AN: Hey guys, I know it took a while for this one... I've been ridiculously busy. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/alerted/fav'd this story. This is a transitional chapter. It is a good jumping off point for the next chapter, which is almost done. From here on out the story will be moving along quite nicely and most chapters will have both a JPOV and a BPOV. For all you who question who dunnit' there are lots of more clues to come. Thanks for your all your patience. Hopefully chapter 15 will be posted next Monday. **fingers crossed that the writing fairy grants me lots of time to write/edit/beta**

But delay the mournful words
Of complicated overcast
Please take the message
That you taught me how to live at last

Everlasting Friend – Blue October

BPOV

I sat in my truck, in front of my father's house, staring at the front door and thinking about the service I had just attended. It was beautiful and though I don't think anything could ever be special enough for a man like my dad, I think he would have been happy with it. It had given me a little closure, though I think I'm a long way off from being healed. Does a person ever heal from the loss of a loved one? I stared absently at the front door. It was beginning to rain now, I felt like maybe the rain was held off just for his service. I thought about all the people there and then my heart sank into my feet when I thought of Jacob and Tanya.

She. Was. Beautiful.

I was so extraordinarily jealous of the way she held on to his arm walking into the funeral home. She looked like a model, long legs, shiny reddish-blond hair and full lips. It made me feel like a total fool. There was no way I could measure up to that point of excruciating perfection. Hopefully, God has a sense of humor and gave her chronic bad breath or something. I felt a little better when she stormed out. It was partly the reason I allowed Edward to sit next to me. That and guilt. His eyes were still black and his nose all painfully swollen probably from crying so much yesterday. I mean, he called me 78 times and each time he was crying, as my voicemails relayed to me 67 of those times. So yeah. I let him sit next to me. Once the service started I was sort of in my own world anyway, I kept feeling like my dad was there trying to make me happy. Even though my heart was breaking, I would feel a faint sense of being held and it's what kept me from breaking down completely.

When the service ended I had to let Edward go. I didn't want to lead him on and he needed to understand it's over. I watched him walking away and it hurt. I didn't want to hurt Edward and honestly wished I did love him enough to work it out, but when it's gone, it's gone. So I was grieving two losses today, the loss of my five year relationship and the loss of my father. It had taken so much out of me. I thought again of Jacob and how he came to me after the service. Initially, I was pissed off because he should have said something about her to me before I found out at my father's funeral. The fact that he had the audacity to bring her there! What in the hell was he thinking? I mean, really... I felt the heat of anger spread through my chest mixing with the pain. Then after the service he said I'm the only person that mattered to him. It felt slightly surreal that I could ever compare to someone like her. I took a deep breath and exited the truck walking up to the door slowly, the rain hitting my face and washing away any tear streaks that may have been there, I walked up under the overhang in front of the door to get out of the rain and looked down at my keys.

I heard the cracking of tires on gravel and the hum of an engine behind me. I turned my head to see Jacob pulling into the driveway behind my truck. As much as I wanted to be mad at him, I just couldn't summon the strength. He got out of the car and walked quickly up behind me. I looked up at his face. He smiled down at me and wrapped his arms around me. Comfort and warmth surrounded me and although I was just mad at him a second ago, I couldn't muster the strength to deny him the affection, mostly because I needed it.

After a long moment of just holding each other he pulled back slightly, my body felt cold from the absence of him. He looked into my eyes, even when laced with sadness, his eyes were smoldering.

"You ready to go in?" he asked softly. I turned to look at the door knob where my keys were dangling in the lock. I shook my head no, but whispered yeah. He chuckled lightly as I unlock the door and opened it.

I was surprised to find that walking inside of my father's house wasn't nearly as painful as I had anticipated. In fact, it filled me with a peaceful happiness as I looked around at the familiar surroundings. There were a few things that looked out of place from the police being in and out, but other than that, it was just Charlie's place. I smiled and felt Jacob lay a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him with a smile and he gave me a smile back. I walked to the living room and sat on the couch and he followed behind. He sat back and looked at me sweetly.

"That was a wonderful service Bella."

I just nodded and smiled at him. I closed my eyes.

"Angela's speech was great." I mentioned. I never heard her talk about what my dad had said before. Though, I always avoided talking about her dad's passing because I never wanted to upset her.

