Megan39 I don't know why he wouldn't realize that, maybe that's why he followed Jacob to the Rez, to make sure he went home. I am having them park the truck in the garage just in case Edward dose stop by.

Serenity1006 Lauren isn't the buffer, Bella is, and it is for three reasons, one will be explained in this chapter. My daughter says forget the restraining order and just kill him. She writes horror. She said "Mom Killing characters is my specialty."

4Gracie04 Lauren doesn't care what Jacob does with other girls she may even find Bella and Jacobs relationship amusing. I want to tell you more but I am afraid I will give too much away.

Echo58 you will find out why he is the way he is in chapter 31. ;-D

I was thinking of doing some outtakes of this story, if you have any requests please let me know.

Thank you for your reviews, I hope you all enjoy this extra long chapter.

Chapter 28

Bella thought Edward was following her. Why then would he have followed Jake? She considered asking him but she didn't know how to.

Tuesday there was no Lauren on the ride to school. Edward met Bella at the truck, insisting on walking her to class and kissing her goodbye.

At lunch Alice tried again to get Bella to help with the guest list. Bella told her she really didn't care. The rest of the day was basically the same as the day before.

Jacob told Bella to go in the house, he was going for a ride. Again Edward followed.

On Wednesday Charlie was waiting in the kitchen for her with a big plate of eggs, bacon and toast.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"What's going on? Do you not know what today is?" He asked with an excited smile.

"Um, Wednesday."

"Yes Wednesday, September thirteenth. Happy Birthday!"

Charlie, like Renee, was more excited about Bella's birthday then she was.

Bella couldn't help but smile at her fathers enthusiasm.

"Thanks dad."

"I was thinking, maybe you would like to take the morning off and go get your license. What do you say?"

Bella thought about this for a minute, she remembered Jake wanting to skip school Monday. She bit her lip.

"Can Jake come too?"

Her father frownd. "Jake already has his licence." He pointed out.

"I just thought he would like the morning off too." Bella told him.

"Well, it's only a few days into the year and you do need to use his truck. I guess he won't miss too much. Sure why not."

Bella cheered and hugged her father, who seemed surprised at the action.

"What's going on up here?" Jacob asked, coming up the stairs.

She had to go see the basement. She hadn't been down there since she stored away her notebooks at the beginning of the summer, leaving Charlie to do all the laundry. Imagining a bed just thrown in the corner down there was giving her Harry Potter under the stairs vibes.

"It's Bella's birthday." Charlie said.

"Happy birthday." Jake wished.

"I'm taking the morning off to go get my licence, and you're coming with me." Bella said, smiling brightly.

Bella's father was off talking to someone behind a counter while she waited for her instructor.

"You look nervous." Jake told her.

She scowled at him. He chuckled.

"You'll do fine, just remember to double pump the clutch."

Bella nodded her head as she gnawed on her thumb nail.

"Here," Jake said, pulling something out of his pocket. "A good luck charm."

He held out a chain, on the end of it was a studded, swan charm. The small black stones shimmered in the sunlight.

"What?"

"It's a birthday present. If you turn around I'll help you put it on."

Bella turned around and held her hair out of the way.

"Thank you." She said sincerely.

"Sure, sure." He said, his hot breath tickling her neck as he spoke.

He had just clasped the necklace closed when an instructor called for Bella.

Bella happily held her brand new license in front of her. She beamed at it.

Jake said. "See, I told you, you didn't have to be nervous."

"Alright kids, the fun is over for now. Both of you need to get to school." Charlie said as he handed them each a late note.

Bella went to hand Jacob back his keys.

"Don't you want to drive?" He asked.

"Really?"

He smiled at her. "Really." he said. "But I'm driving home. You get the middle seat."

Lunch was half over by the time they got to school.

A loud screeching voice yelled "There you are!"

Jacob grunted as Lauren jumped on him wrapping her arms and legs around him. He placed one hand on the blonde's back and huffed out what Bella would consider an annoyed sigh. She glanced at the clinging girl and offered him a sympathetic smile.

Going to her table a few people stopped her to wish her a happy birthday, including Angela and Jessica. She smiled and thanked them but didn't stay to converse.

Alice got up and gave her a big hug. "Happy birthday." She whispered.

Rosalie and Jasper wished her the same. Edward sat scowling at the table.

"Where have you been?" He asked, not looking up.

"Charlie took me to go get my licence."

"And your "Friend!"." He said the word friend as if it were a curse.

"He went with us." Bella said calmly.

"Why is your phone off?" He bit out, his irritation slipping through.

"I turned it off for my driving test, I forgot to turn it back on."

He nodded, then said. "You'll be joining me at my house after school."

"Edward I can't, I'm still on restriction."

"Then tell him you're visiting Alice." He demanded.

Alice gasped. She looked like she wanted to protest, but for some reason clamped her mouth shut.

"I'll ask." Bella told him.

"Now." He insisted.

Bella texted her father asking if she could go out with Alice for the day.

He texted back right as the bell rang.:Not today, I stayed home to spend your birthday with you. Alice asked me if she could celebrate with you on Saturday, you're supposed to be having a slumber party or something.

"Dad said no." She told Edward.

"Ask again."

"He's not going to change his mind. He wants me to spend my birthday with him."

"Shouldn't your birthday be about what you want?"

"Yes, you are absolutely right." Bella agreed.

Edward smiled as Bella stood up and walked to the other side of the table.

"Since he stayed home, I would like to spend my birthday with my father."

She abruptly turned and walked away, before she could exit the cafeteria she heard a loud bang. Refusing to turn around she held her chin up and walked out the door.

Bella's phone buzzed.

Dad: If you want to invite Alice here, that would be okay.

Bella: That's okay, she just wanted to do some planning for the weekend. It can wait till lunch tomorrow.

Dad: Is there anyone else you want to invite?

Bella: No, I want to keep it simple. You, me, and Jake.

Dad: Can I invite Billy?

Bella: Of course.

Dad: Okay, love you. I'll see you at home.

Bella smiled down at her phone. She remembered feeling so angry at her father over the past year, and right now she couldn't remember why.

In her last class Bella took her seat next to Jacob, he placed one hand on the back of her chair.

He spoke quietly. "A little pixie is fluttering around the school handing these out."

He handed her a black card with gold trim and lettering. On the front It said:

It's Party Time!

Double Celebration;

Whether you're coming to celebrate

Bella Swan's sweet sixteen

Or Jasper Whitlock's eighteenth

You could be sure to have a blast

Inside it had the address, date and time of the party.

"A pixie?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, that little raven haired girl you sit with at lunch. She looks like a pixie."

"She looks like Snow White."

He lifted an eyebrow at her. "I'll stick with pixie." He said, trying to hide his smile.

Mike walked over to the kid that sat in front of them.

"Will you switch seats with me?" Mike asked.

The kid took off like a bat out of hell. Bella was certain that had more to do with Jake than Mike.

Mike sat down and turned to her.

"Hi, Bella."

"Hi Mike."

He glanced cautiously toward Jacob.

"Oh, Mike, meet Jake, Jake, Mike."

They gave each other a nod.

"First I want to say happy birthday." Mike told her. "Then we want to know if you really want us at your party."

"We?" She asked.

"Yeah, you know. All your friends from before you started dating that-" He stopped and cleared his throat. "Edward."

"Were you my friends? As soon as I got a boyfriend you all stopped calling me."

"No we didn't." Mike argued. "We call you all the time and anytime we try to talk to you in school you walk away."

Bella shook her head in denial.

"Here." Mike said, showing Bella her name and then pressing call.

The phone rang once then there was a sound of a beep.

Mike spoke. "Bella this is Mike I'm calling about your party on Saturday, call me back."

Then he hung up.

Bella looked at her phone. Nothing.

"Do you have the wrong number?"

He showed her the contact info. It was all correct.

Even though he was right about her walking away she didn't want to admit it. She was sour because of what they were saying behind her back. She didn't know why, but she did not want to confront him about that.

"I want you to come to the party, all of you." She admitted.

She saw something out of the corner of her eye, it was the teacher standing over them.

"Do you two want to join the rest of the class?" Mr. Mason asked. "Give me one good reason not to give the two of you detention."

"I was just wishing Bella a happy birthday." Mike said.

