THE FUNERAL

I SPRINTED DOWN THE STAIRS AND THREW THE DOOR open.

It was Jacob, of course. Even blind, Alice wasn't slow.

He was standing about six feet back from the door, his nose wrinkled in distaste, but his face

otherwise smooth mask like. He didn't fool me; I could see the faint trembling of his hands.

Hostility rolled off of him in waves. It brought back that awful afternoon when he'd chosen

Sam over me and I felt my chin jerk up defensively in response.

Jacob's Rabbit idled by the curb with Jared behind the wheel and Embry in the passenger

seat. I understood what this meant: they were afraid to let him come here alone. It made me

sad, and a little annoyed. The Cullen's weren't like that.

"Hey," I finally said when he didn't speak.

Jake pursed his lips, still hanging back from the door. His eyes flickered across the front of

the house.

I ground my teeth. "She's not here. Do you need something?"

He hesitated. "You're alone?"

"Yes." I sighed.

"Can I talk to you a minute?"

"Of course you can, Jacob. Come on in."

Jacob glanced over his shoulder at his friends in the car. I saw Embry shake his head just a

tiny bit. For some reason, this bugged me to no end.

My teeth clenched together again. "Chicken" I mumbled under my breath.

Jake's eyes flashed back to me, his thick, black brows pushing into a furious angle over his

deep-set eyes. His jaw set, and he marched¬ there was no other way to describe the way he

moved up the sidewalk and shrugged past me into the house.

I locked gazes with first Jared and then Embry I didn't like the hard way they eyed me; did

they really think I would let anything hurt Jacob? before I shut the door on them.

Jacob was in the hall behind me, staring at the mess of blankets in the living room.

"Slumber party?" he asked, his tone sarcastic.

"Yeah," I answered with the same level of acid. I didn't like Jacob when he acted this way.

"What's it to you?"

He wrinkled his nose again like he smelled something unpleasant. "Where's your 'friend'?" I

could hear the quotation marks in his tone.

"She had some errands to run. Look, Jacob, what do you want?"

Something about the room seemed to make him edgier ¬his long arms were quivering. He

didn't answer my question. Instead he moved on to the kitchen, his restless eyes darting

everywhere.

I followed him. He paced back and forth along the short counter.

"Hey," I said, putting myself in his way. He stopped pacing and stared down at me. "What's

your problem?"

"I don't like having to be here."

That stung. I winced, and his eyes tightened.

"Then I'm sorry you had to come," I muttered. "Why don't you tell me what you need so you

can leave?"

"I just have to ask you a couple of questions. It shouldn't take long. We have to get back for

the funeral."

"Okay. Get it over with then." I was probably overdoing it with the antagonism, but I didn't

want him to see how much this hurt. I knew I wasn't being fair. After all, I'd picked the

bloodsucker over him last night. I'd hurt him first.

He took a deep breath, and his trembling fingers were suddenly still. His face smoothed into

a serene mask.

"One of the Cullen's is staying here with you," he stated.

"Yes. Alice Cullen."

He nodded thoughtfully. "How long is she here for?"

"As long as she wants to be." The belligerence was still there in my tone. "It's an open

invitation."

"Do you think you could... please... explain to her about the other one Victoria?"

I paled. "I told her about that."

He nodded. "You should know that we can only watch our own lands with a Cullen here.

You'll only be safe in La Push. I can't protect you here anymore."

"Okay," I said in a small voice.

He looked away then, out the back windows. He didn't continue.

"Is that all?"

He kept his eyes on the glass as he answered. "Just one more thing."

I waited, but he didn't continue. "Yes?" I finally prompted.

"Are the rest of them coming back now?" he asked in a cool, quiet voice. It reminded me of

Sam's always calm manner. Jacob was becoming more like Sam... I wondered why that

bothered me so much.

Now I didn't speak. He looked back at my face with probing eyes.

"Well?" he asked. He struggled to conceal the tension behind his serene expression.

"No." I said finally. Grudgingly. "They aren't coming back."

His expression didn't change. "Okay. That's all."

