I know most of you have already read this, but yes, I am the author of this story, I just changed profiles. Okay? Remember that :) Anyway, I need reviews. My other stories I am in the process of writing. Won't be long, kiddies! Please Review!
Bella knew her feelings for him even while she was a little girl. At the age of twelve, Bella didn't quite understand love - didn't know what it was. But, she knew it involved her best friend, Jacob. Jacob, with his short black hair and dark brown eyes. He looked at her as if she were the sun, the stars, the moon. He thought she was beautiful, even at a young age.
"I'm already planning a wedding," Charlie, Bella's dad joked.
"Got that right. Something about those two…" said Jacob's dad, Billy. Billy was stuck in a wheelchair and had a hard time taking care of his only son and twin daughters. A car accident killed the three's mother. Jake, who was thirteen, barely even processed what was going on. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that his mother was gone forever and would only be found in his heart.
Bella was in the tailgate of Billy's truck with Jacob. They were sitting down with their legs swinging over. Bella held onto Jake's hand like she always did, not really seeing the harm in it, but Jacob's heart did flips every time she did.
"Are you okay?" Bella asked. For a twelve year old, she knew a lot and understood most of what was going on in their life. "I mean, with your momma?"
Jacob shrugged and stared at their feet swinging, ignoring Bella's brown eyes that were searching his face. "I don't know, Bells. It's just…hard. I wish I could see her again."
Bella knew how he felt. Her own mom moved away to Jacksonville, Florida to get away from her ex-husband. She threatened Charlie to take Bella away too, but Bella refused to leave Jake in such a desperate time of need.
Bella bit her lip out of habit and bumped Jake's shoulder lightly. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I just…don't want you to leave. I'll miss you." he whispered, peaking up at her from under his lashes. Bella blushed lightly. She hadn't thought about her issue in a while. She was so worried about Jacob that she completely forgot about her own situation. Just the thought of having to leave him made Bella's stomach turn.
"I'm not." she said stubbornly. "They can't make me, Jake. I won't leave, I promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep." Jake warned her. He knew he wouldn't be able to take the pain that that broken promise would bring and he didn't want to suffer it. Bella smiled weakly at him.
"And even if they force me to move," she continued as if he hadn't interrupted, "I'll still call you. I won't forget. And I'll visit." she added. Her eyes prickled at the thought of never seeing her best friend again. She swallowed back the lump in her throat.
"I hope you stay." Jake murmured. "But, hey, before you leave, just…come see me before you're gone."
Bella nodded. He didn't even have to ask her. That was her original plan; she wouldn't go far without Jake.
Billy and Charlie were both sad about Bella leaving. Charlie had yet to tell Bella that she was leaving the next week. He wanted her to enjoy her last days here without worry.
"I told Jake when she was leaving," Billy told Charlie. "He's even more depressed than he was before. Can't you talk Renée out of it?" Charlie tried four times to talk Renée out of it; no use. She was dead-set on her plan.
Billy didn't wait for a response.
"Jake, time to go!" Billy called over. The two fathers watched as Jacob and Bella hugged for several seconds before both hopping out of the truck and walking towards the two that summoned them.
"You ready?" Billy asked his son out of habit. Jake nodded absentmindedly, looking at Bella with a small smile. He hoped she stayed. He'd like to think that she would, but knowing that she would be leaving in a matter of days made him cry every night.
"See ya, Bells." Jake said. Charlie pushed Billy's wheel chair to the truck and helped him in. A couple of minutes of free time left before Jake has to go home, Bella thought.
"Jacob," Bella said low enough so the adults didn't hear. "I'll miss you so much." Bella felt a tear trickle down her cheek. Jake wiped it away with his thumb.
"Don't worry about it, Bells. It's okay. You don't even know if you're leaving." he lied.
Bella shook her head and pushed her long brown hair out of her face. "My mom and dad are talking a lot lately…and I think they're planning on sending me to her." Bella was oblivious to the fact that Jacob seemed unsurprised.
Jacob put his arm around her. "You can't know that, Bells."
Bella didn't feel like arguing anymore. She just put her head on his shoulder and looked up at her father. He already had Billy set in the drivers seat. Charlie was leaning on the window, speaking to Billy about some sports game coming on tomorrow.
"Yeah, they play. Awesome game. You want me to come over?" Charlie asked with light in his eyes. Billy frowned slightly.
