A/N: Hello out there. Another chapter is ready. I have to admit that this one was quite easy since everything apart from the last twenty minutes is described in the original Breaking Dawn. So all that was missing was Edward's commentary which I loved to add. Hope you'll enjoy it. I'd love to read your reviews.
And don't forget to check out the bonus chapter, if you have not already done it.

Chapter 13 - Stronger

A second later Carlisle and Rosalie were upstairs to get the blood.

"Maybe we should warm it up a little," Rosalie suggested. As long as it might be helping the creature she did her best to be helpful.

"I don't think we should. Just because we prefer it at 96.8° doesn't mean she does, too. If it's cold it might taste less disgusting to a human." Carlisle answered. "And, by the way, this will be faster if we don't waist the time it would take to warming it up carefully."

What other house-of-horror stuff are they keeping around here? Fridge full of blood, check. What else? Torture chamber? Coffin room?

While I listened to the discussion upstairs and Jacob's thoughts as well, the little bit of excitement that had resurrected me before was gone again. I felt tired, tired of hoping and having my hopes shattered. It had happened too often. I would go to pieces if another chance at saving Bella would turn out to be in vain.

Bella's eyes were locked with mine. Neither of us had the strength to say anything and yet we were assuring each other of the love we felt. Right now we didn't need any words.

After a few seconds Rosalie rushed down the stairs and vanished into the kitchen. Through the medium of her mind I watched her open a cupboard and take out a glass to pour the blood into. As usual Rose didn't think things through. We needed to make Bella feel as comfortable as possible while she had to do something that was entirely abnormal for her whole species. We should try to make her forget about what it really was she was drinking.

"Not clear, Rosalie," I whispered, rolling my eyes.

Bella looked at me curiously but I just shook my head.

Why does he always have to complicate things? Okay, she's human, so maybe he's right for once.

Rose rushed past us once more to get a container more convenient for our particular purpose.

"This was your idea?" Bella whispered strained. It took her a lot of effort to make her voice reach Jacob, forgetting that his hearing was about as good as mine.

I like how she seems to forget that I'm not completely human.

Jacob approached the bed Bella was lying in so that Bella didn't have to stress herself further to make her words heard.

"Don't blame me for this one. Your vampire was just picking snide comments out of my head."

She smiled at him a little insecurely. "I didn't expect to see you again."

"Yeah, me, either," he answered while grimacing a little.

It feels weird just standing here. They've shoved all the furniture out of the way for the medical stuff. Doesn't seem to bother them. Sitting or standing, what's the difference if you're stone. Wouldn't bother me either if I wasn't that tired.

"Edward told me what you had to do. I'm sorry."

"S'okay. It was only a matter of time till I snapped over something Sam wanted me to do," he said. I knew he was lying to ease the guilt Bella felt.

"And Seth," she murmured.

"He's actually happy to help."

"I hate causing you trouble."

Jacob snorted a laugh at her words.

Bella sighed weakly. "I guess that's nothing new, is it?"

"No, not really."

"You don't have to stay and watch this," she breathed, seeming to notice Jacob's feeling of discomfort at what was about to happen.

I could leave. That's a good idea for sure. But if I do, with the way Bella looks right now, I could be missing the last fifteen minutes of her life.

Jacob was right. She really looked closer to death than to life. Although I didn't want to harbor any hope, I did pray that the blood would at least have a small positive effect on her condition.

"I don't really have anywhere else to go," he said, trying to keep his tone light. "The wolf thing is a lot less appealing since Leah joined up."

"Leah?" Bella choked out.

"You didn't tell her?" Jacob asked me.

I shrugged not taking my eyes off Bella's face.

I can see, it's not exciting news to you. Not something worth sharing with the more important events going down.

Bella seemed to be really upset about the new piece of information. Actually I didn't know why but I had kept it from her guided by some instinct warning me that it might stress her.

"Why?" she wanted to know.

"To keep an eye on Seth." In Jacob's mind flashed some other reasons Leah might have for joining his pack but neither were they clear enough to understand nor did I really care at the moment.

"But Leah hates us," Bella whispered.

Us. Nice. She's really afraid, though.

"Leah's not going to bug anyone." But me. "She's in my pack" – Jacob's face was a little distorted at his words – "so she follows my lead." Ugh.

He really wasn't happy with the way things were going in his pack. But he was trying to do the right thing.

Bella didn't seem to be convinced by his statement.

"You're scared of Leah, but you're best buds with the psychopath blonde?"

Rosalie answered him with a menacing hiss from the upper floor.

