Bella tightened her grip on Edward, eyes shutting tight. Wind whipped around their tent, causing her to shiver slightly. It wasn't as bad as last night but it wasn't any good none the less. A tension filled silence settled around them, the only sound at all being the wind. She wished Edward would speak, wished he would at least tell her what was happening down there. It was terrifying to know that her family was fighting down there, just so that Bella wouldn't get killed. It made her feel guilty, like she making them put their lives on the line for hers. Which was never her intention at all, but they all insisted to go. Insisted that everything was going to be okay. That they would enjoy a fight and it would be no big deal. And she was sure that maybe it was like that, and maybe she was over reacting, but that was family out there. The wolves, the wolves were even putting their lives on the line just so that they got to kill some vampires.
Then one person filled her thoughts, sent her heart flying, made her want to shatter into pieces. Jacob. Jacob was out there, and not minutes earlier was he threatening to let the newborns take him out. She shuddered, and Edward misinterpreted it for being cold. He was about to scoot away and let her get warm, but she tightened her hold on him once again. Tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to overflow, and fear coursed through her veins. This was all too overwhelming, all too frightening. Why did anything ever have to go this way? Maybe it would have been better if she stayed in Phoenix, never encountered the vampires or the wolves.
Then at least she wouldn't have put anyone's life in danger, and they wouldn't have any troubles with these people. There would have been a bad part to that though, she wouldn't have met Edward. And he was her whole world now, the love of her life, her everything. Romantic gooey thoughts came across her mind, and she wanted to tell him. Go against every little part of her that wanted to stay silent, and rush everything out. This could be the last moment they got to spend time together, because anything could go wrong at any moment.
So against everything she had worked up, against every word she had wanted to say, Bella spoke. And when she spoke all of her words were rushed out in hope that he would hear them all before anything bad happened. "Edward." The brunette started hurriedly, and his attention was immediately focused on her. Though by the look on his face, he really didn't want to be. He wanted to make sure everything with the fight was okay. "I'll be quick." She said, un-clutching his sleeve to intertwine their fingers.
Edward looked anxious now, searching her face while trying to figure out what she was talking about. "I love you okay? And I need you to know that. Though I'm sure you already do. But I couldn't stand to lose you again, it was like a hole was being ripped out of my chest when you left-" he winced, but continued listening-" and that's why I didn't want you to be out there. In all honestly I'm glad we're getting married. Though the idea is still really iffy. But I want you, and I want you forever. I want to be tied to you in every humanly way possible, Edward. Our forever is the beginning, and I want it to start at soon as possible."
The words were rushed from her mouth, and she was stumbling over them. Was this a bad idea? No, Bella thought to herself, once again glad that he couldn't read her thoughts, and his lips slowly tugged up into a smile and he pulled her close to kiss her slowly. "I love you too, Bella." Her angel murmured, burying his face in her hair. Despite how cold his skin was, and how cold it was outside, she suddenly felt warm. Though after a moment or two he was sitting up again, and she was nuzzled into his side. Edward watched the fight intently through the packs eyes, and she could hear Seth's faint whimpers.
Poor guy must have been scared, and he was so young having to watch all this. Though she knew he would have rather been down there just like everyone else. It wasn't the easiest thing to think about, but it was better than what would have happened had Edward been down there, fighting alongside his brothers and sister. Images of Alice and Esme were now planted into her mind, their small bodies dancing across the clearing while they tried to destroy the newborns. Bella winced as she thought of one them being crushed, and Edward rubbed her back slowly.
He probably knew that she was freaking out over the fight, because he had started his commentary again. "Ah- good job Jacob." He said first, and she knew that he had probably just gotten down there, and ripped one of the Newborns to shreds. Because that's what Jacob did, he fought. He fought harder than anyone she knew, and he was going to be okay. No matter what happened, because that was her Jacob. Her Jacob, her best friend, fighting down there to kill the people threatening to kill Bella. "yes! Like that Alice! Oh good job, tiny." Edward said, and he truly looked relieved that his little sister had done a good job. It felt somewhat nice to know that everyone was okay so far, and that the fight would be over sooner rather than later.
