Billy and Jacob had been busy, Bella realized, when she got home. There was a BBQ set up in the front yard, its innards smoking contentedly while Jacob prodded at them.

"Hey you," Jacob called, waving a spatula at her. He was wearing an apron. He looked positively domestic.

"Hey yourself," she called back, smiling, but looking quizzically at the BBQ.

"Thought we might enjoy the good weather today," Billy said. "And some good burgers."

Ah, yes. Billy's burgers were one of the things she remembered happily from summer childhoods here.

"Thank you," she said softly, sitting down across from him at the small picnic table.

"Your appointment go OK?" he asked, quietly enough that Jacob wouldn't hear.

She nodded, giving a hushed, "yeah." Not one for many words himself, she hoped he didn't press for more than this. She needn't have worried.

He nodded slowly. "Good. I'm glad."

They settled into more wordy, but mundane conversation about their days, the weather, and other safe topics. It wasn't in any way strained, just the ease of ordinary chatter.

This was a relief, after the day she'd had. While there was a very real, but quiet, bubbling happiness simmering in the depths of herself, she had to fight the urge to disbelieve. She hadn't said anything about what had happened at school, but this one good thing, she wanted to share. To make real in words for more than just herself. After Jacob tidily dispensed with the last few extra burgers, and she'd teased him gently about it, she'd steeled herself enough to pull, from hiding, the things that trembled in her heart.

But Jacob beat her to it. "You look happy, Bella. I'd like to think it's my cooking, but I kinda doubt it."

She smiled, feeling the unfamiliar full stretch of it across her lips. "Something...good happened today. You could say."

"Oh?" Billy asked. He had that look on his face, the kind that parents got when they sensed a revelation. She'd seen it on her mom's. On Charlie's.

Another feeling squeezed her innards, and she almost lost her courage. There are good things, she told herself. There will be more good things.

"Well, you know Edward—"

The easy expression on Jacob's face disappeared.

Catching Billy's look, from across the table, Bella was sure he wanted to kick his son. Obviously, he couldn't, so his scowl stood in place of it.

"Go on," Billy said gently. His face might have been encouraging. She wasn't sure. She was looking at her food.

Now the words were harder to find. "Um, well...we've started seeing each other."

She was still looking at her plate, now not at all certain of the wisdom of disclosing this, when the table began to shake.

"Jake—" Billy said, voice full of warning. "Go!"

Bella followed Billy's gaze. Jacob was vibrating. Not just vibrating, but seeming to shake out of his form, trying to stand.

"Bella, get away!"

She didn't need to be told twice, and stood, but misplaced her foot in extracting herself from the picnic table.

There was a ripping sound, and as she flung her forearms up against what seemed like an explosion, felt something run down her arm.

Then there was a wolf where Jacob had been, and as much as she wanted to run, to flee from it, she couldn't. She stood transfixed, hands up and useless against its size and mass.

"GO!" BIlly bellowed at it, and miraculously, it did.

He was pushing himself over the awkward ground, trying to get to her.

"Sit down, Bella."

She blinked at him, as he approached.

"Sit down, honey, please."

He had something in his hand—a napkin, and was pressing it to her arm, trying to reach up to her shoulder to get her to sit. "You look like you're gonna faint. Please, sit down."

She did, surprised by the sting in her arm. Then she looked at it, and she turned her head away, trying to stem the waves of dizziness that threatened.

Things became hazy, and she was aware of Billy talking, but not to her.

She jerked her head up and around. Was Jacob back?

No, they were alone, but Billy was on the phone. He clicked it shut. "Sue's on her way. Gonna get you to the hospital. You're gonna be fine." It was obviously meant to reassure her, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

When she arrived, Sue was calm and gentle, murmuring soft things to Bella like, "bit of a shock, isn't it? That first time you see it."

That first time? Bella thought. See it? As in, this is normal?

And then it all clicked: The wolves. They were people. They were wolves. They were...she didn't know what they were, but they were people who became wolves.

And she was living with one of them.

What the hell else was she going to find scurrying through the forest?

There were certainly more than enough real human monsters for her.

A low sort of tremble took up residence in her legs, and then her arms. She couldn't quite hold onto the present, slipping in and out of the now and the then, flickers of wolf and David and other unpleasant things running on repeat in her thoughts.

By the time they got to the hospital, she was thoroughly spooked by everything, and anything that moved.

When the nurse left her in a small cubicle, she told her to leave the curtain open. She wanted to see what was coming her way, long before it got there.

