Disclaimer: We own nothing. All characters are property of Stephenie Meyer. And we do not get any sort of profit from this.

A/N: First of all, thank you for your comments! We really appreciate them and we're glad you all are still sticking with this story :) We promise Edward will be making his appearance very soon ;)

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Chapter Seven

Bella's POV:

Dirt and pebbles shuffled underneath my sneakers as I dragged them slowly along the street in front of Charlie's house. I knew he was watching me from the window as I paced back and forth but I didn't lift my head to acknowledge it. I'm sure he would have hidden behind the curtain to pretend he wasn't watching me anyway, had I done so. Charlie wasn't fooling me. It was Saturday and he was staying home instead of going on his usual fishing trip clearly for the purpose of watching over me.

Three days had passed since I returned from the hospital. Exhaustion had possessed my body since I've been fighting sleep as much as I possibly could. Seeing him in my dreams was just as much of a torment as it was a pleasure, so the less I could dream, the less I would hurt. If that wasn't enough, every dream had included James attacking me. He constantly lurked around the corners of my mind, always prepared to attack, and I had come to anticipate the searing pain in my hand each time I would wake. His voice would shadow my screams sometimes, calming me, telling me I had nothing to fear. I would even feel his cool lips clamp over my hand, kissing away the sting as I simultaneously hear him whisper his love in my mind:

I'll always make sure you are safe. I will never let anything hurt you. I love you. Forever.

I fought back my tears as I remembered the dream, wishing what he claimed were true. I continued to pace slowly in front of the house, unable to stand being cooped up inside anymore under Charlie's unrelenting supervision. That, and hearing his constant worried thoughts was making me crazier than I already felt.

The sky was a flawless white blanket and the breeze was cool but gentle. My fingers curled into my palms inside the pockets of my jacket. I kicked a stone, watching it bounce across to the opposite side of the road and roll into the shallow ditch. A dry crackling sound followed as it came to rest on a bed of dry leaves. I stopped pacing and stared unseeing in the direction the stone had disappeared. A short moment later, I blinked once and raised my eyes to the line of trees at the edge of the road. The birds had stopped singing and I held my breath as a strange feeling washed over me.

"Hey, Bells," I suddenly heard Jacob's voice behind me come from out of nowhere. Distracted from my daze, I spun around to see him walking toward me wearing nothing but a pair of long black shorts. His chest was bare and I couldn't help but stare as I noticed how broad and sculpted it was. My eyebrows pinched together as I tried to make sense of how drastically he had changed since I saw him last year at First Beach. As he neared me, I noticed that he looked even taller than the last time I saw him at Billy's. He must be well over six feet tall.

"Hi, Jake," I said, looking at him curiously. "Did summer come around again and someone forget to tell me?" I added, forcing some levity.

"Um, I was just on a little run," he replied, looking a bit shifty.

I frowned quizzically. "All the way from La Push?"

He laughed and just shrugged his broad shoulders, giving me an impish grin. 'It doesn't take long when you're running on four legs.'

Right. The werewolf thing. That was definitely something I couldn't pretend I didn't discover. I tried to think of a way to bring it up. Maybe I should just let Jacob in on my own little secret while I'm at it and get everything out in the open. Well, almost everything.

Despite the constant heaviness in my heart, I forced myself to return a smile. The sound of the screen door shutting noisily against its frame made us both turn toward the house. Charlie was walking down the front steps and was approaching us with an eager smile stretching across his face. I frowned.

"Hello, Jacob," Charlie flashed a smile of relief as he reached us where we stood at the end of the driveway. I didn't have to hear his thoughts to know he was intending to pass the babysitting duty over to Jake, although I couldn't ignore what he was practically shouting in his mind:

'She'll be safe with Jake. He's better for her than that creep who broke her heart.'

I cringed and wrapped my arms around myself automatically, looking at the ground as Charlie placed a friendly pat against Jacob's shoulder. They shared a few casual words while I shifted uncomfortably within my jacket. This was exactly why I had to get away from Charlie. His thoughts were breaking my already shattered heart into another million pieces with every mention of him.

"Why don't you come inside for a bit? Kick your feet up after that work-out of yours," Charlie said, making his own conclusions about Jacob's appearance.

I cleared my throat and they both looked at me. "Uh, Jake and I were just gonna go for a walk," I said, and started to step away toward the path to the forest. Jacob looked at me with a wide grin, apparently pleased with the suggestion and started to follow me without any question.

"Oh, alright," Charlie replied without protesting. "Don't get stuck too far out before it starts raining," he added, starting back down the driveway.

