The news was blaring something he knew wasn't true. After all, Bella wouldn't do that to him. She respected him enough to tell him the truth and loved him enough not to do that right? He'd left everything he'd ever known for her, alienated himself from his family, and moved miles away from home to be with her. She loved him enough to never do that to him didn't she?
Ironically, when he had these thoughts she would always appear just when he'd finally had the courage to ask her about it, do some research, follow her around when she supposedly got off from work early and "went out with her friends." It was always the same and he felt stupid looking back on it. When she came in the door, she ran to him, kissed his cheeks, and told him they were wrong. It's just a rumor, she said. Trust me, Jacob.
Fool him once, shame on her. Fool him fifty times and counting?...well shame doesn't quite cover it.
Needless to say, like a fool he believed her, he stood up for her despite every one's advising him and everyone's warnings and the big as day "YOU ARE BEING SCREWED OVER" signs that flashed in his daily life. To him, she was the one for him and he turned a blind eye to everything that would hinder his happiness with her. It wasn't at all odd that she came home smelling of a myriad of colognes and alcohol. It had probably been a mingling session that laded her that new contract... Right?
Isabella Swan was the one he dreamt of marrying almost every night and loved to wake up to in the morning. She was the one that he was desperately in love with so he took every excuse she gave him. It wasn't that far of a stretch that it was a rumor, there were plenty of rumors being spread around now that their fame was growing. After all they were stars in their own right, she being a famous actress, and him being a rising model, meant that the public wanted to know more than the basic "I'm from Washington" spiel.
Leaving the Reservation had been kind to him when he moved to Los Angeles a few years prior and then to Hollywood with his girlfriend Bella. Though he left his family, his people, his entire way of life behind and almost never went home to visit, instead always going to visit her parents during the holidays...he was happy.
He hadn't gone to see his mother's grave in three years, hadn't seen his father in three years, and barely had any contact with home, but it was worth it to see Bella happy, in his arms, in his bed, every day. Wasn't it?
He'd lead a simple life before meeting Bella at Forks High School. Isabella Swan who was heading for the stars, said he should come with her and he did. He finished school early at Washington State and graduated as an Engineering major specializing in auto mechanics. The model, actor, and lyricists positions he played were for now and in his spare time he managed to tinker on and upgrade his rebuilt motorcycle. He'd been the quiet, intelligent one and she'd been popular. Over time there had always been something about her that made him feel the need to protect and take care of her. A sort of frailty behind that monotone voice and pretty face.
Once out of high school, Bella headed to Hollywood to become an actor, why he never figured out, but followed her. Ever since her debut after nearly six months of drama training and auditions for parts, Bella got a taste of fame. It didn't help that being around her made him sort of infamous and thrust him into the word of glitz and glam. He'd only meant to be a fill in that one time and within a week he'd become a sensation for men's fashion, offered a role, and someone found out that he knew how to compose music. From that moment, he stepped into fame and she followed, their lives were never the same.
To the paparazzi, their penthouse was the center of attention. There wasn't a day in his life that he didn't go outside and accosted by the flashing lights asking for confirmation and denial of the latest rumors and requests for interviews. There wasn't a day that he answered them or his own questions. Jacob Black was the senator of Denial.
It was late and the final scenes of Phantom, his latest movie, had been completed. He was officially off the clock the moment he climbed into the car. He sighed as his driver stopped at the building he'd called home since they'd moved from the small apartment and his manager, Leah Clearwater, gave him one of her stern smiles. They'd been friends since they were kids, having grown up on the Reservation together. She'd moved before he met Bella and as fate would have it they were reunited through his agency. They had never been separated since.
"Alright Jake," she said palming through her Blackberry. "Looks like you've cleared up your schedule pretty early today. Be happy."
He scoffed looking up into the starry night and sighing, "Early… yeah. Eleven o'clock at night is early alright."
"That filming was supposed to last until midnight. Be glad that you don't ever take that many retakes."
He grinned and nodded, "Night Leah, get home to that boyfriend of yours safely huh?"
She grinned, "As if I have a choice."
Getting out of the car, he felt something off. He waded through the crowd of paparazzi in the lobby and forced his way towards the door, smiling and waving all the way. Something about Bella, Edward, stairs...eh, it didn't matter.
It was just rumors...right? He smiled to hide the doubt as the mayor of practical in him, the one he'd locked up a long time ago, banged on steel bars and screamed "LISTEN, YOU DUMBASS!"
