Truth about Love

Premise: Bella is getting ready to marry Edward. But as the day slowly draws nearer, she can't help but shy away from the cold arms holding her at night, fantasizing about something (and someone) much, much hotter. She tries to push those feelings down…until she finds out who Edward Cullen really is. Is it enough to leave him for good?

All she wanted was to find a stupid pair of scissors, to cut the tag out of the incredibly itchy sequin top Alice had forced her in. That was all. Just find something sharp to remove a little bit of her discomfort.

But, of course, it was an annoying and tedious scavenger hunt. Ever since the incident with Jasper on her birthday, Edward made sure that all sharp objects in the house were well hidden. It wasn't too difficult. Since the Cullen family didn't eat, they didn't have to use steak knives or cutlery sitting around. Most sharp objects were in Carlisle's office, consisting of medical supplies prepared for Bella's next klutzy act. However, she knew Edward kept scissors in his room.

So there she was, leafing through everything in his desk, careful not to make a mess. After almost fifteen minutes of an aggravating search for the scissors, a familiar glint of silver caught her eye under old school papers. However, the silver wasn't from the scissors. It was one of their wedding invitations.

Bella wondered to herself why one of their invites would be randomly laying in his desk drawer. Curiosity got the best of her and she picked it up. What was written across the invite made her gasp.

The silver material was torn slightly, and there were water marks on the paper. It was as though the person who received the invitation had cried while responding. The words written across it made Bella's eyes brim with tears.

Bella,

I don't understand why you sent me this invitation. I hope you didn't actually think this would make my broken heart hurt any less. Maybe it was the bloodsucker, I don't know. There are very few things I seem to know these days. But the one thing I will always know is my love for you.

I thought not telling you this would be better, so you would love me without feeling obligated to me. I wanted you to come to me without knowing. But if the leech is going to fight dirty, then I'm going to pull out all the stops and fight for you until my last breath. I can't keep this a secret anymore, and you deserve to know.

I imprinted on you, when I first saw you that day in the rain after I phased. I needed you so badly, but I didn't want to take your choices from you. Not like he did, manipulating you and keeping you only to himself and his creepy leech "family". But I know you love me. I felt it in that kiss on the mountain. I saw it was killing you to let me go, that day you said goodbye in my bed.

I'll wait for you to get this letter. I'll wait for a week, and if I hear nothing then I'm leaving La Push. I'll leave Washington, and I'll try to find out how to live without you. Because to be honest Bella, there is no way I know how to live without you. Not for the next week while I wait for you to respond, let alone for the rest of my life.

I love you, Bella. I want to give you a life. I want to give you a family, friends, and the people you love. I want to give you a natural life, full of love. I can give you everything, and you wouldn't have to change anything because I know you're perfect just the way you are.

I love you with all my heart, Bella, and I always will. You ARE my heart, my soulmate, my imprint.

Love, Jacob.

Bella sank down the wall, clutching the invitation in her hands while soaking it with her own tears. Tears shed in anger, relief and heartbreak for the man that she truly loved. The man that she could see was not an obsession, but true, real love.

For weeks, Bella felt as though Edward was slowly holding her tighter, keeping her closer, carefully trying to see if she was telling the truth with every sentence she spoke. She couldn't figure out why he was being so possessive, even more so than usual. But this letter explained it all.

He was making sure she never left him.

It was a lie, when he told her that if she chose Jacob, then he would let her go. It was a lie, when he told her he just wanted her to be happy. He wanted her happy in a little box, unable to experience life and emotions in any way. Edward wasn't loving her. He was smothering her.

The door of the room suddenly swung open, and in strolled the offender himself.

"I got back as fast as I could, my love. I don't think I've hunted faster in my…" He trailed off, seeing his distraught fiancée curled up against the wall, clutching the letter that he knew would be his undoing. The letter he had planned on burning later that night, when he was sure she was asleep. He had forgotten about it for almost a week, and was sure that it wouldn't be found.

