A/N: Ok, so a big, huge, gigantic thank you to everyone who has been sticking with me through this fic. I love reading your reviews and finding that I am actually moving some of you! This may sound a little awful, but I have a little 'yay' moment every time I read that I made one of your cry :)

A few reviewers have raised the point of Jacob imprinting. I am telling you now that there will be no chance of that happening in this fic. This whole fic came about as a response to my dislike of imprinting as a plot device. I wanted to explore the not so happily ever after side of this occurance (because hey, not everything can be rainbows and puppy dogs, right?) If I were to have Jacob imprint, it would go against everything I have built up in this fic.

Ok, so once again thank you to all my supporters, and here is the next chapter. And please, if you want, let me know what you think.

Music: Neapolitan Dreams- Lisa Mitchell, Boulevard of Broken Dreams- Mattafix, Exit Music (For a Film)- Radiohead


Jacob jolted awake, a cold sweat dampening his body and breathing erratically, as if he had just ran a marathon- against a Cullen. With a groan, he turned onto his back, flinging an arm over his eyes. He had no choice but to lay and run over everything, all the images that had accumulated in his head. Over and over again. The dark, and the red. It was enough to make anyone sick.

"Hey, are you ok?" Jacob felt a weight drop on the end of the bed, and then start to move across. He pulled up his arm, watching as Leah crawled up the bed and nestled in beside him.

"I'm fine," he replied in a hoarse voice, before adjusting so that he could pull her in tighter.

Leah frowned slightly. "You had the dream again, didn't you? The nightmare- the one where I died." She brought a hand up, placing against his cheek. His skin was hot and sticky under hers.

He nodded shortly. "Yup. The same one." He paused. "When I wake up, I tell myself that it was just a dream, but everything always seem so real. Seeing you..." he shuddered. "It still feels that way. They make me feel that something is going to go wrong."

"Now you listen to me, Jacob Black," Leah said, sitting up. "Nothing is going to go wrong. I am here. We are here -together. Nothing is going to change that."

"But what about when we leave? What if something happens then? What if these dreams are telling me what is going to happen? That you—"

"Jacob," Leah cupped his face with her hands. "That was the dream. We didn't need to leave, remember?"

Jacob blinked, confusion written all over his face. "But..."

Leah sighed, before pressing her lips onto his forehead. "I hate what these dreams do to you," she said softly. "Let me jog your memory. We were planning on leaving. Mum was occupied with a plumber at home, so I was at yours. You had just spoken to your father. He felt that something was off in your voice and got worried. He came home early and discovered us as we were about to leave. We had no choice but to tell him everything. He realised that, due to us about to take such a drastic step, he needed to adjust his thinking. So did my mother. As a result, we never left the reservation."

Jacob's eyes widened slightly. "Oh god," he murmured, smacking himself on the forehead. "How the fuck could I forget that?"

Leah let out a laugh. "I have no idea- but this is not the first time." She paused. "But, I don't mind getting to be the one to tell how things really are."

"Oh, and why is that?"

Leah winked before lowering her lips to meet his. "Because, you always seem incredibly willing to show me how much I really mean to you afterwards," she murmured against him.

Jacob gladly responded to the kiss, before pulling away slightly. "You seem to be jogging some recesses in my mind, Miss Clearwater," he joked, pulling her back in.

"I am thrilled to hear that...but, unfortunately, we need to stop," she said, abruptly sitting up and smoothing down her hair.

"Are you fucking serious?" Jacob asked, with a snort. "Just like that, hey?"

Leah nodded, stepping off the bed. "It's already late morning, and we are having lunch with our families today." She moved about the room, collecting her clothing from off the floor.

He stared at her incredulously. "What? Why the hell would they want to have lunch with us?"

"Come on, Jacob. Mum and Billy are really trying here. The least we can do is make an effort, too." She pulled her t-shirt over her head. "So, you had better get up quick smart and get ready. If Paul and Seth get into the food before we arrive there will be nothing left. And I don't know about you, but I am starving!"

"Right," Jacob propped himself up on his elbows but was unable move any further as everything suddenly felt unstable underneath him. He thought that he had been a little off kilter because of his nightmare, but he was now starting to think that it was something more. In fact, this whole situation felt off. He looked at Leah, who was adjusting her clothing while looking in his mirror. His mind was telling him that she was hiding something. He wondered if she had given him the whole story. Billy and Sue's turnaround...well, it was all just too clean cut. But then, why would she keep something from him? What purpose would it serve?

Leah turned around then to look at him, her eyes smiling. Her mouth was moving. She was asking him a question but he could not hear a word. She continued talking, but making no sound, completely oblivious to the fact that Jacob was hearing absolutely nothing.

