Sorry about the delay, hope this chapter makes up for it! I finally went to see Eclipse and loved it, Jacob looked so hot!

Chapter 21- Solace

The police station was cold and oppressing and I shuddered as Angela, Ben and I waited to be questioned. At the moment they were interviewing Jen, Sarah's roommate. She hadn't been crying either and I wondered if, like me, she was too shocked to express her emotions with tears. She looked blank, expressionless as the police officers took her into a room off the side of the waiting room and I hoped that she would be okay. Though I knew her only from a quick glance she didn't seem like the sort of person who would kill somebody. But what did I know really?

I stared at the grey floor that was tarnished by shoe marks as the minutes ticked by. I was scared, so frightened about what was going to happen to me. I had been in a police station many times to see Charlie but never had I sat in one as a suspect to a crime. I wanted to have Jacob next to me so that his warm body could still my shivers and comfort me as Ben was comforting Angela, his arms wrapped around her as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. But as much as I wanted to see Jacob, I wanted to see Charlie. He would know what to do, he would help me in a situation like this.

A policeman strode past holding some paperwork and I tried to speak to him, ask him for a phone call, but my voice wouldn't issue any sound and my head felt too heavy to lift. The door slammed shut behind him and I flinched as the sound echoed around the room. A few, long minutes later another police officer walked across the room and it took every ounce of strength that I had to lift my head to look up at him. My neck ached with the movement.

"Excuse me," I croaked and he turned around to face me.

"Yes?"

"Can I have my phone call please?"

He gave me a curt nod and gestured for me to follow him. He led me around the corner to where a phone hung upon the wall.

"You have five minutes," he informed me. "And only one phone call."

I nodded and picked up the receiver in one shaking hand, my finger poised to dial. But who did I want to dial? I wanted to see Jacob more than my father but I had enough common sense to realise that having a cuddle from my boyfriend wasn't going to help my situation very much at all. I took a deep breath and dialled my home number.

The phone rang for what seemed like an eternity. It was 5 in the morning and I knew that Charlie would still be asleep. I begged and pleaded that he would hear the phone.

Finally his voice spoke, "hello?" croakily down the phone.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Dad, it's Bella."

"Bells? What's wrong? It's 5 in the morning!"

"Dad, I'm in trouble. I need you to come to Port Angeles police station."

"What?" Charlie's voice was riddled with shock and confusion as if he had heard me incorrectly. It was plain that he didn't think his daughter, sensible law abider and straight A student would ever be in trouble with the police. "What happened? Did you get caught for underage drinking?" he asked sternly.

"No Dad it's nothing like that. I'm being questioned. Please just get here as quickly as you can and I'll explain everything. Hurry," I said, panicked.

Charlie slammed down the receiver and I listened to the monotonous sound that signalled that the line had been broken for a while before placing the receiver back onto the hook. I pressed my forehead against the cold, stone wall, my heart still racing and my body shaking. The image of Sarah lying dead in a pool of her own blood was still running inescapably through my mind and I turned the information over and over, trying to work out what had happened.

Sarah would not have killed herself, that fact I was almost certain of. She was too lively and confident for that. Her beaming smile was a little put on, but I doubted greatly that it was fake enough to cover a deep sadness and self loathing. So had she fallen? This seemed unlikely again. Why would she have been hanging out of her window in the middle of the night anyway? Then she must have been pushed, but by who? And why did I not hear any sort of disturbance until the ambulances showed up, their sirens awaking me before I had heard the screams of the crowd?

The policeman steered me back and I fell heavily onto the cold, hard, metal seat, my voice feeling strained as if from overuse even though I had barely spoken in the past few hours. I felt completely exhausted, my body slumped and weak, yet at the same time I was wide awake and alert, my ears picking up on every miniscule sound, a pen scratching across paper, a chair scraping the ground as it was pushed backwards, shoes squeaking on the floor, Ben's hand rubbing Angela's back.

The drive to Port Angeles from Forks usually took an hour but Charlie made it in 47 minutes; I had counted as the hands of the clock in the waiting room moved painfully slowly. Charlie must have broken the speed limit to get here quickly which put the situation into dire perspective for me. It must have been really urgent if the chief of police broke the law.

He rushed over to me, his hair tousled and his eyes puffy yet alert. He had obviously thrown on the first clothes he could find before he had left the house, worn jeans, a white t shirt and a jumper.

"Bella!" he exclaimed as he rushed over to me. "What the hell is going on?"

My heart leapt as I saw him and I felt a little safer at last. He had just reached me when the door to my left opened and Jen was escorted out of the room by two policemen. Her face was still blank and emotionless, staring straight ahead of her as they took her to another room.

"Isabella Swan," the police officer called in a booming voice that made me jump and Charlie pulled me up by my arm, accompanying me into the room.

"Who are you?" the policeman questioned Charlie.

"I'm her father and the chief of police in Forks Washington," Charlie replied, his voice cool. "Would you mind telling me why you have hauled my daughter in here at this ridiculous hour?"