And she did. The immaculate form of Carlisle Cullen never looked so welcome as it walked towards her.

He didn't even bother with a polite greeting, simply laid his eyes on her arm, and then the rest of her, asking, "what happened?" His voice was missing its normal low and patient tone. There was an edge she hadn't heard before.

"Big...dog," Bella managed to get out.

Carlisle's jaw was very tight, but then relaxed, looking at her arm more closely. "That's a nasty cut. It's going to need stitching, and antibiotics."

She nodded.

When he went to touch her wrist, she jerked it away.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"No, no," he said softly. "It's OK." He seemed to think for a moment, then said, "I just need to get a few things. I'll be right back."

His footsteps were silent, but she heard the hissed words exchanged with Billy, a short distance away.

"I looked the other way with Emily, but this is too much. You promised me—"

"I promised no such thing, Cullen, and you know it."

There was a silence, in which Bella's breathing felt loud to her.

"Do you really think Charlie Swan would thank you for this?"

"Charlie would thank me to keep his daughter away from creatures like your son—"

"So she could be sliced up by yours?" came the quick rebuttal.

There was a rustling pause, and Carlisle returned, a tray of supplies in hand.

Bella glanced up at him, wondering if he knew she'd have heard his argument with BIlly.

"Do you feel safe, Bella, with the Blacks?" he asked, snapping on gloves.

Her stomach clenched, and she recalled, with a sickening ease, the precariousness of her position. It was the Blacks, or foster care.

"Or perhaps you'd prefer to stay somewhere else tonight? Or for a few days?"

Foster care. He was offering her another foster care placement.

She closed her eyes. "It's fine," she said. It really wasn't.

"Because my wife and I are registered as an emergency placement, if you want somewhere else to stay."

With Edward.

She had to swallow before she could open her mouth. "Maybe...maybe just for tonight. If Billy's OK with it."

She trusted Billy. She really did, but she needed to be somewhere else tonight. Just to clear her head.

"We'd be happy to have you. And I'm sure Mr. Black will understand, all things considered."

All the vampires and wolves considered.

"I'm going to numb the area before I start stitching, OK?"

He had a syringe in one hand.

She leaned away from it.

His face didn't change in expression, but his shoulders softened. "I can use a topical anesthetic, but you'll feel a lot more of it."

Bella nodded. She'd rather feel what he did, than deal with more anxiety about what was really in that syringe.

Probably just local anesthetic.

Probably.

She knew she was being ludicrous, and pressed her forearm down, nodding, indicating he should start.

He flushed out the wound, and then swabbed on the numbing gel liberally.

"Has Edward told you about his sister, Alice?" Carlisle asked quietly, preparing the suturing needle.

"A little."

He nodded, waiting a moment, hands resting on the table. "Then he is likely aware you're here. And will probably be here soon."

Vampires. Giant wolves. Psychics.

She took in a deep, shuddering breath.

"I can tell him not to, if you want."

"No," she said quickly. "It's not him—it's—" She wasn't sure if it was safe to talk about this here, or how, exactly, to express it. "Let's just get this done, please."

He worked quickly, and while she felt the tug and dig of the needle, it was better to know it, than to wonder what might happen next.

Needless worries, she told herself. Being paranoid.

She was so preoccupied with these thoughts that she only caught the tail end of the mumbled, and not friendly conversation between Billy and Edward.

She did hear them come in.

"Hi," she said, lifting her head up, taking in these three men around her. She felt very small all of a sudden.

"How you doing Bella?" Billy asked, his face even more wrinkled with obvious worry.

"I'm OK," she said. Even she wasn't convinced by the sound of her voice.

"You ready to go home?" Billy went on, rolling closer. He'd put a hand on the table by hers, inviting contact, but not demanding it.

She shook her head, startled by the tears there and tightness in her throat. "Not tonight."

Billy let out a long breath. "I understand, and I'm sorry Bella. That's never happened before."

Edward snorted.

Billy shot him a look. "It hasn't. Not with Jake."

Bella nodded quickly. She was sure it hadn't. But it just had, with her.

"Dr. Cullen said I could stay with them tonight."

Now Billy's air reversed directions, and the look he shot Carlisle was accusatory.

"It's up to you, Bella," Carlisle reiterated. "I'm sure the Webers would be happy to have you too."

She knew this was said more for Billy's sake than her own.

"I think it might be a bit crowded there," she mumbled. Then to Billy, she said, tapping his hand with hers. "Just tonight, OK?"

