Quick recap for those who've read this in the past: Penelope Gowan has moved to Forks, Washington when her recently passed uncle left a house in his will for her father. She has to adjust quickly to her families' ties with the residents of La Push, including those of her generation, the Quileute boys. She is warmly received by most, but not all. She can't help but notice the disinterest, almost dislike, of one of the boys in particular. Meanwhile, the pack picks up the scent of Newborns, posing a threat yet again right under the noses of La Push and Forks residents. What is to come?

Chapter 7: Aftermath

XXX

I knew we had hit a tree. It wasn't hard to put together at all. There was next to nothing besides uncut terrain between Forks and La Push, so it'd make sense to slam dead into a tree. Had this been Long Beach, we definitely would be flipped over onto the sidewalk in that concrete jungle, and I wouldn't be recounting this.

I may as well have kept my eyes shut. I couldn't see even after I snapped them open when everything came to a halt- dark gray smoke billowed inside the car, the space within seeming so much smaller and stifling. As shocked as my body was, that didn't mean I was stuck dumb. I needed to get the hell out, and fast. I coughed and sputtered violently, desperate to open the passenger door, but it was so badly dented in there was no way I was getting out. I suddenly felt Jacob's large hands on my ribcage, the contact from his skin unbearably hot and slick with sweat. He attempted to yank me from my seat, but I let out a very pained whoosh of air from my lungs when the seatbelt jerked into my chest, which we both forgot was still fastened. I heard a very audible crack, and before I could figure out what else broke, the seatbelt was off and he was dragging me out.

The chilled feel of the grass was a complete relief when I was thrown down on it. I breathed heavily, matching the labored pants of Jacob, who kneeled on the grass next to me. "Nel… are you… are you alright?" he said between breathes.

"I'm fine" I assured him, rolling over on my back to look up at the sky. I lifted my hands to my face to inspect if I was telling him the truth. I was: the shallow cuts on my hands and arms only served to irritate me with the stinging. My body was sore, but definitely not in pain. The only thing that was bothering me was the wetness of my shirt, causing it to stick to my skin. I looked down… and nearly screamed again. But when I opened my mouth, noise didn't escape.

My shirt was soaked in blood. And I don't mean "Hey look, there's a pretty noticeable stain there." No, I'm talking the holy-shit package of damage, bleeding as excessively as though I had been impaled, yet I still felt no immediate pain. Was that the shock?

But the shock was gone as quick as it came, and I was seeing a dimly lit tunnel. My vision grew more and more narrow, until all I could see was the blur of Jacob's russet skin. He wasn't panicking, like I would be if someone was fading on me. Instead, I heard him assuring me "Close your eyes, Penelope. It's okay, it's not yours. It's not yours."

I was out.

XXX

I felt my shirt being removed. That's the first thing I became aware of.

Not exactly the best thing to be coming around to, but there wasn't much I could do about it when everything was still fuzzy. I'm too busy floatin' in the fuzz.

"Wow…" I heard a voice, a slow sound unidentifiable to me because my mind still felt heavy and unfocused.

"I've seen better" another voice said. "You're only impressed because it's probably the first rack you've seen… ever."

"Shut up!" I heard the other growl.

"Both of you shut up and put the shirt on her" a third, odd pitch of voice interjected.

I couldn't speak. Again, everything was too heavy… my inner workings, my intake and process of things, was numbed and unreliable. My body was sore, and I was relieved I could still feel something. There was more though… there were people here, I knew it. Unless this was all some really fucked up dream to further demean my self-esteem, boobs and all.

I needed to know.

I reached out blindly, my arm feeling like dead weight but still movable, and unsure of what I was looking to touch. Then my fingertips brushed something… clothing. I didn't retract my touch for some reason, and I realized it was because I wanted some kind of comfort, some kind of acknowledgement. I felt skin… exceptionally warm skin. I laid my palm flat on the warmth, not really sure of what part of this anatomy I was touching. Jacob?

I felt a hand wrap around mine, bringing it slowly back down to my side. Creepy for me to have memorized it so well by this point, but I knew how Jacob's hands felt, and those were not his hands… I think.

The coppery smell of blood was assaulting me as I was further coming to, yet it had an opposing reaction, and as soon as the blurs were taking shape, I was out again.

XXX

Ouch.

The soreness, now doubled, was the first thing I was aware of. Second, the bright light filtering through my window and irritating my vision—

Wait.

I sat up quickly, untangling myself from my blanket to gauge where I was. And just as I thought, I was in my room. I looked to the alarm clock to my right, its' neon blue numbers reading back to me 7:24 am.

Alright. This wasn't turning into a completely bat-shit crazy and confusing ordeal... Did I just have the gnarliest, most realistic dream ever, or did everything that I think happened last night, actually happen? I jumped out of bed and ran over to my long mirror, not yet hung on the wall but instead leaned against it.

… Yeesh.

My hair was frizzy and greasy, my two least favorite combinations in the world. My face was a bit discolored, but nothing too off-the-norm. I was wearing my clothes from last night, and I felt yucky. My hoodie was zipped all the way up, my jeans smeared with some grass stains and my shoes caked with dry dirt. I looked like I'd gone on a poorly-prepared hike in the wild… and shit, I had school. Yesterday was my first day, I'd probably be late but there's no way I could miss today since I was in general good health, no matter if last night happened or not.

I sighed, unbuttoning my grey jeans and sliding them off my legs. As I stepped out of them, I felt a crunch under my foot. My brows knit together in wonder as I stooped down and picked up my pants. Nothing was underneath them… I then fished into first my left pocket, then my right, and pulled out a folded (now crumpled) piece of notebook paper. The hell?

