It was late enough in the season that the road to La Push was almost empty, even though it was a Saturday afternoon. The Rabbit couldn't go as fast as Jacob would have liked, but it was his. He built it, he drove it, and – most importantly – he could use it to get around without having anyone read his thoughts.

Once a month, someone had to drive into Forks and pick up Billy's meds from the pharmacy. For years, it had been Jacob who had done it but after Rachel came back and ended up getting a job in Forks, she had been the one who made the monthly trip to the pharmacy. But she forgot this month and Billy only had one dose left and so Jacob volunteered to drive down there. Billy tried to get Rachel to do it since it was Jacob's birthday, but Rachel was in a foul mood, and Jacob didn't have anything better to do.

Jacob hadn't asked Rachel to make a cake for his birthday, but when he woke up at eleven (the universe had evidently decided that its birthday present to him would be a chance to sleep in), she had the ingredients all on the table and loudly announced that she would make him a funfetti cake, just like their mom always had. She seemed so determined that Jacob didn't have it in him to tell her that he had outgrown funfetti several years ago, and would much prefer a chocolate one.

The rain trickled down the windshield as Jacob made it back to the Black's house. It wasn't a hard rain, just a drizzle, but Jacob always made a point to drive carefully in the rain, lest he got into an accident.

The Clearwater's car was parked in front of the Black's house when Jacob arrived, but that wasn't too surprising. Sue was always over at Billy's or vice versa. What was surprising, however, was the sight that greeted Jacob when he entered his house.

Embry, Quil, and Seth had crammed onto the Black's couch, and Leah was standing against the wall behind the kitchen table, where Sue and Rachel sat. Billy's chair was also pulled up to the table, and on the table, there was not one, not two, but three cakes and two pies.

"Is this a surprise party?" Jacob asked. There weren't any decorations, and no one shouted surprise, but it was the only reason he could think of that there would be five desserts.

"No. It's a breakdown in communication." Leah looked bored, standing behind Billy's table. It was apparent that Sue had dragged her here again.

"A breakdown in communication implies there was a communication that failed. There was no communication. There was a complete lack of communication." Annoyance crept into Rachel's voice as she spoke. Her cake stood out among the others. It wasn't the fact that it was the only non-chocolate one, but it was also the only one that looked unfinished.

"Son, there was a lack of communication, and as a result, you have five birthday desserts." Billy couldn't hide his amusement at the pile of sweets on the table.

"Hey, technically, the apple pie isn't for Jake's birthday," Quil piped up, "It's just 'cause my mom went to some apple orchard with her boyfriend and didn't know what to do with all the apples she picked."

"Charlie came by and dropped the other pie off. It's strawberry, from the diner down in Forks. He said happy birthday, but he couldn't stay. He's working tonight," Billy explained, gesturing to the other pie.

"That was nice of him."

"Emily dropped off the chocolate cake – the one with the fancy frosting, that is," Billy continued as he tossed Jacob a card, "And she left that, too."

Jacob caught the card easily before glancing at Leah, who was openly scowling. He quickly diverted his eyes and stared at the cakes again. One chocolate cake that looked like it could be from a bakery (Emily's), one rather sad looking funfetti cake (Rachel's), and one chocolate-frosted cake that was definitely homemade, but looked quite a bit better than Rachel's attempt, "So I know Rachel made the funfetti cake. Who made the other one?"

"I did," Seth chirped up, "It's red velvet! Leah helped."

Jacob glanced again at Leah, who was now looking down at her lap, "Thanks, guys."

"It was Dad's recipe – well, Grandma's, I guess, but Dad was always the one who made it," Seth continued cheerfully.

"Happy birthday, Jacob," Sue said.

"Thanks, Sue. Thanks, everyone," Jacob looked around at his friends and family who'd all squeezed into the main room of the Black's house. It was a nice scene if Jacob thought so himself, "Anyone want cake? Or pie?"

"I do!"

"Me!"

"Shouldn't we sing to you first?" Quil asked with a grin.

"Or we could just eat," Jacob suggested.

"We should just eat," Leah concurred.

Rachel, evidently in agreement, reached behind her and grabbed a couple of knives and plates from the cupboard, "Who wants a piece of what?"

