Disclaimer: ( I wished I owned this...but the sad truth is that I don't)

two chapters in one day...who knew i could do it?
well, i hope you like this one, i laughed a little when i was writing it
so i guess there is only about eight more chapters left to this story...i just need to write a few more and i'm done
it's crazy how things go by so fast
..thanks for the reviews..

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Normal

A week passed and Charlie woke up. At first it was odd to finally have him back, to hear his voice. The first thing he wanted to know was whether or not his baseball team had made it into the finals or whatever it was they had. I didn't know much about baseball. He was mad that they had in fact not made it. This information was provided by Billy and he seemed just as distressed about the fact as Charlie. I didn't see the point in putting so much care in the sport while there was a much more important fact pending. Since he had woken up the topic of his condition had not been brought up. He didn't want to talk about it and so it wasn't mentioned. I could see in his expressions that he was going to be stubborn on this subject.

After two weeks the doctors said he could go home. I didn't understand the lightness that they were approaching the subject. Just a few days ago they had acted like Charlie was going take a turn for the worst and soon. To me, I had gotten the impression that his condition would be serious no matter how things turned out. For better or worse he was still going to have to live a totally different life. There would be no more sheriff responsibilities for him to busy his day with. And he loved his job, that would be the worst part. I could see that whenever we talked about the police station now that the light in his eyes would dim out. He missed it.

The day we left the hospital the doctor pulled me aside. The original doctor that had been working with us had been reassigned. I secretly wonder if Jacob was to thank. I'd had the sneaking suspicion that he'd requested a different doctor after that first day.

"You're going to need to keep a close eye on him", the doctor had said. "He may not look like he's in danger, but he is". I nodded my head as he continued to speak. "Because of the damage in his heart he won't be able to live like he use to. There will be a special diet and exercises. For a long time there won't be a day when someone won't have to watch him". A knowing smile took over the doctors face. "I've seen him and I've taken notice of his stubbornness. He'll definitely need a close watch". I continued to nod, it was as if the ongoing speech about taking care of my father was routine now. "I'll be giving you a prescription that you can pick up today at the pharmacy". He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile. "Other than that all there is to do is wait. He'll get better. Just give it some time"

The doctor handed me a slip of paper with the medications listed on it and said goodbye. I turned around from the check out desk and walked back over to Charlie, who was currently wearing a face of annoyance. Billy hadn't stopped shooting jokes about him being in a wheelchair.

"Look at us", Billy joked. "Two of a kind aren't we?" He patted the rim of his wheel. "People are going to think these things are a style statement"

Charlie continued to hold a face of disgust, but it was clear that Billy had only been trying to lighten the situation.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again", Charlie gritted. "I didn't choose to be in this damn thing, they made me"

Billy laughed at this and slapped his knee. "Well I didn't choose to either, but you don't see me acting like a five year old!"

A hint of a smirk caught at the corner of Charlie's mouth.

"Yeah well, at least I look good in one", he joked.

This was when I walked up to him and grabbed the back handles on his chair. Just as I started to wheel him towards the door Jacob strolled up beside me.

"It's finally time to get these goofs out of here huh?"

"Yup, lets get the cripples out of the hospital", Billy added.

As we made our way through the door Charlie mumbled. "I'm not a cripple".

…

Once we'd gotten back to Jacob and Billy's house and settled Charlie in the living room, I made my way outside. We had decided back at the hospital that staying with Billy and Jacob would be the best idea. There would be more people to watch him and more company for Charlie. Billy seemed keen enough with the idea, so he had Jacob set up his room for him to stay. Unfortunately that meant less privacy for me and Jacob.

Now I was standing outside the garage contemplating on whether or not I wanted to go in. I hadn't heard any news on what had been decided on Mike lately, so I thought that maybe I'd find out myself. There were only so many weeks they could hold him hostage. If Mike hadn't told his parents that he was off on a pre-college hiking trip with his friends then surly the police would be involved. It had been over two weeks now and they would probably be asking questions soon.

I gripped the door handle and walked in. In his usual corner sat Mike, but this time there was a very pissed off Leah giving him a death glare. Once she'd heard the door open she heading right for me and pushed her way through. I watched as she stomped her way back into the house and slammed the door shut behind her. I shot Mike a questioning look.

He laughed. "Believe me, it's not important. You wouldn't want to know"

I made my way to Jacob's Rabbit and sat on the passengers seat that still didn't have a door. Lately there wasn't much time for car repairs in La Push. I decided to get straight to business.

"What's happened the past few days?"

He smiled and let out a laugh that echoed against the garage walls.

"And why should I tell you?"

"Because if you don't I'll just ask Jacob"

He seemed content with this answer and brought his face into a regular expression. No smile, no laugh.

