The Painful Truth

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

Part Four

Jacob stood opposite Sam outside the little wooden cabin he shared with his imprint, Emily. Even though he had been there countless times Jacob would never get over the craftsmanship that had gone into building the Uley's home. The exterior of the cabin blended seamlessly with the huge trees that overhung it. It was as if Mother Nature herself had made the home. Emily was inside cooking as usual. Jacob could smell the tantalising smell of her latest batch of muffins emanating from the open door, and it reminded him how hungry he was.

"You just had to interfere, didn't you?" Sam said testily as he glared at Jacob irritably. "You've just made a difficult situation much worse."

"It's not as bad as it seems." Jacob tried to remain calm. He was tired of Sam lecturing him. He had been chaffing against his Alpha's orders for a long time, and felt Sam was overreacting. "Charlie deserved to know. With Bella living on the res it means we don't have to stretch ourselves thin watching over her house, and we get a tutor paid for by Charlie. You're always complaining we need to keep up with our education. So now we will."

"And you just love having Bella right where you want her." Sam replied sarcastically. "Do you really think her bloodsucker will just sit back and accept this situation, or that she will? She'll find a way to get to him."

Jacob's expression darkened. He knew Sam was deliberately trying to rile him, but he refused to let him get under his skin. There was no way that Bella would be able to creep off the reservation without being spotted.

"And then there's the whole situation with the red head. The last thing we need is the Cullen's causing trouble while we are dealing with the cold one." Sam continued.

"She'll run out of luck soon and we'll get her." Jacob stated confidently.

"Then there will be no reason to keep Bella in La Push if we do." Sam pointed out. "She's an adult. Charlie really can't keep her under lock and key when she graduates. She'll take off with her bloodsucker and there will be nothing that anyone can do, you included."

Jacob's jaw clenched as his hands curled into fists. Sam had driven his point home and it infuriated Jacob because he couldn't dispute it. He turned away so he didn't have to witness Sam's smug expression and breathed deeply to try and calm himself down. When he felt more in control he returned his attention to Sam, only to find that his Alpha didn't look smug as he assumed, but introspective.

"I'm not trying to get at you, Jake, if that's what you're thinking. I just don't want to see you get hurt. Love triangles are messy under normal circumstances but add in the supernatural and that just makes it a whole lot worse. I should know." Sam glanced at the cabin where Emily could be heard singing to herself as she baked.

"It's not your fault, Sam." Jacob said quietly as his irritation at his Alpha faded away to be replaced with empathy.

Sam sighed. "I wonder sometimes."

"I'm sorry if I've made things more difficult." Jacob finally apologised, feeling guilty now that he burdened Sam with even more problems. He often forgot how hard it must be for the older man to be caught between the woman he loved and the one he was bound too. Sam did love Emily, that wasn't in doubt. But it wasn't a mad, passionate love that he had shared with Leah. He was doomed to share his former lover's pain as well as daily battling his guilt over the injuries he had inadvertently given Emily during his tormented days when he had tried to fight the imprint. It was after this tragedy which had finally made Sam give up the fight and sealed his fate.

"What's done is done." Sam covered up his pain with his usual stoical mask, and Jacob knew not to press any further. "Why don't you head inside and see Emily. I know she'd like to see you." Sam suggested abruptly. "I need to go for a run."

"Of course." Jacob agreed solicitously. He knew that Sam wanted him to keep his imprint company while he left to try and burn off his unhappiness. But Jacob knew that life wasn't that easy. How many times had he tried to do the same after Bella ran off to Italy? The only problem was you had to come back and face the very thing you were trying to run from. The pain and hurt never went away. He watched Sam take off and phase. The large black wolf was soon lost within the trees.

