If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
-Savage Garden, Crash and Burn

Layla

The first thing I noticed was the smell. Bitter, cold, sharp and icy. It felt as if it was suffocating me. Retching at the dreadful scent, I sat up, my head spinning wildly as I took in the room around me.

The walls were bare, so I could see the light blue paint on them. Directly opposite me was a tall bookshelf. Only two of the shelves actually had books on them though, the others were filled with a messy jumble of CDs, DVDs, and sheets of paper. Clearly, this was a teenager's room. Near the bookshelf was the door, a slit of light visible around its edge, and a guitar case, balanced on its side.

Frowning, I swung my legs around the edge of the bed, my nose still wrinkled at the smell of the room, and stood. For a moment I swayed on the spot, very close to falling back down, but managed to keep my balance. Slowly, I made my way towards the door, opening it a crack and looking outside.

An unfamiliar hallway was visible, with a couple of doors branching off it. There was no sign of anyone else in the house. As another wave of dizziness shot through my head, I backed away from the door, closing it again quickly. Crouching to the ground, I leant back against the wall, my eyes closed tight and my hands covering my face.

Where in the world was I? And how had I gotten here? The last thing I could remember was the dance. Adam and Mel had been fighting, yelling, and then… nothing. My mind was completely blank, as if the memory had been entirely wiped out.

The creak of a stair nearby made my jump, but as I struggled to get to my feet the door beside me was already opening, bringing a pair of feet and an overwhelmingly foul smell with it.

Gagging, I had no time to see who it was that'd entered the room. My lungs were burning with the pain of the smell, and it was unbelievable that I hadn't already fainted from it.

"Relax, Layla, it's okay. Just breathe." The voice was a male's. Deep, gentle and soothing.

I gasped in a few breaths, trying to ignore the smell. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I registered that I'd heard this voice before, but with my head still spinning it was impossible to place it. I felt the wall against my back as I collapsed against it, overcome by the smell.

"Shhhh," the voice shushed me, trying to calm my erratic breathing. I could feel the speaker bend down beside me. "Breathe," it repeated. "Just breathe."

I focussed half my mind on my breathing, while the other half searched wildly for a memory of this voice. It was like I'd heard it when I was very young, or in dream, or something.

Having finally slowed my breathing, I forced my eyes open, my face still twisted at the terrible smell. I saw a pair of bright golden eyes, a few strands of auburn hair flopping casually over one of them. Then I closed my eyes again, blinked very hard, having completely forgotten about the smell, and tried again.

Jason Cullen's face was still hovering mere inches from mine.

Jason

"I'm Jason," I said, internally hitting myself for not thinking of something better to say.

"I know," she said, with an uncertain expression. Partway between a smile and a grimace.

I resisted smiling at that simple fact. "Good. And I know your name, too."

"What is it then?" For a girl who'd just awoken from a having-transformed-into-a-werewolf induced sleep, she was surprisingly quick with her response.

"Layla." I almost jumped in surprise at how nicely it rolled off my tongue. Like I'd been calling her that forever. "Your name is Layla Brooks."

She looked taken aback, shocked even, that I'd known who she was. A smile broke out on my lips – how could I not know who she was?

Slowly, as if unsure, she smiled back, and I could see the tiredness in her gaze as she strained to keep the smile in place.

"Is this your house?" she asked, pushing herself off the wall to kneel as she looked around my room.

My smile faltered as I scanned the room, as well. It was hardly a secret to anyone who looked around that I wasn't a normal teenage boy. The walls were completely bare of posters, my favourite bands having disappeared into obscurity a few years ago. The few books on my shelves looked brand new, and it was easy to tell that I'd never read them.

Embarrassed, I nodded. Layla smiled again in response, twisting her legs back into a sitting position, and drawing her knees up to her chest.

"Do you want to sleep?" I asked, wondering if she'd be able to make it to the bed by herself.

"No," she murmured, her voice muffled by her knees.

"Do you want something to eat?" I tried again, unconvinced that this girl could be completely content in her current state.

She shook her head, her soft eyes glancing up at me for a moment before disappearing back beneath her eyelids.

