Everyone but Tony left for classes first thing in the morning. He came into Isabella's room around noon, telling her to feel free to take blood from the refrigerator in the cellar when she needed it and that he was leaving for class.

"Tony?" she asked, sleepily, trying to force open her eyes.

"Yeah?" he turned back, smiling that she called him Tony and not Antonio.

"Can I get my watch back?" Isabella asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot. I'll get it," he told her, leaving the room.

She pulled herself quickly out of bed and followed him sleepily into the wine cellar. Isabella followed Tony to the back of the cellar, where a large metal safe sat on the floor.

Tony quickly spun it open and she was unable to tell the numbers he dialed. Tony opened it and Isabella tried to peer inside. He quickly grabbed the watch which was right in front and closed the door. It all happened so quickly that she was unable to see what else he had in the safe. He handed her the watch.

"I gotta run. Go get some more sleep," he said, kissing her cheek and left the room.

She pulled on the handle of the safe but it was locked again. Isabella studied the box, but she didn't see any make or model numbers. She cursed and left the room. At least she knew where it was.

******************************

"Hey, George!" Ray called, jogging to catch up to his friend.

"Hey, Ray." George set his book bag down on a bench that was near them.

"You got a minute?"

"Yeah, I got about half an hour before math. What's up?"

Ray absently rubbed at the crook of his neck, where Isabella had made her mark. She had made it low enough that it wasn't too visible. And he had made sure it was covered up by the collared shirt he wore.

"You better sit down." Ray told him.

"Ut oh, last time you said sit down we found out that Raven and Jake are brother and sister," George said sitting down.

"Well, this might be just as shocking."

"What is it?" George asked concerned.

"I just hope you won't be mad at me. Promise me that we're buds, no matter what."

"Of course we are. Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because I'm in love with Isabella," Ray got out.

George stared at him. "You're in love with Isabella?" George asked confused.

"Yes. Look, I know you like her and everything. But it just happened."

George nodded in shock. "Does she know?"

"She knows I like her a lot."

"Does she like you?"

Ray looked away. "We've kissed a bit," Ray answered quietly.

George straightened. "On the cheek kiss or on the mouth kiss?" George demanded.

"Mouth," Ray answered, looking at him.

George rubbed his hands through his hair trying to absorb this new information.

"I'm sorry. It just happened! We didn't want to hurt you. Isabella does like you. And maybe if we didn't get to know each other as well as we did; the two of you might have gotten together."

"When the hell have you gotten to know her more than the rest of us?" George asked angrily.

"After the club we talked. And yesterday, I cut class after lunch..."

"Since when do you cut classes? You got perfect attendance in high school!" George interrupted.

Ray sighed. "And last night..."

"Whoah, when last night? We were all together."

"When everyone went to bed. Tony went out and she heard I was still up and came up to my room. We got to talking and..." Ray explained, trailing off embarrassed.

"Well, congratulations!" George said sarcastically. "I'm happy for the both of you." George grabbed his bag and walked away.

"George!" Ray called after him, but he kept walking.

"What's with George?" Jake asked, coming up to Ray, who was sitting on the bench where George had left him.

"I told him I'm in love with Isabella."

Jake winced. "Oh, not good," Jake said, sitting down. "Does she know?"

"Not that I love her, but that I like her. We made out a bit."

"And you told George?!" Jake laughed disbelievingly.

"I had to."

"I know you did. But he was so hung up on her. How'd it happen? With Isabella, I mean. The hooking up part..."

"I don't know. It just snuck up on me. I mean, I thought she was hot and everything, but I knew George was interested in her so I didn't pay much attention. Then I got to know her and...God, I didn't mean to hurt him," he said, getting up and pacing the sidewalk.

"I honestly thought he wouldn't take it this hard. I mean, it's not like he really knows her. He hasn't spent that much time with her. Isabella and I have talked a lot. We...have a connection."

"I know and I'm sure George knows. It's just a crush. He'll get over it."

"I hope so." Ray looked towards the direction that George stormed off in. "I don't want to lose my best friend."

"Great, now we have Tony mad at me because I love Emily and George mad at you because you love Isabella."

Ray sat down on the bench next to him. "Tony's not mad at you that you love Emily."

"You could have fooled me."

