*disclaimer* omg, it's the one of the last chapters of New Moon! I'm sad for it to be over, but i am soo beyond ready to work on eclipse. you have no idea how excited i am for it...it'll blow minds :)

but, don't forget to review these last big chapters of New Moon...i'm making this a double post btw...The Cullens Watching New Moon should be up at the same time!

yay! wahoo! now, go read and review! :)


I So Do Not Want to Talk About the Treaty!

Maybe if I'm calm and rational about all of this, I won't be grounded until I'm ten thousand years old. Maybe if I just explain to them that I had to go, then I won't be locked away in a tower in a far off land that Edward will have to eventually rescue me from by climbing up my hair which will have grown to a astounding lengths because of how long I'd been in the tower. Maybe if I'm not sarcastic or if I don't talk back at all, I'll be free to walk out of this house without a tracking device on my ankle.

Maybe.

Seth ran off to his bedroom quickly and quietly. He didn't have to tell me that he'd been out running around all night with the pack. I could clearly see the dark rings already starting to form under his eyes. He was not going to be like Jacob and never sleep if I had anything to do with it! "Isabella Marie Swan!"

"Alright, I'm here. I'm here." Sue and Uncle Charlie were both sitting up in bed with angry looks on their faces. Of course, this is the first time I've ever seen Sue looked more than annoyed at someone, so I'm thinking my odds of actually surviving this talk are slim. "Morning, Uncle Charlie. Morning, Sue. I was just up to take a shower, but if you all want to go first, I can just go back to bed…" I started to turn back towards the door, mainly to hide my grimace. I already knew I would never get off that easy.

"Hold it, young lady. Let's talk for a minute first." Sue even used a warden's tone! Thanks for keeping them normal, Ava. Make it so they don't worry about me, I said. That way they won't try to kill me when I get back, I said. But did she listen? Nope! I'd rather she didn't turn in my college applications than not make it so everyone was cool with me disappearing for a few days.

I sat down on the end of their bed and prepared myself for the punishment I no doubt deserve. "You know you're in trouble."

"I know…"

Uncle Charlie went first. "I just about had a heart attack these last three days. We come home from a memorial service, and you're gone! Jacob could only tell us that you'd run off with Alice Cullen, and that he thought you were in trouble."

Then Sue joined in. "You didn't leave us a number, and you didn't call us. We didn't know where you were or when—or if—you were coming back."

Uncle Charlie's face was becoming more and more red by the second. "Do you have any idea how…how…" Don't die, Uncle Charlie! I think he has some werewolf blood in him because he's shaking a lot right now and he's really mad at me.

Sue tried calming him down, thank goodness. We wouldn't want another werewolf phasing in the house. "Calm down, Charlie. We don't want you having a real heart attack."

"Yeah, calm…" he took a couple of deep breaths, and looked back up at me. "Can you give me one reason why I shouldn't ship you off to Louisville this second?"

"Charlie!" Sue smacked his arm. Apparently, she wasn't interested in taking my punishment that far.

"Because you aren't wearing any pants?"

"Bella!"

Fine, my pitiful attempt to lighten the situation failed miserably, I get it! "Look, Uncle Charlie, I accept complete responsibility for my actions, and you both have the right to ground me forever, if you want. I promise I will do all of my chores, and then some, without complaint until you both think I've learned my lesson. And, if you think what I did was wrong enough for you to kick me out, you can't make me go anywhere I don't want to go. I want to finish school here, and I'll stay with Jacob or the Cullens if I have to."

I think Sue was actually proud of my courage in standing up to Uncle Charlie's threat to make me leave, but she smothered a smile when she saw how mad Uncle Charlie was getting. "Fine…well, would you at least care to explain where you've been?"

Crap it. I never thought of what to tell him. "I—uh, had to help Edward out of a sticky situation." I sort of mumbled, but Sue, being super mom, picked up on the most important part.

"Edward? Did you say you had to help Edward? You talked to him? Oh, sweetheart!" She pulled me into a hug so fast I barely saw it coming. "Are you okay? Did you two talk about what happened? Did you get back together with him? Did he apologize for being so mean to you?"

"Sue, I'm fine!" She shot me a look that told me she didn't believe me. "No, really! He told me why he acted the way he did when he left, and we're okay now. We're going to try our hand at being friends for a while." I think Sue could tell that I wasn't okay with that, but she let it slide for now since Uncle Charlie literally had smoke coming from his ears.