In the middle of a cacophony of requests for dessert, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Rachel handed Embry a piece of Quil's mom's pie as she answered the phone.

"Rachel? Hi! It's Becca!"

"Hi, Bec. How's it going?" Rachel balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she continued to serve up pieces of pie.

"I'm good! Now put the dork on!" Becca sang. She was always the louder of the twins, and no werewolf hearing was needed to hear exactly what she was saying, "It's his birthday – I want to talk to him!"

Jacob took the phone and a plate from Rachel, "Hi, Becca."

"Jake? Is that you?"

"It's me. I haven't talked to you in a while." A couple of months, at least. Maybe more? He was pretty sure he'd talked to her at some point after Rachel had gotten back, but maybe he hadn't. Jacob had definitely talked to Becca after phasing; he remembered that because she couldn't believe how deep his voice was and had hung up the first time saying she had the wrong number.

"Right, sorry about that. I get busy, you know?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. We're all busy."

"Well listen, kid, this year I got you a real present! Solomon won his last surfing competition, and you wanna know what the prize was?"

"What was it?"

"A Hawaiian airlines flight voucher! Worth fifteen hundred dollars! So we were thinking that since I hadn't been back since we got married and you've never even met Solomon, we should come home and visit. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"What?" Jacob couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. In the years since she got married, Rebecca had never once mentioned visiting La Push.

"No!" Rachel cried, trying to grab the phone out of Jacob's hands. He had about a foot of height on her though, and he glared back, keeping it out of her hands, "She can't come here!"

Jacob glanced over at his friends sitting on the couch with plates of desserts on their hand. All looked extremely tense. Embry and Seth were both staring at their desserts like they were the most interesting thing they'd ever seen, while Quil had a look of terror on his face as he looked around the room. Leah shook her head violently, remaining standing against the far wall. Sue managed to keep a straight face but leaned forward in her chair as if she was ready to get up to intervene in a fight.

"She's not coming!" Rachel hissed, "Tell her no!"

"Rachel -" Billy started. Before he could get the next word out, Leah dropped her plate on the floor and Jacob realized that she was shaking. The clattering of the plate broke the spell, and suddenly everyone was speaking.

"…and he's going imprint on her and destroy her marriage!" Rachel pointed angrily at Embry, who held his hands up awkwardly.

"It's a bad idea," Leah agreed.

"She's Quileute, same as all of you. This is her land. She belongs here."

"Billy, it's not that simple - "

"… I just won't look at her the entire time…"

"… She's married! She has a life in Hawaii! How would that work? Tell me how that would work!"

"How would you manage to keep the secret from her? Becca's smart, she'd know something's up…"

"Jacob, are you listening to me? Jacob?" Rebecca spoke loudly enough that the racket around the room was brought to a halt.

"Yeah, I heard you, Becca. Sorry, there's just a lot going on over here…"

"It'll be great, Jake, you can finally meet Solomon and I can show him First Beach and…" Rebecca prattled on as if she was unaware of the noisy debate that had just occurred on the other side of the line.

"Let me talk to her!" Rachel demanded.

"Uh, Becca, Rachel's here. She heard everything and she wants to talk to you." Jacob all but shoved the phone into Rachel's hands, this time happy to let Rachel speak to her twin.

"Becca! You're coming here?"

"Yeah, and Rach, don't be upset that I told Jake first, it is his birthday after all, and Solomon just won the competition a few days ago. Plus I tried calling the other day but no one answered…"

"Well, listen, Becca, never mind all that. La Push is exactly the same as you left it. No changes at all. Literally none. There's no reason for you to come here. You're missing nothing. Absolutely nothing. So you should use the flight vouchers to go somewhere else. See something new!" The words tumbled out of Rachel's mouth swiftly with few breaths in between.

"You don't wanna see me, Rach?" There was no mistaking the hurt in Rebecca's voice.

There wasn't a single person in the room who didn't have their eyes on Rachel at that moment. Rachel turned her back to everyone and faced the wall, "No, Becca. It's not that. I do want to see you. It's just that La Push hasn't changed at all. It would be a waste of a ticket."

