Aria's POV

Had I cheated on Ryan? Was I a cheater? I had become the type of person I loathed, and I had been caught in the act. I couldn't keep this a secret I would have to tell Ryan. I'd also have to tell Jake that we could never do that again. Kissing him was not part of my plan. 

"Well?" Jesse spat harshly, his arms folded across his chest as he watched me. 

"I..." What the fuck was I meant to say? Oh my god, Aria what are you getting yourself into! 

"Well to me it looks like you're letting him back in. But I thought he had hurt you and you didn't want anything to do with him again?" He jeered at me, and I could feel myself getting angry. I knew I had done the wrong thing; he didn't need to rub it in my face.  

"I can't help it, okay?" I burst out. "I can't stay away from him. It's like there's this band between us that only lets me go so far before snapping me back to him. I want to let go, I really do, but I physically can't." I admitted and a realisation seemed to spread across their faces. "You know I love him. And I know in the back of my mind that I could be hurt and left heartbroken again but right now I don't care. I miss him. But please don't judge me for what just happened, it won't happen again, and I'll be honest with Ryan." I promised honestly, he deserved to know. 

"Hey, hey, hey." Jesse came rushing over to me. "Don't cry Ari, I understand. Just please stop crying." He pulled me into his arms and rocked me from side to side. I didn't even realise I had begun to cry... again. 

"I'm sorry." I whimpered and he shushed me again. 

"We get it okay. Don't apologise." He said soothingly and I nodded pulling away from him. 

"I'm okay now." I reassured and they nodded. "So, what are you guys doing today?" I asked as I wiped away my remaining tears. 

"We were going to go cliff diving." Embry spoke up. "Do you wanna come with us?" 

"Err, my last experience with cliff diving didn't go too well." I said sceptically remembering the incident with Bella.  

"Oh, come on, you weren't even the one who jumped. Come with us, please." Quil begged pouting slightly and I laughed when Paul hit him round the back of the head. 

"Okay." They cheered at my answer. "Just let me run back to the house to grab a bathing suit." Their cheers turned into groans. "What?" 

"You're gonna take so long." Embry whined and I placed my hands on my hips. 

"Why? Would you prefer if I jumped in my underwear." I raised my eyebrow and watched them all expectantly. I really hoped that they wouldn't say yes.

"Nope. No of course not." He held his hands up in defence and I nodded. 

"Okay good. I'll be back in less than ten minutes." I finished before speeding off back to the house. 

* * *

My morning started off actually being fun for once but when half of the guys were called onto patrol it kind of dwindled down into them just wanting to wrestle again. Mom wasn't due to arrive until late afternoon, but luckily Bella saved me from the morons, asking me to collect her from Jake's house and take her home.  

About twenty minutes later, after I had run home to collect my car, I arrived at Jake's. The rain had just begun to drizzle and as I began to walk towards Jake's garage, Bella and Jake's raised voices gained my attention. 

"Is this goodbye then, Jake?" She asked, there was sadness in her voice. 

"Why? We still have a few years. Can't we be friends until we're out of time?" His voice was loud and confused, I guessed that they were discussing her transformation. 

"Years? No, Jake, not years." She explained and he laughed once without humour. "Weeks is more accurate."  

The sudden sound of metal clanging to the ground sent me fast on my feet towards the entrance of the garage. "Jake!" Bella started to complain but her voice cut off just as I reached the door. 

Jake's whole body was quivering with anger. He glared at Bella wildly, a growling sound building in his chest. The shaking rolled through him, getting faster, until it looked like he was vibrating. His shape blurred... 

"Jacob!" I screamed, worried about the short distance between Jake and Bella. 

Jake's head snapped round towards me. And then he gritted his teeth together, and the growling stopped. He squeezed his eyes tight in concentration; the quivering slowed until only his hands were shaking. 

"Weeks," Jacob said in a flat monotone. 

I turned to Bella, and she was still stood frozen. I walked towards her slowly, putting myself between her and Jacob. 

He opened his eyes. They were beyond fury now. 

"He's going to change you into a filthy bloodsucker in just a few weeks!" Jacob hissed through his teeth. 

Bella nodded mutely as my own eyes flared with anger. "How many times do you need to be warned, Jacob?" I spat. "That's all of you for that matter!" I added. 