"And why did Edward break your heart like that?" He said through gritted teeth.

I need to word this properly. "He…uh…didn't want me to be too broken up over the fact that they were moving away, and he didn't want me to wait around for him and to move on. So, in his mind, if he made it sound like he moved on, then it would be easier for me to move on. Now, he just wants us to be able to move forward with each other."

"So are he and the rest of the Cullens back then?" Sue asked excitedly. This punishment thing is going a lot better than I thought it would.

"They sure are. They're already moving back into their house and they'll be back at school next week." Sue let out a happy squeal, and gave me another hug. This one was nice mainly because she was the only one to share my enthusiasm at having them all back besides the Cullens themselves.

"Oh, Bella, that is so great! Are you sure, though, that you and Edward can be friends after all the time you spent together?" Good question, Sue. One that I have no answer to, though.

Thinking about Edward made me blush, plus there was the additive that I was in front of my aunt and uncle, a fact which made me blush worse. "Probably not. I was just worried that I would be rushing into everything if I took him back too easily."

"I want you to stay away from him, Bella. I don't trust him."

Sue was completely outraged by his statement. "Charlie!"

"No, Sue, I'm putting my foot down on this! Bella, I think he's rotten for you. I won't let him mess you like that again. I don't want you seeing him anymore."

"Fine." I hopped up towards the door. Sue was glaring at Uncle Charlie. He's going to end up on the couch again for the rest of the month if he keeps annoying her like this.

I shocked Uncle Charlie with my easy answer. "Oh, I thought you were going to be difficult about it." Oh, he had no idea. This was another favorite part of the book for me, and he was going to get an earful from me.

I joined Sue in glaring at him. "Oh, trust me, I am. You see, I didn't mean 'Fine, I'll stay away from him'. I meant 'Fine, I'll get my stuff and move out if you're going to act like that about him'. Because, Uncle Charlie, while I may be very mad at Edward right now and I refused to be his girlfriend because I, myself, do not trust him completely at the moment; I still find myself to be very much in love with him. And this isn't the kind of love that'll end after high school does. This is more than just puppy love. So, I guess I'll go move in with him if he'll have me. So, I guess I'll see you all sometime around town..." Walk slowly towards the door, put a big pouty face on, and wait for him to crack.

"Bella, wait!" Told you!

"Don't forget to take the truck when you leave." Both Sue and I stared at him in horror. He can't honestly kick me out! Is he on crack or something? He can't honestly mean that. Can he? After a moment's silence, he busted out laughing. "Ah, hell, Bella, I can't believe you fell for that one! Ha! Like I would kick you out in a million years!"

"Uncle Charlie!" I yelled at the same time Sue yelled at him, "Charlie!"

I think he was about to pee his pants, he was laughing so hard. "Aw, come on. I couldn't resist!"

I will not be laughed at! "I am totally moving out now!" I glared at him one more time and slammed their door shut. I stayed, though, to hear what they were discussing. I bet Sue will beat the crap out of him if he doesn't try to stop me. Oh, that'll be fun to hear.

"Charlie, you better go make sure she doesn't move out because if she does, I will be moving out with her!" His laughing quit immediately. "Go. Apologize. Now."

"But, Sue, honestly she doesn't have any business being around that Cullen boy after what he did to her. If she has her heart broken by him again…well, I don't think she could handle it again. She'd be much better off if she would date Billy's son. She likes Jake enough—"

Wow, she sounds like me when she whines. "Charlie, Bella doesn't love him like she does Edward. She and Edward are soul mates. You can see it when you look at them. They move around one another like magnets. Now, I love Jacob just as much as you do, but she and Jake aren't really suited to one another. And I know she doesn't love him." Damn, does Sue notice everything about me? Maybe it's just a mom thing, but still! She noticed the magnet thing too? I wonder if my mom noticed that. I wonder if I'm even going to go on the trip with Edward now that we aren't together. Unless we're back together by then…otherwise, I don't know. "Now, I like Edward, so you are going to let him in this house if you don't want to sleep on that couch downstairs for the rest of your life."

Damn, she stuck it to him hard. "Yes, Ma'am." I think Uncle Charlie enjoys being bossed around, though. He doesn't seem to be in a fighting mood anymore. "Bella? Oh, there you are." He noticed me leaning against the wall outside of their room. He was blushing and looking down at the ground. I tried very hard not to smile at him, but it didn't work. "I'm sorry if I made you angry. You know I want you to stay, Bells."

