Chapter 5

BPOV

It had rained throughout the night. Actually, it was a slush like mixture of rain and snow. But the point was that the roads were going to be terrible today. I smiled when I made it to the school in one piece. I looked over and saw the Cullens gathered by their cars talking. I still hadn't gotten any closer to figuring out why I reacted the way I did around them, and it frustrated me. I grabbed my bag and was annoyed when one of my books fell down onto the ground, luckily it just missed a puddle of water.

When I bent down to grab the book, I saw why I had no problems getting to school this morning. Charlie had apparently gotten me new tires when he took the truck in for an oil change yesterday.

I was pulled from my thoughts by screams, and a loud screeching sound. I turned in time to see Tyler Crowley, and his full sized van, skidding right towards me. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to move away in time, I held my arms out in front of me, letting my strength increase, and prepared for impact.

So it was rather surprising when I felt the impact, not in front of me, against my arms, but to my side as I was tackled to the ground. I felt my head hit the pavement, and had to struggle even more to fight transforming. I heard the crash of metal as I watched Edward Cullen stop the van with his hand, before he jerked me away to prevent my head being hit by the back end of the van.

I focused on my breathing as I heard people yelling if I was alright. And I kept my eyes shut to keep people from seeing them green. I could feel my self wanting, fighting to change. Between being injured, the adrenaline from almost being crushed, and the close proximity to Edward Cullen, I knew that if I lost focus, a giant, strong, green Bella would appear in Forks.

"Bella?" I heard Edward ask. "Bella are you alright?"

"Fine," I squeezed out through clenched teeth. "Get away." I commanded, hoping he would leave and make my internal struggle that much easier.

"Bella, I'm not going anywhere," he said. "Te ambulance is on it's way."

Shit! "No." I tried to stand up, but Edward wouldn't let me. And I couldn't fight him about it or risk my control. "No hospital."

The next few minutes were horrible for me. Edward was beginning to piss me off, and I was incredibly close to going Hulk. It was actually a bit of a relief when the ambulance arrived, as they took me away from Edward, which helped as the source of my anger and the unconscious threat were no longer in close proximity. Unfortunately, I still had to go to the hospital, along with Edward. As luck would have it, I rode in back, with one of the EMT's while he rode up front. I didn't know whether to be angry or thankful that he didn't have to ride in back like me.

By the time we arrived at the hospital, I had mostly calmed down. Though my strength was still present and my eyes green, as I still had adrenaline flowing through my blood. I made sure that I kept my eyes closed, and kept talking deep breaths to keep calm.

Charlie was already at the hospital, and I felt bad for Tyler, who not only was hurt worse than me (thank you accelerated healing) but was stuck in the same room as me. Though I was glad when Charlie threatened to take away his license and pulled the curtain between us. I could only take so much apologizing before I got sick of it.

"You okay Bells?" Charlie asked, worry clear in his voice.

"I'm fine Charlie," I said. "We alone?"

"Aside from Tyler on the other side of the curtain."

I sighed, relieved, and opened my eyes. Charlie took in my eye color and asked, "How close?" I knew he wasn't talking about the van.

I shook my head. "Too close. I almost lost it Charlie."

He nodded. "I called the school and excused you the rest of the day, which they already did. But I think when we're done here you need to go home and relax."

I snorted and smiled good naturally at him, making sure he could see my eyes. "Gee, I wonder what gave you that idea."

We were interrupted, and I quickly looked away and hid my eyes, as a pale skinned, blond man came into the room. "Dr. Cullen," Charlie greeted. "How soon can I take Bella home?"

I mentally cursed, I couldn't tell if Dr. Cullen caused a reaction or not, due to my already heightened state. "Bella seems to be perfectly fine," he said as he looked at the file in front of him. "There's no injuries that we can find. She free to go, just as soon as you fill out some paperwork up at the front desk."

With a smile Dr. Cullen left.

"Why don't you head out to the cruiser," Charlie said. "I'll fill out the paperwork and meet you there."

"What about my truck?"

"I'll call Billy to see if maybe he could get a couple guys to pick it up for you, since I gotta go back to the station," Charlie explained with a sigh. "He said he would."

"Okay, I'll just head out to the cruiser," I said as I grabbed my jacket.

On my way out, I noticed Edward, Dr. Cullen, and Rosalie in a corner. It appeared that they were arguing. They looked over at me, and I continued walking towards the parking lot.

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JPOV

When Billy called Sam, me and Paul were over, along with Kim, having a late breakfast.

"Hello," Sam said as he answered the phone.

"Sam, It's Billy." All of us but the girls could hear the conversation thanks to our wolfish qualities.

"What's up?"

"There was an accident at Forks high today," the elder explained. "Bella was almost hit by a van."

My eyes widened in panic as I stood up from the table. Before I could ask if she was alright, Billy continued.

"Bella's fine. Charlie didn't give me too many details, but she's going home today. But her truck is still at the school. He's wanted to know if someone would bring it back to his house since he has to go back up to the station."

"We can go get it," Sam confirmed.

