The Painful Truth

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!

Part Seven

Riley was packing up his things after another rowdy tutoring session had drawn to a close. Paul Lahote had been ordered to continue with the lessons by Sam. Paul was not happy that Sam had used an Alpha command to force him to stay. So, in revenge, he disrupted everything as much as he could, causing everyone to lose patience with him. Jacob had been forced to drag Lahote outside and give him a pounding to get his point across. Paul may not want to learn, but the rest of them did. They wanted to get their GED's and graduate. Bella had stayed with Seth for most of the lesson. While she worked on her own assignments, she also coached him as well. Seth was very bright, but his disrupted education due to his sudden phasing, had made him drop behind in school. All of the pack had now left the tribal school. The principal had lost patience with their peripatetic attendance, and even though the elders had tried to intervene, the principal stood firm and refused to allow them to remain unless they attended every single lesson. As this wasn't possible they were forced to withdraw.

"Thanks, Riley." Bella said as she passed him. She saw his fair skin turn red in response. She still wondered why he was acting so oddly around her. He couldn't even look her in the eyes.

"You're welcome." Riley mumbled as he finished stuffing his books into his bag and slung it across his shoulder. "See you next week."

Bella watched him scurry away in confusion. Jacob had just walked back into the house and as soon as Riley clocked him, he had run off as if the hounds of hell were after him. Jacob seemed amused at Riley's reaction upon seeing him, and she began to put two and two together. Things had thawed between her and Jacob in the past week or so. He no longer went out of his way to avoid her as he did before. But still there was a distance between them that Bella didn't like. She wanted their old camaraderie back, but Jacob was proving a hard nut to crack. She had been making him ever more elaborate meals as the days passed, believing that a way to a man's heart, or in this case wolf, was through his stomach. Nightly she would leave the food in the Taj for Jacob to find when he finished his patrol shift, and every morning she would find the empty container in her room with a small gift beside it. It was like they were engaging in some weird type of mating ritual.

"Riley seemed in a bit of a hurry." Bella said as she watched Jacob's reaction carefully.

Jacob just shrugged. "He probably had somewhere to be." He replied nonchalantly.

Bella tapped her chin with one finger as she raised her eyebrows at him. "Funny how it's when you come into a room when I'm speaking to him that he suddenly runs off like a frightened rabbit. You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?"

"I have no idea." Jacob tried to act cool, although Bella knew him well enough to know that she had caught him out. There was a slight red tinge to his ears, which was always a dead giveaway when he was hiding something. Instead he tried to deflect her questions. She was wearing the yellow flower in her hair he had left her the night before. He reached out and touched it. "It looks nice."

Bella felt herself blushing and cursed her traitorous skin. Jacob dropped his hand back to his side, smiling as he saw Bella's face burn. "What are you going to do about Paul?" She asked instead as she crossed her arms, trying to effect a relaxed pose, but failing miserably. She was obviously flustered, and she couldn't fathom why. He had only touched her hair briefly.

"I don't know. He's acting like such a tool. Then again Paul always had a short attention span. He just gets bored easily, and Riley hardly has the authority to keep him in line. He's pissed that Sam Alpha ordered him to take the lessons." Jacob revealed.

"Maybe I should coach him." Bella suggested suddenly before she had a chance to think about what she was offering.

"You." Jacob echoed doubtfully.

It irked Bella the way he immediately seemed to think she wasn't up to the task. Her stubbornness kicked in. Somehow Jacob always seemed to get under her skin, even in a small way, and make her bristle. She would never blow up at Edward the way she did with him. But in that moment she didn't even wonder why. "I've been doing a good job with Seth." She argued.

"Jeez, calm down, Bells. Save the hissy fit." Jacob held up his hands as if to ward her off. "I just don't think it's a good idea that's all. Not with Paul's quick temper and all."

"Well I do. Your dad thinks I've been doing a good job with Seth. I'd help you too if you'd only pull your head out of your ass and talk to me properly." Bella had no idea where all this anger was coming from. She had been trying to act cool and composed around Jacob while she subtly tried to ingratiate herself into his good graces again. Now that was ruined in one fell swoop as she unleashed the full torrent of her anger at him.

"I do talk to you." Jacob scowled.

"Hello, goodbye and goodnight do not count as a proper conversation." Bella snapped.

"Well you're lucky you're even getting that." Jacob slowly lost his temper. Who the hell did she think she was having a go at him for no rational reason? He ignored the fact that he loved seeing the colour rise in Bella's cheeks, and the fire flashing in her eyes as she raged at him. It had been too long since he had seen her so full of life. But still she was taking it too far.

"Lucky?" Bella jabbed her finger at him as she tried to emphasise her point. "I have been trying my hardest to make things right with you, Jacob. But you won't give me an inch. Do you think I like slaving in the kitchen night after night to feed your bottomless pit of a stomach?"

"It's the least you could do to earn your keep." Jacob retorted as he grabbed her offending finger in his warm grip. "It's rude to point."

"Ugh!" Bella raised her other hand to hit him in the chest but Jacob caught her wrist before she had a chance to.

"Unless you want to break your hand I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jacob said in a superior tone which just infuriated Bella further.

"You really think you're something, don't you." Bella spat as she tried to yank her wrist out of his hold.

"I am definitely something." Jacob agreed as he pulled her closer without conscious thought. Now she was so near Jacob, Bella could feel the supernatural warmth pouring from his body. It had been a while since she had been this close to him. The air vibrated with tension as they both fell silent and stared deeply into each other's eyes. Jacob still had hold of her wrist. Bella was no longer trying to wriggle free. Instead she was captivated by the heat in Jacob's dark eyes. It made her skin burn, in a good way. She felt breathless and a little dizzy. What was happening? This was Jacob. Jacob Black, her best friend.