"Leah?" His own voice was muffled. The expression on her face was changing. The light in her eyes was dimming and whatever happiness she had been exuding earlier was long gone. "Leah? What is it?"

She stepped towards him, her hand outstretched. Her mouth opened again. Again there was no sound, but Jacob knew that she was screaming. He tried to move, tried to help her, but his limbs felt leaden and he was unable to get off the bed.

"Leah!" he screamed.

Her hand suddenly flew to her neck, her eyes wide. She stared at Jacob, fear clouding her expression. He could only watch helplessly as the colour drained from her skin and her hand dropped limply to her side. It was painted with a bright, wet red, that travelled in small rivulets down her fingers, dripping onto his carpet.

Jacob's eyes travelled back up to her neck, where her hand had been. There was a gaping wound, oozing thick, dark blood. It flowed down onto her t-shirt, soaking the fabric. There was so much. It just kept flowing and flowing.

Leah screamed again, and in that instant Jacob could hear her. He jerked up, fighting to get off the bed, fighting to get to Leah. He had to get to her, he had to help her. He had...

Jacob's eyes flew open as he abruptly sat up. He scrambled frantically at the space beside him. It was empty. She wasn't there.

'And you know why.'

And with that thought, Jacob felt the air squeeze out of his lungs. Bringing his hands to his face, he rested his elbows on his knees, trying desperately to inhale deeply. After a few moments the panic dissipated slightly and he was able to take a few shaky breaths.

It was all a dream. The hope, the thought that everything might actually be ok, was a dream. Everything else, all that he could not bear to think about, that was what had really happened. That was his reality now.

With his head still buried in his hands, Jacob tried desperately to piece together everything that had happened. He had no idea how he had actually gotten into his room. The last thing he could actually comprehend was seeing Sam walking towards him and...

The hand.

"Oh god," Jacob groaned, his stomach rolling. What the fuck had happened. She had to be ok. Surely, she had to be ok. She...

A cough from across the room interrupted Jacob's thoughts. He dropped his hands and looked up, his eyes struggling to focus on his whereabouts. He blinked several times before he made out Quil seated in the corner, by the window.

"How did I get in here?" Jacob struggled to speak, his throat dry and itchy.

Quil's expression was downcast and he was unable to meet Jacob's eyes. "Dr Cullen had to sedate you." He pointed to glass of water sitting on the bedside table. "He told me that you should drink when you wake up- your throat will be dry. And that you should expect to feel out of sorts for a little while- almost like you've been drinking."

Jacob made no move to pick up the glass. "And what...what about..." he tried, but he could not get the words out.

"Jake," Quil lifted his head and Jacob was able to see the red rimming his eyes. "I am so sorry."

"No," Jacob shook his head adamantly. "Don't say that. Please don't say that."

"Jacob, do you remember what happened last night?" Quil queried gently.

"I...I...I can't," Jacob whispered. And that was the truth. He couldn't think of it. He knew what had happened, but the moment those words were spoken, it would be real. There would be denial; there would be no burying his head. If he spoke those words, he would have to face them.

"Jake, I..." Quil trailed off helplessly. He had no idea how to approach the situation. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do?

"Quil," a soft voice came from the direction of doorway, and he looked to see Emily standing there. "Dr Cullen said that he was awake. Is it ok if..." she gestured towards Jake and Quil stood up, relieved. He felt guilt at how eager he was to leave, but he knew that he would be no help for his friend.

He paused in the doorway, placing a hand on Emily's shoulder. She looked up at him, her expression saying that she would be ok.

When he was gone, she made her way over to Jacob, sitting down next to him on the bed. "Hey," she said, quietly, reaching out and placing a hand on his arm. "I am not going to ask how you are doing, because I think that we both know the answer. I am not going to ask if you want to talk, because, in all honesty, it is not going to be any help today. But I am going to sit here with you, because nobody should be alone after...after—" she broke off at that point.

A wave of exhaustion crashed over Jacob and he found himself slumping against Leah. "What am I going to do without her?" he asked. "What are we going to do?"

Emily wrapped her arms tightly around him, her thoughts on the fact that she only recently truly gotten her cousin back and now... "I don't know," she whispered. And that was the honest truth.

There was no much that Jacob wanted to say, but found that he could not voice one word. All that he could do was relent to barrage of sobs that had been threatening to fall since Quil had spoken to him this morning.

Emily wanted desperately to tell him that everything was going to be ok, but as her own tears started to fall, she knew that words would be redundant. And so, she just tightened her hold around him, letting him know that she would be there.

