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The Poet and the Pendulum	By : TwilightScribe Category: Twilight Series > Slash Views: 4181 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Parts: Part VI [ Dreamer's Hideaway ]
Rating: pg13
Pairing: Jasper/Jacob
Words: 7 201 words
Disclaimer: The Twilight series and its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, who I am definitely not. This means that I don't own anything but the strange circumstances that I slap her characters into. I'll put them back once I'm done with them, promise.

Dreamer's Hideaway

Since I wasn't allowed to phase, Jasper was starting to get just a little worried about me and whether or not I'd be prepared for the battle with the newborns. But nothing he said to Sam would convince him to let me phase just to practice. None of them wanted to see what was in my mind right now. Though, I had to admit that if I was in their shoes I'd probably be for their decision one hundred percent.

With school finished and out for the summer, I was able to spend more time with Jasper. And since I'd been relieved from active patrol duty until the fight it meant that I could catch up on all the sleep that I'd been missing trying to keep up with both him and the pack. I'd been exhausted before, but it was nothing that I wasn't used to; I mean, I'd been running on little more then two hours a sleep for two days when the Cullens had left. But that was a dark time that I never thought about.

Jasper was putting off hunting for as long as possible, and his eyes were an almost black when I got home from the latest strategy meeting. I hadn't noticed the slight changes which marked just how thirsty he was becoming; for one, his eyes darkened, they were now a shade closer to black, and the bruises which I'd noticed under his eyes before were considerably more bruise-like.

Luckily for us, Alice had pinpointed exactly when the newborns were going to arrive, and that was in two days. It didn't give any of us much time, and both Jasper and I knew that he would have to leave tonight if he wanted to hunt down enough game to be as strong as possible tomorrow. The other problem, was Jasper himself and his own overprotective nature.

We were sitting on the couch, the TV again turned down so low that it was almost too quiet for me to hear it, with his head resting in my lap as I ran my hands through his hair. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was soft, even.

“Edward is sitting the fight out; Bella wants to keep him with her,” Jasper began.

“Really? And how is he taking that?” From what little I knew of Edward, I didn't think that he'd be one to sit out a fight like this so easily; he enjoyed the thrill of it as much as we did, though, Emmett was probably the most enthusiastic.

“Better then I expected he would.”

“You're getting at something, what is it?” I didn't trust Jasper completely when he danced around issues like this, mostly because he didn't do it very often. Something was up, definitely.

He sighed, “It's... I don't want you to be there.”

“And why is that?” It did hurt. I felt that he had no faith in me or my ability to fight against these creatures, and that was painful. Jasper was overprotective to the point where it made me feel like he didn't believe in me.

Another heavy sigh, “I don't want to see you hurt, and the fact that you haven't received any training... I'm just worried. I've been told that I do that too much, I'm sorry about it. Edward wants a connection to the pack... I want you to stay with him and Bella, and not Seth, that way, I know that you're safe.”

“No.”

“Jake, please-” He sat up and reached for my face.

I crossed my arms across my chest and glared right back at him, “No way am I staying somewhere while you risk your life against a bunch of crazed and violent newborn vampires. I don't care if you've had nearly a century of experience fighting them, it doesn't change how I feel.”

His hands cupped my face gently and he leaned in so that our foreheads were resting against each other. I could feel his breath on my lips, and it was making my concentration, and my willpower, waver but I wasn't going to let him talk me out of it, not this.

“There isn't anything that I can say that will make you stay?” I knew what went unsaid, I'll do anything to make you stay, just so you're safe.

“No, because I'll worry about you if I'm not near you,” I admitted. “I don't want to be away from you, or I'll freak about whether or not you're okay... so please, don't do that to me. Plus, I don't think Edward would like me too much if I was constantly worrying over you and whether or not you're still alive. He'll have enough on his mind without needing to deal with me. The others don't need that either.”

Jasper sighed, and I could smell victory. I smiled at him.

“I don't like it.”

“You don't have too,” I replied, then reassured him. “I'll be careful, though, promise.”

That was a lot I was asking for, and it went against Jasper's better judgement (and he was being more rational about this) to let me be there. His concentration was going to suffer for it, he'd be very concerned about me and my well-being. It was stupid and selfish of me, but I wasn't going to let it bother me too much.

“But...”

