A/N Emily and her bad decorating skills..as well as everyone else belong to Stephenie Meyer :)

BPOV

When I woke up this morning the sun was shining for the second day in a row. Normally people say the rain is a bad omen, here in Forks it was the exact opposite. The rain was normal; it's when the sun started shining for to long that things started creeping out of the woodworks.

I dropped the curtain and padded down the stairs. A quick glance out the kitchen window confirmed what I already knew; Charlie had already gone for the day.

I poured a bowl of cereal and leaned against the counter wondering what happened during Jake and Embry's patrol last night. I started imagining the worst case scenario and by the time id finished my cheerios my stomach was in knots.

I skipped the shower and threw on some shorts and a t-shirt then sped off toward La Push. I could have called but since the incident with James I didn't trust the phone. I had to see Jake, with my own two eyes; make sure he was really okay.

In the Black's front yard I skidded across loose gravel and the truck heaved forward; then snapped back. Thank God for new brakes, I thought as I hopped out of the truck and inspected the damage behind me.

Billy met me at the door, "Morning Bella," he said eyeing the destruction id done to his front yard, "you in a hurry?"

I nodded, "I need to see Jake. Is he okay? He-they-vampire."

Damn stutter, I was fine until I got excited, then I'd start stuttering like porky pig.

Billy backed his wheel chair out of the door way, "He's fine. But go see for yourself."

"Thank you Billy," I said gratefully throwing my arms around him.

Billy patted my arm awkwardly, "You're okay Bella."

I had Billy to thank for just about everything. He'd convinced Charlie to let me stay in Forks after the incident in Phoenix; he'd bring Jacob over every weekend so I wouldn't be alone.

They'd come up, always saying their TV was broken or Charlie's flat screen was better for watching the Mariners beat the Yankees; or something like that.

When Jacob changed about a month after the Cullen's left, Billy told me the truth, well as much as he could at the time; there was something Jake was going thru and he just needed to some time to adjust.

Those weeks had damn near killed me. The nightmares and screaming began all over again. The abandonment I felt was worse than when Edward left. I had loved Edward, he saved me from a painful death but he betrayed me when I'd needed him the most. Jake was the one who brought me back from the edge; the one who gave me life again. He was the one who put the pieces of my broken heart back together, the one who loved me when I felt unlovable.

Then the night he showed up at my house I'd been prepared to turn him away. Cast him out just like he'd cast me out. But the agony I saw in his eyes broke my heart.

"I'm sorry," was all he said, "I can't tell you what happened, but you already know. You just have to think real hard. Think back to the day you and your friends came down to First Beach, right after you moved to Forks. Remember what we talked about. You asked about…well you know. Remember the story I told you."

We sat on the couch, Jake clutching my hand; desperately try to tell me something he wasn't supposed to tell me, something I already knew. It was confusing.

"Jake, I don't know what you're talking about."

He grabbed my face, "Please Bella, please try to remember. I need you to remember, I need you in my life. Please. I can't tell you, but if you can guess then it will be okay."

The despair in his eyes was killing me. I closed mine and thought about that first trip to La Push, to First Beach.

I remember Edward's snide comment about not falling into the ocean, Mike's pesky persistence, Jessica's joy at being squashed between me and Mike on the way down. Lauren's nasty comment about the Cullen's and Sam's mysterious reply. Jake's scary story.

"You told me about your ancestors-" my eyes popped open, "Oh My God Jacob! That story is true?! You're a-a," I lowered my voice, "a werewolf?"

Jake threw his arms around me, "I knew you'd figure it out!"

Then in a more subdued tone he said, "Yea, it's true."

* * *

I stood outside his door, my hand rested gently on the door knob.

Just open the door. He's fine, Billy wouldn't be so calm if he wasn't, I tried reassuring myself.

I turned the flimsy knob and pushed the door open slowly. Jacob lay sprawled across the bed, the better part of his legs hanging off the edge. His shaggy hair covered his eyes; his mouth was open and he was snoring loudly.

"Oh Jake," I sighed and threw myself onto his bed, "Oh Jake I'm so glad you're okay."

