Impasse

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

Stalked

Bella was having a bad week.

Every night she was haunted by the same recurring nightmare of Edward Cullen drinking her blood. Everything she tried to do to suppress the alarming images were no longer working. She would lie in her bed each night, too terrified to sleep, forcing herself to remain awake, but inevitably her eyelids would close and the frightening images would begin to torment her all over again. She would awaken in the early hours feeling utterly exhausted, worn out from all the stress.

Even the Tylenol was no longer working.

Bella refused to believe the nightmares could be real. Knowing that vampires actually existed had warped her mind, igniting her feverish imagination to play cruel tricks on her in her sleep. It didn't help that Edward Cullen and his sister seemed to be tailing her wherever she went. They were back from their mysterious hiking trip and now seemed to be in every one of her classes. There was no escaping them. They sat at their usual table during lunch, where she would have to silently endure their constant staring. She encountered them whenever she walked the hallways during lessons, sending her already fragile mental state spiralling as she did her best to avoid them. She had never been so grateful for Mike Newton's puppylike devotion. He was always there, ready and waiting to escort her from one lesson to the next. She knew it was cruel to encourage his attentions like this, but she couldn't help it. He provided a good barrier between her and the stalker like behaviour of the brother/sister combo.

So far, she hadn't had the opportunity to mention any of this to Jacob. He hadn't been around much. Quil Ateara had phased unexpectedly one night. Even though Jacob knew it had been coming, he was still unprepared. It had been by the grace of God that Quil's mother hadn't been hurt during his transformation.

Joy Ateara had been scolding Quil about his bad behaviour after the school principal had been in contact, informing her that her son's latest childish prank had damaged school property and he was to be suspended for a week as punishment.

As Quil's temper got the better of him from his mother's verbal tongue lashing, he suddenly changed right in front of her. Joy had screamed the house down, alerting Quil's grandfather to the unfolding catastrophe.

The ancient elder had calmly taken control of the situation, talking a shocked Quil down and letting the chocolate brown wolf out of the house into the open air before he destroyed everything around him in his wild panic. The elder then placed a quick call to the Black's house to inform Billy that his grandson had changed and that Jacob now had a new charge to take care off. But Billy said Jacob probably already knew as he and Sam were out running patrols at the time Quil initially phased.

All this flood of information was related to Bella over a few harried phone calls from Jacob when he rang to apologize for not being around so much. Quil was proving a difficult student just like he had envisioned. After the initial shock of his transformation had worn off, Quil had become elated with his newfound strength and skills. He immediately wanted to test his new abilities, recklessly running off alone and nearly getting his head ripped off by the first nomadic vampire he came across. He was just lucky that Jacob and Sam had quickly caught up with him and dispatched the miserable creature before he came to serious harm.

Quil had received a long, serious lecture from his grandfather about his recklessness, but it wasn't enough to put Quil off. In the end Jacob had been forced to become his babysitter, issuing several Alpha orders to keep his friend in check whenever he showed signs of causing yet more trouble.

"I'm sorry, Bella, honey." Jacob apologized once again during his last frantic phone call. "As soon as I've got the idiot under control, I promise we will spend some quality time together."

"I understand." Bella said comfortingly, though disappointment made her heart feel heavy. There was no way she could confide in him about the Cullens now. Not when he was already burdened enough. She just needed to find her own solution to the problem.

As Bella drove home from the local store the next day after stocking up on food supplies, she found she couldn't settle. She was deeply troubled, worried about Jacob, and missing him badly. She longed to see his sunny smile, the one he reserved especially for her, the one that was so wide it made his eyes crinkle at the corners.

Her mind was so full of Jacob that she wasn't paying much attention to the road that shimmered wetly in the sun. It came out of nowhere. One minute there was nothing but bright highway in Bella's rearview mirror. The next minute, the sun was glinting off a silver Volvo right on her tail.

"Aw, crap." Bella whimpered.

She considered pulling over to confront him, but just as quickly rejected the idea as soon as it entered her head. She was too much of a coward to talk to him face to face. She had no idea of what his intentions were.

The Volvo continued to follow inches behind her. Bella kept her eyes trained straight ahead, biting her lower lip as she tried to keep her composure. Her original intention had been to drive straight home to put the groceries away, but she took a detour, worried that Edward Cullen might try and intercept her at her house while she tried to make a run for the front door. She felt safer staying in her truck.

Normally in a situation like this, Bella would have headed straight for the police station and Charlie, but her father wasn't at work, he was out fishing with Harry. Thinking of Harry made his daughter Leah pop up in Bella's mind. Maybe she could do a U-turn and drive to La Push and see if her favourite frenemy was at home. Leah wasn't frightened of anyone or anything. Her vicious scowl was enough to scare the birds from the trees. Bella was certain that Edward Cullen wouldn't stand a chance against her.

Charlie had always warned Bella not to use her phone when driving for safety reasons, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She thought he would forgive her just this once. She wanted to make sure Leah was at home before risking the journey to La Push.

