A/N: I've been neglecting this story recently. Sorry. I've been, well, kind of lazy, and also making arrangements for transportation for Anime Boston which I'm psyched for. Plus, my birthday was yesterday, and my last year of teenager-dom is upon me.

"Jake, what's been going on with you lately?" I asked one late afternoon in mid-November, roughly a week before Sam and Emily's wedding. Me and Jacob were lounging against our driftwood log, watching the waves slowly ebb back and forth on the shoreline, sweeping little rocks here and there out to sea; once I'd thought of making a business selling polished rocks, but I was only five and completely unaware of the fact that not many people wanted to buy rocks from the ocean.

"What're you talking about? I'm fine." He said without looking at me; he'd been sulking a lot, and I didn't understand why. Was he jealous? Of what—Alice and Edward? That didn't make any sense. Jacob wasn't a child, so why did he feel the need to act like a child?

"No, you're not. You've been sulking for weeks now; you don't talk to me the same way you used to, and when you do, it's barely more than a sentence at a time. What's wrong? I don't understand."

"You know what?" He said, turning his head towards me, his dark eyes glittering with barely contained anger. "You don't understand anything, Bella! You're so naïve, thinking that I'm going to be fine watching you go visit your ex-boyfriend at the hospital. He's going to want you, and you're just going to let him sweep you up in his disease-ridden arms and sail off into the cancer sunset!"

"Jacob!" I shouted, standing up quickly from my spot next to him. I was seeing red, all of a sudden. How dare he assume that I was going to be with Edward, even though I don't love him anymore? What was wrong with him? All of my life, I've had people assume I'm stupid, or naïve, or all of the above, and I honestly expected better than that from Jacob. "You have no right saying that!"
"No," He said, rising as well, towering over my small frame. I can honestly say that I was a little afraid. "You have no right. I've been watching you go visit him, thinking 'Oh, well, he'll die soon. She'll be back.' And all you keep talking about is how he might get better."

"I said that once, almost a month ago! Why are you bringing that back up again?"
"Because it's proof that you still want to be with him!"

Those words felt like a slap in the face, to be honest. I'd never realized that Jacob was watching me like women in sitcoms who worry about their cheating husbands did. He didn't trust me.

"Damn it, Jake, I don't want to be with him! Why can't you get that through your head?" I shouted, kicking out at the sand in frustration.

That triggered a harsh, mocking laugh to erupt from Jacob's lips. "Wow, Bella, I didn't realize we were five-years-old again!"

"Says the guy who doesn't trust his girlfriend."

"Oh, no, no, we're not that anymore. I don't share girlfriends."

I was speechless…speechless, hurt, shocked and unable to comprehend what had just happened. Jacob had basically spelled it out for me that we were no longer dating, and that hurt more than anything else he'd said.

"How can you say that?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked towards the sea, his expression grim and a far cry from the Jacob I'd seen moments ago. "I don't know, Bella. I hate that you go to see him, and when you come back, it's like your mind is always back there. Hoping, waiting for something to change. I don't like sharing him with you. And now Quil is getting all cozy with that Alice girl, and everyone is busy doing something else…I feel left out, I guess."

I felt strangely calm while he said all of this, and I didn't know why, to be honest. Jacob had always seemed more mature than his years, but I still forgot that he was still shaking off the shackles of puberty. He was a teenager, and to be fair, so was I, but I was what my mother called an old soul, so I didn't exactly look at things the same way. I've always been different.

"Alice doesn't know any better, and Quil does. He's not getting cozy with Alice because she can never emotionally reciprocate anything that he could. So that's a dead end, right there. Everyone else has a life, big deal. It doesn't mean you should go off sulking. Sam and Emily are getting married, so there's something else people are involved with. As for me, I go visit Edward because majority of his family is across the country who don't want to handle his illness; Carlisle is busy with patients, and Alice, so he doesn't have time to help Edward very much. I am the only person who can visit Edward, the only one. Neither of us have any romantic feelings for each other. We had a time and a place, and it's in the past. You have no right to tell me that you feel lonely. There's so much you could do. You just choose not to. I think we should take a break until you can handle this loneliness without freaking out at me."

I didn't look at Jake when I heard the sharp intake of breath; I just couldn't look at him. If I did…then I just might forgive him. That's just how it was: his puppy-dog, "please forgive me" eyes were impossible to resist, unless you were Sam.

"You're…not kidding, are you?" He asked in a hesitant whisper, as if he was afraid of the answer.

I didn't answer right away. I pretended that my attention was too pre-occupied with the surf; the slate-grey waves beating down again and again on the shores, smoothing every stone little by little. A stone is kind of how I felt right now, and all of the events of the past few months have been wearing me down slowly. I didn't want to be a stone. Or the waves, for that matter.

"I see…I get it now; I've been a bad boyfriend to you, and now you're liberating yourself." He said, apparently having taken my silence for a yes.

"No, Jake, I'm not liberating myself. I'm just trying to let you get control of yourself before we begin again."

"So, we're still going to be together? In the future, I mean?"

I shrugged. "Maybe, who knows?"

"Bella…" He said desperately, grasping at anything to give him assurance that I didn't give up on him completely. I hadn't, of course, but I wanted to be able to date someone without wondering if he was really happy with me. For Jake, that meant, getting over this strange jealousy he felt over…whatever it was exactly. "Please, just tell me…do you still love me?"

That question caused my heart to skip a beat. In that moment, Jacob had sounded much like the Jacob I used to know as a child who'd asked me that very same question whenever I left. I used to wonder if he hated me for stopping visiting. Now, though, he sounded tired, and so, so sad.

"Yes, Jake," I said, struggling to keep my voice from cracking with emotion. "I've always loved you."

He sighed. "Okay, so you don't hate me."
"I never could," I murmured as I rose and escaped the beach before the tears began to fall, and sobs escaped my chest, essentially doubling me over each time. This had been so much harder than I thought it would be. Jacob was the only one who could bring out such emotions in me, apart from my parents, though I should have known that I'd cry when temporarily breaking it off with him.

"Bella?" Seth called as he exited his mother's house, bathing suit in hand; I'd caught him going to the rock cliffs to jump for recreational purposes, of course. "Bella, what's wrong? Did Jake do something?"

I shook my head rapidly, hands desperately trying to wipe the tears from my face. "No," I croaked, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. "No, I hurt Jacob."

"What?" He said, sounding confused. "What did you do?"

"I broke up with him."

"What? Why? What happened?"

"He's been acting so jealous of everyone lately, and he doesn't talk to me anymore, and when he does, he's so angry." I said, feeling Seth's arms wrap around me in a friendly hug. Good old Seth; he could always be counted upon to comfort anyone who needed a hug.

"Oh, Bella, it'll be okay. You and Jake are like those best friend charms people get sometimes when they're little: they fit perfectly, and are meant to be. How can you argue with Fate? You may try to fight your destiny, but it always wins in the end. You and Jake are destined to be together, and sooner or later, you'll find your way back to each other."

I hope so, Seth, I really hope so.

A/N: Sorry for neglecting to update. I've been busy, while also a tad bit lazy. I just don't know what to do with this story anymore.