"Expecting someone else?" My voice had a slightly bitter twinge as I stepped out onto the porch and stared down my nose at Jacob Black. He stayed where he was, sprawled across the bottom step and the ground; that fall must have hurt, but he was still gaping up at me like he'd never seen my face before. "Bella's not here." I snapped, more to see what he'd say then because I thought he was looking for her. Jacob just kept staring. "You in there? Did your brain fall out when you took your swan dive off the porch?"

He did not find this funny.

In fact... he started to blush and kept staring at me. He stood up slowly, his gaze never leaving my face as my eyebrows raised further and further up my forehead.

"Jacob?" I asked. He didn't answer. Was he having a stroke? I peered closer, trying to figure out if he was ok. "Jacob Black? You in there?"

"I'm... not sure." Jacob muttered. He reached up to place his hand over his heart again, walking up the steps awkwardly as he continued to watch me. "Something... happened."

"Oh, wonderful." The concern I'd been feeling went straight back to anger. "Something happened! Again. I'll go mark it on my calendar."

"Genevieve..."

"Oh, it's fine. Dear diary, today Jacob came by and something happened. I don't know what but I'm sure he'll tell Isabella." And again, my words came out ten times harsher than I thought they would sound. Luckily, Jacob just smiled.

"You keep your diary on your calendar?" He teased, giving me a nervous smile as he took in my expression.

"Yes, well," I scowled. "It has pretty pictures. And dates. And what else would you use all that blank space for? Shut up." I took a step back, not sure if I meant to invite him inside or shut him out. "Have fun with your mysteries." I called as slipped back inside. Apparently my brain wanted to shut him out; the way my temper was starting to flare up, I couldn't blame it.

But Jacob wasn't about to lose me again.

"No... no, Genevieve... Gen, wait!" He slipped his hand into the crack between door and doorjam and I barely avoided slamming his fingers. "I can tell you now. I can tell you everything."

"Who says I want to know?"

"You do. Trust me. Just listen—Gen!"

"What are you even doing here?" I called over my shoulder as he slipped inside and closed the door. I watched him listening, checking for Bella and my dad and I turned away. "I know you don't want to see me." I grumbled, heading up the stairs in one last attempt to avoid a fight.

"I always wanted to see you!" Jacob insisted, grabbing my wrist and forcing me to turn and see the frantic look in his face. "I couldn't."

I glanced around, realizing I was about two steps from the landing for Bella's room and the bathroom. I continued looking around, identifying every crack on the steps, every spider web on the ceiling, the close walls making us feel closer than we were... I looked at everything but his desperate eyes and everywhere but where his warm hand gripped mine.

"You seem fine now." I muttered, tugging my hand back and feeling a pinch of regret when he let it fall.

"And I can explain that too." Jacob insisted, ducking down a little to look up at me. Even two stairs below me, he towered over me: had he grown another foot? And his hands were so warm, his skin hot... just like Paul's.

"I... I can't..."

Realizing the attic was too far away for the escape I suddenly needed, I grabbed the first door I saw, stormed through, and locked the door behind me. This caused a slight pause as he absorbed what had happened and I realized I was now trapped in my sister's bedroom.

I heard him approach the door and take a deep breath.

"Is there really no one else here?" Jacob asked finally.

"Why? Are you planning to murder me?" I joked, my voice high with anxiety. I was trying to figure out how long I would be able to stay in Bella's room before I went crazy. "A little creepy, Jake." Maybe I could sit on the bed... No, it was covered in crappy books. Sheesh.

"No, I just want to tell you something that Charlie can't hear." Jacob said, his voice coming from the crack under the door.

Regretting it even as I did so, I lay down on the floor and peeked through, finding him peering back through the small space between door and floor. "Not helping on the creep level."

Jacob hesitated for a second.

"What do you know about vampires?"

I stared at him, or what I could see of him, and then found I did have a response.

"What the f***, Jacob." I said shakily. I sat up and leaned back against the door, grinding my palms into my eyes and trying not to think about where and why I had gotten the bracelet that now dug into my cheek. Even so, every fear I'd been gradually getting over swept through me at once. "What do I—I don't..." Why was it affecting me like this? I'd thought I was stronger, but that word coming in Jake's friendly voice. Oh, god, what was he? What else was I going to lose? "Jacob, please, you can't be..."

"I'm not—"

"Why are you here?" I demanded, speaking through gritted teeth as I ground my hands so hard into my eyes that I began to see stars. It was better than the red eyes and grinning fangs my mind wanted me to see.

"You said you missed me." His voice came quietly through the door.

I shook my head, trying to control my imagination, trying to get my friend Jacob back. Trying to get my Jacob back. "But, Jake, all these secrets. And then you disappeared..."

"I told you: I can explain it all now."

"Jake..."

"I'm not leaving you. Not again." He said simply. His voice was right behind me and I suddenly could picture him perfectly in my head: sitting sprawled against the other side of the door, his long limbs cramped in the tiny hallway, pressing himself against the door. "I would like to do this face to face though." He said, his voice lighter.

"Mmm." I scooted closer to the door, not caring that I was incredibly uncomfortable sitting here. "I... I need something first, I think."

"Ok. Ask me something."

"You..." I shuddered and had to start again. "You know about vampires?" I asked slowly.

"Yes."

He waited. Slowly I began to uncurl, lowering my hands and looking around to assure myself that I was alone. That it was the middle of the day. That I wasn't insane for thinking that Jacob Black had just told me he believed in vampires. That it really wasn't all that surprising, apart from the actually telling me about it part.

"Did..." I swallowed hard, wishing I could find a reason to be angry again: but I had to get my biggest fear for him out of the way. "Did they... did they hurt you too?"

From the other side of the door came a furious snarl and something slammed against the door so hard that I was showered in a cloud of dust. Startled, I scrambled to my feet. I could hear him breathing hard as I forced myself to focus and my brain was reeling with possibilities as I yanked open the door, my mind trying to convince itself that there was no monster in the hallway, that there was another reason for the large crack now winding its way down the middle of Isabella's bedroom door.

My eyes darted wildly until I found Jacob in the middle of the stairs. His face was screwed up in concentration, jaw clenched and hands balled into fists as he pressed them against the sides of his head. I reached out for him but when he heard me step toward him he pulled away, almost falling down the stairs.

"Give me a second." He said, apologizing.

"What did you do?" I demanded, looking from him to the ruined door.

"I got angry."

"Yeah?"

Jacob, calming down some, looked up at me sadly. "Are you ok?"

"From the mention of you-know-whats or your attack on a defenseless door?"

"Both." Jacob replied, sighing helplessly as he sagged against the wall. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You don't scare me." I said. He raised an eyebrow as I winced. "I mean... yeah, that was a lie." I shook my head. "But vampires scare me more."

Jacob shook his head and I frowned down at him, noticing now that he had cropped his hair short, that he was even taller than he had been...

"That's what I'm counting on." Jacob said drily.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "What does that mean?"

"It means..." Jacob said slowly, standing and staring intently into my eyes so that he could judge my reaction. "That I'm a werewolf."

"Holy sh**." I started to back away and tripped over the top step. Jacob stepped closer and caught me, waiting for a moment while I caught my balance but not letting me go once I had.

"And," Jacob added, probably figuring I couldn't possibly get more horrified then I already was.

"And?"

"And..." Jake smiled. "I don't want to spend another minute apart from you."