Ok somthing a little new for me, a switch of POV part way through. Hope it works the way I wanted it to. Enjoy.

Chapter 5 - Butterfly Effect

Jacob Black POV

I was in our room. It was fairly crummy, very small and it carried a smell of stale cigarette smoke. That's one thing we definitely got right, banning smoking in public places. I think Bella had been too preoccupied on the journey to notice the fact that literally everyone had been puffing away, be it on the train, in the stations or even in the diners where we ate. A few months ago I probably wouldn't have minded but lately things like odours had been driving me mad, as if my smell had been amplified massively. Not to mention my other senses, take my sight for example. It sure did show up the stains in the room much more. And don't even get me started on my hearing. Jesus, the world had turned up the volume and it was so distracting. Even here with much less traffic than in our time there was just a background din that I couldn't shut out. It made concentration quite difficult most of the time, and when the rage started to build... Well anyway, my enhanced hearing wasn't really needed to hear the klaxon hooter, or the screams. I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I walked to the window.

Of course I never had any doubt about who I would see lying on the sidewalk next to the car. The car that was pretty much an engine with wheels and seats. And a horn. I turned and ran, taking the stairs three at a time and bounding out into the street where a small group was beginning to form. I pushed my way in mumbling 'I'm with her' and eventually found myself near the opening at the centre. By now she was sitting up and looking around in a dazed way, even more of a dazed way than she normally looked. Great. This was all I needed.

As I took in the scene and tried to work my way to her side I spotted a familiar face hovering over her, yet somehow different. Where did I know that guy from? Then it hit me. Cover him in glitter and flour, and yeah, thats him. Thats Edward Cullen. Just my fucking luck.

I came up alongside him and caught his shoulder. "Hey, she's with me, what happened?" Then I turned to her and spoke softly "are you ok?"

She nodded gently, in a way that told me she wasn't ok, but would be. "She stepped back into the road and the car hit her." He said. His voice was different too. Not so buttery. It didn't make me want to throw up. Then I noticed the lady who looked very much like him.

"I should think we must get her inside." She spoke. "Where do you live?" She directed at me, caring yet forceful.

"Oh, we're staying at the hotel over there." I said, pointing vaguely.

She scoffed. "Nonsense. Help her up boys. You shall both stay with us." I tried to protest but that was obviously a losing battle. We hauled her to her feet (it felt good to be much stronger than him) and each took an arm around our shoulders, following the lady down the walk as the crowd began to disperse and the car drove slowly away. How did she even get hit by that thing? But the thing that was concerning me most of all right now was the way she kept trying to turn and stare at him. This seemed like a very bad idea.

A few hours later she was fully awake and alert. The Mason family doctor had paid a fleeting visit and declared her fine, so I had rushed back to the hotel to gather our things at the instruction of his mother, who had introduced herself as Elisabeth Mason. She was actually very likeable, if a little forceful, and I was finding she was growing on me the more time I spent with her. My prior feelings towards her son, however, prevented any such development, and I kept my distance. It seemed that he was very perceptive though, as he also kept his distance and only spoke to me briefly when absolutely necessary.

We were sat at the dining table of their home and the four of us were eating quietly. I wasn't sure what I was eating but I was enjoying it. So far I had avoided the art of conversation but I could feel it coming.

"So tell me, Jacob, where is it you and your sister come from?" Elisabeth enquired in a very direct tone. No dodging this talk.

"Up near Seattle ma'am." I said after I had swallowed. "We were in town to see our uncle." The story given to me by Quil. I was intending to stick to it too. He mentioned that if anyone investigated they would find an uncle exactly where he was supposed to be.

"I see." She eyed me suspiciously but her eyes sparkled with humour and her smile was very disarming. "And how long are you planning to stay?"

I pretended to mull the question over for a minute. "Er a week or so. We need to be back before school." It's a good job the train ride had been so long, there was an entire backstory if I needed it. It almost felt like Quil knew we were coming.

"Yes, school is of most importance." She rolled the idea around for a while I glanced at Bella who was busy making googly eyes at Edward. He was pretending not to notice, but it was pretty obvious, and it was making me a little queasy. "We were just on our way to the hospital to visit one of my dear friends when we ran into Betty."

"Oh." I said as thoughtfully as I could. "What's wrong with your friend?"

"She has a terrible fever and explained it as though it were the flu. I was going to take her some grapes from the store, you see. But I suppose we shall just have to try again tomorrow."

"No!" Bella was suddenly very alert. "You can't!" She cried, and the attention of the table was focused on her.

"Well why not, dear?" Asked Elisabeth.

"What she means..." I stammered "Is that she would like to spend the day with you and Edward." I could have kicked myself right then and there, but it was the only thing I could think of. "I'm sure you're friend will be fine in a day or two."

Elisabeth nodded. She had bought it. I sighed inwardly. I may have made a massive sacrifice, but at least I had managed to keep our secret. "Very well. You two shall stay the night in the guest room, and I expect you shall show some chivalry sir?" She smiled at me. How could I refuse that. I nodded. "Very well, to bed with you. We shall go to the park tomorrow, and show you some of the beauty of our home." And with that she stood. "Edward, show then to the guest room please."

He nodded and silently led the way to the guest room. It was bigger than our hotel room, and much cleaner.

After a sickly display of saying goodnight to each other he finally left. I closed the door and turned on her. "What the hell Bella?" I hissed. She just looked at me with big eyes. "Really? You don't know how dangerous this is, do you? Jeesh do you even watch movies? You can't just change time." I sat beside her on the bed, exasperated.

"I know, Jake, I couldn't help myself." I looked at her, wondering what she was talking about and she seemed to take the hint. "They get the Spanish flu. It must be at the hospital, you know, where they got it. I couldn't ignore it Jake, I had to warn them."

"Well I have no idea what trouble its gonna cause!" I wasn't happy. "You need to persuade them to go there tomorrow."

"Uh uh." She shook her head. "No way."

"You know you could change history itself, don't you? I mean come on Bella, really." I pulled off my pants and shirt, surprised to hear her giggle. I looked up and she pointed at the mirror. My face and hands were like a mask and gloves. I sniggered. This would be fun if someone walked in on us.

"I can't do it, Jake, I cant let them die." She slipped out of her dress and into bed.

"Then he will never be a vampire, and you never meet in the future." I said calmly as i slid under the sheets on the floor.

"We could stay here." Oh what? She was serious.

"Bella, if you stay here with him, I'm leaving. Maybe I'll go back to La Push, maybe I'll go back to our time, but I won't be staying here."

"Please Jake, don't say that." Her eyes were wide and I hoped she was still just concussed.

"Look, get some sleep, hopefully you'll feel different in the morning." I pulled the cover up to my chin.

"Goodnight Jake." She whispered as she clicked off the light. "Please don't leave me." And with that she fell silent and almost instantly her breathing softened. I spent quite some time just staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out what I was going to do.