Edward took a step toward me, his hand clamped over his nose and mouth to keep himself from breathing. I flinched automatically, backing up and hitting a tree. I had nowhere to get away from him, although anywhere I tried to run he would have caught me, regardless.

He slowly eased his hand from his face, and I suddenly noticed the color of his eyes – rather than molten gold in his gaze, there was molten lava, burning red. He closed the space between us before I had blinked, tilting his head to the side with a smug smile forming on his lips.

"You smell – incredible, truly intoxicating," he breathed, leaning in and inhaling the scent of my throat. I began to scream, but before any sound came out, he bit into the skin of my neck.

I gasped and opened my eyes, the hardly visible popcorn of my ceiling a familiar and safe sight, rather than terrifying crimson irises in a beautiful face. I was hot, too hot, and sat up, wiping sweat from my upper lip.

Jacob lay next to me, still conked out; I reached down and touched his peaceful face, following it down to the skin of his neck, all still intact. I could feel his heartbeat there, swift and strong.

I touched my own neck then, wondering if I had only dreamt the horrible, searing pain that had come from Edward's teeth. It tingled when I touched it, and I grimaced at the dampness there. Twisting free of Jake's arms, I climbed out of bed, the cold air of the room finally hitting my skin. I sighed, relieved, and decided that if Jacob and I were going to keep sharing my bed, we'd need to get a fan. Or live in a refrigerator.

I tiptoed to the bathroom and tied my hair up into a messy bun, wetting a washcloth and wiping most of the sweat from my skin. I waved my hands at my face, flushed from my nightmare. What kind of dream was that?

I imagined Edward's horrifying gaze, shuddering; his hand on his nose and mouth, I had finally realized, wasn't because I had smelled bad – I had smelled good. So good, it seemed, that Edward had had to quit breathing in multiple instances to keep his self-control intact.

Why hadn't it been like that for Carlisle or Alice? Or had it been, and they just hadn't gotten close enough to me to really tell? Did I somehow smell extra good to vampires? Or just to Edward?

Or maybe these vegetarians weren't as true to their diet as they wanted my wolves to believe. Maybe Edward, and possibly Alice and Carlisle, couldn't get too close to humans, their natural prey, without having to quit breathing. Maybe their bloodlust was just that strong.

I shuddered again, leaving the bathroom quickly. I had to get back to Jacob and treasure the rest of the time I had with him before we were forcibly separated to go to our different schools.

He was in the same position he'd been in when I left, except his arm was reached out over the spot where I had been lying; I lifted it up, not surprised that it was much heavier than a normal arm, and slid in underneath it, immediately hot again. Jacob was a giant space heater.

He sighed into my hair and then blinked his eyes open, seeing much more than I had been able to in the darkness. He looked down at me, smiling as soon as our eyes met. "What time is it?" he mumbled, and I squealed mentally at the cuteness that was sleepy Jacob.

"I don't know," I murmured back, snuggling closer to his chest. "Go back to sleep, Jake."

"Mmm," he slurred, nodding, but then opened his eyes again and looked down at me. Some unnamed negative emotion etched itself into his forehead. "But we don't have much more time."

So he felt the same way I did, then. I nodded, reaching up and touching his face. "You have to stay here the next three nights too, remember? And we'll see each other after school."

"We have to figure out what to do to keep you safe there," he said, becoming more and more alert. "There's no one at your school that can keep you safe. I can transfer maybe—"

"No, Jake. That girl vampire, Alice, will see if the woman makes a decision and someone will be able to keep me safe. If we even need it, it's not me she's after."

"We don't know what she's after, that's the problem. And I don't trust the vampire's visions, I trust the wolves." Without explanation, he buried his face in my hair, dragging his lips down to my forehead. It burned in a good way where they touched my skin, and I tipped my face up, allowing him more room to travel.

He pulled back and grinned, putting the back of one of his huge hands to my cheek. "Bella, you're incredible," he murmured, and I was reminded of my nightmare, Edward telling me I smelled incredible. I shivered, and he pulled his hand back quickly, thinking he'd freaked me out.

