Chapter Three – Love and Misunderstandings

"Love involves a peculiar unfathomable combination of understanding and misunderstanding" – Diana Arbus

Later that night I found myself unable to sleep or clear my mind of Bella. I wanted so badly to have more than just a professional relationship with her. But even that would only last until she was done renovating my loft.

Deciding that sleep wasn't on my agenda tonight, I walked out onto the balcony to phone Alice.

When she answered, it was clear I had disturbed her rest.

"This better be important." She grumbled.

"I contacted Bella's firm and she has agreed to do the renovations."

I heard some shuffling around before her voice came through clear. I guessed she left the bedroom and headed into another as not to disturb Jasper.

"What happened?"

"I feel like she's sending me mixed signals. After I met with her, she invites me to a bar at 10:30 at night. She gets a decent buzz going and dances all over me, and then when I go to tell her good night, I give her a hug and kiss."

"Well that doesn't sound so bad-"

"She has a boyfriend, Alice. And she waited until we had kissed before telling me about it. Some kid named Jacob something."

"I see your problem. So have you asked her about it?"

"I didn't come right out and ask her why she waited but when I saw her earlier today she told me she wanted to keep things between us on a strictly professional level. She claims that things between her and him are going great but if they are so great then why did she wait so long to tell me she had moved on."

"I don't know. Maybe she didn't think you would be able to handle it. You can be pretty intimidating, Em. But at least you told her how you felt. Even if it did take you over seven years to do it."

"Yeah I know I took my sweet time but a good portion of that wasn't my fault. At first it was because I was with Rose and she was with Edward. Then I graduated and left for school and she was still here in Forks."

"But that never stopped you from pining away over her. I still remember how you reacted when Edward brought her home for the first time."

~Flashback~

"So your brother is bringing home his girlfriend and I want you both to be on your best behavior." My mom instructed us as she fixed the table.

"I just don't understand why we are going through all these hoops because Eddie is bringing home some chick. When I brought Rose home, you guys just sat around and watched a movie. But because it's Eddie, we have to have a fancy dinner?" I groaned. I hated that my mom pacified him all the time since he was the last kid they adopted.

"Emmett there is no need for you to be this nasty. Your brother asked me if I would prepare a dinner since he is very serious about this girl. All you did was come home from spending time with Rosalie and sprung it on us at the last minute. If you would like, we can have a dinner party and you can bring Rosalie and your sister can bring Jasper."

I threw my hands in the air and headed into the family room. I plopped down on my gaming chair and slid my headset on, disappearing into the world of Modern Warfare 3. I stayed there until I heard the doorbell ringing a short time later and my mother calling me to the foyer.

"Welcome Isabella. It's so nice to meet you."

"Oh please call me Bella. It's nice to meet you as well Mrs. Cullen. Edward has told me so much about you." I heard a beautiful voice say.

I stepped fully into the foyer and saw a beautiful dark haired beauty with an infectious smile. She was wearing a simple polo shirt, jeans and a beat up pair of converse, completely clashing with Edward who was wearing a cable knit sweater and slacks.

"…And this is my oldest, Emmett McCarty." Esme gestured to me.

She flashed me a smile and stuck out her hand. I shook it, smiling like an idiot at her and garnishing a weird glance from Edward.

The rest of the evening was spent not with the family getting to know Bella but her and me conversing like old friends. I discovered that she liked to play video games, loved slasher films and wasn't a salad eater.

After dinner, Bella and I headed outside and chatted more about our likes and dislikes. And when she left that evening, I knew that she and I were going to be friends forever.

~End Flashback~

"Yeah I did a pretty good job of pissing him off. But everyone could tell that she wasn't the right girl for him. Edward had always been attracted to the more high standard chicks. He was the one who introduce Rose and me."

"You've always had a special connection with her, one that Edward was always jealous of. Not to be mean but you have caused more than your fair share of rifts in their relationship because of that connection." Alice chuckled fondly, remembering how many times Edward and I got into arguments over her.

"Yeah. I remember he stormed out of the graduation celebration Esme threw for us because of her toast."

"It was that night that I realized that I loved her. I sat up with Carlisle in his study and talked to him about love and how I was feeling. I didn't want to say something to Bella because I knew that she was still so in love with Edward. But Alley, if she would have told me that she wanted to break up, I would have jumped for joy and asked her right then to give me a chance.

"And I know that that makes me sound really selfish and almost harsh that I would be so willing to stab my brother in the back by asking out his girlfriend of a year but I don't care. With Rosalie and me, it was simply like. But that was it; after it the luster wore off, we were just stuck with each other because it seemed to be the most natural thing to do." I explained, revealing the depths of my heart.

"Then you have to fight for her, Emmy. If you still feel as strongly as you do now as you did then, then your path is clear."

I chatted a bit more with Alice about how I should approach the situation and for advice on how to accomplish my next step.

"She wants to keep it professional so you do just that. But don't allow her to hide behind the project manager. Go in there and tell them that you will only work with her. And then on all those trips to the hardware stores and during those late night meetings, show her the side of you that you just revealed to me."

I spent my Sunday morning going over everything that Bella and I had discussed yesterday. The plan looked simple and doable within the time line I had set. Then of course once the project was over, I wouldn't have a reason to spend all my time with her.

But since we had yet to meet with anyone and nothing was officially set in stone, I could make all the necessary changes I needed to prolong the renovations.

I opened up my computer and looked up ideas of newly renovated lofts to get some ideas on how to decorate and all the problems that could slow down the process. A lot of the issues I discovered were problems with the foundation or hidden mole spores in the wall. Unfortunately before I even signed the deed I had someone come in and check for any potential unforeseen problems and despite a few loose bricks here and there, the old lumber mill had aged pretty well.

Since I wasn't willing to purposely sabotage the loft, I decided to go the route of the indecisive client.

*Bella*

Sunday morning arrived, bringing with it gloomy skies to match my mood. I tossed and turned all night, debating whether or not to tell Jacob about the kiss between Emmett and me. I kept telling myself that it was just one kiss and that it didn't mean anything.

"Who are you trying to fool? It did mean something." I said to no one.

I always felt a strong connection to Emmett since the first time I met him. But during the months leading up to his graduation that bond became something more. Emmett was having a hard time in a few of his classes and was on track to be held back another year.

We spent countless nights video chatting and studying in the library going over every subject that he was on the verge of failing. When he found out that he had passed all of his finals with a B+ or better, he scooped me up and spun me around right in front of his entire family.

Since I was the reason he graduated, Emmett asked me to make a speech at his graduation celebration. At first I was a bit reluctant but he finally convinced me to do it.

Emmett McCarty is an amazing person. When faced with a predicament, he doesn't run away. He faces it head on and gives it his all. He has a kind spirit and shares all of himself with everyone he meets. He's the type of guy who will not only buy tickets for his friends to classic slasher movie marathons, but will also pay for all snacks and dinner. Emmett will come visit you when you're having a bad day and do everything in his power to cheer you up. He will drive you home from the dentist and not make fun of you for screaming the lyrics to Cheap Trick's "I want you to want me" at every passing car while you're dosed up on morphine.

Emmett's my best friend and the greatest guy I know . He's my favorite hello and my hardest goodbye. And although I am proud of him, I'm sad to see him go. I want you here but you are going there and there just doesn't know just how good they are going to have it.

I stayed in bed for a bit longer before finally deciding to get out of bed. I folded up some clothes I washed earlier in the week and put them away. Then I organized my closet and my sock drawer before cleaning my bathroom and scrubbing the grout in between the tiles.

By the time I got to my kitchen and washed every single dish, I realized I was just keeping busy in order to avoid dealing with the issue warring in my mind. I figured if I was willing to work this hard to keep from dealing with then I needed to tell Jake.

These thoughts stayed with the entire time I prepared to go to La Push and confront Jake. I walked back upstairs to my closet and pulled down a pair of dark blue boyfriend jeans and a black cami. I plopped down onto the bed changing out of my pajamas and into the clothes I picked out along with a thick white long sleeve shirt and black striped socks.

I grabbed my boots and sent Jake a text, letting him know we needed to talk to him and was on my way to his dad's place.

I headed back downstairs grabbing my purse and keys along the way. I checked the windows and made sure the stove was turned off before walking to the front door.

What felt like an eternity later, I was pulling into Jake's driveway. He was up on the roof, replacing the tarp and tiles before the rainy season came.

He slowly climbed down the ladder and came over to embrace me.

"Is everything okay baby? You're text kinda scared me."

I backed away from him and fumbled with my keys, unable to look him in the eye. I sucked down some air and mumbled, "I kissed someone else."

Jake came a bit closer and rubbed my shoulder. "Bells, you know you can tell me anything. What is it?"

"I kissed someone. He's an old friend who's back in town and he hired me to do some work on his loft and we were both a bit buzzed but it was just a kiss. It didn't go past that."

He took a step back and looked at the ground for a bit before running his hand from his hair to the back of his neck before looking skyward.

"Can you tell me that it didn't mean anything?" he asked, looking right in my face.

When I didn't answer him, he threw his fist into the air before throwing the crow bar he used to pry up the old roof tiles in the direction of the garage.

"God Bells, how …I don't even…why…why did you tell me? What would make you think that this is something that I should know? You had to know this was how I was going to react."

"I thought I was doing the right thing. It was eating away at me and I thought coming here and telling you this was the right thing to do. I wanted to be honest with you."

"Yeah well this is one of those times that I would have appreciated the lie." He stated stoically, walking back towards the house.

I ran after him and grabbed his hand, trying to get him to talk to me.

"What do you want me to say, Bella? It's okay that you're going around kissing other guys? That it doesn't bother me."

"IT WASN'T A BUNCH OF GUYS!" I bellowed.

He scoffed and kept walking so I ran in front of him and met him step for step so he couldn't avoid me.

"It was just one guy and I am sorry that it happened. But at least I am telling you about it rather than trying to sweep it under the rug and pretend that it didn't happen at all."

"Maybe that's exactly what you should have done."

I stopped trying to block his path and I took a step back.

"What are you saying Jacob?"

"I don't know and right now I don't know about us anymore. I just need some time away from you."

"Jake…"

He didn't say anything else, just walked over towards the garage and picked up the crowbar before climbing back up the ladder and settling on the roof. I left before I made a bigger fool of myself and drove in the direction of my old home.

As I pulled up, I smiled at the sight of my dad and his girlfriend, Sue Clearwater doing some yard work.

"Hey Bells, I didn't you would be coming over today." My dad waved, climbing off his lawn mower.

"I was up at the rez visiting Jake so I figured I would stop by on my way. I thought you would have been at work."

"Eh, things at the station have been a bit slow so I left one of the deputies in charge. Besides, Sue has been begging me to take a day off so we can clean up the yard before autumn sets in. Last year I waited too long and had dead grass and weeds all around the house once spring came in."

"Well I just think this place shouldn't look like some lone bachelor lives here." Sue smiled, kissing him on the cheek.

"How are you Bella?" Sue asked, pulling me in for a hug.

"I'm good. I just have a lot on my mind. Jake and I are having some problems."

"He's still treating you with respect isn't he?" my dad looked down at me.

I smirked and nodded my head. "It's just…I was honest with him about something and rather than him being happy about my decision to not keep things from him, he blew up at me and decided that we needed a break."

"Well what did you do that was so bad Bells?"

I fumbled with my keys and told my dad that I rather not say. "It was something small and that shouldn't have happened but I thought I was doing the right thing by telling him. Was I wrong?"

My dad wiped some sweat from his brow and sighed. "That's a tough one Bells. I mean it's good that you were honest. Shows your mom and I raised you right. But then you have to take in consideration that not everyone wants to know about the little things or even the big things. Maybe Jake is just one of those people who prefer to not know. But give him some time; I'm sure he'll come around."

I spent a few more minutes chatting with my dad and Sue before heading home. I stopped along the way and picked up some Chinese food.

While I was preparing it, I called Angela to tell her about the fight I had with Jacob.

"Then he just got back on the roof as if nothing happened. I figured he would be a bit upset but then get over it."

"Well at least he didn't want to break up. So just do what your dad said. Give him some time and you just make sure that you're prepared for your meeting tomorrow. Have you seen or talked to Emmett since yesterday?" she asked.

"No. I thought for certain I was going to hear from him today but here it is almost 4 and not a peep. I'm guessing he's just sitting in his hotel room, going over the digital blueprint and trying to decide on the furniture."

"Well don't call him. And when you're at the meeting tomorrow, keep it professional. Get the work done as fast as possible and keep him at arm's length."

We stayed on the phone for a bit longer before Angela hung up to finish cooking her dinner before her boyfriend Ben came over.

I did as Angela suggested and prepared for the meeting. I packed up my briefcase, grabbing the digital blueprint Emmett and I worked on along with all the notes I took at the loft as well as the photos.

I had a couple of ideas about who to contact to do some of the work and some possible paint and furniture choices so I quickly jotted them down before eating my now cold shrimp lo mein.