At her next shift a couple days later, Evelyn couldn't help but be on edge as she worked. She felt like half of her attention was always on the unfamiliar vampire working alongside her. As she served tables and took orders, she watched Will from the corner of her eye as he innocently gathered the used dishes from her tables. He seemed to be pointedly aware of her, too: he always happened to be near her in the dining room, or passing her in the doorway to the kitchen as she entered or exited. Still, neither of them spoke. She knew that he had to be aware of her sharp gaze on him, but she couldn't help it; her curiosity and instincts were telling her to keep an eye on him. Despite his golden eyes, she was not willing to trust him, yet.

Once the Saturday lunch rush had died down, Evelyn was carrying some dirty napkins and hand towels to the back to be washed when she caught Will's eye as he stood near the sink to put dishes away. Her breath caught slightly in her throat; Will's golden irises did nothing but remind her of Jasper's, and the painful reminder never failed to make her heart clench everytime she looked at him.

He stared at her for a moment, the corner of his mouth turned slightly upwards, before suddenly turning and walking towards the backdoor. He picked up a trashbag sitting by the door and without turning around, swept gracefully outside into the gloomy afternoon.

Evelyn stood frozen in the middle of the kitchen for a moment debating with herself. He had not spoken, but for some reason she knew that he had wanted her to come with him. Would it be stupid to follow him out there? Would it be stupid not to? Ultimately, her stubborn curiosity won out, and she quickly threw the linens in her hands in the laundry room before hurrying out the back door behind him.

The cold, crisp air bit at the exposed skin of her arms and seeped through the thin shirt she was wearing, and she sucked in a quick breath at the sudden sensation. Will, who had just thrown the large trash bags into the dumpster, turned and crossed his arms lazily over his chest as he gazed back at the human girl in front of him. Will had to admit that he was slightly surprised to see her there, even though he had wanted to speak to her privately. He didn't think that she would be brave enough to follow him out here, and yet here she was. Human curiosity never failed to amuse him.

"Can I help you?" The vampire asked, arching his perfect eyebrow at the shivering girl before him. Evelyn blinked, once again surprised by the silkiness of his deep voice. The way he spoke was strange, though; his voice had an unusual lilt when he talked, as if he had spent years perfecting an American accent that he did not have originally. She wondered briefly where he was from, but decided that was less important than finding out why he suddenly showed up in Forks.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, tilting her head as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself to fight off the cold.

He smiled again, his dazzling white teeth flashing. "I'm working, same as you. I thought that was obvious."

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant."

"Do I?" He studied her closely for a moment before speaking again. "Why did you follow me out here, Evelyn?"

"Because I know what you are. Your eyes give you away. And I've seen you before. You ran into me outside the movie theater in Port Angeles. And now you just so happen to show up here, where I live and work. You can't tell me you wouldn't be curious if you were me."

Will grinned when she said that. She's observant. "Perhaps. Or maybe it's just a pure coincidence. And yet here you stand. You're not afraid of me?"

Evelyn shook her head, frowning as if it were obvious. "No. Like I said, your eyes say you don't drink human blood. Unfortunately, you aren't the first vampire I've happened to meet."

He nodded once, tilting his head to mirror hers. "Unfortunately? I take it you haven't had historically great experiences?" When she didn't elaborate, he continued. "I didn't realize Carlisle was letting just anyone in on the big secret these days. Tell me, Evelyn, what makes you so special?"

The girl gasped in shock, her eyes widening at the sudden mention of the Cullen patriarch. "You know Carlisle?" A tiny voice in the back of her head urged her to ask if he knew where the Cullens had gone, but she knew better than to actually ask.

"He's an old friend. It's been ages since I've seen him." Will smiled to himself, as if reminiscing about happier times long ago. "But you didn't answer my question. Why you? A mere human? My kind can get in a lot of trouble for that sort of thing, you know."

Evelyn bristled at his description of her; it felt as if he were dismissing her, and she didn't like it one bit. "I don't know. You would have to ask the Cullens that. But you didn't answer my question, either. What are you doing here in Forks?"

Will laughed, his eyebrows raising in amusement at the girl's stubborn questioning. He could sense the trepidation and cautiousness behind her questions, and he wondered idly what had happened to make her so defensive. "Like I said, Carlisle is an old friend of mine. I'm passing through the area, and I was hoping I would get a chance to see him. Unfortunately, it seems that no one in this town ever seems to know where the Cullens are. Maybe you could tell me where they went, or when they'll come back?"