"Is Esme okay?" She asked quietly, playing with his hands and looked down at the tent floor. "She's with Carlisle, she's a good fighter." Edward assured her, squeezing her hand lightly before his expression became hard. And he was grabbing outward to where he would have grabbed a newborn she assumed.
"Jacob! Stop! NO!" He was screaming, and her stomach jumped. "What? What happened to Jacob?" Bella was saying, her voice high pitched, and she got up, wanting to run to the clearing. Though she probably wouldn't make it there, there was no way she was going to stay here and listen as her best friend got hurt. Edward's hand caught her wrist, and Seth was blocking her path. Both knew what she wanted to do, what she had to do. Another type of tension emitted from him, and she refused to think about what could have happened. It all felt like everything had happened so fast, and that only minute ago her and Jacob were kissing.
Kissing so that he could stay alive and try, try his best. He had left with such a cheery, "i'll be right back." Now it felt like it all was going down the drain, and he was- he was- no! She didn't know that! Bella turned back to Edward, her face pleading, tears pouring out of her eyes. "Please tell me he's okay, that it was just a scare and he's-" he was already shaking her head, and it felt like her heart had shattered into a million pieces. "I'm so, so sorry Bella." He whispered, and he was cradling her against his chest.
Bella suddenly wanted to run from the campsite, run from everything that was happened right now. She wanted to rip her hair out. Jacob couldn't be dead, it was Jacob she was thinking about. The guy who had always been there, who had never left, and who was always going to fight. "Until your heart stops beating" He had said, and the words replayed in her head.
Sobs racked her body, and she could barely breathe. Seth's whines and whimpers also filled the camping space. And then there was a loud howl that burst through his mouth, along with the sound of so many others. A tribute. For Jacob.
More tears poured down her cheeks, and she wished that she could see him, could have done everything over. Could have made him stay, because maybe then he would have been okay. "Everything is over..If you want to go see him."
Edward whispered in her ear, and despite the noises that were coming out of her mouth, she heard him and nodded. So before she knew it, she was on his back and they were running to the clearing. Or he was running, and she was sitting limp on his back.
Quite a few times he tried to talk to her, tried to say something, but she just sat there, motionless.
It was like a piece of her had died, along with Jacob. Because he was a part of her, no matter how much she hated admitting it, he was. He had been the boy that was there for her through everything and anything, had watched over her when she was sad. He had stitched her back up, made her feel alive. And now, that same boy, was probably lying on the ground, his body crushed.
Distracting her from her thoughts was the sound of footsteps, and she knew they were close. So Bella opened her eyes, and she could still feel tears welling up. Her eyes burned, though she didn't really care, because that didn't matter at this point.
Alice stood by the fire where they were burning the Newborns that had been there, and Jasper stood next to her. Emmett and Rosalie were holding each other, his big arms wound tight around her. Esme stood behind Carlisle who was standing next to -Bella took a shaky breath, which turned into a sob- Jacob.
Who was lying on the ground in his human form, eyes shut. He looked so fragile now, and he had marks from where it seemed one of the young vampires had crushed him. Bella slowly got off Edward's back, making her way over to Jacob.
The other boys of the pack also stood in their human forms, and they looked almost bitter towards him. Which would have been her mad, had not nearly all of them been crying as well. They stood over him, and she knew that they didn't want to leave his side. As she probably wasn't going to for the next few hours. Slowly, at a sad human pace, she made her way over to him.
And when she came fairly close it looked like Sam wanted to step in front of her, to yell, to scream at her for not making him stay. Though he made no move to stop her from getting on the ground next to him.
