Bella is home and healing! This is the happily ever after and nothing bad will ever happen again. Don't worry about it. Don't read the chapter. Don't leave a comment yelling at me about why I would do this to you. And whatever you do, don't wait with bated breath for chapter one of Sickle, out soon on a fanfiction platform near you.

Again, AAAAAAAAAAAAAA. I did it. It's done. It's DONE. It's only been an extremely normal number of years in the making, but I somehow made it from Point A to Point B in something roughly resembling a single segment. No comment on the curvature of said line.

It was very nice to be home.

I hadn't realized just how completely I had given up hope of ever seeing it again until I burst into tears as Charlie carried me through the door. Yes, carried—he refused to let me so much as touch the crutches when he was around. "You heard the doctor," he'd say sternly. No request was too small for him. If I so much as hinted that I might be thinking about a snack, he'd heave himself out of the recliner and bring me a bowl of freshly washed strawberries.

Charlie was spending a lot of time out of the house, though. He had arranged to stay home during school hours, since I still wasn't cleared to go back. Around 2 or 3 he'd head out to do whatever it was that was taking up so much of his time and Edward would come over straight from school. Sometimes Angela or Jessica would drop by to work on homework together and giggle about whatever was going on in the social circles at Forks High. Edward usually retreated politely to the other room while that was happening, although I knew he was listening in on everything.

Some nights Edward would leave when Charlie got back, then slip through my window to hold me while I slept. Some nights Charlie wasn't back until very late and Edward told me he'd hide just out of sight while Charlie checked in on me.

(If not for Edward, I doubted I would have found out about the night my stoic father knelt down next to my bed and bowed his head, elbows resting against the frame. I asked how long he stayed like that and Edward shrugged. "Awhile," was all he said. I didn't push for more details.)

Edward was the perfect… boyfriend. The word still felt wrong to me, somehow. He waited on me hand and foot, showered me with attention and love, and told me over and over again how brave I had been, how clever and strong and fierce. He didn't ask me to talk about what had happened too much. "You should have some time to heal first," he said, when I brought up the idea of talking to his family about what James had told me about Alice.

I was still dodging Renee's calls. Charlie had let her know what had happened to me and that I was recovering nicely, and I was happy to leave it at that for the moment. I had no intention of moving back—Forks was home for me now. Edward was a large part of that, but… not all of it. I had come to love it. The town, the people, even the weather.

The stitches came out after a week. Only a few days later, I had a final checkup for my neck. "It's healed even better than I expected," Carlisle told me, smiling encouragingly. "You're doing an excellent job of recovering." I told him that I still felt a little fuzzy most of the time—easily distracted and easily tired. He reassured me that it was just the painkillers, and as we tapered down my dose I would start to feel more like my normal self.

Charlie had to leave early that afternoon. "You sure you'll be okay for an hour?" he asked, for approximately the millionth time, hovering in the doorway.

I tried not to roll my eyes. "I'm sure," I said, also for approximately the millionth time. "It's not even an hour, and you know Ca—Dr. Cullen said I was fine using the crutches as long as I was careful. It's good for me to practice using them! I'll be fine! Go!"

"I don't like leaving you alone," he grumbled again, but finally let himself out and closed the door behind him.

I wondered how he would react if he knew the biggest potential threat to my safety would hardly be stopped by him being around. Not well, probably. The Cullens had never caught up with Victoria. Between killing James, saving my life, and falsifying two scenes, they'd just been stretched too thin. The way that Edward talking around the subject so breezily whenever it came up made me think that he was privately worried, but I didn't want to disturb tour perfect little routine.

It was the first time I'd been alone since that night. I tried not to worry about it as I settled into the couch.

Just then, someone knocked at the door. Despite my best efforts, it startled me into freezing. Charlie just left. Did he… lock himself out? No, I heard the car leave. Edward has a key, he would just let himself in… and school isn't out yet anyway. And Victoria would hardly knock.

The knock was repeated. I dragged myself upright with the crutches and made my way awkwardly (I really did need more practice) to the door.

It was Jacob. I brightened at the sight of him. I hadn't seen or heard much from him since that day except for a couple of "get well soon! :(" texts. "Hi!"

"Hi!" he replied, equally brightly. "Heard you were all bed-ridden, but I guess they were wrong."

