A/N: Sorry for the long wait! Finals are torture :P Hopefully I'll get back into the routine after this week, just be patient with me!

"Hey, honey!" Jake sang. My grip tightened on the phone in my hand.

"Hi, Jake," I said flatly. I faked a cough, and I heard Edward chuckle from the living room. I stood up from my bed and walked over to stand in front of the window. The rain was light, calm.

"Is Alice gone?"

"Yeah."

"I'll come over, then!" He sounded like such a teenager, too happy.

"Jake-"

"We haven't been alone in your new place yet," he interrupted, his voice low and husky. I shuddered. The anger in me receded, and I smiled.

"I know," I whispered, cupping myself around the phone. I heard a noise behind me and whirled around. Edward was standing in the doorway, his arms folded in front of him. He looked annoyed.

"I'll leave right now," Jake said over the phone. I could hear the grin in his voice. I shook my head, staring at Edward.

"Jake, not tonight, okay?" He was quiet for a second.

"Is everything okay?" he asked. There was a tone in his voice that I couldn't make out. I bit my lip, remembering how angry I had been, how afraid I was. Edward raised his eyebrows, and I nodded at him.

"I feel like I'm coming down with something," I lied, coughing again. "I don't want you to catch it."

"Bells, I'm fine. Let me come take care of you."

"No, Jake," I said, firmer than I meant it to be. He exhaled loudly.

"All right," he said, defeated. "Call me tomorrow?" I tried to speak, my mouth moving around like words were trying to form, but nothing came out. I hung up before I could start sobbing.

"That was quite a performance," Edward said coolly, his voice beautiful and sarcastic. I ignored him, pushing around to the living room. I sat on the couch and sunk into the cushions, my head in my hands. I could feel Edward staring at me.

I had already broken down in fear. I had already crumpled to the floor and watched as panic swam in front of my eyes. I had already pulled myself together, gathered the broken pieces of myself into a mangled shape of terror. I didn't cry or scream, sitting there on the couch; I was already numb. I lifted my face to stare at Edward. He hadn't moved from the doorway to my bedroom.

"How long have you been back in Forks?" I asked, tackling the easiest of my questions for him. He shifted slightly.

"I just returned," he said, frowning. I rolled my eyes.

"So I just imagined you spying on me in La Push at the beginning of the summer?" I asked haughtily, shaking my head at him. His eyebrows pulled together in anger.

"You were in serious danger." His voice was icy. "That mongrel almost killed you."

"Jake wouldn't hurt me." He laughed loudly and moved too fast to the middle of the room and back to the doorway, pacing.

"You think that he wasn't going to kill you? You've always been a magnet for trouble but I never thought you would be so stupid as to-"

"Just stop!" I shouted. He froze in place, turning to face me. "This isn't about Jake. I'm not interested in arguing about him." Edward narrowed his eyes.

"I've been in Forks since a week after my family left," he said in a low voice. "I was in Denali until Carlisle relocated to the other coast, and I came back just after."

"How come Alice hasn't seen you?" I asked, thinking back on our conversations. She never mentioned him being here.

"I asked her not to tell you," he said easily. He flitted over to the blue armchair and sat down lightly.

"She knows?" I tried to connect Alice slipping out, explained away as errands or allowing me to spend time with Jake, with meetings with her brother.

"She agreed to keep it a secret from you. I agreed not to let you know that I was here, though, so I suppose she'll be upset with me about this." I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I couldn't watch them lie to you any longer. You needed to know the truth." My mind was still reeling.

"How do you know what happens? I doubt Alice would've told you." He rolled his eyes and tapped the side of his head.

"She can keep me out most of the time," he said, smiling slightly. "But when she was sitting in your room and seeing it for the first time, she couldn't. She can never stop me from seeing her visions as they happen. I see what she sees." My stomach dropped, and the panic that had swallowed me before began to itch in my chest.

"I still think you're lying," I said evenly, trying to control my voice. He laughed the same beautiful laugh that I remembered, and the tiny heart inside me, his heart, stirred for the first time in weeks.

"What possible reason would I have for lying?" he said, still chuckling. "You know, I think, that I'm right." I bit my lip, but he stared at me with raised eyebrows.

