BPOV
The look on Paul's wolf face was, from what I could tell, confusion, but there was something else there as well.
"My best guess," Jake said, noticing my wonder, "He's angry at you for not saying something sooner."
"No." I didn't believe that was true. Follow your gut, Bella. He wants to know if he's the reason. " Paul, I just wanted you to have a good party, that's all. With this new information, everyone will be on high alert and relaxing will be a thing of the past. This was our last chance for who knows how long, to finally have some fun around here, and as much as I hate thinking about it, it's completely possible that some may not make it out of this fight alive. We needed this party."
Paul nodded his head from where he stood, then hid behind the garage, emerging a few moment later dressed only in cut off shorts. Most of the men wore cut off shorts. Not only did it take an ice age to make them cold, but when they got closer to phasing for the first time, They all grew inches in height so the pants they wore no longer fit. Why waste a perfectly good pair of pants when you could turn them into shorts?
"Thank you." Paul said, crushing me into his chest. "You're right. We don't know who of us will make it out of this fight, if any. So, thank you."
"You're welcome? I guess I really wasn't expecting that response from anyone, especially not the hot head of the group." I would have tousled his hair if it weren't for his extreme height.
"I'm not so bad. Well, not anymore. I'd like to think I'm getting better." Paul smiled at me, a genuine smile and it warmed my heart that someone as angry as Paul was finally starting to see the joy in life.
"So what now?" Sam asked as Leah paced back and forth in front of him. "We just wait?"
"We train. Harder than ever." Jake looked at his pack mates. I couldn't imagine how hard this must be as one of the first big things he had to do as Alpha. "I'm not going to sit by as some bitch with a bad appetite messes with our people. And I know none of you will either. This is our home, we were built to protect it. So, let's protect it."
/Later/
"I don't want to go." I said, snuggling into Jake's side. He was so warm and the night was chilly. Being in his arms felt like home. La Push felt like home.
"I'd never let you leave, if it was up to me." Jake said, kissing the top of my head before letting me go. "Goodnight Bells."
"Night Jake." I hopped into my truck and drove away, Emmett following behind me in his Hummer and Jake phasing into the trees.
/Monday/
I glanced down at my watch one more time, 2 minutes until class started and Jess wasn't here yet. As Valedictorian, Jess made a habit of not being tardy, so it was definitely unusual. Just as the bell went off to signal The beginning of class, Jessica walked in and sat down beside me.
"Cutting it a bit close, Miss. Stanley. I hope everything is well."
"Of course. I just needed to use the little girls room so I don't miss any of the lesson today."
Smooth Jess. She sat down beside me and opened her textbook.
"I wasn't sure if you'd show." I whispered.
"I almost didn't." She admitted, which I knew must have been difficult for her. "Don't worry, I'm processing. We're good though, I mean you're the only person I can even talk to about this."
"Imagine having no one." I didn't mean for it to come off sounding so depressed but it did, and while I was beyond happy with my life, it was lonely.
When lunch came, I sat with my human friends, Jess needed me and I knew there was no way she'd sit with Edward and Alice. I glanced over at them, Edward made a face then motioned for me to come over.
"I'll be right back." Jess followed my gaze and her eyes went wide. Crap, her thoughts. I walked over to Edward who spoke before I could explain.
"Why does Jessica Stanley know our family secret?" Edward asked, his jaw clenched. Alice looked at him in confusion then to me for an answer.
"Embry imprinted on her, it was only a matter of time and considering what's coming, he'll want to keep her safe. Hard to do when she has no idea what danger is really out there."
"Sorry, she wasn't thinking about the imprint, I just heard her call us vampires." Edward said, always listening in.
"She doesn't know yet. We dropped a lot on her so we decided to wait until she could process before giving her more to think about." They needed to know that she could use some added protection as well. Victoria wasn't after her but if Victoria found out about her, she might use her as leverage.
"Well she is… definitely processing."
"We'll keep an eye on her, Bella. You'll let him know?" Alice said, I nodded. When I looked back to Edward, his eyebrows were scrunched together like he was frustrated. "No need for hostility, Edward." Alice said, seeing something in the future that I couldn't.
