Mad props to "MyLifeIsAverage" for finding the major plot inconsistency in here. Now, that we're all clear on Paul's last name, carry on :].

ETA: Gah! See my update on my author's page...

That morning, I woke up – crumpled on my couch – to muffled curses. I sat up as I began to discern voices.

"I can't find any? Did he even give you any extra?"

"I don't know. Just find a fucking crow bar and knock me out! I don't care!"

I stumbled half asleep towards Jake's room, where the sounds were emanating. "What's happening?" I asked through the fog of sleep. It took me a moment to register what was going on before me. Jacob – apparently completely sober from the previous evening's high – was in the full swing of genetically-altered healing pain. He was on his bed writhing and swearing rather extensively. I was actually quite surprised.

From behind I felt Paul approach. "Do you know if Carlisle left him anything?" he asked. "If we don't get him something soon, he's going to lose it."

I don't think most people truly realize how much pain is involved in being a La Push wolf. At least when they're healing. I certainly don't. But bearing witness to it has given me a pretty good idea. For one: if they're hurt that bad in the first place, it's going to be ugly. These guys don't break easy, but when they do – it's chaos.

And from listening to them talk, the simple act of healing is painful. Because the process is so expedited it's like there is this concentrated burning at the injury site until all is repaired. Compound that with the natural pain of a severe injury and you have a wolf on the brink of losing control.

"I don't know," I responded stupidly. "He never mentioned it. I don't think so. Is he going to be okay? What's happening?"

Paul braced me by the shoulders and lead me back to the living room. "He's in a lot of pain right. He's going to need something. Soon."

"Okay," I said, my clarity of mind now returned in full with the screaming from the other room. It made me scared and panicked and worried all at the same time. I made an involuntary movement towards the door but Paul stopped me.

Even I knew Jake was too unstable right now to be around humans.

"Look," I said shaking my head. "You go and do… whatever. I'm going to Forks to get Carlisle."

"He's not at the hospital today," Paul replied. "I already called."

"Well," I said as I pulled on my sneakers and grabbed for the truck keys, "then I'll go to his house."

"What!" Paul shouted and stepped in front of me. "I'm not letting you traipse on down to Forks to knock on the door of a house full of predators. Yesterday is still a little raw in my mind."

My eyes narrowed as I stood up to my full height. I was not pleased that Paul was using yesterday's incident to prevent me from helping Jacob. Okay, he was using yesterday's incident to prevent me from getting hurt – his thought process was not actually directly related to my screaming brother. But I didn't care. And truth be told: the Cullens were vile, but I figured I could count on getting some pills out of Carlisle without any of them eating me. It was really my only option.

"Do you hear that?" I growled while jerking my thumb over my shoulder towards the living room wall. "My baby brother is in there screaming like he's fucking dying because some leech ran over him like a meat grinder, yesterday. I got a few stitches. Do not make this hard, Paul. Do not make me choose. I am going to Forks and getting some fucking help and I will cut a bitch who stands in my way. Stop being irrational and get the hell out of my way!"

"I'm not the one being irrational, Rachel!" he shouted his arms flying from his sides as he began to yell. "It's not safe. Your brother's in pain, but it isn't going to kill him. This might kill you. Going to the Cullens is not safe for us."

"For you!" I screamed as I pointed at him. "They'd shoot you on-sight. I'm a civilian in all this, Paul. I'm not on a side!"

"What the fuck do you mean you're not on a side?" he wailed. "Do you really feel that way? Because I kind of thought you had my back?"

"Not on this one, Paul." I shook my head. "When it comes down to this situation, right here, right now. Jake in there. You and me here and Carlisle one town over. I am not on a side. This is neutralized, humanitarian mission."

"I'm not letting you leave."

"Excuse me?" I replied aghast. "You're not my father, Paul, you're my boyfriend. Okay? You don't make that decision for me. I'm not pack, I don't follow commands that way."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath through my nose. I knew the next words out of my mouth were going to get me in a whole heap of trouble. So much so that I knew it was a low blow for even thinking it, but it was the only thing that was going to get me out of here before Jake burst into his wolf and screwed up the whole healing process and mauled me.

"Paul Aaron Lahote," I growled looking him in the eye. "Get the fuck out of my way."

The command was not lost on him. I was his imprint. If I told him to do something he would. I never consciously did it. So far, Paul had only been heeding my subconscious physical and emotional requirements. I had not specifically made him do anything. I knew he absolutely loathed having people order him around. And I knew coming from me it would hurt.

But he was making it so damn hard. I didn't want him to make me choose between getting my brother help and keeping him from getting angry. He knew I had a raging temper. You can only play with fire so long before you get burnt.

"Did you just…" he began in a substantially quieter voice.

I only nodded in reply.

"Fine," he said. "Go."

With that I stormed out of the house and through the drizzle towards the truck. I was trying desperately to convince myself that I had not just royally screwed up. As I barreled down the only road out of La Push towards Forks I tried to calm my breathing and tell myself I made the right choice.

I made it to Forks in fifteen minutes. I only knew of the Cullen residence, having driven past the hidden drive that only barely peeked out of the wall of forest. I'd never actually been there.

The sun was beginning to rise and the light was on my side as I slowed to a steady twenty miles per hour.

I finally noticed the break in the trees and the tell-tale dirt drive ten feet ahead. I did a quick, mental victory dance and chugged along down the dirt path.

It was narrow. That was the first thing I noticed. My small truck barely had clearance on either side. The second thing I noticed was that it was long. Even through the new day's dawn, I couldn't make out the end.

After a few minutes I thought I might've turned down a wrong way. Who the heck would live down here? It made La Push look like a metropolis. But just as I began debating making a three point turn in the underbrush versus going back down the path in reverse, the trees began to thin.

They slowly broke and I could definitely see a massive building ahead. I gulped as I realized where I was. Enemy territory. It would be a lie if I told you I wasn't just a little bit terrified. For a split second I wished I hadn't had to do this alone, then I shook that thought from my head as my mind traveled back my coastal home.

My truck finally pulled into the clearing of what I guess could be the front lawn. I had learned that vampiric senses were superb, so I didn't doubt they heard my '94 F-250 barreling down their driveway. But as of yet, I saw no one.

I gathered my courage as I killed the engine. I was here on a peaceful mission. No one was going to hurt me. As I turned to open my door, a tall, blonde figure materialized not two feet away and almost made me swallow my tongue.

"What are you doing here?" he asked point blank. After the scare from his silent approach wore off, I remembered my strength. I clenched my jaw, sat up straight and looked him right in the eye.

"I'm Rachel Black," I began as diplomatically as I could. I recognized this one as Jasper - one of the only names I knew. The weirder one.

"What are you doing here?" he asked again. That I did not appreciate. Sure, I showed up at his house without any notice, but it's not like any of them slept. And Carlisle was a doctor. Didn't this kind of stuff happen to them on a regular basis?

My eyes narrowed at his rude response. I clicked the door open and swung it. Halfway out it made contact with Jasper's completely solid form. I heard the dull crunch of metal. He didn't seem to notice as he continued to stare me down.

I hopped out of the cab and shut the door. At my full height, I noticed Jasper wasn't much taller than I, which made me feel marginally better.

"Well, Scissorhands, I'm here to talk to Carlisle on my brother's behalf."

"What does he want?"

"That's not really any of your business. And thanks to your impeccable people skills I'm not to inclined to be friendly and divulge that information. Where's Carlisle?"

"Wait here."

Can do. There was no way I was going anywhere near that monolithic haunted house. 1313 Mockingbird Lane if there ever was one. Maybe with a newer coat of paint but it looked just the same.

For a few moments I focused on the new dent in my door. At least it was proof of this psychedelic adventure into the Twilight Zone. Then I heard the quick snap of a screen door closing as Carlisle padded down to front steps.

"Hello Rachel," he smiled. "Sorry about Jasper. Just like you, we've been on high alert since yesterday. Just in case. I'm afraid he didn't recognize you."

That sounded like Carlisle sugarcoating his family's disdain for us. Didn't recognize me? I wreak of my brother, I'm quite obviously Native American, and I identified as family. Not to mention I knew where the heck this house was. What else was he looking for, a blood sample? Probably, I thought darkly.

"Now what can I do for you?" Carlisle asked politely.

"I'm going to need something for my brother. He woke up and was... Like you described. But this morning the pain returned in full. He really needs something, Carlisle."

I didn't want to beg, because I'll be honest and say I'm usually too self-righteous for that. But I was willing to do a lot more than my norm to help Jake, who was now a half hour or more into this pain-riddled consciousness.

"Absolutely," Carlisle nodded. "I'll be right back." He returned with a bottle and explained dosages to me. "Give him two when you get back. And then every four hours after that. If he notices that it doesn't help, then you can give him three every four hours or two every two hours. Okay? You can adjust the dosage or the time. Just not both."

The experimentation had me slightly worried. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," he nodded. "It's near impossibility for him to overdose. Don't worry. I would come by but I have to be at the hospital in a half hour. If you need anything else call Reception and have me paged."

I nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Carlisle. I really appreciate this."

"Not at all. Just remember what I said: don't hesitate to call."

I left the Cullen driveway-from-hell feeling better. I knew that with every passing moment I came closer to La Push, closer to home and closer to stopping that ungodly, heart wrenching screaming.

When I finally made it home I took it as a good sign that the house was still standing and I couldn't hear anything from out here.

I took the orange bottle of pills and made for the house at a jog. When I got inside it was eerily quiet. I stopped only for a moment before heading towards Jacob's room. The door was partially open and I saw him laying down while Leah sat in a chair across the room. Upon noticing me she sprung up silently and we reconvened in the hall.

"What did you do?" I asked astounded.

"I showed him how to meditate," she shrugged with a sly grin as her shaggy waves moved with her. My reaction apparently didn't read like belief. "How do you think I get through the day sometimes? I've become really good at it."

This was a new development. Though I suppose it made sense. How else could Leah tolerate running around with that pack of immature boys.

"Well, I brought painkillers," I jingled the bottle. "Courtesy of Dr. Carlisle Cullen."

"Good. I don't know how long this meditation bit is going to work – it's been quite a day."

