Control

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-prompt-change the pivotal moment in New Moon when Bella is about to leave with Alice for Italy. Charlie comes home earlier than expected throwing everything into chaos. Set in New Moon AU of course. Thanks to kini113 for the prompt.

"Dad,

I'm with Alice. Edward's in trouble. You can ground me when I get back. I know it's a bad time. So sorry.

Love you so much.

Bella."

"Get your wallet-you'll need ID. Please tell me you have a passport. I don't have time to forge one." Alice said desperately.

"Yes." Bella nodded and then raced up the stairs. She didn't realise Jacob was hot on her heels until she felt his incredible heat warming her back. He could move so silently that it still continually surprised her. "I haven't got time for a fight, Jake. Just let me go." She begged him.

"Don't go." Jacob whispered. HIs anger was all gone now that Alice was out of sight.

Bella didn't waste time arguing with him. "Please, take care of Charlie." She said as she stuffed her old wallet, a clean T-shirt and sweatpants into an old backpack. She threw a few other essentials on top before spinning on her heel and thundering down the stairs again.

Jacob was right behind her again. He overtook her on the last step and blocked her view of Alice. Bella tried to bypass him impatiently but he refused to give her room. She wanted to scream at him she was feeling so frustrated. "I can't believe you're even considering taking her with you. You claim to love her but you're willing to risk her life when it suits you." He snarled at Alice. "You may control yourself on occasion, but these leeches you're taking her to-"

"Yes. You're right, dog." Alice retorted bitterly. "The Volturi are the very essence of our kind-they're the reason your hair stands on end when you smell me. They are the substance of your nightmares, the dread behind your instincts. I'm not unaware of that."

"And you take her to them like a bottle of wine for a party! You disgusting, filthy bloodsucker." Jacob shouted.

"You think she'd be better off if I left her alone, with Victoria stalking her?" Alice raged.

"You and your goddamn coven left her alone in the woods to die. You didn't care then." Jacob was losing control. His whole body was shaking. "I'm the one who's been here all these months keeping her safe. Not you. And not that damn asshole who ripped her heart out and left her to drown in her own tears."

"Jacob." Bella sobbed. "Please."

"It's the truth, Bells." Jacob turned and caught her arm with a shivering hand. His dark eyes glistened with tears. "Don't go. Stay."

A lump lodged in Bella's throat as she stared up at his beautiful face. "Jake, I have to-"

"You don't, though. You really don't. You could stay here with me. You could stay alive. For Charlie. For me."

The engine of Carlisle's Mercedes purred quietly. Bella hadn't even seen Alice leave to get into the car. She swallowed the lump in her throat and dropped her eyes from Jacob's stricken face. "Whatever Edward's done or however he feels about me. I have to save him. I have to." She cast one last desperate glance toward him. "If it was you I would do the same."

Then she ran outside, shaking her head, her tears spattering from her eyes. Despite everything she had just said Jacob was still following. "Don't die, Bella." He choked out. "Don't go. Don't."

Bella paused long enough to quickly throw her arms around Jacob's waist. She sobbed against his chest as she felt his big hand on the back of her hair, holding her in place. Then she pushed him away again. "Bye, Jake." She whispered painfully. "I'm sorry. Look after Charlie for me."

Alice was revving the engine impatiently. Bella climbed clumsily into the passenger side and shut the door. "Let's go." She muttered as she cast her eyes down to her shaking hands. She couldn't bear to look out of the window to see Jacob's tormented face.

The tires screeched as Alice stomped on the gas. The Mercedes shot forward but just as violently stopped as Alice braked hard. Bella was thrown forward in her seat, the belt cutting into her chest and leaving her winded. White faced, she turned to stare at Alice in alarm, confused as to why she had stopped. Alice was staring out of the windscreen at something. Bella turned to look too.

Charlie's cruiser was parked across the entrance to the drive, essentially blocking them in.

Bella had never seen her father so livid. He was supposed to be at Harry's funeral. What was he doing here? Surely it couldn't be over already. She glanced at Alice uneasily as she wondered what to do. Alice appeared shocked, clearly she had not foreseen this turn of events. It had to be Jacob. Alice had already confessed to Bella that she couldn't see past the wolves. Jacob's presence had blindsided them all.

"Get out." Charlie roared as he wrenched the passenger door open. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Dad." Bella looked at him despairingly. "It's not what you think."

"So, you're not running off then?" Charlie snapped as he grabbed her backpack from her shaking hands and ripped it open. He upended it and the contents fell at his feet-including her passport. "Unbelievable."

"Dad." Bella whispered again. "You don't understand."

"You are right I don't." Charlie scowled, his brown eyes stained with grief. He turned his attention to Alice and his expression darkened further. "I welcomed you into my home. I allowed you to stay because I thought it was a comfort to Bella. But all the time you were planning this behind my back." He yelled at her.

