A/N: Happy Independence Day to all my US readers!

I can not believe it's been an entire month since I posted the last chapter! I am so sorry it's taken me so long, but I've spent three of those four weeks visiting family, so I just haven't been able to focus as much on writing as I wanted and needed to. I also struggled with a part of this chapter, but while I was working through some of that, I worked ahead and did some editing on the next five chapters, so I'll be able to get those up much faster.

As I've said before, I will not leave this story unfinished, so if you're still here, please continue to stick with me and I promise it'll get done just as soon as I'm able. I still have some really big things still planned for this story!

As always, I don't own this world or the characters, although at this point the story is pretty much mine and Grammy Jo is all mine :) You finally get to meet her in this chapter, so I hope you like her.

Happy reading :D

CHAPTER 44

~~BELLA POV~~

"WE SHOULD PROBABLY get going soon, Jake." Snug in the recliner in Jake's garage, I looked up from my math book to his jean-clad legs sticking out from under the blue pick-up truck he was working on.

The week had gone by fairly quickly and I couldn't believe it was already Thursday. As planned, Alice had come over to spend the night on Tuesday, then on Wednesday I had gone over to Angela's house to help her address her plethora of graduation invitations. I had no need to do such a thing, although if even a few of the pack members came, I'd have far more people at graduation than I ever would have imagined.

"Yeah, I only need a couple more minutes. I've just about got this one ready to go." He emerged from under the truck on his rolling creeper, stood, and stuck his head back under the opened hood. I couldn't help but admire the way his shoulder and back muscles moved under his snug-fitting black t-shirt, and my eyes strayed down to his tight backsi—

"Bella?"

My cheeks flared hot as my eyes flew up to Jake's face and I realized I'd been too distracted ogling him and had missed something he'd said. He was smirking at me over his shoulder, sparks flashing in his eyes, and I gave him a sheepish grin. "Sorry. What'd you say?"

"Can you start the truck up for me?" Barely contained laughter sounded in his voice.

I hopped up, set my book aside, and quickly moved to the driver's side door, my face heating even more as he tracked my movements.

A few minutes later he put the hood down. "Alright, everything looks good. You can shut it off."

I turned off the ignition then went to pack up my bookbag that was setting between the recliner and Jake's work bench, where he'd moved to wipe off his hands on a towel. I squeaked when he suddenly gripped me around the waist and hauled me up to sit on the bench, crowding into me. With our faces inches apart, his dark eyes stared into mine with intensity as he ran his thumb over my jaw and cheek, and I shivered.

"Did you enjoy what you were looking at?"

Holding his steady gaze, I swallowed hard and smoothed my hands over his chest. "Yeah, it was pretty nice."

"Just nice?" His hands were on my thighs on either side of his hips and my heart was thrumming a mile a minute.

I shrugged one shoulder with what I hoped was a nonchalant expression and didn't reply. Mostly because couldn't… I could barely breathe.

"Liar," he murmured with a crooked grin.

I huffed out a breathy laugh and Jake swallowed it up with a firm kiss. My arms wound around his neck, and as our lips moved against each other, his hands slowly travelled up to my waist then back down to my thighs before pulling back to look at me again. I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off.

"I know, I know, we need to go." He sighed but didn't make any move to get me down.

Studying his face, I noticed just how pronounced the dark circles and weariness on his face had become. I traced a finger along each cheek bone under his eyes. "I hate to see you so worn out."

The wolves had increased their patrols once again, as Jake and Sam had discussed on Sunday. Jake was also still working to build his budding auto repair business and spending as much quality time with me as possible. Add in the fact that I was sure he was running extra patrols when it was supposed to be his time off, and that he was sleeping in the woods outside my house, and it had all started to take a heavy toll on him.

"I'll be alright Bella. I don't need as much sleep—"

"Jake, don't. It's not only about the amount of sleep you're getting this time, and you know it. Even when you're sleeping, you aren't sleeping well. You're either restless because we're away from each other, or you're trying to sleep with the rest of your pack in your head, or Sam's pack keeps you on edge with their frequent passes near my house. Maybe you can get by on less sleep for a while, but not when the sleep you are getting is crappy."

He had turned his face away from me and was looking out the garage door. "It's just the way it has to be right now."

I was unwilling to accept that. It wasn't going to get any better any time soon, unfortunately, so something had to give. I was not going to sit by and watch him run himself into the ground.

I took his face in my hands and made him look at me again. "You have tonight off, right?"

"Yeah."

"Come stay with me. It feels like forever since I've had you next to me all night, and I miss it. Maybe if you could get one or two good night's sleep a week, that would be enough."

"That's so tempting," he groaned and rested his forehead on mine. "I don't know though. I'll admit that I'm worn out enough that I'm afraid I won't hear Charlie if he comes to check on you."

"He doesn't…"

"Yeah, he does baby. If he goes to bed after you or gets up before you, he almost always peeks in to check on you."

Huh. I had no idea.

"I'll really be okay Bella." He pulled back and smiled at me, trying to reassure me, but I wasn't buying it.

"Well, this isn't over… I'm going to figure something out. But we really do need to get going."

Jake set me back on the ground and we headed out to his Charger and set off toward Emily's. Grammy Jo had gotten into town that morning, so we were finally going to get to meet her, and I was pretty excited about it. That also meant the option of me and Jake staying at Emily's was out since Grammy Jo was using the guest room for a few days. There was an answer, I just had to keep looking until I found it.

GRAMMY JO WAS everything I thought she'd be, and more. She practically lept off the couch when Jake and I walked into Emily's house, her short and petit yet plump frame bounding the first few steps toward us, making her seem almost child-like. Her white hair was cropped short, and I had to suppress a giggle as I thought how much she looked like a little pixie, full of life and energy and reminding me of Alice. I loved her immediately.

She slowed as she got nearer to us and put her hands to her cheeks, both etched with wrinkles, shock and excitement gleaming in her eyes. As she met us at the edge of the kitchen, she not only looked at us, but also at the empty air all around us. As I watched her scanning the blank spaces between us, I was taken by her eyes; the same deep brown of Emily's eyes, so dark they were almost black, and you couldn't tell where the separation between iris and pupil was. But it was the wisdom in them that captivated me; I lost myself in the endless pools of knowledge and understanding… seeming to be too much for one person to contain.

She looked at Emily who had followed her from the living room.

"I told you it was unbelievable," Emily said to her grandmother. Then she turned to us to explain, "She can see all of your connections, and it's quite a marvelous sight."

"I never dreamed this would ever happen again, let alone in my lifetime," Grammy Jo said in awe, turning to us again.

"Jacob," she said warmly and held out her hands to him. He grasped them in his much larger hands, and she smiled. "No longer a boy, are you? A man now, with a man's burdens on your shoulders. You are so strong in heart and mind and body… a perfect Alpha." She moved one hand through the air between me and Jake, pointing her finger. "And look how sweet you are to your imprint… your Healer. So in tune with both your own powers and her needs. Magnificent… truly!"

Turning to me, she let go of Jake's other hand and held both of hers out to me. I lost myself in her deep eyes again. "And Bella," she said as I took her hands. "Such a power!" she exclaimed in excitement.

I blinked a few times. For just a moment I thought I saw a flash of golden light in her dark eyes, like a shooting star on a moonless night.

She smiled at the look on my face. "You saw it, didn't you? In my eyes?"

I nodded. "What was it?"

"It's the magic. It's not active in me like Emily and the two of you, but it's still in my blood and I can tap into it. It shows me things, tells me things I wouldn't know otherwise. Helps guide me and helps me guide others. Only those with the magic in their blood can recognize it in others.

"And you, my dear Bella," she continued, bringing one hand up to my cheek, "you've already tapped into so much of that magic within yourself… a very fast study indeed. I'm so pleased to see your heart set right and healed of that horrible pain. There is so much happiness in you now."

