Strangely, I was awoken by the sun shining brightly through the blinds. I groaned, turning my face away and into Jacob's chest.

"Pretty weird huh? Being woken up by the sun?" He chuckled, gliding a hand up my thigh.

"Mmhm," I mumbled, curling up into a ball against him. I didn't want to wake up yet, not at all. I didn't want to have to remember yesterday, or get mad at him, or face Quil, and Claire. I just wanted to stay here all day, curled up against Jake's warm body.

"You ok?" He asked, sounding worried as he wrapped his comforting arms around me.

"For now," I murmured.

"Good," he sighed, relieved, as he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Emily came in earlier," he stated. "She wanted to know if you were hungry."

"Not really," I said, then looked up at him. "If you are you can go eat." He smiled, moving his face towards mine. His lips hovering inches above mine.

"I wouldn't leave you. Plus, I'm good for now," he assured me. I nodded, closing the small gap between us to kiss his soft lips.

"That's good, because I don't want you to leave," I told him, letting my lips travel down his neck, he sighed.

"You're going to have to face the world eventually Drina, your mother will be worried about you," he said, I groaned, pressing my face against his skin.

"I wish I didn't."

"I'll be with you every step of the way. Don't worry," he assured me.

"You're too nice to me," I said.

"I don't think so," he responded.

"You are, especially to someone who brought a bastard like Sebastian along," I sighed, rolling onto my back and staring up at the ceiling.

"Drina, stop that. Sebastian isn't your fault, and like I said last night, we're the best people you could have found. We can take care of him, I know we can," Jake told me sternly, leaning up on his elbow and over me so his face blocked out my view of the ceiling.

"You know, I did find the ceiling quite amusing to look at," I stated. He smirked.

"Really? Better than my face?"

"Yup."

"You're a liar," he chuckled.

"I know," I grinned. He laughed, leaning in for the kill, but surprised me my kissing my jaw instead, then slowly traveling over my chin to kiss down my throat.

I couldn't hold back the soft moan that escaped my lips. It was barely audible, but of course Jake could hear it.

"You know, if you do that any louder the guys will hear you," Jake smirked, nipping teasingly at my collar bone. I bit my lip. He was right, they would hear.

"Then stop doing this to me," I groaned.

"You know you don't want me to do that," he grinned, traveling his lips lower to hover over the top of my right breast.

"So, I don't want to embarrass the shit out of myself. Especially not after screwing them all over yesterday!" I said, guilt still heavy in my heart.

"Drina, stop saying that! It is not your fault!" Jacob said sternly, shifting so he was on his hands and knees above me. I stared into his now angry eyes. I didn't want him to be angry with me, but deep down I knew I deserved it. Deserved it for hurting him and his brothers, and little Claire.

"Good, you're finally mad at me," I stated. He groaned, his anger peaking as he threw away the covers and stood up, shaking slightly. I knew what that meant, but I couldn't be scared of him. I deserved whatever was to come.

"Drina, th-that's not what I'm mad at you for!" He growled, his eyes pleading. Great, I was causing him more pain.

"Jake, you should be it's my fault that-" but he put his hand over my mouth. He stood silent for a minute, leaving his hand where it was.

After a moment he sighed, bending down to sit on the edge of the bed, then slowly lowered himself until his head was resting on my stomach, his hand now removed from my mouth. I couldn't help but reach down and begin to play with his soft black hair. He sighed again, curling up into me like a child looking for comfort. Why did I always have to hurt him?

"Jake, I'm-"

"Please don't say anything," he begged. I obeyed, silencing. I simply stroked his hair, the side of his face, comforting him.

He slowly turned his head after an immeasurable amount of time to look up at me. I looked right back, my eyes sad.

"Drina, please listen to me, and don't speak until I'm finished, no matter how much I know you'll want to, please?" He begged. I couldn't refuse, so nodded my head, my hand stroking along the side of his face.

"Sebastian is not your fault. It is simply coincidence that he happened to murder your father and your sister's girlfriends, and is now after you. You can't do anything about it… by yourself. What I want you to understand is, is that the guys and I are the only… things that can kill a vampire, besides another vampire. Drina, if you hadn't met me, and come here with me, you'd probably be dead."

There was a long silence after he finished speaking. I tried to accept his words. They made sense, but my regret and guilt was too deeply engrained to be completely healed, but it did help.