"'Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,'" I quoted, pulling him into an awkward one-arm-one-crutch hug. I wasn't sure if it was the injury or the crutches or something else, but he seemed bigger than I remembered him being. "I forgot how tall you are," I complained cheerfully, grinning up at him.

"I forgot how short you are," he answered, with a matching grin, wrinkling his nose and ruffling my hair comically. "Can I come in?"

"Of course!" I gestured him inside. He hesitated, but then stepped through the door.

"All alone?" he asked casually, glancing around.

"Edward will be here in, like," I checked the clock, "twenty minutes. Until then, I have some blessed peace and quiet. Or," I continued, throwing a mock glare in his direction, "I had it."

Jacob pretended to look contrite. "Sorry," he said, miming a broken heart. "I just missed you."

I laughed. It was too hard to even pretend to be mad at him. "Missed you too, bud."

Jacob wandered through the living room, trying every seat before finally choosing to flop down in the recliner. "So this is where you're keeping yourself these days," he said, with a dramatic flourish. "Too bad you're going to be out of commish for the whole summer. There were so many things I wanted to show you." He sighed, one hand over his heart.

I threatened him with a crutch from where I had settled back into my spot on the couch. "I'll have you know that I'm making a fantastic recovery. Carlisle says that I'll be walking again in less than three months, which might be some kind of record."

"Carlisle says, huh? On a first-name basis with your doctor? You must be real accident prone," Jacob joked.

I rolled my eyes. "He's—"

"Edward's dad," he finished for me. "I know.

I still forget how small of a town Forks is, I thought. And that he isn't the biggest fan of the Cullens.

"That reminds me," he said, "my dad wanted me to give you his PT's number. Says he's the best."

"I would love that," I sighed. "I am not looking forward to that part of it. I can—oh, my phone is still upstairs. Here, let me get a pen—"

"I'll get it," Jacob offered, hopping out of the recliner. He was already halfway up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time, by the time I could protect.

"Jacob!" I yelled, debating whether to leverage myself out of the couch or not.

"Hang on," he shouted, muffled by the amount of house between us. "I'm digging through all your drawers and stealing your prize possessions."

"Jacob!" I yelled again, deciding in favor of up.

He reappeared at the top of the stairs, phone in one hand. "Just kidding." He bounded back down to me, then knelt and presented me the phone. "My queen."

"Be careful or I'll say 'Off with your head!'" I warned, snatching the phone from him.

He grinned at me, unrepentant. "Admit it. You love me too much."

I rolled my eyes, then pretended to knight him with the crutch. "Arise, Sir Jacob of the… Rectangular Couch. Ugh, that's awful."

"Maybe just a cool surname? Like… Arise, Sir Jacob Black, Wolfborn."

"Wolfborn?"

He shrugged. "Sounds cool. There are always wolves or dragons or whatever in stories about knights.

"Fine. Arise, Sir Jacob Black, Wolfborn. Serve your queen well."

My phone took the opportunity to ring. I glanced at the caller ID. Phil? Oh god, is everything okay? Is Renee okay?

"Hello?" I answered it, making an I'm sorry! face to Jacob. He waved a hand.

"Bella!"

It was Renee, and she sounded fine. I felt my heart slow back down to its regular speed.

"Mom!" Why are you calling from Phil's phone?"

"You are not going to believe it," she started.

It sounded like she was about to start a long story, so I cut her off. "Did something happen to your phone?"

"Yes! But it was crazy—I—"

"I'm in the middle of something," I lied hurriedly. Well, it wasn't that much of a lie. "Can you call me later? Or tomorrow?"

"Sure, baby!" Renee didn't sound put out, and I was thankful for her easygoing nature. "We're about to go grab dinner, so I'll call tomorrow while Phil's in training. You're going to love—"

"I've got to go," I said, not wanting her to finish whatever pitch she was about to make for Florida. Tomorrow was sooner than I had wanted, but… I would have to figure out how to tell her that I wanted to stay in Forks eventually. "I love you! Talk tomorrow!"

Jacob, maybe taking a hint from my tone, didn't ask any question. Instead, he held out a hand imperiously. "Give over," he said. "So I can give you the magic man's number."

