Jacob flopped on his couch as we entered his house – Quil, Embry and Sam were not far behind. They followed the same suit. The house was much too small for these rather large men, all of which were shirtless and shoeless. The Bella before would've excused herself to hide the surge or red that inevitably would've spotted her cheeks. I sighed and shook the thoughts out of my head. That wasn't the way to think, I wasn't that girl anymore. Edward, Alice, Jessica, Charlie, everything was cut out of my life, I had to start over.
My hand flew to my mouth as I gasped, wide eyed. All of the boys looked at me eyes full of confusion and horror. "Charlie," I mouthed, unable to speak. "Is he okay?" My face twisted in pain as my thoughts turned to poor Charlie. My bewildered father, what was happening to him while everyone searched for me?
"I've been over there quiet a bit, Bella," Sam started, hesitant – his eyes moved from me to Jacob. "There was a note . . . left by you. That you were leaving Forks, you couldn't stand it," he paused momentarily, throwing one final quick glance at Jacob, who nodded. "It said you and Edward broke up . . . and you were miserable now," my mouth was agape as he spoke, but I urged him on. "Charlie was devastated to begin with; he had no idea if you were alive or dead; or even if you could fully take care of yourself. Renee flew down with Phil to start looking for any place you could've gone. When it came time to question Edward and the rest of the Cullens about what had conspired between you and the lee- your boyfriend, they were no where to be found. Carlisle never called into work, or showed up. Edward and Alice never showed up for school and Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper never made it back to their campus.
"So with a little suggestion from Jacob and myself, we planted the seed of doubt in Charlie and Renee's head. It was quiet a coincidence that you and the Cullens disappeared around the same time as you decided to run off. You're of age now, uhm then?" Sam shook his head, confused at what tense to use, but continued on. "Charlie and Renee were much more content with the idea of you running off with the Cullen family, rather than running off on your own. They fully believe that when you are comfortable you will come back to them."
"Yeah, good thinking with that note there Bells, no one would've have thought it had anything do with the Cullens if it weren't for that," Embry chortled highfiving Quil. Jacob glowered at both of them, arms crossed across his chest. All this talk of Edward and the Cullens angered him.
A realization washed through me. "Guys, I never wrote Charlie a note," Four sets of eyes glanced at me quickly, then to Sam. His brow furrowed once again.
"Perhaps it was Edward, already anticipating your change and the time period afterwards," I nodded. Yes, that was plausible. I closed my eyes as Edward's God like face entered my mind. In my mind, he was in his meadow – skin glittering as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair. A crooked smile gracing his marble features. My chest stung as I opened my eyes, looking at all the men before me. Each of them were beautiful in there own way, but none of them were Edward.
Jacob frowned at me, watching as my expressions changed before him. I smiled sadly. Before I could blink Jacob hurled himself over the back of the couch and was pulling me into a bear hug. I gasped in shock as my body crushed into his. Warmth flooded my skin as he held me. I relaxed and wrapped my arms around him, feeling more at ease. "You'll be okay without him," he whispered, kissing my forehead. "I promise you'll be okay."
One of the boys coughed, breaking us apart. "Not a word, any of you!" I snarled threateningly. "Quil, you wanna get throw out like a puppy that pissed on the carpet again?!" I yelled at him, stopping his snickering immediately.
"Bella, seriously, the dog comments have to stop – even if Quil does still pee the bed," Sam burst out laughing as he spoke, doubling over in his seat. Quil's face turned an odd shade of purple and he threw himself at Sam, causing both of them to tumble the couch onto its back. They wrestled back and forth in the tiny room.
Sam pulled Quil from beneath him and slammed him into the nearest wall, knocking over the tall wooden case that loomed by the point of impact. It's contents spilled all over the ground as I shot forward, catching the cabinet before it landed squarely on Quil and Sam – who didn't skip a beat and kept wrestling.
Embry and Jacob hooted and hollered; razzing both the boys as their wrestling carried on for another minute or two. Eventually, I pushed the case back up against the wall and quickly scooped up all its contents. Model airplane pieces were strewn about as well as some glass cups and plates – some of them already shattered from the fall.
They rolled towards me, Quil choking Sam gingerly. I growled kicking Quil in the head when they ran into my legs. "Bad dog," I hissed at them as Quil yelled a string of profanities. I nudged Sam in the side with my foot, "Go in that," I pointed with my toes – "direction," I finished.
Eventually their match ended with Sam flinging himself towards Jacob in an attempt to end the fight. Quil mistook that gesture as Jacob's entrance into the fight and bull rushed Jacob. However, he was ready for Quil and he stepped aside – letting Quil run face first into the kitchen counter in the other room.
Without a word, he picked himself up and stormed out of the house, defeated. Embry heaved a large sigh and took off after his friend mumbling more obscenities.
Jacob continued to laugh as Sam panted – sitting on the floor next to him. I rolled my eyes at the both of them, swallowing hard. My thirst was a constant itch in the back of my throat, always burning.
"I need to just get you guys a tug-a-war toy and let you go at it for a few hours," I sighed, setting all the pieces to the planes and cups on the toppled couch. I bent down and started sweeping up the broken glass with my fingers, unaware of Jacob's incredulous gaze. I peaked up through my hair leasurily to find him staring at me. "What?" I questioned as I stood up with the broken glass in my grip.
He sighed and motioned to the trash can. I strolled into the kitchen and let my grip go over the trash and the glass fell inside of the plastic. I walked back out, placing my hands on my hip, "What is it?"
He sighed again. "Bella," he breathed reaching for my wrist. He held my hand up in between us, staring at it intently. Finally I understood. Shards and pieces of glass stuck in and out of my skin where I previously held the broken chunks.
"Oh," I said lightly. I tried to pull my hand away, but his grip was rough and harsh as he guided me towards the kitchen instead. He pulled out two much too little chairs for us to sit in and placed my hand on the table top. Swiftly he twisted behind us grabbed the trash can and placed it next to the table. "Jake, wait a minute, I can do this myself,"
"Bye Sam," Jacob called towards the living room. I had forgotten about Sam, but I heard the door shut quietly as Jacob spoke. "Hush Bella, please?" He looked up with me with big brown, pleading eyes. I couldn't say no, I sighed my defeat and outstretched my arm.
Gentle as ever Jacob pulled the pieces of glass out of my skin. Every few moments he'd look up and ask, "Am I hurting you? Tell me if it hurts alright?" I chuckled once and he ended up pushing on piece in further. I laughed as he cursed, once again questioning if he was hurting me or not.
His face was very close to my hand as he worked on removing all the shards. I could feel the tingle of his warm breath throughout my entire body. I closed my eyes and let myself be wrapped in the forest type of scent he was giving off. He wetted a cloth and whipped down my hand softly. I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation.
Suddenly, I felt his very warm lips kiss the top of my hand delicately. My lips up turned in a smile as I opened my eyes. "Is m'lady pleased?" His lips moved against my skin as he gazed up at me.
"Why thank you Mr. Black, I believe that adds 3 years onto your life, in addition to lifetime servitude," we both laughed in delight as he released my hand. We didn't bother getting up – rather we continued to talk for an incalculable amount of time.
What do we think? I'm still not sure on any of their fates, including Edwards. Watch out y'all it could go either way.