Disclaimer - All Characters and Copyrights belong to Stephanie Meyers.
Author's Note: So, someone sent me a note today asking me to get off my butt and update this story. So here you go, as always I hope you enjoy it, and Happy Holidays!
Chapter 21 - We have a Bonfire to get to...
Unfortunately Jake and Bella were not able to reach the old picker before he closed for the day. They weren't upset about it as the delay was the result of both of their happiness being revealed. Jake had imprinted on Bella, and all the bad news in the world couldn't ruin their good moods right at this moment. Jake had just returned to the car with the bad news about the dealer. "Well, I'm a little lost on what to do here. We do have some options. So let me tell you what we could do, and then you tell me how you want to go about it. How's that sound honey?," Jake stated. Bella smiled and it lit up her face. "This is what I love about this man. This is what makes him such a better boyfriend than Edward," Bella thought. Then her faced went blank. "Is he my boyfriend now? We really hadn't discussed that, and I still need to talk to Edward. I know I'm Jake's imprint. I'm sure he would jump at the chance to call me his own, but perhaps we need to discuss some things." Jake knew he had lost her, and chuckled to himself. She hadn't heard a word he said. She was in one of her "Thoughtster Wheels". "Bells, sweetheart. Did you hear our options? Do you want me to repeat them to you? Do you plan to be in your "Thoughtster Wheel" all night?" At the hearing of Jake's cute nickname for her thought processes, she began embarrassingly smiling. He thought she was too cute and gorgeous when she smiled. "Um...maybeee," she said. "Would you mind repeating our options to me again?" Jake laughed, which in turn had her laughing. "Sure, sure. Well we can return to La Push, and then track out this way again tomorrow. If you aren't too busy. Or we can get a hotel room down the road and then stay the night. Then in the morning we can go to the dealer, pick up the part, and then head back to La Push and begin the repair work. I know it's late and regardless we can stop and eat somewhere before we decide what we want to do. It's your day, so I don't want to pressure you either way. I'd be happy with whatever you think is right. However, I do want to talk to you about us tonight as well. If we are going to move forward with us, or if you'd rather just remain friends, and we can discuss Edward and you're relationship there. It's your choices Bella, and I'm not gonna tell you what you should do. If you want we can go eat first, and that will give you time to think about not only today, but your tomorrow's as well." Bella's love for him grew exponentially the further he got into his speech. "Whatever you decide. Whatever you think." When were these statements ever presented to her by Edward, and if they were, she always had to worry about the angle or catch to her choice. Nothing was ever given freely to her, and every choice normally led to her giving up something equally or more important to the point in question. Jake truly valued her input, and it wasn't just the imprint talking, it had always been that way in their relationship. She always knew she'd get a fair discussion with Jake, he may challenge her on the choices, but he never disrespected them. She thought for a moment about what Jake had said, and then spoke. "First off, I may not be a shapeshifter, but diner sounds great. I'm starving as well. Secondly, I wouldn't mind spending the night somewhere, but I don't have a change of cloth...she laughed as Jake held up her overnight bag. Ok, well that settles that point. She smirked as him suspiciously as he put the bag back behind the seat. And finally, let's not discuss Edward or the future until we get to the hotel. Does that sound fair?" "Perfect as always Bells. Let's go get something to eat. What do you feel like eating?," Jake asked as he pulled back unto the highway.
