. . . . .

The pack had caught the scent of an intruder. And while everyone agreed that it wasn't Victoria, neither Edward nor Jacob was willing to let me go anywhere alone until they were sure whoever it was had moved on. For me, that meant having a constant chaperone everywhere I went. For them, that meant running into each other every time I changed hands.

I had been feeling a little smug about how easily Jacob and I had resumed our friendship. And other than some relative weirdness between the two of them, it seemed that Edward and Jacob had even come to some sort of compromise. A tense agreement, but an agreement nonetheless.

Jacob had been good about keeping a fair distance, and the awkwardness between us was shrinking. Edward seemed to have settled back into us. He was still distant at times, and his trips and absences were still more frequent than they had been before all of the emotional drama had begun, but the comfortable aspect of our relationship seemed to be back.

So I thought it was a tenable arrangement. Even after Edward's strange disappearing act at my house, it seemed that there were no hard feelings—at any rate, not any more than usual.

At least until the following Saturday afternoon.

I'd spent the day with the pack while the Cullens hunted, and Jacob had agreed to drop me off at their house as soon as they returned. But Jacob became sullen when Edward's text buzzed through to my phone.

"Maybe you don't have to go, Bells," he pleaded softly. "Maybe you can just hang out here tonight. With me. He'll be around tomorrow. Hell, he'll be around forever."

I'd looked over at him, ready to roll my eyes at his backhanded snub, but his eyes were sharp, the corners squinted in anger.

"Oh, come on, Jake. You knew this was the plan all day." I made my way toward the Rabbit and he kicked the ground with his boot, not moving. "Jake. Come on."

He stood there, hands in his pockets, and I could tell he was struggling to stay in control.

"What is going on?" I moved back toward him.

"Bella, stay back." His order was so quiet that I could barely hear it, but it held me in place.

I watched him shake, and my frustration over his childishness got the best of me. "Ok, fine. I'll just walk there then."

I started off down the gravel driveway and Jake's hand clamped around my upper arm before I took three steps.

"Ow!" I wheeled around to face him. "What the heck is your problem? Why are you acting like this?"

"I just can't stand you spending time with them right now." Jacob's teeth gritted together and his eyes flashed. His fingers dug into my arm, and I slapped at them until he released me.

I rubbed at my arm to allay the pain and glowered back at him. "Well, it's something you're going to have to get used to. It's not changing, and you know that. Stop being an ass. What's with you?"

Jake took a deep breath and looked at me through his thick lashes, shaking his head apologetically. "I'm sorry. About your arm, about acting like a jerk. About everything. This whole bloodsucker-thing is exhausting. I've been running patrols or watching you nonstop for the last six days and I'm just tired. And feeling a little overprotective of you right now."

I stepped toward him and pushed my fist into his stomach lightly. "It's fine, I guess. I just don't understand why you get so angry about it."

"Because I'm jealous, Bella." He grumbled into the space between us, not meeting my eyes. "Being tired makes it worse. I just wish you wanted to spend all of your time with me."

I was frustrated by his inability to let go, and I stepped back toward his car. "I'm sorry about that, but you know how it is. Besides, I spend a lot of time with you. So please don't do this right now."

He followed me to the car wordlessly and peeled out, throwing all of his pent-up aggression into driving and throwing me back against the seat with the sudden movement. I stared out the window at the blurring landscape and ignored him, fighting my natural instinct to try and placate him.

We were at the Cullens in a fast 15 minutes, and I climbed out into the cool night air, hoping he'd just drive away. Instead, Jacob's car door slammed. I looked up and saw him charging past me and toward the house.

"You're not coming in." I knew his mood wouldn't get any better when faced with the Cullens, and I reached to stop him.

"I promised Sam I'd give Carlisle a report on our patrols." He shook off my hand and pushed ahead of me, raising his arm to knock on the front door just as Edward swung it open.

Edward's eyes were narrowed, his nostrils flaring. He looked me up and down and stepped forward. He lifted the sleeve of my tee-shirt.

"What the hell is this?" He pointed to the red marks on my arm in the pattern of Jake's fingers.

"Nothing." I pulled away and yanked my sleeve lower.

Edward stepped over to Jake and practically bumped chests with him. "I thought I told you to keep your hands off of her."

"Mind your own business, Leech." Jake was growling under his breath.

"Stop it!" I tried to push in between them, but they ignored me, both showing their teeth and pressing closer.

"She is my business." Edward hissed back. "And I'll make killing you my business if you ever lay a hand on her again."

The sound of the argument had brought the rest of the Cullens to the door, and Carlisle stepped out to break up the argument.

"Ok, you two. Calm down." He pushed against Edward's shoulder with one hand, and Jacob flinched away from the icy grasp of his other hand. Carlisle ignored the decidedly immature response, his voice calm and reassuring. "Now, what's the trouble?"

