*** for those of you re-reading, as of 1.16.11, this chapter has been re-done. as i've said in chapter 2 and 3 - i had no idea how much they sucked! there were just parts i really didn't like or didn't make much sense, so i re-wrote them in an attempt to get my muse up and running around. ***

A/N - Didn't get many reviews, but I was very happy to see how many readers added this story to their favs and alerts, so thank you!

I've had this storyline plotted out for awhile, but it's an evolving one, as I try my best to keep true to the characters.

Should I continue with the Victoria plotline, (with my own twist of course!)?

Disclaimer - SM owns this, but I wish Jacob existed beyond the pages of her stories!

Right now, I am confused
Right now, I don't exactly know what to choose
This day feels so unlike the rest
Right now, I am confused
I feel a burden in my spirit today
Feels like everything that I've ever trusted in
Has been washed away
I feel like I'm grappling for the truth

Confused – Natalie Brown

Bella and Alice sat together in Bella's room, flipping through some magazines while the radio played quietly in the background. Alice watched Bella carefully, waiting for her to finally bring up what was on her mind.

"So what's going on, Bella?" Alice finally asked. "We've been sitting here almost an hour and I know you didn't ask me to come over her to read magazines and listen to the radio. You've got something on your mind."

Bella laughed awkwardly. "Well, I guess I should realize by now that you know me so much more then I do. But you're right. Soo... I talked to Jacob after you dropped me off at the reservation."

Alice went still. Even if she hadn't been able to see the future, she would have known that disgusting dog smell anywhere. Who else would she have been going to see? Alice mentally chastised herself. Exposing Bella to a teenage werewolf had been the last thing she wanted to do but when Bella had asked she'd been unable no. She'd seen Bella make up her mind, and knew that she would find a way to the reservation anyway. She had also managed to ignore Edward's dark glares from her when she'd arrived home and translating the Star Spangled Banner into Mandarin had kept him from hearing too many of her thoughts. "And…?" Alice asked softly, gently taking Bella's hand in her icy one. "What happened?"

Bella flinched at her friend's cold touch and Alice had quickly removed her hands, hoping Bella wouldn't read too much into it. She relaxed when Bella began to speak again. "I felt so bad about what happened at the hospital, him seeing me with Edward and everything, so I felt like I had to go and explain myself to him. I told him how I'm torn between these loyalties I'm supposed to have and the fact that I'm tired of trying to do 'the right thing' when I'm not even sure what it is. Then, Alice... "

Alice's eyes narrowed. She hated not being able to see the wolves. "What?"

Bella flopped backwards on the bed, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. "I don't know if I should be telling you this, since I'm supposed to be dating your brother and all…"

Alice sighed. As much as she wanted to protect Edward, she also knew that he only wanted happiness for Bella. She was determined to be Bella's friend, no matter what. Edward loved her – that fact no one could deny. And no matter how much they all wanted her to join their family, Edward would fight against Bella changing as long as he could. "It's ok, Bella," Alice said lightly, trying to keep the mood bright. "I love my brother, but you're my friend and we only want to see you happy."

Bella's eyes moved to study her friend's face, which had been carefully arranged into a blank mask. She sighed again. Wasn't there anyone else to talk to? She shifted her weight uncomfortably on the mattress and debated whether or not to say anymore. But she didn't know who else to turn to.

"Bella…" Alice prodded, fidgeting poignantly with the magazine. This line of conversation was making her nervous. She didn't want speak negatively of Jacob, when Bella only thought he was trying to be a good friend, but how could she explain her open dislike of him? But for the sake of her friendship with Bella, she knew that she would be a better friend by listening as well as she could.

Bella gave her a look, again unsure of how much to share with the sister of her boyfriend. "I don't think we should talk about Jacob anymore."

Alice managed to display an expression of confusion rather than one of irritation. She hated not being able to see Bella when she was around those dogs. "Then why were you in such a hurry to talk to me?"

Bella gave herself a light smack on the forehead. "Oh yeah," Bella replied, feeling a little stupid. "I touched him and there were these little fuzzy pictures all around my head and I didn't know what they were! I saw Jacob with long hair, and a guy in wheelchair? I saw an old red truck, and a beach with lots of rocks and driftwood… and then something else, I don't even know how to describe it…"

"What is it, Bella?" Alice asked softly, leaning forward. Was she remembering?