His face turned green under the russet skin, guilt taking over his features for a split second. 

"Of course, Jake," Bella whispered after a long minute of silence. "He's seventeen, Jacob. And I get closer to nineteen every day. Besides, what's the point in waiting? He's all I want. What else can I do?" 

"Anything. Anything else. You'd be better off dead. I'd rather you were." He spat as Bella flinched, her hand grabbing onto my wrist from behind me. His words stung, not just for Bella but for me too, he had said the same thing to me. 

He was still staring at us furiously. "Bella, go wait in my car." I told her, forcing my car keys into her hand as I continued to glare back at him. 

When I knew Bella was out of earshot I spoke up. "How could you say that?" I whispered. 

"I'm sorry-" 

"It's not me you need to apologise to!" I stressed as his body relaxed completely and his eyes became sullen. "How many times are you going to wish your best friends dead, Jacob?" 

"It just got to my head. I didn't mean it, just like I didn't mean it before. Sometimes my brain struggles to understand..." he sighed. "Vampires will always be an enemy, and I know you're different. But I live by the treaty. They can't bite her." Whilst he spoke, he had stepped closer to me, so we were now inches apart from one another. 

"Why does it matter?" I asked, still remaining guarded. "He's not feeding on her." 

"Look I'm sorry but it's just the way it is. Sam calls the shots, and we follow." He admitted, holding his hands up in the air. 

"I don't care." I hissed picturing an upset Bella waiting in my car. "I know firsthand how much those words hurt. Accept it or lose us." The ultimatum was out there now, no going back. 

"I have accepted you." He swore, his hands holding onto my upper arms. "I'm showing you, proving it to you." 

"Well try harder, I have to go." I slowly took his hands off of me, before I turned and got the hell out of there before he could stop me. 

* * *

"Oh my gosh, I've missed you so much." Mom pulled us into a hug as soon as she opened the door. Before dropping Bella off, I had made a little detour and collected Jesse as Mom had arrived home whilst we were with Jake. Tori had met with her straight away, so she was already waiting for us inside. 

"We missed you too Mom." Jesse smiled down at her before kissing her on the head. 

"I still can't get over how big you've gotten. Or the rest of your friends." She smiled up at him. The last time she was here was around Christmas. At that point only Sam, Jesse, Paul and Jared had made the change. 

"It's just what you've been missing Mom." He smiled at her and she returned it halfheartedly. 

"Yes. Well, I wish I didn't. Anyway, how are you sweetheart? You get more and more beautiful each time I see you!" She hugged me tightly again and I breathed in her smell.

"I've been good" I hesitated for a moment. "There have been some issues but other than that everything's been fine." I told her honestly. 

"What do you mean, issues?" She asked, and now I knew I couldn't be honest. 

Well, there's been me turning into a vampire, going to Italy to save Edward, Jared attacking me on more than one occasion, a bloodthirsty vampire was out there trying to kill Bell and I, and then there was Jacob.  

"Nothing too bad Mom, it's alright now though. All sorted." I reassured her and she nodded, wishing I would tell her.  

"Well good then, shall we get started?" Mom rubbed her hands together as she turned towards the living room where boxes were already waiting to be packed, and Tori was already filling a box with ornaments.  

"Hey girly." I smiled at her and sat beside her on the couch. 

"Hi." She didn't return the smile; in fact, she seemed kind of sad.  

"Hey what's wrong?" I asked her, turning to face her more and she scoffed.   

"Like you'd care." She continued to pack the box without making eye contact with me. 

"Hey! What have I done?" I took the vase out of her hand and settled it gently on the coffee table. 

"What haven't you done? You and Jesse are never around anymore. It's always me and Dad and now Seth is acting weird, and I don't know how to deal with anything." She huffed as her eyes began to fill with tears.  

"Hey, hey." I pulled her into my arms and took a seat on the couch with her. "I'm sorry I'm not around anymore, and Jesse's sorry too. We just have a lot going on right now that would be hard for you to understand.... And with Seth, I know exactly what you're going through." I explained to her as I rubbed her back. 

She's the only one, besides Mom, that doesn't know and now it seemed like Sam was banning Seth from seeing Catori for some new reason. She was a regular human; she wasn't meant to know anyway.  

"He hasn't spoken to me in three days." She let out a shaky breath.  