He was wrong.

Bella stood up, shaking with anger and newfound strength. "Why didn't you show this to me, Edward," she said slowly, trying to control her shaking voice. "Why was this hidden?"

"It was for your own good, my love. That imprint nonsense, it's obsession. He can't give you what I can," Edward said easily, but his face told a different story. His topaz eyes watched her carefully, trying to decipher the code that got him out of this mess. He couldn't let her leave him. She would not leave him.

Bella couldn't take it. The moment he said "obsession", she lost it. Civility was thrown out the window, and she was screaming.

"Nonsense?! This is nonsense?! Edward, he IMPRINTED on me! Do you know what that means? It means that the one thing keeping me here, the ONE THING that held me back from him is now gone. I love Jacob Black, Edward. I may have loved you, but that love turned into unhealthy obsession. That unhealthy obsession was constantly fed by you, eagerly, while you created your own! I should have known," Bella ranted. She was going to get it all out now, everything brewing in her chest over the past few weeks. It was the truth.

"My love, please, you won't leave me. I won't let you. Besides, he will be gone in less than an hour, see?" Edward pointed to the letter, completely calm, and Bella gasped. It was a week since the letter had been written, the week where Jacob had waited to see if she would come to him. He was going to leave that night.

Bella wanted to scream so much more at Edward Cullen, for what he had almost taken away from her, for all of the horrible things that he had put her through under guise of "love". But he wasn't important.

Jacob was.

"Edward, I am leaving you. For good. I will come back for my things later, but I never want to see you again. I belong with Jacob. I always have. Now move out of the way," Bella spoke forcefully, trying to get out of this house as fast as possible.

"I will NOT let you leave for that dog. He is no good for you, he is not controlled. Look at what that monster Sam did to Emily! She was HIS imprint! You will NOT LEAVE ME!" Edward started to yell, not moving out of Bella's way. Instead he moved closer, forcing her to step back against the wall once more.

Bella's mind flashed to the one ally that she had in that house, someone trying to tell her to be human. Someone she should have been listening to all along.

"Edward, LET ME GO! ROSALIE! ROSALIE, HELP ME!" Bella was screaming the last name she thought she would ever use for help, while Edward stepped back in complete shock and horror. In a half-second, a blond flash burst into the room, and grabbed Bella's arm.

"Thank GOD you finally came to your senses," Rosalie grumbled. Before she could move, though, Edward had crouched, suddenly leaping forward to try and tackle Bella. Rosalie knocked him off course, and he only managed to grab Bella's wrist, yanking her to his side.

"Edward, you're hurting me. Let me GO," Bella urged, nothing but anger in her eyes now. There was no love left for this man, who was not a man at all. He was a monster. His grip only intensified, making her wince and feeling the bruises form already.

"Edward, let her FUCKING GO," growled Rosalie. "She doesn't belong to you."

"She is MINE! She will ALWAYS be MINE!" Edward was screeching now, his pitch causing Bella to flinch and cringe. He started to lunge for the window, but was suddenly jumped by Emmett, who came barreling in to protect Bella and his wife.

Emmett held Edward's head in a headlock, squeezing the windpipe that didn't need air. However, it kept Edward from trying to get to Bella, and the two women took their chance. Rosalie grabbed Bella's other hand, carefully avoiding the one that Edward had gripped too tightly.

"Let's go, wolf girl," Rosalie said, smirking at Bella before swiftly kicking Edward in the crotch. He screamed, but it only got Emmett to squeeze his slender neck tighter. Rosalie looked at Bella, her eyes obviously saying, "You're welcome."

Bella drove crazily in Rosalie's car, trying to get to LaPush as fast as possible without getting into an accident. She was pretty sure she only had a few minutes left, and refused to let the man who was her true soulmate leave her forever.