"All I got were words…. The cold ones…" Bella continued quietly, sitting up again. "That's the first time that's happened. And it's all because of Jacob..."

Alice went still again. "The cold ones?" she asked, forcing her voice to appear normal and light. "What does that mean?"

Bella shook her head. "I have no idea."

Before Alice could speak again, the phone that lay between them trilled loudly, causing Bella to jump. Alice, of course, didn't seem to notice, a far off look in her eyes. Bella watched her for a moment, confused, before finally reaching for the phone.

The ID read "Emily", but the name didn't mean a thing to her. "Hello?" She said cautiously.

"Bella!" a sweet voice replied. "Hey, it's Emily."

"Emily…" Bella repeated slowly.

"Oh geez!" The voice named Emily sounded embarrassed. "I'm sorry! Um, I'm a friend of Jacob's. Well, yours too, but you know me through Jacob."

"Ook…" Bella said, still feeling confused.

Alice's eyes refocused and she began watching her friend closely.

"Well, anyway, there's a bonfire down at the reservation tonight, and I know Jacob would be really happy if you could be there. Everyone that you were… are… oh shoot! Um…." Emily's words become jumbled.

Bella shook her head. "No, I get it. Friends. Just because I don't remember them doesn't mean they don't exist," she said, a little bitterly. She bit her lip, immediately regretting her tone. "Um, sorry…"

"Oh, that's ok!" Emily replied quickly, the sweetness reappearing in her voice. "Everyone here would just really like to see you. And uh, you know… maybe it would help…?"

"Yeah…. Sure…." Bella said, feeling a little overwhelmed. Great, she thought, a bunch more people I don't know.

"Oh, you don't have to come if you don't want to!" Emily sounded distressed.

Again, Bella felt like a jerk. "I'll be there!" she said hurriedly, forcing her voice to sound pleased. "It might do me some good!"

"Great!" Emily replied, her voice relieved. "We'll start around 8, when the sun goes down. You can meet me at my house. Charlie knows where it is."

"Ok, see you then!" Bella said, pleased when her voice sounded excited.

"Bye!" Emily chirped, and Bella closed the phone.

She collapsed back against the bed again. Despite already knowing the answer, Alice asked, "Who was that?"

"Um, Emily?" Bella sputtered out, again feeling confused. "There's a bonfire on the reservation tonight and she wanted to invite me to see some of my friends there." She looked at Alice hopefully. "You wouldn't want to come with me, would you?"

Alice coughed suddenly, and shook her head, almost a little too vigorously. "I don't think that's a good idea, Bella."

"Why not?" Bella asked, once again feeling confused. "You took me down there earlier."

"Oh, I've just got plans with Jasper," She looked down at her watch and jumped off the bed. "I should go." She leaned over and gave Bella a quick hug. "Call me, later, ok? We need to talk some more!" And with that, she danced out of the room, leaving Bella to stare after her with her mouth agape.

What was that all about?

Paris, you handsome, woman-mad deceiver, you shouldn't have been born, or killed unmarried. I wish you had - it would have been far better than having you our shame, whom all suspect, Or having the long-haired Acheans laugh when you appear as champion-champion beauty - But have no strength, nor character, nor courage...

"Reciting The Iliad tonight, Alice?" Edward's cold voice said from behind her.

Alice didn't bother turning around. "It's a classic, Edward. I assumed you would appreciate it."

He hissed at her, but didn't move from his position in the doorway. "I'm not a fan of Book Three. I found Book Sixteen much more engaging." His tone of became harsher. "Now…what aren't you telling me?"

"Give me your armor to put on your shoulders; The Trojans might suppose I was you, hold back, and give the Acheans' sons a breather, for breathing spells in war are very few," She quoted at him, finally turning around. She arched a delicate eyebrow at him. He rolled his golden eyes in return, crossing his arms across his cold, marble chest. "There's nothing to tell, brother," she said lightly, dancing by him, out into the hallway. "I was just in the mood for some 8th century Greek poetry."

He hissed at her again. "Book Sixteen won't distract me either." But Alice just laughed her musical laugh at him and disappeared down the stairs.

Bella stood in front of Emily's house, nervously rubbing her arms. Charlie hadn't wanted her to come tonight, but Renee, who had been staying in Forks since Bella's accident, had finally convinced Charlie that Bella had to leave the house sometime. Charlie had begrudgingly agreed, muttering something about how he hoped Billy would keep a better eye on her than his son had.