"Do you want me to leave you alone?" I felt the offer was necessary, even though I had no desire at all to obey it.

This time she looked at me properly, an odd expression on her face as she considered my suggestion. "No," she said finally, and I could detect some indignation in her tone.

"Well, do you want anything at all, or are you fine just sitting there making awkward conversation with me?"

She laughed tightly, as if the effort was almost too much, and kept her eyes up, fixed on mine. "I wouldn't mind a shower," she admitted, blushing slightly.

It was an odd feeling, to see a girl blush and not feel any desire whatsoever to attack her. There was no bloodlust, no thirst; in fact it was all I could to stop myself running in the other direction. Everything about this girl drove my instincts insane, telling me to run as far and fast as I could, or to get ready to stand and fight.

But I couldn't obey those instincts. Just couldn't. Not when the other half of me was begging for me to move closer. To inhale her beautiful scent, to touch her flushed cheeks, to stay right where I was, until the moment when she forced me to leave.

"A shower?" I repeated, leaning away from her automatically, scared of our proximity.

She nodded, her eyes still far too intense as they held mine.

For an immeasurable moment, there was silence between us. I wondered what she was thinking about. Adam, her boyfriend. Mel, her best friend. Nessie, who, she must have realised by now, was a part of the entire debacle. Or me. Was it possible that I was on her mind? Possible that it was me who was causing her eyes to sparkle like they were, a gentle smile to curve her lips?

A knock on the door effectively ruined our moment, and without having to look at who it was I groaned. "I'm taking care of her just fine, Nessie," I said, looking up at her from where I was sitting on the floor.

Layla smiled, her gaze moving up to Nessie, too. "Really, he's taken great care of me. He was just about to point me in the direction of the shower."

Nessie raised her eyebrows, and I could sense that she was plotting something. Don't do it, I silently begged, whatever you've planned, don't do it!

"We're out of hot water."

I buried my head in my hands so that I wouldn't attack her. Not that I would've had any hope of winning, considering my current state of love-strucked-ness.

"Oh." I wasn't sure if Layla could tell Nessie was lying and was just going along with it, or if she honestly believed my sister's innocent tone. "Um, well, that's okay then…" she trailed off, sounding a little bit lost.

"Nessie," I warned from beneath my hands, hoping to convince the truth out of her before I had to hurt her.

"I'm actually serious, Jay," she said, in a very convincing tone. "Emmett and Dad are looking into it now, but we think the pipe's been cut somewhere."

I frowned and moved my hands. "By who?"

Nessie's expression was dead-set, and I could tell she was serious. "We're more concerned about what it was, than who."

From in front of me, Layla was glancing between Nessie and I, looking worried. I extended a hand towards her automatically, not realising until I'd rested it on her knee that it must feel freezing to her. I felt her move in surprise at my touch, but to my astonishment she didn't pull away. Her eyes wide and scared, she looked at me for an explanation.

I didn't give her one.

"There's a stream a little way into the forest, you can wash there if you really want," I offered jokingly, trying to ease the tension. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Nessie slip back out the door, closing it softly behind her.

Layla looked as if she was going to laugh for a second, but then she shot me a calculating look. "Will it be cold?"

"Not for you." The words were out before I could stop them, and I wondered if she'd ask.

"Even at this time of night?" Her gaze flicked to the dark sky outside my window.

"It's actually morning," I pointed out, trying to keep up with her change of mood.

She shrugged, ignoring this inconsequential comment. "So I could wash myself there if I wanted to, without any known health risks?"

I nodded. She smiled and stood up, surprisingly fluidly considering she'd only woken up a few minutes ago.

Layla

I don't know what made me say I'd do it. But suddenly, there I was, walking out the back door of the Cullen's enormous mansion, heading straight into an unknown forest, with only Jason Cullen for company. Despite myself, I was excited. I'd been dreaming about a moment like this since I'd first laid eyes on the mysterious family, and now he was here, acting very much as if he liked me, and pushing branches out of my way as he led me through the forest.

A cold breeze whistled through the trees, and I instinctively pulled the coat that Jason had leant me tighter around my dress. It was only after I'd done that that I realised I wasn't at all cold. When Jason had first given me the coat, it had felt as cold as ice, but quickly – much too quickly – it had warmed up to my own temperature.

