Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

Summary: "He always looks like he's going to jump in front of him if something were to go awry. Like the gigantic Quileute is his most valuable possession." Edward and Jacob's relationship seen through the eyes of an anonymous bystander. EdwardJacob, oneshot

This makes my 100th fic! I thought I'd make it a Twilight one, because I haven't done one in a while, and because I always have a soft spot for this fandom, no matter how out of it I get. Soo...this fic has been through a lot of changes and everything before I finally decided on a couple to write about. I realized that I just really wanted to write another EdwardJacob fanfic simply because I love the pair and I just wanted to write them again. I haven't been writing much Twilight lately, because frankly, my interest in the fandom has dwindled, but I still adore Ed and Jake. Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoys this fic of mine, because I know I'll enjoy writing it!

The Stranger's Insight

There they are again.

It's always a strange sight, seeing them together. They moved here just a while back, taking over the town like some kind of sick secret. Everyone talked about them. Everyone still does, actually. The constant topic of conversation, the one thing that everyone can find common ground to talk about, kind of like the weather, as funny as it sounds.

The Cullens.

All pale. All unnaturally beautiful. All completely eloquent and majestic and everything that I wished I was. I envied them, but not to the point of obsession like my friends. The Cullens seem to separate themselves from the rest of the school, almost like they're frightened that someone would get too close and find out something that they don't need to know.

The mother and father of the group - Esme and Carlisle Cullen - are saints as far as this town is concerned. They aren't able to have children, so they adopt. And boy do they look like the Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt of Alaska. Hell, they're even more attractive than Brangelina, by lightyears. And since none of their children are actually related - save for the two blondes - they...date.

There's Rosalie, the golden haired bombshell that makes every girl want to crawl into a corner and sob. She's with Emmett, the big teddy bear with curly brown hair. Alice is the tiniest, and the most dancer-like with pixie-short black hair. She's with Jasper, the one with wavy blonde locks and a Southern drawl as thick as molasses. Edward is the one with the most unique hair, a bronze-ish colored mop that looks like it's been permanently messed up. He is with Bella, a shy girl with long, thick mahogany hair. And the strangest thing is that there's one that looks to be a mixture of both of them - Renesmee, or whatever her name is. Everyone calls her Nessie, and she has that same strange bronze tint to her hair, and a mixture of their facial features, along with a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

Which brings me to my next point.

All the Cullens - save for Nessie - have the same shade of topaz for their eye color. Last time I checked, that wasn't a natural thing. No one asks about it, though. I have had the urge to, however, when I was partnered with Nessie for a lab project. I backed out at the last second because I was afraid to be rude.

Anyway, that's not all.

The last of the "clan," I suppose, is the most out of place. Emmett is most surely the biggest of the Cullens, unless you compare him to their other member that is constantly following them around.

Their latest addition to the family - a tall, russet-skinned boy named Jacob Black. A Quileute from a Reservation in Forks, Washington. Something happened to his parents when he was little and the Cullens took him in, or that's the story. Nessie is almost always attached to his hip, and he dotes on her as if she were his daughter, almost in the same tone Edward uses when talking to her.

Jacob is so much different than the rest of the family that it is ludicrous, and I'm not talking about the physical attributes, even though they are extremely different as well. I'm talking about the personality. He seems to have a certain amount of life to him. Lifelikeness, if you will. While all of the other Cullens seem as if they are so perfect, just touching them will burn you, Jacob screams vitality and brightness and life.

There are many traits about the Cullens that would strike one as odd. Their physical attractiveness is only one tier of their appeal. They are also notoriously secretive. No one knows where they live. No one has seen the infamous Cullen household, but there are rumors. Mr. Cullen is infinitely rich, apparently, and money automatically equals gigantic house and designer clothes and whatnot.

I digress.

It's not the infinite richness or the stunning good looks or even the fact that they are so secretive that has me interested in this family. It's something else entirely - something that probably makes me look like a stalker, but still...

It's the way they interact.

No, not Alice and Jasper. Not Emmett and Rosalie. Not even Edward and Bella or Jacob and Renesmee.

Who, you ask?

Jacob and Edward.

Yes, look at me like I'm crazy, but there's something between those two. Something that I can't quite place at this moment. It's something that is hard to describe, something that I am having trouble putting into words. You'd think that by looking at how they looked at their other halves - Edward at Bella and Jacob at Renesmee - that they wouldn't even think of anyone else.

But, after you see the way they look at each other, then that's completely thrown out of the window.

Sometimes I don't even think that they notice it themselves, the way that they completely maul each other with their eyes. So protective and so assuring. It's enough to make my heart lurch for them, which it does on a regular basis.

