Aspen Swan was an anomaly. The daughter of the Spring Goddess who had an affinity to get herself into dangerous situations. To be fair, the Battle of Manhattan wasn't something she wanted to do. She stood by her family's side, helping fight Kronos'...
I could tell Bella was getting worse and worse the longer Jacob wouldn't talk to her. I kept on encouraging Jacob to talk to Bella but he refused on the pretence of 'keeping her safe'. Bella was nagging me to tell me what was up with Jacob but I wouldn't tell her. Emily had taken to picking me up once or twice after school to hang out on the Rez. Today was one of those days. I bid goodbye to my school friends before getting in Sam's old mustang and Emily drove us down to the Rez. We talked happily, trading stories about Sam and how the Pack was before I showed up. We got to her place and after helping serve the Pack a hefty meal, a call came in at the house. Emily answered it. "Hello?" She greeted. "Oh, hello Billy...yes, he's here..." Emily sighed. "Ok, I'll get them to head over. Aspen is here too...ok, I'll send her too." Emily hung up and then turned to us. "Bella's at your place, Jake." I sighed, my shoulders falling.
"I knew she was persistent but I didn't realise how much." I admitted. "I'm really sorry guys, I didn't realise she would do this. She thinks you're a cult."
"We're not." Paul protested.
"But think of how it looks to someone who isn't in the know. A group of boys randomly hanging out at almost all hours of the day, and every once in a while another boy joins the group and starts ignoring almost everyone else? Look, Bella already knows about the Cullens and mine and dad's world, if you explain it to her, she'd understand."
"I understand." Sam said softly. "But as of now, we must keep the secret until we can be sure she can be trusted with it."
"That makes sense." I muttered. Embry pushed from the table.
"We should go then, right?" He guessed.
"Yeah." Sam said. "Let's head out." I shouldered my bag and the five of us headed towards Jake's house. I spotted the truck in the driveway, Bella sitting in the bed. Jake stormed up to the truck as the rest of us walked up to the house.
"What are you doing here Bella?" Jacob demanded.
"Jacob..." Bella breathed. Her eyes raked over the group. She was met with hostile eyes from everyone but Sam and I. My eyes were flicking between her and Jacob as Sam was indifferent.
"What do you want?"
"I want to talk to you." Bella replied.
"Go ahead."
"Alone!" Bella hissed. Jacob turned to look at Sam. I looked up at him wearily. Sam gave a single nod, and I let out a soft sigh. Sam said something in Quileute and the pack followed him into the house. I sent Bella an apologetic look before following them inside.
"I have to go home." I said. "Bella is gonna have a fit."
"We're sorry." Jared said. "We didn't want to cause a rift in between you and your sister."
"You don't have to worry." I assured. "Bella and I...our relationship, while good at the moment, was never stable. A little hiccup here and there is natural, we'll recover. You should have seen my reactions with my step-brother after I was claimed. We were at each other's throats almost every day before Chiron sat us down to talk." The pack smiled. "I'll see you later." I slipped out the back door and raced back home.
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I made it back home before Bella and started on dinner. Crumbed chicken with peas and mash potato. Dad greeted me when I got home, and he called the Black place not long after I told him where we were. "Billy said Bella's on her way." Dad said. I nodded, continuing to cook. Dad waited out for Bella who arrived within the hour. Dad brought her into the house. "-Then what did happen?" Dad asked, settling Bella into the couch.
"Sam Uley says Jake can't be my friend anymore." Bella said lifelessly. I froze, realising Jake had just done something utterly stupid.
"Who told you that?"
"Jacob." I dusted off my hands, turning the stove to low as I joined my family on the couch.
"You really think there's something wrong with the Uley kid?"
"I know there is." Bella insisted.
"There's nothing wrong with him." I argued. "Bella, Sam's a good guy, do you think Dad would have let me date him if he wasn't?"
"Maybe he's got you brainwashed into his cult." Bella spat at me, causing my eyes to widen.
"What?"
"I saw you with them today, don't think I didn't." Bella suddenly rounded on me. "What, you think that just because you're older you can steal all my friends?"
"No, that's not-"
"Don't say it's not true because it is." Bella suddenly stood. "I'm going to change. Bella practically stomped up the stairs. My eyes followed her form as my mouth tried to form words.
"I'm going to call Billy." Dad sighed, walking over to the home phone and dialling the Black's.
"I'm...not hungry anymore." I muttered. I stood shakily. "The potatoes just need to be mashed, milk and butter." I gave Dad a kiss on the cheek before retreating to my room downstairs. This was the worst mine and Bella's relationship has been...I don't think we can fix it this time.
