A/N: Okay so I'm going to change the story up some. Please don't hate me but I feel like this will work out better for the way I'm writing Luna. Thank you all for your support!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Luna's POV:

Months have passed since the Cullens left. Everyday, Bella grows more and more detached from reality. Carlisle told me that Edward left the coven to travel on his own. Carlisle and I have seen each other since his departure but its not often and it's being away from each other for so long. We try to meet up and see each other every other week. While its hard to see him leave, we at least can keep in touch through calls and texts.

The shifters have been wanting me to go to La Push to speak with them, but I keep refusing. I do as much as I can to help a despondent Bella get through her everyday life but her 'blah' attitude is really dampening my mood. Bella wakes up screaming in pain some nights and I know that's from the pull of her mate not being nearby. As much as Edward would like to deny it, his pain is just as bad. He won't be able to stay away forever, if he tries, it could kill them both.

Christmas passed by in a blink of an eye. Carlisle and I spent a wonderful romantic evening at the Cullen home. He made me a delicious meal, along with filling champagne glasses with blood, of course animal, for the both of us. Then we made passionate love in his bed and talked until the sun came up.

I sigh as I run my hand through my hair, deciding I had enough of this depressed Bella. Even my positive emotions wouldn't lift her spirits. She doesn't really talk to anyone at school anymore and she can barely hold a conversation with me.

Making up my mind, I stomp down to Bella's room and barge inside. I see her typing away on her laptop. I glide over to her and slam my hand down on the lid, closing the laptop. She looks up at me startled. "Okay, I understand you're hurting. But this needs to stop." I say as I gesture around with my hands.

"Luna…" She mumbles.

I hold my hand up, cutting her off, "No. This ends today, Bella. You need to at least act like a human being, not a zombie. Charlie and Renee are talking about sending us both to Jacksonville." I explain, causing her to look down guilty.

"I'm sorry, Luna. I know you must be feeling the same. I don't want to go to Jacksonville! I'll work on it." She murmurs as she glances at me, apologies swimming in her eyes.

I give her a small smile, feeling guilty for being able to see my mate while Edward trapezes around the world being just as miserable as Bella. "It's okay. But from today onward, we are going to have fun!" I say, slamming my fist onto my open palm. I make her stand up and put on actual clothes.

Hearing the small, interesting, conversation between Charlie and our neighbor, Bob Marks. I make her go downstairs and outside. There stand three, beat up, motorcycles in front of Bob. Bella and I glance at each other, our eyes lighting up. A silent agreement takes place, we will get those bikes.

Once Charlie leaves for work, Bella and I gather the motorcycles and put them in the bed of her truck, covering them with a tarp. We giggle the whole time, like we're small children, knowing we're doing something we're not supposed to. It's refreshing to see Bella somewhat happy again, the dead, dull look in her eyes over the past couple of months was unsettling. We both climb into her truck and head towards Jake's house.

I pull out my phone, a wide grin stretching across my face as I text Carlisle.

TO: Carlisle (^o^)

FROM: Luna

Bella and I just picked up motorcycles! Taking them to Jake now so he can fix them up for us. I miss you lots. I love you until the very end 3

XOXO

I hit send as we pull up in front of Jake's house. Jake comes bounding out of the house, a giant grin on his face. "Bella! Luna!"

As Bella and I step out of the truck, my eyes scan over him, noticing he got taller and his muscles bulkier. He reaches out to Bella, engulfing her in a bear hug, "'Bout time you girls showed up!" He exclaims before moving over to me and crushing me in a hug as well.

Bella and I make eye contact before beaming at Jake, "We brought you something." I sing as I float towards the bed of the truck. Bella grasps the tarp as Jake makes his way over, pulling it off to reveal the old motorcycles.

Jake's smile slowly falls, before he awkwardly gestures to the bikes, "Scrap metal… you shouldn't have."

A loud cackle bursts from me, as Bella looks offended, "No! We rescued them from the dump." I exclaim, bouncing in place from excitement. It doesn't compare to running at vampire speed, but I love riding motorcycles.

Bella nods, "Yeah, they'd cost more than they're worth to fix… unless one had a mechanic-type friend." She trails off as I shoot my fingers at Jake.

Jake cracks a smile, "Me, being the mechanic friend?" I nod my head enthusiastically as Bella just shrugs. "Since when are you guys into motorcycles?" He questions.

"I've always loved motorcycles. I used to have one back in Phoenix." I say as I lean on the side of Bella's truck.

Jake checks over the bikes, sucking his teeth, "The parts alone will be pricey…"

"I have a college fund I can dig into." Bella cuts him off.

I stare at her, flabbergasted, as does Jake before he snorts, "I'm sure Charlie's gonna love that."

Bella shrugs, "Charlie won't know."