Despite his complaints, Charlie had volunteered to drive her over, and in true Charlie fashion, managed to make the car ride more awkward then it already was. By the time they had arrived, Bella had practically leapt out of the car. No matter how nervous she felt about the bonfire, anything had to better than being trapped in the car with Charlie.

But now standing in front of Emily's house, she was so nervous that she couldn't bring herself to approach the door. Charlie had filled her in on some people she might meet, mostly friends of Jacob. Embry, Quil, Seth and Jared sounded like total goofballs, and she was actually looking forward to talking with them, hoping that she would feel instantly comfortable around them. Charlie's description of Sam's air of authority made her shiver. She was also worried about meeting Paul – Charlie had mentioned he was sensitive and quick to become angry. And then there Leah – she'd made a mental note during her father's endless rambling that Leah had dated Sam before Emily and that she was still quite bitter about the whole thing. She did a swift tally inside her head, hoping that she'd remembered everyone.

Bella was still thinking when the front door banged open and Embry bounded out. "Bella!" he cried excitedly. She backed away from him, eyes wide, but he scooped her up into his arms and swung her around, laughing, before she could make an attempt to stop him. "It's so great to see you! Everyone's missed you so much!"

"Put her down, Embry!" Emily demanded from the now wide open doorway. "What are you trying to do, scare the poor girl to death?"

Embry's eyes flew open in embarrassment as he quickly remembered Bella's accident. "Oops," he said sheepishly, placing her down gently on her feet.

Bella smoothed her shirt back in place uncomfortably. "Uh… it's ok… Embry?" She said slowly, hoping she'd picked the right answer.

He grinned, happy that she remembered him. "Yup, that's me!"

Two more boys appeared in the doorway behind Emily, and Bella assumed, from Charlie's apparently very accurate descriptions, that they were Quil and Seth. They waved to her, cautiously. Bella managed a very weak smile and waved back.

"Why don't you come inside," Emily suggested, stepping back to allow her entrance. "We're just finishing gathering up the food before we head down to the beach."

Everyone hurried back inside to finish their assigned tasks, Bella following slowly behind. She stood awkwardly next to the door, watching everyone move through the house. She studied Emily for a moment, hoping that the older girl wouldn't notice. She gasped when she saw the scars and struggled to contain her reaction, not wanting to upset anyone.

Emily turned towards her at the sound, and blushed slightly, gently touching the side of her face. "Don't worry about it, Bella," she said quietly, shaking her head. "I know that this is like seeing them for the first time. But please don't mention it to Sam."

Bella looked at her in confusion, but before she had a chance to say anything else, a pair of strong hands grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back outside onto the porch. She started to screamed and struggled against her captor, but the voice quickly said, "It's ok, Bells, it's just me."

She turned around and came face to face with Jacob. She relaxed slightly, and was surprised by how pleased she was to see him. "Hey," she said slowly.

"I didn't know you were coming," he whispered. He tentatively reached his fingers towards her face, and when she didn't protest, he gently pushed away a few strands of loose hair, tucking them behind her ear. "But I'm glad you're here…. I've missed you."

Bella felt like all the air had gone out of her lungs. The heat of his body surrounded her and she felt the overwhelming urge to kiss him…

"Hey!" The front door banged open again and Quil bounded out to the porch. He stopped short when he saw Bella and Jacob. Jacob growled at him, and Quil had the grace to blush and quickly retreat inside.

Bella took the opportunity to step back and she swiftly inhaled a deep breath, almost relieved by the cool air that quickly shocked her out of her reverie, and the moment was over. Jacob confused her. He made her feel things that she didn't understand. She looked back up at him. He was staring at her, a disappointed look on his face. "I, uh… didn't mean to surprise you by being here," she mumbled. "Emily called and invited me.

"No, honey," he said softly. "I'm just… glad you're here. That's all." He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Well, I suppose we should help everyone finish so we can get down there."

Bella nodded quickly in agreement and followed him back inside.

Anything to avoid being alone with him anymore.

Bella walked behind the rest of the group as they headed towards the beach. The boys galloped ahead, laughing and joking, almost as if they hadn't noticed the large loads they were carrying in their hands. She studied them, confused by their large, graceful movements. Emily had only given her a small basket to carry, and she found it difficult to maneuver along the trail. She sighed. Perhaps that was the uncoordinated part of her that Alice had reminded her about.

