Hi, my name is Stephanie, and I am a terrible person.

I've failed you guys. This chapter has been sitting on the computer, half finished for roughly two months. But there is this thing called second year university and it likes to ruin my life. I, however, only have my finals left. Then an entire christmas break to catch up on some good writing.

So I got a tattoo, one which you all would appreciate, it is down my ribcage and it says "The clouds I can handle but I can't fight with an eclipse." (Eclipse, Chapter 26, p. 600 :)) I also saw the New Moon movie, three times so far, and lets just say that my previous conception of Taylor Lautner has changed drastically. He is no longer sharkboy in my eyes. I thought, all in all, the movie was well done. Some awful acting by Kristen Stewart but that was expected. I think they need to go back and re-shoot Twilight because it doesn't even compare. The wolves were love x9827349723947324. That's all I have to say. Except the fact that as makes me want to tear off all my clothes.

So anyways, here's the chapter. And here's to hoping the next one won't take as long.

Big love.

It was a Tuesday.

Holly couldn't even remember the last time she knew what day it was, that's how bad things were getting.

She was well aware that she had eight years of homework to defeat, including an entire piano composition, her legs desperately needed to be shaved, her eyebrows screamed 'wax me' and she had to take Ty to get his needles, but she couldn't even muster up enough motivation to get out of bed and use the washroom. Jacob was sleeping soundlessly beside her and Holly knew she would have to wake him up for school soon if they were actually going to go. He looked so peaceful in his sleep and Holly felt a pang of jealousy towards Jacob's ability to just pass the fuck out. Even as she was drowning in exhaustion, Holly couldn't bring it to her to fall asleep after everything that had happened in the past week.

She continued to doze casually until an abrupt tap startled her state of numbness.

"Yeah?" She croaked, quiet enough to make sure Jake did not wake.

"I think it's a good idea if you guys go to school today." Billy spoke from the other side of the door. "Embry just called and asked if you needed a ride."

"What did you tell him?" Holly rubbed her eyes methodically, hoping she didn't already know the answer to the question.

"Well, I volunteered a 'yes,'" Billy admitted smugly. Holly knew as well that they needed to go to school; they still had other priorities.

"Well, I guess we are going then." Holly sighed and sat up in bed. She waited until Billy's wheelchair had rolled out of the hallway before she placed her hand on Jacob's back and shook him gently. "Babe, you've got to wake up."

"What." Jacob gasped, completely rattled. "What happened?"

Holly giggled, but it was soon suppressed with a tired sigh, "Nothing happened, we just have to get up for school."

"Really?" Jacob asked, still basically asleep.

"Really." Holly assured as she climbed out of bed and stretched. Next she found herself in the shower under an umbrella of lukewarm water. Looking around she realized that it desperately needed to be cleaned and added to her never-ending list of things to do. She absentmindedly let the water run cold and silently cursed herself for forgetting that Jacob still needed to shower as well. After wrapping a towel around her body she glanced out the tiny window in the Black's bathroom only to find the same thing as she saw every other day; dark, dismal, and rain. When Holly first arrived in La Push she was in love with the fact it rained all the time, there was something about the misty ambiance that made her feel she was in a different reality. Now it felt like the rain was drowning her, especially when the sky was conducting a torrential downpour, like it was then.

She decided that putting on makeup was out of the question, not to mention she had very little at Jacob's house. So she combed through the wavy knots in her hair and craved to be able to use conditioner. The feminine luxuries she so freely enjoyed at her own house were not present at the Black's. They had one motto: if it's not necessary, it's not necessary. Normally it never bothered her, but her irritable mood was taking it like a hard hit. Once she worked her way through the knots, she did a simple flip of her hair and gave up; natural was in, that's what she kept telling herself.

Jacob was still in bed when Holly reentered the room. She tossed through the clothes she had there and settled on a pair of jeans that were desperately in need of washing and a floppy, off the shoulder sweater. Jacob opened his eyes only to find Holly fully dressed and completely ready.

"Easy there glamorous." Jacob said in the midst of stretching. "Who are you trying to impress?"

"Very fucking funny." Holly was not amused.

