Jacob's POV

. … .

The week that passed was a nightmare for Bella, and in turn it was a nightmare for me. Everything she felt, I felt. We were inexplicably connected. Or rather, I was connected to her. For some reason, the bond didn't seem as strong to her as it was to me.

When I talked to Sam about it, his theory that her being in love with the bloodsucker had something to do with the blockage on her end. I was angry, then. The stupid bloodsucker ruined everything for me. Here I was, knowing that my soul mate was literally right down the highway, but there was no way to connect with her because of him. He left her, broke her spirit, and she was still hopelessly in love with him. I knew she was, because I felt that, too, like a knife in my chest.

It was torture, to feel your Imprint so in love with someone that isn't you.

. … .

"Look, Jake, I know it sucks, but she'll come around eventually." Embry punched my shoulder, lightly, trying to cheer me up.

I sighed, and shook my head. "You don't know that, man. You can't feel what she's feeling, like I can. She's in so much pain, and I want to fix it, but the only way to fix that is to drag the bloodsucker back here, and I definitely can't do that." The very idea of the bloodsucker coming back now, after I had discovered this connection with Bella, and having her go straight back into his arms was almost too much to bear. What was worse was that I knew she would do it, too. If the parasite came back right now, right this very minute, she would be his again.

The thought made me shake, my inner wolf threatening to explode out of me to go find the bloodsucker and eliminate the competition. Embry stepped back a little, but I held my cool. It was weird, how much better I was at this than the rest of them. Paul, who had Transformed the first time months ago, still Phased just about every time he got even the littlest bit upset. Embry was the same. Sam said he had been, too. But for me, it was different, and it unnerved me.

"Why don't you tell her, then? Tell her about your Imprint," Embry suggested, and I threw him a withering look.

"Oh, yeah, that'll work. 'Hey, Bella, I know you're miserable and wish that a car would jump through your window and kill you, and I know that your bloodsucking parasite boyfriend left you, but I just want to tell you that I'm a werewolf, and I randomly erupt in fur and claws and shit when I'm mad. Oh, yeah, and us werewolves do this Imprinting thing, and basically it tells us who's our soul mate. And guess what? Ha-ha, you're it!'" I glared at him, and he laughed at my sarcastic scenario of telling Bella. "It's not funny, man."

Embry stopped laughing, with some difficulty. I thought of punching him, just once, straight in the mouth. But luckily for him, he stopped laughing quicker than I could make up my mind.

"Sorry, man. It sucks, but you're right. What can you do?" he shrugged, and then looked at me, "Well, you don't have to stay away from her. You guys are friends, aren't you? You found her in the forest. You've every right to go and check in on her. And I know how much it hurts for you to be away from her."

It was true. Being away from Bella for so long was excruciating. Every part of me wanted to be with her. I wanted to see her, smell her, and feel her. I hadn't seen her since I put her in bed a week ago, and every part of me hurt. Not just mentally, but physically, too. My body ached, like I had the flu. My head hurt, and I couldn't sleep right. Not only had I not seen my Imprint, but my Imprint was hurting. That made it ten times worse.

"Yeah, you're right," I decided. I would go see her. I needed to go see her. It was selfish, since she probably didn't want to see anyone right now, but I was going, anyway. "I'll catch you later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. I'm not covering your patrol again, though, so don't ask."

"Cool," I said, and then jogged quickly to my house. The day was nice, sunny and warm. I wished Bella were here with me. I could take her to the beach. Maybe I could get her to swim, because the water was warm, but I doubted it. She didn't seem like much of a swimmer.

I entered the house, and my dad looked over at me.

"Hey, son," he said, as he rolled his wheelchair into the kitchen. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Hey, dad. I'm going to go see Bella," I told him, and he nodded, smiling slightly. He knew that I had Imprinted, and he was happy about it. I didn't see what was so great about Imprinting, really. Sure, it worked out for Sam and Emily, but in my case, my Imprint was in love with a bloodsucking parasite.

Kinda sucked, in my opinion.

"Alright. If Charlie's there, tell him I'm coming over for next week's game. If not, we'll just show up."

I laughed slightly. "Okay, dad," I said, as I headed towards my room. It was small; I barely fit anymore. I had grown to about six foot three, and my bed was too short and my room seemed to have shrunk.

Still, there was nothing I could do about it, and I walked over to my dresser, pushing the thought out of my head. I pulled out a t-shirt, but didn't bother with shoes. Shoes were too expensive if I accidentally Phased in them. I grabbed my gym bag, and then walked out of my house, into the forest.

I stripped naked, and then put my clothes into the gym bag, tying it around my ankle. Then, I let myself Phase. My body always wanted to Phase. It was like a constant nag, but I mostly ignored it. When I did Phase, though, it was an absolute freedom. It didn't hurt so badly, either. A wolf's emotions were simpler than a human's; easier to deal with.

I ran along the forest's edge, until I got to Bella's. There, I Phased again and redressed.

As I was walking up to her door, Charlie came out. He was locking the door behind him, when I cleared my throat.

"Hey, Chief Swan. I just came by to visit Bella."

Charlie looked over his shoulder when he saw me, relief on his face.

"Hey, Jake. I'm happy to see you. Bells isn't looking too good," he said. He had to look up at me, now that I had had my growth spurt. "What are they feeding you on that reservation, anyway?" he asked, probably before he could think against it.

I let a grin cross my features.

"You know, anabolic steroids," I joked, and he laughed.

"I don't think Bells wants company right now," he told me.

"I know."

He paused, then, and smiled sadly. "Well, then, go on in. I have to go into the station," he said, and I nodded. I looked closely at him, and he seemed to have aged. Gray hairs were appearing at his temples, and in his mustache.

"Oh, yeah, my dad told me to tell you that we're coming over for the game next week," I told him. He nodded, and headed towards his car, as I let myself into the house.

The smell of leech was barely detectable in the living room anymore, or anywhere else in the house. The thought brightened my mood considerably, as I climbed the stairs to Bella's room. I knocked on the door softly.

"Hey, Bella. It's me, Jake," I said quietly, wondering if she was sleeping.

"Jacob?" Bella asked, confused. Her voice pained me. She sounded dead. "Come on in."

I opened her door, and the smell of leech was still there, repulsive as ever. It was lighter, now, though, but I wondered how often he had had to be in here to make his smell that potent. The thought made me mad, and I pushed it away.

My eyes landed on Bella, and I wasn't surprised to say that she looked terrible. She looked like she had lost weight, and she hadn't showered in several days. A faint smell of body odor was coming from her, but I did my best to hide that I could smell her. It wasn't too bad, though. She had an underlying floral scent, like lilacs and freesias, and that helped a bit.

Her hair was oily, and her skin was too. There were bags under her eyes, and her face was gaunt. She had also cut her hair quite…differently. It was shorter now, the longest part barely reaching her shoulders, with many choppy, uneven layers.

Still, despite all this, she was beautiful to me. The most beautiful woman alive. If I could, I'd would have taken her into my arms right then, and never let go. She shone like the sun, her pale white skin glowing and her chocolate eyes burning. I'd give anything to have her pain taken away.

"Hey, Bella," I said, quietly. She looked tired, and I didn't want to talk too loudly.

I felt her become embarrassed. She was embarrassed of looking so 'disgusting' around me. I knew, because of our bond. It was so much stronger when I was close to her, it was almost overwhelming.

"Hey, Jacob," she said, quietly, after a few minutes of silence. I notice her focus then, and she examined me. She hadn't really seen me since my Transformation, and I saw her appraising me. I didn't know if it was my imagination or not, but along with her surprise, I thought I saw a hint of appreciation in her eyes. Seeing it there made my heart soar.

"You cut your hair!" she cried out, surprising me. I had cut my hair since I last saw her, hadn't I? I felt oddly pleased that she seemed so distressed. I wouldn't have cut it, but it was too hot to keep it long. I ran about one-oh-eight, one-oh-nine in temperature, and to have long hair was an unnecessary hassle. I couldn't tell her that, though, so I shrugged.

"So did you."

She frowned, and looked away. I sensed embarrassment from her again, and marveled at the fact that I could embarrass her.

"Yeah, it looks pretty terrible, doesn't it?" she ran a hand through it, as if trying to fix it, but only ended up messing it up more.

Was she serious? I could never think she looked terrible, ever. She was beautiful. I could stop myself from telling her. Besides, I figured she needed it. "No, you look beautiful. You always do, even with a questionable haircut." I smiled slightly, glad I had been somewhat honest with her.

She looked back at me, and smiled a little, too. "Thanks, Jacob," she said, quietly. She looked away, and out her window. "What are you up to, coming to visit me in this musty place? The sun is shining, you should be out enjoying it."

She was crazy if she thought that I would enjoy the sun more than I would enjoy talking to her. Absolutely nuts. She was my sun, and if only I could make her happy, I could have sunshine every day. I frowned slightly at that thought. This Imprinting stuff was making me think like a guy in a bad romantic comedy. Stupid.

"I wanted to check on you. Charlie's worried about you," I saw guilt flash in her eyes, "and so am I."

"I'm sorry."

I was quiet for a moment, and then spoke. "It's been a week, Bella. You have to pull it together, just a little bit. You have to live, just a little bit."

I looked at her, and saw as her eyes became sad. She looked down. She looked so sad, sitting there, that it broke my heart. The fierce need to protect her rose up in my chest, and I forced her to look me in the eye. I knew that my next words would hurt, but she needed to hear it.

"Bella, I need you to take care of yourself. For me, as your friend," it hurt to call myself her friend, when I wanted to be so much more, but I continued. "I need you to. I can't stand to see you wallowing in your misery." There, I said it. I prepared myself for the lash out, and wasn't disappointed.

She looked at me, anger sparkling in her eyes. It was so much better than nothingness and sadness. "I am not wallowing in my misery, Jacob Black," she said, her tone cold and defensive.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? What do you call it, then?" the words came from my mouth rather harshly, because her being angry was better than feeling nothing.

She looked at me, fury in her eyes. "You know what, Jacob? Thanks for visiting, but I think you should go. I wouldn't want to make you stink, you sitting with me in all my misery. It's catching, you know, and it's got a particular odor. Bye." She threw the words at me, and even though I had wanted them, they still stung. I wanted to tell her that the only thing that was making me stink was the smell of parasite. I didn't, though, and I stood up.

"Bye, Bella," I said to her.

"Yeah. Let yourself out."

I did as she asked, pain in my chest. It hurt to have her mad at me. It really did. But I felt better than I had in a week, just by seeing her. I hadn't even noticed a steady pressure building up inside of me until I had seen her, but once I did it disappeared like a ton of bricks.

I walked down the hall, and then out of the door. I paused though, something that my instincts told me to do. I leant back against her front door, and listened as she scampered around, and then as the water started in the bathroom. She was taking a shower. I smiled, happy that I had come to see her. I walked to the forest's edge, and stripped down, before Phasing, happier than I had been in a week.

. ... .

Review, please please pretty please.