A/N: Dudee. You guys. are so Ahmazing. I love you(:
I cannot believe the great responses I got from that last chapter. It was. shocking. I was a little hesitant about that chapter, but no. My lovely, faithful, wonderful reviews claimed it didn't actually suck.
I don't deserve amazing people like you.
But.
I think I'll keep you[:

Calm Before The Storm

By Claire Jasone

Chapter Four:

Bella's P.O.V

Driving down the muddy road in La Push, I couldn't help but feel overwhelemed by the memories I felt everytime I came here. I was hit instantly by happiness, love, and adortion. Jacob loved me, and I loved me. I loved knowing this. Jake was my best friend, and lately, ever since Moriah entered the picture, Jacob acted like I always knew he should. After the initial blow of happiness, I felt a smidge of sadness, of the lonliness I experienced when I first came here, hoping for Jake to be my savior. I quickly pushed away those feelings, and let myself be reminded of everything great I was feeling now.

Turning into the Blacks' long driveway, I quickly cut the engine and jumped from the truck. I couldn't believe how long it'd been since I'd seen Jake. Since we'd really hung out. He was always busy with Moriah, and I with Edward. Well, not today,I thought chipperly, grinning to myself, as I walked toward the grass.

Suddenly, the door popped open, and Jacob ran full force toward me, grabbing me and snatching me in one of his earth shattering hugs. His arms were warm on my back, his chest radiating heat that warmed me from the inside out. I grinned, and wrapped my arms around his neck, squeezing with all my might; it'd probably give me a bruise.

Eventually though, when Jacob never loosened up, my airflow began to damper, and I realized quickly that I wasn't breathing.

"Jake!" I gasped. "Human! Breathing! I'm a human, damn you!" Chuckling, Jacob sat me on the ground, grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't hep but grin back. Taking a step back, I laughed. "Lemme take a good look at you, boy."

And a good look was what I took. God, that boy was huge. He was taller again- nearly six three this time. His hair was cropped short, and his eyes were glowing a brilliant brown. His copper skin was shining, and his lips were pulled into a cheek-splitting smile, his white teeth showing.

"I missed you, Jake." I muttered, wrapping my arms around his midsection, letting my head rest on his chest. He hugged me gently this time.

"Missed you, too, Bells." He breathed, and I inhaled. He laughed at my expresion, which if it mirrored my emotions, was one of complete contentness and happiness. "Walk by the beach?" He asked. I nodded eagerly, and he led the way. We had so much to talk about...

-

"- and, seriously, Bella. I though Moriah was going to killLeigh. Not that I'd blame her. Moriah's usually so nice, though, it suprised me..." Jacob mused, a small smile on his face. I'm sure I was grinning like an idiot. I just loved that Jacob had finally imprinted. It was amazing, actually. It meant we were perfect again. Moriah was a pretty girl, with long red hair, and sparkling green eyes. She was very pale, and freckled easily. She was tall, but no where near Jacob's behometh ways. She was a nice contrast to Jacob's dark features.

At first, she was very reluctant to let Jacob be alone with me. I don't really blame her- if you didnt know us, you might have the assumption we were a couple. We loved each other, of course, and found comfort in physical contact. But it wasn't like that with me and Jake. We were just... best friends.

I chuckled remembering her hesitant expression when we had first met. She had been so afraid, clinging to Jake, looking in our eyes, trying to detect any amount of emotion that shouldnt be there. I laughed at the thought.

"She's great, Jacob." I said earnestly. "I think we should double!" He scrunched his nose, and shook his head.

"Nah," he replied curtly. "The stench is too much." I laughed, punching his arm playfully.

"Do I stink Jake?" I asked, shaking my hair out. Jacob took a tentative sniff, then sighed in relief.

"Nope. You smell very Bella-ish," he joked. "It smells good, though... intoxicating." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. My smell has all different species up the wall."

Jacob shrugged, and muttered, "Well, you asked." And then he sighed, stretching his long limbs. I grabbed one of his arms and wrapped it around me for warmth- we were sitting on the beach, and it was pretty cold. "So, wheres the bloodsucker today, Bells?"

I rolled my eyes at his nicknames, but didnt say anything. He was working on it, and that was all I could ask. And it wasn't like the Cullens (mostly Edward and Rosalie) didn't refer to my friends as dogs.

"He's out hunting with the Fam."

Jacob's eyes glowed. "You're alone! Free? Finally!" He smiled brightly. I frowned, and shook my head.

"Hardly," I replied snappily, rolling my eyes. "Jasper stayed behind."

"Jasper?" He asked wearily, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Isn't that the one... you know... from September?" He waved his arms around, but I didn't know what he was gestering about. I narrowed my eyes.

"He's better, Jacob." I glared. "He has just as much self control as the rest of them."

