Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. Enjoy.

Arriving home on Sunday evening, the last person I had planned to see was Jacob Black on my doorstep. Edward rode alongside me in the truck back to Charlie's, assuring me we wouldn't be seen or run into anyone. Alice had seen Edward helping me unpack my bags before meeting his siblings on foot to hunt in the clearing just outside the boundary of the backyard. Charlie would return several hours later and we'd have pizza for dinner, deciding against Harry Clearwater's famous fish fry. All in all, it was to be a boring evening at Casa Swan.

Edward and I made out heavily in the truck. Our groans and murmurings were the only sounds amongst the fuzzy radio that still played even when I turned the engine off and the patter of rain on the truck roof. "I need to get inside," I whined. We'd been going at it for some time, and judging by Edward's roaming hands, he had no intention of stopping. A light fog filled the cab, the glass damp under my hand, as I stretched my arm out, moving my face away, gravel crackling nearby ringing through my ears. Twisting my head to pinpoint the noise, the truck rattled as Edward jerked back, his face frozen, almost like a statue. I turned my face to see what Alice hadn't seen: Jacob, pulling up beside us in his truck.

"Shit." I gripped onto Edward's hands.

Jacob jumped out of his truck, slamming the door with a thud. Fog settled over the hood of his truck. He moved quickly towards us, the sound of his heavy feet crunching on the gravel. My eyes focused on his hand as it disappeared from his side to grip the driver's side door. "Get out of the truck, Bella. We need to talk." Jacob's voice was menacing through the window glass.

I looked over at Edward, whose hand gripped the edge of the passenger door. By the time I had turned around to begin opening my door, wind whistled through the cab, and Edward was out of the truck and standing only a few feet or so away from Jacob.

"What is going on, Bella? What is this?" Jacob gestured between us, his brows furrowed and his lips in a straight line. His eyes narrowed as he looked me up and down, paying particular attention to my exposed neck.

I lifted the hood of my jacket, pulling the fabric around me, shivering in the now-cool air. "This is Edward. He's a friend." I looked over at Edward, who winced as the word 'friend' tumbled out of my mouth.

"Do you kiss all your friends like that?" Jacob paused for a moment, wiping the drizzle from his forehead. "Please tell me he isn't what I think he is. I can smell him."

"Edward is-"

Edward's voice cut me off. "Yes, I am what you think I am, just as I know what you are. Don't worry, I can smell you too. You stink." Edward took a step back, his hand reaching for mine. "We really need to get you inside, the weather is going to get worse."

"Hold on a second. Bella, is he your student!?" Jacob threw his hands up into the air and then rested them on top of his head. "This is the one you told me about?!"

Thunder crackled in the distance, and I jumped. Edward's hand reached out to squeeze mine.

"Don't raise your voice at her like that," Edward seethed, his grip tight around my delicate fingers.

"Jacob, can we go inside and maybe talk about this?" I begged, pulling on Edward's wrist.

"Nah. I don't want to talk." Jacob scratched at his chin. "I only came around to let you know that some of his kind came onto our land this morning. We ran them off. No one was hurt. But as predicted, they are getting closer." Jacob eyed Edward up and down. "Have you told her about them? About the other ones?"

"No, I-"

The sound of Edward's cell ringing broke through the tension in the air. Jacob and I stared as he snapped the phone open. The wind began to whir around us, thunder snapping again, closer this time.

"Alice," Edward answered, his voice taut. He began to pace, looking up only to glare at Jacob. "What do you mean? Okay, I'm coming."

"Fuck. Bella, I have to go." Edward's eyes were wild as he looked back and forth between Jacob and me.

"What's going on?" the words came out wobbly. I wiped the rain drops that settled on my face. "Is Jacob telling the truth? Did you take me out of town on purpose?!" I scrunched up my face, tears pricking at my eyes. This didn't feel good. Something wasn't right.

"Bella, fuck. I can't explain now, but Jacob's right. They're closer." His eyes were pleading.

"What the fuck? Are we in any danger? Is she in any danger?" Jacob moved towards me, and within an instant, Edward was standing in front of me. His athletic frame shadowed me from Jacob, whose breathing rang through the air, loud and erratic amongst the sounds of the rain becoming heavier.

"No, not right now. But you and I may need to talk." He looked pointedly at Jacob. "Bella, I really need to go. Shit, I'm so sorry."

"Just go, both of you. Please. Charlie might be home any minute. Leave." I begged them both.

I took my bags out of the back of the truck and walked towards the front door, not making eye contact with either of them. As I slammed the door shut, I heard Jacob's truck reverse out of the driveway and sighed, turning around to see Edward's frame sprinting off around the side of the house.

Once inside, I stomped upstairs, throwing my belongings onto my bed. My stomach twisted and turned. Had Edward lied to me all along? I tossed my cell on my bed, watching it bounce across my comforter, then headed straight for the shower. A shower would clear my head. Resting my head against the cool tile as the water pressure built, I repeated the mantra in my head. Edward would have a perfectly good explanation for this. Edward would keep me safe.

Wrapped in a soft towel, I stepped out of the bathroom and walked to my room, my feet halting on hearing Charlie's voice, "Bells, I'm home and I have pizza. Come downstairs."

"Let me put on some clothes and I'll be right down." I yelled down the staircase. My illuminated cell called out to me from the middle of my bed, but I ignored it, throwing on some sweats and making my way downstairs.

Sitting at the table, my emotions calmed being in Charlie's comforting presence. "How was work?" I asked between mouthfuls of pizza.

