A/N for 2020-10-02: Many, many thanks to Chayasara and Eeyorefan12 for all their work on this story. Happy reading, folks
- Erin
"Don't be fooled by the packaging," Charlie said, depositing the four unmarked pizza boxes on the large folding table over which Sue Clearwater presided. "Bella made these herself." He looked towards Bella, who shrugged as she blushed. He'd spoken loudly, and all the assembled adults nearby seemed to be staring at her.
"Thanks, Dad," she mumbled under his hearing, feeling like she'd been reduced in age and confidence by a solid third.
After dropping a stack of coolers by the table, Jacob lifted the lid of the topmost pizza box. "Wow. That smells amazing."
Sue smacked away his hand, which was poised to pick up a piece. "And we're leaving them that way until everyone gets here."
"Yes, ma'am," Jake said, lifting his hands in mock surrender, backing away. He grinned and changed course, coming up to greet Bella with a hug. "That's pretty awesome of you to make those. Thanks."
"You're welcome," she said, tensing slightly as she leaned in to return the gesture, bracing for the return of her withdrawal symptoms. She took a tentative sniff as she hugged Jacob. Good grief—the smell really was terrible. As Jacob pulled away, she caught the tail end of his expression—wrinkled nose, scrunched face. It seemed Jacob found her odour as displeasing as she found his, and suddenly Edward's teasing about it in the kitchen earlier made a lot more sense. No wonder he had been amused. Now that Jacob had met Edward, it was clear whose scent was all over her. She knew she should probably be annoyed but couldn't help seeing the humor and a bit of justice in it. After all, even though she and Edward were together, he wasn't welcome here.
Jacob didn't comment on it in any case. "C'mon. Let's ditch the old folks." Jacob winked towards Charlie and Sue, who barely noticed him. "Over here." He jerked his chin towards the water where she could see Sam and Emily along with the other members of the pack.
Following Jacob, Bella struggled a little to match his pace. His face seemed suddenly solemn now that they were away from the other adults. He'd grown so much, he looked almost intimidating.
"So, have you been riding much?" Bella asked, trying to ease into conversation.
"Not really, no." His voice sounded almost sad.
"Why not?"
"Honestly? It reminded me of you." He slowed and then paused by the logs that marked the beginning of the beach. "I mean, when you left with . . . her—"
"Alice?"
"Yeah, her." His distaste was almost more pronounced the second time. "I wasn't sure if you were going to come back alive—human, I mean." He swallowed. "I thought—"
"You thought they'd changed me."
He nodded.
"I'm sorry, Jake." Truly, she was. She knew what it was to worry for someone and not know what had happened to them.
He blew out a breath. "When we came to see you the other night, I wasn't even sure if you would still be you."
"You think I'd come back to my dad if I wasn't?" Her eyebrows lifted.
He shook his head. "Don't mind me. You're home. You're good. You're you." He grinned.
She forced a smile..
"But maybe what they say is true?" Jacob asked.
Her gaze rose to meet his. Had the Cullens said something? She thought of what Edward had shared with Jacob without her consent the night they'd been over for dinner. "And what's that?"
"You can leave home, but you can never come back again. Travel changes you too much."
There was certainly more than one way to be changed, that was for sure. She scanned his face, looking for clues as to what he knew.
"Maybe you outgrew your old friendships?" Jacob asked, looking away.
Ah. It was both relief and pain to think that he'd believed she'd outgrown him, to know that he wasn't referring to anything else. "I could never outgrow you, Jake." She meant it. She watched him take in her words. "God, you haven't become all morose and serious like Sam, have you?"
"Ugh, no." His sunny grin returned.
"Good." Bella elbowed him. "Because I still need someone who accepts me for all my natural awkwardness, despite me being all sophisticated and well-travelled now."
Jacob snorted. "Sophisticated. Sure. At least your cooking skills have improved dramatically. What's up with that?"
"Very funny." She rolled her eyes as they continued walking. "I didn't really get to cook much while I was gone. Call it overcompensating." She thought of the chilly stone castle and her unheated meals therein, shivering.
"You cold?"
"No, I'm fine." The offshore breeze was cool, but it felt good after the muggy day.
Jacob's shrewd gaze rested on her briefly. "C'mon." He reached out, clamping his hand around her wrist and catching her by surprise.
She sniffed in a sharp breath, yanking her hand back while trying to step away. The abrupt and poorly coordinated movement left her floundering for balance, ending with a painful landing on scrabbly bushes and sharp rocks.
Jacob extended his hand warily, which, now that she could anticipate its intent, was much more welcome.
Standing up, she rubbed at her smarting backside. Several scrapes decorated the backs of her thighs.
"You okay?" Jake let go of her hand, looking at her worriedly.
"Yeah. You know, just the regular injury to my dignity."
Jacob patted her on her back, chuckling. "Good to see some things haven't changed." Though he smiled, she noted a suspicious quality in his gaze.
They managed their way down to one of the sandy patches of beach without any further injury. Emily welcomed Bella with a hug, the rest of the pack smiling and waving in greeting. As she scanned the small crowd, she noted that the reaction from Jacob was not unique. There were wrinkled noses from those upwind of her. Briefly, her earlier amusement was tempered by sadness. It was just another reminder of the fact that the man she loved, along with her future family were the mortal enemies of her friends on the reservation—and soon she would be too.
She and Jacob sat at the fire, taking turns tossing in fragments of driftwood, betting on what colour would manifest first as the tiny bits burned up. Jake was right most of the time.
"Clearly, this game is rigged," Bella said, throwing in another piece.
"Possibly," Jacob said. "I might have spent a bit of time doing stuff like this while you were gone, hanging out with these dumbasses." He jerked his thumb towards Quil and Embry.
"Nice, man, thanks!" Quil called back, rolling his eyes and throwing a football to Embry.
Jacob gave him a thumbs up. "So, it goes without saying, I'm pretty glad you're back."
"That's good to know because I was kind of wondering after you didn't return my calls this week."
"I'm sorry about that," he said, lowering his voice and glancing around. "We've, um, just been really busy."
She frowned. "Busy with what? You're done with school, right? Wait, you didn't have to take summer school, did you?" She thought of all the time he'd spent working on their bikes, schoolwork abandoned in their bags.
"No, no," Jacob said. "Pack stuff, you know. Sam likes to keep us on our toes—"
"I wish," Paul said, snorting as he backed up and caught Embry's throw.
Jacob's frown became a scowl.
Paul continued. "That red-headed leech is a pain in the ass, and so are her friends."
Bella's hand froze around the driftwood in her hand. Victoria?
Jacob's gaze remained riveted on Paul.
"At least the Cullens are picking up the slack on their end."
"Shut up, Paul," Jacob said.
"Oh relax, Jake. She's fine. She can handle it. Look at her."
Bella did not feel fine. She felt like she was going to vomit.
Jacob moved so fast, the next thing Bella heard was a sickening crunch as Jacob's fist landed on Paul's face. "Shut up," he said again.
Bella scrambled up from the log she'd been leaning against, moving behind it and taking several frightened steps backwards. Quil and Embry each grabbed at Jacob and Paul, bodily separating them as the others ran over to help.
Over the rush of blood thudding in her ears, Bella couldn't hear what they were talking about. Her mind had spun into overdrive. Memories of what James and Demetri had done were flickering through her mind like a horror film, replete with the appropriately remembered physical sensations. Victoria was still looking for her.
Sam marched Paul away towards the treeline, and Jacob turned to move towards her, making her back up even more.
He stopped. "Maybe you want to sit down?"
She shook her head. She was fighting the desire to run.
"Hey, you're safe. Nothing bad's going to happen to you. There are no vampires here. You know that, right?"
There was no safety. Victoria was in or near Forks, scheming for her death or Edward's, and Demetri was waiting in Italy to take control of her life, mortal or immortal. "No," she said, shaking her head at these fates.
"Can you sit down, please, Bella? You look like you're going to pass out."
She felt like she was about to fall over. To say she sat was generous, though it would be more accurate to say that her legs collapsed as she bent towards the sand. Her hand rose, an admonition against his approach. "Just give me a sec."
"Sure."
Taking several deep breaths, she tried to calm herself, processing what she'd learned and what she was feeling. The Cullens knew that Victoria had returned, and despite everything that Edward had told her that very afternoon, they'd still kept that information from her.
And Victoria was back, coming after her again.
She shuddered, the memory of Demetri's stone-like touch still viscerally fresh. He'd promised gentleness and delivered pain. She could only imagine how much worse Victoria's vengeance would feel.
"I know you don't have a heroin addiction, but I know you're sick."
Had Edward's words this afternoon meant anything at all? The nausea now brewing in her gut had nothing to do with her addiction.
"What happened to you, Bella?" Jacob asked. "Your boyfriend and his dad talked to me and Sam. They said you were sick and that it was important that you not be stressed, but . . ."
"I really don't want to talk about it." How could Edward have said more to Jacob—God, to all the wolves?
"Bella?" Jacob said her name softly, taking a couple of steps closer to where she sat on the sand.
"He didn't tell me about Victoria," she murmured.
"I kinda get why," Jacob said, looking down at her with concern.
She glared at him though not for long. She only had so much energy to muster for the sense of betrayal she was feeling. And betrayal was the right word. She'd thought things were different with Edward now. A tiny part of her fought for calm, to provide space for some very reasonable explanation that evaded her in the moment. This effort was too much for her. She was angry. He'd promised that he would stop trying to control her, and then he kept this crucial information from her?
"They're not staying very long, Bella," Jacob said. He sounded like he was disclosing a secret.
"I know," she said, still trying to get a handle on her anger.
Jacob eyed her. "Do you know why?" There was an edge to his voice. He didn't know.
She swore silently. This was not a line of inquiry that was safe for him to pursue. She thought of the lie that Edward had told her when he'd left the previous fall. "They're pushing it for the ages they're supposed to be."
"Then why are they back?"
"They brought me home."
Jacob's jaw tightened, the muscles flexing like he wanted to say something but was holding back. Moving carefully, he knelt down beside her. "You're going to leave with them, aren't you?"
"To college, yes." The groundwork for the lie was already laid with Charlie.
Jake studied her for a moment before he nodded. "Sure." He seemed to be chewing on his cheek. Very clearly he didn't believe her, and when he spoke again, it was in a slow and measured voice. "I get that there are secrets, Bella. Just don't make it a really big list between us, okay?"
She nodded. It would not serve to engage with Jacob's suspicions, at least not until she'd figured out what the hell was going on with the Cullens. She'd had her fill of deceit for a lifetime, and the realization that she would spend immortality breathing and sometimes perpetrating so many more lies, no matter how necessary they might be, made her want to crawl out of her skin.
DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.