Pulling up to the small red house, Bella was relieved to see that the rabbit was still in the driveway…before remembering that Jacob didn't need his car if he was going to run around as a wolf. She killed the ignition quickly, bursting out of the car and running to the front door of the house. Bella knocked frantically, banging and soon, kicking the door possibly keeping her from Jacob. Finally, the door opened to reveal Billy.

"Is Jake here? Please, Billy, I need to see him. I need to tell him how I feel. Please," Bella begged, looking into the eyes of the man who was practically her second father.

"He...he ran out of the house a few minutes ago. He was mumbling something about a trip, and First Beach, before giving me a big hug and kiss and sprinting out the door," Billy said carefully, not knowing what to do with the frantic girl in front of him. "What exactly did-" Billy didn't finish his sentence before Bella was running away from the house, trying to get to First Beach as fast as possible.

Her heart was pounding, lungs on fire, and she was both cold and hot at the same time. The breeze hit Bella's face while she sweat out of her jacket, throwing it on the ground somewhere between Jacob's house and First Beach. Her crazy logic was that it was slowing her down, even though she probably needed it with the huge rain clouds hovering in the sky.

Bella finally arrived at First Beach, her eyes immediately centering on the old bleached log where their relationship had really begun. He wasn't there, but telltale cutoff shorts were laying on the log, and she knew exactly who they belonged to. Running in the sand toward the log, Bella knew she was getting closer and closer to the man she was meant to be with.

She looked out at the ocean near their log, immediately spotting the beautiful man swimming in the water. His back was turned to the shore, probably thinking he was all alone. No one would come to the beach when a storm was coming.

Bella was about to yell his name, but decided to do something better. She quickly shucked off her shoes and socks, and shimmied out of her jeans, laying them carefully next to Jacob's on the log. Clad only in a tank top and panties, Bella ran toward the freezing water and dove in. She quickly swam towards Jacob, shivering in the ice-cold water and longing for his warmth.

Jacob was expecting to be alone, standing in the water one last time before taking a journey God knows where. It seemed as though no one could give him a break, however, and he angrily turned around to tell the intruder to back the fuck off…until realizing who they were.

His eyes widened in shock as he took in the love of his life, swimming toward him in a now see-through tank top. Her hair was soaked and she was clearly shivering. But she was here. With him. He immediately started toward her, in three smooth strides standing in water that only reached his mid-torso, but went up to her shoulders.

"I got your letter, j-just in time," Bella said, trying not to shiver. "The bastard hid it from me. He tried to keep me from leaving," she said, pulling her arm out of the water and showing him her wrist with fingerprint-shaped bruises.

Jacob gasped, carefully looking at her hand before taking it in his own, slowly stroking it and giving it a soft kiss. Bella immediately sighed in relief. Somehow, the kiss made it feel much better. She started to speak again.

"The only thing keeping me from you was my worry. The worry that one day you would find your imprint, and leave me. I've seen Leah, I can't have the one person I love more than anything leave me in the blink of an eye. I love you too much, Jake. You lied about imprinting? Well I lied about loving him more. I don't. I love YOU more. So please, please, let me give you that life you promised me. I'll give you all of me. For the rest of our lives. We'll buy a house, we'll get married, have BABIES," her voice cracked then, crying in happiness and an overflow of love for the man standing before her. "I'm yours, forever, Jake."

He looked at her for one second before crushing his lips to hers. She gasped in relief, fighting his mouth for dominance until his tongue started to seek entrance into her mouth. She granted it gladly, moaning as his tongue caressed hers. Her arms wound around his neck, and he grabbed her hips, pulling her out of the water and up against his chest. They soon came up for air.

"I love you so much, Bells. I promise to never, ever leave you. I'm yours. Always." Jacob spoke those words while looking straight into her eyes, while tears ran down his cheeks. He grinned while he cried, relieved and ecstatic that the woman who belonged with him was in his arms. And he was never letting her go.

"I love you, Jacob Black," Bella whispered, before pressing her lips to his again. She would never leave his arms again.