Alex?" Sue had appeared back in the doorway, brows pinched together. "Your mother's on the phone."

Her stomach dropped, and she met Kitty's eyes in horror.

Oh fuck. She was screwed.

Kitty stood, and jerked her head wordlessly, before tramping towards the stairs. Alex winced. "Get up, Quil." she muttered, trying to extract her feet from under his body.

He grinned at her. "Someone's in trouble!"

Embry smacked the back of his head. "Don't be an asshole." Alex shot her friend a grateful look, wriggling out from between them as Quil rolled away morosely.

A hand caught her around the wrist, and she turned, arm aflame. Jacob was looking at her with a concern she hadn't seen in a long time. It made her heart ache. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

Alex fought the urge to shake him off her. They had just made up, she couldn't be an asshole. Still, the way her breath was suddenly short had nothing to do with her pneumonia, and it was hardly a comfortable sensation. "Uh, yeah… I may have, um, snuck out today. I'm supposed to be in bed."

Jacob's mouth twitched, and he looked caught between laughing and scolding her. "Well…good luck." He told her and, mercifully, let her go. She nodded a little awkwardly, and turned to go. Absently, she rubbed at her wrist, imagining she could still feel the sparks where he had touched her.

Kitty was already on the phone when she made it to the kitchen. Her sister barely looked at her, eyes skating once over her, distinct disapproval in her gaze. Alex felt that same, terrible stomach-drop of anxiety. She hadn't spoken to Kitty yet, hadn't apologized, and she was starting to realise that it was probably coming back to bite her in the ass.

"Yeah, mom, I know. I have no idea why she did. No, she didn't tell me." Kitty leant against the wall, scowling past her. "I think that's appropriate."

"Kitty, c'mon…" Alex tried, stepping into her eyeline. Kitty gave her a dead-look, clearly unimpressed. "I'm sorry. I really am."

"A week? I say two." Kitty continued to speak over her. "A curfew wouldn't hurt either."

Alex gaped at her. "Kitty!"

"I'll take her home now. I was just leaving anyway. Of course. I'll give Emily and Sam your love. Okay bye, mom." Kitty turned to slam the phone back down on the receiver.

"What the fuck?" Alex snapped, folding her arms over her chest.

Kitty mirrored her pose. "Don't cuss at me."

"Fuck you." Alex fired back automatically, before wincing. "Sorry – look, just – why'd you sell me out like that?"

Kitty stared at her. "Are you really asking me that? Sometimes, Alex, sometimes there are consequences." Alex blinked. Kitty's lip curled viciously – looking entirely too much like her. "You can't keep hurting people that care about you. Apologies only really work once."

Alex wasn't sure what was happening. She hadn't ever heard Kitty speak with so much vitriol before, with so much anger.

"Uh, you ready to go home?" It was Paul, standing in the doorway, looking a little embarrassed and very wary.

Kitty's head snapped around to look at him. "Jesus, we're in the middle of something, Paul!" Alex's eyes felt like they were going to bug out of her head. Seriously, what the hell was going on? Paul, to her surprise, didn't look surprised by her sister's outburst. Apart from a brief flare of hurt in his eyes, he didn't react.

"I'll be in the truck." Then he was gone.

The setting sun was turning everything warm and gold, but Kitty was all ice, and Alex licked at her lips nervously. "You didn't have to bite his head off like that…"

Kitty made a wordless noise. "Stay the fuck out of my relationship, Alexandra." She stomped past her, bumping into her shoulder as she did so. As tiny as her sister was, it didn't do much but surprise her. She followed awkwardly, waving a goodbye to the others who were doing a terrible job of looking like they hadn't been eavesdropping. Kitty was already gone, out of sight down the driveway.

Jacob met her eyes with a frown, and she shrugged. He looked quickly at Sam, and then back at her.

Tonight. He mouthed slowly and deliberately. Eleven.

She almost, almost, smiled – just managing to school her expression and nod briefly.


