A/N: I'm feeling very comfortable with Edward's POV for now. I'm going to go back to Jacob, of course. But I'm mostly getting ideas for Edward's POV, so.
Shout_Outs:
Casper97: Even I feel bad for Edward but I'm also like: nope, never mind, he deserves it.
nicolelilfreak: I know! Everyone feels bad for him but at the same time they're all pretty much like 'mm, he deserves it' but at the same time you can't help but feel sad for him.
lytebrytehybrid88: Bella is just confused shame, she doesn't know why everyone is ignoring her, poor Bella. *squeaks then moon walks out*
carol41653: Thank you! Here's the next one (:.
Emeralden Rapley: True too. It would, considering what happened between the pair, a relationship would be kinda hard to have. There's be so many issues between them, like even if they did work through their shit, there'd always be that thing. For this story I don't plan on having Jacob Imprint at all because that's such a copout I think, like after all this Jacob just suddenly Imprints and *ta–da*, nah, that's too easy, I'm not one for easy. If a relationship does happen, it'll have to be because Jacob forgave Edward and they worked out their isht in a way that they trust each other and things like that. Getting them together will definitely be a hard thing to do, and at this point I don't know what will happen really, but I'm leaning towards alternative endings because I do want them to end up together in some way but at the same time I know that that might not be possible, so IDK. Yeah, but at this point Edward would have to explicitly ask her to say 'I see a bright future between you and Jacob' for it to happen, I think. Sorry that the update is like uber late, but it's here and I hope that it's good and that maybe, hopefully there are some answers. Romantic Jakeward is an alternative ending possibility (if you get my meaning). And btw, I love your reviews, they always have me thinking about things I hadn't before, so thank you so much for that ((:, and I love replying to them coz they always help with new chapters coz while I'm replying ideas form, so again, thank you for that and for the support (:.
anne2106: I'm mostly a terrible person coz I keep making you wait, but here it is, do enjoy.
falasedfaith: Well, it is not as soon as you would probably like it to be, but here it is.
Marie One: *ha–ha* Thank you, thank you. he is definitely not ready. I think they both need some time. Divorce is painful and messy and this one is going to be explosive. It's going to take some work but hopefully they figure it out. Here you have it, enjoy (:.
Ominius07: Pleasure (:. Yes, they sure are, at this point nobody really know what they want to see and that has me both scared and excited coz the process is going to bring out more reactions from people.
dris: Well not as soon as you'd like but there will be sort of fluff, just not the happy kind, more angsty fluff then anything (is there even such a thing as angsty fluff though?).
jacoblovinmama: It was! Yes, it all backfired on Edward in a huge way. Even me for a while I was really into the idea of Sam and Jacob but then Emily is around and I really love Emily and couldn't do that to her. So now there's gonna be a new person in the mix (well not new, but whatever) and Edward ain't gonna like it one bit *LoL*. Yeah, Rosalie knows what's up. Hopefully he has the will power to stay away but we'll see. Maybe! Thank you, hopefully it'll be over soon (well soon enough).
sara sarita02: It is! Hopefully he doesn't coz than he's gonna lose more than just Jacob.
Notes:
No New Notes
Warnings:
No New Warnings
Disclaimer: No new owners, still Stephanie and associates.
Even In The Darkness
Edward didn't go straight to Forks. He was sure that that's where his family would go looking first. Instead, he went to Seattle, checking into a dingy motel where he paid cash. He knew that he'd have to move, the rain would only conceal his scent for so long. According to the weather, it would be raining for the rest of the week, so Edward knew he'd be fine for a while with the rain washing away his scent, and it being too weak for any of his family members to catch.
The first two nights Edward stayed in the room, mostly from being paranoid that his family would somehow find him. He'd made sure to leave his cellphone at the Denali house, meaning there was no other way his family could track him and instead bought a burner phone—he had a few important phone calls to make concerning money transfers.
On the third night, it was a thunder storm and Edward was sure most people would choose to stay home. So without much of a plan, the Vampire left his room and ran towards La Push.
Edward wasn't actually planning on contacting Jacob. He didn't want a repeat of the last time. He just wanted to see his Mate, make sure Jacob was okay, that Mason was okay too. The Vampire kept in the shadows, sure that the rain covered and washed away his scent before anyone could actually catch it. He didn't want to make any mistakes with his plan.