He ignored it, stepping into the elevator. Bella was home, and he couldn't wait to get showered, eat, and crawl into bed with her. He'd been waiting for it all day, while he was to tired to do anything really physical he was always happy to see her. The familiar ding alerted him to reaching the top floor and he headed towards his door a gold "13" over the peephole. That nauseous feeling was coming back again, Mayor Practical and his accomplice Instinct, rattled their cages and flailed around in his mind. The doorknob felt like it was burning and he considered turning around and going somewhere else for a while as he unlocked the door.
The space was filled with a vaguely familiar sound to him. Bella's voice… in pleasure. Though it had been nearly three months since the last time he'd heard it, he was sure that was what it was...Was she waiting for him?
Mayor Practical gave up and unlocked the cage of common sense as her voice cried out, "Oh god, faster Edward! Faster!"
WHAT DO YOU THINK DUMB ASS?
He caught a glimpse of them around the corner, up against the wall of the hallway and pulled back from the sight, trying to feel his breath again. It wasn't a rumor and she'd had every chance to the truth, he'd asked once and never asked again. They'd been out to dinner, been at home, the news blared the gossip for the last few months and there was nothing. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that she was cheating, cheating with him, or disrespected him enough to do it in their home where he paid for the penthouse and provided for her that pissed him off the most. There was someone else waking up in the darkness, the space between who he had been and who he'd become since being with Bella.
Maybe it was a combination of all three because he knew the storm of agony and depression would come, but it wouldn't come until this wave of rage subsided. Rage, hadn't felt this in a while, coupled with Mayor Practical, Instinct, and the dark thought taking shape under a presidential top hat vaguely resembling Abraham Lincoln, it felt alien. With it came every questions and doubt he'd ever stuffed into that dark space, the thoughts that were taking form as that tiny wounded wolf cub, whimpering in agony and terror as the rage took shape.
He shuddered at the thought of what else she'd done, how many times she'd gone to bed with Edward in the bed that they shared, how many times they'd defiled his penthouse with their betrayal and laughed behind his back. How many other partners she's had since they arrived? It was a little odd that she was pretty much talentless and yet she was offered a pretty big role a few weeks after getting out of acting training and that director had a reputation for taking favors. What about all the times that she'd gone out and hadn't come back home until early morning? Or when she was supposedly at home but he couldn't reach her? All the times she avoided his touch? All the times he'd been able to touch her...she'd been faking hadn't she? Was there a moment in their entire relationship that was real? When they met in high school, through college, why on earth did he allow her to talk her into doing all her homework for her while she went out for some "theatre" 'd been used the entire relationship and hadn't even known it.
The person he was faded into the small whimpers of the puppy. His heart was hurt and he let the newly formed figure of rage take over.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Was the only thing he said and Edward stopped mid thrust to look over at him. Bella's face was one of guilt, shock, and fear. Jacob's newly elected, President Fucktonia couldn't say that he understood why. She apparently didn't feel guilty enough to stop, or fearful enough to do it somewhere else, or even shocked enough to say something more than his name in that small voice that she used to guilt the Puppy Jacob into things.
"Jacob…"
"Isabella," he replied and put his laptop case on the ground beside him meeting her eyes. "I'm home."
He was a little surprised that he was so calm, taking sure and slow steps towards the pair. Edward stared up at his tall frame and swallowed hard, as Bella clung to him a bit tighter. Jacob knew the paparazzi had followed him to the floor and were probably outside the window. Even more than that they were still in that same position, with Edward still inside her and her body twisted around him.
"J-Jacob I can explain…"
"That you fell on his dick?" Jacob asked with that snarky tone that he'd forgotten he had maybe President Fucktonia was a good thing. He hadn't felt this good in a long time, finally getting a chance to speak his mind...
"Tell me Isabella, how many others were there Isabella? Because really, I doubt Edward's just the one. Was I not good enough or do you just like the taste of the forbidden? I never pegged for a thrill seeker or a cheater, but I can see I was wrong."
"Jacob… I can explain…"
"You probably can't explain it in a way that will make me any less angry," he said stopping in front of them and grabbing Edward's arm as well as Bella. She slid off Edward with a shudder and their protests fell on deaf ears.
