Love, like a river,
Will cut a new path
Whenever it meets an obstacle.
- Crystal Middlemas -

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, only the plot. Sorry to disappoint everyone. ; ). Check out my other story Love Never Hurt So Much.

I felt like I was in one of those dreams where you either try to run but you can't or you're running as fast as you can but you're not getting anywhere. I couldn't decide. Jacob was reaching for me on one side, calling to me. I was running towards him as fast as I could, the scenery blowing past me. He seemed to be getting closer and closer, only something on the side I was running from was holding me back. Something was keeping me from closing the short distance between Jacob and me and I didn't know what it was.

"Bella, wake up! Bella, can you hear me?" I was pulled out of my dream by his voice.

"Jake? You there?" I asked without opening my eyes. I didn't have the energy to do anything.

"It's okay, sweetie, you just had a nightmare. Want to talk?" No I didn't want to talk. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I knew it was futile. It seemed like I would never get a good night's sleep again.

"No. I'm fine." I spoke with short answers, still keeping my eyes closed. I was afraid of what I might find when I opened them. I wondered if Jacob would still be the same. Would he become the Jacob I had seen in my dreams? I didn't want to know right now. "I just…." I trailed off, not knowing how to finish. I just what? Don't know what I'm feeling? Don't know what you're feeling? Don't understand what the hell happened in my dream?

"It's ok, Bella. You're awake now. Nothing's going to hurt you." Hurt. That's what I was looking for. That dream seemed to show me that something was going to hurt me, to rip me into two pieces at the same time. I just didn't know what.

"I know that. I don't remember it that well anyway." He didn't need to know about the internal battle that was going on in my head.

"I'm always here for you, if want to talk. I hope you know that." Of course I knew that. How many times had he told me that he was always going to take care of me? Too many to count, that's for sure.

"I think I lost count of how many times you've told me that, Jake. Can we get something to eat? I'm starving." As if on cue, my stomach gave an embarrassing rumble. I blushed and Jacob chuckled.

"Sure. I could use some food." He helped me out of the bed and carried me downstairs.

"I do have my own legs. I learned how to walk."

"Not very well. You could trip over nothing and I don't feel like going to the emergency room today."

"Ha-ha, very funny. I've been getting better." I could actually walk down the stairs and not trip now. Some people thought that was really funny, I on the other hand, thought it was an improvement.

"Sure, sure. What are your plans for today?" I hadn't thought about it. I had nothing to do that was actually fun, some piling up homework, chores, but nothing worth doing.

"I'll probably stay here, clean up a little, finish some things. What about you?"

"Got to go to the garage today. Paul phased in my car and it almost exploded." Oh, yeah. I forgot. Jake was a werewolf. I didn't know how that happened, but it seemed to cause minor problems daily, like Jake running out of sneakers. I didn't mind it too much. He was still human. "Ruined my entire backseat! I just upholstered it last week!" He seemed like he was talking more to himself than to me.

"Well at least it gave you something to work on. You love working on cars, and now you have the perfect excuse to be in your garage all day long. You should be thanking Paul." I added the last part sarcastically, not thinking he would say anything about it.

"Yeah, thank him for ruining everything. My car, my clothes! Billy said this was my last pair of shoes for now. I don't what I'd do if Paul got to them again, maybe go barefoot for awhile."

"Okay, okay. I get it. Just be grateful it wasn't something else he broke. I don't think you would like it too much, even if you do heal fast." I couldn't understand how he healed so fast. In the morning he would have a broken arm, then by lunch you would think nothing was wrong with him.

"You're right. I don't like having to sit still while they heal. There are better things I could be doing." By now we were cleaning up the kitchen, breakfast over and forgotten. I moved into the living room.

"Yes there are, like getting your parts. Jacob, it's Sunday. The shop closes at 3, right?" He nodded in response. "And getting there takes an hour. Port Angeles is pretty far away and I don't think you want to wait until next weekend to start working on your precious Rabbit. And I think you want to make it home before midnight."

