Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight-related, Stephenie Meyer gets all the credit. No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: This is my first Fanfiction that is not a O/S. It takes place in New Moon. Bella never did go cliff diving and Edward has not come back to Forks. BPOV. Please read and review.
The Still of Night
Chapter One
I woke to the smell of something burning. At first, I panicked, sitting up much too quickly which made my head throb. Morning headaches were a normal occurrence over the past year. My tendency to experience regular nightmares and crying spells did not make for restful nights. The morning light was just beginning to filter through my window. I got up in search of the offending odor, wondering how Charlie managed to sleep though it.
Still in a daze, I hobbled down the stairs to the kitchen. Charlie was aggressively scrapping at eggs in a frying pan over the stove, oblivious to the smoke emanating from the toaster behind him. I quickly released the charred pieces of bread from the toaster and tossed them discreetly into the trash. "Dad, are you trying to burn the house down?!" I exclaimed, now fully awake.
He was losing his battle with the eggs, as they were turning brown and sticking to the pan. "Just thought I'd let you have the day off from cooking since you leave tomorrow," he said.
"Well, do me a favor and go out to eat while I'm at school," I said as I grabbed the pan from him and tried to salvage as much breakfast as possible. Some of it still looked edible.
Today was my last day at Forks before I left for my first semester at the University of Alaska. I didn't arrive at this decision on my own. After graduation, Charlie gave me the ultimatum to either leave Forks and go to the college of my choosing, or go live with my mother in Florida. Charlie thought a change of scenery was what I needed to come back to life. Little did he know that the only thing I needed was completely out of my reach.
I had opted to go to school because I was not ready to face my mother. There was a downside to her knowing me better than anyone else, for she had the ability to read me like an open book. I cringed at the thought of facing her many questions about him. Even though I missed her so much, living with her just wasn't an option at this point.
"Are you sure you don't want me to fly with you tomorrow?" Charlie asked, adding salt to the chewy eggs.
"Yeah, don't worry dad. I'll be fine." Traveling would be the easy part, after all. What was difficult for me to come to accept was the idea of leaving Forks. It wasn't as if I were leaving much of a life behind. My friends at school had given up on me months ago; even the ever eager Mike Newton called it quits and stopped trying to talk to me. It was the life I once lead that I was leaving behind- the life I allowed to slip away. For months, I had used this dreary town as a crutch. It was the sum of the physical evidence that reminded me he was real. However, I also knew this place served as a painful reminder of what I had lost.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Jake made me promise at least four times when I saw him last that I would visit him today. He was less thrilled than Charlie about my choice to go to school. When I pulled up to the small red house, he was already waiting for me outside. He looked like he didn't know whether to smile or frown, his features caught somewhere in-between.
"Hey Bella," he said as I approached him. He was attempting a smile now, for my benefit probably. He held out his hand to me and I took it willingly. I would miss his warmth, my personal sun.
We walked together silently to the garage where we had, well, he had, spent countless hours working on our motorcycles. Those were the days I heard his voice so clearly in the face of danger. I no longer heard the voice in my head, though. I blamed myself for being too greedy in the beginning, believing I had sensitized myself to the effects of adrenaline. Yet there the bikes were; another reminder of why leaving Forks was probably a good idea for my own sanity.
Jacob sighed, still holding tightly to my hand as we sat in his newly completed Rabbit. "So, tomorrow's the big day, huh?"
I took this as a rhetorical question because I didn't want it to lead into another argument. Jacob thought it was unsafe for me to leave. He warned me the pack would not be able to protect me from Victoria that far from home. I had tried to reason with him, arguing that there had been no signs of Victoria since the spring. I tried to convince him that she probably had lost interest, even if I wasn't sure if I believed that myself.
"Bella," he said softly, turning my face to look at him, "please don't go."
"I have to Jacob. Charlie isn't giving me a choice. I'll be safe at the university. She wouldn't dare come after me with the risk of hundreds of witnesses." I hoped I sounded confident as my legs shook slightly. "Just promise me you will look after Charlie," I said.
"You know I will," he promised. And he was right; I did have full confidence in him. I could always count on Jacob. I laid my head on his shoulder.
"I know the real reason why you're going all the way to Alaska," he said. "You think you can keep her away from the people you care about, even me."
I didn't reply. I knew it was pointless to refute his accusation. He had me figured out.
"Dammit, Bella. Stop being so self-sacrificing! Consider keeping yourself alive just this once! Don't you understand what it would do to me if you got hurt?"
"I could say the same to you, Jake," I said with tears beginning to form. "I'll be safe and I'll come back. I promise." We held each other tightly long after the sun had set.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
That night, I sat in bed willing myself to become exhausted enough to sleep till morning. I never turned out the light until I could hardly keep my eyes open. In a world where superstitions are supposed to be false, in the still of night, they seemed all too possible. I imagined Victoria crawling her way though my window. I thought of his cold arms holding me as I fell asleep. No matter how hard I tried not to think of these things, my mind wandered in the dark.
I had most of my belongings packed in a single duffle bag and my backpack. I walked to my closet to look for my purse; maybe I would find a use for it in Alaska. It was on the floor of my closet. When I picked it up, I noticed one of the floorboards moved, as if it were loose. I crouched down onto the floor and slowly lifted it up. I could see there was something underneath.
"Holy crow," I whispered.
Here, beneath my feet the whole time, were the plane tickets Carlisle and Esme had given me, and the CD with his compositions… and the pictures which were missing from my photo album. I quickly flipped the pictures over. Just the memories of his perfection were painful enough.
Even though these items made the hole in my chest begin to throb, I was oddly relieved. I no longer needed Forks to serve as my evidence of his existence. I had all of the physical proof I needed, and I could take it with me.