Billy's face twisted at this. "If that's what you want. But you always have a home with us. Always. You're family. Just don't ever doubt that." He sighed. "I'll call you tomorrow, OK? If you need us to come get you or anything, just call. We'll come." He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Sure."

Now BIlly looked at Carlisle. "You're not going to make her wait around to shift change, are you?"

"No," Edward answered for him, not quite glaring at Billy, but almost. Much more softly, he said to Bella, "I'll take you home." He smiled, and said, "Alice is excited to meet you. Everyone is."

Now the twist in her stomach lurched towards a nervous flutter.

Sue had come in quietly, and now helped Billy out, each of them stealing glances backwards as they left.

Edward didn't waste any time, sitting down beside her as Carlisle put things away. "May I?" he asked, holding out his hand for her arm. She let him lift it, and startled when he turned to his father with an indignant voice. "No local?"

It was Carlisle's turn to raise his eyebrows at Edward.

"Sorry," Edward murmured to Carlisle, and then Bella. "Why?" he asked her.

Right. Mind reading.

Her face tried on a few different expressions: realization, confusion, uncertainty.

"Oh," Edward said, nodding. "Of course."

She wasn't sure if she should feel relief, that there was no need to answer. What else had he heard in Carlisle's mind?

"Time to go home," Carlisle said, saving her from this quandary. He handed a piece of paper to Edward. "Can you pick this up for me?"

Edward nodded, holding his hand out for Bella.

The feeling of relief, that came with his touch alone, made so much of the anxiety melt away.

He was here. She was safe.

It was the most profound of sensations, and she gripped his fingers tightly, not wanting him to let go, as they walked towards the exit.

They stopped at the small pharmacy adjacent to the hospital, Edward efficiently collecting bandages, several bottles of pills, and the prescriptions Carlisle had written. She didn't even put it all together until they stood at the till, and she realized that Edward would have no use for these things: they were for her.

She patted her jacket pockets. Empty, except for her phone. She'd left her wallet in her bag.

"Don't even think about it," he murmured. "I put you with the Blacks. This is my responsibility."

She opened her mouth to protest, but the pained look on his face made her close it again.

In the car, she was finally free to say what had been ready to bolt from her mouth the minute she'd seen him: "Jacob's a wolf."

Edward didn't even bat an eye. "Jacob is a werewolf."

A werewolf.

"What happened?" he asked, looking at her.

"Can you just look at the road, please?"

He did, and she relaxed.

"What happened, Bella?"

"You knew. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I couldn't. Just like they couldn't tell you what I was. What happened?"

"Why couldn't you tell me?"

"We have a treaty. Neither of us can reveal the other to a human without violating it."

This explained a lot.

"What happened?" he asked again. There was no frustration in his voice, or impatience. It was reassuring.

"I told them about us—"

An abrupt creaking sound interrupted her, emanating from Edward's side of the car. It seemed to originate in the steering wheel. "Please continue," he said, looking at her and then back at the road.

"Jacob started to shake—and then he was a wolf." It still felt so impossible, even saying it aloud.

"He didn't try to move away?" Edward's voice had descended to a growl.

"No, he did, I just, I tripped getting away after Billy told me to move."

Edward's hand reached out for her left hand, the touch gentle. "I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?"

"For putting you in the path of that."

"You're not responsible for everything that happens to me, Edward."

With the next glance she caught, she saw something in his eyes that made her forget to tell him to watch the road.

The rest of the drive wasn't long, but it took them down a winding and unlit road that was flanked by imposing trees. She would've missed the turn off completely, and almost jumped, when Edward veered to the right.

"It's fairly isolated, but it's worth the drive." His smile was small, but she took its reassurance.

They pulled into a large garage, and Bella caught sight of several cars, all of a quality whose expense was mind boggling.

Stepping into the house, Bella was struck by its simplicity, and quietness. The decor was sparse, but elegant, obviously curated by a professional.

"Hello!" A woman's voice called, the form appearing soon after.

"Bella, this is Esme, my mother."

Petite like Bella, Esme's brunette hair curled in a perfect wave at her shoulders. Her smile was radiant. It was almost as air-sucking to meet her as it had been to lay eyes on Edward. "It's so lovely to meet you after all we've heard from Edward." The smile stretched up to her eyes.

"Hi," Bella ventured less confidently, "nice to meet you too."

"Come on in, meet everyone," Esme said, waving her hand towards an open living room.