The ride home was uncomfortable.

Kitty was obviously stewing and seething in the front seat, Paul kept his eyes on the road and his mouth shut, and Alex was pretending not to notice the way Kitty had moved her leg away from Paul's casual touch.

The strangeness of it all drowned out any selfish worrying she might have done, and she was so preoccupied with her sister's odd behaviour, that the lecture her mom and dad gave her washed over her without consequence. Her sister hadn't even gone home with Paul, stomping straight into her old room without so much as a goodbye. Paul had lingered for a moment on the threshold, looking slightly embarrassed again, and when she had asked him if everything was okay, he'd given her a sad look and left.

Her parents left her alone in her room, with the final blow; a week's worth of being grounded, and then after that, a curfew of eight until whenever they deemed her lesson learnt.

Even that, as horrible as it was, still didn't draw her out of her worry. She was just hoping Jacob had more insight. She told herself she was eager to find out what was wrong, rather than being…excited to see him.

She picked up one of the novels she was going to be studying and tried to read. As she expected, she was too jittery to really focus, and it seemed like the words on the page were just taunting her, as she re-read the same sentence three times.

Eleven came and went.

Alex tried not to feel hurt. Afterall, it wasn't as though they'd had concrete plans. It wasn't as though he was obligated to see her, especially not after a shift. It wasn't as though-

Whatever.

She stood from her seat by the window, and slipped from her room, heading for the shower. The bathroom was right over her sister's room, and faintly, she could hear Hayley Williams crooning about heartbreak. Wow. Kitty must have been in a particularly bad funk to be listening to what she had once deemed 'whiny-sad-people-music.'

Her body's exhaustion – maybe her parents were right when they had said she strained herself – pulled her to sleep faster than she had expected. It was such a sudden and deep fall into unconsciousness that she didn't have any warning to what happened next.


Shit, shit, shit, shit-

He was late.

He pushed himself harder, faster, the landscape blurring around him. It was hard to keep up the pace though, what with the chase-

Alex?

Jacob.

Clarity rushed through them both, and she became suddenly aware of where she was, what she was doing. His surprise was mirrored, and she felt him slow in his shock, could feel the way his muscles trembled. He was tired. Why?

I'm close.

What happened?

Flashes of images, memory;

A cold scent, familiar to her only because it was familiar to him. The red-head. Victoria. Snatches of pale marble skin between trees, Sam's relentless push forwards, Embry pulling ahead, chasing, wanting. The gorge. The river.

More pale flesh – the Cullens.

His nose was burning in remembrance, and she felt the pain keenly. The Cullens, just as desperate. The river rushing between them, a physical border between their lands-

Victoria – in the air, leaping with unnatural grace – out of bounds-

Paul-

Growling and snarling, and real, real danger. The big one, the Cullen with the muscles, staring him down. Both unwilling to move, both with their blood up. Paul's fury echoed through them both. And Victoria-

Gone. Fuck-

She fucking made it out.

Through his eyes, she could see the edge of her backyard. Through his eyes, she could see her own bedroom window. Come out here.

The fire in his chest burnt-

What-


Alex sat up, gasping. Her chest was aflame, and her heart was pounding as if she had been the one running. She maneuvered herself out of bed, and hurried to the window. It was with palpable relief that she saw the bushes rustling at the edge of the yard, and she thought she caught a patch of auburn fur in the dull glow of the moon.

It was a struggle to get downstairs quietly; her breathing was loud to her own ears, and she held it as she edged past her sister's room, pinching her nose shut for good measure. The loud gasp she took when she made it outside was ragged and a little embarrassing – loud in the unnatural silence of the night. She noticed that the nocturnal wildlife tended to quieten whenever a wolf was near, whether in fear or respect, and it just heightened the tension.

Jacob appeared from the trees.

It seemed the quiet only heightened her reaction to him; she could hear the odd hitch in her own breathing, the way her heart began to thunder, roaring in her ears. Jesus. From here, even with her weak human eyes, she could see the smirk on his face.