"No, not you," I said quickly, taking his hand and lacing our fingers together. "I had a bad dream earlier, and it kind of made me realize something."

"What?" he asked, concerned; he tightened his fingers around mine, and I smiled up at him, forever impressed by how cute he was.

"Just – did you see him, Edward, when we were alone? After you guys walked away?"

Jake wrinkled his brow, thinking. "When he like jumped out of your way?"

"Yeah," I said, glad he'd seen it. "He covered his face, too, like this." I brought my hand up and gently covered Jake's mouth and nose. "Tight, so he couldn't breathe."

"He didn't want to breathe in your scent."

"Either that, or I stink. Do I stink?" I asked seriously, and he laughed into my hand, still on his lips. I moved it to his cheek and left it there.

"You've never stunk, Bella."

"Good to know. Let me know if I ever do."

"You got it."

I grinned up at him, moving my hand further back so I could twist my fingers in his hair. "So, basically, either I smell really good to all vampires, smell really good just to him, or it's harder for them to resist humans in general than they let on."

"And if that's the case, they shouldn't be here at all."

"Exactly." I didn't want to think of Jacob having to kill more vampires, but the thought only made sense. If they were going to kill people, the wolves would kill them. That's the way it seemed to work.

"I'm serious about your school," Jacob murmured after a second, his arm tightening around my side. "We need to find some way to protect you."

"I'll be fine. I'm not as worried about that woman as I am about the vegetarians," I said, accentuating the last word, and he grimaced, bringing his hand up to my head and pulling me into his chest.

"Don't worry about anything, please. I'm gunna keep my Bella safe, no matter what."

I grinned. "My Jacob better not get himself hurt in the process."

When we woke up to my alarm, the sun was shining through the blinds just barely. Jacob clambered out of bed and stretched his arms over his head, and the first real image I registered was the lines of his rib cage against his skin, a perfect russet model in my bedroom. I didn't realize I was staring until he laughed, and I shook my head, glancing at the door and listening for Charlie.

"Sorry, Bells, you just looked very surprised," Jake said, still grinning when he came to sit by me on the bed. I sat up and threw my arms around his neck, sliding onto his lap again. "Good morning."

"Good morning," I whispered into his shoulder, pressing my lips against the skin there and then repeating the kisses up the side of his neck. Chills rose on his skin, and I glanced up at him, smiling when I saw the pink flooding his face.

"I could get used to waking up to you," Jacob said, and I nodded, agreeing.

"Do you want to shower again?"

"I've gotta go home, Bells," he breathed, disappointed. I frowned, jutting my lower lip out at him.

"I know. I'll pick you up after school."

"You'd have to leave school early to do that, wouldn't you?"

I shrugged. "I don't even like Calculus."

He laughed again, and I covered his mouth, rolling my eyes. "We need to get used to being quiet, too."

"Only here. Maybe instead of spending the night here again, we can go to my house."

"Yeah, good luck getting Charlie to agree to that."

"I'll be persuasive." He looked confident, and I rolled my eyes again.

"Okay, Bella," he said, standing with me still clinging to him. I slid to the floor sadly, keeping my face against his chest when my feet found the ground.

"Okay, Jacob," I replied, and as he hugged me tightly I tipped my face up, knowing already his plan to kiss my forehead. I stood on my tiptoes and grabbed his cheeks, kissing his forehead back.

"Be safe," I growled as he leapt over my bed, sliding my window open. The grin on his face wasn't comforting. "Don't you want me to drive you home?"

"No, running as a wolf will be faster," he said, and I grimaced, trying not to imagine a giant wolf getting hit by a car.

"Fine. See you after school."

"Okay. Stay for all your classes, I'll wait for you." He waved and then leapt out of the window, grabbing onto a tree branch and swinging up onto it like an acrobat. He glanced once at my bewildered expression, smirked, and then jumped, a whooshing sound like several disturbed leaves crunching under his feet as he hit the ground. There was a pause, and then I saw the shape of a russet wolf fly across the front lawn into the trees.

My Jacob was gone.

