Dawn
"NO!" Bella screamed as she sat upright in bed. Her nightmare had pulled her out of a deep sleep.
The morning light was barely creeping into her room through the window. She opened her eyes and looked around, very stiff and still fully dressed. The battery on her iPod must have died sometime during the night because her headphones were still in her ears but there was no longer sound coming from them. It was early, the clock said 5:30 but she felt surprisingly well rested.
Amazed, she realized she had managed to sleep through the night without thinking about what happened at the beach. That was the plan. Sleep first, then process. As she made her way to the shower she began to let the previous day's events creep back into her consciousness.
Most of the day was a blur. Mike, Jessica and Angela were there along with some other kids from school but Bella hardly remembered them. The outing was pretty bland until the others showed up, the group of boys from the reservation. As she stepped into the shower and felt the steaming hot water rush over her body, her pulse raced at the memory of what she felt in her heart to be a truth she had learned the day before.
Edward Cullen was a vampire.
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When Jacob Black first heard that a group of guys from the reservation were planning on going to meet up with some kids from Forks High who were hanging out at the beach he didn't have much interest in going. He had been spending all of his free time, which had been scarce between school and taking care of his dad now that both of his sisters were gone, working on his car. Since Billy was fishing with Harry Clearwater all day, this would be a rare opportunity for him to work uninterrupted for a few hours.
But Jacob knew he had been ignoring his friends lately and felt bad about that, so he agreed to go with them for a little while deciding that he could always sneak away early if he was bored to spend some time with his car.
He regretted his decision as soon as he opened the door to see who was waiting for him. His two best friends were there, Quil and Embry and a few more guys he regularly hung out with but with them were two that Jacob was not happy to see: Sam Uley and his cousin Jared. Sam and Jared were a few years older than he was and they used to be cool but lately they had stopped hanging out with the other kids on the reservation and pretty much only hung out with each other. And Emily. What a scandal that had been, but the shock was starting to wear off.
Oh well, he thought, it was too late to back out now. As they made their way to the beach he fell in step next to his friend Paul who seemed out of spirits.
"What's up man, not in the mood to hang with the locals?" Jacob teased.
Paul gave him a knowing look and nodded his head back towards the two who were walking behind them. "I was."
Jacob understood. Paul and Jared had been pretty close before Jared started spending all his time with Sam. He sighed, "I hear ya, bro."
Hearing that someone else wasn't happy about the apparently unexpected addition to the beach party, Paul seemed to loosen up a bit. He soon started talking about something else.
"My friend Mike said there were a few single ladies in the group he wanted me to get to know. You know it would kill my father if I were to start dating a girl from town." His smile was mischievous. Paul and his father actually got along pretty well but Paul loved to find any way he could to rake the old man. He just liked to argue.
Jacob laughed and they spent the rest of the short walk to the beach trying to imagine the verbal assault Paul would receive from his father if he met someone this afternoon. They were both in better spirits by the time they reached their destination.
There were fewer people than he had expected around the fire when they reached the group. After introductions were made they learned that about half the group, including Paul's friend Mike, had taken a short expedition to the tidal pools and would be back shortly.
Within minutes Jacob realized that Paul's search for a love to enrage his father would come up short. The girls that had stayed behind were interested only in themselves, huddling closer together than they were before as if they were afraid of the group of boys. Jacob thought about this for a second and thought it was actually pretty reasonable. The Quileute grew their boys pretty big and he bet they were intimidating to those who were not used to seeing them.
When the group from the pools got back Jacob was relieved to see that there were some people he kind of recognized. Maybe he would have someone to talk to now. One face in particular stood out to him as someone he recognized but could not place. She was a year or two older than he was and had long brown hair. She was beautiful but was obviously the kind of girl that had no idea of it.
Then it hit him. This was Chief Swan's daughter, Isabella, who had come back to live with him after her mom got remarried. He remembered playing with her when they were little kids. His sisters were like her only friends in Forks when she came to visit in the summer, they spent most of her time here together. She obviously did not recognize him, either because she did not remember him or because all the Quileute boys looked the same to outsiders.
Intrigued, he decided to try and make it a point to talk to her. When she introduced herself to him he reached out to shake her hand. Nobody else had exchanged such a formal greeting but he couldn't stop himself. Something made him want to touch her. Unfortunately, it also made her feel like she had to shake hands with the rest of the group. Most of the guys were delighted with this but Sam and Jared, rude as ever lately, seemed utterly disgusted at the act.