Cool, she heard me.

Bella made a face at him. "Don't. Rose … understands."

"Yeah," he snorted. "She understands that you're gonna die and she doesn't care, s'long as she gets her mutant spawn out of the deal."

"Stop being a jerk, Jacob," she breathed.

He forced a smile on his face as he said, "You say that like it's possible."

Bella tried to hold back the answering smile that was forming on her lips but couldn't fight it.

A moment later Carlisle and Rosalie were with us again. In his hand was a white plastic cup with a lid and a straw. I was relieved to see that they had found a container to disguise the blood so that Bella would not have to think too much about what she was about to do.

Everyone in the room, apart from Bella probably, was exposed to the smell of the the cup's content. Jacob was disgusted while Carlisle was indifferent about it. Although Rosalie, just like me, had not been hunting for the last two weeks, she willed herself to ignore the appetizing scent.

As for me, I didn't even notice how delicious it smelled. I was holding my breath in anticipation of Bella's reaction.

Carlisle half-extended the hand holding the cup toward Bella, his face apologetic, but he halted as he noticed her scared expression.

"We could try another method," he offered quietly. Afraid that we were expecting too much of her, that we were finding ourselves at yet another dead-end.

"No," Bella murmured determinedly. "No, I'll try this first. We don't have time … ".

Every hope that she might finally be concerned about her life was destroyed when her hand protectively stroked her stomach again.

She reached to take the cup from Carlisle. As she held it, her hand started to shake a little, whether it was because of her weakness or because she was afraid of what was laying ahead, I couldn't tell. The blood in the cup was making a sloshing noise.

Bella tried to raise herself enough to be able to drink but, like the last time she tried, she wasn't strong enough to do it on her own. Rosalie rushed to her side at once, putting her arm under Bella's shoulders and held her head up, too.

"Thanks," she murmured as she glanced around to look at the rest of us. She felt embarrassed by her inability to take care of herself. It was hard for her that she wasn't capable of disguising her weakness.

"Don't mind them," Rose whispered.

Jacob was feeling uncomfortable knowing what would happen next.

I should've left when Bella offered the chance. I don't belong here, being part of this. But if I leave now, Bella will think I'm too disgusted and that would make things worse.I'm not going to jinx this.

Bella lifted the cup and brought it closer to her face. When she took a smell at the straw, she winced and grimaced.

"Bella, sweetheart, we can find an easier way," I said soothingly, feeling guilty for yet another ordeal I was forcing her to live through. I was about to take the cup out of her hand when Rose cut me off.

"Plug your nose," she suggested. You won't ruin this chance of helping the baby.

She glowered at my stretched out hand.

I wish she would really snap at him. I bet he wouldn't take that sitting down. I'd love to see Blondie lose a limb.

Jacob's thoughts weren't far off. I was very close to losing my temper and directing all my anger at my sister. But I was holding myself together for now, even though I was close to snapping.

"No, that's not it. It's just that it – " Bella took a quick deep breath. "It smells good." She seemed to be a little embarrassed about that discovery.

"That's a good thing," Rosalie answered her avidly. "That means we're on the right track. Give it a try." Rose was rejoicing that we finally seemed to have a chance to make a change.

I was holding my breath, hoping against hope that this positive reaction could actually mean that this was the key to saving her.

Bella took the straw between her lips, closed her eyes and wrinkled her nose. Her hand started to shake worse than it had before. Then she sipped and the second she swallowed she moaned in a way that indicated pleasure.

I stepped towards her at the same time Jacob did. Worriedly I touched her face.

"Bella, love – " Before I could even form a coherent question she cut me off.

"I'm okay," she breathed as she opened her eyes again and looked at me with an expression that didn't make sense to me. She seemed to be sorry, pleading and afraid at the same time. "It tastes good, too."

That was it then. She was confused and frightened because of this inhuman sentiment. I felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from my shoulders. The fact that Bella seemed to like the flavor of the blood, which was contrary to standard human preferences, just had to be an indication that it was what her body needed right now.

I felt nausea rising in Jacob.

"That's good," Rosalie pointed out again. "A good sign."

I laid my hand on her cheek once more, caressing her fragile face.

Bella sighed and started to sip again. She pulled at the straw harder than I would have imagined her to be capable of in her weak state of health. It seemed like her body was on a mission to get itself what it was in desperate need of.

"How's your stomach? Do you feel nauseated?" Carlisle needed to know.

She shook her head as she answered in a whisper, "No, I don't feel sick. There's a first, eh?"

Rosalie grinned smugly. "Excellent."

