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Chapter Fifteen: Another Delay

As I watched the trees fly by from my perch on Edward's back, I felt truly happy for the first time in months. I had accomplished what I had set out to do; I had found Edward, and now we were on our way home. It was like a dream come true.

"Bella," Edward said, effectively breaking me away from my thoughts.

"Yes?" I replied in a dreamy voice.

"Thank you," Edward stated, which confused me because I didn't know what he could be thanking me for.

"For what?" I asked.

"Having the courage to come and find me, to fix my mistake," Edward said. He really was grateful that I had found him.

"Edward, I would do anything for you and for us," I said, and I hoped he understood how much I was willing to do.

"I know," Edward said, and from his tone I could tell he did understand.

"Edward, I know you honestly believed that I could live a happy, normal life if the dangers of hanging around vampires weren't an issue for me, but please understand that I can't have a life worth living if I am not with you," I said.

"Bella, I was wrong, and I'll never be able to tell you how deeply I realize that now. We can talk more about that, if you want, after we get home and don't have an audience."

I looked around and noticed Alice and Emmett paying close attention to our conversation. Jasper politely kept his attention on the course ahead of us, but I knew he could hear every word. I kissed Edward's neck to let him know I agreed, and he grinned back at me.

"I love you," Edward said passionately.

"I love you, too," I said as I reached down to kiss his neck once more.

"Okay, enough with the mushy stuff," Emmett said from behind us.

"Sorry," Edward and I said at the same time, causing all five of us to laugh.

All of a sudden their laughter died, and Edward stopped running. I stayed on Edward's back as the other three came to stand beside us.

"What is going on?" I asked, hoping that something horrible, like Victoria catching up to us, hadn't happened.

"I think your werewolf friend is back, Bella," Jasper said.

"What?" Edward said, and I could tell that the thought of me having a werewolf for a friend horrified him.

"Do you remember Jacob Black?" I asked him, even though I knew he did.

"Yes," Edward said. "He is a werewolf?"

"Apparently so," I replied. "We ran in to him right before we found you; he was looking for me."

"Why was he looking for you?" Edward asked.

"To bring her home," a familiar voice said from behind me.

We all spun around and saw Jacob standing behind us, leaning casually against a tree.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked.

"I see you found your leech," Jacob said, totally ignoring my question.

Edward, Emmett, Alice and Jasper all growled at the word leech, and if I was as menacing as the four of them I probably would have growled too.

"Don't call him that, Jacob," I said angrily.

"Why not? That's what they are. They suck blood, and that is what a leech does," Jacob said with a smirk.

"No Jacob, they are not leeches. They are people, just like us," I said.

"Bella, they are just not normal," Jacob said.

"Right, because turning into a giant dog is as normal as it gets, right?" I said sarcastically, causing Emmett to snicker.

"Whatever," Jacob said, and I could tell I hit a sore spot.

"You didn't answer my question," I said "Why are you still here?"

"I have a job to do," Jacob said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I have to make sure you get home."

"Well, we are on our way home, so you don't have to worry," I said, hoping Jacob would leave.

"I have to make sure you get home," Jacob said again, emphasizing the word I.

"You don't think I am going with you, do you?" I asked, because it sure seemed like that was what he thought.

"That is exactly what I think," Jacob said, and he walked forward and grabbed my arm.

"What are you doing?" I asked while trying to pull my arm free. "Let go!"

"No, Bella. I was given a job, and I am going to complete it," Jacob said as he started to drag me along.

"Sam may have sent you on a mission, but it ends here. Bella is safe, and you need to let her go now," Edward said, and before I could blink he was standing in front of Jacob with Emmett, Jasper and Alice at his sides. Edward was obviously reading Jacob's mind as to why he was here.

"I don't think so," Jacob said as he tried to step around the four vampires who had crouched down and prepared to fight.

"There are four of us and one of you," Alice said. "Do you really think you can get past us?"

Just as Jacob was about to answer, Edward pulled me away from him at vampire speed, and the other vampires made a circle around Jacob.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked in a worried tone as I rubbed my arm.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said, and I held up my arm so Edward could examine it himself.

"Leave now, Jacob," I heard Emmett say, and I looked over and noticed that the three of them had started to move in a circle around Jacob.

"We don't want to hurt you, but we will if you don't leave peacefully," Alice said.

"Tell Sam that you found Bella, and that she is on her way home," Jasper said, and I could tell he was using his power to calm Jacob down.

"Fine," Jacob said, and I could tell he was angry. "But the only reason I am leaving peacefully is because I am outnumbered. If there were more wolves here, there would be a fight."

"Well there aren't, so you need to leave, " Emmett said.

With one last scowl in our direction Jacob took off into the woods, and a second later I heard a popping noise, indicating that Jacob had just become a wolf.

We were silent for a minute, and I could tell it was because none of knew what to say about what had just happened.

"Can we go home now?" I asked when I couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Of course, love," Edward said as he swept me up and placed me on his back.

We ran until we got to a small airport where we boarded a plane to New York. It was a small airport that only had flights to certain places in the USA.

Alice called Esme from the plane and told her that we were on our way home. Esme was thrilled and told us that Carlisle, Rosalie and herself would meet us in Forks.

Once we landed in New York, we ran to catch the connecting flight to Seattle. As I settle in, I realized how happy I was to be going home. I was excited to see Esme, Carlisle and Rose again. A wave of anxiety washed over me, however, as I realized that I would have to face Charlie when I got home, and my excitement turned to fear.

AN: Thanks to my beta fnmom68! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE :)