1 WEEK LATER

Bella's P.O.V:

Jacob was back home now. I was so happy. The Cullens had returned home as well. Edward would visit me at night every weekend.

I spent most of my days at Jacob's, helping him get around the house.

******

I was driving quickly to Jake's house. Today was his birthday and I knew he didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I was going to take him to dinner and possibly see a movie. I had the absolutely perfect present for him. I had bought him a car with the help of Charlie. It was a used car but I knew Jake would love it.

I got out of the car and ran to the door of the small house. Billy opened it.

"Morning, Billy. Is Jake ready?"

"He sure is. Jake! Bella's here!"

Jacob came running through the hallway with a huge smile spread across his face.

"Happy-"

Jake wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug. I couldn't breathe.

"Can't breathe, Jake!" I gasped.

He let go of me and kissed me softly on the lips. His bright smile spread across his face.

"You seriously need to stop trying to kill me, Jake. And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" I squealed.

"Thankyou, Bella. I hope you didn't spend too much on me," he smiled.

"Just wait and see." I kissed him on the cheek and took his hand. "Follow me."

Jake said bye to Billy and hurried after me.

I sat in the truck and waited for him to shut the door.

"So, Jake, where do you want to go for the evening?"

"Wherever you want."

I smiled and leaned in to kiss him. He kissed me back with much enthusiasm. After all, it was his birthday. We finally stopped a few minutes later. We laughed as we were both gasping for air.

"How about we go to La Bella Italia?" I asked.

"Of course. Anything for you."

"You shouldn't be saying that. I should be, I mean, it's your birthday."

He chuckled as I backed out of his driveway.

The waitress stared in disbelief at Jake's height as we entered the restaurant.

"Um, er, is it a table for two?" she stuttered. I nodded and smiled.

She led us to a square table in the corner of the restaurant.

___________________________________________________________________________

"Jake, you don't look so good," I insisted as we were leaving the restaurant. Jacob's face was a greenish colour and bruise-like circles were starting to form under his eyes.

"I don't feel good, either."

"Maybe it was food poisoning."

"I don't feel like I'm going to be sick. I just feel all wrong."

"I should get you home."

He nodded and climbed into the passenger seat. He was quiet the whole way, looking out the window.

We arrived at his house.

"Sorry, Bella! Love you!" he yelled as he darted towards the house. I stared after him, a puzzled expression on my face.

I drove home, worried. I hoped Jake would be okay.

As soon as I got home, I called Jake. Billy picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Billy. How's Jake doing?"

"Oh, he's fine. I don't think it's anything to be worried about."

"Nothing to be worried about? He's sick, Billy!"

"He'll recover soon."

"Can I please speak to him?"

"Uh, he's busy right now."

"Oh, okay. Please tell him to call me when he can."

"Sure thing, Bella. See you."

He hung up before I was able to answer. Why didn't Billy care?

I heard Charlie's cruiser pulling up in the driveway. I trudged to the door.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, kiddo. Man, I'm hungry."

"Sorry, I haven't made dinner yet."

"Is there something wrong, Bells?"

"Um, yeah. Jake's sick."

"What? When? How?"

"Today. I took him to a restaurant and then, when we were leaving, he said he felt all wrong. His face looked green. I think it's food poisoning or the stomach flu, but I'm not sure."

"We should call him and see how he's doing."

"I already called. Billy just said that there was nothing to worry about and Jake would recover."

"Hm. Well, maybe Billy's right, Bells. I'm sure he knows what's best for Jake."

"But he seemed so calm, Dad. Too calm, if you ask me. I should go down there."

"No, Bella. Give him his space. He needs time to get better."

I sighed in defeat. "Sorry about dinner, Dad."

"It's okay. I'll order pizza."

"Okay. Still sorry, Dad. Night."

"Night, kid."

I smiled at Charlie even though I couldn't stop thinking about Jake. I slouched to my room and slumped onto the bed.

I tossed and turned while I tried to sleep. I was too anxious. I decided to take cold medicine. I'd tried it once before, and it'd worked.

The cold medicine made me hyper, making the tossing and turning worse. Finally, after about 20 minutes, I started to grow tired. Slowly, I slipped into unconsciousness.

It was dark. I could see Jacob's pale face from this evening. He was standing a few feet from me, staring with desolate eyes. He was sliding away slowly. I reached out to grab him and he reached out too. He disappeared. I tried to scream but no sound came out. I tried to run but I couldn't move. I was alone. Jacob had been taken away from me.

I woke up, beads of sweat rolling down the sides of my face. Everything was blurry; I rubbed my eyes and they were wet. I was crying. I couldn't control the tears streaming down my face. My breathing started to accelerate and I couldn't calm myself down.

My alarm clock said that it was 4 in the morning.

I got out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. I could hear Charlie's muffled snoring.

I turned the bathroom light on, squinting when the light nearly blinded me. I looked absolutely careworn. I washed my face and tried to breath evenly. My eyes were still puffy with sleep, and probably from the crying.

I felt tired, but I was too nervous to go back to sleep. The cold medicine wasn't working.

I trudged down the stairs with my eyes half closed. I sat on the couch and rested my head.

I tried to breathe.

"Bella."

I jumped off the couch, now alert, screaming. It was too dark to see anything. I could hear Charlie stop snoring, move around on his bed, and start snoring again.

"Who's there?" I hissed.

"Bella, it's just me, Edward."

"Edward? What are you doing here?"

"I was just checking up on you. Alice said that she saw you, troubled. I wanted to know if you were okay."

"I'm fine, Edward. Tell Alice I said thanks."

"I will. You seem... upset. What happened?"