"Okay, okay. I'll go." He headed towards the door. "Bye Bells. See you soon." He leaned forward to give me a hug. Jake knew not to push the limits. I hugged him back, not really wanting to let him go just yet.

He walked out the door, borrowing my old Chevy truck that his dad had given me when Jake finished his Rabbit. I remembered that day clearly.

"Come in!" I shouted, not really bothering to look who it was. Probably Billy and Jake. I didn't know why they were there.

"Hey Bella. Ready to go?" Mike walked through the doors into the living room. Go? Where did I tell him I would go today? Oh! The movies! Darn, I had totally forgotten about that.

"Oh, hey Mike. Just give me a minute and I'll be right back down." I ran upstairs; lucky I didn't trip on the steps. I was looking around for my rarely used purse. Where was everything when you needed it? After about five minutes of stumbling around, I thought I looked pretty good and went downstairs.

"Sorry Mike. I couldn't find something." No need to tell him I couldn't find everything.

"That's okay. We should get going now. The movie starts in 30 minutes." He opened the front door for me and led me outside, where, unannounced, was Jacob and his newly finished Volkswagen Rabbit.

"Jake? What are you doing here?" I looked over at Mike. He didn't look to happy that Jake was here, but pleased that I didn't expect him.

"I was just coming over to tell you I finished my Rabbit, but I think you have other plans." Those plans originally included many other people going to the movies, but either they got sick or Lauren got to them.

"No it's okay. We were just headed to the movies. You should come with us. That's okay, right, Mike?" I knew he wouldn't say no.

"Sure. Let's go." He started to go towards his car.

"Is it okay if we take my car? I only got to drive it the 10 miles here and I wanted to try it out some more." His first drive was to my house? How…sweet.

"Sure. Let's go."

I remember that trip ending with Mike getting sick and almost puking in Jake's new car. The night he found out he was a werewolf. The night he left for a few weeks because Sam had said he couldn't see me.

I didn't know what brought it on, but I suddenly felt sad. Jake was always gone for his pack doing wolfy things I didn't want to know about. I liked it better when we were both human, when we both were oblivious to the dangers of the real world. I thought that life couldn't get any better. I had Jake as a best friend, Angela too. School was okay and Mike was always there. There was nothing missing, nothing out of place.

But when Jake came over at midnight just to ask me to guess he was a werewolf, I thought he was mentally deranged. I thought Sam and his gang had put him up to this and it was all some cruel, twisted joke. I never, in a million years, thought it would change my life forever.

It put my life into perspective. I could lose everything in a minute. Jake had told me once about imprinting, how no one could control it. Sam and Emily. Jared and Kim. Paul and Rachel. They had all found their significant others. Jake had me, but I wasn't an imprint. I knew that if he did find his, I wouldn't have anything left. Jake would be gone. I didn't know how I would deal with that, or how Billy and the other elders would deal with it.

I knew their secret. I wouldn't tell anyone of course. Who would believe me? They would think I tripped and landed on my head one to many times and send me to the hospital or the nut house. Naturally, I wouldn't tell anyone. They all meant so much to me, that even if someone could believe me, I don't think I would ever tell anyone. It was a secret I felt bound to protect, like loyalty, even if it wasn't my secret.

That's what Jake had told me when he said he couldn't tell me anything about what was going on. At the time, I didn't understand what he was talking about. Did I know someone's secret and wasn't allowed to tell anyone? Now that I was inside the circle, I knew exactly what he meant.

The story wasn't for me to tell anyone. It was something I would keep hidden in a drawer and forget about one day. I never thought the land of make believe would follow me everywhere I went.

SONG: I'll Never Stop Loving You by Britney Spears

**Note Bella doesn't know Edward exists… yet. There are still 'fictional' characters in the story though** Review please! Should I continue?