The copper–head moved through the trees silently but quickly until he finally spotted the little red house. He stopped, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. Despite the rain, he could smell it, the scent of his Mate. It was so strong, almost as if the Shifter was standing right there, in front of Edward. The Vampire opened his eyes then moved around the house to the room where the scent was strongest. The window of the room was only slightly open, the curtain opened fully.
Edward's breath caught in his throat when he saw his Mate.
Jacob was sitting on his bed, his son in his arms. The Shifter was rocking his son gently, humming while he fed him, a gentle smile on his face. The little boy was making happy sounds as he sucked from the bottle, a little hand wrapped in a tight fist around the strands of hair that had fallen from Jacob's loose ponytail. The baby was blinking lazily, close to sleep.
Edward stepped closer, the need to be closer to his Mate getting stronger the more he watched the pair. He wanted to be a part of that, wanted to be next to Jacob. He could almost feel it, the warmth of his Mate against him, his arms wrapped around his Mate as Jacob fed their son. The scents were so strong it was almost as if Edward was right in the room, right there with his son and Mate. Gods, how he desperately wanted to be able to touch Jacob, to hold their son.
Not yet.
Edward had to be patient. He had to wait for the right moment, the right time. Right now, if he tried to contact Jacob, he knew nothing good would come of it. Jacob needed time, he needed space. And Edward would give him as much time and space as he needed.
"Jay."
Edward stopped, realising then that he'd been slowly moving closer to the window leading to Jacob's room. The sound of someone calling Jacob had snapped the Vampire from whatever trance had taken over his head. He stepped back into the shadows of the trees.
The door to Jacob's room opened, and a woman who looked quite like Jacob stepped into the room. Edward was sure this was one of the twin sisters. Jacob looked up and smiled at the woman, she returned the smile, so much like Jacob's. Edward could read her thoughts, how happy she was that her brother seemed so much better than he had when she'd first arrived, how well things seemed to be going since he wasn't spending so much time alone, but surrounded with people who cared and loved him. she was glad that the nightmares that had plagued Jacob seemed to be lessening.
"Hey Beck, what's wrong?" Jacob asked, looking down at his son to make sure he was okay before looking back at his sister.
"Just came to check up on you," the woman replied honestly.
"I'm okay, really." Rebecca nodded, running her fingers through Mason's hair gently. She thought of her own children who she'd left in Hawaii, how she missed them but knew that her brother and father needed her more. There was also guilt in her thoughts, for leaving Jacob alone with a wheelchair bound Billy and not looking back. But now she wanted to stick with her family, be with them through this.
"I wish mom could've been able to meet Mason."
"Yeah…" Jacob's voice broke at the word. Edward tried not to read his Mate's mind, wanting to give him privacy, but Edward had to know what was bothering his Mate. Jacob was thinking about his mother, about her dying, about how she'd been taken to soon. But he was also thinking about Edward, what he'd done and how Mason had been born, how maybe things would've been different if his mother hadn't died. The Vampire felt his undead heart break more.
"Jay…" Rebecca stopped talking, taking a deep breath. She sat down on the edge of the bed and touched her brother's arm. "I don't know what you're going through, baby bro, but I know it can't be healthy. When— when mom died, I couldn't stand being here, couldn't stand seeing all the people and places and being reminded of her and how she'd been taken from us. So I left this place and didn't look back."
"Beck— —"
"No listen. Being here can't be good for you, not— not with what happened." Rebecca took a deep breath, clearing her throat, pushing her hair back. "Sol is coming down with the kids for the weekend. They have school and all, but they wanted to meet the family. I was thinking that maybe a break from here would be good for you and Mase. You guys could come stay with us for a while. Take a break from this place and everything in it, have a bit of sunshine."
Jacob stopped to think about it, and then nodded. "Yeah, maybe that could be a good idea."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, it would be good."
"Okay. Well we'll let dad know, maybe he'll want to come with, just for a while. We can leave whenever you're ready." Jacob nodded.
Maybe leaving would be good for Jacob and Mason. A change of air and pace would be good for them. That was not saying that Edward wouldn't follow because he would—even if it was sunny Hawaii, Edward would follow. He'd follow Jacob to the ends of the world, if only to be able to protect his son and Mate.
Edward's reflexes worked faster than his brain processing. The moment he heard a twig break, he took off. He ran right out of La Push, to the edge of Forks. He waited, to see if anyone had followed him. He concentrated on his family and the Shifters thoughts but didn't hear anything from them. He didn't relax though, and decided to head back to Seattle.
