Holding On

JacobxBella

Rated M

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the franchise, as it belongs to Steph Meyers

Holding On

Chapter 7

Bella looked at Angela stare at her in shock after revealing to her that she had cancer. She had gotten back from lunch with her parents and returned to find Angela waiting in her car in the driveway. The girl had gotten out of her car and followed Bella to her room so the brunette could tell her the daunting news. The brunette noticed tears begin to form in her friend's eyes and she reached over and grabbed her hand.

"Don't cry, Angela. I'm okay, I'll be okay," Bella told her.

Angela wiped the tears from her eyes and replied, "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm so scared I'm going to lose one of my best friends. I don't know if I told you this, but I had a younger sister that died from cancer about five years ago; she was only four. I don't want to go through that again."

Bella hugged the other brunette and said, "I'm going to be alright, okay? I was originally going to not even bother with more chemotherapy when I found out that I had stage four stomach cancer. I was just going to give up and let the cancer take its course."

"What changed your mind?" Angela asked.

Before Bella could answer the door to her bedroom opened and Jacob stepped in. He stopped and looked at the two girls before saying, "I'm sorry, I should have knocked first."

Smiling Bella beckoned her friend inside and replied, "It's alright, Jake. I was just telling Angela that I had cancer and decided to fight for my life."

"That's great. I'm glad you decided to fight, Bells. And you are going to live your life to the fullest with me and your parents by your side. And Angela, too."

Jacob smiled brightly at Bella, causing her to blush a little and look down in her lap. Angela looked back and forth between them for a moment before softly saying, "Oh."

After a moment of silence Jacob cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, I came over because I wanted to know if you wanted to go cliff diving."

"Cliff diving?" both girls asked in unison.

"Yeah, cliff diving. It's a lot of fun and such an adrenaline rush," Jacob answered.

"What cliff is there to jump from around here?" Bella couldn't help but ask.

Jacob grinned and replied, "You saw it the other day, Bells. When we went swimming together at First Beach, remember?"

Bella thought back to that day, vaguely remembering a cliff near the beach. She did however remember that that was the day she had that really bad episode that led to her being diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer. But she did promise Jacob to fight and live her life, so she figured it couldn't be any worse than having cancer.

Nodding she said, "Okay, let's do it. Just let me change into a swimsuit first."

The Quileute boy grinned and said, "Awesome." He looked at Angela ands said, "You should come, too."

Shaking her head Angela said, "Oh no, I couldn't. I don't want to impose on you guys' time."

"You wouldn't be. Besides it's not just us, the guys will be there too. Seth's sister Leah will be there as well. And I'm sure Embry would like to see you again."

Bella had just pulled a black one piece swimsuit out of her drawer when she turned and saw Angela blushing slightly at the mention of the younger boy. She couldn't help but smile knowing that her friend thought Embry was cute and was probably smitten with him the way he was her. It was obvious to her that day he and Jacob showed up during lunch.

Grabbing another one piece swimsuit, this one red, she handed it to Angela and said, "Come on, it'll be fun. And you can borrow this since we're the same size."

Angela looked at the swimsuit before looking at Bella and Jacob. Sighing she took the swimsuit and said, "Fine, I'll go. But won't it be cold? The weather is turning cold now."

"Yeah, but we're going to build a fire afterwards on the cliff and hang out later," Jacob told her before moving to the door. "I'll wait for you girls downstairs." And he left the room and closed the door behind him.

The two girls changed into the swimsuits and pulled their clothes on over them. While they were finishing up Angela asked, "Have you thought about dating him?"

Bella looked up at her from tying her shoe and asked, "Dating who?"

"Jacob," Angela answered as she braided her hair into two pigtails. "He's obviously into you and I can tell that you are him, though you haven't realized it yet."

"I don't know about that, but even if I did, I don't think it would happen."

"Why not?"

"Because it wouldn't be fair to do that only to die from cancer months from now. I couldn't do that to him, and I wouldn't date him out of pity either."

"You don't know that, Bella. You promised to fight and live your life, and I think dating someone who treasures you should be part of it."

"Jake and I are just friends."

"Friends that are on their way to becoming more. I mean, you do like him, don't you? At least a little bit?"

Bella was quiet for a moment before nodding and answering, "Yeah, a little. I'll be honest, I feel…alive whenever I'm around him or just think of him."

Angela smiled and replied, "That's great! I think that when the time is right, you should just go for it. I'm sure it won't be unwelcomed."

The brunette rolled her eyes and said, "I'll do it only if you kiss Embry."

"Bella!" Angela exclaimed, a bright blush on her face.

The two girls laughed as they left Bella's room and headed downstairs where Jacob was waiting with Charlie and Renee. Charlie told them to be careful while Renee told them to have fun. The three teenagers promised that they would before leaving the house and piling into Jacob's Rabbit, heading towards La Push.


Brown eyes stared wide eyed as Jacob's friends jumped off of the cliff into the waves down below. So far Quil, Jared, Paul and Seth had gone, leaving Jacob, Sam, Leah, Embry, Angela, and Bella to jump. Sam looked at Leah before winking and running towards the cliff, jumping off of it and down to the water below. Leah rolled her eyes before following.

"Sam and Leah are dating, but are very competitive with each other," Jacob had told Bella when he had introduced her to them.

Embry looked at Angela before asking, "Do you want to go first?"

Angela looked over the edge where the others were waiting down below, yelling at them to jump. Looking at Embry she asked, "Are you sure it's safe to jump from here?"

"Completely safe, and I promise I'll come right after you," Embry told her with a smile.

Angela nodded before walking towards the edge. Taking a deep breath, she jumped off of the cliff and swan dived into the waves below, barely making a splash as she entered the water.

Bella's eyes widened before saying, "That's impressive."

Jacob nodded and said, "I guess, though she could've been showing off."

He laughed as Bella lightly smacked him in his stomach, chuckling as he told her he was just kidding. She looked back just in time to see Embry jump off of the cliff, leaving her and Jacob as the last ones before doing it all over again.

Jacob walked towards the edge of the cliff before turning back to the brunette. Smiling he asked, "Are you coming?"

Bella looked at him then the cliff before saying, "Yeah, I'm just…I'm a little scared."

The younger boy smiled and walked back over to Bella, gently taking her hand in his. Looking into her chocolate brown eyes he asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then you have nothing to worry about. We'll jump together, and I'll hold your hand the whole way down."

Bella stared up into Jacob's eyes, searching them for insincerity. Finding none she smiled and told him she was ready. The two of them held each other's hand tightly before running towards the cliff, jumping off of it and plummeting down towards the ocean. They hit the salty sea in a big splash, going under momentarily before resurfacing, laughter coming from their throats as the others cheered around them. Sam lead everyone from the ocean back to shore to take the path back to the top of the cliff. And the whole time Jacob didn't let go of Bella's hand, not that she was complaining. If she was honest, she didn't want to let go of his hand any time soon. Holding Jacob's hand in hers just felt…right. And the thought of her having cancer didn't once cross her mind the whole time she spent with him and their friends.