"Good, good, same old." He replied between gulps of beer. "What about things here?"

"Yeah fine, just did some marking. I got out and about a few times but nothing interesting."

Charlie nodded. "So I was thinking next weekend, we should go down to the rez. You've been spending an awful lot of time at home lately, it might be nice to spend the day outdoors. How about we fish? Like old times? Billy has been talking about it."

I took a bite of pizza. Not really paying attention or fully aware of what I was agreeing too. "Sure, Dad. Sounds good."

Returning to my room later that evening, I picked up my cell. Two messages from Jacob and one from Edward.

I opened Jacob's first.

I wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay. I'm glad I did, but I'm worried about what he said. Do you want me to come back?

Out of all the guys you could possibly date, why him?

Fuck. I clicked on Edward's name.

I promise I didn't know. Alice hadn't seen it. Please let me explain. She's seen something else and we have to deal with it. I'll be back as soon as I can. Leave your window open if you want me to come in. If you don't, I understand... I love you. I'm sorry.

I walked over to the window and opened it slightly. I sat at the edge of my bed. Maybe I would deal with Jacob now.

I'm fine. Everything's fine.

I wish I could explain it more, but I thought you out of all people would understand this whole "supernatural" thing. I want to be with him, Jacob.

Just as I went to hit send, a cool breeze swept through my hair. I looked up to see Edward gracefully lift the window and step into my bedroom.

"I can't tell you how relieved I am that you left the window ajar." Edward reached his hand out to stroke the side of my face. His features were tense, his mouth set in a straight line and brows furrowed.

"I wasn't going to shut you out. I never would." I sighed. My hand reached out and traced his jaw, and it softened under my touch. "We need to have a serious talk though…" Edward nodded, nuzzling into my hand. "Before that though, I need to send this to Jacob." I lifted my cell up, showing Edward the message. "What was with you both before?"

Edward's lips turned down into a frown, leaning back away from my touch."Did you forget I can read his thoughts? I just saw a life he had never lived flash through his mind. I saw his thoughts of life... with you."

"Oh. Right," I mumbled. Did Jacob still harbor feelings for me? We'd only been on one half-date and the last time I saw him, he appeared to be in some kind of romantic relationship with Leah. "You know I don't want a life with Jacob though, right? I want a life with you. I choose you. Even before I knew what you were and that I could have you. I still had chosen you."

"I know, Bella. But he doesn't know that."

We sat silently for a beat.

"So, are you going to tell me about this mishap with the other vamps? And what happened when you got that phone call?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

Edward turned to face me. "Yes. I promise I didn't know about it. It was one of those rare situations where Alice just missed it in her visions. She was too focused on keeping track of us and making sure we wouldn't be caught on the way back to Forks that it just slid past. The wolves were so closely involved, so we suspect it made it even more fuzzy. We haven't quite worked out how severely the wolves impact what she can see."

I reached out and entwined our hands.

"As for what Alice has seen, I don't want to frighten you."

My stomach sank. "What do you mean, Edward?"

"This group of vampires are no friends of ours. They are nomads. They don't exactly live our lifestyle." He paused to let his meaning sink in. "They feed on humans."

Attacks in Seattle, Jacob mentioning 'other cold ones', it all began to make sense. "Oh."

Edward ran his hands up and down through his hair. "Alice has seen them here, and to put it bluntly, we need to deal with them and we will. Alice has seen it happening this weekend, Saturday to be precise."

"What does 'dealing with them' involve?"

"Killing them, Bella. We need them gone. Alice has seen that if we let them continue, a chain of events can be set off that will have drastic consequences. The Volturi could become involved."

"What? The Volturi? Who?"

"The equivalent of royalty in my world. They enforce the rules, vampire law." Edward continued. "The nomads are breaking two key rules: hunting must be inconspicuous and interaction with humans must not draw wide attention." He turned away from me. "Alice has seen if we don't deal with them now, that they may come for you, and for me and my family." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Them knowing that I know is bad, right? Like, really bad?" I gnawed on my bottom lip.

"You could say I've broken the biggest possible rule."

"Jesus Christ, Edward, we really didn't need this now. We have graduation next week! Summer vacation. We still need to figure out… this!" I pointed between us.

"I know," he murmured, reaching out to stroke my face. "Look, you don't need to worry about them. I already know Charlie is taking you to the reservation on Saturday. You'll be completely safe there. We will make plans to inform the wolves during the week about what's going on." He held my hands in his lap. "I'm going to need a big favor from you, though. I'm going to need to prepare this week, so I may not be able to spend the nights here with you. We need to hunt and we also need to be on watch, in case they move through earlier than planned. I just need you to trust me, and I need you to try and stay safe. Go to work and come home, nothing else."

"I can do that," I agreed.

Speaking of being prepared. "Edward, has Alice seen how we can handle graduation night and summer? I'm going to need a story for Charlie on both occasions."

Edward nodded. "Something will arrive soon regarding summer, and as for the plan regarding graduation night, I think Alice wants to tell you herself."

"When will she tell me?" I squeezed Edward's cool hands in my lap.

"Tomorrow, we'll be at school. But we won't be around on Tuesday or Wednesday; it's going to be sunny. Good timing for us to go and hunt, anyway."

One day at a time, one day at a time, my voice repeated in my head.

A massive thank you to Cris, JennaReads, Teaandsolitude and TheBaseBallGirl for their feedback and patience with my writing xx