They all went back to the conversations they were having before the group joined them but Jacob wasn't talking to anyone. There was something about Chief Swan's daughter, Bella as she had introduced herself, that made him thoughtful. He wasn't paying attention to anything. It was Sam growling at her that broke him out of his reverie.
"The Cullens don't come here." He could practically taste the disdain that saturated the words.
Jacob hadn't heard the rest of the conversation that prompted the remark, but he was paying attention now. Charlie's daughter looked horror struck and confused. This was not good. The Quileute Cullen hatred was the reason for the current silence between his father and Chief Swan. Jacob thought his father was being ridiculous and the last thing he wanted was for Bella to think that everyone on the reservation was as close-minded as his stubborn father.
His eyes moved to Sam who had looked away from her back towards the settlement on the reservation. It looked to Jacob as if Sam's fists were shaking. Jared walked over to him and they started whispering together. The only time either looked back to the group was for Sam to send a murderous glance at Bella before he returned his attention to Jared.
Typical Sam, he thought. Sam had recently bought in to the prejudice that the older member s of the tribe held against the Cullens and would have no trouble sharing his disdain for them with anyone who would listen. It was also typical Sam because it was rude and angry, two traits that had characterized him for the last few months. Jacob groaned internally at the thought of what she and the other kids from Forks must think of them all.
Jacob turned to look at Paul and rolled his eyes. Paul had been quiet since the introductions, probably upset at the way Sam and Jared were treating his friends. He stopped when Paul did not return his look. Paul looked furious or sick, Jacob could not tell which. He was staring intently at the sand. Jacob leaned in, full of concern for his friend.
"Is everything alright? You don't look good, man."
"I don't feel well," Paul replied without even looking up, "like, suddenly."
"Dude, you look like you're going to be sick," Quil said from his spot across the fire.
Sam and Jared turned sharply towards them when he said it. Jacob noticed that everyone else around the fire was now watching them. Sam and Jared exchanged a look that Jacob did not understand before heading over to where Paul was sitting. Jacob could see that Paul definitely did not look good. He also noticed that his friend must have a fever because he was glistening with sweat but it wasn't warm out at all, even by the fire.
Jared reached them and leaned in close. "Quil and Jake are right, you don't look good. I was just getting ready to leave. I'll walk you home."
Paul didn't respond for a few seconds and then he merely nodded and stood up. He didn't look happy at the thought of leaving with Jared but he also seemed to want to get out of there as soon as possible. He looked to his friend, Mike, and apologized. "I don't know what's going on but I think I'm going to get home before I feel any worse."
Mike just nodded, wished him well and turned his attention back to the girl he had been talking to exclusively, Bella. He seemed more relieved that Sam and Jared intended to escort him home than he was concerned for Paul. Jared helped him up and, with Sam's help, all three left very quickly.
Jacob had thought about leaving with them but really wanted a chance to talk to Bella before she left, to see if she remembered him at all. It took a little while but he eventually got his chance when Mike had his attention diverted for a few minutes.
He moved to the open spot next to her and sat down.
"You don't remember me, do you?" He smiled at her.
She blushed, obviously embarrassed at the thought that she should know him. It was cute, he thought to himself. A few seconds later, her eyes lit up with recognition.
"Jacob Black."
She remembered him, barely, but asked more questions about his father and his sisters. It was a great way to break the ice and the two fell into very easy conversation after that. Jacob was glad he had decided to stay and try to talk to her, it was like they were old friends. They kind of were. She was very easy to talk to and obviously was enjoying their conversation. She talked about her move and he talked about his car. She was smiling more than he had seen her do all day.
After a few minutes the guy named Mike started staring daggers at him. It suddenly occurred to Jacob that there might be some substance to his possessiveness. What if they were together? One way to find out, he thought.
"Your boyfriend is upset that I took his place," he leaned in and said to her quietly, silently hoping he had guessed wrong on this one.
"Mike? Oh he is not my boyfriend." She seemed annoyed that anyone could even think that. Jacob was relieved and saw this as a very good sign. She was quiet for a minute then she suggested that they walk down by the beach. Jacob could hardly speak his heart was beating so loudly in his chest. A beautiful girl just asked him to take a walk on the beach. This was the best day ever.
Naturally, the conversation turned to the incident with Sam. He should have guessed that she wouldn't want to breach the subject in front of everyone else. Jacob grunted at the mention of his name and tried to explain that she shouldn't take Sam so seriously.
"I don't know what's gotten into him, and Jared for that matter. They used to be pretty cool but lately…" he was looking at the ground, kicking the sand.
