disclaimer: I'm not Smeyer, I just like to borrow her characters every once in a while
Jacob scrubbed the tears from his eyes as he put the worn black shirt in the bottom of the box. It didn't even matter anymore that it used to be his; it was the shirt Bella would wear when it got too late for her to go home. On top of the shirt went the scarf that was sticking out from under the bed and the handful of pebbles from the day of storytelling at the bonfire at First Beach. As he tossed the worn envelope in, the contents went flying and a dozen pairs of impossibly deep chocolate stared up at him from the photos. A tall stack of CDs followed along with the Tazmanian Devil wallet she had given him for his birthday. Finally he pulled the worn piece of paper from his pocket. It didn't matter how hard he tried not to read it, the words tore at him just the same.
Yeah, I miss you too. A lot.
Doesn't change anything. Sorry.
The knock on the door caught his attention, and he brought his fist to his eye again.
"Are you ready to go, Jake?"
"My. Name. Is. Jacob." He hissed through clenched teeth.
Leah didn't even flinch at the raw emotions in his voice. The lithe girl just strolled in and grabbed the box.
"I can take it for you, Jake," at his glare she amended, "Cob. I know how you feel, remember?"
Without speaking he snatched the box from his companions grip and was out the door before she could respond.
It was in the driver's seat of the Rabbit that he added the final two pieces of Bella to the box. The first, a set of keys, jingled to the bottom. They belonged to the bike lost in the masses in the Cullen's garage.
The second was just a plain CD. There was no outward indication of the pain that disc could soothe or cause. And it was with comfort in mind that he slipped it into the CD player he had installed the week before, his fingers already skipping to the song he needed to hear.
The first verse was lost in the harmony caused by speeding down the highway in the middle of a rainstorm. But Jacob had listened to this particular song enough times with Bella last year that he knew exactly when to turn the volume up.
"…Take your records, take you freedom
Take your memories, I don't need 'em
Take your space and take your reasons
But you'll think of me
And take your cat and leave my sweater
'Cause we have nothing left to weather
In fact I'll feel a whole lot better
But you'll think of me, you'll think of me…"
The final lines blared from the speakers as he pulled up the drive and ground to a stop in front of Charlie's porch,
"…And you're gonna think of me
Oh someday baby, someday"
He tossed the CD in the box and trudged up to the steps. As he dropped the box he remembered one last reminder he didn't want to carry around. The links snapped as he pulled the bracelet from his wrist.
"Happy Birthday," he muttered as he let the silver links and the tiny wolf charm clatter into the box.
The crushed boy waved solemnly to the police chief peeking out of the curtains as headed back to his car. Punching the radio buttons, he laughed bitterly when he recognized the music. He couldn't help but sing along as he let the tears mingle with the rain streaming in the open window.
"…It's alright, yeah I'll be fine
Don't worry about this heart of mine
Just take your love and hit the road
There's nothing you can do or say
You're gonna break my heart anyway
So just leave the pieces when you go…"
fin
A/N: Well, for starters this is my first completed Twilight fic, so feedback is love! And secondly, I just wanted to say before I get angry comments, I know that Jacob gave her the bracelet for Graduation, not her birthday. But since anything I write is technically from my world, he had made it already when Edward and Bella returned from Volterra and isn't planning on sticking around to see her birthday or graduation. So I'm sorry to anyone I offended with the off timeline and hopefully you forgive me now : ) Please, please R&R guys. This is probably my favorite fic that I have up right now and now one has said anything about it :(