A/N: sorry if this one took a bit... I've been busy. Fortunately for you all, I think this one may be a bit longer than the other chapters. Enjoy, and please review.

Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter Six

"Is there some place we can all meet?" Jake asked quickly. "It's got to be neutral territory."

Edward described a clearing somewhere in the wilderness of Forks, and Jake agreed to run home and alert his pack.

"Can you stay here and watch Bella until I can send Seth or someone to keep an eye on her?" Jake asked Edward.

"Wait a minute, watch me?" I asked incredulously. "I don't think so. I'm coming too."

"Bella," they said in unison with that "be reasonable" tone to their voice. They both stared daggers at each other for a moment.

"No, this is about me," I protested. "I'm coming, and that's final."

"Fine, let's go," Jake sighed, holding out a hand to me. I didn't take it.

"How are we going to get there?" I asked.

He looked slightly taken aback. "I figured we'd drive your truck close and then hike in the rest of the way," he said with a shrug.

"I can carry her," Edward suggested. "Then we could all just run there."

Jake looked ready to hit someone and I felt incredibly guilty. "You need to run home to the pack anyway," I mumbled. "I wouldn't be able to find the place myself."

"Fine," Jake said through his teeth, moving out the front door. "I'll see you there shortly. And Bella, we're going to have to have a talk when we leave," he said, shaking his head.

"Wait," I said suddenly, and crossed to the door.

"What," he said impatiently, turning around.

I stood on my tip toes and pecked him on the cheek. "I'll see you soon," I promised. His face lit up, and he nodded. Then he took off into the woods, and was gone.

"Why lead him on?" Edward asked quietly after a moment.

"I would hardly call kissing my boyfriend 'leading him on'," I denied bitterly, but there was a grain of truth to it; if I wasn't doing something wrong, I wouldn't have felt guilty, and felt the need to kiss him goodbye. That didn't mean I was going back to Edward, but I wasn't being fair to Jake.

"I already know –" Edward began, but I cut him off.

"Stop. Whatever you think you have to say about us, I don't want to hear it," I said fiercely. I was so afraid he was right. Had Alice seen something? I was fairly certain that, in the beginning, she had seen me become one of them, but surely so many events had transpired as to skew that future beyond recognition. Surely it couldn't still be true. I also had no way of knowing whether or not he was lying; I didn't think he would ever lie to me, but who could know to what lengths he might go to win me back.

"Fine," he said calmly. "Shall we?" In a very comical manner, he stooped into a piggy back ride position. I rolled my eyes. "Well, if you're not going to get on willingly," he said with a fake sigh; then he grabbed me and flung me smoothly onto his back.

"What if someone sees?" I hissed under my breath, looking around.

"No one," he said with a laugh, but strolled casually to the woods as a precaution. As soon as we were out of sight of the road, he tore off into the trees.

"So," he began casually, "when are you going to break up with Jacob?"

I couldn't believe he would ask me that. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, love," he said skeptically, "I appreciate your effort at being noble, I swear I do, but that won't last."

"How do you know?" I asked stubbornly.

"I can see inside his head," Edward said simply. It felt like someone dropped a giant rock into the pit of my stomach. Jake didn't even love me? My heart raced and my breathing quickened; I was having a panic attack.

"Bella?" Edward asked, alarmed. He stopped suddenly, put me down, and wrapped his arms tightly around me. "What's wrong?" he cried, smoothing down my hair and kissing the top of my head.

"Jake doesn't love me?" I asked, eyes brimming with tears. Edward released me immediately and took a step back, eyes wide with shock.

"Oh Bella, love, no, I didn't mean that!" he said, backtracking quickly. "In fact, there's no doubt in my mind that he absolutely does," he said with a sigh.

"Then what did you mean?" I asked, calming down a bit.

"Only that he hasn't imprinted yet; it's weighing very heavily on his mind almost all of the time. He loves you, and he's terrified to imprint and leave you alone," he explained, "which is why it astounds me to no end that you won't just end it now. They all imprint Bella," he said sternly. "I was here many years ago with the old tribe; they might not believe it's very common today, but it is. There wasn't a single wolf that didn't the last time."