"Well, I was just thinking that it would be nice to show Sol where I grew up and went to school and everything..."

"You know what be nicer? If you showed Dad where you live now. Dad wants to see that you live a nice life in Hawaii," Rachel cut Rebecca off mid-sentence. She turned around and glared directly at Billy as she spoke, "You should use the flight vouchers to fly Dad to Hawaii."

Jacob looked over at his father. Billy made eye contact with Sue, whose expression was tense.

"Can Dad fly alone? What about you and Jake? I want to see you guys, too."

"Fifteen hundred dollars a lot of money. I bet you could get tickets for me and Jake, too. We could all go! A family trip to Hawaii!" Rachel seemed borderline hysterical; Jacob had never heard her speak so quickly in his entire life.

"Yeah, maybe…" Rebecca trailed off, thinking for a second, "I don't know, I'd kinda like to go back to the res, at least for a visit. You're there; you really think everything's the same? It's been four years, surely something has changed."

"Trust me, nothing has changed. Leah's here, I'll ask her. Leah, has anything changed on the reservation since Rebecca left?" Leah shook her head forcefully. "Leah agrees with me. Nothing has changed. You can fly the three of us out. We can go over Jacob's spring break. I'll request off work on Monday. It'll be great."

"Okay…" Rebecca agreed hesitantly,

"It'll be great!" Rachel repeated. She was still speaking too quickly, "I've always wanted to see Hawaii and the fresh air will be good for Dad. Maybe you could talk Jake into going to college out there. Or taking up surfing. It'll be great."

"Are you okay, Rachel?"

"Me? I'm fine! I'm going to Hawaii! I'm ecstatic!"

"You sound upset."

"No, I'm perfectly fine! I'm so excited to see you! Here, talk to Dad!" Rachel thrust the phone at Billy, and quickly left the house, muttering something about finding Paul.

"Hello, Rebecca." Billy's voice echoed through the whole room, "I hear Solomon won a surfing competition."

"I'm getting out of here," Leah announced, speaking over Billy. She was still shaking, "Happy birthday, Jake."

"Thanks, Leah," he said, although she was halfway out the door already. Billy was still talking to Becca, assuring her that Rachel wasn't upset at Becca.

Jacob looked at Quil and Embry, "You guys wanna go to the garage?" he asked quietly. They both nodded eagerly and stood up immediately. Jacob looked at Seth, who was sitting there looking dejected, and quickly added, "You can come, too, if you want."

"Seth has homework he needs to finish," Sue spoke for him, glaring at her son, "We really just came by to wish you a happy birthday and to drop off the cake. Happy birthday, Jacob."

"Thanks, guys."

"Take some of these cakes, Jacob," Sue instructed, handing him Rachel's untouched funfetti cake and the Clearwaters' red velvet one, "Keep them out there so Billy doesn't eat them."

Jacob nodded, and with a dessert in each hand, he headed off to the garage, Quil and Embry not far behind.

It was like old times. Jacob had parked the Rabbit in the garage, and more so out of habit than anything being wrong, he popped the hood and examined it. Quil and Embry settled on the old couch that they'd dragged in last summer and watched Jacob work, occasionally yelling out feedback as they saw it. The only difference was the amount of sugar they had on their plates. In the old days, Sue would have never given them almost two whole cakes, but with the whole werewolf thing, no one seemed to mind the amount of sugar they consumed.

"This cake is pretty good," Quil said with his mouth full.

"Which one?" Embry asked.

Quil pointed at the red velvet one, "That one."

"Dude, swallow before you speak next time," Jacob chastised.

"Leah didn't poison it?" Embry asked.

"Seth said he made it too, and he wouldn't have let Leah put any poison in it. Seth wouldn't hurt a fly." Quil cut himself another sizable piece, "Besides if I'm gonna die, death by cake isn't a bad way to go out."

"Death by poisoned cake isn't really Leah's style. She's more of the violent murder type. Poison is too subtle for her."

Embry shrugged and cut himself a piece of cake, "This is good!" he exclaimed after taking a bite, "Who knew those Clearwater siblings could bake?"

"They are related to Emily. And Harry wasn't a bad cook." Jacob leaned over and took a bite of the cake with his fork. It was good. Rich in flavor and moist, just the right texture.

