All non-believers stand aside and fear

A new day's marching through the door

How could you ever think you'd make it here

Did it bleed' Was it sore

Through the struggles you've endured

You've come so far from innocence

Provided all the consequence

Only what does it matter now

Chapter 14: Running Free

Jacob POV:

"Well that went better than I thought."

"Oh thanks." Liam smiled at my comment as he led me downstairs. I knew the Cullens wouldn't take well to my being here, but damn. Alice scared the shit out of me. Like that little midget actually fucking terrified me. I had a newfound respect for Bella.

"Relax Jake. No one's going to hurt you. I got your back."

"No offense Liam, but I don't think even you could stop an enraged Alice." We both chuckled at the joke, grateful for these relaxed moments.

"Too true. Honestly I don't think Bella could even stop her if she was really pissed." The rest of the walk was silent until we reached her door. "Alright. Just don't do anything that will cause Alice to kill you."

"That's great advice." He grinned and opened the door to let me in.

"Jake?" Bella looked up the second I walked in, completely confused.

"Hey Bells." I wandered over and plopped onto the uncomfortable little cot with her. I wasn't going to treat her like some broken doll like the rest of them. I never did. Not when Edward left her and not when she came back from the Volturi over the summer. That's what made our friendship so true, I never made her feel weaker. "Long time no see."

"What are you doing here?" She was definitely worried about my presence, probably thinking I was some mind game to screw with her.

"I haven't seen you in months Bells! Hell, you've gotten married since we last saw each other. I just missed you."

"Mmhhmm…" She scooted away towards the wall, still wary of me. I sighed and decided on telling her the whole truth.

"Look Bella, truth is, Liam called me. Everyone's really worried about you and how you're doing down here. They thought I might be able to help. But really the only reason why I came, was because I missed you. Honestly I could care less about their agenda. I just want to spend some time with my friend." Bella studied me closely, but eventually deemed my confession to be good enough for her.

"Ok."

"Alright then." I smiled, it had been forever since we talked. "So what's new? Tell me about your wedding!"

"Ugh. New subject."

"Ok." I racked my brain, and grinned in my brotherly perverted way. "Honeymoon?"

"Jake!" Bella hit me with a pillow, but I did see the tiniest little smirk on her face before it disappeared.

"Alright alright." I laughed and threw the pillow back at her, trying to think of a new topic. "How about work? Before all this shit, how has your work been? I heard you took that Volturi complex a while back."

"Um yeah, we did."

Bella and I talked effortlessly for about two hours. As long as I steered clear of the subject of Alice and the past four months, it was easy. I even got her to laugh. She was actually doing so well that I decided to make a bold move.

"Bells, when was the last time you phased?" Her trace of a smile immediately slid right off her face.

"I don't know." She mumbled in defense. I knew it was a risk, but I continued with my question.

"Yeah you do. It was before, wasn't it?" I took her silence as my answer. "Come on Bells. We're going for a run." I jumped up and pat her knee for her to follow. Bella looked at me as if I had grown three more heads.

"What?"

"We're going for a run. You need a good stretch and so do I."

"No. I told you I don't want to leave." I sat back down and put on my serious friend face.

"Look, I promise to bring you right back here after we're done. Just a quick run, no strings attached. I miss spending time with you when we're in wolf form." I knew I had her, so I stood up again. "Besides, you're looking weak as shit right now and it may be the only time I can beat you in a race." Another tiny grin crossed her face and she got up.

"One run."

"One run." I confirmed and took her hand. "Open up Liam!"

"Done so…?" Liam's incomplete sentence stopped the moment he saw Bella was up with me, ready to go outside. His eyes were bulging out of his head in disbelief and I had to close his mouth for him.

"Bella and I are going for a little run. We'll be back in a bit." I said nonchalantly, conveying easy going for Bella, but also a 'don't fuck this up, act normal' to Liam. Luckily he caught my drift and nodded.

"Ok. See you when you get back." I smiled thankfully at him and led Bella back upstairs for the first time in ages. Deciding there were too many prying eyes, I took Bella out the back way to avoid any drama. This is just going to be a soothing and muscle relaxing run. "Alright I'll strip over there and you can over here. Meet in the middle?" She nodded happily, probably relieved I didn't make us strip right then and there. Sure it wasn't anything I hadn't seen before, but things were different now.

You ready? I asked as soon as she walked up to me in wolf form. God even her wolf was fucking scrawny. Maybe I can convince her to eat more later.

Yeah. Let's go. I barked a laugh and started a slow jog. The fresh air felt amazing, even for me. And I'm outside practically all the time. I can't even imagine how good it felt for Bella. She really forgets she's part animal sometimes, it's nothing to be ashamed of as some people may think. It's actually pretty fucking fantastic if you let yourself go every once in a while. And that once in a while was right now for Bella.

Think you can handle a little speed? I looked behind me and almost stopped in surprise. The moody depressed Bella must have been left the second we started running. There was a light in her eyes and she was bouncing on her paws with excitement. Yep. A run was an awesome idea.

Hell yeah. We started to run faster, eventually sprinting through the woods. Suddenly I found myself being tackled to the ground. Not in a threatening way, actually it was exactly like when we were kids and playing in the mud. Except now we were fucking giant wolves. Life is weird.

After about an hour and running and tackling each other into various creeks and such, we were both exhausted.

Let's head back. It's getting late. But we're walking. I was very wrong, you are still much faster than I am. Bella grinned as I panted on the walk. She looked about a thousand times lighter. I almost regretted my promise about making her go back, all it would do was make her sullen again. But my promise did get her outside in the first place. So it was a give and take.

I'm a little embarrassed for you Jake. That was pathetic. We might have to go on another run some time so you can make up for that show. Once again I almost stopped in my tracks in surprise, but I shook it off and continued walking, playing it cool.

Sure thing Bells. You say the time and I'll name the place. She nodded and we walked in relative silence for some time. Eventually I grew another idea and took a leap with my new trust. She misses you, you know? At first I thought I spoke my truth too early. Bella had been quiet for so long that I jumped when she finally responded.

I know. I miss her too. There was a small whine that came from her mouth while she thought this to me. I could almost feel her guilt and pain.

I'm not saying that you have to go back to the world and act normal again for her. Just let her in every now and then. I know you don't want to hurt her, but she's heartbroken. Talk to her like you talked to me today. It doesn't have to be about anything heavy or uncomfortable. She nodded and we continued walking.

Why does she love me?

Well I'm afraid I'm not the right person to ask that question. But you're not a monster Bella. You gotta stop thinking you are. And before you give me the 'I kill people' speech, stop and understand that nothing you've done is unforgiveable. I wouldn't be friends with you if it wasn't so. And you know I mean that when I say it because I have no filter. After a small laugh, we were both quiet once more. I could tell Bella was thinking a lot.

What do I say? I can't just say sorry.

I don't know Bells. But you have to say something. Anything. It probably wouldn't hurt to tell her that you love her. That poor girl had to deal with emotionless you. She probably needs a little confirmation of your love. We had reached the edge of the forest near the compound. I went off to phase back and put clothes on and Bella did the same. Once we were both fully dressed and ready to head back inside, I stopped her for a moment.

"Oh and Bella, I mean this in the nicest way, stop being a pussy and just talk to her already." For a second I thought she was about to punch me, she probably almost did, but she cracked a grin after a bit.

"Thank you Shakespeare."

"Any time doll."

"Jesus Jake, are you a miracle worker? A saint? A genie?" Liam finally was able to show his dumbfounded expression once Bella was back inside her 'room'.

"Nah. I'm just a greek god."

"Ha ha. Seriously dude? How did you get her out? And smiling?"

"I just talked to her." Liam rolled his eyes at the simplicity of my statement. Like he felt I was calling him stupid for not trying such a thing. "I mean not about sensitive shit. That's your guys' problem. You need to think of it as if your entire relationship was destroyed except for the foundation. So you can't just jump into it back on the 51st floor where you were. You need to work your way up from that foundation again." He shrugged in thought and nodded.

"Well, I'm still amazed. And very grateful. Thank you Jake."

"It's no problem man."

"So how long are you thinking of staying?"

"I'll start with a week and see where it goes from there. I have really missed her. And Sam's getting on my nerves."

"You know we could use a guy like you here."

"Ha. Save your recruitment speech bud. I'm quite happy where I am."

"Alright. Just something to think about Jake." We talked lightheartedly all the way upstairs until we walked over to the Cullen's place. There was a very awkward silence right when we strolled in, every eye on me.

"H-how did it go?" Alice appeared to be on the verge of tears and anger. "You were there a long time."

"We talked and went for a run. Nothing crazy." I was exhausted from the activities of the day, so I slumped onto the nearest empty couch while speaking.

"You went for a run? Like outside?" Blondie asked, like I had just told her I became the pope.

"Yeah. We couldn't really run laps around her room, could we?"

"Don't sass me mutt!" She stood up to confront me, but luckily Carlisle gave her a gentle push back down. I was not in the mood to fight a vampire right now.

"Everyone please keep a level head this time around. Now, did you really get her to agree to go outside? How did you do such a thing?"

"I talked to her like a normal person. I didn't coddle her. And then, when she was ready, I suggested she phase and go for a run."

"Wait. You got her to shift and run? Dude. Who are you?" Emmett was definitely growing on me. I was about to smile and joke with him a bit, but I caught sight of the look on Alice's face. She thought she had failed Bella once again, and I had bested her. Alice was now thinking Bella was much closer to me than to her if I managed all this progress. But that was very wrong.

"She wants to speak to you Alice. Not right now, give her a little time. But go down there some time later." Beautiful silence greeted that. Finally the questions were over. I was thinking about taking a well-deserved nap, before I felt the cushion to the side of me sink down with someone's weight. "Liam please let me sle-" I had opened my eyes midway between the sentence to find that it was in fact Alice who sat next to me. Probably the last vampire I ever thought that would purposely place themselves next to me. Well maybe blondie was the last. But Alice was a close second.

Before I was even able to ask her what she was doing, she placed her hand in mine. And then we sat, quite peacefully actually. It was her way of thanking me, and letting me know I wasn't hated anymore. She even curled up to my side when I began to fade to sleep.

Alice POV:

After about an hour of Jacob sleeping on me, wow never thought I'd say that, I went down to see Bella. I didn't know what to expect after all the progress Jacob made, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too high. Honestly I'd consider myself happy if I just sat with her for the night.

"Bella? It's me, can I come in?"

"Yeah." I opened the door the rest of the way and walked in slowly. I already noticed a difference in Bella's appearance. She had more color in her face, a little more life in her eyes than before. The room, of course, stunk of Jacob, but I didn't mind that much right now. He had worked wonders, I could deal with a smell if it meant my mate was doing better.

"Jacob said you wanted to see me?" I tried to play it down, not sounding too excited that it was her request.

"Um yeah. I guess, um, I don't know where to start." She started scratching her head and looked down to her lap. Guilt.

"Then don't." I decided to make a bold move. Very slowly, I crawled to her lap and placed myself carefully into it, resting my head on her shoulder. I kept waiting for her to shove me off and yell, but instead I heard a content sigh and felt her muscles relax to my embrace.

This right here, was perfect. I could stay like this forever. It had been so long since she let me touch her in any way, so this was heaven. Her breathing indicated that she was softly crying, but I didn't dare make another move. So I just caressed her free hand gently, letting her know I loved her.

Eventually I turned to cup her face, looking deep into her eyes that were swimming with tears. And at long last, she let me in.

"Alice, I miss being human."

A/N: If you have the time, please leave me a review. They are very much appreciated. :)