Moonlight

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter Thirty-Five-A Place to Stay

Jacob and Alice remained locked in silent confrontation in front of the open door, standing so far apart that a casual observer would have no idea they were even having a conversation. It was Jacob who was the first to break the tense standoff.

"You still consider yourself Bella's friend?"

"I am." Alice insisted. "Despite what you think, I never wanted any of this to happen."

"But it did." Jacob accused her furiously.

"I know." Alice was chastened. "I never expected things to get out of control so quickly."

Jacob looked at her penetratingly. "So, you want to help fix the damage you've caused?"

"Yes." Alice replied promptly.

"At last, we agree on something." Jacob paused, considering for a moment whether it was worth the risk placing any kind of trust in her. She sounded sincere, but that didn't count for much. She could just be putting on an act to get on his good side. "Bells will be staying on the res with me from now on…."

"Bella was right when she said Charlie will have a problem with that." Alice interrupted sulkily. "He'll never go for it. And I can't see the outcome of his reaction, you and the other wolves have practically blinded me."

"Well maybe that will be a good learning experience for you." Jacob said scathingly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alice's expression turned petulant.

"It means that you'll be forced to rely on your natural instincts for a while. Trust your gut…that kind of thing."

Alice pursed her lips. "Do you really need to be so condescending?"

"Whatever!" Jacob was fast losing patience. "We need to do something about Charlie. He can't stay here. It will be better for all concerned if he moved onto the res temporarily as well."

"And how do you expect to achieve that?"

"By giving him no choice." Jacob glanced meaningfully at the house. "If the house became uninhabitable for a while, he'd soon accept my dad's offer to stay on the res with us for a while."

Alice's topaz eyes went wide as realisation dawned. "Oh, I see where you're going with this."

"Good. I leave it up to you to sabotage the place. You could flood the bathroom or something. I mean you're good at destroying things." Jacob added sarcastically.

"You make it sound like I set out to cause trouble on purpose, dog." Alice snarled.

"Vamps like you just love the drama."

"You know nothing about me!" Alice unintentionally raised her voice causing Jacob to issue a warning glare in her direction. She clenched her fists tightly in order to calm herself down. When she felt more in control of her emotions, she lowered her voice and carried on speaking. "I care about Bella. She is like a sister to me. I would never do anything intentionally to cause her harm. I am as upset as you that all this happened. I will do my best to make it right, but never, ever accuse me of loving the drama. That is not fair!"

Jacob refused to let himself get sentimental about the little psychic's hurt feelings. As far as he was concerned, this was temporary alliance he was making with her, and that's all it was, an alliance. She would be the buffer, the go between when the inevitable happened and the rest of the coven returned, including the one he despised the most-Edward Cullen.

"Now you've returned the treaty is back in place and you know what that means."

"I am aware." Alice's brow wrinkled slightly.

"Your presence here means that we can only watch our own lands, which, in my opinion, severely weakens our ability to hunt down and capture the redhead now we have to adhere to the old boundaries outside of La Push."

"What are you asking of me?" Alice regarded him anxiously. "A renegotiation of the boundaries? That will be Carlisle's decision. I wasn't even part of the coven when he made the treaty with your ancestors."

"I don't want a renegotiation. I want you all to leave, permanently. And never come back to the area again. I want you to act as my mouthpiece and relay this message to your coven leader." Jacob explained calmly. "It was your coven's selfish decision to settle here that attracted other nomads to the area, in turn triggering the wolf gene in my people."

"I promise you we didn't know." Alice's face was drawn. "We had no idea."

Jacob stared at her critically. "Maybe you didn't…." He conceded, putting the emphasis on the 'you.'

"Are you suggesting Carlisle did?" Alice exclaimed.

"Think about it." Jacob was tiring of the conversation now. He was itching to get back to Bella. Being away from her for too long caused an unbearable ache in his heart. "I'm going to leave now. I expect you to keep your end of the bargain."

"I will." Alice agreed miserably. "I know what I have to do."

"The place is completely wrecked. It could take weeks to repair the damage." Charlie sat on the Black's old couch with his head in his hands. He was still dressed in the same suit he had worn to the funeral-he had loosened the tie and undone the top two buttons of his white shirt. "Why did this have to happen on today of all days?"

