The Painful Truth
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-set at the beginning of Eclipse, two weeks after Bella's return from Italy…AU.
Charlie marched toward his house with a steely glint in his eyes. Jacob followed him cautiously. The older man looked like he was going to blow any minute. Jacob expected that Charlie would be angry when he deliberately phased and showed him the truth, but he hadn't expected this tense silence. He thought Charlie would start yelling at him or something, or stand there demanding answers, but instead he had clenched his jaw tight and stalked off. Jacob knew he was in deep shit now. Not just with Charlie, and his own father when Billy found out what he had done, but with the pack too. Sam was going to rip him a new one for letting Charlie in on the secret, and all because of a girl. He reached the house, Charlie had already gone inside, and hesitated on the doorstep, wary of going in uninvited.
"Get your ass in here." Charlie growled, sounding very much like a wolf himself as he saw Jacob linger on the front porch. "We need to talk."
Finally! Jacob took a deep breath and hurried inside.
Bella sat next to Edward in their history class and tried to concentrate on her assignment. She always found it hard to concentrate when he was beside her. Which basically meant that she always failed to complete her work, and was often forced to finish it at home, staying up late every night trying to catch up. She glanced to the side and noticed that Edward had stiffened. A worried frown marred his smooth forehead as he looked toward the door of the classroom.
"What is it, Edward?" Bella whispered.
Before he could answer the school secretary entered the classroom and went over to the teacher. She whispered something to him making Mr Bauer frown as his gaze fixated on Bella. "Ms. Swan, your father is in the office. He wants to see you. Gather your things and accompany Mrs, Featherstone to the office will you."
Bella felt confused. Why was Charlie here? She looked at Edward for help, but he was frozen, his golden eyes staring at the school secretary as if he was trying to delve into her mind for information.
"Hurry, Ms Swan." Mr Bauer said impatiently. "There have been enough interruptions already." Edward stood up and picked up his own bag as if he was going to accompany Bella. Mr Bauer glared at him. "Sit down, Master Cullen." He ordered. "There is no need for you to go as well and miss vital study time."
"But, sir." Edward protested. "I really think it…."
"What you think is not important. I told you to sit down and resume your work. Ms, Swan is perfectly capable of getting to the office herself. Mrs, Featherstone is with her." The teacher pursed his lips and motioned with his hand for Edward to sit. Edward's expression became taut as he slowly descended back into his seat. He was infuriated.
"I'll be back soon." Bella always got flustered when Edward became upset. Even though it wasn't her fault in this instance, she still felt as if she was somehow to blame. "I'm sorry." She whispered.
"Just hurry back, love." Edward was frowning. He was reading Mr, Bauer's mind and was less than impressed with what inside the puerile man's head. The teacher was crowing about his little victory over him, and he didn't like it.
"I will." Bella promised as she hauled her bag onto her shoulder and hurried after the school secretary who was hovering impatiently in the doorway. She was anxious about what had brought her father to the school to interrupt her during lessons. It had to be bad news. Bella felt sick to her stomach as she wondered whether it was something to do with Renee. She hadn't checked in with her mother since returning from Italy and guilt began to set in.
Her worry on that score was soon cut short when she reached the school office and found her father standing there with a stern expression on his face. As soon as he laid eyes on her he threw her look of such intense disappointment that Bella nearly threw up. But it was seeing Jacob, who was standing beside her father, which told her all she needed to know. He was looking very guilty and couldn't meet her eyes. "Oh no." She mumbled as her heart lodged in her throat.
"We're going now." Charlie grabbed her arm and led her out of the office and toward the school parking lot. Bella was alarmed by his tight grip. She tried to stall him by asking what he was doing there, when he stopped abruptly and forced her to face him. "Don't push me, Bella." He snapped. "Now get in the car."