"It'll get better soon; I went through that with Jake. We're talking again now though." I tried to reassure but she shook her head. 

"But you've had so many arguments, I know there's something different going on with this family, between you and the guys. You've changed, I know the boys know what's going on, and Dad too. Mom may not be able to tell but there's something odd about you. It's been like that since you went missing last year." She searched my face, but I didn't show any emotion to give anything away. She knows something's going on, but I should really just play her off. 

"Tor, I have no idea what you're talking about." I attempted but she shook her head standing up. 

"Don't lie to me Aria. I can tell when you are." She folded her arms across her chest and scowled. 

I was about to answer her when I received a text from Edward. I looked up at Catori sympathetically before reading the message. 

From: Edward
EMERGENCY. HOME NOW.

Well, shit. 

I stood from my seat. "I'm sorry but I have to go." 

"Big surprise that is." She said sarcastically and I winced. 

"I really can't help this Catori." I said more firmly, and she shrugged. 

"Sure, you can't. You know you've been hanging around a lot more with the Cullens lately, you're becoming secretive just like them." She scoffed and I glared at her. 

"You've never spoken a word to them, how would you know what they're like?" I tried to defend them, and she let out a bitter laugh. 

"That's because they're freaks Aria!" She threw her arms up and I let out an irritated breath. Seth had gotten to her. 

"Take that back!" I snapped. "Don't repeat what you don't understand."

"Why? Do you realise you're turning into a freak like them too." I ignored her comment and turned on my heel. 

"Mom I'm leaving, I'll be back later." I called from the hallway and then Jesse and herself became visible from the kitchen.   

"What's wrong sweetie?" Mom asked walked towards me.  

"Tori and I just had an argument. I need some air." It wasn't a complete lie, I needed to get out the house before I did something I regretted. I wouldn't hurt her I just didn't want her to see the true me. 

"Okay sweetheart. Be back soon." She kissed my cheek and went back into the kitchen leaving Jesse and I staring at each other. 

"Liar." He folded his arms, and I shrugged turning on my heel and walking out the front door slamming it shut behind me. 

I walked about three metres before I heard the door open again and my arm was grabbed by Jesse. 

"Talk." He said. 

"Jesse I'm going to be late." 

"Please don't tell me you're going to go see him?" He said harshly. I had told him about my little disagreement with Jake when I went to pick Bella up. It hurt but irritated Jesse more. 

"No! I'm not. The Cullens need me, and I did have an argument with Tori." I explained but he did seem irritated by my mentioning of the Cullens. 

"What did you argue about?" He asked. 

"She knows something's going on. Apparently, we're not there for her anymore." I knew it was true, I hated that Catori was collateral damage. "And why has Sam chosen to suddenly stop Seth from seeing her?" 

"How did you know that?" 

"He hasn't spoken to her for three days. She's falling apart... Just — just like I was." I squeezed my hands into fists. "God I'm such a horrible sister." 

"No Ari you're not." He pulled me in for a hug. "Go to the Cullens'. I'll talk to her." I nodded and ran a hand through my hair. 

"I'll be back soon." I kissed his cheek before zooming off into the forest. 

* * *

I arrived at the Cullens' house a few minutes before Bella and Edward. Everyone seemed to be on high alert and in those brief few minutes the situation was explained to me. I clarified that when I had dropped Bella off, I didn't exit the car or go near her house, I didn't smell the new scent of an intruder. 

"What happened?" Edward demanded as soon as he was through the door, his voice filtering up the stairs. As soon as he reached the living room his eyes fell on Alice in a glare. 

Alice stood beside me with her arms folded tightly across her chest. "I have no idea. I didn't see anything." 

"How is that possible?" He hissed. 

"Edward." Bella whispered trying to calm him. 

Carlisle interrupted in a quiet voice. "It's not an exact science, Edward." 

"He was in her room, Alice. He could have been there — waiting for her." 

"I would have seen that." She admitted, her patience wearing thin. 

Edward threw his hands up into the air. "Really? You're sure?" 

Alice's voice turned cold. "You've already got me watching the Volturi's decisions, watching for Victoria's return, watching Bella's every step. You want to add another? Do I just have to watch Charlie, or Bella's room, or the house, or the whole street, too? Edward, if I try to do too much, things are going to start slipping through the cracks." 