I yielded the phone to him. He typed for what seemed like way too long, until I got suspicious and tried to snatch the phone back. "Sorry!" he apologized, not sounding sorry at all. "The keys are soooo small. I have to keep starting over." He fended me off easily with one hand until he decided to be done with the phone and handed it back. It was open to a new contact titled "Best PT Ever!" When I hit the back button, it tabbed into our text conversation, where he had texted himself "Sir Jacob Black is the most noble, handsome, heroic knight in all the realm and I owe him my undying gratitude for being my friend."

I lobbed the phone at him. He caught it neatly and set it down out of reach. "You dumbass," I said, but without much heat.

"Hey," he said with a grin, "you can't be too careful these days. Anyone could be up to mischief."

"But nobody is as annoying about it as you are," I complained.

His grin widened. It made his face look… sort of sharp. "That's why I'm here."

Curiosity reared its head. "Why are you here?" I asked. "Like, don't get me wrong, you're welcome anytime, but I don't remember inviting you."

He winked. "I missed you." Then his smile faded. "And… I worry about you."

I wrinkled my nose, uncomfortable with him being nice to me. "It was just a dumb accident. It could've happened to anyone," I said, not quite able to meet his eyes.

"Mmhmm," he said, not sounding particularly convinced. "But it happened to you."

"Yeah, well," I mumbled, unable to come up with a good response. "I'm fine now."

Jacob looked very pointedly at my cast. I flicked him on the shoulder. "Mostly fine, anyway."

He caught my hand in his, not ungently, and set it down on the couch. His own hand, deeply tanned in spite of how early it was in the year, covered it completely. I was momentarily surprised by how warm he was.

"You're freezing," he said casually, hand still resting on mine. Then, in the next breath: "I told you once that the Cullens were bad news. I'm telling you that again, as your friend, Bella. It's their fault that you got hurt. You're safer without them."

"They're the only reason that I'm alive," I argued sharply, sliding my hand out from under his. He didn't try to stop me, but I immediately missed the warmth. "If it wasn't for them, I would have died… in the landslide." I added the last three words as an afterthought. The lie still didn't come naturally to me even after two weeks of telling it.

"If it wasn't for them, you wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place," he retorted, then added "in the landslide," with exactly the same intonation.

Am I being paranoid, or is his look a little too knowing? I could feel my heartbeat speeding up.

"Trust me," he added soberly. "They're bad news. I'm telling you this because I love you, Bella. I want you to be safe."

"It's not like that," I whispered, but my words trailed off. I stared at him, trying to find something to say.

Into the silence between us came the sound of a key turning in a lock.

I was startled, but Jacob didn't move a muscle. Behind him the door opened and Edward slipped in. Jasper was with him, which was a first.

I didn't know how much of our conversation they had heard from outside, or how much Edward could pick up from Jacob's mind. Hopefully not much.

Jacob straightened up slowly and half-turned, but didn't get up from where he was kneeling. "Oh," he said, with an almost exaggerated level of nonchalance, "your boyfriend is here."

"Edward," I said, feeling like I was caught in the middle of something bigger than I could understand, "this is my—this is Jacob, my best friend."

"We've met," Edward said. His tone was perfectly polite, but I knew him well enough to hear that he was trying not to sound sharp.

Jacob's eyes were on the key in Edward's hand. "Golly," he said innocently, "you practically own the place. Charlie must like you an awful lot."

Edward's teeth flashed in a tight smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Charlie knows he can trust me to take good care of his daughter."

A muscle in Jacob's back twitched. "Lucky dad," he drawled. "Anyway, I was just leaving. Nice to run into you here."

"Likewise."

Jacob turned back to me and took both of my hands very gently. I could feel Edward's eyes fixed on them. "You know I'm only a call away," my best friend said, sounding unusually earnest.

"I know," I said, squeezing his hands. "And you're welcome here anytime." I didn't know what his beef with Edward was, but that didn't change the fact that he was my best friend. I almost regretted the words when I saw him flash a challenging look in Edward's direction, but then his eyes were on me again and the expression on his face was pure affection with a hint of wickedness.

"You'll see plenty of me," Jacob promised. He let go of my hands and stood, more gracefully than I was used to him moving. "After all, I am but your humble servant." He swept a dramatic bow. "My queen."

