Calling the police on Dick Cullen was not a great plan, which I only realized halfway through my conversation with my dad's secretary.

It's one thing to lie to the cops.

It's another thing to ask them to come and expect them to ignore the giant naked werewolf boyfriend.

One day I will learn to plan ahead. Until then, more lies.

I left Jacob out of the story completely, hanging up and turning to find that he was looking at me with complete trust. An old feeling ripped through me, a twist of guilt at how nice he was when I was so...

So...

Gen.

I shoved the feeling away and stood on tiptoe to give Jake a kiss on the cheek, Jacob steadying me as the distance proved a bit too far. "You should probably run now. The pack probably needs you."

"After he shows up on your doorstep?" Jacob said, hands still wrapped around my elbows. "I'll be in the woods. Wave from your bedroom window when things have settled and I'll come up-" He caught my surprised expression. "To talk about Edward." He finished with a stammer.

"Right."

"And what we can do about Bella."

"Right."

There was a pause as we both considered the wrecks that were my sister and the vampire. Then I shooed Jacob out the back door and went to stage the scene for the cops.

...

Lying to cops was quite a bit of fun; I'd never had a chance to tell a story that people had to question. It was almost as much fun as it had been trashing a bit more of the living room so that the split-in-half couch didn't catch quite as much attention. By the time my dad came home to find the two officers frowning at me over their notebooks, I'd managed to convince them that Edward had gotten angry that I wouldn't tell him where Isabella was, but he had promised to pay for what he'd messed up and that my dad should probably just ask for a restraining order. The officers--an older woman and a man only a couple years older than me--accepted it all.

From the look on my dad's face when he walked in, he had some questions. I didn't care. I was worried about Isabella and what would happen if she got any hint of the visitor.

As my dad and sister came in the front door I hurried over to them, trying to seem as though I was just upset. My dad gave me a hug and a quick check that I was alright before his face grew suspicious again and he walked over to the cops. Isabella started to follow and I took her by the elbow, holding her back so I could whisper in her ear.

"Jake transformed and I had to cover his tracks."

For a second I thought she would question it, ask what the story was, maybe even help us. But after a few seconds, the dead-eyed version of my sister came back and she simply nodded and slipped past to walk up the stairs.

I didn't bother to move, watching from the doorway as my dad finished up with his deputies and read over my statement with a slight frown. It didn't take long before I had to move aside to let them leave and then my dad was walking around the living room with his hands in his pockets, surveying the wrecked table, chairs, and couch. He tapped one of the chairs with his foot and nodded to himself, probably noticing that most of the things just needed to be set upright.

"I'm sorry, Dad," I said when it looked like he was done surveying the damage. "I shouldn't have let him in. I just didn't want him sitting out there waiting for..."

"Not your fault." He squatted down in front of the couch and I held my breath as his eyes went over the massive tears that had started out as smaller claw marks. He just shook his head and stood up, walking over to give me another hug.

"What?" I asked, voice muffled a bit by his flannel shirt. "Dad?"

"Next time, call me sooner." He grumbled.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." He chuckled. "Janet opened up with 'Gen was attacked.'"

"That's not what I told her!"

"I know." He paused, pulling back to look apprehensively up the stairs behind me. "What'd you tell your sister?"

"I just said an ex-friend did it." I lied again. What was I going to do when he showed up again? What was I going to say to Isabella to keep her from running back to him? I thought, for a split second, of asking my dad what he thought-but there was too much he already didn't know. I saw tense look in his eyes turn on me and I felt yet another flash of discomfort. How much did he worry about his daughters? And did he know how much we tried to hide from him? He would kill us if he knew the messes we'd actually gotten into and how much Bella had lied to him. He might even be surprised to know how much I had lied. About vampires, werewolves, about Jacob...

Dad knew me. He knew what a troublemaker I was. But I also knew he trusted me. 

Something else I didn't deserve.

"Why don't you go get some sleep, Genny." Dad interrupted, giving me another awkward hug when I just stared at him.

"Oh. Yeah. Ok." I forced myself to stand still for a second though, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He started to look concerned again and I laughed it off. "I am sorry."

"I know."

I forced myself to shake off the guilt again and turned to take the stairs two at a time. I fell at the top of the stairs and was panting slightly as I slammed the door and found Jacob already waiting, looking startled where he stood frozen and halfway through sitting down on my computer chair.

"Who brought the pants?" I asked, grasping at the first thought and realizing immediately I had not made the situation any better.

"Paul. He wanted to yell at me in person." Jacob cautiously relaxed into the chair, trying to seem calm. I wondered if I still smelled like vampire or if Paul had actually gotten to him... or if sprinting up the stairs and slamming the door wasn't the most low-key way to approach a boy who'd already tried to leap between me and vampire once that day.

"Ah, yes, Paul. Everyone's favorite hypocrite." I paused. "Next to me, I mean."

Jacob shook his head as I approached him, reaching out to take my hands and pull me closer.

"Paul cares about you. I can't fault him for that." Jake had the same guilty, bitter, confused look I'd probably worn before I walked up the stairs. I bit my lip, refusing to go back to that feeling-not when I finally had Jake alone again.

Jake's eyes flashed up to mine, reading some part of my feeling through that nightmare tangle that was his imprint on me. He shouldn't have to be so serious- and that f***er Paul-

"So you wrecked a couch and I lied to the cops," I muttered. "I don't see why anyone needs to yell."

Jacob smiled but it didn't seem very real. I squeezed his hands, trying to find a way to encourage him and failing miserably. It was so hard to be freaking sincere. I started a few sentences before growling with frustration, dropping his hands and storming away to snatch up a tangled pile of clothes and begin hanging them back up in the closet.

"We should talk about Cullen." He said finally.

"Ok."

F***ing Cullen. Ruining the fricking mood.

But it was to get worse.

We talked for a good while and I felt better. Jake and I had already wanted to spend more time together than we could when he had to stay up at LaPush as a guard. We agreed that I would start spending my free time up there, protected by the wolves, and that I would take Isabella with me. Edward wasn't likely to break the treaty, Jake thought. And if he did that would solve things once and for all, what with all the wolves just waiting to jump on him. I honestly just hoped that Bella would make some new friends.

It seemed simple and it seemed like it could work. Could show Bella that being human was ok. Maybe even enjoyable. Not everything needs vampires to make it interesting. I shook off the itching thought that I was quickly developing the same problem with werewolves. Shirtless werewolves.

I shook that thought off before Jake could somehow sense it. We really needed to have another talk about exactly how much imprinting let him feel. And how much Paul was going to find out from reading his thou-god, no. I didn't want to know that. Nope.

I realized we'd been sitting in silence for a while and finally admitted that I should actually get some sleep. Jake nodded and went to the bedroom door, opening it to check one last time that we were alone and then sneaking out the window. I shut it behind him, warring with myself whether to lock it on him and then figuring that the lock wouldn't keep him out any more than it would stop a vampire. I shut the curtains and changed into my giant t-shirt pajamas, heading down the stairs to finish washing up. I was exhausted but there was a feeling of triumph starting to grow. I'd kicked a vampire out of my house. I'd kept Isabella from getting any hint of her ex. I had a plan to make sure things stayed ok.

The hint of a triumphant, sleepy smile froze on my face about halfway through brushing my teeth with a loud thump across the hall and a cry of surprise. The sound of Bella struggling to open her window. Urgent whispering, my sister asking 'Are you real?', a long silence.

"Edward."

I stared hard into the mirror, examining the emotion draining from my face.

What do I do? What do I do?

What could I do?

I went to bed.