There was a part of him that wanted to let them pick up their clothes before he threw them out, that was the puppy Jacob. The President Fucktonia, Jacob said "fuck 'em" and proceeded to drag them out of his hallway and towards his front door.
"Hey!"
"You want to fuck him, then fuck him somewhere else. I'm not your doormat anymore."
He dragged them both, protesting, screaming towards the front door and threw them into the paparazzi ridden hallway with a straight face and closed the door in their faces as the flash of the camera went off in their faces and a million questions about the situation were thrown at them. He heard Bella calling out for his help when he closed the door and slid to the ground. There was nothing he could do, absolutely nothing. Nothing she could do, even if he explained it until she was blue in the face. She'd betrayed him in the worst way. His eyes turned away from the defiled hallway and the wall they'd been fucking on.
His anger boiled in his brain and left him speechless. He couldn't find the words to explain it. Jacob Black, for the first time in a long time, called Leah's private number. The phone she used strictly for personal matters. Her voice was warm and worried when she picked up the phone. She set down the pot she was stirring as Paul came up behind her and groped her, pressing p against her. Jacob never called this number.
"Jake? Are you there? What's the matter?"
Leah pushed Paul back a bit, fending off his attempts to taste what she was cooking and molest her all at once. He swallowed again as the tears started rushing and held in the sobbing as the door locked automatically and he reset the pass code, trying to find the words. Even if the President was in control, that didn't mean underneath all the rage there wasn't pain leaking out of his eyes. He'd never felt so stupid in his entire life.
"Isabella was cheating on me… I just walked in on her and Edward fucking in the hallway of my penthouse."
There was silence, "I'm on my way."
Leah evaded Paul's hands and hurried towards their bedroom to find her clothing thrown around the bedroom. She was hopping into her underwear and wriggling into her jeans when Jacob continued to talk.
"Could you… stay on the line until you get here?"
"Of course," she replied buckling her bra and slipping on her dress shirt.
Grabbing her keys, and stepping into some flats, Leah hopped in her Land Rover, kissed Paul goodbye, and streaked across town towards Jacob's building where the paparazzi swarmed the naked couple and chased them into the elevator. Jacob hadn't said much while she was driving, but she could hear the sobbing over the line.
"I'm so mad right now, I can't even find the words… Leah please…tell me what to do…"
She parked in the underground parking lot and sighed, grabbing her phone as it went off with a billion alerts about Jacob's name in the news scanners.
"You're going to go into the bathroom and wash your face with cold water. Your eyes are probably all puffy now and we need to make a statement while they are still there."
He sniffled and headed towards the bathroom, ignoring Bella and Edward's pleading on the other side. Relieved to have someone else deal with the situation at the moment, for all his valiant actions, he was still the puppy that followed Bella around helplessly lost without her. He washed his face and tried to take comfort in the prose of the situation. He found out before it was too late and there was a part of him that was sensible enough to function. President Fucktonia was comforted by the fact that they were probably having one hell of a nude photo-op and that made him the default persona until the high of the situation simmered down.
"Does my code still work?"
"Yeah, and the key."
With that she hopped into the elevator and arrived on the top floor with Isabella and Edward trying to save face with lies and story telling while banging on the door.
"Alright, everyone move out of the way!" She yelled over the noise and pushed her way to the door. She walked in without a glance in their direction and closed the door behind her. There was a good chance that they wouldn't get any answers until it settled down.
"Jake?" She called through the house. "Where are you?"
He appeared through the hallway, scrubbing his face with a washcloth and looked at her. He hugged her tightly, breathing in a bit before she spoke. In their relationship there would be a time in the far future that she could say "I told you so." But for right now, he needed to be held.
"Is their clothing still here?"
He nodded and she steered him into a seat, marching towards the door, she stepped out and pulled the pair back in before closing the door in the paparazzi's faces. Jacob didn't even bother looking up from the hole he was staring into his floor. She didn't expect him to say much as she left them there and the two looked sheepish. In her opinion it wasn't right to yell at naked people, the paparazzi had probably shamed them enough. Isabella was on her way down from fame…and Leah couldn't wait to see her bow out. She returned from the trip to the bedroom with clothing, something random that she found on the floor and threw it at the pair as she took a seat on the couch Jacob refused to sit on. His large figure was stationed on the floor, staring holes into the floor.
"Now that you're no longer naked, get the hell out." Leah said.
"B-But I live here!" Bella protested, pulling on her clothes.
"Not anymore you don't."
