Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters.

Thank you for all of the feedback yesterday! You guys are seriously awesome and I am blown away by the response to this story! I hope you like this chapter just as much! Happy reading!

Chapter Eight

Previously...

"Jacob Black, you have some explaining to do," she spoke to him and watched, satisfied as his eyebrows rose in surprise. But then he seemed to relax and Isabella was sure she saw a smile tug at the corner of his lips, which surprisingly, made her relax in her spot.

"I will always tell you the truth, Isabella," he said in his deep voice, and Isabella relaxed completely. She nodded and looked down at the counter. She drew in a deep breath, looked back up at the tall boy standing in front of her, and prepared herself to be called crazy...

"Something happened... On that first day in class... I don't know what it was, but I think you do. Every time I leave the school or I think about being away from you, it's like, this painful throbbing in my chest. It's as if it's physically hurting me to be away from you. And I know that it's you, it isn't just a cold or something on the reservation. It's you. You're constantly in my thoughts, I always seem to be worried about you. And at night, I sometimes dream about you. You're like a magnet, pulling at me, and I don't understand why it is happening," Isabella said all of this quickly and breathlessly. She averted her eyes from Jacobs, as she waited for his response, but then decided to continued. She hoped to finish with at least some dignity left.

"And then yesterday, something happened there. You seemed so afraid that I was hurt... Which I was, but it's like you knew that I was hurt just from the air around us. No one else would have been able to tell that I was bleeding under my bandage, but you did. And your voice... It vibrated through me... It was different than anything I've ever heard and I need to know what's going on... Because... because," Isabella felt her voice quiver and dropped her head. If she was going to cry she wasn't about to let her student see her like that, even if he did have some weird connection to her.

Isabella heard Jacob step forward quickly and felt his heat wash over her like a comforting blanket. His hand reached gently for her chin, his touch sending sparks along her jaw line. He brought her face up to look into his own soft one. She could tell that he could see how scared she was on the inside, how confused and lonely and plain old scared she was.

"Because why, honey? Why do you need to know?" he asked her slowly. She let out a quivering breath and both the feeling of his soothing heat, and how powerful the feelings she'd suspected about truly were in this moment.

"Because I'm terrified that I'm going crazy. I'm so scared Jacob, and I don't know what to do," she whimpered and felt tears sting the corners of her eyes. She looked at Jacob's face with her tear glazed eyes and quickly found herself in a tight hug against his body. She felt so small in his arms. She felt safe, and protected, and she knew that as long as she was in his arms, nothing bad could ever happen to her.

In that moment her mind threw out the entire rule book on dealing with students. To be honest she could not even think straight. Her body was pressed against Jacob's and his heat swallowed her whole. She let the tears run down her cheeks, but this time, instead of being fueled by confusion and anger, they were tears of pure relief. He did not think she was crazy, she knew he didn't, and she also knew that he would be able to help her. There seemed to be a weight completely lifted off her shoulders as she settled her head against his firm tshirt clad chest. His heartbeat under her ear was a slow and purposeful thumping that made her breathing calm and her tears start to slow. Everything about this boy calmed her down.

"Honey, you need to listen to me, alright?" Jacob's voice rumbled through his chest and Isabella nodded. She felt like a child about to be told that there was no such thing as monsters hiding under her bed.

"I will tell you everything, but not right now. Not before the party," he started and Isabella tried to cut him off and ask why not. She pulled back a little bit from his embrace to look back into his eyes. He seemed much more calm now and there was the hint of a true smile on his lips. "No, I will tell you after the party. There will be some things you'll find hard to understand, and I don't want to ruin your day being with your father, alright? Go have some fun and we will talk later."

"You promise?" Isabella asked, almost childishly. Jacob smiled a sunny smile that suddenly left Isabella breathless as she looked at it.

