A/N: So I think that this chapter is a little boring. It just fixes the whole rape thing basically. I can't think of anything more bad to happen to the couple so maybe they can finally be happy. Or maybe I can think of something and have them suffer! Muhahahaha! I don't know yet. Read and Review please!

Chapter 26: Court

Everybody sees it's you
I'm the one that lost the view
Everybody says we're through
I hope you havn't said it too

So where do we go from here
With all this fear in our eyes
And where can love take us now
And we've been so far down
We can still touch the sky

'Crawl' by Chris Brown

I woke up on the couch with Jacob staring at me.

I stretched and smiled at him, but his face was stone cold.

I got up and went over to him, "Jake? What's wrong?"

He sighed and said, "Sit down Melanie."

I plopped on the couch; his tone of voice had me confused.

"Melanie, I think we should break up."

My eyes widened, "What? Why?"

He shook his head, "We're not right for each other Melanie. I'm sorry but I don't think we can be together anymore."

"But – but, you imprinted on me. How could you not want to be with me?" I asked him. I could feel tears burning in the sides of my eyes, begging to be released. I would not cry in front of him, but when he leaves is a whole 'nother story.

"Who knew that imprints could be broken? I think I figured that out when Erin got pregnant."

My blood started to boil; "You're leaving me for Erin?"

He shook his head; his face still had a hard look on his face, like he was trying his best for me not to see his real emotions.

"No, I'm not leaving you for her. I just think that it's best for both of us if we didn't see each other again."

"What I don't understand is why? You say that it's best for me? What's best for me is being with you Jake! You can't leave me!"

The tears I'd been bottling up inside started to overflow.

"I love you Jacob. Please don't do this," I whispered.

He squatted down and looked me in the face, "Melanie, look at me." I looked at him and he continued, "Just promise me one thing: that you'll not do anything reckless or stupid. Remember that you have a bunch of people who love you, that would be heartbroken if something were to happen to you."

I shook my head and shot up from the couch, "How dare you tell me that! We're no longer together; I don't have to take shit from you! You break up with me then you tell me to be careful? What's that supposed to mean?"

He still had that look on his face; I just wanted to smack him. At least then I would get an emotion out of him.

"It means that I don't want you to do something stupid because of me breaking up with you."

I scoffed, "That's very egotistical of you. Thinking just because you leave me that I'll go jump off a cliff, well I have three words for you mister: I ain't Bella!"

Well I got a reaction of him then, "I never said you were! And I don't want you to be like her. Because the fact you're yourself and don't give a fuck what anyone thinks of you is why I fell in love with you in the first place."

"So you do love me!" I yelled.

He seemed to realize his mistake and sighed, "Yes I do Melanie, and I guess I should try to stop acting like I don't."

"Then why are you doing this to me?"

"I want you to have a good life Melanie; I don't want you to have to wait years for me when I go to jail. I don't want you to have to deal with Erin. I don't want you to grow old waiting around when you could be out enjoying life."

His words went straight to my heart, "What made you think all these things Jacob?"

He shook his head, "No one."

Realizing he said no one instead of nothing, made me understand what was going on.

"Sebastian came to you didn't he?"

Jake collapsed on the couch, "I really hate lying to you Melanie. I really do."

I sat beside him, "Then tell me the truth. Why do you think leaving me is going to make everything alright?"

"Because Sebastian told me he could get rid of Erin if I'd left you. Then she wouldn't be able to press charges and I wouldn't go to jail. But if I stayed with you then Erin would press charges, I'd go to jail, and you'd have to deal with baby mama and Sebastian too. I just thought that the first option was the best."

"Aw, Jake."

Even though he was hurting himself along with me, he still had good intentions. Jacob just wanted me to have a good life, not having to deal with all this craziness. But I'd rather deal with craziness and have Jake in my life then have a normal life without Jacob.

"Don't worry Jake, you won't go to jail. We'll get the best lawyers money can buy okay? I won't let you go without a fight."

He smiled at me, "I love you Melanie."

"I love you too, and don't you forget it!"

---THREE MONTHS LATER---

So Mrs. Cole was good on her promise. Jake was arrested and spent two months in jail. Then we came up with the $50,000 bail. Now one month after that, we're ready for the trial to begin.