She scowled, and flipped him off, marching towards him with aggressive, stomping steps – as if it would hide her visceral reaction to him. When he was close enough that she could hear him, she held a hand up. "I don't want to hear it."

He snorted, raising his hands briefly in surrender. "I wasn't gonna say anything."

She rolled her eyes and stopped in front of him. He made no move to get closer, and she was grateful for it. They were at least an arm's length away from each other, and yet she wasn't sure what would happen if she got any closer. She didn't like the way she lost control of herself. It was embarrassing and unwarranted.

Besides, they'd only just made up.

She didn't want to ruin it.

"She got away again." Alex couldn't help the worry that crept into her voice. Now that she could see him, the exhaustion she had felt when she'd been in his head was obvious on his face.

He sighed, and ran a hand over his cropped hair. "It happened so quick. Fucking Paul-"

"It wasn't just his fault." Alex interrupted him sharply, feeling irrationally defensive. She could still picture Paul's hurt eyes clearly.

Jacob raised a brow. "Yeah…but still." They stood for a moment in uncomfortable silence, before he swayed slightly. Alex's heart leapt into her throat, and she took a step forwards, hands coming up to steady him automatically. The flare of heat as her hands met his bare chest was cut off just as abruptly as he stepped back. "M'fine." He said quickly.

Again, that embarrassment and hurt made her cheeks flame. Don't ruin it. "You didn't have to come." She said, hoping it was dark enough that he wouldn't notice, but there was something about the way his eyes lingered on her face that told her she was out of luck.

"I said I would." He said simply. Then he winced, "but if you don't mind, could I like, sit or-"

"Oh shit, yeah, sorry." Alex shook her head, embarrassed again. So much for being a good friend. "You can just…come up." There was another beat of silence before he nodded.

It was hard to pay attention to where she was going, what with all her awareness stubbornly trained on his presence at her back. He was quieter than her, and really if it wasn't for the whole Imprint thing, she might not have known he was there at all. She kept her eyes resolutely on the challenge of the staircase, holding her breath again past the bedrooms.

Her bedroom felt suddenly too small when they made it inside, and she scuttled nervously to the other side of her bed as he closed the door behind himself. She was struck, again, by the sheer size of him.

The slight anxiety faded, though, at his slack-jawed relief as he took a seat on her bed. She thought he was forcing himself to sit up, instead of reclining all the way. Sam was pushing him too hard. Old indignation rose in her. He was just a kid. They were still in high school. She settled beside him, far enough away that she wouldn't slide closer to him in the divot he'd made on her mattress. She was still close enough for her skin to prickle and zing; kind of like soda popping when it gets poured into a glass.

"She got away." Alex hated the way she whispered it, like she was scared.

"Yeah. But you don't need to worry – we won't let her through and you're not her target." A sudden edge to his voice drew her gaze. He was frowning, mouth held tight, brow creased.

Bella.

He was thinking about her. He was worried for her. Even after weeks of silence.

"Is she…" Alex frowned at herself, at her body's irrational flare of irritation. "Is she okay?"

Jacob let out a huff of a breath, jaw jumping. "I don't know. I don't care." Liar. She hated the part of her that wished his words were true.

"Jake," She scooted a little closer. "C'mon. That's not true."

He was scowling very hard at her Blondie poster. She was honestly surprised it hadn't burst into flame. "Whatever. She was out of town anyway. The little freak had a vision and Cullen took her to Florida."

It was Alex's turn to frown. "So, what, she doesn't know?"

Jacob shrugged. "Not my problem." A different irritation was rising in her now, and she reached over to punch him. "What?!" He turned to fix his scowl on her now.

"Shut it, loser." She snapped back, and jabbed a finger in the direction of her window, vaguely in the direction of Forks. "You're telling me that Bella Swan, the target of Miss Bloody Mary, has no clue that she is in danger, and you guys are all out moonlighting for her?"

