Chapter 26

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be, better than before,

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone
~Don't Stop- Fleetwood Mac

Tuesday afternoon, Bella stood apprehensively beside her husband whose brow was furrowed while he spoke on the phone. "I understand Mr. Varner." Jacob looked at his wife with a grim smile. "We'll be packed by the end of the month."

Bella gasped and covered her mouth, looking at her husband with glossy eyes as she listened in on the conversation.

"Is there any way we can change your mind...okay." Jacob sighed then hung up the phone. He averted his eyes from his wife and instead collapsed onto their couch. His shoulders sagged as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's evicting us."

Bella didn't need to ask why. "Caius." She growled. Bella didn't wait for Jacob to try to defend the callous man and instead exited their apartment. She crossed the hall in three quick strides and began slamming her fist down on Caius door. "Open up Caius! I have a bone to pick with you!" Bella continued knocking loudly but was cut off when Jacob called to her from her apartment.

"He's not home. He's at work."

Bella paused in her knocking and kicked the door angrily. "Why is he doing this to us?"

Jacob held open his arms and beckoned his wife towards him. "Obviously his life is devoid of happiness if he's trying to ruin someone else's." When Bella embraced him, he wrapped his arms around her tightly and drew her back into the apartment. "To be honest, when you yelled at him the other day, I thought he was going to leave us alone. He's a bully but I would've put my money on it that he was all bark no bite ya know?"

Bella couldn't help snorting at Jacob's words. "He's a loser. I hate him."

"Hey." Jacob crooned softly. "Don't waste your energy hating him. We just have to take this in stride."

Bella pushed away from her husband and clenched her fist, turning her back to him. "We have to take everything in stride. Why is this happening to us? My car vanishes, your phone and paycheck gets stolen, I've been attacked! Now we're getting kicked out. What is going on?" Bella shook off Jacob's comforting hand he tried to place on her shoulder. "This isn't fair!" She shrieked.

"Honey, you need to calm down." Jacob murmured behind her. "We don't want to frighten Renesmee." He added quickly upon seeing the livid expression on his wife's face. "I promise it will be okay."

Upon hearing her daughter's name, Bella seemed to deflate. "It's Edward. It has to be." She voiced her theory aloud and looked to Jacob for confirmation.

"I don't know Bella. How could he have gotten us kicked out of our apartment. That was all Caius." Jacob paused and thought about Bella's accusation. "And what's the likelihood of him knowing the douchebag who tried to attack you?"

Bella made a face at her husband. "I can't believe you're defending him."

Jacob held up his hands defensively. "I'm not trying to. Trust me, I didn't forget that he tried to kill me and is now free roaming the streets." Jacob let his hands drop down to his side limply. "Sometimes I can't help looking over my shoulder...but let's be realistic Bella. I don't want to blame him for the troubles we have if he's not the cause."

"I wish he was still in jail."

Jacob nodded sadly. "Me too. You haven't seen him recently have you?"

"No. Why?"

"You had me worried for a second." Jacob gave his wife a half smile. "Do you want a pickle or something?"

Bella knew that he was joking, but the sound of eating a pickle caused her mouth to water and she immediately made a beeline for the kitchen. She ignored the groan of disgust from her husband and opened the fridge to pull out the giant jar of dill pickles. The salty, fat, vegetable soon found it's way into her mouth and Bella chewed noisily. Some pickle juice dribbled down her chin before staining her shirt. Bella groaned internally as instead of eating the pickle, it seemed to be eating her instead. Consuming the pickle actually helped ease the tension in her body, and by the time she had finished her third pickle, her anger had dissipated. She put the jar back into the fridge and returned to the living room where Jacob was surfing the internet. "What are you doing now?" She asked before sitting down next to him.

Jacob angled his computer so that she could see the apartments and houses for rent and sale. "We need a place to live."

Bella pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at her husband. "You wanted to move. Did you orchestrate this whole debacle with Caius? Did you tell him to rat on us about Midnight to the landlord?"

Jacob gaped at her husband. "Why would I do that?"

"You wanted to move. I didn't. But if we're forced to move you would get what you want."