She removed her hand from my cheek and reached back out to Jake. He didn't take it right away and I glanced over at him. He was smiling at me with pride and adoration shining in his eyes, bringing heat to my cheeks. After a moment he noticed Grammy Jo's hand and took it in his again. She closed her eyes this time and drew in a sharp breath. "What a strong, pure love. I've never seen anything like it. This is more than just the imprinting."

She opened her eyes and looked back and forth between us as she continued. "I don't know if the two of you are aware of this, but your imprinting is unique because it was not completely involuntary. Even if the vampire had not interfered, your imprinting comes from the magic that was inside of Jake and would have required you to choose each other first regardless. Because of that, your bond is stronger than any I have ever witnessed before… even your core bond that existed before the imprinting happened is powerful. If there were no magic, no imprinting, no supernatural elements to your lives, you two would have still had a powerful love. With the magic though, there is absolutely nothing that the two of you cannot overcome together. It will give you an intimacy and understanding of each other that you could not possibly fathom, and I cannot describe.

She dropped our hands and made a few motions in the air between me and Jake.

"So much to read… so much yet to discover…" she said more to herself as she began to circle around us.

I looked at Jake again. I like her.

Yeah, I do too.

"Do you mind if I tell you some things that I see?" she asked us as she came back in front of us, and we turned our attention back to her. "And I can teach Emily as I go."

"I would actually love to hear what all you see," I answered. "Maybe it will help us learn something new."

Jake was nodding his head. "Yeah, I agree."

She clapped her hands in excitement, reminding me of Alice again and my smile grew a little more.

"Bella, as Healer you will have more compassion for others and feel things more strongly than ever before."

I kinda already knew that, considering how strong my feelings toward Leah were.

Grammy Jo continued, "And Jake, she will need you to help her deal with those emotions, taking them from her sometimes and giving her peace and calm sometimes."

She didn't say anything to Emily, but she was pointing to spaces around us as she spoke and looking to make sure Emily saw it to. Emily just nodded and remained quiet.

"How do you know that?" I asked Grammy Jo, then looked at Jake. "It's already happened for us some. Jake has been able to calm me down several times."

"That's good. You're both doing an exceptional job at figuring your powers out without guidance. Keep staying sensitive to them, and you may be surprised by how much power you have inside of you.

"And I know these things because I can read some of your connections… the magic helps me see. That's what I'm pointing to, showing Emily what I'm seeing. Once she has developed her abilities more, she'll be able to see much more than I can, but I have more practice at it than her at this point."

She and Emily smiled at each other then she turned back to us. "Have you experienced a deep peace between you yet, allowing you to block out the distractions around you?"

We both nodded as I answered, "Yes. It's like our own little place of solitude. It seems to come on so randomly. I thought I made it last longer one time but couldn't be sure."

"Actually, you're causing it every time, Bella, even if you don't realize it. It's happening because you need something… a moment to block out something overwhelming you, or because you need Jake to help you deal with your emotions, or just to have a more focused connection with each other. You can learn to control it and make it happen at your will, or even block it from coming, if you need to. The greater your need, the deeper you can go into your place of solitude, as you called it. You can only go there together though. You will both depend much more on each other, but Bella will especially depend on you Jake."

"Do you care if I try to do it now?" I asked her, not wanting to throw anything off of what she was seeing.

"Oh! I would love it if you did!" she replied, her wide smile causing her eyes to crinkle. "I want to see whatever you're willing and able to show me."

Jake and I turned to face each other, looking into one another's eyes. I pulled at the warmth in my chest, but that wasn't right. Before I could make anything happen the world started to fall away on its own.

I can't figure out how I'm doing it, I thought, a little frustrated. I couldn't stay frustrated though, we were now completely in the solitude, so it wasn't possible.

You'll get it. We're here now. Anything feel or look different?

I focused on the solitude and the peace it brought, still looking at Jake.

Close your eyes, Jake suggested.

That usually makes it go away.

Might help you focus now that you know you can control it. Can't hurt to try.