"Yeah, it was powerful." He responded.

I rolled my head to the side and looked at Jacob. He looked at me but his expression was slightly tense.

"What's wrong Jake?"

He gave a half smile. "I feel like there's an elephant in the room and we need to get it out." He said and rubbed his forehead.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I knew he was right, but I didn't want to be mad. I had just found a little peace, but I doubted I would be able to get through the rest of my day without taking care of it at some point so I might as well get it over with.

"Okay, so, tell me all about her then Jake. Since you had said you didn't have a girlfriend, how did she end up here? And how the hell did she wind up at my father's funeral?"

He turned to face me and I copied the gesture so that we were face to face then looked up at him expectantly. He took a deep breath and groaned. "Ugh...Okay. I met her about 6 months ago, she had been dating a lawyer then, the guy was a real creep. A defense attorney." he said the last part as though it explained everything. I just nodded.

"So anyway, about three months ago I was at a party, the captain was retiring and she showed up dateless and I didn't have one either so naturally..." I closed my eyes and tried real hard not to think of Jake with her. My stomach turned. "She had broken up with the lawyer dude a few weeks before. She is a student at Washington State studying criminal justice. I guess we had a little in common. We only went out a few times but she was... clingy and I don't... didn't... like heavy emotional relationships so I tried to just avoid her, and ignored her calls but that didn't stop her."

I got angry. I sat up straighter and leaned forward. "You don't treat women like that Jacob. That's not right. You should have been upfront with her and told her how you felt. You shouldn't just walk away when things don't go your way. You can't call her clingy when you're not being honest with her about how you feel." I lectured, and then slouched back down into the position I was in before.

He looked me right in the eyes. I felt my heart stop."Yeah, I know. I'm going to start telling people exactly how I feel from now on." He stated, obviously picking up on the fact that what I said could have easily applied to me.

"Anyway, she ran into a guy from work who told her where I was and what I was doing that I was attending a funeral today. She showed up there. I had no idea she was even coming." he said looking down at the floor. He shifted his eyes to meet mine. "There's only been you Bella. It's always been you." He said it so softly I wasn't entirely sure I had heard him right. My heart started hammering in my chest. His gaze never left mine.

"So what now?" He asked me softly. I shrugged a little and looked away.

"I heard you and Edward talking before I walked up. Did I hear wrong or did you tell him it was over?"

I looked down, suddenly uncomfortable. I felt like a bad person. I broke Edward's heart and here I am getting butterflies over Jacob. It wasn't right. I looked up at Jacob and gave a half smile.

"Eavesdropper." I accused then took a deep breath. "Yeah, yesterday I went to his house. We broke up." I confirmed. I had a hard time looking back at his face, the guilt was overwhelming. When I did he looked as though he was suppressing a smile.

"What? Oh come on, Jake, really... He's so upset. It's not right to be happy about this." I said and scowled. Then Jake chuckled. Out loud. I looked up at him holding my expression.

"What?" I asked sternly.

"You want to smile and you're scowling. Just like when you were 12 and you knew I would give you the toy from the cereal box, but you'd scowl anyway just because you didn't want to look smug."

My resistance was being challenged and I knew he had me. I stuck my tongue in my cheek to stop the smile. I brought my hands to my face and rubbed and he fell over laughing.

"Oh man, you haven't changed a bit. You are twenty five Bells. You would think you would have learned other ways to mask your laughter." He laughed and then I gave up and giggled then stopped because it felt wrong. I looked up at him with a halfhearted smile and then bit my lip. He scooted next to me and turned my body to face away from him and then pulled my back to his chest. He wrapped his arms around the top of my chest and lowered his head down and whispered into my ear.

"It's okay to be happy Bella. You deserve to be happy." Warm sensations vibrated through my body and I smiled at his words. "I know. I will be. I just need..." Lots of thoughts crossed my mind, like Jacob's lips on mine, his hands caressing my body, my hands all over his body...

"What do you need?" he asked softly into my shoulder. The air from his breath tickling my skin and causing urges that were so far from appropriate.

"Coffee." I answered and stood up to go into the kitchen and make a pot. Hoping beyond all hope there wasn't any five day old coffee sitting in the pot. I lucked out, the pot was clean. I gave my dad a silent thanks.

