Evelyn drove to school on Monday morning trying her best not to think too much about everything that had happened over the weekend. Unfortunately, she was failing quite miserably.

Her anxiety had somewhat subsided since she now knew that both the Cullens and the wolf pack were actively searching for Victoria, but she still wondered where the vampire had decided to hide out until her next chance to attack arose. Alice had reassured her multiple times the rest of the weekend that everything was fine, but still, she remained cautious.

And of course, once Jasper had left her home on Sunday morning, she immediately cursed herself for ending up alone with him, in her bedroom of all places. She had promised herself that she wouldn't do something like that until more time has passed and her heart had a chance to heal, but stupidly she had invited him into her bedroom the first chance that she got.

It's not that anything had actually happened between them, but she had forgotten how much he affected her and her judgment when they were alone together. Clearly, she couldn't trust herself or her feelings still, and she knew she had to do a much better job at protecting her heart if Jasper was going to be around more often while they hunted for Victoria.

The joys of being a hormonal teenager, she thought to herself bitterly.

She was scowling to herself as she thought about her actions over the weekend when she pulled into the parking lot of Forks High School, the air outside damp and dreary. She parked next to Bella's truck and the sleek silver Volvo that she knew belonged to Edward, but she frowned when she noticed that the pair were not inside either vehicle like they usually were before school.

She threw the hood of her sweatshirt up over her hair and slung her worn bag over her shoulder as she stepped out of her car, scanning the parking lot for her friends. When she finally caught sight of them taling to none other than Jacob Black at the front of the school, her eyebrows lifted in surprise. She had no idea what could have brought him here, but knowing Edward's distaste for him, she knew their conversation likely wasn't going well.

Her suspicions were further confirmed as she walked over to them through the soft drizzle of rain. She could see the clench of Edward's jaw and the tension in his shoulders even from yards away. Bella seemed to be upset about something as well, looking frustratedly between Edward and Jacob. Not good at all.

As Evelyn finally reached them, Bella was climbing onto the back of Jacob's motorcycle while he was handing her a rather large and bulky helmet. She remembered Bella's uncanny bad luck with motorcycles and could not fight the grimace on her face as she came to a stop next to Edward.

"Morning," she began cautiosuly, looking between Edward and Bella with a curious eyebrow raised. Her green eyes moved to Jacob. "Hey, Jake."

Jacob grinned at her, offering her a small wave in greeting. "How's it going, Ev? Long time no see."

Evelyn glanced next to her, where Edward was staring at Bella with pleading eyes. "Please, Bella," he said, and it was not difficult for her to guess that he was asking her to stay.

Bella grimaced, apologies in her chocolate brown eyes. "We'll talk later, okay? I'm sorry." At the sound of Jacob's snicker, she narrowed her eyes from behind him as she adjusted the helmet. "Hey, lose the grin, Jacob. We're just going for a ride."

Despite her warning, Jacob smiled wider, white teeth gleaming in contrast to the deep tan of his skin. "Hold on tight, Bells."

And with that, Evelyn and Edward watched the two of them speed off out of the parking lot and down the winding road that led towards the highway.

Evelyn glanced at the boy next to her, amazed at how statue-like he looked when he was standing so still and tense. He was worried, and knowing him she knew that his mind was going to all the worst case scenarios that he could come up with in which Bella ended up injured or hurt because of the werewolves.

"She'll be fine," she attempted to reassure him. "Jacob would never hurt her."

Edward's eyes were sharp as his gaze met hers, his face stoic. "You don't know that."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. The growing rivalry between him and Jacob was already getting really old. "You're being dramatic."

"Am I? What about Emily Young? What if Bella says or does something that Jacob doesn't like and she ends up like her?"

The school bell rang then, and Evelyn scowled as she readjusted her bag on her shoulder and began walking towards the school building without answering his question. Edward hesitated for just a moment before gracefully falling into step beside her.

"I think you enjoy ruminating on worst case scenarios," she said finally, giving him a sidelong glance. She noticed idly that Alice was nowhere to be found this morning, and she assumed that she was likely already at her first class of the day. She wondered if she had foreseen Edward's sour mood and guessed it was from Jacob, so she made herself scarce.

Edward scoffed and gave her an incredulous look. "That's very funny, especially coming from you." At the look on her face, he continued. "Don't act surprised, you do rememeber that I can hear your thoughts, right?"

She tried to think of something witty to say back, but she could find nothing to dispute him because she knew he was right. The two of them did share a tendency to overthink and worry about those they loved. "I hate you," she grumbled lamely as they made their way to their first class of the day, which happend to be calculus.

