(Thomas POV)
Forks High looked the same as it always did, grey concrete, wet pavement, students moving like they couldn't wait for the upcoming spring break.
But the moment we pulled into the parking lot, I could tell something was wrong.
Edward's Volvo was already there, parked near the main entrance like it belonged on a brochure. Bella climbing out of the passenger side, shoulders tight. Like she was worried about something.
And then I saw why.
Jacob Black stood at the base of the front steps beside his motorcycle, positioned like he'd chosen the spot for maximum visibility. He wasn't blocking the doors, just existing in front of them with that quiet, immovable confidence that made people reroute without knowing why.
It worked. Heads turned. A few kids slowed down, pretending they weren't slowing down. Someone muttered Jacob's name like it was the opening line of a rumor.
Jacob didn't care.
His attention was locked on Edward.
Bella hovered close to Edward's shoulder, face pale. Edward stood half a step in front of her, polite posture, predatory stillness underneath.
Edythe and I quickly made our way to the small crowd forming and began to listen to the conversation.
Jacob's voice was low, but the tension in it carried.
"You think because you took her out of town, you're in charge?" Jacob snapped. "You think you get to decide what happens to her like she's luggage?"
Edward's expression didn't change. That was almost the worst part.
"Jacob," Edward said calmly, "leave."
Jacob's laugh was short and sharp. "Or what? You'll glare me to death?"
Bella's voice cut in, strained. "Jake, stop. Please."
Jacob didn't look at her. His eyes stayed on Edward like he couldn't afford to blink.
"This isn't the place," Edward said.
Jacob's mouth curled. "Funny. Because your people made the border a place."
Edythe's hand slid into mine automatically as we crossed the lot. Cool. Steady. Tighter than usual.
Jacob saw us and his gaze snapped to me, fast, assessing, and the anger in his face eased, just a notch.
"Thomas," he said, and the tone wasn't hostile. It was warning. Familiar. "Back in one piece."
"Barely," I muttered. "It was touch and go last night, I am lucky to be walking."
Edythe gasped and smacked me in the back of the head, "Watch what you say."
Jacob's mouth twitched, almost a grin, then his eyes cut right back to Edward.
Edward's gaze didn't leave Jacob. "I've already heard the warning from the pack."
Jacob's expression sharpened. "Yeah?"
Edward's voice stayed even. "Stay away from Bella. Stay away from us. Treaty."
Jacob leaned forward half an inch. "I heard you could do that."
Edward didn't react. "Do what?"
"That mind thing," Jacob said, and there was heat in it now, real, personal anger. "The head-peeking."
Edward's eyes narrowed. "It's unavoidable."
Jacob's smile turned sharp and a little ugly after he seemed to think for a second. "How about you look again."
For a split second, nothing happened.
Then Edward went stiff...not tense, not defensive...frozen in a way that didn't match his usual control.
Bella didn't notice why. The watching students didn't notice anything at all. To them it looked like two guys doing the silent, macho stare-down thing.
But I felt it anyway, the way the air changed. Edythe felt it too, her fingers tightened around mine again, her head angling just slightly like she was trying to hear what wasn't being said out loud.
Bella frowned, confused. "Edward?"
Jacob didn't answer her. He kept his eyes on Edward, voice low and viciously satisfied.
"There," he said softly. "Now we're even."
Bella's cheeks flushed...anger and embarrassment tangled together. "Jake..."
"Don't," Jacob cut in, and this time he did look at her for a heartbeat, and the softness in his eyes made the next part hurt worse. "I'm not here to fight you, Bells. I'm here because you're standing too close to something that doesn't learn."
Edward's voice dropped, controlled and dangerous. "Leave."
Jacob's attention snapped back to him. "Or you'll what? Step over a line again?"
That was the spark.
Edward shifted...one step, not a lunge, but it was enough. Bella's breath caught. Edythe's posture went razor-straight.
Jacob's hands lifted a fraction, ready, not attacking, like he'd been waiting for Edward to prove something.
A sharp voice cut through it.
"Hey! You...by the bike!"
A teacher, clipboard, raincoat, permanent suspicion, strode down the steps like irritation could substitute for authority.
"You can't be here," he snapped at Jacob. "This is school property. Either you're a student or you move along."
Jacob stared at him for a beat like he was deciding whether the man was worth acknowledging.
"Yeah," Jacob said flatly. "I'm leaving."
The teacher jabbed his clipboard toward the doors anyway. "The rest of you, inside. Now. Break it up before I call the office."
Jacob swung one leg over the motorcycle in one smooth motion, rain slicking his hair down against his forehead. Before he started it, his gaze cut to me again, tone back to something almost normal.
"Elders want you tonight," he said. "Official."
My stomach tightened.
"And, Thomas?" His eyes flicked toward Edward without turning his head. "Come ready. They're already mad about the border."
Then he added, quiet, for Edward alone..."Tell your mind-reader to stay out of my head."
Edward's voice was ice-calm. "Control your thoughts."
Jacob's grin flashed. "No."
The engine barked to life. He peeled out, tires spraying water, and vanished down the road like the forest had opened its mouth and swallowed him.
Bella stood frozen, face tight, eyes bright with something she didn't want anyone to see.
Edward exhaled once, slow...still stiff, still too controlled.
Edythe's hand stayed in mine like an anchor as we entered the school.
Edythe and I slid into our usual seats, one of the perks of our new schedule was that we were basically attached at the hip all day. The teacher droned on about something that required a textbook and more faith than I had to spare. Pens scratched. Pages turned. The room tried to be normal.
It didn't work for me.
I could still see Jacob beside that bike. Edward going rigid for half a second. Bella's face when she realized she was watching two worlds collide in front of strangers who thought it was just teen drama.