"Nothing much. Leah's a bitch and Sam asks lots of questions"

I waited a second before asking him as I scanned my eyes along the garage floor.

"Do you answer any of them?"

"Only the ones he makes me"

My mouth dropped at this sudden statement. Sam was making Mike answer questions? But Mike hadn't said anything sense he got here, there was no way that he would give anything away now. Unless they were hurting him. It was then that I saw the bruises that ran up along his neck and stopped at his jaw. A busted lip just above his chin and a cut on his left eyebrow. A feeling of pity and anger swelled through me. Even if Mike was on the wrong side that didn't mead he deserved to be beaten. He was still my friend.

"What did they do to you?", I whispered.

His eyes dropped to the floor and from the expression he held on his face I could see that he was thinking about how to answer my question. Finally he brought his gaze back to me.

"It's not important", he waited a few seconds. "How is Charlie?"

I could see that he didn't want to talk further on the subject so I took his change of topic and answered him.

"He's fine. It was bad for a few days, but the doctors think he'll be doing much better". I waited before added the worst of the details. "Something with his heart is wrong, so he won't be able to work at the police station anymore"

A grim expression corrupted Mikes face. Clearly it hurt him to hear me talk about Charlie in that way. In all reality he had known him better than I had and longer. Mike had never left forks in his life.

"I'm sorry Bella. That really sucks"

"You shouldn't be sorry Mike. It's not like you did it". His face angled to the floor as if there was something suddenly very important he needed to look at down there. "Some things are important Mike", I added. He picked his head back up. "Whatever is going on between you and Leah may not be, but being tortured for answers is"

He shrugged. "I heal fast"

It hurt me to hear this. I didn't like that he cared so little about himself.

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt"

He re-situated himself in his chair against the ropes and gave another shrug.

"Doesn't really matter"

I stood up from the car and stomped over to him.

"It matters Mike! Sam is interrogating you and it's wrong! Just because he wants some answers doesn't mean he has the right to do these things to you!" I brought my hand to his chin and brushed along the bruise. He flinched under my touch. Realizing what I'd just done I quickly brought my hand down to my side. "He doesn't have the right to hurt you", I added with a whisper.

Mikes voice dropped to a somber tone. "We're in a war Bella. Things happen, rules change"

"What war! I haven't seen anything that even resembles a war yet! All I've seen is Sam keeping someone in this garage that doesn't need to be. You haven't done anything!"

"You don't know that. I've done things Bella. Just because I've been in this garage for the past few weeks doesn't mean I don't deserve to be. As you said, I'm on the wrong side"

Hearing this from Mikes mouth left me in a stupor. If he thought that he was on the wrong side then maybe there really was a war going on, or at least there was one starting. And a question scratched at the back of my head. What had Mike done? Why did he think that he deserved to be tied up and tortured? I didn't like where things were headed.

"What did you do Mike?"

He dropped his head back to stare at the floor. "You don't want to know and I'm not going to tell you". He looked up to me and caught my eyes. "Don't pry this one Bella. Let me keep this answer to myself"

…

After that conversation with Mike I decided that I was going to have to talk to Jacob. There were things that I needed to know. I spotted him in the living room having a shushed conversation with Sam and Billy. Charlie was off in the corner watching the taped baseball games he had missed, courtesy of Billy. I could tell that he didn't like the pending outcome of the current game by the tight hold he had on his beer. Just as I noticed the beer I prodded over to him and snatched it from his hands.

"Doctor said no beer"

He turned from the TV screen. "Come on Bells, I'm watching baseball"

"Nope. The doctor gave me his orders and I fully intend to follow them". I eyed the case of beer just beside him. "Down to every last can of beer". A regretful frown took over his face as I bent down and took the case. "Billy will thank you", I added. he dropped his attention from me and mumbled.

"Yeah sure"

I brought the beer over to the counter and smiled at Billy.

"Dad said you could have this"

Billy smiled back. "Well isn't he mighty generous today"

Then, just with that I eyed Jacob.

"I need to talk to you"

Billy let out a half corrupted smile and gestured for him to go.

"Go on and have your melodramas. Your only kids once"

So I lead Jacob out the front door and stood just outside it. His hand was in mine.

"Why is Sam torturing Mike?"

Just as quickly as I asked the question, Jacob shifted back in shock.

"Now don't go saying stuff like that. You know Sam", he defended.

I pulled him further away from the door.

"Don't lie to me Jacob. I saw the bruises"

He dropped his gaze.

"That's nothing Bella"

I gave him a few seconds to tell me more, but once I realized that he planned on staying silent I continued with what I had to say.

"That's crap Jacob!" I dropped his hand and configured the worst glare I could possibly put together. "You knew he was doing this and you lied to me!"

"I didn't lie to you!" I could see the hurt in his eyes. "You never asked!"

