Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

AN: As you can see from the title, this isn't a happy chapter. I got the title from a Linkin Park song. It's called One Step Closer, and I highly recommend it if you need to get some anger out. Just remember to play it loud, that the way it was meant to be played. Also, I didn't base the chapter around the song; I just took a portion of a line from it.

Bella woke up the next morning to an empty bed. Jacob's side of the bed was ice cold letting her know that he had been gone for a while. The sun was high in the sky, an indication that it was later than she thought it was. She grabbed her phone with a groan and stared at it through bleary eyes. It was almost ten. Where had Jacob gone? It wasn't like him to leave without telling her goodbye.

She got out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. She stumbled over her dad's boots at the bottom of the stairs. She put them by the door where they belonged before going into the kitchen. She made a pot of coffee in a sleep filled haze. She was grabbing the milk from the refrigerator when she saw the note stuck to the door with a magnet.

Went to see the Cullen's, I'll come and see you at work. Love, Jacob

Crap, she had forgotten that she had to work. She had to be there in less than an hour. That didn't give her much time to get ready. Her stomach grumbled in protest and she made a mental note to grab something to eat on the way in. She heard her dad up and walking around as she started the shower. He was knocking on the door as she dried herself off ten minutes later.

"Come on Bells, I need to get in there." he said in an agitated voice.

"Sorry."

"Late night last night?" he asked as he passed her.

"We didn't go to sleep until after two."

"I'm going to let the fact that he slept up here slide just this once because you needed him. But if I come home to find him in bed with you again I will make sure that you never have children." he said as he opened the bathroom door again.

"Yes sir." she called from her room.

"We are going to talk about what happened last night when I get home from work. Edward is never allowed over here again."

"Yes sir." she said in agreement.

Twenty minutes later she was getting her stuff together when Charlie called up the stairs that Embry was there. What was he still doing on patrol? He was coming up the stairs as she came to stand at the top of the stairs.

"Have you slept yet?" she asked loud enough for only him to hear.

"No. I'm your ride into work today." he said tiredly.

"I don't need a ride." she said with a shake of her head.

"I guess Jake didn't talk to you before he went home."

"Talk to me about what?"

"It's nothing serious. I wouldn't worry about it. Are you ready to go?"

"I guess. Just so you know; we're stopping somewhere to get something to eat. I'm starving."

He nodded as they both walked into the kitchen.

"You look like you had a night like Bella did Embry." Charlie said in concern.

"Something like that." Embry said with a nod.

His eyes flickered to Bella's and she gave him a thankful look. A few minutes later they were in his car headed into downtown Forks. He stopped at the only McDonalds in town and Bella bought them both breakfast. They were both eating at the counter at Newton's twenty minutes later.

"How much did you hear last night?"

"Not much. I tried to stay far enough away that I couldn't hear what was going on but within running distance if something happened." he reassured her.

"Did you hear Edward?"

"No. He kept his thoughts to himself. I heard him the same time that Jacob did. You don't need to worry about me telling everyone."

"I wasn't worried about that. I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do that."

The early afternoon passed slowly and before she knew it, it was two o' clock. Embry had to leave to go to work and within minutes Jacob came in. He sat on the counter going through a hunting and fishing magazine while she stocked the display case. He was silent, which rattled her already frazzled nerves.

She sat on the counter next to him after a customer left. He wouldn't even look at her.

"You've been here for an hour and you haven't said one word to me." she said with a sigh.

"I've got a lot on my mind." he said, not looking up from the magazine.

"You can tell me." she said looking at him with reassuring eyes.

"Not here. What time do you get off?" he asked finally meeting her gaze.

"Whenever Mike gets here. He should be here soon." she said lacing her fingers through his.

His skin was hotter than she had ever felt it and she quickly pulled her hand away. The tips of her fingers were red and there was a blister where her palm connected to her wrist. It wasn't bad, but it still hurt.

"You shouldn't have done that." he said with a sigh.

"It's fine, it doesn't hurt that much. I was only trying to comfort you." she mumbled.

"I don't mean to scare you. I've had a really bad day and I haven't slept since the night before last. It is taking all the patience I have to be nice to you." he said with a shake of his head.

The bell above the door rang and Mike stepped inside as a clap of thunder sounded outside. Bella had been so worried about Jacob that she hadn't realized that it was about to rain.

"I'll meet you outside." he said quietly before sliding off the counter.

Bella shook her head with a sigh as she clocked out. Mike came to her side of the counter while she gathered her things.

"What's with him?"

"I don't know, he hasn't told me yet."

"He looks like someone died." Mike said while looking at Jacob who was outside with his arms folded over his chest while leaning against his car.

"I'll see you around." Bella called over her shoulder as she walked up the steps a few seconds later.

Jacob got into the car as she made her way around to the passenger side. The ride to her house was silent. She looked out the window at the impending gray clouds that covered the sky. The storm wasn't there yet, but it was close.

At her house Jacob got out of the car first and sat on the hood. Bella came to stand in front of him with her hands on his legs. The heat was still there, but at least she had his clothing for protection.

"Are you ready to tell me what's wrong?"

"You aren't going to like what I have to say. Keep in mind that I have your best interest at heart." he said with a sigh.

"Okay." she said slowly.

"Sam brought something up at the meeting last night. Carlisle brought it up again this morning. They think that you shouldn't be left alone, and I agree with them."

"Why? Do you not think that I can take care of myself?" she asked as worry flashed through her eyes.