Uh oh, that didn't sound too good, “But what?”

“Edward was wondering if you could possibly help him out. Since no one other then me finds your scent at all appealing, he's hoping that if you were to carry Bella to the place where they're going to wait out the fight, that no one will sniff her out. Edward will, of course, take a much longer route to get there.

“He wants to take her out Friday night, and she'll lay a false trail leading to the clearing to make sure that none of the newborns follow your trail or go into town looking for her.”

I hadn't spent any time with Bella since I'd imprinted, and the few times that she'd called about it I'd told her that I was busy with preparations and such. She hadn't completely bought any of my excuses, I knew her well enough to know that much. But the fact that she hadn't randomly turned up on my doorstep told me a lot about just how worried she was about all of this, and probably about Edward. She and I were now in very similar situations, except that I was just a little better equipped to defend myself, but I was still very fragile in comparison.

“The weather for this weekend's gonna be shit, she'll freeze out there,” I reprimanded. Then I realized something. “You're hoping she'll be able to convince me to stay.”

“It's a small hope, I'll admit.”

“I've made up my mind, Jasper, I'm going to be there. You can't change that, and you're a lot more important to me then Bella. If you can't convince me, then there's no way in hell that she could.”

A small, sad smile turned up the corners of Jasper's lips, “You still love her, even if it isn't what it used to be. That much is true.”

I couldn't meet his eyes, because deep down I knew that it was the truth too. Sure, I didn't love Bella as deeply as I had before the imprinting, but it didn't change how I felt. I just recognized better who and what I couldn't live without. Jasper was infinitely more important to me then Bella was, but it didn't change the fact that I still loved her. I hated how complicated things had to be, but that was just how they were, and it was better this way too.

“I love you more.” It was true, and I didn't really need to say it, but I did anyway. If I said it, then it made it sound truer, and it made me feel better about it all.

“I know.” He still loved Alice, but it was a different sort of love, and theirs (as I understood) had always been much more different then anyone else's in the Cullen family. For me and Bella, it was different. We both loved each other, but there was no way that we could ever be together; not when we belonged to someone else. She belonged to Edward, and I belonged to Jasper, I just wished that it was that simple.

“Doesn't change anything, even if I do love her, she can't make me stay either. Like I said, if you can't make me stay, then neither can she.”

Jasper sighed, and nodded. I could still feel his breath on my lips, he hadn't pulled back at his soft spoken confirmation. He wasn't sharing me with her, but it somehow felt like he was. That thought hurt much more then I think it probably should have.

He frowned, feeling my conflict and pain, “Is something wrong?”

“There's no competition, you know that, right?” I chewed my lip and waited for his response.

Jasper smiled, pressing his lips to mine quickly before he pulled back, “I do. It's the same for me, there won't be anyone else, ever.”

Both of us knew that Billy would be home shortly, he was spending a lot of time with Sue to help her with Seth and Leah, but that didn't really matter. Jasper pushed me carefully back onto the couch, his lips were almost touching mine and his breath ghosted over my lips. His hand was cold and firm on my chest, allowing no room for argument.

When I was on my back, Jasper pressed his lips to mine, much more carefully then before. His hunger was affecting him, we both knew that but it didn't change anything. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him down.

Jasper settled into the place between my legs, pressing me down as he slid a hand up under the thin tee I was wearing, the other hand went around my waist. His expert fingers easily charted out the skin he found under my shirt, tracing the outlines of my muscles.

Shivers raced through me at his touch, still startling after all this time. It just felt weird, the thrill from feeling just how different his skin was to mine. He was like ice, while I was like fire. Actually, his touch was oddly refreshing; everyone else just seemed to make the heat from my skin seem a lot worse.

Pulling away from me, Jasper lips lightly traced along my jaw and down my neck, leaving a trail of goose-bumps in their wake. His mouth stopped over the crook of my neck, he stopped there, softly biting down on the flesh; hard enough to leave a mark but not too hard so as to break the skin. We still had no idea of what would happen if his venom met my blood, and he wasn't going to take any chances with me.

There was the possibility, always, that it wouldn't do anything, but there was that slight probability that it could kill me and Jasper wouldn't take that risk. He was just being overly careful, and that took quite a bit of control. I think he put his brother to shame on this issue; Jasper and I were having sex, while Edward hadn't gotten that far with Bella. It meant that Jasper had more control over his blood lust and his darker tendencies. Or at least I thought so.