As our lawyer my family employed Alex, Erin's fraternal brother. I swear when we arrived in court with Alex in tow, as our lawyer Mrs. Cole must have shit her pants.

So after three months Erin looked like she'd stuffed a watermelon under her shirt. A werewolf pregnancy is only five months long so Erin was more than half way into it.

Walking into court was the scariest thing I had to do. But it had to be even more frightening for Jake, since he was the one on trail. We took the defendant side of the courtroom while Alex started to organize himself.

We got quiet when the judge walked in.

"All rise! The court is now in session. The honorable judge Patricia Wake presiding. You may be seated," announced the bailiff.

"Good morning Court. We are here today in the rape case of Erin Cole vs. Jacob Black. Mr. Tillman, you have the floor."

Mr. Tillman, Erin's lawyer stood up and said, "I call Erin Cole to the stand."

Looking round, Erin waddled over to the stand and put her hand on the Bible. I scoffed; I'm surprised the Holy Book didn't burn her.

"Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" asked the bailiff.

"I do," she replied and sat down.

"Miss. Cole, can you describe what happened on the night this incident occurred?" asked Mr. Tillman.

Erin nodded and had a tissue in her hand, "I went into Jake's room to ask his forgiveness for something that had happened earlier… and he just… attacked me. I tried to fight him off but he was too strong. He tossed me on the bed… and… and…"

She started to cry. I was so surprised that she was still going on with the rape story. I just wanted to scream and yell at her. Didn't she realize what a serious crime this is? Didn't she see that she was ruining someone's life?

"No more questions," said Mr. Tillman.

Alex walked up to the judge, "Miss. Cole, earlier you said that you had went into my client's room to ask forgiveness for something. What was this something?"

Erin's eyes darted around, "Um, well, earlier Jacob and I shared a kiss that his girlfriend walked in on. I didn't mean to cause any trouble in their little paradise so I went to apologize." She sniffled, "I guess him doing this to me was his way of showing that he wanted me after all."

With that she looked at Jake and smirked.

My hands trembled under the desk and Jacob had to squeeze them in order to calm me down.

I looked into his deep brown eyes and instantly felt comforted. I still wanted to rip Erin's throat out, but it wasn't such a deep urge anymore.

I could tell that Alex had to force himself not to roll his eyes. He continued, "No more questions."

Erin waddled down from the stand and back into her chair. Judge Wake told Alex to call his next witness.

"I call Jacob Black to the stand."

Jake put his hand on the Bible and swore to tell the truth then sat down.

"Mr. Black, please tell your side of what happened that night."

Jake took a deep breath, "Well, the beginning of what Erin said was true. She'd come into my room to ask forgiveness for that kiss we'd shared. But I didn't rape her. She came unto me; she's given me a smoothie as a 'gift' but the drink had GHB in it. So being half-conscious, she in fact, raped me."

The whole court gasped and the jury started to murmur. Mr. Tillman yelled, "I object!"

Judge Wake replied by saying, "Overruled." I wanted to kiss the woman.

Alex smirked at the court's reaction and coolly said, "No more questions your honor."

With that Mr. Tillman stormed up to the stand and pounded Jacob with questions.

"Mr. Black, do you really expect for the court to believe that Miss. Cole attacked you when you are in fact twice her size?"

Jake kept it cool, "Well when you're semi-conscious anyone could have taken advantage of me at the time."

"Why would Miss. Cole willingly want to have intercourse with you Mr. Black?"

"Because she's jealous of Miss. Wolfbane and I. She probably thought that getting pregnant with my child would break Melanie and I up, but it didn't. Now she's coming up with this ludicrous accusation to get back at me."

"Do you have any proof that you were drugged Mr. Black?" Mr. Tillman smirked evilly; he sure didn't expect what was going to happen next.

Alex answered the question for Jake, "Yes, we do have proof that Mr. Black was indeed drugged on the night of the accident."

Erin gasped as well as Mrs. Cole.

Judge Wake nodded and said, "Bring it to me."

Alex went up to her and handed her a manila envelope. She put on her glasses and read; "On this date… blah, blah, blah, Jacob Black was found to have immense amounts of GHB as well as Sildenafil – commonly known as Viagra in his blood stream. Well this sure does make this more interesting."