"I think it's a bit early for that, Rose," Carlisle tried to curb her enthusiasm.

Bella took another mouthful of blood before she let her eyes meet mine. "Does this screw my total?" she mumbled. "Or do we start counting after I'm a vampire?" Was she really concerned about something as irrelevant as that? If it would save her life I would let her slaughter the whole state or I'd rather do it for her without turning a hair.

"No one is counting, Bella. In any case, no one died for this. Your record is still clean." I tried to flash her a reassuring smile but only managed a strained half-grin. I was still afraid that this, no matter how effective it seemed to be right now, would just turn out to be another disappointment.

You've lost me.

"I'll explain later," I answered Jacob's thought under my breath.

"What?" Bella whispered although I had intended my words to be too quiet for her to hear.

"Just talking to myself," I lied, too stressed to explain anything that didn't really need to be said.

If you succeed with this, if Bella lives, you won't get away with so much when her senses are as sharp as yours. You'll have to work on the honesty thing.

I had to fight a smile that was forming on my lips, realizing that Jacob was right. I would have to get used to a lot of things when Bell was a vampire. But if it meant that she would live, I would never ever lie to her again.

Absentmindedly Bella went on drinking from her plastic cup.

She's probably pretending we're not here. Or maybe just me. No one else here will be disgusted by what she's doing. Just the opposite – they're probably having a tough time not ripping the cup away from her.

I rolled my eyes. How wrong he was. No one here was begrudging her the blood. We were all way too concerned about Bella's condition to even acknowledge our feelings of thirst.

Jeez, how can anyone stand living with you. It's really too bad you can't hear Bella's thoughts. Then you'd annoy the crap out of her, too, and she'd get tired of you.

I had to chuckle at Jacob's comment. His mind was extremely entertaining when he wasn't being mean. Bella instantly stared at me and in her eyes I could see a bit of humor that was mirroring mine. Something neither of us had seen in a long time.

"Something funny?" she whispered, her brows raised in curiosity.

"Jacob," I replied.

She looked over to Jacob, still smiling. "Jake's a crack-up."

Great, now I'm the court jester. "Bada bing," he mumbled.

Bella smiled again as she finished her cup of blood. Jacob winced at the noise that came from the straw pulling at empty air.

"I did it," she said, pleased with herself. Inexplicably, her voice already sounded stronger and less hoarse. "If I keep this down, Carlisle, will you take the needles out of me?"

"As soon as possible," he assured her. "Honestly, they aren't doing that much good where they are."

Rose and Bella exchanged a hopeful glance as Rose patted her forehead. It would have been a picture of friendship if Rose's thoughts hadn't betrayed the fact that she was only thinking about the creature and not about Bella.

I didn't know how it had happened but Bella was looking much stronger and healthier after the one cup of blood. Her heartbeat sounded stronger, her breathing seemed to take less effort and her complexion was back to a very pale rose. She even seemed strong enough to carry some of her weight herself, although Rosalie was still helping her sitting up.

It didn't make any sense considering she had only drunken the blood a few minutes ago. But as the process of deterioration had been accelerated, so seemed the process of getting better.

I felt the small spark of hope I had denied the whole time turn into a little fire. We hadn't lost yet, after all.

"Would you like more?" Rosalie was overindulging again.

Bella dropped her shoulders in what seemed like despair.

I glowered at Rose before I turned back to Bella. "You don't have to drink more right away."

"Yeah, I know. But … I want to," she admitted shyly.

Rosalie combed Bella's hair with her fingers as she said, "You don't need to be embarrassed about that, Bella. Your body has cravings. We all understand that." She had been talking in a mild comforting voice until she added, "Anyone who doesn't understand shouldn't be here." The words came out sharp and were clearly directed towards Jacob.

But he was determined not to let Rose's words get to him. He was as relieved as the rest of us were that Bella seemed to be better. And just like me, he didn't mind the means it took.

"I'll be back," Carlisle said as he took the cup and vanished upstairs to get Bella a refill.

"Jake, you look awful," she stated, still a bit hoarse as her eyes scrutinized him.

"Look who's talking."

"Seriously – when's the last time you slept?"

He really looked extremely tired. I supposed he hadn't been sleeping for at least twenty-four hours. "Huh, I'm not actually sure." He tried to remember when he had been resting the last time and didn't seem to know. It must have been longer than one day then.

"Aw, Jake. Now I'm messing with your health, too. Don't be stupid."

She's allowed to kill herself for a monster, but I'm not allowed to miss a few nights' sleep to watch her do it?

