Author's note: The first two parts are from drabbles I've posted before but the story goes further, hence its own place.
Warnings for Bella bashing and plot twists.
Paris
"What does it say?" Jake tilted down his chin, staring intently at the worn lettering etched on the marble slab.
Edward crouched down, his pale fingers tracing the notch of the capital letter. "Mon cœur repose de l'autre côté de la mer."
"And that means?" Jake huffed in irritation, sticking his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.
"My heart lies on the other side of the ocean," Edward said softly. "This is the tomb of a man who died a hundred years ago."
He stood up, his golden eyes glimmering strangely in the cloudy Parisian day as he glanced at the gravestone. "He mourns his lover, who went to America and didn't come back."
Jake's heart hitched at the sight of Edward's pensive face. He regretted insisting that his erstwhile rival and new friend should accompany him to the Père Lachaise cemetery. To distract the melancholic vampire, Jacob stalked towards him, his boots thudding softly on the grass.
"And you, Edward?" Jacob timidly wrapped his fingers around Edward's silk tie and pulled it towards him. "Where does your heart lie? On the other side of the Atlantic?"
Edward looped his hands behind Jake's neck and leaned forward so their foreheads touched. "No, wolf. To answer your unvoiced thoughts, my heart no longer belongs to Bella, if it ever did."
Jacob's heart beat madly on his chest at the way Edward's lips curled up in a predatory smirk.
"My heart is yours, Jacob, and the time has come for you to claim it."
oOoOo
"How did you find us?" Edward leaned casually against the balustrade, his hair ruffled by the cold wind which was unimpeded, because the workers who were renovating that part of the Eiffel Tower had removed the security fence.
"Alice saw you."
"I thought she couldn't see the shifters?"
"Well, she suddenly could. Alice booked me a flight, but I have to say that the seats were too cramped and the movie boring." Bella took out the piece of cake she had carefully wrapped in a napkin, a remnant from her trip which she proceeded to lift to her mouth. "Anyway…"
Edward tuned her out, more intent on reading the thoughts coming from the elevator. He glanced at her and raised his eyebrows. "Where's Jacob?"
"Some French tourists wanted help with their car, I guess."
Edward huffed in irritation. "Tourists? We're in Paris, France; not in Paris, Texas!"
"Whatever. You don't have to remind me, Edward. It's too cold!"
It annoyed Edward no end that, faced with the breathtaking view of the City of Light at her feet, all he heard from Bella were complaints. It was the main reason he had sought to escape her by embarking in his romantic trip with Jacob.
Edward's irritation grew by leaps and bounds when he read clearly the thoughts coming from the elevator. 'Quel beau jeune mec!'
It would seem that the Gallic mindset wasn't immune from falling under the sexy wolf's charms. Edward stomped towards the elevator door.
"What we have is bigger than us, right?" Bella called out to him in despair, "We'll always have Paris."
"I watched Casablanca when it first came out, Bella, a fact you never bothered to find out," Edward said through gritted teeth, and the cake slipped from Bella's limp fingers at his disdainful tone. "You would do well to remember how it ends."
Several things happened in quick succession, too fast even for Edward's reflexes.
Bella ran towards him and her sneakers slipped on the cake, then she collided with a burly Frenchman who snorted in indignation. Just as the elevator doors opened and Jacob came out, she stumbled against the balustrade and the Frenchman pushed against her back, his feet having slipped due to the mess on the floor.
Bella almost fell from the Tower, but Jacob grasped the situation at once and rushed to her aid. Between both of them, they managed to pull her from the brink of falling to her death.
oOoOo
Pamplona
Jacob strolled down the Pamplona street, his hands stuck in the pockets of his jeans while Bella clung to his shoulder. Ever since he had saved her in Paris, the girl appeared to have developed a crush on him, a fact which didn't escape the angry gaze of the vampire who trailed them.
Edward lowered his chin, ostensibly to hide his face from the fierce Spanish sun within the confines of his coarse woolen cowl, but in reality so he wouldn't have to endure the sight of Bella fawning over his oblivious wolf.
Jacob's sweaty t-shirt was plastered to his sculpted torso like the casing of the chorizo, the spicy sausage he had for breakfast. The vampire scuffed his loafers on the cobbled street and tried to ignore the minds of the passersby and their barely hidden lustful sighs.
It irritated Edward that people thought he was a monk who was taking part in the procession of Saint Fermin. What really drove him mad, though, was Jacob ignoring his hints about the festivities, the encierro when the bulls had the free run of the Pamplona streets.
Edward knew about them from reading Hemingway's The sun also rises, but did Jacob care? No, because he was distracted being surreptitiously groped by Bella.
Edward was trying to decide the proper punishment he would mete out to his sister for sending Bella to Europe, but he looked up when he noticed the sudden change around him. His keen hearing alerted him to the thudding sounds of the throng of people running towards them, accompanied by the menacing clip-clops of the bulls' hooves.
It happened so fast, Edward had no clear recollection afterwards. He only knew that he couldn't bear the thought of any bull hurting his wolf, so he grabbed Jacob by the hand and the two ran towards the other end of the street which was flanked by freshly scrubbed walls, peppered with the bright colors of flowers on the windowsills.
Jake ran with him, his thumb caressing Edward's wrist. The vampire tried to ignore the heat pooling in his groin, intent on Jacob's safety.
"Where's Bella?" Jacob scrunched up his eyebrows and glanced back.
Bella just stood there, her mouth agape as the bulls rushed towards her.
"Gotta save her!" Jake wrenched his hand free and dashed towards the hapless girl, easily scooping her up in his strong arms as he reached her, so the sharp point of the bull's horn just scraped the sleeve of Bella's old plaid shirt.
The bull paused for a second, his black eyes fixed on Jacob. It seemed an eternal moment for Edward, whose mind was beset with worry. It partook of the mystical, though, reminding Edward of the Minotaur and the myths woven around the animal in ancient Crete and the Mediterranean world.
Seconds later, the bull was distracted and shook his thick head from side to side, as if recognizing his equal, before running away from Jacob.
Jake gently deposited Bella on her feet and turned to Edward but before he could utter a word, the vampire lifted the Quileute on his arms, unmindful of the astonished gasps coming from the window just above them.
Bella took a step towards the two boys but stumbled on her feet and fell down.
Edward glided towards the alleyway to his right, his gaze searching Jacob's sweaty skin for any wound as he frowned at Bella's distressed cries.
The crowd was advancing upon them and several women had stomped all over Bella's prone body; one of them wore stiletto heels whose sharp spikes repeatedly punctured her frail skin.
tbc