It was the noise of a car pulling up on the gravel driveway beside the house broke the intimacy of the moment. Slowly, Jasper removed his face from my neck, retracing the path down with his lips before he pressed another kiss to my lips, stealing my breath from me.

“You like doing that, don't you?” I asked him, breathless as he let me sit up.

“What can I say?” Jasper asked, his tone light, amused. “I like how your lips feel against mine.”

I would've rolled my eyes at him, if it wasn't for Billy opening the door and calling out, “Jake! I'm home, you hungry? Sue brought something to eat.”

“Uh, yeah! I'll be right there.” Turning back to Jasper, he smiled at me. “You going to stay?” I quickly added, “You're always welcome here, you know.”

“Yes, I know that,” Jasper replied, standing up. “But I really need to get hunting if I want to return by Friday evening.”

I frowned, “But the fight's not till-”

“I want to get back sooner, we all do, but I want to because I want to see you before the fight; just to reassure myself that you're still alive.”

“You worry too much.”

He smiled, “Actually, I think 'possessive' is a better description in your case.”

With that, he was gone, I heard the sliding door which led off the family room to the small porch open and click shut as he left.

Seth stuck his head in, he'd obviously heard the end of our conversation and Jasper's exit, “He's not staying?”

I shook my head and stood up, heading for the kitchen, “No, he's gotta go hunting before the fight; he's been putting it off for a while now.”

“Ah,” Seth nodded and we headed back into the kitchen where Sue was setting an already made dinner (complete with werewolf proportions) out on the table and the counters. Billy was sitting in the chair positioned at the head of the table. Seth and I sat down at the far end, while Sue slipped into the one on Billy's right, between him and me.

“Everything in place?” Sue asked.

Seth nodded, swallowing his mouthful of food, “Yep, everything's set!”

The kid was surprisingly enthusiastic despite the fact that he was supposed to stay behind with Collin and Brady on the reserve. He wasn't too happy about that, he didn't want to be cut out of all the action, but we didn't know if the newborns would all follow Bella's scent to the clearing; there was still the chance that some of them would head for Forks and then to reserve. It was better to be prepared.

“What about Isabella?” Sue asked. “She isn't staying in town during all of this, is she?”

I knew the answer to this one, “No, I'm supposed to take her into the mountains where we'll meet up with Edward; she'll spend the night there and during the fight.”

“Alone?”

Thinking about Seth's longing to be involved with the fight gave me an idea, I grinned, “No. Edward's going to be staying with her, but...”

“Hm?”

“Edward wants a connection with the pack, so that he knows what's going on. Seth can be cell phone since he wants to be helpful so much.”

It worked for me, because it meant that I wouldn't be stuck with Bella and Edward during the fight (and that was the last thing that I wanted to happen, since it would just be really, really awkward). And Seth got to be just a little closer to the action then he would if he was stuck in La Push. Well, I thought it was a great idea. Sure I'd have to talk it over with Sam, but as the second of the pack, I could still order them around; to a degree of course.

Seth didn't like it so much, but I could tell that it made Sue happy. It meant that she had one less child to worry about. Billy agreed with me that it was a necessity for Bella and Edward to have some form of communication with the rest of us, or else they wouldn't know when it was safe to come back; and with the freezing weather and snow that was going to roll in over the weekend, it was better if Bella spent as little time out in the isolated wilderness as possible.

.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.

Without patrols or training to keep me busy, and without Jasper to distract me, I spent a lot of time bugging Billy just by being around. Apparently I was acting like a kicked puppy, the way I was hovering over him sometimes, and it was beginning to annoy him, not to mention worry him.

Reassuring him did pretty much nothing since he didn't buy any of my bogus lies anyway. It was really obvious that I needed something to do to keep me occupied. I'd never dealt to well with boredom, and everyone else was pretty much busy because of the upcoming battle, but I was at least included in on the planning (which was done by this point).

I'd deal with the lack of stuff to do cause I only had to wait until that evening until I had at least one thing to do. I wasn't looking forward to it, mostly because I knew that I couldn't lie very well to Bella and that she'd probably easily pick up on the fact that something was bothering me. She was too perceptive for her own good sometimes, she'd make a frightening vampire.