His answering snicker made her want to turn around and punch him, but she knew it would hurt her hand much nore than it would actually hurt him. They walked the rest of the way to their class in silence and slid into a pair of desks next to each other once they entered the room.

"I could have gone after her for you, you know," Evelyn murmured as she pulled out her graphing calculator and notebook. "Just to make sure everything was okay. I don't mind."

Edward sighed softly, sliding his homework over to her so that she could compare her answers, just as he always did every morning before the final bell rang. "Absolutely not. And you know Jasper wouldn't approve of that. He'd probably kill me if I let you go over there alone."

Evelyn grit her teeth, her grip on her pencil tightening as she began to check her homework answers against's Edward's while the other students filed into the classroom around them. "Well, it's a good thing that he's not in charge of what I do or where I go, isn't it? I don't see why he would have to find out, anyway. Not unless someone told him." She glared at him pointedly.

"Evelyn, please be reasonable--"

"You two are driving me insane with all of this overprotective and controlling stuff. Bella and I were hanging out in La Push for months on our own when you were gone. The pack quite literally saved our lives when Laurent tried to kill us. I don't know what else they can do to earn your trust." She was pushing so hard on her pencil now that the tip snapped against the paper. She huffed in annoyance, eyes narrowing at the neatly sharpened pencil that Edward had silently slid over to her. Begrudgingly, she took it in her hand and resumed checking her homework.

He kept his velvety voice soft, leaning in close to her ear to speak as students began taking their seats around them. "They're unpredicatble. Alice can't see them, and if somehting were to happen to either of you while you were there we have no way to get to you."

Evelyn looked at him then, face stony and eyes hard. "You know she only went today because you were stupid enough to rip the battery out of her truck the other night, right? And because you chose to lie to her about Victoria."

Edward averted his eyes. "I'm just trying to protect her."

"She's not a child, Edward. Neither of us are."

The final bell rang then, and they fell into silence. Their teacher walked in, and began the usual routine of going over questions on their assignment and outlining the lesson plan for today. Evelyn wasn't paying attention, acutely aware of Edward and the way she knew that he was ruminating on her words.  They were silent for a long time, the pair of them pretending to listen to the teacher at the front of the room drone on about derivatives as they both waited for the other to break the silence.

Finally, she looked at him from the corner of her eye as she wrote her math notes haphazardly on her notebook paper. "Do you want me to go down to La Push after school for you or not?"

It was another moment or two, but finally, with a pained expression on his face, she saw him nod.

***

After school, Evelyn followed Edward out to the parking lot to her Jeep while Alice took the keys to his Volvo to drive back to the Cullen house. She quickly waved goodbye to Alice and promised to text her later that evening before turning to see Edward waiting expectantly at the driver's side door to her car.

"What are you doing? I can drive us to the treaty line."

Edward held out his hand for her keys. "You don't know where it is and I can get us there much faster."

"You drive like a maniac. I would prefer to get to La Push in one piece." At that he couldn't help but laugh, making her frown deepen. "Seriously, Edward, you don't need to drive me there."

He groaned, rolling his eyes. "Please just let me feel like I'm doing something useful today, Evelyn."

She wasn't particularly excited about the fact that she would have to endure Edward's driving halfway down to La Push, but it was clear that Edward was going out of his mind worrying about Bella. The least she could do was placate him and let him do this one thing today.

"Fine. But no higher then ten over the speed limit."

He gave her an incredulous look. "That's hardly fair--"

"If Charlie or his buddies at the station pull us over and see you driving my car, you'll have a lot more to worry about from him than from the pack in La Push." She narrowed her eyes at him as she walked around the front of her car to the passenger seat. She watched him roll his eyes and grumble to himself, but finally he nodded and walked around the car after her to open the passenger door. She slid into the seat rather clumsily, and within a blink Edward was already beside her in the driver's seat and starting the car. Within a moment, they had peeled out of the high school parking lot and were on the familiar route down to La Push.

Despite the occassional reckless passing of cars and his tailgaiting tendencies, Edward did manage to keep his word and did not go farther than ten miles over the speed limit as they left the town of Forks behind them.

Evelyn glanced at him periodically as they drove, her eyes always straying to his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and the tension in his shoulders and jaw.

"So, are we just going to switch when we get to the treaty line?" She asked tentatively, watching the trees fly by outside her window as they followed the winding road to the reservation.

"I think it would be better if one of them came to get you at the line," he said, keeping his gaze focused on the road. "I can take your car back to my house and come get you at the line when you're on your way home."