"I absolutely promise," he beamed at her and then led her towards the door, "Oh wait, one more thing," he said and stopped them still in the kitchen. Isabella frowned wondering what else he could want to say, but instead of speaking he dropped his hands to her right one. In the most gentle of ways he picked up her hand and began unwrapping the clean bandage she had put on this morning. The skin underneath was still an angry red color, and it stung, but at least there was no more glass.

"What happened? Does it hurt?" Jacob asked as he inspected her minor wound.

"I put my hand down on a piece of leftover glass on the floor in the classroom. It was just like a splinter. It still stings, but I got the piece out last night," she said, trying to reassure him that she was alright. She could feel it stronger now, she could feel his need to know if she was okay. It knew it was the same feeling she got in her body when she worried about what he was doing. Jacob's face was a bit more serious as he nodded to her story, still looking at the wound. And then, he lifted her hand up to his face and nuzzled the small cut in her skin.

Isabella watched, mesmerized as he breathed against her wrist, and then pressed a chaste kiss on her injury. She felt her heart sputter as the kiss radiated heat straight up her arm and into her core. Jacob smiled a bit at her, seeming to know the kind of reaction she was having to his touch. He looked pleased with himself, and Isabella smirked a bit herself. He gently wrapped her hand back up and looked into her eyes once again.

"Later, I promise," he whispered on more time and then gave her a gentle nudge towards the door to the back yard. As he let go of her completely, she immediately felt the loss of his skin on hers, but she also gained a bit of clarity back into her thoughts. For a minute she was completely paranoid that one of the other boys had seen their interaction, that she would lose her job, that everything would be torn to shreds. But Jacob seemed to sense her anxiety level increasing as he spoke again.

"Everything will be alright, honey. Just trust me," he said.

Trust him? Isabella thought. There was nothing else she was capable of doing. She knew in her heart that Jacob would never lie to her. He would never harm her, or let her be harmed. She nodded, looking down at her shoes, and then finally pushed the screen door open to the sunlit backyard.

-8-

"Isabella! There you are!"

She felt almost in a daze, and was startled when she heard her father's voice calling to her. Looking up she saw her dad standing in front of the grill with a gruff smile on his lips. She did love her father, even if they hadn't had the best relationship while she was growing up.

"Hey dad," she smiled as she walked over to him. He pulled her into a hug that was much less awkward than the ones she remembered from when she was a teenager.

"How've you been, kid? You don't look sick anymore," he said, remembering their conversation last weekend.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better... Must've been a twenty four hour bug or something," she said. She wasn't going to tell her father that the actual reason why she hadn't felt good was because a boy she taught in her English class had some kind of pull on her heart.

"That's good to hear, how's the new job going?" he asked as he turned to flip some burgers on the grill. Isabella launched excitedly into telling her father all about the school and what she was teaching the kids. She was glad to have something else to put her mind on, as she was consumed with thinking about what Jacob would tell her after the cookout.

Halfway through her explanation she heard the screen door the house open again and her gaze drifted to see Jacob walking out of the house. His eyes were trained on her, but there was a relaxed smile on his lips. It made Isabella calm down substantially, although she hadn't realized she had been tense until he'd come out of the house and she knew where he was again. She spoke to her father still but watched to the side ho Jacob walked back to a large group of boys that were almost as tall as him. She saw that he seemed to be the tallest out of the group. For some reason a thrill of pride ran up her spine. She laughed at herself in her head for being so silly and for being proud that Jacob was taller than the other boys.

After finishing up telling her father about the school he smiled at her.

"It sounds like you're really happy where you are, Bella," he winked at her. She rolled her eyes at the nickname she used to insist that everyone call her by. Back when she was a teenager she'd thought that her full name was too much of a mouthful. It wasn't until college that she realized how stupid she'd sounded, correcting everyone to use her childish nickname. Now, her father used it still as well as her mother. It annoyed her at times, but she supposed that after making them call her that for years, it stuck a little.

"I am happy... It's taken awhile to adjust to things, but I think this will be good for me," she smiled then, because she realized that her words were the truth.

