a/n okay, technically this is the second chapter I typed, but if it were in the book it would have been the 24th one, so anyways I don't have a name for it, but enjoy (:

Chapter 24,

"Let her rest, she's been through a lot today." I knew that voice, though it wasn't quite distinct enough to make out from whom it came.

"Calm down her eyes should open in about 37 seconds." That voice I knew instantly, it had been Alice. There was no mistaking it, which meant not all the Cullen's were gone.

Suddenly realizing who surrounded me, it all came flooding back, everything that had happened before I had passed out. I had told Edward I was going to move on, I had said sorry. But I hadn't said enough, I wanted so badly to justify my choice and make him understand why it had to be this way. But I hadn't gotten the chance before Victoria came. Her eyes, her hair and her twisted smile would haunt me forever. I opened my eyes to relieve my mind of the mental picture.

I sat up slowly. Alice was still here, and I wondered if any of the other Cullen's had stayed too, I wondered if he had stayed. But I doubted that, Edward wasn't likely to go back on his words. And if he really was gone, I must have made everything worse than they were before. I broke up their family and broke another heart. Before I could take a good look around me tears blurred my vision.

"Bella, you don't need to cry. It's not your fault." Alice's voice sounded somber, I realized Edward must have already left, Alice had probably seen that.

"Oh Alice! Oh I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt him so badly." I paused to wipe my tears and take a breath, I continued but in a whisper. "I never meant to break your family up, I'm sorry."

I recognized a new voice as Esme replied. "Bella we don't blame you," She crouched next to me and put her arm around my shoulders. "your like family no matter who your with. " She sounded honest, but I knew she was sad, I could hear it in her voice.

"It is my fault and I'm tired of everyone taking blame for my actions, I'm so – so sorry."

"Bella, its fine, you just need to calm down, alright? We can have this discussion later. Now's definitely not the best time." Alice's voice sounded strained. She turned to face the rest of the small group. "We have about eight minutes left before they arrive. I think we should get her out of here. It's the only thing we can do, I might not be able to see the outcome if she goes back with the dogs, but I can't see anything good coming out of it if she stay here." Alice grimaced, while comprehension dawned on my features.

"They're coming aren't they?" I whispered. The whole group turned towards me and as I looked around, I was surprised to find only half of the werewolves pack, some still in their wolf form, others not. They were standing in a loose circle around me with all the Cullen's, all except one. My first instinct was to look for Jacob. But he was definitely not there, he wasn't in his human form, but there was no big russet wolf around either.

"Yes, and lets make that seven minutes. The Voulturi won't be pleased to see that you're still human Bella." She turned back to Sam. "Do you think you could get her out of here fast enough? I don't think they would like finding us with a pack of werewolves much more either."

Sam only nodded and picked me up before I had time to react. I only noticed once we were leaving, that we had been in the same clearing that we had come to all those nights before to watch the Cullen's practice their fighting. A fire burned in the middle of the open space with thick black smoke pouring from it, that must have been were they burned the pieces of the newborns.

"Sam?" I wanted to ask how they had found me and what had happened while I was passed out. But more importantly, I wanted to know what had happened to Jacob.

"Not now Bella, we'll answer everything when we get back alright?" Sam sounded calm. I wondered if he was angry at me, I wondered if he realized I had chosen Jacob. I decided that he must know by now seeing as Esme had said it didn't matter who I chose to be with, while he was there.

I nodded and turned my head to examine the pack around me. Sam was the only one in his human form running with me in his arms, everyone else was in their wolf form, but there were only four of them. I knew two of the younger boys had been forced to stay down in La Push, but that left three others missing. I recognized Leah, Jared, Paul and finally Seth. That meant Quil and Embry must have been with Jacob. Maybe one of them got hurt, or they returned to La Push early to spread the good news.

My mind was wandering, and I was analyzing of my situation. I decided to banished the idea of thinking of Edward for the moment, there was too much I needed to deal with and I knew that when the time came for the realization that I would no longer have him in my life, the water works would start and come to no end until I was ready. I wondered vaguely whether the Cullen's were going to stay in Forks or take off again. I wasn't sure if I could live without their support, but I knew better than that, I knew that whenever I would see them I would think of the life I was leaving behind, and I knew it would hurt.