School was the most difficult I'd ever found it, worse than my first day there; I had no patience for Mike, whose sourness and pouty lips suggested he was upset with me for never calling him back Saturday. Jessica noticed his attitude was directed toward me and hung all over him during first period, flirting pretty obviously; watching them made me nauseous, so I watched Angela instead, able to laugh with her at a story she told about her weekend effortlessly.

"So I had to tell my mom that my little brothers had done it, even though it was Ben and his friend," she finished, rolling her eyes as we walked toward second period. "I swear, my boyfriend is five."

"Mine too," I said, and then my stomach twisted as I realized what I'd said. Jacob wasn't my boyfriend, was he?

Angela registered what I'd said, her mouth falling open. "You have a boyfriend?" she asked, her voice thankfully very low; I glanced around us to make sure no one had heard.

"I don't know for sure if that's what he is yet," I whispered, finding myself blushing. "It's only been a couple days that we've been hanging out. I don't know, we just have this – bond," I said quickly, not sure what else to call it. "We've known each other since we were kids, though."

"Who is he?" she asked, sounding genuinely interested, but not in the way Jessica would have been; I could trust Angela.

"A boy from the reservation down at La Push," I murmured, and her eyes widened.

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah," I whispered, still glancing around periodically. "He's kind of young for me, but he's pretty mature for his age most of the time. He built a whole car by himself and his dad's in a wheelchair, so he takes care of him. His name is Jacob." I didn't give out his last name in case this somehow got out; my Jacob wasn't the only one on the reservation, was he?

I felt guilty for gossiping a little bit, but I knew Angela wouldn't tell anyone. "Like I said, I don't know if he's actually my boyfriend, so please don't say anything to anyone."

"Oh, I won't," she murmured, shaking her head. "I'm so happy for you, Bella."

"Thanks." I grinned, letting her go into the classroom first and following behind her.

I stopped short in the doorway when I saw the bronze-haired statue sitting at the desk next to mine, his face as full of negativity as ever.

I didn't let my surprise get the best of me, straightening out my expression and clenching my fists as I walked up to my seat. I glared down at him, and he moved his hand from over his mouth – where it had meant to look relaxed; it was likely I was the only one who'd been able to tell that it was blocking his available airways – to smile in response. "Hi, I'm Edward Cullen."

"I – you – I'm Bella," I replied, gritting my teeth and sitting slowly at my desk. I was careful not to wave any of my scent towards him, twisting my hair up and pulling it over my right shoulder, on the opposite side of him. I regretted that I couldn't yell at him in the middle of class. "Bella Swan."

"Lovely to meet you," he replied, his smile so real-looking that I almost didn't notice he was too still, not breathing.

"What – what are you doing here?" I hissed when more people came into class, although the numbers didn't help with my desire for inconspicuousness; every eye seemed to be on Edward, flickering to him and back in a mix of intimidation and curiosity. I was neither of those things, though. Only annoyed.

"My family has an old home here, my father is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. He received a call and was offered his old position at Forks Hospital, and he decided to take it. So my siblings and I had to switch schools. We moved from Alaska." He said it like he was reading from a script, and I wondered if he had just come up with it on the spot; his voice was loud enough that others could probably have heard him, as I was sure he wanted. It would be easier for his story to be spread around the school by the usual gossip train than for him to have to spread it himself, and there was no doubt that his story would spread – nobody loved brand new, incredibly beautiful students more than a small town.

"Siblings?" I asked, putting emphasis on the last S.

"Yes, my sisters Alice and Rosalie are seniors, as well."

"Seems a little silly to switch schools in the middle of your senior years, doesn't it?" I asked, meeting his smoldering golden eyes. You are not scared of him, Bella, I growled mentally, but I couldn't help remembering the feeling of his teeth on my neck during my dream.

He seemed to sense my uncertainty, his head tilting to the side in confusion, and I avoided his gaze, glancing down at the notebook in front of him. He'd written the date in elegant script, like an Old-English-themed font. I wondered vaguely how old he was.

"Not too silly. We couldn't stay in Alaska without our father."

"Is he really your father?" I asked, remembering Carlisle referencing them as his son and daughter. Carlisle looked very young, from what I remembered, much too young to have three seniors for children. "And what are you guys, triplets?"