With his free hand Jacob reached out and put a finger under Bella's chin to lift it higher. A faint moan left her lips when he touched her. Bella's skin was burning before but now it was on fire. Her legs felt like jelly and she had the urge to lean into Jacob and press her body onto his so she could absorb some more of his heat. What was wrong with her?

"Bells." Even the way he said her name in that deep, husky voice of his, set her nerve endings tingling. She longed for him to say her name like that again. "I think…." Before he could continue they heard the front door open. They quickly drew apart as Seth bounded into the room.

"Hello, Bella. I forgot to say my mom h…." Seth paused as he finally seemed to realise he had interrupted something. Jacob was glaring at him while Bella was looking extremely flustered. "Um…my mom says…um… you should come over to dinner. She'd like to thank you for helping me with my schoolwork." He finished in a rush.

"I…I'd love to." Bella agreed quickly as she avoided looking at him directly.

"You too, Jake." Seth continued. "And Billy and Charlie."

Jacob grabbed the young shifter by the shoulder and began to drag him out of the house. "We'll come." He said quickly before Seth could protest. "See you later." He shoved Seth out of the door and shut it in his face.

"That was rude." Bella said faintly as she stared up at Jacob. She licked her lips to moisten them and nearly came undone when she saw Jacob staring at her mouth, entranced.

The front door opened again causing Jacob to growl and making Bella's heart flutter. Seth barged back in wearing an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I forgot to tell…."

"Seth." Jacob growled in response.

"What?" Seth said in confusion.

"Run." Jacob snapped at him as he began to chase the younger wolf out of the house.

When they were gone Bella put her hand over her chest as she let out the breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. What the hell had just happened? She had never felt anything like that before, ever. She sat down on the old couch and tried to sort through the confusion clouding her mind. This was Jacob, Jacob who was her best friend. She couldn't understand the effect he was having on her all of a sudden. They had always been close. Their friendship had been very touchy feely. They would often hold hands or he would put a friendly arm across her shoulders. She recalled all the days spent in the house or the Taj, all the long conversations they'd had, the secrets they'd told each other. The intense feelings they'd shared. Bella had once thought to herself how difficult it was to relate to people, but with Jacob it had been easy right from the start. It was when he turned wolf that their relationship had become difficult and the tension had started. But had she been reading the tension wrong. She wasn't blind. Jacob was handsome, she had called him sort of beautiful once, and he was. He was a beautiful man. He had a pure spirit. But attraction, the hot, lustful, passionate kind wasn't something she had allowed herself to feel for him. But she couldn't deny it now. It had just hit her like a thunderbolt.

Bella gasped and put a hand over her mouth as she glanced around guiltily as If worried someone could hear what she was thinking. She was attracted to Jacob, not just emotionally but physically as well. And Bella had no idea what she was going to do about it.


Jacob didn't come back. Bella expected he was feeling pretty much like she was, confused. It had probably been a good thing that Seth had interrupted them. Bella was alone at the Black's house. Billy was at a council meeting and Charlie was still at work. To keep herself preoccupied Bella began to cook dinner. She had been doing some research into preparing simple diabetic meals. The shop bought kind was tasteless, so she thought she would have a stab at making her own version. Billy had been enjoying being her test subject. He said he hadn't eaten so well in years. Bella had to concede his pallor did look a lot healthier and his blood sugar levels were stable. She lamented the fact that she hadn't tried to help out the Black's before like this. Jacob and Billy had given her so much in the past. Their home had become her haven when Edward had left, and she had done nothing to show her appreciation. She was glad that she could so now.

As she was preparing the sauce there was a knock at the front door. Bella sighed irritably as she turned down the heat on the stove and hurried to answer the door. To her surprise it was a delivery driver, and the parcel he was transporting was for her. Bella signed the docket, thanked the delivery guy before going back inside. She already had a sinking feeling that she knew who had sent the mysterious package. Other than her father, Billy and the pack no one else knew she was staying in La Push. That only left Edward and the rest of the Cullen's. It had been a few days since Edward and Carlisle had ambushed Charlie at work. She had wanted to call Edward to reassure him she was alright, but had not been alone long enough to use the phone. Charlie still had her cell.

Bella checked the dinner again before sitting down at the kitchen table and ripping open the package. Inside was a new cell phone, an expensive one by the make. There was also a letter. Just like she had suspected it was from Edward. With trembling fingers, Bella opened the letter and scanned the contents.

"My love,

I have been so worried about you. This forced separation has been painful. I tried to speak to Charlie, as I know that you must have done yourself, but unfortunately my efforts were in vain. I cannot comprehend their audacity, keeping you locked up like this under house arrest. Neither the wolf pack nor your father will respond to diplomacy so our options have become limited. I have to assume that they have taken your cell phone, which in my opinion is a violation of your human rights. I know you would have contacted me otherwise.

I have tried to be patient but it has been days now. I am doing my best to abide by the treaty but I am not sure how much longer I can restrain myself from staging a rescue attempt. I really need to hear your sweet voice, my love. I have sent you this cell phone so you can call me when you get the chance to be alone. All the numbers you need are already programmed into it. I am hoping that together, we can plan a way to get you off the reservation with the least repercussions.

I love you Bella.

Eternally yours,

Edward."

"Shit." Bella cursed as the pans began to boil over on the stove.

A/N-thanks for reading!