When Edward talks, when he addresses the class with that familiar, strange cadence of his, Jacob looks at him. Only him. Tunes everything out. Even when Edward stops talking, he keeps staring at him until the Cullen looks at him. That's when their eyes meet for a single second, and something passes between them that is hard to see if you're not looking close enough. Call me a creeper, but I've noticed it since I first saw them.

There's just this undeniable tension between them. I suppose you have to be here to actually witness it for yourself, but seriously? It gets me all hot and bothered sometimes and it's getting to the point where it's uncomfortable.

I know Edward looks at Bella and he sees the person he loves. I've never had anyone look at me like that, that's for sure. But there's something different. The way his eyes shift to Jacob when he laughs or when he talks to his other friends.

There's this protectiveness to his gaze - it's almost predatory. Whenever someone says something negative about the taller man, Edward will be the first to glare at the person. It's stunning, really, this display of loyalty.

No one else seems to notice it, however. I seem to be the only one who gets it...not trying to sound arrogant or anything, but I kind of have a feel for these things. Everyone else seems to think they hate each other, but that's just the surface - the veneer that these two gloss over each other.

What they feel is far from hate.

Even the way that they play with each other. The insults, the fighting, every now and then I get a whiff of it, and it isn't as malicious as everyone makes it out to be. It's almost like their way of...flirting.

Of course, I can go on and on about these two and their undeniable smoking hot tension or whatever cliche phrase you want to use to describe it, but there's more to it than that. They're pretty, sure, but there's so much pain to their story. So much pain and suffering, and they don't even know it. It's on the backburner, just waiting to surface for more than a second. Jacob's black eyes reflect so much, while Edward's gaze reveals nothing of the pain he shows. I suppose he'd have to be secretive about it, considering all that he'd lose...

What a world they must live in!

I just wish someone would look at me the way Edward looks at Jacob, or vice versa. The feeling is obviously mutual, even if the two are oblivious to it.

Edward always looks like he's going to jump in front of him if something were to go awry. Like the gigantic Quileute is his most valuable possession. Jacob always looks like he is eager to take the bullet for Edward as well. It's a strange dance, the thing that these two do, and it's enough to make one mad from obsession. Enough to make someone want to slap the both of them for not acting on their feelings.

But they do have their reasons for obstaining, I know.

I guess that's the most tragic thing about this whole situation. The two who obviously - to me, at least - love each other, but can never be together because of their obvious predicaments.

Even the way they say each others' names speaks to the longing that they feel for one another.

I realize there is nothing I can do, personally, for their plight, except watch and wonder. Wait. Anticipate. Wish. Hope.

The lightest touch brings the color to Jacob's dark cheeks. The smallest word causes Edward to break out in a smile. And while they are completely engrossed with each other, they can never be together. It just seems so final.

I want, so badly, to be able to nudge them in the right direction. To make them know that the other cares about them just as much as he cares for him. It is completely out of line and asinine of me to think, but I just...think that they deserve to be happy.

Sometimes, I'll be waxing poetic about all of this stuff, and Edward will look my way. It is enough to cause my heart to stutter in my chest, my heartbeat to accelerate, just by looking at him. He's beautiful, and the contents of my thoughts are enough to make any girl embarrassed that the person they were thinking about would be looking at them like that.

Edward would look at me and...it's almost like he knows.

I can't really put my finger on it, but he looks at me as if he knows what I think. And he knows that it's true. Almost like his solemn looks are giving my random, raving thoughts validity.

His eyes, a tawny golden in color, have the feeling of someone who has seen more than his age lets on. As if he's lived many lifetimes already, and my thoughts are something that he is particularly interested in.

Yeah, bring out the straitjackets, folks.

Every now and then, Edward will look at me and smile. I'm not sure what it's about, but it's usually at the time I'm thinking of him and Jacob. I look upon the two with a fondness, even though I don't know them, and I wish for their happiness more than anything.

I don't know what to do when he does this, because his utter handsomeness usually leaves me dumbstruck. So I try to manage a smile back, and then he would turn away and back to his conversation or whatever else he was doing before he decided to grace my life with one of his glances, as strange and melancholy as I've ever seen in my short life.

I just smile at him, and wish that somehow he and Jacob could be together.

Because, sometimes, wishing is all you can do.

End.

Well, there ya have it! My 100th fic and everything! I know I keep mentioning that fact, but it really is something for me haha. I hope that everyone enjoys this and I would love to hear everyone's opinions on it!

Thanks so much for reading!