"I understand that Jacob, but do you understand where I'm coming from? I have to simply sit back and watch as all the people I care about are hurt because of something that is my problem, no matter if I can fix that problem or not. I can't do anything to help you, I had to watch as you got beaten, and nearly killed Jacob! Did you know how horrible that felt? How useless I seemed?" I begged, pleading with him to understand.

He sighed, closing his eyes and looking away from me.

"I get it Drina, and I'm sorry for making you watch that. I could have avoided it, but I ignored my better judgment. And that last fight, we weren't ready for it, he caught us off guard, but next time, I promise you, we will defeat him," he said, turning to look at me again, determination in his eyes. "All I want to do is protect you, and I will do that."

"I know you will, Jake, and the fact that I can't help hurts," I said sadly.

"I know it does, Drina, but this is one thing that you can't fix yourself, and you have to accept our help, or die," he told me sternly, flinching slightly as he said it, but that caught me. The seriousness of this whole situation came crashing down on me in one great wave. If Jake and the guys weren't here protecting me, I would die. None of the pack have died yet because of their healing powers and fighting abilities. I think I had always been underestimating the pack and overestimating Sebastian because I knew what the later could do. But what Jake and the guys needed right now was my support, without that they could never win, and if that's what they needed, I would of course comply.

I looked back down at Jake, and couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as I rumpled his hair.

"Next time Sebastian comes around, you better beat his ass good or I'll beat yours," I grinned, Jake grinned back, chuckling slightly as he got to his hands and knees and climbed on top of me, so our heads were level once again.

"Don't worry, I plan to," he assured me before closing the distance between us to kiss me.

I wished we could have laid there all day, but we had to face the world eventually, and when we smelt breakfast, that seemed like a pretty good time to get moving. So we slowly rolled out of bed, dressed, and headed out to the kitchen.

Emily was of course hard at work at the stove with Kim by her side, and the pack, minus Quil and Embry, were seated in the living room.

"Hey, um, do you need a hand?" I asked shyly, moving into the kitchen as Jacob joined his brothers in the living room.

"Oh, Drina!" Emily gasped, dropping her spatula and hurrying over to me to envelope me into a hug. "I heard, and we're not mad at you sweetie, how could we be? You're family," she gasped, nearly on the verge of tears. I nearly laughed, but held it in, she was trying to be comforting, and it did soothe me to know Emily was still beside me.

"Thanks Emily, but I'm ok now, really, Jake swayed me," I assured her, wrapping my arms around her as well.

"Oh, good. Don't ever do that again, this vampire is not your fault, and if you weren't here you'd be dead, and I don't know if I could handle that," she said tearfully, I laughed, rubbing her shoulder.

"You wouldn't have even known me Emily," I pointed out.

"I'd still miss you," she said.

"So would I, plus, Jake wouldn't be home right now if it wasn't for you," Kim added.

"I'm sure he would, I don't think he could have stayed away from here for long," I shrugged, flattered by their unnecessary kind words.

"Maybe, but he wouldn't be the same. He's happy again Drina. Trust me, you didn't see him after he lost Bella, he was a mess. Wouldn't talk to any of us, then when the wedding invitation came he just… snapped," Emily said, shaking her head as she returned to the stove to flip the pancakes.

"Poor Jacob, I just wonder why she meant so much to him in the first place. What was so special about her?" I wondered aloud, voicing my concerns.

"I'm not sure about that one sweetie, but he was always with her, and when he wasn't, he wanted to be. If we didn't know better, we would have all said that he'd imprinted!"

I was silent, contemplating this new information. I knew Jake would never leave me, but I couldn't help myself but be curious about his extreme love for Bella Swan. It concerned me that they were so attached, even though Jacob got over it, but could Bella? She did marry the vampire, so maybe, but the way she was looking at Jacob that day when they called the wolves was definitely more than just a friend. It was slightly unnerving, but I forced myself to dismiss it for now and lend a hand in preparing the massive breakfast the girls were preparing.

"Hey, I'm gonna go to the beach, ok?" I told Jake as I finished eating and went to put my plate away.

"I'll come with you," he stated, shoveling the last of his food into his mouth and following me into the kitchen.

I sighed "ok."

So we cleaned out plates and headed out the door into the surprisingly sunny day. I loved the sun, and I hadn't seen it in a while, it was a nice change from the cloudy skies I was used to seeing here.

"You ok?" Jacob asked, his hand curling around mine as we walked along the dirt road heading to the beach.

