A Fateful Choice

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you for the awesome reviews. Nikki

Part Four

Jacob grinned at Bella. He reached out and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "I'll give you all the babies you want, honey." He said softly. "You know I love kids."

Bella grabbed both of his hands in her own, she had a manic light shining in her eyes as she looked at him. "I knew you would come through for me. Thank you."

Jacob was a bit puzzled by this overenthusiastic reaction. He felt as if he had read the situation wrong. He decided to be a bit more cautious. "When we're older, and have good jobs and hopefully a nice place to live, we can raise our family."

Bella's face fell. She dropped his hands and she withdrew from him. "When we're older?" She echoed him. "I see."

"Bells?" Jacob felt confused. "What's wrong? You can't mean you want a baby right now, surely?"

"I thought you wanted me." Bella turned the question back onto him. "I thought you understood me."

"Not right now I don't." Jacob watched her carefully. Her cheeks were flushed red with anger. He couldn't understand what he had done to rile her. Suddenly she twisted round and launched herself at him. Her mouth pressed hard on his and she sank her fingers into his hair, gripping the silky strands tightly as she kissed him. It reminded Jacob of their desperate kiss on the mountaintop. He could never resist Bella. He reciprocated at once. He pulled her onto his lap and wound his arms around her. The kiss became heated very quickly and he was so overcome by lust that he forgot momentarily that Charlie was only in the next room and could come in at any moment. Bella was pressing herself tightly against him, urging him onward, as if she was ready to get down and make babies right then and there. It was this brief thought that stopped Jacob and made him force himself to break the passionate embrace.

Bella was flushed and breathing heavily as she looked at him enquiringly. "Why did you stop?"

"Because Charlie could walk in any second, and this isn't like you." Jacob saw Bella frown. She climbed off of his lap and turned her head away from him.

"You don't want me." She muttered.

"Don't talk crap, Bells. You know I want you. But something is up here. You are acting odd. Talk to me." Jacob begged her.

"I think you made yourself pretty clear." Bella said stiffly. She stood up and began to walk out of the room. "I offered myself to you and you rejected me."

"I did not reject you." Jacob was getting exasperated. "I am trying to understand what is going on with you."

"Go home, Jake." Bella suddenly had tears in her eyes. She flew out of the room and ran up the stairs before he could stop her.

"Then she just more or less stomped off in a hissy fit." Jacob gazed at his dad imploringly for help. Bella's behaviour had him completely puzzled.

"I agree she is acting odd." Billy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He tried to recall how Bella had been the day Jacob had brought her home after she first left Cullen. He had sensed that something wasn't quite right about the situation. Yes, she had bruises from her first fraught encounter with sex, but this didn't seem to be the primary reason she had left her new husband. Even when confronted with the evidence she had still defended the bloodsucker. No there was something more going on here, something that Billy felt he should be seeing, but, like Jacob, he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Dad?" Jacob prompted his father, hoping for some pearls of wisdom, but Billy had nothing to offer in that respect.

"I'm sorry Jake. I am as stumped as you are." Billy shrugged. "Some things you just can't explain. All I can suggest is you give Bella some space. Let her alone for a few days and see what happens."

Jacob didn't like this idea. He had only just got her back. He didn't like the thought of not seeing her. But then again, would she see him anyway? She had given him a pretty harsh brush off when he had only tried to be helpful and understanding. Maybe his dad was right, he should give Bella time to adjust to her new circumstances. He would keep an eye on her from afar and watch and wait.

Three days later and Jacob came home from a long patrol shift to find Bella lying in his bed. She must have climbed through his window and sneaked inside. It was past midnight. She was huddled under his duvet, only the top of her head poking out. Jacob couldn't hide his relief that she had been the one to approach him. He knelt next to the bed and shook Bella a little to wake her. Bella opened her eyes and stared at him for a moment as if she didn't recognise him; then, as if a light had been switched on in her brain, she gave him a small smile and threw the covers off of her. Jacob gasped as he saw she was wearing next to nothing. There was so much creamy skin on display he had a hard time controlling himself. His reaction was obvious and Bella's smile became a little calculating as she took his hand and tugged him toward the bed.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Jacob asked huskily as she began to pepper kisses all over his face.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She whispered. "This is what you've dreamed about isn't it?" She kissed him long and slow on the mouth, making him groan. His hands gripped her waist as he pulled her completely on top of him.