"Hey Bella," Emily said, stopping and turning to wait for her to catch up. "I'm so happy you decided to come out tonight. The boys keep asking Jacob when you're going to come around again."

Bella shrugged. "I'm trying," she mumbled. Emily blushed slightly, as if she were worried she had offended her. Bella groaned inwardly. If she kept being nasty to everyone, she wasn't going to have any friends left. "So um, is this thing going to be weird tonight? You know… because of my, um…" She didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"Oh, no," Emily reassured her. "They know. Sam told them in no uncertain terms were they to make you feel uncomfortable about anything." She smiled at Bella. "And besides, Jacob will knock anyone's lights out that come near you anyway," she continued, but then added hastily when she saw the shocked look on Bella's face, "I mean that in the best way possible! He's just protective of you, and he's very concerned about you getting better. He's not that kind of violent, don't worry."

Bella nodded. She assumed that was supposed to make her feel better, but it didn't.

"Jacob's a good guy, Bella. He's not possessive or crazy. He's just terribly protective of the people that he cares about, and he's even more sensitive about it since the accident," Emily added, sensing that Bella was still uncomfortable.

"Uh, thanks, Emily," Bella replied. "I'm just nervous about hanging out with people that I'm supposed to know but don't remember. It's awkward to be a stranger, watching your own life. It's almost like a movie in another language. Like I'm supposed to know what's happening, but somehow can't get a grip on it."

Emily nodded and reached over to gently pat Bella on the shoulder. "You'll have fun, I promise."

Bella attempted a small smile. She certainly hoped so…

Bella stood at the outskirts of the group, watching them talk and laugh, setting out the food and drinks. She'd placed her basket with the other items, but then quickly stepped back. She felt like she needed to watch everything first. Maybe if she did, something would happen that could find familiar… maybe then everything wouldn't be so awkward.

She'd realized, when they reached the fire pit, that this was the beach she had seen inside her head earlier. She knew then that it meant she was remembering things - it was exhilarating, but scary. She blew out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. Fun, she reminded herself sternly. You're supposed to be having fun.

Jacob saw her standing alone and approached her slowly. She attempted to smile and him and failed, so she hugged her arms around her torso and waited for him to speak. "You ok?"

She shook her head, looking down at her feet, as she watched the toe of her shoe push a rock back and forth across the sand.

He placed his warm hand on the small of her back, attempting to comfort her. "It's going to be alright, Bells. I'm here with you… ok?"

Bella tried to smile back, and almost succeeded this time. "Thanks," she said.

He gently took her hand and she allowed him to lead her across the sand towards the sitting logs surrounding the fire. They found seats and as she watched him talk to Seth and Sam, she realized she felt entirely left out. And while no one gave her weird looks, she could just barely hear their whispers as they walked past. She wanted to cry - she knew this would be a bad idea.

"Jacob," she said, still gripping his hand tightly. "I don't know if I want to stay."

He put a hand on her cheek. "If you don't want to stay, that's ok. How about a little food and conversation, and if you still wanna go, we can. How does that sound?"

Bella hardly heard what he said because she was entirely too focused on his hand on her cheek. A group of guys, pushing, shoving her…. She was so scared… a silver car? Jacob took his hand away and the fuzzy pictures stopped. Bella shook her hand to clear the images and quickly jumped up, moving quickly around the fire pit to where Emily and all the food sat. Jacob sat there, bewildered. 'What the hell?' he thought.

As the evening wore on, Bella began to realize that she was enjoying herself. Seth, Quil and Embry were hilarious and whenever Sam was near, she felt safe and in control. Jared helped her make s'mores, which she found surprisingly good, and watching Paul and Jacob playfully wrestling each other on the beach made her laugh until she almost threw up.

But Jacob... Bella spent the whole night avoiding touching him because she was afraid what she might see if she did, and while she desperately wanted to remember her old life, she wasn't sure why Jacob made her feel the way she did. She just wasn't ready yet.

"Come ooooooon guys..." Embry whined. "Can we just jump in the water once? I won't even ask you for anything EVER again!" He crossed his fingers in a X over his heart. "Cross my heart, scout's honor, solemn pledge and all that happy jazz. PPLLEEEEEEEAAAAAAASE!" He gave the group puppy eyes.

"Oh, shut the hell up!" Sam groaned, rolling his eyes and tossing a hotdog bun in Embry's direction. "No one wants to get in the water."

