BPOV

As the last of the setting sun disappeared beyond the horizon, I paced the room's width, receiver in hand. I was battling within myself, too tempted to dial the house number I knew so well.

My fingers hovered over the numbers on the phone. I sucked in my breath and pressed them, in succession.

The dialling tone filled me with the idea of my chance of friendship with Jacob and the past memories of Edward. I winced at the thought of the name and tried to keep my mind on the monotone.

I counted how many seconds it took for the handset on the other line to be picked up.

It took all of nine.

"Hello?" The voice was too old to be Jacob's yet too young to Billy's. I stood, speechless, my throat dry, my mouth opening, closely reminiscent of a fish.

"Hello? This is the Black residence, Sam Uley speaking." I sighed, thankful of the unexpected turn.

"Sam," I croaked, clearing my throat so I could speak properly. I paused, wondering how to continue the sentence. How long had it been since I had last seen any of the Quileutes? I tried again. "Is Jacob there?"

Silence ensued on the other end, a piercing weight that pressed down on me. When he spoke again, he was hushed, a slowness creeping into his words. "Is that you Bella?" He was hesitant, completely unsure. Before I could even think of an answer, he rearranged his sentence. "Sorry, hang on, I'll go get him for you."

I heard the soft padding of footsteps, then the rustled exchange of the phone. I heard Sam speak in the distance, muffled, as if he had his hand over the speaker. "It's for you."

"Jacob speaking." His voice was light, unruffled and youthful. My breath caught in my chest and I felt myself beginning to shake. If I thought I was speechless talking to Sam, it was nothing compared to this. I mentally scolded myself for calling.

"Hellooo?" He stretched out the last syllable. I could imagine his raised eyebrow as he glanced up at Sam.

"There's no one there," I heard him conclude. Sam contradicted him.

Quite suddenly, there was a knock on my door and Charlie walked into my room, a mug clutched in his hands. "Bella, hot choc-," he started, before noticing the look on my face and the phone receiver clutched in my hand. "Oh, sorry," he whispered, placing the mug on my bedside table and leaving the room again.

"Bella?" Jacob's voice was hushed, a whisper carried along on butterfly wings. "Bella, is that you?"

I pressed my fingers against the bridge of my nose, holding my breath. I wanted to hear the sound of his voice, but not like this.

"Please Bells, if it's you, talk." He sounded truly desperate …

I lowered the phone and pressed the 'end call' button, my hand shaking noticeably. I stumbled down the stairs and replaced it in its holder. Images of Jacob on the other line, a look of anxiousness clouding his usually calm features, flashed through my mind.

The phone rang loudly beside me, making me jump back in response. Charlie glanced up at me, and when realising that I wasn't going to pick it up, went to collect it himself.

"Hello?" My heart rate hitched. "Yeah, I'm working on it as we speak." My breath came out in a torrent though I hadn't realise I had been holding it in.

Charlie wandered back to the living room. "I know, I don't understand either." I lost track of his voice after that, too preoccupied to care about what was happening at the station.

I gripped the counter with both hands, my knuckles growing white. I lowered my head, letting my hair fall over my face.

I had decided. Some way, I had to see him. I owed him that much.

So, I'm sorry about how short that chapter was, but wasn't it worth it? Gosh, and she hasn't even seen him yet ...

I've got big plans for my fellow minion (a.k.a. Edward), so stay tuned.

Remember, your new three Rs! Read, Review and Recommend, people. It means so much knowing that you care enough to read this and a comment makes all of this work so much more worthwhile. A shout out to the people that put this story on their alert list, it means the world to me.

Until next time,

- xXxGoldenFlowerxXx