Hello, everyone! I think my apologies for the time comes at the beginning of each of my updates, so here it is. I'M SORRY! I'm working on a schedule for everything to get done in a timely manner. Hopefully things will move faster in the future.

Anyway, for this chapter, I want to adress a couple of things I read in the reviews. One, Bella sort of is not really fighting for Edward. It's complicated because I made it very complicated. Edward doesn't realize a couple of things are happening, and Bella sort of lets her imagination about what exactly Edward and Tanya's relationship is all about (not to say that something is or isn't going on there). Everything is a matter of perspective. Two, you'll know who the person with Victoria is very soon. And Three, I added some Edward/Bella action in the end to appease those who wanted more romance (at this point in the story, there's a lot of romantic tension going on, but the tension will break at some point in the future and everything will go back to semi-normal for those two).

Okay, now that i've effectively bored you with this author's note, I will let you go on reading! Enjoy...this chapters a bit convoluted, but it's got some important things in it. And don't forget to review! :)

He called her as soon as he could find time. Lunch seemed loud and crowded enough that the Cullens wouldn't pay attention to what he was doing or who he was talking to. Edward and Alice seemed on edge all day, but Elizabeth was skipping circles around them. He had to tell all of this to her. "There was a massive dude in the parking lot this morning. He definitely could have taken down Cullen. God, you should have seen this guy! I mean, he was enormous! I don't know what Bella's doing wasting her time with Cullen. I think this guy hates Cullen almost as much as you do. Maybe you could talk to him."

Victoria seemed a million miles away. "Anything else?"

"Oh, umm…I think he might have mentioned your name. They have no idea what's going on though. I don't think. They just said you threw something. What was going on this weekend?" He wasn't worried about her. He knew she could handle herself, but that didn't stop him from asking.

Her answer was immediate and something he had become accustom to. "Nothing, it doesn't concern you."

"But—"

"No, I just can't tell you. Perhaps I'll stumble across you tonight…we can talk then." She hung up without another word.

This Is So Not My Nature!

"OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M DOING THIS!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE DOING THIS EITHER!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?"

"BECAUSE THE LOOK ON EDWARD'S FACE WHEN HE REALIZED YOU WERE LEAVING WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!"

YES! "WAHOOOOOOO!" Wind in my hair, eyes not on Edward or it, and nowhere to go all day other than anywhere I freaking want to equals me having a heck of a lot of fun. When we first shot down the road, I was slightly afraid that Edward would pop up on either side of me and start lecturing me about being reckless…again.

Or worse, the real Edward could have run beside us and lectured me all the way to the Quileute border. I might have thrown myself off the motorcycle just out of frustration.

"So, now what do we do?" I ask when we pull into Jacob's driveway.

"You tell me. You're the one that came up with this plan. Although, I thoroughly approve of it." He pulled me into a massive bear hug that I thought I was going to avoid since I didn't randomly show up at his house without him knowing about.

"JACOB—CAN'T—BREATHE!" He laughed just like he used to back in the good old pre-wolfy days.

Once I found that Jacob hadn't actually broken any of my ribs or caused my lungs to collapse, I kicked him as hard as I could on his shin. It probably hurt my foot more than it hurt him, but it definitely stung him a little. "Hey! What was that for?"

"One, for showing up this morning."

His pouty teenage side came out for a moment. "But I got you here because I came!"

"I know. I'm not finished!"

"What else is there?"

"Well, there's the fact that you made me communicate to you through Seth! Do you honestly realize how freaking worried I've been? All I've been hearing for the past like three weeks is 'Jacob's depressed…you should go talk to him' or 'Billy thinks something's really wrong with Jake…you should go visit him…why aren't you two talking anymore?' or there was one time when it was 'Bella, what if Jacob is at suicide risk and you could be the only one who can get through to him'. I HAD TO HEAR THIS CRAP ALL THE TIME AND I'VE BEEN SO FREAKING BUSY THAT I WANT TO PULL ALL OF MY HAIR OUT!"

Jacob simply leans against the wall, and is clearly trying not to laugh. "So, you kicked me?"