Funny how easily I could see her as one now. My entire perspective on her imminent change had done almost a complete one-eighty within a few days, all because I'd imprinted. Sure, I still wasn't sure about what she'd be like when she did make the change, I didn't know if she'd still be the Bella I knew, but since I'd gotten to know the Cullens a little better, I knew that they were probably better then a lot of humans out there. For instance, I knew that Carlisle hated to kill, and was adverse enough to the entire situation that we faced now.

All of them had developed a conscience in the world that they'd been thrust into, and not very many of them had been given the choice about whether or not they wanted it. Each of them had made the best out of the hand they'd been dealt, and had come together out of a similar need for others who were different and shared their view.

I felt a little bit like an outsider when I was around them.

So really, I couldn't begrudge Bella the fact that she wanted to become one of them, not only so she could spend forever with the man that she loved more then anything, but also so that she wouldn't continue to be a weakness to them. I couldn't help but be jealous of her, because she was obviously so much more of a member of their family then I was.

Hell, some of the cryptic remarks she'd made to Edward during some of the meetings told me that she knew more about Jasper and his past then I did. That really hurt.

I was being gloomy and depressing, so it wasn't surprising that Billy took off again to spend more time with Sue, leaving me alone at home. I thought about going back to bed, catching up on the sleep that I hadn't gotten the night before. But I quickly nixed that idea because I'd probably over sleep and would miss Edward's call to tell me when to meet him and Bella in the clearing.

But also, Jasper had promised that he'd back earlier. I'd take a few moments with him before I'd leave.

Maybe I could bug his life story out of him, but I doubted that I'd be able to get it out of him easily, he just didn't seem too comfortable with the subject and I never wanted to push him. I'd always told myself that when Jasper was ready, he'd tell me. I was just a little jealous that Bella probably knew more about him then I did, but then again, she'd known him for longer. The jealousy was unfounded too, I knew deep down that I had absolutely nothing to be worried about.

Cold arms wrapped around my shoulders and I felt a smooth cheek pressed against my ear, “I wasn't gone for that long, you don't have to be so depressed about it.”

I would have started if it wasn't his voice which greeted my ears. Jasper was very good at sneaking up on people, especially me. Often times though it was because I wasn't really paying attention, but I was pretty sure that he could manage it, even if I was intent on spotting him. The guy's stealthy, like a ninja. I was very glad that he could only read my emotions and not my mind; I'd be embarrassed to no end.

“It's an imprinting thing,” I responded, leaning back into his touch.

He seemed interested, “How so?”

“You're not supposed to leave me alone right now, I might do something stupid.”

“I don't see how that's possible,” he replied easily. “You've already done some really stupid things, like wanting to be alone with me so much.”

I rolled my eyes, “You already de-virginized me, I don't think that I have that much more to lose due to my doing stupid things.”

Jasper raised his eyebrows, “You didn't seem to mind that at the time, I'm sorry, was it not how you'd envisioned it?”

Well that was a no-brainer. Up until I'd imprinted, I'd always thought that I'd lose my virginity to Bella, or some other girl, probably the one that I imprinted on. I'd never thought that it would be a guy, much less a vampire. I didn't regret my choices though.

“It wasn't exactly how I'd pictured it, but things change. It's not something I regret.” Billy didn't know, I'd been rather meticulous about making sure that everything was clean so that Billy wouldn't figure out that his son wasn't 'untouched' anymore. I think that would probably give my poor dad a heart attack.

“That's good.” He pressed his lips to my temple. “I was a little worried, I thought that you'd want to wait.”

I shrugged, “Doesn't really matter, I don't think it's really that big of a deal.” It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly true either. The truth was that I'd never really thought about it. Maybe sixteen was a little young to be having a sex life, but it didn't really matter to me; I trusted that Jasper would take good care of me.

“If you say so...”

“How was your hunting trip?” I tugged on his arm, and Jasper easily leaped over the back of the couch, arms staying around my shoulders.

“Mm, it was fine, I may have annoyed Emmett just a little. He's used to competition, but I was more concerned with feeding and coming back as soon as possible.”

“Competition?”

Jasper nodded, pulling me into his lap, “He and I usually compete over who can catch the biggest prey.”

“What did you catch this time?”

