-Jacob-

"We searched the house, they tracked her out East and lost the scent by the border. She has to be long gone by now, I don't like how easily she was able to get into Bella's house though, Jacob."

"That makes two of us, Quill." I run my hands through my hair, contemplating what to do, and partly waiting for Sam to come back and tell everybody what to do because they're driving me insane. I look over at Bella curled up on the couch. She refused to sleep in bed, she wanted to be next to me, and in all honesty that is the only thing comforting me in this whole ordeal.

"I think that we need to figure out a way to have Bella stay on the Reservation. That is the safest place for her right now." Sam's booming voice echoes from the doorway behind me.

"As much as I agree with that, I don't think Charlie is going to be too..keen on the idea," Quil mutters back.

"We have to come up with something, either way, the house is going to have to be watched because there is no way that Bella is going to go somewhere and leave Charlie unprotected."

"Let her sleep, for now, we'll try to come up with a plan when she wakes up." He motions his head at Bella's sleeping figure on the couch," she needs all the rest she can get. Quill, you and Embry take front and the rest of us are going to follow the trail East and see if we can pick up on anything. Send Seth and Lea to watch Charlie. Jacob, you stay here."

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere." Sam glances up at me with a look of warning before he walks out of the door. God, I am so tired of taking orders, but I'm not fit to be a leader. I glance down at Bella's sleeping form and scoop her into my arms to carry her upstairs. She stirs a little, her body pressed against my chest, hair spilling over her face. Her eyelids are soft, not creased with lines like they have been when she sleeps. That eases the worry a bit, but not for long when I realize that after today she will just have more fears to find their way into her nightmares.

I lay her down on the bed softly and debate about climbing in with her when she grabs my hand in a weak attempt to pull me onto the bed. "Don't go, Jake, please." She whispers, her voice dripping with sleep. I crawl into the bed with her and take her into my arms, nothing has ever felt better and at this moment I wish she was there because she wanted to be and not because she was scared.

-Bella-

I'm in the meadow this time like I have dreamed so many times before with Edward, except this time, it's not him that I'm seeing. It's a big brown wolf walking towards me, his head dipped low and his stride long and sure. My heart pounds, but not out of fear this time. As he gets closer I catch whiffs of Cottonwood and I remember that Jake has always smelt like the forest. I turn, expecting to be looking into the eyes of the beautiful wolf, but instead, I am looking at Jake. His dark hair falling into his eyes that crinkle on the sides from his shy smile. When did I start looking at him this way? When did he start to make me feel this way? I step back slightly, confused by the feelings that are suddenly rearing their heads inside of me-guilt battling with love, love battling with confusion. What does this all mean? I look up expecting to find Jake looking back at me but a movement amongst the treelines caught my eye. I look closer and it's Edward, watching from the background. His eyes are sad, and then suddenly they're red. He's running towards us, except this time everything isn't moving fast, it's moving in slow motion. His form is elegantly dancing amongst the flowers as he beelines for Jake. "Jake turn around!" I yell, but he doesn't seem to hear me. "Edward no! Stop. Don't do this" Suddenly Jacob is the brown wolf again, auburn flashes between shreds of clothing as his form takes shape in thin air. And he's sprinting towards Edward.

"Jacob!"

I sit up out of bed suddenly, taking in my surroundings, when I realize that I yelled Jacob's name out loud. Except, he isn't anywhere. I glance around hoping to find his beautiful self perched up on my bed but it's empty. I get out of bed and get ready to head downstairs when I hear voices. I stop, listening to the hushed tones from my living room.

"She's been asleep for two days now, we have to figure out a way to convince Charlie to get her to stay with us. Even if it's just for a few days, we need to come up with something to get her out of the house." Sam says, his voice is billowy as he attempts to whisper.

"I think I got that covered. I'm going to tell Charlie that Bella and I are going on a road trip, or even camping for a week or two before Graduation. She has all of her finals done, it's just a waiting game now. That would buy us some time to figure something out or until we have a better idea of what the Redheaded bloodsucker's plan is." Jacob's voice is tinted with exhaustion, almost as if he hasn't slept in days.