The Vampire started at his motel. He changed into dry clothes and looked through the small motel phone book for a car rental place in Portland, calling them and booking a car. He was sure any bank activities were being tracked by his family, so Portland would slightly throw them off. When the booking was done, Edward sat back on the bed.
According to the news the rain would stop in a few hours. Edward planned to run to Portland, that way he wouldn't have to worry about payments since he didn't have a lot of money on him and taking money out any ATM in Seattle would alert the rest of the family about his whereabouts.
With a sigh, the Vampire closed his eyes and leaned back on the headboard, waiting for the rain to stop…
[]
The moment the rain stopped, Edward checked out the motel and headed for Portland. He got there in record time, glad that it didn't start raining until he'd picked up the rental car from the dealership—a spacey family car that would fit all the things Edward planned on buying while he was in Portland.
When that was done, Edward headed to the bank. While he'd been filling out forms at the car rental place, a text had come in with the information Edward needed: the bank details of one Jacob E. Black that he'd asked a 'friend'—and he used the term loosely—of his to get for him.
He was now sitting in the bank manager's office, waiting for the amount he'd written out to be transferred to Jacob's bank account. The manager, a tall, greying man, stared down at the form Edward had filled out, not quite sure if this was some kind of joke or if Edward was insane—'Maybe he's dying' the man had speculated in his mind, 'Or its drug money'. He couldn't think of any other reason why this much money would be transferred to an account with only three dollars.
"Um…" the bank manager looked at the amount, not sure if maybe Edward had made a mistake with the zeroes or what because honestly, there was no way, absolutely no way that this boy wanted to transfer that much money—even if he did scream trust fund baby. "Are you sure this is how much you'd like transferred to the account, sir?"
"Yes, I'd like five million dollar transferred to that exact account, please." Edward was going to be torn a new one, he was sure of it. But this wasn't just about Jacob. This was also about Mason, about their son having nothing but the best. If Edward couldn't physically be there for his son and Mate, this was the best thing he could do for them, financially securing their future.
The bank manager nodded his head—still a bit sceptical of why Edward would be transferring such a large amount of money to a bank account that only had three dollars in it—before he started typing away, transferring the money to Jacob's bank account.
The process itself didn't take very long. Half an hour later, Jacob E. Black was a millionaire, easy as pie.
Edward's next stop was a large store known as 'The Baby Factory'. According to Google, The Baby Factory was one of the best stores in the country, 'supplying everything any new parent may ever need, from food to cots to clothes to toys'—at least that's what their website said. Looking through reviews, Edward had found that the store delivered on their promises, so decided he'd go there, because only the best for his son!
Edward walked into the store but stopped just past the entrance, looking around in confusion at everything he saw. There were at least ten different strollers just at the entrance, along with baby boosters, and car seats and Edward couldn't understand what the difference was since they all pretty much did the same job.
The Vampire heard the thoughts of the woman before he saw her. A dark haired woman came up to him, smiling brightly at him. He could read every dirty thought she threw at him so Edward made a show of running a hand through his hair, wanting to flash his wedding ring before he remembered that he'd taken it off a long while ago. He dropped his hand with a sigh and looked around the store, choosing to block out the woman's thoughts as best he could.
"How may I help you, sir?" the woman asked, stepping just a tad bit closer to Edward. The Vampire took a step back, making sure the woman noticed. She didn't seem shaken but his obvious rejection.
"My boyfriend and I recently bought a house— —" Edward couldn't not smile as the woman's dirty thoughts faltered at the word 'boyfriend', but professionalism kept her smile on her face. "—and we've been working on baby's room. All that's left now is the furniture and I was hoping you could help me out with that."
"Of course, sir." The woman's smile seemed forced now as she led Edward further into the store, and she was already cussing out 'the lucky bastard' who'd landed Edward. The Vampire kept a charming smile on as he followed her around the store with a trolley as she showed him all their best products.
Edward took everything he thought Mason might need—even a few things he knew his son wouldn't probably really need any time soon. The Vampire might have gone a bit overboard when it came to toys—especially with this one teddy bear that was almost as big as Edward. But whatever, anything Mason didn't need they could give away—Edward knew a few charities that he could donate to around the country.
After paying for everything Edward had gotten—which was a lot more than Edward had initially thought—a few of the employees helped him get the things into the rental car. He made a few calls on his way to a car dealership, making sure that the car he'd had his eye on was there. When it was confirmed, Edward drove over to the place.