Jacob was taken aback by Holly's mood. "Okay then," and with that said, he went to shower. The cold water came at no surprise to Jacob; whenever Holly was there, the hot water was non-existent, but it did not bother him. Cold showers were just as effective as caffeine. Once he was finished he stared at himself in the little mirror and sighed. His hair was twisted into a complex knot and he was not looking forward to brushing it out. That was it.

He marched back into the bedroom to find Holly lounging on the bed with her iPod on. It sounded like she was listening to the new Jay Z album but Jacob wasn't sure, and he didn't care at that point. He stood in front of her until she looked up at him with a quizzical look on her face. She took out her headphones slowly.

"Cut it off." Jacob ordered.

"What? Cut what off?" Holly was confused. She was sure he was delusional from the exhaustion.

"My hair. Cut. It. Off." His fists were clenched. For a moment Holly found him to look rather comical. For once Jacob was feeling anguish in regards to his hair; talk about once in a lifetime moment.

"Are you sure?" Holly asked. She knew his hair was a soft spot. Everyone had tried to get him to cut it and he was so against the idea for as long as she knew him. Now, all of a sudden he wants it gone? She didn't want him to regret it afterwards. Besides, it wasn't like his hair ever bothered her. His reply came in the form of an irritated glare. "Alright then." Holly said and went to grab the scissors.

Once she was finished she allowed Jacob to look in the mirror. His peered at himself in the mirror and frowned.

"I can fix it once I have my actual salon scissors." Holly offered, knowing dull kitchen scissors do not produce the best looking hair cut, but she didn't think it looked that bad. She thought it actually looked rather good. The way she cut it revealed his high cheekbones and other facial features that the long hair hid before. He was a knockout; the girls were going to swoon even more the moment they saw him. For a moment, Holly regretted making him look better.

"No no, Holly, it's great. Better than any haircut I would get at the barber in town." Jacob was running his fingers through the short locks.

"Then what is it?"

"I just figured you would have cut it all off." Jacob looked at her and smiled.

"Well," she said with a slight crooked smile. "I do need something to grab onto."

"You're bad." Jacob took her into a tight hug and laughed. If Embry hadn't knocked on the door right then, they would have not been going to school.

"No fucking way." Quil was literally hanging out of the jeep when Jacob and Holly emerged from the house, rain slapping him in the face. "No mother-fucking way!" They jogged to the shelter of the jeep and hopped in the back. Embry was completely speechless and Leah, who was also sitting in the back, ran her fingers through Jacob's short locks.

"It's about time." Leah stated, giving Holly a high five. "It looks amazing!" Her face was still covered in swollen bruises; Holly could tell through the make-up that Leah had applied in attempts to hide it. She had on one of Embry's sweaters and a pair of tights that hid the rest of the marks that were painted all over her body.

The entire way to school was spent in light conversation; everyone was trying to avoid what had been dealt with in the past few days. Holly remained quiet and observed everyone around her; she was in no talking mood. Quil was trying very hard to lighten the somber mood that had overtaken all of them but even he could hardly keep a smile on his face. Leah was shifting uncomfortable in her seat and flinching every time they hit a bump. Holly figured her bones had healed but the other injuries hadn't; she silently questioned why Leah even came to school. She noticed Embry peeking back at Leah through the rear view mirror every few minutes. A look of sheer guilt was exposed on his face every time he saw her flinch in pain. Holly couldn't help feel guilty as well. Jacob had already told her that morning that there was nothing she could have done to change what happened. What Sam did needed to happen and if it were anyone but Leah they wouldn't have survived. Leah was stronger than anyone gave her credit for.

School was drab and uneventful. Holly was regretting cutting Jacob's hair by the end of first period that morning. She was in the orchestra room just fooling around on the piano when she heard two flute players behind her going on about how gorgeous he looked. Holly could tell they were purposely talking loud enough for her to hear. For the most part Holly didn't mind, she knew they were just trying to get to her. Although once they brought up Justine, Holly felt her blood begin to boil. Not being able to bare another second in that room, Holly went directly to her teacher and asked to be excused. After all, she had her composition completed weeks ago. He let her leave without another question asked and she sped out of the room and into the hallway.

