More talks...what else is new?

ummm hi?

It's been so long since I updated and that's because a shit ton changed in my life and I lost motivation for most of my stories. I'm currently in a good place...kind of anyways but it's good enough that I have some energy and motivation to continue writing. I am going to try my hardest not to disappear for half the year again.

I don't particularly like this chapter mainly because it's a LOT of dialogue and perhaps an information overload. I took canon this chapter and threw it out the goddamn window with Bella's knowledge of the Volturi. Hopefully the next chapter will be put together better.

I posted the Jacob Black Playlist on youtube which you can check out at the bottom of the chapter :)

Wednesday, 22nd, 2006

For a long time, everyone was quiet as they tried to process what they had just learned. Bella was especially quiet from her nested position in Jacob's arms as she struggled to accept the news that Alice and Edward were both plotting against her. She despised the way the term made her feel—plotting—as if they were some sort of horrible villain. She didn't believe they were evil, but Bella knew that evil was subjective, and if a person doing evil wasn't evil, what else could they be?

"Have any of you had breakfast?" She asked, breaking the rest of them out of their thoughts when she couldn't deal with her own anymore.

Jacob shook his head, hugging her tighter to him, and Bella tilted her head up at him and smiled. Bella tried to ignore the scowl Leah began to sport and the shit-eating grin the rest of the pack had, but she was giddy at the fact that Jacob was hugging her. She couldn't bring herself to be too embarrassed, not when he had shied away from her touch last night but was smiling at her and touching her now.

"No, we spent last night outside your window. We didn't trust Edward not to come back."

Bella hummed softly in response. She didn't want to think about her conversation with Edward last night. She was trying not to think of him at all after Aro's phone call. "Would you guys like something to eat?"

As if on cue, their bellies growled as a unit, and Bella couldn't help the chuckle that came from her mouth. She squeezed Jacob once before moving away from him and into the kitchen. "I'll cook something if you want."

Murmurs of agreement were heard around the room, and Bella breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, she was worried they would turn her down, but if they were willing to let her cook, it must mean they weren't all that angry with her anymore. Or maybe they were just hungry and didn't want to turn down a free meal. Honestly, it could have been both.

Sam took a seat at the dining table, and once he sat down, the rest of the pack followed. Some sat on the floor; others spread themselves out in the living room. Bella was equally amused and perplexed by their behavior. She wondered just how pack dynamics worked but was too afraid to ask; she didn't think she was entitled to that information just yet.

"We still have to discuss what we're going to do with Victoria and the Cullens."

Bella frowned and paused at Sam's words as she took out two cartons of eggs and two packs of bacon. "Do you think the rest of the Cullens know about Alice and Edward?"

"You don't?" he retorted.

Bella huffed and resumed her task. Reaching above the fridge to get the loaf of bread down "I would like to believe that not all of them were in on it," Bella replied before she shook her head in resignation. She began to place slices of toast on a baking sheet before placing them in the oven.

"It makes too much sense though, doesn't it?"

Jacob came up beside her and rubbed her arm. "You okay?"

Bella smiled slightly before shrugging. "It'll take some time to get used to the idea that they could do something like that. Part of me wants to go over there and ask them, and another part wants to pretend like it isn't a possibility."

Leah snorted, "This isn't something you can just run away from this time," her voice betraying just how much she was enjoying Bella's misery when it came to her relationship with the Cullens.

"Leah…" Sam warned, but she merely shrugged her shoulders from her place at the table.

Bella didn't respond; her mind was now focused on trying to crack as many eggs as she could into her skillet. She knew it was going to be hard to earn Leah's trust, and after her comments, Bella found that simply ignoring her was going to be the best thing she could do. If she could deal with Rosalie's passive aggression, she could easily deal with Leah's actual aggression.

Despite it all, Sam had a point. The rest of the Cullens could be hiding their knowledge about Alice and Edward, even though the threat of Victoria was everywhere.

