Chapter Five: Not Yet

A/N: Finalmente. No literary references. XD I dunno. Tell me what you people think of that chapter. I didn't like it particularly, mainly 'cause I can't write drama, but it moved the story along well enough. The idea, though, of humans giving their blood to vampires, comes from some random manga I read or heard of. Or several.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the storyline and Maya.

The outskirts of the woods in Forks were of a large size, and the path around them was well worn. They had been around for a long time, and with good reason. They were a pleasant background for a walk, and by venturing a little way inside, one gained a small amount of privacy. Consequently, when passersby were caught up in emotion and needed a good place to work things out with one another, they hid in the forest, where their figures were covered, and their voices hushed, by the trees and the noises of the animals that lived in them. And so, the woods had been witness to several fights, savings of friendship, and confessions of love, for centuries before the city's hospital had even been built, much less a vampire tramped its corridors, or a young Quileute girl given blood to his family.

Presently, two of the young players in this story were walking by the woods, and, like many couples who had taken that path, held hands and strolled on. Their own air was not like that of a real couple, however, for though they talked animatedly, the young man seemed to hang back, as if he were unsure of himself, and whenever the girl touched him the gesture was rough and playful, rather than warm and comfortable.

The conversation had died down for the moment, and the young man's breath caught as he stared at his companion, and they neared the end of the path, and the young lady's house. She looked back at him, gently caressing his hair and tracing a finger down his cheekbone before suddenly glancing back at the house, watching for some sign of movement from its inhabitants. When there was none, she turned back to him and whispered, "No."

"What?"

"I don't wanna go home yet. Let's go back." She pulled on his sleeve and tried to lead him back the way they'd come. He sighed. "Maya—"

"Please." She grasped his hand and looked appealingly at him. The young man bit his lip, and pulled her closer. "We can't."

"Why not?" she breathed. "I can stay out for another half-hour."

He shook his head. "No, Maya." He pulled away from her, albeit reluctantly, and started walking back down the path, towards his own home.

"Jacob—" The catch in her voice was enough to stop him and make him turn around, if nothing else would. "Why don't you want to stay with me? Have you had enough of me already?"

Jacob inwardly groaned. That was exactly what he wished she wouldn't ask him. "No, you just need to go home. And so do I." He tried to turn away again, but she pulled him back. "Don't do this."

"I can't help it. Why are you so scared of me, Jacob?" Her arms around his neck and breath on his ear were too much for him, so he struggled to loosen her grip. "This is the first time we've been alone together, and here you are, fighting to get away." Her tone turned playful for a moment. "Not even Edward gets this scared of me."

"I'm not…scared," he murmured. "We just can't be alone like this."

"And why not?" was the teasing retort.

"Edward likes Bella." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and Maya knew what he meant. She pulled back in surprise. "You don't mean…?"

"I do mean." He looked her full in the face now, trying to figure out exactly when she would break and run away.

"How long?" she whispered.

He sighed. "Ages. Ever since I met you." He came forward and took the smooth curve of her jaw into his hand. Now that it was out in the open, he might as well give in to his impulses.

She was still staring up at him, with the most vulnerable shine in her eyes he had ever seen. "Jacob… I swear, I never knew…"

"You weren't supposed to know," he told her softly, running his thumb back and forth along her jaw.

"And why not?" she breathed. Before Jacob could think of any answer, Maya swiftly reached out and pulled his head down to hers.

Neither of them knew quite what happened next. One moment, the two were in each other's arms; and the next, they were in the forest, and he was trailing kisses along her jaw line, down to her neck. At the collar, Maya let out a short moan, and they pulled apart. "…Whoa."

"Guess I never thought it'd be like this," Jacob said, fingers still on her neck at the spot where he had left off. Maya laughed breathlessly. "Me neither." They leaned in for another kiss, which quickly progressed to the place where Jacob had stopped. He nuzzled, and Maya closed her eyes. His touch brought forth a memory of hers from not too long ago.

