**Sorry for the break! I put a lot into this chapter to make up for the lack of updates! Enjoy!**

**I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. I do own drunk Jacob, though!**

Just a Phase

I was able to take only one step toward the car before Seth busted through the trees to the left of us and came to a stop right in front of me. I looked at him and could feel the confusion drowning me. His chest was heaving and glistening with moisture on the trees from that morning's rain. I looked around him to glance at Jacob who was laughing at some internal joke that the alcohol must have been telling him. I returned back to stand in front of Seth and opened my mouth to ask something but just squeaked and pointed toward the car.

"Yeah, I know. He's been staying drunk since last night. It keeps us out of his head." He sighed and looked back at Jacob just as he downed another bottle and threw it into the trees.

"Okay, but isn't, shouldn't he be, like dead after drinking that much?" I shouted and my jaw dropped as I saw him lean over and pull another full bottle from out of nowhere. "Seth! What the hell! Take it from him!" I yelled stepping around him and walking toward Jacob. He grabbed my arm right as I reached the car. I ignored him and snatched the bottle away from him.

"Jacob! What the hell is this?" I screamed at him as close as I could with Seth blocking me. He looked at his hand and tilted his head in confusion. He was just realizing that I'd taken his bottle. He was clearly trying to play catch up. He looked at me curiously then at the dent he'd made in the hood of my car.

"Oh shit! My bad! I can totally fix that!" He slurred and slid off the car. A normal drunk would have hit the ground flat on their back but he managed to catch himself and started laughing again. Next thing I knew he reached under the car and started trying to get rid of the dent with his fist. The only thing he was actually managing to do was make it worse.

"Jake I don't care about the car! Leave it!" I dashed around Seth and grabbed Jacob's shoulder to try and pull him away from the car. Next thing I knew, Seth had grabbed me and pulled me a few feet away from Jacob who was now pushing the dent back in.

"You need to give him some distance, Bells. He's very unstable right now."

"You think? He's drinking enough to kill himself! Why are you not stopping him?" I was getting angrier by the minute. Seth sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Our body temps are so high that he needs to drink all that just to get drunk. We burn things like alcohol at an insanely quick rate. He's drinking constantly to keep himself drunk and I cant stop him because," he paused and glanced back at Jacob for a second before looking back at me with concern, "because he told me not to."

I looked from him to Jake and back again at least three times, not getting any clarity by the action. Something about what he said wasn't fitting into my understanding. It brought up the memories of Jacob not being about to tell me about being a werewolf because…because…

"Seth, what are you tell me?" I asked with a small idea of what was coming.

"He's trying to tell you that I am his Alpha and he can't do anything I tell him not to do. It's the only thing I actually like about this damn…" Jacob paused his yelling from his sitting position on the ground and looked around thoughtfully like the rest of his sentence was written in the sky or something. I looked at Seth who nodded at my questioning stare. I walked around Seth and kneeled down next to Jake.

"You're Alpha? Why? Did something happen to Sam?" I asked with panic. When he just looked at me with out of focus eyes I snapped my fingers an inch from his nose to call him back to earth.

"Ha! That was loud!" He laughed and reached for the bottle I was still holding. I moved it further away from him, which only made him chuckle and lie back on the grass. "Sam is alive and well. Stubborn and annoying, but fine." He answered with a sting in his voice.

"Okay, hey, look at me. I need some answers here!" I crawled toward him and looked down into his face.

"You're pretty. I was right to fall for you. It was so easy to fall for you. Of course every moment after that was difficult as ass, but it was natural and real when I fell for you. Not like-" Jacob rambled almost incoherently. I had to get closer to him to be able to understand.

"Not like what? What happened, Jake?" I asked desperately seeing the look of pain in his face. He closed his watering eyes and shook his head slowly. After a few seconds of silence he rolled over and crawled to a box full of bottles I hadn't noticed until that moment. I sighed and looked around for the first time seeing a few neighbors staring in our direction.

"Seth, grab that box and Jake and let's go inside." I pointed toward Jacob and his box of liquor and started toward the house.

"Where's Charlie?" Seth asked, pulling Jacob toward the house with one arm and supporting the box with the other.

"He's getting in some fishing before the…" I trailed off realizing I was supposed to be getting ready for my rehearsal dinner and the anxiety of the Tanya situation forced its way back into my head for a minute. I took a deep breath and held the door open for Seth and Jacob to walk into the house. We settled in the living room. I wanted to take the bottle from Jake but I also wanted him to keep talking so I let him keep the bottle he already had and told Seth to take the rest into the kitchen. While he was gone I sat on the coffee table in front of Jacob and leaned forward.

"Jake, can you tell me what's going on?" I asked with the voice of being at someone's sick bed. He opened his eyes and looked at me thoughtfully. He seemed distraught and unsure where to start.

"Why don't you tell me about what you've been up to in Canada?" I asked to help him get started.

"I've been running mainly. I like the running a lot. Its as easy as breathing now. I just think that I want to run and feel free and then I'm on all fours and the world is whizzing by me!" He moved his hand past his head quickly and made a whooshing sound to demonstrate his speed. He was smiling so peacefully that I didn't even mind the long drink he took from the bottle. Seth made his way back into the living room and sat on the edge of the couch.

"Did he talk about the diner yet?" He asked as Jake made a face and took another drink. I shook my head and turned back to him so he'd continue.