"Sam's right, but we're still going to have to work with them." At Bella's words, protests erupted from the pack, and were only calmed when Sam stopped them. She knew they weren't going to like it, especially with the growl Jacob let out, but despite how much she disliked the idea, they were going to be needed.

"We don't have a choice," Bella insisted.

"You guys and the Volturi won't be enough. Whatever Aro saw, it was enough for him to come down here himself, and my guess is that he's going to be bringing the entire guard." Bella shook her head at the stark reminder that in a few days, Forks was going to be receiving more than a few guests.

"He never leaves Italy unless he has to," she continued. "Since you guys block Alice, we can easily come up with another plan that she won't be able to see if she does try anything.

"What about when you're not with us?" Jacob questioned.

Bella paused for a short moment before she shrugged. "Don't tell me until it's time." She wasn't exactly keen on the plan, but she recognized she wasn't going to be able to do much. At least this time, she had the choice to opt out of not knowing anything rather than having secrets kept from her. It was a nice change of pace.

She heard Jacob huff in frustration, and she turned to look at him briefly, but he was in some sort of staring contest with Sam. Soon enough though, they both turned to look at her, identical frowns on their faces.

Bella raised both of her eyebrows, asking a silent question.

"We don't like it; it puts you in a vulnerable position." Jacob bit his lip as his voice trailed off, and Leah huffed.

"So what?" Leah said annoyed.

"Whether you like it or not, this decision is up to Bella. She's the one the redhead and two Cullens want, and if what she said about her and Jacob's eventual bond is true, then that makes her pack." Sam's tone left no room for arguments, and Bella was thankful for it.

Jared nodded in agreement with Sam. "Either way," he said. "We need to find a way to tell you, but it also helps that we can also block Edward's mind reading."

"When did that happen?" Bella asked, shock lacing her words.

Jacob frowned as he cocked his head to the side. "Last night, he couldn't get a read on Jared or Leah."

Bella shook her head in confusion. "That doesn't make any sense."

"How? We can just be immune to it." Quil argued, one eyebrow arched in a challenge.

Bella only shook her head again. "This isn't like you guys blocking Alice's visions," she clarified. "Edward was able to read Jake's mind before, so what changed?"

"How do you know?"

Bella rolled her eyes, and the memory of Edward's constant complaining about Jacob and Billy popped into her mind.

"He complained about how he didn't like Jacob's thoughts about me or Billy's thoughts about the Cullens."

It was silent for a long moment, as no one had a response to her answer; they were just as confused as she was.

"We can solve that later," Sam decided. "Either way, since we can block both Alice and Edward, we just need to come up with a secret plan to keep them away from her." He said this, motioning toward Bella with his head.

"More importantly," Paul interrupted. "What the hell are we going to do about the vampire council coming here in a few days? How many people are in the guard?" Paul questioned. He looked at the fruit bowl on the table before taking an apple. "You mind if I eat one?"

Bella turned her head briefly before shrugging. "I don't care; have at it. There's a bag of oranges and some more apples in the fridge. Just don't touch the strawberries, or my dad will have a fit."

Jacob went and brought out the bags of fruit and laid them on the table before grabbing a banana and an apple for himself. Soon enough, the bags were practically empty, and Bella huffed a breath of laughter. "As for your other question, there's Aro, Marcus, and Caius. They lead the Volturi, and then there's Jane and Alec-" Before she could continue, she was interrupted by someone asking her to explain exactly who they were.

"Right, so there's Aro, whom you all had the pleasure of "meeting." He's the main head. His power is like Edward's, except he needs to be able to touch you in order to use it, and it's a lot more powerful than Edward's mind reading."

"How?"

"Aro can see every single thought and feeling you've ever had." At the horror-filled expressions on the faces of the pack, Bella chuckled in amusement.

"It's okay," she giggled. "He won't touch you without your permission. He actually has respect for people's privacy; besides, he finds it just as troublesome." After a moment, she added, "Whatever he needs, he'll just get it from one of the Cullens."

