*A/N: Thanks for being patient for this chapter. You shall all be rewarded with praises and a good story. My story.

Oh, and I haven't thanked my betas in awhile. TY, my two wonderful betas: Wolfskill & Carrie36. They like my story almost as much as I do. And thanks for all those who reviewed and alerted me. Happy J/B reunion-it's about damn time! :-)

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Chapter Summary: What's going on in Forks? Laurent's recent news of Victoria coming back, intent on making Bella pay for the slaying of her vampire mate, has Bella afraid but that's not the only thing. The pain of still being unable to see her best friend, the loneliness that has reopened the wounds she once thought were healed, and the fact that she was saved by five gigantic wolves has Bella believing that she has stepped into a supernatural dream. She seeks to be awakened from the nightmare and back to a normal life, but fears she will never be the person that she once was before her move from Phoenix. And where is Jacob? What has happened to him? Doesn't he miss Bella at all?

*Disclaimer: I do not own nor abuse Twilight, but Taylor and Jacob can use me anytime they please.

Chapter VIII Title: 'Use Somebody,' by Kings of Leon

Later that day...

(Still JPOV)

Why don't you believe in imprinting? How do you know about it anyway? My questions fired off one after the other at Jared, who looked bored as we circled our border in the same line, careful not to make too many prints in the dark in case we were being tracked. Toward town we had heard some activity with the local law enforcements picking up extra shifts, due to "bizarre" animal attacks along the Peninsula coast. I was even more anxious to get back to Bella but not before I could find out as much as I could about imprinting.

Jared shrugged before answering me, Sam thinks about it all the time. He and Leah were pretty serious until Emily came along, but it was "fate" as he put it. I don't like anyone choosing who I like, don't like, care about, or anything like that. That's what parents are for. A few of Jared's brown hairs got caught in my nose as we turned in unison at the brook.

But I already cared about her, I argued.

You can still care about someone without having to be tied to them for life. Imprinting sounds like forever when it doesn't have to be. Suppose the leech lover—sorry—Bella, only wants to be your friend? Then what? You'd still go on living. You'd still be in her life and you'd live. You learn to deal with it.

Not having Bella like I want is no way to live, I disagreed.

Jared looked thoughtful. Well, then I guess we all know what you want from your imprint. But just because you know what you want doesn't mean she knows what she wants or even wants the same thing as you do. You only hope she does. Now can we please quit talking about this? I am starting to feel like a girl.

I thought I was listening to two girls for the past couple of hours, Paul jumped in. I can't wait till you phase back, Jakey-boy. It'll be nice to listen to real man thoughts for a change.

I would have responded, but I glanced at the dark sky and knew it was almost time to go. My eyes felt heavier and heavier but I had no interest in sleep and my anxiety was dragging down the rest of my heightened wolf senses. Twice I had almost hit a tree in the last hour while Jared and I were switching sides.

Just go, Jacob! Jared cried out. I doubt Sam will care if his protégé leaves a half hour early. You and Bella aren't even dating and you're whipped. Do you see why I don't like imprinting? He questioned rhetorically. It's pathetic!

My wolf grin appeared as I took off in the opposite direction of Jared. The dirt wouldn't slow me down as I ran past the familiar trees and I wouldn't be distracted by the quiet but haunting stillness of the forest as I raced toward Bella's house. This past mid-morning felt like so long ago. I could finally tell her that I had thought of nothing but her. That I missed her face, her eyes, her hands, and her smell. Oh God, her smell! I would bury my nose in her hair when I phased back. I would inhale her sweet strawberry shampoo and forget about that horrible sickly smell of my enemy. Our enemies. Bella was mine. My enemies were her enemies and we would share everything. I would keep nothing from her now that I knew we were destined to be together. Destined to be in each other's lives.

Time was neither slow nor fast as my paws almost screeched to a halt when I came nearer to her house. I could see that her light was off and that Charlie was home. I didn't care. I would be quiet. I just had to see her again. Without my brothers present. Without the threat of that leech to distract our world. It would be just us. Always and from now on, just us.

I pulled my bundled shirt and shorts from the string tied to my leg and put them on swiftly. I was truly better coordinated after I had fully phased for the first time. My fingers tapped nervously on my hips.

