*Bella*- Forks, Washington
I don't know what it was that kept me in front of that window for hours every night. The hope that he would come back to me I suppose. It surely wasn't the scenery. I had never hid my opinions of Forks during my youth, now that it was my home I tried to put on a good show for my friends, but my parents weren't fooled. And now that I had finally found my reason for living, it had all been taken away from me. I have to stop thinking about him like that! I thought. It wasn't helping, and it didn't help the decision I had made last night either. I had a plan. A plan to move past him, and it was going to be hard, I knew that, I may be young but I wasn't stupid. I pulled my sweater tighter around myself, trying to protect myself from both the cold and the huge whole in my heart.
It had been six months since that fateful day. I tried to tell them that I would just rather ignore my birthday. It's not like it was any huge occasion, eighteen years old, older than him. He seemed to get the most enjoyment out of seeing me try to avoid all the attention. He knew that I only enjoyed being the center of his attention. It all seemed so innocent now, a stupid paper cut as I opened the world's most perfect birthday present. So perfectly Bella, I thought. The searing pain was all that I could remember from that night, and the weeks that followed. Pain- the only emotion that I felt anymore, the hollowness in my core was the constant reminder that he was gone. I knew he was too good to be true, I had known it when I first laid eyes on him. But knowing that I didn't deserve him was something much different than having him tell me.
I took a deep breath and tried to push those thoughts out of my head. Charlie would be home shortly and it was hard enough to keep up my happy face when I wasn't thinking of Edward. Oh how I missed him. No, I thought to myself. I had to put my foot down so to speak and get a hold of my emotions. I was tired of living this way, he would not destroy me.
I headed out of my bedroom and down to the kitchen as I struggled to regain my composure. I pulled the chicken casserole I had made earlier out of the refrigerator and put it in the oven. Moments later I heard a knock on the front door, it opened seconds later and I heard Jacob call my name, "Bella!" "In the kitchen," I answered quickly wiping any remaining tears from my face. I turned around slowly to meet him, I hadn't heard his approach but I could feel him standing behind me. "Oh Jake," I said placing my hands on his forearms. They were still chilled from the run over, "You know you really should wear some clothing, there's like 3 feet of snow on the ground!" I said. "Bella," whined Jacob. "I don't need clothes, and besides they just get in the way!" said Jacob. "I think you just like walking around half naked in front of me!" I said with the hint of a smile on my lips. "Well….that may be part of it!" said Jacob circling his arms around my waist.
*Jacob*
I pulled Bella against my bare chest and rested my chin on her head. She laid her head on my chest and sighed. It just felt so right having her in my arms. I could make her happy, if she would only let me. "Hey so Charlie tells me that you got some acceptance letters in the mail yesterday!" said Jacob. "Yeah, and another one today!" said Bella. "So far that's Hawaii, Washington State, University of Washington, Whitworth, and believe it or not NYU," she said. "Wow! Sounds like you have quite a choice to make!" I said silently praying that she would pick somewhere close. Somewhere in Washington or Alaska would suite me just fine. Close enough that I could run and visit and be home before anyone could miss me. NYU was out, too far, much too far. Though I was willing to run back and fourth from Washington State to New York for Bella it would dramatically decrease the amount of time that we spent together. Hawaii was out too, I couldn't run to Hawaii, and I certainly couldn't swim there. So that left Washington or Alaska. "I think Washington would be nice," I told Bella, the smirk on my face evident in my voice, as she laid her head on my chest once again. Bella sighed. "Yes I suppose it would!" she said.
Charlie got home a few minutes later and I was happily surprised when Bella didn't automatically remove herself from my arms as she generally did in his presence. "Hey Kids," said Charlie surprise evident in his voice as he saw us. "Hey dad!" said Bella. She didn't move an inch; she didn't even lift her head to speak to Charlie. "Dinner will be ready in a little bit!" she said. "Okay, I'll just be in the living room then!" said Charlie. I didn't turn to look at him again but I was sure he had a huge grin on his face.
"Will you stay for dinner?" asked Bella quietly. I was slightly surprised by her question. I had eaten dinner with Charlie and Bella many times in the past six months or so, but she had never actually asked me to stay, she always just assumed. "Of course," I said hugging her. "Good," she said. "I miss you too much when you leave!" Holy crap did she really just say that? I thought to my self. Calm down Jake I'm sure she doesn't mean it like you took it, she's your best friend it could mean any thing! But regardless of what it meant I was just happy that she finally seemed to be getting over that damn bloodsucker.
Dinner was uneventful or as least Charlie thought so, but I was in heaven, holding Bella's hand under that table the entire time. "Bells I'm going to go watch the game!" said Charlie excusing himself from the table. "Okay, hey dad!" said Bella as he started to make his way toward the living room. "Yea Bells?" he asked turning around to face us again. "After I clean up I think Jake and I are going to hang out upstairs for a while!" she said giving my hand a light squeeze. "Okay Bells!" said Charlie before disappearing into the living room.
I was speechless. It's a good think that Bella didn't ask me to speak, because for the first time in my life I was sure I wouldn't have been able too. She began cleaning up dinner and by the time I was able to snap my self from my daze she was finished cleaning up. "Come on you!" she said taking my hand once again.