"He's our adopted father. He and our mother couldn't conceive on their own, so they took us in. And no, we aren't triplets. Just similar in ages."

"Oh." I didn't want to ask anymore, no longer able to bear looking at him and talking to him knowing what I knew. Why had the vampires come to my school? To protect me? To protect everyone?

Or to hunt?

"What about you?" he pressed, and I looked back at him, seeing he knew full well that class was seconds from starting. Curiosity and last night's confusion burned behind his eyes. "Do you have siblings here?"

"I'm an only child," I said simply, looking pointedly away from him at the teacher. I thought back to the night before, how rude and aloof he'd been, and the small smile on his lips when I'd told him to shove it. We were too close, too many people around us, for me to check his expression when the teacher began talking, but I had a feeling it would look similar to that tiny, frustrating smirk.

The second class was over, Edward stood, gripping the edge of the table with his already white knuckles straining. "Like I said, very lovely to meet you, Bella," he said, smiling, and nodded stiffly before turning to leave. He took very swift steps out of the room, and then he was gone.

"Wow," Jessica breathed from next to me, her eyes wide. "Did you see him?"

"Yeah, he wasn't the nicest," I commented, hoping he could still hear me with his dumb vampire hearing.

"He's just shy! Ooh, I wonder if he has a girlfriend back in Alaska." Having completely forgotten about Mike, Jessica hooked arms with another girl, Lauren, and they had their heads close together and red cheeks as they strolled out of class.

By lunchtime, the entire school was buzzing about the Cullens. The people who had seen Alice called her adorable and sweet, those who had met Edward could say nothing except he was polite and gorgeous, and Rosalie was a legend. Apparently she was some kind of supermodel angel hybrid, too beautiful to even look at for too long.

They sat alone in the cafeteria, Alice arriving to the table first. She glanced at me, having known exactly where I was sitting before even I had, and winked, grinning. Edward appeared shortly after, and while they both had food, they didn't eat.

Rosalie was the last to come through the double doors, and every head was turned to gaze at her as she strutted toward the lunch line. Several boys motioned for her to cut in front of them, and so did many girls, so she had bought a small salad and a water in record time, meeting her siblings at the table and sitting with so much grace that I felt just being near her would increase my agility. She was blond, her hair wavy and glorious hanging down over her shoulders, with the same white skin of her siblings. I sensed an attitude coming off of her, like she knew exactly the effect she had on every boy in a mile radius.

Alice and Rosalie were the kind of beautiful that made me insecure, so I tried not to look at them, staring down at my food that I definitely didn't feel like eating. My thoughts were scattered – Jacob was the focal point, especially his skin this morning as he stretched in my bedroom; was he okay? Had he made it to school?; did the wolves know the vampires now attended Forks High?; why were the vampires here?; were they safe, or did they have bad motives?

Also, what even was Edward Cullen?

I looked up at him, wondering what his expression would look like when he wasn't appearing disgusted with and/or confused by me, but my wonderings went unsettled; he was already staring at me, his brows pulled taut in concentration, his jaw clenched. His hand wasn't covering his mouth, but he didn't look like he was breathing. Alice and Rosalie chit-chatted at his side, but he was completely ignoring them.

My considerations last night were slowly making themselves clear; it didn't appear that Alice or Rosalie, both vampires, had any problems in a room filled with humans.

Edward, however, did.

Or did he just have a problem with me?

I am definitely telling Jacob about this, I thought furiously, glaring back at him until he looked away, smiling again. Did he think I was funny for hating him? Because I did, I definitely hated him – he was rude, consistently angered or uncomfortable, and made it known. He was conceited, finding himself above the situation with the wolves last night. And he must be nosey, or something, because he had gone through all the effort of enrolling in my school for the simple joy of staring at me.

Well, I knew that wasn't true, but the guy really did need to stop staring. It freaked me out, especially considering what I suspected – that there was something about my scent which he found unbearable. I didn't know for sure that it was unbearably good, but either way, he was not someone I wanted to see every day.

