That Summer
Chapter 2
You can't keep trouble from visitin', but you don't have to offer it a chair.
~~5 years prior~~
"I don't believe it! I just can't freaking believe it!" Bella cried out after slamming her cell phone shut. Her loud voice brought a moment of unwanted attention to her and her friends while they were sitting in the booth at the Forks Diner.
"What's going on?" Jessica asked, not quite sure how to react to Bella's outburst.
"Are you okay?" asked Angela as she noticed Bella's shoulders begin to shake.
"He wants to take a break." Bella grunted out through clenched teeth.
"Take a break?" Jessica and Angela said simultaneously.
"Yeah. Take a break." Bella barely whispered now. "He wants to take a break from dating me. He said that I have been suffocating him the last month or two with always wanting to be with him. I just don't understand. Why wouldn't he like the fact that I want to spend my time with him?"
"Edward has always been aloof, Bella. When you first came to Forks, didn't I tell you that no one seemed good enough for him?" Jessica stated with a caring but 'I told you so' tone to her voice.
"Jessica. Now is not the time to gloat. Bella is about to fall apart." Angela scolded.
"I'm not gloating, Angie. I am trying to help Bella get through this hard time." Jessica said as she was rubbing comforting circles on Bella's back. "Why would Edward say such a thing? He knows that you gave up going to college last year so that you could help him start up his business. He has to know how hard that was for you and how disappointed your Dad was that you didn't go. Not to mention your Mom too."
Bella just rolled her eyes at the mention of her parents. She knew that they would both be utterly devastated at the news that she believed that helping Edward start up his photography and graphic arts business was better for her than getting a higher education. She did tell her parents that she could always go back and get a degree, after the business was a success. That was a year ago.
"So the business is taking a little longer to succeed than I'd anticipated." She said, deflated.
"Yeah well, Edward sure acts like it's successful. You would never know that he hasn't sold an ad yet to any major corporations." Jessica said with a knowing smirk on her face.
"How could you know that Jess?" Asked Angie.
"The graphic art part of his business is in direct competition with my Dad's business. They both pitched work to the same big hitters this last winter. Dad got all the jobs. Dad said that Edward is not all that creative. Each ad he pitched looked remarkably alike, almost like he was recycling the same ad, just changing the colors or a picture or two." Jessica said matter-of-factly.
"That's not true!" Bella was getting mad now. Jessica didn't know that Bella had put her own time into some of those promotional campaigns that Jess so blatantly insulted.
"I'm just saying what my Dad told me." Jessica huffed.
"Angie, would you mind letting me out? I need some fresh air and I need to get out here for now." Bella asked as she gathered her truck keys and laid down enough money to cover her part of the bill and tip.
"Where are you going Bella? You seem a bit too upset to be driving right now," a worried Angie said as she scooted out of the booth so Bella could get out and leave.
"Not sure. I just need to go somewhere I can get my head straight. Perhaps the library or the park. I don't know. I just need to go. I promise that I will be careful driving, really." Bella said with a cracking voice. Tears threatening to fall. She headed out, into the parking lot and climbed into her truck, closed the door, rested her head on the steering wheel and began to sob.
"Jess! You do know that you just made things worse!" Angie stated angrily as she picked up the bill and headed for the cashier to pay.
"How could I make things worse? I simply stated the facts as I know them. I can't help it if Bella had her hopes and dreams riding on Edward Cullen. THAT is not MY fault." Jessica said, sticking to her guns.
"No, you couldn't help it. You just couldn't keep your mouth shut. Bella gets sucker punched by the very man that you are insulting, and you think that that is the perfect time to remind her of the mistakes she's made? I just don't get you some days Jessica." Angie said in a disgusted voice.
"What's not to get? I told the truth. I can't help it that it was something that Bella didn't want to hear." Jessica stated unimpressed and shrugging her shoulders.
"Your timing just stinks sometimes Jess. Bella is really hurting and you managed to rub salt in her wounds." Angie turns from the cashier and heads for the door. She looks out into the parking lot and can see Bella crying in her truck. She is torn between running out to comfort Bella, letting Bella have the time she needs or punching Jessica square in the nose. She settles for taking a deep cleansing breath and going to her own car. She makes a mental note to call Bella a little later to check up on her.