"What-"

"Holy dicks, Jacob! That's fucked up!" Alex hissed at him, ignoring the way his mouth fell open dumbly. "If I had a vamp after my ass, and you guys kept it from me, I'd kill you!" Jacob tilted his head, jaw slowly coming shut again. "Listen, I get you're all weepy about being second-choice to a block of ice," Jacob visibly bristled, lips parting again to argue, but she clamped her hand over his mouth. Her palm buzzed, and she ignored it, "But she deserves to know. Keeping it from her is probably gonna make things worse in the long run." His tongue darted out and licked at her palm. She snatched it back. "Ew! Gross…" so fucking childish and gross, she wanted to just take him by the ears and kiss- NOPE.

She wiped her hand on the bedspread and hoped it was dark enough to hide her flaming cheeks. Jacob had stopped frowning, but the crease in his brow was still there. He was thinking. "So…" she looked up, waiting for him to organize his thoughts. "You think I should tell her? The Cullens all wanted to keep her out of it."

"You should absolutely tell her." Alex couldn't believe it was even a question. She and Bella may not have been besties, or whatever, but if Alex were in her position… Of course she needed to know. "And look," she couldn't believe she was saying this, but Jacob still looked torn, and she could feel a rising sense of hope in her gut that wasn't her own. "If you tell her, you get to piss off Edwin."

Something sparked in Jacob's eyes. "You're right." He turned to her with a grin as bright as sunshine. "And when they fight, guess who will be there with a shoulder to cry on." He looked so smug, so jubilant. Alex felt suddenly sick.

She eased off the bed, away from him.

"…You're kind of a genius, Alex."

He was still talking, and Alex hummed in response. She pretended to tidy up some clothes by her wardrobe, trying to take her mind off the nausea roiling in her gut. Her hands were shaking slightly, and she curled them into fists, balling up a shirt in the process. Get a fucking grip.

"…Lex? Alex?"

She straightened and turned with a smile. Jacob was holding her myriad of pill bottles in one of his giant hands. He rattled them at her, face drooping a little. "I'm really sorry."

"For what?" Her voice sounded too bright, and just a bit too loud. Tone it down. She set down the shirt again.

Jacob was still looking at her with that faintly morose look. "It was kinda my fault." He cleared his throat, and set down the bottles again, one at a time on her bedside table. She watched his hands work and wished she wasn't feeling so…frayed. "That you got sick, I mean. I am sorry." He looked back at her after setting down the last bottle. Her chest flared and fluttered.

"Don't be." It came out far too quickly. But, god, she would forgive him anything- "Seriously. Don't worry about it." She smiled and it hurt a little.

He ducked his head and smiled back. "Still," he stifled a yawn that made his jaw crack and shook his head. "Shit, I'm beat. I should go." He stood to leave.

Some stupid instinct made her step in front of him. "Stay." Too quick again. He blinked down at her, and though she wanted to look away, she had said it and she wasn't a pussy, so; "You can crash here. You might pass out trying to get home."

Something like a smile made the corner of his lips curl up. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Her tone was practiced and casual, "just don't hog the sheets."

In response, he flopped right back down, sprawling up the whole of her double bed. The sight of him like that, all his length across all her mattress made her realise what she had just offered.

She'd slept in the same bed as him before. Hell, she'd slept in the same bed as him and Embry, and also Quil when he got sad about being the only one on an air-mattress – but not since before…all of this.

Not since the Dreamwalking, not since he Phased, not since the Imprint-

"Hurry up, 'Lex, I'm turning the light out." Jacob clucked at her impatiently, hand on her lamp's switch. She swallowed and scurried around the bed to the other side, and climbed in, gingerly.

Relax, relax, relax, relax, relax, relax, relax, relax.

Jacob flicked off the lamp and they were plunged into darkness. Alex became very suddenly aware of the fact that she would not be getting a wink of sleep.