Bella quickly went to him and sat down. "Alice is so sorry, Dad. She was running a bath and just got distracted when someone knocked on the door delivering a parcel. You know what a chatterbox she can be. By the time she remembered…it was too late." Her throat tightened with guilt and she struggled to swallow.

"At least she's offered to pay for the repairs, Chief. Its not like her family doesn't have the money." Billy added hastily as he took over the conversation. "So that's something. And you're welcome to stay here for as long as you need to."

"I can't impose on you like that." Charlie muttered. He raised his head, his eyes still red rimmed with grief. "There's no room."

"We'll make room." Billy insisted. He rolled his chair forward so that he was facing Charlie directly. "Jacob said you can sleep in his room for the duration, he's quite happy crashing on the couch for a while. And Bella can take the twin's old room. See…problem solved."

Charlie still wasn't convinced. "I don't know. I can't have your boy sleeping on this old thing." He glanced at the ratty old couch, struggling to picture Jacob's tall frame draped across the thing. "He won't fit."

"It won't bother Jake." Bella reassured him. "He can sleep anywhere, once he's under nothing disturbs him…. believe me, I should know."

Charlie's tone turned suspicious. "What do you mean by that? How do you know?"

"I don't mean anything by it." Bella wished she didn't blush so fast, that she had some ability to keep her emotions to herself. She cursed her traitorous skin. Trust Charlie to turn an innocent comment into something sinister.

"But you two are dating." Charlie continued to probe. "I'm not sure it's a good idea to have both of you sleeping under the same roof. It's too much temptation. Its just asking for trouble."

"Oh, get a grip, Chief." Billy cut in impatiently. "There is such a thing as trust. My son respects you; he wouldn't do anything while you're around."

"As opposed to when I'm not?" Charlie bristled.

"Are you implying that my son is some kind of sex crazed teenager?" Billy countered irritably. "How do you know its not the other way around?"

Charlie jumped to his feet. "How dare you judge my daughter by your own low standards!"

"And how dare you judge my son by yours!" Billy's fists clenched on the armrests of his wheelchair. "I'm not the one who used to sneak through Missy Elliott's window to get up to no good when I was a teenager, unlike you."

"No, you were too busy sneaking through Sarah's window instead!" Charlie fired back at him.

The two men engaged in a staring contest as they glared at each other.

Bella couldn't believe what she was hearing. If Jacob was there, instead of out patrolling with the pack, he would have cut up laughing. Their respective fathers were being ridiculous, accusing them of doing things they had done themselves in the past. If she wasn't feeling so humiliated, she would be laughing herself. Instead, she wanted to knock their stubborn heads together.

"Shut up! Both of you!" She shouted, finally finding her voice. She turned to Charlie first, regarding him with angry eyes. "Billy was right when he spoke about trust. I thought you trusted me. And I can't believe you're throwing his hospitality in his face like that."

Charlie's face drained of colour. "I was – "

"And you're no better." Bella chastised Billy as she spoke over her father's protestations. "You're both acting so juvenile. If Harry were here, he'd be ashamed of the way you're both acting right now."

Billy exchanged a long look with Charlie. "Actually, I think Harry would be enjoying the show." A small smile took over his face. "He was always a crap mediator."

"He was." Charlie agreed, the colour coming back into his face. "Remember the last spat we had?" He said to Billy.

"Yeah." Billy nodded. "He acted as go between and ended up making things worse."

"We probably would have gotten over it in a few days, but with Harry's intervention, it lasted for weeks." Charlie remembered. "Good old Harry. I miss him." His expression turned solemn and his eyes misty.

"Me, too." Billy rubbed a hand over his face, his own eyes filling with moisture. He looked up at Charlie and sighed. "I'm sorry, Chief. I would really love it if you and Bella stayed here."

"Thanks." Charlie mumbled. "I'd love to accept."

A relieved smile broke out on Billy's face. "Join me in a beer? We can raise a toast to Harry."

"Lead the way, old man." Charlie returned Billy's smile wearily.

Bella watched in disbelief as Billy rolled his chair into the kitchen with Charlie striding confidently behind him. "Men!" She muttered under her breath in exasperation.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.