"It looks like they already are," Edward snapped. 

"She was never in any danger. There was nothing to see." 

"If you're watching Italy, why didn't you see them send —" 

"I don't think it's them," Alice insisted. "I would have seen that." 

"Who else would leave Charlie alive?" Bella visibly shuddered at Edward's words. 

"I don't know," Alice said. 

"Helpful." 

"Stop it, Edward," Bella whispered. 

He turned on Bella, his face still livid, his teeth clenched together. He glared at her for half a second, and then, suddenly, he exhaled. His eyes widened and his jaw relaxed. 

"You're right, Bella. I'm sorry." He looked at Alice. "Forgive me, Alice. I shouldn't be taking this out on you. That was inexcusable." 

"I understand," Alice assured him. "I'm not happy about it, either."  

Edward took a deep breath. "Okay, let's look at this logically. What are the possibilities?" 

Alice relaxed and leaned against the back of the couch. Carlisle walked slowly toward us, his eyes far away as he placed his hand on my shoulder. Esme sat on the sofa in front of Alice, curling her legs up on the seat. Only Rosalie remained unmoving, her back to us, staring out the glass wall. 

Edward pulled Bella to the sofa, and she sat next to Esme, who shifted to put her arm around her. He held one of her hands tightly in both of his. 

"Victoria?" Carlisle asked. 

Edward shook his head. "No. I didn't know the scent. He might have been from the Volturi, someone I've never met..." 

I rounded the back of the couch to take a seat on the arm of the sofa beside Esme. "Surely if it was the Volturi they would have found us to confront us?" I asked, it didn't seem like them to not get involved. 

Alice shook her head. "Aro hasn't even asked for anyone to look for her yet. I will see that. I'm waiting for it." 

Edward's head snapped up. "You're watching for an official command?" 

"You think someone's acting on their own? Why?" 

"Caius's idea." Edward suggested, his face tightening. 

"Or Jane's..." Alice said. "They both have the resources to send an unfamiliar face." 

Edward scowled, I did too. "And the motivation." He hissed quietly. Jane's red eyes flashed through my mind. 

"It doesn't make sense, though." Esme said. "If whoever it was meant to wait for Bella, Alice would have seen that. They had no intention of hurting Bella. Or Charlie for that matter." Bella cringed at Uncle Charlie's name. The thought of a human blood drinker being in the same house as Charlie made me feel sick. "It's going to be fine, Bella." Esme said smoothing over Bella's hair. 

"So, what was the point then?" Carlisle asked. 

"Checking to see if I'm still human?" Bella guessed. 

"Possibly." Carlisle said. 

Rosalie breathed out a sigh, as she moved from her frozen state beside the window. She turned towards the kitchen as the light sound of two sets of footsteps neared the house and entered it. 

Emmett burst through the kitchen door, with Jasper right behind him. "Long gone, hours ago," Emmett announced, disappointed. "The trail went east, then south, and disappeared on a side road. Had a car waiting." 

"That's bad luck." Edward muttered. "If he'd gone west... well, it would be nice for those dogs to make themselves useful." 

Jasper turned to Carlisle. "Neither of us recognised him. But here." He handed over a broken fern frond. Carlisle took in the scent before handing it to me. I inhaled the scent before handing it to Esme, I did not recognise it. 

"It's not familiar." Carlisle said. 

"Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way. Maybe it's a coincidence..." Esme stopped once she got a look at our disbelieving faces. "I don't mean a coincidence that a stranger happened to pick Bella's house to visit at random. I meant that maybe someone was just curious. Our scent is all around her. Was he wondering what draws us there?" Esme asked, she was worried I could tell by the shakiness of her voice. 

"Why wouldn't he just come here then? If he was curious?" Emmett interjected. 

"You would," Esme said with a fond smile. "The rest of us aren't always so direct. Our family is very large, they might be frightened. But Charlie wasn't harmed. This doesn't have to be an enemy." Esme's optimism wasn't very well received. She meant well but it was a very doubtful theory. 

Alice pursed her lips. "I don't think so. This timing of it was too perfect... this visitor was so careful to make no contact. Almost like they knew that I would see." 

"They could have other reasons for not making contact." Esme reminded her. 

"Does it really matter who it was?" Bella asked. "Just the chance that someone was looking for me, isn't that reason enough? We shouldn't wait for graduation." 

