The first day wasn't so bad. Actually it was pretty good, but that's all I'm gonna say about it. I spent all day avoiding Bella and the questions I knew she would have about Jacob. I knew I wouldn't be able to answer them anyway. Jacob has his own reasons for stuff.

When I got home, Jacob was there with Embry. They were talking about something and it looked really serious.

"Hey guys." I ran over to them.

Jacob jumped to his feet and met me half way. He took my bag and we walked into the house.

"We need to talk to you." Embry muttered.

"What's wrong?"

I looked at Jacob and he just shook his head. I would have given the same look to Embry but he was already walking into the house. When we got inside, Embry's mom, my aunt, my father's sister was sitting on the couch crying. Jake's dad was there holding her hand.

"Okay, what's going on?" I asked; I was worried now.

"Aria, your dad had an ulterior motive for sending you here." My aunt whispered, "He," she paused and looked at Billy, "He was dying, Aria." Billy said for her.

"What?" I gasped, reaching for Jacob's hand.

"He's gone, baby." Jacob said pulling me closer to him.

I pushed away from him, "So he sent me away so he could die alone?"

"He's been in the hospital since the day after you left."

I broke down. I dropped Jacob's hand and ran out the front door.

"Aria!" Embry called after me. "Jacob, go after her. She'll only listen to you."

I ran faster.

"Aria, stop!" Jacob called.

I made it to the beach but I didn't stop running. I moved quickly down the shore and stood by the mountain. I let the tide wash over my feet after I kicked off my shoes. He caught up to me as I waded out into the waves.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, Jake?"

"It looks like you're walking out into freezing cold water when it's about to rain."

"When you find out someone dies, your whole body goes cold. The water is warm to my body. It's just cold to you. And I don't care if it rains. Jake, why did this happen?"

"He was sick. There was no way for you to stop this even if you had stayed home."

"But why didn't I know? Why didn't someone tell me? Why didn't he tell me? I was his daughter. He was my father."

"You still are and he still is. Whether he's alive or not, he is your father."

"Jake, I just can't_"

My tears fell like the raindrops that were beginning to fall from the sky. The warmth of his body found the chill of mine and I began to warm up. I turned to face him and I wrapped my arms around him. I cried against him and he just held me. When the rain fell harder he carried me from the ocean. He carried me home. He carried me to my bed. He sat there with me curled against him as I cried my eyes out.

JACOB

I left her asleep on her bed. Her face was covered in dried tears. I didn't leave the house. I just went out to the living room and sat on the couch. I put my head in my hands and just shed a few tears. I hated seeing her that way, watching her run from her family and me as we tried to comfort her.

Embry sat on the couch next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"She'll be okay, Jake."

"I just don't know. I've never seen her like that. She clutched onto me like she would die if she let go. I don't cry, Em, but I cry seeing her like this. It breaks my heart to feel like I can't do anything to make the pain go away this time."

"Just be there for her, that's all any of us can do."

"I love her, Embry, and I know she knows I'll always be here for her. But I don't know that she believes anyone can do anything."

"What did she say to you when you found her?"

"She was standing in the water by the cliffs. I told her she needed to get out of the water because it was cold and it was about to rain. She said that her whole body went cold when we told her so the water was warm to her. She started to cry and I went in after her. I took her into my arms and I knew what she meant. Her body was cold but where her skin was wet was warm."

"She's in shock."

"No, she's not. She is fully aware of what's happened. She's just heartbroken. Embry, I have one chance to get this right. If I can't fix her heart, how long will it be before she starts to pull away from me? Before she starts to shut me out and push me away? I can't lose her, I can't."

"I know. Until that happens, though, you need to be there for her."

"Jacob!" she cried, tears straining her voice.

"I'm coming, baby!" I called back as I stood.

"That's what I mean, Jake, just be there for her."

I looked at Embry and that's when I saw it. This was hitting the entire family so hard. The reason no one else could be there for her the way I could was because I was the only one crying for a different reason. Embry never had a real father but Aria and her parents were here all the time. Her dad was like a father to him.

I walked back to Aria's room to find her standing at the window, watching the rain fall.

"My dad used to sit outside when it would rain. When I was little, I would sit in his lap and he would tell me legends that the Makah tribe had about why it would rain. I don't really remember them but I do remember that I would love hearing them and I would fall asleep to the sound of his voice."

She put her hand to the glass and started to cry again. I moved to stand behind her and she turned quickly.

"I heard you talking to him Jacob. I'm not going to push you away. I need you now more than ever so just do what Embry said and be here for me. Like right now, I need you to be here for me and just hold onto me, tell me you love me, and please don't let me go."

I pulled her into my arms once again and she cried against me. I picked her up and put her back in bed. We lay there together the way we did when I brought her home from the beach just a few hours before. She fell asleep against me and after a bit I followed suit.

ARIA

I woke up before him. I didn't move though. I just wanted to sit there. The sound of his breath was soothing. My biggest problem was that I was in denial about the day before. In my mind, my father just couldn't be dead. In my mind, he wasn't old enough to die. They told me he was sick. They didn't tell me what he was sick from.

Jacob's breath caught and he took in a deep breath. He was waking up. He stretched and then looked down at me.

"Hey babe."

"Hey…" I took in a deep breath and clutched his shirt.

"You okay?"

"I'm… holding up I guess. Do you know what he was sick with?"

He sat up while still holding me to his chest so I sat up with him. "Embry said it was some kind of terminal disease. It was something he had when he was younger, before you were born. It was under control but after your mom died he stopped paying attention to when he was supposed to take his meds."

"So he killed himself?"

"I wouldn't say it like that but technically, yes, he did."

As he was talking, I felt my tears start to pool in my eyes.

"Jacob…" I whispered before I sobbed, "My daddy's dead."

I buried my face in his chest and began to cry hysterically. He held me tightly, mumbling things to me to try to calm me down. Embry came into the room at some point and Jacob passed me to him.

"Embry, we have to do something." Jacob stated in a flat monotone.

"There's nothing we can do Jake. Look at her. Let her cry it out."

Almost immediately, I fell asleep against Embry.

JACOB

She fell asleep again. Embry passed her to me and I lay her back on the pillows. I got out of the bed and covered her up. I also gave her my sweatshirt to hold onto because I couldn't sit there and watch her anymore. I needed to go for walk, clear my head so I could come back and tell her, and trust it when I told her, that everything would be okay.

So that's what I did. I walked to the beach and up and down the sand over and over again until finally, I just stopped moving. I stared up at the sky and at the waves, at the horizon. I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Sam Uley standing there.

"Hey, Jacob."

"Sam."

"Look I just came to offer my condolences for Aria's loss. Her father was a good friend to this tribe. She must be devastated."

"She is. I've never seen her so hurt."

"This is not the end of it, Jacob. Things will begin to change for you and for her, very possibly neither for the better."

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll see soon enough."

Then he left me standing there, confused. I sighed and started my walk home.

When I made it there and back into her room, she was staring out her bedroom window. She had my sweatshirt on.

"Where did you go?"

"I went to the beach, for a walk."

She turned to me, "You look confused."

"It's nothing. I ran into Sam at the beach and he started pretty much speaking in riddles. The whole walk home I was trying to figure out what it all meant."

She walked over to me and took my face in between her hands. She ran one hand through my hair and stepped on her toes to kiss me.

"Feeling better?"

"A little bit but I'm glad you're here."

"I'll always be here."