Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick.

Chapter 2

As I drove up to the house, I saw Leah sitting outside. Or at least a girl who looked like Leah, as I was too busy sprinting passed her to make sure. Billy must have heard me drive up because he looked like he was on his way to open the door before I came barreling through it. I panted a hello to Billy and the rest of the pack sitting in the living room before I was off running again down the hallway to Jake's room. When I stopped at his door to open it, I heard Sam mumble, "Everyone else but Bella can see that she loves him."

I do love him, Sam, but it's not going to do me one damn bit of good, I thought to myself while turning the door knob.

The heartbreaking truth of the matter was that Jacob and I were not meant to be together. Otherwise he would've imprinted on me.

I opened the door to a very pained and somber looking werewolf. Gently shutting the door behind me, I turned back to him and took in his injuries. Of course my eyes went straight to his chiseled bare chest before it rolled on down to the blanket covering him from the waist down. I wondered for a second if he was naked under there. My cheeks flushed as my gazed was interrupted by a soft chuckle.

"Aw, Bells. If you want to know what I have on under my blanket, you could just come on over and have a peek." His husky voice brought my eyes back to his face and I saw the fear under his attempt at humor.

I decided to ignore the warmth in face and his comment and asked, "How are you feeling, Jake?"

"I've been better. I think Dr. Fang drugged me up real good because I can't feel much. Why are you standing all the way over there? Come sit on the bed." He said while patting the space next to him.

Instantly, I heard the warning bells going off on my head. No way was I going to sit on a bed with a naked Jacob next to me. Jacob looked disappointed when I walked passed his bed, opting to sit in the chair next to it instead.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Jake. I don't know what I would've done if anything had happened to you today." I felt the tears flowing and as my hand reached up to wipe my face, Jake's eyes taking notice of my missing ring.

His face broke into an almost blinding smile. "I was right, wasn't I? I just knew you loved me. Is that why you're not wearing his ring?"

I drew in a deep breath. "Yes, Jacob, I do love you and that's why I won't marry Edward and have him change me. It's not the life I want anymore." I paused and took another deep breath steeling myself for this part. "But it doesn't change anything between us, Jake. I'm still leaving for Dartmouth in a month and until it's time to go, I'll be in Florida with my mother." His good hand tightened into a fist, clutching at the blanket.

"I don't understand. Why are you leaving, Bells? You said it yourself, you love me. Why can't we still be together while you're away at college? You can come home during college breaks and we'll still see each other,right?" He asked in a pleading voice, desperate for my reassurance. "Why can't you stay with me, Bells?" He whispered and I felt my heart splinter.

"Because even though I love you, it still isn't enough to"…..to let you hurt us both when you leave me for her… "to keep me here. I don't want to be like my mom, Jake. I don't want to wake up one day feeling like I wasted my life away in a small town," I finished lamely, hating myself every inch of the way. He felt like he wasn't good enough, but I was the one who wasn't good enough.

Looking at his face, seeing how much my words had hurt him; I almost caved right then and there. I almost told him that I changed my mind, that I would stay, that there was no where else in the world I'd rather be. But then Leah's bitter face flashed in my mind and I bit down on my lip so hard that I almost drew blood. Leah was a painful reminder of what was waiting for me, if I chose to stay, if I chose to give him everything. Who was I kidding? It would be better if I ended up angry and bitter, and not a hollowed out, catatonic shell.

No matter how much I loved Jacob, I couldn't do that to myself again. Not for him, not for anyone.

"When do you leave to see your mom?" He made himself ask.

"Tomorrow," I murmured. The sooner I put some distance between me and Forks, the better.

Jacob looked like he wanted to argue but instead, settled for, "Just promise me when you get back from your mom's, that you won't leave without saying goodbye."

By the stubborn set of his jaw, I knew that Jacob Black would not take this lying down. As soon as he was able to get up from that bed, he would use every trick in the book to convince me to stay.

"I promise Jake." The lie tasted bitter in my mouth. I had no intention of keeping that promise. "I have to go, I still haven't told Edward yet."

