Here With Me

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!

Chapter Thirty Four-Billy Black

Jacob stared at the man who wore his father's face. This guy wasn't really his dad, just a replica from another universe. They were essentially the same person, but there were differences, too. They were slight but they were there. Could he trust this Billy with the whole truth? He had been living under the guy's roof for the last three months pretending to be his natural born son. How would Billy react to the earth shattering news that the boy standing in front of him was a whole other person. Jacob was finding it difficult to gauge his reaction. He seemed sincere in his promise to listen. But would he? Would he believe the fantastical elements of their story, that he and Bella were from another world-a twin to his own.

"You can talk to me, Jacob." Billy said huskily as he leaned forward in his chair. "I know I've made things difficult for you. I'm so sorry for that." He swallowed thickly as he looked at Jacob pleadingly.

"I want to." Jacob hedged as he glanced in Bella's direction. He noticed her troubled expression and hesitated. "Bells, is something wrong?"

"Yes. Everything is wrong." She whispered as she kept her gaze trained on Billy. "You know there's always something I wanted to get off my chest, but I never had the guts or the opportunity to do so. I was always so freaking scared of upsetting anyone. I'm tired of being scared."

"This has something to do with me?" Billy asked, shooting her a puzzled glance.

"Yes." Bella nodded, then shook her head instead. "Not you...the other you. His real father."

"What do you mean by that?" Billy exclaimed indignantly. "I am his father!"

"You said you would listen." Bella retorted.

"Only to things that make sense. I won't have you flinging insults at me, young lady." Billy snapped. "I am Jake's father. I love my boy. I know it hasn't always been easy, but I've done the best I could over the years. I don't like you insinuating that I-"

"Billy, shut up." Jacob cut in harshly. "You said you would listen. Bella wasn't insinuating anything about you."

"So you're calling me Billy now?" Billy's hands shook as he rested them on the arms of his wheelchair.

"For fucks sake." Jacob breathed sharply through his nose as he turned his back on his father and walked away a few steps to try and stem the tide of his frustration. He heard Bella's light tread behind him, and then her gentle hand was rubbing his lower back. Her touch softened his mood and he turned around to face her. "Shit, this isn't easy, huh?" He apologised with a wry smile.

"No shit Sherlock." Bella teased as she borrowed one of their friend, Quil's, sayings. "It's my fault. I should have kept my mouth shut. I wasn't making any sense." She matched his smile with a rueful one of her own.

"None of what is happening to us is making sense. But it's time the olds quit acting like we're ten years old and actually take us seriously." Jacob frowned as he looked over the top of her head toward Billy, who was watching them warily from a distance. "Maybe it's time for me to be blunt with my old man."

"Good luck with that." Bella sighed.

"C'mon." Jacob caressed her cheek with his warm fingers before taking her hand. "Let s get this over with." He felt Bella lace her fingers through his as he led her back toward a waiting Billy. "You want to know what happened? Well I'll keep it simple for you. Last night after I landed a punch on that asshole, Edward Cullen, I got so mad I turned into a giant ass wolf." He said coolly.

Billy was a broken man. Totally broken. He was sobbing into his hands, his whole body shuddering with such intense emotion and heartbreak, that he was struggling to breathe. This was a totally different reaction to what Jacob was expecting from him after he finally divulged the truth about phasing during the storm. It was also a completely different reaction to the way his true father, in his world, had acted after he phased for the first time inside his own home. His father had apologised for keeping something so life changing from him, but remained adamant that he had done so in order to keep Jacob's teenage years free from the burden of what was to come for as long as possible. This excuse had never sat well with Jacob, in fact as time passed, it had only made him more resentful toward his old man for keeping it a secret, and hiding behind the old legends instead of hashing things out with him.

"You need to calm down." Jacob hunkered down in front of Billy and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Get him to drink this." Bella had run off to fetch some water. She passed it to Jacob and knelt down beside him. "Please, drink it, Billy."

Billy's hands dropped to his knees and he slowly raised his head. His complexion had turned ashen and he didn't seem able to control the tremors shaking his body. "I don't think I can."

"I'll help." Jacob lifted the glass and put it in Billy's hands, before cradling his around them to keep the glass steady. He steered it toward his father's dry lips. "There you go." He said gently as Billy managed to take a small sip.

"I wish your mother was here. I've been so lost since she's gone." Billy struggled to speak through the lump lodged in his throat as he looked sadly at Jacob. "She was always worried about this happening some day. She fretted and fretted and had so many sleepless nights over it. She sometimes saw things in her dreams. I remember the night before she died-she clung to me, frightened because she'd had a nightmare of breaking glass and screeching metal. I didn't take her seriously-it was just a silly nightmare-I said."

"Mom knew about the wolf?" Jacob felt like his heart had been crushed. He knew for a fact his own father had never told his wife about the possibilities that the old legends were true. Harry had never told his wife, either. He remembered how bitter Sue had been when she had found out after his death.

