TITLE: A Hundred Lives
PROMPT: N/A
PAIRING: Jacob/Bella, implied Bella/Edward
VERSE: Book
AUTHOR NOTES: This is... strangeness. It switches POV quickly and frequently between Bella and Jacob. (If you guys want me to label which is which, let me know and I'll do so.) I don't know exactly how to describe it... it's like an abstract story or something, lol. :) I wanted to do a Blackwater piece (or finish up some for "Play Pretend" but until I get my notes back (on my broken computer) it may be on hiatus), but this was sort of just staring me in the face. I don't know why. But I feel a bit better for the writing of it.
It felt as though they had done this all before. A strange, broken deja vu that always ended the same. And even though she knew the end - and the damage it would cause - her decision was always the same.
She couldn't change it.
...
A hundred lives, all of them lived just like this one. Lives where they were linked so perfectly, completely. Made for each other. He could remember every touch, every caress. The softness of her lips, the chill of her skin. Chocolate eyes and silk hair. The exact tone of her voice and whisper of her breath...
But none of it mattered, becaue everytime, every life, she didn't choose him.
...
Part of her knew it. That he was the one she should choose - the one she needed. But Edward's so much more. Something pulling her away. She loves him, too - irrevocably. To be without him is too far, too impossible, too much. She's said yes to him time and again and it feels like a hundred times; it's too late to change now.
Even if Jacob's the one always left falling.
...
He knows she'll never choose him. Even though he knows - she knows - they were meant to be. He should walk away; turn around and never look back. Forget each and every one of those impossibly clear, tormentously perfect memories.
But he can't. Because she's still his everything - and they both know it.
...
And she's done it again. And they knew she would. And she's never felt so empty. Because it feels final this time. It's the last. Her sun is setting - can she watch it go down for the last time?
She doesn't know. She only knows that her choise means she has to.
...
It's the final time he'll ask her. This is the last choice she'll ever have to make. Because this one is forever, for always. There's no going back either way - his soul just can't take another life with and then without her. So he's waiting there on his motorcycle, a bag slung behind him, staring at her until she tells him.
He'll take her anywhere... if only she would let him.
...
For the first time, for the last time; forever, for always. She chooses Jacob. She packs a bag, she leaves a note, and she closes the door behind her. Charlie will have to forgive her, because this is the only way she can forgive herself. She stares at him, sitting there on his bike waiting for her final choice.
She catches her breath and it feels right.
Finally.
...
The smile on his face hurts. The ache in his heart is new and just as painful as before. He feels her small arms wrap around his waist - they're still cold - her body pressed against him, her cheek resting against his back. It feels right, finally. Because they are right.
And Edward will not find her this time. No one - not Sam or the Cullens or Charlie or Billy - will find them. Because he's taking her anywhere.
Everywhere.
A/N - So. This was... um, well, whatever it was. Lol. Anywho, let me know what you think if you are so inclined. :)