X. Lying.

Wednesday afternoon Edward came over to my house once again. We took advantage of the once or twice my mom did allow him over a week, with her knowledge. But today Edward was insisting he come over to my house. We were sitting at the kitchen table, doing our homework together.

I nibbled on my bottom lip, bothered by what happened at lunch. All three vampires tried to brush me off before I could even ask them about it. My eyes turned towards Edward, watching him as he did his homework.

With a soft sigh, I placed my pen down and crossed my arms over the table. "So...what was that at school?" I asked him, and he slowly let his eyes drift over to me. "What did Alice see?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows.

"Nothing." He replied, pursing his lips as he shook his head. "Something about Jasper." He added as he shrugged his shoulders and my eyes squinted, not believing him. " It was innocuous." He told me before his attention turned back to his homework.

"I know you know what she saw. Tell me." I insisted as I leaned a little close to him, raising my eyebrows again as I waited for his response.

Edward sighed softly as he glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. "It was nothing." He muttered softly as he shook his head and his eyes drifted back down to his homework. I knew it was always something when Edward struggled to keep eye contact with me.

"You looked worried," I argued softly as I stared at him, pulling my lips into a tight line as I rested my chin on the palm of my hand.

He sighed again as he put his pen down and turned to look at me. He offered me an assuring smile. "Just that everyone would notice how strange Alice is." He explained softly as he shrugged his shoulders again.

I quirked an eyebrow as I pushed my tongue around the inside of my cheek. "I think that ship sailed long ago," I muttered softly as I pursed my lips and Edward softly hummed as he nodded his head in agreement.

Edward stayed with me for the rest of the day. Even after he was supposed to go home, he just went up to my room and read through my books while he waited for me. At the time, I wasn't suspicious about the fact that he wasn't going home at all. Usually, he'd go home and come back later in the night. But he stayed until the next morning.

Thursday morning Edward went home to get changed before he'd come back to pick me up. I sat in the kitchen with my mother, eating breakfast while I waited for Edward to come back. My mom was sipping on a cup of coffee, eyeing me over the rim of her cup.

With a soft sigh, she lowered her cup of coffee, putting the mug down on the table. "I want to talk to you about college," she informed me in a soft tone of voice.

I pursed my lips as I pushed my spoon around my bowl of cereal. I slowly lifted my eyes towards her. "My mind is already made up, Mom," I told her softly as I gulped the lump that stuck in the back of my throat. It was getting harder and harder to speak to her about college.

"I'm just saying, if you go to the University of Alaska... I'm never gonna see you." She replied softly and that was a punch to the gut. She had absolutely no idea just how painfully true that was.

"They have a really great science program," I muttered softly as I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't want to continue on the fact that she wasn't going to see me. She was never going to see me again and it was a painful thought. I was so torn in two. Being with my soulmate forever yet never seeing my mother again.

Maybe Edward's suggestion wasn't all that bad. Just a few more years as a human. A few more years with my mother. Then I could claim to move away and keep in contact through the phone. People did it all the time. But right now...I wasn't sure if I was ready to say goodbye. But the Volturi still loomed darkly in my mind.

"You mean Edward program." My mom replied, snapping me out of my taunting thoughts. I looked at her, my eyebrows furrowing. "The way you two have gotten so extremely close. The way he watches you... It's like he's willing to leap in front of you, and take a bullet or something." She explained as she pursed her lips.

He would do that. And he could do it without getting harmed. I sighed as I dropped my spoon in my bowl and sat back in my chair. "Is that a bad thing?" I asked softly as I quirked an eyebrow. Knowing he'd protect me to any length was comforting to me. I knew most didn't understand the intensity of our relationship, the lengths we'd go to for each other, the bond we shared, and in honesty, sometimes, neither did we. But we both accepted what our relationship was and it was comforting to us both.

"It's an intense thing." She replied as she shrugged her shoulders. She noticed the change in our relationship since Edward came back. "You're different with him. If he moves, you move. Like magnets." She explained softly. "You flew all the way to Italy for him." She reminded me.

I sighed at the mention of Italy and lowered my head. "I don't know, we're just... in love," I whispered as I shrugged my shoulders.

"I get it." She replied as she nodded her head, offering her a small smile. "I just want to make sure, you're making the right choices for you." She told me and I knew she meant college, but that hit close to something else for me. I knew I was making the right choice, but maybe I was making it too soon. "You know, 'cause you're the one who's gonna have to live with them." She reminded me.

