Author's Note: Well, here's part two. It's loosely based off of a conversation Jake and Bella had during New Moon. You'll figure it out.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Jacob, Bella, or Twilight. I am only responsible for their fictional corruption.

II.

"Hey, Jake…"

"What do you want, Quil?" Jacob's voice comes out as more of a growl, deep, angry. Quil takes a step back instinctively. Jacob doesn't like the way Quil is looking at him. It's a hollow, pitiful sort of expression and Quil's eyes have dark circles, like he isn't getting enough sleep. Jacob's already turning to walk away, but Quil takes several steps forward and places his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"What's up with you lately? You were never even friends with Sam before, and Leah's been wondering-"

Jacob rounds on him and shrugs Quil's hand off his shoulder. "Tell Leah to stop worrying. She'll find out soon enough." It sounds like a warning. His gaze lingers for a moment. "And the same goes for you, too, Quil. Just…" There's a shadow of the old Jacob then, just barely noticeable before the hard mask of indifference reappears. "Just let me go, okay?" He turns and leaves, disappearing into the thin line of trees surrounding the house.

Jacob hesitates for a moment, looking up at the dark, angry clouds. He frowns as he throws a glance over his shoulder. Quil has already disappeared, back to his truck, to go back home. Jacob feels bad, he really does, but there's nothing he can do. It's a part of him now, a big, threatening, monstrous part. His body shakes at the thought, but not with rage this time, or cold. Just with fear. The wolf whines softly within him, but he pushes it aside stubbornly. It'd only been a few weeks, really, but he's already better at it than Paul and Jared, nearly as good as Sam. He could contain it…Sam calls him a natural.

Jacob sneers. A natural werewolf. What a compliment. But what else can he do? He has to have a pack, if he's going to be a werewolf…Vaguely, he thinks back to his conversations with Bella. Could you maybe…not be a werewolf? At the time, he'd laughed in her face. It hadn't seemed possible at all…But now, he thinks he'd probably be able to suppress the wolf within him. Sam said that, eventually, all wolves stopped phasing anyway…Why not now? If he let the animal lay dormant long enough, maybe he'd be able to let it go for good…

What if we ran away, just you and me? What if we left Sam behind?Jacob squares his shoulders, turns away from the forest, and ignores the lingering tug of the Alpha. It's not as strong if he isn't in wolf form, and he manages to clomp back up the porch steps and into the house. He reaches for the kitchen phone and punches in speed dial number 3, is already rummaging through the fridge as it rings. Once, twice, three times. Pick up, he thinks desperately. Come on, Bells.

"Hey, Charlie," he says gruffly, moving the phone between his ear and shoulder and catching the fridge door with his foot as he begins methodically assembling a massive sandwich. "Is Bella there? Thanks…" He waits, suddenly very anxious. Had she been serious about that?

He hopes so. He really does. There's a bit of static as the phone is passed, and he hears Bella ask who it is. A grin lights up his features when Charlie says Jake and Bella says Really? Okay, give me the phone! and he can almost hear the smile he's just put on her face just by making a simple phone call. And now he's smiling, too, lips quirking upward in the ghost of his former grin. It feels strange on his face, unfamiliar. He's been wearing Sam's mask for so many days that a smile feels unnatural

"Jake?" Bella breathes, and he hears her unease. "Is something wrong?"

He barks out a laugh, a hollow imitation of the one Bella knows. "Jeez, Bells, if I'm gonna get that kind of reaction I'll be sure to call more often…" Jacob's finished making his large sandwich, but he realizes he's not really hungry. Well, he is (he's always hungry now), but he doesn't feel much like eating. He's sick inside, thinking too hard about the pack and the wolf and why he's so good at it. He shoves the sandwich back into the fridge for Billy and turns to lean against the kitchen counter. "I'm fine. How are you?"

Bella sighs. "I'm…fine." Fine. She's used that word so many times in these past few weeks that Jacob's learned to associate fine with falling apart. It hurts to know that he's the one hurting her now, the one who put that cautious tone in her voice. But he doesn't challenge her since he's given the same answer. They're both being evasive. Her voice is soft when she speaks again, careful. "What made you decide to call?"

