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Oh my GOSH! I'm so completely stunned at the responses I've gotten for this fic. 81 reviews for two chapters! I'm…speechless. Totally, completely speechless. It's a good kind of speechless, though, and I'm so glad that everyone is interested and asking questions about the fic and everything. I hope to answer them as the fic goes on, because I don't want to give anything away.

Playing With Fire
Chapter Three: Link

The door shut behind Leah with a barely audible creak.

"Let's see…" She moved over to the bathroom that adjoined with the two sisters' shared rooms and got out a used, slightly worn-down towel and tossed it at my head. "There. Dry yourself off, girl."

I was stunned at the light, lilting tone to the endearment of girl coming from her lips. It wasn't like she hated me at all, and I thought she had every right to. I was the one who had been such a baby about her imprint. Had made him worry about me at her expense. And, apparently, once the imprinted knows they're imprinted, then they know everything about werewolves.

That included the vampires.

Assuming that Jacob had spilled all, Leah knew about me and Edward, and the fact that Edward was among the undead.

But, she was being cheeky towards me. Almost nice, even. It was shocking. Maybe, with these different circumstances, I could have a friend like Jake, except one of my own gender. One of whom I felt no romantic attachment to. Maybe I was getting ahead of myself, but I'd had enough of my depressed state, and I wanted to act positive, though right now it was using up all I had to just conjure these thoughts of friendship.

"Well," Leah was now looking at me, a strange expression of exasperation and light heartedness playing over her face. Her hands were on her hips, mashing the apron against her sides. "are you going to just keep staring out into space like a zombie or what?"

Zombie. I winced at the familiar moniker, and Leah sighed.

"Zombies are not necessarily bad things," Leah said roughly, running a hand through the silken strands of her ponytail, "I mean, Shaun of the Dead, there ya go!"

I let out a pathetic little laugh, "Fido."

"Night of the Living Dead."

"Dawn of the Dead."

Leah noticed that this was getting my mood up somewhat, discussing something as trivial as movies, and she grinned toothily at me. It reminded me somewhat of Jake's easy smile from way back when and I felt a part of me ache. The whole still hadn't closed, and it was making it painfully aware right about now.

"Now, here," Leah said. I had finished drying myself off, and she tossed me a pair of sweatpants along with a t-shirt that had obviously seen better days. "Put these on. Jake would kill me if I let you catch cold."

I doubt it. Because he couldn't. I thought bitterly to myself, and the sound was even a shock to my mental voice.

When had I become so bitter?

Shaking my head, I tried to keep a positive mindset, which was proving to be taxing.

I turned around, walking into the bathroom. Leah looked as if she were going to protest. Probably something about "we're both girls here!" But she let it drop. We weren't in that place yet. Hell, we probably never would be. But it was a nice thought.

Shutting the bathroom door behind me, I didn't lock it. No need to. I stripped myself of my clothes; they landed with a soggy plop on the dirty, tiled floor. Standing naked in front of the mirror, clean and pristine despite the surroundings, I looked at myself sadly. My skin was paler than usual. Dark circles adorned the skin beneath my eyes. Hair, though still damp, looked unhealthy. My mouth was set in an unhappy line.

Ugly, ugly, ugly…

I bit my plump lower lip, wanting to tear into the skin to relieve this anguish building within me. I wanted to hurt myself as all the emotions washed back over me.

Ugly…

It was almost as if I couldn't escape the cloud of depression that always settled over me, like a thief in the night. Some kind of sick, twisted marking of my shattered self.

So ugly.

And it wasn't just my appearance I was berating.

It was myself.

Inside, outside. I couldn't see anything worthwhile. I don't know why. It was just me. I had nothing left to bring anyone except the shell of myself, and maybe a few fake smiles thrown in. With Jake, they had been so natural, and I hoped that maybe - just maybe - that could happen again without it being awkward.

Big, fat, traitorous tears swelled from the bottom of my eyes and threatened to fall. Blinking once, twice, I rid myself of them.

Do not be weak.

I can't be weak.

For once, I have to be strong.

Strong by myself, without the help of Edward. Or Jacob, for that matter. He had Leah to worry about now. I was just going to have to find a way on my own to at least find some semblance of happiness.

Disgusted at my nude body, I quickly turned away from the mirror and put on the warm clothes. They were a welcome furnace around my shivering body, and I looked at myself in the mirror, lifting the corners of my mouth slightly in what should be a smile.

Come on… Meryl Streep, please lend me some of your acting prowess.

Taking everything I could, I flashed a bright grin that almost surprised myself.

I shook my head, my soaking hair flying around my face like a pathetic duplicate of a swimsuit model. I then sighed, wrapping my fist around the doorknob and opening it, only to be met with the wryly smiling face of Leah.