I glared at him, annoyance rekindled. "Well, run along now. Go tell Sam that the scary

monsters aren't coming to get you."

"Okay," he repeated, still calm.

That seemed to be it. Jacob walked swiftly from the kitchen. I waited to hear the front door

open, but I heard nothing. I could hear the clock over the stove ticking, and I marvelled again

at how quiet he'd become.

What a disaster. How could I have alienated him so completely in such a short amount of

time?

Would he forgive me when Alice was gone? What if he didn't?

I slumped against the counter and buried my face in my hands. How had I made such a mess

of everything? But what could I have done differently? Even in hindsight, I couldn't think of

any better way, any perfect course of action.

"Bella... ?" Jacob asked in a troubled voice.

I pulled my face out of my hands to see Jacob hesitating in the kitchen doorway; he hadn't

left when I'd thought. It was only when I saw the clear drops sparkling in my hands that I

realized I was crying.

Jacob's calm expression was gone; his face was anxious and unsure. He walked quickly back

to stand in front of me, ducking his head so that his eyes were closer to being on the same

level with mine.

"Did it again, didn't I?"

"Did what?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"'S'okay," I mumbled. "I started it this time."

His face twisted. "I knew how you felt about them. It shouldn't have taken me by surprise

like that."

I could see the revulsion in his eyes. I wanted to explain to him what Alice was really like, to

defend her against the judgments he'd made, but something warned me that now was not the

time.

So I just said, "Sorry," again.

"Let's not worry about it, okay? She's just visiting, right? She'll leave, and things will go

back to normal."

"Can't I be friends with you both at the same time?" I asked, my voice not hiding an ounce of

the hurt I felt.

He shook his head slowly. "No, I don't think you can."

I sniffed and stared at his big feet. "But you'll wait, right? You'll still be my friend, even

though I love Alice, too?"

I didn't look up, afraid to see what he'd think of that last part. It took him a minute to

answer, so I was probably right not to look.

"Yeah, I'll always be your friend," he said gruffly. "No matter what you love."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I felt his arms wind around me, and I leaned against his chest, still sniffling. "This sucks."

"Yeah." Then he sniffed my hair and said, "Ew."

"What?" I demanded. I looked up to see that his nose was wrinkled again. "Why does

everyone keep doing that to me? I don't smell!"

He smiled a little. "Yes, you do¬ you smell like them. Blech. Too sweet¬ sickly sweet. And...

icy. It burns my nose."

"Really?" That was strange. Alice smelled unbelievably wonderful. To a human, anyway.

"But why would Alice think I smelled, too, then?"

That wiped his smile away. "Huh. Maybe I don't smell so good to her, either. Huh."

"Well, you both smell fine to me." I rested my head against him again. I was going to miss

him terribly when he walked out my door. It was a nasty catch-¬on the one hand, I wanted

Alice to stay forever. I was going to die¬ metaphorically ¬when she left me. But how was I

supposed to go without seeing Jake for any length of time? What a mess, I thought again.

"I'll miss you," Jacob whispered, echoing my thoughts. "Every minute. I hope she leaves

soon."

"It really doesn't have to be that way, Jake."

He sighed. "Yes, it really does. Bella. You... love her. So I'd better not get anywhere near

her. I'm not sure that I'm even-tempered enough to handle that. Sam would be mad if I broke

the treaty, and "¬his voice turned sarcastic¬" you probably wouldn't like it too much if I killed

your friend."

I recoiled from him when he said that, but he only tightened his arms, refusing to let me

escape. "There's no point in avoiding the truth. That's the way things are, Bells."

"I do not like the way things are."

Jacob freed one arm so that he could cup his big brown hand under my chin and make me

look at him. "Yeah. It was easier when we were both human, wasn't it?"

I sighed.

We stared at each other for a long moment. His hand smoldered against my skin. In my face,

I knew there was nothing but wistful sadness¬ I didn't want to have to say goodbye now, no

matter for how short a time. At first his face reflected mine, but then, as neither of us looked

away, his expression changed.

He released me, lifting his other hand to brush his fingertips along my cheek, trailing them

down to my jaw. I could feel his fingers tremble ¬not with anger this time. He pressed his

his burning hands.

"Bella," he whispered.

I was frozen.

No! I hadn't made this decision yet. I didn't know if I could do this, and now I was out of

time to think. But I would have been a fool if I thought rejecting him now would have no

consequences.

I stared back at him. He was not my Jacob, but he could be. His face was familiar and

beloved. In so many real ways, I did love him. He was my comfort, my safe harbor. Right

now, I could choose to have him belong to me.

Alice was back for the moment, but that changed nothing. True love was forever lost. The

prince was never coming back to kiss me awake from my enchanted sleep. I was not a

princess, after all. So what was the fairy-tale protocol for other kisses? The mundane kind

that didn't break any spells?

Maybe it would be easy¬ like holding his hand or having his arms around me. Maybe it would

feel nice. Maybe it wouldn't feel like a betrayal. Besides, who was I betraying, anyway? Just myself.

Keeping his eyes on mine, Jacob began to bend his face toward me. And I was still absolutely

undecided.

The shrill ring of the phone made us both jump, but it did not break his focus. He took his

hand from under my chin and reached over me to grab the receiver, but still held my face

securely with the hand against my cheek. His dark eyes did not free mine. I was too muddled

to react, even to take advantage of the distraction.

"Swan residence," Jacob said, his husky voice low and intense.

Someone answered, and Jacob altered in an instant. He straightened up, and his hand

dropped from my face. His eyes went flat, his face blank, and I would have bet the measly

remainder of my college f and that it was Alice.

I recovered myself and held out my hand for the phone. Jacob ignored me.

"He's not here," Jacob said, and the words were menacing.

There was some very short reply, a request for more information it seemed, because he added

unwillingly, "He's at the funeral."

Then Jacob hung up the phone. "Filthy bloodsucker," he muttered under his breath. The face

he turned back to me was the bitter mask again.

"Who did you just hang up on?" I gasped, infuriated. "In my house, and on my phone?"

"Easy! He hung up on me!"

"He? Who was it?!"

He sneered the title. "Dr. Carlisle Cullen."

"Why didn't you let me talk to him?!"

"He didn't ask for you," Jacob said coldly. His face was smooth, expressionless, but his hands

shook. "He asked where Charlie was and I told him. I don't think I broke any rules of

etiquette."

"You listen to me, Jacob Black¬"

But he obviously wasn't listening. He looked quickly over his shoulder, as if someone had

called his name from the other room. His eyes went wide and his body stiff, then he started

trembling. I listened too, automatically, but heard nothing.

"Bye, Bells," he spit out, and wheeled toward the front door.

I ran after him. "What is it?"

And then I ran into him, as he rocked back on his heels, cussing under his breath. He spun

around again, knocking me sideways. I bobbled and fell to the floor, my legs tangled with

his.

"Shoot, ow!" I protested as he hurriedly jerked his legs free one at a time.

I struggled to pull myself up as he darted for the back door; he suddenly froze again.

Alice stood motionless at the foot of the stairs.

"Bella," she choked.

I scrambled to my feet and lurched to her side. Her eyes were dazed and far away, her face

drawn and whiter than bone. Her slim body trembled to an inner turmoil.

"Alice, what's wrong?" I cried. I put my hands on her face, trying to calm her.

Her eyes focused on mine abruptly, wide with pain.

"Edward," was all she whispered.

"He's gone to Italy"

Before I could panic my protective instinct kicked in, and my eyes turned black, and dangerous.

I ran up the stairs and grabbed a box from my under, my

Bed.

I opened it and grabbed a phone from the bottom.

I pressed speed dial 1, and held it by that time Alice

was in the room.

"Hello, I need to speak to Aro now," I said in a very cold tone of voice

"I'm sorry he is in a meeting", the voice replied"shall I take a message".

"I don't care, if the worlds going to end".

"Tell him Night is on the phone" "and watch how quickly he gets out of there!"