"I really only stopped for the bathroom, food, and sleep. Yesterday I stopped at this little diner in the middle of nowhere." His eyes became glassy and it was like he wasn't in the room with us anymore. "I went straight to the counter and ordered some coffee from this ancient waitress. She gave me a menu and said something to me about it being the end of her shift and I just nodded and looked over the menu. A second later I heard the door to the diner open. They had these bells on the top so you could hear someone coming in. I always thought that was a pretty creative way of knowing they had customers." He paused dreamily and took a sip from the bottle.

"Anyways, I was thinking about those bells and then I started to feel weak and like I was going to pass out or something. I had to grab the counter because the force of it was so strong, Bella." He was looking into my eyes now. He was right there with me and his intense stare was trying to tell me something incredible was happening.

"What was it? What was happening to you?" I whispered.

"The person who made the bells ring. She was there to relieve the ancient waitress. Her shift was starting. She came in and rushed past me to go clock in. That's when I felt it. I felt like my life was dragging out of my body and going to her. I knew what it was. I had felt it in Sam's memories." He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the couch.

"Ja-Jacob? Are you saying? I mean, are you telling me that you imprinted on a waitress in Canada?" I stammered my way through the thought. He just sighed and frowned. I felt all the air escape through my lips and my mouth go completely dry. To have something to do or to subdue my shock I grabbed the bottle of Jack from him and took a swig. It burned like a bitch and made my eyes water. The effect was good though because my shock subsided slightly and I felt mainly curiosity.

"I fought it." He said quietly. I felt my eyes grow wide and I looked over at Seth to see if I'd heard correctly. He bit his bottom lip and nodded.

"I felt it happening and I knew what it would mean. So, I stopped it. I broke the counter I was sitting at by squeezing it. It was like trying to keep your skin on as someone much stronger than you tried to pull it away. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. Even harder than realizing you didn't choose me." He described with tears building up in his eyes. I reached out and squeezed his hand.

"Once I broke the counter I felt whole again and I just ran out. I never even saw her face. I just started running back here without thinking about it. I wanted to get as far from her as possible. Then the thoughts were coming in like crazy. Seth was asking me how the hell I'd done that. Sam was telling me to get back as soon as possible. All the other just kept thinking I was special or something. When I met up with them Sam started in about me being Alpha." Jacob stopped to take a big drink. I turned to Seth.

"Yeah, basically Jacob did something that's unheard of. He has the control over himself that none but the Alpha should have. I mean we all knew he was powerful and had every right to be Alpha all along, but we accepted the fact that he didn't want the responsibility. But now that this has happened, well, we can't ignore it anymore. It's his place now. There's no way to deny that he's the Alpha of our pack." Seth explained. He was clearly happy to have Jacob be his Alpha and would follow him through the world, but he also felt bad for Jake.

I was trying to take it all in, but it was a lot of new information. I was starting to understand how amazing his situation was. He had left heart broken and looking for a place in the world. While gone, he found the person who could mean the most to him if he let her, but he'd denied himself that pleasure. Then he'd come back home for some comfort and found himself in charge of the lives of others. I almost wanted to go get him another bottle.

"When I was laying on your big car out there, all I could think about is what would have happened if I hadn't stopped the imprinting. My life would be all about some waitress in Canada. I wouldn't be me. I'd be some guy who lives for a girl with absolutely no choice. I have no choices, Bella. No choices about my life." He was actually crying now and that mixed with the alcohol made him slump down and pass out.

"We should let him sleep. He'll be fine here if you need to go somewhere." I whispered to Seth as I put a blanket over Jacob's large body. I walked him to the door and opened it for him. He started to go through then paused and turned back to me.

"He's staying drunk to stop from phasing too. I don't know if that actually works, but that's his plan."

"Why would he want to keep from phasing?" I asked leaning against the doorframe.

"He wants to stop phasing completely. He wants to stop it. He wants to be in control of his life again and fall in love the regular way again. Like he did with you." Seth answered then turned and walked away.

I shut the door and turned back to look at Jacob. I felt the most intense sadness for him at that moment that I would have given anything to take away his pain. I started forming a crazy plan in my head before I became conscious of it. I knew that I needed to help him. He had run away to Canada because of me. Everything that was happening to him was because of me. I had to make it right for him.

"Well, I see you are in one piece." Edward said from behind me making me jump and spin around. I covered my chest with my hands and took deep breaths to restart my heart. I saw him look around me to Jacob then look back at my with a sweet smile on his face. I walked to him and pulled him to the kitchen.

"Alice couldn't see you again. She assumed it was because of them but I had to come be sure." He wheeled me around and pulled me up to his chest. I allowed myself to feel comfortable in his strong arms for a second before moving away and biting my bottom lip.

"Uh oh. What's up?" He asked with a chuckle. I leaned in and kissed him to give myself a moment and to soften him up. "Now I'm really curious!" He laughed and ran his knuckles up and down my cheek.

"Do you know what's going on with Jacob?" I asked sure that he did somehow.

"Yeah, I met up with Seth on his way out." He answered with a grin.

"I need to help him, Edward. I need to make him feel better." I said with pleading in my voice. He smiled at me and there was love written all over his face.

"I know you do, baby, but what can be done?" I took a deep breath and formed the sentence in my mind before saying it.

"I want to help him stop phasing and I think we can help him by taking him with us after we get married." I said it quickly and confidently and saw Edward's face fall like I knew it would. This wasn't going to be easy.

**So, that's where the story is going! What the heck is Bella thinking? I'll have another chapter up sometime tomorrow! Thanks for all the reviews! I love every single one of them! Special thanks to JustForkIt! KISSES!**