"No Bella." Edward said quickly. "It's not that bad. If you're really in danger, we'll know." 

"Think of Charlie." Carlisle added. "Think of how it would hurt him if you disappeared." 

"I am thinking of Charlie! He's the one I'm worried about! What if my little guest had happened to be thirsty? As long as I'm around Charlie, he's a target too. If anything happened to him, it would all be my fault!" Bella yelled, exasperated. 

"Hardly, Bella," Esme said patting her hand. "And nothing will happen to Charlie. We're just going to have to be more careful." 

"We'll also take shifts guarding Bella at her house." Carlisle added and Rose looked annoyed at his comment. 

"Another protection detail?" She asked angrily. 

"Rosalie." Carlisle said evenly. 

"No, she's right. You can't protect me, watch my dad and search for the intruder." Bella admitted. 

"And for Victoria." I spoke quickly. 

"And keep yourselves fed." She finished. Luckily that point doesn't apply to me. Ew. 

"I'm not leaving you here defenceless." Edward said firmly, his eyes the blackest I've seen them. 

"Well, I'm not gonna let you starve." She argued. 

"I don't need to hunt-" I began but Carlisle cut me off. 

"Yes, but you still need to rest, you're half human remember Aria." He said matter-of-factly. 

"Exactly. And I wouldn't be unprotected. I have..." She continued as the rest of her looked at her expectantly. She met my eyes giving me the confirmation of what I thought she was getting at. 

"What?" Edward asked quickly. 

"Jacob." I bit the inside of my cheek. What would be an appropriate way to respond to this? 

"No." Edward said harshly. 

"Edward. It may be for the best." Carlisle suggested. "We'll leave this for tonight, but Bella, could you speak to Jacob in the morning and ask him for his assistance?" Carlisle asked her and she nodded as Edward began to fidget unevenly. "Aria, will the wolves be willing to cooperate?" He asked me. 

"I guess so, Bella is family." I was worried my voice would show that I was uncomfortable with the decision, but I guess I kept it well hidden as no one responded to it.  

"Good." 

* * *

Edward drove me back to Mom's before making his way to Bella's house to watch over her tonight. I knew Jake would agree to help but I couldn't stop it from eating at me that they would be spending even more time together. And it bugged me that it did. I shouldn't even be thinking of him that way. 

I entered the house quietly knowing everyone would be asleep. I also knew that Jesse wasn't here, he was on patrol tonight. 

The lights were off, but I could see perfectly in the dark and made my way straight to my room. I hadn't stayed here for so long, a lot of my stuff was here too, I guessed I'd have to move all of it out soon. 

As soon as I closed my bedroom door and turned on the light, I fought to hold in my scream as I saw Jake sitting on my bed. "What the hell are you doing here?" I asked as I walked over to him and hit his arm. 

"I told you I'd come back, didn't I?" He said it like it was obvious. 

"You did." I agreed. "But that was before you said to Bella you would prefer her dead than to be like me." I took a seat beside him on the bed and stared at my hands. "Jake?" He hummed in response. "Why did you kiss me?" I asked as I turned to look at his face. He was only wearing cut offs, and he had already rid himself of his shoes. Was he planning to stay? 

"I thought you wanted it. To be honest, I'm not sure where you want us to be." He answered and I nodded standing from beside him to walk over to my desk. 

Where did I want us to be? God there were so many unanswered questions. But I knew I couldn't do this to Ryan. 

Above my desk hung a board where I had made a collage of photographs of my family, friends and myself. Most of them were of Jake and me. I hadn't been here in so long I wasn't able to put his stuff away. 

I looked over the photos, all of them he had long hair in. The most recent one was of us hanging out when I was still human. 

"I remember that day." Jake said from behind me, I didn't even hear him get up. "We were at the beach because you wanted to get away from Jesse. It was a few days after he hurt you." I closed my eyes remembering the bruise that covered my wrist. 

"I remember that too." I whispered and went to step back a little only to come into contact with Jake's warm chest. 

"I remember that day too." He said pointing to a picture of us hugging and him kissing my forehead. It was at one of Dad's summer barbecues after we had lit the bonfire. 

"Yeah, and then you attacked me because I got the last hot dog." I smiled at the memory and Jake wrapped his arms around me from behind. This wasn't good... 

