I am so sorry for the wait but I hope this chapter makes up for it. This one is a little longer than normal…I actually re-wrote blocks of it before coming up with what I have. I'm not sure if I like this chapter or not lol but it is important.
I would like to thank the faithful Marshi as well as Bella's evil twin, PrncssBunny, barbiedoll123 and Katty for your reviews.
This will be a Bella story but Jake isn't completely out of the picture; I have something in store for him and his imprinted but I'm not sure on if I should make another side story to this one or just meld the Jake/Clarabelle into this one; it could work either way. Give me your opinions they are much appreciated and taken into consideration with each and every chapter.
ONWARDS!
Aaron woke in a strange room filled with boxes and the smell of the ocean. He sighed and dragged himself out of bed. Aaron and his family had left the reservation when he was ten for his father who had obtained a job in New York. He had always enjoyed living on the reservation and was more than happy to join his parents when they decided to come and visit the family they had left behind. This is, in fact where he was at the moment. His uncle and aunt had offered to put him up in their home after finding out about his situation. Several months ago, during his last visit to La Push, Aaron had experienced a change that he never thought possible. Overnight it seemed as though he had grown taller, more muscular and constantly gave off a body heat well beyond that of normal. He looked, now more than ever, a lot like his cousin Quil. He rubbed his face with his hands and walked over to a box and pulled out the first pair of pants and shirt he placed his hand on and pulled them on. He walked out of the room and into the empty kitchen, he was meant to be meeting some people who Quil told him helped him when the same thing happened to him. He made himself some breakfast and upon finishing decided to begin unpacking his belongings from the boxes. Not 10 minutes later Quil appeared at his door.
"We going or what?" he said and rubbed his nose waiting for his cousin to stop shuffling about.
"Uh…yeah," Aaron replied and looked around him for a pair of shoes "Let me just put these on." Upon placing the shoes on his feet he stood and followed his cousin out of the house. "How far is it?"
"Couple of minutes," came Quil's short reply. And the rest of the walk was made in complete silence. "There it is." Quil pointed to a house a few houses along and crossed the street.
"Who's the girl?" Aaron asked after seeing a girl leave the house in obvious distress. He could smell her from here and she smelt intoxicating. He saw her hair billowing behind her and she brushed away the few strands that fell on her face. Her pale skin and red cheeks made her look like a porcelain doll and the tears that ran down her cheeks made her seem broken.
"Bella…" Quil broke into a run toward the girl and called out her name as he approached. She looked at him but kept walking swiftly toward the truck across the street. Quil reached her before she could enter the car and pulled her into a hug which she tried with her might to break free before finally giving up and sobbing into his shirt. She collapsed in his arms and Aaron walked toward them her smell catching on the wind and bringing it toward him. He breathed it in as though it were a drug. Aaron could hear what they were saying as he drew nearer and he longed to hear Bella's voice. "Bella, calm down what's wrong?" she sobbed harder at the question "Let me take you inside and-"
"You will not take me in there!" she screamed at him and he pulled her closer to calm her down.
"Bella please tell me what's wrong," Quil said in a compassionate tone.
"Jacob…H-he imprinted while we were on our date last night," after saying this she collapsed and her tears streamed down her face. Quil picked her up and opened the door to her truck placing her in the passenger seat before climbing into the driver's seat.
"Bella I'm taking you home," he said to her as she curled herself into a ball on the seat. Quil turned to Aaron and spoke " Aaron, go in and tell them I've taken Bella home; I'll be in when I return." Aaron merely nodded and tried to get a looked at the girl in the seat; Quil noticed "You'll meet her another time." He growled and started the truck. Aaron took this as his cue to leave. He walked across the street and up to the house Quil had pointed out to him and knocked on the door. He saw a bulky figure walk toward the door through the screen.
"Yes?" he grunted; he seemed rather agitated.
"Is this the Uley residence?" Aaron asked uncertainly.
"Aaron?" the voice asked gruffly and Aaron nodded "come in then; been waiting on you." And he then opened the door for Aaron before walking over and slumping down into a chair.
"Uhm…are you Sam?" Aaron asked pointing at the man who seemed not much older than himself. The man shook his head.
"I'm Jacob," Jacob didn't make eye contact with Aaron and Aaron suddenly became nervous.
"That girl-" before he could finish he was interrupted as Jacob leapt from his seat and took a hold of his shirt pulling him forward so the pair were face-to-face.
"Her name is Bella and you stay away from her!" Jacob growled and tightened his grip on Aaron's shirt.
"Jake!" a woman's voice shrieked "Put him down this instant!" Jacob looked over to the woman standing on the other side of the room and threw Aaron away from him causing Aaron to lose his footing and fall over. The woman rushed over to help Aaron stand. "You must be Aaron; I'm Emily, Sam's wife." She smiled kindly at him.
