A/N: This is Twilight through Eclipse from Jacob's perspective. Thanks for reading!

These characters are not mine and all belong to Stephenie Meyer.


Thank you to my reviewers TwiGilmore, Needles1990, Dani Ardila, Janett Nikolaus, and Amanda Pall!


A/N: This picks up around the time Bella goes missing in the woods. Midnight Sun gives a pretty thorough JPOV of Bella's three encounters with Jacob after the beach, so it felt redundant to include those.


Missing Girl (New Moon)

"So," I said, "how's Bella?"

My dad, easily seeing through my casualness, mashed his lips together to keep from smiling. His amusement at my... crush - I had to admit it was at least that - was pretty uncool considering he'd reinstated the Bella ban the second I'd gotten back from crashing her prom.

Charlie didn't seem to notice, though. "Good, good. Edward's sister threw her a party at their place for her birthday."

I stole a glance at my dad, already feeling his tension in the spirited way he chomped his green beans. He and Charlie were in a fragile place. They'd fought again after the whole Phoenix incident. My dad had to apologize. Again.

"Oh, when was her birthday?" I asked. "I feel bad I missed it." It would have been the perfect excuse to call her.

"The thirteenth. And don't feel bad. She doesn't like the attention."

Damn. Three days ago. Yeah, definitely too late to call.

Plus, she had a boyfriend. A boyfriend whose family went to the trouble of making a big deal out of her birthday. A boyfriend Charlie guessed she was out with tonight when she didn't answer the phone earlier.

Obviously things weren't fizzling out anytime soon. Oh and, yeah, I was fifteen and she was eighteen, so I could just keep on dreaming.

I probably wouldn't've thought of her so much except Billy made that hard. He was constantly worrying about her. Shaking his head and muttering about the gamble she was making keeping a vampire boyfriend. It was only a matter of time...

The guys was nuts.

The shrill ring of the phone woke me up. I lifted my face out of my biology textbook and looked at my alarm clock. It was after ten.

Billy was speaking anxiously into the phone, trying to keep his voice low.

I didn't bother being sneaky. A call this late was obviously something. I leaned against the counter in the kitchen watching the premature creases along his face deepen.

"Who is it?" I whispered.

Billy gave me a quick annoyed glance, but mouthed Charlie.

I felt a little sick then.

"Do you have any idea where she might be?"

She. Of course they were talking about Bella. It didn't shock me, though. Somehow, I'd known.

"And what did it say?" Billy paled as he listened to Charlies' response. Billy's voice was rough when he said, "The woods."

He listened for a good minute. "Charlie, I'm going to send help, okay?... I know, but we know the forest better than your guys do... Sure, sure. Bye."

"Bella's missing in the woods?" I demanded as he depressed the switch-hook on the phone's cradle.

He was already dialing another number when he answered. "Yes. She left a note she was taking a walk in the woods with one of the Cullens."

Oh, God. I couldn't imagine they'd gone out walking at night. Probably in the afternoon after school. And when Charlie had called from our place to let her know he wouldn't be home for dinner it was already dark...

"Sam, listen..." Billy was saying into the phone.

I ripped my coat off the back of the couch and was erasing the small distance to the door when Billy shouted after me.

"Jacob! You're not going up there. Sam, let me call you back."

"Of course, I am," I said, incredulous that he would try to stop me. "Bella and her boyfriend are missing."

"Her boyfriend's not missing," he said, his eyes intent on mine as if trying to communicate something.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling full-on nauseous now.

He seemed to size me up for a moment, but didn't answer.

If I had to guess, this was more superstitious garbage about vampires, but it got me thinking.

Normal as Edward Cullen seemed the one time I met him, I couldn't help but shudder now, imagining her alone with him in the woods. I'd been comforted thinking she wasn't lost alone only moments before, but now I was thinking about how people could be monsters, too.

"Well, that's all the more reason to get up there," I spluttered when he just continued to eye me. "Are you coming or not?"

"No and you aren't, either. But Sam - "

"Charlie's daughter is lost in the woods and you're not going to let me help?" I fumed.

He watched me warily as if my temper unnerved him. "No," he said calmly. "It's not safe. We don't know what's happening in the woods tonight - "

"I'm going to Quil's."

I slammed the door shut behind me with absolutely no intention of going to Quil's. I knew Billy would be sure to call Joy Ateara and anyone else he thought I might try to borrow a car from.

So I made my way on foot along the highway, tucking into the trees anytime I heard a car coming.

It was a pretty miserable walk. On top of my shoes being way too small, I felt overwhelmed with anxiety like I couldn't move my body through space fast enough. I just kept thinking of her out there all alone maybe in danger, maybe hurt, maybe even...

I shivered, trying to push away the horrible image in my head.

I didn't have a watch, but I'd been walking for a while and, with the exception of my unintended biology nap, I'd been up since six in the morning. I was still determined as ever to get to the Swan's house but my legs felt like they were getting heavier.

The trees ahead of me lit up blue then red, blue then red and I got a fresh hit of adrenaline. I sprinted down Charlie's street, which looked peculiar lined with cars. Engines started and headlights illuminated me.

It was almost all men making their way from Charlie's house. I recognized some boys from Forks high school, too. Their faces were tense and they talked in hushed tones.

Something had wrapped up here, something had resolved.

I spotted the Newton kid who had been weird to Bella that day at the beach. He was angry, struggling to keep his voice low as he talked to his dad and a boy with glasses I didn't recognize.

"...always creeped me out. I told her he was no good."

"We don't know what happened," the boy with glasses answered.

The Newton boy groaned. "Ben, come on, you heard what he said to Tyler. He was so... possessive. It was gross."

"Glad I didn't have girls," Mr. Newton muttered. "Poor Charlie..."

Poor Charlie. Why poor Charlie? I pushed myself faster.

"Hey!" said a sharp voice.

I stopped halfway up the walkway to Charlie's front door.

"You can't go in there, young man."

I stopped and turned to see a short middle-aged man shaking a finger at me.

Any other day, I wouldn't have given this guy the time of day, but the atmosphere was too heavy for that. I could feel a lot of eyes on me.

"Where's Bella? Did they find her?"

His eyes narrowed. "And you are?"

Did he think I was here for the gossip? I glared at him.

"Jacob Black. A family friend. Who are you?"

"Greg Berty," he answered stiffly. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Bella's inside. She's asleep now."

Asleep was good. Couldn't sleep if you were dead.

"Well, is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's okay," he said quietly. A look crossed his face, something between worry and disgust that reminded me of the Newton kid's face, and I felt a little bad for having an attitude with him. He cared about Bella, too, whoever he was.

He started walking towards the road, distracted by whatever was in his head and no longer concerned with me.

I wouldn't be a nuisance then, if she was inside sleeping. As I turned to leave something caught my eye.

At the far edge of the yard where the trees encroached on the lawn were three tall figures.

Paul's eyes felt like they would burn a hole through me. He looked infuriated by my presence. He was there with Sam and Jared, of course. La Push's dumb, little gang.

Sam turned to see what Paul was looking at and then shook his head disapprovingly at me before turning back and resuming his conversation. He touched Paul's shoulder and Paul looked away from me, too, though reluctantly.

I hated those guys.

I remembered my dad's weird insistence on calling Sam earlier. Yeah, they were big guys, but Paul and Jared were my age and Sam was, well, pathetic. I could handle myself in the woods just as well as they could.

Way too proud to ask any of the La Push gang for a ride home, I made my way back out of Charlie's neighborhood, dragging. I wasn't too far when I heard a car slow and a warm, familiar voice call out to me.

"Jacob Black?" Mr. Weber peered at me through the open passenger window of his truck. "Hardly recognized you."

Mr. Weber pastored the church in Forks my mom had taken me and my sisters to up until the accident. Hadn't seen him since her funeral.

"It's me," I said with a strained chuckle.

"Where are you headed?"

"Back home. Walked up here when I heard about Bella..."

He nodded, his features sad. "Let me give you a ride. Do I guess correctly that Billy doesn't know you're here?"

I grimaced. "He's probably guessed by now."

"Well, hop in," he said with a gentle smile.

The clock on the dash said three in the morning.

"Did you see her?" I asked as I buckled my seatbelt. "Bella?"

He sighed heavily. "Yeah. Saw Sam Uley carry her out of the woods."

Huh. Had to give Sam a little credit then.

"Poor thing was soaked. Dirt and mud on her. Sam found her curled up in a little ball out there..." his voice broke and faltered. He cleared his throat. "It's hard for anyone to see that, but when you're a dad, when you have your own little girl... Can't imagine what that was like for Charlie..."

"But what happened? I thought she went out there with Edward Cullen or something?"

"She did. Left Charlie a note they were taking a walk down the path. But the Cullens left town today. Moved to LA. No one could get a hold of them, but the house was empty and of course they wouldn't have left Edward behind..."

"So... he left her in the woods?" I asked, my tone appalled. Newton and Greg's reactions were making a lot of sense now.

"All she told Dr. Gerandy was that she got lost. But..." The reverend pursed his lips like he was wondering how much he should really be discussing all this with a kid. "When Sam carried her out of the forest she said something like, 'he's gone.' So, combined with her note, it does sound like that, doesn't it?"

"Did he hurt her?" I whispered.

"She said she wasn't hurt," Mr. Weber said, choosing his words carefully as if he doubted them. He swallowed loudly. "Poor thing," he murmured again.

I thought Billy would be furious with me when I got home but he took one look at my face and seemed ready to let it go. Or maybe he was just relieved Bella hadn't gotten eaten by a vampire.

Something was keeping him on edge, but it didn't seem to have to do with me so I disappeared into my bedroom, not even brushing my teeth.

My head hit the pillow and I knocked out immediately only to be woken, what felt like minutes later, by the phone. I sat up, my heart pounding, and crawled across my bed to listen through the door.

"Hello?" There was a pause and Billy's tone was tense when he asked, "Is Bella okay?... That's good. But if anything changes - I mean I could have Sam drive Sue up there to help."

What on earth?

Sue was a nurse. That part made sense. But the woman had a license and a car. What was this obsession with Sam? Why would he need to drive her?

Apparently Charlie wasn't interested because the topic changed entirely.

"That's just some of the kids celebrating. A bonfire... Well," Billy sounded really uncomfortable now, "you know the Cullen's reputation here... And they've left, so... I'm sorry, Charlie. It's just kids being rowdy... It's pretty damp out there."

Ugh. I'd bet anything that was Sam and his disciples.

"Not at all, Charlie. Anytime. Call if you need anything, alright?"

Billy sighed and made his way to bed.

I slept in late, not waking until the afternoon. That's when I started to process it all. It sort of felt like a bad dream, except for one major detail.

Bella was single. Her now ex-boyfriend in a land far, far away...

I had to admit I was a little pleased. Fifteen wasn't so much younger than eighteen, after all. Not when you were six-foot-three, right?

No, that was wrong. Bella had been head over heals for that guy. I'd seen the way she looked at him. And then he dumped her. Three days after throwing her a birthday party.

Bella must have been unhappy.

Maybe I'd drop in on the Swan's in a couple weeks when this was all behind her. I imagined, with the Cullens gone, Billy would lift his no Forks rule. And Charlie would give me another pass for driving without my license.

But I forgot about my plans when it started to become clear this was not a normal breakup - I mean, he left her in the woods, why did I think it would be?

Charlie called Billy every day for a week, sometimes multiple times a day.

That first morning Charlie found Bella curled up on the floor in her bedroom. She was staring straight ahead with blank eyes. He lifted her onto the bed and that's where she stayed.

She wouldn't eat or drink. She wouldn't move.

He tried being firm, angry even. He begged and pleaded with her. He tried to reason with her.

The police station knew not to expect him. He was at her bedside every minute. His sleeping bag was laid right beside her bed so she'd wake him if she got up, but of course she never did.

After three days of this, on Sue's suggestion, he sat her up and spoon-fed her water and applesauce which she accepted robotically. He changed out the mechanism on the bathroom door for one that wouldn't lock and removed the bullets from his gun.

She didn't bathe and neither did he.

Catatonic. That's how the doctor described her. Charlie didn't like that. He didn't want to think about hospitalizing his young, healthy daughter. He didn't want to have to make these types of decisions alone.

That was partly why he called Billy so much. Billy had daughters, had he ever seen anything like this?

But, despite Billy's earnest efforts to help, he didn't have much in the way of advice. My sisters had never gone through anything like this. Rebecca married the first guy she ever dated and Rachel didn't have a boyfriend until she went away to college.

Even when my mom died, they kept moving forward.

And, part of the reason he depended on Billy so much was thanks - or, no thanks, really - to Bella's mom, Renée. Charlie had to beg and reason with and yell at her, too.

He wanted her to take Bella back with her to Florida. Or at least come see Bella.

It was only after he booked her a plane ticket without consulting her and explained the situation to Renée's new husband that she was finally persuaded to come get Bella.

"Some mom," I muttered when Billy got off the phone.

Billy didn't seem to entirely disagree, but he tried to keep the judgement off of his face. "Renée hasn't been here in seventeen years. Not since the day she walked out on Charlie, taking Bella with her.

"He wanted so badly for this to work. For Bella to be happy here." He sighed. "For him to have to watch Bella leave messed up like this with her mom... it's going to rehash that whole nightmare for him. And he never really even got over it in the first place."

He started mumbling about the Cullens again, his language uncharacteristically colorful.

And for once it didn't annoy me. The Cullens were monsters. Well, one of them was.

I hated Edward Cullen.

I hated him for whatever he'd done to her out in the woods. I hated that she felt bound to protect him.

She said she wasn't hurt.

That's what Mr. Weber had said.

But I had serious doubts about that. Everyone did.

Yes, everyone. The gossip kept up steam all week. A lot of people around here knew Charlie and everyone knew about the Cullens, of course. I heard it on repeat: Edward Cullen left Bella Swan in the woods, that's how she got into trouble.

Paul seemed happy for once when I passed him in the hallway. He winked at me. That was weird. Then I remembered the nonsense about bonfires and had a pretty good guess at the source of his mood. Still, was the winking, necessary?

Embry and Quil were whispering excitedly in front of my locker when I walked up.

"What's going on?" I asked

"Bonfire tonight out on the cliffs," Quil answered. "And this ones not exclusive to Sam and his dumbasses."

My face hardened. "Any particular reason for the bonfire?"

Embry gave Quil a warning look, but he ignored it.

"A bon voyage to the Cullens, of course," he announced gleefully.

"You don't even believe in that stuff," I pointed out as I exchanged my books.

"No, but it's fun. Like Halloween or something. And now we can go to Forks again."

I knocked him on the back of the head.

"Ow. What the hell was that for?"

"People got hurt when they left."

"Bella Swan, you mean?" He asked, with a grin. "Don't you see? This is your shot! Knew you were still crushing on her."

"Shut up, Quil," Embry said, probably guessing from my expression that Quil might get a fist to the teeth next if he didn't cut it out.

I was in a bad mood and not just because all of La Push seemed to be celebrating the same thing that hurt Bella. But also because I knew Renée would be here tomorrow to collect Bella. And that would be that.

I'd only had like four conversations with the girl and I hadn't seen her in months, so why did the idea of her leaving bother me so much?

Maybe because once she left, I'd wonder all the time if she ever got better. I'd wonder what she was up to and if she was happy. Even if it meant she found some other guy who wasn't a complete dick.

But she wouldn't come back here. And Billy was right, Charlie would be devastated, so it would probably be pretty cruel to ask him about her.

I knew I was being a little melodramatic. Time would pass and I wouldn't think about her so much. I'd stop thinking about that first magical walk on the beach, her pretty brown eyes and the soft flush along her porcelain skin...

Or, I would continue to do just that, because it turned out Charlie was right and Renée was the solution. Apparently Bella flew into some kind of rage as they started packing her stuff, broke down, screamed at him she wasn't going anywhere.

And for a couple weeks Charlie was optimistic. Bella was back at school and work. She ate - not enough - but she ate.

But the girl was screaming in her sleep, every single night, haunted by God only knows what (my dad had some theories, I was sure). And that didn't stop, even as weeks went by.

Charlie almost never left Bella alone at the house, so I was surprised to see him show up one Saturday morning in November. Turned out, at his request, she'd agreed to take her SAT's that day. Billy shooed me to my bedroom - as if he hadn't spilled every single detail about Bella to me already - and of course I eavesdropped again.

"She's empty, Billy," Charlie said. "She won't talk to you unless you ask her a direct question. She doesn't read anymore. Any little thing I say, anything that reminds her of that - that - pardon my French - asshole makes her flinch."

I didn't think I'd ever heard Charlie curse.

"She's like a zombie. She hasn't smiled" - his voice broke - "since Edward left."

Funny how Edward came out sounding even more explicit than asshole, but I got it. I heard it the same way in my head.

"It's like someone died. Like she's trying to grieve and doing a crap job of it."

"Maybe..."

I didn't hear what Billy proposed. I laid back on my bed and stared up at the popcorn ceiling until moisture blurred it out, wishing she'd just gone to Florida.

Billy nudged me a couple times to go visit her, but I decided against it. It sounded like she didn't really interact with her friends at school anymore so why would she want to see me?

He dropped it, so he probably thought the same thing.

Charlie didn't visit again, and he didn't call much anymore either, so I heard less and less about Bella.

That was probably good. It meant Billy wasn't all doom and gloom all the time. I thought about her less and when I did think of her I hoped things were getting better for her.

Things were good for me, at least. I was making good progress on my car. I spent a lot of time with Quil and Embry.

No complaints.

I was rinsing my glass in the sink when I heard it, the roar of a very familiar engine. The glass slipped from my hands and clanked against the sink as I met Billy's eyes across the room.

He looked just as surprised as I was.

I bolted to the window.

It was her. I could make out her dark hair and pale skin through the windshield.

"It's Bella," I whispered excitedly.

"Who?"

"Bella," I said, turning to look at Billy.

But he was smiling. He'd heard me the first time. He just seemed to get a sick pleasure out of seeing me act like an over eager golden retriever.

I pulled open the door and jumped from the porch to the dirt driveway, flying over the ramp that extended between them.

Billy laughed behind me.


A/N: Up next... Bella asks Jacob for help. Thanks for reading! :)