Jacob shifts the phone to the other ear, licks his suddenly dry lips. "Well…" His voice has gotten quiet, too, almost nervous. Bella thinks that's funny. He's not the nervous type. Big, bad Jacob Black is tripping over his words. She chuckles softly. Jacob hesitates for another moment, fingers going to his now-short hair. "You know what you said before, about just getting outta here?" He doesn't wait for her to respond before he continues, words coming out fast and jumbled, like one long sentence. "I-think-I-can-maybe-try-to-not-be-a-werewolf. If you still wanna go, that is."

She's quiet, and Jacob starts backpedaling quickly. "I mean, if you were just kidding, I guess I am, too. It's just…" His words trail off into a sigh and he shakes his head. "I never wanted to be this…thing. And now I am and sometimes it feel good to be running out there in the forest. But most of the time, I feel like a monster." He sighs into the receiver and his voice drops. "I'm scared, Bells. I don't wanna do this."

He sounds very young then, very honest. Scared. Her Jacob.

"Let's do it, Jake. Let's get out of here…"

What did she have here, anyway, besides painful reminders of him? Charlie would worry, but he and Billy would figure it out eventually…That college fund could be put to some use since she hadn't bothered to apply anywhere. "Really?" Jacob says, surprised.

"Sure, sure," Bella mutters. "But we need to do it soon." Before she lost her nerve.

"Okay. I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. And Bella?"

She pauses in the action of hanging up the phone, worry creasing her forehead. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No worries."
-

They leave under the cover of darkness. Bella parks her noisy truck down the street and Jacob drags his overstuffed duffle bag out of his bedroom window. They stop to load up the motorcycles just in case, and Bella keeps tripping over nonexistent tree roots. By the time they reach her idling truck again, they're both out of breath –Bella from running and Jacob from laughter. She swats at him half-heartedly. "It's not funny," she grumbles, leaning her bike against the truck. "I nearly got myself killed back there."

Jacob doesn't laugh, though his eyes are dancing with unspoken laughter. "Not that that's anything new, Bella…" And then she's laughing and he's laughing again and a light goes on to their left. Jacob curses under his breath and Bella scrambles into the cab of the truck. Jacob barely gets the second motorcycle into the truck bed before she stomps on the gas, and he jogs a little to catch up and jump into the bed behind the bikes. "I think," he says, settling down and talking loudly over the roar of the engine. "We need to find a quieter getaway car…"
-

They stop off first in Seattle. It's almost light out by the time they get there…Jacob had insisted on stopping off for 'dinner' at around three a.m. They'd found a Denny's and Stefan, their waiter, had been really surprised with how much Jacob had been able to eat. "This is fine, Bells," Jacob says, hopping out of the truck and going to haul his bag and hers out from the back. He slings the strap of his duffle over his shoulder and tucks her bag under one arm. "You just go get the key, honey. You look exhausted…" He'd tried to get her to let him drive (he had fixed the truck in the first place), but she'd insisted that he should try to sleep.

Admittedly, he hadn't been getting much sleep at all what with the constant patrolling back home, but he didn't sleep anyway. The radio didn't play the entire car ride (Bella didn't like music anymore, and Jacob didn't complain). They just sat and talked. At one point, they'd started playing 'I Spy', but that was kind of difficult when it was so dark outside. Eventually, they just sat in silence. It was a warm, amiable sort of quiet, though, nothing like the ones Bella knew from her bedroom. The ache was almost gone when she sat and listened to Jacob talk about Quil and Embry, and then about how he'd tried to do this once before, when he was eleven.

She was laughing again.

"Okay," Bella finally mutters, shuffling into the lobby of Sleep Inn and asking for a room. Jacob lingers in the background, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds. Bella returns with a key-card and a handful of brochures.

"What's this?" Jacob asks, eyebrows pulling together as he plucks one of the pamphlets from her.Travel Washington is splashed across the front in colorful letters. He raises his eyebrows at her in question, but she just takes his elbow and pulls him towards the elevator. The doors shut with a ding.

"I guess I thought we could do some sight-seeing while we run." She shrugs and stifles a yawn. "But if you don't want to…" The elevator doors open on the seventh floor. Jacob shakes his head.

"No, no," he disagrees, hitching his bag up on his shoulder as Bella leads them down the quiet hallway. Most sane people are out and about by now. "We can do that. Sure." Bella throws a grin over her shoulder and slides the key-card into room 717's slot and pushes it open.

"Oh, crap," Bella sighs, exasperated.

