Jasper pops up with a cardboard box about an hour later, eyes following Quil, who'd let him into the house and up the stairs. Jasper gives Edward a quick once over despite his head being partially buried under Jacob's chin. 

"This might be solved by hunting, but," Jasper tilts his head to the side as he leans down to get a closer look at Edward, "I've never seen anything like it." 

He glances over at Quil, who looks just as curious, before cautiously leaning towards him to whisper something into his ear. Whatever he says, gives Quil pause as he eyes Edward and Jacob before glancing back over at Jasper. He seems to think on whatever it is for a moment before leaning over to whisper something back. 

"Hello?" Jacob calls over from underneath Edward, "You gonna tell us what's going on?" 

It was their first time meeting each other and they were already whispering like they knew more about him than him. 

"How long has this been going on?" Jasper asks, sitting the box on Jacob's desk. 

Everyone's eyes find Edward who dazedly peers up from where he's been lying.

"A little over a month..." Edward mumbles before going back to his original position of breathing directly into Jacob's neck.

Quil and Jasper glance at each other like they'd coordinated the move for this exact moment before glancing back over at the two.

"So, about the length of time you've been together?" Jasper asks and the expression on Jacob's face goes from clueless to 'deer caught in headlights' as he shifts uncomfortably.

His eyes find Quil's and he doesn't like what he can already hear before the man can even shoot him the message.

You have to tell him at some point. 

It wasn't something that needed to be said. If anything, if Quil and Jasper were correct, he'd caused whatever reaction Edward was having. He could be the reason for most of the things happening in between them. He's not going to force the man to be with him, especially if he's making him vulnerable and prone to being injured. Honestly, Edward would be better off if he didn't tell him. If he just got through this case, then let him walk out of his life the same way he'd walked in. He'd heal up and be able to have a normal life...a normal life for him anyway.

"For now, I brought this," Jasper says, opening the cardboard box and pulling out another one of those styrofoam cups, "it's fresh so it should help until you're able to hunt on your own." 

Edward groans as he sits up, humming as he brings the straw up to his lips. He looks absolutely exhausted as rests against the wall, sucking at the substance inside with his eyes glued shut. 

Quil spares Jacob one more glance before leading Jasper downstairs.

In his defense, how do you even explain this type of shit to someone who wasn't brought up with it happening regularly? He's sure vampires get to choose who they want to be with despite the setbacks of a limited dating pool. Edward wouldn't understand suddenly needing someone. Jacob doesn't even know what he'll do when Edward leaves, but he doesn't think Alice'll be able to fix Jacob when he does. Maybe he could understand the fact that Jacob was the one hurting him, but he'll want to know how.  What was Jacob supposed to say?

"Stop moping; I'm not dead." Edward mumbles, finally having opened his eyes to peer down at Jacob. 

"Not yet," Jacob sighs glumly before deciding to just spit it out, "they think I'm hurting you." 

Edward looks immediately amused by the statement.

"You? Do you even use your gun? You seem like a taser guy." Edward teases. 

"I'm being serious. Us being this close is getting you hurt." Jacob huffs, sitting up. 

"I'm fine. A little broken arm vs Bear being in danger. I think I can handle it." Edward sighs before taking another sip from the cup.

"We're both supposed to be protecting her. How are you going to protect her if your fucking limbs are like paper?" His voice is loud and piercing and he's sure everyone inside and outside of the house can hear him, but Edward wasn't taking this seriously.

"Doesn't matter. If I need to throw myself in front of a fucking car, I will. I won't die, it doesn't matter how much it hurts, as long as it's effective." Edward explains as if that makes the most sense. 

"Do you hear yourself?" Jacob barks, glaring at Edward. 

He was so irate by the sheer stupidity coming out of Edward's mouth that he wanted to sock some sense into the man himself. 'Cause what the fuck?

"Do you hear yourself?" Edward spits back in the same tone he'd had around the time they'd first met. 

It'd feel like a slap in the face if he wasn't so fucking upset. 

"A bone can heal. If she's dead, she's dead!" He yells looking at Jacob like he had one collective brain cell that's working at full speed and about to fry itself. 

Jacob's about to start ranting when little whines start coming from the bassinet. Both of their heads whip around to see Bear's little fists peeking out of the top as she tries to get their attention. Edward scoots off of the bed and goes to scoop her up, bouncing her as he heads back towards the bed. 

Jacob lets out a sigh and heads downstairs to get her a bottle. He tries to ignore the fact that his family was about to pretend they were all collectively making dinner and hadn't heard a word of the conversation. 

Edward is quiet as he rocks Bear, but he's absolutely fuming on the inside. He gets it or at least he's trying to get Jacob's thought process. Jacob's usually around humans and glorified humans who turn into dogs sometimes. Though, if Edward says he'll be fine, why is this an argument? Why are they bickering at each other like children as if this is a decision that they were making together? It was his body. If he wants to mangle it to make sure that Bear was okay, that was his prerogative. It was like Jacob had forgotten they weren't actually married. There was no "us" or "we". If they were moving and making decisions together, it was only to protect Bear.

