Guarding Bella

Chapter 5: An Entangled Enterprise

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine; I didn't write the Twilight books, Stephenie Meyer did.

WARNING: This story contains a very possessive, dominate Edward, and disciplinary spanking so if you don't like it, don't read it.

Story Recommendation: The Consequence of Lying by Sawny94

A/N: Thanx 4 all of your alerts, favorites and reviews! Continue to read and review and I will continue to write lol! Hope you enjoy it; suggestions, comments and constructive criticisms are welcome; In other words please do REVIEW! ;p

BPOV

Saturday mornings are usually a cause for celebration amongst people young and old. For some, it is a day for sleeping-in and lounging about. For others, it is a day filled with bustling activities and errand running. However, no matter what one's Saturday entails, it is typically a blessing; an avidly anticipated chance to evade from the day-to-day tedium of the work and or school week; but not for me; at least, not on this particular Saturday.

This Saturday Edward and his brothers were scheduled to go off on a "hunting" trip. Ever since we had returned from Italy, Edward had rarely left my side. No matter how hard I had tried to hide my distress from him, he knew that I was still going through some major separation anxiety, and therefore he had refused to leave my side; not even for the most necessary of reasons.

His eyes were now such a dark shade of amber that it was hard to discern his pupils. I knew that I couldn't prolong the inevitable any longer; Edward was going to have to go hunting sooner or later. "Go on, go. I'll be fine" I had said, but both he and I could hear the uncertainty and sadness that had hung upon my every word. He had then wrapped his arms around me, protectively, and said "I won't be gone long Love" And he was right; he would only be gone for one day. How hard could it be to be separated from him for a single day? Unbearably hard…

All I had to distract myself from my long, Edward-less Saturday was my morning shift at Newton's Olympic Outfitters. As such, I arrived in the store parking lot, somewhat glad to have a task in which to distract myself. I then hopped out of my truck and made my way into the shop; I was embarrassingly early for my shift, but I just couldn't mope around the house any longer; I had to get out and go before I went insane. I entered the store and the tinkling of bells above the doorway alerted the Newtons to my arrival. Mrs. Newton, a tall, bleached-blonde woman with lots of bangles on her wrists and an unnatural amount of orange self-tanning lotion on her skin, stood behind the register; straightening out some brightly colored flyers.

"Well good morning Bella." She said brightly, a warm smile cracking the caked-on foundation that covered her face.

"Hey Mrs. Newton_" I said walking over to grab my tacky orange employee vest. But, as I was putting an arm into the vest, I noticed an unpleasantly familiar expression plastered on Mrs. Newton's heavily makeup-ed face. Crap. I knew that expression all too well. It was the 'oh I'm sorry but we don't need you to work today' expression.

"I was going to call_" she began awkwardly, but before she could continue with what indubitably would have been a pathetic excuse, a loud crashing noise curbed the uncomfortable scene. "What the hell_Mike what was that?!"

Mike Newton hustled out of aisle 3, carting a bucket of water and a well-worn mop. "I've got it Mom! Don't worry; it was nothing!" he looked slightly harassed, and in his hurry to clean up whatever had crashed onto the floor, he nearly knocked over a display of fishing poles with his mop handle. "_hey Bella!" he shouted over his shoulder as he skidded pass me on his way into the backroom.

Mrs. Newton eyed her son as he flung the backroom door closed behind him; causing another display to shutter ominously. She then rolled her eyes, shaking her head in a gesture of disbelief, before turning to look at me once more. "Like I was saying Bella, I think Mike and I can handle things. It doesn't really look like we're gonna be getting very many people in here today_I'm sorry you had to get up and drive out here."

I tried not to look too disappointed by this crappy news. Normally, I would have been thrilled to cut work, because then I would have been free to be with Edward and his family all day. Today however, I was not singing that same tune. "Oh, erm yeah. No problem. I've got a ton of homework to do anyways…" really I didn't…in fact I had nothing else to do today. I had finished my weekend homework, and all of my chores, and Charlie was away fishing with Billy; I really had nothing else to keep my mind off of my Edward-less day.

"I really am sorry dear." she continued, as she stepped out from behind the register.

"No big deal." I shrugged, smiling weakly, as I hung my vest back up, before heading back towards the door.

"Oh and Bella, would you mind throwing theses flyers into the dumpster on your way out?"

"Sure thing Mrs. Newton" I said grabbing hold of the yellow papers, and stumbling out of the door and into the misty fog. "Oh, ow" I tripped over some annoyingly large pebble, or maybe it was just some crack in the asphalt, at any rate, I landed hard on both knees, dropping the flyers all over the place. "Crap." I mouthed, scooping up as many papers as I could. Then I paused recognizing the figure on the front of the papers. It was a large wolf baying at the moon. Bellow the image, in large print, were the words Protect the Olympic Wolves. Before I knew what was happening I had thrown myself into my truck, lobbing the flyers onto the passenger seat beside me. I had to see Jacob. Fifteen minutes, that was all I needed to get to La Push; to cross the line.

