"Jake, I'm sorry, it was just for fun," I said my voice breaking because of the soreness. Truth be told, my throat was killing me. Jake stopped his car and turned it off and looked over at me. His hands were forming fists at his sides.
"Bella, you scared the hell out of me today," he sighed, "Please don't do it again?" he said but because he was asking for a response it sounded like a question. My lips slightly upturned at his face, he looked so worried. What, did he think I was going to try jumping off a cliff again? Once was enough for me.
"I promise I won't jump off any more cliffs. Gosh, Jake, you're killing my social life," I huffed like it would cause all sorts of peer pressure problems. He shook his head the slightest bit like he couldn't take how flippant I was about it. Well, I could either handle it or freak out about it but I didn't think the latter would help much.
Jake got out of his side of the car and opened my door. He helped me out and held my hand as we walked to the door. It wasn't a big deal; it was like he just needed reassurance that I was still right next to him. I didn't say anything hoping not to make him sad or even worse mad. I'd never fully saw Jacob when he was going to lose it . . . well, I saw him shift and start fighting with Paul but he'd never gotten that angry at me before. I hoped he never would, or have a reason to.
Jake deposited me on the sofa and started opening cabinets in the kitchen rather loudly, or maybe it was his way of making sure I didn't go to sleep. I couldn't say I didn't deserve it; I'd probably scared him horribly today. I heard the microwave humming and I laid my head down on the arm of the couch. Mm, that felt nice. With Jacob here I felt safe, safer than I had in a long time.
I opened my eyes to Jake sitting next to me on the couch, flipping through channels. He was looking rather serious. This was a different Jacob than I usually saw. He looked like he had a lot of things he had to take care of, like he had a lot of responsibilities. I felt bad; having to worry about his best friend probably wasn't very helpful in this case. "Jake," I whispered and then realized how bad my throat hurt badly, "What's wrong?" I choked out.
"Why do you think something is wrong?" he asked, like he didn't want to be that transparent. I thought it was funny because usually people were doing that to me. They would see through me because of my blush, for example. I wanted to tell him he looked like someone had just kicked his puppy but figured that was a bad reference and he might take offense from the comment. I didn't think I'd manage to choke it out either. My throat was still killing me.
Instead I just said, "You look sad." My voice cracked several times. At that Jake frowned and waved me over to the kitchen table he started the microwave up and it started humming. He sat down next to me and put his head in his hands.
"Leah and Seth's dad was in the hospital, heart attack." I closed my eyes and mimed what Jake was doing. I felt horrible. Charlie, he must be so upset. I looked back up to Jake with hope in my eyes and he saw what I was thinking about. He shook his head slightly, "He died."
I closed my eyes. With the stunt I had pulled today and with the Clearwater family, no wonder Jake was looking a little sad. I grabbed his hand and squeezed. He looked up at me with something in his eyes. He leaned forwards and I did too. It wasn't a conscious thing. I was inches from him when I heard a knock at the door, I sprang apart from him. For a second we just stared at each other.
Another knock came from the door and knocked some sense into me, no pun intended. I went over to it and opened the door. And then I just stood there, dumbfounded. I went to speak but nothing came to me. The person that stood before me was none other than Alice Cullen.
I went to speak yet again but was cut off by Alice, who leaped at me, "Oh, Bella, I'm so you're all right!" Her tiny but strong build was hard against my frame but so familiar. I felt like her scent had never left. And then reality hit.
"Alice, what are you doing here?" I asked slowly. I felt like I had a big question mark on my forehead.
Jake was right behind me, it was hard to miss his body when it radiated heat. He didn't have to say anything; I could sense his rage. Alice ignored my question and looked behind me at Jacob. "Bella, who's your friend," she asked hesitantly.
"Jacob Black," he said and I could hear the growl in his voice. "And you're a Cullen, what the hell are you doing here?" he growled, I could feel him start to shake. Alice looked at me, like she was surprised she was being treated this way.
"Why are you here, Alice?" I asked quietly. This was too surreal.
"I saw you jump off a cliff," she said, her eyes widening, "I thought you were trying to kill yourself!" She waited for me to admit that I was trying to hurt myself but I shook my head.
"Alice, I was cliff diving," I sighed, it sounds stupid when you try to tell people you were trying to jump off a cliff for fun. "I did it for fun."
"For fun? What have you been up to since we left?" she asked like she couldn't believe I was the same Bella she had known. But it was true, I was different. But how could she expect me to be the same? She and the rest of her family had left me, leaving me alone.
"Alice, I'm sorry but I don't think that's really any of your business. I think you should go." I said forcefully, it sounded a lot stronger than I felt. I hated that I felt like I wanted to hug Alice. She looked stunned. "Alice, you left me," I paused and tried to stop my eyes from watering, "I just, I'm not the same person you knew before and, now, I don't think we can be friends now. I really think you should go."
