Summary: It's been four years since Edward left, and Bella has moved on (or so she would like to think). She's married Jake, but when he is killed by Victoria and her newborns, Bella realizes that the La Push wolves aren't enough to stop them. She must find the Cullens and get them to help before anyone else is killed. But when she and Edward meet again, well...see what happens. New Moon AU/ Starts BxJ, ends BxE
Although I loved reading about Edward and Bella reuniting in New Moon, I wish that things just didn't go back to normal between them. Plus, "'You love him,' he murmured gently...'But...when I left you, Bella, I left you bleeding. Jacob was the one to stitch you back up again. That was bound to leave its mark- on both of you. I'm not sure those kinds of stitches dissolve on their own. I can't blame either of you for something I made necessary. I may gain forgiveness, but that doesn't let me escape the consequences'" That quote irked me for a while, because the Twilight saga is supposed to be Bella and Edwrd's love story. Anyways, this is my way of reconciling with it.
"Jacob Black! So help me, if you leave me stranded out here, you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight!" I yelled, the moment I stopped feeling the heat of his body behind me.
I'm not normally needy or clingy, but put any fatally clumsy person into a blindfold, and her vulnerability will increase tenfold. Especially on First Beach of all places (I could smell the briny sea air and feel the sand beneath my feet give way as I took each step). There was always pieces of driftwood lying on the beach, and I was pretty positive that if I took a step in whichever way, I'd trip and do a face plant.
Almost immediately, I felt the nearly unbearable heat of his body behind me. "Whoa, calm down now, Bells, I'm right here," his deep, warm voice murmured in my ear, filled with laughter.
Crossing my arms, I huffed, "Sorry Jake, but come on, you know me. I'll probably end up with a broken arm by the end of the night. Can you just take the blindfold off now? You know I hate surprises."
"Hmm, I think you're right Bells."
Uh-oh, I knew that tone of voice.... Sure enough, the ground suddenly disappeared as Jake picked me up and threw him over his shoulder.
"Jacob Black, I'm wearing a dress!"
"And what a wonderful dress it is," he chuckled.
I blushed a deep red. I'd found it on the discount rack at the department store in Port Angeles and was rather pleased with it. Jake and I may not have been wealthy, but we lived a happy, satisfied lifestyle. After all, we had friends and family nearby, what more could we want?
There's someone I'll always want... Frantically, I tried to push the thought out of my head. I couldn't think about him, not tonight of all nights.
Being dumped unceremoniously into my chair did the trick. "Oomph, Jake!"
He only laughed and said, "You can take off the blindfold now." Then, realizing that my fingers were no match for his knot-tying skill, he proceeded to help me un-knot it.
Finally, the darkness was lifted, and I gasped at the sight before me. I was sitting at a beautiful table, covered with a white linen. It was lit by two white candles and on it were two plates of lasagna. The table however, looked very familiar.
"Jacob Black! Is this my grandmother's table?"
A panicked expression took over Jake's face, and I knew it was my Grandma Marie's table that Renee had given us as a housewarming present.
He quickly whipped out a small box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a necklace with a wooden wolf charm hanging from it.
"Happy anniversary, Bella Black," he said, with a charming smile.
I couldn't help it. The mild annoyance melted away. I knew the effort he had put into setting this up, and the charm was beautiful.
Inspecting it, I realized that it was a rusty brown, longhaired wolf that was Jake's wolf form. Picking it up, I asked, "Did you make this, Jake?"
He smiled, and placed it on my neck. "Yup, so now you know that I'm always with you, wherever you go. So you'll always know that I love you.
He kissed me and sat down at the other side of the table.
"Thank you, Jake," I said, touched, "I love you."
Jake was never the overly romantic kind, like.... like...him... We had spent our days in his garage, drinking warm soda, joking and talking while he worked on his Rabbit. So I knew that he had made a great effort to set this up. And here we were, eating a romantic dinner at the place where we had met as teens, where he had asked me to marry him after his high school graduation, where we were married, and now, where we were celebrating our two-year's anniversary.
I loved First Beach. It was clear of any memories of them. I could still remember a two-year's younger Jake, laughing, still wearing a tie from his graduation dragging me down to the beach to propose to me. I had told him that I needed time, then. I had thought I was broken goods then, not nearly good enough for Jake. I had so many arguments against us getting married. I didn't love him nearly as much as he loved me, we were too young, what if he met his imprint? But I couldn't tell him no because I couldn't shrug off that desire to have someone to take care of me, to always have my personal sun around me.
What changed my mind was Charlie, already ill and dying Charlie. I had been about to walk into his room when I heard him praying that when he left this earth, he could at least know that someone was there to take care of me.
