Chapter 20: Rescue?
BPOV
"Bella, that guy is here again," Angela said to me, glancing over my shoulder.
"Again? How many times do I have to tell him no before he gets the hint that I'm not interested?"
"Maybe 200's the lucky number," she joked.
"Ha ha, very funny. Can't you go over and tell him no for me?" I begged.
"Nope." She was just loving this.
"I helped you get Jackson to ask you out, and you guys have been inseparable since then."
"Don't be a chicken. Go over, see what he wants, then turn him down like you've been for the past six months."
I sighed and walked over. Ever since Jacob had seen me do my striptease after work that night, he had been coming into the bar every night for the past six months. And every night he would ask me on a date. And every night I said no.
It wasn't that I didn't think Jacob was hot. In fact, he was probably the most attractive man I had ever seen in my life.
The fact was, he had seen me naked—well, almost naked—and I was pretty sure that was the only reason he was asking me out.
He just wanted to fuck me.
Well, I' been there and done that. No more. I was done with screwing guys I barely knew. I was turning over a new leaf. Saying no to Jacob Black was the first step in my de-sluttying process.
"The usual?" I asked him.
"You know what, I think I'm going to change things up. Why don't you get me a glass of Merlot."
I nodded, then walked back to the bar. "Jackson, I need a glass of Merlot for Mr. Black."
"Hey, Bella?"
"Yeah, Jackson?"
"You should really give the poor guy a break. You've turned him down every night for six months. He's actually a good guy. Why don't you give him a chance?"
"I'm trying to de-slut or de-tramp or whatever you want to call it. I've been celibate for six months. Going out with a hot guy does not help me keep that up."
"You don't have to sleep with him. Just go to dinner with him."
"An expensive dinner would involve me putting out."
"Fine, go to the movies with him."
"A darkened movie theater allows for ample make out time."
"Then go for a walk in the park!"
"That's what old married couples do."
"You are the most stubborn person I've ever meet. Why don't you pick where to go? Just give the poor guy a chance."
I sighed, grabbed the glass of wine, and brought it over to Jacob.
"Bella—"
"Let me stop you right there. Here's the deal Jacob: I'm trying to become less of a whore, and dating you will not make that easy. So I made a decision. I'll go on one date with you. ONE. I get to choose where we go. Afterwards, I decide if you get to kiss me or call me or ever see me again."
"Well, where are we going for this date?" he asked, looking slightly weirded out. Good. Weirded out faces meant he was not thinking about what I looked like naked.
"Bowling," I replied.
"Bowling?"
"Yes, bowling."
"Bella, we're out of high school. Why don't I take you out to dinner?"
"No. I choose where we're going, and I choose bowling. I can even pay for us to go bowling!"
"Okay, I'll make you a deal. We go bowling, but I get to pick where."
I thought it over. "Okay, deal. Pick me up from here at 7 on Wednesday."
"I'll see you then."
********
"One."
"Two."
"Three."
I felt myself being pulled onto the ground as the island began to shake. I looked up and saw that Edward had pulled me down and thrown himself over me.
I threw my arms around Edward, pulling him closer to me. The island was shaking like crazy. I heard stuff hitting the ground, but I kept my eyes closed.
After a few minutes, the island was still. It was silent. There was nothing around us.
"Edward," I whispered. "Edward, I think it's over."
Edward lifted his head off the ground and looked to the left, then to the right, then straight ahead. He slowly got off me, then pulled me off the ground.
Around us, I saw Emmett and Jasper helping Rosalie and Alice.
"Excellent work, my brother," Emmett said, bumping fists with Edward. I rolled my eyes. Eva got up and walked over to us. Steven, Carl, and Savannah were all dusting themselves as they got off the ground.
"So, did we do it?" I asked her. She nodded, smiling.
"We did great. We got the plans, deactivated the gas, blew up the station, and killed Aro. Mr. Howard will be so pleased."
"So now what?" Emmett asked.
"Now," she said, smiling, "we walk back to camp, call the boat on the sat phone, and tell them to come and get us off this island."
"You mean—we're going home?" Alice asked. Eva nodded.
"Well, what the hell are we standing here for? Let's get back to camp!" Rosalie shouted.
I slid my hand into Edward's and the two of us started walking back to camp. Everyone else was following us, talking excitedly.
"Can you believe we're finally going home?" I asked him. I was thrilled. I missed my dad, Charlie, so much.
"Uh, yeah it's unbelievable," Edward said unenthusiastically.
"What's the matter? Aren't you excited?" I asked him.
"I'm happy to be going home to see my family," was all he said.
What was wrong with him? Did he not want us being seen together in the public? Was he embarrassed of me? Because I worked at a strip club?
"Edward, I have a question," I asked tentatively.
"Bella, you can ask me anything, and I will always tell you the truth."
I took a deep breath. "What's going to happen with us when we go home?"
"I don't know," he said softly. "It's different for you than it is for me. Your friends see you have a new boyfriend, they congratulate you, but otherwise stay out of your business. The people my family calls 'friends' scrutinize every decision I make. My family is very prominent. My dad is a famous surgeon and my mother is friends with all the women in high society. The women she hangs out with are people like Alice's parents."
