Nikita was already there, standing with his fists clenching and unclenching by his sides in irritation. Olivia had been expecting this. He always lost his temper so easily. He had so much patience when she needed him, but whenever someone betrayed or disregarded him, he couldn't handle it. His short temper was one thing she'd had some trouble adjusting to, but by this time she was accustom to his enraged yelling and how little it took to make him get so furious. But what always surprised her was his ability to restrain from physical harm. Whenever she reached her boiling point, her palms would tingle and she ached to hit something, anything.

Liv sighed and stood to receive her scolding, but when she looked up, she realized that Jacob was already in front of her. He was angling himself between her and Nick. Her green eyes went wide with shock.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed, her voice suddenly angry.

He didn't reply, his eyes only narrowing further into a stabbing glare, pinpointed at Nikita. Olivia gaped at him, still not blinking. He was defending her. Why would he possibly want to protect her, of all people? None of it added up. Liv shook her head, trying to make some sort of sense out of it all, to attempt to grasp what was going on.

Nick, however, grit his teeth angrily at Jacob's sudden act of defense. He wouldn't back down, not now. To lose to a werewolf would be pathetic, lowering to his pride. His stubborn attitude when it came to arguments was just the same as Olivia's. If the two got into even the smallest dispute over the littlest thing, they'd be at it for ours.

"Step down, mongrel." He spoke, careful not to let any sort of profanity into his speech. His urge to swear when he was frustrated was at times irresistible, but whenever Olivia was near, he seemed to work harder at it. It always made her laugh to see him search desperately for proper words. Either that or it irritated her. She'd always been very passive to violence, so swearing was quite literally nothing compared to what she usually saw and could shrug off. This sort of nonchalance came from living her entire life in New York City, pretty much on her own.

Jacob shook his head vigorously without speaking.

"Back off now, before this gets ugly." Nick warned, leaning a bit further forward into a very slight crouch.

Jacob snorted. "Was that a threat? 'Cause it sounded pretty empty…" the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smirk as he spoke so sarcastically.

Nikita stepped forward, Jacob stepped back. Olivia stumbled backwards to avoid being trampled by him.

"Don't play with me, dog, I bite." Nick snarled as his upper lip curled over a set of very white, razor-sharp teeth.

Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Very funny, leech."

Nikita shrugged casually. The gesture seemed odd when he did it while in such a battle-ready stance. "I always have been quite the comedian." He replied darkly, his soft gray eyes brooding.

Olivia grimaced. Nikita was just getting nastier, as was Jacob. She couldn't take their arguing anymore, it was getting on her nerves.

"Stop it." She demanded, trying to keep her voice calm and with some measure of authority.

They ignored her. Jacob took a long stride forward and towered over Nikita, but Nick didn'y flinch or cower from the sudden closeness. The most that happened was that both of their noses scrunched up in disgust for each other's odor.

A rumbled echoed faintly in both of their chests.

"I said stop it!" Olivia cried, her voice raising an octave in slight panic. She grabbed Jacob's burning hot wrist and tried to pull him back. A hopeless and wasted effort, she knew, but she tried anyways. He ripped his hand away from her, never breaking his cold gaze from Nick. When his hand was gone, Olivia felt a strange tearing sensation from somewhere else other than her hand, and she realized with a jolt that it came from her chest. From her heart. As if a piece had been ripped from it viciously. She glanced down at her hand curiously, and it tingled as the cool air re-froze it after Jacob's heat had so quickly warmed it. She shook her head, shrugging off the sensation.

Nikita looked at her briefly, breaking the glare competition between him and the werewolf boy, but his posture never loosened.

"Go home, Liv." He ordered sternly.

Olivia gave him her worst look, filled with surprise and fury. "Excuse me?" she asked, appalled. Why was he always trying to control her lately? Do this, do that. Don't do this, don't do that. She felt like smacking him across the face! Although she knew all too well that would feel like hitting concrete, since she had hit him so many times before.

"I said go home. Go get in your car, and go home." his voice grew more and more acidic with each exaggerated syllable.

She wasn't going to take this anymore. It was getting ridiculous how he so rudely barked orders, treating her as if she were some sort of pet.

"No." she said between clenched teeth. She knew this would set him off, and she really didn't care. Let him scream. Let him growl. He could do whatever the hell he wanted, it didn't matter anymore. She did not belong to him.

Nikita looked at her then, his eyes confused and concerned. "What?" he asked mutely, his posture softening so that he stood straight. Jacob chuckled, looking at Olivia out of the corner of his eye.