As I sped down the glistening freeway towards my best friend, I recalled the argument that Edward and I had had recently. After I had found out that he had lied to me I was: annoyed, and frustrated, and well, I was also feeling kind of betrayed…I mean, I know that he was only trying to protect me and all, but damn it Jake was right, I'm a 'tough kid' I can handle it. Edward shouldn't have kept something like that from me; and I told him so!

After I had made Edward tell me everything that had happened that weekend, with Victoria and the Cullen's and the Quileute's, I made him swear that he would tell me these types of things from now on. I made him swear that he wouldn't keep secrets from me, and of course, in turn I had to promise that I wouldn't keep secrets from him either; a promise that I very well intend to keep, with the exception of a few items of secrecy; mainly Jacob stuff. Edward still didn't approve of my pro-Jacob stance. But, I knew that he was just being prejudice, and I knew that neither the Pack nor Jacob would ever be a threat to my safety. Edward needed to chillax and trust my judgment.

I pumped the stiff gas pedal hard with the slippery sole of my converse; hoping to push my ancient truck to a faster speed than it was really capable of. However, my truck continued to putter along at the agonizingly slow pace of fifty-five mph. Come on baby, come on; we're almost there, come on! I could now see the first few houses of La push; the ones that sat on the outskirts of Forks. I grinned, complacent with my success; I had to be on the other side of the boundary line now. I let out a huge sigh of relief; I had made it.

I quickly drove down the little dirt road that led to the Black's place; smiling as the cozy red house came into view. I hastily parked my truck in front of Jake's garage, climbed out of the cab, and scampered up the ramp that led to the front door. Then, taking another deep breath, I rapped hard on the front door; KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. Through the rough, paint-chipped door the sounds of someone shutting off a too loud TV and the squeaking of springs from a well-worn sofa were heard, shortly to be followed by the pounding of footsteps in the hallway and the crude fumbling noses of heavy hands at the door's latch. The door then swung open to reveal my best friend, clad only in jean-shorts and a tight-fitting, white tee; even though the weather was particularly chilly today.

"Bella?!" he smiled, grabbing me up in a tight hug and spinning me around before setting me back down on my feet again. I felt a rush of happiness whirl around me; memories of old times, memories that had been shoved into an old shoebox and stuffed under the bed ever since Edward and the Cullen's had come back.

"Geez Jake!" I joked; still feeling a little lightheaded. "I almost forgot how 'hot' you are." He made a face; noting the sarcasm in my voice. After all, his body did feel like it was hot enough to scramble an egg on; of course, this was only thanks to his freakish werewolf attributes.

Jacob folded his arms across his broad chest, "I knew you'd come back." he grinned smugly.

"Oh yeah?" I said combatively, before rolling my eyes at his egotistic remark.

He then stepped out of his house, onto the front porch, shutting the door behind him. "You know you missed me; admit it."

"Yeah Jake, I missed you and your hot head."

"My head's not the only part of me that's hot," he joked taking my hand in his, and leading me down the ramp. "Remember Bells, I'm 108 degrees over here" he chuckled giving me his way too charismatic, toothy grin.

"Sure, sure" I laughed, lightly giving his shoulder a play-punch. He winced dramatically, and then started to run, pulling me along at his side. We raced all the way down to First Beach, heading, instinctively, for our favorite spot.

We sat on our log, watching the glistening waves roll onto the beach. We sat there for a long while, laughing and joking around; just catching up on what had been going on in each other's lives. We talked about school and work, friends and funny memories. We were like an old couple, reminiscing about 'the good old days' of way back when. Too soon though, we had to talk about the hard stuff. The reasons why I had left, and why I hadn't come back to see him anymore; the explanations that had been long overdue. I ended the tough stuff with a long-winded apology; it felt so good to have my friend back at my side, so good to know that he and I were no longer fighting a cold war. It was like a boulder had been lifted off of my shoulders, but then it was only to be replaced by another massive rock. Guilt consumed me, no longer the guilt about Jacob, no, now it was guilt about Edward.

"Is something wrong Bella? You look so…anxious." He looked up at me from his spot by my feet.

"Well…it's just that I'm not really supposed to be here." Jacob looked confused, but said nothing. He got up, off of the ground and sat beside me on the log; patiently waiting for me to continue. "Edward…" I felt a dozen butterflies flutter, wildly, in my stomach at the mentioning of his name. "He doesn't like me to do things that he considers to be reckless_"

"Things like hanging out with a werewolf?"

"Hah; yeah. Things like that..." Edward would definitely not be pleased about my little excursion to La Push; not at all. He would feel betrayed by my actions, especially after we had just had our 'no more lying' discussion. The discussion in which, we had promised each other that we would have an open relationship; one without skeletons, or in this case werewolves, in our closets. The guilt was now reaching boiling point, and as a result I felt an odd tingling sensation on my backside. I grimaced; my butt and I, both knew exactly how Edward would handle this infraction, and we did not like it, not one bit!

