A/N I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter. We had a round of illnesses at my house that kept me from updating. There's a good chance things could slow down from here on out, but I've been enjoying being able to update every Tuesday, so I'm going to try my best to keep up with it.

When Jake and Bella awoke again it was mid-morning and their stomachs were growling.

"Breakfast?" Bella offered.

"Please, I'm starving." Jake kissed her.

They dressed and started downstairs, but Bella stopped Jake in the hallway.

"Charlie?"

"Gone before you woke up the first time."

They continued on downstairs where Jake took a seat at the table within reach of the stove, and Bella got out a frying pan, bacon and pancake mix. Once everything was mixed and the first round was in the pans she turned to Jake.

"So, this morning was..." She chewed her lip and appeared to be thinking hard.

"Amazing?" Jake offered.

She grinned, "Yes, but even that word doesn't feel strong enough."

He beamed at her and reached out for her hips, pulling at her until she was standing between his legs. "I agree, and I can't think of a bigger word, but it really was. You're so beautiful and lovely and the way you move..." He growled softly into her neck.

"Hey, hey now. Let's at least eat something before you get going again." She turned in his arms and stepped back to the stove to turn the pancakes. Jake kept his hands on her hips.

"So, tell me what is going on with Victoria." She shook a little and placed her right arm against her stomach.

Jake pulled her hand away from her stomach and covered the cool skin of James' bite with his hand to warm it. "Well, she started coming around right after the Cullens left. I hadn't phased yet, but the guys said it was pretty clear that she wanted you right from the start. After they left the guys extended their patrol to cover part of the Cullen land, thinking the scent of vampires there might attract unwanted visitors. Within a week Victoria started showing up and she came straight for your house. They put a guard on you. One of the guys was out there every night and someone followed you to school, waited behind the school all day, followed you home, and someone was out there all night."

She turned with shock in her face. "All that time! They were out there and I didn't know it? I didn't even know they existed!"

"Yeah, they were looking out for you. Watching over my Sweets." He smiled and kissed her hand.

Shaking her head she turned back to the stove. "I have to find a way to thank them. So, why haven't they caught her yet?"

"Well, at first it was more like she was watching us, learning about us. It was clear to her that we were a threat, but she almost made a game of it. Seeing how fast we could run, how agile we were, when we could smell her, hear her, all that. For months she just studied us. Then she started trying to tempt them away from your house at night. She would show up and be just far enough that they could smell her and then run out and lead them away from your house. Thankfully, Sam was smarter than that and he kept someone here. Every time she doubled back and tried to get to you. But, they were smarter. There was always someone out back waiting on her. She tried that with every one of them. Each time a new rotation came and someone else was out back she'd try it again, thinking she could lead us away and come back and get you. Obviously, it didn't work. She's smart, though."

Bella lifted a large plate of pancakes and a second of bacon and handed them to Jake as she moved to pull plates for them from the cabinet. She sat and took one pancake and two slices of bacon. Jake dug into a large stack knowing Bella already had all she needed. "Then you phased?"

"Yeah," Jake spoke around a mouthful of pancake, "I phased in February and as soon as I knew about it I insisted on being on your guard duty at night. I was out there two nights and that was all I could take of your screaming."

She looked at him sheepishly.

"So, I put a stop to that." He grinned at her.

She reached for his free hand. "Thank you for that. That first night you stayed with me the nightmares were gone. Just like that. I was so scared every night for so long. Charlie had even stopped waking up when I had them. I woke up with a hoarse voice, sobbing and so tired. I never felt rested. That first morning I woke up with you I thought something was wrong. I felt so rested and I was so used to feeling terrible in the morning. But there you were, snoring, all warm and taking up the whole bed." She squeezed his hand.

He swallowed and smiled big at her.

"But with you in here, there was no one out there watching for Victoria."