Mr. Mason nodded, then said. "Happy birthday miss Swan."

"Thank you Mr Mason." Bella said shyly.

When the teacher turned around Bella turned to Jacob.

"Why didn't you give us a heads up?" She whispered.

He had his hands folded in front of his mouth, but she could see his cheek twitch, she jabbed her finger into Jake's arm and he burst out laughing. The teacher turned back to look at them, Jake covered his laugh with a cough.

Edward didn't show up to Bella's last class. All the way to the truck he was nowhere in sight, she didn't even see his car in the parking lot.

Bella decided to get revenge on Jake, when they got to the truck. She waited for Lauren to get in, then she turned to go to the passengers side.

As soon as he realized what she was doing, Jake hooked an arm around her waist lifting her up. Pulling her to him, her back to his chest. His other arm came around locking her in an embrace.

"No, No, No, No, No." He whispered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Okay? I promise I will be the best lookout from now on, please just sit in the middle." He begged

"Fine." She dragged out the word.

She felt him bury his face in the back of her neck.

"Thank you." He breathed out, holding on to her just a little longer.

After they dropped Lauren off Bella asked. "Why do you want me as a buffer between you and your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh I'm sorry, I meant to say the girl you flirt with and let sleep in your bed on the weekends." Bella spoke more harshly than she meant to.

Jacob's head jerked around. "Woah kay. Are you still mad at me for not warning you about the teacher?"

"No, could you just answer the question?" She said, sounding defeated.

"She's a driving hazard, we're all safer with you in between us." He said. "I feel the need to point out it was one weekend. Not even a full one, and when do you ever see me flirt with her?"

"She's always hanging all over you."

"How is that me flirting?"

"Are you going to let her sleep over if she shows up this weekend?"

It was a minute before Jake answered. "Probably, yeah."

That ended their conversation.

They pulled up to the house and Jacob parked in the garage.

"You're not gonna go for a drive today?" Bella asked.

"No stalker today."

Bella wanted to complain about him calling Edward a stalker, She wasn't sure if it was because she wanted to defend her boyfriend, or because she was so irritated at Jacob. What made things worse she didn't know why she felt that way.

Charlie and Billy were in the kitchen when they came in.

"Hey Bella, Happy birthday."

"Thanks Billy."

Bella bent to give him an awkward hug.

"Presents now or later?" Charlie asked.

"Later." Bella answered a little too quickly.

"Okay, later then." Charlie said. "Billy and I are going to set up these snacks in the living room."

He grabbed a few bowls and Billy placed bags of chips and pretzels in his lap before leaving the kitchen.

Bella faced the counter placing her hands on it. A large warm palm settled on her back, rubbing tight circles.

"Talk to me Bells." Jake spoke gently. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." She said honestly.

"Okay, come here." Jake said, leaning his back against the counter and holding his arms out.

Bella leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her resting his chin on the top of her head.

After a minute or two he asked, "Better?"

She sniffled and nodded.

He brought his hands to her upper arms and looked down into her face. She smiled up at him. He pressed his lips to her forehead and pushed her hair behind her ears.

Bella took a step back and took a breath. All tension gone.

A loud cheer came from the living room. "Do you think this little party is more for you or for them?" Jake asked her.

She smiled saying. "For them."

"So what's up with this Mike kid.?" Jake asked.

Bella looked at him baffled. "Why does everyone always want to know about Mike?" Bella asked with such bewilderment, it made Jake chuckle.

"Popular guy, huh?" He asked, still smiling.

Jake turned to get a drink out of the fridge and then excused himself to go put his backpack away. As Jake went down the stairs, Bella thought she saw movement in the hall. Going to investigate she found Billy sitting there, mouth dropped open and tears running down his cheeks.

"Billy, what's wrong?" Bella asked.

He looked up at her as if just noticing she was there.

In a tight voice he asked. "Did my son just laugh?"

A confused Bella answered. "Yeah."

Billy nodded his head once and then turned and went into the living room.

Bella watched as her panicked father stood up and went over to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Billy, what's going on?"

He looked up into her fathers face.

"We did the right thing, having Jake stay here." Billy said, nodding his head.

Thank you for reading.