The only high school on the reservation was La Push Secondary. It was once well equipped, Holly assumed, but now it was quite literally falling apart. Ceiling tiles were covered in grime and the majority of lockers were impossible to open. Everything was just old. Holly, however, did not mind the place at all. It was one hundred times better than the school she rarely attended in Vancouver. She was glad, for the most part, that this place actually made attending school enjoyable. She threw her bag in the locker she shared with Jacob and wandered down to the gym.

Jacob sat silently tinkering under a junker while in the garage. Everyone had been left by themselves to do their own thing and Jacob had finished all of his assignments ages ago. He was enjoying the comfortable silence until he heard a few voices coming from the next car. Not realizing that Jacob was only inches away from them, they began talking about Leah.

"Man, is it just me, or has Leah Clearwater gotten hot?" One of them said. They were the type that were only concerned with their next conquest and figuring out the most attractive girl in school. A few of them were on the rugby team but Jacob did not know them personally. Trying to tune them out proved to be more difficult than Jacob had anticipated.

"I know, like fuck.," said another, "I bet it wouldn't be hard to get in her pants either. I mean, the whole thing with Sam Uley probably left her 'heartbroken'." They all laughed when he emphasized the word 'heartbroken.' Heartbroken, and Jacob knew better than anyone else, was a bit of an understatement.

"You going to be the one to fill the void, Jack?" One asked. Jacob could feel the blood boil in his veins. Regardless of how much Leah pissed him off, he was not about ready to let people talk about her like this, especially these swine.

"Fuckin' right I am." Jacob saw them shake on it from underneath the car.

"The only reason he is even going for Leah is because that Holly girl won't give him the time of day." One of them shot back, followed by a chuckle.

"Yeah, Jack, that Black kid would have your head if you went after her. He's fuckin' crazy protective of her." Added another. "And besides, I saw Leah glued to Embry Call's hip this morning."

"See she'd sleep with anything!" Jack concluded. Jacob had enough. He rolled himself out from underneath the car and glared in their direction. They went dead silent. Jacob casually wiped his greasy hands on the oil rag that he had left on the edge of the hood and walked towards the group. He easily towered them by half a foot.

"So, any of you utter either of those names again and Embry and I will have your heads. Understand?" Jacob threatened and slammed the hood of their car shut, leaving dents in the metal where his fingers were. He left the room right after. He walked slowly to the gym only to see Holly sitting up against a wall right outside the change rooms. He smiled her way and she smiled back. They knew that both had been having shitty mornings.

Jacob stood in front of Holly and looked down at her beautiful face. A slight smile remained on her face as Jacob leaned down and picked her up off the ground to meet his face. His kiss was soft and comforting yet had a sense of immediacy and ownership.

"I really don't want to be here." He whispered, parting his lips from hers.

"We could always go back to bed." Holly suggested quietly.

"No, I mean I don't want to be here." Jacob sighed, placing Holly back down on her feet. "I want to leave. Just run away and never come back. I want to be with you and only you and not have to be constantly worried that something is coming for you." Holly was silent as she looked down at her feet. Running away, the idea was so unrealistic and stupid but she had never been so inclined to do so. She would sneak into her house and grab whatever she could, Ty included, and they would drive with no destination, maybe someplace warm, maybe back to Canada. It wouldn't matter where they went just as long as they were together; She would never have to phase again, they would move until they felt they were safe. Then they would settle down, change their names, get jobs, start a family and live within the comfort of each other's arms. The whole picture had such a beautiful end. When she looked back into Jacob's eyes she knew that he had been imagining the same thing, and as much as they both wanted it more than anything, there was so much standing in the way; too much to leave behind.

