A/N: The little prologue and the very ending of this one shot just would not stop nagging me. Such a sad story at such a happy time in the year, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I'm a sucker for Taylor Swift and her emotional songs… "Last Kiss" fit perfectly with the storyline in my head, so I built scenes to go with the verses. If you've never heard it, give it a listen. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Review below if you'd wish!
Bella sucked in a breath; feeling like it was actually doing its job and oxygenating her blood for the first time today. Sitting on the edge of the cliff with abandon, swinging her feet carelessly, tossing pebbles into the raging waters below she felt alive, and it was ironic that wishing for death was how she finally felt alive.
After Jasper nearly killed her, after Edward broke her heart, after the Cullen's took their leave, Bella spent months wallowing in her misery.
She finally ventured out, tracked down two motorcycles and took them to Jacob. The joy she felt surging up inside her when he agreed to help her put them back together was indescribable. She thought for sure he was going to send her home and scrap the bikes, that she had been away from him for too long, took their friendship for granted too much and he had finally disowned her.
Not Jacob though, not her sunshine – he scooped her up in his warm arms, thankful to have her back in his life in any capacity.
He figured out her new idiosyncrasies pretty quickly… no music, no mention of instruments, no mention of Edward's name, no mention of school, no mention of anything that would bring up the past and make her feel anything other than joy and happiness.
Bella was feeling particularly light one day when she ambled up to the familiar red garage. She walked in to be greeted by the back of a large person. She gawked at the muscles, the way they moved as this mystery guy did something on a workbench she couldn't see. She saw the hint of a tattoo on his right shoulder. She would by lying if she said she wasn't tempted to run her hands through his short hair just to see if it would be as soft as it looked.
Her mouth was dry and her palms sweaty just looking at the back of his guy. She shook herself out of it and cleared her throat. The guy spun around, dropping what he was working on.
"Bella!" he shouted and scooped her up in two strides.
"Jacob?!" she squeaked. "What happened to you?" she said, unable to tear her eyes away from his bare chest and abs. Abs, her Jacob, meek little Jacob had abs! He had transformed practically overnight, she was flabbergasted.
He chuckled at her reaction, his cheeks turning pink as she actually noticed him as a guy and not just her genderless best friend like she had all these years.
"I grew up, Bells," he said coyly. Truthfully, he turned into a wolf, but she didn't need to know that yet. He wasn't allowed to tell her, but he was already working on ways around that. He hadn't heard her come in because he was thinking about how he could possibly get her to guess what he was, he was literally tongue tied about it.
"Well, well, well…" she said drinking him in. "Grown up looks good on you, Jake," she said blushing.
His mouth dropped open as she turned to get things moving on the bikes. He regained his senses and they got to work.
After the initial awkwardness was over, Bella kept sneaking glances at him as they worked. He was actually teaching her quite a bit about how small engines worked, and how to fix them. She studied his features as he toyed with some part of the bike in his hand. He told her what it was but she immediately forgot what he said when he bit his lower lip trying to remove a stripped screw.
"Uh, I gotta go...," she said quickly scrambling to her feet.
"What?" he said standing fluidly in one motion; she nearly swooned.
"Yeah, I forgot, I have to make dinner," she said walking out the door towards her truck. She was mentally chastising herself – Jacob was her best friend, why was she looking at him like that now? She couldn't have feelings like this about Jacob, the boy she grew up with, made mudpies with, built motorcycles with… could she?
He caught up with her and spun her towards him. "I can hear your heart racing, Bella… what's up?" he asked concerned.
"Nothing – I just have to make dinner for Charlie," she stammered.
"Bella it's Saturday, not even noon yet," he said without budging.
"Wait, you can hear my heart?" she asked, her heart now galloping in her chest.
"What did you think when you first saw me in the garage? Before you knew it was me?" he asked.
"Uh… that there was some big guy in your garage, probably screwing everything up," she lied, covering it up with a chuckle.
He put his hand on her chin, lifting her eyes to his. "You're a terrible liar," he whispered, moving closer.
"Jake…," she said shakily. Anticipating and afraid of what he was planning on doing next.
"You know how I feel about you Bella, don't you feel anything when you look at me?" he asked softly.
