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An Occasion

It felt silly that today would feel any different than any other day for me. Sure, it was a first, but compared to all the other firsts I'd experienced in the last year, it hardly measured up. I'd learned about the super natural for the first time. I'd become supernatural. I'd taken my first look at the world around me through vampiric eyes; I'd moved through my world at new speeds, in ways I'd never thought possible before. I'd fallen in love for the first time. The only time, I thought, hopefully. I'd even killed for the first time. It wasn't the highlight of my firsts, true, but surely the most important among them. In comparison with that, today was stupid. And still, I grinned when I walked into Creative Writing to find a beautiful bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates waiting on my desk. True, I couldn't enjoy the chocolates, but it was the thought that counted.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Edward said from behind me. I turned and gave him my best surprised-girlfriend smile. It was, after all, my first Valentine's Day with a real, live (well…not exactly, but still…) valentine.

"It's beautiful, Edward. You shouldn't have. And when I say that, I'm thinking more about the chocolates."

"The chocolates do seem a tad overkill. But then, that's precisely why I didn't."

It took me a moment to process what he'd said. "You didn't?"

"It looks like you have an admirer." Edward waggled his eyebrows and gave me one of his more wicked smiles. I was just about to tell him to cut it out when I heard the high pitch cry my cell phone made when it was on vibrate. I gestured to tell Edward to give me a moment, taking out my phone to read my text message.

JAKE: We still on for tonight?

I squinted at the phone, answering the text message aloud. "Tonight?"

"What about tonight?" Edward asked, looking concerned.

"Jacob just asked me if we were still on for tonight. Only I didn't make plans with him for Valentine's – oh no! Edward!"

"The movie. I remember, you mentioned it. Is that tonight."

"It is Tuesday night. That's our hangout time," I said, weakly. "Are you upset?"

"Upset? Should I be?"

"It's just…you didn't…did you have something planned?"

The wicked grin reemerged. "Nothing that can't be postponed until the hours when your human friend will be asleep."

I was grateful that the rush of heat I felt could no longer show up on my face.

"Behave, we're in school." But I smiled at him in a way that I hoped was seductive before turning my attention back to my cell phone.

BELLZ: Of course! Meet u at the theater, 8:30?

Immediately, my phone gave its high pitched squeal.

JAKE: Actually…can I pick you up from Charlie's? I kinda have a surprise.

A surprise? I briefly worried that it might have something to do with the occasion, but then pushed the thought away. It wasn't like that with Jacob. We were friends. We spent most of our hangouts in front of the TV at Charlie's collecting car parts around town. He'd invited me to the garage at La Push a few times but of course, I couldn't go.

BELLZ: Surprise, huh? Is it chocolate?

I surprised myself sometimes with the witty retorts I always seemed to have for Jacob. We bickered like brother and sister.

JAKE: Way cooler than chocolate. Besides, you already got some today. ;)

"Jacob?" I said aloud, eyeing the chocolate on my desk.

"What happened now?" Edward asked, just as Ms. Katz walked in ordering us all to take our seats. I ignored the question on purpose, letting the moment pass and focusing as much of my attention as I could manage on the lesson. Meanwhile, the better part of my brain wandered. Jacob had meant the chocolate as a friendly gesture, of course. And the wink was a surprise thing. It wasn't a flirt thing.

Was it?

The rest of the school day flew by. It didn't even seem real. Practically no one was focused on learning, with one exception among my friends – Angela, of course. She was the only person that had come over to my desk before lunch to say something school related. From everyone else I'd received a card, some sort of stuffed prize, or some gesture or other wishing me a happy holiday. Even the teachers were celebrating, walking around in reds, pinks, and blacks, some with festive broaches pinned to their sweaters. Not that I minded. Everything I saw reminded me of the exciting, yet oddly balanced relationship I was in – the eternity I had to look forward to. I wondered what it was like for people who weren't in relationships. Or worse, people who had recently been dumped.

I hope none of them came to school today, I thought, warily.

Edward and I spent the drive home discussing war tactics. Though it was a serious conversation, and potentially upsetting if I thought too much on it, this had become routine. At the family meeting a few weeks ago, I'd told everyone about my vision. Carlisle had immediately called an old friend, Eleazar, asking if he could stop in for a visit in the next few months. I'd thought that the Denali coven was all female and single, at first. In fact, I was a bit wary of that detail. With Edward having been the only unmated vampire in the Cullen family before I came along, and the Denali coven being the only other vegetarian family in…well…existence, it seemed only natural that Edward may have looked at the women of their coven at one time or another for a mate.

