A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list. It truly means a lot to me.

Chapter 4-

Bella's POV- It is all in the eyes

"What on earth are you doing?"

I had to ask.

I just had to.

It was simply beyond my control to keep mum for even a minute longer, believe me!

The goofy Quil Ateara, who was perfectly capable of cracking a joke in a funeral and not feeling the least bit apologetic, sat currently glaring at something that vaguely resembled a half-naked human, said half-naked human being out of their mind as they happily jumped off a cliff.

For let's get real here, no sane person would laugh while throwing themselves off something that was bound to kill them, or at least to leave them with plenty of broken bones and lifelong changes.

Oh.

Maybe Quil was one of those who believed that suicide was morally wrong and, hence all that glaring.

But it did not seem like that guy was committing suicide….

He…seemed to be having fun.

As unbelievable as that sounded.

Oh.

No.

Maybe it was that….

What had Jacob called it?

Cliff-diving?

Yeah…that….

Said half-naked human was probably cliff- diving from that massive sized and dangerous looking cliff that could kill a weaker person, or at least leave you permanently crippled….

To each their own.

Either way, why did that revelation make Quil this upset a man?

I mean, that stranger seemed to be in his senses- contrary to what you and I assume, having fun, what someone did for fun being nobody's business but theirs.

If they wanted to break their bones for fun, it was entirely their decision and choice to do so!

"Don't you recognize him?" Quil demanded to know, harshly pulling me out of my inner musings, spitting the words out as he turned briefly to glare at me.

"You can see his face?" I gave him a confused glance, not really wanting to look like a dumbo but still achieving the possible target. In my defense though, the man was far, far away from where we sat on a piece of driftwood on second beach, seeing his face being beyond the capability of my eye-sight.

The only reason I could state with surety that that was a man was because I could figure out his assets, and that he was shirtless.

Which made him pretty much in the 'male' category.

Unless, skinny dipping- with half your clothes on- was all in the rage in La Push these days.

I squirmed at that thought, fidgeting to myself.

Anyhow, I had a good eye-sight and proudly had never needed to visit an ophthalmologist before, but no one could see that far that very clearly.

It was just not possible.

Or at least so I had believed for all these years of mine.

"Of course," Quil spat the words out, disgust thick in his tone. "Can't you see 'him'?"

"Erm…No…"

Look confused, Bella.

If you look confused, people tend to ignore your stupidity.

And I did have a valid reason for said stupidity.

I just could not see the face of the man.

It was not my fault that my eyes had failed me today!

Yeah, blame my eyes for this mess.

"That's Jake. It's him!"

"What? No?" I shouted in disbelief and heavy denial. That could not be Jake. It was so not possible, even in thought.

For starters, that unknown stranger had a body to swoon over- like- completely melt and obsess over… and Jake, eh…

You get the point, don't you?

So, suffice to say, Quil needed to get his eyes tested, at the earliest.

"That is him!"

I rolled my eyes at Quil, a sigh leaving my lips as I shook my head in mastered annoyance. "Quil, I am pretty sure…."

"Holy Fuck. That's him."

Yeah, I was quick to change my statement, a flying body as it came closer to where we sat, thrown from the cliffs to the deep water below, giving me the perfect opportunity to see his face, enough to change my stand.

"What the fuck happened to him?"

Yeah, I was all in for cursing when in shock and disbelief.

But, seriously, how did 'that' become 'this'?

And within weeks at that?

Which miracle worker was capable enough of achieving such marvelous and unexpected results?

And where could I find him?

"I don't know!" Quil waved his hand in air, spitting the words out.

Of course, you don't know, Quil.

You wouldn't be sitting here beside me today, had you even the slightest clue.

No, you would be there with your other friends, enjoying your ass off as you threw yourself off a cliff.

But, sadly, in reality, Quil had been as much abandoned as I had, probably more so, considering Jake and Embry had known him for almost their entire life, and I had known Jake just for a few mere weeks, those rare months of my reluctant childhood not counting.

It was sad, indeed.

"They got to him, too." his voice dropped down to a scary whisper. "He had never wanted this."

"Quil," I consoled him, putting a hand to his shoulder. "We will do something about it. We will find a way…"

"He had never wanted this, Bella!" he screamed in anger and defeat, glaring at me as if it were all my fault that Jake suddenly looked like a slightly weaker Hulk in disguise, about to brutally murder anyone who breathed too harsh in his direction.

No, really, he looked capable enough of squashing a person to death with just his two fingers….

"I know, Quil. I know." I let out a sigh, looking away from him as I gathered my thoughts. "Let me guess, Sam Uley got to him, like he did to Embry?"

"Who else could it even be?"

I shrugged, recognizing the fact that it was not a question but a statement.

"They changed him. They have brainwashed him, too. I knew that this would happen. Fuck. Fuck. I had told Jake that he was next but did he listen to me? No."

He looked close to tears, and I almost felt bad for the kid.

He had lost his only remaining friend today, their friendship probably never getting back to how it once was.

"Maybe…" I trailed off, deep in thought. "Should we…should we go to Billy? He wouldn't let Jake walk down the wrong path, right?"

So far, Billy had been of absolutely no help to me, offering me ridiculous excuses of why Jake could not come on the phone for even a mere minute, but, irrespective, no father would let their child ruin their future.

No.

He would never let Jake get influenced by those who wished evil on him.

He would be on our side.

Yes.

That was a guarantee.

"You think he would help?"

The unsurety and desperation in Quil's tone was thick, and I quickly nodded my head, wanting to reassure him of this.

"Of course. Billy cares a lot about Jake. He would never let him fall into the bad crowd. I am pretty sure he is currently worried about Jake and is thinking of ways to get him away from Sam Uley and his gang of steroid doing thugs."

Quil hummed in agreement, silently nodding his head. "Okay, then. Let's do this. Let's go get our friend back from Sam Uley's evil clutches!" He finished with a slight laugh, a new excitement shining in his eyes.

I gave out a nervous laugh in response. I wasn't that very sure of Jake wanting anything to do with me- being in a gang or not, but I could be positive about this, for Quil's sake, if nothing else!

"Yeah." I half-heartedly agreed, pretending to be as carefree as Quil currently looked, hope evident in his eyes.

He was confident that Jake would come back to us…to him…to me.

And maybe, I could keep faith in his confidence.

What other option did I even have?

No.

I would get Jake back into my life.

He would be my friend again.

I needed him to be my friend again.

He kept the….demons away, far away from where they could easily harm me….

Yeah, I just need to be positive about this.

If Quil heard the hesitance in my tone, he refused to comment out loud on it.

Which I was definitely thankful for.

He gave me one last nod, rising from his seat and walking towards the nearby Black's quaint red house, with me trailing behind him, unsure yet knowing that this was needed and the correct thing to do.

Jacob was still a minor, and as such Billy could restrict and control his movements to an extent. He could save him from ruining his life, stopping him from indulging in all those steroids that apparently Sam Uley dealt in and got these youngsters of La Push addicted to.

Billy could help us out, and I had hope that he would help us out.

Luckily for us, he was home, opening the front door at the first hesitant knock itself, taking a step back as he let us enter, waiting for us to speak in this barely decorated living room of theirs.

"Bella. Quil."

There was no happiness or hospitality in his tone, which, honestly, scared me quite a bit.

He looked…disinterested, if I had to put it in one word, almost as if he were forced to see some tremendously boring movie, the end of which could not come any sooner.

"Billy…" I started to speak. "We need to talk about Jake…"

"There is nothing to talk about." He audibly sighed, refusing to let me continue on with my worry filled statement. "Jacob is not feeling well. He will contact you as soon as he gets better…."

"We saw him cliff- diving."

That shut the man up, faster than one can even say the 's' that comes in shut, guilt and regret now visible in his eyes.

"Billy, why are you lying to us?" I demanded to know. "We are his friends. We care about him. We just want him to be…"

"He is fine. You don't need to worry about him. I think this discussion is over."

His words were curt and to the point, the kind that silently ordered you to get out and never bother him again in your lifetime, which kind of hurt; I had not expected such rudeness to come from Billy.

But, then again, I had dated someone he hated beyond words, refusing to adhere to his warnings.

Maybe…he still hated me for that reason.

But what was Quil's fault then?

Why would Billy keep Jake away from Quil…someone he had known his entire life?

He had done nothing wrong, at least not that I knew of.

"You don't understand!" I glared at Billy. "Sam Uley is…"

"Bella, let's go."

"What?" I turned to look at Quil, giving him a confused glance.

What was wrong with him?

We had come here to get some answers.

I was not leaving without my answers.

And that was final.

"Bella, it is futile." He whispered; hopelessness and realization shone in his eyes. "Billy supports Sam Uley and whatever he is doing with Jake. He is not going to agree with us."

"What? No? That can't be true." I murmured to myself in disbelief, a quick look at Billy confirming Quil's claim. Billy was on their side, not on ours.

You could see it in his eyes as he sighed audibly.

He was not the least bit worried about Jake.

On the contrary, he looked a perfectly content in his life man.

Definitely not someone whose sixteen-year-old had been brainwashed into taking drugs and skipping school.

It was….strange.

Never had I expected this from Billy.

He had truly fallen in my eyes today.

How could he even support something like this?

It was truly absurd.

"I expected more from you, Billy."

It would not make a difference, I knew that. But yet, I could not leave without saying the words, needing Billy to hear them spoken.

He, on his part, looked away from us, no other words needed to be exchanged between us.

Quil took my hand in his, leading me towards the front door, our destination a surprise yet to be revealed.

What were we supposed to do now?

Where were we supposed to go from here?

I had not a clue.

"Billy, I have fixed the leaking pipe. It should not give you any more problems…."

I turned to look at the sudden voice coming from the direction of the bathroom, curiosity thick in my stance, as a shirtless man in his twenties walked out, with short cropped hair and a mature look on his face, coming to stop right in front of us, judgment and disapproval visible in his eyes.

"You?" He narrowed his eyes together, hating me before he even knew my name. "What are you doing here? Which idiot invited you…."

His words trailed off, never seeing the end of the tunnel, as that is when my eyes met his…..and everything just stopped for a long few seconds, pin-drop silence taking over the entirety of this room and leaving it crippled in its aftermath.