She looked into his chocolaty eyes, took in the sweep of his dark eyelashes, the slope of his perfect nose, his high cheekbones with russet skin stretched across them in perfection. The curve of his lips, barely parted, the line of his strong jaw. "No," she stuttered, "you know I think of you as just a friend…"
"Truly a terrible liar," he said as he lowered his mouth towards hers. He stopped just a hairsbreadth away from her mouth, hovering, waiting for her to come to him.
They shared the same air for a terribly erotic moment, her blood pulsing in her ears and throughout her body, before she could take it no longer and closed the distance between them.
Their mouths met in the softest of brushes at first, when they parted for a second her lips were tingling. Her breath caught at the sensation and she pulled him down towards her again.
His lips molded perfectly to hers, they found a slow, sensual rhythm within seconds. Her fingers found his short hair, and it was indeed as soft as it looked. His hand was at her jaw, holding her to him, the other gripping at her hip. She felt the truck handle dig into her back and she didn't even care.
They pulled apart, totally breathless and dazed. He rested his forehead against hers as they came to their senses.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time," he admitted sheepishly.
"I wouldn't have let you before," she said cheekily.
Things fell into place fairly quickly after that. He proved to her that not much had to change between them, there wasn't much to change… they were already the best of friends, nothing to add in that department. The only thing that really changed was he could kiss her anytime he wanted to, and she readily returned and initiated the kisses as well.
They had some particularly great moments – as all couples do.
Renee insisted she come home during that summer, she begged Jacob to come with her, but he politely refused – he said he didn't want to fly, he had too much responsibility in La Push, he was worried her mom wouldn't like him after all this time. Bella had come to realize Jacob wasn't a great liar either, but she accepted his excuses and they were apart for 15 days.
Truthfully, Jacob had to stay home to protect the lands, he was a wolf, was bound to the land, but he hadn't yet told Bella. Sam was furious that he was dating Bella at all – everyone knew what happened to Leah when Sam turned. Sam even asked Jacob to just tell Bella what could happen, explain to her about the possibility of imprinting, Jacob refused. He was afraid she would run away from him, knowing that he turned into a beast.
She called him from Florida every night, they texted each other all day long. She missed her mother terribly from Forks, but couldn't wait to get back home to her Jacob. Bella and her mother talked about it like mothers and daughters will do… Renee was surprised it didn't happen sooner; Bella expressed her shock that it happened at all.
They briefly talked about Edward, moving from that subject pretty quickly, not because it hurt to talk about, but because Jacob was so much better to talk about.
At last the 15 days were up and Bella was landing in Port Angeles. She would catch a cab to Forks and be in La Push in two and a half hours, tops. She got off the plane, walking towards the small terminal in the rain, something else she never thought she'd miss.
She looked up through the water and there was her Jacob, standing there looking delicious as ever. She squealed and ran towards him; he caught her mid jump, spinning her around. She could feel his heart beating through his soaked shirt and she never remembered being happier.
The first time she told him she loved him they were laying in the sand, holding hands, looking at the stars. They had stayed on the beach after the bonfire broke up, laughing and talking to each other into the night. Charlie never worried about her when she was with Jacob; he knew she was well taken care of.
She snuggled into his side, soaking up his warmth, feeling his fingers linked with her own. His arm was around her, drawing patterns on her back, their entwined fingers sitting on his chest.
"I love you," she whispered into his shoulder. He tugged her hand, pulling her on top of him. He gazed up at her with love shining in his eyes.
"It's about time," he said, grinning like a fool as she brought her mouth down to his.
She thought back to the very beginning of their friendship turned romance. He wanted to introduce her as his girlfriend immediately, he didn't want to wait, he had waited years as it was.
They showed up to a party on the beach, hand in hand. The pack didn't really think anything of it – Bella and Jacob held hands all the time, it wasn't unusual to see them walking hand in hand on the beach. She needed that to feel comfortable, they got it.
What shocked them was when he pulled her closer, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. She turned her face up towards his and kissed his lips like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"No shit!" Quil shouted excitedly. Bella blushed and Jacob just grinned.
Later that evening she was talking with some of her new friends, just being with Jacob made her confident with his friends, they were friends before they were more, they chose each other. As she was chatting with the girls she caught sight of Jacob from across the flames. She could tell he was telling a story, something he was enthusiastic about, he was talking with his hands. She was 95% sure he was embellishing the details by the way his mouth twitched and the way he audience was receiving his words. She laughed, totally smitten by him. He caught her staring and he beckoned her to him with his eyes. They walked towards each other, meeting halfway.