Jake's eyebrows raise but I see the spark of excitement in his eyes, "Wow. Lying to dad, blowing through college money, repairing dangerous machines- that I'm guessing you guys will want to ride?"

Bella's face falls a bit, "I get it if you think this is stupid and reckless."

Jake's eyes brighten even more, "Oh, it's totally stupid and reckless." He leans towards us as a large, mischievous grin stretches across his face, "When do we start?"

I sense the three shifters, I've been trying to avoid, stalk close to the edge of the woods. I ignore them as I see a giant smile painted on Bella's face as we haul the motorcycles out of the truck and wheel them towards the garage.

—

Days continued to pass as Bella and I continued to visit Jake. It's currently midnight as I lay in Carlisle's bed, inhaling his scent. Knowing I still have three more days before I can see him, I decided to come cuddle in his bed. Once the sun rises, I teleport back into my own room. I get dressed in a pair of black jeans and a grey sweater, throwing on a white beanie and grey vans to match. As I make my way to the kitchen, I see Bella already awake. "You're up early." I state, grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I was waiting on you. I wanted to go to Jake's." She mumbles, dark circles stain under her eyes. While I want to believe she's getting better, I know she's not. And she won't until her mate comes back.

"Oh, we can head out now." I say, transporting my coffee to a travel cup.

We arrive at Jake's, hopping out of the truck and bouncing to the door. Bella rasps on the door and a beat later Jake answers. He sees us and a cheek splitting grin comes over his face. He calls out to Billy to let him know we'll be in the garage.

The three of us make our way over to the motorcycles, Bella taking a seat closer to Jake. I know Jake has a small crush, okay large crush, on Bella, but I'm not worried. He's helping heal her broken soul, but he will never fill Edward's place. The thread between Jake and Bella is white, a color I've never seen before in all my years. When I zone back in, Bella is telling Jake that we might seem like bad influences on him if we don't ever do any homework.

"You guys? Influence me? Please." Jake scoffs.

"We are older than you…" I pipe up, joining the conversation.

Jake looks at me, "Age ain't nothin' but a number." He winks.

Bella snickers, "And we just convinced you to secretly build us two-wheeled death machines."

Jake's face morphs into mock horror, "God, you're right, you girls like Satan-"

"Yo! Jake, you in here?" A male voice cuts him off.

Bella jumps up, grabbing the tarp, ready to throw it over the bikes, 'not like it would do much' I think to myself. Jake holds up his hand, "Relax, it's just my boys."

"Oh, your boys? I didn't know you swung that way Jake." I snicker as his face heats up.

Two teenage boys enter the garage, one being Embry, the boy who told me about the legends. Neither seem to take notice of Bella or me.

"Hey, Jake-" Embry pauses, finally noticing us. His eyes sweep over Bella before resting on me. His eyes glaze over slightly as his heart picks up. The other guy pauses mid-step as well, looking from Jake to Bella to me.

The unknown male's eyes settle on my own. His eyes staring at my own unique green-blue ones before continuing over the rest of my form. His eyes run over my wavy white-blonde hair and travel down my body. Not that the adventure is long, I do only stand at a meager 5 foot 2 inches. His body reacts the same as Embry's and hell, even Jake's. I'm made to lure my meals in, the pounding of their hearts makes their blood move quicker.

Jake clears his throat, "Guys, this is Bella..." He gestures towards her, "And this is Luna." He motions towards me. "Bella, Luna, that's Embry and Quil." This causes the guys to snap out of their gawking.

I bob my head slightly, "Yeah, I've met Embry before."

Embry snaps his fingers, "That's right, on the beach!"

Quil smirks and looks at Embry and Jake, "So you really did meet a gorgeous girl on the beach… and the bike building story is true as well."

Bella chuckles softly, an awkward smile settling on her face, "Taught him everything he knows."

Quil's eyes flick between Bella and Jake, "What about the part where you're his girlfriend?"

Bella looks uncomfortable before stating with brutal honestly, "Oh, we're just friends."

Embry snickers, "Oooh, burn! What about you, Luna? Are you Jake's girlfriend then?"

I snort, "Maybe in his dreams."

Jake's eyes grow wide, his cheeks flushing, "I said they're girls and friends!"

Quil's eyebrows furrow, a playful glint shining in his eyes, "Embry, do you remember him making that distinction?"

Embry hums, "Nope."

Being the good friend I am, I jump to Jake's rescue, "So, I guess you guys have girlfriends?"

Jake's booming laugh echoes through the garage, "Right. Quil took his cousin to prom."

Quil laughs mockingly, "Yeah, that's still a riot. You want funny Black? I'll give you funny." Before running towards Jake but Jake dodges and they continue they're playful scuffle.

Embry walks over to me, "I got five bucks on Quil."

