Here With Me

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!

Chapter Thirty Five-As If Her Heart Would Break

Does the truth imprison us or set us free? One thing Jacob knew for sure was that the truth can hurt. As he finally entrusted Billy with the truth behind the lie he had been living, all he could hope was that the older man could see the truth reflected in his eyes and the words he spoke. He knew that telling Billy that he had switched places with his real son was going to cause him pain, but he wasn't expecting just how bone deep it went. As Billy listened in silent horror he pressed a hand to his chest as if a thousand knives had just pierced through his heart. Jacob could feel the hot tears welling in his eyes as he reached the end of his sorry tale and told Billy what he had witnessed during the strange supernatural storm when he had first transformed into the wolf in this universe.

"La Push is burning! And my son is out there facing it alone!" Billy exclaimed desperately. "Why didn't you tell me when you first switched places?" His hands gripped the armrests of his chair for dear life as he confronted Jacob in anger. "You have been masquerading as him for months. And so has she!" He jerked his head in Bella's direction.

Jacob watched Bella's face drain of all colour under the onslaught of Billy's fury. But she didn't run from it and instead gazed unflinchingly back at him. Jacob took courage from her reaction and remained resolute as he let Billy vent the full force of his anger toward him.

"I didn't understand what was happening. I didn't know what to do in the beginning." He confessed when Billy paused to draw breath. "It's been so crazy. When it first happened I was flipping from one universe to the next so fast that I didn't have time to work out what to do. This last switch is the longest I've been here-Bella, too."

Billy's fraught gaze flicked to Bella again. She was trembling slightly, her lips quivering as she looked back at him pleadingly. "I'm sorry. I don't understand why any of this is happening-"

"You and me both." Billy cut in bitterly before returning his attention to Jacob. "Is this everything?" He asked harshly. "You haven't left anything out?"

"No." Jacob shook his head. "That's it."

"Right." Billy muttered darkly. His brows drew down into a deep frown as his fingers tapped a restless rhythm on the armrests of his wheelchair. "That strange storm has to mean something. You transformed in the middle of it and were able to see this world as well as your own." He spoke slowly as if trying to work out a difficult puzzle. "You being here in this world has changed it. The course of events are different to what happened in your own. Bella has been able to withstand Edward Cullen's charms, you phased before Samuel Uley." He raised his head and spoke directly to Jacob. "It was like you were sent back here to change things, to do what you couldn't do in your world, to fix the damage, but something went wrong."

"Is it because I'm here?" Bella whispered hoarsely. Her hand was at her throat as she looked at Billy pensively.

"I don't know." Billy sighed heavily and rubbed his aching temples. "Maybe. You were set on dying in your world."

"Don't say that." Jacob jumped in defensively. "She felt like she had no choice."

"She always had a choice. And now my boy and the other Bella are paying the price for it." Billy thundered.

Jacob glared at Billy. He could see that the older man was already regretting his outburst, but they both knew he spoke the truth. Even if he wanted to deny it and fight about it, in the end it was still true.

"Please don't fight." Bella pleaded anxiously. "It doesn't help. We need to work out how to switch back to our world so that we can fix this mess."

"We fixed the mess that was building here." Jacob said defensively. He was still working through his resentment toward Billy's previous comment about Bella. "If we hadn't changed things up your son would be heading for a life full of heartache by now."

"Caused by me." Bella murmured in despair as she locked eyes with him. Her brown eyes were brimming with tears that she was desperately trying to hold back. "I am the problem here. The changes that you had already set in motion here were complicated when I suddenly switched places with the other Bella."

Jacob reached out for Bella and pulled her against his hot body. He hated seeing her upset. He felt everything she was feeling. He wrapped his arms tightly around her as if he was trying to make her a prisoner of his ribcage. Her soft cheek was pressed over his thundering heart as he used his strength to hold them together.

"I would do it all again, Bells." He declared passionately as if he had forgotten Billy was even in the room. "Falling in love with you was like entering a house and finally realising I'm home. When you smile at me it's like warm hands wrapping around me and making me feel safe. Having you in my life makes me feel like everything is possible in this world, like I can conquer anything. I don't regret meeting you or anything that happened in-between. You were my first love and also my last. My world is dark without you in it. I love you so much and I won't lose you."

Jacob released her enough so that he could reach for her hand. He leaned forward and kissed away the few tears that had escaped the corners of her eyes. Then his lips found hers, at first kissing tentatively, passionately, and then tenderly.

Billy cleared his throat to break them apart. He had a strange look on his face-contemplative and thoughtful. "Truth can be a hard notion, for it always relies on perspective. Can the two ever be separated? I believe the only pure form to be love, for that is a truth to bring us to the same understanding."

"Have we reached that understanding now?" Jacob asked quietly.

Billy let out another heavy sigh that ran bone deep. "Yes." He agreed.

Billy and Jacob were alone in the front room. Bella was in the kitchen, cooking. It was an excuse to leave the two of them alone to talk privately without worrying about her feelings. Billy was hunched over in his chair, his hands resting on his knees as he looked at Jacob intently with his dark eyes. There was a wisdom in them that Jacob had never seen in his father's.