Bella didn't know what to do with herself. She had unpacked her clothes and placed them in the small wardrobe which the twin's had used when they had lived in the house. Bella had her pick of which one of the twin beds she wanted to sleep in. She chose the one nearest the window. It used to belong to Rachel. Bella wondered what Jacob's sister was doing at college. Rachel rarely came home for a visit, and when she did it was usually short. Jacob had told her once that it upset Billy that neither of his daughter's wanted to spend time at home. Rebecca had absconded to Hawaii as soon as she graduated, and had met a surfer called Solomon, and married him a week later. Bella couldn't decide whether Rebecca was reckless or brave. Apparently she was pregnant with her first child, but she still hadn't come home to show her new husband her family.

Bella sat on the bed and folded her hands in her lap as she thought about Jacob, and how he had been acting around her. It was like their old easy camaraderie had vanished. She had captured a glimpse of it when they had been in the Taj together earlier that day, but it was gone again just as quickly. Jacob's words still haunted her. "I am not pandering to you anymore, Bella. I'm sick of it. In fact I'm sick of you. I'm done. From now on you're on your own." Just thinking about it made her feel weak. She was hoping that he didn't really mean it and that he had been speaking out of anger. But now she wasn't so sure. He had been avoiding her ever since and she didn't know how to fix things. That was his remit. Jacob fixed things. He had fixed her. But now he didn't even seem to want to be around her. She had pushed him too far this time.

A tear rolled down Bella's face. She raised her hand and touched it. Her fingers came away wet. She hadn't even noticed that she had been crying. In that moment she longed to be with Edward. She had been a fool to give Charlie her cell phone. Now she had no way of contacting Edward so he could come and rescue her. She felt lost and lone, and very sorry for herself. She didn't think she could cope living at the Black's house with Jacob not wanting anything to do with her and Billy and Charlie watching her every move. There was a loud rap on the bedroom door, and it startled Bella. Before she could say come in, the door was shoved open and the last person she expected or wanted to see came inside. It was Leah Clearwater.

"Why am I not surprised you're crying like a spoilt little princess?" Leah drawled as she looked at Bella in disgust. "You are so predictable."

Bella was aghast. She didn't know how to respond. She couldn't understand what the she-wolf was even doing here. Leah always made her feel intimidated. It wasn't just her bitchy attitude, it was her physical appearance. Leah Clearwater was a stunner. She was tall and lean, with the build of a track runner. She had cut her silky, black hair into a chin length bob, and it only accentuated her wide shoulders and the slenderness of her neck. Leah wore the bare minimum consisting of a white tank top teamed with a pair of denim shorts. Her long muscular legs seemed to go on forever, and she wasn't wearing any shoes. Bella felt small and pale in comparison.

"Nothing to say?" Leah muttered as she continued to glare at Bella. "Why everyone is bothering to save your skinny ass I don't know. I just don't get it."

Bella felt tears prick at her eyes again as Leah's words cut through her like a knife. The older girl had verbalised what she already thought about herself, that she was not worth saving. She averted her gaze so as not to give Leah the satisfaction that she had upset her. Neither of them spoke for a long moment until Leah eventually knelt down in front of Bella so they were on the same level. She grabbed Bella's chin, making her gasp, and twisted her head around so she was forced to face her. Leah's grip was strong and her fingers dug into Bella's skin, leaving red marks on her face.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard what Jacob had done. I always thought he was a tool for running after you like he did. But to blurt our secret to Charlie, and forcing us to accommodate you here was the last straw as far as I was concerned. It's just gonna cause a whole heap more trouble than we already need. So, I'm going to help you get off the res so you can go back to your beloved bloodsuckers. Then hopefully you'll all fuck off and that damn red head will go after you and leave us all in peace." She let go of Bella's chin and stood back up. "We'll have to leave now if this is going to work. Billy and your dad think we're having a little girlie chat, so we have a little time before it's noticed that you're missing."

Bella rubbed her sore chin and stared up at Leah in shock. She didn't know what to think. A big part of her yearned for Edward's cold arms and soothing voice, but a small part was angry at the way Leah was treating her. Leah's eyes darted around the twin's room as she assessed the best way to escape with Bella without being detected. "Grab whatever stuff you need to take with you and we'll go." She ordered.

