Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters.

A/N: Thanks to katmom and Angelinia, who beta this story.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Preventing Fires

The next couple of weeks before school started seemed to go by in a hurry. Bella was able to see Jacob only once in that time period and though the two of them talked by themselves, they weren't allowed to be really alone. Sam and Jared weren't too far off in the woods and Edward was in the house, both parties could hear everything that she said to Jacob. She felt uncomfortable with this arrangement, much preferring that everyone just meet together, but Jacob was worried about how his instincts would react to having Edward so near him and Edward agreed it wouldn't be wise. Of course Edward suggested that they just talk over the phone, but Bella thought a face to face meeting would be better at this time.

"So... um... how are you?" Bella asked uncertainly, feeling more awkward with her friend than she had in the past. It wasn't just the fact that they might not be able to be friends in the future, it was that Jacob looked so different now, with his short hair and looking older than he did before the transformation.

"I'm dealing," Jacob sighed, but then smiled at her. "It's different than I thought it would be... I guess becoming a wolf is something that you just can't prepare for. I'm sorry for what happened the other day..." he added as an afterthought. "And for not calling you lately... it's just been... hard..."

"You really don't have to apologize about either of those things," Bella sighed.

"Good," Jacob grinned, but it faded quickly when he noticed how guarded Bella seemed to be. Not sure what to do he asked, "so what have you been doing the last week or so?"

"Well... um... I sort of read the other books, you know the ones from the future," Bella said.

"Oh," Jacob said a little surprised and then he looked at her closer. He sighed, "What happened?"

Bella bit her lip, "a lot of things..."

"Well, I'd like to hear more than just that," Jacob prompted after waiting for her to say something for several moments.

"There's too much to really describe," Bella shook her head. "I think it's best if you just read them... um... at least some of them."

"Really," Jacob said once again surprised, knowing that she wouldn't really want him reading that unless it was important... unless something happened in the book. "What did I do?"

"What makes you think you did anything?" Bella questioned as his expression had become glum.

"Because you haven't looked me in the eye while I've been here," Jacob sighed. "I would worry that it had something to do with me being a wolf, but you had no trouble meeting Sam and Jared. So, now that just leaves me thinking that something must have happened in the book... um... books. So I repeat, what did I do?"

"You like me," Bella mumbled, the answer.

"Well, of course I like you," Jacob answered before he got the full meaning of what she was saying. "Oh... um... I... I don't know what to say about that."

"Me neither," Bella said, "but I know I'm not going to let what happened in the book happen in this reality."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Jacob said.

"So you're saying you don't have any feelings for me like that?" Bella questioned hopefully.

"Not that I know of," Jacob said, but he wasn't looking at her directly in the eye which made her suspicious.

"Just read the books, Jake," Bella said handing him two of the books. "See what you think after that."

"Bella..." Jacob said.

"And it's probably best if we don't see each other for awhile," Bella added.

"Come on... I don't see..."

"Relax, Jake, I just mean it's probably best for you to... I mean it can't be easy on you learning to be a wolf and all," Bella said in a kinder tone.

"No, it's really isn't," Jacob said.

"So just take your time," Bella said, "and call me once you've finished with the books."

"Fine," Jacob sighed.

That conversation happened weeks ago and she still hadn't heard word from Jacob since. She wondered what that meant, but she couldn't dwell on that fact long, for she had a lot of other things on her mind. For the rest of the summer break she spent most of her time at the Cullens' and each day it felt more and more like home to her.

When school started, she wasn't surprised to see that she had all her classes with Edward, even Gym, which she could have done without (being distracted by Edward's flawless grace didn't help her coordination one bit). However, even that wasn't so bad, because it just felt right having him there. At lunch time she would sit at a table with a big group of people, which most importantly included Angela, who was still happily going out with Ben. Bella was happy to see that nothing much had changed there. She was, however, surprised to see that Mike and Jessica still seemed to be together too and wondered what might have changed that would make that happen.

When she questioned Edward about it his only answer was, "Mike Newton isn't anywhere near as vile as he was last year... at least now his thoughts aren't directed towards you."

