Jacob's face haunted her as they drove down the Italian highway. The pleading look in his eyes, the desperation in his voice...he looked and sounded as if he would give her the world if she had just stayed with him. The way he ha held her, about to kiss, before they had been interrupted by both Alice and the phone, had been gentle but not to the point that Edward took it. Edward handled Bella as if she were a delicate piece of crystal that at the lightest touch would shatter into a million pieces. Jacob held her like he planned on never letting her go, with a tenderness that almost made her cry. Bella could still feel his breath on her lips as they leaned in, she could still feel his caress on her arm; she could even still feel the slight zap of electricity that passed through them at contact. Had this happened with Edward? Bella couldn't remember.
"We'll get to him Bella. Relax. It'll be okay." Alice's reassuring voice was doing nothing for Bella's nerves. If only Jasper had come along!
Soon the pair were winding around the narrow cobble stone streets, but it soon became apparent that the yellow Porche could only do so much with the people crowding around it. Bella jumped out at Alice's advice and ran. She ran and hoped and prayed she made it to the square by noon. It was going to be close.
#
Jacob ran faster than he had ever run in human form in his life. He had whipped of his shirt and thrown it God knows where just minutes ago. The effect was instantaneous - people around him parted like the Red Sea, staring at his perfectly chiseled, bronze chest.
Alice had called him while Bella was in the bathroom. She had told him that there was next to no possibility that Bella would make it in time to save Edward. And so Jacob had come.
He had come to show Bella that no matter what happened, he would always be there. He would be there to hold her while she cried, or laughed, or was silent. Even if she saved Edward, he would show her that she mattered more to him than to Edward. That he didn't just want her to be happy, that he wanted HER and was willing to settle for no less. If it took the pain of losing Edward, then so be it. He was willing to sacrifice everything for her.
And so he continued to run.
#
When the bells chimed noon, Bella was still too far away from the square to have any hope of saving Edward. She knew it in her heart and mind. She could even swear she could feel something in her heart break and fall just moments after the final sound of the bells, as if to signal the death of Edward. He was gone.
She stumbled and fell, curling up into a ball at the side of the street, and began to cry. How could she have failed? It was all Rosalie's fault. If she has not told Edward the vision that Alice had seen, all would have been fine. He would have eventually come back to her, right?
He was gone.
#
Jacob finally found a lone person without the red cape on the ground. He could not see the face, but the chocolate brown hair gave it away. It was his Bella.
He pulled her up into his chest and allowed her to cry. Internally, he was happy the blood sucker was gone, but deep down he cried too. He cried for Bella and the heartbreak she was experiencing.
He would never leave her. He would wait for as long as he needed to, but he knew it wouldn't take long for Bella to realize her fate.
He knew it because of her caught breath at his touch. She felt the electricity too.
This was bliss.