The Phone Call

I stared down at the phone in my hands, dreading the conversation. I had asked to be alone to do it, and Edward had respected my wishes.

"Don't take it personal…" I had said to him, "It's just something I need to do alone…"

He had frowned at me, but nodded with a sigh.

"I need to go hunting anyways…," he said reluctantly, "Please be careful what you say though. Any information given to them can be used to hurt all of us…"

His words echoed in my head as I finally built up enough nerve to dial the number. It rang three times before I finally heard Billy's familiar voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Billy its Bella…"

"Sorry Bella, Jacob's not here," he said, his voice exasperated.

I couldn't blame him. For a long while, I had called nearly everyday trying to get a hold of Jacob, who still wasn't talking to me. I felt a slight tightening in my chest as I remembered the days when we were still friends.

"Oh… well… I actually called to talk to you…"

"Me?" Billy's voice became instantly concerned. "Are you alright? Has anything happened to you?"

It was impossible to miss what he was implying in that question. I frowned, wishing that he wasn't so anti-vampire.

"No, no, I'm fine," I said reassuringly. "But… well… I was asked to do a favor… for them…"

I was sure that he would catch on immediately. Sure enough, Billy's voice grew cold and defiant.

"And what do they want you to do?"

"Well… they need to have a meeting with you… to discuss the treaty…"

"They've told you about the treaty?" he asked, his voice angrily.

"No, Jacob did—"I blurted out, unable to contain myself. I regretted it instantly, but there was no going back now. "Well, not intentionally, I mean, he told me the legend of it, before he knew he was a…"

I drifted off, mentally hitting myself for possibly getting Jacob in trouble, although he did deserve it after the whole motorcycle experience.

Billy was silent for a moment, before continuing, "When and where?"

"The clearing right off of 120," I said quickly, "Tomorrow, although the time is up to you…"

"9 pm" he said immediately. "Is the whole clan coming?"

"No, there will only be two of them present," I explained, "To keep it fair, I think that you should take Jacob with you…"

I had an ulterior motive for asking Jacob to come. It had been so long since I had seen him and I wanted the chance to talk to him. Perhaps this could be my chance.

"That is agreeable…" Billy said, although is voice was still cold. "But if this is a trick I'm going straight to Charlie with all the information I have about you and the bloodsuckers."

My voice caught in my throat. Charlie. He had been on a fishing trip for the last three days and would be returning home tonight. I couldn't even imagine what he would say if he found out my boyfriend was a vampire.

"Of course…" I said, my voice quiet.

"9 pm, the clearing off of 120, tomorrow?" he asked, wanting clarification.

"Yes."

"Fine."

I heard the line go dead as Billy hung up the phone. He wasn't happy with me, but at least he wouldn't go to Charlie. I looked up as the door creaked open.

"Hello?"

"In here!" I called out.

Charlie walked into the room looking rather pleased with himself. He grinned at me as he loaded up the fish he had caught into the freezer.

"We got home earlier than we thought. Traffic wasn't nearly as bad as usual. Any messages for me?"

"Just the police station, wondering if you'd come in tonight," I said, turning to face him.

Charlie's face looked more relaxed than it had been for a long time. He had really needed that vacation.

"I'll probably stop in," he said, "How was it around here without me?"

"Pretty uneventful," I lied. "The trip went well I take it,"

"Definitely," Charlie said, grinning at me, "Not a dull moment."

"Oh never," I said sarcastically, "What could be dull about fishing?"

Charlie laughed and grinned at me again. I smiled back, pleased to see him happy for what seemed the first time in weeks.

"Well, I'm off to the station," he said, "Don't wait up for me, I probably have loads of papers to fill out."

"Okay, see you later!" I said as he walked out.

"He seems happy"

I jumped up, nearly throwing my chair to the ground. Edward caught it before it could hit the ground.

"Don't scare me like that!" I said, putting a hand to my heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," he said, holding back a laugh.

I took a deep breath and glared at him.

"Aren't you supposed to be hunting?"

"I finished early," he said, his eyes a golden topaz as if to prove his point. "I didn't want to stay away from you longer than I had to…"

His voice drifted off as he looked at me seriously.

"Oh…" I said, remembering.

Sometimes with all the other things, that I had been worried about lately it became easy to forget about the dangers close to home.

"Victoria?"

Edward nodded, "We still haven't caught her, but it's only a matter of time… Carlisle explained to me that that was another reason for the meeting. We need to discuss what should be done with her…"

I nodded weakly. Edward looked at me, concern in his eyes.

"Well…" I finally said, "I'm rather tired… but you should go tell Carlisle that the date is set. Tomorrow at 9 pm in the clearing… I'll probably just head for bed…"

Edward nodded, although I could see from his face that he was worried. Probably about my sanity.

"Seriously," I said, forcing a grin, "I'll be fine… just come over when you're done?"

"You'll be asleep…," he said, surprised I still wanted him to come.

"It just makes me feel safer knowing you'll be there when I wake up…" I said honestly.

He nodded and gave me a swift kiss on the lips. In a flash, he was gone. I sighed and put my head in my hands. I was definitely going to need my sleep if I wanted to be prepared for the meeting.