I hugged him before he could say something stupid again. "It's okay, Uncle Charlie. I forgive you. And, I'll stay as long as you're nice to Edward because he and I are a bit of a package deal. We're just two separate pieces right now. But still, if he's here, I want you to be very very nice to him."

Here we go again. I guess he wasn't going to listen to Sue's instructions that closely. "Bella—"

"No, I mean it. Just think it over. And while you go do that, do you mind if I take a shower? We were in some pretty grimy places while we were gone, let me tell you—" Whoops. "I mean, never mind. I just need to shower. Good night! Or, well, good rest of the night!"I skedaddled to my bedroom before he could spout his disapproval for Edward anymore. But, I couldn't avoid everything, since I had yet another visitor in my room when I got back. "Back again?"

Edward was not happy. He leaned against my wide open window sill, looking quite irresistible in the moonlight shining through. Stop it, Bella! Don't think about that right now or you might start being delusional again. "You know, you shouldn't argue with your uncle over me."

"Are you saying that if I did, I wouldn't be able to move in with you? You're breaking my heart again, Edward."I can joke with him, can't I? Friends of different genders do that, don't they? Of course, they do. You and Jacob do all the time. Yes, but Jacob is in love with me, so that doesn't really count. I do make fun of Emmett and Angel, so I guess it's okay.

Edward grinned slightly back at me. "You'd move in with a house full of vampires?"

"I'd be safe from the unpredictably dangerous werewolves, that way." Edward frowned again. He is not in a happy mood right now. "So, did you need something?"

"Yes, Carlisle wanted me to come—well, Alice and Ava forced me to come—to pick up you the book that you have that you're going to let us read. For the information about Victoria. You probably haven't had the time to actually mark the important parts since I dropped you off here, so I guess I can wait while you do that." Edward's being awkward again! Maybe I can show him something that'll take his mind off of everything between us.

"Okay, let me just find it." I think I put the other two books in the boxes with all of my Twilight stuff that I bought before I moved here. I haven't looked in that box since I put them away before the first night that Edward came to watch me sleep. Oh, God, how's he going to take all of this stuff? Maybe I can make him laugh about it. Yeah, that's going to work. "Um, Edward, I think I need some help finding it in these boxes. Here, you look through this one," I handed him one with plenty of funny things in it, "and I'll look through this one."

"What is the name of the book that we're looking for?" Edward concentrated on the task before him. Come on, Edward, give me something!

"Eclipse." Well, this won't be as fun as I thought. I threw down my Twilight band-aids, and shuffled through the box some more.

When it appeared that all hope was lost between us, Edward finally spoke with some animation. "Bella, what is this?" I looked up from my work to see him holding something that I thought I had burned a long time ago.

Great, I think my ears are even blushing. "Well, that was just a stupid gift that someone gave me for my birthday a little while ago." Actually, I'm pretty sure Ava gave that to me just to make me blush. What is it with her and gifts like this?

"Do you usually receive gifts like this?" Yes! We're having a friendly bonding moment over my humiliation!

"No, and I never wear it. Now, would you mind putting that away?" I tried to snatch it from him, but he moved it out of my reach before I could.

His grin turned evil. "No, I think I'll hang onto this for a while. It does have my face on it after all." Oh, he is going down!

"Edward, give me back my limited edition Edward Cullen panties before I make you wear them in front of the entire school and the wolf pack!" And with that, I tackled him to the ground to get that stupid pair of underwear away from him. I can't even remember who gave them to me, but whoever it was will be receiving a very angry letter from me tomorrow. I'm surprised I was even able to knock Edward to the ground, but I think the shock of me attacking him made him fall over.

He and I were still grappling—and laughing hysterically at the same time—for the stupid thing when someone peeped their head in the room to figure out what the heck I was actually doing in here, since, of course, no one but Seth maybe knew who was in my room. "Bella, are you okay in there?" Edward was under my bed in a flash before Leah could see him. She blanched in the doorway before stepping inside. "Do you have another vampire in here? Nope, never mind, it's the same vampire that was in here before. Oh, God! Tell him to get out! He's making the entire house smell awful!"