Evelyn frowned, her brow furrowed as she turned her attention from the window to him. "Does that not seem a little bit excessive? I'm perfectly capable of driving the rest of the way on my own."

Edward sighed softly, his jaw clenching and unclenching. "As much as I don't like them, I would rather have someone with you in case Victoria decides to suddenly make an appearance. You can imagine how delighted she would be to find you on your own."

"That doesn't make any sense, I thought you said Alice was watching her decisions?'

"Things are harder to see when the pack is involved. And like I said, we have no way to get to you without breaking the treaty if something happens." He met her eyes then, eyes hard as stone. "After what happened when we were gone, I don't want to take any chances."

She huffed to herself, turning back towards the window and crossing her arms over chest. She knew his heart was in the right place, but today he was on another level of paranoid. Mostly, she hated being treated like she had no say, and though she knew that he cared, she also knew that once Edward's mind was set on something, it was near impossible to change it.

After a few moments of silence, Edward shifted nervously in his seat. His voice was clipped when he next spoke. "We're getting close. You should let them know so they can come meet you at the treaty line."

She nodded, debating briefly on who to text but eventually settling on Embry, seeing as Jacob was likely busy with Bella and Leah still very much hated her guts. She sent a quick message asking him if he would be willing to pick her up at the treaty line. She thought Edward was going overboard with his overprotectiveness; she knew that she was perfectly capable of driving herself over the treaty line, but by his tone and the seriousness of his gaze, she decided that it would be better if she didn't argue with him on this.

Embry responded within moments. Glad you finally decided to come hang with the cooler monsters.

Evelyn grinned to herself, shaking her head. Embry and her had always had an easy sort of cameraderie, and she suddenly felt herself looking forward to casual conversation that was free of the heaviness of her situation and all of the burdens she carried. Perhaps this day trip to check on Bella for Edward would be good for her to relax and clear her head, too.

After another short while, Edward began to slow down suddenly, and as they rounded the next curve, she could see Embry standing off to the side of the road near the treeline. He was dressed casually in a white tee shirt and jeans, and to Evelyn's chagrin he was leaning up against a shiny red motorcycle. She recognized it as one of the bikes that Bella had given to Jacob to fix up a few months earlier.

She risked a glance towards Edward, whose jaw looked to be clenched even tighter than it had been the whole time they were in the car.  As the car slowed to a stop, he turned to her as if he had changed his mind about letting her go across the line.

She wasn't going to give him the chance to back track now. "I don't wanna hear it," she said, cutting him off. "You're the one who insisted on driving me here and having one of them pick me up. I'll text you when I'm ready to come home."

Evelyn didn't bother waiting for his response as she stumbled out of the car with her backpack slung over her shoulder, slamming the door behind her. She avoided looking back at Edward, though she could practically feel his golden eyes burning holes in the back of her head from how intently he was staring at her. Instead, she made herself look up and focus on Embry. At the casual, easygoing smile on his lips, she forced herself to relax the irriated scowl on her face and return his grin.

"Hey, Embry," she greeted, her eyes flitting to the motorcycle behind him before returning to meet his gaze. "I didn't realize you were into motorcycles now, too."

He shrugged, grabbing the helmet that was resting behind him on the seat of the bike and handing it to her. "Nah, they're still Jake's thing. This was just the quickest way I could get here after I got your text... besides phasing, of course." He glanced behind her, to where she knew Edward was sat in her car likely listening to their exchange. "Don't think he would've liked that very much."

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Definitely not." She tossed her hair back over her shoulders and slid the helmet on before climbing onto the bike behind Embry. Considering how large he was, especially after joining the pack, she could barely fit on the seat behind him. She gingerly wrapped her arms around his waist, suddenly unsure if this was such a good idea.

Embry seemed to sense her uncertainty, and she felt the gentle rumble of his laugh against her hands and on her cheek, which was resting on his back. "Relax, Ev, I'll make sure you get to Emily's house in one piece." He looked at Edward, who was sitting rigid as a statue in the driver's seat of her car. "You can relax, bloodsucker. We would never hurt her."

Evelyn groaned. "Don't antagonize him, Embry. This is hard enough for him as it is."

The boy merely chuckled and shrugged, starting up the bike and revving the engine a few times before peeling out onto the highway. Evelyn did not look back at Edward as they flew down the road towards La Push, but she knew him well enough to know that he would be watching her until she was long out of sight and reach of his abilities.