Bella glanced over her shoulder at Jacob. He was still refusing to meet her eyes. He skulked over to the car and folded his tall frame into the back seat. Bella's heart rate increased as Charlie virtually pushed her into the passenger side. Bella balanced her bag on her knees as Charlie slammed the door shut with such force the cruiser rocked under the impact. As he strode to the driver's side, Bella twisted in her seat to look at Jacob. His head was down and all she could see was the shiny cap of his black hair. "What have you done?" She hissed.
"I did what I needed to." Jacob finally raised his head and Bella gasped at the tortured look in his dark eyes. They hadn't seen each other for two weeks, not since their last fraught encounter outside her house when Jacob had told Charlie about the motorbikes so that her father would ground her. He had hoped that it would mean that Bella would spend less time with Edward as a result. His trick had worked. But it meant she was banned from La Push too, not that she wanted to spend time with him after what he had done. Bella had felt betrayed. Now he had done it again. "Blame me all you want, Bells." He muttered as he turned to look out of the window so she couldn't see the anguish on his face. "But I did it for you."
Bella's lips quivered as she faced forward again. Charlie had slid into the driver's seat and started the engine. "You are never going to see that thing again, Bella." He stated harshly as he began to reverse out of his parking space.
"I'm eighteen." Bella retorted weakly. "You can't stop me doing anything."
Charlie's hands gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. "It's really done a number on you, hasn't it?" He said bitterly.
"His name is Edward. He is not a thing or an it."
"He is a MONSTER!" Charlie thundered as he lost his cool and put his foot down. Bella gasped as she gripped her bag before it fell off her lap into the foot well. Her father's face was red with anger. She had never seen him so riled up.
"I don't know what Jake told you, but Edward is not a monster." Bella cringed when Charlie glared at her.
"Jake told me the truth, unlike you." He ground out. "That creature nearly had you killed on several occasions. He has sunk his hooks into you so deep you can't even see straight." He returned his attention to the road, righting the cruiser as it swerved too close to the sidewalk.
"Dad, it's not like that." Bella replied desperately. She glanced over her shoulder at Jacob. He was still staring out of the window, deliberately avoiding her gaze. "Edward loves me. He keeps me safe…"
"He dragged you to Italy, lured you into the vampire's den and nearly had you killed you stupid, stupid girl." Charlie hit the steering wheel with his fist as his frustration boiled over. "Because of him you suffered broken bones. You nearly died, for fuck's sake." It was rare for Charlie to swear and that shocked Bella more than what he was actually accusing Edward of.
"That wasn't his fault. Jake obviously hasn't told you the full story." Bella twisted in her seat and stared accusingly at her best friend. She couldn't believe Jacob had betrayed her trust like this. She was never going to forgive him. This time he looked directly back at her. "How could you do this to me?" She yelled at him.
"How could you do it to me?" Jacob accused as he lost control and threw her question right back at her. Bella fell silent as she heard the agony in his voice. "You left me no choice." Jacob continued as he dropped his gaze to his hands. "Because of you I've had to betray my pack and my father."
"You betrayed no one." Charlie interjected. "You did the right thing. They will all see that in time." He reached out and grabbed Bella's chin in one hand while he kept his other on the steering wheel. He turned Bella's head so she was forced to look at him. "Right now I don't know who you are." He said sadly. "My little girl is in there somewhere. You came back to life when that creature was gone, you will again. I will keep him away from you." He abruptly let go of her chin and concentrated on the road again. They were nearing La Push.
"Why bring me here?" Bella questioned as she fought back tears of self-pity.
"This is the only place that I can keep you safe." Charlie replied as he turned down the dirt track leading to the Black's small redwood house. "Get used to it my girl. For the foreseeable future this will be your new home."
Billy, alerted by the familiar sound of Charlie's cruiser, was already at the front door to greet his friend. He hailed him with a smile when he climbed out of the car, but his smile soon vanished when he saw the angry look on his old friend's face. Billy then saw Bella sitting in the passenger seat, and his son in the rear. He heard Charlie's boots crunch on the gravel as he strode toward him. It sounded louder than normal. "Something wrong, Chief?" Billy asked nervously as he eyed his friend warily.