"Will he be mad at you?"

"Yes, like I said, he's kinda protective." Jacob made a face that I didn't quite understand. Was he agreeing with Edward's overprotective ways?! Did he approve of Edward spanking me for doing something that could be considered dangerous?! I decided to ignore that thought though, Jacob had no idea about any of that; he was clueless. And I'm sure that Jake would never be so strict as to punish anyone, especially for such a minor breach. I shook that off and pressed on with my explanation. "It's kinda annoying… it's like he's got me under constant surveillance_"

"_Well who can blame him really Bells; somebody's gotta make sure that you don't go jumping off cliffs again." he sounded like he was just kidding around again, but then again the look in his eyes led me to believe that he was dead serious.

I scowled "No one's ever going to let me forget that."

He ignored my comment and continued. "It's nice to see that the Blood Sucker is trying to do what's best for you; for once. Hate to say it Sport but you kinda need a bodyguard."

Whoa there?! When the hell did Jake get all, well all protective? I wasn't sure how I should react, I settled for remaining silent.

Besides the shock of hearing such protective words coming out of Jacob's mouth, I felt a twinge of annoyance at his usage of my least favorite nickname. "Sport": Jake thought it was a hilariously ironic nickname, one which he had christened me after one afternoon when he, Embry, Quill and I had attempted a round of touch-football; resulting in several bruises, a sprained ankle and the breaking of Quill's nose. I grimaced, remembering the amused expression on Charlie's face as I had told him what had happened. He definitely should have been a bit more concerned for his daughter's safety and well-being; really he was just trying not to laugh too loud.

"_But I still don't see why you let him back into your life, after he left you and all?"

I was angry now "Because I love him Jacob! Is that really so hard to understand?!"

"It's impossible to understand."

"Well then, enlighten me Jacob, what is a valid reason to forgive someone?" He fell silent almost immediately. "Jake, when you love someone, you forgive them; even if they've ripped out your heart and torn it to bits. That's the price that we have to pay for love."

I was no longer talking only about Edward, and I could see that Jacob knew it too. His expression was one of pain and betrayal. He was struggling to understand why I had forgiven Edward and how I could love such a beast. But then, I could see him realize that my forgiveness of him was one in the same. Jacob had left me too, and I had forgiven him, just as he had done with me, and as I had done with Edward. I stared at Jacob's sad face; this was why I would endure whatever reception waited for me at home. I needed Jake's forgiveness; he needed it, and I needed it.

"I love you like a brother Jake; I always will." He smiled a weak smile; I let my head drop onto his shoulder, and he, in turn, wrapped his arm around my shoulders, bring me closer to him. The argument was over; for now.

We sat in silence for awhile; watching, as the gloomy clouds parted to reveal the gloriously warm sun. It was nice having Jake there beside me; I watched as the morning sun danced lightly on his tawny skin. It didn't dazzle, like Edward's skin would have, but it did glow; warm and happy. Jacob radiated warmth wherever he went; not because of his wolfy body heat, but because of his personality. He was naturally sunny; he dazzled in his own way.

As the sun began to lower into the ocean, I realized that it really was getting kind of late, and though I would have been content to stay here with Jacob forever, anything to avoid the wrath of my vampire fiancé, I knew that I couldn't put it off any longer. I really didn't want the Cullens to be too worried about me; after all, I had been in La Push with Jake for almost the entire day; an entire day of worrying was a lot.

"I really oughta get going"

"Aww, so soon? You just got here Sport."

I chucked "Yeah, it's getting late and I need to get home and have a 'discussion' with Edward…" I trailed off, hoping that he wouldn't catch my meaning.

"Will you come back and see me?"

His puppy-dog eyes wrenched my heart "I'll come back as soon as I can get away." He grinned mischievously as he stood up and walked me back to my truck.

I drove out of La Push smiling and thinking about what a great day it had been. I had spent an entire day with my best friend; my best friend who, no less than 24 hours ago, was not even on speaking terms with me. Everything with Jake was going great, and with any luck I'd be able to see him again very soon; my tentative plan was to visit him whenever Edward had to go on a hunting trip.

I hummed tunelessly as I turned onto the freeway; making my way back to Forks. Crap. I thought, as I glanced sidelong at my gas gauge; I'm almost out of gas. So I switched lanes, planning on stopping for gas at the next turn-off, when out of nowhere, a shiny, silver Volvo streaked into view; it was Edward, and he was right on my tail.

Hey guys,

I'm sad to report that the last chapter wasn't received very well

And

If this chapter doesn't do any better I may opt 2 DISCONTINUE this story

I don't want 2 disappoint anybody, but I feel like I'm sending stuff into a void er somthin'

So if you want me 2 continue please do REVIEW

-icul8er