"You don't understand what went on between them. Tony did love Emily. But not the way you love her or even the way I do. She brought him out of a really dark place. From what Raven tells me, he was really messed up when they first met him. I think Emily was a rock for him to lean on when he needed her. And he loved her for that. He may have confused that with being in love. She explained to him over and over how much she loved you and always would. You are her soul mate, Jake. Her soul found you when you were kids. It was her soul visiting you all that time. It wasn't just the kid that Emily was. It was her spirit. And you can't compete with that. And he tried to. He tried until he realized that no matter how hard he tried that he couldn't compete with her love for you. It hurt him because he needed her then and she was there for him, but not in the way he wanted. He remembers that. And he still needs her. He's still got a ton of issues he's got to deal with. And he won't be having her undivided attention like he did before now that you're here."

"Do you think he's still in love with her?"

"He loves her as a friend, but wishes for more because he can't have what he had with Eliana again. He was hoping to find that in Emily. And he blamed you that he couldn't get it."

"So it's my fault that Emily doesn't love him?"

Ray laughed. "In a way, yes."

"Why's he still mad? He's told me he's not in love with her anymore and he's fine with us together, but he still gets mad at everything I say or do."

"It's just Tony's nature. It's hard for him to let go of things. It's easier for him to be mad than deal with it."

"How do you know so much?"

He shrugged,"I'm observant."

*******************************

Isabella searched Tony's room from top to bottom. She opened every book on his shelves, opened every drawer and pulled out his clothes but she found nothing. No sign of the items she was looking for and no written down combination to the safe.

She gave up frustrated, and took some stored blood from the refrigerator and drank it down quickly. Isabella still wasn't used to it. Cold, stored, blood satisfied the hunger, but it wasn't as satisfying as warm, fresh, blood.

Isabella smiled, remembering the taste of Ray's blood and the emotions that ran through it. She washed out the cup, watching the residue blood rinse away. She wished she could wash away her problems as easily.

"Isabella?" she heard Ray call.

"In here," she called back, stepping to the doorway.

"Quick!" Ray ran in. "Show me the safe before the others get here."

She ran through the many rows of wine to the back of the cellar with Ray behind her.

She put a hand on top of the safe. "I couldn't find a make or model number."

"Damn!" Ray ran his hands over it, bent down, and slid his body to the side to inspect behind it. "It must be on the bottom," he growled, coming out from behind it.

"Come on," he captured her hand, and ran to the front of the room.

Isabella quickly grabbed him by the arms and pushed him hard against the refrigerator. Before he could frown in question, she kissed him passionately.

Ray moaned and kissed her back, responding equally as enthusiastic. He put an arm around her waist to pull her closer, lining up his hard body with her soft one. Ray moaned again, and pressed up against her.

Tony walked in. "Great," he muttered sarcastically and walked back out.

Isabella pulled away and laughed softly into Ray's chest.

"You knew he was coming?" Ray whispered surprised in her ear.

She nodded with a smile and kissed him again.

"I thought that was just a warm 'welcome home'," Ray whispered jokingly.

"Why else would we both be in here?" she whispered back.

"I don't mind that," he said, kissing her again.

"Come on. Time to face the music," she took him by his hand and lead him sulkily out.

They went down the hallway and to Tony's room, but he wasn't there.

"He went upstairs," Isabella said.

"Is he going to be mad at me?" Ray asked, pulling her back from the door.

"For what?"

"For kissing you."

"You know him better than I," Isabella answered with a shrug.

"Do we have to go up?" Ray asked nervously.

Isabella laughed. "Come on, I'll protect you."

******************************

They found the others in the kitchen, munching on some peanut butter cookies that Emily made the night before.

Tony sat at the table reading a newspaper.

They all looked up when Ray and Isabella came in, holding hands in support.

George got up and went outside through the kitchen door.

"What's the matter with George?" Isabella asked Tony.

"Why don't you ask lover boy, here?" Tony asked, looking at Ray.

"He's upset because I like Ray?"

"George will get over it," Jake said, grabbing another cookie.

"I'll go talk to him," Isabella told them and left out the same door George had.

She found him in the front yard, near the garage. George was sitting on a fountain that was Italian made. A woman was holding a bucket and was pouring the water into the fountain.