I nodded and closed my eyes. After a few moments I felt the solitude start to fade, but Jake was right, that allowed me to get a feel for it and I was able to grasp it with my mind and make it stay, still not exactly sure how…

Suddenly there it was! A faint golden shimmer, wrapping completely around me and Jake, hugging tightly to us, like a forcefield or a shield. I could feel the pulse of it now, trying to close back into my mind. I was able to get a better hold on it and pushed it back out from my mind. It became brighter, more golden in color, and thicker. I opened my eyes, and I could still see it.

Jake was smiling at me, and he gently touched my face. I knew you could do it.

Can you see it?

He shook his head. No, I can only feel it, but I could tell when it started to fade and then got stronger again.

I held the solitude for a few more moments, then let it slip away.

"Well, that was something to see!" Grammy Jo exclaimed when the solitude was gone. She turned to Emily again. "Had you seen them communicate telepathically like that yet?"

"Once, when just Jake was here, but not both of them," Emily answered her grandmother, then turned to us. "I'm getting to learn so much by watching the two of you while Grammy Jo is here, so I'm very grateful to you both for coming over today."

"We're happy to be here Emily," I said.

"So, I was telling Grammy Jo about the issues you two were having about being apart from each other, and she had some insight about that for you."

"Ah, yes. Even more so now that I've seen you both together. So, it's actually not just the magic that's causing your discomfort when you're apart. You're in love so the ache of being separated is stemming from just simply missing each other, true. However, the magic is amplifying the feelings you're having. So, what would normally be just a small ache of missing each other, has turned into discomfort that will keep you up at night."

Jake looked at me then back to Grammy Jo. "But when I've gone near to Bella's house at night, even if she didn't know I was there, the ache went away, and she was able to sleep."

"That is the magic, for certain. It has connected you in ways that you aren't even aware of. So, she may not consciously know you're there, but through the magic, she can sense it unconsciously. It's an integral part of you both now and has fundamentally changed you both, so there are many things that just are, or just will be, because of the magic, whether you're aware of them or not. And the need you feel to protect Bella is also from the magic, but it is so tangled up in your desire to be together that it's causing you more discomfort than it would otherwise."

I looked up at Jake. "At least we have some answers."

He smiled at me. "Yeah. Hopefully that means it'll get easier as we get used to everything. We'll just have to deal with it until then."

I nodded, touching his face and I frowned. He looked like he was going to pass out at any moment.

"Why don't you go lay down on the couch while we get dinner ready?" I suggested to him. "You could at least get a couple hours of good sleep."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." He rubbed his thumb over my cheek then kissed me on the forehead before heading into the living room. He had told me earlier that he wanted to make a pass around the perimeter of La Push before dinner, so the fact that he didn't argue with me said a lot.

Emily and I headed into the kitchen to start dinner while Grammy Jo disappeared into the bedroom.

"Is he doing okay?" Emily asked when we could hear him snoring softly a few minutes later as she opened the first of several packages of chicken.

I dumped a bag of potatoes in the sink and started washing them. "Not really. At night he insists on sleeping in wolf form in the woods by my house so we can be close, so I can get good sleep." I shook my head in displeasure. "So, he's either got the rest of his pack in his head or Sam's pack is constantly waking him when they make their passes by my house. Then, if he tries to sleep during the day while I'm at school, he struggles to even fall asleep, let alone stay asleep. Either way, I don't think he's had even a solid hour of uninterrupted sleep all week.

"He's also still working on as many cars as he can and just trying to spend time with me. I try to help combine those as much as possible by hanging out with him while he's working, but it's not enough. On top of all that, I am certain he's doing extra patrols when he's supposed to be off. The whole unknown aspect of what's going on has him nervous and even more on edge than when Victoria was hunting me. He tries not to let me know just how worried he is, but I can sometimes feel it through our mental link."

"I'm sorry Bella," Emily said, trimming fat off pieces of chicken before placing them in a large roasting pan.

"I tried to convince him to come stay with me tonight, but he's afraid he won't hear it if Charlie came to check on me, and the last thing we want is for Charlie not to trust us… not with everything else that we're dealing with. I don't know what else to do." I dumped the last handful of potato chunks in a large stock pot with the rest and moved it into the sink to fill it with water.