Edward hadn't exactly signed up for this, but he understands what he's gotten himself into. He understands that being around a cop and an orphan whose parents were murdered is going to bring danger that wasn't previously there. He understands that. He doesn't need it reiterated to him like Jacob thought he couldn't grasp that basic of a concept.  

He changes Bear's diaper and puts her into a different onesie, enjoying the distraction despite struggling to do the tasks one-handed. By the time he's pulled up her zipper and closed the little snap at the top, Jacob's slipping back into the room with her bottle. Edward doesn't say anything as he takes it, popping it into her mouth once he's inched back up on the bed, and made himself comfortable against the wall. 

She eventually falls asleep despite trying her best to fight it so that she can continue her staring contest with Edward. He slowly inches forward until he can put her back into the bassinet before making his way back up the bed to lay with his back facing Jacob. His arm aches from having to support Bear for as long as it took her to eat and burp, but he still lays on it just so he doesn't have to acknowledge the fact that there is about two inches of space between them. 

He's not even really mad anymore. He just doesn't understand what Jacob doesn't understand.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Edward hears mumbled behind him, "Just - can you not lay on your arm like that?" 

There it was again. He was only saying sorry so Edward wouldn't hurt himself. There was no way Jacob didn't understand that these types of injuries meant nothing to him. He'd be fine with some blood and some time to heal. 

He gets off of his arm anyway, turning over so that he's staring up at the ceiling. Jacob's in the same position, eyes also casted up. They look fucking stupid.

Edward refrains from informing Jacob of this fact.

"Remember when I mentioned imprinting?" Jacob eventually mutters, eyes never leaving their spot on the ceiling. 

"Yeah." Edward sighs, not really sure where he was going with this. 

He didn't want a biology lesson after being yelled at about his life choices. 

"I mentioned that Sam had imprinted on Emily. That it means that a werewolf has become attached to someone," Jacob shifts as if he's become uncomfortable before speaking again, "well, it's a bit more complicated than that."

Edward just quietly listens, eyes now finding the sheer curtains. They were letting in orange light as the sun sets outside. 

"Imprinting is like falling in love, becoming absolutely infatuated with a person really quickly. We can't help it; we just attach ourselves to a person. It could be based off of a lot of things, but most of it comes down to...a few basic things." Jacob swipes his tongue over his lips like his mouth has suddenly become dry.

Edward continues to watch as the orange light becomes a deeper hue.

"It can be based on how attractive the person is, how suitable of a mate they would be, and how well they can nurture and raise a family. Though, thing is, we only get one chance at it." Jacob's letting off way more heat than he usually does and Edward can feel it on one side of his body as if he's laying directly next to the sun itself.

It's kind of nice against his cold skin. He'd scoot closer if he wasn't still a little annoyed at having been yelled at.

"I imprinted on someone." Jacob proclaims.

Edward's mind screeches to a halt before replaying the last couple of things that Jacob had just said to him. Why was he telling him now? Was this his way of letting Edward know that he wasn't in fact worried about him due to personal reasons, but he was just doing his job? 

Edward blinks a few times, mind reeling at the new information.

"Like I said, we only get one chance. Once that person is gone, they're gone. So, it can seem overwhelming, illogical, or overbearing, but if that person dies, that's it." Jacob says before finally glancing over at Edward who is now glaring at the curtains that are letting in a pinkish glow. 

Despite his previous annoyance, he can feel himself getting worked up over the confession. 

Why was Jacob telling him any of this? Sure, Edward was being a little shit before, but this just seemed a little cruel. What does he even want him to say to that?

"What does that have to do with anything?" He hisses out, rolling his eyes as he watches the pinks turn into purples. 

"It means that I would greatly appreciate it if you'd stop making grand statements like 'If I need to throw myself in front of a car, I will'. It would be highly appreciated. 'Cause if you do miraculously die on me, what the hell am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do knowing that, according to your brother, I'm the one making you like this? How am I supposed to live with myself?" It comes out like he hadn't intended to say it, like it just flew out of his mouth before he could think better of it.

It has Edward whipping his head around in confusion, only to find Jacob cast in the same purple light, staring up at the ceiling like he's waiting for his ancestors to come and pick him up. 

It's a brutally honest confession that's selfish and needy and seemingly very real if Jacob's mortified expression is anything to go by. 

So, he's imprinted on Edward and they think that has something to do with Edward's current condition. 

Jacob imprinted on him.

Jacob imprinted on him over a month ago. 

There was a lot to unpack there, but Edward ignores it in favor of taking back his spot half on top of Jacob, basking in the fact that the man feels like a radiator. 

"Fine, but I can't promise I won't do anything stupid if the moment presents itself." He mumbles into Jacob's shoulder.

He can feel Jacob physically relax underneath him, shoulders dropping from their hunched position to wrap around Edward. He squeezes as if he's been waiting on this particular moment. His nose nudges its way into the crook of Edward's neck and he breathes in deep before finding a specific spot on his neck, like Jacob had picked it out in advance specifically for this moment, and plopping a kiss there. 

He doesn't even bother with an actual verbal response, letting out a little hum as he attempts to somehow pull Edward closer.