“We didn't go too far,” Jasper's arms had slipped down to my waist. “So we stayed closer then we usually do to hunt. Even though the time of the attack is very much set, Carlisle would rather that we stay close just in case something changes. The prey wasn't what I'm used too.”

I pouted, crossing my arms, “You're avoiding my question. I wanna know what you caught.”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” he replied. “It was mostly deer, and one or two hares. There really wasn't much to choose from, and you don't complain very much when you're as thirsty as I was.”

I turned my head enough to see his eyes, they were a bright, warm shade of gold today; a stark contrast to the pitch black they'd been when I'd last seen him. His eyes didn't exactly go with his hair, I thought that he'd looked better with darker eyes, it seemed to suit him better then this color.

My curiosity got the better of me, “What color were your eyes when you were human?”

Jasper froze for a moment, and I worried that I'd overstepped some unspoken boundary between us. We hadn't talked about his past, whether it was it as a human or vampire, and I'd never been sure if he'd ever talk about it with me. I was the one person who had no bias on who he'd been or where he'd come from. That was probably how I couldn't see him as a murderer or a killer, I only saw him as the man who loved me, and the one that I loved. We were meant to be, and that was how it was.

“I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry, I'm just-”

“No, it's alright,” Jasper replied, his voice much softer then usual. “You have every right to be curious, you only know me as I am now, you don't know anything about my past or... what I've done.” The last part was said so quietly, that I almost missed it.

I waited patiently, hoping strongly that he would tell me.

Jasper kissed my neck, lips trailing along the side of it until they reached the crook, “If you're wondering, my eyes were green when I was human. Though nothing as bright as Edward's were.”

“Edward had green eyes too?” I was surprised.

“Yes, he did. Very bright, to the point where you'd think they'd glow,” Jasper chuckled against my neck. “Mine were more subdued... deeper, more sea-green then anything else.”

I could picture that. The image was one that I liked very much, I could feel and hear my heart thundering in my chest; speeding up with that picture of what Jasper looked like as a human. It was difficult to picture someone as unbelievably beautiful as Jasper as a simple human, but I could picture it.

Jasper's mouth covered over the crook of my neck, the mark he'd left there before he'd left had faded the day before. It was a disadvantage to the fast regeneration all of us had; any marks which he made on me would fade within days, sometimes hours. Somehow, though, I think he liked that because it meant he could leave new ones whenever he felt the whim to do so.

He bit down on the skin, leaving his mark, smirking against my skin when I gasped. I'm pretty sure that he liked being able to elicit all of those noises from me, it gave him some sort of thrill, which I could feel through that gift of his.

One of his hands slipped lower, ghosting over the drawstring of my sweats, untying them with one short tug of his hand, while the other slipped up under the hem of my shirt.

Somehow, I was still coherent enough to talk, “Finishing what you started?”

I felt him smile against my shoulder, “I don't think I'll have enough time... Edward will probably call any moment now for you to pick up Bella.”

His fingers trailed temptingly over my hips, and I knew that if I didn't stop him now then I wasn't going to be able to stop myself from just tackling him right there. That wasn't smart for a number of reasons; for one, Billy could return at any moment, and having him catching us going at it wasn't what I wanted. Secondly, what he'd said was true; Edward would be calling at any moment to tell me to meet him and Bella in the clearing so that I could carry her to a secluded location in the mountains where she'd be safe.

I'd spend the night with them, acting as 'cell phone', and then Seth would take my place the next day so that I could rejoin the others for the fight. Sam and the others had already steeled themselves for whatever was in my mind, but as long as I didn't think about it, then they'd be able to ignore it.

I was starting to regret not wearing any underwear at that moment.

The phone saved me right on time. I lunged across the couch, making a grab for it, hand closing over the receiver. I pulled it out of its cradle and to my ear.

Jasper's hands went back around my hips, his chin resting on my shoulder.

“Hello?”

“Jacob?”

“No, you got the tooth fairy,” I replied sarcastically. “Of course it's me, who else is it going to be?”

“Sorry, I thought Billy might be home... or it could have been Jasper.”

“Eh, he wouldn't answer the phone.”

“Please tell me you two aren't doing anything... inappropriate.”

“It's all completely innocent.” A lie, but he couldn't tell.