Paul shook his head. "And they'll just let him do it?" he asked, his voice laced with skepticism.

Bella hummed and nodded her head. "They fear him too much to not do it. He's the leader of vampires worldwide for a reason. He's too powerful, his coven is too powerful, and they're loyal to him."

"How old is Aro?" Sam questioned.

"Around 4,000 years old."

All around, the pack's jaws dropped as they tried to wrap their heads around his age. Bella laughed outright at their expressions. It was the same when Carlisle first told her: It's hard to wrap your mind around. Without a doubt, if any of them chose to keep phasing, there was no telling just how long they could live, but none of them could imagine living that long.

Jacob cleared his throat, breaking the rest of them out of their shock. "What about the rest of them?"

"I already told you to Marcus." Bella stopped and frowned for a moment. "I actually have no idea how old he is, and then there's Caius. I know he's even older than Aro, but he doesn't have a power; at least I don't think he does. Carlisle didn't mention him all that much." Bella thought that the less she had to think of Caius, the better. Just from the short interaction they had, she'd much rather have Aro and his interesting personality.

Bella let the eggs cook in the pan for a bit before reaching into the fridge to take out bottles of fruit juice and place them on the table. Jacob took the cue to bring out cups and proceeded to pour the drinks; based on the sizes of the cups he chose, Bella was happy she had gone grocery shopping before she left for Italy. She was even luckier that she thought to make sure she had enough to sate Jacob's appetite and that her father had seemed to leave everything in the fridge alone. She didn't want to think about why that was; she was merely grateful.

"Jane and Alec are twins. They were turned when they were 12, and according to Carlisle, Jane and Alec are the most dangerous."

Quill chuckled a bit as he peeled his orange. "They're children."

Snorting out a laugh, Bella poured the cooked eggs into a bowl and cracked the rest into the skillet. "Don't let that fool you; Jane can cause pain just by thinking about it. She can only attack one person at a time, but there's a reason why Aro said Jane was going to be the one to punish Alice. Alec can attack multiple people at a time by cutting off your senses. All of them."

"Jesus Christ…" Jacob muttered lowly.

"That's fucking creepy." Paul agreed, his voice taking on a note of disgust. Bella still remembered just how fast the smirk fell off Demetri's face when Jane entered the conversation. It was unnatural, Bella thought, for any adult to be that scared of a child, but when said child could incapacitate you with her mind, it was more than warranted.

Before Bella could continue, the telephone rang again. Looking toward Jacob, she motioned to the still-cooking eggs and allowed him to take over so she could answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Bella!?"

Bella's eyebrows lifted until they practically disappeared into her hairline.

"Mom!?"

"Oh my God!" Her mother sobbed into the phone, and Bella cringed slightly in response. She hated her mother's dramatics. although Bella realized with a grimace that it was warranted in this case.

"Isabella Marie Swan! Do you have any idea how scared you made your father and me? Not to mention, you also made Phil completely worried about you! What were you thinking, going off to Italy to save some boy huh?!"

Bella was shocked as her mother's voice rang sharply in her ears. Like Charlie, her mother yelling at her wasn't something she had to do. Sure, she got after her every once in a while, but for the most part, Renee was the type of mother who allowed Bella to make mistakes, even if they weren't as frequent.

"Like I told Dad, I could save him, so I did. I couldn't have that on my mind."

It was quiet on the phone for a minute before Renee's voice came in softly. "Your father and I raised you with too many morals," she groaned as if she were regretting it. "If he ever threatens violence against himself again, don't you go save him."

"Mom…" Bella began, but Renee cut her off before she could continue.

"No." Her sharp tone shocked Bella again. This was a side she never knew her mother was capable of.

"I know how you are, Bella. You have a guilty conscience a mile wide, and if that boy figures that out, he'll use that to his advantage, and you'll never be able to move on. You leave him to deal with the consequences of his own actions; don't let him rope you in."