Jasper sat there holding his wife's hand. He could sense her turmoil as she could not escape her visions. He cursed his brother for his selfishness that kept them stuck here. He had once felt guilty about his role in the events surrounding Bella, but to be honest she had been endangered ever since she was lured into Edward's trappings. They all knew that Edward had often used his compulsion abilities on Bella. She may have been a loving and accepting girl, but they all knew Edward had used his skills to keep her in line more than once. Especially if it was an argument around Jacob Black or Charlie. He didn't think any less of him, as he did love the girl. However, his constant pursuit had endangered them all. And now chaos was ruling their house. He finally noticed it was just Alice and him in the house. Esme had taken off somewhere. He had sense her distress before she fled the home, but was thankful to have that negative energy out of the house. He didn't know how much more unease he could handle. He weighed his options in front of him. Perhaps if he took Alice far enough away from here, then perhaps she would snap out of this. Based on Carlisle's discussion before he left, the investigation going on around him was serious, so they would need to leave soon anyway. Why not leave sooner? They could all hook up later and reunite down the road. He kissed his mate on the lips, and ascended to their rooms to pack up their belongings. He began to feel a sense of unease as he was packing. He tried to brush it off, but the feeling was growing more. He grabbed his and Alice's stuff and important ID's and papers, and threw them in their car. He then ran back in and wrote a note for Carlisle and Esme. He let them know he would be in touch once he had made it further South. He picked up Alice and loaded her in the car. Each step he took was getting harder and harder. He got in the car and then pulled out of the garage. He cursed as he saw Edward's car in the distance.
They laughed and joked, and stared lovingly at each other all throughout dinner. They were happy to have found this quaint restaurant off the beat and path. Bella laughed as Jake had stuck his head out the window like a bloodhound sniffing out the best smelling place in the area. She complemented his sniffer as they shared a desert. As promised they kept all heavy discussions off the table. This was just about Jake and Bells. The waitress had of course tried flirting with Jake, but while it irritated her, Bella knew it was all par for the course when she went somewhere with Jake. He ignored it as usual, and at least now Bella did not have to fear him imprinting on some random person anymore, and her enjoyment of the meal increased ten fold. After they were done, they walked hand and hand back to the truck and made their way to the hotel. Once they had checked in Jake noticed they had an indoor pool and hot tub. He asked Bella if she wanted to partake, but she said she didn't have a suit, in which of course he pulled out one from their bags. Bella laughed again and then asked him suspiciously, "Now, how did you know we might need all of this? I thought none of this was planned." Jake gave her his best smile and said, "Now what kind of protector would I be, if I didn't prepare for any possible scenario to protect your sense of enjoyment?" Bella tried to keep her mask of seriousness on, but couldn't help but laugh at his ingenious line. "Sure, sure. Let's go swim for a while." In truth she was a little nervous about their upcoming discussion, and wanted to delay it some more. As always they both took each other's breath away when they got to the pool. Bella's lost her thoughts as Jake took off his shirt. And despite seeing it a hundred times, she always got hot just watching the water roll down his perfect abs. Jake too had been lost in lust when Bella jumped in the hot tub. Her perfect body filled out the suit just right, and she was even more alluring as the heat from the hot tub made her skin glow and glisten. They continued to play in the pool area for awhile, before they made their way to their room. They were sharing a king sized bed as it was the last room available. Apparently their was a Comicon convention somewhere close, so they were lucky to get the room. They both decided to shower, and afterwards prepared for the conversation they were both excited and dreading. Jake began the conversation, "Well, as you know with imprinting, the wolf, will always be what the imprinted needs. I will, just as I have always been your friend. But if you decide you want more, well, I'll be honest with you, I really want that too. However, I definitely think if that is what you decide upon, then we should let Edward and the rest of the Cullens know as soon as possible. I would like to limit any future impact their presence may cause on any other members of my tribe by them remaining in the area. Now, I'm not giving you some kind of ultimatum here honey. If you still want them in your life, we can always go to them, but I just can't risk them continuing to live in this region. That's my two cents, what are your thoughts Bella?" She cleared her throat, "Well first of all I'm so happy to hear that regardless of what I choose, that you will remain in my life," she smiled at him, but noticed he was not as happy, so she continued. "That being said, I 'do' accept the imprint, and I 'do' want you to be my 'Mate'. I agree that we need to tell Edward as soon as possible. I'm not sure how he will take it though. He's become a little bit unstable recently as you can tell, but I hope his family can reel him in. I don't want to imagine the alternative. I also agree that they should leave the area for the sake our tribe, but I don't think I will continue the relationship with them after they leave this time. I fear to discuss with them if they knew Edward had manipulated me in the past. I think I would rather live with the delusion that they loved me, versus knowing the truth that they allowed this deception just to appease Edward." Jake raced over and caught her before she erupted in tears. He was happy that she chose him, but couldn't hate those blood suckers worse for the continuous hurt they put her through. He wrapped her in his arms, and turned off the lights. He continued to comfort her until he could her her contented breathing signifying she was a sleep. "Sleep well my angel," Jake stated as he kissed her lips and then snuggled close to her. He soon fell asleep listening to the rhythm of her breathing and heartbeats, his two favorite sounds in the world.