"Your daughter lived next door to Sarah Lawson."

"Yeah, so?"

"Sarah Lawson was found dead at 3am this morning on the ground below the window of her 5th floor student dormitory."

Charlie was silent for a few seconds. "Oh..." he said quietly. "Do you know the cause of her death yet?"

"Well we are pretty sure that it was the impact of the ground after falling from such a great height that killed her. We don't think that she was dead before she hit the ground. But we need to know what happened in the moments leading up to her death."

"Okay," Charlie patted me on the shoulder and sat me down on the chair that sat before a desk. The policeman sat on the chair at the opposite side of the desk and Charlie stood behind me, his hands grasping my shoulders.

"To confirm, you are Isabella Swan of room 507? You live next door to Sarah Lawson and Jennifer Pope of room 506?" he addressed me.

I nodded.

"Had you met Sarah?"

"Yes, she knocked on my door and invited me and my roommate to a party," I said slowly.

"And you attended?"

"Yes, and I saw Sarah there. She spoke to us. She was with her friends for most of the night and she was still at the party when we left."

"Could you tell me what happened after you left the party?"

"We went back to our room and fell asleep. I woke up because I could hear sirens and I could see flashing lights. And then I heard the... screams," I stammered a little on the last word as the sound of the screaming echoed in my ears. "I looked out of my window and saw the commotion below. I woke up Angela and her boyfriend Ben and we went downstairs to see what was going on... and then I saw her..."

"You didn't hear any commotion coming from the room next door?"

"No, I was asleep and I heard nothing."

"Were you drinking tonight Miss Swan?"

"Yes," I confessed and I felt myself redden.

"How much did you have?"

"Umm, a few shots, I wasn't drunk. I knew what I was doing and I remember everything that happened."

"Was Sarah drinking?"

"I think so... but she didn't seem very drunk."

"Was her roommate Jennifer at the party?"

I tried to remember seeing the dark hair and pale face of Jen but as much as I strained my mind I couldn't recall seeing her there. "I don't know. I don't think I saw her but there were lots of people at the party, I might have missed her."

"Did Miss Lawson seem like the type of person who would kill herself?"

"No!" I exclaimed, more loudly than was necessary. "I mean, no... not at all. She was bubbly, overfriendly, confident, happy. She just doesn't seem like the sort of person who would do that. But I only met her yesterday, I barely knew her."

The policeman nodded curtly. "Do you think she could have fallen?"

I shrugged a little. "Maybe, I guess. But she would have had to lean pretty far out of her window and I don't think she was that drunk or that stupid."

"So you think it more likely that she was murdered?"

I flinched at his words. "I really don't know. I didn't hear any commotion and I can't imagine who would want to kill her." Indeed she had been annoying but she didn't deserve to die.

"Okay Miss Swan, that is all we need from you right now. You may leave but we may need to bring you in for further questioning at a later date."

I nodded and stood up shakily. Charlie gripped my shoulder and we walked out of the room. Charlie was muttering to my questioner but I didn't hear what he said, my hearing which had been so sharp earlier suddenly seemed dull and distant. They called Angela in after me and she looked at me as she stood up, tear tracks down her face. I looked back at her and though neither of us made a single movement she understood that I was telling her that everything was going to be okay. Ben was staring at his feet and I put my hand on his shoulder, the only way that I could think to comfort him, before I walked outside with Charlie.

I shuddered in the freezing air outside the police station. The sky was still dark but it was beginning to lighten slightly as dawn approached.

"Bella, this is very serious," Charlie looked at me as I stared at the floor. My entire body was quaking as I was still only wearing my dress, a coat and some flats. I needed Jacob. I felt as though I was a dam, desperately trying to hold back a flood of water that was about to burst through me.

"Bella, I know that you are upset and worried but I need you to listen to me," Charlie's voice was slow and serious. "Did you have anything to do with this? Did you hear or see anything suspicious, anything to indicate that this was going to happen?"

"No," I said as I shook my head numbly. "I met Sarah briefly, she seemed happy. I heard nothing Dad, I told the truth."

"Did you like her?" His question brought forth an internal conflict and I stumbled over my thoughts, not really knowing what to say in response.

"She was... a bit aggravating. She kept eyeing up Jacob really obviously and seemed to loathe me when she saw us together at the party. She was... fake, her smile was too wide. But I didn't dislike her exactly, we hadn't known each other long enough for that. She was just one of those people I'd rather not be around."

"Okay," Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's go."

"I have to wait for Angela."

"I called her Mom, she's on her way. Angela will be fine.

I nodded. "Don't take me back there," I whispered. "Take me home."

We drove back to Forks in silence, the journey seeming to last forever, yet in a strange way it also passed in the blink of an eye. The sun was beginning to rise as we reached my home, the sky a dark, blood red. We pulled up in the drive and my weak, trembling hands fumbled with the door handle. I stepped out of the car and looked up from the ground. Jacob was on my doorstep, pacing up and down frantically. He turned and his brown eyes met mine. Suddenly my breaths seemed shallow and rapid, as though I was struggling for oxygen, my head span, my body felt even weaker and I crumpled, unable to hold myself any longer. But before I hit the ground warm arms enclosed me. His warmth, his softness, his smell, the tightness of his embrace, the thumping of his heartbeat all assured me that I was home, that I was finally safe. And then the dam burst, the floodgates opened and I sobbed and shuddered uncontrollably into his chest.