Bella knew her mom was right, but even if she wasn't with Edward anymore, how could she just walk away?

'Just as easy as he did.' A voice that sounded like Jake's said inside her head.

"Oh baby, I know this isn't going to be easy for you, but promise me you won't go back with him. I don't want you to end up like your father and me."

Bella frowned at her mother's words as she recalled the conversation she had with her dad last night. "Did you and Dad talk? He said the same thing last night."

"Your father and I have been talking since the day after you were found in the woods."

"What?!"

"Honestly Bella, did you expect Charlie to keep this from me?" Renee asked with an air of disappointment, but Bella was too shocked to say much in response. She vaguely heard her mother sigh over the phone before she spoke again.

"The only reason why I didn't go down there is because he convinced me that me being there would make you think I was there to take you away, and it was a good thing too since you seemingly got yourself together when he threatened to send you to Jacksonville."

Suddenly, there were yells heard in the background, and Renee's laugh rang through the phone. "We'll talk more tonight Bella, but I have to go."

"Do we have to?" Bella groaned out. She could already feel the exhaustion pulling at her bones.

"Yes. Both your father and I need to discuss more with you. This isn't as simple as you leaving for Phoenix last year. You left across the world."

Renee hung up before Bella could argue against a talk she really didn't want to have. She could feel the eyes of the pack on her back, and a blush slowly crept up on her cheeks. Letting out a breath in frustration, she leaned her head against the wall and focused on getting the heat on her cheeks under control.

Jacob laughed from his place at the stove, and Bella lifted her head up to glare at him. "Wow Bella… I've never heard your mom that mad before."

"I've never done anything to warrant her anger before," she replied. "This is actually the first time she's ever yelled at me."

Leah giggled, honest to God giggled and Bella turned her glare from Jacob to her. When Leah noticed, she only shrugged and made a show of tossing the orange she held in her hand in the air before catching it. "I don't know, could have used a good yell once or twice. Might have knocked some sense into you early on."

"Leah, that's enough," Sam barked, his voice firm in a way that had both mine and her spines stiffening up.

"It's not like I was lying about it," she pointed out.

Bella rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "That doesn't mean you have to comment about it. You can say whatever you like anywhere else, but not here."

"Whatever…"

Quil spoke up then, his voice a little timid at the tension gathering in the room. "Let's get back on track; what about the rest?"

Bella hummed as she got out the plates and set them down on the table. "There's Demetri and Felix; Demetri is a tracker, like James but better."

"So do they all use your scent?"

"It works differently for every tracker, and it's more advanced than how you can track," Bella explained. "James used my scent, but he could only track living beings. What made it more advanced was that he could predict my moves based on my scent alone. It was like Alice's visions and how they can change based on someone's decision, which made it harder, but that's how he was able to trick me. Demetri uses the mind to track, and he doesn't need to meet the person either. He could pick up your mind from anyone who met you."

"So he could find us from you?" Sam questioned, and at the panic in his voice, Bella hurried to clarify.

"I-I don't know. I mean, I can block both Edward and Aro, who have powers that use the mind, and Edward believes I can block Jane, so I'm guessing I can also repel Demetri, but I'm not sure. It's just a theory."

"It's a good one."

Embry raised his hand like he was in class and looked a bit sheepish when everyone shook their heads at him.

"Okay, can you explain just who James was? I get he was a vampire and the redhead's mate, but what's his whole story?" Bella looked at Jacob for a moment, and when he shrugged, she sighed. She turned her attention back to the eggs, briefly getting the cheese out of the fridge to place it on the table.

"James was a tracker who enjoyed the hunt. He liked playing with his food and tended to make a game out of it. That day I mentioned? The baseball game?" At the pack's murmurs, Bella continued.

"Well, James, Victoria, and Laurent were supposed to be leaving, but they came back at the sound of the game going on. Anyway, James caught a whiff of me when the wind blew and decided I was a snack. The Cullens protected me, but then Edward said he wasn't going to let me go."

"That's when you left Charlie the first time," Jacob noted.

Bella nodded. "I didn't want to, but he would have gone there first. I couldn't have my dad in danger, so I left. Unfortunately, he predicted where we'd go and made me think he had my mom. Long story short, I went there, and he decided to throw me through a window and bite me."

Bella abruptly stopped as she remembered; it wasn't like she could forget, but now that she thought about it, his actions were a little too deliberate. At first, she thought he was just trying to get under Edward's skin, but now, with all the new information she got from Aro, Bella couldn't help but wonder if there was something else going on.

"Now that I'm thinking about it, when he bit me, he didn't drink; he just bit down and let me go before Edward had a chance to stop him."

"How the hell aren't you a vampire?"

Bella wasn't sure who asked her, but she answered anyway. "Edward sucked the venom out before it could begin to affect me."

"How did it feel?"

Bella paused at the question, flipping the bacon off onto a plate before placing more.

"It was the worst thing ever. It felt like I was being burned alive from the inside, and I screamed myself hoarse, but even after I lost my voice, I kept screaming. If it went on any longer, I would have screamed my throat bloody."

Jared shook his head in exasperation, an expression full of barely held concern and wariness. "How could you still want to become one even after that?"

Bella sighed already, knowing the answer and knowing no one was going to be happy with it. "I was thinking about my life with Edward. In my mind, the pain would be worth it."

No one had anything to say about that, and the room dove into an uncomfortable silence until Bella was done cooking. Once everything was done, she and Jacob placed everything on the table and let the wolves have at it. Jacob didn't look in her direction again for the duration of the meal.

Bella POV

For some strange reason, the pack decided to stay camped out at my house. They each took turns patrolling, but by the time Seth came from school, they were all there. I had ordered pizza a while ago, 50 dollars' worth of pizza, and while I shouldn't be surprised by how much they ate, it still shocked me that almost every single box was empty. I was happy I thought of making Seth a plate; otherwise, he wouldn't have had anything to eat when he got here.

"Thanks for the pizza, Bella." Seth thanked me as he scarfed down his seventh slice. I was glad when Seth came. His energy was enough to dispel the uncomfortable tension that filled the room after my confession. I was honest, and it was my honest answer. The pain I felt was going to be worth it in the end. It only served to remind everyone of everything that could have gone wrong, and it didn't bring up any particularly good memories or feelings for anyone, especially Jake and me.

Before I could reply to Seth, the doorbell rang, and then unexpectedly, Jess burst through the front door and just about tackled me in a hug. I had completely forgotten that I invited her over after school.

"Bella!" She yelled as she hugged me tightly.

"Hey, Jess," I murmured with a hesitant smile on my face. I was surprised she seemed happy to see me since, most of the time at school, she generally liked to ignore me. I didn't think we'd talk again after that horrible girl's night. The door opened again, and I was met with the faces of Angela, Ben, Tyler, and Mike.

Shocked, I looked at Jessica, who wore a sheepish expression.

"Hey, they wanted to see you too, ya know. Not just me."

Sighing, I shifted myself out of her arms to greet the rest of my friends. One by one, they came and hugged me and told me how good it was to see me. I started to feel guilty halfway through; I didn't realize just how abandoned I had made them feel. With Jacob and Charlie, it was a given, but I hadn't given much thought to my other friends—not as much as I should have.

Turning back toward the pack, I smiled slightly and introduced them. "This is Jessica, Angela, and her boyfriend Ben, Tyler, and Mike. I think you guys met Jake, Embry, and Quil when we went down to the beach. I said as I pointed the three boys out.

"That's Sam, Paul, Jared, and Leah." I narrowed my eyes at Leah as she stared blankly at Angela. I had a hunch she might have just imprinted, but I hoped it wasn't the case. As far as I knew, Angela was straight and very much enamored with Ben. By the look on the pack's faces, however, my hopes were pretty much dashed. That was not going to go over well. It might help with the tension between her and Sam, but most definitely not with me.