But there was still hope for a happy ending, for me at least. Just as Edward had once told me, time heals all wounds. I hoped it would and not for only me. My mind lingered on the future I had envisioned with Jacob, and I knew it was what I wanted most. I would be able to grow old with Jacob and be happy. I knew I could make him happy and that was all that mattered now. Everything would work out for the better this way, Charlie would be happier and we could go visit Renee in Florida, because Jacob wouldn't have to worry about hiding from the sun.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. I could never let Jacob go because I loved him. That was the reason for all the effort I put into visiting him in La Push, my effort to make him smile and the reason why he was so persistent. He knew it, everyone knew it and all I did was deny it until it finally caught up with me, until I finally understood why I denied it all along. I couldn't bear to break Edward because I knew how it felt when he'd left me, it had made every cell in my body yearn to be freed of the heart break. All I wanted was to not put that weight on his shoulders. But only now did I realize that all along I was breaking Jacob and now I regretted having took Edward back because it must have hurt him more to say goodbye now than it would have before.

The trees were flying by so quickly I hadn't even realized that the pack had stayed behind to change while Sam continued on without them and carried me out of the forest, to the front of his and Emily's home. "Bella, can I put you down?" He asked.

I nodded and stood next to him as he put me down, he motioned me towards the house and I obeyed at once clumsily moving up the stairs towards the door. Before I had the chance to pull it open Emily burst out of the house and ran to Sam. She was hugging him and I could hear them whispering to each other. I didn't quite feel ready to deal with that so I stepped quietly into the house and sat on the couch trying to calm down.

I heard chatter coming from outside, growing louder and louder as it approached the house, finally one by one the pack poured in. First to come in was Seth who sat beside me on the couch, followed by Paul, Jared, Emily and Sam, and then finally Leah. They were all still chattering happily, I caught the end of Seth and Jared's conversation.

"Oh yea, I got him real good. If it hadn't of been for me, Bella might not have made it back." Seth patted my back and smiled tentatively at me. I forced a weak smile on my face.

Seth turned back to Jared who was laughing. "We all know Seth, we've seen it in your head replaying over and over."

"I know, but it was still pretty amazing wasn't it?" His mood couldn't be swayed.

Jared chuckled before replying. "Whatever you say, bud."

Finally the chatter died down and Sam stood up straight rather than leaning against the counter. A smile lit his features, it suited him well. "It's finally all over." The whole pack, even Leah seemed happy for once. "It was a great victory, no one was killed and just like the psychic had said the newborns split into two groups." Sam then turned to face me. "This is mostly for your sake Bella, and yours to Emily." He smiled at her.

"It was a very easy fight, all the bloodsuckers were killed with no incidents. Same with the Cullen's on the other side. By the time we had finished the fight Seth and Edward," ouch. "had finished the female and her friend off. At that point you had already passed out Bella. Seth told us that, after he and Edward had finished building a fire and disposing of the body parts, Edward had thanked him and took off. So Jared was sent to find you and Seth. Together they carried you back to us.

"That's when the fortune telling one told us about the Voulturi and how we needed to leave. We brought you with us, and well here we are." When he finished his story, he grinned.

I was glad that everyone was happy, but something was still bothering me. "Sam, where are Jacob, Quil and Embry?" I asked patiently. I couldn't be happy, not just yet. Not until I knew were Jacob was.

"That was the only slight problem Bella, I promise." His face darkened, panic shot through me, I started hyperventilating without even realizing it. "Bella, Bella calm down nothing terrible happened." He reassured me, but it only worked a little bit.

Before Sam could continue, Leah spoke. "Bella, I'm sorry. What happened was entirely my fault." Everyone turned to look at Leah now. I was too worried about Jake to be shocked by her apology. "I tried to take on one of the newborns on my own, and I guess I couldn't handle it. Jake jumped in to my rescue before the leech could get me, but he grabbed a hold of Jake instead and crushed his entire right side."

I didn't answer, this was just too much. The only person I needed right now was Jake and he was hurt. I stood abruptly, I couldn't see much so I wiped my eyes. "Where is he Sam? I need to see him." It was all I could manage.