"I never kept secrets from Sarah. She needed to know what she was marrying into. I knew it could happen to me one day. I wanted her to be prepared." Billy revealed to Jacob's surprise. "One of my earliest childhood memories was seeing my grandfather phase into a massive wolf, so I grew up knowing that the tribes stories of cold ones and shape-shifters were all true. You know when I was really young I longed for a vampire to come to La Push again and force the transformation so I could develop superhuman powers." He shook his head bitterly. "But when I grew up and matured I realised it was a silly fantasy and was grateful it never happened, I was thankful to live a normal human life."

"You never said any of this to me." Jacob mumbled.

Or rather the man who had sired him in his own world hadn't been as open or honest as his counterpart in this universe was being. It made him hurt all over. He felt Bella's hand on the back of his head, stroking his hair gently. He turned to look at her, finding the understanding and sympathy that he so sorely needed, reflected in her expressive brown eyes.

Billy was so lost in his own head he hadn't heard Jacob speak. He sighed heavily and rubbed his aching temples. "When the Cullens moved back here it was like my worst nightmare. I panicked that their return would deny you the same opportunity to live a normal life like I had. I was so angry that your great grandfather had made the treaty with that silver-tongued Carlisle in the first place. That bastard claims to be a compassionate and peace-loving individual but as far as I was concerned he was as selfish and cold as the rest of his kind. After everything he knew about the wolves he still chose to return here again and stay, knowing full well what the consequences would be."

Jacob heard Bella give a pained gasp at Billy's surprising declaration of his own hatred and anger toward Carlisle. He knew she held the vamp doctor in high esteem because of his supposed selfless nature and compassion toward others, and to hear Billy lump him in with the rest of his kind was shocking to her.

"I inherited my grandfather's place on the tribal council, and I tried to use my important position to persuade the other elders to deny Carlisle and his coven permission to move back to Forks-I wanted the treaty to be revoked." Billy continued. "Time has moved on since Ephraim agreed to the original treaty, but the others on the council are still too stuck in the past, or more likely too scared, to change anything. Only Old Quil supported me. Harry didn't and that led to us falling out for a while."

"I didn't know." Jacob murmured in disbelief. He wondered if his own father had fought as hard to force through change when he learned that the Cullens were moving back to Forks. It saddened him that he didn't know, that it was possible that his parent had never even considered pulling such a bold move.

"I even fell out with your father." Billy was looking guiltily at Bella now. He dropped his hands into his lap and hung his head in defeat. "I couldn't get through to the council so I thought I'd use Charlie instead. I shouldn't have done it. I tried to make him see that Carlisle Cullen was a bad guy, that there was something sinister about him. I thought that if I could put doubts into Charlie's mind he would decide to investigate Carlisle himself. I hoped he would find something that would give me leverage to force the coven leader to change his mind about settling in Forks again. I should have known that Carlisle would be an expert at covering his tracks, it was a long shot and I was desperate. But all that happened was Charlie and I ended up in a furious row and not speaking for months."

"I was running out of options." Billy paused to take another sip from his glass of water. "Some of the Cullens had begun attending school of all things. That alone made me even more desperate. They shouldn't be allowed around any human. Carlisle was up at the hospital operating on people. It was like a crazy nightmare that wouldn't end. I petitioned the council again but faced the same rejection. They were adamant it wasn't our place to interfere. As long as the coven upheld their end of the treaty and stayed out of La Push they were satisfied. They are blind fools, all of them!" He slammed a clenched fist on one of the armrests in anger.

"I'm sorry, Dad." Jacob shared Billy's pain. He carefully took the half finished glass of water out of the older man's hand before he broke the glass.

Billy's eyes glimmered with moisture as he rubbed a shaking hand over his face. "You don't know how helpless I feel being stuck in this damn chair when all I want to do is protect you, son. I tried everything. It all got worse when Bella moved to Forks and started at that school. I was frightened that you were going to be in close proximity to them." His gaze travelled to Bella and they shared a long look.

She was the first to break away as she hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry I didn't listen. I'm so sorry."

"Not at first." Billy carried on, unaware of her true history. "But you did in the end. Well you were strong enough not to succumb to their supernatural influence. Clever move by the way with the hidden camera. It forced Charlie to act and now his eyes have been opened that the family are not to be trusted. Progress has been made there." He held out a trembling hand toward her. "Don't look so guilty, my dear. You've done nothing wrong. I am the guilty one. You have been an immense support to my son and I am so grateful that you were there with him-"

Bella let out a choked cry and rose to her feet. "I am guilty." She sobbed in despair. "You don't understand. I am not that Bella. I'm weak and a coward."

"Bells, don't." Jacob stood up and clutched her in his arms, shielding her from Billy's view.

"But I am." Bella wept against his chest. "Tell him the truth, Jake." She raised her tearstained face and looked up at him. "You can trust him with the truth, Jake. I can feel it. He's different. The way he's acting is different. He's not in denial like your Dad always was."

"What is she talking about?" Billy demanded as he rolled his chair closer to them.

Jacob cupped Bella's beautiful face in his hands and leaned down to kiss her. She kissed him back, her tears mingling with his as he began to cry, too. "I'll tell him now." He promised. "It's gonna be okay."

A/N-thanks for reading! Thoughts, please?