Bella, having cried her eyes dry, decided that she would find Edward and talk to him face to face. The 'I don't want to be with you right now' part of the previous conversation must have slipped her mind. She drove to the office where Edward's business, Cullen Graphic and Photo, was located. When she went inside she found the reception and office area were empty. She checked her watch to make sure she didn't show up at an off hour. Nope. Someone should be here. She headed back to the photography studio hoping that Edward was shooting some new pics for the promo pamphlet for the studio. What she found knocked the wind right out of her lungs.
There he was with Lauren, one of his favorite models. Naked. On the stage that only two days ago, he was doing the same thing with her. Bella could not, literally, take a breath in for what seemed like hours. All she could do was stare. He was moving on top of her, grunting just the same way that he did with her. Bella's heart shattered. Her breath that finally did come was such a loud gasp that Edward, startled at the noise, jumped off of Lauren and fell off of the edge of the stage. He and Lauren both scrambled for clothes to cover with. Once he had a grasp of what was happening, he had the nerve to get mad.
"What the hell are you doing here Bella? I told you, word for word, that I didn't want to see you anymore. We need to take a break." He said half embarrassed at being caught. His eyes would not look into hers.
All she could think to say was, "I'm s-sorry...I-I..." before she turned and ran out of the studio. He never even tried to follow. He just looked at Lauren who was not sure where to go from here. He made his intentions very clear in no time flat, when he climbed back on for the finish.
Bella fired up her truck and burned rubber as much as that truck could do, out of the lot and headed for La Push. She was flooring the accelerator, not caring that the last few weeks, her truck had been smoking, probably burning oil, because she wanted to get to Jacob as fast as she could. The high RPMs and the burning of the oil proved to be too much for the old truck. The engine seized about half way to Jake's house. Luckily there was enough momentum from the moving truck to coast over to the side of the road.
Bella was about to explode! She was going through so many emotions all at once, hurt, anger, frustration, hate, sadness. She didn't know the appropriate way to respond to everything that was going on. She settled on grabbing the steering wheel and trying to shake the shit out of it all the while screaming at the top of her lungs. When she exhausted herself with this fit of anger and rage, she looked for her cell and tried to call Charlie, knowing full well that he would be very upset with needing to send a wrecker for her. She thought to herself that he should have been expecting this type of a call considering the age of her truck. After her call to Charlie, which went much better than she thought it would because he WAS expecting this type of a call to happen, she called Jake.
"Hey Bells! What's up?" Jake asked in his ever cheerful mood.
She tried to hide her emotions in her voice but she didn't do a very good job. "Jake, can you come and get me? I was on my way to La Push and my truck just broke down. I'm stuck on the side of the road."
"Yeah, sure sure Bells. Do you need me to bring Embry's truck so we can tow the truck to my garage?"
"Thanks for the offer but Charlie has already made arrangements for the Happy Hooker Towing Company to come get the truck. They'll be here in twenty minutes."
"Why would Charlie have someone else work on your truck? What's wrong with it?"
"I'm not sure. Just come get me please." She said
"Be there in a jiffy!"
She closed her phone and just sank back into the stiff seat of the truck and waited. Closing her eyes and wondering what it was that she did that made Edward turn on her so. She gave up everything to be with him. She broke Jake's heart because she chose Edward. She gave up going to college. She stopped talking to most of her friends because Edward didn't like them. She stopped hanging out with what friends she did have except for a few hours every Friday that she spent with Jessica and Angie and now she won't even be doing that anymore. At least not with Jessica. Now her truck is broken. Beyond repair? She's not sure. What she was sure of is that the only friend that she trusts right now is on his way to get her.
Jake's little Rabbit pulled in behind the truck about ten minutes later. He, as usual, was way too happy for his own good. He had been playing some beach football with his friends from the res when Bella called, so Embry and Quil tagged along. No matter how bad a day she would have, just seeing those Quileute boys without their shirts on and in cutoffs, as they usually dressed for beach activities, made her smile.