"I thought Alice was just relieved," I whispered, averting my gaze. I couldn't watch his dancing eyes, see the tiny darts of fear pass through them. "I kept catching her staring at Jake. I always let them brush it off, though. I feel like such an idiot." Edward rose from the armchair and sat beside me on the couch. The closeness of his body was electrifying. I hated myself suddenly, horrified at my reaction to him. I scooted further down against the arm rest.

"Don't blame yourself, love," he said quietly, his hands folded in his lap. "Alice is a very good liar."

"Edward, don't," I said, shaking my head again. "I picked Jake." He was quiet for a moment, and I snuck a glance at him. His entire face was pulled down in a pained frown, his eyes staring at the wall but glazed over.

"I still think you should know," he replied, his voice strained. I stood up from the couch and went into the kitchen, needing the distance. I leaned against the counter, staring out the tiny window above the sink. The rain outside was light, but the darkness shrouded everything.

The tiny heart in me pulsed. I wrapped my hand around the tiny feeling, down in my stomach. I thought of the first time I'd met Edward, how he had been so cold to me. I wished the coldness had never ended. I wished I'd never spoken to him after that day.

"I thought that it would get easier, not being able to hear your thoughts," he said gently, and I jumped, wheeling around to see him standing in the doorway. "Having you gone, knowing that you are no longer mine...I hoped I would one day forget the frustration of not hearing you."

"I'm glad you still can't," I said angrily.

"Please, tell me what you're thinking." There was a fire in his eyes as he took a step closer. I folded my arms across my chest, weighing whether or not to answer.

"I was thinking of that first day in biology," I said, eyeing him. His fierce face broke into a wide crooked smile, my smile. His heart in me bounced once, twice.

"I don't often think back that far," he said, still smiling. "I tend to think more about the class that we talked. You were so tenacious. It was so funny how angry you thought you were." I found myself smiling back.

"You were so confusing," I admitted. "I just couldn't stop thinking about how angry you'd been the first class. I felt like you were making fun of me by talking to me again."

"I would never taunt you." His tone was mocking, his smile widening. His heart stretched, shaking off months of his absence. I tried to hold in the feeling, but it was like breathing. Laughing with him was so natural, so ingrained. I pushed away from the counter and turned to angle myself toward him.

"Tell me what Alice saw," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. My feet ached to close those few steps between us, to fall into him. His smile faded, and he furrowed his eyebrows. It took me a moment to see the pain in his face.

"Are you sure?" he asked, watching me. It took me longer than it should have to nod, but I did, my head bobbing up and down. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, the stress rolling from him in waves.

"Alice and Jacob came up with the plan to see you, though it was mostly Alice's idea." He sighed, his voice strained again. "She thought that, without the dog, your future would clear up. She knew that he would have to be convincing, and that was the hard part for them. If Jacob faltered or had any inkling of doubt that he would return to you, your future would have disappeared again. He had to commit to leaving you, and when he left Charlie's house that night, his thoughts were agonizing. I almost couldn't bear to listen to his pain..." I felt a tiny fissure in my chest, a small break, as I thought of the toll the plan had taken on him. I imagined him running so far from me that he could forget. I closed my eyes and wobbled slightly, tortured at the thought of his unbearable pain.

"I'm sorry," Edward said immediately, stepping towards me and putting a steadying hand under my elbows. His cold touch sent jolts of something through me, energizing his little heart. I pulled away, my skin still zinging where he touched me. His hands stayed in place where my elbows had been, his eyes alight with a desire that I recognized, a desire that burned in me. I pushed past him, ignoring the electricity in my hands with the contact. I rushed to my room, shutting the door tightly and leaning my back against the cold wood. I slumped to the floor.

How could I have let Jacob hurt for me? How could I crave Edward's touch? I was disgusted with myself. The rain picked up, pattering against the roof. I focused on the sound and tried to drown out the roaring anger inside of me.

"Bella?" Edward said worriedly through the door. "Do you still want me to continue?" I considered it for a moment, grasping at the distraction.

"You stay out there and I'll stay in here," I clarified, my head falling back against the door with a tiny thud. It was silent on the other side of the door. I wondered if he was sitting against it.

"It took a few moments for Alice to see you," he said distantly. I tried to focus on his words, remembering the night. "I could see her mind reeling, faster than I've ever heard it. She was so determined to see you. And then, all of a sudden, you were there. It was such a simple picture: you were in Charlie's backyard, sitting on a new piece of lawn furniture, and you were on the phone with your mother. The sun was shining, and it was warm out. You were in short sleeves, a plain black shirt. And you were smiling, listening to your mother prattle on. It was such a small image, but it was the first image of you that Alice had seen, and she grabbed onto it with a fervor that I could feel.

