Jake led me inside, supporting me. I was so shocked that Victoria was still hanging around. Jake brought me to the couch where I sat with my head between my knees, breathing deeply.

"You're staying here tonight Bella," Jake said. "I'll call Charlie; will he be home by now?" I nodded as I lifted my head and rested back into the couch, my breathing steadying. I was suddenly exhausted.

Jake picked up the phone and dialed my home number. After two rings, Charlie must have picked up.

"No, Charlie. It's me, Jacob."

"Yeah, she's here," Jake smiled and waited for my dad to finish.

"Well, her truck won't start, I tried looking at it, but it's just too dark now." I was amazed how easily the lies rolled off of his tongue.

"She's more than welcome to stay here; I know you'll be up early for work."

"Yeah, I can take a look first thing and see what's wrong." Jake nodded at me; "Sure, I'll put her on."

Jake passed the phone to me smiling.

"Bella?"

"Dad?" I could tell that he knew we were hiding something.

"What's going on? Where's Billy?"

I sighed.

"Nothing Dad, we went down to the beach, and when I went to leave my truck wouldn't start. Billy's at Sue's, but he called not long ago. He'll be back soon."

"Why don't I come pick you up?"

"Well, I don't want to be rude. Billy's bringing Pizza for the three of us and I'm just so tired." I smiled when I thought about what must be going through Charlie's head right now. "Plus Dad, it's not a school night or anything, tomorrow's Saturday and I was going to be here anyway."

Charlie sighed in defeat. "Alright then, I'll pick you up after I finish work. If you can't fix the truck, just give me a call."

"Sure, sure, see you tomorrow."

"Night Bella."

"Night Dad." I hung up the phone and smiled up at Jacob.

"Pizza, huh?"

He picked up the phone and called the Clearwater's.

"Hi Sue, its Jake, is my Dad there?"

"Thanks."

"Hi Dad, It's a long story but its cool if Bella crashes here for the night, right?"

"Dad!" Jake's russet skin suddenly had a red tinge to it. "I'm sleeping on the couch, it's not like that!" The blush darkened.

"Are you able to bring some pizza's home with you?"

"Money's on the fridge?"

"Sure, sure."

"See you later then." Jake put the receiver down.

"Dad's going to be late," he said as he joined me on the couch. I smiled as I brought my hand up to his still red cheek.

"What did he say?"

"Oh nothing, just that we had to sleep in separate rooms."

I was still a little confused by what I had heard him say to his dad so I pressed further.

"Why did you say, 'It's not like that'?"

"Billy seems to think that we are more than friends," he said cheekily.

"I was under that impression too."

"Good." He leaned forward, cupping my face in his hands. Our lips met for the first time since in the car, and the fire between us still burnt just as strongly.

I couldn't believe how easy it was for us, for me. Finally, I could feel the deep hole in my chest starting to fill in.

Jacob leaned forward and pushed me back onto the couch. Making out was so much easier with him. I could feel him, all of him. The weight of his body resting slightly on mine, his heat, the gentle force behind his kiss, his hands entwined in my hair. The pure pleasure of not holding back had me riding on cloud nine.

Oblivious to everything around us the kissing began to have a slight edge to it. I ran my hands down the planes of his back, feeling the defined muscles under my fingertips. Jake's mouth left mine and slowly trailed sown my neck. I began to get flustered. I knew where this was leading, and I didn't care. I loved him. I knew that now. I brought his face back up to mine, and our lips met again even more passionate than before.

Just as the thought ran through my head of this being a little too fast, someone in the room cleared their throat.

Jacob jumped backwards off of me landing on the far side of the couch.

"It's not like that, huh?" said Billy with a touch of anger. "Doesn't look that way to me!"

I blushed beet red and covered my face in my hands. How long had we been making out for? I thought Billy wasn't going to be here till late.

"Dad…" I looked at Jake who was also red again.

"It's new, I…"

"Look, Sam explained everything. I know Bella can't really go home right now, but we might have to make other arrangements."

"NO," Jake's hands were trembling, "She stays here!"

Billy nodded "Okay. But definitely in separate rooms!"

Jake stopped trembling after a few deep breaths.

"Where's the pizza?" Billy asked.

Jake laughed.

"I guess we didn't get around to that."

"Well, I'll order some now." Billy smiled and wheeled himself into the kitchen.

I looked over at Jake still embarrassed, and we both started laughing.

"I'm gonna get 'The Talk' now, huh?"

I nodded, laughing the hardest for the first time in a long time.

Jake pulled me closer to him, his arm around my shoulders, and I snuggled into the crook of his arm. I was safe and warm. I was happy.

After I was filled with more than enough pizza, I finally succumbed to the sleep that had been threatening since the early evening. I remembered being carried through to a bed, probably Jake's; it was warm and smelt of him. While I was happier then I had been in such a long time, my dreams had a slight edge to them. I was frightened of Victoria, and what she had planned. I couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom. In the early hours of the morning, a howl woke me from another twisted dream.

I sat up and reached for the small lamp on the bedside table. I flicked it on and my eyes began to adjust to the light. It was before dawn, there were stars in the sky still. I wondered if that was a call to arms, and if that meant Jake was leaving. I got out of bed to investigate, quietly tip-toeing through the hallway past Billy's room. When I got to the couch, Jacob was already gone. I could tell this is where he had slept; a pillow and a small sheet that he had slept on were still there, but no Jake.

I wondered how long he had been gone; maybe the howl I had heard wasn't what I thought it was; it could be something worse.

Thankfully, my fears were rendered unnecessary, not two minutes of me sitting on the couch worrying had passed when Jacob walked through the door.

"Bells, what are you doing up?" He asked as he sat down next to me.

I moved closer to him and snuggled into his warm bare chest.

"You should be sleeping." Jake said as he ran his fingers through my hair. I sighed.

"I heard a howl, it woke me up. I couldn't sleep so I came out here. It was only about five minutes ago." I looked up to Jake smiling at me.

"That was me, I was calling for Embry to swap, he was late as usual." I smiled, thankful that I didn't have anything to worry about.

"Oh okay, I thought it was something else." I said a little sheepishly.

"What did you think?"

"The worst…"

"Well if it were the worst, there would be more than one wolf and hopefully nowhere near this house." He smiled. "You don't need to worry Bella; I'll never let the red head near you."

He kissed the top of my head lightly, and I snuggled in closer. His warmth was intoxicating. I could feel my eyes closing and my breathing become slower, deeper…

"What did I say about sleeping arrangements!" Billy said angrily as he wheeled into the lounge room waking us both up.

Crap!

I couldn't believe I slept that long!

"Stop being so old fashioned Dad, she woke up around 4, and I was just getting off shift. Nothing to it, I promise."

"Hmmmmm, I'm wondering if Charlie knows of this new development and if I should tell him."

I could tell Billy was joking and had accepted Jacob's explanation, his eyes gave him away. I also knew we would have to be a little more careful from now on. I know that Charlie has wanted this for a while, but he may not like it now that it has come true though.

"Not just yet Billy, this is so new. Yesterday in fact." I smiled, Jacob was grinning from ear to ear.

"Okay, but tell him soon. Poor bugger has been waiting for this for a long while now." Billy then wheeled himself in to the kitchen.

"What do you guys want for breakfast?" he called out.

"Nothing Dad, we've gotta get going." Jacob said as he pulled me up with him as he stood up.

"I want to show you something." He whispered in my ear. His hot breath tickled pleasantly on my neck and I nodded in agreement.

"Let me know if you're not gonna be here for dinner."

"Sure, sure." He placed his hand in mine as we left through the front door. We jumped in my car and headed off the reservation.