"Well, you still didn't tell me and that's just as crappy!"

Just then I took notice of our audience and a blush of red made it's way to my cheeks. I hated yelling in front of other people. It just felt weird. And right now Quil, Embry and Seth had a great view of my show. Jacob seemed to have noticed my discomfort because he quickly took my arm and started dragging me towards my truck. After some awkward moments of after fight silence he finally let go of my arm and leaned against the tailgate. Now I was feeling odd standing alone and blankly staring down at his feet. He took my hand and pulled me to him. I started crying.

"What the hell Bella!", he questioned.

"What?", I managed to mumble. He tightened his hold around my shoulders and rubbed his thumb against the side of my face.

"First you're mad, then your crying? You're such a girl!"

I pushed back from him and scowled.

"I am not a girl", I grossed. God I was stubborn and I knew it.

A giant sized laugh blew from his mouth. "Well I sure hope you are, since I kissed you no less than twenty minutes ago"

A small smile crept across my face at his comment.

"Well I've always wondered about you and Quil", I joked. But then the image of Mike's beaten face and busted lip slipped into my mind. There were more important things to be talking about. And my boyfriends sexuality was not one of them. "It's wrong what he's doing to Mike", I added.

"Bella I don't have any say in what Sam does. If he thinks that giving Mike a punch or two will get us some answers then I'm not about to stop him. What's happening is much more dangerous then it seems and that's only because it hasn't really started yet"

"That doesn't make any sense. It can't be dangerous unless it's started"

I didn't like that he was veering away from the Mike issue, but I still needed to know what was going on. Jacob took a hold of my shoulders and gave me a serious face. This was the one that he reserved for things that he was not fooling around with. No jokes.

"Bella, what is happening is dangerous and people are in danger. It just hasn't started because we don't know what to do yet. There's just too much we don't know right now"

"I want to help"

A look of regret and protectiveness took him over after I said this. He hugged me in closer.

"No"

"No?", I asked.

"No you're not helping. It's way too dangerous". He squeezed me tighter. "I'm not doing that to you again"

I jumped back at this comment and made my way to my own section of the tailgate.

"No one's doing anything to me Jacob. I want to help. It's my choice and I have the right to make it"

He made his way over to my claimed spot and took my hand into the both of his. I could feel his warmth surrounding my cold skin. I hadn't realized until then how cold it was. I couldn't have been more than forty out. We hadn't had this cold of weather in September for a long time. After realizing that I wasn't going to push back in disgust he slid up next to me and spoke.

"Everything will be fine. Sam and the rest will find out where the nomads are and we'll figure it out"

"And after that?", I prodded. He seem slightly confused with this question.

"After that everything will be back to normal". He cupped my cheek. "You'll be happy"

"You call having a werewolf for a boyfriend normal?", I heavily mumbled.

With that he attacked me in a kiss that send my brain into shock. It was as if he had invaded me and taken all that was bad. Everything I had been worrying about was now shadowed by his heat. God twenty minutes had been a lifetime from not kissing Jacob. I could feel in his lips the start of a smirk as he stopped kissing even after I continued. I wanted to kiss like this forever. I wanted to feel this for as long as I could.

"God I love you", he mused. I looked up at him and smiled. "Too bad I like boys though"

I dropped his arms and pushed him in the chest.

"Don't joke with me Jacob Black!"

"We could have had a great thing, but with Quil walking around all day I just can't keep my eyes off him!" His eyes were filled with smirking malice.

"Jacob!", I yelled all to playfully.

Then he crushed down on me again and gave me another mind altering kiss. What a jerk he was. Acting so cute and annoying. What could anyone expect me to do? I had to kiss him back. As this went on he slipped his hand in my pocket and pulled out the paper the doctor had given me.

"What's this?", he questioned with an arched eyebrow.

"The medications that Charlie needs to take"

He scanned the list and seemed a bit taken back by it's contents.

"There's a lot of stuff on here"

I grabbed the paper from his hands and stuck it back in my pocket.

"Yeah I guess I should go get them now", I said as I walked towards the driver side door. I pulled it open just as Jacob rounded the truck to hold it for me. Once I got in he hopped in too and pushed me along the seat.

"I'll come too!"

He held his hands out for the keys. I figured now I could get him with my own form of humor. Just then I crawled up on his lap and ran my hands through his hair. It was getting longer now I noticed. A small moan slipped from his mouth as I pressed up against him. "Good god Bella". I continued to slip my fingers through his hair until I pressed my lips along his neck and up his jaw line. He whimpered under my touch, saying my name almost too quiet to hear. Then after a few seconds of that I paused and lightly kissed the corner of his lips and whispered against his heated skin.

"So you like boys do you?"

After that he chuckled and rolled over on top of me. Apparently the tables would be turning in this little joke of mine.