Wow, I've had a total writers block. My apologies! This is another short chapter but it took a lot of thought. I promise to never take so long again. But my senior year of school starts next week, so hopefully that won't interfere with my writings. On with the story!

Sunlight hit my face directly as morning approached, and I couldn't even recall when I went to bed in the first place. Last thing I remembered was talking to Edward last night, and we were having a pretty decent time. Stretching, I got up and walked over to the window wall, staring outside. The dew on the ground was fresh and cold looking as the wind blew gently across the yard. My body ached to be out there, running against the whipping breeze, but my head had other demands. It still had a dull throb from yesterday and, despite my attempts, it just wouldn't go away. I sighed, forehead touching the glass.

"Don't get it all dirty" Edward stated from directly behind me. I jumped, startled, and turned to face him.

"I won't."

He stared right into my eyes, golden ones glowing in the shadows of the room, and it felt like I couldn't move.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded, staying right in place. "Yeah."

As soon as he looked away I regained control of my body, shrugging my shoulders a couple times. Was that the 'vampire seductive tool' that they supposedly had?

"So can you tell me about last night…? I mean, what you said."

Only silence answered me, and when I turned around I realized Edward was gone. Floor was all I could see from where he once stood. That's just like him…

There was a quiet knock on the wall before Jasper came into the room, moving toward where I was located. I couldn't help but smile when I saw him, a calm feeling spreading through my core.

"I was just wondering how you were feeling" he said, looking down at the floor as he talked. I playfully punched his arm, grinning when he looked back up at my face.

"I'm fine. And thank you for saving me. I owe you everything."

Jasper lightly laughed, "Not a problem. You're my friend; there was no reason for me to not help."

I leaned an elbow against the window pane, putting my chin on my hand.

"You're the first person to do that, then…"

He seemed surprised at that comment. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying – you're a vampire and I'm a werewolf. To everyone else we're supposed to be enemies, and that's how people treat me. But you never did, all you tried to do was be friendly."

I didn't expect him to stand right next to me after that explanation, leaning over so his forearm was touching mine. From someone on the outside looking in, we probably seemed like two brothers. Two strangely unsimilar brothers, but that was fine with me.

"I like you, Jacob. I think you're a good person, and it doesn't matter what's on the outside. Appearances are only skin deep. Not trying to sound cliché or anything, but what's on the inside is the most important."

Smiling, I lightly pushed his side with my elbow. There was just something about Jasper that made me always happy, besides the fact that he had the ability to change moods. He was someone I could truly trust, vampire or not. The stupid rules didn't apply in this situation.

"Still…thanks" I whispered, closing my eyes as the sunlight shined onto us. Between my russet and his pale, shining skin, we looked pretty different. Yet on the inside I knew we were closer than what appeared.

Edward's POV:

I stayed leaning against the door frame, secretly watching Jacob and Jasper as they talked together. It seemed like they were so close, closer than I'd like to admit, and I couldn't help but feel a little over protective. Jacob and I could never be like that, I knew it for certain, but I wanted to try. I just wished I could be like Jasper…able to accept him with no regard to the rules of our kind…

"It's not good to spy, you know" Alice whispered into my ear. I shrugged, not even moving my head to look at her. She huffed, standing between me and the room.

"If you're that jealous then just go tell Jacob. There's no use sulking."

I quietly growled, "So you're telling me you don't care that your boyfriend seems pretty attached to him?"

She shook her head. "Look, it bothers me that he doesn't spend as much time with me as he used to, but I'm happy for them. No matter what – Jasper and I are together in the future, I can see it. And the simple fact that I still can't see either of yours, Jake included, proves that you'll be with him too. You just have to let that happen."

There was just one problem – I didn't know how.

She tugged my arm, leading me away from the room toward the stairs, and took a deep breath.

"I think you missed the point of why we're trying to get you both to spend so much time with each other."

"Thought it was just to please your sick fantasies" I joked, putting an elbow against the balcony rail.

Alice rolled her eyes, and put a hand on her hip defensively.

"For one – we have no sick fantasies. And second of all, that's way off. We did this because…" she paused, lightly touching my arm above the elbow, "You and him could change the entire future for our kinds."

My eyebrows rose as I tried to decipher what exactly she was talking about.

"Carlisle explained all this to me, before we went back to Forks. If you and him become a couple, and show both werewolves and vampires that they can be together happily, it'll change everything. The hating, the fighting, all of it would be gone. Can you see it now?" she explained, matter-of-factly.

I shook my head, images of Jacob and me holding hands in front of a crowd of different creatures popping in.

"Why would become a couple, Alice?" I snapped. Her eyes dropped to the floor.

"Because you're connected…"

"That doesn't mean I'm just going to accept him without hesitation and we'll live happily ever after. These things take time, time that we don't have. Never will us being together be accepted by anyone, especially not the Volturi. The last thing I want to do is get him hurt thanks to what my family wants. It just won't happen."

Storming away, I ignored Alice's pleas for me to hear her out. My brain was in too much of a rut to take anything the right way at this point. Slowly realization was starting to creep into my body, little by little, as I headed outside. Leaning against the side of the house I sat down, back against the brick, and listened to the sounds of the birds chirping overhead. I've never acted like this, never felt like this, before in my entire life. Even when I was alive…

I thought that after Bella, all my feelings would have disappeared. I didn't truly love her; I just wanted be with someone. It had been wrong to use her, and I knew that that fact pissed Jacob off more than anything. Living for such a long time meant a lot of loneliness, that's why I wanted her to ease all of that. But it was too late for regrets…I had to move on with life. On with Jacob.

"He's the only reason for me to stay…alive…if that's what I am" I whispered to the trees, closing my eyes as the sun changed positions, casting shadows on the forest.