"Please, Charlie, we're not doing this lightly." Alice pleaded. Her fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Something has happened to my brother. He is not in a good place right now. He just needs to see Bella, that's all. That's all it is. We are just going to pay him a quick visit for a couple of days and then I'd bring Bella straight home."

"Don't try and fool me with your weasel words." Charlie said bitingly. He grabbed hold of Bella's arm and yanked her out of the car. "I don't give a shit about your brother or his problems. And don't you dare drag my daughter back into his mess, especially not after the way he treated her. Now get the fuck out of here."

Bella tried to shake Charlie off, but his hold was too tight. She looked at Alice desperately, mentally willing her to stage an intervention, but the little psychic remained rigid, seemingly too stunned to think of a way out of this. Charlie was hauling Bella up the driveway now, deliberately ignoring her protests. It was only then he noticed Jacob standing silently in front of the house.

"How long have you been there?" He demanded fiercely. "Did you know she was planning this?"

"I tried to stop her." Jacob said dully. "But she wouldn't listen."

"Dammit." Charlie fumbled for his keys.

"Let me go, Dad. I'm eighteen now. You can't legally stop me." Bella struggled in his tight grip but in vain.

"Don't you even go there, Bella." Charlie gave up on trying to open the door. He chucked the keys at Jacob and indicated with a sharp nod of his head for him to do it instead. Jacob complied quickly as he slipped the key in the lock and turned it. "I need you to move my car." He ordered sharply as he pushed Bella into the house in front of him. "Make sure that the little witch in the Mercedes is gone before you come back inside."

Alice was gone. She had sent a quick text message to Bella telling her she couldn't wait and would head to Italy alone to try and save Edward. Bella was curled up on the sofa, her eyes red raw from crying. She kept anxiously biting her nails; her face feverish as she contemplated the worst possible case scenarios for what would happen to Edward now that she had been forced to stay behind. It didn't bear thinking about. She felt the sofa cushions dip and turned to find Charlie next to her.

"Leave me alone." She said thickly. "I will never forgive you for this."

Charlie's jaw flexed and his soft expression turned hard. He withdrew from her slightly, his lips thinning into a hard line. "Sometimes I wonder where you get your selfish streak from. I buried my best friend today." He said severely. "I was hoping for some support so I came home early only to find you ready to run after that son of a bitch."

Bella recoiled at the harshness in his tone. "I'm sorry about Harry." She whispered hoarsely. "But Edward..."

"To hell with Edward. It's where he belongs anyway." Charlie's temper flared again. He stood up, giving up on trying to comfort her. He was too sad and weary to fight with her right now.

"How could you say that?" Bella accused through a veil of tears. "You have no idea about anything."

"Grow up, Bella." Charlie argued. "That boy hurt you in the worst possible way and left you to wallow in a deep depression for months without one single word. Do you really think I was going to be okay with you running off to wipe his sorry ass because he changed his mind?" He threw the short note she had written for him on the sofa next to her. "You may not see it now but you'll thank me one day. I should have been more proactive a long time ago. I knew he was a controlling little prick but I was so scared of losing you, that I kept quiet. Well, I won't be quiet anymore. Getting you to go after him is just another way for him to control you. Can't you see that? I'm your dad and I love you. It's my job to protect you. And that's what I'm doing now...even if you can't see it yet."

Charlie exhaled deeply as he swallowed down his anger and leaned forward to kiss Bella on the top of her head in a rare show of affection. Then he turned and walked away.

A warm hand cupped the back of Bella's head, startling her awake. "I'm sorry." Jacob apologised huskily. He was holding a mug of coffee in his hand. "I made you this. You've been asleep for hours."

Bella took it from his silently and curled her fingers around the warm mug. A headache was forming at her temples and she felt tired and listless. Jacob was watching her warily and she averted her gaze from him.

"Are you angry with me?" He asked eventually.

"I want to be." Bella whispered. "But I can't summon up the effort." She blew on the hot liquid to cool it down before taking a tentative sip. The coffee burnt the roof of her mouth proving that she could still feel after all. "Damn." She mumbled as the familiar tears pooled in her eyes.

"I didn't call him if that's what you're thinking." Jacob continued roughly. "But I'm glad Charlie came back early and stopped you. You're here and you're alive. Even if you hate me forever and never speak to me again I'll just be glad that you're safe."

"Jake, what am I going to do?" Bella raised her eyes to him, her heart and mind were clouded with pain. She had spent so long holding onto the memory of Edward and now that's what he could become if Alice didn't reach him in time. Jacob had been holding her together all these months; he numbed the pain, even if he couldn't rid it from her entirely. "Help me." She said in a small voice.

Jacob wished he could walk away from this broken girl in front of him. She was asking too much of him, wanting him to hold her together again because her world was falling apart. What about him? What about what he needed? She knew how he felt about her, but his feelings were secondary to her pain over the damn bloodsucker. But as always the pull to comfort her was stronger than his resentment. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm here, Bella. I'm always here." He said bleakly as he let her sob against his chest as if her heart would break.

A/N-thanks for reading!