Jacob wasn't convinced. "But... he is a vampire. A vampire that likes your blood, and is newest to this life and-"

"Shut up, Jacob!" I growled. "You don't even know what the hell your talking about. If everyone would just give Jasper a little bit of credit, I mean seriously! I'm alive, right? He didn't kill me last September, he hasn't killed me yet, and newsflash! Jasper wouldn't hurt a fly! He's amazing, and incredible, and you Jacob Black should know better than anyone that adjusting is difficult!" I was standing now, ranting in complete anger. A white rage. "God dammit!" I threw myself onto the beach, and glared at the horizon. Everyone was so hard on Jasper. He didn't deserve any of it. Why was I the only one that saw how amazing Jasper really was?

We sat there, in uncomfortable silence, for ten minutes. "Are you done?" Jacob asked quietly.

I nodded.

"I'm sorry, Bells," he sighed and hugged me. I hugged back, giving into my anger.

"s'kay." I mumbled into his chest. He sighed, and gave me one of my favorite Jacob smiles.

"Food time?" He asked hopefully, and I had to laugh.

"Food time." I agreed.

Jacob's P.O.V

Munching on the great pizza Dad had bought, I wondered faintly why Bella got so upset about the Jasper thing. I mean, man, she looked pissed. And... dangerous. For one moment, I could see that if... sigh. When... Bella became a vampire, she would be one bad ass villian.

No, I argued with myself. Not villian. One bad ass hero.

Because, I had to start seeing them like that. Like the heroes. It was no more their fault that they're vampires as it was mine that I'm a wearwolf. The Cullens didn't choose this, and I had to start seeing it that way. Moriah- my sweet, beautiful Moriah- had scolded me for this time and time again. She loved the Cullens, adored them all. She was disgusted with me at my hatred. It's hard to explain, the natural hate I had for them.

But Bella was my best friend. And sooner or later, she'd be a vampire. Now that I was myself in love, I knew the addiction Bella had with Edward. She had told me it was like a disease; like even if you didn't want them, you needed them. But that was out of the question. You'd always want them- forever. That was why the appeal of being a vampire looked so good to her. An eternity with Edward- what more could she want?

And I had to admit... an eternity with Moriah sounded pretty damn good. I didn't know if Bella's love could hold one tenth to mine, but I figured if she'd gone through so much to just be with him, then she probably loved him alot.

And, from the moment I had Moriah, I no longer hated Edward. There were two reasons. The first being, that Moriah was my life, my whole, my... me. No one else really mattered. I mean, sure, Bells is still my best friend, and I loved my family. But, in reality, Moriah was the only thing I could care about completely anymore. If she didn't hate Edward, if being around Edward (and the rest of the Cullens) made her happy, who was I to hate her happiness?

The second reason would be that I finally understood Edward. When he first left Bella, I hated that son of a bitch. Who the fuck was he to abandon this beautiful angel? But when I looked into Moriah's innocenet eyes, I knew that if it was better for her for me to leave, I'd do it. I might have to commit suicide, because a life without her wouldn't be worth living, but I could do it. I loved her that much. So, Edward trying to protect Bella, him leaving her, actually made sense in some demented, lovers reality.

I sighed, and ate another piece of pizza.

But wait...

what was I thinking about?

Oh, yeah. Something about Bella and her Jasper rant.

That was weird...

Wonder why she got so worked up?

---

Bella's P.O.V

It was one thirty in the morning. I had been laying in my bed, staring at the ceiling, for three hours now. Edward has exactly seventeen bumps on his ceiling, from where the paint chips. I thought real hard about getting up and fixing it, so I'd have something to do, but eventually decided against it. I instead decided I'd tell Esme about it, and she'd get it fixed in a jiffy. I sighed, and looked at the alarm clock. One thirty-two.

I had gotten back from Jacob's at ten thirty, and promptly went to bed, thinking about my embaressing sleep desires I'd had the night before. This was one of the reasons I was avoiding sleep. The other was that the victim of my sleep desires was sitting on the little black couch, not even three feet away. He wasn't breathing, and I couldn't hear him. But, I could feel his presence. Relaxing, calm, happy. Jasper always radiated this off of him.

Good God, I was tired. Sleeping seemed like a distant dream, like something I remembered and wanted, but couldn't have.

Like Edward, I thought sadly, pouting in the darkness. I wanted his cool arms wrapped around me, humming in my ear, telling me he loved me. I sighed, and shook my head. It was Saturday- or, well, Sunday. Edward would be back Monday, and I'd convince him not to go so far away next time. I missed him terribly. I glared at the ceiling. Was I so pathetic I could not have one weekend without his touch?

I sighed. I knew the answer to that, and I wasn't sure I liked it. I needed some water. Rolling over, I groaned as I heaved myself off of the bed.

"Bella?"

I jumped at the sound of his musical voice, my heart beating quickly as I grasped my chest. Jasper! I had completely forgotten about his presence. In my confusion, I stumbled, and landed on the floor, but not before bouncing off of the night stand. My arm crashed against it, with a loud crack, and I cried out in pain. Staring at my arm, I watched in horror as blood oozed from the large slash that my arm had become. Stumbling backwards, I looked up in terror, staring into the black eyes of a suddenly ravenous vampire...

A/N:

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