Edythe didn't open her book right away.
Her gaze stayed forward, expression calm enough to pass as bored. But her voice, when it came, was barely more than breath.
"Thomas."
I didn't look at her immediately, just shifted slightly, like I was adjusting in my chair. "Yeah?"
Edythe's eyes stayed on the front of the room. "Jacob didn't just think loudly. He aimed it."
My stomach tightened. "A memory."
Her jaw moved, small, controlled. "Bella. When Edward left her."
The words landed like a cold weight in my chest.
Edythe continued, still looking forward, tone precise. "I didn't understand how bad it was... how wrecked she really was...until Jacob shoved it into Edward's mind to hurt him."
I went very still, hands flat on the desk. "So that's why Edward..."
"Yes," Edythe said softly. "He didn't just hear Jacob gloating. He saw it. Felt it. The whole thing." A brief pause. "Jacob wanted it to cut."
I swallowed, eyes on the board without seeing it. "Did it?"
Edythe's answer was immediate. "Yes."
A beat.
"And Jacob?" I asked, quieter.
"Satisfied," she said, and there was no admiration in it. Only blunt recognition. "For the moment."
I exhaled slowly, careful not to make it look like anything but impatience with a boring lecture. Somewhere behind us a student whispered and got shushed. The teacher kept talking, oblivious.
Edythe's fingers brushed mine beneath the edge of the desk, cool, steady, grounding.
"Tonight," she murmured.
I nodded once, barely a motion. "Tonight. The elders."
By the time last period ended, the rumor mill was already chewing on the morning like it was a fresh carcass. I caught snippets in the corridor, 'Jacob Black, Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, motorcycle, fight' all said with the kind of excited certainty that only comes from not knowing anything real.
Edythe's hand found mine as we walked out into the drizzle.
"You're thinking too loudly, I can almost hear you." she murmured.
"I'm thinking appropriately," I muttered back.
Her mouth twitched. "That's not a denial."
Outside, Edward's Volvo was gone. He probably wanted to get Bella away from the rumors as quickly as he could.
I opened my truck door and waited for Edythe to climb in, then shut it gently like the world wasn't already trying to break everything.
We sat for a beat with the engine idling.
I finally spoke my thoughts to Edythe. "After our talks over the weekend, I don't know how calm this meeting tonight will be. I can't keep acting like I'm subservient to the Tribe or the pack. I went there to help…yes…but now they're comfortable calling on me like I'm answerable to them for some reason." I exhaled slowly, staring through the windshield at the wet, empty lot. "I think I'm going to have to pull them up short."
A beat.
"And they probably won't like it much."
Edythe's face had a troubled look as she considered my words, "Just don't push it so far that it's a fight, love. This has the potential to turn into a full-on war. You are part of our family now and vampires don't take loss well."
I reached over and covered her hand where it rested near the console, thumb stroking once, slow, grounding.
"I'm not looking for a fight," I said. "I'm looking to draw a line."
Her eyes sharpened. "They will try to make you responsible for us Cullens."
"I know." My jaw tightened, then I forced it loose again. "And I'm not going to insult them, either. I'm going to remind them of facts they don't like. Like the fact that Victoria is the threat. Like the fact that no one crossed the line. Like the fact that half of them chose to watch the Cullens instead of chasing a known killer."
I put the truck in gear and started to leave the parking lot, "I'll take you to your parent's house before I go."
That got her attention. Her head turned, eyes narrowing slightly. "You don't need to drop me off like I'm…"
"I know," I cut in gently. "But I also know you will climb the walls at home alone if I leave you there. Happy middle ground is for you to be with your family. I am sure Alice and Esme have more wedding planning for you."
For a second, the troubled look shifted…less worry, more something like reluctant approval.
"You're thinking like a husband," she said, quiet.
"I'm practicing," I replied.
That earned the faintest pull at the corner of her mouth. Not a smile. But not nothing.
After the short drive with both of us lost in our thoughts, I pulled up to the Cullen house.
Edythe didn't reach for the door right away.
"Thomas," she said softly.
"Yeah?"
"If it turns," she began, and stopped like she didn't want to hand the universe a script. "If they push you into a corner…"
"I leave," I finished, firm. "I won't swing. I won't escalate. I'll walk out."
Her eyes searched mine, looking for cracks.
"You'll actually do that," she said.
"Yes." I squeezed her hand once. "Because you're right. Vampires don't take loss well. And the wolves don't back down when they feel threatened. I'm not going to be the spark."
Edythe's shoulders eased by a fraction. "Good."
I leaned over and kissed her lips, brief, steady, no heat. "Stay here. Be safe. Don't let your imagination run away with you. And try to reign in Alice a little, there is no need to try and train birds to be our ring bearers."
Her mouth twitched again. "She heard that and is calling you bossy."
I snorted softly. "Tell her I said the birds can RSVP like everyone else."
Edythe's eyes warmed, just a flicker. "She heard that too."
"Of course she did," I muttered.
For a second, we just sat there with the rain ticking against the windshield and the Cullen house looming ahead like a held breath.
Then I brushed my thumb over the corner of her mouth, a quiet habit now, and let my hand fall.
"Go inside," I said. "Get out of your head before it turns into a battlefield."
Her gaze held mine. "And you?"
"I'll do what I promised," I said. "Calm. Clean. I leave if it turns."
Edythe nodded once, approval, not permission, then opened the door and stepped into the damp air. She paused long enough to lean back in and press her forehead briefly to mine.
"Come back," she murmured.
"I will," I said.
She shut the door gently and walked up the steps.
I waited until she disappeared inside before I turned the truck around and headed back toward town.