Edward laughed as Charlie pointed the gun at him. "If you know what I am Charles, then you know that can't hurt me," Edward mocked him. He had had it with this human, and his stupidity. "Now tell me where your daughter is, and I might let you live," he snarled. He was tired of the chase he had been led on and Edward couldn't help but lash out as his world continued to crumble around him. Vampires are not used to change, nor not getting what they want, and lately he had had his fill of both. He was further agitated when he could smell those beasts floating around upstairs. He black eyes focused on Charlie, but he could not detect any fear in his the man in front of him. Instead, Charlie continued to sit there silently, his pulse rate never missed a beat. "Hmmm...that's an interesting offer there son, but my daughter is nice and safe for the moment. She had no clue that this conversation between us is occurring right now. I might tell her someday, not quite sure yet," Charlie pondered. Edward stood there shaking with anger, this human was wearing down his last good nerve. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will not be kept from my love any longer. Now the fact that you know what I am means one of two things. The first is Bella told you, which I don't believe for a moment. Or two, those animals from that reservation told you in which case, they broke the treaty. Now I will ask one more time, tell me where my mate is," Edward demanded loudly again. Once again Charlie never panicked at his threat. "I see you feel strongly about this. And believe me I do take your threat very seriously. It's why I had to take certain measures before I began this conversation. Could you be a pal, and grab that chest over there?," Charlie smiled. Edward glared as he grabbed the item in question and slammed it on the table. It popped open immediately at the impact on the table. Edward was assaulted by familiar smells as he stared at the items in the trunk. "Now, I hear that Vampire venom is dangerous to the Pack, but did you know that it has a similar affect on your race as well. That's why their blood is so unappealing to your kind. If ingested it acts like an acid in your systems. I admit our first couple of trial runs were interesting testing this fact out, but eventually we figured the perfect ratio to damage, but not kill right away." Edward was not paying to Charlie, he was too horrified by what he saw in the chest. But he could not help but pay attention when he heard a gun shot, and felt a burning sensation in his leg. He saw venom pumping out of his leg, right before he collapsed to the ground. He looked shocked at Charlie, as he cocked his gun yet again, and fired into his other leg. Edward screamed as the second bullet hit it's mark. He couldn't move, his second greatest asset, his speed meant nothing right now. Charlie shifted his chair and clicked the gun yet again, "Now you speak about broken treaty's, but I believe you and your coven were intending to break the treaty with my daughter were you not? The treaty clearly states you are not allowed to bite a human. There is no language in there that allows loop holes for love or self sacrifice. Nope, if the intention is there, the treaty is void. Well I'm here to tell you, 'Not in this Lifetime,' will I allow my daughter to become one of you. You will not manipulate my daughter any further for your own selfish needs. Now before I remove your miserable existence from this Earth, do you have any last requests?" "How did you do this,?" Edward screamed out in pain.
Quil and Jared were getting nervous, Charlie had been down there a while. They had already heard two shots about twenty minutes ago, but now hadn't heard anything since. They were about to go in when they heard another shot, followed a few moments later by another two. None of the shots seemed rushed or panicked, but they knew that Jake would kill them if anything happened to Charlie. They looked at each other then rushed in. They saw Charlie ascending the staircase, he washed his hands and then turned to them, "Get the stuff down there and then let's go. We have a Bonfire to get to."