Bella didn't like the man who sat across from her. Usually, she'd think of herself as a hypocrite and chastise herself for not even getting to know him, but this was different. She first assumed it to be the way his eyes met hers with dangerous and malicious intent, but when she delved deeper into his words, it became clear to her.

He was trying to manipulate her, and he was attempting to be secretive about it. But he was older, wiser most likely, and perhaps that was his idea. To get her to question herself.

She wasn't falling for it.

"You're clever," she said, smiling. Desmond stopped in the middle of his tirade and set a curious look her way that didn't help her confidence at all.

"Why is that, Miss Swan?"

His voice, reedy and cold, made Bella completely sure that she did not trust the man.

"It's funny, you know, that the your response is 'why'. It's a normal thing to say, naturally, but if you truly were you would have accepted it without question."

"I apologize for being standard quality, then," he said easily, but Bella wasn't convinced.

"And then you go and say that. I'm really wondering if you're a legitimate kind of guy. Because most guys or men, in your case, don't go to girl's houses that they've never met before and ask about a boy she hardly knows. Are you truly as witty as you're thinking you are, Desmond? What are you playing at?"

"Nothing," he assured her, "it's just that this boy has been causing trouble back at the homestead. As my position as one of the various councilmen, I wish to discover his purpose."

"So you go to one of his acquaintances, rather than his family." Bella surmised with a sarcastic lilt to her voice. She caught Desmond's hands twitching ever so slightly and stored it away for later evaluation. "But you probably thought that they'd never say he was up to no good, seeing as they are family. Going to friends would be useless too, so you come to me when there were several able-bodied law enforcement officers on hand to ask. Very clever. One would even say that you planned this from the start, don't you presume?"

"What are you playing at?" she repeated, leaning her elbows on the table. "Just come out and admit it, Bly, because I've already figured you out."

Desmond wet his lips with delicate care, focusing more on controlling his temper instead of beating the girl's head in. "My objectives are my own, Miss Swan."

"Save the bullshit for someone who can stomach it," she rolled her eyes, "like your goddamn council. Or maybe even Sam Uley." She winked. "It's not very subtle, you know, going into the Forks police department and talking to one of the officers that my father had just hired. He watches them to see if he can depend on them when situations become too hot for regular procedures, no matter how infrequent they are in this town. He didn't suspect anything, seeing as he is terribly hard-headed, but he told me about it, and I'm sharper than he is. I know what you're up to."

"Let's cut to the chase, Miss Swan," Desmond spat, "you can just tell me about your goddamn boyfriend before I have to take drastic measures."

Bella raised a thin brow. "'Drastic measures'? What're you going to do, try and hit me? What would that do for your cause, you lunatic? You need information from me, remember? Besides, even if I'm clumsy, I could outrun you any day, seeing as you look a little worse for wear in athleticism." She smirked. "No matter how much I hate Seth, I won't sell him out. Not for you, anyways."

She stood, pointing a finger lazily at the door. "Time to head out, Mister Bly. It was nice talking to you, even if your side of this intellectual feud was lacking. Have a safe drive home, and tell Sam that I appreciate his mental deficiency."

Desmond, fuming, stormed out, hands curled into fists. They were shaking, and his heart was pounding. He clambered into his car and drove off, leaving Bella leaning on the door frame. She had a thoughtful look to her eyes.

"I'm half expecting him to go super saiyan..." she muttered to herself, stepping into the house and closing the door shut.

When Bella sat down at the lunch table the next day, she didn't expect another body to sit down beside her. It had been foreseen, she imagined, that everyone would stay away from her like she was a bomb about to explode. Shows how much they really thought of her.

But when Mike Newton sat down next to her, she had to hold back a sigh of annoyance. He never did really understand the concept of 'I'm not interested' but she had to cut him some slack. He was actually approaching her, which said a lot compared to the rest of the student body, not that she wanted the attention.

He just had the balls to do it.

"So how are you?" he asked, "I-I... that was a stupid thing to ask. What I meant... was... um, are you okay? You know? I feel like an idiot for not talking to you earlier, but I just thought you needed some time to yourself. To regroup and, er, stuff."

Bella resisted the urge to rub her temples. "I'm fine, Mike. Great, actually. I mean, my ex-boyfriend dumped me in the middle of the woods! Doesn't it make you feel like singing? Does for me."

Mike's brows furrowed. "Hey, I didn't mean anything derogatory by what I said Bella. Can't you just accept that? I'm worried about you."

"I never asked you to be. I don't even think I want you to be." she snapped.

"Well that's too damn bad, isn't it?" Mike replied, "Because I'm going to worry about you whether you like it or not. Listen, Bella, I know you're going through a rough patch. I understand, but I'm not going to let you undergo it alone. I'm your friend, so why can't you just let me help you? No rejections this time."

This time Bella did rub her temples with her fingers, unable to simply send Mike away. He was being very sweet; not like his usual Labrador behavior. Besides, Seth was Seth, and she yearned to be distant from him no matter her heart's contradictions.

"Fine."

Seth, faraway and utterly oblivious, sat at the edge of the tallest cliff in La Push. A slight ocean breeze tousled his hair and the smell of salt settled in his nostrils. Behind him, a car pulled up, and he heard burdened feet laden the ground. He caught Desmond's musky smell immediately and tried not to show the way his shoulders tightened.

"Hard to find you, isn't it?" Desmond spoke quietly, voice laced with hate, "Just like your father."

"I'm tired of hearing 'your father' this and 'your father' that. I'm not like him. Never was and never will be. He's dead, so let's all drop the subject."

"Touchy, is it now? Good." A meaty hand landed on his shoulder. Seth, unable to simply take it, shrugged the hand off.

"Good to feel grief?" Seth wondered, "I don't think so. Sure, for a while but... I've gotten over it."

Desmond made a sound in the back of his throat. "Have you now? You still don't wonder about him? How it was your fault he died in the first place?"

"It wasn't my fault," Seth clarified, "just the situation. Dad hadn't changed into a wolf, so Leah and I both transforming at the same time messed with his mind and his heart."

"You never think it's your fault?" Desmond taunted, feeling particularly sardonic after his failure with the Swan girl, "I would, Seth. Knowing that my own father died due to what I did? I couldn't live with it."

Desmond didn't mention that he had skillfully ended his father's life with one innocent little pillow.

"Good for you," Seth yawned, "But your attempts at guilting me into something won't work. I know how your backwards little mind words inside and out. Even if you did try anything, I'd kill you." He smiled cheekily. "It'd only take one twist of my fingers, Desmond. Doesn't that scare you?"

Desmond smiled. "Not really. If you wanted to, you could have already. We've already established this."

"So we have. Anyways, I'm tired as hell. Goodbye, Desmond. Hopefully that slut wife of yours will have her pants up by the time you get home."

And with that, he left, leaving Desmond looming over a rather tasteful-looking cliff. He knew that fighting with Seth would do no good, so he'd let him get in his petty remarks while he still could. He still had time to get a sufficient amount of dirt on the kid and turn his pack members on him. It would only take a few seeds of doubt to twist those practically brain-dead teenagers to turn against Seth.

All it took was patience.

The stuff with Mike wasn't planned. Maggie told me to add it in at the last minute, seeing as she has a soft spot for him. My beta's busy, so she couldn't read over this. Mistakes are all mine.