I never told Jake the reason why I agreed to marry him, but I made sure he knew that it was the best decision I'd ever made. We were married soon after, several months before Charlie passed away quietly in his sleep.
"What are you thinking about?" I felt Jake's large, warm hand on mine, pulling me out of my memories.
"When you proposed to me, here."
"You had no idea, Bells, I almost lost the ring, I was so nervous. I-"
We both stiffened as the howl of several wolves broke through the silence.
"Damnit," Jake muttered.
The howling increased in frequency and volume, conveying a sense of urgency. Jake didn't have to say anything; I knew that something was wrong.
His warm hand gripped mine, pulling me out of my chair quickly.
"Go home, Bells, now. And stay away from the beach," he told me, kissing me and hugging me before he exploded into his wolf form.
He nudged me homeward, and then turned around to run towards the other wolves.
"Be safe, Jake. I love you," I called after him, knowing I had to get home before the overwhelming fear for him made me completely useless.
I entered our house half an hour later, with skinned hands and knees as proof of my journey. I moved through the motions of cleaning my wounds, unthinkingly, as my mind moved through too many horrible and ghastly possibilities. I removed the pretty, strapless, pale purple dress that I had worn tonight, and changed into a much more sensible t-shirt and jeans outfit. I was just pulling on my jacket when Kim poked her head, her round face paler than usual, through the front door and said, "C'mon Bella, let's go to Emily's."
Silently, I walked behind her, closing the door (there was no point in locking our doors when Jake's pack brothers were forever walking in and out of the house).
Emily's kitchen was filled with the other wolf girls, as Emily had dubbed the significant others of the wolves. But it had lost all its cheerfulness and sunny-ness. We were all silent as we went to work, cooking a large meal to feed our wolves with when they returned home, fearing that should we open our mouths, fears that we did not want to hear voiced would come tumbling out.
Even young Claire, who Quil was babysitting that night was unusually quiet, as if she too knew that her wolf-man could be in grave danger.
I don't know how long she sat there, quiet, but eventually someone caught sight of her tears, silently dripping down her cheeks, and it became too much. We crowded around her, plying her with freshly baked cookies. As the others tried to cheer her up, I asked Emily quietly, "Do you know what happened?"
One of the others answered for her, "Vampires. At least two of them."
The fear that had turned into numbness returned.
"They got within about one mile of her," Emily whispered silently.
It was too much. Hands shaking, I returned to work. I couldn't lose Jake now, not when I'd given him every part of my heart that he'd put back together.
Suddenly, we heard barking and howling outside. Women came tumbling out of the house, eager to reclaim their husbands and boyfriends. Strangely, greeting us was not a crowd of exuberant, giant men, but a lump of furry wolves. I searched desperately for my russet wolf, but couldn't find him.
"Jake, Jake?"
Instead of my shaggy-furred husband, Sam stepped forward.
He looked me in the eye, an intense urgency shining through them; then lay down before me. Instantly, I knew what he wanted me to do. I probably would have found it funny, if it weren't so tense, if I didn't know that something was terribly wrong with Jake.
I straddled Sam as I would a horse, and wrapped my arms around his neck. As soon as my arms made contact, he was off.
Sam was definitely faster than a motorcycle, as he wound his way through the forest, but I was too preoccupied with Jacob to think about it.
Please God, let him be all right. I can't continue without him....
It seemed like we would never reach Sam's destination, but eventually, he slowed to a halt, right in front of two pillars of purple smoke. Just past that, was Jacob, lying on the ground, a pool of blood surrounding his head, with Brady and Collin in wolf form, protecting him.
"Jake," the scream burst through my mouth.
Stumbling towards him, I fell down on his body, draping my own across his, as though it would protect him from any harm.
"Please, God, no. Jake...Please don't leave me, you can't leave me..."
But I felt his hand reach up to stroke my hair softly. And then, as if realizing how lost I'd be in the world without him. He told me, "Live for our pack family, Bells."
My sobs shook his body. "I love you, Jake. Please don't leave me..."
His words were soft and strained, "Love you too, Bells. Live for me."
And just like that, Jacob Black, my Jake, my personal sun, my husband, best friend, and protector, was gone.
I heard a horrible wailing sound, and knew subconsciously that it was coming from me.
However, the only thought I had, as I felt hands trying to pry me away from Jake's cooling body, was that we needed outside help. There could only ever be so many wolves, but Victoria could keep creating new vampires. We needed to get help, if no one else was to suffer this loss.
A/N: Please review, let me know what you think, and if I should continue this.
Thanks, Inkblot.