Evelyn looked away, into the trees beside them, and chewed her lip as she thought of what to say. She knew she had to answer, but she didn't want to give too many details to this strange vampire; she had no idea if she could trust him or not.

"They're gone. They left a while ago."

Though she thought she hid it well, Will could easily hear the way her voice cracked with emotion when she answered him. Strange. "Gone? That sounds awfully permanent."

"Look, all I know is that they left about six months ago and I have no idea if or when they're coming back. So if that's all you're in town for, you may as well leave now and stop wasting your time in Forks."

Evelyn's voice was sharp. She didn't know why Will and his questions irked her so much; maybe it was the constant reminder of the what she had lost that was making her angry, or maybe it was just the irritating way he was looking at her and the infuriating smirk tugging his pink lips up at the corner of his mouth.

Will's eyes widened in surprise, and he held up his hands in defense as he walked towards her. "Okay, I see that's a sore subject. I'll leave it alone. For now."

He paused when he was directly in front of her, and she stared up at him with narrowed eyes.

"But Evelyn," he added, leaning in just enough where she could slightly feel his breath on her cheeks. "Being here is not wasting my time. You'll see soon enough."

He smiled again, softly this time, and walked back towards the kitchen door to pull it open. Evelyn blinked, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Just before he disappeared inside, Will poked his head back out of the doorway. "Oh, and Evelyn? Stay out of the woods, will you? They're more dangerous than you think."

Evelyn could only watch with her mouth slightly open as he disappeared inside the restaurant. What did he mean by "stay out of the woods?" Were there more vampires in Forks than she had originally thought?

She covered her face with her hands, letting out an exasperated groan, before she smoothed the hair out of her face and went back inside.

She did not speak to Will for the rest of her shift.

***

A couple of days later, Evelyn was sitting on her front porch steps doing her calculus homework when the high-pitched ringing of her phone pulled her from the problem she was working on. Grateful for the sudden distraction, she tossed her notebook and pencil off to the side and eagerly answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ev, it's Jacob. Um, so here's the thing--"

By the slight nervous tremble in Jacob's voice, she could tell something was wrong.

"-- and after I finished the bikes we tried them out. Bella accidently fell off--"

"Wait," Evelyn exclaimed. "You let Bella ride on a dirt bike? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. I don't know, her head is bleeding pretty bad and she might have a concussion..."

Evelyn pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to keep her voice calm. "Oh my god. Jacob, you're an idiot."

"Look, in hindsight maybe it was a bad idea--"

"Maybe? Jake, you know better than anyone that that kind of stuff and Bella do not and should not ever mix."

She heard an exasperated sigh from the other end of the phone before he spoke again. "I know, okay, I know. Ev, can you please just come down here? I don't know how bad it is and Bella doesn't want to go to the hospital because Charlie will find out."

Of course. Evelyn groaned, but she was already getting up and running inside the house to grab her keys. "Fine. I'll be there in ten. Make sure she doesn't fall asleep and keep pressure on the cut."

"Thanks, Ev!" Jacob replied, sounding more cheerful already,

"Yeah, whatever," Evelyn replied, hanging up the phone as she grabbed her jacket, the first aid kit from her bathroom, and her keys before jogging out to her car. Within seconds she had her Jeep running and then she was flying down the road towards La Push.

When she pulled into the yard of the Black house, she could see Bella's truck and the dirt bikes sitting innocently in the truck bed. Evelyn scowled at the sight of them, knowing that it was Bella's idea and also knowing that she had roped Jacob into helping her with her new desire for reckless decision-making.

She hopped out of her car and hurried up the path towards the house, and she didn't even bother to knock when she reached the screen door.

"Jake? Bella?" She called as she opened the door and stepped into the living room.

"In the kitchen!" She heard Jacob yell from the room to her left. Evelyn sighed, readjusting the first aid kit in her hands before she walked into the kitchen to meet her friends.

When she entered the room, her eyes immediately fell on Bella, who was sitting on the kitchen counter clutching a crumpled mass of fabric to her forehead. She looked worse for wear, with dirt staining her jeans and road rash on her forearms and hands. Then, Evelyn's eyes shifted to Jacob, who was hovering over Bella worriedly without a shirt on and another rag in his hands.