"No." Bella spoke so quietly that if Leah didn't have such sensitive hearing she would never have caught it.

"No." Leah echoed her.

"That's what I said." Bella whispered. She recoiled away from Leah is if worried the she-wolf was going to attack her.

"So the spoilt little princess has found a backbone." Leah sneered. "Well, well."

Bella scrambled backwards until her back pressed against the wall of the bedroom. She kept her eyes fixated on Leah, who was now wearing a calculating expression. "Please leave." Bella faltered as she quailed under the she-wolf's glare.

Leah's eyes narrowed. "If that's what you want, princess." She tapped the side of her nose. "But remember I'll be watching. You step out of line or cause any trouble you'll have me to answer to." With that parting threat Leah stalked out of the room, leaving a terrified Bella staring after her.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Bella had cooked. Having nothing else to occupy her time it provided the distraction she needed. She kept thinking over her conversation with Leah, and the way Leah had acted toward her. Mostly she was ashamed of her cowardice. Why hadn't she stood up to the older girl? Instead she had reverted to type and sat there like the weakling she was and just took Leah's bullying. She hated herself for it. Her confidence was now at an all-time low. All though dinner she felt Charlie and Billy watching her with worried expressions. They tried to initiate conversation but it fell flat when she only gave one word answers. Jacob only put in a brief appearance during the meal. He didn't even look at her as he hurriedly ate something before leaving again just as quickly. Bella hadn't seen him since.

She was lying in Rachel's old bed, the covers pulled up to her chin. She could hear Charlie snoring out on the camp bed that he had put up in the Black's front room. Jacob was off somewhere, probably patrolling. Bella had never felt so alone, or so miserable. Usually she would have Edward with her by now to ward off the loneliness and fear. But she didn't have him there to soothe her fears and keep her busy mind preoccupied. She was truly on her own. Even though she fought it her eyes began to drift closed and she fell into a light doze. Then the nightmares came to haunt her.

It was four in the morning when Jacob's patrol shift ended and he finally came home. He didn't bother going into the house. He could hear Charlie snoring and knew it would disturb him. He decided to crash in the Taj. He passed the open window of the twin's old room and immediately heard Bella crying. He froze in his tracks as his heart began to thump painfully in his chest. The one thing that affected him more than anything was hearing Bella cry. He was at war with himself as he tried not to go directly to her and comfort her. That was what he always did, but he was done being used and then discarded like a piece of trash for the bloodsucker. He tried to harden his heart and continue on his journey, and he nearly did. Then he heard Bella whisper his name in that special way she did when she was really frightened and scared and needed him to protect her.

Jacob was climbing through her opened window before he even realised he had moved. The bed Bella slept in was bathed with light from the bedside lamp. She wasn't awake like he had assumed, but was fast asleep with her eyes tightly closed. Tears were running down her face from under her closed lids as she cried. She was having another one of her nightmares. He approached her cautiously so as not to startle her and knelt beside the bed.

"Bells." Jacob called her name softly.

Bella's hand immediately began to flap around as she searched for his. Jacob caught hold of her fingers and rubbed his thumb over the palm of Bella's hand in a soothing motion. At his touch she quietened down and whispered his name. "My Jacob."

Jacob got all emotional when she breathed his name like that. He had to force himself to look away from her; otherwise he would have caved in and pulled her into his arms. Instead he lay down on the cold floor next to her bed with his fingers still entwined with hers. Bella didn't let go. And he didn't want to either. He found his eyes closing almost straight away as his exhaustion caught up with him. He would just sleep for a little while before leaving.

It was the sun shining in his eyes that woke him. Jacob blinked a couple of times to clear his vision and gazed around in confusion. It took him a few seconds to remember where he was. Shit, he had overslept. It was only when he moved that he finally realised that Bella was lying beside him on the floor, curled up against his side. Sometime in the early hours of the morning she had climbed out of bed, still half asleep and joined him on the floor.

Jacob could have cried.

A/N-thanks for reading!