"Half the things in here are mine!"
"No they aren't, this is Jacob's home. The lease is in his name alone, no one else's remember?"
"J-Jake you wouldn't throw me out would you? Where am I supposed to go? Can't we talk about this?"
Jacob was silent and Leah looked over at him. His lips were sealed in a firm line that she knew well, his anger was getting to a pitch and he was glaring even harder into the carpet, trying to regain control of his emotions. Had he not taken so many martial arts as a kid and been in so many things, she couldn't say what Jacob would have done with all his pent up anger.
"Pl-Please Jacob? I know I messed up but… I never expected it to go on so long…"
"…When I asked you the first time," she swallowed nervously. "Were you sleeping with him then?"
She looked down that had been six months prior to the present.
"Yes, but I hadn't ,meant to keep going. It was just…"
"Better?" He asked, softly. "Better than what I could give you?"
She was silent at that. Trying to make him hate Edward and not her wasn't going to work apparently. She hadn't expected to be ousted this way. Jacob was her security blanket and stepping stone to fame. Living with him had made her a better actor and she enjoyed his affection. They'd been together for three years and he had been more than gentle with her. When she wanted to stop he would and there were time that she questioned his desire for her. She hadn't wanted to tell him that she'd been sleeping around long before their first time together.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Jacob asked again. "Then again I don't care. Get out of my house."
"What? But I live here!"
"Not anymore, get the hell out, maybe I'll consider a time when you can come pick your stuff up." He rose to his feet and walked to the kitchen without another word. Leah was impressed.
"But Jacob, I love—"
"You get ten seconds to get out before I call the cops."
She looked like she was about to cry but Edward was already out the door, the paparazzi swarmed them as they marched to the elevator and out of the building. Leah looked up at him a he came back with a gigantic bowl of frosted flakes and took a seat on the floor. Jacob's feel better position had to be one of the most interesting things ever with the remote control in hand and a gigantic bowl of his favorite cereal in front of him.
"Jake?"
"Leah, I need you to make a list."
She blinked and took out her manager phone.
"I need a doctor's appointment for sometime this week, a mover, and a place to send everything in this penthouse and I need new furniture. I'm gonna need boxes and call Seth, I don't think I'll be able to pack this shit up without the urge to burn it and the entire penthouse with it. "
Leah smiled and nodded despite herself as he turned on the T.V. and kicked the couch across from Leah towards the kitchen to get a better spot in front of the T.V. where the scandal was being reported on Channel 5.
"That's right people, after months of rumors and gossip, it is official. Isabella Swan fast rising newcomer into the acting world is sleeping with Edward Cullen behind her boyfriend's back. These photos were captured earlier this evening when after a long day of filming, Jacob Black arrives to his penthouse home where he and Isabella have been living to catch the pair in action and throw them out, apparently mid-orgasm."
The picture of Bella and Edward being thrown out the door by Jacob's towering figure faded into the background and Leah laughed at their expressions. Dumb asses. Leah almost smiled in glee as he watched the new and switched over to the sports program after they announced the desire for a statement from him and the recording of Isabella and Edward leaving the building faded.
She smiled and kissed his cheek when she was sure he was okay.
"Please don't sleep on the floor, okay?" That last thing they needed was for him to be stiff for his assignments tomorrow.
"I won't, but I'm not sleeping here either."
He packed an overnight bag and escaped the building to the Eclipse Agency headquarters. He had some paperwork to do and he didn't mind working in his anger. There were a lot of things he needed to get done after all. He set the bag down and collapsed into the small cot in his office and turned over to sleep. For the next few days, the buzz about the break up was everywhere. His sisters called, his friends had bugged him, and more than anything he just wanted it over. Turns out the Isabella and Edward had lost a lot of fans and publicity because of the incident and were issuing a statement later that week. It didn't matter, there was nothing that could save them and they'd find out when they were no one.
"Jake, if you're listening. I'm sorry."
He shrugged off the public apology and going anywhere near her side of the building. He just didn't care. President Fucktonia and the Puppy weren't interested in it at all but were rebuilding the crumbling walls of his sanity with the knowledge of the relationship. He was on auto-pilot otherwise known as "desperately trying to be distracted." The next few weeks were spent in a haze of apathy and work, on Friday, everything had been moved out and his entire penthouse had been scrubbed and cleaned, his doctor appointment went smoothly and the results would be in by the following week. His new furniture was arriving that afternoon and he was there to help bring everything up and tipped the mover guys generously.