I was distracted when a twig that Jason had forgot to hold back hit me in the face and I stumbled on the uneven ground. Faster than I'd thought possible, Jason was by my side, pulling me back onto my feet. His hands, impossibly cold, held me securely, and I couldn't help feeling safe with him, as if he wouldn't let me get hurt. But something inside me, something instinctual that I couldn't quite identify, told me to fear him.

I shivered as his touch lingered on my wrist, and he quickly let go, taking a few steps backwards before meeting my eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding uncertain. He always sounded like that, I'd noticed, from my few minutes of conversation with him since I'd awoken. As if his tone was forcedly calm and non-threatening. Like he had something very deep and compelling going through his head, but didn't have the opportunity – or the guts – to say it.

I nodded and mumbled a "yes", not meeting his eyes.

It was all too big, I realised – too soon. For what felt like forever, I'd been admiring Jason Cullen from a distance, trying my best to get him out of mind when I was with others, and silently begging for his face to never leave my mind when I was alone. For weeks now, I'd had these intense feelings running through my head, and now, all of sudden, I was here, in the middle of a forest, with only him for company. I was feeling all of this incredible stuff that I'd kept at bay ever since I'd first seen him. But now, it was all so strong and passionate… I could hardly bring myself to notice the rest of the world, and that it must, inevitably, still be spinning around us.

With a slight nod, I started walking again, only having to take a couple of paces before Jason caught on that I was expecting him to keep leading me. He turned away and kept going, his steps slow and careful, his eyes fixed straight ahead. I wondered what he was looking for.

I don't know how long it took for us to reach the stream, but the sky was starting to get lighter, and I knew it wouldn't be long until sunrise. With an awkward gesture towards the water, Jason glanced at me, indicating that this was it. I wondered exactly what 'it' was. What was I mean to do now?

"I have a towel for you," Jason said, producing one from a bundle of material in his hands. "And a change of clothes, if you want them." A shirt and a pair of jeans fell to the ground next to the towel.

I nodded. "Thanks. I didn't really think to bring any spare clothes."

He smiled at my feeble half-joke. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Those are Rosalie's, but hopefully they'll fit you."

From what I remembered of Rosalie, the clothes would be about two inches too long for me, and far too stunning for me to even consider wearing wandering around a forest, but I nodded again anyway.

"I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back in about ten minutes, and I'll make sure I make a lot of noise so you can hear me coming."

I nodded a third time, feeling blood rush up to my cheeks at the absurdity of the whole situation. "I shouldn't be that long."

Jason shrugged. "I'll give you ten minutes anyway. Just call out if you need me, I shouldn't be going out of earshot."

I tried to work out how he'd move out of eyeshot but not earshot, then decided that it was far too early to be doing any hard thinking, as my head started spinning again and I swayed slightly on the spot. Too quickly, Jason was beside me, steadying me, his hands lingering on my waist. I was tempted to pretend to fall again, if it meant he'd hold me closer. Instead, I gave a small smile, a murmured "thanks", and a measured step back, away from him and his sharp scent.

Almost too fast for me to see, an array of emotions shot across his face – pain, understanding, disappointment – it was hard to pick them all. Then, just as fast, his expression was blank, and he turned and hurried out of the clearing.

I waited until the sound of his footsteps had died away, before making my way over to the stream. In this place, it was about three metres across, and looked at least a metre deep. Glancing both ways, I could see that this was a natural pool, where the water, usually cascading swiftly over rocks, slowed to spread over a larger space. It was the only place as far as I could see where I'd be able to bathe properly.

I sighed, wondering what exactly, had made me end up in this position. How on earth had I gone from a school dance with my boyfriend, to having a bath in the middle of a strange forest with Jason Cullen knowing exactly where I was and what I was doing? The strangest part was that I wasn't worried about Jason at all. The thought didn't even cross my mind that he might come back a second before my ten minutes had passed. No, my biggest worry was about that blank period in my mind – the time between the dance and waking up. What had happened? And why didn't I remember?