"Nice to meet you all." Sam nodded, finally looking away from Leah's face.

"Right," Jessica said, narrowing her eyes at Leah and looking briefly at Angela. She turned toward me with an impatient look on her face. When I raised my eyebrows in confusion, she huffed and shook her head.

"Talk, explain, tell us what the hell went on between you and Edward," she motioned with her hands, but before I could get a sentence out, she noticed the boxes of pizza on the table and made a beeline for them. I looked at Angela for help, but she merely shrugged and gave an amused smile as she leaned back into Ben's chest. The pack looked on, smirks on almost all of their faces. They were getting pure Jessica Stanley in all her glory. Speaking of Jess, she had started to talk again as she made her way back over to us, pizza in her hand, coming to stand by Mike. When he placed his arm around her, she gave a small, shy smile before turning her attention to me.

"Like firstly, he just ups and leaves, then you become the definition of the walking dead which," Jessica pointed a finger at me, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You are not allowed to do again, but back to the point, after that, he tries to kill himself like a complete psycho, and you go save him. Is it just supposed to go back to normal?"

"Yeah," Angela agreed.

"Are you getting back together with him?" At her question, Jake scowled, and I went over to pat his arm when he grabbed my hand instead. I smiled at him briefly, but it was a bit of a tight smile considering he still hadn't looked at me much since "the question" was asked. Shaking my head from the train of thoughts I was on, I turned my attention back to Angela and was met with the confused gazes of my friends.

While I didn't explain the handholding, I shook my head and answered no to Angela's question.

"Good," Mike said, staring at my and Jacob's hands with a weird look on his face, but as quickly as it came, it was gone.

"I told you before that he looked at you like you were a piece of meat. If a guy wants to kill himself just because someone moved on, that's seriously messed up." Mike shook his head as his body shivered, and he pulled Jess closer to him as a result.

Paul snorted into his hand and looked at me with a very satisfied expression. "See, even your friends knew he was bad news." He said and I stuck my tongue out at him. I was pleasantly surprised when he winked at me. Who knew all it took was feeding him for him to come around?

"Too bad he can't seem to take a hint," Quil said. Jacob growled, and this time, I had to hug him to keep him from shaking.

"What do you mean?"

"Edward doesn't take no for an answer these days." After I explained to them everything that happened—as well as I could have without mentioning an entire coven of vampires, a pack of shape-shifting wolves, and a murderous redhead—they seemed even more freaked out than they already were.

Angela gasped with a horrified expression on her face; one hand partly covered her mouth. "He snuck into your room?!"

"I knew he was a creep."

"He has his loner act down so well; I should've known someone that hot would have a few nuts loose," Jess complained with a well-put sigh.

Jess's comments made the entire room laugh, which served to break up the heavy atmosphere.

The pack and my friends were getting to know each other pretty well. I ended up having to order a few more boxes of pizza, but it was nice. I didn't realize how much I was missing out on by spending so much time with Edward. It hit me that this was the first time I ever had friends over, even in Arizona. Before, I didn't think much of it, but actually having friends here made the difference that much worse. It was a good feeling I was coming to realize: having people outside of my family and outside of Jacob and Edward who genuinely wanted me around.

"So…" Mike looked at mine and Jake's hands. "Are you dating him?"

"No," I answered, trying to hide my wince at how Jake flinched.

Mike shrugged but still stared at our intertwined hands. "I'm just surprised since you haven't let go of his hand since we've been here."

"They're working out their problems," Sam interjected with a slightly disapproving glance toward Mike.

Leah let out a harsh laugh in her hand. "After she ran after Eddie Boy, he kinda lost trust in her."

I rolled my eyes. I already said I regretted it, but I wouldn't change what I did. "I wasn't going to let him kill himself guys."

