Title: Facts

Author: Cadeeo

Pairing: Edward/Bella, Jacob/Bella

Time: Goes AU into New Moon. You need to have read it to understand it.

A/N: This sprang to my mind when Jacob said to Bella, I think in Breaking Dawn that if there hadn't been vampires, Edward would've died of the Spanish Flu, Jacob and Bella would've been together. It just wouldn't leave me. So here it is.

A/N2: This is a parting gift to my lovely TwiFreaks, Vh, Janne, Amira and Freja, who hopefully will read this and love it. This if for you in remembrance of all the good times we had. I will love you forever.

A/N3: I am Team Jacob, but please don't flame me. I have nothing against any of you.

A/N4: READ & REVIEW

FACTS

- Numb

Edward is gone.

It's a fact you can't ignore. You go through your day in a haze and all you can think about is that Edward is gone and that's a fact. You are numb because he isn't there to cool your hot skin, or make your bones into mush. You miss his eyes, his lips, and his hands…

Edward is gone and it's a fact.

Charlie is your father and Renée is your mother and that's a fact. Jane Austin wrote Pride and Prejudice and that's a fact. You used to live in Phoenix and that's a fact. You almost died by James' venom and that's a fact.

And because there are all these facts in the world, you're numb. You care about nothing because you're numb and you don't understand anything else.

Edward is gone and that's a fact, a fact that hurts more than you could ever imagine.

- Pain

Edward is gone.

Somehow you're shocked out of your numbness and suddenly you feel pain. You feel the pain like you did that day in the forest after he'd told you he wouldn't come back.

Sometimes it settles in the pit of your stomach, just bristling to break free. Sometimes it's in your throat and you cry because everything hurts.

But still you like the pain; it's your companion now. You understand it will never leave you and you're okay what that, because Edwards is gone and that's a fact.

- Adrenalin

Edward is gone, but Jacob gives you something else.

Adrenalin. It rushes through your body as you drive down the deserted road on the motorcycle, he so carefully build you. When you fall, it rings in your ears and you laugh, a real carefree laugh. You decide you like adrenalin. It's addictive, like Edward. Jacob stares at you, wonder evident and he smiles, because he can see he's the only one able to bring these feelings out in you.

You're not self-destructive; you haven't gone that low yet. (You're almost there. Don't kid yourself.) Everyone tells you, you are, but you're not.

You just like adrenalin. You like the feeling because it's not your best friend, the ever-present pain, but it's something nearly as addictive.

- Friendship

Edward is gone.

You have a friend now, a friend who under no circumstances would leave you. You know he loves you in his own naïve way, he's younger than you after all, and he can't understand the way you feel about Edward. No one can.

It doesn't matter anymore. The pain is lessening and you can breathe properly now. Jacob beams at you, because you laugh more often and it looks like it rocks his world every time.

Edward is gone.

He's been gone for almost one and a half year, but you can still remember his touch, his kisses. But the pain is only a dull constant ache in your stomach now. It's bearable and you have Jacob now and the world brightens up just a tiny bit.

- Sparks

Edward is gone and you said his name for the first time since he left at our graduation.

Alice and Jasper came, just to check in, and everything feels perfect when Jasper helps you have the perfect day. (No days are perfect, but some days are nice.)

You smile and laugh and everything is okay for now.

But later Jasper leaves and the world dulls just a little again and you stare at Jacob, the only one to bring any spark in you. You walk up to him and run your hand over his chest and you see the goose bumps rise on his scared skin, which came from his brutal fight with Laurent, and you kiss him just like that and he kisses you back, though everything is not perfect, you feel a new spark rising in your chest.

- Passion

You've been dating for six months, when you let Jacob take your virginity. You'd spent hours mapping out each other's bodies so when everything came to a passionate confrontation you would be brought into heights you had never gone before.

His love for you is sometimes more intense than Edward's had ever been, more raw, more human, and it takes your breath away.

Stop. No. Edward takes your breath away. That's how it is, how it will always be.

But as Jacob traces feather light kisses over your stomach, your breath hitches again and you must come to the conclusion that he does take your breath away.

- Confrontation

Seth tells you the vampires are back and you look up sharply. You've taken a year off from school to stay with Jacob; you don't think you can function properly without him yet.

You hyperventilate. There's no other word for it, because suddenly you're in the hospital with Carlisle looking concerned at you. Edward is sitting by your bedside, beautiful as ever, though more haggard looking.

What surprises you more is that he wasn't the he you expected to see. You wanted hot, not cold, hands touching you. You wanted mischievous eyes, not eyes, which had seen too much.

You're disappointed and it shocks you more than anything else has ever done before.

You lived with one single thing in your head since Edward left.

Edward is gone and that was a fact.

But that isn't the case anymore. That isn't a fact anymore.

You tell him no, even as he promises heaven and beyond, but you realise you already have heaven. Edward chose to leave, while Jacob was there to rock your world, so to speak.

And that's where the confrontation takes place, in the middle of your hospital room, vampires vs. werewolves, coven vs. pack.

As you throw yourself in Jacob's arms, sobbing you're sorry, (because you are, you are!) you see Edward's heart breaking, but it's time.

- Love

Edwards is gone again and you're happy, because you chose to be with the person you love, the person who protected you, but didn't treat you like someone incompetent.

Edward is gone, but it doesn't matter anymore.

You love Jacob and that's a fact.

Finish.

(Finished 20:01, June 25th 2009)