"Do you think those two might actually stay together this time?" Bella continued to question.

"Who knows," Edward said, but his tone was doubtfully.

"And why don't you think they'll last?" Bella asked in response to his tone.

"They're both very self-absorbed," Edward answered, seeing to take a fraction of a second longer than necessary to find the best way to describe them. "Right now, they care more about looking good and other things along that line for this to be too serious... they might later on..." again he sounded doubtful.

"Then why are they still together this time?" Bella frowned.

"I would imagine that has mostly to do with you," Edward said, now smiling. "You didn't really give Newton a chance to think there was any possibility that you would like him. Without that, it was much easier for him to move on with his life."

"Hm..." Bella said thoughtfully, but she wasn't exactly thinking about Mike.

"I must say I'm very happy about that, from what I've seen in the books at least I don't have to live through most of the fantasies he had about you," Edward said cheerfully.

Her birthday too came and went without anything happening. That didn't mean that she wasn't worried her entire birthday, feeling more anxious than she knew she should be, but of course she wasn't the only one that was anxious. Edward seemed on edge, and he agreed completely when Bella had refused to go to the Cullens' house, but surprisingly Alice didn't put up much of a fight.

Of course that turned out to be because she had arranged a surprised party at Charlie's house, which had Bella gritting her teeth and grimacing for some time.

"How could you allow this to happen?" she hissed in a whisper that only the vampires, and there were quite a few of them in the house, could hear.

"You know Alice doesn't fight fair," Edward sighed. "I didn't have much of a choice, Bella."

"The least you could have done was tell me then," Bella grumbled.

"Then it wouldn't have been a surprise," Alice chimed in. "Come on, Bella, you know you can have fun here as long as you let yourself."

"Whatever," Bella rolled her eyes, but of course Alice had ended up being right, it wasn't so bad. She had to smile at the fact that Charlie hid out in the kitchen with Carlisle and Esme, seeming to get along with them pretty well. She also liked that Angela was there, seeming to be comfortable talking to Alice and even Jasper, who Alice had forced to come, but judging by the color of his eyes he had hunted just hours before this. Ben too, seemed to have relaxed by the time he had finished talking to Emmett about all the martial arts movies they both enjoyed watching. No, in the end, it was a rather nice birthday.

It wasn't until mid-October, almost two months after he had gotten the books that Bella heard from Jacob again. Edward had left earlier that day to go hunting with his siblings and she was cleaning her house when the phone rang.

"Hello," Bella said.

"Bella- hey," his voice was easily recognizable, but it sounded apprehensive at the moment.

"Sorry, but I don't know who's speaking," Bella said a little coldly.

"I'm sorry, I know I should have called before now..."

"I still don't know who I'm speaking to," Bella stated and heard a loud sigh.

"It's Jacob. And I'm sorry that I didn't call you before now," he repeated.

It was Bella's turn to sigh, before she said, "What do you want?"

"Well... to talk," Jacob said, apprehensive again.

"Why are you calling now... it's been two months, Jake?" Bella questioned.

"Well... um... the truth is I just finished the books now," he admitted.

"It took you two months to read them!" Bella said, astounded by that fact.

"It's not my fault, at first every time I would get angry I would start shuddering and turn into a wolf!" Jacob explained.

"I'm sorry, Jake," Bella said, "I didn't realize..."

"No... it's okay," Jacob said. "It probably worked out better that way."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked.

"Look, Bella, it would be easier if we were talking face to face," Jacob said.

"You're right," Bella answered. "I can meet you at your house."

"Are you sure Edward will be okay with that?" Jacob asked.

Bella took a moment to answer that because she was trying to interpret the tone he was using. Finding it to be his normal voice she answered, "I don't know, he's not here right now."

"Oh," was all Jacob had to say to that.

"I'll call him, but I'm sure it will be fine," Bella said. "Well... um... that is as long as you have control over yourself."

Jacob chuckled. "I'm good."

