I SPRINTED DOWN THE STAIRS AND THREW THE DOOR open.

　　It was Jacob, of course. Even blind, Alice wasn't slow.

　　He was standing about six feet back from the door, his nose wrinkled in distaste, but his face otherwisesmooth—masklike. He didn't fool me; I could see the faint trembling of his hands.

　　Hostility rolled off of him in waves. It brought back that awful afternoon when he'd chosen Sam over me,and I felt my chin jerk up defensively in response.

　　Jacob's Rabbit idled by the curb with Jared behind the wheel and Embry in the passenger seat. Iunderstood what this meant: they were afraid to let him come here alone. It made me sad, and a littleannoyed. The Cullens weren't like that.

　　"Hey," I finally said when he didn't speak.

　　Jake pursed his lips, still hanging back from the door. His eyes flickered across the front of the house.

　　I ground my teeth. "She's not here. Do you need something?"He hesitated. "You're alone?""Yes." I sighed.

　　"Can I talk to you a minute?""Of course you can, Jacob. Come on in."Jacob glanced over his shoulder at his friends in the car. I saw Embry shake his head just a tiny bit. Forsome reason, this bugged me to no end.

　　My teeth clenched together again. "Chicken" I mumbled under my breath.

　　Jake's eyes flashed back to me, his thick, black brows pushing into a furious angle over his deep-seteyes. His jaw set, and he marched—there was no other way to describe the way he moved—up thesidewalk and shrugged past me into the house.

　　I locked gazes with first Jared and then Embry—I didn't like the hard way they eyed me; did they reallythink I would let anything hurt Jacob?—before I shut the door on them.

　　 Jacob was in the hall behind me, staring at the mess of blankets in the living room.

　　"Slumber party?" he asked, his tone sarcastic.

　　"Yeah," I answered with the same level of acid. I didn't like Jacob when he acted this way. "What's it toyou?"He wrinkled his nose again like he smelled something unpleasant. "Where's your 'friend'?" I could hearthe quotation marks in his tone.

　　"She had some errands to run. Look, Jacob, what do you want?"Something about the room seemed to make him edgier—his long arms were quivering. He didn't answermy question. Instead he moved on to the kitchen, his restless eyes darting everywhere.

　　I followed him. He paced back and forth along the short counter.

　　"Hey," I said, putting myself in his way. He stopped pacing and stared down at me. "What's yourproblem?""I don't like having to be here."That stung. I winced, and his eyes tightened.

　　"Then I'm sorry you had to come," I muttered. "Why don't you tell me what you need so you can leave?""I just have to ask you a couple of questions. It shouldn't take long. We have to get back for the funeral.""Okay. Get it over with then." I was probably overdoing it with the antagonism, but I didn't want him tosee how much this hurt. I knew I wasn't being fair. After all, I'd picked the bloodsucker over him lastnight. I'd hurt him first.

　　He took a deep breath, and his trembling fingers were suddenly still. His face smoothed into a serenemask.

　　"One of the Cullens is staying here with you," he stated.

　　"Yes. Alice Cullen."He nodded thoughtfully. "How long is she here for?""As long as she wants to be." The belligerence was still there in my tone. "It's an open invitation.""Do you think you could… please… explain to her about the other one—Victoria?"I paled. "I told her about that."He nodded. "You should know that we can only watch our own lands with a Cullen here. You'll only besafe in La Push. I can't protect you here anymore.""Okay," I said in a small voice.

　　He looked away then, out the back windows. He didn't continue.

　　"Is that all?" He kept his eyes on the glass as he answered. "Just one more thing."I waited, but he didn't continue. "Yes?" I finally prompted.

　　"Are the rest of them coming back now?" he asked in a cool, quiet voice. It reminded me of Sam'salways calm manner. Jacob was becoming more like Sam… I wondered why that bothered me so much.

　　Now I didn't speak. He looked back at my face with probing eyes.

　　"Well?" he asked. He struggled to conceal the tension behind his serene expression.