"Yeah, but don't they always say that you need love as a secret ingredient? Something tells me Leah didn't put love into this."

"She's not as bad as I thought she would be. I mean I don't spend a ton of time in her head but when I do she's mostly just whining about the Cullens and that's not unreasonable," Quil commented.

"The distance from Sam was probably good for her," Embry remarked.

"Her dad died like seven months ago," Jacob added, "Remember how awful I was after my mom died? Her dad died, she turned into some freaky female werewolf and she had to spend a bunch of time with her ex-boyfriend. She really got the short end of the stick."

"Yeah, I didn't think about all that. I didn't really know Leah before. She was just one of those hot older girls who wouldn't give me the time of day," Quil laughed.

"Even before this Sue used to complain to my dad that she had an attitude problem," Jacob remembered, "She was a lot hotter before I was forced to spend so much time with her. But her attitude has improved a lot since she left Sam's pack. She's not that bad now."

"Nah, she's fine now," Embry agreed.

"She seemed pretty upset about the whole Rebecca thing, though."

"I think imprinting is still a touchy subject for her."

"Probably always will be."

They were silent for a couple of minutes while Jacob checked the oil levels on the Rabbit. Working together, they managed to demolish half of the funfetti cake, though it's quality paled in comparison to the Clearwaters' and Emily's. It was a good thing that Rachel was pursuing academia, and not baking.

"So you're going to Hawaii," Quil said after several minutes with a grin, "That's a sick present, man."

"Yeah, I wish I had a family member who could just give out tickets to Hawaii," Embry complained wistfully, "All my family is just up in Neah Bay. Not worth going to, even if it's free."

"I don't think it was Rebecca's plan to give me a plane ticket to Hawaii. I think that was just Rachel talking Rebecca into it 'cause she's so scared you'll imprint on Becca." Jacob looked at Embry as he said it.

"I wouldn't imprint on her," Embry stated firmly.

"It's not something you can control," Quil's face was unreadable as he spoke, "You might."

"Yeah, you have no way of knowing whether or not you'd imprint," Jacob agreed.

"I just wouldn't look at her. I'd go up to visit my grandma or something. I wouldn't do it."

"I don't know what would be worse if you imprinted on her or Brady or Colin."

On the one hand, Brady and Colin were just kids, and nd Rebecca would be very unlikely to leave her husband for one of them. What would happen when she went back to Hawaii and Brady or Colin were stuck here? On the other hand, Jacob wasn't in Brady or Colin's heads anymore – twice he'd fought with Paul after Paul hadn't managed to keep thoughts of Rachel out his mind. It was bad enough knowing that Paul and Rachel were having sex – being bombarded with images of it made Jacob wish he hadn't been born. And he wouldn't have to worry about that if Brady or Colin imprinted on Becca. She almost certainly wouldn't sleep with them, and even if she did, he wouldn't be in their heads.

"It's not like a guaranteed thing. Nobody's imprinted on Jared's sister, and you'd think she would be prime to pass on the wolf gene. And… " Embry paused for a second and looked around nervously.

"Just say it, man."

"She's in high school. She's age-appropriate. You'd think someone would have imprinted on her."

"My relationship with Claire is age-appropriate," Quil spoke up instantly, "I promise. I've never done anything to her, we always spend time together in public or with someone to supervise, I would never do anything to hurt her, I just want her to be happy, I promise…"

"We know, dude, we know," Jacob assured him, "But Embry's right. It would have made more sense for someone to imprint on Natalie than Nessie."

"Yeah, I guess…"

All of the imprinting stuff made such little sense. Rachel and Embry would be a naturally better fit than Rachel and Paul. Both were academic and smart. But it was Paul who was chosen by the fates for Rachel, not Embry.

Jacob couldn't bring himself to think of the other reason that Embry might not imprint on his sisters: if Embry was more than just a pack brother. If he was a blood brother, a half-brother. Jacob's memories of his parents' relationship were mostly happy, but Embry was only four months younger than him, and who knew what Jacob's parents' relationship was like before Jacob was born? They would have had twin toddlers, and Jacob figured that it was probably a stressful, chaotic time. But so stressful that Billy would cheat on his wife? Jacob didn't like to think about it, and he tried to push it out of his mind.