"Good, I'll see you soon," Bella said and hung up the phone only to pick it up again and call Edward's cell phone. It seemed like he was on his way back from the hunting trip, and he had a feeling that something like this was going on because Bella had disappeared from Alice's vision. He said it was okay that she go, though he sounded a little nervous. Starting to feel uncomfortable about this, she tried to tell Edward that she didn't really need to talk to him, but Edward insisted that this conversation had been looming over them for long enough and that she needed to talk to Jacob.

So fifteen minutes later she was at Jacob's house and the two of them were staring at each other.

"So... um... what do you have to say?" Bella asked uncomfortably.

"That you have a very interesting way of thinking of things," Jacob said and smirked when she made a face at him before she started grimacing again.

"This isn't funny, Jake," Bella said.

"I know," Jacob agreed. "Just thought I would try to break the tension."

"And now that you have...?" Bella said.

"You didn't say that you liked me back," Jacob said, diving into the conversation.

"So you do like me now," Bella moaned.

"That's not what I said," Jacob rolled his eyes. "I was just expecting to watch myself make a fool of myself... which, let's face it, I did... but I didn't know you would like me back... I thought Edward was the only one that you would ever like."

"He is," Bella said looking gloomier the longer Jacob talked.

"That's not what your book self said," Jacob argued.

"But it's what I'm saying," Bella said. "I'm not going to let anyone suffer for my hesitation."

"That's good... I'd hate to suffer," Jacob smiled at her, but she continued to frown. He sighed and was thoughtful for a long time before he said, "I don't like you like that... that's not to say that I can't see why I would... you're kind of perfect for me..."

"Jake..." Bella moaned again, was it too late, had she already hurt him?

"And I can't lie... I know there is something different about you than all of the other girls I know," Jacob went on like he didn't hear her. "And that... whatever it is about... seemed to just keep growing stronger the longer I've known you but I'm not the guy in the book, just like you're not that girl."

"It doesn't really sound that way," Bella said looking down.

"You know the one thing that makes me almost want to try and fight for you?" Jacob questioned, and Bella flinched at those words. "Is that you want to become one of them."

Bella flinched again. She could tell by the way he was looking at her that he understood that this was the way she felt in this reality, too.

"A part of me feels like it would be a crime to allow that to happen," Jacob admitted, his tone suddenly filled with anger. "That you're going to just give up everything you are to be like them...

"But there is another part of me that knows that they... the Cullens... aren't monsters... that you wouldn't be some kind of soulless monster when you change," he added, in a milder tone. "Right... tell me you're not a monster..."

"No... I'm not a monster," Bella said. "I'm actually freakishly tame for a newborn."

"That's a relief," Jacob said, truly looking relieved. "Still, I can't say that I like this, but it's your decision."

"Hm... that's more opened minded than I thought you would be," Bella smiled at him, she hadn't thought about this issue before she gave the books to him. Suddenly she was wary of what he might have been thinking about while being a wolf. "But what does the council think of that?"

"They don't know yet, and I'm not planning on telling them," Jacob said.

"Surely Sam or Jared must..."

"And Paul," Jacob added grimacing.

"He turned too," Bella sighed and Jacob nodded his head. She took a deep breath before she continued where she left off. "They must have heard your thoughts about the book... you couldn't have keep this all a secret."

"No, not all of it," Jacob said. "And definitely not the parts were we worked with the Cullens to protect you and the town. I think everyone has a higher opinion of your vamps now, though Sam is still wary of them. It didn't help that the first time I transformed was when Jasper nearly killed you in the first chapter... that had everyone on edge for a while, but it went away when they saw how Edward responded to the threat..."

"I bet they were happy when he left," Bella grumbled.

"At first, but no one was happy about how depressed you got," Jacob said. "Sam seemed to understand you a lot there, he could sort of relate to how you felt without your other half... thinking about what it would be like to be separated from Emily like that."

"It sounds like they know the whole story now," Bella frowned, though if it would help the relationship between the wolves and Cullens she supposed it would be worth it.

"Well, like I said I didn't have very much control at the beginning," Jacob shrugged. "So whenever I was mad I would transform and my thoughts would be filled with whatever I just read. After awhile I decided it would probably be best for mine and my packs' sanity if I just didn't read the book for awhile until I could control my temper better. It worked out pretty good. I basically only told the other guys what they needed to know."

