Separation Anxiety

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-set at the end of New Moon, AU.

Prologue-The Imprint

It was the desperate look on his face that broke her. Guilt mixed with unresolved feelings that she was still trying to deny pushed her to ignore Edward's protests as she confronted Jacob. She pretended she was confronting him out of anger at his betrayal. Telling Charlie about the bikes had been his last desperate attempt to get her grounded so she would be forced to spend less time with Edward.

"How could you do this to me? How could you do this to Charlie? Harry died of a heart attack. Are you trying to give my dad one too?" That was a low blow and she knew it. She saw the anguish in Jacob's dark eyes and regretted her words immediately. "I didn't mean that. I'm so…."

"Bella, stay back he is not in control of his emotions." Edward warned her as he reached out to pull her behind him. Bella waved him away, not even bothering to glance back at him. Her eyes were locked on Jacob.

"He had a right to know." Jacob muttered.

"Jake, please. You're my best friend." Bella begged. Her hand trembled as she reached out to him. His gaze dropped to her hand and she saw his fingers twitch as he fought the urge to grab her.

Jacob swallowed thickly as he avoided looking at her directly. This was sheer torture. He wished he could just shake Bella, make her wake up to what she was doing to herself, to him. He didn't understand why she was so drawn to the bloodsucker. He couldn't fathom why she would want to one of them, a cold dead thing. It hurt him physically that she felt he wasn't good enough and the leech was. It couldn't be just about looks or money. Bella never expressed any interest in either, so why? "We can no longer be friends."

"But Jake…" Bella protested. He had said the same thing to her once before right after he first phased and Sam had warned him to stay away from her. He hadn't meant it then and she knew he didn't mean it now. She heard Edward call out to her again, urging her to be careful and come away. But Bella ignored him. Her sole focus was fixing what she had broken, her friendship with Jacob. She couldn't breathe without him in her life. It was unthinkable. "Don't do this."

"I have to." Jacob choked out as he finally raised his head to look at her.

"No, you don't."

"Bella…." Edward called out again. "Come away."

"No." Bella cried out as she took a step closer to Jacob. She kept her gaze fixed on him as she held out her hands toward him. "Jake, please."

Bella and Jacob battled with their fraught emotions as they stared at each other. Bella could see her face reflected in Jacob's eyes and she was shocked at how wretched she looked. Her pale skin was almost translucent and the dark circles underscoring her eyes only accentuated her fragility. She still hadn't recovered properly from her encounter with the Volturi in Italy. She was haunted nightly by dreams of what had happened there. Every time she closed her eyes she would see the panicked faces and hear the frightened screams as the tourists were led to their doom. Edward couldn't comfort her. No one could. Her head ached as she gazed up at Jacob imploringly. Trying to say with her eyes what she couldn't verbalise because Edward was there. She felt so weak, she felt so tired and out of control. Every guard she had been shielding herself with for months to protect herself came tumbling down.

Then it all changed….

It was like a bolt of hot lightening streaking across the sky. Muted colours suddenly became more vibrant, sounds became louder and more musical, and amidst all this was Jacob. Bella felt as if she was moving although in essence her feet were planted firmly on the ground, but she could feel the tug as her soul connected to Jacob's.

"Bella." Jacob's eyes were wide as he stared at her in confusion. Bella was just as confused. She stepped closer as did he. "I knew it. My Bella…" He cupped her face in his warm hands and smiled at her in delight.

Then Edward attacked….

A/N-thanks for reading!