To be completely honest, Roman wasn't sure what she was expecting when Marnie came home, but it wasn't the overly affectionate, hovering woman that was in her place. She was too happy, too talkative, as she tried over and over to spend time with her.

It was like she was overcompensating, trying too hard to make up for lost time. It was like she was trying to pack in as much time possible into one a limited amount of time.

And she was rightfully suspicious or maybe she was worried, she wasn't sure, but it bothered her enough to make her want to bang her head against the wall, or through a wall. She had only been back for a week and it was enough to make her go crazy -- more so when her already limited time was pilled on with additional work.

The punishment had seen great at first, a reminder that her mother cared, but now it was cutting into the time she could spend with Bella and Edward, or the wolves. It just all felt a little ridiculous now that she knew her mother couldn't have cared about her all that much after what she was planning with Julius.

Still, she got it, she guessed, that sort of love where you would do anything for them. Roman couldn't blame her in the end because no matter what her mother might feel, she did love the woman.

If she had to put up with her overbearing attitude until she got over it, then fine, as long as it made Marnie feel like a better mother.

Sighing, Roman filled out another copy of the sign request form because apparently a sign for trail safety needed to be filled in quadruplets when she wanted to keep people from dropping off a sharp edge. Which reminded her that she needed to fill out a request for additional wildlife warnings to hikers, as well as an unnecessary form for trailhead sign placement about what to do if you encounter wolves -- which made her want to both laugh and cry because the wolves really weren't the danger.

She had so much paperwork to file and trail walking reports to log, not to mention fake tracking the wolves that were working only working on their side of the treaty (except for Seth, of course, because he didn't seem to care about the treaty at all when it came to protecting her when she was working). There were so many things to do that she was genuinely worried she might not get them all done in time.

At least it was a Saturday and she could stay as late as she needed to finish everything up because there was no way that she could finish within the next hour.

"Do you want me to order you something to eat?" Marnie asks, hovering at the corner of the desk.

Her finger twitched. "No, I'm fine. I don't want to be distracted from all of my work."

"Romey, you can't just put off eating," her mother scolds with a deep frown.

"I'm not. I'll eat when I'm done," she corrects, adjusting her hold on her blue pen as she filled out the last of the sharp-edge-dropping-sign papers. "I just have a lot of stuff to do."

"It's okay to take a break, dear."

"Look, I get what you're trying to do here, but I just want to finish up all of my paperwork so that I can go to Bella's."

Marnie shifts her weight on her feet. "Maybe it's not a good idea to go over. Charlie might not--"

"Charlie is fine with me being there, mom, he doesn't mind, I think, because I can't get her pregnant, being a girl and all," Roman states, pushing her mother's buttons just a little bit. "Or maybe, like you, he doesn't take whatever relationship we have seriously so he doesn't mind."

"Roman, that's not true! I have complete faith in your relationship!"

She sets her pen down carefully, paperclipping the four copies together and placing them to the side carefully. "You spent like two weeks with Julius and he made his beliefs very clear. If he hasn't tried to plant a seed of doubt in your brain then I would be incredibly disappointed."

"Your father wouldn't dare do something so terrible against you!"

"He told me that I should just ditch Bella and forget about Edward because it was disgusting or something, and then tried to sell me on a vampire cult family," Roman snaps. Anger flutters like a dark butterfly in her, spreading the feeling through her veins. "You know how much I love them, so I won't give them up for anything, so don't make me choose."

"I would never make you chose, Romey," Marnie promises. "I meant what I said. I won't push my baby away."

Taking out the set for the wildlife warnings, setting them into order along the desk. She grabbed the blue pen. Triplicates and photocopies.

"Then you'll let me finish my work so I can go and see them."

"Don't forget that your father is calling tonight if you wish to speak to him."

And then she was finally alone, left to her four-page paperwork. Mindless paperwork that might actually steal her life force if she had to keep doing this.

It was actually a rather great sense of anxiety filling out these forms when all she could think of was Seth getting caught or shot or something because she did something wrong.

She took a long sip of cooling coffee, swallowing there at of the drink down before she set the empty mug aside. She just hand to get this done right and quickly. Then she would be free for the next few days.

Finishing up the trail head requests, Roman rubbed her eyes tiredly, eyeing the walk reports with visible disdain.

"Why don't you go on?" Marnie asks, popping u pay her shoulder. "I'll log them for you and if there's something I don't understand, I'll call."

Perking your, she smiles. "Really, mom?"

"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow."

Jumping with suddenly intense energy, Roman side hugs her mother before grabbing her bag and running off. "Thanks a lot mom!"

She shouts, barely sparing a glance to the small stack of papers on the desk.

No, she had much better, more important things to focus on now like waking up fully and forming herself into an actual person again before she got to Bella's. It was sorta pathetic how they were all the motivation she ever really needed, but it wasn't something she wasn't going to try and change.

The red pickup was out front when she bounced out the door, room to squeeze in beside Bella clear as the girl waved.