"Imprinting is just weird, man."

"You're telling us."

"Hey, it looks like the rain is letting up," Quil looked outside. Sure enough, there was a ray of sun was peeking through the clouds, "You guys wanna go cliff diving?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Let's do it!"

The three of them left the garage, running for the cliffs, leaving behind all talk of imprints and sisters and poisoned cakes in exchange for wordless fun.


"Jacob? Can you go to the office, please? The principal wants to speak with you." The classroom phone had rung approximately fourteen minutes into the chemistry test, and Mr. Johnson had answered it with a whispered tone. Jacob hadn't paid attention to the phone call; he was focused on answering the questions on the test that he knew the answer to or at least had a reasonable shot at. All five of them, "Bring your stuff. We can arrange a time to finish your exam later."

Quil and Embry looked up at him, Quil with a smirk on his face and Embry with a confused expression. Jacob just shrugged. He had no idea what this was about.

Other than ditching a lot of school, Jacob couldn't think of a single rule he had broken lately. Sure his grades sucked, but they weren't as bad as Paul's and Paul had still managed to graduate.

The halls were empty as Jacob trekked to the office, his backpack slung on his back. As soon as he reached the office, the secretary told Jacob to take a seat outside of the principal's office.

Despite the elementary, middle, and high school being distinct sections, the main office for QTS was shared by all three and Jacob had been there many times. Still, though, he glanced around, looking for any changes. A few new posters advertising various events had been posted on the walls; some had already passed, but nobody had bothered to take them down. The plaque memorializing his mother stood out in the corner of his eye. Sarah Black, it read, beloved math teacher of Quileute Tribal School,followed by the years of her birth and death. Jacob had always hated seeing it; it was an unnecessary reminder of her death.

The principal, a short, balding man named Mr. Sewell, appeared from his office and took a seat in the chair next to Jacob. This meant that Jacob couldn't possibly be in that much trouble, not if Mr. Sewell wasn't going to bother bringing him into his office. Of course, that gave no clarity whatsoever as to what this could be about. What could be so important that Jacob would be taken away from his chemistry test?

"Jacob," Mr. Sewell started, staring nervously at the plaque on the wall, "Thanks for coming so quickly. I just received word from your father that your sister has been in a car accident."

The words hit Jacob like a ton of bricks. "Rebecca? Or Rachel?" No wonder Mr. Johnson was being so lenient about the test.

"Rachel. She's at Forks Hospital."

Jacob stood up immediately, "I gotta get to the hospital," he said numbly.

"Of course," Mr. Sewell agreed, "I can excuse you for the rest of the day."

"Billy – my dad – did someone pick him up, do you know?"

"It was Sue Clearwater who called. She said she was on the way to the hospital with your father."

"Jacob? Maybe someone should drive you?"

"No, no, I'm good. I don't need any transportation," Jacob rushed out the door to the office without bothering to come up with a flimsy excuse for how he was planning on getting to Forks. He waited just until he was in the woods, before stringing his backpack up on a broken tree branch, undressing, and phasing.

Jacob tore through the forest, running faster than he had in a long time. He knew the way to the hospital well. The mind link was empty of course; he was all alone. Jacob imagined Embry and Quil still in Mr. Johnson's class, taking their tests. He wondered if they knew any more of the answers than he did. Embry probably did, but Jacob guessed that Quil knew less.

Jacob kept close to the main road, far enough out where no one should be able to see him through the thick trees, but close enough where he could still see the pavement. At the three-way stop where the road to La Push dead-ended, he saw a crumbled Honda and a dented Hyundai. Rachel's. She'd been t-boned.

The knowledge only made him run faster. The accident didn't look bad, not like the one his mom had been killed in. But still, he was fearful. Realistically, Jacob knew that people from the reservation had probably gotten into car accidents since his mother died. There had to have been some fender benders, probably even some more major ones where someone needed stitches or had a broken bone. But it was seared into the memory of everyone on the res: Sarah Black had died in a car crash. And Jacob didn't want anybody to join that club.