"You've been told the stories about Taha Aki I expect."

Jacob nodded in confirmation. "My Dad shared all the old stories with me."

"He did something right then." Billy said grudgingly as he made himself more comfortable. "Taha Aki was a leader of the spirit warriors of the Quileute tribe. He had the ability to leave his body and fly to the spirit world himself."

"Yes, so the stories say."

"So the truth states." Billy corrected him harshly. "If you remember the story well you know that Taha Aki left his body to enter the spirit world and while there Utlapa followed him. He learned of Utlapa's murderous plan and tried to race back to his own body, but he realised it was gone."

"Where are you going with this?" Jacob interrupted impatiently.

"Utlapa got into Taha Aki's body before he did. I am saying that in the past our distant ancestors had the ability to enter the spirit world and enter another body. I think you have the same ability but pushed the boundaries in some way. You didn't just enter another body you managed to cross through to another universe and take over my son's. We just need to find a way for you to control this ability so you can switch back."

Jacob stared at Billy in stunned silence. "I never thought of it that way. But it doesn't explain Bella switching bodies, too."

"When you first switched bodies you were at the lowest point in your life. You had barely survived a vicious attack by a vampire, you were being forced to say goodbye to the girl you loved beyond all reason. I saw the deep connection between you, how intense your love is for her, and hers for you. She was going to sacrifice her life to make sure you and everyone she loved were kept safe. Maybe when your spirit left your world and landed here, somehow you pulled hers along with you. The only sure way to keep her safe is to pull her out of your world completely, and you came here because this place is a mirror of your own-somewhere familiar and safe. You could start again and steer clear of the poor choices that plagued you in your own world because you knew what was coming."

"Fuck." Jacob swore and his head dropped into his hands. "That makes me sound like one selfish asshole."

"No." Billy said softly. "It makes you very human."

Jacob raised his head and looked at Billy in despair. "If your theory is true than your son and the other Bella are paying the price for it, along with everyone else I care about at home."

"I don't think it's as simple as all that. It seems you have no control over it. You said so yourself that you've been jumping back and forth between worlds. When your spirit wolf finally found you it gave you a glimpse of your own world. Our two worlds are colliding, Jacob, hence that strange supernatural storm. You and Bella are out of place here and its affecting both universes."

A loud crash emanated from the kitchen followed by a hysterical scream from Bella. Jacob looked at Billy wildly before leaping to his feet and racing into the kitchen. He found Bella on her hands and knees, trembling. Smashed crockery lay around her like a china snowstorm.

"Bells, what is it?" Jacob asked in alarm as he gathered her up into his arms. He couldn't see her sweet face as it was hidden behind a swathe of her hair.

Bella was letting out short, sharp breaths as if struggling to draw air into her lungs. He sat back on his haunches and pulled her onto his lap. He said her name again but she was shaking violently as if having a full on meltdown. Had she overheard his conversation with Billy? Even if she had he couldn't understand her extreme reaction.

"Look at me, Bella." Jacob demanded as he put one hand under chin and raised her head so he could get a good look at her face. As soon as he did his blood ran cold. The girl looking at him through Bella's eyes wasn't the one he loved. She was gone. They had switched places again. "No! No! No!" He cried in denial.

Bella kept staring at his face as if trying to process what was happening. Her eyes first registered panic, confusion, than lastly anger. Her breathing became more ragged as comprehensions set in and suddenly she was pounding on his chest with balled fists.

"This can't be happening! You bastard!" She screamed at him. "You selfish, selfish bastard! Why did you never warn us what was coming?"

Jacob heard the sound of Billy's chair rolling up behind him. His breath caught in his throat as he continued to stare at Bella in a blind panic. "What is happening?" He shook her slightly in his anguish. "Tell me!"

"Jacob, calm down." Billy warned him.

Bella's hysterical gaze flicked to Billy in confusion before landing on Jacob again. When it did she dissolved into tears. "I had to do something. We were being attacked on all sides. Jake...Jake and the others were outnumbered. There were so many of them. Their powers didn't work on me. I was the only one who could move. I...I..."

"Who was attacking them?" Jacob demanded as his hands landed on either side of her face, holding her in place.

But Bella was too overwrought and emotional to hear him. "I had no choice." She choked out. "Fire is the only thing that kills them. He was coming for Jake to get to me. Jake was already so exhausted from fighting-they all were. I grabbed the burning branch from the fire and...and...and set him alight. He was burning, burning, screaming...his arms flailing around to put out the flames." Her gaze turned inward, her eyes widening in horror as if she was reliving it all. "He ran toward the trees and it was like he exploded. The trees around him caught fire and it quickly began to spread. There was smoke everywhere and I couldn't see...everything was burning."

Her last words were drowned out in a loud wail as she collapsed against Jacob and wept as if her heart would break.

A/N-thanks for reading! What do you think happened?