Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 2

"Jake,"

He groaned at the sound of Sam calling his name. What now? It had been three days since the good doctor and good ole Eddie had tried to convince him to convince Bella that he was dead. And ever since, he'd done nothing but think about the what ifs involved.

What if he refused to go along with this ridiculous lie?

What if the Cullen's were right?

What if Bella could live a normal life?

Sam plopped down in the sand next to Jake and slung an arm over his shoulders. Jake shrugged him off.

"What do you want, Sam?"

"Look, Jake. This might be the best thing for everyone involved. Everyone will be safe."

Jake huffed, and then crossed his arms over his bent knees. Safe. Something in the very heart of his being rejected the idea that he couldn't keep Bella safe.

"What about Charlie?" Jake asked. "Are you going to tell him I'm dead too? Are you going to have a fucking funeral?"

Jake was frustrated and full of pent up emotions. This whole thing was bat-shit crazy.

"Yes. You'll have to leave Jake."

Jake shuddered. The thought of leaving his home— his tribe, his duty, his dad— left a sour taste in his mouth.

"For how long?" he asked in a choked whisper.

Sam looked away, towards the ocean. White foamy waves crashed upon the shore.

"I don't know, Jake."

Jake shook his head. "I don't know if I can do this, Sam. You're asking me to lie. To leave my ailing father, my home, my friends, and my pack, for—"

"For her." Sam met Jake's eyes. "To protect her."

Jake frowned. "I can protect her."

Sam sighed and exhaled a long breath. After several beats of silence, he asked one question that struck arrow straight into Jake's heart.

"What if you imprint, Jake?"

Jake closed his eyes. He wished he could say he didn't believe in imprinting. That it seemed like a bunch of mumbo jumbo, hocus pocus bullshit. But he'd seen it, experienced through the pack mind. He knew the damage, could see the pain of it all even now in the lines and creases of Sam's face.

"I won't," he answered. He couldn't imagine loving anyone but Bella.

"Jake, you can't know that. What if you do, and then what happens to Bella?"

"She's still my best friend! I'll always protect her!"

"Jake—"

"No!" Jake stood up quickly. His hands were clenched in two tight fists, turning his knuckles white. "Look, y'all tell her whatever it is that y'all all are going to tell her. But I won't lie to her. "

"Jake, wait!" Sam called as Jake starting running towards the tree line. The wolf was bursting to get out. "Where are you going to go?"

"Florida," Jake said. He exploded from his skin and landed on the moist warm earth with four paws.

~000~

"What are you saying?" Bella screamed. The broken pieces of her heart were suddenly smashed into a million more tiny fragments.

"He's—"

"No!" Bella covered her ears, refusing to hear her father say the word. Tears gathered in her eyes, and a lump formed in her throat. No. Jake couldn't be dead.

"Bella, honey, I—" Charlie's voice caught.

This was ridiculous. It couldn't be true. It had only been a few days since she'd seen Jake.

Bella felt sick, as guilt, and grief, and heartache churned in her gut. Tears streamed down her face. Bella clasped a hand to her mouth as her stomach heaved. She ran to the bathroom, clumsily climbing the stairs. She made it just in time, spilling the sparse contents of her stomach into the toilet.

What felt like hours later, Bella felt someone life her off the bathroom floor. His hands felt cool to her flushed skin. Her eyes flew open.

"You knew, didn't you!" she screamed as she tried to wiggle free from Edward's arms. Her throat was dry and scratchy and inflamed. "You knew this was going to happen!"

Edward sat Bella on her bed and ducked away from her flailing fists.

"Bella, love, I—"

"Get out!"

"Bella, your father thought—"

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

White hot anger exploded inside her, scorching her veins, melting her grief and pain. Bella picked up whatever objects she could and hurled them at Edward.

"I never want to see you again!" she screamed through ragged breaths and a torrent of tears.

Edward was gone in flash. Bella collapsed onto her bed. She was exhausted and broken.

Three days later, Charlie tried to rouse Bella from her bed.

"Bella, the funeral is today. Aren't you coming?"

She didn't answer. She couldn't. She felt like someone had carved her heart out of her chest with a knife. But, somehow she managed to get out of bed. Blindly she got dressed.

The service was small. None of the pack members would meet Bella's eyes. They told her and Charlie there was no casket because it was tradition to be cremated and have the ashes spread on Quileute land.

The pictures of Jake, his bright smiling face, were like a punch to gut. It knocked the wind from her chest. Raw and bleeding and broken, all she could do was cry.

~000~

In the shadows, Jake lurked, watching with rapt attention to the scene in front of him. The lie felt sickening. His pack brothers were awful fakers. Although, Quil and Embry did look somber. Maybe they were going to miss him.

His eyes scanned the room. The normally stoic Charlie looked wrecked with grief. His hair and suit were disheveled, his face drawn and his eyes glistened.

Jake wanted to vomit. Shame and guilt curdled in his gut.

And then he saw her.

She looked worse than he'd ever seen her. Her black dress hung limply on her gaunt frame. Bella's hair looked dull and tangled. But she wasn't the zombie Jake had seen after Edward had left her.

This was worse.

She was broken. She wept silently into her hands. Jake watched her, unable to look away. He wasn't sure how to feel, or what it meant. He desperately wanted to know what she was thinking. He wished he could pull her into his arms and kiss her tears away.

Jake had never felt so alone as he watched his own funeral. And so helpless as he watch Bella cry. It ripped him apart to see her like this. To watch her grieve for him.

As if Bella could feel him watching her, she looked up. It was too dark for her to see him, but she frowned like she saw something.

Jake quickly moved deeper into the shadows and closed his eyes against the disturbing scene. He left that day, the last image of Bella in his mind was her wide chocolate eyes full of tears.

Bella stared into the dark shadows. She could have sworn she'd seen movement. Goosebumps prickled her flesh. Someone had been watching her.

Bella shook her head. Was she being paranoid?

The ride home with Charlie was quiet and uneventful. But inside Bella felt anything but. Her insides were shredded, her emotions ragged, her mind exhausted. Everywhere she looked she saw Jake.

On his motorcycle as they drove past the Black's house.

On her front steps waiting for her when Charlie pulled into the driveway.

Waiting for her in her red truck when she looked at it as she walked past.

Sitting in her kitchen.

In her room, she stared for a long, long time at the dream catcher he had given her. And then at the picture of them pinned to the corkboard on her wall.

She heard a howl in the distance. Bella froze. Her heart leapt into her throat. For one blissful moment, he was out there. Hope and joy swelled in her chest.

And just as quickly as that mournful howl had evoked those feelings, she crashed. The reality that he would never again be out there hit her hard, barreling into her with violent force.

Jake is gone, she thought. Forever.

Bella collapsed on her bed in tears.

It could have been hours later when Charlie gently tapped on her door. Time had stopped while Bella cried helplessly into her pillow. When she didn't answer, Charlie entered and sat down next to her. He awkwardly patted her head and then cleared his throat.

"Bella," he spoke softly, like he was speaking to a frightened child. "Maybe you should go to Florida."

Bella looked up. Her eyes were glossy and red, her skin puffy.

Charlie cleared his throat again. "When Edward left I know you didn't want to go because—"

Bella closed her eyes. She knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"He's not coming back, honey."

And unlike when Edward left, she knew it was true. She had no choice but to believe it. Bella swallowed hard and then looked around her room. Jake and Edward were both such a part of this place now. So much that she found herself agreeing to her father's suggestion.

"Okay," Bella said. "I'll go to Mom's. I'll go to Florida."