In a testament to how fast he was running, he arrived at almost the same time as the Clearwater's old car. Jacob hurried to get Billy's chair from the trunk of their car. At the speed he was moving at, he had it unfolded and ready before Billy even unbuckled his seat belt.

"Thank you, son," Billy said as Jacob transferred him into his chair.

"Do you know anything?" Jacob asked.

"Deputy Kim was the one who called. He said she was conscious when he got to the scene." So Rachel wasn't dead on arrival at least.

"They'll let us know when we get in there," Sue said. She didn't stop to ask for directions as they entered the hospital and instead led them through the halls, past several nurse's stations, and offices.

"That… thing better not be treating her," Billy grumbled as Jacob pushed him through the winding halls.

"Do you mean Carlisle?" Jacob asked.

"You know who I mean."

"You let him treat Jacob this summer," Sue pointed out mildly, "He's perfectly capable of treating Rachel."

"Rachel's human," Billy said quietly, "I don't want to take any chances."

"She'll be treated by whichever doctor is around," Sue said firmly. She had stopped in front of an ajar door. BLACK read the whiteboard in all caps.

"Only three visitors in a room at a time!" A nurse called from down the hall.

"I know the rules, Christine!" Sue yelled back as she sat down on one of the chairs outside of the room, "You two go head."

Jacob knocked at the door, "Rachel? It's me and Dad."

Sam appeared at that moment and opened the door the rest of the way. He gave them a thin smile, and gestured for them to go in, "I'll wait outside with Sue."

Jacob pushed Billy inside.

"Rachel," Billy said softly.

Rachel was sleeping, though it didn't look like it was very peacefully. A large gash on her forehead had already been stitched up, and it looked like there was a brace on her right side. She didn't stir at Billy's mention of her name.

"Billy, Jacob."

It was then that Jacob noticed Paul standing beside her. Paul looked so bad that in that second, that Jacob wondered if maybe werewolves could get sick after all. Paul's face was flushed with worry and discolored. The bags under his eyes were always present, but today they were especially noticeable.

"Hey, Paul," Jacob said quietly.

Paul was shaking, but it seemed to be more out of anxiety than out of anger. He had his hand gently pressed again Rachel's, but Jacob couldn't tell if it was meant to comfort Paul or Rachel.

"Mr. Black," Dr. Gerandy thrust his way through the door at that second, closing the door loudly enough to make Rachel stir, "How are you doing? Rachel, how are you feeling? Any changes?"

"I'm fine!" Rachel said. She opened her eyes just slightly, "It was literally just a fender bender. There is no need for all this!"

"It was a little more than a fender bender, babe," Paul muttered beside her. His leg twitched as Rachel sat up.

She turned to face Jacob and Billy, "Dad? Jake? When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago."

"Didn't even notice you guys coming in."

"We gave her some morphine for the pain. It's making her a little loopy," Dr. Gerandy explained.

"That's an understatement," Rachel muttered, "Haven't felt this out of it in a looong time. Since freshman year, at least."

Dr. Gerandy chuckled but otherwise ignored her statement, "Well, Miss Black, we got your x-rays back. Looks like you have a few broken ribs and your right elbow is broken. Nothing life-threatening, though. You'll be good as new by Christmas, I'd say."

"Great," Rachel mumbled, "I'll survive if this pain doesn't kill me first."

"We can get you something for the pain," Dr. Gerandy promised. He rattled off some further instructions, including promises about discharging her later that day. Before Dr. Gerandy left, Billy asked him whether or not he'd be the only doctor Rachel would be seeing, letting out a pacified noise of approval when Dr. Gerandy assured Billy that Dr. Cullen wasn't on duty that day.

"I should kill the moron that hit her," Paul seethed as soon as Dr. Gerandy left. His nervous shaking had transformed into anger shaking, "I wonder what room he's in…"

Sam took that second to reappear, "Paul, maybe we should take a quick walk?" he suggested.

"Go, babe," Rachel instructed, "I don't need you here and it's just upsetting you."

"I'll come back if you need me," Paul promised, looking down at her nervously, "I won't go far."

"I'll be fine. I'm just in pain. There's nothing you can do about that anyway."