Harumph! "Yes, I kicked you. I didn't want to break my hand trying to slug you."

He snorted. "Does that happen in the book?" Butthead.

"Yes, in fact it does, but Book Jacob tells Book Bella that she would have done better if she hit him with a bat or a golf club or something like that, which is what I'll be doing if I hear one more thing about how depressed you've been."

"I haven't been depressed." He mumbled just loud enough for me to hear.

No, you've just been obsessing over whether or not I'm going to call you. "Oh, really? Well, then what have you been?"

"I've been tired. And bored. And tired again. Then repeat it all and the day's over." Okay, I believe the tired thing. The bags under his eyes could only be the result of less than twenty hours of sleep a week. But bored? How could anyone be bored with all the crap that's going on around here? Jacob interrupted my thoughts before I could actually question anything of him. "The question is: how have you been, Bella?"

Wow, that's a heck of a question. What is the right word to describe how I've been? "Stressed. And completely unstable. And stressed again. Then repeat it all and the day's over until the next one comes along. "

I don't understand. First, I shocked Edward somehow when I was lecturing him in the parking lot about something I said. And now I've shocked Jacob after I said one word. Maybe that's my special power along with some sort of shield. "Bella, I've seen you handle just about everything that someone can throw at you. You're the most together person I've ever met."

If I could laugh after that hug of his, I would. "No, I'm not. You know, on top of high school ending, my imminent death, the fact that my parents and grandmother are all coming to town for graduation, the fact that I'm now valedictorian and have to write a breathtaking speech that will knock everyone out of their seats, and having to deal with Victoria trying to kill me too, I'm close to screaming all the time. And you wanna know something else? I can read minds now! But only on occasion. We're not sure why. And I persuaded-like with a power-Ava to do something today. I'm totally freaking out and I don't know what's going on with the story anymore and I'm so sick of Marcus being around trying to make me join forces with him when I don't even have forces and—"

Thank God Jacob interrupted me. I was running out of oxygen. "Alright, Bella, I think you need to sit down."

"Yeah, sitting sounds good." Maybe the room will stop spinning if I do that.

"I also think you might need a straight jacket, but that's just my opinion." I send him a glare that's made Edward shake in his boots before. "I'm just saying!"

"See? I am totally stressed and unstable. I just want to sleep and forget about all of this, but I can't! Plus, on top of all of that Edward has some stupid new thing that's following him around with her arms occasionally around him like he's hers or something and I have no idea what to do because I still have to just quash the urge to poun—"

Dead-pan serious voice. "Bella, I really do not want to hear this."

Whoops. "Hmm, good point." I smiled up at him. "My bad." Please don't rant at me about why you're so much better for me than Edward. I'm pretty sure I can't handle that right now.

"No problem…I figured you might say something about him eventually. And, since you're a little crazy right now, I should have seen it coming." Great, now I really feel like a humongous bitch. Jacob's being totally nice to me and I'm sitting here complaining about Edward. I need to keep myself in order or I could end up hurting him more than I already have.

"Jacob?" Oh, my God! I will never underestimate the power of puppy dog eyes ever again. "Look, I'm really sorry about everything that's happened or might have happened…or might happen. Just in general, I am sorry about everything past, present, and future. All of it. Just blame me and everything should be okay."

He smirked at my hurried and completely random apology. "You're the one who made this whole story up? Yeah, I don't think so. I think I'm just gonna blame the author who made this stuff up. You're just the innocent bystander to all of this, right?" I hate it when people use my own words against me. I should really be less opinionated about everything.

"Well, perhaps not that innocent." I winked at him. He didn't even crack a smile.

"Bella, I'm serious. I mean, how is this book even popular? It's the worst love story I've ever heard of."

Truthfully, I have no earthly idea why I ever got into the book. I always thought it was about the romance between Edward and Bella, but now having lived through part of it, I don't think that's everything. To be perfectly honest, I don't like Bella at all. She's so whiny (as I try not to be, but fail anyway) and the damsel in distress practically all of the time, and she hates her life when she has a vampire boyfriend who loves her, a werewolf going gaga over her, two loving parents, and friends all over the place in Forks. I've tried to be kick-ass and make things go my way even to the point of being slightly, if not insanely, reckless. "Girls love the romance, Jake. What can I tell you? You shouldn't worry, though, there are plenty of those girls that are in love with you and would willingly take you away from here at any given moment." I would have added that Ava used to be one of them, but I thought better than to freak him out with that.