"How do you know he hasn't imprinted on me?" I asked stubbornly. "He's very dedicated to me you know…"

"It's not even that I don't know," he began, "though if, he had imprinted on you, it would be so sickeningly obvious, and he would never allow you to be alone with me. Also, he knows that he hasn't… he's constantly fighting that battle inside his own mind. He thinks that maybe he can fight it, and won't have to imprint on anyone, but it's not true."

"How do you know?" I asked again.

"I've seen inside everyone else's' head," he said simply. "I can see through the minds of the others that imprinting isn't something to be fought. Sam imprinted on Emily, and as in love with Leah as he was, he let her go immediately."

"You can't be sure," I whispered.

"No, I can't," he agreed, and then added sarcastically, "after all, I only have one hundred years of knowledge on the subject. I could definitely be wrong."

We stood in silence for a moment, just staring at each other.

"Bella, love," he began softly, leaning in.

"Let's go," I said quickly, and began walking in the same direction he'd been running. He sighed, caught up to me, threw me on his back, and took off running once more.

We arrived in the clearing he'd been talking about a minute later. The rest of his family stood looking in our direction awaiting our arrival. The only one who didn't look happy to see me was Rosalie, of course.

"How did you know to come here?" I asked, incredulous.

"I saw Edward throw you on his back and run here," she said with a grin. Suddenly, her face fell. "There's only one thing I don't get," she began, narrowing her eyes.

"What's that?" Esme asked.

"I could only see you after that point," Alice mumbled. "Before Edward picked you up, I couldn't see you. I haven't been able to see much of you – except for brief flashes – since we left." She eyed me quizzically.

"Really?" I asked. "And you were usually so in tune with my future, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," she said with a sigh. "Maybe I'm losing my power?"

"Well," Carlisle interjected, always the voice of reason, "Edward can't hear Bella's thoughts, either; maybe it's not your fault."

"Always the freak," I muttered under my breath.

"Not at all dear," Esme said kindly, pulling me into a gentle hug. "And it's so good to see you! You haven't been to the house since we've been back," she accused sadly. I felt a pang of guilt. Esme was a kind of second mother to me; I should've stopped by to see her.

"Unfortunately, things are different now," I sighed.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

I turned to Edward; his eyes grew wide and he lightly shook his head back and forth. "Well, since Edward and I aren't together anymore," I said, and Edward flinched and turned away from Esme guiltily. She turned her eyes on him briefly before returning to me. "And I'm sort of with Jake now."

"'Sort of'?" Edward quoted back, eyes hopeful.

"I am with Jake now," I amended.

"Oh Edward," Esme sighed, voice full of despair, "Why didn't you tell me? All the nights away, I assumed you've been with Bella!"

"I have been," he confirmed quietly.

"I don't understand," Esme stated, turning back to me.

"It's complicated," I muttered helplessly.

"The future just disappeared again!" Alice moaned, and I was grateful for the interruption.

"They're coming," Edward said, and all the vampires turned simultaneously in one direction, staring into the woods. I followed their gaze, and heard the sound of something huge moving through the trees.

Suddenly, I could see Sam and Jake move out of the forest, flanked by three huge wolves. I shuddered involuntarily, and Edward put an arm protectively around my waist.

"Hey," Jake said to him warningly, and Edward removed his arm with a grimace.

"Now, you wanted to speak with us?" Sam asked, stepping forward as a sort of mediator.

"Yes," Edward said firmly, walking forward to join him. I was left standing among the vampires, and felt another pang of guilt – shouldn't I be standing beside Jake and the wolves? I tried to convince myself that I was only standing among the vampires because it was Edward who had brought me here.

"Bella, might I have a word?" Esme whispered forcefully.

"Now?" I asked.

"Yes. I can be filled in on the details, and where we will be patrolling concerns you, but you don't really need to know," she said.

I would've liked to argue, but the look in her eyes actually had me frightened. I swallowed hard and began to follow her.

"Bella, do I need to come with you?" Jake asked, glaring at Esme.

"Don't be ridiculous," Esme spat, and I was astounded. I'd never seen her so forceful or upset before. "I'd never hurt Bella."

Jake didn't look convince, but regardless he let us go. I followed her at least a hundred yards into the woods; she must've been aiming to be out of earshot of those in the field. Suddenly she turned on me.

"What do you think you're doing?" she accused.

