Just a little background information: this story takes place after Eclipse; after Bella and Edward's high school graduation but before their wedding. Jacob, upset about their upcoming nuptials, has taken time to come to terms with what is about to happen, and returns to Forks seeking Bella's forgiveness and to give her his blessing on the wedding.

Author's Note: I know that Jacob and the wolves actions are a little OOC, but it is how I envisioned this story. Plus, I really love Edward and can't ever see Bella and Jacob together.

Chapter 1

Bella's POV

"Are you sure you don't want to come over tonight? We're probably just going to order pizza and watch a movie or something," Mike asked me for what seemed like (and very well could be) the hundredth time. His parents were out of town for the week, and Mike was using every available opportunity to take advantage of the empty house.

"No, but thanks for the invitation," I said, hoping that he would finally get the picture. For some reason, even with a ring on my finger, Mike still thought he had a chance to make our friendship into something more. It was getting to be beyond frustrating. It was starting to get infuriating.

"Okay, well if you change your mind, we will definitely be there. You don't even have to let me know you're coming. Just stop by." I didn't really respond to that, just gave him a look that I hope conveyed everything I felt at that moment. "Well, there isn't a whole lot left to do here," he said when he realized I wasn't going to give him another response. "You can go. I'll finish closing everything up."

"Really?" I asked cautiously. I wasn't really sure that he would actually let me leave, but I didn't wait to find out. I grabbed my purse and started walking toward the door before he could answer the rhetorical question.

"Yeah," he said to my retreating back. "I'll see you later…maybe?"

I just shook my head as I exited the building, digging through my purse to try and find my keys and the phone that Edward insisted I carry with me. I looked at the screen, hoping that he had called or texted, but was severely disappointed when there was nothing. He and his siblings had been hunting in Northern California for the past three days, and they were supposed to come home later tonight. It was the longest three days of my life. I was almost to my car when I heard a voice that I desperately wanted to ignore.

"Hey, Bella," Jessica said, her nasally voice making me cringe.

"Hi Jess," I said as I unlocked my car. Unfortunately she had parked directly next to me, and was currently less than five feet away from me and my car. It seemed like there was no relief from these obnoxious people whom I was readily willing to never see again.

"How's your summer so far?" she asked. I had really hoped to avoid this conversation, but it seemed unavoidable.

"It's great. Nothing too exciting going on." That wasn't entirely true, but I couldn't exactly tell her than only a few weeks prior my future vampire family and my werewolf friends had decimated an entire army of newborn vampires that had been created in order to destroy me. Yeah, I didn't really think she needed to know of my uncanny ability to attract ravenous vampires.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true. Don't you have a wedding coming up?" she asked with an abnormal amount of curiosity. Jessica was one of those girls who usually only enjoyed talking about herself. I assumed, however, that since my upcoming nuptials were the most popular topic of gossip in Forks at the moment, she would be all too willing to pry whatever information she could get from me.

"Yeah," I admitted, "but I'm not really doing a whole lot of the planning. You would get more information from Alice." I hoped that this would dissuade her from asking anymore questions.

No such luck. "I highly doubt that," Jessica said. "There must be something you are doing that you're excited about."

"Not really. What about you? How is your summer going?" I hadn't really wanted to ask the question, but seeing as it was the only way to keep her from prying even further into my life, I was willing to open the floodgates. And that is exactly what happened.

It was obvious that Jessica wasn't as private about her life, considering I was forced to listen for the next ten minutes every detail of her summer. It was only the beginning of July, but she had apparently already planned out her next four years at college.

I let out a conspicuous sigh of relief when I finally saw Edward's name flash across the screen of my phone. I excused myself from the conversation, Jessica in midsentence, so that I could take the call.

"Edward," I said, knowing he would understand the relief in my voice.

"Bella, he said. I could hear the urgency in his voice when he said my name, but I had no idea why he would have any reason to be alarmed. We were finally safe, for the first time in a long time. Leave it to Edward to always see the possibility of danger even when it's completely unfounded. "The pack came across a scent they didn't recognize. Jake and Sam are in the woods trying to see if they can find anything. Please…"

I didn't hear anything else that Edward said. Jake and Sam are in the woods…

For the first time in our relationship, I hung up on Edward. "Jessica, sorry but I have to go," I said quickly, truly irritated now with her incessant chatter.

"Um, okay. I guess I will see you later…" she trailed off as I stalked away in the opposite direction, away from my car and into the woods. "Bella?" I could hear her say my name faintly, but I wasn't really paying attention. All I wanted to so find him. "Bella, what the hell are you doing?" I ignored her desperate calls as I walked into the forest.

I don't know how far I walked, but I knew I needed to get far enough away from Jessica so that she wouldn't find me, though I highly doubted she would follow me into the woods. I guess I had been walking for around five minutes when I found a small clearing.

"Jacob Black," I said in my normal voice. "You get your ass out here right now." I knew he could hear me. If he were actually in the woods like Edward had said, he had probably been watching my little exchange with Jessica the whole time. I waited for a few more minutes before I noticed a rustling in the brush directly across from me. It took another few moments, but eventually I saw a very familiar shape emerge into the clearing.