While I was still on the ground, Edward and Leah were facing off in front of me. Thanks for all your help, guys. I really appreciate being helped up off of the ground. Not. "Oh, knock it off. There will be no fighting in this house. We are technically in their territory, Leah, so he can come whenever he wants. And, Edward, Leah does live here and apparently is a werewolf…whoa! Wait just a cotton-picking minute, you're a werewolf now too?" I swear, you leave for two days and the entire town turns into immortal puppy dogs! Where is the justice, I ask you?

"Obviously, Bella. Now, please, Edward, would you mind getting the hell out of here?" They better not fight in my room! I will be very upset if they do.

Leah started trembling like a mad woman. Not again! "Leah, don't you dare phase in my room or…I will take you to the vet to get spayed!"

Oh, shit, she's pissed. "Cute. The boys told me you were chuck-full of dog jokes for us. I'm currently working on some new leech material." Well, I better stop this before someone—namely, me—gets hurt. I quickly found Eclipse in one of the boxes Edward and I had been happily sorting through a minute and a half ago, and practically thrust him out of my window.

"Sorry, I'll have to talk to you later." Here goes what I wish would be my last interrogation for the night. "I thought you liked Edward." I grumbled at her. I forgot I was supposed to be taking a shower momentarily because of Edward, but I guess now's a good time to get it done.

Leah wasn't nearly as angry now that Edward had left, but she was still pissed about something. But, then again, she might just be pissed at the world now that she's a werewolf. I'm pretty sure she's not nearly as unpleasant to me as she was to Bella in the books, but maybe she's in the mood for a change. "That was before I could smell him from two miles away. And before Jacob won't stop talking about how he needs to talk to you. It's freaking ridiculous! It's 'I wish Bella would call' this, and 'why hasn't she called yet' that. But the idiot won't tell anyone why he wants to talk to you so much. You know, he even figured out a way to cover his thoughts up with some random songs he keeps singing whenever he thinks about you. Which is a lot. Will you just talk to him already so we can all get a break from his gross inner monologue?" Okay, so basically all I got out of that was that Jacob definitely read my book if he figured out the trick that Alice uses when she doesn't want Edward seeing something in her head. That, and Leah's mad because Jacob's annoying her, not because she hates me or anything.

Well, that's always a good thing.

Oh, and Jacob's keeping everything from the pack, which just means he's saving it for me to tell them. Great, thanks a lot, Jake. "Okay…well, I think I'll get right on that. Right after I shower. Tootles!" I shuffled past her before anyone else could come in and yell at me. I totally expected someone else to be at the ready to yell at me as soon as I opened the bathroom door, but I got lucky. I didn't even have a visitor when I went back to my room after I finally showered for the first time in days.

I even got to sleep for a few more precious minutes before Uncle Charlie barged straight into my room without knocking to tell me, "Bells, you've missed three days of school and you aren't going to be missing anymore! Now, get up and get dressed! You gotta leave in about five minutes."

I think I'd rather fly back to Volterra.


School sucks. For two whole weeks, it's been nothing but school, school, hating every minute that I'm friends with Edward, school, hating every minute that Jacob hasn't called me about the books and the movie, and school! Oh, and Alice won't leave me alone about getting back together with Edward. But, thanks to my best friend who I still actually like, Ava, she shuts up about it to stare at the tables after a couple of minutes.

True to part of her word, Ava did turn in my college applications and got us both out of a couple of tests. We were still both up for many opportunities on colleges, and more so than Jessica or Lauren combined. We loved talking about the many Ivy League schools that sent us full-rides and how we were so excited for our bright futures. They almost had steam coming out of their ears! It was great!

And Edward was very happy for me. Which was nice. And boring. I slightly expected him to get down on his knees and beg me to take me back, but I guess he really was going to take this friendship thing very seriously. Which was nice. And boring.

I have no idea whether Edward has been staying in my room at night or not because I haven't had any horrific nightmares that involved me waking up screaming. I wish he would, though. Maybe he could hear me talk about my lovely dreams that involved me making out with Edward in the meadow quite often. Or, more often than not, I have a musical dream between Edward and Jacob and me. I think the last one was 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' on the stage in school. Weird.