"Really?" I can't tell if he's disgusted or intrigued by the idea.

"Totally! There's a massive Team Jacob fan base. People literally fight over Team Edward and Team Jacob. I've seen people throw punches before." Not kidding. It totally happened back home when we were all freshman. It was probably the most ridiculously frightening moments of my life.

"So, who wins?" You know, I probably shouldn't have told Jacob about the 'team' thing. I tell him and I get the same reaction that I got from Uncle Charlie! Who won, indeed!

Great, there goes that lovely temper of mine. "I win-s! I mean, I win. I mean, Bella wins. Oh, God, I don't know. Someone wins and it's pretty much neither you nor Edward. Or maybe everyone wins and we all live happily ever after. I've messed with everything a bit, so who really knows how things are going to end up. The way things are going, I have a feeling we're all going to end up dead on the side of the road somewhere!"

Jacob chuckled at my exaggeration. "Bella, you do remember who the werewolf is and who the human is here, right?"

I need an aspirin. "Sorry…I can't help it. Stress does crazy things to me. And I haven't even begun to study for finals, I haven't picked which college I'm going to, and I still need to write the valedictorian speech!" Jacob surprised me by grabbing my hand suddenly and pulling me somewhere outside. If I remember my geography correctly he was heading towards the beach. "Um, Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are you taking me?"

He grinned at me with a secretive smile. For some reason I felt like I was with pre-wolfy Jacob, and I'm not just saying that because this is the first time I've seen him look excited about something that didn't involve killing a vampire since before he was a werewolf. Actually, Jacob actually looks happy for once and not broody. Don't get me wrong, broody is a very nice look for any guy, but Jacob just pulls happy off a lot better. "Somewhere nice and quiet where I go to calm myself down sometime."

I would've slapped him if I was in control of my hand. "If you take me to a freaking meadow, I might just punch you whether or not I break my hand." The meadow is a sacred thing that is only between me and Edward. I really hope Jacob isn't making this into some ploy to make me like him or something.

Jacob rolled his eyes at me. "We're not going to a meadow. Did you forget that the last time I saw you in a meadow you were this close to being eaten by a bloodsucker?"

"Good point. THEN WHERE ARE WE GOING?" Jacob turned me around to see that we, indeed, made it to the beach. "Oh…well…wow, you know I never really looked at this place before. It's actually kind of pretty here." It wasn't raining right now, so that automatically made things better. The sun was actually trying to creep out from between the clouds a little. There was a very nice breeze coming off the little waves of the water. All in all, I should have fallen off the cliff today rather than that nasty day when I actually did.

"Yeah, just sort of stand close to the water and close your eyes. Everything just goes away." Wow, Jacob's making a very honorable attempt at being deep. I am so proud of him! "Just try it."

Alright, here goes nothing. I stood as close to that freezing cold water as I would go and shut my eyes. The sound of the waves mixed in with the wind in my hair did actually make every buzzing thought in my head just melt away for about a second until something absolutely freezing splashed me right in the face. "JACOB!"

The little brat was backing away from me so I couldn't splash him back in return. "OH MY GOD, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"You won't be able to catch up with me!" He laughed as he sprinted down the beach. I took off in hot pursuit after him.

"YOU ARE SO IMMATURE!" Once I was close enough, I threw myself at his back just so I could tackle him to the ground. We ended up rolling down into the freaking cold water and completely soaked by my actions.

"God, you are the most uncoordinated person in the world."

"Ha! Why do you think I want to be a vampire so badly? Have you ever heard of a clumsy vampire?" I winced when I realized what I said, but it didn't seem to affect Jacob like I thought it would. I thought I would be getting a twenty minute lecture about the evils of vampires, but he just laughed off my comment. Maybe this beach has magical calming powers.

"Somehow that actually makes sense to me."