"So, you don't want to make me your girlfriend because you're ashamed of me," I said, staring at the ground.
"Bella," he said, stopping. I kept staring at the ground. "Bella, look at me." I locked my eyes with his. He placed his hand right under my jaw. "I could never be ashamed of you. You are the kindest, most sincere person I've ever met. I'm only thinking of you. One of my ex-girlfriends sent me to the emergency room after meeting my friends. Two others have gone into the Witness-Protection program. I just want to make sure you can deal with these people."
"Edward, whatever we do from now on, we do together. If I'm diving headfirst into the shark tank drenched in blood, I want you there with me." He smiled and pulled my face to his.
"I really don't want to be seeing that," I heard Emmett shout from behind us. "I don't want to hurl." I stuck out my right hand and flipped him off.
"Real classy, Swan," Emmett chortled.
I ignored him and went back to kissing Edward. I pulled back, sighed, and rested my head on his chest.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"Nothing. I just can't believe we're actually going to go home."
He laughed. "That's the hundredth time you've said that."
"Well, I'm really excited. I haven't seen my dad for almost three months. Or my friends. Or anybody except you and Alice and Emmett and everyone else on this island."
"Hey, bro," Emmett said, coming up behind us and throwing an arm around Edward's shoulder.
"What, Emmett?" Edward groaned.
"What do you say we race back to camp?"
"Why would I do that?" Edward asked, sounding annoyed.
"Well, it's our last chance to do something fun like this on the island. Soon, we're going back home. Why not go out with a bang."
"Emmett, you're insane!" I laughed.
"C'mon, Edward," Emmett begged.
Edward sighed. "I don't know why I'm doing this…"
"Yes! Okay, on the count of three, we both start sprinting for camp. One, two, three!"
"Emmett, wait!" Edward called as Emmett sprinted into the trees. Edward chased after them.
"Boys," I muttered. I waited for Rosalie to catch up, and the two of us walked together since our boyfriends had deserted us.
"So, what's going on with you and Edward?" she asked. "You looked like you were fighting up there earlier."
"Oh, that. I was just asking what's happening with us once we get off this island, and he seemed hesitant to commit to anything, saying something about his friends and family, but we decided to take it one day at a time."
Rosalie muttered something under her breath.
"What?" I asked her.
"Nothing," she said, looking away from me.
"Rose, is there something you want to tell me?" I asked her.
"It's nothing," she said, still avoiding my glance.
"Rose…" I started to whine.
"It's not my business. This is between you and Edward."
Me and Edward? What did she mean me and Edward?
"C'mon, let's go find our idiot boyfriends," she said, linking her arm with mine. We stomped through the jungle, pushing branches out of our faces until we made it back to camp.
"You did it! I can't believe you did it!" Leah shrieked, throwing herself into my arms.
"Leah, wow, you're looking better!" I said excitedly.
"Yeah, I stopped vomiting earlier today. Maybe it's done and I'll be fine," she said hopefully.
"Better or not, we're getting off this island," Rosalie said. "As soon as Eva and the others get back, we're calling the freighter and telling them to get us the hell off of this island."
"Good plan," she laughed. "I hope the people on the freighter agree with that."
"Here comes Jasper and Alice. Eva, Steven, Carl, and Savannah were right behind them." Sure enough, a minute after Jasper and Alice walked in, the freighter group joined us.
"So are you going to call them?" Alice asked anxiously.
"Give me a moment," Eva said, putting her pack on the ground. "Steven, take this," Eva said, handing him the folder Rosalie and I recovered from the file room. Steven put it in his case, and put the case in his backpack.
Eva walked over and picked up the sat phone. She dialed the ship, and the phone started ringing.
"Yeah?" a gruff voice answered on the other end.
"Tony? It's Eva."
"This better be good. We're not coming back out to the island unless you have that file."
"We got it!" Eva shouted into the phone. "We got it!"
"And Aro?" he asked.
"Dead. He was going to kill us, so Steven shot him. The gas is deactivated, and the station is destroyed. It's all over."
"Are you sure?" Tony asked skeptically.
"Yes, I'm positive. We placed the dynamite in the building and detonated it after we were a safe distance away."
"Excellent. Your boss will be very happy."
"I know. Can you send the zodiac to come get us off this island? We're ready to go home."
"I'll send Leo back on the zodiac. He can bring you all back here." Eva ended the call on the sat phone and turned to the rest of us.
"He should be here soon. You're going home."
********
"Jake, will you tell me where we're going?" I complained as Jacob got in the driver's seat of the Ferrari.
"Nope. It's a surprise." A mischievous grin spread across his face.
"Jake, you know how I feel about surprises," I whined. "You come home, tell me to get dressed in my nicest dress, then we leave on your private jet. Now, we're in some random place driving to some unknown destination." I let out a sigh and rested my neck on the headrest on my seat.
"We're here," he said, pulling into the parking lot of a restaurant.