"Would Charlie be okay with Jake sleeping on your couch? That would have to be better than staying in the woods in his wolf form."

"Maybe, but what reason would we give? Charlie likes us to have some separation, so it would have to be something other than we want to stay close to each other." I helped Emily rub seasoning onto the chicken, each of us starting from one end of the pan and working toward the center.

"What about staying at Jake's? You could tell your dad that you're staying here."

I shook my head. "I appreciate that, but we don't want to put Billy, or you, in the position to have to lie to Charlie. Billy probably would, but Jake and I wouldn't feel right about it."

"I'm sorry I can't offer for you to stay here."

We took turns washing the chicken and seasoning off our hands.

"It's totally fine Emily. It's great to have Grammy Jo here. I'm so thankful that you have her to help you figure out how to use your abilities. I think you got the most complicated part of the magic!"

"No kidding! Just getting a dream or vision and seeing connections is easy, but learning how to interpret them is a little more tricky. I'll get it though."

"I know you will."

Grammy Jo appeared next to Emily again. "Did you tell her about your dream yet?"

"Not yet. I was waiting for you to get back."

"Alright, well here I am. Now would be a good time while your Alpha is otherwise occupied."

I was looking back and forth between them. "You had a dream? Like a future-type dream?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah. It was just last night." She put the pan of chicken in the oven and set a timer, then turned to me, wiping her hands off on a towel and leaning against the counter and I leaned back against the kitchen table.

"In the dream, Jake was standing on a cliff top, looking out over the ocean. You walked up beside him then someone wrapped a white blanket around your shoulders… I couldn't see who, but I don't think that matters. The golden light of your magic shone around you and then you both shifted into wolf form."

I gasped and my eyes widened. "I shifted!?"

Emily laughed. "Yeah, but it doesn't mean you're going to become a wolf. That's not what the dream was telling me."

The air rushed out of my lungs in relief. That was definitely not something I wanted to deal with. Besides, I wasn't a Quileute, so that wouldn't make any sense at all.

"Sorry, didn't mean to freak you out. No, I am very confident that you shifting in the dream is indication of a new power that has yet to be unlocked, but not shifting… something else."

"That's good. Another power, huh? So, was there anything else significant in the dream? Any idea how to unlock the new power?"

Emily nodded then looked at Grammy Jo who took over.

"The magic inside of you and Jake is a very powerful gift, as you are discovering. Because of that, it has protections built within it, which is why it required a choice from each of you and will only manifest itself between two people who are committed to each other. It's also why the full strength of your magic will not reveal itself until that commitment has been made complete.

"The white blanket placed around you and Jake in the dream is signifying the covering of your weaknesses and sorrows from your lives while apart from each other… apart from the other half of your soul. It is a traditional Quileute ceremony performed during weddings. Through the covering, it represents you moving forward together into your new joined life with peace and fulfillment. The completion of the commitment looked different in the time the magic was first born, but the essence of that commitment was the same as what a marriage is today. And we are positive that what the dream is telling us is that to unlock your full powers, you and Jake will need to make that full commitment of marriage.

My eyes had gone wide again as it became clear to me where the story was headed. My mother's words sounded in my mind: 'Smart people never get married before the age of 30.' I shook those thoughts out of my head. They were both unwelcomed and untrue… at least for me and Jake.

Grammy Jo continued, "So, while marriage is required for the final step in completing your bonds, that doesn't mean it needs to happen now. There is no time limit on this final step, but taking it will make you the absolute strongest you can be, both together and separate, and will allow the magic to reach its full potential."

Emily spoke again. "There was also a message for you in the dream, Bella. It wasn't given to me in words, but more of an impression. With what you told me about your mother's feelings about marriage, I thought this would come as a revelation to you, but now…" She squinted at me and then nodded with a small smile lifting her lips. "Now though, I think it's more of a confirmation for you.

"In essence, the message is that you are not your mother and you never have been. You have always been stronger than her. Plus, if you look deep inside yourself, you'll discover that you never genuinely believed what she told you was right. She was speaking from a hurt and confused heart and that is a dangerous place to get guidance from."

