(A/N: yeesh, haven't updated in AGES! I'm so sorry, I'm such a slow updater lol I'd be surprised if anybody's actually reading my stories anymore... i know it's short- i'm just incredibly lazy anyway, lizzybtm- THIS IS WHEN IT GETS HAPPY! (for the most part, anyway- something obviously has to happen at the end!) I decided to make a semi-funny (to me, anyway) chapter just to lighten the mood a bit! Nothing emo going on here guys... *shudders* anywho, enjoy, my lovelies!)

The next couple of days passed somewhat uneventfully- Sam had phoned Charlie telling him that I had been moved to a hospital in Alaska where he would not be able to visit me and I had spent literally hours concentrating, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't morph back into a human. I had been staying at Jacob's house, on the condition that Billy wouldn't mention anything to Charlie, and I would be warned if he was coming around to visit.

We had discovered the second that Jacob phased back to normal to explain the situation to Billy that our minds were more closely linked than the other members of the pack- after all, he had imprinted on me. Whenever he was in human form he could still hear my thoughts- not all of them though, only the ones that I wanted him to hear. It was sort of like talking, only more frustrating- I couldn't "talk" to anybody but him.

I sat on the porch of the Black's home, waiting impatiently for Jake to come outside- Billy had a strict "No pets in the house" rule which I grudgingly followed. I supposed he had a point though- I was so big that I couldn't move around without breaking anything.

My stomach rumbled, and I growled under my breath. If Jake didn't come out of that door in under ten seconds, I was going to run in there and drag him out myself. Finally he opened the flimsy screen door, a smirk on his face and a red object in his hand.

I snarled under my breath; a string of profanities about Jacob, and his grin became even wider. I hate you I thought, narrowing my eyes- growling a little and baring my teeth while he laughed. This is SO ridiculous. Just give me some normal food Jacob, or so help me... I thought, while he set the dog bowl down in front of me.

And yes, I did say dog bowl. After hours of argument, Billy, Jacob and the rest of the pack had come to the conclusion that I should eat kibble since I refused to hunt wild animals and eat them raw- (that was just so, so gross), and I had already had enough normal human food that I would get sick if I ate too much more of it.

Even though their argument sort of made sense, I reckoned it was just so that they could have a laugh at my expense - For a werewolf, Jacob sure was making a hypocritically large amount of dog jokes directed at me.

In this particular case, our odd little form of communication proved to be useful- Jacob could hear absolutely every name I called him, including the new ones I invented exclusively for him. If there's anything that strips away your dignity more than eating dog food out of a bowl, I'd like to hear about it.

Then Jacob did something that surprised me- he pulled his shirt up over his head, and flashed a brief grin, before a huge, russett coloured wolf stood in his place- the shredded remains of his tracksuit pants in tatters around his paws.

Wordlessly- or should I say thoughtlessly, he trotted over next to me, and started scooping up mouthfuls of the dog food, before turning and smiling a big, wolfy grin: his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Playfully, I nudged his cheek with my snout and turned to follow suit, crunching up the surprisingly-ok-tasting food.

It was getting dark now, and I was already feeling a bit tired, so I walked away from Jacob to the old ripped couch sitting in the backyard that was placed there for me to sleep on and launched myself onto it. Now that I was a werewolf, I finally understood why dogs circled around a spot before lying down- not to was just so... wrong, I guess.

I lay down and wrapped my tail around my body, exhaling loudly- the couch was extremely comfortable. I felt some motion beside me and looked to see a flash of brown as Jake lay down next to me. I smiled, not even caring that Jacob could hear every thought in my head about how glad I was that he was next to me. What did it matter if he knew how hopelessly attached I was to him? I closed my eyes, and remembered the day- showing him exactly how annoying he could be when he was teasing me, and how I secretly loved fighting with him- our little pointless arguments that offended nobody, and let him know how happy he made me feel- how complete and alive I was when he was around.

Love you Jake. Love you too, Bella.

And then I drifted off to sleep.

****************

As it turns out, there is an upside to having an inability to return to human form- It's impossible to sleeptalk! Pleased with myself, I jumped off the couch and stretched out my limbs to take out all of the kinks in my muscles. Looking in through the window, I realised it was around ten o'clock in the morning- Billy and Jacob would both be up around now.

A flapping sort of noise came from behind the garage, and I saw Jake shaking his whole body- fur and water droplets flying everywhere. Watch out- Billy's got the house and he apparently doesn't like it when you bark in his ear he laughed, a big, dopey grin on his face.

Wow Jake- I didn't know that animals thought stuff like this as well but- you smell like wet dog! I said, wrinkling my nose as the breeze blew his scent toward me. He barked a gruff chuckle, and shook once again- this time getting me wet with the water flying off his dripping coat.

You are SO dead, I warned him, and began to chase him around the huge backyard, snapping playfully at his heels before he sped back up again to get out of my way. We ended up in a heap, puffing and panting- if I were human, my cheeks would be flushed with the exercise. "Well, well, well," said Billy, wheeling his way into view. "I'll have to put an ad in the paper- looks like we'll have some puppies on our hands soon!"

I couldn't blush, obviously, but my head drooped in embarrassment, and my tail sagged a little bit. Billy just sat there, laughing like a maniac, and Jake barked once indignantly and nudged his father's wheelchair- making him roll down the slight hill and come to a slow halt near some bushes.

I ran into the garage- trying desperately to phase so that I wouldn't have to hang around with Billy making suggestive jokes 24/7. I shut my eyes and tried to force my body into the silent shimmer of transformation, and was surprised and delighted when I felt warmth ripple through my body- filling me up. This was it! The fire was spreading through my chest, hotter and hotter- all of this happening in the space of about half a second. Then all of a sudden everything went cold and my body froze. I wasn't entirely wolf but I knew that I hadn't made it back to human yet. Something was very, very wrong.