Jacob Black
I never should have left her in forks. Not only did her parents get killed off, but she got engaged to a werewolf. Did she have any idea how dangerous werewolves are!
I sat completely still after she left as the truth sank in.
I had known that there was something that sounded unsettlingly familiar about the name Jacob. It just took seeing it side by side with the last name for me to realize who he was. Great grandson of Ephriam Black. He might not have been a phasing werewolf, but it was in his blood. Although… now that I thought about it, how else could he have managed to pull Bella out of a burning building without some supernatural ability on his side. Sure, it was possibly, but highly unlikely. It made so much more sense now why Bella was never directly harmed by Victoria. If Jacob was keeping her in La Push, no vampire in their right mind would travel there alone with the intent of pissing off a group of werewolves, although, who knew how big the pack was. For all I knew there were only one or two of them, but still. True as it was, Bella was probably ten times safer from Victoria as long as she was in La Push, but who was going to protect her from the werewolves and their sadistic tempers?
It made sense, now, why Jacob was missing. Victoria must have harmed Bella, and he ran her off. Bella was safe as long as he was taking care of Victoria. There was nothing else out there that would want to harm Bella, right? No. Wrong. I knew that no matter how safe someone made Bella, she would always find the danger in the least likely of places. Why though, would Jacob just leave her on the side of the road in order to go chase after Victoria. I understood his possible desire to want to prevent Victoria from ever hurting her again, but why would he leave her, bleeding and broken on the side of some road?
None of it made much sense, but conveniently, I didn't have too much time to dwell on it before Bella re entered the room, tears clouding her eyes.
I immediately regretted not listening in on her conversation. It would have provided much more insight than my frustrated musings.
"Sorry." She blushed, gulping down a sob.
"Jacob Black?" I raised my eyebrow menacingly at her.
"Yeah." She shrugged. "Why?"
"A werewolf, Bella!?"
"What!?" She stammered, taking a step back. "How did you know about that…"
"That doesn't matter, Bella. Do you have any idea how dangerous werewolves are?"
Her brow creased and her lips set in an angry line as she glared at me for a moment, a tear escaping the corner of her eye.
"Excuse me?" She growled.
"A werewolf, Bella, honestly!?" I groaned, throwing my arms up in the air. "I left you to protect you, not so that you could go find something more dangerous than me to spend your time with!"
"Protect me!?" She scoffed, taking a step towards me and pointing her finger at me. "Were you listening to a thing I said last night!? If it weren't for Jacob, I would be dead right now! I owe him my life!"
"If he's so great, then why did he leave you on the side of the road!?"
She faltered, hurt replacing the anger on her face. "He…. Because…"
"Because he was going to kill Victoria, right?" I pressed.
"Yeah." She whispered, "He had to… protect me."
"But you were hurt, Bella. Why would he leave you when you could have died out there…"
"I don't know, Edward!" She raised her voice to cover an escaped sob, "I was knocked out!"
I paused for a moment, breathing heavily and trying to calm myself down. I shouldn't be yelling at Bella. None of this was her fault. It was all my own.
"I'm sorry, Bella. This is all my fault." I whispered, "I should have known that leaving you wouldn't work. All you did was find worse trouble for yourself."
"No, Edward. Your trouble found me! So I ended up finding the only thing left that could have protected me… so sue me! You act like it's a bad thing when that in reality is the only thing that kept me alive! Would you rather me be dead, right now!? Because that's exactly where I would be if I hadn't found Jacob. I would be dead, just like Charlie, Renee, Callie, and Phil!" She sobbed, tears streaming freely down her face at this point.
"Bella… I" I took a step towards her to comfort her but she stepped back from me.
"No, Edward. You've done a pretty good job of staying out of my life for the last two years, so don't stop now. I don't need you to take care of me. I've survived more shit than you could ever imagine and I did it without you. Go back to your stress-free life."
"No, Bella.. That's not what I want. I never.."
"Save it, Edward. There's nothing left for you to save me from, so find another damsel in distress! I have to pack." And with that, she turned on her heel and left.
"Callie?" I said aloud to myself, suddenly noticing the addition of an unfamiliar name in her sentence.
I have to pack
Pack? For what? No… she wasn't leaving… she couldn't be leaving now.. After everything..
"Bella, wait!" I called, sprinting down the stairs in just enough time to see her slam her door. I heard the click of the lock falling in place as knocked gently.
"Bella, why are you packing? Where are you going!"
"To be with my husband." Her voice was muffled, but I understood perfectly.
I took a step back, shock coursing through my body like acid.
"Bella, please… lets talk about this."
No answer.
"I can just take this door off the hinges you kno-"
Before I finished, the door flew open and Bella stood, glaring at me on the other side.
"Now you listen to me, Edward Cullen.." she spat menacingly around her tears, "You have no right to judge me for the decisions that I made while you were gone. It wasn't MY idea to be left alone with a killer vampire after me, so do not try to make me feel bad about the only decision I could make to ensure my safety. Jacob stayed with me when you didn't, and I am not going to leave him now, no matter what he.. Er.. Just leave me alone, Edward! I need to pack."
I didn't move for several minutes after she slammed the door the second time. I stood there in the hallway, my entire body shaking with emotion. I was about to turn away when her phone rang. I froze, listening intently as she answered the phone. "Hi Sam."
Sam? Who was Sam?
"Yeah, I'm alright."
Pause.
"Yeah, I talked to him. I'm at the Cullen's house, though… I think it would be a bad idea if he came to pick me up. Can you come get me?"
A brick felt like it had been dropped in my stomach. I staggered as I listened to her give Sam our address and agree to him picking her up at 4 o clock.
She was really going to leave.
I backed up until I hit the wall before slowly sliding down it, still staring blankly at her bedroom door as she thanked him and then went back to her packing. I listened to her zip and unzip several duffel bags, stiffening sobs to the best of her ability the whole time.
I sat there, unable to move, weighed down with the dread and regret that I rightly deserved until my siblings arrived home from school.
Their return meant that it was 3:30. Bella would be leaving in 30 minutes.
"Edward, what's wrong?" Jasper grimaced as soon as he entered the house.
Alice's smile dropped immediately as she saw me. "I missed something, didn't I…" She frowned.
I ignored them both, letting my head drop into my hands.
"Edward, what is going on.." Alice demanded again, crossing the living room to crouch next to me and place her tiny hand on my back.
"She's leaving." I whispered.
"What? How.. I saw in my vision… well, I mean - You two were getting along quite well when I saw… But then I lost the vision after her phone rang. It was like I hit a brick wall.."
"Jacob called." I confirmed.
Alice gasped, "No! But… after all that, why would she still leave.." She waved her hand in the air as if to gesture to an unseen thought bubble.
"Jacob Black, Alice. His name is Jacob Black."
It only took a moment for the pieces to fall into place for Alice. She gasped again, her hand raising to her mouth quickly.
Rosalie and Emmett walked in, then, as I continued.
"I said some things I shouldn't have said in the heat of the moment, and now she's leaving. She's getting picked up in 30 minutes." I spoke in a little under a whisper, but everyone heard me.
"I knew it." Rosalie snarled.
"Rose, don't blame Bella, it isn't her fault."
"I don't blame Bella!" She spat, "I blame you!"
"Rose, wait!" Emmett called after her as she stomped her way up the stairs.
"Emmett, no." I started, "She's right. It is my fault."
We all fell silent then as we stared at Bella's door.
Nobody wanted her to leave. We all loved her and considered her a part of our family. Me especially.
"Esme and Carlisle will be back in 2 minutes." Alice informed us unenthusiastically. "I'll explain it to them, Edward." She offered.
I nodded my thanks before looking down at my watch. 10 minutes to 4.
I hesitated for a moment before whispering so only Alice could hear me - "I can't watch her leave."
Alice nodded once and squeezed my arm supportively. "I'll call you when its over."
I didn't deserve Alice to be so nice to me, but I was grateful for her understanding anyways.
I stood up then, slowly. I turned towards the door, but stopped short. Hesitantly, I turned back to Bella's room and stepped forward, extending my fist to knock twice before saying my final peace to her.
"Bella, it's Edward. I know you don't want to see me, but the rest of the family is here and they would like to tell you goodbye. I'm going to leave you alone now, Bella, so that you can come out and spend your last few minutes here comfortably, but I want you to know that I love you more than anything. My only motivation in this life is you, and if you ever need anything… I'm there. I know I wasn't there before when you needed me, but I made a mistake, Bella." I faltered then, swallowing the lump in my throat before continuing. My voice was cracked and pained as I finished - "If you need me, all you have to do is ask. I love you Bella. Nothing in the world could ever change that…" I curled and uncurled my fist several times against the door, leaning closer in hopes that she might respond. I heard nothing. She was silent.
I nodded at the rest of the family once, before heading to the back door to excuse myself.
Alice's voice faded in the background as she knocked on Bella's door then, "Bella, sweetheart, its Alice. Please come out so we can say goodbye to you.." The last thing I heard before I started running was the click of a door unlocking.
I ran blindly through the woods. I had no shoes on, but the cold freshly fallen snow didn't affect me at all. I didn't even notice.
It was reminiscent of the afternoon 2 years ago in Forks when I left Bella. I ran blindly, sobs shaking my body as I pushed my way through the bracken leapt over snow piles that blocked my path. It was reminiscent in every way except one. This time, I wasn't leaving Bella… she was leaving me.
I deserved this, I reminded myself. I left her and I shouldn't have, and it was wrong of me to expect her to take me back with open arms. We had a brief reminder of what we used to have, but then I had ruined it with harsh accusations that she hadn't deserved. It was all my fault.
I hadn't realized that I had stopped moving until I felt the cold snow penetrate the knees of my jeans. I looked around with a start to realize that I was kneeling in the middle of a clearing.
The last thing I remember thinking before my mind went entirely blank and numb was the single phrase
As long as she's happy.