Of course, my wishes were never granted. Edward was in all three of my classes after lunch, and blatantly sat next to me in every one of them, although he looked pained the entire time. I wondered if vampires could go indefinitely without breathing; if not all of them, this one definitely could.

The worst part of Edward stalking me was the reactions of my friends. Angela, who I had just admitted my boyfriend suspicions to, looked impressed of all things; Jessica looked jealous, Mike looked even poutier than he had this morning, and Lauren just looked hateful as usual. Edward was polite to everyone, but never overly friendly – except to me.

"Bella, do you have a ride home?" he asked after the bell rang, and I nodded quickly, already excited to see Jacob. So excited, in fact, that I couldn't even be mean to Edward.

"I have a truck, and besides, I'm going straight to La Push anyway," I said, walking ahead of Edward and not at all surprised when he caught up with me and matched my pace.

"Oh, how fun. Did you end up getting any sleep last night?"

"Some," I replied quickly, digging through my backpack for my keys and finding them at the bottom, as usual. I checked both ways before crossing the street into the parking lot, Edward still at my side.

"Which one is yours?"

"The truck," I said, stalking down one of the aisles.

"You are so frustrating," he breathed, and I laughed out loud, reaching my truck and circling it to get to the driver's side.

"Me?" I asked, unlocking it and glaring at him as I opened it.

"I never know what you're thinking," he said, and then looked angry with himself for saying too much.

I paused, remembering what my Jacob had said about the wolves' suspicion that one of the vampires had a gift they weren't mentioning; when Jacob had barked/laughed in the clearing, Edward had immediately known why he was laughing, despite Jake being in wolf form and unable to clarify. Context clues, he'd said. I never know what you're thinking. His confusion with and anger at me was almost constant. Perhaps those had nothing to do with my scent, and instead were referring to a different frustration I was causing him?

He swallowed, looking like he knew I was trying to figure him out. "See you tomorrow, Bella," he said, nodding and turning on his heel. Without really wanting to, I watched him leave and then followed him with my eyes through one of my truck's windows, watching him approach a very expensive-looking silver Volvo where his sisters were waiting. They both looked concerned, and his lips moved just slightly, like he was speaking at full speed under his breath. In sync, both girls turned to look at me, and their golden eyes were icy.

The drive to La Push was too long. When I finally got there, I leapt out of my truck and bounded to Billy's front door, bursting through it without knocking. "It's Bella!" I called, surprised by the lack of sound in response. "Jacob? Billy?" I shouted, walking past the empty kitchen and checking the living room. There was no one there.

Surely Jacob had gotten home from school by now? I was almost positive his got out earlier than mine, even. "Jake?"

I didn't like this at all; where was my Jacob? How was I even to know that he'd gotten home safely this morning? I raced through the rest of the house, coming up with nothing, and ran to his shed, knowing Billy couldn't even maneuver his wheelchair through the mud toward it. The Rabbit was there, looking as it had when I'd last seen it, but my Jacob wasn't.

"No," I breathed, running back up to the house and slipping in the mud once; my knees were muddy when I scrambled to my feet, making it into the kitchen and washing my hands hastily before dialing Sam's number. It rang, and rang, and rang. Nothing. "No!" I screamed, dialing Emily's number. That too rang, and rang, and rang.

I didn't have anyone else to call; Billy would have been my first choice had he been home. Just as I had decided to drive around looking for my Jacob, the phone rang, and I yanked it off the wall. "Hello?" I demanded.

"Bella," Billy's voice said, gravelly but well. So he was okay. "Jake said you'd be coming to the house."

"You've talked to him? Is he okay?" I asked, breathless. This morning's image of a car hitting a giant wolf was fading, but a new image of that horrible brown-haired vampire woman attacking my Jacob was blurring my vision.

"He's with Sam, he said they got some new information. Made me go visit Emily at her house, even, so must have been important."

"Who's with you?"

"Huh?"

"What boy do they have staying with you?"

"Oh, uh, Paul."

"Let me talk to him."

"Bella—"

"Please, Billy."

He sighed, and then there were low voices, the phone exchanging hands. "Bella?" Paul's voice asked, and somehow it relieved me.