“Good, because I really don't need that imagery. Anyway, could you meet Bella and I in the clearing in an hour? You don't need to bring anything, I have everything necessary for her camping trip.”

“Yeah, that's fine.”

“Thank you so much. I owe you for this.” The line clicked, signalling that he'd hung up. I leaned back over to set the phone back in its cradle. It was sort of awkward, given how I had to stretch and wiggle around awkwardly in Jasper's arms in order to reach it.

I could feel his dick digging happily into my ass. Jasper, though, didn't seem too affected by it; stupid vampire, nothing could rattle him. It wasn't fair that he had near perfect control over himself at the times when I most wanted to just jump him right there.

He smiled at my irritation, “Don't be angry, I've spent much more time alone then you have, all waiting and preparing myself for you.” His nose brushed along the back of my neck, causing the hair there to stand on end, drinking in my scent which so much more appealing to him then anyone else's. “Ah, but the wait was worth it. You're all I'll ever need.”

That little declaration was finished with a kiss to the base of my neck, it proved just how much control he had over himself. I shivered in response. Jasper pulled away, flipping me around and then lying us both down on the couch, facing each other.

“Well, Jacob, what did I miss while I was hunting?”

.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.

I felt like someone had tied a lead weight to the pit of my stomach when I made my way to the clearing where all of our meetings and training sessions with the Cullens had taken place. Mostly I was nervous because I knew that I'd have to come clean soon to Bella about the fact that I'd imprinted, and I wasn't too sure how she'd take it. I was hoping that she wouldn't take it too badly, but that was probably hoping for too much; knowing her, she'd probably throw a fit over it.

Hell, I'd had enough problems dealing with it.

The run to the clearing was too short for me to get my thoughts into proper order, and I was still confused and unsure of myself when I arrived. Edward was on the other side of the clearing, his hand and Bella's entwined, I felt just a little jealous of them. Not because he was with her or that she was with him, but because they actually got to spend time together right then. I was just a little bit irritated that all of this had to happen now.

“Could you please try and keep your thoughts a little less... loud?” Edward asked.

“Huh? Oh sorry.” I'd forgotten about that; Edward complained often, mostly when I'd been formerly introduced to the Cullen family, that my thoughts were too loud at times. I was trying to quieten them down, just a little. But when I wasn't focusing, they tended to get out of hand.

Bella looked between the two of us, and I guessed that she thought I was having some fantasy about her or something, which totally wasn't the case. I sighed, warily approaching them.

“So where exactly am I taking her?”

Edward removed a map from one of the many pockets of the huge camping backpack he had sling over his shoulder. He unfolded it, and I stepped closer to get a better look at just where exactly the overnight camping trip was going to take place. I knew the area pretty well, so I'd just need a rough route of where to go and where the place was, and I'd easily be able to find it.

Tracing a serpentine route along the map, Edward pointed to a secluded ridge-area that was about a hundred miles or so from where we were, “You'll be taking her there. I'll take a longer route, of course, to make sure that none of the newborns will follow yours. I'll double back and then take a detour to get there; but I should arrive before you, so I'll set up camp.”

I nodded, stepping back again as he refolded the map and tucked it away. “I know the area, I'll be able to get her there in about an hour.”

“Thank you, I owe you for this.”

Waving my hand in dismissal, I recrossed my arms, “It's not a problem. Bella's important to me too.” Just in a different way.

Edward gave the smallest hint of a smile before turning to Bella. He swept her into his arms and placed a chaste kiss against her lips, “I'll see you in an hour or two.”

Bella's eyes flickered to me, and she pouted.

“This is how it has to be, I want you to be safe,” Edward told her. “No newborn or vampire would want to stick their nose too close to Jacob's scent; it'll cover yours completely, Alice even said so.”

“I still don't like this.”

“You'll be fine.” He smiled at her, more genuine but a little sad, then added, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she replied, standing on her tip toes to press another chaste kiss to his lips.

I cleared my throat, reminding both of them that I was still there and waiting, “Not that I don't mind the little romantic displays, but you'll want to get camp set up before the storm hits, and I doubt that you want to run through that, Bella.”

Edward's eyes flickered towards the sky, which was covered with dark grey, almost black, clouds in the distance; the storm wasn't too far off. It would probably hit tonight. I sincerely hoped that he'd packed Bella a lot of layers, otherwise she'd probably turn into an ice cube. Even though I didn't love her as deeply as before, she was still important (more like a sister now, though) and that meant that I wanted to see her safe.