"Whoa," Jacob says, dropping the bags in the doorway. "Language, Bells. What's wrong?" He steps fully into the room to take whatever's wrong. Maybe there's a bad view or the TV's broken. Nope. Everything looks normal. He opens his mouth to say so, but then his gaze falls upon the single bed. Bella's blushing and looking off to the side. Jacob shrugs easily. "It's cool, Bella. We can just get another room."

"No," Bella says. "We can't. They're completely booked."

Jacob blinks, rakes his fingers through his hair. "Well," he breathes out. "You take the bed, then. I'll crash on the floor." He's already reaching for a couple of the pillows to make himself a suitable nest on the ground. Bella's lips are pursed.

"No, it's okay, Jake," she says, but she sounds cautious, almost reluctant to agree. Jacob shakes his head stubbornly.

"Bella," he draws out the syllables of her name and gives her a look that quite clearly says stop being difficult."Jake," she replies wearily, eyes closing for the briefest of moments. Jacob thinks she looks so adorably human in that moment that he concedes. Although a little part of him had been hoping she'd stick to her guns…Bella could be stubborn when she wanted to be, and he wasn't going to argue with her much this time.

"Fine," he sighs, shoulders raising and falling in a weak shrug. He tosses the pillows back onto the bed and flops down, throwing his arms up behind his head. "But I take up a lot of the bed, you know…" Bella shoots him a wry smile and mutters something about taking a shower. "Sure, sure." Jacob leans back against the pillows and flicks on the television.

Bella leaves.
-

She returns twenty minutes later with damp hair and pajamas to find Jacob fast asleep on top of the covers, curled up curiously into a ball on his side. He looks sort of small then, young. His face is free of the hard worry lines she'd seen in the past few days. His eyes are closed, so there's no chance of that hard edge coming back to his dark pupils. And his lips are quirked up in a smile. Her Jacob. He looks so peaceful now, calm and worry-free. And Bella thinks he's never looked more beautiful than in that moment.

Yes, beautiful. No sort of to tack on there now, not in the comfort of her own mind.

Bella slips into bed beside him, wiggles under the covers and turns over onto her side to face him. She watches as his mouth twitches, as if something's funny. She wonders what he's dreaming about. He mumbles something in his sleep. Bella leans forward a bit, trying to catch it. "Bella," he barely whispers and she doesn't breathe for a moment. "Why are you watching me sleep?"

She blushes and rolls over onto her other side. "I'm not," she replies, but her voice shakes with the last syllable. Jacob barks out a laugh and throws an arm over her. Bella wants to protest, but he's warm and inviting and he smells kind of like home, so she just remains silent and buries herself farther into the blankets.

"'night, Bells."

"Goodnight, Jake…"
-

Jacob wakes up first the next…day. They'd slept clear through the day and into tomorrow, but time isn't an issue here. It's not like they have any set schedule…He thinks they'll just drive across the United States, and once they find somewhere they like, they'll stick around for a while. He knows it won't last forever, but until he can silence the wolf still sleeping in his chest, he'll have to be as far away from La Push and its vampires as he can get.

It strikes him then just who he's sleeping next to and he grins, looking down to find that Bella's somehow managed to throw all of the blankets to the floor during the night. He'd put the air conditioning on somewhere around eight o'clock last night, and, to her, it must have been a bit chilly. Sometime between eight o'clock last night and dawn this morning, Bella had rolled in to him. She was curled tight against him now, arms folded against his chest and one of her legs impossibly tangled with his. His arm is around her and Jacob doesn't remember putting it there. Subconscious? Maybe.

The alarm clock goes off just then, and he instinctively reaches over to silence it before it can disrupt Bella's rest. But she's already yawning and stretching, blurry brown eyes flicking up to meet his. "Morning, sunshine," she sputters, voice rough and thick with sleep. "Sleep good?"

Jacob nods, then looks over at the alarm clock. "You sent for a wake-up call." It's a statement, not a question. Bella nods. Jacob sighs and leans back against the pillows. Bella gets out of bed and tosses one of her pillows at him.

"Get up and dressed, Jacob Black. We needed to be on the road five minutes ago…"

"Why?" Jacob complains, burying his face into the sheets.

Bella shrugs. "Because we're close enough to Forks that maybe Sam can still get to you." Jacob's brows furrow. "Besides, I'm hungry."

"Okay. Give me ten minutes…"
-

They're somewhere in Oregon now.

"California!" Jacob crows, grinning at her. Bella huffs indignantly.

"No fair! You have, uh…" She pauses her words to pass a particularly slow semi-truck. "You have superhuman eyesight."