"That's good, kiddo. And how about friends? Have you met anyone since you've been here? Some kind of gal pal?" he asked and Isabella laughed at her father.

"Dad, no one calls them gal pals anymore. Could you leave the sixties please?" she joked and he turned on her with a smirk.

"Don't get smart, Bella. I still have your middle school pictures locked away inside, remember?" he threatened lightly and Isabella laughed even more.

"No but seriously, have you met any friends yet?" he asked, adding more hot dogs to the grill while taking the ones that were done off of it.

"Uh... No not really... I haven't really had time... Grading papers and stuff, you know?" she muttered while looking at the flames of the grill.

"Oh come on, Bella. Not one friend?" he asked. Her father knew that she had never been very good about making friends. She liked to pretend that she was alright on her own, and so she never really tried to make any girl friends in school.

"Nope, not one. I've actually decided to become a hermit, sell all of my worldly possessions, and live out my days completely alone. I only came here to tell you this and say goodbye," Isabella retorted sarcastically. Charlie smirked again and waved his spatula at her.

"Watch it," he warned playfully and Isabella rolled her eyes, "Seriously though, you should go out some night to Port Angeles. I don't really know what you kids do these days for fun, especially at your age."

"Gee, thanks dad. I'm twenty three, not eighty three," she growled at the dig against her age but her father just laughed.

"Go out and meet some people. Who knows, maybe you'll find a boy. Maybe then your mother will stop bothering me to spy on you and see if you take people home!" he laughed as he closed the grill for the food to cook and picked up the plate of burgers. Isabella was stunned as she looked at her dad.

"Wait, dad, you're kidding right? She doesn't actually ask you to watch me... right?" she asked quickly. Charlie just laughed and walked towards the long picnic table that had been set up near the house. Isabella was slightly mortified at what her father had just said and looked around for somewhere to hide herself. Once again she met Jacob's eyes from across the yard and every tension and worry seemed to melt straight off of her body. Where was this feeling when she had been studying during her senior year of college?

Isabella sighed and then started walking towards the drink cooler. She saw that her dad had started talking with a group of older men standing near the large group of boys from La Push. She grabbed a beer out of the cooler and popped the top off, taking a gulp of the cold liquid. Looking at the table of food she decided to get a plate of some of the fruits and veggies, piling them onto the paper plate in her hand. She was so zoned into what she was doing that she didn't realize someone had walked up beside her.

She turned and almost walked into the pregnant woman she'd ever seen in her life.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Isabella said in a rush, dodging to the side to avoid the enormous protruding belly. The woman laughed and Isabella's eyes were drawn to her face. On one side she was a gorgeous native woman, her raven black hair spilled down her shoulders and her eyes were a kind light brown. But on the other side, three jagged scars ran from the top of her forehead and down to her chin, pulling the other side of her mouth downward in an eternal frown. Isabella had been caught up in her staring that she hadn't heard the response from the woman.

She felt a blush light up her face at her embarrassment as she saw the woman looking at her, waiting for a response. "Oh, um... I'm so sorry, I wasn't... staring or anything I just... I'm so sorry," Isabella stuttered out, trying to explain herself, but the woman did not look mad. Instead she smiled kindly and held out her hand.

"It's really okay. My name is Emily Uley. I'm Sam's wife," she pointed to a man that was standing with the group of tall boys... Of which Jacob was also among them, "You're... Charlie's daughter?"

"Yes, I'm Isabella," she said, shaking Emily's hand gently. She was still horrified at how she had acted only moments before, but Emily seemed to not have noticed.

"Oh, is it Isabella, or Bella? Charlie's always calling you Bella," she said with her eyebrows drawn together.

"Oh, well I guess it doesn't really matter," she replied. And it truly didn't. A name was a name, after all.

"Alright, would you like to come and sit with me and the girls? I feel like we're at a middle school dance with all of the boys and girls separated," she giggled. Isabella laughed with her and then followed her towards a small group of girls. She already recognized Leah who was sitting next to another native girl, who she immediately realized was Kim, from her class of seniors.