“Go with Jacob, Bella, I'll see you both in an hour or two.” Edward gave her a one-armed hug, then gently pushed her towards me.

Bella's pout turned into a frown as she slowly approached me. Once she was close enough, I easily looped one arm under her knees, knocking her legs out from under her. Before she could hit the ground, my other arm caught her around the shoulders. I picked her up easily; she wasn't heavy at all. She, though, didn't seem too happy about this.

“I'll see you.” That was the last thing Edward said before he disappeared back the way the two of them had come. I rolled my eyes and turned back towards the trees.

“Can't you carry me on your back? This is... just too intimate,” Bella complained.

Silently, I agreed with her, “This is easier, and the temperature will drop when we get further into the mountains. You'll stay warmer if I carry you like this.”

She frowned again, but then it fell away, revealing a look of distress and guilt. She was probably suffering from some form of internal conflict other something that she perceived was her fault. I could still easily read her, even after all this time, and knew that it would be better for her to get it off her chest instead of keeping it bottled up inside.

“What's eating you?”

Bella seemed surprised at that, but then her face fell back into that guilty look, “Am I still that transparent?”

“It's kind of obvious when you look like the world's about to end and it's all your fault,” I replied. “Wanna talk about it?”

There was silence for several long minutes as I jogged through the woods, winding through the trees, occasionally jumping over a stump, clump of shrugs, or other forest debris. I wasn't too worried about the silence, if Bella wanted to talk about it, then she would; it'd just take her a little while to gather her thoughts and voice whatever was eating her.

I didn't have to wait too long.

“I'm making Edward stay with me.”

Jasper had already told me that, so I wasn't surprised, “Yeah, I heard about that.”

However, Bella was completely caught off guard that I already knew and didn't really seem to care about that. “How...?”

“One of the Cullens mentioned it,” I shrugged the question off, though I was pretty sure that she'd see through my evasion. “Doesn't really matter; just means more action for the rest of us.”

“Don't say things like that! If anyone gets hurt or worse, killed...” It sounded like she was about to break down. “It's all my fault.”

“But it's not,” I replied. “And you're only gonna hurt Cullen more if you keep blaming yourself for things like this. It's not your fault, it's that damn bloodsucking leech's who thinks that avenging her mate is good enough reason to want you dead.”

“Jake, she's killed dozens of people! Just to get to me! How is that not my fault?!”

“Simple, she made the choice, not you. Sure, you may be her goal, but it doesn't change the fact that she made the decision to kill those people so that she could create a distraction to get to you,” I replied. “And don't blame yourself for the rest of us getting involved. This is our turf, and we're going to protect it. No leeches are gonna get past us.”

I sounded confident, which was good, I needed to reassure her that all of this was going to be fine. She needed to believe it or else she'd do something really stupid; like try to make some sacrifice in order to help us win.

“You sound so confident.”

“The pixie said there was only gonna be what? About twenty or so? We'll win, easily. We got skill on our side, Bella, and experience. There's no way that we're going to lose.”

She smiled, “You sound confident... that's good. Edward's confident too.”

“Then what do you have to be worried about? If there really was any significant danger to us, then Cullen wouldn't be hiding out with you in the mountains, he'd be there in the clearing, fighting. All of us are going to make it through this Bella, just you watch.”

I hoped I'd done a good job, because having her worried or concerned would probably only make it harder for Edward to keep her safely tucked away in the mountains. If she did something stupid or reckless because she wanted to help, then she'd only be tossing away all of the precautions that had been taken for her sake. Bella could sometimes be a real idiot.

“Aren't you getting tired?” She asked after a stretch of silence.

“Nope! This sort of thing doesn't tire me out,” I replied easily.

She'd changed the subject, though I wasn't too sure why. I decided that I'd have tread carefully or else I'd probably let something slip that I shouldn't. My plan was to wait until after this newborn crisis was dealt with to tell her that I'd imprinted; it seemed a lot safer. Plus, it would give her more time to get used to it without having other things to worry about.

I had enough to think about now, and I didn't need anymore worries to be added to the mix. My life was complicated enough as it was.
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The Poet and the Pendulum