Angela smiled softly at me, detaching herself from Ben to come give me a hug. "I understand, Bella," she said gently to my surprise. No one except Charlie and Renee said they understood. Well, Jake did too, but he was a different case. From the corner of my eye, I saw Leah frown heavily at her words, and I sighed internally, waiting for her scathing remark. To my surprise once again, her voice came out soft, and the abrupt change from her cruel words almost gave me whiplash.

"How could you?"

Angela turned to look at Leah for a long moment before shrugging and making her way back to Ben. "It's easy if you know their relationship. Even if Edward was bad for her, she still loved him, and Bella has always been compassionate." Angela looked back at me, sending another soft smile in my direction.

"Thanks," I whispered out.

Leah scoffed and shook her head, not ready to drop the conversation. "It wasn't really compassionate of her to just drop her friends like sacks of potatoes."

I let out a breath of frustration. "Can you just give it rest?" I asked her. The pack was looking at both of us as we stared at each other. Apparently, they thought that it was time for us to have a conversation, however one-sided it would be.

Before Leah could reply, Angela stepped in again. "Bella made a mistake, one I'm willing to forgive her for." Angela looked at Leah reproachingly. "Mistakes don't magically erase a person's character; they just allow them to grow if given the chance."

The room got really quiet after Angela's words, and I couldn't stop myself from going up to her and giving her another hug.

"You're too sweet and caring for your own good Angie," I said quietly. It was the first time I'd been defended for my actions by someone who didn't know me as well as Jake, my dad, or even my mom. How she was able to understand why I did what I did meant a lot.

Unfortunately, the touching moment came to an abrupt stop when the doorbell rang. Leah, who was closest to the window, took a look and let out a long breath of disgust.

"Speaking of the creep, he's outside."

"He just doesn't learn does he?"

"He's a sucker for punishment."

I groaned in slight annoyance but went to the door despite the fact that Edward was one of the last people I wanted to see today. I wasn't surprised when I felt Jacob come up behind me shortly after I started walking, but I was surprised to see that Sam followed close behind. I don't know if he did it to keep Jake in line or for me or both, but I was grateful nonetheless.

To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting to see Edward this soon after Aro's call. I should've known that my not showing up to school would warrant an unwelcome and uninvited guest at my house. However, as long as it wasn't in the middle of the night anymore, I'd take what I could get.

"Bella," Edward greeted me, and I couldn't help but sigh again. It was funny just how fast my emotions seemed to switch. How quickly I went from not being able to breathe without him to now being suffocated by his presence. Despite it all, I knew I didn't hate him; even while knowing he was planning something, I couldn't hate him, but I was definitely annoyed with seeing his face.

"What do you want, Edward?"

Seeing Jacob and Sam behind me, Edward frowned but soon placed a neutral expression on his face when he spotted Jess peeping over Sam's shoulder.

"You didn't answer my text, and you weren't at school today, so I dropped by to see if everything was okay."

I backed up slightly when he moved closer to me and leaned into Jacob's chest, letting out a low moan at his warmth. Despite it being well into spring, Forks was still chilly on most days. "Yeah," I said. "I slept in, and Charlie called me in. Besides, I'm fine; Jake and the rest of them are here, so I'm not alone."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

In response, Jacob wrapped his arms around me tightly and moved to rest his chin on my head again, and I leaned further into his chest. I didn't know what his expression was, but from the darkening scowl on Edward's face, I could only guess he was smirking. I knew that if Jess and the rest weren't here, there would be growls abound.

I knew Jake had done it to bother him, and while part of me was relieved, another part of me was irritated. I didn't want to become a chew toy in their fight, but I also knew that if Jake took even a small step back, Edward would be right there. That was the last place I wanted him to be after learning everything I did from Aro, so I let the feeling of being an object go for now.

"I'm not getting into this argument again. I told you, I'm fine." I patted Jake's arm before placing my hands above him. Slowly and unsurely, he interlocked our hands, and when I didn't pull away, he held onto me tighter. For some reason, it felt like I had just passed a test of sorts; I just didn't know what.