"Ya clean up nice, Bella." Leah grinned that same toothy grin. But now it didn't remind me of Jacob - it was a whole other entity, filled with simmering confidence and appeal that I knew I couldn't duplicate. Not at the moment, at least.

I let out a harsh breath of air between my teeth and looked at Leah with a hopefully friendly roll of my eyes.

Her nose twitched, "Damn! Paul must've touched the food. Something's burning!"

I looked at her strangely, my eyes knitting together in confusion. I surely hadn't smelled anything. She must have a good nose for food - or trouble, where Paul was concerned.

She grasped my wrist, her large hand wrapped around it quite easily, her thumb overlapping the tip of one of her fingers, and pulled me along. "That damn Paul! I will kill him if he's ruined mine and Mom's cooking."

"I support you fully." I told her, a hint of humor entering my tone. After the day I've had, I wouldn't mind Paul getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter by the tall woman beside me.

Leah looked at me, almost shocked at the sound of a joke in my voice. Or something else, I wasn't sure. But the look passed almost as quickly as it came, and I gave her a shaky smile, as if reassuring her. Of what exactly, I had no clue.

We burst into the kitchen, and Leah looked around the room with an almost predatory gaze. Her dark eyes settled on Paul, who was waving his hands in the air like some kind of bird, a sheepish smile on his face, as Jacob and Sue glared at him. Various curses and insults were fired at him and he just shouted, "I'm sorry!"

I snickered with genuine mirth and pleasure.

Maybe I'm a bit of a sadist, along with my other various problems.

"What did you blow up this time, Paul?" Leah asked, sauntering forward with her hands on her full hips.

"I swear, I…"

His voice trailed off, a murmured fading into the background that I hardly paid any attention to.

The only thing I noticed was Paul's eyes.

Tender, but joking. A smile on his face. Something that I'd never even imagined would go well on his rough features. But, there they were, like he smiled all the time. I felt something strange constrict in my chest, something like a breaking, but not for myself. It was for him.

No, it wasn't like when Edward left me, alone and trembling in the forest. It wasn't like when Jacob announced he imprinted. This was something I didn't feel just out of my pain, but it was almost like I knew what Paul was going through right at this moment. Because that look on his face, the all encompassing look of happiness for her was tinged with a slight bitterness.

Despite that, he looked at her with adoration in his eyes. Complete, utter adoration and a softness in his eyes that…that…

I clenched my chest, feeling the ratty fabric of the t-shirt against my fingers.

He loves her.

The thought came to me without me willing it. It was almost like someone had whispered it in my ear, that was how detached it was from my own thought process. My mind had been numbed by pain, so the realization that Paul felt that way was almost ignored.

Almost, but not quite.

With this realization, his actions when we first got to the Black residence were more clear to me. The smile on his face, the glances, the joking. It was all apart of his feelings for her.

Maybe I was out of line. Maybe they were just close.

But I doubted it.

I couldn't stop staring at him now, standing, explaining himself to Leah, with those eyes that betrayed everything to anyone that would just look into them. I felt a surge of sadness. We were somewhat in the same boat, and yet we were so different other than that. This person, who I thought I had nothing in common with, shared the one bond with me that I wouldn't force on anyone - a shattering heart.

I'm sure he wouldn't put it that dramatically. He would probably just scoff and brush it off as nothing, calling me a fool, but I know better. Now I felt like I saw past his hot-headed façade and into the person he hid from anyone. And all it took was one look at his eyes.

He really wasn't that different from us humans, after all.

It somehow felt too intimate to even look at him, but before I got the opportunity to separate my gaze, Paul's eyes found mine, and they hardened. The difference was almost comical. Did he realize how transparent he was? He was about as good a liar as I was. Though I'm sure he could use words to his advantage, his expressions gave him away.

"I would say you clean up good, but that's a lie." Paul said, and though the words would normally cut me, he said them with a smile and a wink towards me, which I found rather odd.

Apparently, Paul had two modes: temperamental or just plain confusing.

"Really," I looked at him, and I could feel my lips quirking upward despite myself, "funny how I was about to say the same thing, in more or less words."

"Probably less." Paul chided, and I saw his white teeth as his grin spread to cover his face, crinkling his eyes.

"Funny, coming from the person who talks enough to fill a novel in sixty seconds."

"That's just because I'm smart."

"Notice, I said fill not read."

"Oh, burn!" Leah grinned, slapping Paul on the back as Jacob came to wrap his arms around her from behind, pressing his broad lips into the crook of her neck. Again, the flaring in my chest was from the pain brought on by the sight, but maybe I was slightly getting used to it.