I glanced at Jacob who sat up on the couch and had an elbow resting on his knee, with his knuckles holding up his face, in "The Thinker" pose. As gorgeous a statue as it is, Jacob blew it out of the water. The only difference is Jacob was dressed, very nicely, and the statue was nude. Nude. Jacob nude. My heart skipped a beat. I forced myself to stop thinking about naked Jacob because it felt so wrong, having just left my father's funeral, and dumping my ex.

When the coffee was finished, I sat at the kitchen table on a cold chair hoping to cool down my hormones with hot coffee. Thunder started to rumble outside. Or wait, that was my stomach.

Jacob looked at me with a grin. "Hungry?" He said with a cocked eyebrow. It looked sexy and he wasn't even trying. So unfair. I can totally see why Tanya didn't want to give him up. I nodded my head yes and he stood up.

"Then let's go to my dad's. He's having a cookout of sorts, in your dads memory. Nothing big, but Sue is making Harry's fish fry since it was his favorite, and Leah made a bunch of food too, so we can go eat like we use to." He said with a boyish grin. I smiled.

"Sounds fantastic." I said and finished my cup quickly so we could go.

We pulled into the front of Billy's house and I could smell the delicious food the second I opened the car door. I was eager to get inside and eat. But there was a surprise at the door I hadn't been expecting when I walked in I was greeting with a "Yap yap yap" I looked down to my feet and saw the cutest little dog jumping up and down and shaking like a leaf. I thought it was going to burst into convulsions it was so excited. I bent down and picked it up and the dog plastered my face with kisses. I snuggled the pup and walked into the living room where I was greeted by Billy.

"Bella!" He said with warmth, his eyes falling to the dog in my arms, his smiled slightly lessened. "I see you've met Pita."

I laughed. "Yes," Lick, lick, lick "I," Lick, lick, lick "Have." I laughed even more and put the pup down on the ground where he jumped up and down my leg excitedly then spun in circles trying to regain my attention. I bent down to pat his head and he licked my arm. I liked this little dog. I looked back at Jacob and he was smiling down at the dog with a smile. I straightened up and walked over to the kitchen to wash my hands and see if Sue or Leah needed any help.

When I walked inside I was greeted by Sue who gave me a soft hug. She looked into my eyes and smiled then kissed my forehead. She was a prime example of how a mother should be. It seemed to help the ache that was residing in my heart. I smiled at her trying to suppress the grateful tears that were threatening my eyes.

"Do you need any help here?" I asked brightly.

"No, dear, we are just about done here. Leah is at the store grabbing just a couple of things and when she comes back we will be ready to eat. Go sit." She said and patted my cheek. Jacob appeared and gave Sue a hug and complimented the her on how delicious the food smelled.

I walked to the living room and stood there for only a moment when Leah walked in the front door. She looked at me cautiously, but smiled a little smile at me. Her arms were full with two paper bags and she kicked the door closed with her foot. She walked to the kitchen table and I walked over towards her to help her set the table.

"Hi Bella." She said softly without meeting my eyes.

"Hey, Leah. Where is Seth?" I asked noticing he was nowhere around and not remembering seeing him at the service.

"He's in California, he got a full scholarship to Stanford so he is there for an orientation before the semester starts." She said obviously proud of her little brother then paused awkwardly. "He is really sorry he missed Charlie's funeral. We just couldn't afford the tickets to be changed. He wanted me to send you his condolences. He said he sent flowers to Angela's."

"Yeah, I think Angela mentioned it. Tell him thank you for me when you talk to him next okay?" I wanted to put her at ease. I didn't know how since I was uneasy myself.

We finished setting the table together in silence and every now and then offered an awkward smile. I didn't know why it felt so strange between Leah and I, but that wasn't something I had in my energy to think about at the moment. We called the guys to the table and we all sat down to eat. The food was almost too delicious. The conversation was light and full of laughter and memories of my father. Everyone was giving their own stories about my dad. It was surprising how much better I had felt at the end of the meal. I was almost too stuffed to move. I also noticed a flirtation between Billy and Sue. They sat next to each other and there was a little sparkle in both their eyes, a warmness between them. I looked up at Jacob who had a smile on his face that warmed my heart. I had a sudden pang of what I had been missing.

Family.

