Bella

As I stood a little distance behind Jared, I wondered what on earth they were talking about. It was so weird, seeing Jake look so angry. It was like his Sam face only worse, scary as opposed to intimidating. He was shaking so much, my best friend was a volcano ready to erupt.

"I'm the one for her! Not you!" he roared, I don't think he knew I had come outside.

Why on earth would he be arguing with Jared over… over me? When had Jared ever suggested that him and I could be together? And why did Jake still think I was going to end up changing how I feel him? My last thought was the most frustrating of all. I hated myself so much, I knew I was practically stringing him along but I constantly tried to remind him he was my best friend, my brother.

"You're always going to be her best friend Jake, nobody's going to stop that!" Jared told Jake, confusing me even further. I wondered just what Jake thought had happened between me and Jared. What did Jared thing had happened between us? But then I thought about the strange urge I had to hug Jared and how much I wanted to… kiss him… I was yearning for him and him only, he was all I could think about… I thought back over the conversations we had had in my bedroom.

"THEN WHAT HAVE YOU AND SAM BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS?" Jacob's sudden thundering shout made even Jared jump as he took a few steps closer to me.

"Jake, you're one of us. You know we can't control it." Jared said softly, I wondered how we could remain so calm in front of Jacob when he was like this, he was probably so close to turning in to a wolf…

Slowly, this realisation seemed to creep up on Jacob. He sighed heavily and stood, stiff and looking at the ground. We watched him for what felt like an age as he seemed to experience every emotion possible. Eventually he looked back up, defeated. I winced at how… drained… he sounded.

"I'm sorry. I… I know you can't control it. It's just… It's Bella, Jared."

What was me? I demanded my thoughts to tell me, and I could feel the idea nagging at me but I didn't know what to think about that, so I just tried to think of something else.

"I know, Jake." Jared murmured, and he took another step backward, neither of them looked at me.

With his eyes lightly closed, Jake said "I'll see you soon, I'm going to check on Quil. I… I'll deal with this. I know you can't help it."

I had never seen him look so… so miserable. Not my Jake, my obnoxiously sarcastic best friend. Still without looking at me, Jake moved to walk back off in the direction he had come.

"Jake!" I shouted after him. I wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be okay, I wanted to see his smile. Not the sneer he had been giving me lately, but his smile, my smile; the big grin.

He turned around and looked at me for the first time since I had come outside to their fight.

"Bella, talk to Jared. Try and understand, alright?" he called back to me, before disappearing in to the thick trees.

"Understand what?" I shouted with urgency, I wanted to know if what I thought was true…

I started to follow him, but the memory alone of Jared standing behind me was stopping me, and then he himself stopped me by placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't try and chase him. He'll probably be at Quil's by now." He told me, and something about his voice made me want to hug him too, and then I felt worse… Edward, Jake, Jared…

Then I realised I had just thought of Edward without feeling like I was automatically going to smash like a vase which has been smashed too many times already.

I turned around to look at him, in to his eyes which were staring at me… as he examined my face the corners of his lips turned up slightly.

"So you guessed we were wolves. Did you guess what that was about?" he asked shakily.

I thought I had guessed, but I didn't want to be wrong. That would be so embarrassing; so instead I shrugged and gave a noncommittal shake of my head.

"So about the whole imprinting thing…"

Jared

"So about the whole imprinting thing…" I began nervously.

Bella closed her eyes and took a sharp intake of air before opening them up again to look right in to mine, it was like she was looking in to my soul. It was… weird but nice, I guess. And at least she hadn't ran away.

"I'm your imprint." She said, it wasn't her asking, it was like she was telling me. I mean, when I found out she had guessed about the whole wolf shape shifter thing, I knew she was observant, but even her fact surprised me and I already knew.

"Yes." I told her finally.

She didn't tell me I was an asshole or that she wanted nothing to do with me, she didn't look at me like I was disgusting or a monster, she just nodded and kept her eyes on me.

"Um… are you… are you okay with that?" I asked her nervously.

She nodded.

"I guess. I mean… I don't think I am ready for… for that yet. I mean a proper relationship… but I'm willing to get to know you. I… as weird as it is, I kind of want to get to know you already. You're all I could think about last night." She rolled her eyes at that, like it was stupid. Only it wasn't stupid, because she was all I could think about all night.

I gingerly reached out a hand to place it on her cheek, and she didn't flinch once.

"I'll wait forever." I told her quietly, and her face screwed up slightly.

"Don't. I don't want you to be waiting around for me… just in case I never get over him…"

"Bella, I won't be able to wait for anyone but you. I can be anything you need me to be, remember? A brother, a protector, a lover, a friend." I told her, and she nodded in acceptance.

"I…" she began to say something, but she stopped herself. Then a tear ran down her face.

That alone made my heart break, so I carefully pulled her in to my arms so I didn't crush her and hugged her close. She cried more, her head against my chest and I wanted nothing more than to make her laugh or something, anything to stop the pain she was feeling, it was unbearable.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her softly.

"I… I'm just so… I feel like such a bad person." She said through sobs, it was alarming me slightly because seeing her through Jake's eyes and Sam's eyes, she barely ever showed when she was upset.

"Hey, hey, you're not a bad person." I assured her quietly, stroking a hand through her hair.

"I am! I'm… I'm meant to be… I told Jacob I couldn't be with him because I'm stupid enough to believe Edward will come back, I don't even like him anymore! He's horrible but I've still… I've been spending so long pining after someone whose gone, and now I meet you and I'm suddenly… you're all I can think about!"

"Bella, are you seriously crying because you're realising you shouldn't be waiting for that bl- for the Cullen? For Edward?" I asked her in disbelief. "Bella, he hurt you! You shouldn't want to be with someone who hurt you so much, Bella, you deserve so much better. And as for Jake… he'll find his soul mate. I hate to say so, but you and him wouldn't have worked. Not as lovers, you aren't soul mates. Bella, you and I are soul mates and I would never hurt you." I promised her.

She cried some more. A lot more.

"I guess it is kind of stupid." She said at last, and she actually laughed.

"You're not stupid, Bella. He is." I told her gently.

I wondered if she would shout at me, tell me I didn't know him, tell me to stop talking about him like that, but she sort of made a sound of agreement and hugged me again.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Always, Bella. I'll always be here for you."