Rising out of the chair, I quickly headed for the door. I needed to get out of there before I lost it completely. Already I could feel the tears stinging my eyes, and it was getting increasingly difficult to breathe.

"He's not going to give you up without a fight, Bells. I won't give up on you either. I'll always be waiting for you to see we belong together." I opened the door but didn't turn to look at him. If I didn't see his face then maybe I could bear this.

"Don't waste your time on me, Jake. Someday you'll see, I was right to leave." And with that I walked out of his room, out of his life, closing the door firmly behind me.

By the time I was finished talking to Jake, there was no sign of Billy or the pack, and for that I was grateful because I was a sobbing mess. As I left the house I could barely see my truck and was too busy fumbling with my keys to notice there was one other person waiting to talk to me.

"Give me your keys." When I turned around I saw Leah's annoyed face looking back at me. "Come on, I don't have all day. Besides, you're not in any condition to drive and I have some things to say to you," she grumbled, gesturing impatiently for my keys.

With shaking hands, I relinquished the keys and climbed into the cab. Leah got in and started up the truck. After a few minutes of driving, I realized she was headed for First Beach. She parked the truck, and we watched the orange glow of the setting sun and crashing waves in silence. What could Leah Clearwater possibly want to say to me? She'd never been particularly friendly. And I always got the feeling that she didn't like me hanging around Jake either.

Leah was the first to break the silence. "I heard what you said to Jake."

"I guess everybody heard then?" I mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed that nothing was ever private among a group of super-hearing wolves.

"No, Billy cleared everyone out when you went in to see Jake but I decided to stick around a bit." She shifted in her seat, looked me straight in the eye and continued, "I know what you did and I want to let you know... that you did the right thing."

"Wait -what?" I was genuinely shocked. I thought she wanted to yell at me for hurting Jacob yet again. Her approval was the last thing I expected.

She rolled her eyes and explained, "I don't hate you, Bella, I just hate your choices. You knowingly got involved with a leech and when he left you, you allowed yourself to fall apart over him. You hurt yourself and a lot of people when you did that. You started hanging out with Jake and the pack, and actually started to look like a real person again. Then out of nowhere you ditched Jacob and the guys to go save your suicidal vampire. I mean, the pack was there for you, protecting you, keeping you safe and you turned your back on us. You don't even want to know how frantic and hurt Jake was when you left. Then you came back with the leech glued to your side as if nothing had ever happened. As if he and his family didn't abandon you only to come back because they wanted you to save their precious 'Edward.'" She sneered.

I stared at her, jaw hanging. No one had ever said those things to me before. I wanted to open my mouth and defend Edward and the Cullens but I couldn't. Edward left to protect me, but he didn't think about how it would make me feel to cut off all ties with people I had come to consider as my family. To this day, I still wondered if he would have come back for me on his own, if Alice hadn't seen me jump of the cliff that day.

Leah's lips hardened into a thin line before she continued to let me have it. "Then, as if you taking the leech back weren't bad enough, you agree to marry him and become a leech yourself. I mean really, Bella, how stupid do you have to be?"

At this point, I felt like I had to at least try and defend myself. Things weren't so black and right. "Leah it wasn't that simple. I loved him, I still do."

"Yeah, I get that you loved him, Bella, but did you love yourself, did you love your parents? And what about Jacob and all the other people you would have had to leave behind after your change? Your life isn't just your own, Bella, your life is also a part of the lives of the people that love you. If you didn't have enough sense to live for your family you should've had enough sense to want to live for yourself."

Knowing that I deserved her words, I hung my head in shame. Everything Leah said was right. I'd hurt a lot of people with my selfishness, Jacob most of all. But through everything he never gave up on me. This made me question myself again as to whether or not I was doing the right thing by leaving him. Maybe he wouldn't imprint.

Almost as if Leah heard my thoughts, she repeated firmly, "You're doing the right thing, Bella."

"Yeah? Well, it doesn't feel like it. It feels like I'm making the biggest mistake of my life." My voice cracked and Leah's eyes softened a fraction.