"Telling tall tales again, babe?" she asked, grinning.
He chuckled and held out his hand with old world charm, "care to dance, m'lady?" he asked grinning.
Much to their mutual surprise, she accepted and they danced in the sand to no music.
She sat on the floor of her bedroom, wearing an old t-shirt of Jacob's. Just last week he spilled his secrets. Told her he was a wolf, reassured her he loved her, he even changed for her. She was thrilled at his wolfy form, he was gorgeous. Dark chocolate fur, expressive eyes… she was awe-struck.
He told her about imprinting, explained what happened with Sam, Leah, and Emily. He swore to her it would never happen to him, for her already could see no other person but Bella. She had been his whole life since he was a child, he fell more in love with her everyday. He told her of his theory, they he couldn't actually imprint on her because she wasn't Quileute, but maybe he was instead slowly 'imprinting' on her. He pulled out a ring, not a diamond ring, but a sweet, simple infinity knot ring. A promise ring. His promise to her, that he would someday marry her, that they would have a full and happy life together. She believed him, for the first time in her life she believed she was worthy of love, of his love, and was thrilled beyond belief.
It was unusual not to hear from Jacob at least a few times during the afternoon – she hadn't heard from him since the early morning. She called and texted, but didn't get a response. She was beginning to get worried, thought maybe something had happened on patrol, she didn't understand it all yet, but maybe he was called out and got hurt.
She couldn't take it any longer and drove into La Push to find out where he was. She pulled up to the garage to see an unfamiliar car in the spot her truck usually occupied. She pulled alongside of it and got out. She could hear excited chatter in the garage; she felt sick to her stomach but couldn't figure out why.
She came up short in the doorway when she saw Jacob showing a girl how to change the oil in the rabbit. It only took a second for her world to come crashing down. She could tell by the way he looked at her, the love and devotion so evident in his eyes, that Bella and Jacob were no more. She slipped the promise ring from her finger, setting it on the workbench just inside the door. She walked back to her truck, tears sliding down her face.
Jacob was pulled from his conversation with Ashley at the sound of Bella's truck peeling out of the gravel driveway. "No," he gasped, pained. He just went to the auto store to get some parts for the bikes, caught eyes with a small red head as she fumbled with balancing oil and filters and his world was turned upside down. Now, here he was sitting in his garage with her, flirting over oil as if he didn't have a care in the world.
He raced to the doorway just in time to see her tail lights disappearing around the bend. He set his hand down on the work table to regain his balance. He knew what Bella had to have seen. Despite the pull of the imprint, he still felt for Bella, still loved her, still cared about her. His hand landed on the promise right he had given her just days prior. His words of love and promises to Bella floated through his mind.
He just destroyed his best friend, the girl he chose to love for the rest of his life. He looked at Ashley, about to ask her to leave, but when he looked at her he could feel Bella slipping away. It wasn't fair, and as much as he wished it wasn't true, Ashley was his destiny.
Bella drove as fast as her truck would allow her, back to her house, back to her room, back to her bed, and back to the only piece of Jacob left in her room, his t-shirt. She pulled it on over her own clothes, sat on her floor and sobbed.
She couldn't do this again – couldn't go through his heart ache, this pain. She was ill-equipped to handle this type of emotion, this was too much. No one person should have to deal with the loss of a first love, a life laid out, a family that loved her, all torn away so quickly… only to be replaced by a love she didn't know she was capable of even feeling again. Then to have the second love shunted as it was, replaced by someone she didn't know, by someone he didn't know two seconds before he looked at her.
She wouldn't do this again. She was constantly built up just to be torn down again. This was the end. She drove to the cliffs in silence, just the sound of her ragged sobs to keep her company.
Bella looked behind her as she sat on the cliff, no one was there, but the past loomed like a dark cloud; her heart was ripped out and dragged through the mud for the last time.
She sent up a silent prayer for Charlie, hoping against all hope that he would be alright, that he would find happiness in this dark and tragic world.
She conjured the image of his face one last time, pictured his hair blowing in the breeze, pictured his carefree smile, white teeth, smooth skin, his warmth, his love, her light – she slipped off the edge of the cliff with just the whisper of his name… Jacob.