As soon as Paul left, Sue entered and immediately went to Rachel's charts, "I'll talk to Dr. Gerandy about upping her pain meds."

"Just glad it wasn't that leech who was on duty. Couldn't imagine getting treated by him," Rachel shuttered.

Jacob laughed, "Exact same thing that Dad said," he said by way of explanation.

Rachel didn't respond to that and instead closed her eyes again. Sue sat down beside her, in the chair that Paul had been sitting in.

"How are you feeling, Rachel? Is there anything we can get you?"

"I'm starving," Rachel confessed, "The moron hit me at the beginning of my lunch break – I didn't even get a chance to eat! Fuck, I need to call my boss."

"Jacob, maybe you should go get some food for everyone? The cafeteria is closed from one-thirty to five but perhaps you could go into town. " Sue suggested, "I'll call the bank, Rachel, though I doubt they haven't heard about it yet."

"There's a Subway on the main street," Billy said as if Jacob hadn't spent his entire life in Forks. Jacob knew every restaurant in this town, but the expression on Billy's face was so strained that Jacob didn't mention it. Billy took out his wallet and gave Jacob a twenty.

"Can you check with Sam and see if he wants anything? Sam should probably stay here with Paul, just in case…" Sue reached into her purse and handed Jacob the keys to the Clearwaters' car and a handful of bills of her own, "Rachel, dear, what do you want from Subway?"

Jacob nodded hastily and wrote down everyone's orders on a piece of paper he found in his pocket. He found Sam and Paul (miraculously still in human form) just outside of the nearest door. Sam gave him another ten for their lunches, although Paul said that he felt too sick to eat. Sam told Jacob just to get Paul a ham sandwich, anyway.

"Jake! Jake!" Across the parking lot, Leah was waving her hands wildly. She hurried over to him and he couldn't help but notice that her signature tank top was slightly twisted. She must have just phased, "I just got off work! My mom left a note – I came as soon as I read it. Is Rachel okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. Well, not fine. She needs some stitches and has a few broken bones but she's not gonna die or anything. The doctor said she'll be good as new by Christmas. She's just out of it right now."

"Oh, thank God. I was worried. I mean, after your mom and everything… God, it was hard enough when Sarah died." Leah took a breath and looked up at Jacob. Her expression convinced Jacob that Leah's concern was genuine, "Are you leaving?"

"I'm going to go get some food for everyone," Jacob explained, holding up the car keys, "You wanna come?"

In response, Leah snatched the car keys from him and took off to the car.

"Leah!" He complained but followed her.

"It's my family's car, Jake. I think that means I get to drive it."

Jacob grumbled, but agreed and opened the door to the passenger side of the Clearwaters' Corolla.

"Where are we going?" Leah adjusted the mirrors and the seat – she had quite a bit of height on her mother – before pulling into the main street.

"Subway," Jacob answered.

"Cool." Leah swung a left, heading straight for Subway, "Who all is there?"

"Right now, just your mom, my dad, Paul, and Sam. Everyone else is in school, I think. And Jared's on patrol."

"They'll probably all be here by the end of the day."

"Probably," Jacob agreed, "I'm surprised you came."

"I'm not that big of a bitch, Jake. I don't want bad things to happen to people. Well, most people. I don't want bad things to happen to your sister," Leah amended, "Besides, your sister is the best of the imprints. If I lose her, then I'm stuck with a bunch of little kids and love-struck girls. At least Rachel can admit that imprinting is pretty fucked up."

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

"Don't I count for anything?"

"You're a guy, Jacob," Leah sighed, "You're supposed to be a wolf. At least the imprints are other girls. Even if it's a fucked up thing."

"I thought you wanted to imprint," Jacob said evenly.

Leah bit her lip in thought before answering, "It's not that I don't want to imprint. It's that I don't want to imprint on someone in a fucked up manner. Like, I don't want to ruin anyone's relationship. I don't want to imprint on some ugly loser who I would never normally date. I don't want to imprint on some little kid. And I most definitely do not want to imprint on some nasty half-vampire."

"So you only want to imprint if you could approve of the guy then?"

"Exactly." Leah parked the car right outside of the Subway and unbuckled herself, "So, no, I guess I don't really want to imprint."