I nodded my head. "I know," I replied softly. This wasn't about college for me anymore. Not that it ever was. But about being with Edward forever. Without a doubt, I wanted to spend eternity with him, I wanted to be like him. But I also wanted a little more time with my mom. I'd say waiting wouldn't kill me...but the Volturi might just.

Just after finishing my breakfast, with luckily no more talk about college, Edward pulled up in front of my house. I offered him a small smile as I walked out of the house and he opened the passenger side door as he waited for me.

As I got closer to him, I could see something was up. I raised my eyebrows at him as he pressed a soft kiss against my forehead. "You know, your mom really doesn't want you to go to Alaska," he whispered as he looked down at me, his face inches away from mine.

A scowl slipped onto my face as I stared up at him, my eyebrows furrowed and my lips turned down into a frown. "Edward, stay out of her head," I muttered softly as I placed my hands against his chest.

He offered me an apologetic smile as he reached out and tugged a strand of my hair behind my ear. "I've told you before, I can't help it," he whispered as he shook his head.

"If this conversation is going to lead to you trying to get me to change my mind, It's already over," I informed him, pressing a brief kiss to his lips before pulling away and climbing into the passenger seat of his SUV. With a deep sigh, he closed my door before getting into the driver's side.

The drive to school was spent with me fiddling with his radio and him driving with an amused look on his face every time I grumbled about a song I didn't like and changed the song. When we pulled into our usual spot in the school parking lot, Edward tensed up.

I looked over at him, noticing his lips slightly pulled back into a snarl and his golden eyes growing colder. "What is it?" I asked softly as my eyebrows furrowed in both confusion and concern.

Edward clenched his jaw before glancing over at me. " If I asked you to stay in the car, would you?" He asked softly as he raised his eyebrows. My eyes squinted in confusion and suspiciousness. Why did he need me to stay in the car? I silently stared at him, keeping eye contact as I un-clicked my safety belt and Edward sighed. "Of course not," he muttered with a knowing sigh.

"You should know me better by now," I told him as I shrugged my shoulders while opening my car door and he hummed while nodding his head in agreement. We got out of the car and I slung my bag over my shoulders, confused about what was going on or why he was acting like this.

But then I spotted the source of his problem. Jacob was standing next to his bike, with his back to us, a few parking spots over. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and glanced back at Edward. He was glaring at Jacob.

I turned back towards Jacob, eyebrows deeply furrowing as I slowly walked towards him with Edward following after me. "Jake!" I called out and he slowly turned around to face us, a scowl on his face.

"Just checking to see if you're still human," Jacob muttered in a low voice when we came to a stop in front of him. He stared at me briefly before sending a harsh glare in Edward's direction.

I scoffed softly as I stared at Jacob, crossing my arms over my chest. "If you answered your phone, you could have asked." I softly snapped at him as I glared back at him with squinted eyes.

Jacob rolled his eyes at me. "I'd rather see for myself." He replied as his eyes shot back towards Edward with a pointed look. Edward blankly stared at Jacob, his lips parting as he let out a scoff before looking off to the side. His lips pulled into a tight line as his eyes returned to Jacob after a second.

"This is hardly the place, Jacob," Edward muttered as he glared at the younger boy. The parking lot was full of students, but luckily, none had taken notice of us yet. But knowing Jacob and Edward, they were bound to draw attention when together with nothing but their hate for one another. "Could we discuss this later?" Edward spoke, and it sounded like more of a demand than a question.

My eyebrows furrowed as I glanced at Edward. What did the two need to discuss? What was I being left out on here? It had to be important for Jacob to drag his sulking self all the way over here to grace himself in the presence of me and Edward. Not currently his favorite people on the planet.

"Sure sure," Jacob replied sarcastically as he nodded his head. "I'll stop by your crypt after school." He huffed and Edward rolled his eyes. "What's wrong with now?" Jacob asked as his head cocked to the side and he raised his eyebrows.

"I already know what you came to say." Edward snapped at Jacob in a low voice and my eyebrows furrowed even more. Couldn't they share what was going on with me, too? I would very much like to be in the loop here. "Message delivered. Consider us warned."

I pulled my head back in surprise and confusion. "Warned?" I repeated as I turned to look at Edward, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.

Jacob stared at me for a second before looking over at Edward with a scoff of disbelief. "You didn't tell her?" Jacob asked as he raised his eyebrows at Edward.

