A/N: Decided to update early today. I got up early to do some English essays, but I'm stalling. Good news for you!
I'm still thinking about changing the title for this story, but I still haven't come up with anything I really like. The few of you out there who're really following this (I know some of you are there! Very few, I admit, but some!) leave me some love and tell me if you have any ideas for a title change.
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A cloud passed in front of the sun, and the rainbows in the air dimmed and died. Bella and Jacob sat together silently; he watching her breathe, she watching nothing.
She sighed heavily, and he was startled. She rolled over, looking up at him. They stared at one another for a long time.
"Hey…" she murmured, but she didn't continue. She didn't really have anything else to say.
Jacob didn't know, but he frowned, and his brow puckered in concern. "How are you doing?" he asked.
Bella's eyes roved over the ceiling, before returning to his. "What are we gonna do, Jacob?"
He blinked – it was hard to meet her gaze.
"What are we gonna do?" she repeated. "I can't…" She faltered, then tried again. "I can't be near people. I can't stay in Forks or La Push… I can't go back to Charlie… I can't go back to Renee… I can't see anyone." Her hand twitched in the desire to reach out to him. "It's a miracle I can sit with you here like this… I can never be this close to anyone else again."
"A miracle…" Jake mused with a soft, dark laugh. "It's not a miracle, Bella… It's not even a coincidence…" He looked away from her then, staring out the window. "You can be near me because you couldn't hurt me unless you tried." He repeated his statement from before, "I'm not people, Bells… Werewolves… We're designed to stand up against you. We exist because you do. I am what I am… because they exist, because they are here." His gaze flickered back to her for a quick moment, before dropping to his lap. "…Or were here."
Bella tensed at the subtle reference, and she wrapped her arms around herself tightly. "An-anyways…" she interjected, not wanting to talk about that.
Jacob sighed. "Anyways," he agreed. "You're right. You can't be around people. You can't go back to Forks… But you can stay on the rez, so long as we keep you far enough away from the village."
Bella took her turn staring out the window. "…I can't be trusted, Jake," she said softly. "If I smell them… I'll want them. I won't be able to stop myself. It's…it's all I can do right now to stay in this bed, to not go looking for them…"
His hand was on her shoulder. "I'll help you," he said simply. "I won't let you."