"It's ok, I'm getting used to that kind of reception." She sounded bitter. He looked up at her, puzzled and she smiled as she pretended to brush it aside with her hands. Her eyes lit up when she smiled like that, it was hard to remember what they had just been talking about.
"I was curious about one thing, though," she said sweetly.
"Anything," he responded. At this moment, he meant it. There was nothing he could deny her.
"What did he mean when he said that about the Cullens, that they don't come here?" Her eyes were wide and her cheeks slightly flushed.
"I hope you don't think we're all like Sam," he said, "when it comes to the Cullens, I mean."
"I know a lot of people don't like them but he just seemed so… hostile. I couldn't understand it and…" She didn't seem to want to finish.
"And what?"
"And I remember Charlie mentioning something about a lot of people here at the reservation who won't go to the hospital because of Dr. Cullen working there and I guess I was just wondering if there was a reason why."
"I'm not supposed to talk about it." The thought of breaching that subject made Jacob Black very uncomfortable.
"I promise I won't tell."
So that was it. She wanted to know why the Quileute don't like the Cullens. How could he explain it in a way that didn't make his father sound crazy but still made her understand? Of course, he didn't even understand, so there was probably little hope of making her understand.
But Jacob felt that she deserved an explanation, especially after how she had been treated. He knew his father believed the old legends and Jacob did appreciate the stories. They were a part of his heritage. He decided to try and make her see, even if it meant her thinking his father insane for the rest of her life. The problem was that he wasn't supposed to talk about it with anyone who wasn't Quileute. As she looked at him with eager curiosity in her eyes, he decided a lecture from his dad was well worth it to break the rules.
He took a deep breath and began.
"Bella, do you like scary stories?"
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Rosalie waited until she heard the shower start and heard Bella get in before she slipped out from her hiding place under the bed and jumped out the window to run home. The sun would be coming up any minute and she needed to make it home before it got too bright. Bella woke up so suddenly that she hardly had time to steal out of sight. It was a close call that ended a very interesting evening. She was glad she had agreed to do it. She was, after all, attempting to be a better sport about the whole thing.
Before last night, Rosalie could not understand the fascination her family seemed to have with taking turns to watch Bella sleep. Watching a human sleep at night seemed like the least fun anyone could have. Ever. But she was wrong. The sleeptalking thing made it fascinating. After tonight, it also made it clear that Bella was starting to put the pieces together. It could not be coincidence that she was dreaming about vampires.
How she could have possibly guessed that on her own was beyond Rosalie's comprehension. The typical myths about vampires were so off the mark, especially when it came to going out in daylight, that she couldn't have figured it out on her own. Edward must have been telling her more than he was admitting to the rest of the family. What a hypocrite, she thought. He spent all his time talking about how he wishes every minute of every day that she never has to know. Edward wasn't usually so inconstant but he was a different person these days. Oh the things she would be saying to him when she got home.
She stopped cold as another possibility entered her mind. Bella was with on the puppy reservation yesterday, was it possible they knew that she was spending time with Edward and warned her off? If so, they had just violated the treaty that Carlisle had made so long ago and that they were so kind as to remind her family of upon their return to Forks.
That made much more sense than Edward lying to everyone. The wolves were always too meddlesome for her taste, taking their "sacred duties" a little more seriously than the situation called for. It was so annoying.
It also seemed to support a theory they had been throwing around lately regarding the wolves. More than once in the last few months, they had come across some weak but disgusting scent trails in town. Carlisle wanted to think that it was just a scent that stayed with the Quileute but she and Edward felt differently. They thought it was a sign that the pack was coming back. That would definitely complicate things.
But that wasn't the issue here. She started her run again, making it home in just a few minutes and found most of the family in the living room waiting for her return. Edward and Carlisle were making their way down from the study when she walked in the door. Edward already knew what she had to say, so she tried to avoid his eyes, knowing they would be full of pain.
"She was dreaming about vampires."
The room was silent for nearly a minute as everyone processed the information. Carlisle was the first to speak.
"Perhaps it is a coincidence."
Esme looked at her husband lovingly, as if she adored his naiveté but the rest of the room just laughed. Carlisle, rarely one to be offended, conceded.
"Or not. How could she have guessed that?"
Rosalie looked at Edward, wanting to know if he agreed with her thoughts on the matter. He nodded his agreement but did not move to speak. She filled them in on her wolf theory stopping before she got to the part about the return of the pack. Again, Carlisle was the first to speak.
"That seems like the most reasonable explanation. It would put them in violation of the treaty," Emmett and Jasper leaned forward at this, seeming very excited at the thought of a treaty violation, "but then again, they haven't told her anything we wouldn't have eventually so I don't see the point in making an issue of it. We need to just focus on the fact that Bella knows about us and we need to decide how we are going to address that."