I snicker, "You're on." Jake ends up winning, causing Embry to groan. I hold my hand out, "Okay, pay up."

He looks at me, a mischievous look in his eyes, "How about I take you out to eat instead?" He asks hopefully.

I pause, giving Bella a chance to jump in, "She'd love to!" I shoot daggers at her. "She needs to get out more…" She leans over to Embry, whispering the last part, "She's getting over an ex-boyfriend."

I try to ignore her, knowing I shouldn't be able to hear her whisper. I'd look suspicious if I don't go and that would cause Bella to investigate things that she doesn't need to know about. I sigh, "Fine. But just as friends."

Embry's face lights up, "Perfect! Let's go!"

My eyes grow wide, no doubt a look of horror is on my face, "Right now?!"

Embry nods enthusiastically, "No time like the present!" he grabs my hand and starts tugging me towards the exit.

"Have fun!" Bella calls out.

Embry leads me to a small mum and pop diner, "I know it looks small but the food here is great." He tells me.

We walk inside, causing the only three other people inside to pause and stare at us. I tense noticing none other than Paul seated at a booth. Embry doesn't seem to notice the tense air and leads me over to another booth, luckily one away from Paul. A girl no older than 19 comes over with a notepad, "I'm Leah, can I get you guys some drinks?" Leah asks tonelessly. She looks like she'd rather be anywhere but here, and not in the sense that she's rather not be working, but that she's rather be curled up in her bed crying.

"I'll have a coffee." I say, glancing at Embry.

"Just water." Embry answers. Leah sighs before walking away.

My eyebrows furrow as I reach out to feel her emotions, almost gasping from the tsunami of depressing feelings. The prominent is heartache and anger. A lethal combination for someone so young. Embry just shakes his head and turns to me, but I speak up before he can, "What's up with her?"

Embry sucks his teeth, "She's going through a break up. It was… talk of the rez, that's for sure." I raise my eyebrows, silently urging him to continue, "She was engaged to this guy, Sam, but he suddenly changed and broke off their engagement. Then he starts dating her cousin, Emily. It was brutal." He explains quietly. I hear a loud 'THUMP' as someone, Paul, slams his cup onto his table.

I nod my head in understanding, "Was he cheating on Leah?" I ask, knowing personally how that feels.

Embry shakes his head, "Not that anyone is aware of. He claims he wasn't, but it was so sudden!" I connect the dots and conclude that Sam must have imprinted on Leah's cousin, Emily. It's a brutal situation but one that wouldn't have been able to be avoided.

Paul is suddenly standing next to our table, I can see his body shaking slightly, putting me on edge. "Luna." He acknowledges in a deep tone.

I nod at him, "Paul, can we help you?" I ask innocently.

Paul gives me a look saying I know exactly what they want before saying, "No. Just haven't seen you since the forest thing."

"Well, nice to see you to see you too, Paul. But right now, I'm enjoying a meal with my friend, Embry." I say, gesturing to Embry with an innocent smile on my face. Paul just grunts before moving towards the exit and leaving.

Embry glances between the door and me, "What was that about?"

"Oh, just some unresolved issues." I mutter, waving it off.

Embry looks uncomfortable before blurting out, "Is he the ex-boyfriend Bella mentioned?"

I choke, "God, no!"

Embry visibly relaxes, "That's good, I wouldn't get involved with those guys. He's part of Sam's cult."

I almost snort, knowing that it wasn't anything near a cult, but manage to hold back. Leah comes over with our drinks before asking for our food order. I order simple French fries while Embry orders more than any normal human should eat. After taking our order, she walks away.

"So, what happened with your ex?" Embry breaks the ice with the one question I was hoping to avoid.

I sigh, "Honestly, he had to move. It's temporary though and we never technically broke up. But that's a secret from Bella. I felt bad when Edward broke up with her, so I never told her about my boyfriend and I trying out long distance."

Embry's face falls slightly at the mention of me not being single, "You're a good friend then. How is the long distance?"

"It's hard sometimes. I miss actually being able to see him all of the time but it's nice hearing his voice over calls." I say with a sappy smile on my face.

Eventually, Embry and I finish eating and head back to Jake's house. When we arrive, Quil had already gone home, leaving Bella and Jake to awkwardly move around one another. "Hey, Bells. Ready to head home?" I ask stepping into the garage.

Bella's head snaps up, her tense shoulders relaxing at the sight of me, "Yeah. Gotta make dinner for Charlie."

We both head towards the truck, tossing goodbyes at Embry and Jake. Once we're inside the truck, I turn to her, smacking her arm. "What was that for?" She snaps.

"For forcing me on a not-date with Embry!" I laugh.

She just stares at me, "Luna, it's been months and all you've done is try to take care of me and Charlie. I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy, Bella. Really, don't worry about me." I reassure her with a small smile as we drive back to Charlie's.