"Bella he's in bad shape right now, were all going to go visit him soon. So don't go on your own, we can bring you." He walked over and put a hand on my shoulder smiling, instead of replying I looked over at Leah, she looked really upset. I sat back down, and everyone watched.

Sam stood towering over me, and so he crouched down to be at my eye level before he spoke "Bella, all of us here know what you've chosen to do. And I couldn't be happier for Jake now. He was in such pain before, well I suppose he still is." He paused to grimace, he was obviously referring to Jake's whole right side being crushed. "But he will be so happy, it takes a lot off the whole packs back, Jacob has been bringing us all down." Paul and Jared were nodding fervently in the background while Sam stood and went back to Emily.

"He'll be overjoyed when you tell him, I'm sure." Sam Concluded.

. "Wait, he doesn't know yet?" I asked confused. I had figured Jacob would have already known considering that the pack couldn't keep secrets from each other, and Seth had been there when I said my final goodbye to Edward

"Well, no he doesn't." It was Seth who answered, I turned to face him and he continued. "I guess I had a couple other things on my mind by the time I had finally realized what was going between you and him. I mean, Victoria did show up with her friend in that very second. I guess I wasn't really thinking about it, and so none of the pack knew."

This time it was Jared who spoke, "Yeah, not to mention the fact that we all had our thoughts elsewhere too, I mean Seth wasn't the only one fighting. Even if he had been thinking about it, none of us would really have paid attention anyways."

Sam nodded and continued, "Then before the fight was really even over for either of us, Jacob had been attacked by one of the newborns and we had to have him phase back to normal before any of the bones grew back in the wrong positions. By the time Seth had told us what happened, Jacob had already phased back, so there was no chance of him knowing."

"Oh," It was all I could think of as a reply. I had been secretly hoping Jacob would already know the path I chose, I wasn't really looking forward to retelling him what happened after he left. My only goal since that faith full moment was to banish all thoughts of him, so that it might make it easier to forget. But I suppose I really did owe Jacob the truth, not just a part of it, but the whole thing. He deserved to know that I still loved Edward, and that it wouldn't be that easy for me to forget him. He deserved to know why I chose him, for not only his happiness, or my mother and fathers, but because of the future I had been temptingly shown.

I hadn't realized that everyone was getting ready to leave until Emily waved a hand in front of my face. "Bella, are you there?" She asked tentatively. I looked at her for a minute before I understood what was going on.

"Yea, I – sorry, I guess I was kind of out of it for a minute there." I said dully, and then stood.

"That's fine Bella, common' lets go, everyone's waiting for us outside." She grabbed me by the arm to drag me along, we reached the porch and surely enough everyone was waiting for us outside. I hated being normal in that one second, because everyone was so much stronger and faster than me, but I blocked that thought from my mind. I chose my path, I chose to be normal.

We got to Jacob's house in a matter of minutes, Sam drove with me and Emily while the pack followed along outside. When we reached the house, I stumbled out of the car in my haste and ran to the front door. I wasn't first to get there, but it didn't matter because we had to wait for Billy to come open it anyways.

His face was grave when he finally opened it, he beckoned us in with a weak "Come in.", and then rolled away down the hall without another word. We gathered in the small living room where we found Embry and Quil sitting, on the couch talking quietly. They ended the conversation abruptly at our entrance and looked at me, I doubted they knew for what reason I had come, the last they had probably heard of me was Jacob thinking I wouldn't change my mind.

"Hey guys," I managed, I was hoping they wouldn't be mad at me and that they hadn't been talking about me. But when was I ever so lucky.

"Oh hey Bella," Quil answered with a grin spreading across his face. "We were just talking about…" He jerked his head towards a door down the hall that was evidently Jacob's. "He's sleeping right now, the doctor's been using a lot of morphine, and he wasn't sure how much though because of, you know, what we are." He chuckled.

I guessed they hadn't been angry at me, or even talking about me. It was so like me to blow things out of proportion like that. I nodded, and asked "Can I go see him?"

"Go if you want, but like I said he's sleeping." Quil replied.