Or maybe it was the fact that Paul was in the same boat that had me comforted.

"She's got you there, Paul." Jake smiled, his voice muffled by the skin of Leah's slender neck.

I inhaled deeply, as the searing edges of the whole flared with pain, lancing into me like some kind of javelin. Why did it hurt so much to see them like this? He wasn't Edward, but it hurt equally. Like my loss of Jake was just as great as my loss of Edward. When, in my mind, it wasn't. But it was there in front of me - maybe they were equal. Maybe I had grown to love Jake over time. And more than a friend. Was that the reason why I was so reluctant to let Leah have him?

My mind was muddled with confused thoughts, and I didn't know why I couldn't just clear them. It was like I was babbling incessantly, over and over inside my head, without stopping, without trying to keep the thoughts at bay.

"You gonna keep staring out into space or are you going to get something to eat."

"We don't have anything to eat anymore, Paul." Sue said in a loud, clear voice, full of authority. "And it's because of you."

"Well…" Paul's full lips pursed and he scratched his scraggly, yet thick hair. "Why don't we go out to eat? I'll buy."

"Oh, jeez." Leah said, her eyes rolling, but she then smiled, "Well, if it is at Paul's expense, then it sounds good to me."

"Everything's at my expense." Paul said, his tone lilting, but there went his eyes again, betraying almost every bit of what he really felt.

"I'm just going to go back to the house. Make some macaroni." Sue said, sighing, tired.

"Make some for two, darlin'." came a thick, booming voice from the door.

"Hey, Dad!" Leah beamed, her smile bright and welcoming.

Harry Clearwater stood at the doorway, raincoat on, boots caked with mud, "I've come to retrieve my wife."

"Wow, you sound medieval." Paul snorted, which earned a playful glare from Harry.

"That was the time of my birth." He winked at me, "Hey, Bella."

I lifted the corners of my lips up in a smile and said hello to him as well. It was a quiet, feeble thing, and it seemed like Paul looked my way, like he could see all through me. Just like I could see through him. His gaze lingered on me, as if he fixed a very vital part of the puzzle.

I'm sure he would share that with me later.

"Well, we were just about to get going." Jacob said, smiling, "You two can help yourself to anything you want."

"Appreciate it." Harry smiled, "Now you kids get along."

Jacob laughed and brought Leah along with him as they sauntered out the door. I just stood alone, feeling Paul's eyes on my back and wondering why everything suddenly seemed so convoluted when it was should be so simple.

I stepped out into the porch, with Paul trailing me. The rain had let up, and there was even a bit of sun coming out and blessing us with its foreign rays. I let a smile grace my cheeks, and for once it felt genuine.

"You're really trying, aren't you?"

The gruff voice caught me off guard, and I started. Turning around, I connected gazes with the hot-tempered wolf and gave him a small little smile. "I suppose you could say that."

Paul's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "I swear you're bipolar."

"Maybe." I said in a voice full of false contemplation. "But then again, aren't you?"

He stiffened, as if catching my drift right away. "No."

"I think you are."

"Coming from someone who is crazy over someone who is out of their reach."

A stinging, burning pain erupted in my chest at the wry, smug comment. It was as if he couldn't stop hurting me, no matter how hard he tried. I didn't know why, but then as soon as the pain ebbed away, I felt anger. A simmering anger that kept building and building beneath the surface of my somewhat cool façade.

But I wouldn't let him get to me, not this time.

I wouldn't run. No, I had done that too much already.

I wouldn't cry. Again, it was something I had done too much already. Though I desperately wanted to squirt a few tears, I had no intention to do that in front of this man ever again.

So, I squared my shoulders and offered him a smile. One that wasn't tinged with the anger that I wanted, but something that was just a bit worse than anger.

Pity.

The smile I gave him was filled with that emotion, just because we were, in fact, in the same boat, despite our various differences, we were all linked by the fact that we loved someone we shouldn't. Someone who wasn't made for us.

So instead of crying for him, I smiled for him, when he obviously couldn't do that himself.

I smiled for him, and let the words ring loud and true throughout the somber silence that filled the space between us.

"We're the same, then, Paul."

Before I turned from him, I got to see the way his face crumpled in rage, and then a hint of some other emotions - bitterness, sadness, shock.

The thing that scared me more than his shaking fists was the fact that I felt such kinship to a man I felt I should hate.

End Chapter Three.

And, there's chapter three! It felt like forever to get this one out, but I finally got through it. I got big plans for this little fic of mine, and this is just the beginning! I am SO very happy for all the kind, wonderful reviews I've received regarding this fanfic. I really look forward to hearing your opinions on this chapter!

Thanks so much for reading yet again! This just makes my day that so many people are enjoying this story so early into it!