Alice looked at me and had a bewildered look on her face. It was almost the look she got when she saw the future. "He has no idea what he has done," she sighed. And with that she left. I closed the door and passed Jake to sit down. I had to think about what just happened. The microwave beeped for what I could guess was not the first time. I heard Jake open it and set chicken noodle soup before me.
I looked up and did something resembling a smile without the happiness, but isn't that the whole point of a smile? He handed me a spoon and I started eating. I was happy to know that it was helping with my throat. Jake finally broke the silence. "So," he said clearing his throat, "What do you think that was about?"
I shook my head; I didn't want to really talk about it. I felt Jake's hand cover mine, "You can talk to me. You know that, right?" I smiled and looked up at Jake. He looked worried like he had before Alice came. I gave his hand a squeeze.
"Jake, you're the only one I can talk to. You're my best friend. You know that, right?" I said, smiling at him, while I repeated his words. He smiled at the truth of my words. Jake left after that and I went upstairs to take a shower. I got in bed and went to sleep. I woke up in the morning to find Charlie in the kitchen sitting in one of the kitchen chairs staring off into space.
"Dad?" I called but he just grunted. I felt a sinking sensation. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Poor Sue, and Seth and Leah, I'd never known them that well but it was horrible just the same. I walked over to the chair closest to Charlie and sank into it. "What happened?"
"He didn't make it," Charlie choked out. I went over and hugged Charlie. Eventually I started making him breakfast and Charlie told me that Harry Clearwater's funeral was today. I told him I'd go with him. He needed all the support he could get. I got dressed in my only black skirt that went to my knees and a three quarter length black stretchy shirt. I walked downstairs where Charlie was dressed in his suit.
"I think I'm going to go over to the Clearwater's and see how Sue is doing. Can you take your truck over?" I was about to say I'd go with him but he interrupted, "I think it'd be best because I was thinking I'll be there for awhile and be with Sue. I'm sure you don't want to be there for that long. And I'm not sure I'm the best company."
I nodded and let him go. I opened the door when I heard the phone ring. I went over and picked it up, "Swan residence, Bella speaking," I said. I waited for a response but got nothing. I didn't hear the tone so I knew someone was on the other line. "Hello?" Then the person hung up. I heard a loud knock at my door that made me jump. I hung up the phone and went over to the door and opened it.
"Hey, Jake," I said, closing the door behind me, "I thought I was going to pick you up or something." He shook his head.
"I had Sam drop me off." He said. We walked over to my truck and he opened my door for me, I smiled.
"Why suddenly the gentleman?" I asked with a laugh. He narrowed his eyes at me with a small frown.
"A guy can't do something nice without his motives being questioned?" he asked.
"Not anymore," I smiled. I backed out of the driveway and we were off. We didn't talk for a couple minutes but it was a comfortable silence. Everything I did with Jake was comfortable. Jake was fidgeting a bit and I realized he probably did have his own agenda. I smiled to myself and waited for him to blurt it out. It was only a matter of time. For once I was actually right.
"Okay, so I did want to ask you something." He paused and I saw his eyebrows furrow from the corner of my eye, "Sam wanted to know if you know what's going to happen with the Cullens? Do you know if they're moving back or if it was a onetime thing?" He waited and I thought about it.
I don't know why I was mad Jake had told the Pack about Alice coming back. What was I thinking? Of course he told them, they're his family and he didn't even have a choice if he wanted to tell him. They would be able to find out when he was in wolf form. I focused on the Cullens. By the way I treated Alice, which I surprisingly didn't regret; I didn't think they'd be coming back. Not for me anyways. "Bella?"
"Oh, sorry, Jake, I was just thinking." He cleared his throat and it made me smile. He didn't want to hurt me by bringing it up. "I'm not really sure but I don't see any reason why they would come back. There's nothing left for them here." I said. The words, I realized, had double meanings. But they were true. Edward, I sighed, he didn't claim by heart anymore. At least, I didn't think so. I was finally starting to face reality. Edward was gone and I had to move on.
"I'll tell Sam," said Jake. I pulled into the church and we both got out. We sat through the service and went back to the wake. Jake and I weren't particularly chatty but it just didn't feel right. We stayed at the wake for a couple hours trading small talk with everyone when we finally left. Jake was going to come back with me, I was glad. I didn't want to be alone. The atmosphere was so morbid. I was happy Jake was there with me. As we got closer to my house we were talking more. Jake was prattling on about his car. I'd ask him a few questions but, like always, I didn't need to try so hard with Jake.
We got out of the car and started walking towards the house when Jake stopped. He sniffed the air, in a very weird, wolf-like gesture. His head turned towards the forest and he started growling. "Jake, what's wrong?" I asked but Jake didn't answer, he just kept staring at the woods. I followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. Or should I say who? Walking out of the forest was none other than Edward Cullen.