"Spago?" I asked in disbelief. "You brought me to Spago?" I remember six months ago when Jacob and I heard about Wolfgang Puck's new restaurant in Beverly Hills. Ever since we had dinner at Postrio in Las Vegas, I had fallen in love with his cuisine.
"I told you we'd come here, baby."
"Yeah, I thought when we were in L.A., not for some evening trip!" I screeched. Jacob was always doing things like this—spoiling me with expensive gifts, five-star dinners, and grand gestures. I had a feeling tonight was another grand gesture night.
"C'mon, let's go in. I called ahead, and Wolfgang is actually here tonight."
"Really?" I breathed. "Do you think we could actually meet him?"
He laughed. "Baby, I'm Jacob Black. Of course we can meet him." I leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around me. We walked into the restaurant, and were seated immediately.
"We'll have your most expensive bottle of champagne, and whatever the chef wants to make for us," he told the waiter. He nodded and walked away.
"Champagne?" I asked in disbelief. "We aren't celebrating anything."
"Not yet."
The waiter came back a moment later with champagne and two glasses. He uncorked and pored each of us a glass.
"Thank you, Jimmy," Jacob said, slipping the waiter a tip as he walked away. I was about to take a drink, when Jacob pushed my glass back down on the table. "Not yet."
He got out of his chair and knelt in front of me. "I'd like everyone's attention," Jacob called out in the restaurant. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at us.
"Jake," I whispered. "What are you doing?" He knew how I hated being the center of attention.
"Isabella Swan?" he asked, gazing into my eyes. I felt tears start flowing down my cheeks. "I love you. I will love you forever. I will never love anyone the way I love you. Will you marry me?" He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a small, black box. He opened it, and inside there was a large diamond ring.
I looked back at him, and nodded. I couldn't say anything, I was so happy.
The entire restaurant burst into applause as Jacob lifted me out of my seat and planted a huge kiss on my lips. I wrapped my arms around the neck to deepen it. A moment later, he set me back on the ground.
"I love you," I whispered to him.
"I love you, too."
He kissed my hand before sliding the ring onto my finger.
********
"Eva, I think he's here," Alice shouted from the shore. She and Jasper had been staring at the ocean for the past hour, waiting for Leo and the zodiac to arrive.
Eva ran to the shore and helped Leo toe the zodiac onto the beach.
"So how many of you are there?" he asked her.
"There're four of us, and eight of them, which makes for a grand total of twelve people, plus you."
He thought for a moment. "I can fit all of you. We might move a little slower, but we'll get there. Gather everyone and get them in the boat," he ordered Eva.
I walked back to the beach to find Edward, but I didn't see him anywhere. I looked around, until I saw him emerging from the jungle with Rosalie tagging along behind him. Neither party looked very happy.
"What's going on?" I asked, looking from him to Rosalie.
"Nothing," he said. "We were just talking." I saw Rosalie glare at him, and he shifted his eyes away from my face.
"Well, Leo's here with the zodiac," I told them. A huge smile broke onto Rosalie's face, and she ran back to the beach to find Emmett.
"Are you sure everything's okay?" I asked him again. He nodded. I changed the subject. "It's weird, leaving," I told him.
"How so?"
"Well, this island's been out home for the past three months. It'll be weird to finally have a change to shower, drive a car, and eat food we didn't catch ourselves."
He laughed. "I guess so." He grabbed my hand and the two of us joined the rest of the remaining survivors.
"Okay, Alice, is there any way you can fit on Jasper's lap?" Eva asked her as everyone piled into the zodiac. Alice obliged and seated herself comfortably on top of Jasper. He didn't seem to mind.
"Okay, I think the rest of the girls are going to have to sit on somebody in order for us all to fit." Rosalie, Leah and I sat on top of Emmett, Mike, and Edward, respectively.
Once everyone was situated, Leo jumped on the boat, and we headed out into open water.
"How long will it take to get to the freighter?" Eva asked him.
"About half an hour," he said.
The 12 of us sat in the boat as Leo navigated it around the ocean's waves. We passed the wreckage site after 20 minutes. We all bowed our heads. Remembering everyone we had lost.
"There she is, right us ahead," Leo shouted to us over the wind. I looked ahead and saw a huge black boat, sitting in the water.
"That's where we're going?" I asked, shocked. Leo nodded.
We approached the boat and someone lowered a rope ladder down. "You all go on ahead and climb up,: Leo told us. Alice got out first and climbed up the ladder.
Jasper followed her. Then Rosalie, Emmett, Leah, Mike, and finally me. I got off Edward's lap and started climbing up. I looked back down and saw Edward staring up at me, making sure I was okay. I smiled at him and continued climbing.
I finally approached the opening on the ship and climbed on board. As soon as I stood up, a pair of strong arms grabbed me, something was thrown over my head, and all I saw was darkness.
AN: An answer to some questions—no, this is not a Lost crossover. I am a huge Lost fan, and I got the ideas from Lost, but it is only involving Twilight characters. Some of the plot elements are similar to things that happened on Lost, but it is not the same.