Jacob turns his palms up. "I can't really help that, Bella. Besides, in a while, I won't anymore."

Bella's gaze meets his in the rearview mirror, milk chocolate meeting dark. "Are you sure you-"

"I can do it, Bella," Jacob snaps, and suddenly he's not her Jacob anymore, but Sam's, a defiant frown upon his lips and his arms crossed across his chest, as if that will keep the beast in his chest at bay. Bella frowns.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Jake," she says, turning to look at him. "I was going to say are you sure you can just let it go?" He gives her the same sour look. Bella holds up a hand. "I mean, are you sure you want to?" This startles Jacob into silence. His eyebrows have arched back towards his hairline and he's staring at her blankly. "I know that it's hard, but the way you talked about it…Don't you like some of it?"

Jacob sighs loudly, exhaling his irritation. His expression fades back into one of mixed emotions, perhaps confusion. Again, it strikes Bella how young he looks, a boy placed into a man's body, a boy thrown into a man's war. "Sam says I'm good at it." He grins are wry grin. "Good at being a monster."

Bella shakes her head. "You're not a monster, Jake." The truck sputters to a halt at a long line of traffic. A construction delay, probably, or an accident. She turns in her seat to face him, sincerity written all over her face. Jake, you're not a monster is scrawled all over the crease in her forehead, the subtle dip of her lips. It's only then that Jacob realizes he's staring and he glances off to the side.

Bella takes this as shame, and she moves to rest her hand on his much larger one. He's startled when she does and her fingers recoil a bit at the warmth. But she stubbornly curls her fingers over the back of his hand. "They help people, your pack. And if you're good at that, then…" She shrugs her shoulders lamely. "I don't see why that's such a bad thing. You've always been good at saving people." Like me, Bella thinks, but she doesn't say so aloud.

Jacob picks his gaze up from the floor and stares at her. He's glad she knows that, because sometimes, he doubts himself. A smile ghosts over one side of his mouth and he squeezes her hand gently. "Thanks, Bells."

"Yeah, no problem." She pulls her hand away from his, but he persistently takes it back. It's not like they're moving much anyway, so she can steer fine with only one hand. Bella sighs and casts him a furtive, sideways glance. "So…do you like it at all?"

"Sure," Jacob admits, and it's the first time he's told anyone. Yeah, the others know that he's not completely unhappy, but that's only because they're in his head all the time. He hasn't told anyone except Bella. And he doesn't plan to. "I like the speed. There's nothing like it, Bella. I mean, think ten times the motorcycle." He sees her lips droop and wonders what he's said now that reminds her of the blo-

The Cullens. He's trying to get better at that.

"Montana," Bella says.

Jacob grins and points to the car zooming by them in the opposite direction. "Nebraska."

"Jeez, Jake," Bella grumbles. "You could let me win once."

"What fun would that b-" His words trail off into nothingness and Bella's gaze follows his to the side of the road. There's a car tipped on its side there and bodies are being wheeled to the ambulance. An accident. That's what was taking so long.

But Jacob doesn't see any blood from here…

Bella stomps on the gas. "Let's get out of here…"
-

The miles stretch out in front of them. Eventually, Jacob convinces Bella to take a rest and let him drive. She probably wouldn't have agreed to let him drive, just to stop and refuel, but they'd been passed by a sleek, silver Volvo and Jacob noticed the subtle shift in his posture, rigid-back and tight knuckles. He'd said that she shouldn't be driving on an empty stomach, but they both knew what he meant.

You shouldn't be driving on a broken heart. You might kill someone. Accidentally, of course. So as they cross Oregon, Jacob's at the wheel and Bella's sleeping in the passenger seat, curled up impossibly into a ball. Jacob chuckles softly, moving to extricate the book she has tucked beneath an arm. Bella stirs, but doesn't wake, grip tightening upon the old book. Jacob shakes his head and lets her keep hold on The Catcher in the Rye. He'd been supposed to read that book in school this year for his English Literature class….He hadn't, but he knew the basic gist of the story, and it didn't seem the type of book Bella would read and like, anyway. Maybe for school once, but there were no happy endings or great love stories in Salinger's book that Jacob knew of…

Of course, he hadn't finished the book (or even started it, really) so he wouldn't know. His attention shifts back to the road in front of him. The headlights splash a small section of road in light and his gaze goes to the clock on the dashboard. 8:37. They should probably pull off the highway. He was tired, too, and Bella didn't look like she was in shape to drive. Jacob flicks on the turn signal, eases over onto the exit ramp. There's probably a little hotel down the road where they can stay…