A small, and short-haired woman, just shy of Bella's height was suddenly before her. Bella startled, and Edward's grip kept her from losing her balance.

"Hi! I'm Alice!" She bounced a bit onto her tiptoes. "We are going to be such good friends!" She held out a hand for Bella to take, and when the gesture was reciprocated, shook it gently. "I'll behave Edward. Stop worrying."

Looking back at Edward, Bella caught his small frown.

From the couch, three other figures stood, moving much more slowly towards them.

"This is Jasper, Alice's husband."

A tall blonde man nodded in greeting, murmuring a soft "Hello."

"And this is my sister Rosalie, and my brother Emmett."

"It's lovely to meet you all," Bella said, trying to keep her jaw from dropping at the ridiculously beautiful creatures in front of her. It was mildly stunning seeing them all at once. A wave of nerves, at being compared to such beings swept over her.

Jasper raised an eyebrow at Edward, and Bella caught his head shake as it rippled down his arm to her hand.

Alice had joined her husband, pressing a hand to his arm. "I say ignore him," she stage whispered to Jasper's ear.

"Alice," Edward said in a warning tone.

A strange sort of calm washed over Bella, and she blinked, trying to place the familiarity of the feeling. When recognition clicked, a rising panic overrode the artificial sensation, and she could feel her heart jumping, breathing matching this accelerated pattern.

The unnatural feeling ended immediately, and it was by pure force of will that she didn't lose all control of her emotional state.

Edward let out a snarled "Don't!" towards one of his siblings, and it was angry enough to frighten Bella's hand out of his grip. Edward hadn't moved, but he was staring at Jasper, who looked shocked. Beside him, Alice's face was a mess of confusion. She peered at Bella, as if trying to puzzle something out.

Esme padded softly up beside Bella, murmuring, "why don't you come and have some tea in the kitchen?" Gently, she took Bella's now free hand, and settled her into one of the soft chairs by the window.

Edward had followed, and sat beside her. "Sorry," he began, "Jasper was trying to help, Bella."

Esme set a cup of something steaming on the small table beside Bella's chair, taking a seat a respectful distance away. "Jasper's gifted. Like Edward. He can alter moods—feelings." She smiled apologetically. "Useful, but not always helpful."

Bella was still shaking, either from what her body remembered, or from the shock of earlier in the evening.

Giant wolves. Vampires. And Vampires who messed with your feelings.

And not in a good way.

Held back by the thinnest scrim of willpower was all the muck that the counsellor had stirred up, and then sent her away to mull over. Now it seemed to hang over her, the weight of it pressing down on her already strained control.

She nodded, acknowledging Esme's words, but looked at Edward, hoping he could understand how desperate she was feeling.

It was Esme who spoke though. "It's late. You must be tired. Perhaps you can help Bella get settled in?"

Bella was thinking of more practical things. "I didn't really have time to get anything."

"I know," Esme smiled softly. "We keep things for just such times. Don't worry."

"I have school—"

"Not with that injury," Edward said, lifting his chin towards her arm. "You should rest it tomorrow. Let the stitches set." There was something more in his voice, that Bella couldn't place.

Meeting his gaze, things seemed to lighten, the ugly things not so pressing.

"It's Friday. One can get your work from school. Walk you through it too, if you want."

Or she could spend the day just looking at him, watching him talk.

She gave her mental head a shake, snapping her attention back to the logical present.

"Maybe," she offered. Maybe. This wasn't her home.

Her emotions, bouncing from all directions, slung her back to thoughts of the Blacks. Billy had been horrified, and she imagined Jacob was feeling much the same. It had been an accident. She'd have to watch what she said around him, clearly—

"Bella?"

"Mm?" she said, looking up. Had she missed him talking? The expression on his face seemed to suggest it.

"Let me show you around."

There was a flicker of a frown from Esme. This was not being shown to bed. Bella liked her. She was clearly so very maternal.

"Sure."

He held his hand out in offering again, and she took it, greedy for his touch.

"This is my room," he said, not going in, but letting her look, and then lifting his arm to point directly across the hall, "and this is for you."

This other space bore the marks of distinct character: personal items on the dressers, a large, but pristinely made king-sized bed, and walls thick with art that, if she didn't know better, could have sworn were original Pollocks.

"Is this—?" she began.

"Alice and Jasper's room."

"Oh, no, I couldn't," she said. "That's—"

"Completely fine. I assure you."

"But they need—"

"They don't need to sleep. You do."

She turned her head and looked at him, eyebrows pulled into a V. "They're night owls or something?"

Edward chuckled. That grin again, stretched and wide. "We don't sleep, Bella. We can't."

Bella's head swivelled back to the room, and the bed. "Oh," she said, blushing, looking at it, understanding what it's purpose was, then laughing. "Well that's...awkward."

Edward's laugh bubbled along with hers. "Awkward," he agreed.

Their hands remained linked. When their chuckles subsided, she said, "give me the grand tour of your room?" She wanted to know all its pieces, and ferret out more of an understanding of him through these tactile manifestations.

His answer was a tug in that direction.

Two of the walls were taken up by shelves. One was thick with books, and the other with his music.

Her hand trailed a tentative finger over the spines of the CD cases. "How're they organized?"

"By year, then by musical preference."

Most of them were classical.

This made sense, she supposed. How much he must have heard, she wondered, having lived so long.

There was no bed in his room, but a long black leather chaise lounge, wide enough to sleep on. She thought of his place in Seattle—with beds—and wondered what purpose those served. She almost shook her head, feeling urge to distrust rise.

He'd given her nothing but reason to trust him.

She trusted him. She repeated this in her mind, sealing it with the feel of his fingers over hers.

His bookshelf held many of her favourites, and more that she suspected might become so. Her right hand trembled now, touching the spines of these, and she sat down on the couch, thinking it would be better to do so voluntarily, than have her body compel it.

Her ribs ached, and now her arm did too. She dismissed these hurts, thinking on what he'd told her. "You can't sleep."

He shook his head, sitting down beside her.

She sighed. "I envy you that."

"Why?"

"Sleep hasn't felt so safe for a while—and it wasn't for a time." Her mind showed her the snapshots it had taken those weeks ago. She closed her eyes momentarily. When she opened them Edward's face was flexed with worry.

"What happened, that sleep doesn't feel...safe?"

She swallowed. "He said I could sleep. So I did. Then—" Her throat closed up, refusing the release of more words. She shook her head, tears starting at the corners of her eyes. She hadn't been able to give Rebecca—her counsellor, any specifics, either. It felt like her body couldn't let them loose. So everything hung over her, poised and waiting.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but you can. Anytime." His hand squeezed hers. "But Esme is going to kill me if I don't let you get to bed soon. Sleep, or no." He looked around his room. "There are lots of rooms—"

"Can I stay here?" she blurted out.

Edward blinked. "There's no—"

"The couch is fine."

He seemed to listen to something for a moment, then nodded. There was a soft knock at the door, and Alice was there, a bundle in her arms. "I think this should work." She smiled gently at them both, putting everything on the chair by the door.

Some time later, dressed in the night clothes Alice had left, Bella returned from the bathroom to find Edward's couch looking very bed-like.

"Thank you," she said, seeing his handiwork.

"You're welcome." His fingers threaded through hers, and they stood, facing one another. Then he let go of her hand abruptly, and instead brought his arms around her.

It felt so good to lean into his chest, and to then let her own hands match the shape his made at her back. It felt safe.

"Bella," he began quietly. "I cannot tell you how selfishly happy I am to have you here, and how equally unhappy I am about why you're here tonight." Their embrace slackened, and his eyebrows pinched together. "You don't have to go back there, unless you want to. We can find somewhere else."

"No," she said. "I...actually want to stay with them." She was trying to think of how she could explain that one tangible link they were to family, tenuous as it was. "Jacob must be feeling awful. He's been so good—Billy's been so good."

Edward's face told her he didn't agree, but he only nodded. "I should let you get to bed."

She bit her lip. "Will you stay? For a bit?"

"Happily," he answered, smiling widely.

She blushed, feeling silly for asking. "Just until I'm asleep—"

"You don't want me to stay after that?"

The blush rode higher. "I'm sure you have better things to do than watch me sleep."

"No."

Now her eyebrows lifted in frank disbelief.

"That first night," he said, "I thought I might hear your dreams, if not your waking thoughts, but I didn't. You do, however," he grinned here, "talk in your sleep."

Bella stifled a groan, wondering just what she would have said.

"You said my name."

"I did?"

He nodded, most solemnly.

"And then you almost fell off the couch several times."

She laughed. "That sounds like me."

"Mm." He gestured to the bed, and let her settle herself as he flicked off the lights.

She reached for his hand, as he sat down on the floor beside her, and pressed her fingers over it, trying to memorize the texture of it for her dreams, wanting to fill them with him, and displace all the regular occupants of her regular nightmares.

DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.