"What do you mean?" I asked. It seemed like Leah was talking about more than just immediate situations and it made me curious.

She shook her head, "I'll tell you afterwards. Go ahead."

I quietly slipped the door open and could see Jake sitting up staring at the opposite wall. "Sorry to disturb the meditation…" I whispered.

"It's okay," he said humorlessly. "I'm not meditating anymore."

I sat on the edge of the bed and popped the bottle's top off. "Or screaming? Wow. What go into you?"

"Reality?" he offered as I put the two capsules in his hand. He reached over for the water bottle on the floor beside his bed and swallowed. I took a moment and noticed that he looked drawn? No he'd looked drawn since the guys carted him home… He just looked dejected. Like there was no reason to be happy. I found this rather worrisome, but I wasn't in the mood to harass the poor kid about it. He'd had enough crap for a few days, I figured.

"You want anything else?" I ventured.

"No," he shook his head. "Thanks for these Rach. I don't know where you found them, but I needed them…"

As I retreated from Jake's room, I realized that through his blinding pain and his own screaming he probably hadn't heard Paul and I. He didn't know I had to venture to the Cullen home to get that little bottle. My insides rolled within me, knowing that I would have to eventually explain where they came from – because he'd certainly want to know why Paul and I were on the mend. And the last thing I wanted was for him to figure it out from someone else. I didn't want to lie to him but he wasn't going to take it any better than Paul had.

I popped open the front door and sat on the step, lamenting over all the people that were inevitably going to be mad at me, when Leah came in from the kitchen. She offered me a cup of coffee and sat down.

"So," she began. "I'm just going to come right out and say this: Bella came by."

"What?" I sputtered after half choking on my sip of coffee. I spent the morning evading death by her family and she's trouncing around my house? Still? Word on the street – or more aptly, through the pack - was she was engaged.

Leah nodded affirmative. "She came by and talked to Jake. The Talk. She finally cut it off with him."

I stared down into my mug. I wasn't sure how I wanted to respond.

I knew she just put Jake's heart through a meat grinder. That's why he was so forlorn when I gave him the pills. After stringing him along, even while still technically having another guy (and an unappealing ally of ours) on her arm she got closer than she should have to him. Bella didn't know how to be friends with Jake. She got too close and maybe it all made sense in her head at the time but me she looked fickle, flighty, dependent. A flake.

And now she'd broken it off. She couldn't have picked more ridiculous time. She couldn't have given it a week? Waited until the poor kid had at least recovered? Part of me was angry.

I knew that while this event (and the past twenty four hours) was going to do some serious damage to my household, we'd all get over it. Time would help us patch things up and maybe in a week or more it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe in a year we wouldn't even remember it. As much as things sucked right now, they would get better from here. Jake would be free to move on to more constructive and healthy relationships. Part of me was happy.

However, as much as I did not like Bella as a person, I couldn't help but acknowledge that she made my brother happy. Even if their relationship was twisted at best. Part of me was sad.

"Wow," was all I could say.

"My thoughts exactly," Leah nodded. "If it's any consolation, she ran out of here in tears. It wasn't an easy conversation. I tried to tune out most of it."

"Wow…"

"Yep. Well, at least we know she's out of our hair now. I doubt she'll be around much anymore. Gettin' hitched and all. As far as I know she still wants to convert but they all don't seem to understand that the treaty does not allow it."

"Convert?"

"Convert," Leah nodded. "It's a nice way to put it. I don't understand what would possess someone to actively choose that life. I'm pretty sure most of it's current participants don't even like it. That's not something you can undo. But… it's her choice."

"Why does the treaty not allow it?" I had never learned the finer details of the treaty that existed between the tribe and the Cullens. I knew the basics, but this part that would've pertained to Bella was new to me.

"The treaty states," Leah explained, "that the Cullens or any vampire that is on their land or under their watch is strictly forbidden from biting a human. And it's a tie between the tribe and the Cullens – not the res and Forks – so it applies whether it happens here or in Antarctica."

"But if they bite someone in Tennessee how would anyone in La Push know? Why would they care?"

Leah shrugged. "Theoretically it doesn't matter much to us – especially if they're not coming back. There isn't much we can do about it – despite our disdain for seeing anyone unwilling enter that life."

"But Bella is actively making her… conversion… known," I stated.

"Exactly," Leah confirmed. "And as much as we dislike her – we are sworn protectors and our job doesn't hold that kind of prejudice. Her change constitutes us reneging on a genetic calling. We're almost physically incapable of allowing it to happen."

We were both quiet for a few minutes. I thought over the intricacies and ramifications of being in such an altered world, where half of the things you did were instinctual or required – you didn't get to choose.

"You're going to have to talk to him," Leah finally blurted out.

"I know," I whined leaning back on the steps. It's not that I didn't want to talk to my brother. I just couldn't stand to see him in such a state because ofBella Swan. And I really had no idea how to help him My love life was on the rocks right now too. Clearly I would be of little to no help. Plus, Jake was not unaware of my dislike for the Forksian albino – and he didn't do fake.

"I just don't know what to say," I mumbled.

"I just think he needs his big sister," Leah replied.