Judge Wake continued, "So let me get this straight. Miss. Cole, you say that Mr. Black raped you and got you pregnant while Mr. Black, your side of the story is that you were drugged and Miss. Cole raped you. Is this correct?"

Both sides agreed.

"Well if there are no more witnesses or evidence this case is dismissed for deliberation."

Then she banged her gavel picked up her files and walked out.

---THE NEXT DAY---

A new day it was and I felt good.

With that kind of hard evidence while Erin only had word of mouth made me feel like we had this case in the bag.

But Alex was quick to crush my dreams, "Remember Melanie, things can change. The jury could find sympathy with Erin and convict Jacob anyway, so don't get your hope up."

Yeah, that put a damper on my happy mood.

In walked Judge Wake and we all stood and did all that. Nervously biting my nails I waited for the head juror to speak.

The man stood and with a piece of paper in his hands he said, "In the case of Erin Cole vs. Jacob Black, we find the defendant, Jacob Black, not guilty of rape to the first degree."

A sense of relief flooded over me and Jake hugged me tightly. I felt tears on my face as well as on my shoulder. Jacob was crying too. I gave him a watery smile and he returned one to me.

The juror continued, "But after careful deliberation we do find Erin Cole guilty of rape."

Everyone was shocked and wasn't expecting that to happen.

"I object, my client was not on trial so she could not be found guilty," said Mr. Tillman.

Judge Wake turned to Jacob, "Mr. Black, if you decide to press charges there will be a court hearing for you against Miss. Cole – if you wish to do so."

Jake looked at Erin and she had a pleading look in her eyes.

Jake sighed, "Your honor, I do not wish to press charges. I honestly just want to go home."

The judge nodded and said, "Then I find this case dismissed. Mr. Black, you're free to go."

We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Out in the parking lot, the rest of the pack as well as my family members were congratulating Jacob. He smiled and thanked everyone for sticking with him.

The crowd dissipated and left just the two of us. I was about to say something when a shrill voice pierced the air.

"You lied to me! And to think I believed you! Do you know what this will do to our reputation? And what do you get out of this whole mess? A baby, stretch marks and a long life of misery. Oh, why dear God did I have children? You are a disappointment; you are no longer my child Erin for I disown you."

There was the sound of a slap and tears, then the pealing of tires. We looked at each other and ran over to where it originated.

There Erin sat, crying on the pavement.

I walked over to her, "Erin? Are you alright?"

She looked up at me and saw Jacob behind me as well. She started to cry harder.

"I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! Why did I do this? All I wanted was to be loved. Now look where this had gotten me? Pregnant with nowhere to go, practically no family and Sebastian doesn't even want me."

She continued to cry. "Hey there Erin. You could always stay with my parents in my old room. You don't have to be alone."

She sniffled, "Really? You'd do that after all I put you through?"

"Yeah, we used to be best friends remember? And that's what friends do for each other."

She smiled and was about to say something when Sebastian pulled up in a red Mustang.

"Hey there Jakey-boy! Glad you're not going to jail. Come on baby, let's go." He said to Erin.

"Oh Sebastian! I thought you didn't want me anymore!" she ran over to the car and planted a kiss on his lips. I almost puked.

"I'll always want you my love. Come on, let's go home."

Erin hopped into the car and Sebastian started to pull away when she said, "Well Melanie, I guess you win some and you lose some."

When the were out of sight Jacob said to me, "What did that mean?"

I shrugged, "They deserve each other though."

He smiled, "You think this is over?"

I smiled back, "Not even close, but no matter what we'll still have each other."

"I love you Melanie. Did I say how much I don't deserve you?"

"Yeah, you did. But it doesn't hurt to say it again. Oh, and I love you too."

Thanks to my reviewers! (6 this time!)

visitor - JellyBean: Thank you so much.

lionandthelamblove7: Well how do you feel now?

visitor - love Jacob: So I hope you see why he did it. And don't you just love her reaction?

cassymae: I'm sorry to say that yes, the baby just might be his.

Leah Nessie Clearwater: Thank you and love your name by the way.

NOelly: Hey that's my job. And don't worry, they'll be happy eventually. It wouldn't be fun if there wasn't a little drama.