For all these years all I have had was Edward and his cold family with exception, of course, to Alice. My dad, who was great, and loved me dearly, was the only real family I had. My mother traveled all the time and sent me postcards but was not a wholly attentive mother, and never had been. I sat back soaked up the reverie that was in the room. I listened as Jacob poked fun at Leah, and watched as Billy would look at Sue endearingly and Sue would put her hand atop of his, smiling sweetly. Jacob and Leah seemingly had no objections to the pairing, I wouldn't have thought there would be since they were all so close anyway. I wondered how long the two had been together.

When the meal was over, Jacob took his dad into the living room and I helped Leah and Sue with the dishes. When we were finished I walked out to the living room and Jacob looked at me and gave me a sweet smile then got up from the couch. He walked up to me and pulled me into his arms for a big hug.

"You gotta see what I found Bells." He said and pulled me to his room. It was exactly the same as I remembered it with exception to the fact that the comforter had changed from a loud Harry Potter bedspread to a toned down navy blue one.

"What happened to Harry Potter, Jacob?" I teased as he walked to his desk and looked through it. "Bah," He said back and rolled his eyes. "I told you it was my sister Rachel's. My comforter was torn." I raised a skeptical brow, "Sure, sure. Whatever you say. Where is she?" I asked curiously. "Hawaii. Her husband is back from his tour this week. She might make it up next month." I hummed in acknowledgment. I walked to the edge of his bed and sat down. He sat down next to me and the weight of him caused the bed to slant and me to have to lean into him. I forced myself not to respond to being so close to him. He handed me an old photo of the two of us when we were fourteen. We were both all knees and elbows. I laughed at the goofy grin on Jake's face.

"That was the summer your dad took us to Seattle remember?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, it was fun, we went to the Space Needle and sat on the observation deck til sunset." I reminisced.

"Yep and remember when we were up there we could see a condo complex being built right on the water?"

"Yeah, it was so cool looking. We were in awe of that building. My dad was in awe of the fishing there. We used to talk about living there and being neighbors when we grew up." I recalled with a laugh.

"Guess where I live now?" Jacob asked playfully. My eyes grew wide.

"No way! Really?" I shook my head not believing him.

"Yep. I got lucky, I lived in an apartment complex not far from there and this other guy who worked in the department was moving to Arizona and told me that was where he lived so I jumped on it and got in there before anyone else had the chance. Right now I am renting but I am in the process of purchasing it."

I was jealous. I went there once when I was twenty and looked at the model they had for viewing. The model was heartbreakingly beautiful. It had open floor plans and the view was inspiring. I slouched down and crossed my arms. "What floor?" I asked knowing anything over the sixth floor would be perfection.

"I live on the fifteenth. I have an enclosed balcony. It's nice, because I can be outside even when it's raining and not get wet."

I felt like sticking my tongue out at him. I could only imagine how nice a place it must be. I looked at him. He was looking down at the photo and then turned his eyes toward me and had a smile on his face.

"Jealous Ms. Swan?" He teased. I was.

"Yeah, actually." I said and laughed."But, mostly just happy for you."

"You'll have to see it. Maybe one day soon we can get out there and stay for a few days once the investigation is over."

I laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "How's it going?"

"Not as well as I would like, but that is the deal with every case. I wish every case was open and shut, but this one seems like every time I get a good lead it just dead ends. The good news is I get Charlie's PC and files back tomorrow. I was at the station early this morning going over a few things. The surveillance at the Veterinarian's didn't show anything. It's just frustrating." he replied.

Looking at his face I could tell there was more but I didn't have the energy to ask. A large yawn escaped my lips. He placed himself at head of the bed. "Come here." he held his arms out towards me and I scooted back to lay in them. His arms wrapped around me and I melted into his hug. "I'm not going to give up. I promise." he whispered into my hair and pulled me tighter to him. My head rested on his shoulder and my body snuggled up close to him. My hand was laying on top of his chest. I could feel the steady rhythm of his heart under my palm. He took his hand and ran his fingers lightly over my arm the sensation relaxing my mind and body. Every so often I could feel him place a few soft kisses on top of my head. I smiled in response. My mind was blissfully blank. The heaviness of the day was lifted away and the ache in my heart was subdued. My eyes closed and in the comfort of Jacob's arms I fell asleep.