"Perhaps it's time to think about leaving," Esme suggested yet again.
Edward growled at her. "We are not leaving until we figure out if there will be any lasting effects of my colossal mistake."
"Alright." She wasn't offended. Edward growled at everyone these days.
"I think we should wait and see what she does with the information," Alice chimed in.
Jasper was quick to agree. "That makes the most sense. Maybe she won't believe what she heard. We don't want to offer more information until we're sure. Maybe she will believe them and will want nothing to do with us. In that case, we also don't want her to know more than the minimum. I think it's best to just wait until she starts asking us questions."
"And when she does, do we answer them?" Rosalie asked.
Everyone looked to Edward.
"Yes," he said, his eyes full of defeat, "it's time."
Again, nobody spoke. Rosalie figured everyone was sending their silent reassurance to Edward that everything would work out for the best but she was still thinking about the wolves. She decided to break the silence by bringing up her idea about the reemergence of the pack, seeing that Edward clearly wanted to be left to his own thoughts.
Emmett, Jasper and Carlisle were very interested in discussing the possibility of more werewolves at La Push while Edward sat quietly in the corner and Alice and Esme fell into their own conversation.
The sun was out; it was actually a beautiful day.
All night, Edward had been trying to think of a way to see her today. The thought of her being so far from his protection the day before was almost literally maddening. He wanted to be the one with her last night but he was overruled and Rosalie, of all people, was sent in his place. He spent his free time instead trying to get around the sunlight problem and find a way to see her. He knew he could run through the woods near her house and listen to what was going on inside, but that plan felt so… unsatisfying.
He had decided to call her, just to hear the sound of her voice, using the pretense that he was checking in on her after what happened in Port Angeles. It was still unsatisfying, but better than nothing. He resigned himself to prepare for another entire day without her company. Then Rosalie came running home. That's when he realized that he should have been preparing for a much longer separation.
While the rest of his family was now seated in the living room, talking about werewolves, Edward was lost in his own thoughts. One thought, actually.
Bella knew.
The first girl he had ever fallen in love with knew what he was. He would never look the same to her in her eyes. From now on she would look at him and see only one thing.
In the last week, since they had begun talking again, since he had finally admitted his feelings for her to himself, he had been deluding himself into thinking that she was starting to feel the same way. He thought he had seen evidence of it in her eyes when she looked at him in a way that made his silent heart flutter. Even if it wasn't a delusion, it was over now.
She knew what he was. She knew he was a monster.
The word echoed in his mind.
It was yet to be seen if she would connect what he was with what was happening to her. He could hear Carlisle's mind, trying to distract itself with talk of the Quileute pack, dwelling on this question. His father's thoughts intensified his own. Carlisle didn't think her capable of making the jump from vampire stories to vampire bite, but Edward had seen enough of her perceptiveness to know that she was certainly capable of much more than she was often given credit for. It was one of the things he loved about her most, the way she always surprised him.
She probably had figured it out, figured everything out and would soon be on the first plane back to Phoenix. Arizona was a place where the sun kept his kind far, far away.
He laughed darkly at himself. This was what he wanted for her all along, for her to develop a sense of self-preservation and run away from him. He was a truly sick creature, wanting something that was guaranteed to cause him so much pain.
He didn't know how long they had been sitting like that, all together in the living room. He was pretty sure it had been a few hours since Rosalie returned but no one had moved. They were trying to be supportive, he could see it in everyone's minds, thought they were all trying to distract themselves, knowing he wouldn't want them to worry about him.
He was thinking about them, thinking about the ways which his thoughtlessness had disrupted their lives yet again when he became aware of his cell phone buzzing in his pocket. Without even thinking, he drew in a sharp breath and looked at the caller ID.
He knew the number by heart, memorizing it last night after he had resolved to try calling her. Everyone was suddenly quiet, silently guessing at the source of the call. They were all right, of course.
Edward paused a moment before he picked up the phone and put it to his ear. This was it. It was almost physically painful.
"Good Morning, Bella."
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Author's Note: So the last time I read New Moon it struck me that Jacob was fine that night at the movies until he touched Bella's scar from James. It was only after that happened while Mike was in the bathroom that Jacob started to feel ill himself. I thought that touching the cold scar is what finally awoke the wolf inside him. That's where my inspiration came from for parts of this chapter. Thanks again to pruningshears for helping me out and also to LAoR.
As always, please leave me your thoughts :)