Sorry for the delay this time. The big drama of this story is about to begin so here's a smaller, lighter chapter in the meantime.

BPOV

I took another sip of my warm soda. I was hoarse from singing, and the fact that I had been singing at all was a testament to how much I loved Edward Cullen. We were sitting on one of the bigger boulders at a place called Shipwreck Point, and he had brought along a pizza and another one of his guitars. I was glad that he had told me to dress warmly- it was quite windy here, and the sun had given up all hope of returning this week.

As I ate my early dinner, he serenaded me, keeping in time with the crashing waves that pounded the little beach. But this time he had chosen surf music, and instead of drifting off to sleep to my lullaby, I had found myself tapping my foot and eventually singing along in my tone-deaf, squeaky voice. I had been mortified when the first awful note came out of my mouth, but the huge grin that had spread over Edward's face made me keep going. I couldn't remember a time when I had done anything to make him look so happy and carefree before. If my singing was what it took to keep him smiling like that, well, then I would just have to sing for the rest of eternity.

We were both avoiding that topic today. We had been through so much in the past week, that I think both of us just wanted to have fun today, and pretend that we were just two teenagers in love. The beach and the music fit perfectly with that goal, and I set the soda can back down on the blanket, ready to sing again. I actually knew a lot of the songs he had selected; surf music had been one of Renee's musical phases.

But Edward had heard me running out of steam, and he switched now into picking a random stream of notes. This was nice, too. I laid down on my side, propping my head up with one hand and watched the waves as the notes from the guitar gradually began to shift into a slow, pulsing melody that rose and fell with the tide.

"Is this another one of your compositions?" I asked dreamily.

"Yes. I wrote this one back in the late fifties, for Jasper and Alice."

I listened for a while, trying to pick out which part of the melody was Jasper and which part was Alice.

"How many songs have you written, anyway?"

He smiled, looking out over the water. "I don't know. So many are unfinished. Hundreds, I suppose."

"Wow. I had no idea you were so prolific." Time to feel insignificant again.

"Well, most of it is your fault," he teased, tucking a flyaway strand of hair behind my ear. "At least half of them have been written because of you."

"Wait, how is that possible? You've only known me for six months, if that."

"Six months, thirteen days, five hours and thirty-six seconds," he said thoughtfully. "Thirty seven, now. But who's counting?"

I just blushed, making him smile again. "To answer your question," he continued, "some of my music was written about you several years ago, in the hope that I would meet you someday. I had very little hope that I would ever find the kind of love that my parents had, but I knew that I couldn't settle for anything less. So I just wrote songs about her… about you. I knew it might never amount to anything, but these things have a way of writing themselves."

"Wow."

His smile grew. "Of course, now I know that the inspiration just hadn't been born yet. That I had to wait for you, and that it was only a matter of time." He laid the guitar aside, laying down on his side, copying my posture. "You still haven't heard some of them. You will, though. I promise."

"All right. As long as Jasper can accompany you on banjo." He laughed, a deep, carefree sound that made my heart soar.

"Is there anything else you'd like to do today?" he asked.

"Let's just stay here for a while. I want to hear more if this music you've written for me."

"All right." He sat back up, clipping the capo onto the neck of the guitar.

"But then I think I should head back home before too long," I said reluctantly. "Charlie's not thrilled that we're back to seeing each other every day."

He frowned, looking back out at the water as he began to play again. "Maybe we should stick to daytime for a while, while he's at work."

"I guess so. And if I don't cook for him enough, he always ends up at that nasty diner. Don't you sometimes wish we could just, you know, tell him? It would be so much easier."

Edward stopped playing and turned around, facing me. "Tell him what?"

"You know. Everything."

"Bella, you know we can't do that."

"I know."

"And it wouldn't be easier. Charlie would feel even more obligated to keep me away from you. And he would also feel the need to protect the town against us- it's his job as the Chief of Police. And that kind of thing attracts attention. It's bad enough that you know the truth about us. Don't you remember what I told you about the Volturi?"

"They're the rulers, right?"

"They see themselves more as protectors," he said disgustedly, "although they have far too much power. They are the ones who… intervene if there is even a hint that our existence could be exposed. If they were to find out how much you know…" He trailed off, swallowing. "We're taking a big enough risk as it is."

"I know," I sighed. "I wasn't really suggesting it. I was just wishing that…" Wishing that this part was already behind us.

"That I was human. That this could be normal," he guessed.

"No. Maybe I did at first, but now... I don't know, that wouldn't seem like enough anymore. Seventy years isn't nearly enough time with you, now that I know what I could have."

Edward's eyes closed in exasperation. "Bella…"

I bit my lip. Didn't I plan on avoiding this subject? "Anyway, I do wish we didn't have to lie to Charlie so much."

"I wish that too."

"It's really ironic, isn't it? He's the protector of his town, and he has no clue that there are vampires and werewolves less than twenty miles from the police station."

Edward frowned again, putting down his guitar. "Yes… about the werewolves."

"What?"

"Jacob paid a little visit to our house earlier today."

"Um, would this visit have had anything to do with me?"

"Yes."

So that's where Jacob had gone. I had sat nervously beside the phone for two hours, waiting for Charlie to call me in a rage, to tell me that Jacob had given him new information about the Cullens. When the call never came, I finally assumed that Jacob had calmed down and gone home. No such luck, apparently.

I sighed heavily. "What did he do?"

"He was furious. He had seen the marks on your arm and face, and put two and two together. He came to tell me to stay out of your life once and for all. He got so angry that he almost phased right on our front porch."

"What?"

"And he would have phased, if Jasper hadn't been home. He pulled him back from the brink, but it was touch and go for a moment."

"Is he okay?"

Edward snorted. "He's fine. It scared him half to death, though. He didn't even know what had happened to him until I explained it."

"Until you- wait, what? You told him? He knows now?"

"Yes. And he knows about us now, too. Billy and Sam- he's the Alpha wolf- came to pick him up. Sam would have told him anyway, if I hadn't."

I rolled flat onto my back, staring up at the sky. So Jacob knew now. What did he think of all this? Was he scared? Was he excited? I tried to picture my friend exploding into a huge animal, but I just couldn't comprehend it.

"Listen, Bella," Edward said, reaching down to touch my cheek. "Alice could barely see Jacob when he came over, and now she's lost him completely. He is very, very close now to phasing. And the next time Jasper probably won't be around to stop it. In fact, he probably wouldn't be able to stop it even if he was there. Jacob is more dangerous than ever right now. It's imperative that you stay away from him."

I rolled over, facing him again. "Jacob is my friend, Edward. He's probably going through a tough time right now. You can't stop me from seeing him."

He held my gaze. "Yes, I can."

I swallowed, unsure what to think. Would Edward really, physically stop me if I tried? Would he really cross that line?

"You don't understand what it was like," Edward said quietly as he took my hands. "You can't understand what it was like, when the van almost crushed you. When I almost didn't reach you in time, back in Port Angeles. When James-" he stopped, wincing as he turned away. "And last week, when Alice thought you were going to die. You can't begin to comprehend what that did to me, every time I thought I was really about to lose you. I will not let it get that close again, ever. Not for Jacob, not for anything. I can't."

"Fine. I'll call him, then."

He sighed in defeat. "If you must."

"Why, Edward? Why do you have to hate him so much? If this about being jealous, don't be! He's fifteen, for crying out loud!"

He just shrugged. "I'm one hundred and four."

I smacked him on the arm. "You know what I mean. There's nothing for you to be jealous of."

"This isn't about jealousy. It's about a natural, genetic enmity between our two species. We are designed to kill each other, Bella. When I stand near him- worse, when I stand near Sam, who has full werewolf scent- my body reacts instantly. Every cell in me aches to attack, and it's the same for them. Even Carlisle feels it. How he ever kept us calm enough to create the treaty back then is beyond me."

"Well, he's like the super-wise vampire, though."

"Yes, Carlisle is wise. About a lot of things." Edward suddenly looked sad. His face was paler than usual, and his eyes hadn't been the right color all day. I reached up to his face, touching the familiar purple streaks under his eyes.

"You look thirsty," I said softly. It was time to change the subject anyway.

"Yes, we all are; it's been a difficult week. I might go out tonight while you're with Charlie."

"Okay. But now can I hear some more of the music?"

He smiled, bending down to kiss me briefly. "Of course."

.

.

.

It turned out that Charlie hadn't eaten yet, so I made him some steak and fries. Not quite the healthy dinner that I had been threatening, but my salad stuff had finally died in the fridge.

"This is great, Bells. Way better than that salisbury steak over at the diner."

"Ugh, you eat that?"

"Hey, I'll take my daughter's home cooking any day. You wanna help me do the lawn after dinner?"

"Actually, I was planning on doing some grocery shopping tonight. This house needs some vegetables."

"Why tonight?"

I shrugged, avoiding his gaze. "They stock the produce in the afternoon. I'll get the best stuff if I go now." I knew he wouldn't call my bluff on that one.

He grunted disapprovingly, but nodded. "Well, nice to see you doing something other than hanging out with that boy."

"Oh, he's busy anyway," I said nonchalantly. "Thought I'd give Jake a call before I head out, though."

His eyebrows raised slightly, and although he didn't say anything, he was whistling as he stood up to clear his dishes. I knew it was wrong to give him hope, but I'd do pretty much anything at this point to get him off Edward's case. I still couldn't believe he called Edward's adoption agency… or thought he did, anyway.

After dinner I took the phone into my room so I could call Jacob. Billy answered after the third ring.

"Hi Billy, it's Bella Swan. Is Jacob around?"

"Oh… hi, Bella. Yeah, he's home but he's not feeling well. Got a fever."

A fever? Was that one of the werewolf symptoms? I couldn't remember from Edward's story now. The thought of Jacob just staying at home, sick and scared, made me feel sick.

Billy was still talking. "So, I'll tell him you called. Give him a few days, all right?"

"Billy, is Jacob really sick, or is this… because of what happened earlier today?"

There was a long pause. "I guess that leech told you all of our business, didn't he?" he asked in a scathing voice.

"Well, it was really my fault that it happened," I said quickly. "I had already known about the legends, and… " I clamped my mouth shut. Idiot. I just couldn't keep all these cover stories straight. Who knew what, and who was supposed to know it, and who was supposed to know that I knew. Ugh.

"Listen, Billy, I just want to know if Jacob's all right. Can I speak to him, please?"

"No, he really does have a fever. Really. It would probably just be better if you left him alone."

I was busy coming up with a good argument, but the dial tone interrupted my train of thought. I shut the phone off angrily. Why did everyone have to be so childish about this, anyway? I stormed downstairs and grabbed the grocery money out of its jar.

"Anything you want from the store, Dad?" I grumbled as I reached for the doorknob.

"Whatever you want is fine by me. Oh! If they have those little apple pies at the bakery…"

"You got it. See you later." I slammed the door behind me, my own childish protest at the whole supernatural world and their petty feuds.

.

.

.

The grocery store was only a few miles away, but I was driving slowly, thinking. Was Jacob really sick, or was it a werewolf thing? Had I just gotten Edward in trouble, by letting Billy know that I knew about the wolves? Was Jacob mad at me, now that he knew who I was really dating? Was there any way to find all this out, without sneaking over to Jacob's house while Edward wasn't looking?

I slowed the truck down even more. He had said they might be out hunting tonight. And even if they were, Alice would know as soon as I decided to go. Still, I was only a couple of miles from La Push. Even running at top speed, I doubted that he could stop me…

Before I could waste any more time thinking, I swung the truck around and hit the gas for all it was worth.