"She's pretty.," she said, studying it. "She looks a little like my mother" Isabella sat next to George. "I never knew her, but from paintings."

George looked up at the statue, but said nothing.

"George, look, I am sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I do like you. Very much."

"Don't worry about it," George said, looking off in the distance.

"I don't like for you to be upset with me or with Ray."

"I'm fine with it, really."

"Then why can't you look me in the eye?"

George sighed. "I like you a lot, Isabella. And it's my fault for not letting you know that sooner. Ray just moves quicker than I do, I guess. I didn't expect him to move in on you though. You know guys have a code. If a friend likes a girl, the other guy doesn't move in," George explained, still not looking at her.

"What happened between me and Ray was not planned. He didn't do it on purpose. He would never hurt you."

"Well, he did."

******************************

"So, what are your intentions towards my great granddaughter?" Tony asked Ray. Jake laughed. Tony shot him a glare.

Ray sat down. "Look, I like Isabella, a lot," Ray said shooting a warning glance at Jake not to say the other L word, "my intentions towards her are totally honorable."

Tony nodded. "I trust you, Ray. You're a good kid. But why go for Isabella? You know she's a vampire. You could never be together like you would want to be."

"I don't care about her being a vampire. I care about who she is. As far as being together how we want to be, that's our decision to make."

"Don't you want to get married and have children, Ray?"

"Sure."

"You want that with a vampire? She'll never grow old, Ray, and each day you'll get older and she won't. How will you explain that to your kids, if you are able to have any? Or to the neighbors, your friends, your family? It's hard enough on us being single, changing identities all the time, changing where we live."

"Geez, Tony, I hadn't really thought that far ahead. Look, maybe we'll be able to make this work, maybe we can't. But I want to try because I care a lot about her and want to be with her. If you have a problem with that I need to know now and we'll see how we can handle that."

Tony shook his head. "No problem. It's fine by me. I just want to make sure you both know what you're getting into so you don't get hurt."

Isabella came in the side door. "He's still upset," she announced, closing it behind her.

"I'll go talk to him," Ray said, moving towards the door.

"No, don't," Emily said stopping him. "He just needs some time by himself."

"Alright," Ray stepped back to Isabella and put an arm around her, giving her a sideways hug.

"What did he say?" Ray asked Isabella.

Isabella looked around at the eyes watching her. "Maybe we should talk about this elsewhere."

"Don't mind us," Raven said, biting into her cookie as if she were eating popcorn and watching a movie.

Ray took Isabella's hand and led her upstairs to his room and closed the door. "What did he say?" Ray demanded as Isabella sat down on his bed.

"That you broke the guy code. That you knew he liked me and moved in on me anyways."

"It's true," Ray said, sitting down next to her.

"You wouldn't have if I hadn't encouraged you," Isabella kissed his cheek.

"No, I moved in. It was wrong of me. But I couldn't help it. I like you a lot, Isabella. More than I've ever liked anyone. But now I've hurt my best friend," he said, putting his hands in his face with a groan.

"It's my fault. I should just leave, Ray. Already, I'm hurting you," Isabella stood up and stalked towards the door.

He grabbed her by the waist to stop her. He stood up and took her face into his hands. "I don't care if I get hurt. I love you. You are not leaving," he said seriously.

"You love me?" Isabella teared up.

"More than anything, anyone," he said, looking deep into her eyes, "I know we haven't known each other long, but we do know each other. These past few days we've told each other everything about each other. I've known everything you've done, everything they made you to be, but I don't care. I love you because you've overcome those things. You've worked hard to be human again and you're still fighting for your right to be free. To be you. I really admire you for that, Isabella. You've got more guts than I've ever seen and I'd be honored to be with you even if it's for a little while."

"Don't do this to me, Ray." Isabella slid down to the floor and put her head into her knees. Tears streamed down her face overcome with emotion.

"I know you don't love me and that's okay. For now, at least. I can accept that. But I need you here with me. I can't send you back to them, knowing what I know. I love you too much for them to lay one hand on you," he knelt next to her with a hand on her back.

******************************

Emily dropped her glass of milk in the middle of the kitchen floor. She doubled over and groaned.

Tony jumped up and grabbed her. "What's wrong?" he demanded.