"I should go." Edward spoke, sadness in his voice. "I can't."
"Edward?" I asked, confused about his change in mood.
"It's difficult. You know that I'll always love you so I can't, her thoughts…" Edward looked down at the table, then stood to leave. "If you were with me, we would have waited for marriage."
I gasped as he stood up to leave. Did he really just say that? What the hell did… oh God, Jessica walking in on me and Jake at the party. I was so careful to not rub our relationship in his face, but we never could have predicted Jessica walking in, and Jake can't Alpha order her like he can Leah.
"Edward, I… I know it's hard for you, but you know where my heart belongs. The imprint, our love? It's worth more than a simple piece of paper that some government nobody signs off on. I made my choices, I need you to respect them."
"I do, that doesn't mean I have to like it. I still hope… the future is always changing." He walked out of the room, Alice quickly following behind him.
"Sorry Bella." Alice said, "He needs me right now."
"It's fine. Go."
I walked back to my spot beside Jessica. She leaned in to whisper. "What was that all about?"
"Another thing to process. Maybe we can talk about it later?" I whispered back.
"I think I'm good, you can tell me."
I thought about it for a moment and realised that she seemed to be telling the truth. "Some vampires have special abilities. Like, super heroes. Jasper can affect emotions, Alice can predict the future, and Edward, he can read the thoughts of everyone in here, except for me which we can get into that a bit later."
"Oh, so he can… oh. So he saw my thoughts? Or how does that work when you picture something in your head?"
"Um, I'm not really sure if he sees or if there's just like a verbal interpretation?"
"Well I kind of um was thinking about when I walked in on you and Jake." Jessica said, her face showed she was sorry but the damage was done. I didn't blame her, of course. She had no idea.
"I figured. Edward still has feelings for me. He just needed to get away."
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make things awkward."
"Ya know what? It's fine. He, I'm sure gets a look into people having sex and stuff all the time."
"I thought you said you weren't having sex?"
"I…" I could feel my face heat up. "I didn't at the party." Jessica gasped and everyone looked at our side of the table. My face was definitely a beet.
"Care to share?" Lauren asked, assuming we were too boring to have anything good to say.
"Just talking about Paul's party." Jessica replied.
"That party was boring." Lauren was so many words I refused to say and I wish someone could knock her down a peg or two.
"Actually, after you left was when it got really good." Jessica said, oh please keep your promise. "You think my little pretend strip show was good? Well you saw the delicious man candy down on the reservation, and they were more than willing to give us our own little strip show, and man are they PACKING."
Oh thank God. A little embarrassment is better than telling their secrets to the world. And the embarrassment was only for me, the pack definitely wouldn't care. Angela glanced at Jess then at me like she was asking a question.
"Yup, turns out my boyfriend has a thing for being nude." I added, hoping to calm Angela's worry that her new interest was getting naked for everyone to see. "Him, Quil and Embry were dared to get naked and take a dive into the ocean. It was very entertaining, and a pretty good eyeful."
"Well, they weren't even very good looking." Lauren said, rolling her eyes.
I nearly spit my drink out. "Are you kidding? They are like Gods. If you think they look bad. You are either blind or stupid." Did I just say that? Lauren looked offended then stormed off. Everyone at the table turned to me with surprise on their face, my own face mirrored theirs. Mike looked at me with admiration.
"You went down there too, right Angela?" Eric asked, probably wondering if she could confirm the story about the naked men.
"Yeah, but I left before all of that happened. I had a pretty good Sunday too. The birthday boy himself took me on a date."
"Paul's pretty great. Did you end up having a good time?" I couldn't help but notice Ben look over when she said she went on a date, sorry buddy, too late now.
"Actually it was amazing. We had a really good time. He's funny too so that's a huge bonus. I think I've had enough of boring." Oh that was harsh. I mean, very much called for after what Ben said but still, harsh. Unless of course she didn't mean it the way I took it, it was Angela, and she was very kind so who knows. Well, Edward would know, if he was here. "We're going on another date this weekend. Um, I was actually kind of wondering if maybe you wanted to double?"