"I will," Bella said suddenly, standing up. Everyone turned to gape at her. She was surprised at herself, being so bold.

"Let's go!" Embry said excitedly, running over and grabbing her hand.

She laughed at him then, and allowed him to drag her over to the water. Her eyes widened as Embry unabashedly stripped off his shirt, but as she watched him dash into the water, she decided to throw caution to the wind. She'd been scared enough lately, and it was tiring. Nothing wrong with having a little fun, right? She thought to herself. She kicked off her shoes, and pulled off the long sleeve shirt she had on over her tank top.

She dove into the water, exhilarated as the water rushed over her. For a moment, she considered never again rising to the surface. It was so quiet there…. So peaceful…

Her thoughts were disrupted as Embry reached through the water, grabbing her ankle. She jumped to the surface, splashing in his direction. He laughed in response, and before she could stop him, his long arms crossed the expanse between, promptly ducking her head back under the water.

Embry made it easy to forget, for those 3 minutes, how much she felt like she was living someone else's life…

By herself in the water now, Bella bobbed quietly in the waves, letting them softly butt against her waist as she stood there, watching the moon claim its' place in the night sky. She hated that she couldn't remember the reasons why so many things that night had made her think. What was so special about these bonfires? Or the beach? Why did touching Jacob make her fall apart inside? Why couldn't she remember all the inside jokes Embry and Quil seem to have? What happened to her childhood memories of her and Jacob? Seth was a such a dork - and she couldn't remember that either!

Bella was snapped back to the present when she heard Jacob calling her name. She looked up to see him walking towards her across the sand. She heard Jared and Seth yell down from the bonfire. "Come on, Bella!'

She sighed, and unwillingly turned around to make her way towards the beach. As her bare feet touched the sand, a wave hit her ankles, causing her to lose balance. Before she could fall, Jacob reached out for her, and she instinctively reached to him to steady herself. She tried catching herself, but suddenly she was falling into his arms….

Edward saying goodbye, the pain, oh the pain… her heart shattering into a million pieces… falling, tripping into the wet leaves… the darkness came to claim her and she lay there, waiting for it to swallow her whole…

Bella blinked away the images to see Jacob leaning above her, hands positioned on either side of her head, his knees straddling her own, staring intently into her face. She blushed, and then felt her cheeks, surprised to feel her owns tears on them. "Sorry," she said, hurriedly wiping them away, hoping he hadn't noticed. "I spaced out a little." She spread out her hands, surprised to find that she was laying on her back in the sand.

He smiled back, looking relieved. "I noticed. It's ok. I like looking at you," He watched her a moment longer. "Are you ok, Bella?" He touched her head gently. "Does your head hurt? You tripped, and if I hadn't been there to catch you, it looked like you would have gone down like a load of bricks…"

Bella shook her head, again feeling embarrassed. "I, uh... I think there's... there's something... you should know."

Jacob sat there, unsure of what to say because the only thing he could think about was the look in her eyes and the way his body felt, laying above her the way he was, in such an intimate pose. Mentally, he was kicking himself for setting this whole fiasco in motion to begin with, but he also knew there was nothing he could do to change the way things were.

Bella couldn't speak. It was too easy to just sit there and watch him look at her and wonder what he was thinking. It was awful looking into the eyes of a guy who was most certainly in love with her and she couldn't even remember why. All she wanted was to remember everything and get back to the way life had been before all these crazy things had happened. Her eyes trailed up one arm, across the expanse of his chest and down the other arm. His body was so strong, so powerful, and it should have made her nervous, but it didn't. She quickly realized that he was surrounding her in every way – and it tied her stomach in knots, the warmth creeping through her thighs. She blushed deeply, and was glad he couldn't see it in the darkness.

He felt her body change, smelled as her scent became darker, more musky. It caused his pelvis to spasm involuntarily and he felt himself grow hard. The heat spread like wildfire through his veins and he imagined, for a brief moment, her soft and nude, back arched, softly calling his name. He fought against his body's urge's to lean closer, and reluctantly, Jacob wretched his gaze away from hers and realized they were the only two left on the beach. The others must have left while he was helping Bella out of the water. Or perhaps they were actually trying to give them some privacy. Either way, he was grateful to be alone with her. Against his body's wishes to continue to stay so close to her, he rolled off of her to sit up, willing his body to calm down. Then he put his arms around her shoulders to help her up to a sitting position. He watched for a moment longer before he gestured towards the ocean.