They jumped out of the Rabbit and strode over to the truck. Jake opened the door for Bella to get out. He offered his hand in assistance as any gentleman would do. Once she was out of the truck he scooped her into his signature hug. Despite her bad day, she squeaked out her usual, "Can't breathe!" Jacob set her back on her feet and then proceeded to pop the hood of the truck.
"Hey Bella!" called Quil from the far side of the truck. "Yo Bells!" chimed Embry. His smile was just as illuminating as Jacob's. "What the heck did you do to her?" Em asked in a teasing way.
"I was just driving Embry. It sputtered and lurched and then...dead. Maybe it popped a belt." She offered.
"Nah Bells. No popped belt here." Jake said. "The head-gasket is completely gone on this side of the engine. Didn't you notice that you were using more oil than normal?"
Holding her head in an ashamed manner, "No." was all she whispered. "Can it be fixed?"
"Hard to say for sure without breaking the engine down completely. I could do that for you if you would like Bella." Jake offered. "Hell yeah! A complete rebuild sounds awesome. I've always wanted to do one and here is the perfect specimen!" Quil was very enthusiastic.
"We will have to wait and see what Charlie wants to do guys." Bella said. "He might not want to spend the money. I'm not sure that I can afford the repairs either."
"We won't charge you nothing Bella. All you would need to pay for would be the parts...and the pizza, soda and movies to keep your pit crew happy!" Quil offered with a little boy grin on his face.
Bella chuckled a bit under her breath trying to not give away the gaping hole in her chest where her heart once was. Not with an audience. She needed to get Jacob by himself so she could talk.
As the boys were poking around in the engine compartment, the tow truck arrived, hooked up the old truck and towed it to Forks Automotive for a professional once over. Once the wrecker was hooked and gone, Jake asked, "Where to now Bells? Home or the beach?"
She thought about it for just a moment of two. With a sigh, "How about the beach?" She put out there with a fake smile. Only Jacob notice the effort that she was going through. "Ok. To the beach it is."
Once they got to First Beach, the over-sized boys fell out of the Rabbit and ran to join the game already in progress, except Jacob who instinctively knew that something was wrong. He took Bella by the hand and together they walked over to their familiar piece of driftwood and sat down. She would not look up. Jake just let her sit for a few moments, no pressure. He knew she would speak when she was ready. She would take in a deep breath as if she was going to speak, hold it for a few seconds and then quietly sigh it back out. She did this for a few minutes before she finally did speak. "Edward said that he wants to take a break."
"Huh?" Jacob was confused.
"He wants to take a break from dating me. I know why too."
"Ok. Why?"
"He wants to be free to have sex with his new model. I caught him doing her on the stage in the studio earlier today." she sniffled and swallowed hard to rid the lump in her throat that was forming.
"He what!" Jake asked excitedly. This news was making him angry.
"He wants to take a break dating me so that he can hump the help. I just can't get over the fact that he was doing the same thing to her that he did to me just a couple days ago." she said before she thought about what just came out of her mouth. Her eyes got as wide as they could and she slapped her hand over her mouth. Too late. The cow had already left the barn.
Now Jake was fuming. "He did WHAT with you?" He was so angry he was panting.
"Jake. Don't be angry. You know that we have been dating for over a year now. It was bound to happen." she half whisper/cried.
"Bella, he is just using you. He always has been. He's talked you out of your friends, college...even me at times and now you tell me he took that away from you as well? I hope you were smart enough to use protection! I told you he was no good for you. That I was the one you were meant to be with."
"I was using protection!" she spat back. Who the hell was he to tell her how to run her life.
"Good. One good decision among many bad." Jacob said indignantly.
With the conversation not going down the path that she thought it would, "I'm going to make one more good decision Jacob. Take me home. Now. Please." she put as much effort into being civil as she could. Her shattered heart was having the pieces being strewn to the four winds and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
He walked her to his car, held the door open for her to get in, walked around to the driver's side, got in, fired the Rabbit up and drove to Forks without a word between the two. He waited until she was in the house before he left since Charlie's cruiser was not in the driveway when they got there. He may be angry with her right now, but he still worries about her safety. When he got home, he found Charlie with Billy watching the baseball game.
That's when Jacob and Charlie had the conversation that would change Jacob's outlook on life forever.