"Get some rest, please," she continued. "There's a few beds upstairs – you're welcome to any of them."

Rose's thoughts were making clear that he wasn't welcome to anything in this house, least of all her bed. She was trying to kill him with the look she was shooting him. Jacob was well aware of the hostility he was confronted with.

What does Sleepless Beauty need a bed for, anyway? That possessive of her props?

"Thanks, Bells, but I'd rather sleep on the ground. Away from the stench, you know."

She made a face at him. "Right."

As Carlisle was back that moment, Bella reached for the cup again, without giving it a conscious thought, as it seemed. Looking at something that was far away she began drinking again.

She was sitting up straight all by herself now. Although Rosalie was right by her side, ready to assist, Bella didn't need her help. Her breath as well wasn't as shallow anymore. She inhaled deeply in between swallows. The second cup was empty even quicker than the first.

"How do you feel now?" Carlisle asked her again.

"Not sick. Sort of hungry … only I'm not sure if I'm hungry or thirsty, you know?"

"Carlisle, just look at her. This is obviously what her body wants. She should drink more." Rosalie sounded disgustingly smug. Her smile was genuine but still, this was all about the thing and only about Bella as long as she was essential for the thing to live.

"She's still human, Rosalie. She needs food, too. Let's give her a little while to see how this affects her, and then maybe we can try some food again. Does anything sound particularly good to you, Bella?"

She didn't have to make up her mind before she answered, "Eggs." She looked at me with a wistful smile on her face. I just had to smile back at her, for once knowing exactly that her thoughts were on Isle Esme when the two of us had been closer than ever.

In my peripheral vision I saw Jacob's eyes close to blink but it took him too long to open them again.

"Jacob," I whispered. "You really should sleep. As Bella said, you're certainly welcome to the accommodations here, though you'd probably be more comfortable outside. Don't worry about anything – I promise I'll find you if there's a need."

"Sure, sure," he mumbled. Right now, as he seemed to be convinced that Bella would survive the next hours, he was willing to get some rest.

I'll go curl up under a tree somewhere … Far enough away from the smell. The bloodsucker will wake me up if something goes wrong. He owes me.

"I do," I agreed wholeheartedly.

He just nodded as he put his hand on top of hers. Ice cold.

"Feel better," he told her.

"Thanks, Jacob." She squeezed his hand lightly before he pulled away and turned to leave.

"Get her a blanket or something," he mumbled as he left.

Before Jacob was even outside the house two howls rose from the forest. They sounded very desperate so Jacob, not willing to lose precious time, raced through the door and jumped off the porch phasing mid-air as his shorts were torn apart.

Crap. Those were the only clothes I had.

He headed off into the woods before Bella had noticed that he had left the house.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked anxiously.

Incoming. At least three. I heard Seth's thoughts in Jacob's head.

"Someone's coming. Three, Seth says." I answered, continuing to focus on Jacob's mind.

"Are they coming for us?" Bella's eyes were full of fear, her heart was racing as her hands protectively clutched her middle.

"They don't know what's going on, yet." Saying the words I sat down again and took Bella's hand in mine trying to make her feel safe.

While the thoughts in the pack's mind were speculating about the meaning of the other wolves' approach, I gradually lost my connection to Jacob. He was out of range.

"What's going on?" Rose asked. Everyone was looking at me in worried anticipation. Jasper, Emmett and Alice upstairs were on high alert, too.

"I lost him. He's too far away for me to hear. We'll have to wait." My eyes locked with Bella's. The fear was clearly visible in hers. It hurt me to see her afraid like that. What wouldn't I have done to ease her mind. But right now I could do nothing other than wait and hope for the best. At least her physical condition had improved a lot since last night.

Minutes passed and nothing happened. No further howling, no one coming close and no thoughts for me to hear other than the confused and worried thoughts that were swirling around here in the house.

It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. The only sounds piercing the silence were Bella's racing hart and her still mildly raspy breath.

Neither of us dared to say anything. The more time passed, the more we tried to listen to the low noises in the forest.

Hey, Jared.

I sighed silently with relief when I heard Jacob's mind again.

"I hear him again. He's phased back. There's four of them. Jared is in human form and Paul, Quil and Collin are wolves."

"What's happening? Are they coming here?" Bella choked out.

"It doesn't seem like it. They want to talk to Jacob, to convince him to rejoin Sam's pack." I paused a moment to listen. "Sam wants all of them back. Jacob is refusing. He doesn't know how it could work now that he found the Alpha in him. And there can only be one Alpha in a pack."

