Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
This story takes place in an alternate universe and begins between Twilight and New Moon. Like Stephenie's New Moon outtake, in this story, Jacob didn't come to help Bella guess what happened to him. She learned that he was a werewolf another way. Bella never jumped. Alice had no vision. Edward didn't return to Forks. Would Bella live the normal, happy human life Edward wanted for her?
The title here comes from a quote by the Marquise de Sévigné: We cannot destroy kindred: our chains stretch a little sometimes, but they never break.
Stretching the Chains of Kindred
Summer, 2026
by silly bella
Emmett smashed a can against his forehead. "I've wanted to do that ever since I saw Animal House." He eyed each member of the pack before he grinned and said, "Anybody want to arm-wrestle?"
The atmosphere at the cookout had gone from tense to… weird, which was better than expected, given that the majority of the guests were mortal enemies. The afternoon began slowly. With the exception of Edward, Carlisle, Jacob and Sam, none of the vampires and wolves spoke to each other. In fact, the ice didn't really break until I got sick. That's when Jacob brought out a six-pack of Ensure. He opened two, handing one to me. He tapped his can toward mine and laughed, "To friends and family." Everyone saw the irony in that.
I took a sip as he chugged the whole can. "You owe me a few more sips for that." I sipped obediently.
Edward stared, clearly puzzled, but it was Carlisle who, as Jacob slammed down another can, "Why are you doing that?"
"Bella and I have a deal. For every can or bottle of this stuff that she drinks, I drink five." He grinned at me. "It's a bit sadistic, but she finds it entertaining. I find it mostly nasty." He took a drink and made a face. "But if she can do it, I can." The next thing I knew, I had six werewolves chugging Ensure, banking up credits against the five-to-one tally Jacob and I had going. Ellen had gone inside to return with copious amounts of supplement in a variety of decidedly not tasty flavors.
Then came the look. I'd love to know the thoughts behind either side of it, but I'm sure neither Jacob nor Edward will ever tell me. Jacob looked entirely too happy to be drinking those supplements. Edward glared at him for a moment, clearly frustrated. Then he started chugging a supplement, too. Suddenly, inexplicably, this had become a contest: who could down the most supplement? Jacob had sent out the challenge and Edward was, in this truly bizarre way, taking on the whole pack. The testosterone levels kept rising.
Emmett figured it out, and after taking a long look at me, another at Jacob and a final glance at Edward, reached for a can of his own. Rosalie stared at him, aghast. Jasper grinned sheepishly at the two of them and grabbed his own can. I couldn't help but laugh.
It was like a geriatric frat party with an alarming consumption of Ensure instead of beer. The wolves, I knew, would merely burn up the extra calories. I wasn't sure what the vampires would do, although Emmett had begun to appear dangerously bloated. Quil and Embry built a huge pyramid out of the empty cans. Sam kept tossing cans into it and knocking the whole thing down. Jared and Paul made side bets on which one could drink the most. Edward crunched each can in his hand as he finished it then dropped the new empty into the growing pile of demolished cans at his feet.
One by one, they dropped out until in the end, Emmett was drinking alone. Alice and Jasper started the chant, "Drink, drink, drink, drink, drink…" Edward had finally given up drinking and joined them in chanting. He and Jasper both looked positively green. I knew I wouldn't be the only one "sick" here tonight. In the end, even the wolves began to chant encouragement to Emmett, who held each newly-opened can in my direction before chugging away. As he finished the last one, he slammed the can against his head and challenged the wolves to arm-wrestling. Then Emmett exploded into a deep belch.
"Emmett!" Esme chided.
He ducked his head and apologized. "Excuse me."
But the rest of the group – vampires and wolves – had already begun to laugh.
"Oh, man," Emmett shook his head. "That stuff is awful!" He let out a long sigh and finally whispered, "Sorry!" before he darted for the edge of the forest. Edward and Jasper gave each other a quick look and raced to join him.
When the three of them returned, all of them looking a little less green, Quil laughed. "Can't handle your supplements, gentlemen?"
Embry, who had stopped building with the cans and started counting them to determine the exact number of cans banked against me asked with a wry grin, "Do I count the ones they drank if they couldn't keep them down?"
I nodded. "Count them. They knew that when they started."
"They should count twice," Emmett shouted to Embry, who made a horrible face at the thought.
Still, the wolves watched carefully when Edward sat beside me and put his arm around me. "You're very brave to drink that stuff on a regular basis," he teased. I leaned against him without speaking.
