Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things twilight…
so this is a little different…you'll see what I mean…
lols I was supposed to be doing my English essay and not updating till like a week's time….
well I guess you can see how that turned out!
CHAPTER SEVEN
Some dodgy rodeo type song was playing on the jukebox and some rowdy men at the back were playing pool. It wasn't the best bar I'd come across but it was fine for now. We took the two stools at the corner of the bar and we ordered two beers. We sat there in comfortable silence, occasionally taking a swig from our drinks.
Finally Jacob licked his lips.
"Leah."
I turned to him, my eyebrows raised.
"What?"
"Leah. She was my ex-fiancée. Childhood sweethearts and all. Talk of the town. And it all came crashing down." He took another drink.
"I'm sorry to be unloading this all on you. It's just…I haven't been able to with anyone else since it happened."
"It's alright. You can tell me." I was never very good at the sensitive things. I feel so weird when people are pouring their hearts out to you because I don't know what to do or say. But I could see that Jacob needed it so I had to try.
This was enough invitation for Jacob as he began to tell me his story. It is not my place to say exactly what happened except that Leah did something truly horrible to Jacob, betrayed him and killed his dreams. And that is why he escaped to Seattle only a little over a month ago. He really liked it here, already quite high up in his firm but the memories still haunted him.
As he finished, he drank the last few drops of his beer before ordering another one.
"Hey. I think that's enough. Alcohol isn't going to make it go away. I mean, I'm not trying to be insensitive or anything. It's just the way it is. All you can really do is move on. And drinking your way through it all isn't exactly going to help anyone. It's just going to give you a massive headache tomorrow and we have a lot of work to cover so I'm not going to let you drink anyways."
Jacob looked at me, his eyes haunted with darkness but he nodded and grabbed a bill out of his pocket dumping it on the table. He started outside and I quickly finished my drink before following him out.
As we went out into the evening night, Jacob suddenly turned to face him. He caught me by surprise as suddenly his lips were on mine, feverishly kssing me. I used all my strength to push him away.
"Jacob!"
He stepped back, looking into my eyes. Then, as if just realising what he did he let out a frustrated sigh punching the air with his arm. He brought his hands up and pulled them through his hair.
"Ohmigosh, Bella. I'm so sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me! ARGH! Why do I have to be such an idiot?"
I reached out to him. "Hey, it's alright. Don't worry about it. I mean, I just… Look you need your rest. Um, I'll see you tomorrow."
I hurried away, without looking back. When he kissed me…well I didn't exactly not want it. In all honesty, my heart seemed to skip a beat and as I ran away now, my hands were sweating and fidgeting with my coat buttons. What was happening to me?
EDWARD'S POV
What was happening to me? Here I sat, on the couch, the television on but I wasn't watching it. It was late, much too late but still I sat, waiting. I glanced at the clock yet again to see that not even a minute had passed.I ran my fingers through my hair, a nervous gesture Bella would have said. Bella. Yes, where was Bella? I was here waiting, waiting for her. And still she wasn't back. What was going on?
No, no, no. What was going on with me? When did I start caring? When did I start being so protective, so attached, so….jealous?
I knew that she'd be working. This mysterious big case! With Jacob. The young, smart, obviously talented lawyer who she was spending her whole day with into the late hours of the night. Why did it make me angry that she was with him instead of me?
And why wasn't I out? Why wasn't a beautiful girl draped across my arm or moaning my name? No. I was here, waiting. Waiting for her because she was with another man.
I mean Bella's just my friend. Well not just my friend, the best friend anyone could wish for. We've been friends forever and of course I love her in a very family way. Yes, that's why. Because she was like a sister to me and I felt protective of her and didn't want her getting mixed up with the wrong people. And Jacob? Well, I didn't know who he was so that in itself was danger.
Yes, that's what was going on. That's why I was here, waiting. Waiting for her to come back home.
I looked again at the clock. One minute had passed. Suddenly my phone beeped and the light flashed on. I seized the phone to see Bella had sent me a message.
Will be home late. Having a drink with Jacob.
Bella xoxo
My heart panged. I read the words over and over again, hoping that the next time the words would say something different, but they never did.
I shouldn't care, shouldn't be doing this. If she liked Jacob, good for her. She hadn't gone out with a guy for a while and the last one didn't turn out well. I wanted to see her happy and I guess if Jacob would make her happy, then I guess that's good.
But what if things with Jacob went really well? What if in a few years time they decided to get married? or even just move in together? She'd leave me, alone and live with him, continue her life with him.
Now that I thought of it, I had pretty much taken for granted her kindness and the dependability that Bella would always be there for me. I did appreciate her, very much. Loved her immensely for what she did for me and could never repay her for everything she did for me. And if she ever went?
Not to mention how nice it was to spend time with her. Most of the girls I….met, didn't have very much intellect. They fawned over me, had no discretion in the way they felt about me. It'd been like this for so long but not quite as long as I had known Bella. She was unlike any other girl. She was really shy but her hard outside seemed to contradict this greatly. She had never shown any interest in me sexually or even romantically. She was my best friend. We were so close she was like my sister.
I knew it wouldn't be long until someone truly appreciated her for exactly the way she is and she would like as well. But why did it have to be so soon? I always thought….I don't know what I thought. All I know is that I couldn't stand it to have Bella gone. I needed her. In ways…
Seriously…this was pathetic. I went into my room and turned on my stereo. Music wafted through my room. A soothing classical piece. Something I'd composed for my last year at school. It seemed like an eternity ago but it had this innate ability to calm me down. It was in the CD player from Bella and my fight a few weeks ago.
I'd felt so guilty after that. Something had got into Bella for one. But I couldn't blame her for what she said. What hurt me most was that I knew that everything was true. From that day on, I'd tried to be better, be there for her like she was for me. But it seemed in my oblivion she had already moved on. With Jacob.
I was too late and I shouldn't have been. If I'd only been nicer.
Ok, here comes the crazy talk again. The fight hit me hard and very subtly I was trying to show her I was better than that. I'd hardly gone out since then, my friends thinking I was going all weird. I hardly brought any girls home and furthermore, I was trying my best to be ever so nice to Bella. Trying to show her how much I really appreciated what she did for me by reciprocating the kindness.
But after all this, it still gave me no reason to be sitting here. Waiting. Waiting for her to come home to me. If I was sane, if we were only friends, if I thought of her as a sister, I'd be happy she was enjoying the company of a smart guy like Jacob. If this was so, I should not be sitting here waiting. I should be enjoying myself, not glancing at the clock every ten seconds wondering why she wasn't home yet.
But here I sat. So what did this mean? Did it….? No! That's barbaric. Could never be. It was just my craziness talking. Ever since Bella was spending more time with Jacob I just realised how much time we spent together and how that was starting to diminish. It wasn't because I….No! Definitely not.
I sighed, knowing my thoughts were just going around in circles and they were really quite irritating. I went to shower, hoping the running water would be able to wash away these thoughts. With the music still playing, I tried to fall asleep. The last thoughts that went through my head before I slept were…..
well, I wish I could remember. I just know that they kept me up for a while until I fell asleep. Just as my eyes closed, I thought I could hear the front door opening and closing and I smiled at the thought that Bella had finally returned home.