I doubt I'll be able to handle it if they actually do sing that song about me. But, most likely, Jacob won't ever speak to me again or give me back my book and movie. "The stupid ass! He's just a big stupid stupid-head! With a stupid stupid-head mind! Why won't he just call me already? He's got my book and my movie for goodness sake!" Edward and Alice calmly took in my rant while we were sitting at lunch one day. "I bet he'll probably show up once he decides to give me my motorcycle back! I think I've called him at least twenty times in the last two weeks about that gosh darn book! And you know what his father said? He doesn't want to talk to me! I mean, come on! He's got my book! And he doesn't want to talk to me? He was in the room and he didn't want to talk to me. I am buying the kid a cell phone just so I know I can call him!"

"Calm down, Bella. You know he's going to come crawling back to you eventually." Alice, so wisely, had to tell me.

"Yeah, because that's just the way I want him to come. Crawling!"

Edward, being the voice of reason these days, smiled and tried to calm me down more efficiently. "Jacob knows we're back, and I'm sure he is under the impression that you and I are together."

Ava rolled her eyes. "Well, duh! The only people who know that you two aren't an item are us…and the rest of the school, but that's it."

Oh, my God! I kinda hoped that no one would notice that Edward and I weren't an item. I'm not really sure how they wouldn't notice that I wasn't attached at the hip to him, but for some unfathomable reason I thought people would just ignore it. "WHAT?"

Ava and Alice shared a look. This is going to end in someone dying, I can tell. And it isn't going to be me. Ava finally told me once I snapped the pencil I was holding in half. "Bells, you didn't notice Lauren Mallory try to ask Edward out?" If only I were a vampire, if only. She would be dead within the next two seconds.

She would have been killed anyway if I weren't so rudely interrupted by Alice's very audible gasp. "Not now!" And here I thought Edward was going to rebuild our relationship by being completely honest with me and not doing something totally irrational without telling me first. But, then again, I never realized how powerful his instinct to protect me from what he perceived as danger was. Alice was completely panicking, and practically pushed me out the door. "Jacob is outside. Right now. You have to go before they kill one another!"

Oh, shit! I bolted out of that cafeteria before Alice could tell me what was going to happen. Luckily, it wasn't pouring outside, but it was a steady drizzle so I was soaked within seconds. I was frantically looking around for the two biggest idiots in this universe in the parking lot, but they weren't anywhere in sight. What was in sight, however, was the better of my two motorcycles. I'm guessing Jacob drove here on it, but where the heck are they? "Alright, if I just close my eyes and listen, maybe I can hear the dying screams of either a vampire or werewolf."

"I NEED TO SEE HER! WHERE IS SHE?" Found them! I sprinted off towards the woods, pushing my wet hair out of my eyes as I went.

"Alright, I'm here! Thanks for telling me I had company, Edward. And thank you for returning all those calls, Jacob. You two really are the two most annoying people in this entire world and for some reason, I find this attractive in both of you. Why I do, I have no idea." Edward and Jacob were still in their yelling positions, but they weren't actually yelling at one another. Now they were just staring at me. "So, what's up, Jake? Are you here to turn in my motorcycle to the school or something?"

"Bella," Jacob nodded to me. Ugh, why so pretentious? He knows the dialogue now, that is, if he read the book as thoroughly as I did.

Edward never took his eyes off of Jacob. They obviously were about to rip each other's throats out before I showed up. "She's here, mutt. Why don't you go on and tell her what you came to tell her."

"So, you aren't going to take my motorcycle to Uncle Charlie?"

"Is he really your uncle?" Jacob asked suspiciously. Oh, God, here we go.

Now, I just have to control my temper. "Yes, Jacob, he is my uncle. In my world, he is not my father. I have a real father back in Louisville, one that would promptly beat you up if I asked him. So, if you have any other questions, please get on with them because, honestly, this is getting annoying. Do you know how many times I've had to explain that the books aren't real? And that I am not the same Bella that is in the book? I will not be taken advantage of or be pressured into something that I don't want to do. Which includes dating either one of you, so don't even start on that, Jake!"

Jacob stood completely shocked. Apparently he hadn't been expecting a rant out of me. "I should have warned you that Bella is in quite the confrontational mood lately." Thank you, Edward.

