A/N: Hello-lo-lo-lo! Is anybody still with me? I know, I know, this chapter has taken way longer to post than promised, and for that I apologise. Stuff happened, and then more stuff happened, preventing me from getting this done. This chapter isn't a long one, but it is essential to move this story forward, and I stopped writing it when I felt it was the right spot to finish. I'd rather give you a short one now than make you wait another week for a longer one. Hope you enjoy it. Cheers! x

*Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. SM owns all, I'm just playing in her toy box for a while. I promise to clean up before I leave.

Chapter 25

The back door slammed downstairs and I sat up with a jolt.

"Ah, fuck. Here." Jasper handed me my clothes. "You'd better go after him. The amount of betrayal coming off him is real strong."

I couldn't dress quick enough. The look on Emmett's face had been as good as a hard slap on mine and, as much as my body was still being pulled toward Jasper, my heart was toeing the line behind Emmett's wake.

I pulled on my jeans and raced out of the bedroom, fumbling with the buttons of my shirt as I rushed down the stairs and followed his trail out the back door. The rain was still coming down hard and there was no sign of him from the yard to the tree line. He could have gone in any direction, could be halfway to Canada by now, but the booming crash in the forest, dead ahead, gave his position away.

I sprinted toward the sound, pumped with adrenaline, the grass cold and wet beneath my bare feet. A flash of lightning struck through the gray clouds when the first small branch whipped across my face as I entered the thicket. A loud crack sounded up ahead and I veered to the right, following a fresh-trodden path until I came to a clearing, a clearing that hadn't been there last time I'd walked through this part of the woods.

Emmett's back was to me, heaving. He stood in the middle of the aftermath, at least forty trees flattened to the earth like some alien crop circle. I should have known better. I shouldn't have given in to the magnetic gravity that had suddenly pulled me toward Jasper. And I still didn't understand why it had happened. I knew right from wrong. I knew Emmett would be hurt if I cozied up to Jasper after rebuffing him not minutes before. But none of that had seemed to matter in the heat of the moment. All that mattered was connecting with Jasper in the most physical and emotional way I knew how.

"I thought we agreed there'd be no more running," I yelled across the clearing, my voice broken.

He turned his head in my direction, though his eyes didn't meet mine. "I'm not running, I'm venting."

Weary, my mind a muddled mess, I sunk to the ground and leaned against a tree that had survived his wrath, getting little reprieve from the rain beneath the speckled canopy above. "I'm so sorry, Emmett," I declared with no energy left to shout, a sob caught in my throat. I dropped my face into my hands, disgusted with myself, and allowed a few scarce tears to fall. "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing anymore. I don't think I'm cut out for this. And I wouldn't blame you if you hated me after what I just did."

He immediately arrived in front of me. "Where are your shoes?"

I gazed up at him dumbfounded, not sure I'd heard him correctly. "Wh-what?"

He crouched and inspected the bottom of my right foot. "You're bleeding, Bella."

I instinctively tried to pull away, not wanting to make him uneasy, but he held tight, brushing the mud and debris from my skin before gently swiping the pad of his thumb below the crease of my middle toe. It can't have been more than a shallow scratch or two, but he stared at it as if I had a fatal wound and he was the culprit. I hadn't even noticed the slight sting until he'd touched it.

"You shouldn't be out here," he said, shaking his head. "I'll take you back inside." He moved to scoop me up.

"No, wait. Emmett, please talk to me. Yell at me, if you want. I know I deserve it."

He sighed as he planted his ass beside me and grabbed my hand, clasping it on his lap. "I'm not going to yell at you, Bella."

"You should." I patiently waited until he looked me in the eye. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I mean, I didn't mean to do that with Jasper. It just kinda happened, and I can't explain it. One minute I was concentrating on what's left to be done, and then the next I was…"

"Yeah, I saw what happened next."

My eyes pleaded with his to understand, to feel and see the confusion running through my head. "I need your help, Emmett. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix this."

He held me captive, so many emotions flickering across his handsome face that I couldn't keep up, couldn't pin down just one as they careered by so fast. That was, until he settled on just one. Defeat. "If you…"

I turned my whole body toward him, anxious for his next words. "If I what?"

He peered down at his lap and fiddled with my fingers, caressed them as if they held his rapt attention. "If you want Jasper more than me, I'll respect your decision and leave you be. As much as I want you…" He raised my hand to his lips and pressed a reverent kiss to my knuckles. "More than anything else, I just want you to be happy. If that means I need to step aside, I will."

"Em, no—"

"You haven't accepted the bond," he interrupted. "You haven't accepted me."

I leapt on him, straddled his thighs and made him return his focus back to me, holding his face between my palms. "Stop. You're speaking nonsense. I don't want Jasper more than you. I love you both."

His eyes fluttered closed, shutting me out from what was running through his head. He'd worn his heart on his sleeve for as long as I'd known him, and he had the most expressive eyes I'd ever seen, his thoughts usually so clear within them. It killed me that he was hurting so deeply. And it was all my fault. My heart galloped at the mere thought of losing him.