"Jake." Bella whimpered, running her fingers through his hair. It was matted with dirt and mud, and some blood was even then. His face looked smooth, a smug like smile on his lips. At least he had gone out proud. He looked like her Jacob right now. The best friend she had always longed to see, the Jacob that had stitched her back together. Looking up for a moment, she turned to the pack, asking whoever would listen.
"How?" The words came out a whisper, even though they were intended to be loud, but they could still hear her. None of them answered for a moment, all of them not really wanting to remember it. "He was going to attack one."
Quil started, his hands shoved into his pockets. "And it got it's arms around him, and crushed him. We tried to stop it..But we were too late. All of us." And he gestured to the pack, as well as the Cullen's who were watching her.
She could tell that Edward wanted to be right next to her, wanted to be holding her hand but it was too risky. The werewolves trusted them not to kill them, but that was about it.
"Oh." She whimpered quietly, and took his hand. It wasn't as warm as it once had been.
"I love you, Jake. You're my best friend. I've always loved you, but you already knew that. And I wish that you were still here, to hear me say all this. I miss you already. I'm a wreck and it hasn't even been a full day." She talked to him for awhile, told him everything and anything that she could think of. And not once did they try to move her, until it had started getting dark.
That's when Edward made his way over and the pack went to grab Jacob's body. "Wait." Edward said quietly, and he bent down to look at Jacob. "I knew you would never stop fighting, but nonetheless, thank you. For saving her. For loving her. I will never stop owing you for this."
His words made her tear up again, not that she hadn't stopped crying.
He nodded once and the pack went to go explain the news to Billy and Charlie, and she could just imagine the heartbreak written all over Billy's face. His son had just been killed. The man who should have been Alpha, killed. "I love you, Jacob." Bella whispered one last time, before crumbling into Edward's arms.
She could hear Alice and Esme's soothing voices, but couldn't make out whatever they were trying to tell her. her own sobs were all she could hear, and the only thing she could feel was Edward's fingers running through her hair, the other arm pulling her close.
A few hours later she was curled up on the Cullen's couch, showered and in sweats and a tee shirt.
She faced the back of the couch, and she could faintly hear the sound of chattering come from the kitchen. It sounded like Alice and Edward.
And Bella thought that the rest of them were sitting somewhere else in the big house, talking among themselves and discussing everything that happened today.
Pain still coursed through her veins, and she was some what glad that she couldn't cry anymore. Or else she surely would have, because what had happened earlier had shattered her heart into a million pieces.
Stop thinking about it, the brunette told herself, and sat up with an exasperated sigh. At the sound of hearing her get up, Edward and Alice strolled into the living room.
And by the look on their faces, she must really have looked a mess. "How are you feeling?" Edward murmured in her ear, pulling her halfway across his chest so she could be in his lap.
His voice was velvet and soft, pretty comforting for the way she was feeling. Alice sat across from them, her eyes wide with concern. "Fine." She lied, though they probably saw right through it. They always did. "You still have this." He said quietly, lifting up the wolf charm that Bella had forgotten about. And a type of relief washed over her. There was always going to be a piece of him left with her. "I forgot about that." She admitted, but smiled and held it close to her chest.
"He's not in pain now." He said, the velvet returning to his voice.
"And I know all he wants is to see you happy, Bella. And I know it's hard now, but just remember he's watching over you." She bit her lip and tried hard not to cry again. "He's making sure that you're happy."
Bella leaned against his chest again and he cradled her to it, his lips pressed to her forehead. "I know." She spoke, and her voice wasn't shaky or broken. Because she did know, he was always going to be there.
Because he always would be. "I love you, Jake." She whispered, and she stared at the wolf charm he had carved out just for her. And with that she looked up to see Edward's expression, and he flashed her favorite crooked smile.
"And I love you. Forever." Bella told him, leaning up to kiss his lips gently. "Forever." He agreed, and laid her down back on the couch. And with that, she smiled and nuzzled her head into his chest. Because they had forever, and more to do everything. And Jacob would always be there, watching.