Jacob completely ignored him, though. "You and him aren't together? I thought…"

"Not everything in the book happened, Jake." I growled at him. "I'm not quite the pushover that Bella is in the book. I may be in love with Edward," I heard Jacob wince at the same time Edward started grinning, "Oh, get over yourselves! But, like I said, I can hold my own ground. I'm not taking anyone back or for the first time ever until I can trust them and myself. I still need to figure out who I am before I can figure out who I'm supposed to be with, no matter what Stephanie Meyer thinks. Even though, I'm pretty sure she was right about Edward…" Now Jacob is completely angry at me, and Edward just looks like he wants to kill Jacob. And now I'm blushing because I definitely did not mean to say all of that. "Okay…this has just turned really awkward. Why couldn't someone have made a greeting card for this situation?"

"Because most people don't stay in this situation for more than a couple of days. Hi, Jacob." Ava was leaning against a tree a few feet away from us. I see why Jacob why so angry a few seconds ago. This is not a good time for her to be around us.

I reined my temper in, though, because I have control. "Ava, now's not the time!" I all but screamed at her. Did I say control? I meant fury. Jacob and Edward just make me so angry! Jacob is completely ignoring the fact that I actually have free will and don't act anything like the Bella in the book. And Edward seems to think he can fight my battles for me, like right now with Jake! I can almost hear his thoughts again! They're really soft, but I can definitely hear that he wants to attack Jacob.

And I totally get that the whole mind-reading thing is weird, but I don't even care anymore. Ava's thoughts were soft too, but I could tell that she was thinking about why Alice told her to come out here. So, Alice was behind it…apparently, she had a vision of Edward attacking Jacob since we had no conversation about him being nice to Jacob because hurting Jacob would hurt me. "Alright, but Alice told me…"

"Yeah, I know. She thought Edward might attack Jacob. I got it." I snapped at her, which I immediately regretted. Not because Ava took it bad or anything, she knows I have a bad temper, but because of what happened with Edward and Jacob. Alice wasn't kidding when she thought they might kill one another.

Jacob nearly burst out of his skin, but he reined himself in. "You were going to attack me? Just for coming around to talk to Bella? You really do have impulse issues."

Oh, God. That was probably not the best thing to say, Jacob. Now Edward is really going to try to kill him. "I have impulse issues? You're the one that bursts into a giant wolf when you're angry!"

"Oh, yeah? I'm not the one who ran off to off himself because he can't tell the difference between his sister and the woman he says he loves!"

"SHUT UP!" Ava and I yelled at the same time. They both shut their mouths immediately. Thank you, Ava's special power! "Now, Edward, I think before you say something you'll regret, you have something you want to tell Jacob. Maybe like how grateful you are to him?" I needed them to calm down, so we might as well get back on the whole dialogue thing even if Jacob knows most of it already.

"Yes," he agreed, but he was very upset about it, "I will never be able to tell you how grateful I am. I will owe you for the rest of my…existence. For keeping Bella alive," he locked his gaze with mine to convey how sorry he was for this, "When I…didn't."

Oh, goodness, I am never going to stop kicking myself for breaking up with him! I barely even heard Jacob behind us say, "I didn't do it for your benefit."

Edward's eyes finally broke with mine, and Ava had to steady me before my knees gave out. "I know. But that doesn't erase the gratitude I feel. I thought you should know. If there's ever anything in my power to do for you…" Jacob's eyebrow shot up, which caused Edward to wince. "That's not in my power."

"Whose then?" I doubt Jacob even cared that he was saying everything that was in the book because obviously he should know that I am now totally and completely in charge of Edward.

Edward looked back at me again, this time with a crooked smile. "Hers."

Jacob grinned, too. "Ava?"

I glared at him. "Jacob!"

Edward just chuckled. "No, not Ava, but her power could very well make me do anything she wanted. I'm talking about Bella. I'm a quick learner, Jacob Black, and I don't make the same mistake twice. I'm here until she orders me away."

"Which is only for the moment while I figure things out. And as for the treaty, don't worry, the Volturi will come soon enough. You can kill them when they come to turn me into a vampire and take me away to Italy by force."

Jacob obviously didn't see that one coming. He thought that the Cullens were just going to plan to bite me like they did in the book, but sadly that wasn't going to work out as well as we thought. "What? You…and…Aro, that creepy bloodsucker…you're going to be one of them?" I could tell Jacob was trying not to wolf out on me, and I didn't know what to do to help him.

"Jake? It'll be okay. Don't worry about me, I can handle Aro and his minions."

I reached out to comfort Jacob, but Edward stopped me. He basically threw me behind himself like someone was about to shoot me. "Careful! He's not under control."

