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"I don't like this, Alice" Carlisle said quietly, as soon as he was certain Edward was out of hearing range. "I know that you could see that the boy would be immune to Edwards gift but what else is there? What are you not telling us?"

Alice smiled knowingly at her adopted father but revealed nothing. The future could always change after all.

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Jake could feel himself relaxing as he drove down the winding road to the Rez, his rabbit running smoothly for once. School had been just about as shitty as Jacob expected what with the gawking and staring and awkwardness from the pale face kids. At least he hadn't seen the weird Cullen after their stare off in the office, that was a plus. Jake let out a self-pitying sigh at the thought of the auburn haired boy. It was just his luck really, to find someone to hate him on principal on his very first day. Whatever. It was Cullen's problem, not his. Jake would just avoid the dude. Simple. No problem. Easy freaking peasy.

Pulling up to his house, Jake put the rabbit in to park. He grabbed his bag from the passenger side and strode toward the old wooden home. Even from outside he could hear his dad. Stepping inside , he could see the old man was ranting at the TV. The black screen demonstrating the source of his father's frustration. Jake knew there was a game on that evening so it wasn't very surprising that the first words Billy said to him were "You'll drive me to Charlie's, won't you Jacob?". Jake sighed again, nodding even though his dad was already halfway down the hall. Today really wasn't his day.

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Edward's chest heaved with unnecessary breaths as he sped through the woods. The familiar action of drawing air in to his lungs burned and yet was somehow soothing, almost therapeutic. His mind raced alongside his feet as he travelled further and further up the coast. He would reach Canada soon, he knew that. A few hours more running would get him to Denali. But Edward knew that wouldn't do any good. His family were right, as they tended to be on most occasions; Jacob Black would still be as infuriatingly silent as ever whether Edward went to Denali or not. And so, as tempting as escape was to the bronze-haired vampire, he forced himself to turn back.

The run back seemed far shorter to Edward perhaps as a result of his newfound acceptance of his situation. As he reached the woods around Forks, Edward slowed his pace to the vampire equivalent of a light jog. He needed a coherent plan, a strategy, for dealing with his little walking headache. As far as Edward could see his options were fairly limited.

He could run which would be the fastest and easiest option. However, if he took that course of action, he would have to leave his family - something that Edward was loathe to do unless it became absolutely necessary.

Alternately, he could ignore the boy's existence all together. Distancing himself from Jacob Black did seem, to Edward, like a good course of action. However, it would also leave him in close enough proximity to the boy that the Quileute's silent mind would continue to taunt Edward without giving him any way of securing an explanation for the boy's strange immunity to his ability - so that plan was also a non-starter.

And so, Edward decided, the only possible solution was to find a way to study the boy whilst keeping his distance. To find out why Jacob Black was so infuriatingly immune to his gift which would enable Edward to continue on with his endless existence in relative peace with the mystery of Black and his infernal silence happily solved.

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Jake revelled in the healthy rumble of his dad's old pickup as he cruised down the familiar road towards Charlie's house. Sure, Jacob loved his rabbit and all but it didn't have the same satisfying rumble and power of the rusty old Chevy. Some grating 80s pop track winged its way out of the radio which had been stuck on the same channel since his older sisters, Rach and Becca, had jammed a crayon in there when they were six.

Pulling up to the curb outside Charlie's, Jacob wrenched the keys from the ignition as the assault on his poor, innocent ears finally ended. He pulled his hair up into a quick ponytail, grabbing a rubber band off the dash to secure it before heading out of the cab to fetch his dad's chair. The rain had picked up during the drive into town and pelted Jake's face like hundreds of tiny freaking rocks causing him to curse under his breath as he dragged the hulking monstrosity that was his dad's chair round to the passenger door. Jake wasn't surprised to find Charlie already there, helping his dad out of the car. They shared a quick smile as between them they got Billy situated in his chair. Jake felt a little of the tension leave his shoulders as he slipped into the familiar surroundings of Charlie's house, ready to relax.

"Any homework today, son?" Billy asked as he rolled past Jake into the living room. Jake managed to suppress a groan of frustration - he'd done enough of that today.

"Just some reading" Jake replied, apathy clear in his voice. Bronte first, relaxation later. Yay.

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Edward watched the boy disappear into the little house from his vantage point in the woods, his chest heaving. The effort of restraining his inexplicable urge to follow Jacob Black into the non-descript dwelling took Edward aback, making it clear to the auburn haired vampire that - while his intention of observing the Quileute was the most prudent course of action - he was not yet prepared to deal with the menace of a human.

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