This made my eyebrows furrow even more. Clearly, this was something that concerned me. Something that Edward didn't tell me. I glanced between the two in confusion. Edward didn't meet my eyes for even a second and that made me just know he was hiding something.

Edward took a threatening step towards Jacob, his teeth clenched together as he glared at him. "Just leave it alone, Jacob." Edward spat as his eyes squinted and his fists clenched by his sides.

"Afraid she'd take our side?" Jacob asked cockily as his head cocked to the side again and he raised his eyebrows.

I turned to face Edward, crossing my arms over my chest again. "Tell me what?" I asked him with a firm tone of voice as I raised my eyebrows, a challenging look in my eyes that demanded he tell me what was going on.

Edward sighed as he lowered his head. "Emmett and Paul had a misunderstanding; there is nothing to worry about," he informed me softly, and I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Why were those two even near each other?

Jacob scoffed as he shook his head and I turned to look at him with confusion. "Listen to you." He gritted out as he glared at Edward.

Edward inhaled sharply as he glared back at Jacob, taking another threatening step towards him. "You should leave. Now," he demanded in a firm voice.

A few students seemed to notice the tension between the two. They both looked hostile as they glared at each other, and it drew some attention from those close by. I grabbed onto Edward's arm, and surprisingly enough, he allowed me to pull him away from Jacob without resilience.

I looked up at Edward and he hesitantly looked down to meet my gaze, his jaw clenching and his body tense underneath my touch. "What misunderstanding?" I asked softly as I raised my eyebrows at him.

Before Edward could reply, Jacob jumped back into the conversation. "Oh, his big brother crossed the line last night," he informed me as he shot another pointed glare in Edward's direction, and my eyes slightly widened. "Paul was totally justified in-"

"It was no-man's land!" Edward yelled, cutting off whatever Jacob was going to say in defense of Paul. I didn't know what happened last night, but I was probably going to be biased and be on Emmette's side regardless if he was wrong or right.

"Was not!" Jacob yelled back, and they caught the full attention of people around us. My gaze darted around at the people watching us and I shushed both Edward and Jacob with pointed looks. Jacob silently stared at me for a second before looking at Edward with squinted eyes. "You didn't tell her anything, did you?" he asked and Edward sighed softly. "She has a right to know. She is the one the redhead wants."

My eyes widened again and my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. I let out a shaky breath, feeling frozen. All that brought me back to reality was feeling Edward's hand on the small of my back. "Victoria?" I asked softly and Jacob nodded. I closed my eyes as I remembered yesterday in the cafeteria. " Alice's vision," I muttered as I glanced at Edward.

Everyone in the parking lot was watching us by now, but luckily the conversation wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear, except for Edward and Jacob's previous little outburst that drew everyone's full attention in the first place.

Edward sighed softly as he stared down at me with an apologetic look in his eyes. "I was trying to protect you," he explained softly as his eyebrows furrowed deeply.

I stared up at him while slowly shaking my head. "By lying to me," I whispered as my eyebrows furrowed deeply.

He sighed softly as he pulled away from me and turned to Jacob, getting right in his face. "Does that answer your question, mongrel?" He gritted out in a low voice as he glared at Jacob. I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away again, but this time, he was resilient against my pulling.

"You don't think Ana had a right to know?" Jacob questioned harshly as he raised his eyebrow, glaring up at Edward. This attracted more attention, and students gathered in groups. They couldn't hear anything but they could see a fight was close to breaking out. "It's her life." Jacob reminded.

"Why should I scare her when she wasn't in any danger?" Edward asked as his eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head dismissively at Jacob.

"Better scared than lied to!" Jacob yelled as he shoved Edward's chest, but Edward hardly even moved an inch at the blow against his chest, and this caught more attention. I glanced around, noticing Eric and Mike standing with a group of their boyfriends, watching intently as they softly muttered among themselves.

"Do you think scaring her is better than protecting her?" Edward asked harshly as he raised his eyebrows at Jacob.

"She's tougher than you think." Jacob snapped as his eyes squinted. "She's been through worse. You've put her through worse!" he yelled as he jabbed his pointer finger against Edward's hard chest, and Edward smacked his hand away.

I gasped at Jacob's words, my eyes widening. "Jacob!" I snapped at him in a scolding manner as I glared at him, my eyebrows deeply furrowed and he merely rolled his eyes at me.