"Nice to meet you," Aaron returned the smile and he darted his eyes at Jacob and then back to Emily. "Quil took that girl, Bella was it? Well he took her home; he said he would be over once she calms down a bit." He smiled weakly at Emily.
"Well," she said "Sam is in here; there is much to tell you." And she led Aaron into the kitchen after motioning for Jake to join them with a stern look. An hour later Embry had joined them and 2 more hours later the boys were ready to depart for a run in wolf-style.
The next few weeks seemed to pass in a thick fog of sorrow for Bella. The light began shinning through, metaphorically, in September. She was contacted by Forks High School, one of the few local schools she applied at, and was told there was an opening in the English department teaching Freshmen and Sophomores (A/N is that right; years 9 and 10? Msg me if I am wrong….I have a feeling I am.) that she willingly accepted. She wouldn't start teaching until late October when the teacher retired but she still saw this as a turning point in her life. She had spent the time since her break-up with Jacob doing very little apart from cooking, cleaning and catching up on some reading. When Saturday rolled around that week she decided upon being a little more active. She had been longing for the smell of the woods for weeks but had not entered them since she had almost lost Jacob to Edward. But now since she had lost him for certain, she decided on a hike. She longed to see the Meadow again even though it had been a place she shared with Edward. She awoke at 5A.M. that morning in hopes of getting an early start; these hopes were squashed rather quickly when she realised that she needed new gear, her old things having been left behind at the house she once lived with Edward.
Edward. How once upon a time she had longed for him to return to her, how once upon a time she loved the person…vampire…monster who owned that name. Those days are long gone and now her heart longed for another.
She trudged down the stairs and was not surprised to see Charlie already at the table eating his toast. "What doing up this early?" he had asked her after swallowing the food in his mouth and watching as she prepared her own.
"I was hoping on a hike," Bella replied deciding upon which jam she wanted "but I forgot that I don't have any gear. I'll have to wait until Newton's opens to go buy some."
"Oh," Charlie finished off his toast before continuing "well in that case why don't you come with Billy and I today?" Bella cringed at the possibility of seeing Jake "He won't be there, Jake I mean." She turned to him as her toast popped up and eyed him carefully; there was something he wasn't telling her.
"Can you wait until I finish my toast?" she asked him and buttered it.
"Sure," his chair scraped as he stood and his plate clanged as he placed it in the sink "I have to dig out the spare rod anyway."
"The spare one?" Bella eyed him quizzically; she had her own rod so why did he need to get the spare?
"Yeah, one of the boys from the reservation is coming with us today." Bella didn't want to ask but she needed to know.
"Which one?" she hoped her voice was steady and she was pulling off a nonchalant pose.
"Quil's cousin, Billy met him the other day and invited him to join us; apparently he is a real keen fisher but left his rod with his parents. Name's Aaron or something like that." Charlie mumbled as he walked away to look for the rod.
"Aaron?" Bella whispered to herself 'that name sounds familiar…' she thought. And then suddenly it hit her; he was the boy with Quil all those weeks ago. She hadn't spoken to any of the boys since that day but she missed them all, and Emily, terribly. But there was something about that boy, Aaron, which had caught her attention. She had only caught a glimpse of him through bleary eyes but she was something….intriguing about him.
"Aaron," Billy called out and waved as a tall boy began striding toward him and Charlie. Bella had disappeared moments earlier mumbling something about a bathroom. "This is Charlie," Billy motioned toward Charlie one Aaron had reached them. "Charlie is the police chief over in Forks." And their conversation continued on and none saw a figure emerge from the shrubbery and stop in its tracks.
Bella stood at the edge of the woods and stared at the tall boy talking to her father and Billy. Even from this distance she could tell he was handsome. His black hair tumbled down around his face long and straight. He was wearing cut-off jeans and an old shirt that clung tightly to his chest exposing his muscles and strong arms. She knew he was a wolf instantly but she had never been drawn to Jacob the way she was drawn to this boy. 'Is this Aaron?' She thought, 'it must be.' She had a clear view of his face and was drawn instantly to his eyes; the standout feature on his face by far. It was at this moment that she realised she had stopped breathing; she took a deep breath just as the new male's eyes darted to her. He seemed to be having the same reaction to her appearance as she did to his. Her father turned, following the man's sightline and motioned Bella over.
"Bella," Charlie smiled and introduced her to the man before her. "This is Aaron, Quil's cousin." Aaron smiled down at her and her heart skipped a beat. It was intoxicating; it was as though his smile warmed her all the way through. It was at this moment she realised her heart hadn't been longing for Jacob, it had been longing for the boy she had only glimpsed through teary eyes, for the boy standing before her, for the boy whom was destined for her; she knew at that moment that she was his imprinted and all thoughts of Jacob and Edward seemed to wash away with the flowing next to which she stood.
Tell me what you think
-Mel