Chapter Thirteen
The MeetingWhen we got back to Edward's house, it finally sunk in that Jacob was gone. He was dead, and it was my fault. If I didn't run away, and put him in danger, he would still be here.
Edward and I were sitting on his couch, facing each other. He reached out a hand to me.
"Don't." I said, looking into his hurt eyes. "I need to think for a minute." I told him. That wasn't much of an explanation, but I couldn't think with him touching me.
Jacob was so nice to me, even after I yelled and screamed at him for kidnapping me. I could see his side of things, now, very clearly. The Cullens are vampires, and that frightens people. I mean, Jacob and his friends, who are probably werewolves too, are the sworn enemies of the people I love. And then something hit me; I am the sworn enemy of the one I love.
"Edward, I'm your enemy!" I screamed at him.
"What the heck are you talking about?" He looked at me wild eyed.
"I'm a werewolf, for crying out loud. I'm supposed to kill you!" I was in hysterics now. He tried to hug me again, but I swatted his hand away.
"I can't think when you do that!" I told him. He smiled now.
"What's so funny?" I screamed at him.
"Sorry." He said. He wiped the smile off his face, and continued to listen to me.
"My best friend's dead! I won't get to see him again, and I almost killed him myself when I saw him. What have I become? Edward, I can't stand myself now. I want to kill things when I see blood, and I turn into a wolf! Oh my go-." He cut me off and pulled me to him. He kissed me, and it was better than I've ever remembered. He only did it to calm me down, but it felt so nice.
"Oh Bella." Was all he said. I was crying into his chest now, and I could feel us moving really fast. I opened my eyes and looked around. Trees surrounded us, and there was a river in front of us.
"Where are we?" I asked, looking into his pained eyes.
"The stream by our house."
"It's beautiful." I had stopped crying now, and had finally calmed down now. Edward sat me down on a large boulder while I was still on his lap.
"Bella, this is why I didn't want you to become what I am. You would hate yourself, for what you've become, and what happens to you when you're around humans. I hate to say this, but I really hope that you can't become a vampire. The consequences would be awful. You'd probably have a stronger bloodlust than anyone I know! Would you want that?" He said, looking at my face. I turned away from him, because I didn't want him to see my eyes. I didn't want that at all. I couldn't tell him that though.
"Edward, I'd do anything to be with you forever. I'll finish senior year, and I won't have to go to college. You can teach me everything you know. I won't have to go around people, because there's no point! I only need you and our family for the rest of our lives." Yeah, that didn't sound so bad.
"Let's just go back to the house." He said. Well, I guess I'll bring it up another time…
--
We got back to Edward's room, and sat on the couch together. He had my face in his hands, and we were staring into each other's eyes. I could only assume that he was still trying to get used to my scent again. He pulled me closer and closer until our lips touched slightly. My heartbeat was so fast at that moment that I could barely contain myself. I brought my hands up to put them on his. He pulled away, though, and I gave him a questioning look.
"Bella, I have a question, well I guess it's more like a favor, to ask of you." He looked a little embarrassed to be asking, but I gave him a nod to go on.
"Now, you don't have to if you don't want to, but I'd like to see you in your wolf form." I widened my eyes in shock, but he continued. "It's just that I've never really seen a werewolf before, since they're our enemies, so it would be, um, cool, if I could?" He ended it sounding like a question. I tried not to smile at how he was stuttering, but it came out anyway.
"You're so cute when you stutter." I told him. I didn't really want to answer the question. It would be so weird showing Edward that part of myself. It's perfectly imperfect that the woman he loves has to be his enemy in the first place.
"You didn't answer my question Bella." His face was a mask, so I couldn't tell if he was angry or flattered.
"Alright." I said with a sigh. "I just have to change in the bathroom…You know, I have to, um, take off my clothes." I was blushing like a madwoman now, and Edward was the one trying to suppress a smile.
"That's fine. I'll be waiting." He gave me a reassuring look as I turned around. I could remember a time when Jacob told me that changing in your clothes wasn't good; they would be ripped to shreds.
Once I was finished, I had to scratch on the door to be let out. I had forgotten that I couldn't open the door with paws.
I was looking down as Edward opened the door. I didn't want to see his reaction, just as I hadn't wanted to when I told him what I was.
"Bella, look at me." He said. I could hear the hurt in his voice. I looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"I really don't know what to say." He told me. I stepped out of the bathroom and he bent down to get a better look into my eyes. He brought his hands up to my face, just like a few minutes before, and began laughing.
"You're really hairy, but it's cute." He tried to get out between laughs. I was getting mad now. This wasn't how I thought he would act. I let out a playful growl and narrowed my eyes. Two could play at this game.
He stopped immediately. I continued and laughed internally; he thought this was real! I advanced towards him, and he began backing away. I pounced on him so fast he couldn't even move. We were on the floor, with me on top of him. There was a little bit of terror in his eyes. I went to grab a blanket to change back under. I was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of my eyes.
"You..should've seen…the look..on….your face!" I said, while still cracking up. I finally looked back at him and I couldn't find him.
"Edward?" I said, all the laughs out of my system. "Where." Was all I could get out before I was pinned to the floor. Edward was now on top of me with a menacing look.
"Ugh. You're so predictable Edward. You do this all the time!" Suddenly, he brought his face into my neck, and I froze. What is going on? I unfroze as he brought his face in front of my own and smiled. I slapped him playfully on the arm.
"I guess we got each other good." I said.
"Oh, you thought I was scared?" He asked. I burst out laughing.
"Yeah! Of course I did. No one could fake that look."
"Alright fine, I was. But you were too!"
"Yeah, I already admitted that." I reminded him. He looked embarrassed once again, and I gave him a smile.
"It's okay. I know something that will make you feel better though."
"What?" He sounded bored, like nothing could fix his mood.
I sat us up, trying to maneuver the blanket rapped around me, so as not to show anything. Then, ignoring a look from Edward, I leaned into him and kissed him. I felt him smile into my lips, as he leaned into me. He pulled away though.
"What?" I asked.
He smiled and said, "If you hadn't noticed, it's time for you to go home." I looked outside, and it was completely dark.
"Oh! I'll get get dressed."
On the ride home we were mostly quiet. It was a perfect ending to a horrible day.
"Oh Bella, I forgot to tell you. I won't be able to stay tonight. We're all going hunting."
"Okay. I guess I can survive for one night without you." He kissed me lightly and opened my door for me.
"Goodnight, Edward."
--
The day of the meeting came, and we all got ready at the Cullen's house. Charlie was informed about it, too, but he had to work today.
We drove there in two cars, and were shocked at what awaited us. There had to be at least 30 cars jammed into the tiny parking lot by the diner. We were even more shocked at what was inside.
There were 45 people there, all ready to help us. One of them stepped forward, obviously the leader. I recognized him as one of Jacob's friends. His name was Embry.
"Hello. Everyone here is going to help you guys with this fight against Billy." He looked really young, and didn't have very good public speaking skills, but he still got his point across.
I stepped forward to shake his hand. He wasn't much afraid of me, because I am one of them. I shook his hand, and looked around at everyone else. All of them were staring at the Cullens, some with fear, and some with longing, and then some with mixed expressions. I looked back to Edward and gave him a slight smile. He stepped forward to shake Embry's hand too.
"Hello. I'm Edward." He announced it to the whole crowd, not just Embry. There were a few murmured "hellos" to which I was grateful.
We got to know each other for the next hour, and came up with a plan. La Push was going to have a town meeting in three days. Sixty people usually came, so the rest who didn't come today would be outnumbered. The people against Billy would speak up about the Cullens, and tell everyone there to spread the news that they are good. They no longer, and have never, drank from humans, so there shouldn't be anyone frightened of them. The treaty would still be in place, but everyone would be much more friendly to each other.
We left feeling much better than when we came. We said our goodbyes to all the new friends we made, hoping that they would remain so.
--
Later that night, Edward and I lay on my bed. I was feeling pains in my head, but I ignored them. It was just a pesky headache, and I could deal with it. I got worse with each passing minute, and I could no longer ignore it. I sat up.
"Ow." I grabbed my head and Edward was sitting in front of me immediately.
"What is it? Is it a headache?" He whispered. Charlie still didn't know that Edward slept in my room most nights.
"It's worse. It really hurts Edward." I was sobbing now, and the pain wouldn't go away. We heard footsteps out in the hallway. Edward muttered something incoherent, and Charlie burst into the room.
"Bella what's wrong?" He asked in a frantic voice. He gave Edward an angry look. "What the hell are YOU doing here?"
"I-I…sorry sir. But Bella needs help. She has a bad headache."
"Yeah, it's been going on for about ten minutes." I gave a "sorry" look at Edward. I knew he would be mad I didn't tell him.
"Well, I guess we should take her to the hospital." Charlie said.
"I'll call Carlisle." That was the last thing I heard.
--
I woke up in the hospital, my headache gone. I could remember that the pain was spreading before I passed out, but all of it was gone. As I opened my eyes, I saw my families' beautiful faces around me.
"Bella! You're awake." That was Edward. I smiled widely and hugged him.
"What happened?" Just then, Carlisle walked into the room, and explained.
"Well, Bella, I have some good news." The others looked really happy, even Edward. They all knew already.
"Okay…what is it?"
"I've done some tests on your blood, and I came to a surprising conclusion. There are no more wolf genes in your DNA. It seems as if your body was getting rid of them, but it caused you a lot of physical pain. There is no damage to your body though, which is a miracle. Billy seems to have injected you with a formula, but you have to keep doing it in order for you to stay a werewolf." I was shocked into silence. I looked at Edward, and we were both smiling like maniacs.
I still wasn't convinced though. I closed my eyes and tried changing into my wolf form. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes and looked directly into Edward's eyes.
"Wow. I don't know what to say." I sat up and hugged Edward, and then Carlisle.
"I only have one question." I turned to Carlisle.
"Okay."
"When can I get out of this hospital?" He smiled at me, and at everyone else cracking up.
"Whenever you want."