After his new home had been set up in all its new sexiness, Isabella had shown up on his doorstep and he opened the door, sweaty and half naked from setting up his new bed frame and dresser. He looked down at her and her eyes were staring, staring right through him. It almost made him want to cry, almost. Glad he bought a lot of really fluffy pillows and that ridiculously huge bed, he'd need something to curl up on and cry later, if it ever came to mind. President of Fucktonia gave Puppy Jacob ten minutes after she left to burst into tears... He was counting on five give or take a minute depending on how much stuff he could find to keep himself busy.
"Ja-Jake, I… I've been calling you—"
"I changed my number." He replied, "Is there a reason that you're here?"
Seeing the lack of caring in his eyes, all protests died in her throat. "I came to pick up my things."
"Good, stay here." He closed the door and went back to where Seth, Leah's little brother, had stacked all of Bella's belongings in her suitcases and things on a cart so he woudn't have to touch them.
He wheeled it into the hallway and watched her struggle to push it towards the elevator. From that moment on, she'd tried to speak to him and she didn't exist to him. He avoided all contracts with Isabella and Edward and kept him in the clear until the press conference she'd scheduled to clear up the issue.
"Sorry it's taken a while, a lot of things have happened in the world of Jacob Black," Leah introduced as Jacob took a seat beside her with a sigh. Isabella and Edward arrived a bit later and took the seats on the other side of Leah with their managers as a buffer between the two sides. Heaven forbid the dark side of Jacob be let loose and President of Fucktonia rearrange Edward's face. What right did they have to look so content and pleased, sitting side by side and holding hands.
"It's nice to have you all together to clear this matter up, now please realize this is not a hounding session but merely one for clarity."
The questions started off to Isabella and Edward. Is it true? How long had it been going on? How did it start? Why not just break it off with Jacob?
Answers he needed to hear. Her eyes stared and stared right through him when she looked over at him and he realized that every "I love you" hadn't meant a thing to her. She didn't even care, holding hands with Edward on national television. Her eyes held no recognition even though she was right there. His heart clenched hearing the truth and damned if it didn't hurt more than he ever imagined. She'd given up on him long before Edward, by her tone, to be with everyone else, to be with anyone else than him. She couldn't fucking tell him that he was just a security blanket that would always be there. No, he wasn't anything but a stepping stone for her. She needed him for as long as possible and now...He didn't know.
"How do you feel about this Jacob?"
He blinked for a moment, trying to find the words in between the whimpering puppy and raving President...he needed Isabella to hear it from his heart.
"When I walked in to see them… there was a part of me that wanted to punch through a wall or two… I was so angry that I couldn't- I couldn't think and whatever I said at the moment is something I still don't remember… except for the What the hell is wrong with you?"
There was a laughter as a painful smile spread on his face and those pearly whites came through. Leah looked at him with softened eyes as he breathed in.
"But looking back at our relationship, I want to punch myself for being so naive and believing, trusting. I mean the signs were as obvious as the sun, but I kept ignoring it. My friends, family, and the world was screaming that this was wrong and I just pushed it all away...so caught up in our relationship that I couldn't see the flaws. I can't blame just them...However, I will say that there isn't anything I regret. While she may not have loved me or respected me enough to be honest with me, I was with her and I can't regret anything, but surrendering and becoming a doormat. Through everything I've done for her, moving here away from my home in Washington, helping her, boosting her career and having it all thrown in my face like this… having my heart crushed an betrayed after I've done nothing less than love, care, and support her...Giving up everything I'd ever known-"
He scoffed, his voice cracking under the pressure and the room was silent as the sting of his tears filled his senses. He breathed out and turned to look Isabella directly in the eye. "I'm done... I wish the best of luck to you and I don't ever want to speak to you again."
Without another word or glance in their direction, he got up from his seat and walked off. There was nothing else to say. Isabella was crying and he didn't care. He was done and he'd never do that again. He slid on sunglasses, changed clothes into something comfortable and headed out of the place on foot. He needed to get out of there if it killed him and it probably would. He was about ten feet away from the hall before he broke into a run. He didn't know where he was running to but the streets looked familiar, comforting almost as signs and people flew past him and he wanted to scream and he did, running up twenty flights of stairs to get to his penthouse, the door slammed shut behind him and he screamed.