I heard Charlie heave himself off of the sofa. Jacob got to the hall first, and much more quietly, but Charlie was not far behind him. Jacob's expression was alert and eager.

"Well, it looks like someone is looking for a fight," Emmett laughed.

"Argh," Edward groaned, "one that I can't really give him."

"Why not?" Rosalie asked.

"No, he's right," Jasper sighed. "The wolves could take this as the start of a war."

"I don't think that would happen," Carlisle said. "Though, I still don't think you should fight with him, Edward, though I don't think this would start a war between us. I doubt Jacob would want that and I don't think Sam would allow it."

"I don't want any fighting, do you understand?" Charlie looked only at Edward when he spoke. "I can go put my badge on if that makes my request more official."

"That won't be necessary," Edward said in a restrained tone.

"Why don't you arrest me, Dad?" I suggested. "I'm the one throwing punches."

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to press charges, Jake?"

"No." Jacob grinned, incorrigible. "I'll take the trade any day."

Edward growled at that.

Edward grimaced.

"Dad, don't you have a baseball bat somewhere in your room? I want to borrow it for a minute."

Emmett laughed at that, as did several others.

Charlie looked at me evenly. "Enough, Bella."

"Let's go have Carlisle look at your hand before you wind up in a jail cell," Edward said. He put his arm around me and pulled me toward the door.

"Fine," I said, leaning against him. I wasn't so angry anymore, now that Edward was with me. I felt comforted, and my hand didn't bother me as much.

We were walking down the sidewalk when I heard Charlie whispering anxiously behind me.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"Give me a minute, Charlie," Jacob answered. "Don't worry, I'll be right back."

I looked back and Jacob was following us, stopping to close the door in Charlie's surprised and uneasy face.

Edward ignored him at first, leading me to the car. He helped me inside, shut the door, and then turned to face Jacob on the sidewalk.

"Come on, Edward. You have to do something good," Emmett murmured in anticipation.

I leaned anxiously through the open window. Charlie was visible in the house, peeking through the drapes in the front room.

Jacob's stance was casual, his arms folded across his chest, but the muscles in his jaw were tight.

Edward spoke in a voice so peaceful and gentle that it made the words strangely more threatening. "I'm not going to kill you now, because it would upset Bella."

"Hmph," I grumbled.

"Well, obviously right now it wouldn't," Edward chuckled, "but, unfortunately, that won't last long."

"Edward!" Esme reprimanded.

Edward turned slightly to throw me a quick smile. His face was still calm. "It would bother you in the morning," he said, brushing his fingers across my cheek.

Then he turned back to Jacob. "But if you ever bring her back damaged again - and I don't care whose fault it is; I don't care if she merely trips, or if a meteor falls out of the sky and hits her in the head - if you return her to me in less than the perfect condition that I left her in, you will be running with three legs. Do you understand that, mongrel?"

"So, does that mean an arm or a leg?" Emmett asked, snickering.

"Idiot," Rosalie said, shaking her head at him and glaring at Edward at the same time. "And you should do more than just threaten him."

Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Who's going back?" I muttered.

Edward continued as if he hadn't heard me. "And if you ever kiss her again, I will break your jaw for her," he promised, his voice still gentle and velvet and deadly.

"What if she wants me to?" Jacob drawled, arrogant.

"As if she would," Alice scoffed.

"Hah!" I snorted.

"If that's what she wants, then I won't object." Edward shrugged, untroubled. "You might want to wait for her to say it, rather than trust your interpretation of body language - but it's your face."

"Nicely said, Eddy," Emmett chuckled.

Jacob grinned.

"You wish," I grumbled.

"Yes, he does," Edward murmured.

Emmett laughed at that, though he was looking annoyed at the same time. He hated it whenever Edward would say something like that after reading someone's mind.

"Well, if you're done rummaging through my head," Jacob said with a thick edge of annoyance, "why don't you go take care of her hand?"

"One more thing," Edward said slowly. "I'll be fighting for her, too. You should know that. I'm not taking anything for granted, and I'll be fighting twice as hard as you will."

"Good," Jacob growled. "It's no fun beating someone who forfeits."

"Eddy doesn't know the meaning of the word forfeit," Emmett laughed. "I mean, I had him in a headlock for four hours and he still wouldn't give up..."

"She is mine." Edward's low voice was suddenly dark, not as composed as before. "I didn't say I would fight fair."

"She's already yours, so you don't need to fight at all," Esme frowned. It was clear that she thought Bella should have been the one to say that.

"Neither did I."

"Best of luck."

Jacob nodded. "Yes, may the best man win."

"That sounds about right . . . pup."

"Nice jab, Eddy," Emmett chuckled.

Jacob grimaced briefly, then he composed his face and leaned around Edward to smile at me.

I glowered back.

"I hope your hand feels better soon. I'm really sorry you're hurt."

Childishly, I turned my face away from him.

I didn't look up again as Edward walked around the car and climbed into the driver's side, so I didn't know if Jacob went back into the house or continued to stand there, watching me.

"How do you feel?" Edward asked as we drove away.

"Irritated."

He chuckled. "I meant your hand."

I shrugged. "I've had worse."

"Yeah, Eddy, this is nothing," Emmett smiled.

"True," he agreed, and frowned.

Edward drove around the house to the garage. Emmett and Rosalie were there, Rosalie's perfect legs, recognizable even sheathed in jeans, were sticking out from under the bottom of Emmett's huge Jeep. Emmett was sitting beside her, one hand reached under the Jeep toward her. It took me a moment to realize that he was acting as the jack.

Emmett watched curiously as Edward helped me carefully out of the car. His eyes zeroed in on the hand I cradled against my chest.

"Obviously," Emmett chuckled. "Any new injury on Bella is usually good for a laugh."

"And this one, even more so," Jasper added, chuckling too.

Emmett grinned. "Fall down again, Bella?"