Edward's content to stay like that the rest of the night, but they're interrupted by a phone call from the Chief. 

From what little Edward can hear and from the way that Jacob's slipping into his shoes before he can even hang up the phone, there's another body. 

Jacob's not sure he's ever been more motivated to close a case in his life. He could be lying in bed with Edward under the comfy blankets that Jacob had practically been collecting purely for the man's comfort, but no. He's instead standing in the rain in the middle of a field, staring down at another dead body. He'd left Edward and Bear at home for this one. As much as he wanted to keep an eye on them, Bear shouldn't be out in the rain and if something happened, there was no guarantee Edward wouldn't get hurt somehow. So, he put Leah, Embry, Seth, and Quil on guard duty while sluffs around in mud trying to figure out who this person was and why they were here.

"No ID." Jessica huffs after she's done trying to carefully check the man's pockets.

"No identifying tattoos as far as I can tell." Angela mumbles, snapping another picture of the victim.

Mike doesn't say anything, eyes blankly staring down at the victim like his mind was somewhere else.

"No way to get any CCTV footage unless he was killed somewhere else." Eric muttered with a shrug.

Something about all of it seemed a bit odd. The area of the kill wasn't too strange for someone who was thinking logically as a serial killer, but this guy seems to just snap. He kills in almost public areas. He doesn't bring someone out to the woods to kill them. Maybe they'd been here for a reason. The victim was dressed less than casually. He was shirtless and shoeless.

One of Uley's pack members?

Though, Angela said he didn't have any identifying marks. A tattoo in black ink on his bicep would definitely fit the description of an identifying mark.

Maybe he was younger than they thought he was...not quite old enough for the mark. It would explain why he doesn't have any form of ID.

Jacob's about to pose the theory when a van pulls up and Edward's brother's hop out. They don't waste any time getting the body out of the rain and Jacob doesn't object to it, knowing that enough rain could taint any evidence that they could possibly find.

"Alright, we'll compare what we did find to the others in the morning." He states as a dismissal before turning away from the group.

He saunters back over to his car and is about to climb inside when he catches sight of a hand gripping his door. He turns to see Mike standing there, squinting down at him as the wind whips against the windbreaker he's thrown on.

"Hey, I just wanted to say sorry about the other day," He says, looking like he was having to force himself to say it, "I didn't realize, um, that you two were, like, a real thing."

"We weren't exactly discreet at work." Jacob reminds him, confusion clear on his face.

"Yeah, but the way you were hamming it up, I thought it was a part of that case thing. Y'know?"

He does know. He's not sure how many times he's had to pretend to be Angela's husband while working undercover. He's never flirted with Angela inside of the actual station. He didn't spend all of his free time with her, he never started a fight with her at work, and he definitely never let her drive him this crazy all in the name of a case.

Jacob lets out a sigh, deciding that dropping this would be the best for the team.

"If it makes you feel any better, I've heard some believable rumors as well." Jacob informs him and watches as Mike tilts his head like the golden retriever he is.

"About?" He asks, clearly curious.

"'Yeah, I heard Eric has a crush on you." He says before slamming the door shut and taking off.

He's ready to stumble into the house, peel off his wet clothes that are plastering themselves to his body, hop in the shower, eat dinner, and then climb into bed next to Edward. He's got it all planned out as he quickly makes his way back to his house.

Intruder. Answer phone.

He hears it so clearly, Leah might as well be seated next to him the car.

His phone starts buzzing in his pocket a second later and he fishes it out to see Leah's name on the caller ID. He puts her on speaker.

Edward's in bed with a straw shoved into his mouth, quietly watching videos on his phone when he catches a shadow out of the corner of his eye. It looms in front of the window at angle, almost as if it's leaning in, listening. Edward's up out of bed before he can even really think about it, scooping up Bear out of the bassinet as he stumbles to get as far away from the window as possible. He wants to call for someone, but he doesn't want to risk being heard and whatever this thing is speeding up whatever attack it was planning. That could end badly. He also didn't want to turn his back or risk it getting further into the house.

The figure seems to understand that something has changed as it adjusts itself and somehow leans in even closer, casting a shadow across the entire room. It's a dog. Not a normal dog, it's way too big to be a normal dog, but it's taken the shape of a dog. Edward can hear himself gulp despite trying to keep as quiet as possible. He can see the dog's ears perk up in response to the sound.

He pushes himself further up against the wall right as the bedroom door flies open. He's expecting Jacob, but instead, he finds himself staring down at dogs that are about the size of a small grizzly bear. They stalk into the room and two of them stand in front of the window growling while the other two stand in front of him and Bear.

He's sinking. Not literally, but his legs are giving out from under him as he slowly slides down the wall into a sitting position. He stays there on the floor, wrapped around Bear, who only shifts to make herself more comfortable on Edward's shoulder.

Eventually, the figure leaves the window and he's left alone with the two giant dogs that were guarding him while the other two head for the door, chasing after the shadow. One of two that stayed with him turns around, nudging at him until he's standing before pushing him until he's back on the bed. He scoots until he's in a corner, body draped lightly over Bear, waiting for his breathing to return to normal.