"Bella, I'll never leave you, you're safe with me, I promise", Jacob crooned to me, stroking my hair like Renee did when I was little. I didn't know how much time had passed; maybe a minute, maybe an hour, but time seemed to stand still as I sobbed into Jacob's warm chest, being comforted like I had needed for a long time.
"I have to go," I whispered, my voice cracking. Not waiting for a response, I grabbed my bag and ran to my truck, tears running down my cheeks. "Wait, Bella, I... Don't go!"
********
I didn't know where I was driving, nor did I care that much. It probably wasn't the safest thing to do, what with the tears clouding my vision and all. Luckily though, the roads had dried after last night's rainfall, and there were no other cars about.
My thoughts were scrambling frantically around my brain, each time I tried to grasp one, it wriggled away. I was so confused. Maybe it was fate, maybe just coincidence, but out of the corner of my eye, I managed to glimpse the turn-off to the Cullen's house. I knew that the hole would be worse tonight, worse than ever before if I went, but I just couldn't stop myself.
The gravel in the driveway crunched beneath my feet as I slowly walked up to the window and peered in. It was eerie, the silence; I half expected Emmett to come pounding down the stairs, or Alice to dance around the kitchen, tidying up pointlessly, but there was nothing. It was a dead house, a ghost house.
I could feel the hole, burning, ripping around the edges, tearing away mercilessly at the threads I had tried to stitch it together with. I curled into a ball, trying desperately to hold myself together, and failed.