"I know that you can. But what's happening isn't going to stop until we kill Victoria and the newborns. We have had two pack meetings in the past three days because things are spiraling out of control. I would sleep better knowing that there was someone looking after you."

"I do not need a babysitter Jacob." she said giving him an icy glare.

"Please do not fight with me about this. I've already had to deal with Edward pointing out that he thinks that I'm an incompetent idiot. He's blaming me for everything that is happening to you." he said with a strangled sigh.

"It is not your fault. I swear I wish I could kill him sometimes." she said as she shoved her hands through her hair.

"Yes it is. If I had been on patrol with Leah the night that guy broke in he never would have gotten into the house."

"You are doing everything you can. I do not blame you for what is going on." she said, her voice pleading with him to reason with her.

"You are going to have to put your hatred for Edward aside, because he is going to be looking out for you just like everyone else is."

"My dad threatened to have him thrown in jail for what happened last night. He can't be here." she said quickly.

"We'll work around it." he said with an angry sigh.

"I don't like this, not one bit." she said as she shook her head.

"It doesn't matter if you don't like it Bella, it's something that you're going to have to deal with." Jacob said as his eyes met hers.

All of his anger was etched across his face as she took in his features.

"I don't like being told what to do, you know that." she said, trying to remain calm.

"You didn't have a problem following Edward's orders." he said with an attitude.

"That was a low blow; you know that I had no control over that." she said harshly, giving him a hurt look.

He wished that he hadn't said as soon as he had said it. He did know that she'd had no control over what happened when she was with Edward. He had promised himself that he would never treat her like that and here he was bossing her around.

"I don't like this anymore than you do, but my hands are tied. Sam made an order and I have to follow it." he said as he ran a hand over his face.

"Go home. I'd rather not talk to you right now." she said with a sigh.

"I can't change what's going on Bella."

"And neither can I. Right now we're taking our anger out on each other and I don't want you to do something that you'll regret later." she said before turning to walk into the house.

Jacob growled deep in his throat before getting off the car. He phased, not caring about his clothes. Paul was somewhere close by so he kept his thoughts to himself. Soon Seth and Brady would take over for the night and tomorrow would be Jared and Leah's turn. Jared was the only one who Leah didn't fight with. No one understood it, but they weren't going to argue with her about it.

He was almost home when he heard someone off to his right but a few miles off.

Not now. Jacob said in warning.

Don't mind me. I'm just headed to your house to see your sister. I can take her back to my place if you want. Paul answered.

I swear if you tell anyone what you heard I will find a way to kill you. He threatened.

Nobody is going to find out from me. Paul promised.

Jacob gave Paul a few extra minutes and by the time he got home Paul and Rachel had already left. He had never been so glad to have the house to himself. His dad was spending the weekend with a friend that he didn't get to see but once a year.

He threw himself onto the bed in exhaustion knowing that he would spend another night tossing and turning. He needed to take his mind off of everything that was going on but he knew that it would be impossible until after the battle. He had been spreading himself too thin lately. He was running three times as many patrols as everyone else. He found himself running patrol even when someone else was already doing it because he wanted to make sure that Bella was safe.

He was taking his anger out on her and he knew that it was wrong. He needed to talk to her rationally and make her see that keeping watch on her around the clock until everything was over was best. The pack could see that things were starting to take a toll on him. They could see that Bella was losing sleep. Maybe a day away from her to get his head together would do them both some good.

XXXX

Bella had gone to her room as soon as she had left Jacob standing in the front yard. She knew that she wasn't being fair to him. He wasn't asking for a lot. She knew that her safety was important to everyone involved and she had taken her anger out on the wrong person. If everyone had their way she would never get the chance to lash out at the right person. How was she supposed to move on when everyone kept sheltering her?

The window slid open at a little after nine. She turned her head to the silhouette climbing through the window.

"Alice, I would rather be alone right now."

"I thought that you could use a friend. Jacob called Carlisle earlier. He thinks that you would be safer if he was the one watching you."

"I can't even talk to him without getting aggravated right now. But that was nice of him."

"Someone would be with you while he is working but, other than that he would be with you. Would you be able to live with that?"

"Like I said, things are a little tense between Jacob and I right now." Bella said quietly.

"Every couple has their rough spots. It isn't anything that can't be worked out." Alice said as she sat next to her on the bed.

"Are you my babysitter for the night?" she asked bitterly.

"Only because Jacob thought that it would be best if the two of you had some distance. He should be here tomorrow. He's been losing a lot of sleep because of you." Alice said as she ran a hand through Bella's hair.

The touch soothed her frayed nerves. Alice had a more calming effect on her than Jasper did sometimes. Bella let out a sigh as tears pricked her eyes. Alice pulled her to her and Bella buried her face in Alice's shirt. The tears came freely as Alice rubbed her back.

"It's alright. Let it out." she said soothingly.

"I feel so guilty sometimes, and then there are times when I wish that there was something that I could do other than sit around and do nothing. I am just as angry as everyone else that Victoria is doing this. I am the one she is after and I won't have anything to do with getting rid of her." she said into Alice's neck, her voice strained.

"We can think of something for you to do. We'll talk to everyone else soon, I promise." Alice murmured against her ear.

Bella let all of her weight fall against Alice, and Alice rubbed her back in soothing circles.

"Seth, Brady, I know that you can hear me. I don't want Jacob finding out what Bella and I are talking about." Alice warned.

They stayed that way all night. Bella finally fell asleep after midnight as Alice hummed a soothing song to lull her to sleep. It would be the first peaceful night's rest that she would have since before Edward left without Jacob.