Hi everyone.

I have a beta now, arienna89. Thanks for the Amazing work!

Thank you for all the nice reviews.

I hope you like this new chapter. :-)

CHAPTER 2

Two weeks had passed and no one had seen or heard from Bella. Jake had lost count of how many times he called her without receiving an answer. Apparently, the tables had turned and now Bella was the one ignoring him. Jake felt as if a part of him had been ripped out. Was that how she had felt when he had stopped talking to her? Had she suffered as much as he was suffering?

A few times Jacob had passed by her house, but she wasn't there. He knew that she was okay. That the red headed leech hadn't managed to get her dirty hands on his best friend, but that didn't stop him from being worried. It was as if she was gone.

Even the others were starting to get worried. They had never realised how much her presence affected them. Despite what she believed, she had a positive aura around her that could make them feel calmer. Too bad they had noticed it too late.

Everyone could see that Jacob was feeling like shit. Despite what Bella thought, he needed her in his life and the others were starting to realise that he was not the only one.

They were currently sitting in Jacob's living room, with the exception of Embry and Leah who were out on patrol. Jacob was looking at the television, but it was clear that his mind was not on what he was watching.

Sam could see the depressed look on his beta's face, but what worried him the most was that he too was being affected by the girl's absence. Every time he entered into a house and greeted his pack, his eyes automatically searched around for the tiny girl with pale skin and long brown hair. As soon as he realised that she was not there, he felt an ache in his chest. The wolf too wasn't happy.

Another thing that didn't only worry them, but also shocked them, was Paul's weird behaviour. The boy had stopped being a little dick since the night Bella had confessed how much his words had hurt her. They all had saw into his mind and knew how much guilty he felt, however, only Sam knew why he was feeling such way.

Sam was the only one who knew about Paul past, about his father becoming verbally abusive. So he could understand why the boy was being so depressed about the whole situation. The way he had acted towards Bella was the same his father had acted towards him and the moment Paul had realised that, his world had crumbled down. However, deep down, Sam knew that Paul deserved feeling that way.

"You sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Billy said when he walked into the house followed by Chief Swan.

"Bella should be back in few hours so I want to spend some time with her."

At the mention of Bella's name, everyone's attention shifted to the two men, especially Jacob who had almost jumped from his spot to run towards the Chief.

"Jake, boys." Charlie greeted them once he took notice of their presence. As if they could be ignored, with their huge frame and demanding presence. Charlie noticed that the boy looked like shit.

"Bella left?" he asked in a low, pained voice.

"She left a couple of weeks ago, I thought she had told you."

Jacob's heart broke at the news. She had left the town and he didn't knew. He had swore to always be there for her and he didn't realise that she was not there at all. He was the worst protector ever.

To interrupt the awkward silence, Charlie's phone rang and the man read the text message, a big smile forming on his face.

"Bella is home. I'll see you next week." Charlie said goodbye to Billy and the boys and then he practically ran to his car to go see his beloved daughter.

He might not be the kind of man who showed affection, but everyone in town knew how much he loved his little girl.

Jacob watched him get in the car and, before the engine could turn on, he had already phased and was running towards the Swan's house.

When he reached the house, he phased back and quickly wore a pair of cut offs that he had hidden near a tree outside Bella's window in case of emergencies.

He knocked on the door, not caring that he was shirtless, barefoot and completely covered in rain and mud. The only thing on his mind was the girl that he had loved since he was a child.

He heard someone tripping on the stairs and smiled knowing that it was Bella. Some things would have never changed.

When she opened the door, the sight of her took his breath away. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Never taking his eyes away from her, as if she would disappear again, he slowly approached her.

It took him only a couple of steps, before he had enveloped her in a big hug.

"You're back." He whispered in her ear, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin against him.

When she didn't return he hug, Jacob released her and looked at her face only to see her giving him a forced smile. He had seen her send that smile to everyone who had asked her how she was after her break up with the leech, the one he knew she used to hide the pain.

"I went to visit my mom for few days. Who knows, between my clumsiness and Victoria I might won't have another chance again." She joked, trying not to show him how much his presence was hurting her. She had decided to stay away and move on, but that was hard to do when one of the people she wanted to ignore the most was standing in her porch with a pained expression.

"Don't say things like that. You're not going to die. I won't let Red put her hands on you." Jacob assured her, not liking at all her line of thoughts.

"Jake, it's been a while since I had actually lived." Bella confessed before looking at the ground in discomfort. She took few steps back and he immediately missed her warm.

"Bella.."

"Why did you come?" she asked before he could finish his sentence. Why was he there? Hadn't he listened to what she said that night?

"There is a bonfire tonight. I thought you might have wanted to come. The others miss you." He didn't know why he had said that. In reality there was no bonfire, but he would have organised one in a flash, if she agreed to come.

"Yeah, sure." She chuckled, clearly not believing him when he had said that the others had missed her. Her bitter smile quickly faded to be replaced by a firm expression.

"I meant what I said the last time. I'm done being your pity project."

Jacob stared at her confused. "What are you talking about? You have never been a pity project to us."

"Yes, I was. Everyone made that clear along with the fact that I was not wanted."

Saying that hurt her more than she had imagined. She knew that what she had said was true, but admitting it aloud to her former best friend, hurt her nevertheless. Trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall at any moment, she took a step back and forced a smile, hoping to make it look like a real one.

"Look, Jacob, I'm happy to see you. But I'm tired so I would like if you left. Say hi to the others for me."

Before he could reply or stop her, she had closed the door on his face. He stood there without moving until he heard Charlie's car approach. He quickly shifted and disappeared into the woods before anyone could see him. That day he had felt his first heartbreak.

After slamming the door shut, Bella had run towards her room where she had collapsed on her bed, finally letting tears fall freely.

She knew it would have been hard, but she had never imagined that she would have suffered that much. The pain of seeing Jacob again had been worse than what she had felt after Edward had dumped her. She never thought that could be possible. That only showed her how much she depended on people.

However, this time, it had been her choice. She had chosen to keep her distance from them and she knew that it was the right decision.

When a few tendrils of hair fell in her face, she unconsciously pushed them away. A chuckle escaped her mouth at the realisation that Jacob hadn't even noticed that she had cut her hair. What an observant friend he was.

Cleaning her face of any remaining tears, she fixed her clothes and walked downstairs to help Charlie with dinner. Or better, she cooked while Charlie put the table.

He still hadn't noticed her, his back to her and Bella had the opportunity to actually look at him. He had been an amazing father, he had tried to help her the best he could and she knew that, deep down, her decision to visit her mom had hurt him more than he was willing to admit. He probably had thought that she was leaving for good. She had thought about moving back to her moms, but she couldn't leave Charlie. He didn't deserve that. Besides, thinking of him alone in that big house while eating prepared food every day, would have made her feel guilty for the rest of her life.

Walking to where he was standing, near the table, she put her arm around his frame and hugged him from behind.

"Bella." He whispered surprised, yet she could hear the happiness hidden in her name. Happy that she had returned to him. It broke her heart knowing that he had doubted her return.

"I love you daddy."

She said in a soft voice, with her face against his back. She didn't even remember the last time she had called him that, but the way his eyes were sparkling in happiness when he had turned around to face her, she was going to start calling him that way more often.

"I love you too, darling." He pulled her into his arms and the two finally shared a proper hug after so many years of brief, uncomfortable, quick contact.

Before she could realise it, tears were coming down her face.

"Bella? Bella? What's wrong. You're leaving aren't you?" he asked worried.

Her heart broke for the second time that day.

"I'm sorry." Seeing confusion in his eyes, she continued. "I'm sorry for being a terrible daughter. For months I ignored you and made you worry."

He hugged her again. "Bella, it's okay."

"No, it's not. I'm so sorry for being that selfish. I promise you it won't happen again, I will never go back to being that way and I will never leave you." She promised feeling his arms tighten around her tiny body.

"Oh, Bella. I know what Edward and Jake did to you, but I will never abandon you. You are the most important thing in my life."

They stood in each other arms for a while. They both needed that hug and the assurance that they always would have be there for each other.

When they separated, they both were blushing. Physical contact and openhearted confession weren't their thing, but Bella tried to eliminate the awkwardness by starting to cook.

That night they ate in silence and Bella even watched the baseball game with him, even if she did fall asleep after half an hour.

Charlie smiled at his sleepy daughter. With what strength he had left, he scooped her in his arms and took her to her room where he laid her on the bed. After tucking the covers around her, he kissed her forehead and left her to sleep.

Nothing felt better and more life completing than having his daughter by his side. Turning off the television, he walked to his own room and laid down. For the first time in months, Charlie fell asleep with a contented smile on his face.

"By the look on your face I imagine that things didn't go very well." Quil stated after Jacob literally kicked the door to enter the house. Always the show off. Quil thought, rolling his eyes.

"So? How did it go?" Jared asked. Jacob growled.

"She says hi to everyone, but she won't come tonight or any other night."

"I'm sorry Jake." Sam put his hand on Jacob shoulder, partly to calm him down and partly to reassure him that things would have been fine eventually.

"It's my fault." He murmured, but when he felt Sam's hand on his shoulder, anger took over and turned around to glare at his alpha. "No. It's your fault!"

"Jacob." Sam growled in warning not liking the way his beta was raising the voice at him. He might be the future alpha, but in that moment, Sam was still the one in charge.

"You knew how she bad she was. You knew the problem she has with abandonment, yet you ordered me to stay away from her." He shouted.

"You could have hurt her. Newly phased wolves are dangerous." Sam tried to reason with him before he could lose control.

"This doesn't justify the way I treated her. I was mean to her, we all were."

Everyone looked at the ground in embarrassment. Jacob was right. They had all acted like mean school girls, never realising how much they were hurting her, never noticing how hard things were for her.

"What has been done is done now. Stop blaming yourself and the others." The alpha said in a firm tone trying to pull his pack out of their funk.

"I can't stop thinking about what she said last time about being scared." Quil stated, while running his fingers into the hair of the sleeping little girl in his lap.

Everyone had been surprised when he had imprinted on a three years old kid. It had been hard to convince the others that he loved the kid in a brotherly way, but after days of constant pain, the elders had allowed him to spend some time with his little imprint. Which was a good thing since the little girl was the only one who could bring happiness to the pack.

Quil kept his hand in her hair, her presence always made him feel better.

"I know the feeling, man. We never really thought about what she was going through, having a crazy vampire trying to kill you must be horrible. Especially if you are a clumsy human. On the bright side we have discovered that Paul can feel guiltiness, or any other emotion."

Paul growled at him, but said nothing to deny Jared's statement.

"She'll come around Jake."

"No, she won't. You weren't there earlier. You didn't see the look in her eyes. The emptiness behind them. She said she was done being our pity case."

"That's ridiculous. I didn't befriend her because I felt pity for her. I like her, she's funny and a really nice person." Quil confessed.

"We just have to explain that to her."

Jacob snarled. "Good luck with that, she said she wouldn't be back here."

During the entire time, Sam watched them silently. His face was unreadable for the others, but Paul knew him and could see that something was bothering him. Few times he had seen him touch his chest as if he was in pain. The weird thing, however, was that he was feeling pain in his chest too. It was as if something was missing inside of him.

Sam listened to every word they were saying, trying to ignore the aching in his chest. He didn't know why, but it had been hurting since Jacob had said that Bella wasn't coming.

Sam remembered how he had found her in the woods the night the leech had left her. Unlike the others, he had never held it against her the fact that she had being with one of their mortal enemies. She might look mature, but she was only a girl. Everyone can make mistakes, especially when it comes to first love. He knew that too well. However, he should have done something when his betas had started being cruel to the girl. He had let them physiologically torture her and now one of his men was suffering. They all were.

.

"Maybe I know a way to make Bella come here."

Billy's voice caught them by surprise. For being in a wheelchair, he moved very silently, even with their supernatural senses.

"What do you mean dad?"

"Saturday is my birthday. We always invite a few friends for lunch. Charlie will come for sure and so will Bella."

"How can you be sure that Bella will come?"

Billy smiled "That girl is too kind to refuse."

Jacob nodded, understanding his logic. Bella was too kind for her own good. She would have come for Billy, even if she didn't want to.

"Sam?"

Sam looked at Jacob who was staring at him with hope in his eyes. The boy was asking his permission and Sam wasn't going to deny it.

"Sure, the girl is welcome to come."

Jacob smiled brightly and for a second Sam regretted what he was about to say.

"However," Jacob's smile faltered. "She is welcome to stay with us for as long as she desires, but you still could be dangerous to her. Especially now where a lot of emotions are involved."

"I would never harm her!"

"Not intentionally. For this reason, I want you and Bella to always stay near the others. This way if something happens, they can prevent the worst."

Jacob wasn't happy, but agreed nevertheless.

Sam stood up, announcing to the others that it was time to leave.

"Oh," he stopped in his tracks and turned to look in the eyes of each of the boys. "If I hear you say anything remotely mean to the girl, I will make sure that even with your fast healing, you won't be able to walk for days." He was looking straight at Paul.

Paul didn't have any snarky retorts. For the first time in his life, he felt guilt for something that he had done. Knowing that he had broken an already broken girl, made him feel as if he had kicked a beaten up puppy. He had called her a leech-lover, hated her for dating that thing, but she had been as much as a victim as any other person. He had treated like shit and now he was the one feeling like shit.

Paul left the room without saying anything and phased into his wolf. A run always calmed him down. Before he realised it, he was standing in the back yard of the Swan house. Bellas window was in view and for once he hated his supernatural hearing since he could hear her crying. The sound was subtle, but he could hear her soft sobs as if he was in the room with her.

His entire life he had enjoyed making other people cry, he was not a particularly nice person and everyone knew it, but this time it was different. His wolf was angry at him which, in turn, led him to be angry at himself.

There was only one thing he could do to try to fix the mess he had partially created. The only problem was that he had never done it before. He sent one last glance at the window and ran away. He had until Billy's birthday to think about what to say to apologise to a girl he was sure despised him.

He could laugh at the thought, Paul Lahote was going to apologise to a leech lover for being mean.

"Good morning dad." Bella greeted her old man when he walked into the kitchen where she was making pancakes.

"Pancakes?" he asked excitedly and she nodded with a big smile. She loved cooking for her dad and he loved the food she made.

"Billy has invited us over Saturday for lunch. It's his birthday and he wanted to celebrate it with few friends."

Bella almost lost the grip on the spatula in her hand. Luckily, her back was to Charlie so he couldn't see the panicked look on her face.

"Ah."

"I know something has happened between you and Jake. Did he push you away again?" Charlie asked worried. If the boy had hurt his daughter again, Billy's son or not, he would have shot him right in the balls. He wasn't going to let anyone else mess with his little girl.

"No. I was the one to create distance this time." Bella admitted honestly.

"But why?"

Bella put a few pancakes in front of him and sat down herself. Glancing up from her plate, she saw him looking at her, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"I just don't want to let a man be in control of my happiness. First there was Edward, then Jake, for once I want not to depend on someone else."

Charlie smiled softly at her.

"You can be independent and have friends at the same time."

"I know, dad, but for a while I want to be by myself." Seeing his panicked face, she added. "I won't fall into depression. I just want to take some time for myself and find out who I am instead of being what I think others want me to be." And the others wanted her to be a weak, broken girl.

Charlie didn't reply and finished his breakfast. However, when he stood up to leave for work, he walked around the table and kissed her forehead.

Bella looked at him surprised by his loving gesture. It was not like him to do something like that.

"I'm proud of you." He stated. "You have become an amazing woman."

Bella smiled, moved by his words.

"I'm proud to be your daughter. I'll make a pie for Billy's birthday."

With his heart full of pride and love, Charlie said goodbye to his daughter.

Apparently, if you don't have friends and you're not depressed, life can be pretty boring. Bella realised after only two days. After cleaning her entire house top to bottom she had nothing else to do, so she decided to go ask for her job back.

Mrs Newton welcomed her back with open arms. She had always been a kind woman. Bella was ready to beg if necessary, but as soon as she had entered the shop, Mrs Newton had smiled at her and nodded, already knowing why she was there. Bella would have started her shifts the following week, which would have been amazing for every student during spring break, but not for her, since she had no idea of what to do until Monday afternoon.

After doing the grocery shopping, Bella bought Billys present knowing that both the man and her dad would love it.

Noticing that it was lunch time, she returned home and made herself a sandwich. For the rest of the afternoon she fixed her wardrobe, adding all the new clothes her mother had bought her.

After putting on a crutch a brand new white dress, Bella smiled. She had never thought that one day she would have had so many dresses and skirts, but if she was honest with herself, she liked wearing them. Dresses were surprisingly comfortable and made her feel prettier.

Like her mother always said to her, "If you have to fall, at least look beautiful while you're doing it."

Smiling at the memory, Bella finished with her task and sat near the window to read one of the new books she had bought the previous day.

Bella was so lost in her book to notice it was getting dark or the black wolf that was watching her from the yard outside the window.

Sam watched the girl with fascination. He knew that it was not his turn to check the perimeter and he had to leave before Seth arrived for his patrol, but something inside him urged him to be there. The wolf had been restless for days, but in that moment it was at piece, as if he was right where he was supposed to be.

Sam didn't knew why his wolf wanted to be there, but he had learned long ago to never deny the wolfs desires.

He watched the girl for a while, she had her knees on her chest and a book between them. Her hair was tied, but few strands had escaped and were framing her face. However, what caught his attention, where her eyes.

Sam had never seen the girl look so at peace. It was as if nothing existed behind the book and the words in it.

He didn't know how long he stood there, watching her, nor why he was so fascinated with the girl, but his wolf was calm and happy and for some weird reason, so was he.

For this reason, when he sensed Seth's phasing, the sign that his turn to patrol had started, Sam almost growled.

He didn't want to leave, but he had to. He couldn't risk the others questioning him on what he was doing there since he didn't know the answer either.

He looked at the girl one more time, knowing that he would be seeing her again in only two days, and ran away before one of his beta could find him.

Unbeknownst to everyone, including the alpha, Sam was not the only wolf that passed by the Swan house that night, only to catch a glimpse of the young woman who lived in there.

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