"I don't know what you mean," I stated wide-eyed. I was shocked at how out of character this accusation was for her. For the first time in my life, I was actually afraid of her.

"What you're doing to Edward, it's not right," she said, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm not doing anything to Edward," I mumbled, staring down at my hands.

"Who are you with, Bella," she said with a sigh, features softening slightly. "Either you are with Edward or you're with Jacob. It's not fair to anyone to keep flip flopping the way you are."

"I'm with Jacob," I said with a sigh.

"Then why are you playing with Edward's heart this way?" she asked.

"I'm not trying to," I said desperately, eyes brimming. "With our history, it's so hard to just let him go, but I'm with Jake now. Edward promised he'd never come back, and it took me months to just be able to function again. Then Jake came along, and he kind of fixed me, but now Edward is back and I just don't know," I sighed.

"You have to choose, Bella," Esme said softly, putting an arm around my shoulder.

"I know, and I've chosen Jake," I said resolutely. "I promise I'm working on letting Edward go."

"I don't think you can," Esme said, shaking her head lightly, "but if you're insistent on staying with Jacob, you need to try harder to let Edward go. What you're doing is destroying him; he still thinks that you're coming back to him, and watching him hope that you'll change your mind is too hard for me to bear. When he's not with you, he's just sitting in the house, moping… every single second. If he plays the piano anymore, it's only to play your lullaby. He's barely a shell of what he once was, and I won't let you continue to cause him this pain."

I flinched away from her. "I'll try harder," I promised, tears flowing freely down my face. Suddenly, that familiar gaping hole in my chest reared its ugly head. Edward was finally back, but Esme was forcing me to choose all or nothing. Suddenly, the thought of losing Edward again was too real; I panicked, collapsing to the forest floor, holding myself together and gasping for air.

"Bella!" Esme cried, and fell to the ground beside me. In seconds, we weren't alone.

"Bella, love," Edward said softly, sitting beside me and stroking my hair. "What's wrong?"

Esme gave him a look of warning and shook her head. He looked confused, but apparently her thoughts didn't give me away because he continued to comfort me. Seconds later, Jake was there as well.

"Bella, honey," he said wide-eyed, and scooped me up into his arms. I leaned my head against his chest and sobbed. "What's the matter?"

"Let's go home," I mumbled through my tears.

"Of course," he said, and began walking away with me. I turned to look at Edward; his face was blurry through my tears, but I could still read the bewildered expression it held, and it only made me sob harder.

"Let me run her home," Alice suggested. "You can phase and run beside us."
Jake scrutinized her for a moment before nodding and handing me gently into her arms. Then he walked into the woods a man, and emerged a second later as a giant brown wolf.

"I don't understand," Edward said, wide-eyed once more. I didn't answer; I just closed my eyes and let Alice take me home.

Charlie wasn't there, so Alice brought me right straight into the living room and set me down on the couch. "I'll see you in school," she said softly before heading back toward the door.

"Wait!" I called desperately, eyes still streaming with tears, "tell me how this ends!"

"That's not the way it works," she said sadly, before disappearing through the door.

Jake was beside me in an instant. "What did that mean?" he asked.

"Nothing," I muttered, and curled up against him. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and kissed the top of my head. Slowly but surely, my sobbing subsided, and I could breathe normally again.

"There we are," Jake said with a smile, kissing me gently. "I hate to see you frown."

"Sorry," I sighed, but his enthusiasm got to me. With Edward around so much lately, I had sort of forgotten that Jake was my own personal sun, but there was no denying it now; he grinned at me, and I couldn't help but beam back at him.

He leaned in to kiss me, and it was by far the best kiss we've ever had. He was warm and gentle, and it was incredibly comforting. It was also nice to be able to completely lose control of myself with someone and not have potentially dire consequences. In no time, we were completely absorbed and, to be perfectly honest, getting pretty PG-13 on the couch. After a while, as Jake pulled back for air and grinned, Charlie came bursting through the door.

"Hey kids!" he grinned, not even upset to find us horizontal on the couch. "Billy just called and we're having a bonfire down at the beach. Let's go!"

Mood lightened significantly, I hopped up off the couch, grabbed my jacket, and headed for the truck with Jake. Some more light-hearted time with my Quileute friends was exactly what I needed.

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