"Ya, but do you think we could go visit Quil later?" I asked.

"I was going to ask you about that, I think that would be a good idea," he nodded.

"Ok."

We were silent again as we walked along hand in hand. It was peaceful, just listening to the crunch of the dirt under our feet, and the song birds singing, the smell of last nights rain fall still clinging in the dewy air. As we walked, I couldn't help but let my mind stray to Bella. I don't know why that was bugging me all of a sudden, especially right after Sebastian's attack. I should be more worried about him, right?

"What are you thinking about?" Jake asked suddenly. I was silent, my mind blank as I decided what I would say to him. I couldn't tell him I was thinking about his old relationship.

"Just how nice it is outside," I shrugged after a moment, pretending to have been caught up in watching a blue Jay dart across the sky.

"Ya, it nice out, isn't it?" He said happily, swinging our arms. I couldn't help but laugh a little, he was so cute when he was happy.

"It is. It's a nice change from the monotone gray," I smiled, letting his hand go so I could grip his arm.

"Ya, sorry about that, the weather here isn't exactly nice," he said with an awkward smile.

I shrugged, "it's not that bad. Plus, I'm always warm with you around," I grinned, looking up at him. He smiled, leaning down to kiss my hair.

"That's good."

"Mmhm," I murmured.

We had now came to the beach, stepping onto the rocky shore. It wasn't like the beach I was used to by my house, but it had a sort of primitive comfort about it. Like it's been here since the dawn of time and still remains unchanged with it's colorful rocks and huge pieces of white washed wood.

We sat on one of these, curled up in the hollow of the branch, out of the wind. I scooted close to Jacob and his radiating heat as we looked at the churning ocean.

"I was hoping to see you here," came a musical voice. We both turned to look towards the shore. On the edge of the forest stood Bella, wearing a dress of periwinkle silk and nothing else. I could feel anger bubbling to the surface, why was she here? To destroy Jacob again? I wasn't going to let that happen!

"Why are you here?" Jake asked, pulling me behind him. "You aren't allowed on Quileute land, it's in the treaty."

"You never turned me away before, Jake," she said, looking sad, but determined as she slowly approached us. I couldn't help but wrap my arms around Jacob. This made her pause as I glared at her.

"Of course, I suppose the circumstances were different. That would be me with my arms around you," she said sadly. I clutched Jake tighter, anger building. He rubbed my arms soothingly, reassuring me.

"What do you want, Bella?" He asked stiffly.

"I just wanted to see my friend, is there something wrong with that? I used to come visit all the time," she said.

"You're a Cullen now, Bella. You've chosen," Jake said, his voice emotionless. I wished I knew what he was thinking.

"I know, Jake, b-but… I still want to be your friend," she said sadly, looking down at her hands that she was twisting nervously.

"Edward's probably wondering where you are," Jake stated, changing the subject.

"Probably, but I had to see you Jake," she said, coming closer, Jake stiffened, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist. Bella stopped again.

"You'll hurt her," Jake explained. Bella shook her head.

"I've never killed anyone, Jake, in fact, I can control it. Plus, I just fed, I won't hurt her," she tried to assure him. I barely contained a gag at that. killed, fed, that was vile.

"Better safe than sorry," Jake responded with a shrug.

"Jake, I-" she began, but stopped short, obviously thinking of something to say. "I still need you as a friend. I-I need you around, Jake," she said, and I had a feeling that if she was still alive she would be crying right now. I looked up at Jake, seeing his face torn.

"I can still be your friend, Bella, but you have to accept that I've imprinted. You aren't my number one priority anymore," he said softly.

"I-I know, I just…," but she stopped, biting her lip.

"You knew that this would happen eventually Bells," he said gently.

"I just… I'm jealous!" She burst out. I knew it, all along. I looked up at Jacob, and he looked down at me with an intense gaze.

"Why? You chose the- Edward," he said, holding himself back from saying bloodsucker.

"I-I know, but… you were always there Jake. No matter what, I could count on you being there, but… it's different now."

"It is different," Jake agreed, giving me a squeeze, I smiled up at him. "But can't you see, Bella? I'm happy now! I can breathe again, and even hold a normal conversation with you without breaking down. I don't hurt anymore, Bella," he said, sounding genuinely happy as he held me close.

Bella bit her lip, looking on the verge of tears again. "Jake, you know I didn't want to hurt you. I-I love you Jake, I could never hurt you," she said, shaking her head. I froze, my body seizing up. She loved him, she just said that she loved him.