An hour later, a brand new Volvo XC60 was loaded with all the baby things Edward had gotten and someone had been hired to deliver it to La Push. Edward was more than sure now that his family knew where he was. It would show that he'd used a large sum of money at a car dealership but it wouldn't show which car he'd gotten. That was fine with Edward, they'd just assume that he'd bought a car for himself.
With everything signed and accredited for, Edward finally decided to head home. It wasn't his original plan, but he knew his family would be headed for Portland to try tack him down. He'd have to leave now so they wouldn't get the chance to even reach the town.
So after returning the car he'd rented, Edward checked himself out the motel he'd been staying in, got the little things he'd gotten and ran home.
[]
The rain had stopped by the time Edward reached the house. He could hear everyone inside; hear them planning and preparing to leave for Portland. Rosalie was planning on staying behind with Esmé and Alice—who'd just returned from Denali to help look for Edward—while Jasper, Emmett and Carlisle would head to Portland to try and find Edward and bring him home.
They wouldn't need to now though because Edward had come back of his own free will. To their knowledge he hadn't been near Jacob and that was 'a good sign' that he'd behave. Edward didn't want to destroy that illusion, he'd behave, he'd meet all their expectations, but secretly—secretly—he'd see Jacob, would see his son.
Before Edward even took a step onto the porch steps, Rosalie was outside, pushing him backwards hard—but not enough to land him on the floor, just throw him off balance slightly—and glaring at him hard. She sniffed the air around him and only relaxed slightly when she didn't find any 'abnormal' scent on him but she was still angry and she was glaring. Edward didn't dare say anything that would set her off.
The rest of the family stepped outside at a more normal pace and they looked Edward over. They seemed to reach the same conclusion: Edward had not contacted Jacob and therefore they didn't have to worry… yet.
Rosalie opened her mouth to say something—more like cuss him out if her thoughts were any indication—but was interrupted by long, loud howling, indicating that she was being called by one of the Shifters. The blonde woman pulled her cellphone out her pocket quickly and answered—already her mind filled with different reason for why any of the Shifters would call, and all of them being bad.
"Jake?"
"What the fuck did you do, Rosalie?" Jacob asked, sounding annoyed even over the phone. Rosalie's face scrunched up in confusion and she looked around the place like she was waiting for Jacob to pop out of nowhere or something and smack her.
"I didn't do anything."
"Don't play dumb with me, Vampire! Why the hell did my bank just call to give me options on how I could handle my money?" Ah, so the money had arrived.
"I really don't know, Jacob, so you best tell me." Rosalie was already narrowing her eyes at Edward who tried his best to keep his face neutral.
"Fucking hell, Rosalie. Someone transferred five million dollars into my account! Are you fucking kidding me with this? I don't know many rich people, Rose, only your family, so speak up."
Rosalie knew that no one else in the family would've done it, else they would've said something about it and Rosalie would've definitely told them to take it back because she knew how much Jacob hated being treated like a charity case. That only left one another person: Edward, who wasn't even trying very hard to deny it, just looking a little too smug. "I may know who did it, but I'm not sure. I'm gonna make a few calls then I'll give you an answer okay."
"So it really wasn't you?"
"No Jake, it really wasn't." Jacob sighed on the other end, seeming to relax.
"Okay… Just… okay…"
"I'll come over with more news, okay?"
"Sure Rose. Bye." The Shifter ended the call and Rosalie pocketed her own phone, giving Edward an 'are you serious' look. Rosalie was about to start talking—or more accurately, ranting—but her phone rang again.
"Jake?"
"What the fucking fuck is all this shit, Rosalie?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I don't mean to be ungrateful or anything, but seriously, what the ever loving fuck is all this? You know Mason already has a cot, and he doesn't need most of this stuff till he's like eight months old. Rosalie, he won't be teething for a few more months, what the hell is all this? And what the actual fuck is Mason supposed to do with a teddy bear bigger than me?"
Rosalie looked at Edward incredulously, because seriously? Seriously? The older Vampire just shrugged, making it like this wasn't a big deal, which it totally was.
"ROSE!"
"Relax Jacob, I'm coming over. We'll sort this out when I get there, okay?"
"Rose!"
"Relax yourself! We'll sort this out soon, I promise."
"Fine! Just get here." Jacob hung up again. Rosalie let out a long sigh, turning to mostly glare at Edward.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm not doing anything," Edward replied easily with a shrug. Rosalie glared, hard.
