Taming the major

Rosalie's sympathy

The ride to Timbuktu had been mostly silent, with a clueless and rather tense Izzy, a determined Jasper seated next to her, and lastly a determined and tense Rosalie at the wheel.

Izzy had no idea where they were headed and she had a nagging inclination that neither did the adoptive twins next to her. They were just winging it, however at this point she was too spent both emotionally and physically to interrogate them. They had been driving almost nonstop for about fifteen hours straight, only stopping to refill the tank or to unload Izzy's and reload it again with some food.

Somewhere along the line, her phone rang and she was almost too glad to attend it. Anything to keep her mind occupied.

It had been Jacob, who had excitedly asked her about her competition. She had tried to keep her time as relaxed and cheerful as it Normally would be, ignoring the stiffness around the car at Jacobs call. She hadn't been as convincing as she thought she was because in less than a minute he called out her bluff.

"What's wrong Izzy?" Jacob sounded serious.

Izzy controlled the urge to sigh—it was becoming a rather depressing habit at this point. What could she say to him, I'm being hunted by a psychotic vampire because apparently I'm hot and my vampire boyfriend has decided to take me on an unceremonious road trip to who knows where in an attempt to protect me from said psycho. It was exactly an easy topic. Not to mention she couldn't say anything without blowing up the Cullens cover.

"I'm fine." Perfect! Like he'd buy that.

"Yeah, right." Completely deadpan.

"I'm serious!" Izzy tried to muster up as  much false honesty as she could in her voice. "I'm perfectly fine." Before she added another white lie to make her sound more believable. " it's just that one contestant that's been getting on my nerves in all the wrong ways."

"As long as you haven't gotten yourself caught in another life threatening situation." Jacob joked easily.

Izzy laughed uneasily. "Yeah...that would suck big time."

Jasper turned to face her, face set in incredulity. she gave him a shrug. What else was she supposed to say? Alright maybe she could've come up with a better response but in her defence she was tired. It was common knowledge that if Izzy tired herself out beyond a certain extent, her brain cells began to forsake her.

"Yes it would." Jacob agreed. "When are you coming back to Forks, we haven't hung out in ages."

"I'm not really sure actually." Izzy confessed. "We're actually going on a last minute road trip."

"With the Cullens" his voice turned serious. "... are you positive that's a good idea?"

"Yeah, I'm positive." Izzy didn't miss a beat, absolutely firm.

"Let me know when you get back okay?" Jacob sounded resigned.

"Will do!" Izzy replied cheerfully, well atleast attempted cheerfulness. "I'll see you when I get back."

If I get back, the thought struck her. Once again she was grateful Edward wasn't in the vicinity. She cut the phone after a quick good bye, settling into Jasper's already expectant arms. They held comfort.

"You'll get to meet him when we get back home alright." Izzy should've known better than to think her boyfriend wouldn't catch on. He could read her alittle too well, with or without his gift.

"Although I don't see why you'd ever want to hang out with him." Rosalie spoke in apparent distaste.

"He's my friend." Izzy said simply. It was true, Jacob had become a fast friend. He was someone she had clicked with instantly, almost like Jasper except their relationship was more familial than anything.