"You and me have more in common than anyone else, Bella. We both know what it's like to be broken and to lose the life we wanted so badly. I also think the reason you got on my nerves so much was because I was worried that you would pick Jake." She looked at me with a sad smile. "I know why you're pushing Jacob away. It's about imprinting. Am I right?"

I nodded and she continued. "If Jake was a normal guy I might have supported you guys. But not only is he a werewolf, he also has a soul mate somewhere waiting for him. You're much smarter than I give you credit for. If I had known beforehand, that Sam would have imprinted and left me, I would have run from him too." The sadness in her eyes was almost too much.

"You're so much stronger than I could ever be, Leah," I told her. "You have to do whatever Sam says and hear his thoughts…I would never be able to do that. What I feel for Jacob could end up being so much stronger than what I feel for Edward, but I can't do that to myself, Leah. It would drive me crazy having to wonder how much time we had left together. Especially since I know in my heart he'll eventually imprint and leave me." Just saying those words out-loud, was enough to make my heart ache.

She turned away from me, looking out the window with a bitter smile. "It makes you feel unworthy, doesn't it?"

"Like you're not good enough. If we were, then they would have imprinted on us." I glanced out my window, with a bitter smile of my own.

"There's nothing like crappy wolf magic to let you know just how much you suck," Leah snorted sarcastically.

"Pathetic," I supplied.

"Unwanted," Leah's face hardened.

"Sure does wonders on your self esteem too." Was it wrong of me to hate a girl I knew nothing about?

"I knew if anyone was capable of understanding, that it would be you. You're lucky, Bella. You have a chance to get far, far away from all this bullshit. I can't leave here as long as I keep phasing and I'll keep phasing until our people don't need me to anymore. I still have to stay here for Seth and my mom. They need me." A small smile crept onto her face. For a few moments, I got a glimpse of the beautiful girl she used to be before all the rage.

I never thought Leah and I would have something in common. We both knew the meaning of real pain. We knew the agony involved in being in love with people not meant for us. And I couldn't help but feel grateful that she shared her feelings with me. She needed someone to talk to who wasn't pack or an imprintee and she made me feel better about leaving. Maybe we could be friends.

"Thanks, Leah, you know…for yelling at me and everything. Can I call you sometime when I'm at Dartmouth, you know, just to check in?" Even though I was leaving Jake behind, I still wanted to be able to check up on him and make sure he was okay.

"Okay." She said, then took my phone and punched in her number. "But if you ever drunk dial me, I will personally fly to Bendover and kick your ass," she grumbled.

"Jeez, Leah, it's Hanover not Bendover and you know I don't drink," I laughed lightly.

"You never know, Swan, college is the place to try new things." She glanced at me slyly.

Abruptly, I remembered that Jacob would see everything we just talked about the second she phased.

"Oh God, Leah…Jake will see everything we just talked about." I was already working myself into a frenzy but Leah cut me off.

"Relax, Swan, I'm almost as good at hiding my thoughts as Sam is. Besides, it's not like anyone tunes into the Leah channel anymore. When anyone tried in the past, I would replay some of my Sam memories or think about my period and that usually got them to tune out real quick." Hurt flashed across her beautiful face for a second before she forced the look of nonchalance onto it. "Come on, I'll drive you home, I have to start patrol soon anyway."

She restarted the engine and headed back to Forks. On the way back we chatted at bit about college and she confessed to thinking about taking some business courses at Community College. Being a werewolf, she wouldn't be able to work for anyone else because of the times she might need to leave suddenly. So she was thinking of opening a business for herself.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to study yet and would use my time at Renee's to figure it out. She pulled up in front of my house and we got out of the truck. Instantly she stiffened and growled, "The mind reading leech is here, will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine, Leah. I have to talk to him too." I sighed, feeling a little touched that she was worried about me.

"All right then, see you." With that she tossed me my keys, and jogged into the woods.

I turned to look at the house with a heavy heart knowing I had yet another heart to break today.

A/N: I've always thought some stories were mean to Leah. What happened to her was enough to make anyone a bitch. I wanted to show that she isn't all that bad. Coming up Bella's talk with Edward.