Bella stood on the cliff. The wind whipped her now soaking wet hair around her face. As she stepped off the cliff an arm reached out and suddenly grabbed her wrist. Startled at her sudden mid air stop she looked up to see Jacob staring down at her with eyes full of fear.

"I've got you." He proclaimed.
"Jake! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed.
"Are you crazy?! Can't you see that there is a hurricane out there?! You'll never survive the current!" He bellowed.
Bella looked down, taking a good look at the water below. The water crashed violently against the cliff side. Maybe today isn't a good day for a jump after all, Bella thought to herself. Jacob reached for Bella's other hand. She grabbed it and he pulled her back up to the cliff, pulling her close to him.
" Thank you, Jake." Bella whispered.
Jacob hesitated, "I need to get you out of this rain before you catch cold."

Bella took one last look over the cliff. There was a strange orange tint to the water just out from the cliff. Bella shook her head, maybe she's losing it after all she thought to herself.
Jacob pulled open the passenger side of Bella's truck and Bella obediently got inside. Jacob walked around to the driver's side and got in, immediately pulled her close.

"We should head back to your house. You should be home when Charlie gets home." Jacob said.
There was an uneasy undertone to his voice. Bella looked at Jacob with a confused expression.
"Did something happen, Jake?" Jacob's face fell a little. "It's Harry Clearwater. He had a heart attack."
Bella's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "That's terrible, Jake. Will he be okay?" she asked. Jacob's eyes were full of sadness now. "He's gone, Bells." he whispered so low that Bella wouldn't have heard him if she was right next to him.
Bella felt a lump in her throat. "Poor Charlie." she thought to herself.
Harry has been one of his closest friends, he will be devastated.

The truck pulled up to the front of Bella's house. Jacob turned off the engine, the silence was practically audible. Bella was the first to break the silence.

"Thanks, Jake." she said, "For everything." She gave Jacob a hug.
Jacob turned to stare into Bella's eyes. They continued to start for what seemed like hours. Bella was mentally battling the pros and cons of going forward with what Jacob obviously had on his mind. Bella saw when Jacob's expression changed, becoming more serene, more loving. Bella was beginning to panic.
"I'm not ready." she thought to herself. " Jake. . .I. ." Bella whispered.
" Yeah?" Jake answered, gently tucking a stray hair behind her right ear.
The contact made Bella shiver. " I .. I should get cleaned up. Charlie shouldn't see me looking like a drowned cat."
Jacob let out a sigh. " You're right, let's get you inside." Bella bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "You're going to stay right?" she asked.
Jacob smiled, "Who else is going to keep you safe from the bloodsucker?"

Once inside the house, as turned to put her coat in the hall closet, there was Jacob. His eyes were still full of the emotions that she saw when they were in the truck. He reached over and took the coat from her.
"I'll put this away, you go get cleaned up." he murmured.
Bella nodded obediently and made her way upstairs. She took her time, the hot water letting her relax. Grabbing a towel and hurrying to her room, she quickly got dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and headed downstairs. She peeked around the corner to the living room to see that Jacob had passed out on the couch, remote still in hand. Bella couldn't help but smile at the image that was in front of her; the big scary werewolf looked like a sweet and innocent kid while he slept. Not wanting to disturb him, she carefully slid on to the couch beside him,
snuggling up to his side. Listening to his heart, she found herself thinking about Jacob. Jacob loved her. that she was sure of. Being with Jacob wouldn't be hard, it would be natural. Before even realizing it, she fell asleep herself.

Bella awoke to the sound of the cruiser pulling up to the house. She sat up suddenly, startling Jacob awake in the process.

"Its okay, Jake. Its just Charlie" she assured him.
Jacob let out a big yawn, running his hands through his short hair. "How long was I out? He asked.
"Not long, I think." Bella answered as she rose to her feet. Bella opened the door in time to see Charlie coming up the walkway.
"Dad" she whispered as she embraced him. "I'm so sorry about Harry, Dad.
Charlie sighed, squeezing her back. "I'm sure going to miss him."
He looked up to see Jacob. " Hey Jake."
"Hey Charlie. I'm sorry about Harry."
Charlie nodded. " You should head home. Your dad really needs you right now." Jacob nodded obediently. Charlie headed the stairs. Bella turned to Jacob after her dad was out of sight. "Will you be back?" She asked.
Jacob smiled. " Missing me already?" he snickered. Bella rolled her eyes playfully. Jacob put a hand to her cheek. The warmth of his skin felt so good, she could feel her heart accelerate. Jacob leaned down and gave her a kiss on her forehead.
"Don't worry, Bells. I'll be back tonight to keep you safe."

With that Jacob left. Not feeling much like cooking, Bella pulled out some leftover dinner from the night before. She popped some garlic bread sticks in the oven and warmed up some lasagna in the microwave. As she put the lasagna and bread sticks on the table, Charlie came back down. They ate in silence, Charlie full of too much emotion to talk and Bella's mind distracted by the long day she had. Charlie left back out to the Clearwaters' to finalize the funeral arrangements. Bella washed the plates and decided to head to bed despite the fact it was still pretty early. She felt exhausted from all the days events. Not bothering to change out of her clothes, she curled up under her comforter and drifted off to sleep. Much too soon after she fell asleep, Bella awoke. She sat up with a start in the now dark bedroom, the only light coming in was the moonlight through her window. She saw movement in the dark and would have screamed if she wasn't paralyzed with fear. Staring back from the darkness were the jet black eyes of a hungry vampire.