"I can't believe you didn't just wolf out on me about that." He shrugged, but there was something there that he wasn't telling me. "Jacob, what is it? Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. Well, that just makes me want to know what's going on more! "You're turning blue, Bella. We should get you warmed up." And with that Jacob pulled me off of my ice cold butt and into his very warm (and very muscular—ahhh!) arms. "Better?" He had a very self-satisfied look in his eyes. I'm really starting to think that he might be trying to have a date with me.

I would not give him the satisfaction for too long. I squirmed until he put me back down on the ground. "Yeah, a lot better. Hypothermia would not be a good thing for me to go through. Do you have hot chocolate? Despite you being my personal space heater, I think all of my internal organs are frozen."

"Sure, sure…" We walked a lot slower up to his house than we did in the first place. I was freezing my butt off so I was trying to speed up the meandering Jacob.

"Is there a reason you're walking this slow? It's freaking cold out here just so you know, Mr. I-run-a-temperature-of-109!"

Jacob clearly has something on his mind. I swear, though, if he tries anything on me right now…well, I don't even know what I'll do. "Bella, why aren't you with Edward now?"

"Because I'm here." I answered without breaking my slow pace.

"But why are you here?"

"Because I needed a break from…everything."

"Then you didn't come because you wanted to see me?"

Damn it. "Of course I wanted to see you, but that wasn't the only reason I wanted to come here."

Jacob was getting really frustrated with my half-answers. This is actually kind of entertaining. "Like what?"

"Like…pissing off Edward and Alice and getting away from Edward's new girlfriend."

Jacob's eyes got really big then like I'd dropped some massive secret down on him. "He has a girlfriend…that's not you?"

"That would be correct." I said through clenched teeth.

"So, theoretically, Edward wouldn't get mad if you and I did something, right?"

I didn't even want to think about that! "It wouldn't matter what he thinks about it, but it would matter what I think about that, and I already told you that I don't think of you like that, Jake!" I don't think that even made sense, but Jacob seems to have gotten the basic message.

I should probably go home now. Screw the stupid hot chocolate! I'd rather catch pneumonia than talk about this stuff right now. I came here to relax, not get more riled up!

He winked at me. He literally just winked at me. Ugh, boys! "But you do think about me?"

"I'm leaving." I tried taking off towards the road instead of his house. I don't even care that I don't have my truck. Okay, maybe I care just a little since Victoria is after me and everything…

Jacob caught up with me in a second. "Fine, we won't talk about that." Obviously, he cares more about having me in his company than he does about talking why I'm in his company in the first place.

I eyed him suspiciously. "Really?"

"Really. I should tell you about something else anyway." My confusion just shot up a couple of notches. "Did you know Sam's mad at you?"

I must explain this slowly to him. "Well, seeing as I've done nothing extraordinary to piss him off, you can tell Sam to suck it…and stop getting his fur in a twist." Jacob just raised an eyebrow at me. "Fine…what's he all torn up about?"

"He thought you were the one person in the world with as much reason to hate the Cullens as he does. Sam feels sort of…betrayed that you would just let them back into your life like they never hurt you."

I allowed almost as much acid into my voice as I did when I talked about Tanya to Edward in the parking lot. "Sam doesn't know a thing about who I did and did not let back into my life."

"It seems to me that you're pretty comfortable with all of them even the new creepy guy that showed up!"

Hey! No one goes Alec a creep except for me! "Alec is a nice guy! And I'm helping him with some of his romantic problems. And I'm not mad at the Cullens for what happened; I am mad at Edward for what happened."

"But you still have feelings for him." A statement, not a question.

My temper is going into serious overdrive. "I…don't know, okay? I have no idea what's going on with me right now. I just wish things weren't so complicated." Great, I'm thinking about crying now. I am just a baby!

"Maybe things wouldn't be so complicated if you looked for someone within your own species." Oh my God, I hate that quote! It's so degrading! I feel like he's accusing me of trying to go out with an animal or something, but that's what I would be doing if I ever gave him a chance. WHICH I WON'T!

