She thought that she was in some sort of horrible dream yet for some reason, she wasn't able to wake up. It all felt too real. It all was too real. She realized then, that she was sinking into a panic attack as the edges of her vision went blurry, and her lungs struggled to pull in air.

"Bella, hunny, calm down." His voice was soft, and caressing her nerves as he pulled her softly from the waves threatening to drown her. After a moment, she resurfaces, poking her head through the fog and staring into those dark eyes. "It's okay. You don't have to do anything that you don't want to."

She paused, staring at him as the world settled in around her and righted itself. His hands were on either side of her face and she closed her eyes for a moment, settling into his touch as she contemplated what she had to do.

It was terrifying, and she didn't know if she would be able to go through with it. But, she had already made the decision, and the agreement was already done. She knew that Jacob would easily pull her out of it, no harm done if she just voiced her opinion. The thing was, she knew that she had to do this. There were things that weren't making sense, the Pack was running themselves ragged trying to keep up with perimeter checks, watching her, dealing with Sams newborn and everything else they had on their plate. There was too much.

This was the only way that she knew to fix things, to help in some sort of way that wasn't just sitting around a house, or cooking for everybody. She needed to do more. She needed to prove herself, prove that she was a good enough leader to stand beside their Alpha. She needed to step up to the plate and take on the responsibilities that came with her being with Jacob. And that meant dividing her time between the Rez and with the Cullens.

She thought that Jacob was joking when he had brought up the discussion with Carlisle, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was anything but. He voiced how it made sense, but that he wasn't comfortable with the whole idea. Neither was she, but she knew that if she didn't go through with it, they might not get the answers that they were searching for. "That's it, we're not doing this. You're not going, we'll figure something else out." Jacob's voice pulled her from her thoughts and her eyes met his.

"No, Jake. We're doing this. I'm doing this. I have to. I have to do this for me, for Charlie, for us." She clenched her jaw and stood up, stepping away from his touch. "I am not going to be persuaded otherwise. This is the only way that I can help the Pack. This is the only thing that I can do, please let me."

He stood there for a moment, hands falling against his waist and stared at her before nodding once and stepping towards her. "Just promise me something?" His voice was wavering, almost as though he was the frightened Jacob that he was that day he thought that he was saying goodbye to her. "Promise me that you'll still come back to me. No matter what happens?"

He wasn't looking at her, and she stepped towards him, reaching her fingers underneath his chin as she stepped on her tiptoes, pressing a soft kiss on his lips. "I will always come back to you, Jacob. I promise."

The house was the same, beautiful and intimidating as always. She always felt out of place here, she had never been accustomed to high class living like Edward was, and every time that she was reminded that it would all be hers it made her uncomfortable. It was never about the money, or the doors that being with the Cullens would open. Honestly, she didn't really know what it was about, but she knew it never had anything to do with that. As soon as she stepped through the door, it was a slap in the face of all the memories that she was trying to suppress.

Jacob had insisted that one of the wolves accompany her, he also insisted on dropping her off. But, Bella knew that he wouldn't have been able to contain his barely-holding-on rage if he did. Especially not with Edward there. So, instead she brought Seth. He was the most care-free but she knew that he would do whatever he had to do to protect her if the situation came down to it.

"Isabella." Edward's voice sent chills up her spine and she stiffened, plastering a fake smile on her face as she turned towards him.

"Edward." She nodded, and turned back around towards Rose as she entered the room. It hadn't even been five minutes and she was debating about bolting. Six hours was seeming like a lot more every second.

"I was wondering if you would take a walk with me.." Edwards voice sent chills down her arms, and she felt the hairs on her arm stand up.

"Let's go." Seth's arm looped in hers, steering her towards the door with Edward trailing slowly behind them. "Seems like a nice day for a walk, huh Bella?" She leaned into him, stealing his warmth, thankful for his comfort. Seth would never let her walk with Edward alone, whether that was Jacob's order or not, Seth was just….Seth.

Being with the Pack brought her a sense of comfort that she didn't realize before, when she was with Edward. She had thought that the hole was being filled with his presence but, it wasn't until she was going to lose them forever that she realized just how much of a void that they filled in her life. They all walked quietly, Bella tucked against Seth's side as they strolled through the forest for a moment, stopping just in front of a small waterfall trickling into a running stream.

"May I steal a moment of your time, Bella?" His voice was soft and she barely heard it over the trickling water spilling over the rocks.

"Go ahead, speak." Seth kicked a pebble into the water before stretching out against a huge rock.

"It's okay, Seth." Bella nodded to him and he stared at her for a moment before nodding once, tossing a warning glare over his shoulder before strolling further down the stream. She knew that he could hear everything that was being said; it was the only thing that calmed her before she turned back to Edward.

He stared at her, his too-perfect face staring straight into her soul made her fidget, drawing her hands to wrap around her middle. She had almost forgotten just how small he made her feel- almost. She watched as a pensive look drew across his face as he opened his mouth once, then closed it before finally talking.

"I just-" he paused, drawing his golden eyes to meet hers. "I just felt as though I deserved an explanation."

She stared at him for a moment. "Okay."

She kicked a rock underneath her show and turned towards the water, keeping him in her eyesight. "I don't think that I knew that I was going to run. It kind of just happened. I realized…I realized that I had made the wrong choice. The idea of spending an eternity knowing that wasn't something that I would have been able to do. I couldn't marry you. Not with the way that I felt- feel , about Jacob."

She gulped, hoping she could swallow the bundle of nerves brewing in her stomach. She could feel a panic attack creeping in, slowly threatening to overtake her and she took a deep breath in trying to steady herself. "I didn't know I was going to run, but I'm sorry. For any pain that I caused you." As the words rumbled from her lips, she realized she was sorry . She wasn't a malicious person and any pain that she had caused him-if he actually could feel it, was something she never intended to do.

"It just didn't make sense to me. You are fleeing into the enemy's arms. I always suspected that there was more between you two. That there was the possibility, especially with Jacob's imprint. I didn't consider that his influence would've been that strong. I tried to keep you away so that you weren't persuaded, so that you could make your own choice."

Something snapped inside of her at his words, at the mere insinuation that her feelings for Jacob weren't real. That everything was because of the imprint. But before the fury could overflow, a hard body knocked into her, sending her tumbling into the water. Her arms tried desperately to catch onto something-anything, but her fingers clawed into the air before smacking against the stones set precariously in the stream. It wasn't deep, but there definitely was enough water to leave her soaked from head to toe.

Her eyes snapped up to the towering wolf above her, and the blonde vampire staring down at them. He was hanging haphazardly from the trees, red eyes zoned in right on Bella as he sneered in their direction. Edward was crouched in a defensive position just off of the right from Seth. The quick snap of jaws brought her focus back to Seth as he slowly stepped over her, shielding her with his body

"Jake.." she whispered his name, hoping that he heard her.