I clutched Jacob tighter, I wasn't going to let him go. Not without a fight, but I had nothing to worry about. Jacob leaned down and confirmed that by pressing his lips gently to mine, carefully moving the hair away from my ear to whisper into it.

"I love you, Drina. There's no need to get worked up, I promise," he said, kissing my neck softly before straightening and looking at Bella. I looked up at her as well, and what I saw didn't please me much.

She looked simply horrified at the exchange between Jacob and I, like she couldn't quite believe what she had seen. Did she really expect him to chase her around forever? Hurting himself in the process? I had never liked Bella from the start, but this was wrong. How shallow could a person get?

"Did you really think Jake would still love you after you hurt him like that? I'm not saying that he doesn't like you still, but did you really expect him to live the rest of his life unhappy and with you?" I asked, my words cutting deep. I could tell by her face.

"No, I-I just…" she stammered, not knowing what to say. I knew I had caught her. She had expected him to wait, like a loyal dog to her. This girl- no, vampire, truly sickened me.

"Jake, let's go, we still need to see Quil," I said, tugging on his hand. I didn't want to have to look at her anymore. Doing so would only make me want to rip her limp from god damn fucking limb!

"Ya, we do," he said, looking down at me. What he saw apparently encouraged his agreement of retreat. "I'll see you later, Bella, but next time, I would call instead. I don't think Sam and the others will be taking this situation as lightly as I have," he said, then allowed me pull him back along the beach and to the road. Bella didn't try to stop us, but simply dissolved into the tree's, looking as if she had just gotten slapped in the face, hard.

"Drina, are you ok? You're shaking," Jake said as we stepped onto the road. I hadn't even realized it, but I was so angry my body was convulsing. I tried to make it stop, but I just wanted to scream, so that's just what I did.

"What a fucking shallow bitch!" I cried, letting go of Jacob's hand to punch a tree. It hurt like hell, and I could feel the cut, but I didn't care, I continued punching, yelling as many curses that I could come up with until I felt strong arms curl around me, abating my assault.

"Drina, stop," he said softly, his face in my hair. He carefully turned me around, pulling my hands up to look at them. My knuckles were a bloody mess and they hurt like a mother, but I was still too angry to care. Now however, without being able to take my anger out on the tree I began to sob in desperation. Tears flowing down my face.

Damn, I've been way too emotional lately, but really, could you blame me? I had a werewolf for a boyfriend, my past was coming back to bite me in the ass, and my boyfriends ex was a total shallow bitch. Ya, my life was pretty much fucked.

"Drina, shh," Jake whispered into my hair, pulling me against him in a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around his huge frame, the tears still flowing.

"H-how could she do that? Why would she-" Jacob stopped me, kissing my lips softly, as though he was afraid he'd hurt me, but he'd never. The only thing he'd ever hurt was my pride, but it was my own damn fault nine times out of ten.

So I couldn't help but kiss him back, assuring him that I was alright for the circumstances, though, he either didn't get the hint, or didn't buy it because he squeezed me tightly.

"Drina, you don't have to worry about this. It's my problem to bare, ok? You don't have to tear yourself apart like this," he whispered, his voice sounding on the verge of tears. No. Why did I always hurt him? Why did I have to cause him so much pain?

I sighed, wrapping my arms around him. "Please don't cry, Jake. It's not your problem if I'm out for self destruction," I assured him. I felt him shake his head.

"This is my fault, Bella is my problem, not yours," he said, I frowned, pulling away and looking into his face, holding it steady with my hands.

"Hey, Sebastian's my problem and you won't let me deal with it on my own, so I went let you either, got it?" I asked sternly. He looked at me, his eyes wide, then they softened and I felt his hands on my face, stroking my cheeks.

"Together?" He asked, pressing his forehead to mine, I smiled, kissing his nose.

"Forever," I promised.

I knew the battle was far from over, on more things than one. But I was glad that we were at least on the same page now. We both understood where the other was coming from, and that was enough… for now.

A.N. Hi guys, I am sooooo sorry for the horribly long wait! I have been so busy I barely know what day it is anymore. So to make it up to you I made this chapter extra long, hope you enjoy! And as usual, please review, they really help get me in a mood to write more, and if I want to write more then the sooner the next chapter will be up! So if you're sick of waiting, please click the button! Thank you!