Jacob glared at Edward, which I thought might make him go wolf, but it didn't. "Ugh. I would never hurt her."

"BELLA! THE BELL JUST RANG AND YOU ARE LATE FOR CLASS! IF YOU WANT TO BEAT OUT ERIC YORKIE FOR VALEDICTORIAN THEN YOU BETTER GET YOUR BUTT IN THIS SCHOOL THIS INSTANT!" Damn, Alice can yell loud. Thanks for alerting the entire school that I am on a vendetta to beat Eric out of valedictorian, too. That's going to get me a lot of brownie points with my other so-called friends.

I turned and grabbed Ava to start walking back towards school. "Crap, she's right. I really do want to beat Eric. So badly."

"Totally, and I'm going to beat you."

"HA! Yeah, right! I am totally going to whip your ass in the running! Plus, my speech would be so much better than yours."

Edward's voice cut through our argument, which I would have definitely won if we had kept going, because I am definitely going to beat Eric and Ava in the race for the top student. "Ladies? There's just one more thing." Edward rolled his eyes at us as he turned back towards Jacob. Hey, at least Ava and I are still thinking about school than just our boyfriends or, in my case, quasi-ex-boyfriends that I still madly love and want to have sex with and marry, not particularly in that order. "We've found no trace of Victoria on our side of the line—and Bella gave us the next book to strategize on how to defeat her. I don't know if the pack would be interested, but we need to work on a security detail for Bella and a way to defeat her."

"We can handle her. She killed on our turf. She's ours!"

"No! Everyone needs to work together on this and—" Why am I always the one to stop the fights? Unless I start them, that is.

"SARAH ANN STILES! I CAN SMELL HIM OUT THERE AND I KNOW EDWARD AND LIZZIE ARE OUT THERE TOO! IF YOU DON'T COME IN HERE IN ONE MINUTE…!" Alice didn't bother to finish her threat. She might be small, but she's deadly.

"Let's go." Edward said.

I glanced back at Jacob. Would he talk to me now that he knew everything? Will he still write me that note with all the scratches on it that I think is totally ridiculous? I mean, really, why would anyone send a letter with a bunch of scratches on it? Sorry, off topic. "Wait!" I suddenly remembered something. I still feel bad about making him so worried for going to Italy. I ran back to Jacob before Edward could stop me. I threw myself in his arms for one of his bone-crunching hugs that I didn't even mind this time. "Jacob, please, you promised not to hurt me. You'll still be around, right? I don't think I would like it very much if you were a stranger again."

Okay, you cannot kiss me now, Jake. He was just a few inches away from my face, but he eventually hung his head. "I don't know, Bella. I mean, Sarah. I just don't know."

I jerked out of his arms then. Great, here comes my temper again. "Fine! Can I at least get my movie and book back? I need to give the book to Edward before he and I watch the movie." Jeez, I sound like a bitch. Oh, wait. "Please." That's better.

"They're on your steps at home."

Panic rose up in my chest. "IN THE RAIN?" I am still a fan girl through and through.

"No, of course not. They're safe, Sarah, stop worrying."

"GOSH DARN IT! BELLA, NOW!"

I sighed. Alice is starting to bug me. "Fine. Goodbye, then, I guess. Please, Jake, don't leave me, too. Oh, and by the way, it's Bella." And with that, I ran away from him and past the only other person that I could ever hurt by saying that back to my only friends that I could still count on.

Who I can hopefully always count on.

Sure, Alice was mad because we were missing class, but she could tell how much I was hurting. She and Ava would always be on my side, no matter who I would choose. It seems the very thing that I wanted to avoid in the beginning happened anyway. I was going to have to pick between Edward—my soul mate that I would willingly give my life and soul to stay with—and Jacob—my best friend that I would drop everything I cared about to help. Two guys that I would be perfect with. Two soul mates. Two life paths. Two perfectly chiseled sets of abs. So, which one am I going to choose?

God, I sound just like Bella!


and that...is the official ending...:) do you have any last thoughts on my version of new moon? or HAS EVERYONE GOTTEN TO SEE THE ABSOLUTE BEST MOVIE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD YET? (and by that i mean ECLIPSE)

i thought it was spectacular...except for kristen! I just cannot like her...ever...

but, anyway, go review...and go on to read the next chapter! :)