Control

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!

Part Seven

Billy had a big spread waiting for Jacob when he finally came back in the early hours of the morning. He was doing everything he could to keep his son's spirits up. Jacob had been so melancholic lately as he brooded over the situation with Bella. So, when his boy was at home, Billy tried to distract him with food or anything else he could think of. He was feeling pensive when Jacob finally walked through the door-expecting to see his son's familiar downcast face-instead Jacob came in whistling.

"Hey, Dad, you okay?" He asked when he noticed his father's look of confusion.

"Are you?" Billy reflected the question back at him.

"I'm good." Jacob's dark eyes lit up when he saw all the food arrayed on the table. "You've been busy." He said as his stomach rumbled in appreciation.

"You're in a good mood." Billy rolled his chair into the kitchen after Jacob. He knew there had to be a reason behind his son's change in mood. And that reason had to be Bella. He watched wearily as Jacob loaded up his plate with food and silently debated whether to call him out on it.

Jacob was oblivious to Billy's troubled thoughts as he indulged in a wolf's favourite past time, eating. He barely tasted the food as he shovelled it in, chewed it quickly, and then swallowed. He was just starting on the bacon when his father's next question almost made him choke on it.

"Have you talked to Bella?" Billy asked bluntly as he finally decided to voice his suspicions aloud.

Jacob coughed, and his eyes watered as the food got stuck in his throat. He banged his chest with a balled up fist to dislodge the food, and dry heaved as it finally slid down his gullet. "Damn." He said breathlessly.

Billy poured him a glass of water and handed it to him. "I take that as yes." He said, not bothering to hide his disappointment. "After everything we discussed."

Jacob scowled as he chugged down the water in one gulp. "I haven't talked to Bella." He muttered.

Billy eyed him disbelievingly. "Why the sudden change in mood then? Yesterday you were all doom and gloom, today it's all sunshine and rainbows. Just admit it, son. You caved in and talked to her."

Damn, Billy was good! Jacob shifted in his chair uncomfortably as he avoided looking at his father directly. "Look, I'm not lying when I said I didn't talk to Bella." He hedged.

"Well something happened."

Jacob fidgeted again and ran his fingers through his hair restlessly. "She was at the window again and I may have accidentally shown myself."

"Accident my ass." Billy interrupted him sarcastically.

"Alright, I showed myself deliberately. I miss her, okay. I just wanted to see what she would do. It hurt when she didn't acknowledge me before. I just needed some clarification that she still gives a shit." Jacob said defensively.

"And?"

Jacob's scowl turned into a grin. He couldn't help it. The image of Bella running barefoot across the wet grass to see him rose to the forefront of his mind. "And she hugged me."

"While you were in your wolf form?" Billy was incredulous. "You can't risk her getting close to you like that. What were you thinking?"

"I'm not dangerous." Jacob said flatly as his good mood vanished like a puff of smoke.

"I never said you were."

"And Bella wasn't scared of me. She hugged me for like two minutes. I stayed perfectly still. She even apologised and said she knew she was breaking the rules. She needed the contact...and so did I." Jacob pushed his plate away and stood up.

"Jake, I'm sorry if I upset you. I just worry that's all. I don't want either of you to get hurt." Billy was sad that he had unintentionally upset his son. "Please, sit down and finish your breakfast."

Jacob hesitated for a moment before he complied and sat down again. "We were only together for five minutes max." He admitted huskily. "She just talked for a bit, I listened, and then she went back inside."

"Okay, I'm sorry I overreacted." Billy apologised again. "If it made you both feel better than that can only be a good thing."

Mollified, Jacob resumed eating, but this time more slowly.


Bella didn't go back to sleep after seeing Jacob. She was still too wired. There was so much going around and around in her head it made it difficult to concentrate. When she had hugged the big russet wolf her worries had vanished. She had been so caught up in their brief reunion that it had banished all thoughts of worry over Edward from her mind. Now that she was alone again, that's all she could focus on. She wished she knew what was happening. It was the not knowing and waiting around that was shredding her nerves. And Charlie had taken away her only point of contact with Alice. Bella had searched the house from top to bottom for her cell, but her father had hidden it well.