"She pushed at the borders of her vision, trying to see past it, and there you were again. You were at the library, filing books. Your arms were full and your hair was shorter, but it was you, and Alice kept searching. Images of you were coming at her all at once: driving your old truck, meeting up with Angela and Ben before they left for college, cooking dinner for Charlie in his kitchen, lying in bed draped in a sheet, alive and living and well. I was amazed at Alice's gift, as she typically cannot see things in such a way. She can watch a person for their future, but it doesn't often come in a bombardment as yours. It was overwhelming for her in your room, and it was overwhelming for me miles away, listening.

"It took Alice months of your beautiful life until she saw the Volturi. They were interspersed for only a moment before they flitted back out. It was Jane whom she finally saw. She was in your room while you were at work, standing in the middle of the room looking around at your things. She looked angry. And then it was another month after that before Alice saw you opening a thick letter from them. It asked you to meet them in Volterra. It was polite, but even you knew the implications. Alice of course saw you leave, but she was still in Maine. I was in Denali visiting Tanya, and so I didn't know. Alice raced to you but you were already on the plane by the time she arrived.

"You were very welcomed by them. Aro was again amazed at your gift of shutting them out, and he asked about your life. You were very honest. You told them that you had left me and chosen another. You admitted that he had left you, as well. You were surprisingly strong. Aro asked what you hoped to do after, and you told him of your plans to go off to college the following fall. Alice saw you calling Dartmouth a few months after Angela left for school, and they were willing to reinstate your previous acceptance. Congratulations, by the way." I heard him chuckle lightly. I thought about Dartmouth, about living in a dorm and going to class with a backpack full of textbooks.

"Aro was impressed with your tenacity. He had invited you there after Jane had visited your room and found no fresh trace of any of the Cullens, and he was relieved to know the reason for our absence. But he finally got to the reason for your invitation, and..." He trailed off, and I shuddered. I wanted to beg him to keep going, but my mouth was too dry to form words. I waited and hoped.

"He said that your agreement was to become a vampire," Edward said, and his voice was full of a pain that I could only imagine. "You told him that you had chosen to live a human life after leaving me. His face was annoyed and angered. He asked you to wait around in the city until they came to a decision of what to do. You were so scared, Bella. I could feel it, even through Alice.

"You had to wait days. Alice finally got to you, but by then, you had a guard that would not allow you to leave the city. The two of you spent the days together, and you called your mother and Charlie to tell them that you loved them. You called Jake, as well. He didn't pick up, and you left him a voicemail. You still loved him so much. You cried for hours after you had to hang up. And you called me, at Alice's urging. I was still in Forks, so confused with your absence. Alice was not answering my calls, and I had no idea where you had gone. But I knew, almost immediately, when you said you'd had to leave. I got on the earliest flight I could, but I was already too late.

"Jane escorted you back to Aro, and Alice refused to leave your side, despite your urging. Aro was very upset to see Alice, and it forced him to pause. They had already decided that you were to die, but they did not want to kill Alice as well. They asked her to leave, but she refused. And when they told you their verdict, that you had to choose between becoming part of the Volturi or dying, you chose the latter. They were forced to kill Alice to get to you. And then Alice's visions stopped completely, absolutely black."

I felt a tightness in my chest and realized I wasn't breathing. I couldn't bring myself to move. Imagining Alice, tiny Alice, facing down the terrifying and menacing vampires that had haunted my nightmares, cloaked and deadly...

I could hear Edward talking on the other side of the door, but I couldn't understand. I heard a rumbling in my ears, like an earthquake. I wrapped my arms around my legs and tried to remind myself how to breathe. Far away, I could hear a singing noise, jingling. I realized it was my phone, still sitting on the coffee table where I'd left it. I pushed my hands against my ears, drowning out the phone and Edward and my own pounding heartbeat.

I don't know how much time passed before Edward was there. He was suddenly beside me, and I could feel him there though my eyes were closed tight. I lifted my head to stare at him, and his face was warped, his eyes strained, his lips tugged into a grimace. I wasn't crying, though I felt like breaking. My hands fell from my ears and wrapped around my legs again, holding myself together. Edward reached a hand out to me, touching me on the arm. I didn't pull away, still trying to get past the roaring of the earthquake in my head.