Repressing the urge to stamp in frustration at the sluggishness of my mind, I turned away from the stream, walking back to the towel and clothes Jason had left for me. Glancing around, more out of habit than suspicion, I assured myself that I was, in fact, alone, before carefully pulling off my dress. Without the thick layers of pink material protecting me from the morning air, I wasn't surprised when a cool breeze made me shudder. I was surprised when I realised it was the smell, not the feel of the breeze that gave me goosebumps, though. It was the same scent as in the Cullen's house – sharp, icy and burning. Shivering, I quickly finished undressing and, grabbing the towel (which smelt mercifully powerfully of detergent and some sort of perfume), hurried over to the stream, dropping the towel beside it and slipping in before I had a chance to talk myself out of it.

Jason

As soon as I heard her turn away, I ran. I ran and ran and ran and kept on running until I couldn't detect any traces of the werewolf smell that radiated from every pore of her body. The deliciously vile smell that drew me in as much as it repelled me.

"She really doesn't smell nice, does she?"

I jumped in surprise (a rare thing to see a vampire do) at Edward's voice.

"I wouldn't have expected the scent to be so strong after only having shifted once, but I guess it could be stronger at the beginning. Jacob doesn't smell nearly as bad anymore. A fact for which I am very grateful."

I stayed silent, not sure what to say. It was an awkward situation, to say the least. Layla, the girl I'd been obsessing over ever since I'd first seen her, was here. I'd been so close to her that I could see the beautiful brown of her skin, a colour that radiated from her firey, werewolf core, seeping out and making her brighter still. I'd touched her, spoken to her, made her laugh – it was too much, too fast. How could everything have changed to drastically in so little time?

A hiss from Edward made me look at him. "It hasn't changed Jason, not yet. She still has a boyfriend. And a family. She's still a werewolf."

Did it matter? The boyfriend, the family, the blood? Did any of it really matter anymore? I was with her, and I loved her, more and more with every moment I spent with her. So, what was stopping me from keeping her? What was stopping me from having her all to myself?

"You're still human. Even if you wanted to, you wouldn't be able to keep her here. Not now, at least. Your werewolf needs to go home. She needs to think, to sort things out."

It was difficult not being the one with the infallible insight into people's minds.

"She's confused. She still doesn't know what happened to her at the dance, and I'm not sure that we're the best people to explain it to her."

I looked up to meet his eyes, frowning. "Why not?"

"Because she doesn't trust us. She can smell that we're different. She can feel it, too. Your werewolf isn't stupid, she knows that there's something strange about us. She doesn't trust us. Not even you."

His words hurt me. Stabbed at me like a knife. How could she not trust me? Whether or not she knew it, I'd saved her and her friends' lives by catching her at the dance. I'd kept her sane, alive even, by bringing her here. To safety. Or, at least, relative safety. At least here she couldn't hurt anyone. Wasn't that a good thing?

"So, what do I do now?"

Edward sighed, glancing back in the direction of the stream where I'd left Layla.

"Alice says you've disappeared for at least another few hours, so she'll be safe until you leave her. You have to take her home, let her family explain what happened."

"What if her family doesn't know?"

"They know. They must know. There's werewolf blood somewhere in her past, and it's not something that's easily forgotten in family legends."

I still wasn't convinced. How could sending her home – sending her away from me – be the right thing to do?

"She needs time to get to used to what she is," Edward said, interrupting my thoughts. "It's the same as it was with you. She won't be able to control it for a while – the transformations, that is. Until she can, it's wise for us to stay away, especially when you'll be putting other people in danger."

I nodded, uneasy. "But we're going to have to see her, right? At school."

Edward raised his eyebrows at me. "How many times have you finished school?"

"A few."

"And you're complaining about a suggestion that we get a month or so off?"

Bloody reverse psychology. How could he make a month without seeing Layla sound so good? Edward just smiled smugly. I often wondered how Bella could possibly put up with someone like him. His smile just widened, and he turned around to go.

"If you shift into an ant and start heading back to the stream, you'll get there at about the time she's ready for some company again," Edward suggested, chuckling lightly as he jogged away.