While I may have hated that quote, I loved the book's rebuttal. "Well, that just sucks!" I practically exploded. "I guess I'm stuck with Mike Newton then!" I had to hold back a laugh at Jake's dejected and slightly disgusted look.

"I'm human," he muttered under his breath.

"But you turn into a massive wolf when you're mad. I'm absolutely positive that Mike doesn't do that. He's not even close to being immortal either. So, looks like I should go back to school and ask him out. That would just make his day, don't you think?"

"That's not fair!" Jacob was pouting. He looked like me when I don't get what I want. "I didn't choose this."

"Yeah, boo freaking hoo...none of the Cullens chose to become vampires of their own free will. They just worked with the hand that life dealt them."

Jacob was getting really mad at me. It might have been about the fact that everything I said was heavily laced with sarcasm. Jacob, though, was totally serious. "They shouldn't exist. Their existence goes against nature."

"And I'm sure nature is totally equipped to handle horse-sized wolves!"

Jacob changed instantly. I remember the book saying something about Jacob having aged a lot because of the change, but I don't think I ever really noticed how true that was. He just looked exhausted in more ways than one. "Bella, what I am was born in me. It's a part of who I am, who my family is, who we all are as a tribe—it's the reason why we're still here. Besides that, I am still human."

The only reason I stopped my verbal attack was because he looked so sincere and sure of himself that I hated to have to burst his human bubble anymore. "A really annoying human that needs to learn how not to piss me off when I'm having a rough day."

That did the trick. He smiled at me. "I think I figured it out."

"Good, because I'm still cold and I want something hot right now!"

We waited until my clothes were dry and I was warm before Jacob took me home. School was already out. I didn't bother going by school to pick up my books because they were all already waiting for me on my desk in my room when I got there. There were also a couple of post-it notes that were on top of the pile of books.

The first one said:
Did you have fun with Jacob? Are you on Team Jacob yet? Not that I don't love my fake brother, but Jacob doesn't have a snotty girlfriend that I had to help enroll in our school for the next month! Tanya is such a creepy witch! Ugh, whatever. Call me later to tell me all about your day, and we need to pick out earrings for you for the wedding.
Love ya, Ava

The next one said:
What. The. Heck. Were. You. Thinking? I have been beside myself all day because I couldn't see a thing about you and you're not even home yet (I can't even see when you're going to be back here!) which is why I have to leave you a crummy note. You're in so much trouble! By the way, Jacob is not invited to the graduation party. And I'm totally experimenting on makeup for the wedding on you for hours because of this.
Alice
P.S. I'm riding with you in the morning because I don't think I can take riding with Edward and Tanya again. Thank you! (You're going to say yes…that I did see )

The third said:
Bella, we need to talk.
Marcus

And the last one was not quite as big of a bummer as the others:
Bella, she's coming. As in, she's coming here when there's a vampire army in Seattle. Help me!
Alec

I know I should have probably done something about all of these notes, but I had no desire to talk to anyone about vampires, Edward, or makeup. So, instead, I went downstairs and watched the Vampire Diaries (and forced Seth to watch it with me) and did my homework. And the best part? Not a single vampire showed up to yell at me.

I hate rain. I really do. Which kind of sucks when you live in the rainiest place in the continental US! I should have known that the niceness of earlier today wouldn't last. Usually, it's quite easy to ignore the rain outside, even when it's a really nasty storm. But tonight I couldn't block out the noise. Probably because of the stress of everything going on with Edward and Jacob and everyone else, or at least that's what I plan on telling myself.

"Good grief! This is ridiculous!" I might have to resort to knocking myself out if I don't go to sleep soon. I can't be exhausted for school just in case the principal somehow remembers that I skipped out on school yesterday on the back of Jacob's motorcycle. I flipped on the light and had to hold back a shriek.

He rushed over and clamped my mouth shut with his hand. "Shh, Bella don't scream."

I didn't scream, but the words practically flew out of my mouth loud enough to be a scream. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here! We're broken up! You're dating someone else! I AM REALLY FREAKING MAD AT YOU!"

Well, at least he had the decency to look sheepish. "It's my watch right now. To make sure Victoria doesn't get inside. Alice and I are watching the perimeter around your house right now. In the rain."

