Chapter 1
JACOB POV
Jacob sighed as he slowly climbed out of bed and stretched, running his hand through his messy black hair. Why did he feel so… empty inside today? He frowned. It was almost as if a piece of him were missing.
Beginning to wake up, he pulled out his phone. He had a missed call from Bella. Bella. His Bella. Reading her name suddenly made him tingle, and the hole felt just a bit smaller. Her snowy face entered his thoughts, pulling his cheeks into a grin. He knew deep down inside she had always belonged to Edward, and fantasies of her would only burn him more in the long run, but suddenly he couldn't resist. Jacob simply had to hear her voice, to know she was there. It was like an invisible force was drawing him to her. He stretched out on Billy's old couch, pressed her contact in his recent calls, and held the phone up to his ear.
The fourth ring was cut off, replaced by Bella's voice. "Hey, Jake!" she said brightly. Jacob sharply inhaled as his chest restricted and squeezed his heart. What is with me today? he pondered. A cough on the other end interrupted his thoughts. "Jake?" Bella called out again, confused. "Oh, Bella…" Jake swallowed. "Hey. So, uh… any chance you want to hang out later?" His breath quickened as he awaited her response. What the hell? Do I have to sound like a middle school boy asking the girl he likes to slow dance with him?
"Yeah… sure, of course," Bella replied. She sounded a little concerned at his sudden formality and unusually shaky voice, but knew better than to mention it. "I'll probably drive to the reservation around one. Does that work?"
"SPLENDID!" Shit, did I just shout that? Did I just use the word splendid? "I mean… um… sounds good! One is…" God, Jake, just stop talking! "One is good."
"...Alright, well…" Bella said slowly. "I'll see you at one, then. Bye, Jake."
"Bye, Bells."
BELLA POV
Bella hung up the phone, confusion clouding her thoughts. Jake was acting stranger than ever, and she wasn't sure if she even wanted to know why anymore. Shaking her head, she decided to forget about it. She had problems of her own. Last night, Edward had been holding her in his cold arms, but it was Jacob who had occupied her dreams. She had awoken in the middle of the night after a vision of her and Jake, a married couple, playing with their children, and cried in shame. The worst part was that when she first opened her eyes, before she realized it was only a dream, she felt happier than she had been in a long time. When she came to her senses and was hit with the overwhelming sense of grief, Edward had soothed her back into sleep with her lullaby, but although it calmed her back down, for some reason it no longer felt the same.
Bella stepped into the shower and turned on the water. Maybe some steam would help her relax. As she washed her hair, her mind began to wander. She had originally concluded that her dreams about Jacob had been caused by nerves over the stress of trying to soak in the last dregs of her human life, but now she wasn't so sure. Waking up in Edward's arms didn't feel right. She longed to feel Jacob's warmth, to hear his laughter, to see his dazzling smile…
Stop that! Stop that right now! Bella warned herself. Edward is the one you love, not Jacob.
But even as she tried to push down those thoughts, she found herself longing for Jacob. She had spent many nights tossing and turning over him before, but today the feeling felt more powerful than it ever had been. How would she make it to one to go down to La Push to see him, to squeeze him tightly in her arms, even knowing he had probably moved on?
It was going to be an interesting day.