Chapter 3.
This one and chapter 4 are short, but I promise I'll make up for it in chapter 5 =]
I looked Nessie in the eyes, and pointed with my eyes to her and then, to the ground: stay here. Of course she understood. She took one last breath and plunked down on the ground, staring at the note. I swallowed noisily to keep down my own pain, and then grabbed the clothes with my mouth, and stepped out into the very fringe of the trees to phase. The clothes reeked of vampire, of course. Whatever. It didn't matter anymore. It felt nice to walk on two legs again, have hands and a voice.
I stepped back into the clearing and saw that the envelope Nessie held was soaked with little drops of water. But it was her tears. She hadn't even opened it and she was already crying.
"Oh, Ness," I mumbled, walking over to her, and scooping her into my arms. "C'mere…"
The next few hours had to be the worst of my life. And I'd had some pretty bad moments.
But this…this beat them all.
When Nessie had finally given up on her tears, she'd just sat there in my arms, just sat there and sobbed quietly. But what made it the worst was how useless I was. I'd done all I could to soothe her, I talked to her a little, held her…and even though it probably hadn't helped at all, I'd started crying a couple times, too. Finally, blissfully, her breathing relaxed, and her eyelids fell; she was going to be out for a while.
I kept her lying in the snow- the cold didn't wake her- and went to go check out all that Bella'd done for us.
I read the two fake IDs she'd given us. Each of us had a passport, and I had a driver's license. Only, it wasn't my name on it. I wanted to laugh at the name she'd chosen, but I also felt like crying again. So from now on, the world would know me as Jacob Wolfe. Good one, Bells. Nessie was going to be Vanessa. That worked; Nessie was a good nickname for Vanessa. I thought randomly that they were pretty well made, clearly professional. Both pictures of me were altered a little, so it looked like two different ones. But it was the same picture, and so was Nessie's. It had once been the picture of us, sitting on Bella's front steps in what I guess you could call happier times. I sighed, my breath shaking a little, and placed the documents back in the backpack. Next I examined the slip of paper with the words on it. Rio. So that's where she was sending us. And we'd get there with the money she'd given us. I didn't bother counting it, just by look of it, I could tell that it was more than I probably would have earned in my entire life. All that was left then was…my note. I put Charlie and Renee's back in the bag; that was theirs to read some day. I stared at the envelope for a minute…deciding. Already I felt a little sick. But I was a mess anyway, and so I thought, what the hell?, and opened the slip.
I felt a stab just at the sight of her handwriting, but I read it. It said:
To my best man,
I can't believe I'm saying goodbye again. How many times has been for us now? But I know that you'll do the right thing now, you've always been known how to make people happy. And I know you'll do that for my Renesmee. Or yours. She yours now. And I need you to take care of her, Jake, just like I know you will. Take care of her like you did me.
Maybe, if it's ever safe again you can take her back to Forks…tell Charlie everything, and tell him he meant everything, that he was the best father. Send my love to Renee and Phil…and make sure she stays safe and happy.
And I guess all I can do now is thank you, Jacob. Because I know that I would not be half of what I am without your help. I wouldn't even be alive. You were the greatest friend I've ever known, probably the greatest person, too. Don't' ever stop being the man I know you are. Always be happy, always be Jacob. My Jacob. Be my Jacob for Renesmee.
I love you, Jacob. You know that better than anybody.
Bella.
I placed the note back in the envelope and then I placed the envelope in the backpack. I never looked at it again.