"Sure. I don't think Jake can handle another trip down here. Not after he found out about her leav-" Billy stopped short when he felt Bella was in ear-shot. He didn't know that Jacob had heard their whole conversation. He just wanted to leave and go cry in his room.
Jacob felt like he was a horrible person. For some reason, Bella leaving seemed more important than his mother's recent death. "Let's go." Jake said, mostly to himself as he walked over to his side and hopped in the truck. Bella felt hurt and rejected.
Her breath hitched as the truck drove away, along with her best friend. She could see the tears in his eyes through the rearview mirror and sucked in a sharp breath. She made him cry.
Charlie saw how bad she felt and wanted to comfort her, but Bella had already made her way up the steps and into the house, closing it tightly behind her. She wanted to be alone.
And nothing in the world could prepare Charlie to tell his little girl that she had to leave in a matter of days.
When Jacob got home, he watched from a few feet away as Harry Clearwater, who had been staying at their house, helped his dad into his wheelchair. After he knew his dad was okay and would be taken care of, he disappeared into his house. He headed straight for his room without a backwards glance. His tears were falling from his eyes and he couldn't stop them.
The only person he had left was leaving and he couldn't do a damned thing about it.
Bella…
He fell on his bed and buried his face in his pillow. He wanted her with him right then. He wanted to talk to her, to make her laugh, to make her smile. He just wanted to see her. After everything that had happened, why would Renée be so set on taking Bella away from him? After the loss of his mother?
His mother…
He grabbed the photograph of him and his mother near the forest. He remembered how she kept trying to fix his hair and complained how it never stayed un-disarrayed. He could remember how he made fun of her for even caring about it and said he looked 'sexy' with it just to make her smile back.
The picture was a good one. She was wearing her favorite jeans and old black hoodie that said Washington in huge letters across it. Under that, Quileute was in cursive. Jacob suddenly wished that for one more second, just one, he could see his mom again and tell her that he loved her and that he was sorry for ever doing something wrong to make her mad. To hug her and tell her he missed her.
But he couldn't.
Never again.
Jacob sighed heavily and heaved his chest. The tears came and went for hours until he finally fell asleep. He would see Bella before she left him. He would make sure of it.
One Week Later.
Bella was all packed and ready to board the plane. Charlie helped her load all of her belongings into the back of his cruiser. "Ready, kiddo?" he asked her with a sad smile. She nodded, but didn't smile back at him.
The drive to La Push was agony for Bella. She just sat there, staring out the windshield, silently hoping that a miracle would happen and her mother would cancel her flight. But that wouldn't happen. Nothing good ever happened to her.
She stayed silent for the entire ride, ignoring Charlie's attempts at small talk. She wasn't interested. After about fifteen minutes, they were pulled up in the Black's driveway. Neither made a move to get out.
"She's taking me away from Jacob." Bella whispered, watching as her breath fogged up a small part of her window. Charlie shifted in his seat.
"I know, kiddo."
"Can't you tell her I don't wanna go?" Bella's voice had a desperate edge to it. Charlie wished that Renée would listen, but she wouldn't. That just wasn't in her nature.
"I tried. I don't want to see you go any more than you want to go, kiddo." Charlie felt helpless. "I tried." He said again. Bella sniffed.
"She's taking me away from Jake, dad." she repeated.
"You have an hour." Charlie replied as he opened his door and got out. Bella followed suit and walked with Charlie to the door. It was chilly out and it didn't help that she was wearing a tank top and really short shorts. Charlie knocked on the door quickly, hoping that Bella would appreciate his time limit he gave her.
They waited a few seconds before Rebecca, a twin sister, answered. She was the prettiest of the twins, Bella thought, though she looked as if she'd been crying. "Hey," Rebecca's voice was nasally from her stuffy nose. Bella smiled at her, but it didn't reach her eyes. "He's in his room." She said to Bella.
She nodded and walked down the hallway to the last door. Jacob's room. She didn't knock; she just opened the door and stepped in. Jacob was sitting on his bed with his knees drawn up and his arms thrown carelessly over them. He was looking out the window.
Bella sat on his bed in front of him. She was watching him. He had been crying, she knew. His eyes were red. "Jacob…" she whispered before she collapsed into his arms. Jacob held her tightly and stroked her hair softly. He would miss her. A lot.
"Please don't leave me." he whispered into her hair before placing a kiss there. She nodded as a dry sob escaped.