He's lying. There's no way Alice would ever schedule a watch when she had to stand out in the rain. I wouldn't either! Think about the frizzy hair! Plus, she never came to yell at me because of my disappearance yesterday. I guess she's waiting to do that in the morning. Edward's explanation also confused me about something else. "Right…so, why are you in my room?"

"Well, I—I'm just—I, umm—wanted to make sure that you got home from La Push safe." Wait, is he blushing? Am I seeing things? Or am I really starting to lose it from sleep deprivation? And, most importantly, why do I care?

Oh, I get it! The light bulb in my head just totally went off. "You liar. I know exactly why you're in my room." I DID FALL ASLEEP! AND NOW I'M DREAMING!

His eyes practically bulged out of his skull! "You do?"

"Yes, I know exactly why you're here." I hopped up so I could run my hands over his chest. Dear God, he's so hot! I wonder why my other dreams about him haven't been this vivid.

This Dream Edward doesn't seem to know what's going on. Well, I'll get him on the straight and narrow. It is my dream after all. "Bella, are you okay?"

"I'd be a lot better if you would just shut up and kiss me!" I whispered before he closed the miniscule gap between us. I never want to wake up ever again if this is how my dreams are going to go from now on. It started out pretty intense. This was the most vivid dream I'd ever had, so I made it count. I pushed harder and harder against him until his tongue finally got into the action. One of his hands moved up my neck to my hair, sending shivers up my back. "Edward, please don't leave me again…" I murmured against his lips when he drew back.

"Never again, Bella." His golden eyes held nothing but utmost sincerity. "I love you too much to let go."

Great, even in my dreams, he can bring tears to my eyes. "I love you too…I'm so sorry I ever thought otherwise."

He brushed the tears that were rolling down my cheeks away. "Shh, you don't have to think about that anymore. Come here," he drew me closer to him again and we were kissing again, but there was something else to it. Something more heated, more passionate. Even as close as we were, he wasn't close enough.

I saw the same longing in his eyes and suddenly we were both on my bed, kissing even more fervently. I fumbled towards the buttons on his shirt while he placed delicate kisses down my throat. "Bella, you have no idea how I wish…"

"Wish what?"

"That this weren't just a dream to you."

I shot up out of my, entirely alone. Was I just dreaming? I could still feel every one of my nerves tingling from what I thought might have just happened. Outside, the storm had slowed down slightly, but not enough that I could fall back asleep or maybe asleep for the first time.

Why the heck do I have such freaking awesome dreams? I really wish I could get Edward to kiss me like that in real life, but he's way too much of a prude for anything like that to ever happen. He's still a twentieth century gentleman, through and through. I don't think I could wait for a wedding night with him for that, though. That was entirely too nice to wait for.

But, wait! If this was just a dream that means Edward is still with Tanya! "You know what? I don't even care. Edward is going to be mine again if I have to beat the crazy witch he's with myself. Even if she is a vampire!" My little pep talk made me feel better almost immediately.

Seth's voice drifted through the hall. He must just be getting back inside. "Bella, are you still awake?"

"Crap!" I flipped off my light and went to sleep.

And that's all she wrote! Don't worry too much Team Edward people, Jacob and Bella are just friends...maybe...but seriously, Bella has much more to worry about than Jacob.

So, if you liked it, if you hated it, if you didn't even read it that closely review for me! I'm addicted to them!

Thanks!

Preview for the next chapter:

Well, this isn't awkward at all. If he could just look at me some other way than like he's about to kill me, it might be a little better. "Hi." No response. Did he hear the conversation I just had with her? Is that why he's mad? Maybe he's still mad about yesterday. "So…I plan on staying at school for the whole day today." God, what is wrong with him? "Jacob didn't almost wolf out on me once! Isn't that great? No danger at all."

"Bella," oh crap, he's going to yell at me, "Do you have any idea how close I was to following you and that mutt all the way through the border line? To shaking some sense into you after you just jumped on the back of that bike? To breaking the treaty and coming after you? Do you know what that would have meant?"

I swear, I feel like I'm back in first grade. "Umm…I don't know."

Well, that did it.