Things had shifted a little since her 'date' with Edward. He had been more talkative, more like himself, and it only served to make her heart grow fonder of him, of both of them, impossibly. As much as Roman says it's impossible to love them any more than she already does, she always finds a way.

Both of them have shifted to work a little better with the occasional addition of Roman — she had demanded that they take time to spend together, without her — and Bella, well as much as she claimed it wasn't' necessary, she was certain that it was nice to make up for time lost between them. They always came back to her as though they had the most intense and serious conversations.

Climbing into the cab and slamming the door, Edward waits for her to buckle herself in before taking off as fast as the old truck would let him.

"How'd you know?" she asks, glancing back to her bike in the bed.

"Alice gave us a head up," Bella says, leaning into her side a little. "The way you made it sound we were expecting you to stay all night."

"I probably was. Marnie decided to take over for me."

"Great! You can actually eat dinner with us this time."

Laughing softly, she rests her head against the other girls, a hand resting by her knee. She could never spend enough time with them, and even if it was just a car ride, each moment counted. It was maddening, a suffocating sense that threatened to swallow her heart. There didn't need to be passionate and romance in each second, that wasn't necessary -- no, sharing the same air was enough to please her.

Dressed in her Newton's Sporting Goods shirt, Bella looked nearly as bedraggled and worn out as she did. It must be terrible dealing with Mike all the time like that now that Edward was back. The boy wasn't shy about his jealousy, never bothering to quiet his comments when it came to Bella's 'strange relationship.' As if Roman hadn't known him for years and was nothing more than a side piece to gossip about to him.

She might strangle him one day across the lunch table. She might strangle Jacob too if he didn't get his act together.

Jealousy was one thing, being a crappy friend was another. If he wasn't going to be Bella's friend anymore then he should have the decency to tell her instead of pouting and complaining to anyone that would listen.

Seth wasn't shy about telling her everything she missed when she wasn't there.

"Have you spoken to Jake?" Bella asks.

She shrugs. "No, not really. Seth says that he's trying to avoid me as much as he can so I don't yell at him. It's hard to hide things from the hive mind, you know? He has been whining and bitching a lot, as Paul would so eloquently put it."

"They hate me," she moans.

"No, he definitely doesn't hate you," she teases, trying to lighten the mood. "He wouldn't make such a big deal out of this if he did."

Groaning, Bella just stares forward out the windshield at the rain, watching as the wipers flick back and forth. It bothers her how upset she is by him and she swears she was going to smack his wolf nose next chance she got just so he knew how much trouble he was in.

"Speaking of trouble," Edward mutters, jaw clenching as his hands tighten on the wheel. "Charlie's going to kill you."

"What? My dad?" Bella blurts, sitting forward to look out through the rain.

"Well, he might not kill you, but he's considering it," Edward corrects, eyes peeled to the Swan house.

She saw it as they came to a stop, the shiny, bright red motorbike parked next to the cruiser in the driveway. Glancing around for the culprit, he wouldn't go through all this trouble to get Bella in trouble just to disappear before he could say his piece. He had to have a piece.

Focusing on the path between the trees, she hops out and darts for the cover, aware of Bella and Edward following close behind her. She didn't have to look hard to find him standing there, shoulder pressed to a mossy tree. His chest was bare, shoes missing, and Roman realizes that he's ready to shift if it came to that.

She matches his sneer.

"What's your problem, Black? Can't have the girl you want so you decide to utterly destroy your friendship?" Roman snaps, leaning forward into her words. "You think getting her into more trouble with Charlie is going to make her like you? Do you not have a brain up in that stupid head of yours?"

"This doesn't involve you, Elders," he sneers, not as vicious as it could have been, likely for Seth's sake.

"Like hell, it doesn't!"

Her hands ball into a fist, aching with the force behind the small action. Edward catches her before she could do something dumb like try to fight him, pulling her back so she was at his side opposite Bella.

"Why?" she whispers, the heartbreak ripping through her. "How could you do this to me?"

"It's for the best," He says, voice rigid.

Angry words claw there way up her throat, poison sitting on her tongue. Edward places a hand on her shoulder, silencing her. She deflates only a little.

"What's that supposed to mean? It's for the best that Charlie wants to strangle me? Or did you want him to have a heart attack like Harry? How could you do this to him, Jacob?"

Edward sighs. "He just wanted to get you grounded so that you couldn't spend time with me."

"Aw Jake," Bella groans. "I'm already grounded! Why do you think I haven't been down to LaPush to kick your butt for avoiding my phone calls?"

His anger fizzes, face paling slightly. "That's why?"

"He thought it was me preventing you, not Charlie," Edward supplies.

"I could have told you as much, idiot!" Roman seethes, taking a step toward him. She's pulled back.

"Stop that," Jacob snapped.

Edward didn't answer.

Jacob shuddered once, and then gritted his teeth as hard as his fists. "Bella wasn't exaggerating aboutyour... abilities," he said through his teeth. "So you must already know why I'm here."

Roman wanted to beat his face in.

"Yes," Edward agreed in a soft voice. "But, before you begin, I need to say something."