I grasped his hand and placed it just above my left breast. "Don't tell me you can't feel that, hear that. It races whenever I'm near you. Is that the sound of a heart that doesn't want to be with you?"

His eyes slowly opened and they were drenched with affliction. Pain I'd put there. "I'm jealous," he admitted. "I said I wouldn't be, but I'm jealous. I want you to look at me the same way you looked at him today. I want you to want me, just as much as I want you."

I leaned forward until my forehead rested against his. "I already do, Em. I don't want to live without you. Please believe me."

His arms wrapped around me, pulled me closer, until our wet clothes meshed together and his breath became my own. "I'm trying," he whispered.

"I meant it when I said I really don't know what I'm doing. You've had seventy-odd years to figure out how to handle relationships. I'm still new at this and I seem to be failing at every turn. And I know it's no excuse, but it's not like we have a normal, one-on-one textbook thing going on here. This is gonna take some time for me to learn how to navigate. Maybe I should see if I can get a copy of Polygamy for Dummies."

He cocked an amused brow. "Polygamy for Dummies?"

"Yeah, well, it was either that or A Guide to Supernatural Threesomes. I went with the most likely title."

His chuckle was quiet and his mirth vibrated through my bones. "Have I told you lately that I fucking love you?"

I brushed my lips over his. "Have I told you, there's no one else above you?"

He kissed me, soft and slow, his tongue gently coaxing my mouth to open. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and pushed my chest even tighter against him. I couldn't get close enough.

He pulled his lips away, his cookie-scented breath stirring my hunger for more. "You're a thief, Bella Swan. And Van Morrison wants his lyrics back."

I grinned. "You started it."

His dimpled smirk would have made me weak at the knees, if I were standing. "Come on, let's get you out of this rain."

Even though his spirits appeared to be lifted a little, I still couldn't shake the feeling that the damage I'd done was irreversible.

I could only hope I was wrong.

~oOOo~

Emmett arranged for all the items I was giving to charity to be picked up and, after the truck pulled away, called the local realtor and got them to come out and appraise the property. I didn't know much about real estate, but I readily agreed to the suggested listing price with the promise that the house would be on the market before the end of the week. I kept my eye on him, and even though he was somewhat attentive and thoughtful, he still appeared to be deep in thought for the remainder of the day.

When night had fallen and there was nothing left to do, apart from load my rocking chair and the few boxes I was taking with me into my truck, he made some excuse about needing to check that Esme hadn't thrown out his favorite clothes. I didn't question his motives. If he needed time to himself, I wouldn't stand in his way.

After fixing myself some dinner from the meagre offerings left in the refrigerator, I feigned tiredness and told Jasper I was getting an early night. He tried to insist on staying with me, but I refused, telling him I wanted to spend the last night in the house on my own, to say goodbye in my own way. By the look of suspicion in his eyes as I walked him to the door, I doubted he believed me, though he was considerate enough not to push his company on me.

Curled up in my childhood bed for the final time, I wept for every mistake and wrongdoing I'd ever made, vowing I'd try to do better…be better. Emmett and Jasper deserved nothing less.

~oOOo~

The hard rain had turned to a light drizzle by the time the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. Jasper turned up alone and, after loading the beast with my few worldly possessions, the bastard of a truck wouldn't start. The tears fell again when I realized I'd have to leave it behind…my last piece of Charlie. Jasper suggested having it towed to the shop to be fixed, and then shipped to Alaska later, but it just wasn't worth the expense. I had to forget about sentimental value and think logically. Besides, I'd need something more reliable to battle Alaskan weather. I'd resigned myself to never living in a warm climate ever again, forever missing the heat of the Arizona desert.

He returned half an hour later in his shiny new truck, followed by a small convoy of Cullen vehicles. Emmett simply threw me a halfhearted wave through the windscreen of his Jeep, so I decided it might be best to hitch a ride with Jasper. I didn't want to force myself on Emmett when it was obvious he'd rather be alone.

"Just give him some time," Jasper said as he pulled out and led the way out of Forks. "He'll come around."

"Did he say anything to you last night?"

He turned to me with a slight tinge of guilt. "No, he holed himself up in his room most of the time." He squeezed my thigh. "I'm sorry, darlin'. I shouldn't have tried to ravage you when I did. I knew you'd told him no in the kitchen. It wasn't fair of me to put you in that position."

I laid my hand on top of his with a sigh. "I came onto you. It wasn't your fault."

I'd approached Emmett when we stopped for gas a few hours later, intending to join him for the rest of the trip. I'd hoped we could've talked some more and cleared the air, but he'd told me I looked tired and would rest more comfortably in Jasper's truck. I hadn't argued. I was tired. I'd hardly slept a wink last night. But when I lay on the back seat, wrapped in a blanket, and exhaustion tried to pull me under, my mind wouldn't shut off. The distance Emmett was creating was cutting me to the bone, an incessant itch below my skin that only increased every hour I went without his touch. I needed to find out everything there was to know about this bond so I could prove who my heart belonged to, once and for all.

A/N: See ya next week, unless the writing Gods take pity on me and I can produce another chapter sooner. Leave me some love, if you wanna! Does anyone suspect what's happening to Bella right now? Would love to know your thoughts.