A loud banging at the front door of my apartment woke me up violently, causing me to shoot up out of bed so fast that I got dizzy. I blindly searched for the edge of my nightstand with my hand to steady myself, but was met with Edward's arms around my waist instead.
"Are you okay?" He said. I could tell that he was on edge.
"Yeah I'm fine, just stood up to fast." I turned toward him and his concerned, honey eyes met mine. "Who's at the door?"
He opened his mouth to give me an answer, but before any words could make it out we were interrupted by another loud sound - this time an angry sounding voice.
"ISABELLA SWAN, OPEN UP THIS FUCKING DOOR RIGHT NOW." My eyes grew wide as Edward's transformed into a protective glare. Jacob Black. Jacob fucking Black was at my door and Edward was standing in my bedroom.
"Stay here." I demanded, slipping out of my door and shutting it behind me.
By the time I made it to the entryway I swear I could hear Jacob's angry breathing through the thick wood. I slowly twisted the lock, wincing as my best friend busted through the doorway and spun to glare at me. If the situation wasn't so dire, I might have laughed at the fact that it looked like laser beams would shoot out of his dark pupils at any moment.
"Jacob..." I started, but couldn't manage to get anything else out before he interrupted.
"Jacob, what, Bella?" Before I could answer he whipped his head around to face the hallway leading to my bedroom. I peaked around his broad frame to see Edward, standing at the entrance to the living room where I was about to start and finish an argument with Jacob.
"Edward, I thought I asked you to stay back there!" I gave him a stern look, wanting to convey that I was no longer a pushover teen that would allow him to step in to any difficult situation.
"He knew I was here anyway." To his credit, he didn't move from his position even as Jacob began to shake. I gripped onto his bicep, dragging him over to sit on the couch.
"You need to calm down, Jake," I said, sitting down next to him and rubbing his forearm lightly with the tips of my fingers. I was angry with him for showing up and pounding on my door like a madman, but I also understood that I could have told him sooner. He was the one that had to pick me up when I fell apart. He was the one that had to attempt a relationship with me when I had all of the insecurities left over from being broken down by my first love. I couldn't blame him entirely for being pissed off.
"How in the hell am I supposed to calm down? Are you fucking crazy?" I wanted to shrink back into the couch cushions, but I didn't want Edward to think he needed to interfere more than he already had so I stayed put.
"Jake I can't say what I'm doing is the smart thing," I glanced over Jacob's shoulder to make eye contact with Edward, trying to show him with my eyes that although I was telling the truth, I wasn't trying to hurt him. "I can say, though, that I couldn't help it even if I wanted to. Jake, I can't imprint because I'm not like you, but I know that if I could it would be with him. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I want to understand, Bells, but I can't help but think about the time you almost died after being left in the forest," I cringed, knowing that Edward didn't know about that part yet. I couldn't even make myself look at him. "Or the times that me or your dad missed hours of sleep to sit with you when you woke up screaming in the middle of the night."
I wanted to punch him in the mouth, but I knew he needed to say his peace. To be honest, Edward probably deserved to hear all of this. He made a huge mistake, and him knowing what the repercussions were may not be an entirely bad thing.
"I know. I know, and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I didn't intend on one of my friends posting a photo before I called you." I shook my head, mentally promising myself to rip Dillon a new one as soon as possible.
Edward cleared his throat unnecessarily. I could see the pain in his eyes and immediately felt horrible for letting this conversation occur in front of him. "Jacob, I know I'm not who you want to hear from right now." Jake scoffed and rolled his eyes, not even turning to face him. "I just wanted you to know, though, that I won't be leaving again. I swear it."
Jacob stood up faster than I had ever seen him, voice dangerously low as he addressed Edward. "I will have to see that before I believe it." He turned and gave me a last irritated look before walking outside and slamming the door behind him.
I planned to call him after giving him some time to cool off, but first I needed to clean up the mess that my werewolf best friend left in his wake.