"That might work," Sam replies, his heavy footsteps echo across the floor. "Until then, I don't think that this needs to be discussed with Bella, considering she just heard all of it. Right, Bella?" Sams's face appears at the bottom of the stairs, his eyebrow raised at my not-so-subtle eavesdropping. I hear a quick set of footsteps and see Jacob's face appear. Even exhausted he still manages to put a smile on for me.

"She never has been good at the whole quiet thing." He mumbles as he smirks up at me. "Good to see that you're finally awake, you needed the rest."

I awkwardly descend the staircase, knowing that I have been caught. Eight sets of eyes peer up at me as I survey the crowded living room. Sam moved over into the center of the room, Jake moved to the immediate right of me. I glance over at Leah in the corner, her arms crossed as she silently broods. A younger kid sits on the couch, all limbs as he sprawls out on the couch, which I am taking to be as Seth.

"What are we talking about..leaving? What about Charlie?"

Sam clears his throat. "Charlie would be constantly guarded, one of us will be watching the house, or the station when he is at work. We just think it would be safer for you to be on Quileute lands. We can protect you better and Victoria won't be able to get to you as easily as she could here at the house."

I pause for a moment, weighing in all of the options. The only logical thing would be to go with them, but I don't want to put anybody in danger. "Okay." I reluctantly agree, knowing that if I didn't, Jake would fight me on it.

"I'll talk to Charlie," Jacob whispers against my neck as he brushes past me towards the door. Goosebumps shiver down my spine as I watch him go.

"I guess we have a plan then."

-Jacob-

I watch her as she nervously packs her bags. Charlie said we could be gone for the next two months until Graduation. She had all of her finals done when she buried herself in schoolwork to make up for her mind thinking about something other than Edward. I don't know what is such a catch about him, and not just because he is a bloodsucker, but just because he gives me the creeps. He's always looking at Bella like he owns her like she is his own personal snack that nobody else can even touch. I wonder what she's thinking about. I watch her gather her things and glance around her room almost as if she is wondering if she forgot anything. "I will meet you downstairs Bella." I grab her bags and turn around leaving her alone for a moment with her thoughts. I start to wonder what would happen if he came back. Would she leave? Would I still get to be the one protecting her? My entire body starts to shake with rage at the thought of his cold hands touching her. Just the thought of her in the same room with him makes my blood boil in disgust.

"Jake? You okay?" I glance up at her nervous voice as she watches me from the doorstep of Charlie's house.

"I'm fine, just tired. You doing okay?" I ask her as I open the door to her old pickup and wait for her to climb in.

"I'm fine, I feel a lot better actually. I think that was the best that I have slept in months."

I cringe at that comment. Shoving my anger down at knowing that she has been silently suffering this whole time and there was nothing that I could do about it. I close her door and climb into the passenger seat, her truck smells like her, and I breathe it in. She slides across the seat until she is right next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder. Contentment washes through me, having her this close. We drive in silence like this for a while, her head leaning against my shoulder, me watching the road.

"Bella?"

"Hmm." She grunts back at me as I pull the car into my driveway. "We're here. Can you walk or do you want me to carry you inside?"

She sits up, her eyes searching the surroundings. Stretching she laughs as she says, "Right so your Dad can see you carrying me across your living room to your bedroom?"

I stare at her dumbfounded for her slightly flirty comment towards me. For a moment I didn't realize what to say back to her. "I was going to sleep on the couch if it is more comfortable actually so whether I carry you or not, I won't stay in the bedroom unless you want me to. Besides, he knows why you're here, so unless you have other things on your mind-" My eyes scan her body really fast until my gaze meets her flushed face. "-then all he knows is that you're here because I will do everything I can to keep you safe."

"Uh.." she sputters out as she self-consciously covers herself tighter with my flannel. Shit. I made her uncomfortable, good going Jacob! I climb out of the car and open her door for her, grabbing the bags in the process. I watch her shyly stand next to the door, peering down at her fidgeting hands.

"Hey, Bells. I just want you to know that I was joking. There is nothing that I would do to ever purposely make you uncomfortable. I know this whole situation isn't ideal. Trust me, if I had the choice of making sure that you were safe and keeping you at home with Charlie, I would." She lifts her head to meet my gaze. "Your safety is the most important thing to me."