"Where's my Jacob?"

"With Sam, like Billy said."

"Paul, I swear to—" I cut off, sighing and putting one hand over my face. "Go change and tell me where they are."

"You can't go out there."

"I would just like to know where he is, thank you."

"I dunno if Sam would like that…"

"Honestly, Paul, I do not care what Sam would or wouldn't like. He will understand. Go turn into a wolf, find out where my Jacob is, and then come back inside and tell me."

"Fine, dang." He sounded agitated, and I hoped his anger would help him transform faster. The phone didn't go dead, and I waited, biting my nails anxiously. I counted to one hundred, then backwards, and tried saying the ABCs backwards but couldn't manage it. How long did it take to talk to them?

"Hey, Bella," Paul finally said, and my heart stopped for a second. "You, uh – stay where you are, okay?"

"What? No. Where's Jacob?"

"He's on his way to you, they're bringing him."

"What? Who?"

"Sam and Jared and Jacob, hold tight." And he hung up.

No.

What had happened to my Jacob?

I didn't really know how long I waited for them to get to Jacob's house, because I didn't remember waiting. I know there was a lot of pacing and a lot of struggling to breathe, many moments where I debated leaving to find them and even more times where I wanted to call the police. But the police was my dad, and I didn't know how to explain to him that I was concerned Jacob had been harmed while in wolf form.

I heard them coming before I saw them. Well, I heard Jared; a vigorous and colorful display of profanity nearly shook the windows of Jacob's tiny house as they came through the trees, two large russet boys carrying another one carefully between the two of them. I knew well enough that one of them could have held Jared on their own, confused about it until I saw him.

Jared's leg was wrapped in what looked like pieces of clothing tied with vines, and more vines had been used to hold several thick tree branches to his back in an attempt to keep it straight.

Jacob, however, was one of the transporters; he looked at me and smiled weakly as he jogged toward his house, and I opened the door for them and darted out of the way, knowing it would be hard enough for them to fit through the doorway without a tiny girl blocking it.

They carried Jared into the house all the way to Jacob's room, lying him down on the bed. He was screaming, his face red, and Sam looked very much the concerned father figure. He barked orders to Jacob and to Paul, whose appearance I hadn't noticed. So the wolves really did travel fast.

There was a twenty minute window where I paced nervously again, but out of confusion rather than worry; Jacob didn't leave the room after he had brought a steaming bucket of water into it, and I kept looking at the door, hearing occasional shouts and struggling grunts.

Finally, after there hadn't been any sounds for a while, the door opened, and Paul emerged, looking drawn. Several scratches covered his arms, and his eyes were tired, his face sweaty. "Hey, Bella."

"Hey, Paul," I replied mechanically, looking him over. Did Jacob look like that?

"Jared, um – the vampire woman was close and Jared saw her and went after her before we did. She broke his leg and his back and got away again."

"Oh, jeez." I didn't know what else to say; being a werewolf seemed to be a very dangerous occupation. I was just glad it wasn't my Jacob, but never would have said that aloud.

"We heal fast, though, just had to keep him still and keep him from phasing. His bones have set, now they're just kinda sealing up."

"I'm glad he's healing. Where's Jacob?"

A laugh sounded from the room, and there was a sound like someone stood up, my Jacob appearing behind Paul. He looked about the same, sweaty and worn out, but he didn't have any scratches.

"Sorry," Paul muttered, passing behind Jacob and closing the room door behind him. I bolted down the hall and threw myself into Jacob's arms, trying very hard not to start crying but of course finding it impossible.

"Frickin Paul," I growled into Jacob's shoulder, and he laughed again. My legs were around his waist and my arms around his neck, and he was holding me there easily. I was probably lighter than a werewolf boy. "He made it sound like you were hurt."

"Nah, I'm good," he said, kissing the side of my neck where I was closest to his lips. I pulled back to look at him, him supporting all of my weight while I clung to him. I touched his face, and he turned his cheek into my hand, closing his eyes.

"How was school?" I asked, and he grinned.

"Dull compared to what's been happening. What about you? You smell like vampire," he seemed to realize, his eyes opening wide. "What happened?"