I struggled through the crowded living room, until I reached the small hallway. It was lined with pictures of Jacob and Billy, which made me tear up before I even saw him. I reached the last door on the right of the hall, and knocked. I knew it was ridiculous considering Jacob was probably asleep, but I couldn't help but to hope I would hear his husky voice reply.

Sure enough a voice I knew well replied, but not Jacob's, "Come in," It was Carlisle. I opened the door only a fraction to see if he was busy with anything, I wouldn't want to interrupt. All looked well, so I stepped in and shut the door behind me.

"Hello Bella." He gave me a friendly smile before turning back to Billy, who was looking gloomily at his son. When I followed his gaze, I was completely shocked. Nearly Jacob's entire right side had braces on it. My tears rolled down my cheeks silently as I watched. My heart felt so heavy and my mind was flooded with all the memories we had together, the days when Jacob had been there for me, the night he came through my window and begged me to remember what he had told me, the shock and happiness he felt when I accepted him, and the never ending love he would always have for me. In that moment, I knew forever my heart would be his and that I would make it up to him. I would fix him.

I sat down on the small love seat in his room, too shaky to stand. I waited quietly for Billy to leave while I reminisced on those beautiful memories. Eventually he left, and I looked up to find Carlisle watching me. He smiled kindly and crouched to look me in the eyes. He was readying himself to speak, but I interrupted. "I'm sorry, I really am." Tears were streaming down my face.

"Bella, we all know how much you love Edward, I know that you wanted to keep him happy, but here is where lays your true happiness." He motioned towards Jacob. "And none of us are mad at you for your choice."

"But, where did he go?" I asked quietly, I knew Alice would have probably seen that. The thought of him hurt, the hole burned and I wrapped my arms around myself to keep from falling apart.

"We don't know Bella, he hasn't decided yet." He sighed. "Alice has been trying to see but to no success. I'm sure he will see sense and come home, eventually though." He seemed very assured of that, I guess he knew Edward better than I ever had. "Anything else you would like to know?" He asked tentatively, not wanting to upset me.

"Are you staying in forks?" I blurted out, I didn't quite mean to ask it like that, but I needed to know.

"Yes and no. The school year is nearly over, and Alice will be finishing with you, but then were all leaving, we don't want to make such an abrupt transition like last time. I only need enough time to make sure Jacob is properly healed."

"Oh, I see." I looked over at Jake and back to Carlisle. "Thank you for fixing Jake like this, do you know when he'll be completely healed?" I asked. My voice was filled with hope and sadness all at once.

"At the rate he heals, about one weak and he should be fully functional again, but I suggest he doesn't phase until about another week after that."

We sat in silence for a moment while thought everything over, until finally he stood. "I should go Bella, I'm already late for my shift at the hospital." He grabbed his bag and coat of the floor, and turned towards the door.

"Wait," I begged, I had one last question I wanted to know. He just stopped and smiled at me, waiting patiently. "What happened? With the Voulturi I mean."

"Oh it was no big deal, only a couple of them came, Jane, Demetri, and Felix, you know the usual. Of course, Jane did ask where you and Edward where, we said he took you out of town because of the newborns. When she asked if you had been changed yet, we told them we had a set date, and we would go visit when you were changed. But, you're not the top of their priorities list Bella. Perhaps in eighty years or so, they might start wondering why you haven't gone to see them yet, but they won't be worried about sending anyone to check, they don't think anyone would ever be foolish enough to go against their will." He smiled, and then checked the time. "Well, if that's all I must be on my way. Goodbye Bella."

"Bye," I murmured, my eyes followed him as he slid noiselessly from the room. The Voulturi still thought I was going to become a vampire, but had no idea I would probably be dead of old age by the time they bothered to check. I was free, free to live my life with Jacob.

I looked up to check on him, he looked so peaceful when he slept, like an innocent child. I would have been crying if I hadn't run dry of my supply of tears already. Instead, I felt very tired. I had been through a lot today and my head ached. I laid down and curled myself into a ball on his couch before I fell into exhausted, dreamless sleep.

a/n hey, so I think this chapter was just okay, idk what do you think? ;) and it seemed, idk sort of slow? Well idk really, but I promise it will get a little bit more exciting, I think, I hope :p, enyways review please (:

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