"Anyways, you need to leave before my dad gets back."

Edward's eyebrows rose briefly before his face settled into a deep scowl. He waved a hand in the general direction of my house but nodded toward Jake and Sam with his head. "Oh, but they get to stay?"

"Yes," I replied, my voice firm.

"Told ya...creep..." Mike muttered, which was promptly followed by a howl of laughter and the sound of his arm getting smacked.

"You can see I'm fine, so really, Edward, just go."

"When can we talk in private?"

"I don't know," I said, looking away from the hopeful look in his eyes. It felt so weird when he looked at me now. "Maybe when I feel comfortable enough around you."

Jacob snorted, and the sound vibrated down from my head to the end of my spine. "Try never," he snarked. There was a moment where Edward stared at me, maybe hoping I would step in, but when I remained silent, I could see something hardening in his eyes.

"I was talking to Bella, dog," Edward sneered. It took me gripping Jake's hands to keep him from lunging, but I could feel his body temperature rising. If it kept going, there was going to be a very angry wolf on my lawn—multiple, actually. Behind us, I could hear the intake of breaths from my friends, and I knew that if I looked back, there'd be varying degrees of shock on their faces.

"Wow..." I faintly heard Jessica whisper. Her proclamation spurred the others on with their own opinions and thoughts.

"What a piece of shit."

"Was he like this the whole time?"

"Has been ever since he came back."

"He's only been back a day."

"Exactly."

Sighing, I shook my head and made sure to look at Edward with all the annoyance I could muster, which honestly wasn't all that hard at this point. I knew Edward didn't trust the pack, but calling Jacob a dog was really annoying, especially after our conversation last night.

"Edward, if you keep calling Jake a dog or a mutt, you can forget about talking to me at all."

Scoffing, Edward crossed his arms together, an air of disappointment surrounding him.

"Right, so he can taunt me, but I can't do it back?"

I raised a single eyebrow, completely unimpressed with him. "Yes, because when you show up uninvited trying to force me to have a conversation I don't want to have while not-so-subtly calling him bad company and a dog, you don't have the right to be upset."

I removed Jake's arms from around me and turned to move inside the house, completely done with Edward and anything else he had to say. Ignoring his calls for my name, I walked back into the house, smirking slightly when I heard the door slam shut shortly after.

"Man, that felt good!" Jake came back into the living room with a blinding smile on his face, Sam following close behind with an amused look on his. I couldn't help but laugh as Jacob made his way back over to me, moving us back to our previous position from a few moments ago.

The rest of the evening was spent with the pack and my friends getting to know each other better, and the night only began to dwindle down the moment Charlie walked through the door. Even though I could tell he was pleasantly surprised at the gathering, there was still a talk to be had with him and Renee.

"While it's nice to see you finally talking with people that aren't Edward, you're still grounded, Bells, so say goodbye."

One by one, my friends left before the pack followed. Soon, it was only me and Charlie left, and an odd sort of dread began to fill my stomach, which only got worse when Charlie's phone rang. It seems the talk with my parents was the next thing I had to tackle. It couldn't be much worse than the talk with the pack and Aro, but I knew it wasn't going to be particularly comfortable either.

Jacob Black Playlist

watch?v=zBRNMJ0my-8

A few things to note going forward some of which is just clarification
1. Leah and Angela will not be an easy relationship since Angela is very much loyal to her friends and Leah disliking Bella is gonna get in the way of that
2. Jacob was indeed testing Bella and she passed (still gonna be a slow-burn kinda thing though)
3. We'll see Bella's first therapy session soon
4. Her friends will be seen a lot more often
5. Mike doesn't like Bella anymore (he thinks she's too much drama romantic wise after he learned what happened) but he doesn't like Jake which we'll see later on.
6. First sighting of Victoria in this story and first person from her army is reported missing
7. We'll learn more about how and why the wolves can now block Edward soon
6. Confrontation with Alice and Edward at school next chapter :)