"I don't wanna leave, Jake." she answered. "Why do people have to be so cruel to us? We never did anything bad." Jacob felt the wetness of Bella's tears through his shirt. He had to do something to make her feel better; make her smile. He didn't want their last moments together to be wasted on tears.
"Well, I wouldn't say we didn't do everything good." he whispered in an amused voice. It worked. Bella pulled back to look at him. She had no idea what he was getting at.
"Huh?"
"You do remember when we threw mud all over your dad's car, right?" Jake found himself smiling, even though the story wasn't for his amusement. That was a funny stunt they pulled; smearing mud all over the windshield. Jacob had talked Bella into it after it rained.
"Oh." Bella smiled at him. "Yeah. And it got me in trouble." she almost had a pout-y look. Jacob laughed at her.
"Well, I'm glad it was funny." she said sarcastically and threw him a dirty look. He just shrugged.
"How about the time when Quil came over and we - I - popped the tires of his bike?" Jacob knew this would entertain Bells for a while.
She laughed lightly. "Yeah, emphasize the fact that I lack know-how more than the usual human being." she readjusted herself to sitting up and leaning against Jacob's window, blocking his view of whatever he had been staring at earlier.
Jacob didn't care. "Yeah, he was pissed at me for two weeks. And he still reminds me of it." It was true. Quil didn't ride his bike anywhere near the Black residence anymore. Bella pushed her hair away from her face.
"Do you wanna do something?" Bella asked Jacob suddenly. "I only have about forty-five minutes before I have to leave."
Jacob was shocked. He had expected to have at least half a day with her. His eyes started to fail him as they filled with tears. He blinked them away. He would not cry in front of Bella. He would make her smile and laugh and have a good time.
"Yeah. Uh…let's go to the beach, I guess." Jacob hadn't meant to lack enthusiasm, and it came out in a dull whisper. Bella pretended not to notice and got off the bed fairly quickly - for her lack of coordination.
"Let's go." Bella whispered with a small smile forced on her pretty face. Jake grabbed her hand and pulled them along, out of the house.
On the way to the beach, they didn't talk much. Jacob talked about a dirt bike he was fixing up and how Quil kept talking about this girl he was planning on taking to a school dance. Bella wished Jacob would take her to a dance. But, she couldn't, even if he did get the nerve to ask her.
Bella nodded along with everything he said, enjoying every minute she could spend listening to his voice. "Jake, why were you crying earlier?" Bella asked him. Jacob stiffened a little at the question, but forced himself to answer it.
"Uh…because I don't want to see you leave. I'll miss you. And I just lost my mom. And my dad's paralyzed from the waist down. My sisters are cutting themselves to relieve their 'pain'. Bella, I'm thirteen. I shouldn't have to deal with any on this. And you leaving isn't helping." Jacob had said it all in one breath, and it was as if a heavy weight was lifted off his chest. He could breathe freely again. That was the first time he'd ever brought all of his problems up to someone. He usually cared about everyone else, but right then, it was important to Jacob that he spoke up. He knew Bella would understand.
"Jake," Bella mumbled, looking out into the ocean instead of looking at him. "You know I want to stay more than anything. But, it's not in my control. I swear if I could stay, I would." They were almost to the shore line. Bella's feet were damp from the sand.
She had about twenty minutes left with Jacob. She wanted to do something they would usually do if everything was the way it was supposed to be. But it wasn't. And she couldn't.
"I don't think I can take much more of this, Jacob." Bella whispered. "I just want to stay. I don't want to move to Florida. I want to just…stay." Leaving wasn't what she wanted to do. Living in Jacksonville with her mother and possibly a new boyfriend wasn't very appealing. She wanted her life with her friends and parents back.
"Hey," Jacob put his arm around Bella as she started tearing up. "you'll figure it out, okay? You'll be fine with your mom, Bells. I'll be fine. I'll call you. Don't worry, okay? And hey," He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "you'll be down for summers. It's not like it'll be years before you see me again."
Jacob dropped his arm and moved in front of her to put a hand on the sides of her. He was staring into her eyes. Jake hadn't thought he would be so close to her when he did this. Their lips were inches apart…
He kissed her softly. A gentle touch of the lips.
"Bella!" Bella heard someone call to her. She whipped around. Her dad was about forty yards away from them. If Charlie had seen anything, he didn't act like it. Bella knew what time it was.
Time to leave.