So are you all just going to hang out with the parasites for the rest or your lives? Jared asked.

"Jared says that they don't have a home here, that they're out of clothes. They can't stay wolf all the time. Seems like Leah doesn't like to eat that way."

We can help with that. Edward, you should talk to Jacob. We have clothes, and food. Please, tell him we will provide them with everything necessary. Esme's face showed real concern about the well-being of our allies. Her mother instinct always took over when someone was in need.

I nodded, too focused on the conversation going on out in the woods to say anything.

"Sam claims to be sorry for trying to make Jacob bow down to him. Jacob says he's not angry anymore but he's not going back either. He'll stay at our side until this is over. Seth agrees."

I growled when I heard Jared's next words. Unfortunately it made Bella hold her breath.

"Now they're trying to make Seth and Leah feel guilty for abandoning their mother so shortly after their father died." Bella's face twitched in compassion. I hurried to go on and ease her mind. "Jacob highly doubts Sue being lonely."

I listened a little more before going on. "Now Jared is addressing Leah, saying that she doesn't want to be here but she seems to object to that sentiment. They want to persuade her to come back even though Seth stays with Jacob. Jared's pleading. Wow, that's pathetic. He tries to make her come back claiming Sam wants her there."

"That's cruel," Bella agreed.

"And not working. Leah seems to be furious." Through Jacob's ears I could hear her growl. "Jacob is now trying to end the discussion by saying that they should stay on their land and Jacob and his pack will stay on ours."

I kept the next part of their conversation to myself. Jacob was telling Jared that the situation we were in would be over pretty soon and we would certainly leave afterward. I didn't want Bella to hear that Jacob thought her time was almost up.

Also I didn't want her to know that her best friend was planning to live the rest of his life as a wolf because that way it will be easier to handle the pain of losing her. I didn't want to add to her already guilty conscience.

"Jacob tells them to stick to their land and to come and howl when they want to talk to him. Jared agrees."

The rest of their conversation was about Jacob's friend Embry and the question why he wasn't with the negotiation party. Jacob asked Jared to give his father a message and Quil to greet Embry. Then they parted ways and Jacob phased again which broke my connection to him.

"They're leaving. The danger is over. No one's coming here." I forced a smile on my face when I looked into Bella's eyes. She was slowly recovering from the strain she had been under for the last minutes.

"Good." Carlisle took another look on the monitor then turned to smile at Bella. "I think we don't need the monitor anymore. Your vital functions are back to a tolerable state."

Bella smiled back at him. "Can I go back to lying on the couch, please? I hate this bed. It's uncomfortable and I feel like a patient in a hospital as long as I'm in it."

Of course, she wanted everything to be as normal as possible, again. Remove every sign indicating she could be sick.

"Sure, if you wish. I think I can also remove the IV with the nutritional solution. It doesn't seem to do any good. But I would like to keep the sodium solution for a while longer, if you don't mind."

She grimaced slightly but answered, "Okay. If that's best for the baby."

My eyes narrowed infinitesimally at the word. I would never get used to them calling the creature a baby. Even though Bella was obviously much better.

Carlisle freed her from all tubes and wires only leaving the sodium drip in place. Then Rosalie carried her over to the couch. Again I was jealous that she could be that close to Bella while I could not. But I swallowed my anger. At least I was able to cover her with on of the blankets to make sure she was warm.

In a few minutes we had removed the hospital bed and the rest of the medical setup and rearranged the furniture back to its normal arrangement.

"Bella, can I do anything else for you?" Carlisle asked after we were done.

Her gaze wandered to the empty plastic cup, shyly biting her lip.

"Of course, I'll get you a refill." He quickly took the cup out of Bella's hands and vanished upstairs to get another portion of blood.

Esme had gone upstairs too, searching for old clothes of Emmett's to place outside for Jacob. He couldn't very well come in naked. They wouldn't really fit him. Though Emmett was tall Jacob still towered over him, but that didn't matter. At least he would have something to wear.

When Rose came back, she handed the cup to Bella who instantly started to sip. With every mouthful she swallowed her heartbeat became slightly more regular.

We all seemed to have relaxed since we realized that Bella was indeed safe for now. Rose switched the TV on, something that hadn't happened for days, and Carlisle opened the shutters on the back windows since, for the time being, we seemed to be in no danger of being attacked.

I sat down at the end of the couch and put Bella's blanket covered feet in my lap. Everything seemed to be normal again. If there hadn't been Bella's swollen stomach rising up as she lay flat on the couch. Now, once more, all we could do was wait.