Jake pulled out a chair and Tony led her to it. She eased down into the chair.

"What can we do? What's wrong, Em?" Raven asked, coming around the table concerned.

"Such...such...I can't explain it... Isabella...Tony, something's wrong with Isabella," Emily clutched her chest, and leaned over in pain.

Tony looked up towards the stairs, looked at Emily, ran out the room and up the stairs. He threw open Ray's door to find Ray leaning over Isabella, who was huddled on the floor head over knees. Tony ran to her and knelt down.

"What happened?" he demanded of Ray.

"She's just upset."

"Isabella, what's wrong?" Tony asked, touching her shaking head. She shook her head.

"She's just upset that George's upset."

"That can't be all," Tony snapped, still visioning Emily's pain downstairs.

"I'm fine." Isabella lifted her head and wiped her tears. She got up and the boys looked at her. She straightened her shoulders. "I'm fine," She repeated and walked out of the room.

"What the hell's going on?" Tony demanded.

"Nothing!"

"She wasn't crying before, and she comes up here, then Emily doubles over in pain and says something's wrong with Isabella and I find her like that? And you say it's nothing?!"

"Emily doubled over in pain?" Ray asked concerned.

"Yeah, so do you mind telling me the real reason she's so upset?"

Ray sighed. "I don't know, man. Look, I told her I loved her and she started crying. Girls are emotional about those types of things."

"You love her?" Tony asked in shock.

"Yeah I do."

"Huh. Well...why would she get so upset over that?"

"I don't know," Ray said honestly.

******************************

Isabella bounded down the stairs and flew out the front door, not shutting the door behind her.

George, still sitting at the fountain, watched Isabella run from the house and down the long winding driveway, out the front gate of the property. He looked back at the house in confusion.

He ran up to the house and through the front door. "What's wrong with Isabella?" he demanded, coming into the kitchen.

"You probably know more than us," Raven told him,  handing Emily a glass of water.

Jake was mopping the floor and picking up pieces of glass. George looked at Emily's pale face.

"What's wrong with Em?" he asked, coming over to her.

"Same as Isabella. She's getting her feelings."

"Jesus," George breathed. "I better go after her then."

"After her?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, didn't you see her run out of the house?"

"We thought so, but isn't she just out front?" Jake asked.

"No, she ran down to the street."

"And you didn't go after her?" Ray demanded from the stairs.

"Hey, I don't know what's going on."

"I'm going to go find her," Ray said, grabbing his car keys off the hook on the hallway wall.

"Me too." Tony followed him through the kitchen to the side door.

They ran to the garage. "I'll head right you go left," Ray directed, getting into his car.

Tony nodded from his Harley, roared it to life, and sped off. Ray went in the opposite direction.

"George, what did you say to Isabella?" Raven demanded.

"Nothing! I told her that I liked her, but I was upset that Ray moved in on her. He knew I liked her and he went after her anyways."

"George, god, that's so... high school," Raven said annoyed and put her hand to her head in disbelief.

"Well, excuse me for being upset my best friend stole my girl."

"She wasn't your girl, George!" Raven yelled.

"Well, she should have been," George replied, sinking into a chair.

"Ray didn't steal her, George." Jake said softly. "Things just happened between them."

"Oh and you knew about this," George said angrily.

"Ray just told me today. Look, Ray's upset about you being upset about it, too. But he's in love with her. He can't help that."

"Well, neither can I."

"You love her too?" Raven asked.

George nodded.

"This is just like a soap opera!" Raven slid into a seat.

George ran his hamds through his hair. "But why is Isabella so upset? I'm not mad at her."

"I think she's upset because she's caused a rift between you and Ray," Emily finally spoke up.

"Well, that's dumb. It's not her fault."

"She thinks it is. It's...it's...tearing her up inside," Emily wrapped her arms around herself.

George looked away. "I can't help how I feel."

Raven touched his hand. "No, but you can help your actions. Look, I know you think you love her George, but if you love her let her and Ray be happy. Maybe it works out for them, maybe it doesn't. But don't act all high and mighty that it didn't work out for the two of you so they can't be happy."

George pulled his hand away and rubbed his face. "God, this sucks!" he exclaimed and scraped the chair out from the table. He left the kitchen and went out the front door.

"George!" Emily called after him.