Another detail that made me uneasy was the fact that I hadn't met them yet. Carlisle had been in touch with them over the phone in the summertime, and they'd promised to come down for New Year's Eve. One, because it was some kind of once-every-decade tradition, but the real reason was to meet me – the newest addition to their extended vegetarian family. They'd cancelled, however, and though Edward assured me it had been nothing personal, Rosalie took care to remind me that they'd rescinded almost immediately after receiving Laurent and getting wind of Edward and my relationship. That couldn't be a coincidence, could it? And yet, the uncomfortable thoughts were easier to avoid. I didn't want to imagine what may have happened in the past to cause such an intense reaction. Did one of the Denali women…? Had Edward…?

No. Best not to think about it.

As it turned out, the Denali coven wasn't completely made up of women. There was one mated pair – Eleazar and Carmen. Carlisle had explained that Eleazar's vampiric gift was that he could detect the abilities of other vampires. Carlisle hoped that Eleazar would be able to get a read on me. Though Carlisle was convinced that my vision was real, he wasn't convinced that my power was as simple as precognition. There was still the small matter of Edward not being able to hear my thoughts. In any case, we were all hoping to get the whole thing straightened out soon.

In the meantime, the plan was still to take my vision as a warning. The most obvious plan was to make sure that Edward was never alone – that way there was no way Victoria could corner him. Alice assured us that there were other ways to prepare. My vision had taken place on a snowy mountain top, and she didn't see snow coming any time soon. Still, I wasn't about to leave Edward's safety up to something as unreliable as the weather, even if Alice was the most reliable meteorologist I was ever going to meet. There was a system in place for whenever Edward and I had to separate, even if the reason was silly, like tonight. Emmett was to follow not far behind with Alice, and to flank him when he left me, though not making it obvious. We didn't want to draw attention to our witness protection program, just in case we were being watched.

Charlie's cruiser wasn't in front of the house when we pulled up. Tonight was a big night for Charlie – any celebratory holiday was. People would be out on the road, coming home for late dinners and other festivities where they'd probably been drinking. Charlie wouldn't be home until late, I suspected. I would have preferred to wait in the car with Edward until Jacob arrived, but that wouldn't do for keeping up appearances. Jacob had to think that I still lived here. Instead, I kissed Edward goodbye and settled down in the living room, peering out the window only to make sure that Emmett's jeep passed the house a few minutes after Edward pulled off.

Twenty seconds and one Doritios commercial later, Jacob was knocking on the door. I was already standing up out of curiosity. The engine I'd heard wasn't the one I'd expected. I hadn't even realized it was Jacob until I heard it cut off in front of the house. The moment I opened the door, I gasped.

"Get out of here!" I yelled, slipping through the teensy gap between Jacob and the doorframe to get to the car. "You finished it?"

"Isn't she sweet?" Jacob's smile was literally ear to ear. But then, mine was too. I'd been expecting to be picked up in Jacob's dad's car – well, technically Jacob was the only one of htem capable of driving, but it wasn't his dream car. For the past couple of months I'd been helping Jacob put together a Volkswagen Rabbit. He hadn't had the money for a new one, but he was a pretty good mechanic, so we decided he should find a broken down one and restore it himself. We'd go to used car shops and junkyards looking for parts – oh, and occasionally I would magically stumble upon parts that somehow seemed to be brand new. But I'd had no idea he had finished the car. He'd even given it a fresh coat of paint!

"This is great, Jake," I said, moving around the car to tell him face to face. "Really great."

"Couldn't have done it without you, Bells." Something happened in his voice when he said my name. Something that made me take an uncomfortable step back. "I mean, you know," he said, quickly, as though sensing my discomfort, "with the parts and stuff."

"Sure." I would have to think about this carefully tonight. I had thought this was a childhood friendship I was maintaining. What if I was wrong? Did Jacob want more? "Is it fast?"

Immediately the tension vanished as Jacob began walking around the car, pointing out the additions I hadn't yet seen. Though we were both enjoying the tour, we had to get going in order to make the movie. Luckily getting into the car enabled a detailed discussion of the car's interior, keeping our friendly banter from slipping into another awkward moment.

We'd agreed on a rather gory horror movie that Jacob wasn't technically old enough to get into, so he stood by the doors while I bought the tickets at the window outside. He made a show of examining the parking sign, and when I pointed at him for the woman in the window, she didn't make a fuss. After all, he was enormous; tall and wide. Especially with his back turned, no one was about to argue that he wasn't seventeen.

It wasn't until the man at the door ripped our tickets that I felt the earlier tension return. Jacob reached for my hand, meaning to lead me through to the theater beside him.

I flinched.

"Sorry," he said, his hand dropping to his side, immediately accompanied by his head. He made to keep walking, but I stopped, hoping that would be enough to stop him too. It wasn't like I could touch him. When he finally turned around his eyes pleaded with me to follow, but I shook my head instead. This would go on forever if one of us didn't stop it. One of us had to be mature.