XXXXX

At times in her human life, in light of the Cullen's strength, Bella had often viewed herself as helpless. But right now, as she stood by watching her daughter with Seth, she felt truly helpless for the first time, and no amount of vampire strength was going to change that.

Seth had not said a word all night. He had just taken her daughter into his arms and settled onto the couch. He had remained there, gently rocking the small body in his arms trying, Bella thought, to gain any sense of reassurance that he could.

Sue, on the other hand, had not stopped. Bella could not imagine what it would be like to lose a husband and daughter in such a short amount of time. She could only think that she would be a complete wreck, not wanting or not able to function.

However, Sue was anything but. If a stranger were to walk in, they would think nothing odd. They would just see a busy mother trying to get everything organised.

"I need to organise the funeral," Sue was saying as she scrubbed at the kitchen bench.

"Why don't you wait some," Bella suggested, approaching the older woman. "You have been up all night. Go get some rest, and then we can talk about that."

"I think that it should be outside. No church, Leah was never really into that," Sue continued as if Bella had said nothing at all. "But she loved the outside. We should have it outside."

"Sue," Bella came up right beside her and took the sponge out of her hands. "Sit. Go, be with Seth."

Sue shook her head vehemently. "I can't. I can't stop," she said, snatching the sponge. "If I stop, then everything will stop. I need to be distracted. I need to feel productive." She looked up at Bella. "Because I cannot bear to feel anything else right now. I just can't."

"Ok," Bella acquiesced. "I understand. Now, what do you need me to do?"

XXXXX

Jacob had no idea of the time when he finally stumbled out of his bedroom. He had cried himself to sleep in Emily's arms and had, thankfully, woken to find her gone. As much as he appreciated her being there, he was in the need of something other than gentle support.

He made his way into the living room. Billy was there, along with Sam and Paul. At the sight of his son, Billy let out a sigh.

"Jacob, I—"

"Don't," Jacob held up a hand. "I don't want to hear anything coming out of your fucking mouth right now."

"Jake," Sam said sharply, responding to his tone.

"Sam," Jacob's voice was hard. "I have something that I need to say. I am feeling volatile enough, so I suggest that you don't provoke or upset me anymore. This is not a big room."

Sam stared at him for a few moments before giving a short nod.

Jacob turned back to Billy. "I am assuming that Cullen told you what the plan was last night?" Billy nodded. "Well, let me tell you my side...I love her," he said, refusing to speak in past tense. "I love Leah more than I have anyone. What I thought I felt for Bella was nothing but a silly crush compared to Leah. I know that you know what I am talking about. You loved mum, after all, right?"

"Yes," Billy responded. "But your mother and I—"

"Are a completely different story," Jacob interrupted. "I get that. Totally different, because you were actually allowed to be with one another. You did not have some power hungry dictatorship telling you what you could and couldn't do, right dad?" Jacob paused. "We don't know if we are it for one another, but we want the fucking opportunity to find out!"

"Jacob." Despair was written all over Billy's face.

"No! You don't get to talk. You have talked enough. We were going to leave the country last night, without saying good-bye. And do you know why we were forced to take such a drastic step? Because of you and your stupid fucking council and your stupid fucking rules."

"We thought that we were doing the right thing," Billy protested. "I never would have—"

"Wouldn't have what? It is too late for those statements, wouldn't you think?" Jacob spat. "Do you know why Leah was out in the woods yesterday? Because she was upset about leaving. If we were able to, we would have stayed. We were leaving because that was the only way we could be together freely. What would you and mum have done, dad? If somebody tried to keep you apart. Would you have stood by and let that happen? Or would you have done anything to ensure that you had each other?"

Billy's head dropped. "I would have fought."

"I thought so. Well, that is what we were doing. Us leaving- that was our fight. But it was not an easy choice to make. Leah wanted to go for one last run. She loved being about to run through the forest, and I guess that she saw it a fitting good-bye. Neither of us realised that it would truly be her last good-bye." He took a step closer to his father. "She is dead and it is your fucking fault!"

Billy's head flew up. "You cannot think that I wanted—"

"You wanted us apart," Jacob hissed. "Well, congratulations papa, you just got your wish."

"No," Billy shook his head. "No. I didn't—"

"You were keeping us apart," Jacob spoke slowly, enunciating every word. "You were the reason we were leaving. You were the reason Leah needed to farewell this place. You were the reason she was out there at that particular point in time. You were the reason she got her throat ripped out by some leech. You are the reason why she is no longer here. You, dad, it was all fucking you!"

"No," Billy's voice was barely audible. "I made a mistake, but what happened was not of my hands."

"It was," Jacob said, turning to walk out of the room. "You will realise it soon enough and I hope that it does to you, what you have done to me and Leah. I will never forgive you for this. Never."