"Jake.." She glances down at her hands again. "I just don't want anybody to get hurt, or worse even die because of me. I'm not worth somebody dying over."

I start to shake a little bit at her words as a flash of anger courses through me. "Bella. Don't ever tell me that you're not worth it. You are worth so much more than you would realize. If I die protecting you, that's my choice, and everybody else knows what they're getting themselves into. That is our job. It's our job to protect people from things like...them."

"That's the problem, Jake. I don't want anybody to die. Do you know what it would it would do to me if something happened to you? It would destroy me and I don't have much more of myself left to destroy. I'm barely holding it together. I don't sleep, I barely eat. I am falling apart and losing you...I don't think that I could survive that."

I take a sharp breathe in as mixed emotions cross through me. I'm so angry, angry that Edward hurt her so bad that she is hurting this much-not eating, barely sleeping. I am hurt, because even though every part of me knows that she loves Edward, that she loved him enough to let him destroy her. The biggest thing of all, is knowing that if something happened to me, that it would destroy her just as much as Edward did, maybe even worse. That should make me feel better knowing that I mean so much to her, but the thought of her destroying herself just because something happened to me tears me apart on the inside.

"Come on, let's get you to bed."

"I just slept for two days, I'm not that tired."

"Bella, just two seconds ago you admitted that you have been barely sleeping for the past six months. I don't care if you sleep another two days, you need to rest." She doesn't say anything as she follows me into the bedroom. I set her things down beside the bed and grab a spare pillow from the floor. "Make yourself at home, I am going to be in the living room if you need anything." She looks like she is going to say something, but decides against it and curls up onto my bed, snuggling into the blankets. "Goodnight, Bella."

I head into the living room and sprawl across the couch, my mind racing with questions about the bloodsucker and what it was exactly that she wanted. She had the chance to kill Bella. Vampires are fast, so it doesn't make sense to me why she would be in Bella's room, without hurting her or Charlie when she had the opportunity to. It didn't make sense to me. Nothing worried me more than the fact that I don't know what she wants, and that made it harder to protect Bella.

-Bella-

I've been here for two weeks now, and I barely see Jacob. One of the boys always comes and checks on me, but I spend most of my time wandering the beach, or reading. I'm running out of things to do and it's even harder to keep my mind busy the less and less that I see Jake. Scenarios of something happening to him keep running through my mind. I need to find something to do, and as I am wandering the beach I look up at the cliffs and it hits me. Cliff jumping. It's slightly warm out today, and I had told Jake that was something that I wanted to try, but back then it was to get even just a glimpse of Edward. Now, he doesn't have complete control over my thoughts anymore, in fact I find myself thinking about him less and less. Although the pain is still there, and honestly I don't think that it will ever leave, it doesn't hurt as bad anymore. Part of me just wishes that I at least knew that he was safe.

"Hey, Bella." I turn at the sound of a young voice, who I now associate with Seth. He is the youngest of the pack, and is usually the one that comes and checks on me. We've gotten to be pretty good friends by now. Well, at least I think so.

"Hey, Seth. What's up?" He looks around nervously, with his hands in his pockets.

"Not much, just making my rounds. You doing okay? You looked like you were thinking about something."

"I'm just worried, why haven't I seen, Jake?"

He breathes in and looks at me. "I'm not supposed to say anything, but maybe you can talk some sense into him, he has been running himself ragged. He barely sleeps because he is so worried about Victoria. He keeps running through these things in his head, and you know our whole mind reading stuff, it makes it difficult to ignore. It's all that he thinks about."

"What is it?"

"He keeps wondering why Victoria didn't kill you or Charlie when she had the chance. She was in your house, somehow without us even noticing and she never took the opportunity to kill you. It just doesn't make sense to him."

I think about that for a moment and a slight shudder goes through me as I remember what exactly happened that night. I thought that I was still in my nightmare at first when I woke up. Her red hair was stark against the darkness of my room. Her lips slowly curling into a smile as she sauntered over to my bed. I screamed, and inched myself away from her until I fell off my bed against the side table. She stared at me for a minute before looking at the window and running. I don't know why she didn't kill me either, for her it would have taken a split second. Instead she just stared at me. Watched me. That scares me even more than knowing she wants to kill me.

"I am going just as crazy, Seth. I'm wandering around here with nothing to do but sit and wait. It makes me feel so helpless, knowing that you all are out there risking your lives for me. Yet here I am, standing on a beach with nothing to contribute except being the thing that is keeping you guys all busy."

"Bella. Don't worry about that, we know what we got ourselves into. We all want to protect you."

"I just hate that I can't do anything."

"Is there something that you want to do?"

I pause, wondering if I should say anything. "Well, there is something that I have been wanting to try, but I have never done it before..."

"What is it?" He looks at me, puzzled.

"I was wanting to go cliff jumping."

"Bella, as fun as that sounds, Jacob would kill me if something happened to you."

"So do it with me. Look, he wouldn't even know about it until after as long as you don't phase beforehand."

"Bella. I can't let you go cliff jumping."

"Well, I am going to today, so you can either come with and make sure for yourself that I don't die, or you can just tell Jacob that I am not getting into any trouble. Nothing is going to happen, you guys have done it thousands of times."

"You could miss and wind up hitting a rock. You could land wrong in the water, or even drown. We do it because we have crazy healing! You don't!. Please, Bella. Jacob would kill me. I'm not joking either, he would literally kill me."

"Okay, okay. I won't do it." I hold my hands up in a surrender position. The last thing that I wanted was to get Seth in trouble, especially with Jake of all people. I know how he can be concerning my safety.

He glares at me. "I feel like you're just saying that to get me to leave you alone."

"No." I lie. "I am just going to head to the house and get something to eat, I guess."

He eyes me wearily, and walks back to the house with me. We walk in silence, as I ponder a way to get out of there without drawing attention to myself. I walk inside and start making myself a sandwich and switch the television on to some random program. I hand Seth a sandwich-one thing I've learned is that these boys eat more than I would ever be able to, and they never turn down food I snuggle up on the couch, and Seth stays with me until I think he is content that I am not going to go anywhere. He stands up, and with a goodbye is out the door. I wait about twenty minutes before grabbing a pair of leggings, a T-Shirt, and a sweater. I slip out the back door and start walking across the beach, towards the woods near the cliffs. I walk slowly, stopping occasionally to sit along the beach, just in case Seth was keeping an eye on me. About thirty minutes later I am nearing the cliffs edge. I can hear the birds chirping in the distance behind me, and the soft crashing of the waves down below. I have to remind myself not to look down to much, otherwise I would chicken out, and I already went through all of the trouble to get up here. I pause for a moment, letting the sunlight hit my face, and I remember just for a moment, the way that Edward's skin looked in the sunlight. A million diamonds glistening against the rays. I open my eyes and shed off my sweater. Taking a deep breathe, I walk to the edge. "You can do this."

I'm midair, my feet dangling beneath me, it feels like forever before I hit the water. I plunge deep, the water cold as it shocks my skin. I swim to the surface, and the adrenaline courses through me. Before I can open my eyes, I am hit with a wall of water, plunging me back. It fills my lungs and soon I am falling, weightless, sinking deeper and deeper. I thought that drowning would be more painful, the stinging in my lungs was something that I had grown accustomed to over the last six months, along with the burning in my throat. I close my eyes and everything goes dark.

-Jacob-

I'm running through the forest, my feet pounding against the forest floor. My body is tired, and so is my mind. All that I can think about is that stupid Vampire. I snarl with contentment as I imagine ripping her throat out. I change course to the East, following the trail that I had made back towards my house. I am mad at myself, I haven't really been there to check on Bella the past couple of weeks, but I have been too worried about Victoria and my unanswered questions. I'm sure that I have annoyed the pack already with my constant thinking, but they can't seem to come up with a reason either. She had the opportunity, a hunter not killing it's prey is unheard of. Even in this form long enough, you get the urges to take down deer and other creatures. I know how difficult it can be, which is why it makes no sense to me, and that is what is driving me crazy. I run, my muscles aching as they stretch. I need to rest, I need to see Bella.

Seth?

"Yeah?"

How was Bella? You had patrol today right?

"Yeah...she was, uh, she was good."

What's wrong?

"Well, Jake she wanted to go cliff jumping today."

She what!

I snarl, as the sentence comes ripping out of my head.

"She stayed home though, I sat with her and watched some television She made me a sandwich."

Seth, I don't want to hear about how she made you a sandwich. Is she still at home?

His memories come playing through my head of the conversation with Bella as he recalls them.

Have you been back there yet? Are you sure that she isn't there?

"Jacob calm down. I'll go check the house, you go check the cliffs." Sam's voice comes ringing through.

I charge in the direction of the cliffs, my feet thundering against the ground. Dammit, Bella. Why do you have to be so reckless? I tear through branches and undergrowth. I pick up her scent as I get closer and I run faster, hoping that I can catch her before she jumps. The water would be freezing today, we get one sunny day and she decided to spend it plunging into freezing cold water. I approach the cliffs edge and, with no sign of Bella, I phase immediately and plunge into the water below me. It slaps against my skin as I tear through the water. I swim upwards and look around frantically, with no sign of her. Shit. I throw myself back into the water and open my eyes in search of her. I swim deeper and finally see her, eyes closed and sinking fast. I swim towards her and pull her upwards, wrapping her body against mine as I start to swim towards the shore. As I'm swimming I see a faint flash of red against the blue-grey of the ocean. I swim faster towards the shore, Bella's body limp against mine. I drag her onto the beach, laying her down I see her blue lips.

"Bella, come on baby you can't leave me." I start CPR, remembering to be gentle as my hands shake from the fear coursing through my veins. "Come back, damnit Bella." After what feels like an eternity, her eyes open as she coughs up water. Her body shaking beneath me, as she continues spitting water out. I sit her up and pull her against me. "Damnit Bella, what were you thinking! You could have gotten yourself killed. You almost got yourself killed!"

Her voice is ragged and scratchy when she answers me. Stuttering from the cold. "I-I j-j-just wan-ted to do some-something."

"Don't talk. Come here." I pull her closer, my body shaking with fear. Her shivering dies down a little bit, as she is pressed against me. The past couple weeks of exhaustion finally hit me. I feel like a box of rocks. Then, I remember that I'm not wearing any pants. I chuckle, embarrassed into her hair. "Nothing, Bella. I just realized that since I phased jumping into the water, I currently don't have any clothes."

She shivers against me as she laughs. "Well I g-guess that's a p-p-problem, huh?"

I hear footsteps approach and a pair of shorts hit my arm. "Get dressed and get her back home." Sam's voice echoes.

"Thanks for the clothes."

"No problem." He starts to walk away, "And Jacob, get some sleep."

Bella covers her eyes as I slip on the shorts. After I'm dressed, I reach down and pick her up. "Come on, let's get you home."

"I c-c-can walk, J-J-Jacob." She stutters against me.

I snort as I laugh at her audacity to agree to walk after almost drowning. "No." Is all that I can manage without letting the anger get the best of me. She is quiet for the rest of the walk back to my house, and my legs seem to get heavier and heavier as the need to for sleep starts to pull at my body. Finally, when we're home I walk straight to the room, and grab her one of my shirts and a pair of her sweats. "Here, put these on. I'll be right back." I walk into the living room, and down a glass of water and fill it up to take back to Bella. I pause outside of the door.

"You're okay, Jake." I walk through the door to her dressed and curled up on the bed. I hand her the water and wait for her to drink it before taking it and setting it on the table.

"Generally, this would be when I would go into the living room but you are freezing and I need to warm you up, so scooch over." I slide into the bed next to her and hold my arms up for her to come closer. She snuggles against me, her wet hair dripping against my warm skin. Her head pressed against my chest. We lay like that for a while, until I am sure that I won't be able to stay awake any longer. "Bella?"

"Yeah." She mumbles, her voice dripping with sleep.

"Don't ever scare me like that again...please." I mutter against her hair.

"Okay, Jake. I won't." Those were the last words that I heard before I drifted into sleep.