"Jacob. We need to talk about this."

He sighed, dragging his feet on the walk back to me. "We don't have to talk about it, Bella, 'kay? I just slipped."

"You slipped, Jacob? What does that mean?"

He shook his head. "It means it was an accident. I didn't mean to…" he trailed off.

"You didn't mean to try to hold my hand?"

Put so simply, it sounded pretty ridiculous. Jacob seemed to be thinking the same. He dropped the defensive body language, meeting my eyes for the first time since the incident.

"Okay, okay," he said, his voice an entire octave lower suddenly. "I did mean it. I thought if I did it right, if it was gradual, that tonight might be the night to try…" he trailed off.

"To try…?" I prompted.

"To try and show you…what's between us."

"Shit," I muttered, at a volume just below what Jacob could hear.

But Jacob reacted, his hands coming up to cover his face. "I'm sorry, Bella. I know. I know! I'm an idiot. I know you don't want to hear it – I knew that. That's why I thought if I showed you instead – "

"Jake, relax! Please. Everything is alright." I wasn't sure which one of us I was trying to convince. He shouldn't have heard me. How had he heard me?

"But you never curse." I felt frozen. Was it me? Had I simply underestimated how loud I'd been speaking? How many other times had I slipped this way? What other humans had heard me say things that I never, never intended to be heard? "Bella, you okay?" Jacob was genuinely worried, I could tell. I didn't blame him – I could imagine what the look on my face might be. Unfortunately, his worry for me overpowered his earlier embarrassment and he didn't hesitate this time. He brought his hands directly to my face, his huge palms cupping each of my cheeks.

Both of us gasped, and I was certain I knew why he had done it. To him, I must feel like ice. But Jacob's hands on my face were in no way what I'd expected. I'd only come close to touching a human before, but I'd touched animals, and they felt nothing like this. It felt like my head was sitting over an open flame. Abruptly, Jacob pulled his hands away.

"Bella I…you're freezing. Do you feel sick?"

A brief, fuzzy memory zipped through my mind at his words, it's clarity enhanced by my panic. A human memory. The utility closet. The first time I'd touched Edward's skin. I'd thought he was hypothermic. I could play along.

I exhaled. "A little, actually. I'm kind of dizzy." I squinted a little, trying to look disoriented, and kept my eyes on the ground. This kind of acting was usually easy for me, but it felt different with Jacob. Out of all my human friends, he was the only one who actually knew me. I waited for his response, worrying all the time. Would he know I was faking? Would he call my bluff if he did?

"Me too," he said. I jerked my head up in surprise. Jacob was squinting too, his eyes focused on the ground. His lips were pursed, and his breathing was uneven. He looked nauseous. I wondered for a moment if he would be acting too. Maybe he had only wanted some pretext under which to go to the bathroom, escaping our awkward conversation. But then there was a noise, a low, slow rumbling, and from the way Jacob swayed as it sounded, it had to be coming from inside him. He wasn't faking.

I decided to drop my act altogether. If Jacob was really sick, I could tell him I felt cold to him because he'd had a fever. His health was more important right now. I had never been around a sick human before – that is, not while I was a vampire – and was slightly appalled by the idea that I now possessed the ability to vividly hear internal bodily functions I'd barely been able to stand as a human. On the other hand, maybe it could help me determine what was wrong. Jacob was obviously in pain, and it pained me to see it. I had to help.

"Jake, what's wrong. Do you feel sick?" He nodded, curling his lips in slightly, apparently feeling too sick even to talk. "Your stomach?" Another quick nod. "But you seemed fine before. Were you feeling this way earlier?" He shook his head. "You're definitely running a fever." My excuse in the open, I could touch him now. I took his hand, leading him over to a flight of stairs so he could sit. Jacob staggered along behind me with big, clumsy steps, finally lowering himself awkwardly onto the stairs and leaning back, his long legs sprawled out in front of him. One of his hands rested against the wall as though for reassurance, while the other hovered protectively near his mouth.

Oh, no, I thought. He thought he was going to throw up. What would that sound like? Even worse – what would itsmell like?

Okay, I could do this. I could be a good friend. I would call a doctor. I'd call Carlisle! And then –

Jacob's body gave a quick lurch forward and the thought went straight out of my head.

"Bathroom!" I yelled, pointing in the direction of the nearest sign. Luckily, Jacob was right with me. He stood up, ran past me and straight down the hall, nearly tripping over his own big feet. I took his place on the steps and put my head in my hands, relieved that I wouldn't have to witness what was about to happen in the bathroom.

Of course, the moment the thought occurred to me, the most awful scent I'd ever come upon began wafting down the hallway.