　　"No." I said finally. Grudgingly. "They aren't coming back."His expression didn't change. "Okay. That's all."I glared at him, annoyance rekindled. "Well, run along now. Go tell Sam that the scary monsters aren'tcoming to get you.""Okay," he repeated, still calm.

　　That seemed to be it. Jacob walked swiftly from the kitchen. I waited to hear the front door open, but Iheard nothing. I could hear the clock over the stove ticking, and I marveled again at how quiet he'dbecome.

　　What a disaster. How could I have alienated him so completely in such a short amount of time?

　　Would he forgive me when Alice was gone? What if he didn't?

　　I slumped against the counter and buried my face in my hands. How had I made such a mess ofeverything? But what could I have done differently? Even in hindsight, I couldn't think of any better way,any perfect course of action.

　　"Bella… ?" Jacob asked in a troubled voice.

　　I pulled my face out of my hands to see Jacob hesitating in the kitchen doorway; he hadn't left when I'dthought. It was only when I saw the clear drops sparkling in my hands that I realized I was crying.

　　Jacob's calm expression was gone; his face was anxious and unsure. He walked quickly back to stand infront of me, ducking his head so that his eyes were closer to being on the same level with mine.

　　"Did it again, didn't I?""Did what?" I asked, my voice cracking.

　　"Broke my promise. Sorry.""'S'okay," I mumbled. "I started it this time."His face twisted. "I knew how you felt about them. It shouldn't have taken me by surprise like that."I could see the revulsion in his eyes. I wanted to explain to him what Alice was really like, to defend heragainst the judgments he'd made, but something warned me that now was not the time.

　　So I just said, "Sorry," again.

　　"Let's not worry about it, okay? She's just visiting, right? She'll leave, and things will go back to normal." "Can't I be friends with you both at the same time?" I asked, my voice not hiding an ounce of the hurt Ifelt.

　　He shook his head slowly. "No, I don't think you can."I sniffed and stared at his big feet. "But you'll wait, right? You'll still be my friend, even though I loveAlice, too?"I didn't look up, afraid to see what he'd think of that last part. It took him a minute to answer, so I wasprobably right not to look.

　　"Yeah, I'll always be your friend," he said gruffly. "No matter what you love.""Promise?""Promise."I felt his arms wind around me, and I leaned against his chest, still sniffling. "This sucks.""Yeah." Then he sniffed my hair and said, "Ew.""What?" I demanded. I looked up to see that his nose was wrinkled again. "Why does everyone keepdoing that to me? I don't smell!"He smiled a little. "Yes, you do—you smell like them. Blech. Too sweet—sickly sweet. And… icy. Itburns my nose.""Really?" That was strange. Alice smelled unbelievably wonderful. To a human, anyway. "But why wouldAlice think I smelled, too, then?"That wiped his smile away. "Huh. Maybe I don't smell so good to her, either. Huh.""Well, you both smell fine to me." I rested my head against him again. I was going to miss him terriblywhen he walked out my door. It was a nasty catch-22—on the one hand, I wanted Alice to stay forever.

　　I was going to die—metaphorically—when she left me. But how was I supposed to go without seeingJake for any length of time? What a mess, I thought again.

　　"I'll miss you," Jacob whispered, echoing my thoughts. "Every minute. I hope she leaves soon.""It really doesn't have to be that way, Jake."He sighed. "Yes, it really does. Bella. You… love her. So I'd better not get anywhere near her. I'm notsure that I'm even-tempered enough to handle that. Sam would be mad if I broke the treaty, and"—hisvoice turned sarcastic—"you probably wouldn't like it too much if I killed your friend."I recoiled from him when he said that, but he only tightened his arms, refusing to let me escape. "There'sno point in avoiding the truth. That's the way things are, Bells.""I do not like the way things are."Jacob freed one arm so that he could cup his big brown hand under my chin and make me look at him.

　　"Yeah. It was easier when we were both human, wasn't it?"I sighed.

　　 We stared at each other for a long moment. His hand smoldered against my skin. In my face, I knewthere was nothing but wistful sadness—I didn't want to have to say goodbye now, no matter for howshort a time. At first his face reflected mine, but then, as neither of us looked away, his expressionchanged.

　　He released me, lifting his other hand to brush his fingertips along my cheek, trailing them down to myjaw. I could feel his fingers tremble—not with anger this time. He pressed his palm against my cheek, sothat my face was trapped between his burning hands.

　　"Bella," he whispered.

　　I was frozen.

　　No! I hadn't made this decision yet. I didn't know if I could do this, and now I was out of time to think.

　　But I would have been a fool if I thought rejecting him now would have no consequences.

　　I stared back at him. He was not my Jacob, but he could be. His face was familiar and beloved. In somany real ways, I did love him. He was my comfort, my safe harbor. Right now, I could choose to havehim belong to me.

　　Alice was back for the moment, but that changed nothing. True love was forever lost. The prince wasnever coming back to kiss me awake from my enchanted sleep. I was not a princess, after all. So whatwas the fairy-tale protocol for other kisses? The mundane kind that didn't break any spells?

　　Maybe it would be easy—like holding his hand or having his arms around me. Maybe it would feel nice.

　　Maybe it wouldn't feel like a betrayal. Besides, who was I betraying, anyway? Just myself.

　　Keeping his eyes on mine, Jacob began to bend his face toward me. And I was still absolutelyundecided.

　　The shrill ring of the phone made us both jump, but it did not break his focus. He took his hand fromunder my chin and reached over me to grab the receiver, but still held my face securely with the handagainst my cheek. His dark eyes did not free mine. I was too muddled to react, even to take advantageof the distraction.

　　"Swan residence," Jacob said, his husky voice low and intense.

　　Someone answered, and Jacob altered in an instant. He straightened up, and his hand dropped from myface. His eyes went flat, his face blank, and I would have bet the measly remainder of my college f andthat it was Alice.

　　I recovered myself and held out my hand for the phone. Jacob ignored me.

　　"He's not here," Jacob said, and the words were menacing.

　　There was some very short reply, a request for more information it seemed, because he addedunwillingly, "He's at the funeral."Then Jacob hung up the phone. "Filthy bloodsucker," he muttered under his breath. The face he turnedback to me was the bitter mask again.

　　"Who did you just hang up on?" I gasped, infuriated. "In my house, and on my phone?""Easy! He hung up on me!" "He? Who was it?!"He sneered the title. "Dr. Carlisle Cullen.""Why didn't you let me talk to him?!""He didn't ask for you," Jacob said coldly. His face was smooth, expressionless, but his hands shook.

　　"He asked where Charlie was and I told him. I don't think I broke any rules of etiquette.""You listen to me, Jacob Black—"But he obviously wasn't listening. He looked quickly over his shoulder, as if someone had called his namefrom the other room. His eyes went wide and his body stiff, then he started trembling. I listened too,automatically, but heard nothing.

　　"Bye, Bells," he spit out, and wheeled toward the front door.

　　I ran after him. "What is it?"And then I ran into him, as he rocked back on his heels, cussing under his breath. He spun around again,knocking me sideways. I bobbled and fell to the floor, my legs tangled with his.

　　"Shoot, ow!" I protested as he hurriedly jerked his legs free one at a time.

　　I struggled to pull myself up as he darted for the back door; he suddenly froze again.

　　Alice stood motionless at the foot of the stairs.

　　"Bella," she choked.

　　I scrambled to my feet and lurched to her side. Her eyes were dazed and far away, her face drawn andwhiter than bone. Her slim body trembled to an inner turmoil.

　　"Alice, what's wrong?" I cried. I put my hands on her face, trying to calm her.

　　Her eyes focused on mine abruptly, wide with pain.

　　"Edward," was all she whispered.

　　My body reacted faster than my mind was able to catch up with the implications of her reply. I didn't atfirst understand why the room was spinning or where the hollow roar in my ears was coming from. Mymind labored, unable to make sense of Alice's bleak face and how it could possibly relate to Edward,while my body was already swaying, seeking the relief of unconsciousness before the reality could hit me.

　　The stairway tilted a............