I glared at his back until it disappeared from sight. What was I supposed to do until Layla had finished her wash? Just for fun, I shifted into an eagle, and launched myself up into the sky. The thrilling feeling of wind on my wings numbed me for a second to the rush of time around me, until I realised that I could clearly see the house from where I was, meaning that Layla would also be in plain sight. I quickly dived back into the trees, again. Note to self: do not shift into animals with good eyesight when you are trying not to see the love of your existence, who just happens to be washing herself in a nearby stream.

Back in human form, I sat on the ground, half-wishing I could feel the coolness of the frost that crackled beneath me, just because it'd give me something to think about. Something other than Layla to think about.

An ant walked past my left knee, navigating its way over twigs and around clumps of dirt. Hoping Edward was far away enough not to be able to see or hear me or my thoughts, I closed my eyes, and felt myself shrinking. As an ant, I quickly caught up with the real one I'd been watching earlier. It gave me a feeling of immense satisfaction to push aside a small rock for it, allowing it continue on its way back to its nest. It made me feel vastly pathetic when I realised how satisfied I'd felt.

Silently praying that Edward's maths abilities were as good as everyone knew they were, I began my way – scurrying at full ant speed – back in the direction of Layla. In my mind, I counted down the nanoseconds until I'd get there.

Layla

I'd been sitting on the edge of the steam, buttoned up in the foul-scented shirt Jason had left for me, for about two minutes when the sound of muted footsteps made me look up. I stood up quickly, feeling refreshed after my bath, and scanned the little clearing, searching for the source of the noise.

"Are you decent?"

I smiled as Jason came out of the trees, walking backwards with one hand covering his eyes.

For a brief moment, I considered saying "no", just to see his reaction, but decided against it. Sure, I'd slept in his room and bathed in a stream near his house, but we weren't exactly friends enough for me to be making naked jokes.

"Yes, you can look."

Smoothly, he turned around and moved his hand away from his face, looking at me. For an awkward second his eyes lingered on me in a way that made me blush, but a second later his gaze had shifted to somewhere behind my left shoulder. Despite what my Mum had always said about it being rude for people not to meet your eyes, I greatly appreciated him looking away. I hoped it meant that he knew he was in no circumstances ever to remind me of this event ever again.

Jason coughed, breaking the silence, and said, "So, are you ready to go home?"

"Um, yeah, I guess."

"Good. Your mum must be worried."

"Probably. Actually, Kari's probably more worried than Mum is about me. I should've called."

Jason put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a phone, moving closer to offer it to me. "Here, call now. Tell your family you'll be home soon."

I flipped the phone open and dialled the number, glancing up at the forest around us before pressing 'call'. The signal took a moment to connect, but then it was dialling and suddenly my little sister's voice was shouting, "If you have my sister I'm going to find you and take her back and you'll be very sorry that you kidnapped her because she has a LITTLE sister who misses her a lot and who knows how to do karate and tae kwon do and... origami!"

Jason ducked his head to hide his laughter, stepping around me to go and pick up the pile of clothes and towel that I'd left by the stream.

"She just loves me a lot," I felt the need to explain to him, before saying into the phone, "Kari, it's okay, I'm here. You don't need to do any origami on anyone."

"LAYLA!"

I may or may not have been deafened by her voice. I was suspecting that I had been, until she spoke again, mercifully being a bit more quiet.

"Layla! I can't believe it's you! Do you know how worried Mum and I have been? Mel got home last night and she was crying and talking about a fight and that Cullen family and that boy, Jason, and how you were screaming and then he dragged you away from her and she couldn't follow you. And Adam! I can't believe what he did to you – that was so mean, he's such a jerk! I knew you shouldn't have been going out with him again, that was silly of you Layla, but I wasn't going to tell you that, because I just so worried!"

I laughed at her rushed words, making no effort whatsoever to follow what she was saying.

"I'm fine, Kari, don't worry about me. I'm just... at a friend's place. But don't worry about me, I'll be home soon."

"How soon?" she asked suspiciously.

I looked over at Jason, intending to ask him, but without having to be told what the question was, he answered, "Half an hour."

I nodded, and repeated that to Kari.

"Okay, I'll start the timer now."