Hearing this was like a balm to my soul. I was so thankful that I had come to this realization on my own and that the message from Emily's dream was just a confirmation, as she had said, but it was a very welcomed confirmation. I definitely knew that I wanted to marry Jake much sooner than thirty, but I never really considered it being any time in the next few years, let alone the next few months. But, did waiting for even one year before getting married even make sense for us at this point, considering how bonded we were already? Not to mention how hard it was to be apart. I wanted some time to think through this alone, but I couldn't deny that the idea of marrying Jake sooner excited me and set my heart aflutter.

"Now, we don't expect you to say anything or make any decision right now," Grammy Jo reassured me. "You'll want some time to think it over, as well as talk to Jake about it, so let's not have any more discussion about that today, okay?"

I just nodded my head. Yes, I needed to think about it, but I also needed to make sure I didn't overthink it, as I was prone to do.

"Could you not tell Jake? Let me tell him about it?"

"Of course!" They both agreed.

We took our time to finish preparing dinner so Jake could have as much time to sleep as possible. Thankfully Sam was the only other person coming over until later in the evening, so the house stayed quiet.

After dinner, Jake and I were sitting on the couch together, his arm around me and my legs draped over his thighs, talking quietly. I wasn't quite ready to talk to him about the marriage dream and message, so I didn't bring that up yet. He had just leaned down to kiss me softly when I sensed someone standing in front of us and there was a quiet clearing of a throat. When we looked up, Grammy Jo and Emily were standing there, smiling. My cheeks were already warm from Jake's kiss, but they flared hotter upon seeing them.

Grammy Jo leaned forward a little and gently held Jake's face in her hands. "Sweet Jacob, part of taking care of Bella is also taking care of yourself. I realize you're dealing with some obstacles right now, but you need to do whatever you can to get good sleep." She tapped him on the forehead and stood up straighter before continuing, Jake's cheeks also tinged pink. "So, you and Bella will stay here tonight, in the guest room, and I will stay with Emily in her room."

"Oh, Grammy Jo! We couldn't possibly ask–"

She stopped me with a raised hand. "Well, you're not asking me… I'm offering."

"And we won't take no for an answer," Emily added.

"Now, go call your father child, to let him know you're staying here."

I was so relieved. I jumped up and pulled both Grammy Jo and Emily in for a tight hug, thanking them. When I glanced back down at Jake, he also looked relieved.

Charlie wasn't at all surprised that I wanted to stay. I hadn't been down here all week, so he figured I was just missing my friend. Which was true, just not the reason for staying. I had my backpack with me, and I still kept some changes of clothes and a toothbrush here for emergencies, so I wouldn't even need to go home to get anything before going to school in the morning.

A few hours later, as I was lying in Jake's arms with my back pressed against his chest and listening to his steady deep breathing, I thought about the dream and the message for me a little more.

I am not my mother.

I knew that. I had always known that, even if I'd only recently put it into words and realized exactly what all it meant. She was flighty and scattered and had trouble staying committed to anything long-term that didn't allow her to be spontaneous. That was why Phil was so good for her. He was a nice compromise between spontaneity and security, helping her to not feel trapped.

That was also nothing like the way I operated. So, I needed to decide for myself what I wanted. At only 18, I certainly knew what many people would think if we got married. At least some would undoubtedly think that I was pregnant. That frustrated and discouraged me, but was that enough of a reason to say no.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the feeling of Jake pressed against my back, his arm around me, and his heat warming me. He had fallen asleep almost immediately after we'd laid down. I sighed in contentment. I loved him so much and I knew I would spend the rest of my life with him, whether we were married or not. And being married would certainly help with the separation issues we were having… and that wasn't even taking into consideration what new powers we may be able to unlock.

My mind started to drift, and I was having trouble focusing. I was too tired to think about this anymore tonight. As my mind sunk into sleep, my only thoughts were of the joy I felt being in Jake's arms.

.

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A/N: Don't forget to leave me a comment. They let me know for certain that people are still reading and are the most encouraging thing to a writer!

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