They entered the restaurant and Jacob pulled out the crumpled piece of paper with everyone's orders. The poor lone employee groaned when they said they wanted seven different sandwiches, but within a few minutes their sandwiches were bagged up and they were back in the car, all with minimal complaining. It helped that Leah insisted on giving the change from Sam's ten to the worker as a tip.

"How's your dad doing with it all? It's gotta be scary for him." Leah pulled out and turned back on to the main street.

"He's stressed but he seems to be doing okay. His biggest concern was whether or not Carlisle would be treating her. Your mom is much better with the vamps than my dad is," Jacob commented, before explaining, "Billy freaked out at the mere idea of Dr. Fang seeing Rachel, but Sue can go to their house and hold the little demon and everything."

"It takes a lot to freak out my mom."

"I think Billy would have disowned me if I had imprinted on the vampire spawn."

"Mom's been surprisingly cool with it," Leah remarked, "She hasn't said anything about it to me or Seth."

"Thank God it was Seth and not me," Jacob muttered.

"Yeah, imagine how fucked up that would be? You were in love with the thing's mother and then you imprinted on her? That's some fucked up stuff, right there," Leah laughed.

"Yeah, that'd be unthinkable," Jacob shuttered at the idea of his world centering around the little half-leech.

Leah laughed again as she pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, "Lucky for you, she's sterile now. Maybe the next girl you fall in love with won't get knocked up by somebody else while you're still pining after her."

"Shut up, Leah."

"Next time, try falling in love with someone who isn't in love with somebody else."

He hit her arm, though not with his full strength, "And next time you should try falling in love with someone who isn't a werewolf and who might imprint and leave you for your cousin."

Leah unbuckled and got out of the car, Jacob following not far behind her. Her good mood seemed spoiled and Jacob wondered if he'd gone too far.

"I think my goal is not to fall in love with anyone anytime soon."

"It's a good goal," Jacob commented, relieved that she didn't seem upset, "Maybe I'll make it mine, too."

"Nice. An Alpha-Beta joint goal. No falling in love with anyone," Leah smiled at him – one of those brilliant smiles that so rarely graced her face.

"No falling in love," Jacob echoed. They were almost in Rachel's hallway now, and he could smell that Paul and Sam had gone back to see her again even before Jacob saw them.

"Rachel? It's me! We have food," Leah called out as she entered Rachel's room. She tossed Paul and Billy their sandwiches, while Jacob handed Sue and Sam theirs.

"Thanks for coming, Leah," Rachel muttered, "You made sure that the dork didn't get mine with mustard?"

"No mustard on yours."

"Thank God. He put mustard on my sandwich once when I was sixteen and I've never forgiven him for it."

"I was twelve!" Jacob protested.

"It scarred me for life," Rachel repeated. For the first time all day, Paul laughed. The mood had lightened considerably in Jacob's absence, now that it was clear that Rachel was going to be fine and was going home that day.

Everyone ate in silence, though the door to Rachel's room was now wide open, allowing the people just outside the room to be apart of what little conversation there was.

At some point, Sam excused himself to try to get a hold of Jared so he could let the rest of the pack know what was going on. Jacob knew he'd have to go phase soon, too, as school would be letting out and Quil and Embry would be curious as to what happened. Sue also excused herself, as she was apparently working that night, but she promised Billy that Charlie would be by soon to pick him up and bring him back to La Push.

"Jacob?" Rachel asked. She was calmer now, less agitated. The food and the pain medicine must have helped.

"Yeah, Rachel?"

"Will you be able to fix my car?"

Jacob laughed, remembering the crumpled Hyundai he'd seen on the side of the road, "I think it might be beyond repair. Sorry, Rach. But I can help you fix up a new one."

"Just as long as I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for a new one."

"You won't, I promise."

"Okay, good." Rachel leaned back against the bed again and closed her eyes, "You can go now."

"Bye, Rachel." Jacob went back to the woods, ready to phase and find out from Quil and Embry how the rest of the chemistry test had gone, pleased that his sister was going to be okay and he had more time to study. Pros and cons, just like every day. And overall, this hadn't been the worst day.