"Am I the Bad Guy?"
A follow-up to "Won't Stop"
Following the posting of my story, "Won't Stop," There was a review from someone saying: "PF !! Jacob would never do that to bella !! i'm tired of this stupid stories where jacob is always the bad guy who put edward and bella apart!"
That is honestly not what I intended. I thought that I had made it clear with Jacob's view in the story that, like Edward thought he was doing what he had to, so was Jacob. He knew it would tear Bella up inside to see the letter, much less read it and realize Edward still didn't plan on coming back. Just like Edward was protecting Bella, Jacob was protecting her too. Now, I will continue a bit, all from Jacob's POV, what he does with the letter and his thoughts about it.
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I was never more happy to be away from Bella than I was as I got out of her truck and finally made it into my house. What was I doing, intercepting her mail? I had acted on impulse, seeing something that shouldn't belong and immediately wanting it out of the equation. If things were a little different, and I really just felt "friend feelings" toward Bella, I would have done the exact same thing. …Right?
I watched out the window as she pulled away, heading back home. She was starting to live again, starting to forget about that…that ass that cut her so deep. No, she wasn't forgetting him. She would never forget him, and that was something I hoped for so much. I couldn't just stand by and let the rush of emotions that surely would have hit her like a brick wall, do just that. All the progress she had made would have been completely forgotten and she would have reverted back to the state at which I had found her in.
Looking down at the letter I began to feel extremely guilty. If Bella ever found out that I had this, she'd be pissed. No, actually, more than pissed she'd be fuming. There would literally be steam coming out of her ears and I'd only have a few seconds left to live in which I could explain myself. I did it for her own good. It was as simple as that.
I slowly opened the letter, not sure why I was so curious about what it said. I found that Alice girl's note first. I didn't find myself angry with this note. In fact, if it didn't mean he'd have to explain why he had the letter with no envelope, he would have given it to Bella. This Alice seemed to know Bella pretty well, she HAD attained a lot of cuts and bruises, but I had stopped her from getting too damaged, physically AND emotionally. I had a strange feeling that this girl may have understood what I was doing at this moment.
Then I got to Cullen's letter. There was NO way in the history of ways that I was letting Bella see this. It would either A. destroy her, or B. Cause her to go searching blindly for Cullen, leading her away from me forever and eventually, when she didn't find him, destroy her.
I was certain now, if I was just Bella's friend…and had no other feelings for her…I'd be doing the exact same thing…Protecting her…Because Bella was a girl who needed constant protection, whether she knew it or not.
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I know it's short but I hope everyone who felt I portrayed Jacob badly in "Won't Stop" will read this and realize that I wasn't portraying him badly at all.
And hopefully, to stop the rabid Team Edward-ees: I'm a member of your ranks! I don't hate Jacob at all, though I find him to be a bit creepers in the 4th book, I am just a firm believer that Edward and Bella belong together.