Chapter 7 - Jared

When I got back to Sam's, everyone was just sitting down to eat dinner. I sat down in the empty chair next to Bella. Once everyone was situated, Sam stood up. "First, I want to say congrats to Jared and Bella. Your imprint is definitely something to celebrate. Secondly, it has been brought to my attention that soon the Cullen's will be leaving the area for good. Now obviously we know that nomads are going to pass through from time to time, but hopefully this means that the younger ones can stop phasing. I'll discuss it with the council. And third, we all survived the battle. That's definitely something to celebrate." Sam said and everyone cheered.

When he sat down, everyone started fixing their plates. I noticed that Bella seemed to relax. I'd felt her anxiety a little bit earlier while I'd been gone to Jacob's. I couldn't wait to tell her about the conversation that I'd had with him. Then I remembered that she'd have to go home later. I was worried. I looked over at her and she was looking at me. "Are you okay?" She asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll tell you later." I said and she nodded.

After dinner, Bella asked me if I wanted to come with her to take Billy and Jacob some food. I agreed, knowing that it would give me a chance to spend some time with her. When we were far enough from Sam's house, she spoke. "You wanna tell me what had you worried during dinner?" She asked me.

"You felt that?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. It was weird. One minute you were happy and then the next you were worried about something." She said.

"I was happy that I was back next to you but then I remembered that you'd have to go home later and it worried me. My wolf isn't exactly thrilled about not being near you tonight." I said. I didn't mean it in a sexual way, I just felt this need to be near her right now.

"Sam and I talked earlier while you were gone. He told me that your wolf would be anxious tonight. He and Emily told me that I was welcome to stay there tonight if I wanted so that at least I would be nearby." She told me.

I nodded. "It would help." I said. I really wanted her to stay with me but I wasn't sure if she would go for that. Neither one of us said anything for a few minutes. "I talked to Jacob." I said.

"How'd it go?" She asked nervously.

"It was strange. He wasn't angry. Said that he knew that I would take care of you." I told her and she smiled. I knew that she'd been worried that he'd be angry about it. "Asked me if I was gonna make him stay away from you." I said.

She stopped walking and turned to look at me. "What'd you tell him?" She asked me, looking directly into my eyes.

"Not as long as he respected our imprint. He's your best friend. Then I reminded him, that I wasn't going to control you. That your free to do what you want. I just want you to be happy." I told her honestly.

She smiled at me. Then she surprised me by leaning up and kissing my cheek. "Thank you." She said.

We started walking again. "I mean it. I know that Edward used to make decisions for you. I don't wanna do that. I just ask that you respect me as I'll respect you." I said and it was the truth.

"I will Jared, I promise." She told me as we walked up Billy's driveway. She knocked on the door and Billy let us in.

"Bella, Jared. What can I do for you?" Billy asked.

"Brought you and Jake dinner." She said, smiling at him.

"Thanks Bella. Come in." Billy said, letting us into the house.

I took one of the plates from her. "I'll take Jacob his." I told her. She nodded. I made my way through the house to Jacob's room. When I opened the door, he was asleep so I sat the plate on the chair beside his bed, knowing that he'd eat when he woke up. When I made my way back to the living room, I could hear Bella and Billy talking in the kitchen.

"Old Quil has a job for you and it's been approved by the council." Billy said.

"I had a feeling that Uncle Quil would be the one to find me something." She said laughing. Uncle Quil?

Billy laughed with her. "He has a way of doing things. As the Shaman of the tribe, he also has all of the journals that have our history. He wants to digitize everything. The writing in the journals is beginning to smudge." Billy told her.

"I'm sure I can help him." She said.

"Have you told Jared about your family connections?" Billy asked her.

"No. It's not exactly something that gets brought up into easy conversation. Other than you, I think that Sam is the only one that knows." She said. "Billy…I know that it's probably unlikely but…" Bella trailed off.

"No Bella. You won't phase. Old Quil has been communing with the ancestors. Leah will be the only female in history to phase." Billy told her.

I felt her relief. "Thanks Billy." She said.

I chose that time to make my presence known. "Hey, are you about ready to go? I've got patrol early in the morning and I wanna make sure you get situated at Emily's before I head home." I said.

"Sure." Bella said. She leaned over and kissed Billy's cheek. "I'll go see Old Quil tomorrow." She said and Billy nodded.

On the way back to Sam's, she grabbed my hand and held it. "I know you were listening. What questions do you have?" She asked me.

I sighed. "How are you related to related to Old Quil?" I asked her.

"She's Charlie's aunt. The way that Uncle Quil tells it…years ago there was a falling out between my grandma Helen and Aunt Molly. Supposedly, Grandma wasn't too happy when Aunt Molly met Uncle Quil. So Grandma gave her an ultimatum. Aunt Molly didn't like that so she cut ties with the family. After Grandma died and Charlie was down here a lot with Billy and Harry, they introduced him to Uncle Quil. They were able to patch things up. Eventually, we all became so crazy kind of dysfunctional family." She told me.

"That's crazy." I told her.

"I know. I'm not entirely sure who all knows that we're related but…you know how family lines are around here." She said.

"Yeah. Doesn't that mean that your technically related to the Blacks?" I asked her.

She laughed. "Not really. I'm only related to Old Quil by marriage. They're the ones that are related to the Blacks." She told me.

About halfway back to Sam's, I stopped walking and turned to look at her. "Can I ask a question?" I said and she nodded. "I know that you said that you were going to stay and Sam and Emily's tonight but would you consider staying the night with me?" I asked. I suddenly felt her nervousness. "I promise to be a complete gentleman. I just want to spend some time with you. Talk, maybe watch a movie." I said, hoping that she'd understand.

She looked deep in thought. "You think Sam and Emily would cover for me, if I did?" She asked me.

Seriously? "I'm sure they would." I said. "Wait, what?" I asked confused.

She laughed. "Let's go talk to Sam and Emily." She said, pulling me down the road.

A/N: Okay so in my opinion things are getting interesting. Jacob's okay with the imprint. Jared knows that Bella is related to Old Quil. There's even been a heart to heart with Sam. Next up, Bella and Jared get some one-on-one time.