A/N: I'm posting this now because I felt a bit bad for the two cliffies I've given you. I hope it'll explain why he's acting and been so shady, and clear a few things up for you.

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Beta: plainjanedee

5-The Silence

Bella groaned loudly as warm, yet unwelcomed rays of beaming sunshine pierced through her drapes. Holy cow, she thought as she carefully pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. Her stomach churned violently and her head pounded. How much did I drink last night? Gingerly, she stood to her feet, wiped the crusted sleep from the corners of her eyes and padded into the master bathroom. Gripping both sides of the sink with her hands, she let her head hang between her shoulders and briefly closed her eyes. She felt nauseous, her head spun furiously, and she was absolutely starving; however, the mere thought of food made her stomach turn.

Turning on the faucet, Bella cupped her hands together and lowered them under the running water. After splashing her face, she turned it off and made her way back to the bedroom. Just as she reached the archway to her bedroom, Jake's frantic voice caught her attention.

"Dammit, I just said I'll meet you." Silence clung to the air around her as disbelief and sadness clutched her heart in a death grip. For some stupid, naive reason, she'd been hoping last night had just been a bad, incredibly screwed-up nightmare. Apparently not. "I don't know. At the shop or something." As she continued to listen, the disbelief and sadness quickly transformed into bitterness and hostility. Was he fucking serious? He was calling the bitch here? In her house?! Their home?! Gritting her teeth, she shook her head and went to continue on when his voice came again.

"Be fucking serious," he hissed angrily into the receiver. "Shit, I don't even know what's going on. Have you spoke to him, yet? Jesus Christ, you told me you would! I've been sitting here stewing on this for fucking weeks! No. I can't. Not yet. I need more time," he paused for a brief second before continuing in a croaky, pained voice. "I know I need to, but I can't. I-I just can't do this to her."

Too fucking late, asshole, you've already done it.

Striding down the stairs with a confidence and determination she'd never felt before, Bella stormed right up to her asshole husband and yanked the cell from his hand. "Go somewhere else and talk to your whore! Do not do in my house!" And with that she threw the device against the wall and stomped out of the room.

~TBW~

Regret. Remorse. Guilt. Sorrow. Shame. Those were just some of the dark emotions roiling around Jake's heart and assaulting his troubled mind as he trekked with purpose down the dirt road that led to his garage, Black's Auto Repairs.

His wife hated him, she had made that much crystal fucking clear. And to be honest, with the way he'd been acting for the past two weeks, he fucking deserved it. God, the look of pure hatred on her beautiful face this morning tore him apart.

Jake loved that stubborn woman with all his heart, and it was killing him to treat her so callously, that she thought he was cheating on her. She wouldn't let him explain and he wouldn't know what to say if she did. She'd never believe the truth. He could barely believe the truth.

And now, thanks to his stupid genes and some crazy legends that apparently weren't legends, he had pushed her away, to the point where she couldn't even stand to be near him. Fuck!

Growling animalistically, Jake bounded through the garage doors, slamming them behind him and stalked toward his long-time friend.

"She thinks I'm fucking cheating on her, Sam. I'm telling you, this is going to end my marriage," he said worriedly, while pacing up and down, as pain gripped his heart.

Wiping his oily hands on an old rag, Sam threw the cloth to the side and leaned back casually against the car as if he didn't have a care in the world. "You mean, you still haven't told her?" he asked in an accusatory tone.

Jake gave an incredulous scoff, "Tell her what, Sam?!" he yelled. "How can I reassure the woman I love, when I don't even know what's going on?! I mean, shit, man, two weeks ago you tell me I'm about to sprout paws and a tail and that still hasn't happened, but I'm practically homicidal if someone so much as cuts me off in traffic!" he raked his hands through his hair in frustration. "You gotta help me somehow. I need to save my marriage and I need you to push me into the change so I can start to get a handle on all this shit!"

Throwing him a 'what the fuck are you saying' look, Sam rolled his eyes. "There's no way I'm doing that, Jake. It will happen on it's own, when it's time."

An exasperated cry broke from Jake's mouth. "I can't go on like this, Sam! Feeling angry all the time? Worrying about my wife leaving me? Having these...freaky animalistic urges? Hell, I don't even know what the fuck to think of that part!" he all but shrieked. "Fuck, Sam, if it's going to happen, anyway, then why can't we just get it over with already? Normal was me being able to make love to my wife without wanting to fuck her so hard that she knows without a shadow of a doubt that she's mine! And what the fuck is up with feeling the need to bite her neck when I blow my load?!"