"And please tell Mum I'm fine," I reminded her. "I don't want her to worry."

"I will. She's been at Mel's place all morning, asking about what happened. I only got to hear the story once – Mum made me go away so Mel could tell it to her again properly. I don't know why."

I frowned at that comment. What was the 'proper' story, and why was it so important for Mum to hear it, but not for Kari? Was Mum so out of touch that she thought Kari wouldn't be as worried, if not more worried about me than she was?

Filing that information away in my mind to examine later, I said good bye to Kari, promised to be home soon, and hung up.

Silently, Jason came back to me to take the phone.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

I was still frowning, not at all sure that everything was all right, and wondering if Jason Cullen was the right person to question for details.

"My Mum's worried about me," I told him, conscious that I wasn't answering his question. "Kari said Mum's talking to Mel, asking about what happened last night."

I watched Jason carefully for a reaction to my words, but his expression didn't change from politely concern.

"She probably wants to make sure that you weren't hurt or anything."

I considered letting it drop. Just agreeing with him, letting go of my questions and suspicions about what exactly had happened between Adam and Mel fighting and my waking up in his room this morning. But I didn't want to let it go. I wanted to know what had happened. It was my life, right? I deserved to be given back those few hours of it that, somehow, my memory hadn't registered.

"We should go," Jason suggested, starting to walk away.

I reached out and grabbed his arm, wanting him to stop. His skin was icy against mine, but I was expecting it this time so I ignored it, pulling him back to look at me. He seemed startled by the contact and let himself be turned around, even though I was almost positive he could've pulled away if he'd wanted.

"Jason," I began, "What happened last night, at the dance? What happened to me?" He opened his mouth to say something but I spoke again before he could get any words out. "And don't say nothing, because it wasn't nothing. I have this big blank period in my mind and I don't know what's supposed to be there. It's like someone's taken the memory out of my head, and I want it back! I want to know what I did."

Even as I spoke, he was shaking his head. "I can't tell you, Layla. It's not my... right. I don't know enough about you or your family to explain it properly anyway. That's why I'll take you home to your mother. She'll be able to explain it much better than I will."

"How will she know what happened? She wasn't even there! And what does my family have to do with last night, anyway?"

Jason kept shaking his head, his gaze averted from mine, as if he couldn't bear to see the confusion and frustration in my eyes.

"I can't tell you," he repeated, his tone insistent. "Please don't ask me to."

His last words confused me enough to stop me saying anything more on the subject. Instead, they made me curious about him.

"Why can't I ask you to tell me?"

He sighed, smiling slightly at me having stopped asking last night, but not seeming to like this question any more than the last ones. Looking up to meet my eyes, his expression was calculating, deciding how much I needed to hear.

"I find it difficult to say no to you," he said slowly, thinking each word over before he said it.

"Why?"

He smiled wider and, to my disappointment, looked away.

"Do you always ask so many questions?"

"Yes," I answered quickly.

He looked back, virtually grinning now.

"Then why don't you ask them to your mother, not me, and we can both be happy?"

Not giving me a chance to agree or disagree with his offer, he began walking away quickly, setting a pace that meant I had to jog to keep up with him.

As we hurried back to the house, he stayed a few steps in front of me, making it impossible for me to stop or slow down and ask him more questions. Despite the pace, I found I wasn't getting tired, and by the time we'd gone back inside, straight through the house and out the front door, barely two minutes had passed.

Jason stopped next to a silver car idling on the driveway. Inside, I could see three of Jason's siblings, the red-haired girl and one of the brown-haired boys were in the front seats, with Nessie in the back, smiling up at me.

"Edward, Bella and Nessie will take you home," Jason explained.

I resisted asking why he couldn't take me, and moved towards the car, opening the door and trying not to wince at the icy smell that burst out of it. Why did all of this family's stuff reek so badly? Subtly taking in a deep breath of the nice, outside air, I ducked into the car, letting my gaze flick up to Jason for a moment before I closed the door. I heard the trunk open as Jason put my dress and shoes in there, and then kit banged shut again, and before I could think of saying goodbye, we were speeding off, Jason and his house fading away into the distance.