Like before, Jacob gave in to her, his hand tangled in her hair as he kissed her deeply. She became pliant in his arms, allowing him to run his hand down her back, his fingers feeling every ridge along her spine, as she rubbed her body against his. Jacob was so overcome by his body's reaction to Bella that there was no stopping him this time. He just let himself go along with what she wanted. She was right, he had dreamed of this scenario countless times, and reliving his fantasy in reality was better then he could have imagined. Things would have progressed further if they hadn't been interrupted by Billy knocking on the door.

"Jake, you home now?" He called through the closed door.

Jacob and Bella froze. She looked at him in horror before scrambling off of his bed and burying herself back under his duvet. "Stay there, dad." Jacob replied quickly. His voice was hoarse and he didn't sound like himself.

"Jake? You alright?" Billy questioned him.

"Yeah. Go on to bed, dad. I'm tired. I'm sleeping now." Jacob prayed in his head for Billy to give up and retire for the night.

"But you always have something to eat before you crash whatever time of the night it is. You sure you're feeling okay? You aren't still worried about the Bella situation, are you?" There was a muffled noise as Bella pulled her head from under the duvet and glared at a mortified Jacob. "I know it's odd she's demanding babies, but I was discussing it with Sue Clearwater, she thinks it might be some reaction to what she went through on her honeymoon night. Go slow with her, Jake. Keep your hands to yourself even if she tries it on again. She is emotionally fragile right now. Well goodnight then." Jacob could hear his dad's chair squeak a little as it rolled back down the hall to his bedroom.

"Bells, I swear I never... " Jacob held up his hands as Bella continued to glare at him. Her face was completely white, apart from a couple of red spots on her cheeks. She was yanking on her clothes and covering up all that creamy skin he'd had his hands on only a few moments ago.

"Don't bother, Jacob." Bella snapped. "Thanks for completely humiliating me. Who else have you told? Quil, Embry? No, knowing you, you've probably broadcast my personal issues to the whole pack. I'll have saint Emily on my doorstep soon offering her unwanted advice. Or will it be Leah Clearwater telling me how to get down and dirty with a wolf. You...you...you...idiot."

Jacob leapt up from the bed and tried to placate her. "For goodness sake, Bells. What do you expect? I have no idea what you're doing. One minute you're crying then you're angry. Then you ask to make babies. I say we should wait, so you ignore me, then you try to seduce me. So excuse me for having no idea what is fucking going on?"

Bella's whole body trembled from head to toe as tears pooled in her eyes. "I thought I could trust you. You were the only one I could say that I could completely count on. But you've really let me down. You say you want to give me everything. That you'll be there for me. I ask one thing of you, not only do you say no, but you then tattle about it to your dad. Well thanks for nothing, Jake. Just stay away from me in future. I don't need you to get what I want." She whispered at him fiercely.

Her words brought Jacob up short. He replayed them over in his head, especially the last biting sentence. 'I don't need you to get what I want.' "Have you just been using me? Is that it? Was I just a means to an end?"

Bella's face turned paler as she avoided his eyes. "I need to go." She shoved his window open and climbed clumsily outside. Jacob watched her go silently. He didn't try to stop her.

Bella stewed for days. Jacob didn't contact her and she didn't contact him. The more time went by the more angry she became. She failed to look at herself and examine the reasons why she was acting so irrationally. The fact that she had been coerced into going through with an unwanted abortion, coupled with the fact that she had broken up with her new husband, and her emotions were all over the place. One moment she was cursing and crying over Edward, then she was sobbing over the loss of the child she would never get to see. She irrationally blamed Jacob for letting her down, when all he had done was try to help, even though he had no idea what was at the root cause of her behaviour. Her emotions see-sawed between anger and despair. She was physically and emotionally a wreck, and with a father who was clueless on how to help her, Bella began to sink. Her longing for a baby to replace the one she had lost increased, and on the third day she decided that if Jacob wouldn't help her out, she would find someone who would.

That night, while Charlie was on a night shift, Bella dolled herself up, putting on unaccustomed make up, and a short black dress. She was going to head into Port Angeles and hit the clubs. She was so fired up with her insane plan that she never thought through the consequences. She called a taxi and headed out into the night.

A/N-thanks for reading!