I couldn't prevent my smile. That's my Jacob. "My knight," I replied in the same lofty tone, making a shooing motion with my hand. "You are dismissed."

He winked at me as he left. As he passed Edward, I heard him whisper "You really shouldn't be leaving her alone."

Jasper followed him out the door.

At my questioning look, Edward shrugged. "Jasper was just dropping me off," he said blandly.

I expected him to come over to me, but instead he made a circuit of the living room, seeming to glance at all the places where Jacob had been. Unbidden, my eyes flicked to the stairs and he followed my gaze.

"Thorough," he murmured.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Just a thought."

"No, not nothing. What was that about? What do you have against Jacob?" I held out a hand imperiously.

He closed the distance between us. "We don't get along."

"Why not?" I demanded.

Edward shrugged. "Hard to say. Sometimes people don't mesh well."

"Bullshit." I narrowed my eyes. "You're keeping secrets again. You promised." I couldn't control the tinge of desperation in the last word.

He sighed and leaned his forehead against mine. "Unfortunately, my love, some secrets are not mine to tell. You'll have to ask Jacob to… satiate that particular curiosity." His lip curled slightly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"What it means," Edward said patiently, "is that I'm going to help you shower. Unless you want Charlie to do it."

Distracted, I grimaced at the mental image. "No thank you. I mean, yes, thank you."

Edward had just finished cooking dinner ("Your fajita recipe," he said with a wink) when Charlie walked through the door.

"Dad!" I exclaimed. "You're home early!"

Charlie was smiling as he took off his jacket. "Tonight, and every night for the foreseeable future. Looks like the Feds have muscled their way in on this one. Cases might be connected. Can't really say much else." He clapped Edward on the back in a friendly way, seeming not to have noticed how still my—boyfriend—had gone. "Whatever you're cooking there smells awful good, son," he said. "Why don't the three of us sit down and have some dinner together?"

I brightened up at the idea, but Edward was already shaking his head. "Thank you for the invitation," he said regretfully, "but since you're here I ought to be getting on home. There are some things I should help Carlisle with around the house." He smiled winsomely.

Charlie nodded, clearly approving. "You're a good kid. Give your folks my regards."

"I will," Edward promised. He dropped a quick, chaste kiss on my mouth and then slipped out the front door.

I knew he would be on his way to tell his family the news. Feds. Connected cases. There was a knot in the pit of my stomach.

Charlie dished us both up a healthy serving of fajitas. Edward had made both meat and meatless, as usual—he always had leftovers in the fridge for Charlie on the nights when my father was out well into the early hours. The meat smelled unusually good that day. I wondered if the spice mix had somehow been different between them. But no, when I tasted mine, it was almost exactly my recipe.

We ate mostly in silence, enjoying the good food together.

"Jacob came by today," I said as Charlie was clearing up. "Just to check on me."

"Yeah?" Charlie asked from the sink. "That's nice of him. I haven't seen much of him—or Billy—these last few weeks."

He sounded a little wistful, although I couldn't see his face. He's probably a little tired of spending all his time either working or taking care of me, I thought guiltily.

"It was nice to have him around," I confessed. "I missed him. He gave me Billy's PT number for once I get the cast off."

"The guy's a wizard," Charlie agreed over his shoulder. "I've heard Billy talk about him."

I glanced at my phone, which was flashing. Someone was calling me. Unknown number.

The knot in my stomach reformed. I thought we agreed on tomorrow, I wailed internally. Still, it would be better to get it over with sooner rather than later. And I had a sneaking suspicion that it would make Charlie happy to hear that I wanted to stay with him.

I braced myself and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello, little bird."

It wasn't Renee. The voice was rich and accented. A woman, I thought.

"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number," I said politely.

"Hermosa cisne," she crooned in reply. "I've heard so much about you. ¡No me digas! What a kerfuffle you've caused, mi pequeña. I'm excited to see what happens next. Give him my love, carina. Ciao."

The line went dead.

"What was that?" Charlie asked, not turning around.

"Wrong number," I said, staring at the phone like it held some kind of answers.

My speed dial did not seem likely to yield anything helpful, but… what was that? There, at the bottom, was a contact I didn't remember entering. In fact, I didn't think I had ever seen it before.

It read simply: "Vampire Emergencies."