9

Blaize POV:

I wake up and go to Bella's room out of habit. And find her there, curled, still sleeping, around the stone figure of Edward. After last night, I shouldn't be surprised. 'Um...' I breathe.

Edward's eyes snap to mine, smouldering in the dawn light. He smiles softly and winks at me.

'I'll just be leaving now,' I stammer, heart thumping wildly. Hell, Edward and Bella. Edward and Bella. I sigh at my sister. Edward's low chuckle is heard through the door as he reads my thoughts. Get out, I think. Private.

Sorry Ma'am, I hear his teasing words ring through my head.

I stick my tongue out at him in my head.

Edward POV:

I watch as the light filters through the blinds. Focusing on Bella's breathing, I close my eyes, feeling the pulse of her heart in my hands. 'Edward?' Bella's voice pierces through my meditation, and I hear her eyelids flutter open. Running a warm finger down my chest, she asks, 'You left?'

I murmur, 'I had to at least get a different shirt - what would the neighbours think?'

A smile forms on Bella's face. She opens her mouth to ask another question. 'Where's Blaize?'

'She's going to...' I focus towards Blaize's sense of direction as I hear the engine of her Jeep start. '...Jacob's.'

'Okay.' She closes her eyes again and promptly falls back asleep. I smile, and stroke her hair slowly with my thumb.

Blaize:

I tap on Billy's door at nine in the morning. Billy opens the door, a welcoming smile on his face. 'Hey, Billy,' I say.

'Hey Blaize, looking for Jacob?'

I nod.

'He's just in the garage.'

I dart away to the right of the house. 'Thanks.'

'Other side, Blaize,' Billy chuckles.

'Whoops.' I spin and dash round the front of the house. Jacob appears outside the garage door. Barreling straight into him, I hug him tightly.

'Good to see you too, Blaize,' Jacob says, ruffling my hair.

'Are you busy today?' I demand. Jake laughs and shakes his head. 'Good,' I say. 'I want to go hiking.'

Jacob looks startled for a moment. 'Okay.' He disappears into the garage for a moment before dragging out a red motorbike. I blink. Jacob simply drops me onto the back of the seat, and says 'Hold on.'

(Note: Jacob is already past the I'm-scared-of-Sam-Uley's-gang fear. He knows he's a werewolf.)

The wind blows my hair across my face as we speed along the road. My arms are wrapped firmly around Jacob's waist, and I lean into his warm body. We soon reach the outskirts of town, and I hop off the motorbike as Jacob parks it next to a tree. As we stumble through the woods, Jacob asks, 'Do you have any idea where we're going?'

I shrug and reply, 'Nope, I'm just hoping we stumble across a meadow or something soon.'

He chuckles suddenly. 'You wanna speed up the journey?'

I roll my eyes, irritated. 'The point of this was to explor-'

I'm cut off momentarily by Jacob disappearing behind a tree. He chucks me his T-shirt, followed by his pants.

Hell, he was wearing shorts in Winter. I gape, speechless. 'Why are you stripping?' And then a russet coloured wolf appears from behind the tree. Before I have time to be frightened, the wolf huffs in a friendly sort of manner. He snorts and dips his huge head to nudge my shoulder. 'Jacob?' I ask, incredulous. I mean, Edward being a vampire and all, I shouldn't be too surprised that Jacob's tales were true.

He huffs and crouches, intending for me to climb on. And so I do. Gripping his soft fur tightly, I lean forward and rest my head between his shoulder blades. And then the forest becomes streaks of green like a stroke of a paint brush as Jacob bounds past. I feel his muscles rippling beneath me as he pelts across the forest floor. I laugh to myself in delight, and I hear his panting in reply.

Eventually, he slows down as we reach a grassy plain and I slide off him. I turn around as he phases, and chuck him his pants and shorts. And then I realise I dropped his T-shirt somewhere during the ride. Whoops. 'Jake, I think I lost your shirt,' I mumble.

Jacob snorts. 'That's fine, you can turn around now. Unless you're fidgety...'

'No...' I face Jacob and plonk down beside him.

'Now what?' He asks.

I lie back and close my eyes. 'I don't really know,' I admit. 'I just want to spend time with you, I guess. Like a friends outing.' I open one eye to see his mouth stretch into a wide smile. There's a soft rustling as Jacob lies down beside me. The surrounding grassy aroma contrasts with the rich pine-scent of Jacob. I breathe in deeply.

'What are you thinking about?' Jake's voice suddenly interrupts me. My eyes snap open. I'm glad Jacob can't read minds too.

'Nothing.' I realised that saying I was smelling you probably wasn't the best reply, so I just say, 'You smell like pine.'

He raises an arm to sniff his hand. 'Huh. Guess I do.' He rolls over and wraps his arms around me, burying his face into my hair. 'You smell sweet like flowers. I don't know what kind, though. Jasmine?'

I smile and poke him in the side. 'You have a wolf's senses. Did something go wrong?' I tease. Suddenly, a fly darts past and I squeal, scrambling upright and shaking madly. Jacob chortles, shoulders heaving. 'You're scared of flies?' he grins.

I shudder. 'They're scary.'

He gets up quickly, and says, 'And you don't think this is scary?' He phases and in his place stands a wolf.

This reminds me of last night, and the 'terrifying' scene with Edward replays in my head as Jacob growls, eyes sparkling, and launches himself at me. I'm flung back into the grassy bank.

His muzzle nudges me and I stroke his fur. 'You're beautiful.' I kiss him on the nose, and in return, he gives me one, big, slobbering lick across my face. 'Ew.'

Jacob pants heavily as if laughing, and falls onto his back. Wiping my face with my sleeve, I tackle him, and his sheathed paws bat playfully at me. As I hug his neck tightly, he squirms underneath me, tongue lolling out of his jaws.

All of a sudden, he phases back. I collapse on top of him. Poking his in the chest, I ask, 'What?'

Jacob shrugs. 'I think you're beautiful too.'