"So you didn't tell them about my desire to be a vampire," Bella said.

"No, I wanted to hold off on telling them that until I knew how I felt about it," Jacob said.

"And what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to wait a little while longer before letting them know that," Jacob shrugged, "I don't want to cause any problems... but eventually they're going to have to know..."

"I understand," Bella sighed, finding this conversation was working out better than she hoped. However, she thought about what he had said about her earlier and she got uncomfortable again.

"Jake... about what you said earlier... about how you're feeling about me," Bella said softly.

"Darn... I didn't distract you well enough," Jacob frowned and she rolled her eyes at him.

"I know you meant for it to sound like you didn't like me, but I couldn't help but think about how hanging around you is only going to make that feeling grow..." Bella said.

"Maybe," Jacob frowned, he couldn't really argue with that.

"Then it would be best if we didn't see each other anymore," Bella said gravely, she really had missed her friend these last two months.

"I don't get it, so what if I have strong feelings for you, why can't we see each other?" Jacob said pleadingly. "It's not like I'm in love with you or anything... I just... you're... we... I just like hanging out with you... I've missed you, and I don't want to be cut out of your life."

Bella frowned at that, and she could feel it too, she didn't want that either, but she also knew that it would only cause everyone pain if she tried to stay friends with him.

Jacob could read her decision in her eyes, so continued to plead his cause. "I wish that Edward were here... he would tell you that I'm not playing a game here... I'm not lying... I just don't want to lose my best friend!"

"Jake," Bella groaned and he gave her the best puppy dog eyes he could manage. "Fine, we can go on a trial basis. But I'll only see you when Edward is around... do you think you can handle that?"

"Hm... it might be difficult at first," Jacob admitted, but he was grinning at her decision. "But I'll get used to it."

"And if you ever get even close to liking me..." Bella started to say.

"I get it," Jacob nodded his head.

"Okay then," Bella smiled, "I probably should be going home, Edward said that he would be there and I really want to see him."

"Okay," Jacob sighed, wishing she would stay longer but he wasn't about to say that right now.

"It was really good to see you," Bella said and she hugged him quickly.

"Sure, sure," Jacob smiled this time.

As she drove away she realized that she probably should have been firmer with Jacob, but it was hard for her when she was face to face with him like that. She also realized that the easiest way to make Jacob understand what he was feeling about her was to tell him about the imprinting. That he was likely being drawn to her because she was the closest person alive to be suited to him. She frowned at this, she still was reluctant to tell him about this and she needed more time to think it through.

When Bella got home, she told Edward about everything that went on during her meeting with Jacob and he seemed to react similarly to the way she felt. Pleased that in some ways he took it so well, but also wary that he might be some kind of time bomb that might cause them some problems. However, both their fears were alleviated somewhat when he came over to Bella's house the next Sunday, and other than wrinkling his nose, was perfectly pleasant. Edward confirmed that he wasn't lying about his motives for coming by, but everyone could tell that there was a new kind of tension that wasn't there before Jacob had transformed.

Bella would only see Jacob about once a week as the months went by, but everyone seemed to slowly becoming friends... even Edward and Jacob seemed to be getting along together. So much so that she even was able to go to Jacob's birthday party in La Push where she got to see all the other wolves, along with Quil, Embry, Seth and Leah, who had yet to transform and hopefully never would. As she drove home from the party, she had to admit that she had fun there, and she was glad that she was still able to have a friendship with Jacob.

O

"NO!"

There was a cry that was filled with such pain and sorrow that it drew everyone's attention at once. However, they could hear the sound of the front door being ripped off its hinges before they could do anything more than stand up.

"What's happening?" Emmett asked his tone filled with nothing but worry for once.

"No!" this cry was no more than a whisper, but it had Jasper running to Alice, whose face was contorted in anguish.

"What did you see?" he asked in his calming voice, trying to feed her some tranquility, but it was difficult because everyone was so worried.

"It's Bella!" was all she said before she too was running.

A/N: I know I'm evil for leaving it there, but it's about time I put some action/angst into this story.