Jacob's session

Jacob was sitting across from me on the couch. He had his hands in his jeans pockets, and was slumped down the back of the couch in a defeated posture. We had gotten the formalities out of the way, and he signed everything, but that was almost four minutes ago, and we were sitting in dead silence.

"I don't know what to say," he said, finally.

"Whatever's on your mind."

"What's the point of this?" he asked.

"Your father is worried about you. You have been through a lot, and he thinks I can help," I said.

"How?"

"Therapy can help you get your thoughts organized. Help you process your emotions, and cognitive therapy might help break down impulsive reactions, which can help werewolves."

"I'm fine."

"Has anyone told you that you weren't?"

He shifted awkwardly. "Yeah. Bella calls it her Jacob and Sam's Jacob."

"What does that mean?"

"It's like how I acted before I phased and then how I act after I phase. Sort of she will say if my behavior is more human or werewolf."

"How does it make you feel when she does that?"

"Like I am a freak. Like I lost myself. Sometimes I think it's true. I try to do things that I used to like, work on cars, hang with Quil and Embery, but it feels different."

"Do you tell your brothers this? I bet it feels weird for them too."

"It does until they imprint, and the imprint makes all the human things go back into balance. But without an imprint, your stuck."

"Imprinting does a lot for a werewolf, but there are things that you can get the same things from imprinting from other sources."

"Like how?"

"Well, in a few months you will start back to school. You can make a human friend. Not have a close friend, but someone to maybe talk about the weather, class, cars, girls, get a movie. Make sure that you come up with some good excuses so you can get out if you need to and still keep the friendship."

"I can do that?"

"How do you think you are going to meet your imprint? You are not going to feel better spending all day locked up in your garage. The Cullen kids all go to school, Carlisle goes to work, I would go out to bars with dates when I lived in Italy, if it is constant supernatural stuff all the time, you are going to get burned out."

He nodded, shocked that I am giving him permission to be around people. "But, Sam wants us around the pack because we can be so volatile," he said.

"Sam has a boss," I said. "I'll talk to your father. Billy trust you guys. I highly doubt that y'all are going to phase in a club at Port Angeles unless y'all get really drunk."

Jake laughed. "Yeah. We probably don't need to try that." He thought for a minute, then he asked quietly, "Can I ask you something?"

I nodded.

"How long do I have until they… turn her?"

"I don't really know. I am not involved in that process."

"What do I do? How do I get her to realize that she is throwing her life away?"

"What have you tried?"

"When I phased and they were gone, just keeping her safe. Now that they are back, I am trying to convince her that she would give up everything to be one of them. I want to make her see that Vampires are evil and that she does not really want to be with them."

"That is the problem. Has it occurred to you that she really does want to be with them?"

"Why?"

A thought occurred to me, "Let's play a game to answer that question, its called "Swapping Heads". You be Bella and I'll be you, okay? Answer my questions the way Bella would and see if you can get inside her head. Okay?"

"Alright," he said hesitantly.

"Bella," I said, "you are smart, funny, and kind. You can have any man you want. Why do you want Edward when he is so dangerous?"

Jacob thought a minute and said, "I am attracted to the danger. It makes me feel alive."

"Very good," I said. "Okay. You will clearly have to give up being around your friends and family to be with Edward. How is that a fair trade?"

"It's not a fair trade. It's stupid."

"No. Your being Bella. What would Bella say?"

He sighed. "I am not close to my friends. I feel invisible around them. My parents have always put themselves first. Now that my mom is married, she does not need me, and my dad he did not even fight for custody rights, so he does not care."

"There you go."

"But none of that is true!"

"It's true to Bella."

"Okay, fine then what about me?"

"Ask her. Hey Bella, Jacob has asked you not to be a vampire, but you are doing it anyway. What is up with that?"

"Jacob is a kid. I don't really care what he thinks."

I rolled my eyes. "You really think that is true. You are her best friend. Of course she cares what you think. Come on, dig. Why does she want to be a vampire?"

"To give Sam hell?"

"What? No! What did she tell you?"

"So she and Edward can be together forever and blah blah blah."

"Okay. Good. What happened last September?"

"The Cullens left."

"And?"

"She got depressed."

"Bingo. How did she act when she was depressed?"

"Well, Charlie said she had nightmares, and I saw she was suicidal, or at least self-destructive, and she had panic attacks if you left her alone."

"Right. Would you choose to live like that?"

"So the alternative is turning into a vampire?" he said standing up and balling his fist.

"No, of course not," I said. "I am doing this to help you understand where she is coming from. Bella needs help, she is not thinking straight, you as her friend need to be patient with her."

"Oh," he said sitting down. "So, what is the alternative to biting her?"

"I'm working on it."