"Look how beautiful," He said softly, reaching over to run his fingers through her damp hair. "There's something wild and untamed and faithful about the ocean." He looked at her again. "Whenever I'm upset or angry, I just look at the ocean and all of life's problems seem to drift away with the tide. Like how I feel when I'm with you."

Bella just stared at him, unable to think. She couldn't forget how her body had reacted to his, so easily, so naturally. His eyes were like chocolate, dark and swirling, and yet so familiar, even though for the life of her, she couldn't remember why she felt the way she did about this man.

"So what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Jacob asked.

"Oh. Well... the other day, at your house, I'm sorry that I just ran away like I did. I felt like I needed to explain myself," Bella said nervously, trying to avoid making eye contact. But Jacob grasped her chin with his thumb and fore finger and tilted her face until she looked at him. She should have known he would make her be brave.

"So...?" He said quietly, intently gazing into her eyes. "It's ok, Bella. I know this can't be easy for you and as hard as it is on me, I just want what's best for you. I know that I asked you to give us a chance, and that's all that I'm going to ask of you. I can't ask you to automatically remember everything and to expect that everything's going to be ok when we both know that it's not."

"Thank you. But you should know," Bella said insistently.

"Alright," He said, leaning back in the sand.

"Ok," She said. "I freaked out because when you hugged me, I started… having flashbacks. I saw you, but with longer hair. And a guy in a wheelchair? Charlie told me that was your dad…. My truck too… and something about… the cold ones. But no one could tell me what that meant…"

Jacob went very still beside her, unsure of how to react. He hoped she wouldn't ask him about that because he had no clue how to begin to answer it. He was beyond relieved when she continued to speak.

"I was really freaked out at first because I didn't know what I was remembering and then I was nervous about being around you because I didn't know why I was remembering things almost every time I touched you. It kinda freaked me out."

Jacob sighed and ran his hands through his hair. 'Wow,' he thought. 'She's finally remembering things. What does all of this mean?'

But when he looked at her again, her face was much closer to his then what he remembered she was only seconds earlier. Then he noticed her lips, and how soft they looked. Slowly he leaned in towards her and touched her cheek with his fingertips softly, urging her mouth towards his.

They were about a millimeter apart when he looked into her eyes again. They were bright and shining, glowing in the moonlight, and he noticed that spark he thought had disappeared was still there... faint, but definitely still there. He smiled and...

A cold wave of water rolled over them, throwing them apart. They both laughed a little nervously, unsure of what had just happened between them. They quickly jumped backwards, attempting to avoid the next wave that was headed their way.

Jacob looked at her from the corner of his eye, unable to face her when he knew the disappointment he felt was evident in his expression. "So, I guess we should head back."

"Uh, yeah" Bella replied quietly, grabbing her t-shirt and slipping her feet back into the shoes she had discarded earlier.

As they headed back towards the bonfire, Bella kept a few feet of space between them, almost afraid that if she got too close to him, she wouldn't be able to stop herself the next time he almost kissed her.

As they entered the ring of sitting logs, they found Emily tapping her foot impatiently. "Jacob Black. I have been waiting on you to carry this last cooler. I thought you two had drowned down there or something."

Jacob rolled his eyes at her, but smiled, and obligingly collected the offending cooler. He slung it casually over one shoulder, as if it didn't contained the 50 pounds of whatever Emily had carefully stuffed inside.

As he sauntered away, Emily and Bella looked at each other and giggled. "Poor Jake," Emily said. "He never manages to avoid the heavy lifting."

Bella laughed too, but on the inside she felt left out again, because she absolutely couldn't understand what Emily was talking about, but didn't feel like telling her so. She was tired of being the one always asking the questions.

"C'mon Bella," Emily said, linking their arms together. "I can lend you some dry clothes at the house. Oh, and we're supposed to watch a movie if you would like to stay, and it's my turn to pick. But I may need some help, or the boys might convince me to watch some disgusting guy fighting movie."

"Sounds good!" Bella replied, laughing, not bothering to tell Emily that no matter what movie they picked, it wouldn't be one that she would remembering seeing in the first place. Together, they disappeared into the swallowing darkness of the forest, and Bella, for once, was quite happy to get lost in the deep blackness of the trees, because when she couldn't see her own shadow in the moonlight she almost forgot she couldn't recognize it anyway…