Luckily for her, the rest of the ride to Emily and Sam's home was rather short, especially since Embry seemed to have even less of a regard for speed limits than Edward did. She had kept her eyes clenched shut and her arms wrapped around Embry's torso in a deathgrip, deseperately trying to rid her mind of the sudden visions of her flying off the back of the motorcycle and becoming a mere stain on the pavement. She prayed that Charlie or Marie would never find out about this; if the motorcycle didn't end up killing her, one of them certainly would.

Embry slowed as they turned off of the main highway and onto the dirt road that Evelyn knew led directly to Emily and Sam's home. She let herself relax slightly, unclenching her fingers one by one until her grip was loose and she could finally relax her arms, letting her hands fall to rest comfortably on her thighs as they came to a stop beside Jacob's bike in the front yard of the house.

After cutting the engine on the bike, Embry couldn't help but turn and look at her with a teasing grin as he helped her unfasten the helmet and remove it from her head. "See? Was that so bad?"

She scowled at him as she hurried to rearrange her hair, which was both pressed down from the helmet and windswept from the ride to the house. "We are walking back to the treaty line tonight."

At that, Embry burst into laughter, and despite trying to stay mad at him, his laugh was contagious and she found herself giggling along with him as she climbed off of the bike and followed him into the house.

The savory smell of cooked chicken and herbs greeted her as she stepped through the screen door that Embry had opened for her, instantly lifting her mood. She had only been to Emily's a handful of times, but she found that she adored how cozy and safe that the house made her feel. She also loved that Emily had no issue with hosting people in her home, even those who were known associates of her fiance's sworn enemies; the woman was genuinely kind, and she always went out of her way to make Evelyn feel welcome.

When they entered, her eyes fell on the gaggle of shirtless teenage boys crowded around the dining table in Emily's kitchen. All of their eyes shifted from the food on their plates to her as they entered the home. Quil, Paul, and Jared each offered her either a warm smile or wave, and young Seth Clearwater jumped up from his seat and came to sweep her up in a bone crushing hug. She laughed, the sound slightly choked from the sheer strength of Seth's arms despite him being a few years younger than her.

When he finally put her down, she noticed idly as she looked at him that he was taller than her now. Perks of being a werewolf, she guessed. "It's good to see you, Ev! It feels like it's been forever. You never come down anymore!"

Her response was interrupted by Embry, who had stolen Seth's chair at the table and had already began filling his plate. "Too busy being kept prisoner by the bloodsuckers with Bella." The boys erupted into a wave of booming laughter that filled the whole house.

She bristled slightly. "I am not," Evelyn shot back with a glare, but his words weren't entirely untrue. Despite Edward letting her come down here to keep an eye on Bella, she knew that this would likely never happen again without a fight on her part. And she didn't even want to think about what waited for her when Jasper found out where she'd been... she hoped that he wouldn't murder Edward before she got back to try and explain her side of things.

Just then, Emily was at her side pulling her in for a warm embrace. "I'm glad you were able to escape for the afternoon to come see us. You're always welcome if you need to get away every once in a while."

Evelyn offered her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Emily. I'm happy I could come and visit for a while, too." She looked around, noticing that Jacob and Bella were no where to be found. "Did Bella leave already?"

"She and Jake went to his house," Jared drawled around a mouthful of food. "I'm sure we'll get to hear all about it tonight when we patrol."

The rest of the boys made exaggerated gagging noises, and Evelyn suddenly felt a twinge of pity for Jacob having to have all of his thoughts and emotions laid bare for his friends to see all the time. Sure, Jasper and Edward could do the same things, but she knew they did their best to at least try and be as respectful as they could. At least she didn't have a group of teenage boys reading her thoughts at any given moment.

Jared's mention of patrol sparked a question that she had been meaning to ask Edward or Jasper about, though she had the sneaking suspicion that neither of them would likely tell her the full truth in an attempt to avoid frightening her. She had no such concerns about the boys in front of her, who she knew would be honest and were not worried about sparing her feelings.

She turned to Paul, carefully plastering a teasing smile on her face since she was nervous about how he would react. "So, I heard things got interesting at the treaty line this weekend."

Paul rolled his eyes, but the comment hadn't seemed to make him angry. "That's one way to put it."

"We would've had the redhead one if the stupid leeches – sorry, Ev – if the Cullens hadn't gotten in the way." Embry shot her a grin, although she frowned at his not so apologetic tone.

"Did you guys ever consider working together to try and catch her? You do realize you have the same goal," Evelyn pointed out, taking a seat at one of the barstools at the kitchen island.