When Jacob's eyes met hers, Evelyn raised an eyebrow as she looked pointedly at his lack of clothing. He immediately looked away, and she could guess that blood would be flushing his cheeks at any second.

"Bella, are you okay?" She asked, moving around the kitchen table to stand in front of the girl on the counter.

Bella nodded, but Evelyn didn't miss the slight wince when she did so. "Yeah, I'm good. Usual clumsiness got me again, I guess."

Evelyn frowned, unconvinced. "Right." She carefully lifted the wadded up fabric from her head wound, suddenly realizing that it must have been Jacob's shirt. She held it out to him. "I'm guessing this is yours. You might wanna go put on a new one and throw this in the laundry. Cold water to get the blood out."

Jacob blinked and hastily grabbed the t-shirt from her hand, avoiding her eyes. "Oh, yeah, right. I'll go do that. Be right back." He hurried from the room without looking back.

"Don't judge him too harshly, we didn't have anything else to stop the bleeding," Bella mumbled, avoiding her friend's eyes as well.

Evelyn grinned as she opened up her first aid kit to get out wound wash, antibacterial ointment, and fresh gauze. "Sure. He totally was not trying to impress you, or anything."

Bella shook her head as Evelyn reached up to start cleaning her cut. "Ev, you know it's not like that."

"Maybe for you it isn't," Evelyn answered, her voice soft as she met Bella's gaze. "But I don't think he feels the same way."

Bella closed her eyes and shook her head again. "It's not like that," she repeated, though she sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Evelyn.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Evelyn asked. "Not just with Jake, but with this whole thing. Dirt bikes? Really? You know you could have gotten yourself seriously hurt today, or worse."

"You don't get it," Bella said, her voice slightly sharp. "It's the only way I can see him."

Evelyn sighed as she wiped the last of the dirt and debris from Bella's forehead. "Except it's not really him, is it? Bella, he isn't here and he is not coming back. Ever. None of them are." Ignoring the slight crack in her voice, she continued. "Bella, you need to promise me that you'll stop with all of these reckless decisions. You won't always get out of it with just a cut on your head."

Bella sighed, but she nodded as Evelyn gently spread the antibiotic cream on her skin. "I know. I promise I'll try."

Jacob reappeared then, and Evelyn's noticed Bella visibly relax when she saw him.

"Looks like Ev got you all cleaned up. Do you think it's bad?"

Evelyn shrugged, carefully taping the gauze down to Bella's skin. "Honestly, the hospital would have been way better than me. You probably need stitches, but as long as you keep it clean you should be okay. I know you don't want to, but I would go and see if you have a concussion. If you hit your head that hard, I would be surprised if you didn't have one."

Bella shook her head vigorously, wincing when she realized that it hurt. "No. No hospitals. I don't want Charlie to find out."

Evelyn frowned but decided not to push the issue. "Fine. Take some Tylenol, then, for the pain. But if it gets really bad you have to promise me you'll go get it checked out."

"I promise, Ev. Don't worry, though. I feel fine." Bella smiled at Evelyn, but the brunette could tell she was hiding some of her pain behind it. She could only hope that Bella would take her advice if things got worse.

Evelyn closed up her first aid kit and tucked it under her arm. "Okay, since everything seems to be relatively fine now, I've gotta go back home and get ready for work." And to see that stupid, irritating vampire, she thought bitterly. But she kept that part to herself; she had no idea how Bella would react if she knew there was another vampire in Forks, but she had a feeling that it would not be good. Hopefully he would leave town before Bella even know he was here.

Jacob nodded quickly, falling into step beside her as she moved to leave the kitchen. "I'll walk you out."

Neither of them spoke until they reached the front door. Jacob rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as the girl turned to face him.

"You'll make sure she takes medicine, right?" Evelyn asked. "Knowing her, she won't do it on her own."

Jacob nodded, laughing a little as he thought about Bella and her notorious stubbornness. "Yeah, I'll make sure she does. I'll keep a close eye on her until she goes home."

Evelyn nodded, chewing her lip as she debated how to say her next words so as not to offend him. "Look, Jacob, I know you and Bella are getting closer and spending a lot of time together, but I just want you to know that you have to be... careful with her."