"Shh Bells," he whispered soothingly. "You're okay, you're safe now."

The hot tears poured from my eyes, burning my cheeks, my body jerked as I gasped for breath and I sobbed as my arms clutched tightly with all the strength that I had left in me around my Jacob, my sanctuary, my solace, desperate to have him close to me, to never, ever let him go.

I felt myself being lifted by his strong arms and he carried me into the house, up the stairs and into my bedroom. He took off my coat, laid me gently on my bed and lay next to me, lifting me so that my head rested on his bare chest. His arms were around my shoulders, his body pressed close to mine, his heartbeat thrumming in my ears, his fingers gently stroking my hair as I cried.

It seemed like I was never going to stop. The grief, the shock, the fear and the relief that I was finally in Jacob's arms swallowed me. My ribs ached, my throat was dry, my body shuddered, my eyes burned and my head throbbed as I let out broken cries, the image of Sarah lying dead permanently in front of my eyes. Jacob's chest was wet with tears.

"It's okay, it's okay," he soothed me.

I took deep, gulping breaths as I tried to calm myself.

"Jacob..." I managed to choke out as I squeezed him tightly.

"Bells," he whispered softly in my ear. "You're okay, I've got you."

I cried on. I was so grateful that Jacob was here, so happy that he was holding me, so in love with him, so desperate to hold him even closer, so safe in his warm, protective arms. None of it felt real. It felt as though I had had a terrible nightmare and Jacob was holding me as I wept from what I had imagined. But it had been real. Sarah really was dead. I really had stood next to her broken body, looked into her wide, staring eyes.

And as I thought about her, I realised that everything seemed as though it was temporary, as though I was living from borrowed time. I couldn't explain my thoughts, rationality seemed to have left me in my shock and confusion but I was suddenly fearful. If the supernatural had not intervened then I would have been dead over a year ago when the van had skidded over the ice towards me, ready to crush me where I stood. I was almost killed by James, Laurent, Victoria and Bree but, again, fate intervened. The person who had pushed Sarah out of her window could have decided to visit the room next door and killed me instead of her. Death seemed so close, as though it was pressing upon me. I was lucky to be alive now and I couldn't escape the thought that my luck was going to run out someday. Sarah's had already run out. I clung to Jacob even tighter, as though I was afraid he was going to melt away into nonexistence.

"Don't ever leave me," I choked.

Jacob gently stroked my hair and I felt soothed by his touch. The tears still leaked from my eyes and my body still shook from the sobs. "Bella, I'm never going to leave you. I promise you that I will always be there for you, I will always protect you. If it was your wish I would never leave your side. I love you more than you could ever imagine. You're my reason for living, for breathing. You are my everything."

"Jake... I'm scared," I stammered.

"I know baby, but I'll always protect you. Always."

The tears were still falling, but I felt calmer, safer now. I was able to think more rationally and I realised that there were questions I wanted answered.

"How did you... know?" I asked quietly.

"Alice saw you looking over the body of a girl, saw you at a police station. I was ready to run to Port Angeles but she said you were coming back to Forks so I waited for you. Bells, I was so worried. I needed to hold you in my arms, it was like my life depended on being with you at this moment, to be there for you."

"I needed you so much," I whispered. "I needed your warmth, your arms around me. I felt so weak and so vulnerable. You make me feel safe."

He held me closer. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

I shook my head. "No."

"You should sleep Bells, it will make you feel better."

"Will you stay?" I asked, my voice pleading. I had never been this clingy before, but I felt as though I would break if he left me now.

"Of course," he whispered. He started humming a song, it was soothing and comforting. My eyes began to droop and I fell asleep in the warm arms of my Jacob.

...

I woke up, not knowing what time it was. In my sleep my position had changed, Jacob was lying on his side, his arms still around me, my head pressed into his chest, our legs intertwined. I was so warm yet I shivered a little, trying to shake off my nightmares. Jacob was breathing softly and I gently removed myself from his embrace so that I could look at his face. He was so peaceful, so beautiful when he slept. I remembered the time when I had gone to his house after my dream and seen him sleeping, smiling as I recalled how he had pulled me into the bed and cuddled me. It seemed so long ago. I snuggled back against him and held him tightly. My eyes felt puffy and sore, my body ached. The light coming through my window was dim and pink, indicating that the sun was setting. I had slept all day.

Jacob began to stir and his arms wrapped around me pulling me closer against his body.

"Bells," he murmured softly. I responded with a little squeeze.

We lay together for a few minutes and his fingers began stroking my hair again. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," I whispered back. "Because you're here."

He kissed me softly and I melted into his lips.