The hours ticked by slowly as she tried to keep herself occupied. Charlie was forced to go into a work. There had been an accident involving a young kid on a motorbike. Apparently it was quite serious. Teens and motorbikes were a big bug bear for Charlie. He had seen too many young lives ruined because they didn't handle the motorbikes responsibly. Bella felt a smidgeon of guilt about her own reckless behaviour involving the bikes that she and Jacob had fixed up together. She hadn't ridden hers in a while, but if Charlie knew about the bikes, and the reason behind why she had been so hell bent on riding them, he would definitely have her committed. Especially after the whole cliff diving incident.

Thinking about it gave Bella a chance to reflect on her past behaviour. Her fixation in indulging in reckless activities so she could hear Edward's voice had been the catalyst for bringing her and Jacob together. One thing had led on to another-suddenly it wasn't just about hearing Edward's voice-it was spending time with Jacob. One bad thing and had led to one good thing. The irony wasn't lost on Bella. It also occurred to her that if Edward hadn't left when he did her best friend wouldn't be in her life right now. Being with Edward meant isolating herself from everyone around her, it had been a necessity because of who he was and their lifestyle.

This thought preoccupied Bella for the rest of the morning. She pondered on how quickly her life changed in a heartbeat once she and Edward became official. The new friends in her life were the first casualties. She drifted away from them as she immersed herself in Edward and his family. He transferred to all her classes so they were together continuously throughout the day. After school he came around-much to Charlie's reluctance-to spend the afternoon with her. She would be alone for a couple of hours while they kept up the pretence for Charlie's sake that he had gone home, but then she would retire to bed early and he would be there in her room, waiting. Every minute of every day she lived and breathed Edward Cullen, right to the point that she not only shut out her friends but her parents too.

Sick at heart, Bella tried to distract herself by doing some housework. She went upstairs to collect the laundry. She walked into Charlie's bedroom first. His used shirts were all piled up on a chair in the corner of his room. Bella never understood why it was so difficult for Charlie to put his clothes in the laundry basket. She picked them up and scoured his room one last time before heading into her own. There was a couple of bits of her own she wanted to add to the pile. Holding the basket against her hip she headed into her room not really watching where she was going. Her right foot caught against something sharp, and she gasped in pain, dropping the basket of laundry in shock. Her big toe was throbbing. Bella felt easy tears well in her eyes as she sat down on the floor and examined her bruised toe. She rubbed it reflexively and noticed that she had chipped the nail. Irritated she looked at the floor, wondering what the hell had tripped her up. It was then she noticed that one of the floorboards was sticking up slightly.

"What the hell?" Bella mumbled under her breath as she examined it further. She pushed on it, then pulled and it lifted up easily, revealing a hole underneath. She frowned, peering into the gap at the same time.

And that's when she saw it-the photograph of her and Edward taken at her infamous eighteenth birthday party-lying face up in the hole along with the tickets Carlisle and Esme had bought her.


Time had not made her immune to the perfection of his face, and she was sure her memory had not done him justice. Her eyes traced over his pale white features: the hard square of his jaw, the softer curve of his full lips—twisted in a smile, the straight line of his nose, the top of his forehead—partially obscured by the tangle of bronze coloured hair. Bella focused on his image in the picture for a long time. Her brown eyes filled with tears, before spilling down and splattering on the photograph she tried to hold steady in her shaking hands.

Her feelings of abandonment came back in a rush, and the familiar hole punched in her chest, gaped open, threatening to spill her heart onto the hardwood floor. One arm slipped around her body as she tried to hold herself together. She couldn't believe this photograph and the tickets had been hidden under the floor all this time. She had assumed that Edward had taken all her mementos with him when he left. The fact that he'd left them behind, hidden under the floorboards in her room, was cruel beyond belief. It was just further proof that the time they had spent together meant nothing to him.

Bella dragged herself to her feet, her tears running a river down her face. Somehow she made it down the stairs and found herself in front of the phone. Her first thought was to ring Jacob, but she knew he was probably sleeping right now. Billy would not forgive her for waking his son. So instead she made the alternate decision to ring the station.

"Can I speak to Chief Swan, please?"" She pleaded as soon as the call was answered. "I'm his daughter Bella."

She was put through straight away. "Bells, what's wrong?"

Hearing her father's concerned voice sent a flood of relief through Bella."Can you come home, Dad?" She whispered. "Something's happened."

"I'm on my way. Hold on, kiddo." Charlie promised.

A/N-thanks for reading!