I unfolded it, reading an awkward and smudged script in black ink. I smoothed out the paper against my wall, squinting to decipher the brief message:

"Nel, we have to talk. Please don't say anything to your dad about last night. I'll explain, but you gotta come over my house later."

-Jake

I stared at the paper, expecting it to tell me more and knowing full well that it couldn't. I then folded it back up, stuffing it back into the grey jeans.

Well… at least I'm not crazy, and it wasn't a dream. I didn't know if that was exactly a good thing, though. I was in a car accident, but came out practically unscathed… so why would Jacob want to keep it under wraps? What would it matter if my dad knew, if things were dandy with me besides the scratches? My brain was overworking, exhausting all possible reasons and explanations, then deciding it was best not to jump to conclusions and ask Jacob myself. He must have a good reason, right?

I proceeded to remove the grey zip up, and froze.

Waaaaait a minute.

There was blood. A whole damn lot of blood, my shirt was covered in it last night. I finished unzipping the hoodie, looking down and inspecting the stainless cotton shirt I was wearing… but more questions were quelling me now. First off, this wasn't my shirt. I had been wearing an oval necked blue top, and this one was a tighter white shirt, baring my lower stomach a bit. I wouldn't be caught out and about in something like this… what the hell happened to my shirt, my blood soaked shirt? Furthermore, where had the blood been coming from?

I removed the small shirt quickly, and my jaw dropped. Had this been under other circumstances, my horrified expression woulda have made me laugh. But there was nothing funny about this.

Upon my body was not an open wound. In fact, no part of my body had seen a bit of bloodshed besides the nicks on my arms. But on my ribcage, located almost perfectly parallel to each other, were two large bruises. Ugly purple, pissed-off looking bruises. Nevermind that I swear I could see the clear outline of a few fingers on the left side. The blood on my shirt…

"It's not yours."

His voice rang clear as a bell, and yesterday night suddenly seemed a whole lot more real than I wanted it to be.

It was Jacob's blood. I had been covered in Jacob's blood. And he had taken my shirt to hide that it had ever happened.

XXX

"You look spooked, lady."

Those were the first words to leave Jian-Li's mouth when she came over and sat to eat lunch with me at our established spot. "Kidding me? Never felt better, heh…" if I wasn't convincing to myself, I definitely wasn't convincing her. I was good at hiding everything under the surface of my skin, but today… today was just too freaky, even for me. I was fortunate to have ducked under my dad's radar when I showered quickly and went downstairs to be taken to school. He railed me for sleeping in and being late yet again, but he hurried us all out the door and asked nothing about last night.

Which was still a mystery to me, by the way.

I don't know how I got home. I didn't remember a goddamn thing except a blur here and there. A voice. Warmth. I mean yeah, I pieced most of the accident together, but afterwards… it was almost like it had been cut from my memory. Like there was a gap in between the accident and now, linked together, but not a clear picture. On top of that, I know I had to have been home before dad, or else he woulda brought the verbal thunder down on me. He didn't meaning he honestly didn't know anything. I was sound asleep when he got home.

The classes today seemed to fly by, due to my lack of attention to anything but my own messed up thoughts. I got a chew out from my first period teacher, and I talked to Morgan here and there during Science. Those were the only interactions I made today besides Li.

"Speak," Li prodded, breaking my reverie by taking a loud bite of her green apple, "'Cause I'll keep bugging to know what's up if you don't wipe that weird look off your face."

I turned to her, not having touched my food and thinking of some reasoning to give her. I didn't want to lie, not because I couldn't lie, but because I had to tell someone, and Ruth wasn't here. No one was here for me, except Li. She's all I got right now.

"I was in a car accident last night."

She frowned, perplexed by my rushed words. She put the apple back down, setting her tray to the side and folding her arms across her chest. "I thought car accidents were serious? Like blood and guts and all that good stuff. You sure look like you're still in one piece to me… unless you're exaggerating a fender bender?"

Ha, she didn't know the half of it.

I opened my mouth, then closed it again, not sure where to begin.

"Go on…" she pressed.

"It wasn't… a fender bender, that's for sure."

I told her everything. I didn't mean to tell her everything, but it came flooding out of my mouth and I couldn't stop it. I really didn't bar anything from her: I told her about leaving the party to waking up with Jacob's note in my pocket, and everything I remembered in between. I didn't have to ask for her discretion- I somehow knew Li wouldn't tell anyone. She just seemed like that kind of person.

After I was done, I waited a good 2 minutes for her response. She just looked at the checkered pattern of the hallway floor, then looked back to me. "And you're not hurt? Just those scratches and bruises? You swear nothing's broken?" I nodded. She sighed, and asked the question I was least expecting "Where does Jacob live?"

"La Push, but I don't know the exact address. I guess he figured my dad would know since his dad is close with mine."

Li seemed to turn something over in her mind briefly before deciding on it as final. "Okay. I'm going to take you to his house after school."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"Just ask your dad for his address, and I'll take you there. I'm dead serious, Nel. You needa to know what the criminy is going on, as soon as possible- and now, so do I." I didn't know what to say, I just stared dumbly back at her. "What?" she raised a brow, "I got a car, it's no problem. I've been meaning to explore the local areas, anyway. And if these dudes are as hot as you say they are, then I have to go see for myself if your taste is as good as mine. C'mon."

I couldn't find a good reason to get out of this. It was a free ride I wouldn't have to explain to my dad along the way, and it was with Li… she was moral support in case things weren't as peachy-keen as I woke up to this morning.

She smiled when I quietly agreed.

XXX

A/N: I appreciate the ton of people who favorited this story and mahself, but it's the reviews that REALLY keep me pressed onwards, guys. I appreciate any fan, but leaving words and food for thought would be awesome. Thanks for the love, all! I'll update again soon.