Sam shrugged noncommittally, "It's the wolf coming to the forefront. He must agree that Bella is your mate. And Bella already knows she's yours, just like you've always belonged to her. This, what you're feeling, is just your spirit wolf agreeing with you." He paused, slipping his hands into his coverall pockets. "But, as I've told you before, you need to talk to Bella. You have to tell her what you're going through before you end up pushing her away and creating an unfixable rift in your marriage," he told him, matter-of-factly.

Jake chuckled sourly as he thought back on his and Bella's "conversation" in their kitchen a few hours ago. "Bit late for that. She already hates me."

The older man cocked his head to the side, and raised his brow dubiously, "She doesn't. She's just hurting right now."

Needing to take his mind off his failing marriage, he asked, "What would it take to actually get me to..." he couldn't believe the words that would leave his mouth. "...morph into a giant fucking dog? How angry do I need to be? I mean, are we talking Bruce Banner angry or 'some asshole broke into my car and stole my stereo' angry?"

"Well, that's an unknown variable. It's different for everybody. For me, it happened when Emily bought the wrong kind of peanut butter. I fucking hate chunky peanut butter."

"So, I'm just supposed to wait for some random thing to piss me off enough that I explode and then I'll be a wolf… a wolf the size of a fucking horse?" Jake asked helplessly, throwing his hands in the air as fear and panic flooded his voice. "Do you not see what a bad idea this is? Sam, what if it happens when I'm with Bella?! Or at the grocery story? We need to control this! I'm so volatile right now, if the wind blew too hard it might piss me off!"

Expelling a heavy breath, Sam looked at Jake with sympathetic, relenting eyes, "Do you really feel that dangerous?"

"Sam, I feel like a damn time bomb waiting to go off. I need this. Please."

"Fine. But I'm only agreeing to this because I know how you feel and I don't want either of you to suffer anymore. If you haven't phased by the end of the week, we'll force it."

After that was settled, Jake was stewing about what to do about his marriage. Bella had not told him to leave the house, but he was thinking she might, after the misunderstanding this morning. "Sam, what will I do if she tries to leave me? I can't handle that. I can't live without her."

"You won't have to, Jake. That woman lives and breathes for you. You can tell just by looking at her. I don't think I've ever seen a love as passionate and strong as yours. She's just hurt and confused. You need to be honest with her, man."

"Honest?" he chuckled, sourly. "Sam, she thinks I don't love her anymore; that I'm fucking another woman!" Jake choked, averting his eyes to the floor and running a tired hand over his unshaven face. "Fuck, man. How can she think that? I fucking exist for her, man. She's the goddamn air I breathe. She's my fucking gravity, for Christ sake!"

Sam automatically nodded his head in agreement. He knew how strongly Jake felt for Bella. He'd known since he first saw them together, almost ten years ago, that they would grow old together. Jake and Bella's connection had been instant. As soon as his friend laid eyes on the petite brunette, he fell head over heels in love. So he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. After all, he knew what Jake was going through. He'd been there himself. "I know, man. I know how much you love each other," he acquiesced. "But you gotta understand her side of it, Jake. You're not acting like the man she married," Sam remarked, not bothering to beat around the bush.

Bobbing his head in thought, Sam ran a knowing hand over his face and looked directly at his friend. "Maybe Emily should go talk to her. Maybe she needs a female to confide in and Emily knows what she's going through."

Jake shot Sam a grateful look, "Do you think she would, Sam? That might be just what Bella needs, someone to understand her and explain things to her."

Sam nodded his head, chuckling, "Jake, I'm sure Emily would be happy to speak to Bella. They might not know each other that well, but Emily will be glad to help."

A tidal wave of relief washed over Jake and if he wasn't already sitting down, he would've collapsed out of sheer exhaustion. Finally, he had a plan; that in and of itself made the pain in his chest ease a little. He'd felt so out of control so often these days, that just having a timeline to work with felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Listen, don't worry about that for now. The most important thing for you to do at the moment is to go home and show that wife of yours how much you love her, before it's too late," Sam instructed his friend, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Romance her, man. Sweep her off her feet."

Chuckling, Jake turned back to Sam and punched him playfully in the ribs, "So you're an ol' romantic, eh? Who knew."

"Fuck you, Black," Sam laughed. "Go get your girl."

Smirking, Jake opened the garage door, and started toward their home. The first thing he intended to do when he saw her? Take her small, stunning body into his arms and kiss her so passionately that she'd be left breathless. And then he planned on re-christening every room in their home-several times over.