Jacob frowned, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "What do you mean by careful? I would never hurt her." The determined glint in his eyes further punctuated his sharp words.

"I mean," started Evelyn, keeping her voice soft so as not to alert Bella in the next room, "that she is struggling through a lot from her past breakup still. I'm sure you can see that. All I'm saying is that it probably is not the best idea for her to be in another relationship right now. Just... please remember that, okay?"

Jacob's frown deepened, but he didn't immediately disagree. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for coming down and helping, too. I'll see you around?" He opened the screen door for her, and Evelyn could tell that she was being dismissed.

"Sure, it was no problem," Evelyn said, offering him a tight-lipped smile. "I'll see you later, Jake."

As she walked back in the soft drizzle towards her car, she could only hope that Jacob would heed her words. If he truly cared about Bella, he wouldn't try to rush something when she wasn't ready. But somehow, she knew that the boy probably wouldn't listen. And that's what worried her the most.

***

"Jacob says Embry has been acting weird lately. Apparently he's not showing up to school anymore, and he won't even answer Jake's phone calls. Isn't that really odd? Embry would never ignore Jacob like that."

Evelyn and Bella were walking from their English class to lunch, and Evelyn was pleasantly surprised at how talkative her friend had been becoming recently. She had the sneaking suspicion that it had to do with her hanging out with Jacob on the reservation all the time. Sometimes, she would join them too, especially when Quil and Embry came, but most of the time she felt like a third wheel around the pair of them. Especially after the bike incident; she could tell Jacob didn't want her around as much when it was just him and Bella.

She frowned as they weaved through the crowd of buzzing students. "Huh, that is really weird. Now that you mention it, Embry hasn't been at Jake's the last couple of times I was there. I wonder what's going on."

Bella shrugged, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "I have no clue. Jacob mentioned something weird though about Sam Uley. He made it sound like Sam brainwashes them, or something."

"Yeah, he told me that too. Hopefully Embry is okay, maybe someone should stop by his place and see if he needs anything."

Bella nodded enthusiastically. "I'll see if Jacob wants to go over tomorrow when I go to his house."

They had just entered the lunch room, and Evelyn noticed Bella falter as they passed by the Cullens old lunch table, and where Bella had been sitting for the past few months. Evelyn usually joined her at least a couple of times a week, since she didn't want to completely abandon Angela, Eric, and their other friends at their old table. But she had to admit, splitting her time was getting a little bit exhausting.

"You okay, Bells? I can sit with you here if you want?" Evelyn spoke softly into her friend's ear to avoid any eavesdropping students that may be passing by.

Bella shook her head. "No, that's okay. Actually, I was thinking that maybe I could come sit with you guys today... if that would be okay."

Evelyn's smile lit up her face. "Of course! Everyone will be so excited." With that, she grabbed Bella's hand and together they made their way over to the lunch table where the rest of their friends always spent their lunch hour.

The conversation at their lunch table died down when everyone noticed Evelyn coming over with Bella at her side. Evelyn fought the urge to roll her eyes. Way to make her even more uncomfortable than she already is, guys.

Angela was the first one to snap out of her shock and smile at them as they sat down. "Hey, guys! We were wondering when you were gonna come in."

Evelyn smliled back at the bespectacled girl as she pulled out the lunch she had brought in her bag. "Yeah, sorry, Mr. Berty went on a tangent about the color symbolism in The Great Gatsby again."

"Jeez, that man gives the same speech like twice a week," Mike chimed in, shoving a forkful of mac and cheese in his mouth.

Evelyn sighed, nodding as she opened up her yogurt. "I think I could recite it from memory at this point."

Angela's sudden gasp pulled everyone's attention from Bella's arrival to her. "Oh my god, guys, I forgot to tell you! I was hiking in the woods the other day, and I saw this huge animal--"

"Ang, it's the woods, big animals live there," Jessica said, obviously uninterested as she poked around at the salad on her plate.

"No, I mean it wasn't like a normal bear or wolf or anything like that. I've never seen anything like it before." She scanned the faces around her, becoming visibly deflated when all she saw were confused and disbelieving looks from her friends. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"

"I believe you," Eric chimed in, lovingly taking her hand in his. "Totally, baby, I believe you."

Across the table, Jessica scoffed. "No he doesn't. He's just trying to get lucky."

