A/N: Alright, so this chapter is a bit longer (hopefully). I will give you an explanation at the end of the chapter heheh..

This dark room was sucking me in. Without Jake here by my side, warm and comforting, I couldn't tell where I was.

"Jacob?" I called out into the utter darkness. "Jake?"

No response.

"Please?"

Silence.

I sunk back into my bed, burrowing my face in the pillow. Just then, I heard a sharp snap outside the window that jolted me up into sitting position.

"Jake?" I called, breathing uneven. My heart was working faster.

"Jacob… Black?" I said louder.

No answer, and I heard some snow crunching.

Who was out there?

I don't know why I said it, but I had to. "Edward?"

Ha! He would never come back for you.

"Shut up," I growled.

The person – or thing – shifted its weight, and I heard the snow crunch down more.

"Hello?" I peeped.

What if someone was trying to break into my house? I shouldn't be talking to them. Now they knew I was in here. All alone. With no protector. He didn't care anymore.

I sighed, and decided to lie back down. They weren't about to jump in my window, right?

Wait. But if they were standing outside my window in the middle of the night, why wouldn't they be in here already? Was someone trying to talk to me?

I couldn't resist, so I got out of bed and crept to the floor without making a sound. I snuck over to the window and raised my head a bit, and was surprised by the cool, icy air that flowed suddenly through the window.

Falling back onto the floor I made a little thud. Uh oh. Did he/she/it hear me?

I regained my balance and courage, and stood back up on my knees again, peering out into the cold, eerie darkness.

What I saw, I wasn't expecting.

There was no one there.

Just your imagination, Bella.

"No it wasn't," I growled under my breath.

I watched out the window for a few more seconds, sure that nothing was there, and then fully stood up. My heart beat so fast I thought it would pop.

No one was out there, it was obvious now. Or, whatever had been here was already gone. But how was that possible? I heard the sounds just seconds ago, and there would have been a lot of noise if someone was running.

That brought a thought to my head.

No, Bella.

Right. Edward wasn't coming back.

I crept away slowly from the window, not wanting to make more sound. I wanted to shut it, to stop the icy wind from blowing in and reminding me of something I didn't want to be reminded about, but I knew I couldn't. That thing would hear me.

Shaking my head, I climbed back into my warm bed, and waited to be comforted by the Jolly Heat Giant.

He wasn't here either.

Stupid Bella.

This voice really liked being mean to me, eh?

Pulling the covers up to my nose, I remembered the times when Edward would climb inside my room, with Charlie unaware, and sleep by my side. He would cradle me in his arms, until he thought I was too cold, and he'd put me back under the covers, tucking me in tight.

I missed that.

How many times do I have to tell you to stop it?

A lot, I guess.

Somehow, it didn't quite bother me that much that I had some dumb voice in my head talking to me. I knew I was insane. Other people didn't have to know it. Jacob didn't have to know it. Charlie didn't have to know it. Heck, Angela Weber didn't have to know it.

I was the only one.

That feeling of constant loneliness swept over me like it had many times before, and I just wished and wished and wished that I could be back in his arms. One more time. That's all I needed.

--

I drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep, where I kept waking up to sounds I didn't recognize. I thought Charlie might be up, getting ready for his usual fishing trip, but then quickly realized it was still dark outside. Great.

Was Jacob here?

I didn't even let my mind think about the others that might be, firstly because it scared me, and secondly because I knew I was going to get that stupid voice yakking again.

I had been remembering Edward's perfect features, the way he looked when he waited for me every morning, when we were in the meadow, when Charlie opened my door just the tiniest bit and slipped his face in.

"Bells?" he whispered.

I rolled over on to my side, hoping that he wouldn't know I was awake, and pretended to be in heavy sleep.

Charlie believed it. What else was new?

He left the room quickly, and I heard him sigh. I guessed that seeing me sleeping was the happiest time for him because I wasn't being my usual self, which was monotone and generally unfriendly.

After I was sure that Charlie had left half an hour ago, I crept out of bed and walked over to the still-open window.

It was a sunny day for Forks; the sun was peeking out just a bit from under the clouds. That made me slightly happy.

Sunshine was always a good thing, right?

Just as I was smiling and thinking that today could be a relatively good day, I heard a sound from below, and realized my face was hanging over the window. I pushed my head back inside the safety of my room and looked around. No one was in here, at least I thought.

If Edward was here, he could be sure.

But he's not here. Stop thinking like that, Bella.

This voice was right. If I didn't stop relating every issue to Edward Cullen, I was never going to get over it. Not like my heart was going to mend fully ever again, though. But at least it was a start.

"Hey, Bells!" His voice caught me totally off-guard and I shut the window on my finger.

"Ow!" I cried out in pain because I'd snapped the window shut so hard.

"Bells?"

I heard Jake pounding up the stairs, probably thinking that I'd fell and cracked my head open against my desk.

I looked at my finger and it started bleeding. Just little drops of blood, but I knew this wasn't good for me. My head started to spin, and Jacob caught me in just the nick of time before I fell to the ground.

I didn't black out, though. Maybe that was a good thing. Or maybe not.

"Bella, are you okay?" Jake sounded genuinely concerned, and I was sure he was, but I just stared at him.

"Blood."

"Oh, yeah. That's ok. It's just a bit." He picked up a tissue from my desk and wiped the blood away in five seconds.

I could still smell the horrible smell of blood, the way it smelt, like rust. I hated that smell so much.

Blood was the worst thing in the universe.

It had been the reason that Edward had left.

I shoved my face into my hands, and Jacob lifted my head back up. "Bells, are you sure you're okay? Don't want to go see Dr. Mulligan again, or anything?" He half-joked.

I just nodded and set my head in my hands, not wanting to cry in front of him again. I'd done that too many times before.

I decided that I should get my mind off all this blood and discomfort it gave me, and brought up a new subject. Not that this one was any more comforting.

"Jake," I said. "I heard noises last night."

I watched Jacob's expression carefully. It turned from wide eyes, to confusion, to anger, and then to a scared look.

"Who?"

"I would tell you if I knew."

"Oh…"

He looked out the window, as if someone was going to pop up any second. "Are you sure, Bella? Not just your head again?"

Not just my head again. Nice.

"No, Jake," I assured him. "I swear."

"I'll look into that, then," he shifted his weight, squinted his eyes, still holding the Kleenex on my finger.

I nodded slowly, not even sure what he meant by that. I'll look into that?

Would he be standing outside my window every night? No, he would get too cold.

"What are you going to do?" I asked him, frowning.

"I've got a plan," he reassured me, squeezing my finger tighter.

"Ow," I said quietly.

"Whoops." He grinned. "You're so breakable, Bells."

No kidding.

alright, so. i got a few reviews (its not enough compared to the hits im getting, people!) but THANKYOU to the guys who did give me reviews. anddd. i made this chapter a bit longer, and I APOLOGIZE FOR EDWARD STILL NOT HERE YET!!

im actually like tearing my head apart thinking of when edward to come back.. should i do a time lapse till bella gets fully "no i hate edward now" like jacob? (i am not planning for bella to fall in love with jacob, believe me.) so if there was a time lapse, edward would coem back sooner.. haah i know thats what all of you want... but you could clarify it by REVIEWING!!

Ok, im thinking about what to do now to get e.c. back in the game, so as i JUST said, review and my life will be easier (i have so much homework its not funny).

R&R! 3