Disclaimer: I don't own any Twilight characters etc

Bella woke up from her deep slumber. Her eyes fluttered open and she scratched the crust out of them. Looking around she realised that Edward was gone. She ran down the stairs into the lounge "Oh Alice" she cried as she saw her friend "Edward has gone. Where is he? He didn't leave me a note or anything. I'm really concerned and frightened".

"How long has he been gone?" Alice asked as she tried to comfort the hysterical Bella. "I don't know" she mumbled as she buried her face in Alice's shoulder "he was gone when I woke". Alice frowned at the top of Bella's shaking head "then how do you know he's gone?" she asked "maybe he just went out for something to eat, like breakfast or something".

"Oh" Bella said as she lifted her head, her tears stopped flowing and she wiped her damp cheeks "I didn't think of that". Alice inwardly rolled her eyes "go back up to your room and get dressed" she told Bella.

Bella did get dressed, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible had happened to her beloved Edward. They shared a special connection; Bella knew he would never leave her, even for something to eat, without telling her first. Bella gazed out the window at the misty woods beyond "Edward" she whispered to the glass, her breath leaving a match of white fog "I need you" she hoped he would sense her and come back, tell her everything was alright and embrace her in his big, strong, sparkling arms. She missed him so much.

Bella waited one hour before she really started to freak out. Ever since Edward had started stalking her she hadn't gone a minute without his silent presence watching her, guarding her, saving her life at every turn. Bella now felt she would cry for the rest of her life. Warm, salty tears dripped from her face as it began to rain outside. The weather reflected her mood. It would rain forever and she would cry forever. Her heart was breaking into a million billion pieces, each piece being a speck in the sea of her grief. Bella needed Edward to live. They needed each other. Neither could live while the other was gone. Then Bella had a horrible galaxy destroying thought, what if Edward had left her? What if he no longer loved her?

The thought was too horrible, Bella felt awful for even thinking it. But the thought crawled on her skin, it was bursting out, she couldn't get it out of her mind.
Jacob, she thought, if Edward was going to leave her, then she would go to her second best alternative, Jacob would love her even if Edward no longer did.
She grabbed her bag, jumped into her truck and drove to Jacob...

When Bella pulled up outside Jacob's house she saw the wheel chair guy sitting on the leaking porch, he was smoking a pipe and scowling at the rain as it dripped through the gaps in the roof and formed a curtain in front of him. Bella ran up to wheel chair guy "Hey, wheel chair guy" she said "where's Jacob?"

"Huh?" he grumped "that no good boys inside. Useless beggar, can't even fix this roof" he said as he jabbed a hanging piece of corrugated iron with his walking stick.

"What are you doing sitting outside in the cold and rain?" Bella asked as she looked at the grumpy man

"Huh?" he grunted "That worthless runt kicked me out!" he screamed as he smacked Bella on the leg with the walking stick "no respect for the elderly, wants me to sit out here and die..." he began to mumble.

"Why did he kick you out? It doesn't sound like something Jacob would do"

"Huh. That boy doesn't care about me. He's after meh money. Can't even fix the roof. Too busy with his new special friend. It's a disgrace. Unnatural. After meh money..." he ranted.

Bella frowned, she knew wheel chair guy could be a bit crazy, but he seemed a bit worked up, maybe it was the rain "Let me take you inside" she told him as she took the handles of his wheel chair

"NOOOO" he screamed and swung his stick at her, almost hitting her in the face "I won't enter that torture chamber, a dungeon, a disgrace, disgusting, revolting, rank abomination tears my heart from my mouldy chest and throws it to hell. I won't enter that house!" he swung again, as Bella dodged it she slipped on the wet wood of the porch, she flung her arm out to grab hold of anything she could to stop her decent. Her hand found the hanging corrugated iron, but it was loose and rusted. It was ripped from the roof by Bella's weight, it fell on top of her as she landed on her back on the floor. She heard a mighty crack like lightening, a scream from the old man, then the rest of the roof collapsed on top of her and wheel chair guy.

Bella felt faint. How could her clumsiness cause this much destruction? She just lay their looking up at the rusted iron, listening to the patter of the rain as it hit the rubble around and on top of her and wheel chair guy. Wheel chair guy, she thought, she hadn't heard anything but rain since the roof collapsed, was wheel chair guy alright? Then she heard the front door of the house open...

Bella felt the weight of the roof rubble slowly lift from her. The corrugated iron was removed and she was steering up at Jacob and James, they were topless and dripping with rain. "Bella" Jacob cried as he saw her "are you alright?" he asked "Yeah, I'm fine" she told him, she really was fine (despite her clumsiness she hardly ever actually got hurt) "where's wheel chair guy?" she asked as she stood up, she was a little shaken but unhurt. She watched as Jacob lifted a large piece of wood, wheel chair guys walking stick rolled out from beneath it. Then there was wheel chair guy, a bloody mess, his wheel chair crushed around him like a cage he could never escape, he was dead.

"NO" Bella cried as she saw his crushed skull, the severed leg, his neck bent at an odd angle. Some of his ribs stuck out of his chest, it almost looked like his heart had been ripped out. Bella vomited at the sight. The rain mixed with his red blood, making it watery, runny, and diluted, it streamed away from his destroyed body, it travelled to the edge of the porch and dripped into the mud below.

drip...drip...drip

Bella turned away from the mangled body "Jacob" she said "I'm so glad I found you. Edward has left me. Do you still love me?" Jacob looked at Bella then at James "Um, sorry Bella, I...um...have found someone new" Bella was devastated, why was all this happening to her? "Oh" she choked as she realised that both Jacob and James were topless, she could now see what wheel chair guy had been talking about.

"I...er...will go then" she mumbled as she stepped over the fallen roof. "Bye Bella" Jacob and James said. As she walked away from the house she heard Jacob say "the money is ours" then hysterical laughter from them both.

So Jacob wouldn't have her, she thought, well then, she would just have to find Edward, one sniff of her stench and he would beg to have her back. But where could he be? He could be anywhere, with his super speed he could have gone to the other side of the world to get away from her if he wanted. No, she thought, he was close, she could sense that he wasn't far from her. Bella headed home to find Alice and Jasper to see if they had any idea of where he could be.