Edward rubbed my arm gently until the noise in my ears receded. I let him lead me back into the living room and onto the couch. I sat down carefully, my eyes on my phone. He noticed and picked it up. He scoffed at the screen and tossed it back onto the coffee table.

"She never gives up," he said under his breath. I pulled my legs up under me and leaned my head back onto the back of the sofa, staring at the ceiling.

"Is she coming back?" I asked flatly. My voice was emotionless, stale. Edward didn't answer, and I didn't push it.

"Jacob called," he remarked carefully. I picked my head up and stared at him. He was cold and hostile.

"Did he leave a message?" Edward shook his head. I reached for my phone and checked. I had 8 voicemails from Alice and one from Jake. I clicked it to listen.

"Bells, I just got a call from Alice." His voice poured from the phone, too fast, frenzied. "She said that I should go over to your place but she didn't say why. Is everything all right? I'll come by if you need me. She sounded really freaked, and it's got me worried. If I don't hear from you in like ten minutes then I'm coming over." The phone clicked off. I checked the time of the call, and fifteen minutes had passed. Suddenly, panic clenched at my chest.

"Edward, you have to go," I breathed, scrambling off the couch and grabbing his hand. I tried pulling him towards the door, but he wouldn't move.

"Why?" he challenged, his eyes narrowed. "I'd love to see Jacob Black again." I bit back my own sarcasm and kept pulling, willing him to move.

"I don't want to do this right now," I said, straining against him. "Just go."

"He'll know I was here. What does it matter if I'm still here when he arrives?" His head whipped around then, his nose crinkling slightly. "I guess we're about to find out." I let go of Edward's hand and ran to the front door, throwing it open just in time to see Jake pulling up on his motorcycle. The rain had soaked his shirt and hair, and his eyes found mine immediately. I felt myself relax unconsciously, my hand reaching out in the rain for him. He stepped off the cycle easily and rushed to me, pulling me into a hug that lifted me from the ground. The rain was cold but bracing, and I felt my head clearing. I breathed him in and realized I was no longer angry with him. He ran a hand over my wet hair, smoothing it down.

"God, Bells, don't scare me like that," he whispered in my ear, and I shivered, tightening my arms around him. He kissed the top of my head and instantly stiffened. He dropped me to the ground roughly, and I tried to regain my balance. I reached out to him for support, but he was already gone. I heard Edward's furious snarl from inside the house and ran inside. Edward was crouched low to the ground, but Jake was standing with his arms crossed, almost at ease.

"When are you gonna learn that she just doesn't want you around, leech?" Jake sneered. Edward's lips curled back over his teeth.

"That's funny, coming from you," Edward growled. "I used to say the same thing about you." I stepped forward, standing between them. I put my hands on Jake's chest.

"Jake, please, don't," I begged, trying to get him to look at me. His eyes were on Edward. "This isn't about him." He laughed haughtily.

"You stink like him, Bella," Jake scoffed, finally looking at me. I wanted to cower from the anger in them. I dropped my hands to my sides. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"

"You did this by lying to her, mutt," Edward said mockingly. It only took Jake a moment to understand what he was talking about, and then his eyes were widening.

"You didn't," Jake whispered, staring at him incredulously. Edward looked smug. I took a step backwards, wanting to run.

"I was just telling her what she deserved to know." Edward rose from his crouch tentatively, his eyes still burning into Jacob.

"We only wanted to protect you," Jake breathed, turning to me. I couldn't look at him. "We were just trying to protect you." I turned away from them both.

"Both of you, get out," I said through clenched teeth. I was angry, tired, terrified, furious, disgusted. I just wanted to be alone.

"I'm not leaving you alone with him," Jake said in a low voice. I whipped around to stare at them.

"Get out!" I was screaming, but I couldn't find it in me to stop. "Just get out!" Edward nodded very slightly and flitted out the door, his body a blur as he slid around us. Jake just watched me, his hands balled into fists.

"I'm not leaving," he repeated, his voice on the verge of cracking. I shook my head violently and pointed a shaky finger at the open door. He hesitated only a moment before he too left.

I took a breath, waiting. The silence was calming. I walked over to shut the door, standing against it with my forehead on the cool surface. I waited for something, anything, unsure of what I was holding out for. I just breathed, in and out, in and out.

The Volturi was coming. And I had to be ready.