"We tried after we refocused from the situation with Paul and the big one," a booming voice came from behind her, and she turned to see Sam Uley enter the kitchen from the back porch door. "But we wasted too much time and she was able to escape."

"Besides, the treaty says we can't cross into eachother's territory without starting a war. Kinda hard to hunt down a vampire properly if you're worried about pissing off the 'good guys." Quil added an eye roll for dramatic effect.

Evelyn pursed her lips in distaste. "Who says you can't make an exception for one situation? Wouldn't it be much more helpful to work together? I'm sure the Cullens would be more than open to the idea."

All of the boys in front of her scrunched their faces in disgust. Beside her, Sam merely shrugged. "It might be," he conceded, "but the situation is complicated." He punctuated his words with a tone of finality that told Evelyn that he was done speaking about the subject, and she kept her mouth closed despite wanting to argue the absurdity of their feud even more.

Just then, the screen door behind them swung open once more, and Evelyn spun to meet the shocked eyes of Leah Clearwater, who was standing in the doorway. She sucked in a breath at the sight of her friend, her heart beginning to pound in anticipation. She had not seen her in weeks, not since she came home from Italy to try and make amends. They locked eyes for a tense moment, surprise and sadness flickering in Leah's eyes before she gave her the most chilling glare that she had ever seen.

"I'm leaving," Leah said, venom dripping from her tongue as she spoke. "Apparently I can't escape the vampire girls today." And with that, she spun on her heel and flew back out the door just as quickly as she had entered.

Evelyn hesitated for only a moment before jumping up from her chair and running out after her friend, the aged screen door slamming shut behind her.

"Leah, wait!" she called desperately at her retreating form. "Leah, will you please just talk to me?"

Leah stopped suddenly and whirled around, her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched tightly at her sides. "What part of 'I don't want to see you again' do you not understand? I have nothing to say to you!"

Evelyn stopped a few feet away, the way Leah's body had begun to shake and ripple with rage giving her pause. She had the fleeting thought that maybe Edward was right; perhaps she was not as safe here as she had thought.

But she shoved the thought away. She didn't know if, or when, she would get the chance to talk to Leah like this again. And she wasn't going to waste the precious few moments she had.

"Leah, I promise you that I never meant to hurt you the way I did. I had no idea that your dad had died, or that you and Seth had joined the pack until it was too late. I'm so incredibly sorry." Her gaze was pleading as she practically begged the girl in front of her to understand. "I just... I don't know what to do, Leah. I want to make it up to you but I don't know how and it's killing me."

Leah opened her mouth to fire back an angry retort, but the pained look on Evelyn's face gave her pause. She watched as Leah closed her eyes and took multiple slow, deep breathes to calm herself. Slowly, she stopped shaking, and her fists unclenched knuckle by knuckle until her arms were hanging limply at her sides.

When she opened her warm brown eyes again, they looked empty and cold. "I just can't, Evelyn, okay? It's just too much. It's all just been too much the past few weeks. I think you should go home, and stay there. Stay away from here, like your precious bloodsuckers want you to."

Evelyn felt her eyes burning, tears threatening to fall at Leah's words, but she swallowed a few times and blinked furiously to prevent them from spilling onto her cheeks.

"I miss you, Leah," Evelyn said at last, her voice pleading as she searched the other girl's face. "I just miss you and how things used to be between us so much. There's really nothing that I can do?"

Leah averted her eyes, shaking her head. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "But you should just go home."

Leah turned then and darted back into the trees, disappearing into the endless green without so much as a word or glance back. Evelyn stood there for a while, arms wrapped around herself as she debated on what to do next. She considered following her into the trees, but quickly realized how stupid the idea was when she reasoned that Leah definitely had shifted back into a wolf and was likely already miles away, therefore making it near impossible to find her.

Boisterous laughter echoed in the house behind her, and though she knew that she was more than welcome to stay and enjoy the company of the pack, she wasn't quite in the mood for it anymore. Her only other option was to go home, and she dreaded the reaction she would meet once she crossed the treaty line again and met Edward on the other side, especially since she hadn't even seen Bella at all since arriving in La Push.

Finally, she sighed, and figuring that she might as well get the crappy end to a crappy day over with, pulled her phone out to text Edward that she was ready to come home.

***
not sure how I feel about this chapter lol idk maybe it'll grow on me but I hope y'all are doing amazing! happy hoa hoa hoa season ;) more to come soon!!

also thank you all so much for your sweet comments and congratulations on the last chapter, adjusting to life as a real working adult from being in college has definitely been an experience but I finally feel like I'm settling in! you guys are so sweet and literally the best, love you all so much!!