"Ms. Swan! Hi, how are you!" Kim said with a bright smile as Isabella sat down on a lawn chair across from her and next to Emily's.

"I'm good, Kim, how's your weekend going?" she asked. She didn't want to overstep her boundaries as a teacher... Even though in her head a little voice was reminding her of what had happened in the kitchen with Jacob.

"It's really nice. My mom's birthday was yesterday, so we spent the day together, and today is such a nice day, plus there's no school tomorrow! So I can't really complain," she smiled.

"That sounds nice," Isabella smiled as well.

"How do you two already know each other?" Emily asked then.

"Oh, Ms. Swan is the English teacher at the high school down on the rez," Kim said as she snuck a few chips into her mouth. Isabella nodded and Emily smiled.

"You're a teacher! How great is that! You must really love the subject then," she said to her. Isabella nodded and told her briefly about how she had always loved literature, and how teaching it had always been a dream of hers.

"That's so nice, isn't that nice, Leah?" Emily turned to the still brooding girl who was currently staring down Isabella again.

"Yeah, that sounds wonderful. But, just out of curiosity, what are the rules on student-teacher relationships?" she asked, cool as a cucumber as she glared into Isabella's eyes. Isabella felt her stomach drop and she suddenly was not hungry anymore. Her eyes widened and she watched Leah's face turn from skeptical to one of malicious triumph.

"Leah!" Emily hissed at the girl angrily, but Isabella ignored it and stood up quickly.

"I'm sorry, I think I forgot to bring out the pasta salad," she said in a robotic voice. She had to get away from here. Leah knew about her and Jacob. Maybe she saw them in the kitchen, or maybe she just had a hunch about her, but she knew and it made Isabella's nerves jump around on her skin like a live wire.

She blindly walked away from the group and towards the house again. The only thing she could think about was how somebody actually knew... And to be honest nothing had even happened yet! Nothing that warranted her for being fired at least... Right? Unless Leah was a mind reader and knew all of the dirty thoughts she had been thinking since she'd first seen Jacob... But she sincerely doubted that. No matter what though, she felt sick to her stomach at the thought of someone finding out about her.

"Isabella!" came a voice that made her body relax instantly. She turned around and watched Jacob jog over to her, looking at her concerned face and then quickly looking around the yard.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Do you ever have anything else to ask me?" she joked for a minute, seeing as she no longer felt as though she was going to vomit.

Jacob smiled briefly, but it was a tight smile, since she knew that he still thought something was wrong,

"It's nothing. I'll tell you later, you're still going to tell me everything later, right?" she asked him, looking into his eyes, which softened immediately.

"Of course, I am," he replied and she nodded. She opened her mouth to say something else to him, but she was interrupted by the appearance of Emily again.

"I'm so sorry for what Leah said! That was totally inappropriate!" Emily gushed as she placed a delicate hand on her shoulder. Isabella smiled gently at the pregnant woman and nodded.

"It's alright. It was an innocent question, it really didn't bother me," she tried to reassure Emily, who seemed to believe her, but Jacob was a different story. He watched Isabella with a stern and curious expression. Of course he knew that she had been bothered by Leah's comment. He knew when she was lying about anything, Isabella surmised.

"Why don't I introduce you some of the other people here, I'd like to get to know you better," Emily smiled at her and Isabella felt for a moment as though she actually was making a friend.

"I'd really like that," Isabella responded as she looped her arm through Emily's and shot Jacob one last look, hoping that he'd understand that she'd be alright.

He seemed to understand and gave her a nod, though the worried look was still etched into his features.

She tried not to think too hard about it as she followed Emily around the yard and chatted with the new people she met. She had to remind herself that all of her questions would be answered before the sun set today.

All of Isabella's questions will be answered in due time, my friends! Leave some feedback if you care to, and I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!