(BPOV)

I took a long shower. After dealing with letting go of Jacob this morning, seeing Laurent (and those huge wolves!), and then chores the rest of the day so that I could forget everything that had happened, I was just plain exhausted. It was all I could do but not to fall down in the shower.

I slipped on some snug shorts and a loose tee. The weather was humid out and felt worse during the night than in the day. At least it had rained, temporarily giving water to the plant life. At night, the rainwater had now begun to pool and remain stagnant on the various surfaces it touched. This was when the rain in Forks drove me crazy.

I had heard Charlie walking to his room about an hour ago and he started to snore gently soon after. I looked at my alarm and noticed that it was just after 9:30 p.m. I had no pressing chores tomorrow and tried to use that as comfort to help me drift to sleep when a few taps on my bedroom window disturbed the quiet darkness that had enveloped my room.

I began to hear hissing.

"Hsst! Bella!"

I turn halfway in my bed, convinced that the voice was not real. I must have been dreaming.

"Bella, it's me! It's Jake! Open the window!" His voice was familiar to me even in the dark.

I almost ran to the window and pulled at it to get it open. Jake was downstairs looking up at me. He held up his hand and gave a small smile.

My eyes blinked rapidly. "Whoa." Jacob had cut his hair drastically short into almost a buzz. It looked fantastic. I already missed his long hair, but at least now I wouldn't feel like such a homely girl standing next to a boy with too-gorgeous hair. I was jealous of the wind that swept through his newly acquired haircut. I could see every line in his still sweet, albeit less babyish, face and felt my uncooperative breath cease in my lungs. I had to think inhale, Bella. Don't forget to breathe as if I were swimming underwater.

I forgot about the anger I felt suddenly. My heart ached upon seeing him and my knees knocked into the bottom of the window sill. The ache was overpowering my sense to keep him and me safe from hurt. Safe from the damage that we could do to each other. He could have burned me and I would have let him. He could have blown me lightly and I would have fallen. I wanted my best friend. It was that simple. He made sense and I didn't.

"Come up here," I whispered down at him.

Jacob looked surprised for a moment, but graciously looked up at me and then toward the old spruce tree next to my window. Before I could cry out, he began to quickly and effectively climb the limbs and swung himself into my open window in the few seconds it took for my eyes to register what had just happened; Jacob's feet softly sounded on my wooden bedroom floor. He looked pleased that he had been able to slip in undetected.

Jacob just grew into more muscle and talent more and more each passing week. Had he grown since I had last seen him? Or had he always looked like this without me realizing it? I shook my head, hoping to lose some of my impure thoughts with it.

As Jacob stepped further from the window, his light cream-colored tee tore on a loose nail and the piece exposed a bit of his stomach.

Wait—Jake had abs? Was that an 8-pack?

I knew what his back looked like from all those times I had seen him turned away from me while he worked in his garage, but he always got grease on the front of his shirt and dirt on his back; therefore, he always had a change of shirt and he never took it off in full view of me. He knew I would only blush. Whether or not he knew it was because I was attracted to him or not was another story.

Jacob took a step toward me, lifting his arms, but then suddenly thought the better of it and instead folded them in front of himself, trying to cover what the holes in his shirt showed of his stomach. I suddenly wished that the nail had torn off the whole shirt instead.

I sucked in a breath, smiled, and shocked myself by giving him a great hug. He shook slightly from the force of me, as hard as that seemed, and responded back. My fingers slid through his short hair and I felt the remembrance of the wind that had me green with envy just a moment ago as he had waited for me to open my window to let him in. I felt him smile as he inhaled my hair and touched the middle of my back. His embrace was hot. And so was I suddenly.

"You cut your hair." And then I became angry. "Where the hell have you been, Jake?" My voice rose as I slapped his chest. That was wrong of me. My hand actually stung a little from our contact as I pulled it back.

"Bells." He looked like he was searching for the right thing to say. "I've—you're—" His lips folded under each other despite his obvious protest. His fingers clasped around me and he began shaking. I almost thought it would be a repeat of what happened at the carnival, but he regained himself seconds later.

"God Jake, I don't even care!" I threw my arms around him again.

He said nothing.

This was the first time Jacob spent the night with me in my room, without Charlie's knowledge and without intent to read or do school work. I had missed him so much in the short time he was gone. I had been so excited to see him that I made no mention of my wolf or Laurent. I didn't want anything to spoil our moment just yet. I was certain that there would be enough time for me to mess things up later.