"Look there's a photo of it." He pointed to one pinned under it where I was being held down underneath a laughing Jake, his hair falling in my face. We laughed lightly together before I turned in his arms and his hands settled on my hips. 

"Jake, I—" I reached for his hands to pull them off my hips, but he moved them to my waist. He leant down and before I could process what was happening, he pressed his lips to mine. They moved against each other softly, admittedly our most romantic kiss yet. This really wasn't a good idea... 

He gripped my hips and lifted me up onto my desk so he could stand between my legs as we kissed. My hands cupped his jaw and neck as he slipped his tongue into my mouth, a small groan escaping him. 

We kissed passionately, our heads tilting in different directions as he cupped my face gently, slowly pulling me more into him. I began to grow hot, my hands falling to the zipper on my hoodie to quickly pull it off and down my arms to send it sailing across the room.

Ergh! Why couldn't I just stop myself? Aria! Stop kissing him!

Jake groaned lightly and lifted me again, carrying me to my bed and then laid me down softly, his body settling between my legs. We continued to kiss, my hands running through his hair as he held my waist tightly. 

This was the most heated make out session I'd ever had, and it was with Jake. 

My legs were bent either side of his hips and were gently rubbing against his sides as his kisses left my mouth and moved across my jaw towards my neck where he began to suck gently trying to find my sweet spot. 

"Jake." His name left my mouth in a breathless moan, and he pulled away from my neck to look into my eyes. "We shouldn't be doing this." I breathed out as I caressed his cheeks with my thumbs. 

He nodded, his lust filled eyes faltering before he rolled off of me and onto his back. "Sorry." He mumbled and I inwardly groaned, why did he have to confuse me like this? 

I sat up, propping myself up on one elbow to look at him. "I'm meant to be with Ryan. I can't just have two people at my demand, otherwise I'd be no better than—" I stopped myself before I said his name. I couldn't make eye contact with him, but I knew he was staring at me. 

"Otherwise, you'd be no better than me, don't worry I get it." He stared up at the ceiling obviously hurt by my words, though I didn't regret them. I was right after all. 

"I don't think we should continue." I added and his face dropped. I loved kissing him, I really did, but I didn't want it to go too far when we were still at this awkward stage. "Don't look at me like that." I didn't like the fact that this was hurting him. After what he done to me the last thing, I should be feeling was guilt.  

"Like what?" He asked jokingly as he continued to pout. 

"Like that. With the pout." I laughed and he sucked his lip into his mouth to hide it. "Come on let's get some sleep." I began to climb off of him and make my way over to my draws to get some pjs. 

"Let's? As in we?" I didn't mean to say we, really. But one night couldn't hurt. It wasn't like I was going to sleep with him, besides Jake and I used to have sleepovers all the time. 

"Uh huh. Unless you don't want to." I asked him, turning around to look at him. 

"No, I do." He said quickly and I giggled. 

"You know, I don't really have anything of yours that'll fit you anymore." I said searching through 'his draw' of clothes. 

"That's okay I'll just sleep in my boxers." He said and before I could respond he stood up and dropped his pants revealing his black boxers. I quickly turned around so that he couldn't see me blushing but oh my god the size of that thing! It must be huge when he's-  

I'm not even going to finish that sentence. 

I grabbed a pair of my old pj's, just some shorts and a tank top and walked into my en suite bathroom to change. When I walked back into my room, I already found him settled underneath the blankets on his old side of the bed. 

"You look comfortable." I smirked turning the main lights off. 

"I am." He grinned at me as I wandered over to the bed. 

I slid underneath the covers, and he immediately pulled me into his side, my head laying on his chest as he wrapped his arms around me. It felt so perfect that I hated myself for giving into this moment so easily. 

"I missed this." He whispered into my ear after a few minutes of comfortable silence. 

"Missed what?" I asked him as I trailed my nails over his bare chest. 

"You. Spending time with you." He answered as he began to rub circles on my hip where my top had risen. 

"I missed you too." I snuggled into his chest and closed my eyes. "Goodnight Jake." 

"Goodnight Ari. And just so you know, right now we are breaking two of your rules." I could hear the smirk in his voice. 

"Shut up Jacob or I will kick you out the bed." I warned him and he chuckled. 

"I'm sorry." He kissed the top of my head. "Night."