A normal day after school, in the afternoon, when the courtyard was empty and the conversation getting idle…

"So Edward," Tyler broke in, with a mischievous grin on his face and everyone's attention, "I hear you've been spending some afterschool time with Maya lately. And Bella wasn't anywhere nearby."

With scandalized gasps, all eyes now turned to Edward, who looked as if the wind had been knocked of him. His mouth formed an attempt at an innocent explanation, but Maya was the one to answer. "For your information, we've been volunteering at the hospital, and I'm shocked that you would ever think we'd be doing anything else." Her tone was as sharp and cold as a boning knife, and an amazed whistle was released by one of the crowd, enough to make Tyler rub his neck and look down at the floor.

"All right," he conceded, "I get you. But that's still not enough for me. I just wanna know what makes Edward Cullen think he can keep my girl Maya all to himself, while Bella's off spending time with her daddy, to make up for him not being there when she was a kid." Bella winced, Angela gasped, and Mike gave him a quick shove that nearly threw him off-balance.

Edward set his jaw. "That's none of your business."

"Yeah, Tyler, let it go," Eric encouraged. "Just because you're jealous that Maya's hanging out with Edward and not you doesn't mean you have a right to interrogate him for it."

This produced loud laughter and exclamations. "Wait, so now what? Not only all the guys but Edward are after Maya, it's all the guys including Edward?" Bella and Maya both let out a surprised laugh, and Edward smacked his forehead. "No. No. Definitely not."

"For real?" Mike scrutinized them all. "You do seem awfully close…" Maya rolled her eyes.

"I swear, nothing's going on! Watch." She approached Edward, took his head gently into her hands, and kissed him, very warmly, and very close to his mouth. Edward quietly moaned, and the crowd let out a few catcalls, but otherwise, nothing happened. Deciding to step it up a notch, she held him close, and whispered something into his ear, putting her neck by his nose as she did so. This time, the moan was audible, and Maya let out a low laugh. "What? You can't handle this?"

"Maya, you do that one more time, and I swear I will—" The neck was already tilted, and a teasing twinkle in her eyes. Edward growled, lunged forward, and latched onto Maya's neck, to the immense surprise and amusement of everyone watching.

Maya laughed, pushing her head forward. "Stop it, Edward. It tickles." She rubbed his hair. He didn't move, and she chuckled, but after a minute and a quiet little crack, she let out a small gasp and began to roughly handle his head, her thumbs at his ears as she tried to loosen his jaws. She laughed again, but less confidently. "Edward! Get off of me, you vampire!"

Bella turned pale. "What are you talking about? How can he be a vampire?"

"Bella's right. It's not like he's hot enough to be one," Mike remarked, and the group began to laugh. Maya began to smile herself, but soon stopped, and put on a cheeky pout.

"Seriously. Look at him. He's pale as a corpse, doesn't go out into the sunlight, and—" she gestured to Edward still hanging onto her neck. "Well, doesn't that strike you as the least bit vampirical?"

"Vampirical?" The others began to snicker.

"Well, yeah, don't you think? 'Cause of, like, empire, empirical?"

Edward cracked up and pulled away.

Jacob pulled back. "It's him, isn't it? He's been at your neck." His lip curled. "Edward."

"No. Not in that way, Jacob." He turned away, and she grasped his shoulder, pulling him back to her. "He was hungry. What could I do?"

"You can't just feed him like he's a dog!" Jacob yelled. "He's a hunter. Let him get his own prey. You don't have to give yourself up to him as if you're his slave."

"But if not me, then he'll go after Bella," she reminded him. "You know that there are still poachers roaming around." He weakened, and she took him into her arms. "I swear, as soon as they're caught, I'll stop, all right? He just needs a little help right now."

He stayed silent for a minute, resting his head on Maya's shoulder. "Why are you doing this for him?"

Maya sighed quietly, closing her eyes and laying her head on Jacob's chest. He held her close, trying to find the source of all her peace, the reason for all she was doing, but he couldn't find either. "'No one has greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friend,'" the trees seemed to whisper, and he was comforted.