Evelyn grinned, covering her mouth with her hand to help hold back the laugh that was in her throat. She's not wrong.

Angela straightened. "Guys, I'm serious. It was jet black, and huge. On all fours it was still taller than a person. It could be a bear, maybe?"

"Or an alien," Mike suggested, clearly making fun of Angela. "You're lucky you didn't get probed."

The sound of Bella clearing her throat grabbed the whole table's attention. "You know, you're not the only one," she started, smiled softly at Angela. "My dad's been getting calls at the station. I guess like five hikers were killed by some bear... but they can't find the bear."

"Hmm," Angela said, pointedly looking at Eric. "Isn't that weird?"

Eric laughed awkwardly, looking from Bella to Angela. "Last time you clowns doubt my girlfriend." Jessica merely rolled her eyes while Angela elbowed him in the ribs.

As Jessica, Angela, and Eric all began their own conversation, the sudden scraping of a chair caught Evelyn and Bella's attention. They turned to see that Mike had scooted his chair closer to Bella, and he was now leaning in towards her with a bright smile on his face. Evelyn quickly grabbed her yogurt and pretended to not be paying attention as she listened to the conversation.

"So," he began, "Bella's back."

Bella nodded, averting her eyes and letting out an awkward laugh. "Um, yeah, I guess so."

Mike beamed. "Alright, that's... well, welcome!" He paused, as if gathering his thoughts. "So listen, now that you're talking, and, uh... eating again-- which you know, gotta get that protein in there." Evelyn fought back a gag when she watched him shake Bella's arm, and her friend's utterly uninterested face. Why can't this guy take a hint?

"Um, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me?"

To everyone's surprise, Bella nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, sure. That would be fun."

Evelyn almost choked on the bite of yogurt in her mouth. She looked at Bella incredulously, but then winced in pain when she felt Bella's foot come down sharply on her toes.

"Um, ow," she hissed into Bella's ear, but Bella gave her a pointed look to quiet her.

Mike seemed to be just as surprised as everyone else. "Oh! Cool, let me see, um... We could go see Love Spelled Backwards is Love." He shrugged. "It's a dumb title, but it's a romantic comedy."

"No," Bella said immediately. "No romance. How about... Face Punch? Have you heard of that?"

Evelyn almost felt bad for Mike when she saw the way his face fell at the clear rejection of anything romantic. Almost. No one likes a guy who can't take no for an answer.

"I mean, it's an action movie..."

Bella grinned. "It's perfect. Guns, adrenaline... it's kind of my thing." She looked around at the rest of the table. "Actually, we should all go. Would you guys want to come? It would be really fun."

Eric instantly perked up. "Face punch! Yeah! Mike, hey, we were supposed to watch that. Do you remember when we saw the trailer?"

As Mike became engrossed in converstaion with Eric, Evelyn leaned in close to Bella so no one would hear them talk. "Bells, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm trying to be more social. I figured I would take your and my dad's advice and try some new things."

Evelyn frowned. "Yeah, and that's great, but I didn't mean go out with Mike. You're not actually interested in him, are you?"

"No, of course not! But it's not like I'm gonna be going out with him. Other people are coming too." Bella paused, her chocolate brown eyes meeting Evelyn's green ones. "You're coming, right? Please? I don't know if I can do it wihtout you there."

Evelyn chewed her lip in thought. On one hand, watching Mike follow Bella around like a lost puppy and try to win her over was not at the top of the list of things she wanted to do on a Saturday night. On the other, though, she wanted to be there for her friend, especially since she was asking her to be there for support.

She sighed, nodding as she offered Bella a small smile. "If you want me there, I'll be there."

"Thank you, Ev," Bella said gratefully. "I'll invite Jake too, so hopefully that will deter Mike a little bit."

Evelyn smiled and nodded, though she wasn't sure having Jacob there would make things any easier. Having two guys with obvious feelings for Bella there would be... interesting, to say the least.

She would just have to wait until Saturday to see how things would turn out.

***
hey guys! I'm so sorry this update took so long, my life has been crazy with nursing school, work, moving a cross the country, an emergency surgery, and basically just exhaustion haha. I really appreciate your patience and kind messages, they mean the world!!

honestly, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up because I am pretty overwhelmed this next month, but I promise it won't be as long of a wait as this one was!! I hope you guys will forgive me!!

all the love,

Kris (: