BELLA

"You got that from the howl?" I asked slightly confused but relieved all the same.

"Of course. They're my brothers." Jacob responded. "We've all learned to recognize each other's feelings and emotions in both forms."

I nodded still a little confused but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that it was all over and all of my loved ones were safe. I couldn't wait to see them all. Especially Edward. I wanted nothing more than to jump out of Jake's bed and make him take me back to the Cullens immediately. I knew that would wrong, however because Sam and the others would want to make sure I'm alright. I couldn't deny them that. They had as much right as the Cullens did. Besides, I wanted to thank them for helping the others.

"Sam and the others should be here shortly." Jacob interrupted my thoughts. I nodded. "They just wanna make sure that you're alright and then I'll take you back to the Cullens'."

I thought I was doing good at hiding my want to go back to them. I looked down a little embarrassed.

"Am I that obvious?" I asked.

"No." Jake said. "I just know how horrible it is for me to be away from Alyssa. Besides, after what you've probably been through, I'm surprised that you aren't begging me to take you back right now."

"I would never do that to them." I replied. "I know they're just as worried about me as the Cullens are. I want them to know that I'm alright."

"So you are alright?" Jacob questioned. "And he didn't hurt you at all?"

I wasn't quite sure how to answer that. Sure, I was physically alright but I wasn't sure about my mental state. Kyle had fucked with my head quite a bit in the past twenty four hours or so. Hell, I wasn't even sure if the dreams were really dreams or if he really did hurt me and just made me think it was Edward and Jacob. Now that I thought about, I wasn't sure if that was really Angela. Maybe he was just planning with my head again. That was a major possibility, wasn't it? I had to believe that it was because Angela didn't deserve to die that way.

I knew the first thing that I'd do as soon as I got home was call her. I had to make sure that she was alright. I prayed that she was.

"Bells," I flinched when Jacob used his nickname for me. I hated that Kyle had tainted that too. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." I answered. "Sorry, my thoughts just got away from."

I decided then that I wouldn't tell him about anything that Kyle had done. I didn't want to make him angry when it wasn't necessary. Like he said, Kyle was gone so there was no one for him to take that anger out on. Besides, the things that I had seen would probably traumatize Alyssa. Especially the dream Kyle made me have about Jacob. I didn't want her to see him that way. They were too in love to have it tainted.

I knew I couldn't avoid telling Edward about these things though. If we were going to continue with this relationship, he'd have to know. I'd even have to tell him what Kyle made me see him do.

I knew in my heart that neither of the two boys would ever hurt me like that. Still, it was going to be hard to replace those horrible imagines. I'd just have to keep reminding myself that they loved me and didn't want to see me in any kind of pain. I knew the would support me and do everything in their power to help me through it.

A knock on the front door pulled me from my thoughts.

"It's Sam and the others." Jacob stated. I assumed he could smell them.

"I'll get it." Alyssa offered and exited the room.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Jacob asked again.

"Yes. I'm fine. I promise."

It wasn't much of a lie. Kyle was gone and both of my families were safe. I wasn't in any more immediate danger. Yes, Kyle gave me a few mental scars but they would heal over time. All that mattered was everyone was safe and whole. And the threat to my families lives was gone. Things were by far much better than they were two hours ago.

Alyssa returned with just Sam. I smiled up at him and he returned it.

"The others are out in the living room." he stated. "We didn't want to overwhelm you."

"It's okay." I stated. "You four can come in. I'm fine."

The others managed to squeeze into Jake's small bedroom. I pushed myself up on the bed to make more room for all of them. My brothers spent a good ten minutes embracing me and telling me how glad they were that I was okay. Once the had finished, I cleared mt throat.

"First, I want to thank all of you for helping the Cullens today." Bella stated. "I don't want to think of what would've happened if you hadn't been there to help them. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if any of them got hurt because of me."

"Bella," Sam said. "That's not necessary. You are as much a part of our family as you are theirs. If it helps you then we'll help them. Besides, we;ve all grown rather fond of them since the return. We didn't want to see them hurt. Just like we didn't want to see you hurt."

I nodded.

"And I also want to tell you guys how much I love you." I stated. "I honestly don't know how I would've gotten through the past year without you guys. Your willingness to put your animosity towards the Cullens behind you for my sake means so much to me." I found myself tearing up.

"Bella, just stop." Jared stated. "Like Sam said, you're family and we take care of our family. Plain and simple."

The rest of the group nodded their agreement. I let a couple of tears fall as I embraced each of my brothers once again.

"Now," Sam said after a minute of silence. "I'm sure you're just as anxious to see the Cullens as they are to see you."

I blushed slightly and nodded.

"Jake, take her back to there place." Sam told him. "And make sure Carlisle takes a look at her. It doesn't look like the parasite did too much damge but I want to be sure."

"Of course." Jacob replied. "Do you wanna come along Alyssa?"

"No." Alyssa responded. "I don't think I'm ready to deal with vampires head on just yet."

Jacob nodded and I swore I saw relief cross his features. I smiled slightly as I crawled out of the bed.

We drove the whole way in silence. I don't think either of us knew exactly what to say. I had a feeling Jacob was pondering whether or not he wanted to question me further on my experience. I was thankful that he was refraining. Not only did I not what him hearing about the dreams, but I didn't think I could get through the story without a break down. I would save that for Edward. I needed him to help me tell it. He gave me the strength I needed to get through it.

When we got to the Cullens' house, Jacob helped walked me to the door. Alice was already out the door and halfway across the yard before we even went two steps to the door. She flung her arms around. I imagined she'd be crying if she could. Jacob politely stayed out of the way as the others rushed out to take their turns. It was a scene much like with the pack. That is until it was Edward's turn.

He was still in the doorway when the others got finished with their greetings. It seemed as though he couldn't believe that I was back and alive. I smiled and ran towards him. Using his speed, he caught me in his arms halfway through my third step. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in him. His arms were around my waist and he buried his face in my hair. I could hear the sound of sniffing. I surpressed my chuckle in an effort to not ruin the moment.

After a minute he pulled me away from him and brought his lips crashing against mine. I kissed him back with as much fervor as I could. I didn't care that the entire family was watching this display or that my ex-boyfriend was still there.

Edward and I were the only thing that mattered at the moment. We were both alive and together. I held him closer as we deepened the kiss, willing him to know that I'd never let him go.

EDWARD

The hour after we'd destroyed Kyle was the longest hour of my life. I wanted nothing more than to see Bella and know that she was safe and well. I wished I could've just marched straight down to La Push and brought her back myself. My family, of course, had the same idea. We knew though, that it was best just to wait.

The wolves needed this time with Bella as bad as we did. She was family to them as well. They'd want to make sure she was okay as well. Besides, we knew we couldn't do anything to endanger the lines of the treaty. Although, we were currently on good terms with the wolves, they still had a job to protect their tribe from us. We knew the minute we them endanger, the truce was over.

I wasn't worried that she wasn't safe. It was just killing me to be away from her after a close call like that. I needed to be able to hold her in my arms and have concretet evidence that everything was all right.

When we heard the distant sound of tires rolling up the drive, Alice bounded for the window and waited for them to pull up. She was the first one out the door when they finally did. The family quickly followed. I hung back to let them get everything out because I knew the minute she was in my arms, she wasn't leaving them for a very long time.

It took a good ten minutes or so but they finally finished. Once every cleared so I could see her, I just stared unsure if she was real or not. After a second she started to run toward me. I was too elated for human speed. She was in my arms halfway through her third step. I felt her wrap her as around my neck and bury her face into it. I, in turn, wrapped my arms around her waist and buried my face in her hair. I took pleasure in inhaling her wonderful scent.

I needed to feel her lips against mine. I pulled her from my body and brought mine crashing against hers. I could feel her responding to the kiss they way she usually did but I didn't pull away. The fear of losing control was far from my mind. In fact, every logical thought had gone from my head.

It didn't matter that the family was was watching our display. Or that her ex boyfriend was still there. In fact, their thoughts of disgust or hilarity were the farthest thing from my mind. I didn't even care that she reeked of wolf. Bella and I were all that mattered at the moment. She was safe and alive and we were together. I felt her grip tighten around me as we deepened the kiss.

I felt like she was trying to tell me that she wasn't ever going to let me. That was fine with me because I wasn't planning on let her go either.

I promised myself, in that moment, that I would do anything I could to prevent her from ever being taken from me or hurt ever again.

TO BE CONTINUED......

A/N: And that my friends is the end of Hurt Like This. I hope you enjoyed it. I know you're all still wondering what actually happened to Angela. I'm not sure yet but I let you know in part three, Miles From Where You Are. The first chapter should be up by Saturday but I'll probably do a teaser for you guys tommorow. I hope you all enjoyed the second installment. I will warn you that part three will have a mature rating. It's going to be more morbid than what I've done in this series so far. I guess that's it though. Please review and tell me what you thought of the whole story.