The rest of the week proved to be just as bad, if not worse. The patrols felt longer and more intense, as they were actually looking for something. The Cullens continued to assist with the patrol and Jacob was more than ecstatic that Bella had not made another appearance since the meeting. He had enough on his plate. On top of the patrol they had their finals to worry about. They had all forgotten about their other responsibilities and realized that they were merely days away from term change. By the end of January everyone was just exhausted. Most went right from patrol to school or to study. When their last finals were finished the entire pack collected in Embry's living room and fell asleep. Leah was draped over Embry on one couch while Jacob and Holly snuggled up on the other. Jared was reclined in a chair with Kim in a ball on his lap. Seth, Colin, Brady and Quil all assumed the position on the floor; the sight was rather comical. It wasn't until Jade came in with the twins around seven did they wake up. At that point everyone went their separate ways with the exception of Jacob, Holly, Leah and Embry; they remained together. Jade made eight large homemade pizzas, which were gone in a matter of seconds, and they finished off the night watching The Hangover. At around eleven Jacob got up from the couch and placed a blanket over a half-asleep Holly. She knew she was supposed to patrol that night but her body was in no way responding.

"Where are you going?" She asked quietly, noticing that Embry was carrying Leah towards his bedroom.

"Patrol." Jacob whispered, kissing Holly's forehead gently.

"But you aren't on tonight, I am." Holly started to sit up in attempts to wake up.

"Sleep, baby, please." Jacob assured, covering her up with the blanket once more. "Stay here, I'll come back to get you in the morning." Holly knew it was because Jacob didn't want her to be left alone. He wanted to make sure she was safe and Embry was someone he trusted more than anyone. Of course he was going to make her stay there. Jacob, however, was right about one thing; Holly did need to sleep. Within two minutes of him leaving she was out cold.

The air was brisk but refreshing as Jacob phased and was on his way to the clearing to meet everyone. That night, however, there was a stir in the minds of the pack. Jacob grew more discomforted as he reached the clearing only to find Carlisle, along with Jasper, Emmett and Edward waiting.

"There's a problem, Jacob." Carlisle cut right to the chase as Jacob emerged from the cover of the trees, phased back into his human form. "A significant problem."

"What's happened?" Jacob inquired. Seth, Quil and Paul were gathered around Jacob in their wolf forms, listening.

"We were visited today by a clan of our kind. They were from Vancouver." Carlisle didn't have to say anymore. For the first time in a long time, Jacob phased uncontrollably. He wanted to tear everything in his vision apart. A part of him knew this was going to happen; yet he was still infuriated. Carlisle continued to explain, "They asked about… your kind, and if we knew of your existence."

"And your answer was?" Jacob had to ask as a wolf, calming down enough to phase back was out of the question entirely.

"We played dumb. We said we weren't aware of any dogs on our territory." Edward explained. Jacob knew he was the only one able to communicate with the wolves. "But they are very unsure of our story."

"So what does this mean?" Seth asked. Jacob knew exactly what it meant but waited for Edward to say it.

"They're going to come back. Only with more of them and ready to fight." Edward explained. "Only I'm very unsure as to why they are so concerned with your pack. I read that you caused quite a stir when you were there but there is something else. They want something else."

"Jacob," Carlisle addressed, "It won't be long before they are back."

Jacob understood what Carlisle meant right away, "Get everyone together, I want the borders patrolled until this is over. No breaks. There is to be an emergency meeting as soon as possible. Carlisle, if you could take the border while we inform everyone."

Edward translated for him. "Anything, my friend." Carlisle nodded his head in agreement. Everyone dispersed with the orders to be back in the clearing in an hour. Jacob let out the emergency call, shaking awake everyone, including Holly, who was immediately panicked. She jolted off the couch and ran into Embry's room.

"What the hell was that?" Holly screeched. The mere sound of Jacob's howl was worse than anything she had ever heard before.

"He's calling an emergency meeting. I've only ever heard that call once before." Embry was out of bed and looking out the window, watching for any sign of Jacob. Leah sat holding her knees on the bed. She nodded her head in agreement. The only time they had ever heard that call before was during the war with the newborns. Embry and Leah looked at each other in worry. It was only mere moments until Jacob bounded into the Call's yard. He phased immediately and ran into the house.

"Jake, what's going on?" Embry shouted the moment Jacob came through the door.

"They're coming for us," was all he could manage to say before they were out the window and racing towards the clearing.