A/N: Everything Twilight belongs to the goddess known as Stephenie Meyer...though I wouldn't mind owning Bella's truck..

La Push – Present Time

BPOV

"Jake I'm scared," I whimpered as we stood on the edge of the cliff; cool wind and ocean spraying in my face. The tumultuous ocean below me heaved and churned.

"Relax Bells; nothing is going to happen to you. We're jumping together."

Jake slid his warm hand into mine and counted out loud, "Ready, one, two, three!"

Together we dove off the cliff, wind rushed through my hair, a flag flying behind my head. Together we broke the surface of the icy water, it sucked us down, and bubbles swirled around our heads.

Jake let go of my hand and we kicked to the surface.

"That was awesome!" I exclaimed, "Let's do it again!"

Jacob laughed, "See, I told you there was nothing to worry about."

Lazily we swam to shore; Jacob shook like a dog, spraying me with water. I grabbed my beach towel and wrapped it around my shoulders. Jacob came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, warming me instantly.

"I love you," I said, leaning my head against his chest.

"Love you too," he said, kissing my cheek, "do you really want to jump again?"

I shook my head no, "If you don't mind, I'd like to go to Emily and Sam's. Emily asked me if I could help her plan Claire's third birthday party."

"Okay," Jacob said, gathering up his towel and our clothes, shoving them into a knapsack, "there's some pack stuff I have to talk to Sam about."

Hand in hand we hiked, well Jacob hiked; I mostly stumbled and tripped, up the trail and through the woods to the parking lot where my truck was parked.

Jake drove the old Chevy to Emily's house. Saying as he got out of the truck, "you need new brakes. I'll take care of that this week."

I nodded, Jake was the only reason the Chevy had managed to live such a long life. I walked into Emily's house, "Knock, knock," I called, stepping into the kitchen.

"Bella!" Emily exclaimed.

"Hey Emily; Sam." I hugged her. Since Jake and I had started dating, Emily and I had become best friends. She wasn't Alice, that was for sure, but like Edward, Alice had left me as well.

"Where's that no good brother of mine?" Sam laughed.

I pointed toward the front yard, "Probably out there breaking my truck. He said something about brakes on the way over here." Sam kissed Emily's scarred cheek and went off in search of Jacob. Emily poured coffee and we sat at the table.

"Party list," she said, shoving a pad of paper across the table. I grabbed the paper and glanced at it. "Um, Em, you need more than a cake for Claire's party," I chided. She looked down at the table, picking at a piece of loose wood, "I know. I'm just so bad at this."

I smiled, "its okay. We'll figure it out."

JPOV

Behind me I heard the screen door slam. I slid the dipstick back into its place and turned to greet Sam.

"What's wrong with the Chevy?" he asked in lieu of a greeting. I let the hood fall shut. "Nothing," I said, wiping my hands on my pants, "Just making sure everything is hunky dory for my girl." Sam nodded. The Chevy had taken on a sort of life of its own; Bella's baby. She loved that truck more than her own life, and no one could persuade me otherwise.

"Jake, there's something you should know. Paul and Embry were on patrol last night and they, well, they came across a fresh vamp scent."

"Whose?" I demanded.

"We're no sure. It could be the red headed female from last year. You know the one whose mate came after Bella down there in Phoenix. She could have come looking for her friend; or it could be one of the Cullen's."

"Better not be the goddamn Cullen's. They already hurt her enough and I'll be damned if that bloodsucker thinks he's gonna get his fangs into my girl again." An intense quivering started, first in my feet; then growing, consuming me.

"Whoa, Jake calm down," Sam said, putting a heavy hand on my shoulder. The intense quivering calmed; reduced to a gently hum.

"What are we going to do Sam? I can't let them hurt her again. You saw how messed up she was when he left her in the hospital in Phoenix."

"We wait and see," Sam began. He held up a hand to stop my interruption, "We resume patrolling the woods around Forks and see what turns up. If it is the Cullen's, well there's nothing we can do about it. We have to honor the treaty. But if it's not the Cullen's, well we'll take care of it like we did a few weeks ago."

I was pacing, trying to stay calm. If the Cullen's came back from where ever they'd been for the last year, God, it would probably kill Bella.

"Look, Jake, I know this sucks. All you want is to keep Bella safe. But it's also our job to protect the rez."

I nodded knowing what Sam had said was true; it just sucked that I couldn't protect Bella until I knew what I was protecting her from.

Reviews are more awesome that cliff diving with Jacob :)