Jacob waited, eyes stony and hard, hands clenching and unclenching to try and control the shivers running down his arms. He wasn't going to last to the end of this conversation, she bet.

"I wanted to thank you," he says, the sincerity of his tone startling. "I will never be able to repay you for the rest of my existence."

He doesn't reply but Edward must hear something from him because he continues. "For protecting them when I couldn't. I am eternally grateful."

A startled noise forms in her throat as she spins to face him. Them? Hope she couldn't dare let herself feel, fluttered in her chest, nearly strong enough to make her forget where she was right now.

Them. Showed he cared enough about her that he would thank someone he hates. Them. Put her on the same level as Bella in this situation.

"I didn't do it for your benefit," he snaps.

"I know," Edward says. "If there is ever anything I can do..."

Jacob's glare turns thoughtful.

"That's not within my power."

"Who's then?"

Edward grins. "Hers. There's. I'm a fast learner, Jacob Black. I won't leave until I'm sent away."

"Never," Bella whispers as Roman violently bites at her bottom lip, pressing her teeth into the fatty flesh.

She never wanted him to go. Never wanted to go to a life without either of them now that she knew what it was like — not when she just got it.

"Look, if that's all, Jake, then I really should go," Bella says, anger returning.

He scowls, body shaking further. "I just wanted to come remind him of a few key points in the treaty."

"We already know, thank you. Sam sent a message with Roman," Edwards says at the same time Bella asks, "What key points?"

"That if one of them bites a human — bites, not kills — the treaty is off," Jacob says, smug as if he won something.

She grinds her teeth, forgetting about her lip in her mouth and yelps when pain shoots through it with the tug.

"That- that is none of your business!" Bella screams, pointing at him with a shaking fingers.

"Like hell it isn't—" He tenses, a tremor running though him.

Fear lodged in her throat. She wasn't afraid of the wolves, she wasn't, she was afraid of there anger and the changing.

Jacob didn't seem to have much control as he huffed, face turning red. She didn't fight as Edward positioned himself to stand in front of them both defensively.

"Jake? Are you okay?" Bella whispers worriedly, reaching a hand out to him.

She grabs her back, holding her close. She could only imagine Emily's scar and terror cut through her at the possibility. She didn't care if she offended him, or any of them, if it meant keeping Bella safe. Seth would understand her reluctance.

"He isn't in control right now," Edward warns, not letting her pass.

"I would never hurt her!" Jacob snaps.

"BELLA!" Charlie's roar echoed from the direction of the house. "YOU GET IN THIS HOUSE THISINSTANT!"

Wincing, she turned back to the house and the red truck that was parked clearly within sight.

"I- I'm sorry, Jake, but I have to go," she apologizes, glancing behind her. Roman lets her go, encouraging her to get away from the angry wolf because apparently she had no rational sense of fear. "But you promised. Still friends, right?"

The boy's shaking stop, a sort of stillness overtaking him as he faces Bella with a frown. "I'm sorry, Bella. It feels like I'm always breaking my promises, but I really tried this time. Sorry. I miss you"

Bella swallows thickly, eyes welling with tears. "Me too."

She starts to leave slowly, unable to face the miserable look on the boy's face. Edward puts an arm around her, moving to direct her along with them, and as much as she loves the care that he is so openly expressing, she ducks under his arm and takes a few steps toward Jacob.

"Give me a minute, please," she asks softly, not looking away from the sadness in the younger boy's eyes.

"Be careful," he mutters, the words slowly shifting the sadness in Jacob's eyes into something darker.

"Of course," she assures, knowing that he'll be listening anyway.

It was fine. She didn't mind him knowing what she was going to say. There was no privacy when speaking to the wolves anyway, only discretion when it was necessary, and for that she was thankful.

Still, she waited until she heard the front door close and Charlie's muffled yelling through the walls before she spoke.

"I know what it's like being in love with someone so desperately that you want to do anything to keep them safe, Jacob. We're very similar in that sense, that we just want to make sure that the ones we love have the best life," Roman says, voice deep and intense. "The difference is that I don't assume to know what is best for her. I don't try to control what she does just because of something I don't like. If that was the case I would have found a way to destroy your friendship at the first possible chance.

"Your feelings made me very uneasy at the beginning, you see, and if it weren't for the dominance you always try to display, we could have been good friends," Roman admits, smiling emotionlessly. "But you listen to me when I say this, Jacob Black, if you ever hurt her again, betray her like this again, I will shoot you down and have you relocated to a wildlife preservation zoo in northern Manitoba faster than you can shift. Do you understand me?"

She doesn't give him time to answer as she spins on her toes and steps out of the cover of the trees out into the rain. It pelts down on her face, soaking her already wet hair.

"Tell Seth to call me later," Roman says, looking back over her shoulder. "And Jacob, don't forget that you hurt her too by trying to attack Edward. They're inseparable now, so you'll just have to get used to it."

°°°
Vote,
Comment,
& follow me on wattpad

hello! That is the end of New Moon!!

Unedited

2019-11-10