My Konstantine
Summary: Bella abandoned Jacob years ago to marry Edward. Now divorced and a bestselling author of the Midnight series she thinks back on the boy she left behind. Jacob Black, has finally hit the big time, with his hit record My Never. He's put all his pain in his music and his love for Bella Swan has left him bitter. What happens when their world collide after all this time?
Chapter One: I Can't Imagine All the People That You Know.
"But I have my life, I'm living it. It's twisted, exhausting, uncertain, and full of guilt, but nonetheless, there's something there."
― Banana Yoshimoto, The Lake
Forks, Washington.
It'd been a long time since she'd been there, but since the book place in Forks, it made perfect sense that her editor would make it a stop for her book signing.
This is where it all happened.
Her high school.
The Newton's store.
First Beach.
Edward's meadow.
All the places that made her who she was.
Bella looked around the library at the large group of fans that clapped when she walked in. she remembered coming here when she was 17 and how she wrote it off as a bust because it didn't have as many books as the library in Phoenix.
It had improved a lot since then.
When her first book had become a top seller, Bella had sent money to Forks, to improve the library. It had been an impulsive move but it looks like the owner had put her money to good use.
Bella was led to a large area where chairs filled with people were neatly lined up, and a table with her books lined up in order, and a large banner with her first book Midnight's cover, behind where she was supposed to sit.
"It's my pleasure and privilege to introduce Bella Swan, author of the New York Times bestseller Midnight. We're incredibly excited to have her here today. Bella will be answering questions about the book and signing copies afterward. So without further ado, please give a warm welcome to Bella Swan!"
There was another round of applause, and Bella smiled shyly at her audience.
After all this time, she still didn't like being the center of attention.
Bella hadn't expected her book to be such a success. She'd started writing when she was still in high school and after her divorce she'd decided to go to college and her English professor convinced her to publish her work.
Bella read a few pages of her book and opened the floor to questions.
An excited teen in the front row wearing a I heart Midnight T-shirt raised her hand, practically bouncing in her seat and Bella smiled, pointing to her.
"Hi, I was wondering who Jacob is?"
Bella's smile turned stiff. She got questions about like this all the time and every time she'd feel her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach.
The dedication in the front of her last book Daylight, For Jacob, I'm sorry, so someone at each signing inevitably asked who he was.
A part of her wished she had never written that dedication but she knew that he deserved an apology, the one she hadn't had the courage to give him in person.
"Jacob was, the inspiration for the character of Jayden in the book. I was the inspiration for Izzy. The book is based on the relationship I had in high school."
Another hand raised. "Did you guys ever get together?"
Bella sighed. "No. Izzy and Anthony got married and lived happily ever after. Izzy and Jayden were just friends."
"But Jayden love her."
"But Izzy didn't return those feelings."
Another hand. "Do you and Jacob still talk?"
"No…After I married … I didn't get a chance to…" Bella trailed off, remember the horrible thing she had done and sighed. "I'm sorry, I really don't want to talk about that."
Another hand raised in the back. "Are you and Anthony still together?"
"No, Edward and I divorced a few years ago. We just grew apart. Edward was still stuck in the place he was when he was 17 and I kept growing until I was someone he didn't recognize anymore. It just wasn't meant to be." Bella didn't feel sad about it anymore.
What she had with Edward was a Love story of the ages…but it was only meant for the teenage years.
"Are all the places in the book real places? Do those people really exist?"
Bella smiled, remembering friendly places and her friends from high school. People who she stopped talking t shortly after she married Edward and hadn't gotten around to calling after the divorce.
"Yes. I changed the names of the people but the places are still the same. You can visit them but they've probably change since the time I wrote about them."
"Have you seen Jacob since the night before the wedding?"
"No. I haven't. I doubt he wants to see me."
"Ok, I think that's enough questions for now," Her editor said, sensing her mood dip. "Let's go ahead and set up for the book signing!"
Over the next few hours, Bella signed and posed for pictures with hordes of teenage girls, a few middle aged women, and a couple of guys. She heard many girls gush about how perfect Anthony was and how they wanted a romance just like hers. Bella wanted to warn them that sometimes the perfect guy isn't the right guy but had a feeling that those girls wouldn't take kindly to her bursting their romantic bubbles. She heard a lot of people tell her how much of a fool Izzy was for letting Jayden go. They said a lot of bad things about Izzy's relationship with Anthony and term abusive got thrown up too much for her liking.
She tried her hardest to show Izzy's love for Anthony. Making sure to describe him in great detail and the way he eclipsed everything around him. However, in a shocking turn of events – the rich, gorgeous boy who loved her more than life itself doesn't hold a candle to the poor, sort of beautiful, boy who loved her purely for who she was and not what she could be.
The boy who was reckless, kind, warm, sweet, romantic, and loved her selflessly, one journalist writes in a review of the novel.
Edward is the main love interest, the hero. But somehow it is Jacob who truly devastates most of her readers.
A small fight broke out between the Team Anthony girls and the Team Jayden ones. Security managed to break it up and her editor decided that they should call it a day.
Bella let out a relieved sigh and stretched, when a tattered copy of Daylight was set down in front of her, open to the dedication page.
Bella read the script, the familiar For Jacob, I'm sorry and forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Who should I make it out to?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
The voice was husky, and had a bitter edge but god was it familiar.
"You can make it out to Jayden, Izzy,"
The room goes quiet, as she looked up to meet his gazes. The bitterness in his eyes shoots daggers right at her heart. His posture wasn't lazy and relaxed as it had once been, the air around him wasn't warm, and there's a hint of coldness on his face.
"J-Jacob," Bella choked and he smirked, eyes glinting with smugness.
"Long time no see, Bella"