"Those vampire vegetarians, the Cullens, they enrolled at my school, don't ask me how. Edward, Alice, and another girl, Rosalie." For a brief moment, I was grateful that Alice and Rosalie were vampires; they wouldn't be competition for me when the smell of them burned Jacob's nose. I felt like an idiot for having the thought and shook it away quickly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, all in my year, too. I don't know why, but I think I figured something out about Edward. He was a little bit – stalky, today, I guess."

"Stalky?"

"Yeah, like we had some classes together and he sat by me in them. Walked me to my truck, too, it was bizarre especially with everyone watching us. He was obviously a superstar there, nobody's ever seen real-life supermodels before." I made my disgust with the vampire boy very clear, but Jacob's face pinched in anger anyway.

"What did you figure out about him?"

"It's kind of hard to explain," I said, feeling guilty that I was keeping Jacob from Jared. I loosened my legs and he let me stand, keeping his arms around me.

"I'm just glad you're okay," I said when he didn't speak, hugging him tightly again. He was shirtless, as he had been for days it seemed, and his heart was beating so quickly in his chest.

"Why would they enroll at your school?" he murmured absentmindedly, and when I glanced up at him he looked distant. "We'll have to talk to Sam about it when Jared's good."

"Yeah," I said, wishing I hadn't said anything. He was already worried without me adding to it. "Jake, you need to sit down or something. You can go back in there."

"No, I'm staying with you. Actually, let me shower," he murmured, still looking thoughtful. He leaned down and kissed my forehead directly between my eyes, holding my face. "I missed you today, Bella."

I grinned up at him, putting my hands over him. "I missed you too, like crazy."

That made him smile, and he kissed the same spot again, grabbing a towel. "Five minutes," he said, pointing at me, and I nodded, crossing my arms like I was going to wait in the hallway. He laughed and disappeared into the bathroom, and I sighed when he closed the door, already exhausted.

I walked slowly to the living room and sat down on the loveseat, taking off my sweatshirt so I was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt. I was hot all of a sudden, extremely tired, and rested my head on the loveseat's arm, taking a deep breath and trying not to fall asleep.

I didn't even hear Jake come into the room, but he lifted me up and slid onto the loveseat, setting me back down on his lap facing him how we'd sat in the Rabbit and on my bed. His hair was wet and tangled still, unbrushed, and I ran my fingers through it. "I love your hair, Jacob."

"I think I have to cut it," he said, and I glanced up at him, confused. "You know how I'm like super shaggy as a wolf? That's because my hair is so long. It's more practical, and definitely cleaner, to have short hair." My expression was apparently not the most cheerful, because he quickly backpedaled. "I mean, it's not a requirement—"

"I love your hair either way, silly," I said, grinning at him. "Do whatever's best. As long as I can still run my fingers through it." As example, I dragged my fingers through a spot near his face, carefully untangling the knots.

"That works," he said, still smiling. He looked like he wanted to ask about something serious but didn't want to ruin the moment, and I definitely didn't want to talk about Edward anymore, taking his face in my hands.

"I might actually consider making you switch schools," I said, and he laughed. "Today was so lame."

"You're telling me! I wanted to meet you at your school, as a surprise, but then the woman came onto the reservation. She's not the smartest, I don't think, but she's got all the vampireness behind her."

I laughed at his word choice, nodding. I was so tired, today's worries and last night's lack of sleep hitting me in that moment. I leaned my forehead against his shoulder briefly, sighing. "You're perfect, Jake."

"So are you." We were quiet for a second, and then I felt his heartbeat speed up just a touch. "Bella," he murmured, and I pulled back to look at him, seeing his expression was a mix of scared and happy.

"Jacob." I wrinkled my brow, trying to figure out what he was going to do.

"Um." He paused, fear overpowering the happiness on his face for a brief second, but then getting stifled. He took my face in his hands, kissing my forehead and then meeting my eyes again. "Permission?" he asked, his voice a whisper.

My mouth nearly fell open; was he asking what I thought he was asking? I blinked and smiled, biting my bottom lip and nodding. "Permission."