"If I might make a suggestion," Billy continued. "I already okayed it with Charlie, but take the Pack and imprints. It's a chance for her to get comfortable around all of you. But Charlie did say to leave her alone if she ask, though he'd like it if someone were in the house with her. Considering the morning she's had, it's perfectly understandable."

"We'll go get the truck as soon as we're done eating. And I think we'll take this opportunity to get know her."

"Thanks Sam."

"No thanks necessary Billy. She might not be aware of it yet, but she's an imprint and a part of this pack. I'll talk to you later Billy."

With that Sam hung up the phone and looked at the rest of us. He looked at the two girls and explained what happened since they couldn't hear the conversation.

"Jared, take Emily and Kim over to the Swan's house," Sam ordered. "Paul and I will go get Bella's truck. Hopefully, it's not to badly damaged and we can drive it. Otherwise we might be a couple hours."

Within minutes Kim, Emily, and I had piled into Emily's el camino, well Emily and Kim did. I climbed in the bed.

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BPOV

Charlie hadn't been gone ten minutes when the doorbell rang. I was surprised when the door opened and I saw, not only Jared, but Kim and Emily as well. I looked past them and didn't see my truck at all.

"Where's my truck?" I asked.

"Sam and Paul are bringing it," Emily explained. "Billy told us your father didn't want you to be alone. I hope you don't mind, but we wanted to stay and help keep an eye on you."

I sighed, thankful that I'd calmed down and my eyes weren't green anymore. Typical Charlie. Probably wanted to make sure I had incentive to stay calm in his house after this morning. "Come on in, though I hope you don't expect me to be very good company. I was just about to head downstairs and workout for a bit."

Jared looked at me curiously, and I noticed he seemed a bit tense and his nostrils were flared. "Do think you should after what happened this morning?" he asked.

Kim asked a more relevant question. "What exactly did happen this morning? Billy only told us that you were almost hit by a van."

"I dropped a book as I got out of my truck," I explained. "When I bent down to pick it up, I was almost squashed between my truck and Tyler Crowley's van, he had skidded on a patch of slush, or ice, whatever it was. Edward Cullen pushed me out of the way, I got taken to the hospital, and I came home."

"Did you say Cullen?" Jared asked.

I nodded. "Yup."

Jared's shoulders slumped and he mumbled something under his breath.

"Why don't we all go in the living room," I suggested.

We sat in silence for a few moments. Finally Kim asked a question. "So Bella, how do you like Washington?"

I chuckled. "Why don't you ask Jared. He asked my that question a couple days ago."

The two girls turned to look at Jared who smiled sheepishly. "She likes it," he said.

"So what all do you guys do?" I asked.

"I'm working on getting my business degrees online," Emily said. "I want to open up a bakery once I'm done."

"Paul and I work at Sam's garage," Jared explained. "He's pretty good with hours so..."

"I work at Sue's part-time," Kim said. "And I drive to Port Angeles to take welding classes at the community college."

My eyes widened. "Welding?" A smiled. "I'm sorry Kim, but you don't seem like a welder at all. It's kinda surprising."

Kim smiled. "I know. I graduated valedictorian, and everyone thought I'd do something like teaching, or something else. But my dad owns a metalworking shop, and I'm his only kid. I've been around metal and welding since the time I could walk. In fact once I'm certified, he said he'd pass the business on to me. He'll still work in the shop, but he'll sign over everything so I own it."

"Neat."

"What about you Bella?" Jared asked. "I know you're only in your junior year, but what are your plans for the future?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know. Something I could do in a small town, I don't really like cities."

We sat and talked for a few minutes, until Sam and Paul came over with my truck. I tensed up as Sam walked over to Emily and kissed. Standing up, I made my way out of the room.

"What's wrong Bella?" Kim asked before I could leave the room, drawing everyone else's attention towards me. I really didn't want to say, since they were all guest in my home, and I had actually been having a good time.

I turned to look at them, with sadness in my eyes. "You're all very kind, to come over here and spend time with me, and to bring me my truck."

"But...?" Emily prompted.

I sighed. "Emily, Sam, Thank you for being so kind. But if I'm anything, I'm loyal to the few friends I have. Leah Clearwater's one of them."

Emily closed her eyes and Sam pulled her into a hug.

I continued. "You may not be bad people, in fact I kinda like you. But I have a feeling that if I befriended you, Leah would see that as a betrayal to her. And I really can't blame her. It's nothing personal."

"I understand," Emily said. "I'm sorry for causing you conflict. We never meant to hurt Leah, she was like a sister to me. But there are factors that you, and even Leah don't know."

"Did you ever think that Leah deserves to know," I pointed out. "She lost her sister and the man she loved in one swoop."

Emily looked at Sam, who looked at Jared, who nodded.

"I'll make you a deal Bella," Sam said. "We'll tell you the other details. And if you still think we should tell Leah we will."

"Why?" I asked. "Why tell me and not her?"

It was Jared who answered. "Because these factors also have something to do with you."

I stood in the doorway of the living room and crossed my arms. "Explain!"

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