Something leaps onto the bed of the truck with a startling clang. Jacob swerves, suddenly struck with the sickeningly sweet, too sharp scent of vampire. The wolf within him jumps to life and a low growl claws its way out of his throat. Bella's eyes snap open and, wide and brown, they search for his gaze. "Jake, what-"

"Fuck," Jacob hisses, pulling over onto the shoulder. "Fuck. It followed us. Stupid idiot…" He's throwing the truck's door open, his body already rippling with the change. Bella reaches out to stop him, or comfort him. He's not sure right now because he's shaking and his muscles are clenching and he's changing. And she's way too close.

"Jacob, let's just go," she pleads, even if she knows it's useless. If Victoria's found them, there's no way they can outrun her –truck, motorcycles or werewolf. They're stuck, and Jacob's going to try and stop her and get himself killed. All because of her. "Please."

"Bella, I couldn't hold it in if I tried," he says bitterly, leaping out of the truck. His feet are paws before he even hits the ground, bones shifting and growing, fingernails turning into claws, thick fur appearing as he explodes out of his skin and into his fur. A snarl rips passed his clenched teeth as the Jacob-wolf's dark, narrowed eyes settle upon the redheaded vampire perched upon the truck bed.

You want her you have to go through me first.The vampire's smirk says My pleasure.

Bella's eyes widen as the massive, russet wolf springs forward, knocking Victoria clear off the truck. The two scramble for a moment before Victoria ducks into the woods. Jacob hesitates for a moment, looking over his massive shoulder before following. Bella holds her breath. She's alone again and Jacob might not make it out of there alive.

And if he doesn't make it, neither will she. Bella knows that he intended for her to get out of here once he'd managed to push Victoria back into the forest, but she can't bring herself to run away, to just drive off and leave her best friend grappling with a vampire in the woods. There's nothing she can do now, but if he stumbles out of the woods bleeding and hurt, she can at least drive him to a hospital.

Besides, she's shaking so badly she doesn't think she could drive right now if she tried. He's her best friend. What is she going to do if he doesn't come back?
-

Jacob? Embry's surprised. What are you doing here? Holy- fuck, what are you doing?He ignores the voice in his head, another fierce growl slipping passed his muzzle. The redheaded vampire is perched in a tree, staring down at him with curious, ruby eyes. It's all clicking into place now. The accident they'd passed hadn't been an accident at all. She'd killed those people and left a fake crime scene in her wake. But Victoria was sloppy…she hadn't even left any blood at the scene except for two very clear puncture marks at the neck. And he'd been so busy trying to silence the wolf that he'd just ignored every whimper and growl at the back of his head. Stupid, he thought again, pacing at the base of Victoria's tree.

He would've been able to keep the wolf inside and use the enhanced senses to his advantage. But no, he'd been too interested in trying to get back to the way things were, to make himself the boy Bella knew before, that he'd ignored the signs. And now they were both in big trouble and the stupid vampire wouldn't even come down and let him try to take his anger out on her.

"Stupid dog," the vampire sighs, watching his movements. "Why can't you just let me have my revenge? It's not like she's your mate." She has the audacity to laugh and its echoed by another snarl. Jacob's fur is standing on end, ears pinned back. He's trying to decide whether or not he could reach her branch…

With lightening speed, Victoria descends from the tree. She's on top of him before he can even react, an arm locked around the wolf's massive throat. Jacob chokes and gasps, thrashing and rearing back on his hind legs in an effort to throw her off of his back, sinks his teeth into her forearm so hard that there's a sickening crack of rock-hard bones breaking. Her grip only tightens. His vision is filling with black spots, his hold on her loosens and his eyes blink closed.

"That's it. I'll even let you live, how's that? You live while she dies…You and Edward Cullen will feel what I feel." Jacob's eyes snap open as narrow slits and he yanks upward on her arm. Her shoulder dislocates with a snap and Victoria recoils, hissing and baring her teeth. Jacob falls back onto all fours, gasping greedily for breath and stepping away from her. He lifts his head, bares his teeth right back, and begins circling. She does the same.