He opened his eyes, "Bells? What's wrong? Why are you crying? And why are you on top of me?"

"I'm just so glad you're okay. You didn't find anything the woods last night?"

Jacob sat up and wiped the tears from my face, "We found her; the red-headed one. Victoria," he spat.

My eyes widened, "And? What happened?"

"We killed her," he said nonchalantly, "burnt the pieces. No more psycho vampires trying to kill you."

"Thank god," I said kissing him.

* * *

The morning of Claire's birthday party dawned as wet and soggy as many mornings here often did. I had promised Emily I'd come down early to help her set up for the party.

Charlie was gone off to work so I toasted a pop tart and glanced at the newspaper Charlie had tossed on the table. I didn't bother unfolding it, the newspaper rarely held anything of interest to me.

I finished my pop tart and got dressed. When I walked into Emily's it looked like a drunken party planner had snuck in and haphazardly strung purple and white streamers from the ceiling while she and Sam were sleeping. I walked through the living room, tripping over balloons.

"Emily? It's Bella," I called, searching the small house for my friend. I heard sobbing coming from the kitchen.

"Emily?" I said placing my hand gently on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

She jumped, "Bella!" she exclaimed, "When did you get here?"

I felt bad for her, her typically glossy raven hair was sticking up in erratic clumps; her eyes were rimmed with red. She wasn't kidding when she said she was bad at this.

"I just got here Em. What happened in the living room?"

Emily wiped her eyes with a crumpled tissue, "I did."

I couldn't help it, I snorted.

"Is it really that bad?" she asked.

I nodded sympathetically, "But we can fix it."

Two hours later the party was in full swing. It had taken us nearly that long to re-decorate. When Claire arrived with Quil in tow, she'd oohed and ahhed.

"Wook Qwil…its so pwetty," she chirped, spinning in circles under the streamers.

Behind me, a set of arms snaked about my waist, "You guys did a good job; Claire's really happy," Jake said into my ear, kissing my jaw, "And," he nodded across the room, "guess who just imprinted."

Across the room Leah stood, smiling and talking to some boy, well man I didn't recognize.

"All right!" I said enthusiastically, "Who is he?"

"Some cousin or something of Claire's. Maybe she'll be easier to deal with now all her hang-ups about Sam are out the window."

I sighed; happy for Leah, pleased with the party, ecstatic that my life was relatively supernatural free.

"Jake?"

"What Bells?"

"What will happen to me when you finally imprint?" I asked timidly. There were days that I really worried about that especially since imprinting wasn't something he could control.

"That won't happen Bella. I won't imprint," Jake said firmly.

"Why not?"

"Because, you beautifully clumsy girl. You're the only one I'll ever have eyes for."

"You know," he said when he finally stopped kissing me; "your birthday is coming up soon."

"Oh goody," I muttered. "School starts soon too," I reminded him.

"Yay! School" he said sarcastically.

"Oh come on. It'll be fun; it's your senior year. Prom...all those boys are gonna wonder how you landed an older woman."

"Nah, they already know how I landed you," Jake boasted.

"Oh yea? And how was that?" I asked.

"I'm hot," he said smugly, "a toasty one oh eight point nine."

* * *

After the party ended Jake and I stayed behind to help Emily and Sam clean up then I headed home. I pulled up the curb and shut off the roaring engine.

The earlier drizzle had turned into a downpour. I fumbled with my keys and then darted through the rain to the front porch.

Once inside, I hung up my rain coat and picked up the stack of mail and shuffled through it. Four envelopes down, between the phone bill and a police newsletter was a letter addressed to me.

I set the rest of the mail down and turned it over looking for a return address.

Hmm, that's strange, I thought turning the envelope back over to look at the post mark; Bangor, Maine.

That was strange. I didnt know anyone in Maine, no family, no friends. I turned the envelope over again and slid my index finger under the flap, tearing it open.

Inside was an aimlessly folded sheet of paper. I pulled the paper out and carefully unfolded it. There was one crudely written line in the center of the page:

I've been watching you

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