Charlie didn't answer right away. Instead he hunkered down in front of Billy and looked him straight in the eyes. "I know." He stated harshly.
A cold shiver ran down Billy's spine. His eyes flicked to his son. Jacob had climbed out of the cruiser and was gazing at him with a hopeless expression on his face. Billy groaned internally. "I can explain, Charlie." He pleaded as he returned his attention to his friend.
It's a bit late for explaining now." Charlie replied bitterly. He straightened and stretched his aching muscles. "I've brought Bella here. I need a place for her to stay while I sort out my options."
"Options." Billy echoed him in confusion.
"Yes. It will take time for me to sell up and get my things together in order to move. I want Bells to stay here until I have finalised everything, then we'll be moving away." Charlie revealed.
"You can't be serious." Billy was astonished.
"No, you can't." Jacob said in alarm. "You can't move away. That's not why I told you."
Bella had been stubbornly refusing to get out of the car, but when she heard her dad's shock announcement she frantically climbed out of the cruiser. "Dad, please tell me you don't mean that. You're overreacting."
"Far from it." Charlie snapped. "You have left me with no choice. We're leaving this area for good."
Billy sighed heavily as he ran a hand over his face. "Chief, however far you run the cold ones will find you. There's no point. You could go to the other side of the world and they'd track you down. The only safe place is here. You want Bella protected, well then stay right here. Jacob and his brothers will keep the Cullen's away from her."
"He's right, Charlie." Jacob added. "Please, I didn't explain things very well. But my dad can."
"Come inside." Billy asked Charlie as he threw his son an annoyed glance. He still couldn't believe what Jacob had gone and done. His actions were going to cause all sorts of trouble. "Let's talk this through rationally."
Charlie jerked his head in acknowledgement as he stalked inside the house. "You better not run off, Bella." Billy warned her as he went to follow his friend into the house. "You've caused enough heartache as it is." Billy looked in his son's direction meaningfully before he rolled his chair inside.
Jacob and Bella were left outside alone. Bella was hugging her bag to her chest. Billy's last barbed comment had really gotten under her skin. She knew she had hurt Jacob badly when she had run off to Italy so save Edward from himself. She hadn't done it lightly. It had been agony having to leave him like that, but she had been given little choice. When she had returned she had hoped to explain herself to him, but Jacob hadn't given her a chance. Instead he had deliberately ignored her and then betrayed her with the motorbikes. Now this!
"You could have just talked to me." Bella whispered sadly as she looked toward him. "You didn't have to do this."
Jacob looked back at her. His expression was impassive. He had retreated behind his Sam mask again. She hated it when he did that. It was his way of shutting her out and shielding his feelings. "You gave me no choice." He replied coldly.
"You always have a choice." Bella felt like screaming. She wanted to grab hold of him and shake some sense into him. "This wasn't the way to get my attention."
A bitter laugh exploded from Jacob's mouth as he glared at her. "This wasn't about getting your attention, sweetheart." He sneered. He sounded so unlike himself it shocked Bella to her core. "You treat me like I'm some kind of lovesick school boy. Well I'm not. I did this for Charlie as much as to try and save your ass. He deserved to know the truth. He deserved to know that his selfish, vain, self-centred daughter wants to kill herself to become the queen of the undead."
"How can you say that?" Bella whispered as tears began to slide down her face. "When did you become so cruel?"
"I'm not being cruel. I'm merely telling you the truth. I am not pandering to you anymore, Bella. I'm sick of it. In fact I'm sick of you. I'm done. From now on you're on your own." He said heatedly.
"Jacob…." Bella put a shaking hand over her mouth as he gave her such a look of disgust that it made her soul shrivel inside. "You don't mean that."
"Don't I?" Jacob turned away from her, his whole boy taut with anger, and headed toward his garage. He didn't look back.
A/N-thanks for reading!