They clash.
-

Bella only hears angry snarls and growls from here, but at least they let her know he's alive. When she growls stop, her white knuckles tighten over the steering wheel. Nothing. Silence. And then a chorus of howls fills the air. She blinks, eyes widening a bit as several wolves dart passed. There's a gray one and a brown one, a big black one that looks at her over his shoulder as he disappears. And then Embry Call is knocking at her window and Bella nearly has a heart attack. "Open up," he says, and she reaches over to unlock the door.

He hops into the cab and tells her to drive. "What? Why? What about Jacob?"

He hesitates, runs his fingers through his short hair. "The guys are taking care of it," he says and looks off to the side. "We have to get you out of here in case the vamp gets away." When she doesn't respond except for a glance tossed back to the forest, Embry ends up taking the driver's seat and turning the car around completely, headed back to Forks.

"Is he okay?" Bella asks fifteen minutes later, once the shock has worn off a little. She changes her mind before the question can be answered. "Is he alive?"

Embry sighs, nods his head. "Yes. He's alive."

Bella's heart sinks. Her Jacob, hurt trying to save her. It was a very Jacob thing to do.
-

The next day, Bella arrives at Billy's place at seven in the morning. Jacob's still sleeping, Billy says, but she can go in if she wants.

She does. Jacob looks ridiculously huge in his too-small bedroom, barely fitting into the bed. He's bundled up in blankets, which strikes her as odd, and there's an IV in his arm, dripping some black liquid into his veins. There are several small puncture wounds over his arms and neck and he's got a big bandage over his left arm. It needs changed; blood is seeping into the cloth again. He's asleep again, but this time he doesn't look young, innocent, and worry-free. Now, he looks wise beyond his years, worried, a crease in his forward. "Bella," he mutters in his sleep. "Think I might love you…"

Bella's heart clenches. He's not joking this time. That much is clear as he sighs and shifts in bed, face tightening again. Bella hovers awkwardly at the end of his bed. She's still broken. Damaged goods. She's still not over Edward, and she doesn't think Jacob deserves to love someone who's so…incapable of loving him back. But as she sits down at the edge of his bed and takes his (too cold) hand in both of hers, she thinks that maybe she could try, for Jacob. He deserves to be happy.

And she thinks she does, too.

Absently, Bella brushes the back of his hand with her thumb. Jacob's eyes flutter open, closed, open. He thinks he's probably dreaming. "Mmm. Hey, Bells," he mumbles, voice raspy and soft.

Bella's eyes jump from the little bite-marks on his arm to his face and she's surprised to find he's grinning in spite of everything. "Jake," she says, dropping his hand. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Jacob stubbornly takes her hand in his, though with not nearly as much force as he might have a day ago. She doesn't pull away. "Werewolves are pack animals. We don't do so hot against full-grown vamps on our own." He shrugs, like it's nothing, but winces as his shoulder pulls. "I'll be okay, though. There's an antidote for the venom, so as soon as it's out of my system and my arm heals up…"

"You're cold," Bella says blankly.

"Yeah. The venom does that. You should've seen me last night, shivering 'cause my temperature dropped so low. Even lower than yours." He nods and rolls his eyes. "I should've seen that coming. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Bella squeals, eyes narrowing dangerously at him. "Jacob Black, you almost died yesterday. You have nothing to be sorry about." He doesn't want to argue with her when her jaw's set like that. He thinks she looks kind of adorable. He's grinning, and Bella's annoyed. "Don't smirk at me!"

"I love you, Bella," Jacob says again, this time fully conscious. She thinks he means I love how you screw you face up like that but her stomach clenches regardless. A blush blossoms on her face. Coming so close to losing him…She's realized that she won't be able to function without him. Really. As broken as Edward left her, Bella thinks that if she lost Jacob –especially that way- she'd just curl in on herself. And she didn't think that there were many more mechanics around to put her back together again.

"I think I love you, too, Jake," she barely whispers. Jacob's eyebrows pull together and he stares at her, mouth popping open slightly. A slow grin forms upon his lips.

"About time!" He crows, leaning forward to kiss her.

Bella thinks it's strange that his lips are still so warm. It's much different than what she's used to, but he tastes like warm sodas in the garage, conversation hearts, and something that's poignantly Jacob black. Her eyes are closed and she doesn't see fireworks, but she sees the sun. Warm and bright, just outside Jacob's bedroom window, behind her eyelids. His lips are soft, bruised too from his fight with Victoria, but hers are firm and confident.

Jacob pulls away first, breathing in deeply. His nose wrinkles.

"Did you change your clothes?" Bella looks down self-consciously. "You smell like vampire…"