Jacob startled Bella by laughing outright. "If I did something like that, I would be the worst husband ever." He paused and thought about Bella's words. "That's a good plan though." When Bella shoved him playfully, he grinned. "But seriously Bella, you can't honestly believe I would do something like that. I wouldn't ever do something to make you unhappy. I love you too much." He kissed her cheek quickly then scrolled the list of vacancies. "Now don't get all paranoid on me. We have to keep our heads and focus on the here and now."

They scrolled through numerous apartments and houses looking for their next home. "I don't like that one." Bella turned her nose up at an apartment on the other side of town with the rent being nearly double what they were paying currently. "It's not worth the price."

"True. But what about this one." Jacob pointed to a small, cottage-like house that happened to be a couple streets away from Charlie.

While Bella didn't mind the location, it was also pricey and not as spacious as she would want it to be for the price. So she shook her head and continued scanning the list.

After an hour of searching, Jacob closed his laptop in exasperation. "Bella, don't you think you're being picky?"

"No."

"Honey," Jacob took his wife's hand in his own and ran his thumb over her knuckles comfortingly. "We're going to end up on the streets if we don't find a place to stay. We need to keep an open mind."

Bella leaned against her husband and looked around the living room. "We've been here for so long."

"I know."

"We have so many memories here."

"I know."

"I don't want to leave."

"I know." Jacob kissed his wife on the forehead. "Me either."

"We're in a pickle."

Jacob laughed softly. "At least you like pickles."

Bella looked at her husband with an amused expression. "Not this kind." She looked at the laptop then back at her husband. "Alright, I'll be less picky. But let's wait until this weekend before we look for our next home. I just want to pretend that we're not moving for a couple days. Sound good?"

"That's fine Bella. But we should definitely buckle down and check out some places this weekend."

"We will." Bella rose from the couch and shrugged out of her shirt.

Jacob wolf whistled and winked at his wife. "Should we take this to the bedroom?" He waggled his brow and elicited a giggle from his wife.

"Jacob, you need to calm yourself." She rested her shirt over her shoulder and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm going to do laundry, so come help me gather up our clothes."

"Aw." Jacob pouted cutely at his wife but stood from the couch. "My idea would've been more fun."

It didn't take long for Bella and Jacob to gather up theirs and Renesmee's clothes for washing. Since they lived in an apartment, there was no washer and dryer in their house or unfortunately on the premises for them to use. So whenever it was laundry day, they had to take a trip to the local laundromat. "Will you take the dirty clothes to the car?" Bella asked Jacob while she slipped on a random T-shirt. After her husband had gone, she stopped by the kitchen to grab a pickle for the road. As she consumed the pickle, her husband returned with an addition to the group. "Hey Alice."

"Bella, you have to see this!" Without another word, Alice grabbed Bella's arm and tugged her towards the door.

Jacob tossed his wife the car keys and she caught it with her free hand. "I'll be back later." She told Jacob who was laughing at Alice's insistence. Once they had made it out the door, Alice took her to her apartment and pushed Bella inside. "Alright so where's the fire?"

Alice released Bella's arm and pointed to a giant box resting on her cluttered couch. "I got another present."

"You don't sound too happy about that." Bella noted aloud.

Alice sent her a disdainful look. "I was excited at first." She walked over to the giant box and opened it to reveal a giant plush bunny. "I thought it was very sweet of him to send me this."

Bella took the oversized rabbit from the box and ran her hand over the soft fur. "It's cute. If you don't want it, I can give it to Renesmee." She joked.

"You can keep it!" Alice suddenly shrieked. "It's not from Jazz."

Bella raised a brow in contemplation. "What?"

Alice kicked the box off of her couch and took the space. "I found this outside my door when I went to get my mail. I thought Jazz had given me another present. There was even another note." Alice pointed to the small letter that was ripped in half on her coffee table. 'It read: My lovely Alice, until we meet again.' I thought it was sweet so I texted him." Alice drew her knees close to her body and wrapped her arms around her legs. "He tells me he hadn't sent me a package. Ever. I asked him about the bracelet and the shoes, but he didn't know what I was talking about."

"Wait, if Jazz didn't send you those things, then who did."

A sudden knock on the door had both both women exchanging nervous glances. After a pause, Alice made her way to the door and opened it it slowly. "Oh my gosh...What the hell are you doing here?"

"Alice, I need you in my life." A masculine voice spoke.

