I'd like to apologise for taking so long to update. I hope you'll still continue to read though. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Stephenie Meyer owns all.

Previously:

"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?"

I sighed, rubbing my face with one hand. I was so worried about Jake. I didn't want anything to happen to him, especially since he'd only been discharged from the hospital a week ago.

"It's nothing... I-I'm just tired," I lied.

"Bella, I know that there's something wrong. Alice can see the future remember?" Edward took a step towards me and put his hand gently on my shoulder.

I started to feel completely drained. I was truly exhausted, and I wasn't in the mood to be comforted by anyone. All I wanted was to be by Jacob's side.

"Look, Edward. I appreciate you coming by and checking up on me, but I'm really tired. I just want to go to sleep. I'm sorry... And, thanks," I said as I turned away from him and headed up the stairs. Edward didn't run after me. He didn't try to stop me. I heard him sigh defeatedly as I continued to make my way to my room.

I felt a little tug in my heart telling me to go back and tell him what was wrong but I couldn't, so instead, I just turned my head to look at him one last time.

But he'd already left.

I woke up the next morning, my head pounding, and looked at my alarm clock. It read 7 in the morning. The cold medicine had given me the worst headache; I then knew never to drink cold medicine before bed ever again.

I didn't want to call Jake yet. I knew he'd still be sleeping, especially since he was sick.

I decided that I'd call at around 11am. There wasn't really anything to do while I waited for the time to come, so I just sat on my bed and read a book.

I was constantly changing positions as I read; from sitting against my headboard, to lying on my stomach, and eventually ending up sitting at my desk. When I checked the time, only an hour had passed. I sighed and began to feel hungry. I realised that I hadn't eaten breakfast.

I walked to the kitchen and noticed that Charlie's cruiser wasn't in the driveway. He had left for work.

After pouring myself some cereal and milk, I sat down on the couch and switched on the television. Some reality show came on and I decided to watch that.

I'd finished my breakfast and was now watching some kind of sitcom. I began to grow tired. My eyelids began to droop as I slowly fell asleep.

I pulled on Jacob's arm. He was looking away.

"Jake, please tell me what's wrong!" I pleaded.

Suddenly, Jacob's eyes became dark as he shook my hand off of his arm.

"Go away, Bella."

With that, he turned and walked away from me. I stood there staring at his back as it slowly faded away.

I woke up with a startle. The dream was so vivid, so real.

I looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and saw that it was 12pm. I decided that instead of just calling, I would drive over to Jake's to see how he was. But I called beforehand to make sure they were home.

"Hello?" Billy picked up.

"Oh, hi, Billy. It's Bella."

"Uh, Bella, hi. Did you want something?" he asked in a rush.

"Yeah, I was wondering if I could head over to your place to visit Jake."

"Um, I don't really think now's the best time, Bella."

"Oh, is Jake busy?"

"Uh, no. He's... sleeping. He's too sick to talk. Sorry, Bella."

Billy hung up.

Something was up. Usually, if I called, Billy would be happy to let me talk to Jake. What was going on?

I decided to go to Jake's anyway. Who gave a damn if Billy didn't let me?

As I pulled up into their driveway, I began to regret coming. What if there was nothing going on? What if Jake was truly sick and Billy just wanted him to get better? No, I knew Billy. And, I knew Jake even better. They wouldn't lie to me unless something was going on. I pushed those questions to the back of my mind and hopped out of my truck. As I made my way to the door, I looked up at the window just in time to see someone closing the curtains.

Someone had been watching me.

Just as I pressed the doorbell, the door opened. Billy gave me a stern look which put me on the spot for a second.

"Billy... Uh, hi. I know you told me you were busy..."

A faint voice from inside the house called out, "Who is it, dad?" Billy's eyes widened for a second, before he turned around and began to stutter.

"Um, it's no one, son..." he yelled back.

I looked at Billy with a questioning look. Why did he say no one was at the door?

"Is that Jake, Billy?" I asked.

"Look, Bella, I think you should just leave. Jake isn't well."

"What are you talking about? I just heard him!" I raised my voice.

"Just leave-" Billy was cut off.

"Bella?" Jake said through gritted teeth. He furrowed his eyebrows in anger. He'd chopped off his long hair. It was now short and had a croppy look to it.

"Um, I'll leave you two alone," Billy said as he wheeled himself to the kitchen.

Jake headed towards me with a furious expression on his face. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the beach. His grip was rough and it hurt.

"Jake, let go, it hurts," I pleaded. He ignored me and continued to make his way to the beach. Once we were there, he released his hand.

"Why did you come, Bella?" he asked not looking at me. There was a hint of darkness in his voice.

"Why are you acting like this? I just came to see if you were getting better."

For a moment, I saw his expression soften. But as though he had remembered something, his face quickly looked angry again. "I don't need your sympathy," he spat out.

"What is wrong with you?" I looked at him accusingly.

"Nothing! Why do you assume that there's something wrong with me, huh?! I've always been like this!" he yelled into my face, flailing his arms about.

"No, you haven't. You would never get angry at me over nothing!"

"This isn't nothing! My dad told you not to come over, yet you did anyway!"

"Does this have something to do with Sam? Is he brainwashing you like he's done with the rest of his little followers?"

"Don't you dare talk about Sam like that, Bella. You don't know him."

"Me? You were the one who hated him!"

"I just didn't understand at the time. He's just been trying to help me."

"Help you? Look at you! You cut off all of your hair! And you're getting angry at me for coming over!"

"If you had listened and hadn't come, we wouldn't be doing this."

"You were sick, Jake! I came because I wanted to know that you were okay! I came because I care."

"Well, I don't care." When he emphasised the word 'don't', I was hurt. "Just leave me alone, Bella. I don't want to see you." Jacob didn't look at me.

He didn't want to see me. I thought I could rely on him, after he helped me get over Edward. But now, he was doing just the same. He was pushing me away. Jake knew how much he was hurting me. He knew because he saw how upset and lonely I had become after Edward had left. So why did he want to make me go through the pain again?

I stepped in front of him but he refused to look into my eyes.

This reminded me of my dream. But I wasn't going to let Jacob do this to me. I'd suffered enough pain.

So I slapped him in the face.

"I hope you're happy with what you've become," I said as tears began to form in my eyes.

I turned away from him and walked back to my truck. I felt guilty for slapping him, so I turned my head to look back. Jacob was on his knees with his head down. And I swear, I saw a single tear drop glisten in the sunlight as it fell from his cheek onto the soft sand.

Jacob Black was crying.

Because of me.