I do not own The Twilight Saga or any character therin…

As a general rule, I do not mess with SM's story. I have written all my stories leaving her basic story intact. However, I was on my umpteenth re-read of the saga and stopped near the end of New Moon with an idea. What if…the timing was altered ever so slightly. In this story, Jacob finds out about Harry's heart attack later. So after losing Victoria, he heads directly back to check on Bella.

In my copy of New Moon, this story picks up on page 354 near the bottom. I hope you like it. It will mainly be from Bella's POV but I may write from other POV's to shake things up. There will also be direct quotes from New Moon because some things will not change from the timing (I will put SM's words in italics).

Please Review good or bad – I can take it.

oooOooo

Chapter One - Pressure Altered

"I'll be at the beach," I told Billy and hurried out the door.

"Humph," Jacob gushed air as I walked right into him, "Where's the fire Bells?"

"Jake!" I cried in relief even though I had crashed into a tower of flesh, "You are a sight for bored eyes. Billy said there was a fresh trail this morning."

"Yeah," he grimaced, "We almost had the redhead again, but she's a slippery leech."

"Oh," I said trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

He continued seeming not to notice, "She took off into the water. I raced home. I was afraid she would double back swimming. You spend so much time at the beach."

"So this means no…fun," I said in case Billy could overhear disappointment was thick in my voice.

"We can still go up there and see," he offered giving in to me, "It is a good vantage point to scope the water."

"Sounds like a plan," I chimed happily.

I knew the way to the lane that passed closest to the cliffs, but I had to follow Jacob down the narrow path to the ledge. I thought he would lead me to the lower outcropping, but I was pleasantly surprised to come out on the high ledge that Sam and the others had jumped from a few weeks previous. He noticed my grin and shook his head.

"Don't even think about it," Jacob chided, "I am only looking for the redhead up here. Then we are going down to the lower rocks."

"Why?" I sighed and smiled sweetly, "We are already up here."

"Lower rocks first," he said avoiding my eyes by looking out over the waves, "There's a storm coming."

A distant mournful howl kept me from my reply. I looked around not knowing which direction it had originated. Without missing a beat, Jacob removed his shoes.

"Something's wrong," he said hurriedly, "I have to…I'll be right back."

I watched him disappear back down the path then turned my worried expression toward the waves. I tried not to think about the danger Jacob and his friends were in because nothing could happen to Jacob. The thought was unendurable.

I wondered if the howl would keep me from hearing his voice. I had really been counting on hearing Edward this morning. It seemed like that was the one thing that might make it bearable to live through this day. The hole had been festering lately…the edges burned.

The storm was moving in fast and Jake would be back soon. I made my impulsive decision and I knew it was the stupidest, most reckless thing I had done yet. The thought made me smile. The pain was already easing as I stepped out to the edge. My toes felt ahead blindly. I drew in a breath and held it…waiting.

"Bella."

I smiled and exhaled, "Yes?" I did not answer aloud; for fear that, the sound of my voice would shatter the beautiful illusion. It would also clue Jacob into my plan. He sounded so real, so close.

"Don't do this," he pleaded.

"You wanted me to be human," I reminded him silently, "Well watch me."

"Please? For me."

"But you won't stay with me any other way," I thought sadly and rolled onto the balls of my feet.

"No, Bella!" he was angry now, and the anger was so lovely.

I smiled and raised my arms straight out, as if I were going to dive. But it was too ingrained from years of swimming at the public pool, I planned to jump feet first-the first time at least. I leaned forward, crouching to get more spring.

"What the…" I heard Jacob mutter as I flung myself off the cliff.

I screamed as I dropped thought the open air like a meteor, but it was a scream of exhilaration-not fear. Yes! The word echoed through my head as I sliced through the surface of the water. It was ice cold, but the chill only added to the high.

I was proud of myself as I plunged deeper into the freezing black water. I hadn't had a moment of terror-just pure adrenaline. I was glad I had jumped from the top; the lower outcropping would have been positively boring.

A moment later, I felt Jacob hit the water not five foot from me. The undercurrent began to tug me away when his warmth enveloped me and pulled me up toward the sky.

The moment my head broke the surface, I cried, "Again! I want to…"

A wave hit me in the face, and I gasped in surprise. Salt water burned as it entered my lungs. 'Not smart' I thought to myself. Jacob's firm grip on me never wavered as he hauled me quickly to shore. Each time I would try to cough up the water, a new wave would hit me. I felt consciousness slipping away.

I could not stand on my own. Jacob held me up as he pounded on my back. I finally began to expel torrents of seawater and thought it may never stop. I was glad I had not eaten anything because the coughing brought on a fit of dry heaves.

"Are you okay?" Jake asked worriedly.

"Okay," I croaked as the air burned more than the water.

"Good," he said sharply, "What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry," I sighed painfully, "The storm was moving in and I didn't think we had time to make it down to the lower rocks."

"You're right you didn't think," he snapped then remorse came over his face, "Sorry Bells. Something's happened…Harry Clearwater had a heart attack this morning."

"Harry?" I shook my head, trying to absorb what he was saying, "Oh no! Does Charlie know? I need to sit down."

"Yeah," he said as he guided me to the ground, "He's over there with my dad."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"It doesn't look so great right now," he whispered and shook his head.

Abruptly, I felt really sick with guilt—felt truly horrible about the brainless cliff dive. Nobody needed to be worrying about me right now. What a stupid time to be reckless.

My dizziness had not let up so I held my head steady. Staring out over the waves, my eyes went in and out of focus. I caught a glimpse of color but when my eyes came back into focus, I could not find it. I wondered if I was delirious.

"You jumped anyway?" Sam asked loudly as he approached.

"I um…" Jacob began.

"It's not his fault," I interrupted sounding like a chain smoker, "I jumped before he could stop me."

Sam gave me a disapproving look and then turned to Jacob, "I need to get to the hospital. Leah is at home. After you get some dry clothes, I need you to talk to her. Get her to go to the hospital and I'll catch Seth there."

"Sure sure," Jacob said watching me.

"Jake," Sam began in a serious tone that made the skin prickle on the back of my neck, "As my second, I need you to do this for me."

"I understand," he said humbly.

There was something about the tenseness between them that I did not like at all. However, whatever it was cleared my head. I gingerly stood with Jake's help as Sam turned to walk back up the beach. I tucked myself under his arm as we followed the Alpha. By the time we reached the parking lot, Sam had disappeared.

"I have dry clothes in my truck," I said then asked, "Can I go with you to the Clearwater's?"

"Sam didn't forbid it," he replied thoughtfully, "I could use the moral support…I didn't take my place as Alpha so I wouldn't have to deal with these kinds of things."

"Your place as Alpha?" I asked with confusion, "Sam's older."

"Age doesn't matter," he explained as we approached the little red house, "Ephraim Black is what matters. He was the Alpha of the last pack so that means I kind of inherit the honor."

"Like royal bloodlines," I said in awe.

"Not really Bells," he said stopping on the front step, "I'm gonna go get your truck. There's a clean towel on the dryer."

"Okay," I said as I reluctantly let him go.

I hugged myself as I walked up the steps. By the time I was closing the front door, my earthbound sun was nowhere in sight. The towel I found was threadbare but still absorbent enough to do the job. I settled onto the couch next to the radiator. I was wondering what Leah had to do with pack business, when I heard that all too familiar rumble.

"You put the Easter Bunny to shame," he commented as he tossed my dry clothes to me, "If it weren't for my nose, I wouldn't have found those."

"Well," I croaked then cleared my throat, "I couldn't let Charlie find them. Can I use your bathroom to change?"

"Use my room," he offered, "I'm already dry."

As I changed, my mind wandered back to Edward velvety voice. His voice had changed my mood. Then my thoughts moved to my cliff jump. The leap had been exciting and my heart quickened at the memory. It would have been perfect except for the near drowning part and the delirium. Something about that nagged at me, and I tried to pin it down.

"Can I throw my clothes in the dryer?" I asked and looked up into Jake's grinning face, "What?"

"I'm just relieved that you're okay," he gushed, "In my mind, I could almost see what the redhead…"

He continued but his last word triggered a realization. The flash of color I had caught with my unfocused vision was the feline female's hair. He swam to France echoed in my ears. Words from months earlier made my blood run cold.

"Victoria was in the water," I whispered intensely.

"I told you we lost her when she dove into the ocean," he said bemused.

"No," I said my voice cracking, "When I was dizzy on the beach, I caught a glimpse of her hair. She was no more than a hundred yards from us. Oh no! She knows I'm here and worse, she saw me with you."

"It's okay Bella," Jake reassured and I could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he continued, "We can use this to our advantage. First, I'm gonna need those clothes to draw her in. This could work. I just need to hammer out the details with the pack. She has only seen five of us, and now we are eight."

"Eight?" I cried out.

"Actually," he said smilingly, "Seven and a half."

"Quil?"

"Late last night," he replied, "That was the easy one. You'll never guess the other two."

"Do I even know them?" I asked doubtfully.

"You've dined with them," he hinted and it clicked.

"Seth?" I whispered, "Isn't he too young?"

"Yeah," he said sadly, "The stress of his father's heart attack this morning…he changed early."

"That's why Sam is going to 'catch' him at the hospital," I said then gasped out, "Leah."

"I gave too many hints," he said and smiled.

"But Leah," I gasped again still in shock, "She's a…girl."

"The first," Jacob informed, "In our history."

"Her dad's heart attack provoked the change in her too?" I assumed.

"No," he said sadly, "Her change triggered the heart attack. Poor Harry was shocked to say the least. She changed in their living room."

"Poor Leah," I empathized as I remembered the exotic beauty, "I know how I'd feel if Charlie…We need to get her to the hospital-now. What if something happens? She will never forgive herself."

"Okay," he agreed, "I'll warm up the rabbit."

"My truck is already warm."