"There was. Well, for a few nights at least. It was clear she wasn't looking for a fight. She didn't want to try to fight us. She wanted to get to you when we weren't there. I was sure she wouldn't come in and try to get to you with me in here. Sam wanted to be cautious and kept a patrol out for two weeks. She came around, but never close enough. He pulled the patrol back little by little to give her more space to get to you. She knew I was in here, though. The guys said she never came closer than a mile out into the woods. We think she could smell and hear me in here with you. Any closer than that and I could have been out the window and had her before she knew what hit her. All that time she spent studying us, she must have known that. I checked the woods in the morning a lot and could pick up her scent just outside a mile out. She was persistent. She was out there for months. She woke me up several times yelling."

"What! She yelled at you? What did she say?"

"Oh, no it wasn't words, just sounded like frustration. She was pissed that she couldn't get to you."

"Sam said you haven't seen her for a while, though, right?"

"Yeah, she hasn't been around for a couple of weeks now. One day she was just gone. Sam expects her to come back, he doesn't think she'll give up until she has you or we kill her."

"What do you think?" She shook a little and covered her wrist with the other hand.

"I don't know what she's doing, but I know she wont get you. That's for sure. If she keeps trying she'll eventually make a mistake and we'll get her. I don't know where she's gone or if she's coming back, but whatever happens you have nothing to worry about. Eventually, maybe you'll be on the reservation so we can pull our patrols back." He looked at her with suggestion clear in his features.

"Well, I hadn't thought about that yet. I guess it makes sense, and I don't want you guys to have to work more than you already do. It is kind of soon, though. And I wouldn't want to leave Charlie here alone. He'd be unprotected if I left, too."

"Well, no pressure. I wouldn't want you to feel like we were rushing things. We have the rest of our lives now, so there's no hurry. I'd like to have a place of my own before that happened, too. Dad and Rachel shouldn't have to be subjected to me having you all over the house, either." He reached over and pulled her into his lap. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Yesterday I was thinking we might go to the beach. Since fate had other plans, do you think we could do that today? I'd like to get a little sun on me."

"Doesn't look like there'll be much sun today, but if there's a single ray, we'll be out there to catch it. Go get your bikini. I'll wash up."

She rolled her eyes as she stood from his lap. "Yeah right, I wear a one-piece." He pinched her ass as she turned to get her suit.

On the ride home from the beach Bella fell asleep with her head in Jake's lap again. He wondered how many hours of sleep she needed in a day. She was so small and fragile with almost zero muscle. She spent the day running and laughing and swimming with him in the surf. After lunch she feel asleep in the sand for an hour and here it was only 6:30 and she was asleep again. He thought her little body must not be able to handle much. Then, he thought about all the months she spent frozen after the leech left, just sitting and crying for most of the day. Her body must not be used to using all that energy. She eats so little, too.

As they came down Bella's street the hairs on Jake's neck began to stand on end. He slowed her truck to a crawl and rolled his window the rest of the way down. His eyes scanned the neighborhood, he breathed deeply through his nose noting each and every scent. As he stopped the truck in front of her house it was clear.

He woke Bella gently. "Sweets, wake up. You're home."

She roused slowly from her sleep. "Are you staying?"

He wasn't sure if she still wondered, or if she now asked this out of habit. "No, I'm not staying the night here." Under different circumstances her wide eyes would have been humorous to him. "You're not, either. Charlie's home. I want you to go in and tell him that Rachel asked you to stay over at our place tonight. If he wonders, tell him you'll sleep in Becky's bed in Rachel's room. Be very casual, but clear about it. Take at least three minutes. I'll be upstairs when you get there." With those instructions he lept from the truck, helped her down and jogged to the side of the house. When he heard the door shut he ran at full speed to the woods, where he stripped, phased and warned the rest of the pack about the situation. Before she could make it upstairs he phased back, and was in her room with a bag on the bed.

She closed the door behind her. "He bought it. Now, can I know what's going on? Why the urgency for me to spend the night at your house?"

"Pack the bag. Two nights worth at least." He moved to the window and stared out into the forest.

She moved to her dresser and began to pull out clothes. "Jake, you're scaring me. Please tell me what's going on."

"I'll tell you, but only if you finish your packing and can get out the front door in a calm fashion without alerting Charlie." She nodded, "You're sure?" She nodded again.

"There's been a vampire in your room."