I tried to focus on taking deep breaths. Carlisle had it under control, there was no need to worry. Right?

"He drops Bella off with bruises—how am I supposed to stay calm?" Edward turned on Carlisle as Jacob inched forward with a growl.

"Leave it alone, Edward." Jacob wasn't giving up, acting like Carlisle and the rest of us weren't there. "You have no idea what happened, so just back off."

Edward whirled back around, his words slicing through the inches between them. "Does it matter what happened? There is no single circumstance in which it would be appropriate for you to leave bruises on my girlfriend."

"Edward, I'm fine. It was a misunderstanding." I stepped into the fray, feeling the sudden need to back up Jacob. "Just leave him alone."

"Misunderstanding." Edward's tone turned colder. "What, now you're defending him?"

"No! I—I just… It was nothing. You're all getting worked up about nothing." I grasped for words, not sure why I'd even opened my mouth in the first place. I finished weakly, sounding like a pathetic child. "He didn't mean it."

Edward growled, turning past me and lunging at Jacob.

I screamed and tried again to get in the middle of them, but Edward's hand pushed me back as Jacob launched himself forward. I fell backward against the doorjamb and watched in horror as the tangle of limbs that was my boyfriend and my best friend thrashed at the foot of the stairs.

"Edward!" Carlisle rushed forward, reaching into the blur and pulling Edward away by the back of his shirt. Emmett stepped in, too, pulling Jacob away and holding his hands behind his back.

Edward stood, panting, his teeth bared. His hair was messed up and his shirt was torn in a few places, but he looked no worse for the wear. Edward was unbreakable. But Jacob in his human form could be easily injured by Edward's stony fists—and injured he was. A bloody gash on his neck dripped onto the collar of his shirt, and his eye was swelling up as I stared at him.

I looked between the two of them, trying to decide who deserved more of my wrath.

I felt a sudden warmth flood over me and I spun around to look for Jasper. I was certain he was influencing my mood.

But Jasper and Alice were inside, facing each other on the stairs, seemingly deep in an intense conversation and not paying attention to what was happening on their doorstep.

I pulled my eyes away from Alice and Jasper and considered Jacob and Edward again, already knowing the choice I'd make.

Jacob looked at me, his dark eyes burning into mine. My breath caught in my throat and the warmth broke over me again.

Edward reached for me as I stepped forward, but I brushed past him and put my hand to Jake's face. His flesh was hotter than usual around his eye, red and turning purplish around the edges. I stroked his arm with my other hand, and pushed him toward the car.

"Let's go." He balked and I took the car keys from his hand. "I'm driving."

I wrapped my hand around his and pulled him toward the car.

I could hear the silence behind me as loudly as a drum. As loud as my thudding heart. I didn't turn back around. Instead, I opened the passenger door and shut it behind Jake, then I got in the driver's seat and started the engine. I didn't even take a deep breath to steady myself before I drove away.

. . . . .

That night, after I'd taken Jacob home and held a package of frozen peas to his already-healing eye, I lay in bed with the window open and the lights off.

I knew I'd made a big move—a potentially life-changing decision—in the course of an instant. And I knew the automaticness with which I'd made that move said more about me—about who I was, about who I was becoming—than I was willing to admit. But I wasn't completely sure who was to blame.

I had been positive that I'd felt Jasper changing my mood. But why would he do that? It made no sense. If he'd been influencing anyone's feelings, wouldn't he have tampered with those of Edward or Jacob? Or wouldn't it have been to simply calm me down? There's no way he would have made me feel sorry for Jacob, in any case.

I was also fairly certain that Jasper would have needed to be focused on me to influence my mood. And he hadn't been. In fact, it didn't seem like he'd been paying attention to the ruckus at all.

So, if Jasper wasn't changing my mood, who was?

Was I?

I sighed and kicked off the sheet, rolling over to bury my face in my pillow. It was hopeless. I was hopeless.

None of the why's mattered. Regardless of why I'd done it, the ramifications of what I'd done echoed in my head. I'd defended Jacob, I'd ignored Edward's outstretched arm, I'd taken Jacob's side—and his hand—and I'd driven away without even asking if Edward was ok.

I'd made my decision, and it was plain and clear to everyone watching.

But I also knew that Edward was fine. There was no way that Jacob in his human form could have injured him. And Edward was the one who was pushing Jake's buttons. Sort of. Although, I did have to admit that Jacob bore his fair share of the responsibility for coming up to the house in the first place. I didn't blame him for the bruises on my arm. He was stronger than he knew, and I was sure he'd never hurt me on purpose. But he had to know it would set Edward off, and he hadn't given me a chance to talk him down.

Then again, Edward was just protecting me. Drawing a line in the sand about how I should be treated.

He'd drawn the line for Jacob, but I'd crossed it.

. . . . .