**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight.**

A/N: You guys talked me into finishing this. You're reviews made me feel so good inside.(:

Chapter 2… Blackmail

Since I couldn't get myself clean enough, I decided to clean the kitchen. At least I could get something done. At least I could get something clean, while I couldn't get myself as spotless.

I scrubbed between the linoleum tiles on the floor, rubbing harder with the toothbrush than I thought possible.

"What the hell…?" I heard a voice in the door way and my head instantly snapped up. My face probably looked sheepish, like a kid caught doing something wrong.

"What is it, Quil?" I asked, truly confused by his reaction to seeing me cleaning.

"Why the hell are you sitting there scrubbing the floor while we're all at Sam's? Jake told you yesterday you should go to the meeting today. He's worried sick about you, Bella. This behavior of yours, it isn't right. What the fuck happened to you?" Quil stumbled over his words as he came to sit criss-cross-applesauce next to me.

That was true-Jake did invite me yesterday to some meeting at Sam's house, I just figured it would go more smoothly without me being there, making things difficult.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I should have known that they would put two and two together. My random acts and outburst and the little things I would do to keep myself in check, I was sure now that they noticed what I tried to hide. The boys knew something happened to me. They just didn't know what. And I didn't want them to. Not yet, at least. I just wanted them to back the fuck away from me and keep their hands where I could see them.

"Nothing, Quil." I whispered as I set the toothbrush into the bucket and pulled off the yellow rubber gloves. I sat back onto my feet.

"Bella, obviously it isn't nothing. Tell me what happened, you can trust me." Quil promised.

I felt like snorting at that, but I didn't. If I told him what happened, he would go telling Charlie, then Jake, and then Billy. And soon everyone would know. And I couldn't have that.

I shook my head.

"Bella," he snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me close to him. I flinched, but he didn't seem to notice. "Trust me. I need to know. I'm your friend, and you can trust me not to tell anyone until you tell them."

"No." I whispered as I carefully shrugged out of his hold, I didn't want him to suddenly grab me tighter and do something to me.

"Bella…" he protested.

"No." I whispered as I moved to the corner of the kitchen, folding in on myself. Fetal position only brought so much comfort.

"Fine. You can tell me later. Just get your white ass down to Sam's. We got shit to tell you." Quil said as he got up from the floor.

He offered me his hand, and I just stared at it as if it wasn't there. I didn't want to go.

"Arizona, get your ass up. Now. Please? Do it for Jake. He's really torn up about your behavior. Show him you're as fine as you say you are." He smirked, knowing that I would cave for Jake.

I rolled my eyes and took his hand; he lifted me up.

"God, you are so… can I hit you one day?" I asked, watching his smile turn smug.

"Only if you want a broken hand, sweetheart." He promised.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

If I were being honest, I would tell you how I didn't remember the walk to Sam's house, and how I didn't remember sitting on the floor next to Jake's feet, but I'm not going to be honest. I'm going to lie and say that the walk to Sam's house was interesting due to Quil's comments and how I protested taking up space on the couch because there was slim to none left on its surface.

"Bella?" I heard Sam's voice ring into my head, his voice so full of authority, as always.

I just looked at him; that was all the recognition he was going to get from me. I didn't want to be here. The only reason I was here was because of Quil's carefully constructed blackmail. That boy knew my weakness. Hell, everyone knew my weakness.

Jake. Charlie. Billy. My family, my friends. Everyone knew I would do anything for them. And they constantly used that fact against me.

With a roll of his eyes, Sam continued on with whatever he wanted to talk about in the first place. I, however, looked off into space, remembering him and that time. I flinched, and shut down. I wasn't Bella anymore. No, I was some shell of a person that looked a lot like Bella. I was some zombie monster that cleaned obsessively, and did whatever the hell she could to stay at a three foot distance from any man other than Jacob and Charlie.

"Bella!" I heard someone shout, and my eyes snapped back onto Sam.

"Sorry." I muttered, looking down.

"Damnit Bells! What the hell happened to you?" Jake shouted from behind me on the couch as he pulled me onto his lap.

"Nothing." I whispered. "Continue, Sam. I'm listening."

"Right, well, Bella, you know our legends here, yes?" Sam continued as if the little previous interruption never happened.

I nodded.

"Yeah, so you know how they state that we turn into wolves and shit?" he asked, talking only to me.

I nodded again, unsure of where this was going, but sure that I really didn't want to find out. The flipping in my stomach only made me want to be here less and less. Some revelation was about to happen in the Uley household, and to be honest, I didn't think I was ready to find out what it was about.

"Well, those are true. We-all of us here, spare Kim and Emily-are werewolves. We turn into wolves. It's not like we had a choice; it's because of our genes. And along with turning into a giant dog whenever the hell we want, we have-cheesy as this sounds-super speed, strength, vision, smell, and hearing. Oh, and we have a pack mind, so we can hear everything everyone's thinking while we're phased. Yeah, I get that this probably seems really insane and whatever, but it's true, and yeah. I'm just going to shut up now." Sam rushed his words together.

I nodded.

"Uh huh. Yeah, can you please excuse me for a minute?" I asked Sam.

He looked skeptical but he still said "Sure, take all the time you need."

I whispered a small thanks as I got up from the floor and walked into the kitchen.

"Want me with you?" Emily asked, her brow furrowed in worry.

"No." I whispered as I turned the corner and walked down the hall, determined to find the kitchen alone.

Super strength. He had said. God, that just made things worse. I knew they were all stronger than me, but that just made things more intimidating. Scarier. Now I knew without a doubt that if any of them tried to hold me down and have their way with me, there would not be a hope in hell for me to be able to get away.

I was fucked.

When I finally did find the kitchen, I all but poured a glass of water halfway before I felt extremely light headed. I staggered, gripping the counter top in effort to stay on my own two feet.

"Bella." I heard someone whisper.

I felt my eyes roll back, as I braced myself for the fall I was sure about to happen, but it never came. The last thing I remembered was something really hot on my back, holding me up; electricity flowing from the hands and into my back, almost as if I were being shocked.

I fell into a dark abyss.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I felt hot. Really, really hot. Almost as if I was being boiled alive. I was sweltering.

My eyes snapped open.

"Bella." He said, staring into my eyes.

"Jacob?" I whispered.

Why was he holding me? Where the hell were we? We sure as hell weren't in Sam's house anymore, the breeze against my skin told me that much. But his arms that were wrapped around me were blocking my view of anything else.

"Do you remember anything?" he asked, his eyes too full too many emotions; I couldn't gage what he was feeling.

"Yes, I do, Wolf Boy." I smiled weakly.

"And, besides the passing out, you're fine with that?" he smirked.

"I guess. It's just really hard to believe, I mean you're all so human, but at the same time, you're not. I dunno. I guess I'm just being stupid." I murmured, looking down at my hands that were folded on my lap.

"Right, well, you stay there." He set me down and turned and ran into the woods.

Great, I'm being ditched.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This all was so much. So insane.

A twig snapped, and my eyes flew open at the noise. I flinched more than was necessary, but I didn't care. What if it was him? What if he found me and was going to do something more to me?

A russet colored wolf appeared before me before my imagination could conjure up anymore bullshit.

"Jacob?" I asked, cautious in case it was a real wolf in front of me, not Jacob.

The wolf nodded, slinking closer to me.

Without thinking, my hand flew up and ruffled his fur. It was soft, yet coarse beneath my fingertips. I had to admit, it felt good, like my old dog, Skip, but much coarser in texture.

"Jacob, are you purring?" I asked incredulously when I heard a deep rumbling radiating from him.

The wolf lowered his head, almost as if he was embarrassed. Embarrassed… a wolf, embarrassed… a small giggle erupted from me before I had time to control it.

Jake looked up at me and gave me what I assumed was a smile before trotting back into the woods. I rolled my eyes and let my gaze travel over to the horizon. It seemed that Jake had brought me to the cliffs.

"Bella." Jacob's voice suddenly rang through my head, causing me to jump five feet into the air.

"Christ, Jacob! I didn't hear you! Is that a werewolf thing, super silence, or something?"I asked, my hand on my heart, gasping for air.

"Yeah." Jacob admitted sheepishly, his arm scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Great to know." I muttered, looking away from him and towards First Beach.

"Hey," Jacob whispered as he moved my face to look him in the eyes. "Bella, look at me." He commanded when my eyes refused to meet his.

When I finally met his gaze, he finally spoke.

"Bella, I really hope that this whole thing doesn't fuck anything up between you and me. I really hope that you can see past the fact that I'm a freak and be my best friend again." Jacob whispered nervously.

I couldn't help the giggle that I let out.

"Jacob, I love you. You know that. You're my best friend, for always, forever. Never question that. I wouldn't care if you were a wizard, or a fairy, or even a vampire. I would love you no matter what." I told him honestly, noticing that he tensed when I mentioned vampires.

"Bella. Do you know the reason we exist? Besides the gene?" Jacob asked.

I shook my head. What the hell was he talking about?"

"Bella, vampires are why. 'The Cold Ones,' yeah, that's what vampires are. They're called that in the legends because they're ungodly cold and shit. They're a real fucked up species. And whenever one moves in the area, the wolf gene gets triggered, and next thing you know, you got a bunch of puppies sprouting up everywhere." Jacob ranted his eyes hot with anger.

"Whoa. That's insane. But Jacob, hun, settle down. There's no vamps near, so there's no need to get all riled up." I murmured.

"Right, well, let's get you back inside, yes? Judging by your goose bumps, I'm sure you're probably freezing your human ass off right now." Jacob smiled.

I looked down at my arms, and true to his words, they were covered in goose bumps. Huh. I didn't even realize I was cold.

"Sure, Jakey." I smiled. "Let's get the hell home."

A/N: Hmmm. If you guys have suggestions as to what should happen next, don't hesitate to leave it in a review or even PM me with the idea.(:

Reviews are better than a hot and sweaty Jacob. :DDD

Playlist: The Ready Set, Breathe Electric, Hot Chelle Rae, Stephen Jerzak, Playradioplay!, Go Radio, and The Friday Night Boys.