This chapter belongs to dazzled260. All credit goes to her.

EPOV (Embry)

I was glad Quil had joined us. I mean, I knew this life wasn't exactly perfect but now I had another friend in it. Now, don't get me wrong, Sam, Jared, and Paul are great, but I wanted Quil and Jacob back in my life. Sam was the alpha, so I couldn't mess around with him. Paul was psycho. He got upset over the littlest things. And Jared was always with him imprint, Kim. He had imprinted on her a little over two weeks ago, and they were inseparable.

We were at the Swan's place now. Quil knocked on the door.

To my surprise, Jacob answered the door. He looked like crap. Like he hadn't slept in days, maybe even crying. Jacob never cried. I had known him forever, and not once had he cried. He was a very happy person, and was rarely ever sad.

"Jake, what's wrong?" Quil asked, voicing my thoughts.

"I just haven't slept much. Bella's going through a tough time, and I'm trying to help her. But I don't think I'm much help," Jacob said, it was barely a whisper.

With my werewolf hearing, I heard someone's foot steps.

I looked up to see Bella Swan. Suddenly, the strings holding me down to Earth were breaking. But instead of floating away, new, stronger strings held me down.

I knew I had just imprinted.

Then I really looked at her, she looked unhealthy. Her bones way too prominent under her unusually pale skin. Dark circles under her eyes that showed she hadn't slept in days. Her eyes were bloodshot proving that she had been crying a lot the last few days.

I could only wonder what happened to her. I would kill whoever was at fault for this.

I then noticed that Bella hadn't walked any closer to us, she was hesitating.

Jacob turned around to see what me and Quil were staring at.

"Oh, hey, Bella. These are my friends, Quil and Embry," Jake pointed to us.

Quil waved, and I nodded my head.

Jacob noticed that she wasn't going to come any closer, so he walked over and took her hand.

JPOV

Quil and Embry were staring past me now. I turned around to see Bella standing about five feet away from me.

"Oh, hey, Bella. There are my friends, Quil and Embry," I pointed to them to show her.

She nodded, but didn't walk any closer to us. I figured she was freaking out because they were males. I felt horrible for her. I wished that there was something I could do.

I walked forward, and took her hand.

"It's okay, Bella," I whispered into her ear.

I pulled her closer to the door, but not too close. I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable.

Embry acknowledged the closeness between us.

"Are you two… together?" He asked awkwardly.

"No, we're just friends," I explained.

Embry leaned forward and tucked a piece of Bella's hair behind her ear.

Ugh, I knew what that would do.

Almost on cue, Bella buried her head in my shoulder and started sobbing and screaming.

"Bella, Bella. Shhh… It' s okay. He's not going to hurt you. He won't come close to you," I cooed.

I knew that was coming. She didn't react well to the opposite sex's touch. It took two days for her to let her dad within a foot of her. I was the only one she really trusted, which was why I was here 24/7.

"What did I do wrong?" Embry asked, his voice full of shock.

EPOV

Thank God they weren't together. I knew Jake had had a crush on her before. But when he said they were just friends, I believed him for some reason. He looked at her like a sister, and she at him like a brother.

Impulsively, I leaned forward and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

It seemed that as soon as I touched her, she buried her face in Jake's chest and started sobbing and screaming uncontrollably.

Her body was shaking, and she looked like I had when I first phased.

Did I do that to her? My heart broke. I didn't mean to hurt her! I played the events in my head. I hadn't done anything wrong. I'd barely touched her.

"Bella, Bella. Shh… It's okay. It's okay. He's not going to hurt you. He won't come close to you," I heard Jake whisper to her.

She thought I was going to hurt her! That was crazy. I would do anything for her.

"What did I do wrong?" I asked, shocked and confused.

"It's nothing, Embry," Jacob said.

I didn't believe him, of course. Of course I did something.

Charlie and Billy walked out.

"Jake, what happened?" Charlie exclaimed, glaring at Quil and me.

"Nothing, Charlie. Embry touched her, and well…" Jake explained.

Charlie's gaze softened a bit, and went to rub Bella's shoulder. He kept his distance though, and I found this strange. Billy didn't get within two feet of her, but he looked at her and you could tell it was tearing him apart.

Quil and I met eyes, and his look told me that he knew I just imprinted.

He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "You're going to have to tell Jacob. There's no way you're getting close to her without him knowing. It seems he's the only one she lets close to her."

Quil had noticed so much more about Bella than I had. He was right. Her own dad had to keep his distance, while she seemed to not be able to get close enough to Jake.

Bella seemed to be calming down a little bit. She was quiet now, and wasn't shaking as hard.

"Sorry, Jake," I heard her mutter to him.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Bells," he said softly to her.

"I'm going to ruin all of your clothes with all the crying that I'm doing."

"Don't worry about it, honey."

He ran his hand through her hair, and I was incredibly envious. I wish I was the one that was holding her. The one helping her through whatever this was.

"I'm sorry to you too, Embry. I don't know what got into me," she said a bit louder.

I shrugged it off. "Do you think we can talk to you, Jake?" I asked him.

"Of course. Bella, will you be okay? I'll be back in ten minutes."

She nodded. "I'll be fine, Jake. Take your time."