With one hand kept firmly on the old Chevy's big steering wheel, Bella frantically dug her other hand in the zippered pocket of her light rain jacket for her cell phone. Tears of relief welled in her eyes when her fingers closed around it. Slowing the truck down a little, she kept one hand on the wheel as she placed the phone on the dash and scrolled through the screen until she brought up Leah's number.

Her frenemy answered after the third ring.

"What do you want, girl?" Leah greeted her irritably.

"Are you at home?"

The lack of the usual retaliatory response from Bella made Leah realize immediately that something was up. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Yes, I am. I'm being followed. At least…. I think so." Bella glanced in her wing mirror to check the Volvo's progress. It was still there, tailing her closely.

"By who?" Leah was all business now, all sarcasm missing.

"Edward Cullen."

"Your ex?"

"He isn't my ex…. well, I guess he is. I don't even remember him. The last proper conversation I had with the guy was in the hospital in Phoenix just after my accident. He creeped me out then….and he creeps me out now."

"Where are you now?" Leah checked briskly.

"Five minutes from home. But my dad's still out fishing with yours."

"Okay, don't panic. That's the worst thing you can do." Leah advised. "I'm leaving right now. Turn that beast of a truck of yours around and come to La Push. I'll meet you half way. If that creepy dipshit is still following you, I'll make mincemeat of him."

"Thanks, Leah." Bella whispered gratefully.

"And stay on the phone." Leah continued.

There was the sound of jangling keys, followed by the slamming of a door.

"I will." Bella promised.

The ancient Chevy's engine groaned and protested loudly as she swung the large steering wheel, forcing the old truck to do a quick U-turn. She nearly took the wing mirror off as she narrowly avoided a large branch that was sticking out from one of the tall trees lining the road.

"Dammit." She muttered, her anxiety reaching unbearable levels. Why couldn't she be as confident and calm as Leah? She felt what little confidence she had left seeping away as the Volvo mimicked her manoeuvre, albeit much more gracefully.

It was now obvious that Edward Cullen was deliberately following her. Bella could make no more excuses to herself that they were simply driving in the same direction.

What was his ultimate goal here? What was he hoping to achieve? Other than to freak her out further?

Usually the drive only took fifteen to twenty minutes tops in her truck, but now the journey to La Push seemed to take twice that time. Bella barrelled down the highway, turning the windscreen wipers on high when the inevitable rain started to fall. She did her best to ignore the groan of the ancient engine. Fifty-five was the most she could coax out of the old truck, and she prayed it would be enough.

By the time she reached what counted as the halfway mark the truck was positively wheezing. Bella breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the Clearwaters white sedan coming in the opposite direction. Leah honked the horn, indicating for Bella to pull over.

By the time the ancient Chevy grated to a stop, Bella was a mass of nerves. She killed the engine, the resulting silence only heightening her terror. One glance over her shoulder confirmed that the Volvo had stopped too. She supposed Edward was unaware of the white Sedan's approach, probably thinking she had stopped deliberately so that they could talk.

Bella stayed rigidly in her seat as she watched Edward climb nimbly out of the silver Volvo on the driver's side and walk briskly toward her truck. His bronze-coloured hair glistened with water droplets from the driving rain as he approached, his closed expression making it impossible for Bella to tell what he was thinking.

Then before she knew it, he was tapping on the truck's side window, gesturing for her to roll it down. Bella gulped – he sure moved fast.

Turning to look out of the rain splattered windshield, she saw the Clearwaters white Sedan pull in to the side of the road. In her peripheral vision she noted that Edward could see it, too. A slight frown marred his forehead as he stood like a silent marble statue beside the truck, his impossibly white skin seeming to exude a faint luminescence in the weak light that streaked through the clouds.

Bella jumped in her seat at the sound of the loud slamming of a car door. She watched as Leah began to run toward her truck, her dark eyes flashing with anger. Taking this as her cue, Bella slid across the truck's bench seat and exited via the passenger side door. She took a few ungainly steps in Leah's direction, her left leg dragging behind her right. It was still a little weak after the cast was removed.

Leah reached Bella first. She grabbed her, steadying her tottering steps, and putting a comforting arm around her waist. "Are you okay?" She asked in a low voice.

"I am now." Bella whispered, her heart easing now that her best frenemy was with her.

Leah twisted her head to glare in Edward's direction. He was still standing by Bella's abandoned truck. "Hey, stalker, what the hell do you think you're doing harassing my friend?" She demanded hotly.

Edward Cullen looked like he was cut out of ice. He didn't respond to Leah's furious question. Instead, his gaze drifted to Bella, his soft velvet tone belying the serious expression carved on his angelic face.

"Its important that we talk, Bella. Nothing will get resolved otherwise. You can't avoid me forever. Please just think about it."

"No way in hell is she talking to you, freak. Leave her alone!" Leah shouted angrily.

Without another word, Edward turned on his heel and marched back to his car. Climbing gracefully inside, he spun it around, the last glimpse of him Bella had was of his white face reflected in his wing mirror, his strange golden eyes burning a hole into hers.

A/N-thanks for reading!