The party began to wind down. I wasn't blind to the strategic maneuverings as first Esme, Carlisle and Rosalie said their goodbyes, to be followed quickly by Paul and Jared and their families. Alice and Jasper left quietly after that, as did Atearas and the Calls. Finally, Sam took Emily's hand and said, "We should be getting home." Before they had the kids in the car, Emmett made a short goodbye and disappeared.
Jacob hovered protectively until Edward murmured, "I'll bring her up to bed if that's all right?" After glancing at me, Jacob nodded and took refuge in the house.
"That was… interesting," I whispered. The night had become so still. "Why on earth did you drink that stuff? I mean, Jacob and the rest of the pack, they can at least digest it. And with their metabolism, they can probably use the extra calories. But you and Emmett and Jasper?"
"Extra calories had nothing to do with it. Even for the wolves." Edward laughed. "They're quite protective of you; you know."
I nodded, even thought it was a statement rather than a question. I appreciated that protectiveness. It had saved my life on more than one occasion.
"And more than a little possessive, as well," he added archly.
"Yeah, I could almost feel the testosterone." I smiled, both happy and relieved, "This could have been a real disaster."
He held me a little tighter. "I would never have agreed if I thought you might have been in danger. I knew it might be a bit tense, but I felt confident that my family could control themselves." His lips formed a grim line before he continued, "And I had to trust Jacob to know if his family could do the same."
I sighed contentedly. "So you enjoyed it, then?"
He nuzzled my hair before he kissed my forehead. "I wouldn't go that far. But I did enjoy seeing you laugh. I'd drink another round of that stuff to hear you laugh like that again."
"You were positively green. All three of you were," I giggled, stopping abruptly to stifle a yawn.
"Time for you to go to bed," he whispered as he picked me up and carried me into the house.
Jacob met Edward at the foot of the stairs. He started to give him directions then stopped, nervously. "I guess you already know how to get there," he whispered. But he added, "Stay as long as you want. As long as it's okay with her."
Nodding, Edward simply said, "Thank you." I heard Jacob come upstairs and the two of them talking in hushed voices in the hallway while I changed into pajamas.
Briefly, Jacob stepped into the room. "Night, Bells." He deposited medicine and a bottle of water on the bedside table before he squeezed my hand and left.
I crawled under the covers, but I didn't want to go to sleep. I felt like a child on Christmas Eve wanting to stay awake because such exciting things might happen while I dreamt. And Edward was here. No dream could be better than that. He sat beside me and watched as I took all the medicine and sipped the water. Then, like he had so many times before, he lay beside me. I felt his cool body through the sheets. This felt so good. So familiar.
He was silent for a while, waiting for me to sleep. When I didn't, he asked softly, hesitantly, "What was his name, Bella. Your name now, too, I guess. Jacob told me you were married."
"Ryan. Ryan Corrigan." What else had Jacob told him?
"Did you love him?" his eyes darkened. Was that jealousy? Anger?
I didn't want to have this conversation. "Not as much as he loved me."
"From what Jacob said – "
"Jacob doesn't know everything," I hissed. "And he's a little biased."
"Tell me," he said. He drew my hand to his lips and kissed my palm while he waited for me to speak.
"Ryan was a good man, Edward. He knew about you. Not everything, of course. But enough to know that I'd never gotten over you. Could never just get over you. But he loved me anyway. He told me that if I could just love him second-best, it was better than coming first with someone else. And he'd been through so much with me." I closed my eyes, willing the memory away. "I hurt him, Edward. The last time I spoke to him, I hurt him so much."
His eyes met mine sadly. "What happened?"
"I told him that the cancer was back; that this was it. I told him that I wanted to stay here. To die here." Even in a whisper it was hard to force the words out. "And he knew why. He knew exactly why."
"Why? And why did it matter if it was what you wanted?"
The words wouldn't come, but the tears did.
"Tell me, Bella. It can't be that bad." He rubbed the tears off my cheek with his thumb.
"When I told him that I wanted to stay here instead of go home to California, he knew it was because this is where I was with you. Because I'd been happiest here. This was the only time I was ever truly happy, even if only for a few months. It hurt him that being here with my memories of loving you made me want to stay here instead of going back to California to the house where I lived with him. I didn't have to tell him, he knew." I stopped trying to hold back the tears. "And when he asked me if it was true, I couldn't lie to him."