"You thinking buying things for Mason and giving Jacob money is going to take away what you did to him?" the blonde practically hissed in her head. "It's not! Jacob doesn't want anything to do with you, and he certainly doesn't want anything to do with your money." And with that, Rosalie was gone.
Edward tried not to cringe at the thought, but couldn't stop it. Rosalie was right. Giving Jacob the money and buying Mason things wasn't going to take away what he did, but it wasn't for that. It wasn't him trying to buy Jacob, it was him trying to support his son so his Mate would never have to worry about it.
[]
Jacob glare at the car as though it were going to attack him. He seemed to be the only person bothered by the presence of the car and everything in it. Billy seemed too amused about the whole thing though, and Jacob just couldn't understand why his father thought this was funny.
First there was five million dollar transferred to his account now this. And Jacob knew it was the Cullens, he didn't know anyone else who could so easily transfer five million dollars than buy a car and then also buy baby things that Mason clearly didn't actually need.
"These idiot Cullens," Jacob grumbled for what must've been the hundredth time in the last hour. Billy and Sam chuckled as quietly as they could while Emily, Rachel and Rebecca giggled. The teen turned his head to glare at his traitor family.
"Okay, I'm here now," Rosalie said with a sigh. Jacob jumped at the sudden appearance of the woman but she made no comment on it. Instead she looked at the car for a long moment then let out a sigh.
"Rose," Jacob said with a slight whine. Rosalie looked behind the boy at his family, laughing quietly at him.
"Okay, so uh you might not actually like the news I'm about to give but well… It was Edward."
"What?"
"He wants to be a part of Mason's life and he feels this is the only way he can do it." Jacob slumped down onto the steps with a defeated sigh.
"Fuck him," he mumbled tiredly.
"I'm not saying what he did was good, but uh…"
"You're taking his side?"
"He wants you and Mason to not ever stress about anything. He uh, wants to make sure that you and Mason never have to worry… about anything."
"And you aren't going to do anything about it?"
Rosalie shrugged. She was sure Jacob wouldn't like knowing she was taking Edward's side on this. She knew where her brother was coming from and as much as she hated taking his side on this she knew there wasn't much she could do about it even if she did fight it.
Edward was doing what he should've done the moment he realised that Jacob was his Mate. He was trying in any way possible to take care of his family—whether he was conscious about it or not. This was what he should've done a year ago, before this mess had happened. They were all to blame for it though, every one of the Cullens because instead of encouraging Edward to at least try being friends with Jacob they pushed for him to be with Bella.
They knew it was bad to avoid a Mate, had told Edward countless times, but they'd never actually pushed hard enough for Edward to pursue anything and in the end, this had happened, Jacob had been hurt, badly.
But now Rosalie couldn't stop Edward even if she wanted to, and even if she tried she was sure Carlisle and Esmé would stop her, even Emmett would stop her because they all knew how important this was. Edward was pretty much going on Alpha Mate autopilot and nobody could stop him now. But she couldn't tell Jacob that, couldn't tell him what it meant and what the outcome may be. She already dreaded it now, knowing where this was going, how it may very well end.
"I'm sorry, Jake. But there's nothing any of us can actually do because it's his money and he can do with it what he wants."
"Rose— —"
"There's nothing I can do, Jake. If there was I'd do it, you know I would. But there isn't so I can't. We can always just go through the stuff, see what Mason needs and what he doesn't, okay? Anything he doesn't need we can give away or sell. That's the best I can do."
Jacob sighed, getting up from the porch steps. He didn't look at anyone as he disappeared into the house. Rosalie stood out there, running her hands through her hair and biting at her lip anxiously as she looked at the car with the baby things inside.
After a long moment of just staring at the car she walked towards it. "Might as well get started on this then," she said to no one in particular. She heard the others move behind her but paid no attention, moving things out the car and onto the grass.
"I'll go get the Pack and they'll help you," Sam said gently. Rosalie nodded absently as she continued to unpack.
She really did wish there was something more she could do, but for now, there was nothing and Edward would slowly insert himself back into Jacob's life. And Rosalie would have to step back and watch it happen…
…TBC…
Eh, not one of my favourites, but it's progress. It was a bit difficult to write, mostly because my brain kept trying to figure out which Vampire would be catching Jacob's attention. I think I know who now, I think I know how, but I'm not sure. A few people want Victoria or Riley, but I don't know, I might go another way. I think I'll surprise you guys with a completely unexpected Vamp (:.
Sorry, no spoilers for the next chapter I'm afraid ):.
*Sorry*
[*flower*]