His reaction was much gentler than what Liv had been expecting, but it didn't shake her. "No. You don't own me, Nikita." Her lips were still tight and her eyes were unbelievably sharp. Who could have guessed that such a quiet girl, such a small girl could have such a well practiced glare. She scowled at him, crossing her arms over her chest obstinately.

Jacob laughed again, stepping back a bit so that Nikita and Olivia could confront each other properly. Of course, he remained close to Olivia in case Nick decided he needed to take a swing.

"Seems your little pet here finally wants out of its cage." He teased bitterly, his face smug.

"Shut up." Nick spat, then looked at Olivia, his expression soft. "Liv, what's wrong?" he took a step towards her and Olivia noticed Jacob grow even more on edge, though he still smirked flawlessly.

"Why don't you go home, Nikita?" she was using his full name, a sure sign that she was angry.

Nick shook his head, not understanding her sudden change in mood. "Honestly, Olivia, I--"

Liv cut him off there. "No. Enough. I'm my own person; I'll do what I want. Not what you tell me to." She sneered, and surprised herself when she realized she'd done it without meaning to. She was really mad at him.

Nick flinched at her words, but shook his head again. "But a werewolf? Come on, Olivia, you know they aren't stable. You could get hurt!" his face was pleading for her to agree. Usually his begging and pathetic faces made her pity him and take his side.

Not this time.

She dropped her arms angrily to her side and leaned forward, preparing herself to yell at him. "All risks have consequences, I know. But if I played by the rules, I wouldn't have you as my best friend!"

He frowned. "You didn't have to be my friend." He mumbled, looking down. It was obvious who would win this argument.

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to intrude on my life and ask me a million questions until I felt like I could trust you with my life." She reminded him viciously. "So what if being with a werewolf is dangerous? I need some danger in my life otherwise I'll go insane. You can't keep shielding me and controlling my every move in hopes that I'll never be harmed!!" she was screaming at him, and each word made his perfect features crumple in pain. Jacob's eyebrows raised in shock that such a loud voice could come from such a small girl, that she could really have such a temper. "So, you go home. Let me live my life, dammit." She took a deep breath, and felt her body shaking. She wasn't sure if yelling at her had made her feel better or worse.

Nikita's eyes were on the pavement, his lips pursed tightly. Olivia had hurt him badly, but he had always been good at concealing his emotions. He looked up, his face hard.
Jacob gnawed on his lower lip. Despite the humor he found in the situation, he couldn't help but be a bit nervous for the turn out.

Nick, without saying a word, nodded solemnly and left. He was gone in moments and his departure had been so silent it was unsettling.

A long moment of silence broke out and Jacob noticed that Olivia was shaking. A few more moments passed, before she collapsed. She fell onto her knees and held her face in her hands. A few strangled sobs escaped her throat before she looked up. She'd been expecting to see Jacob staring at her strangely, his insanely tall frame blocking any shred of light. Instead, she found him kneeling by her side. Her neck and shoulders felt warm and she saw that he'd wrapped an arm securely around her.

She took a moment to recollect herself, then explained, "I've…I've never yelled at him before… not like that, at least…" she choked out sadly.

He nodded slowly, and met her eyes. His weren't as intense, though she could till detect the strange ferocity within them, but they were caring, gentle. "You okay?" he asked, his voice softer than she could have imagined.

Olivia's arms twined around her torso. "I feel sick…" she moaned, her face twisting painfully.

Without any warning, Jacob scooped her up effortlessly in his arms. They were warm and comforting, but Olivia still let out a small shriek. She looked at him. Less than a day ago, he'd been threatening to kill her. Now, here he was carrying her and asking if she was feeling all right. It didn't make any sense. Then again, nothing really made any sense at all anymore. She let it slide, and decided to question it all later on.

He looked at her, too, and a small smile spread across his lips. "I guess I'll take you to my place, since your leech'll need some time to cool off." He suggested.

Olivia didn't bother to interject when he'd said 'leech' to try and correct him. She'd rather not think about Nikita, it only pained her and angered her all at once.

"Thanks." She mumbled. As they walked down the road, Olivia glanced over her shoulder at her car. She was so used to being worried about car thefts because it became a very natural habit when you came from New York. Liv had to quickly remind herself that she was in Forks and the chances of someone stealing her car would be as likely as Nikita forgetting every word she'd said to him:

Slim to none.