"Oh, sure. I'd love that. And Jake's good as long as he gets fed. He's like a big puppy."
Jessica almost choked on her drink. I looked over to make sure she was okay. "Sorry… Water went down the wrong hole."
"So did you really get to see him naked or was that just to make Lauren leave?" Angela asked and my face went red again.
"Uh." I tried to keep the smile off my face but it was pointless. Thinking about Jake made my insides turn to mush. The way it felt when we were together was unreal and everything in me ached for him when we were apart. Ached for the way his body felt against mine and the way he made my whole body quake with pleasure. My toes curled just thinks ng about him and my thighs pressed tightly together. The thought of sex with him just made me want to run to the reservation immediately.
"Isabella Swan. Earth to Bella!" I heard Jessica say, faintly. Crap. Was I daydreaming?
"What? Oh God, I'm sorry. Did I zone out?"
"Listen, if my boyfriend had what Jacob has, I'd be daydreaming too. I'm just happy I got to see it for myself because if you had told me how… big…? I never would believe you."
"Just the conversation I wanted to have at school. The size of my boyfriend's penis."
"I'm confused. If he was running around, with how cold it was Saturday night, how would there even be much to see. Cold makes a guy shrink, ya know." Mike said, which I actually did not know.
I bit my lip, unsure how to respond and glanced over at Angela who seemed sympathetic about the onslaught of questions.
"Damn Bella, are you hiding something?" Tyler asked, and I shook my head.
"I'm not having this conversation." I walked off and Angela and Jessica followed.
"Sorry." Jessica said. "I just couldn't listen to Lauren anymore."
"It's ok."
"So, the look on your face… I mean when I walked in on you two, you definitely weren't having sex and I saw you outside like 5 minutes later."
"Wait, you walked in on Bella and Jake?" Angela sounded shocked, and a little impressed.
"NOT having sex." I clarified.
"But you did." Jessica asked, to confirm. Why was she so persistent? "At some other point?"
"I…" these were my friends. Girls talk about this kind of stuff. Right? I could talk to them. "Yes. Are you happy? I stay weekends with Jake and after we got back from the party. I… we…" My face felt like it could burn down a building, it was so hot with embarrassment.
"Wow. How was it? Was it everything everyone says it is? And your dad let's you stay there?" Of course she wanted to talk about it, she's still a virgin and wants info. Living vicariously through me or something.
"I'm 18. I don't need his permission. And it was… I mean…" be a normal teenaged girl, Bella. Brag. "You saw him, right? Inexperience means nothing when…" Jessica tapped my shoulder and when I looked up into the eyes of Edward, who looked heartbroken as he walked into our Biology class and sat down.
"You ok if I sit with you, Ange?" She nodded, somewhat understanding but not even hitting the tip of the iceberg.
"I'll see you guys later." Jessica called after us, walking with Mike to their next class.
I sat down next to Angela, happy I didn't have to kick her normal desk companion out of his seat which meant when he arrived, he had to sit next to Edward. I felt bad for him, but better him than me given the circumstances.
"I assume there's some jealousy issues right now? I just don't get it though. HE left YOU, right? So why is he acting like you owe him something?" Angela wasn't the type to think badly of anyone, and I knew she didn't think badly of Edward, but her words were definitely coming from a place inside her that was still dealing with Ben so I didn't take her question too much to heart.
"It's complicated. He didn't want to leave me, but his family was moving and long distance things are tough. He didn't think he'd be coming back so he broke up with me. When Esme decided she wasn't happy in L.A. Edward was hopeful that I'd forgive him. But I was already with Jake, and that's where my heart is. Jake's like… home. He's home. There will always be a part of me that loves Edward, but that part is no longer in the relationship part of my brain. I just hope he can find love, like I have so we can be friends." I explained, hoping Edward would understand and we could be friends.
"That has to be tough, watching you be with someone else, listening to you and your friends talk about that someone else."
"You have no idea."