Jacob stayed off my bed and sat in the rocking chair. He did seem to notice that my breathing had become a bit more erratic the closer he got to me and my pulse nearly broke through my skin when he brushed my toes. He actually made a move to grab my foot to give me a massage, but I had squeaked my "no" so loudly that Charlie had stirred, and from that point on we merely settled for talking across the room for the night.

It wasn't until an hour before dawn was about to break that he moved next to me and put his finger to his lips to "sshh" me. My hands started to sweat.

"Bella, do you remember that day on the beach? The day we saw each other when you came back to Forks?"

I nodded.

"Do you remember what I told you? Anything? Anything about…our legends?"

"The "cold ones," right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Figures you would remember that. But I mean about us? Anything else? About my tribe? I'm—I had to stay away from you, but now I can't anymore. There are things that have changed."

"Nothing has changed. You're still my friend, Jacob Black. Always." My hands reached out to touch his face, but he pulled away, almost like he was mad. His hands shook a little, but his sharp breath cut it off and he reached for my body to yank me closer.

"You're not ready," he whispered.

"Ready for what?"

"I can't say anything. It won't let me."

"What? What won't let you say it? Has someone threatened you? Did that 'La Push Gang' get to you, Jake? Tell me!" I almost screamed.

Jacob continued as if I hadn't spoken. "You must not be ready to know. You'll have to figure it out. You've got to know!" His voice raised and he looked around frantically. "Bella, you have to think. You have to know what's wrong with me!"

"Jake, there's nothing wrong with you. Whatever has you this upset—"

"Bella, please think! You know this. Please think about the legends, the stories I told you. I can't do it."

Jacob got off of my bed and I followed him to window. I waited a moment and came up directly behind him. My fingers had barely begun to cover a few inches of his shoulder when I felt him tremble under my touch, but it felt different than when he had been shaking earlier. He was biting his lower lip. I almost had to squint when I gazed in his eyes; they shined so bright in the moonlight though dawn was close. I was amazed that the night had no clouds for once that week and it made me relish his tone, his build, his expression. It was like—

"Bella."

He interrupted my thoughts. It was just as well. I hadn't appreciated where they were going. I didn't want to rethink about the familiar, gnawing heat that had begun again in my lower stomach, tightening my arms and chest, and moistening my inner things.

Jacob's voice wavered, "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything, Jake." I should have thought that sentence through.

He took a hesitant step to me and then moved his entire body in front of the window, almost blocking the moon. It was okay. I didn't need light to see how much Jacob shined for me. I hadn't even felt myself take a step back until I felt my body hit my bedroom wall.

Jacob looked at a loosened floorboard in my room before his eyes darted back to me. "In school, I'm studying my native language, in Quileute. Well, I am trying to study my language…and I learned a couple of things. I mean, about our ancestor's stories, the words, and what each can mean." He stopped himself.

I had meant to encourage him as a friend. I had meant to keep things safe the way that they were, but when I reached up and gently trailed my fingers down the side of his face I heard Jacob sigh heavily and close his eyes. I could feel his body give way to the rush of the excitement, the anticipation, the yearning of more from our bodies when we touched.

When he opened his eyes again after that long second, he spoke "Ti'iyahl, wisatsu'upat wihl."*

A smile played on my lips. It was simple and short. Both magical and not. I had no idea what he had said, but I felt as though I should have.

"What did you say, Jake?"

"I said 'Man, woman as one.'"

"Oh." I felt it was safe to look down after that beautiful sentence and that was when I felt it. The hurried movement of warm breath and flesh pressed against my lips. My body stood frozen despite the increased pulse and the flush that arrived at my cheeks even moments before Jacob's lips touched mine.

Suddenly I felt flesh break and tasted rusty salt.

"OW! Jake!" I exclaimed. I clamped my mouth shut, afraid that I might have wakened Charlie, but his slow snores hadn't broken their tempo once.

"I'm sorry!" Jacob looked embarrassed.

Jacob had bitten me. In his haste to make a, presumably decent, quick kiss he moved too sharply and had anticipated too much. It had made him nervous and in an attempt to conceal his inexperience, he bit down.