Bella crept up behind Alice and shuddered when she recognized the man in her doorway. He hadn't changed since the last time she had seen him. He stood tall and lean with disheveled graying hair. His pale, almost translucent skin looked almost orange under the apartment light. Closer to Charlie's age, than theirs, Aro smirked at Alice from the doorway. "I happened to be in the neighborhood."

"How do you even know where I live?"

Aro rolled his eyes at the question and instead of answering it, asked one of his own. "Did you like my gifts Alice?"

"Gifts?" Bemusement colored her tone. "What gifts?" She asked suspiciously.

Aro held up his hands as he counted them off. "The bracelet, shoe shopping spree, free breakfast and rabbit plush."

Alice's eyes widened in horror. "Those were from you?"

"Of course. Who else would they be from?" Aro laughed haughtily as though she had asked a dumb question.

"I thought the breakfast was just someone paying it forward. I can't believe you sent me those things!"

Aro reached out and took her hand. "I see you're wearing the bracelet." He murmured. "It looks good on you."

Alice retracted her hand as though he had burned her. She quickly ripped the bracelet from her hand and threw it at his feet. "I don't want it. Any of it! You can have them all back." Alice whirled around and grabbed the giant white bunny that Bella was still holding and tossed it to the man. Her shoes were laying haphazardly by the door and she kicked them towards him. "Take them and go!"

Aro's creepy smile faltered and he looked down at the gifts he had given her with an unreadable expression. "Not going to return the breakfast?" He joked with a strange smile.

"I would if I could." Alice told him seriously. "Do you want me to puke on you?"

Aro ignored her words and reached out to caress Alice's face. She leaned back so that his hand merely touched air and he flinched as though she had struck him. "Why are you being this way, love?"

Alice bristled at the pet name and narrowed her eyes at the dark haired man. "We had one date. I'm not interested in you."

"Why?"

"Why?" Alice's eyes widened in surprise. "You lied to me! You're old enough to be my father for starters."

Aro seemed unperturbed by Alice's words. "Age is but a number, my sweet Alice." Her name slid off his tongue in such a manner it caused both women to shudder in disgust.

"You have kids. I don't want to enter a relationship with a man who has kids."

Aro took a slight step forward and Alice tensed. "They're in high school. They'll be graduating soon and we will have the house all to ourselves." Aro licked his lips and eyed Alice's body. "We could have so much fun, Alice."

"She already has someone!" Bella interjected, capturing the attention of both Alice and Aro. "She's no longer interested in you because she's dating someone else." Bella stood beside Alice and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I think it would be best if you leave and never return."

Aro looked taken aback by Bella's words and sent a hurt look Alice's way. "You're dating her?" He asked quietly.

Alice looked up at Bella and smiled. "Uh, yeah. She's the light of my life."

Aro's face contorted into a sneer and he looked down on Alice with malice. "So you play with my heart and you think it's okay to ditch me for this tramp?"

"Excuse you! But don't you dare insult her." Alice took a brave step forward and poked Aro in his chest angrily. "You drugged me remember? It doesn't matter who I like. I will never like a man who drugs me!"

"It's not like the drugs would've killed you." Aro snapped in defense then leaned down and picked up each of his gifts to her.

"You're crazy!" Alice yelled. "Go away or I will call the cops!"

Aro took a step back and looked at her bitterly. "You'll regret this, I promise."

His words sent a chill through the women but they held their ground. "Leave." Alice spoke harshly.

With one last sneer towards them, Aro fled from the apartment leaving behind two women who were shaking with fear from the encounter.

"I stand corrected." Bella spoke after Aro had gone and her shakes had subsided. "Maybe you should do background checks on the guys you date."

A/N: I meant to upload earlier, sorry about that. So, there's only one more chapter (already written) that will be uploaded next week before a brief break. I wrote the last five chapters a year ago but forgot to upload them so that's why I was able to update so regularly. I am still working on this story (I will try my best not to take a whole year to update). But school and work is hectic and I'm working on getting my teaching license yada yada. But anywho, I will continue to work on this story in my free time. After next week there won't be anymore updates for a bit. But if I disappear for longer than three months, please don't hesitate to send me a pm like "HEY WHERE YOU AT?! WE WANT TO READ! QUIT BEING LAZY!" I respond well to motivation lol. As always, thanks for the fav's/reviews, they bring me joy. I hope ya'll continue to enjoy my story!