A/N: Hey guys. I've suffered a tragedy since I've last written to you. I'm sorry to report that my notebook has literally fallen apart. Whether it was a product of faulty glue or manufacturing, the end result was a loss of over half the pages that had once been. As of now, I am still writing in it, but it could crash at any moment. -sniff- But there may be hope. I've been told that if a large amount of reviews come in, Richard (yes, he has a name) may have a chance. : )

…Now I've turned to guilting you into reviews. Hey, whatever works. Metaphor at bottom!

Editor Note real quick: AGHHHH!!!!!!! -screams in excitement- I could finally upload this!!!! Both Dai-san and I apologize deeply for the horridly long time you all had to wait for this update (and Dai-san would like you to know that it was not her fault, but for some reason, the uploady thingie was NOT WORKING FOR ME--but it's up now! And the next chapter shall most certainly be posted on Thursday night/Friday morning, yayy!! Now please, enjoy! -bows deeply-

Chapter Five

"Mom?"

Bella shot Zander a warning glance, but her son just continued to gape. Jacob's face, once set in shock, had transformed into a mixture of confusion and an emotion she couldn't quite identify. Zander had started babbling, trying to cover his blunder, but Jacob never took his gaze from her. "Bella?" he whispered softly, his eyes widened slightly.

A knot formed in her chest as she stared at the Jacob she had once known. A young and familiar wild spark sprung to life in the depth of his eyes, and a smile almost appeared on his face, but then he tensed and his gaze hardened. Taking a step backward, he leaned forward and hissed, "What are you doing here?" His hand struck out and grabbed Zander harshly by the collar. "You should go if you know what's good for you."

"Jacob," Bella pleaded, her eyes wide and set on her son.

"No."

That "no" had carried a lot of meaning in it. It meant no, I will not give back this boy who you're obviously worried about; no, I will not fall for your lies again; and no, I will never forgive you.

Bella watched, frozen in place, as Jacob attempted to drag her writing son away. In less than a second she had snapped out of it and had placed herself in front of them. "Jacob." Her tone had become darker and more threatening. "Leave him here and I'll take him. He had no idea about all this, and that's my fault."

"Bella," he growled, "you, of all people, should know the rules. And to make it worse, I found him out here with her."

"Don't blame him for being out here with me! He was lost and I told him he could use the phone at home."

Everyone else in the clearing stared at Raechel; Bella silently praised her, and she saw Zander smile, but it only made Jacob angrier. "You could have been killed, Raechel!" The girl stepped back uncertainly, acting like a child who'd just gotten their hand slapped.

"Hey!"

Bella watched nervously as Zander protested and pushed away from Jacob. "You've got no right to say I would have killed her. I mean, I had every opportunity to kill her, but I didn't. That has to count for something."

"Zander, please, you're not helping the situation."

Jacob's eyes snapped back to her. "Who is he to you, Bella? He looks like a Cullen, but I was under the impression that none of you leeches were related."

An uncomfortable silence set in among them, and none of them could seem to break it. In a fit of rage, Jacob yanked Zander forward again. Awkwardly, her son lurched forward and skidded onto the ground. Blood slowly seeped out of his knee, where the whole in his jeans had been torn from earlier. Bella quickly stopped her breath and knelt beside him. The girl, or Raechel, had stayed in place, but her heartbeat had quickened slightly. Jacob, who still held onto Zander's arm, lurched back, dragging Zander slightly farther, but then threw him backward. "Blood?" he sputtered, stumbling even farther back, but his shock didn't last long. In a flash he had grabbed Raechel and torn off into the forest.

Zander's eyes never left the girl, but when she disappeared, he hung his head. "Well," he said, pulling himself up, "I hope you realize that, even though you had to come and save me, I survived coming out here alone. For the most part, I mean."

Bella chuckled slightly, and pulled him up. "Yes, honey, you're not dead—but, as you said, I did have to save you. And do you know what that means?"

"No."

"Oh yes."

"Please."

"No. Besides, it will take less time."

"You know I hate it."

"You loved it when you were little."

"Yeah, well… That was a long time ago."

"Not for a vampire."

"Well… damn. You win."

"C'mon."

Bella took his hand and started running. It may have taken him a second, but soon Zander was sprinting in step beside her. He'd always hated that he needed help running—well, consciously running—but she knew he still enjoyed it. It wasn't long before he had a big smile to accompany his windswept hair.

Too soon, they were standing in the yard of their new home. The dark green lawn was fenced with tall evergreens. There was a wraparound oak porch that surrounded the perfect white house that seemed to shout inconspicuous or conformity. The wide front windows were blanketed heavily by curtains. All of this formed a perfect barrier to suspicious eyes, and seemed awfully unreal. To complete the illusion, Edward was standing in the light drizzle, perfectly composed and silent.

Zander hung his head and became unnaturally quiet as he drifted past his father. Bella stared unblinkingly at Edward until their son was inside. "What happened?" he pressed in a slightly restrained voice. "Why did it take you so long?"

She shifted her gaze nervously. He really did have good reason to worry; it should have only taken her a minute, but it ended up being more like forty-five. The only thing that kept her from answering immediately was the concern that Edward might overreact a little.

"Edward," she said, "first you have to promise me something."

"Yes?"

"Promise that you'll remain calm."

"Would I have a reason not to remain calm?" he countered.

It took her awhile to reply, but she couldn't decide whether or not to tell him the whole truth. With a sigh, she decided to tell a censored version of their exploits, which really only consisted of, "Zander got lost and wandered into the reserve, but no one got hurt. We're both alright now. I've already lectured him about the werewolves, and he promised he wouldn't go over there ever again. Okay?"

Edward stared at her for a moment, as if testing if he waited long enough, she would begin telling him the rest of the story. Finally, shaking his head, he started to walk inside. "I need to speak with him."

Much to her protests, he continued to Zander's new room. He knocked sharply and simultaneously opened the door. Their son was caught off-guard, but he quickly regained himself. "You might want to think about giving me a little more time to answer next time," he shot at his father, glaring defiantly.

This didn't seem to faze Edward much, because the next second he was sitting on a chair that had been propped against the bare wall. "We need to talk."

"About?"

"Your mom told me what happened."

Before Bella could enlighten her son about "what happened," he had already blurted out, "Well, it's not like the werewolves hurt us or anything."

Edward's eyes flashed angrily at Bella. Standing up, he towered over Zander. "What werewolves?"

This caused Zander to blanch, but he still stared at his father. His mouth was clamped shut, unwilling to divulge anymore information. Edward then turned to Bella and repeated scornfully, "What werewolves?"

Well there you go. My next chappy will be posted next week. As for the metaphor, I've decided to do one for the anonymous hit counter numbers. You are like fresh footprints in the snow outside my house, and they really could be a psychotic murderer from the insane asylum down the street or a secret admirer with chocolate. Which one are you? Remember Richard and please review.