As a result, my lips wore a light red stain without the aid of lipstick.

"Jesus, Bella! I am so sorry! I don't know why I did that! Please don't be mad! Shit! Damnit, Jake! Way to go!" Jacob scolded himself as he covered his eyes with his hands.

I tasted my lips. The blood was already slowing down. I had done plenty worse to myself without the help of Jacob.

Jacob. What was I going to do? I wasn't angry for some reason. The sweet, but brutal, kiss had given me a bit of fresh air into my lungs. An extra flashlight in the dark. Feeling the way I had been feeling about him since I saw him on the beach. His attention. His curiosity. His gift to make me laugh. I had suddenly felt different about what things were like. How things must have been for him. Rethinking how things were for me, it made me smile.

The blood had stopped. I licked my lips again.

"It's fine. It's fine. Look, no damage. Still Bella."

He looked at me then. Even his eyes were screaming with the hope that I wouldn't hurt him back or threaten not to see him. I hadn't even thought of that possibility as I said my next statement.

"Don't be so nervous. You were just a little too intense. Loosen up."

His eyebrows rose. "Loosen up?"

"Yeah. You know, from the little experience that I've had, it's um…kind of hard to kiss when you're nervous about stuff. And I mean any kind of stuff. Just relax."

"Relax. I got it."

"Okay then," I looked down sheepishly and dropped my head about an inch. I heard him inhale as he whispered his next words.

"Relax," I heard him repeat in his husky voice. "Bella."

He lifted my head and pressed his lips softly to the bottom of my chin, to both of my cheeks, gently brushed my nose with his, and then kissed my quivering bottom lip. That did it.

His warm breath shared the space with my own mouth and my increasing heartbeat started to hit the walls of my chest so fast that it hurt. And then the early morning wildlife noises from the outside ceased to exist.

The fevered heat from Jacob's beautiful, russet skinned hands on my face stole what was left of my air; at the same time, he continued to touch the broken, fragile skin on my lips with his tongue. It was as if my lips had instantly healed and my fingers began to travel silently along the soft edges of his cheek, believing that they could commit the outline of his very flesh to memory, even if only for a few moments. I could never do this with Edward. Edward, no. Jacob, yes. Their kisses were so different. Edward's urges had been kept at bay, always leaving me wanting more. Jacob's eagerness thrilled and excited me, to the point where I almost couldn't wait. A cry escaped my mouth that was everything but passionless, and I allowed my mind to dive further and further into a place where only Jacob could take me.

I felt the rest of my senses dropping slowly into a warm and gentle rain as my lower body collided with his lower body. I could want and feel nothing more than each kiss deepen, each breath of air that escaped inbetween gasps, and each of our fingers tracing the other's body. Jacob wouldn't stop. He wouldn't let me go. And I couldn't let him go.

I pulled his shirt collar to move him even closer to me and the shirt tore a little more in my hands. His hard abs were softened only by his warm skin scraping against my stomach and then I felt his thumb gently push against my shirt. I felt my moistness spread as his finger slowly separated the top of my sleep shorts from my body. I gasped.

"Jake, wait—just wait." I almost stuttered as I pushed away from him.

Jacob realized his mistake. His breathing stopped and he looked horrified at what he had been about to do.

"Oh no! Bella, I am sorry. I didn't mean that. I don't want that—I mean I do, but I don't—I—God!"

I had to laugh. It kept me sane.

I had wanted him to go further. To go faster. To keep going until there was nothing in between us or clothes on us. But reality hit me and I hit it back.

I didn't want Jake to be embarrassed for kissing me nor did I want to feel bad for allowing him to. I kept the smile on my face hoping that he would follow suit. To show that there were no hard feelings.

He returned the smile.

I casually draped my arm and used it to cover my attempt to fix my shirt and shorts and he took the time to tuck his shirt back in to his pants.

I shook my head at him and gave him another smile.

Jacob progressed toward me again and I felt my heart resume its previous "hummingbird" pace, but he just slowly tilted my head up. He only moved to kiss my forehead, leaving me with an imprint of his warm lips.

A/N: "Ti'iyahl, wisatsu'upat wihl" really does mean 'Man, woman as one' in Quileute. It is a dying language, but they do share a few words in a couple of documentary books. I did not make up these words. I actually researched and read books to get them.

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