"Okay, Charlie," I said, glancing briefly into the forest where my attention had been trapped earlier. Jacob gave him a small wave then casually put his arm around my shoulders. His skin radiated heat around my neck which was surprisingly comforting... until I remembered he was topless and I inched away slightly.

Jacob snickered then put his arm back to his side. I smiled sheepishly at him as I tried to concentrate on hearing what thoughts were hidden behind his laughter, but I heard nothing. It seemed I had no control whatsoever in which thoughts would allow themselves to be heard, and that frustrated me. I stared ahead as we walked past the opening of the forest with a sigh, abandoning my attempt.

An endless green canopy replaced the white ceiling over us and we were both silent for a while. The only noise was the shuffle of my feet on the path. If I didn't see Jacob beside me I could have sworn that I was walking alone.

After a deep breath and only the slightest hesitation, I determined that Jake, out of all people, would be the least likely to commit me. He was a mythical creature after all. I screwed up my eyebrows at the thought. I must be crazy. Here goes nothing...

"I know about the werewolf thing," I blurted out, stopping dead on the trail.

He was a step ahead of me and turned back, staring down at my face with a stunned expression. Words failed him for a few seconds and he looked as though he might deny my claim at first, then clearly changed his mind. "How did you find out?" he said, narrowing his eyes.

I looked around the immediate area incase there were other people around. When I was certain it was just the two of us, I took the last step to close the space between us and continued in a low voice. "I'm about to tell you something that sounds completely crazy."

"You just found out that I'm a werewolf, Bells. How much crazier could things get?" he snickered, oddly nonchalant about my newfound discovery about him.

I laughed once. "You'd be surprised," I replied.

Jacob seemed unconvinced, like his secret had been the best secret in the world and nothing could ever top it. He wore the most arrogant expression, childish and almost taunting, but challenging at the same time. It was highly irritating but suddenly I felt eager to top it, rather than be worried about what he would think.

"I heard it in your mind," I said, almost smug. Jacob's expression was unchanging as if I'd made a sarcastic remark. He waited for my 'real answer'. My eyebrows raised to indicate that I wasn't joking.

He laughed. "What, like your bloodsucker --" He bit his lip as I flinched. "Sorry..."

I ignored his comment and pushed on. "You ran here on four legs, right? I heard you think it just before," I said, proving my claim.

He laughed again, nodding. "You're right. That is crazy," he admitted. He even looked impressed. "So, how? Why?"

I shrugged. "I wish I knew," I replied with a sigh. I shivered again in my jacket and dug my hands deeper inside my pockets, looking at Jacob and wondering how he could tolerate the chill in the air.

"You and I should join forces. We'd make a wicked superhero team," he said, flashing another grin.

I laughed genuinely for the first time in a while. It felt strange, but it was also a relief. Jacob's gaze held mine for a few beats, his dark eyes boring intently into mine. I shyly looked away.

'God, Bella, I can't stop thinking about pressing you up against that tree over there and tasting your soft wet --'

"Jake!" I chastised, cutting him off mid-thought. What a lovely time for that to kick in. My cheeks flushed at what I heard and Jacob turned to me with raised eyebrows.

"Just checking," he winked.

A sudden growl trembled through the forest just then, cutting through the air with hostility, making me turn at the sound. Jacob clenched his fists and I noticed he began to tremble as he scanned the immediate surroundings. I looked around nervously at the sound that was more than familiar.

'If only you knew I was right above you, my love...'

I gasped as the words sung through my mind in the voice I had desperately missed. Was he...? Could he really be...? Slowly, I inched my gaze upward in search of him but found nothing other than my dashed hopes. I wondered how many pieces of my heart were left to shatter before there would be nothing left. Perhaps then I could truly feel no pain.

Jacob turned back to me, releasing his clenched fists. I heard his knuckles crack loudly. He gazed at me again, this time looking worried as my breaking heart was most likely written all over my face. "You alright, Bells?" he asked me with genuine concern. "Billy told me you were at the hospital a few days ago," he added carefully.

The numbness that I was using to cloak myself faltered again but I wouldn't let it show. I turned to him, looking up higher than I remembered I had to to meet his gaze. "It was nothing. Charlie tends to overreact," I brushed off.

"Is it because Edward --?"

"Jake... I really can't talk about it. I'm sorry," I interrupted and started to continue walking through the forest. He followed silently. "It hurts too much. I can't..."

"Okay."

After several more steps I stopped again, turning back to him with a curious glance. "So... Tell me about being a werewolf."

And I thought kids at Christmas had bright smiles.

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A/N: Ok, did you catch how Jake tensed there? Yeah... Mr. Cullen just may be lurking around. Like we said, Edward will make his appearance soon. Next chapter is all about him ;)