Change of Plans

JacobxBella; Edward

Rated M

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the franchise, as it belongs to Steph Meyers

Change of Plans

Chapter VII

Stepping up onto the porch of the Black household, Bella found she was nervous. The last time she was here by herself, things had ended on a bad note. It wasn't a surprise that she was nervous about being here again, but she also knew that it was necessary for her to be here, to talk to Jacob. She wanted to talk to him, and she was going to. She just hoped that Jacob would want to talk to her after everything, especially with what transpired earlier that day.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and waited patiently for it to be answered. When no one came to the door after waiting two minutes, she knocked again, only a little louder and harder this time. She could hear a faint curse from inside before eventually, the door was answered by Billy. Billy blinked up at her in surprise, though his eyes held a bit of sleep in them. It was obvious she had woken him up from a nap. Feeling guilty for having woken him, she gave him a small, apologetic smile and greeted, "Hey Billy."

"Hello Bella," Billy replied with a slightly gruff voice. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school? It's Tuesday."

"I um…I decided to skip today. With everything that happened yesterday, I just needed a day."

"I understand. Finding out you're pregnant is shocking for any woman who isn't expecting it. I remember Sarah when she found out she was pregnant the first time. She was shocked, but she took it in stride. The real shock came when we discovered there was going to be two babies instead of one."

A fond chuckled slipped from Billy's mouth as he remembered his wife, his weathered yet wise face lighting up, his dark brown eyes shining. Seeing him laugh made him seem lively to Bella, causing her to smile. She looked down at her feet before looking back at him again, prepared to ask him where his so was when he asked her a question instead.

"How did you get here, Bella? Where's your truck?"

Blinking, Bella said, "Oh, I got a lift from a friend. Is…is Jacob home?"

Before Billy could answer, Jacob's voice suddenly spoke from behind her saying, "I'm here."

Turning around, Bella was surprised to see Jacob standing behind her in front of the porch, him looking like at her with an unreadable expression. But this time, she could tell that she was welcome there, that there was no animosity towards her from him. Walking up the steps of the porch, Jacob said, "Quil saw you walking this way and informed me. Oh, and hi Bella."

"Hi Jake," Bella replied.

Jacob knew why she was there, why she was looking for him. She wanted to talk to him, was ready to talk with him about the baby. It was what he had wanted to do that morning, only to be thwarted by the bloodsucker being there and dazzling the brunette. Luckily, he was able to stop him and Bella get away, even if it was with another vampire. And now she was here, obviously wanting to talk with him. And he still wanted to talk with her, too.

Gesturing towards the front door, he said, "Let's talk inside, Bells."

Bella couldn't help but smile at the nickname Jacob used. She knew it probably just rolled off his tongue easily and unconsciously—he called her that all the time, after all—despite their recent fraught emotions and fights. But hearing him call her 'Bells' gave her hope that things between them would be able to be patched up, to go back to normal; as normal as possible, anyway. Nodding, she allowed Billy to move out of the entryway before stepping inside the house, Jacob doing the same, and following the Shifter to his bedroom. As soon as they both stepped into the bedroom, they both instantly remembered the last time they had been in that room. It had been when they had been intimate together, the night that they had made love and unintentionally created the little being inside of Bella. But right now was not the time to be going over that memory. Choosing to ignore it, Jacob and Bella settled down on the floor next to each other, leaning against Jacob's bed while gathering their thoughts.

After a few moments of silence, Jacob spoke up saying, "You're want to talk about the baby."

It wasn't a question, more so a statement. Bella nodded in response and said, "I do."

"Okay. But before we do that, I just want to say that I'm sorry."

Bella frowned in confusion. "For what?"

"For ignoring you instead of just talking to you when you wanted to speak. I was hurt, and I still am to be honest, but I shouldn't have ignored you like that. So, I'm sorry for that, but I'm not apologizing for my hurt feelings."

"I don't expect you to, Jake. You had every right to ignore me and I shouldn't have let it bother me so much. And you don't have to apologize for ignoring me; I deserved it, after all. If anything, I should be the one to apologize to you. I'm sorry for hurting you by running back to Edward, especially after what happened between us. I made you think that night didn't mean anything to me and that I didn't care, but it did mean something. It was special to me, and it wasn't fair to you to make it seem like it wasn't. But you must understand that my emotions were everywhere that night, especially with Alice's sudden return. Even now, my emotions are everywhere, but I'm doing my best to focus on only one thing at a time right now."

Jacob nodded in understanding. He understood her now, he really did. It had just been so hard to understand her way of thinking when things had changed so drastically. Bella held his heart and she had the ability to hurt and break him if she wanted, but it only hurt worse when she hurt him unintentionally, just like she had that night almost a month ago. He had thought that he had lost her, but here she was again by his side. He just hoped that this time, he wouldn't get his hopes up too much only to be let down. But of course, there was still something, or someone, that still stood in the way.

Voicing this, he asked, "What about your leech?"

Bella pulled her knees up to her and wrapped her arms around them. "I don't know. Going to save him was still the right thing to do, I think. But I just…I can't believe that he did what he did earlier today. I still can't believe what he tried to do concerning my pregnancy. He's never done that to me before…at least, I don't think so. Still, it scared me, and I've never been afraid of Edward. And Rosalie, she said some things to me earlier that has me thinking—or rethinking, rather—about our relationship. And truth be told, I don't…I don't know how to feel about him now. I still feel like I love him, and that he loves me, but after talking with Rosalie and what happened today, I don't know if that love is real or not and he just wants me to think it is."

Jacob stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough. But I think we can both agree that our emotions and tensions for the last three weeks have been high between us. Despite this, we can sort out our personal feelings and issues with each other later."

The brunette nodded in agreement. With her mind all over the place, she felt she needed to sort that out first before focusing on her relationship with and emotions for Jacob, especially now that she was questioning her relationship with Edward. Turning to the younger boy, she said, "Enough of that now. Let's discuss the baby."

"Right. So, how do you feel about the baby? What do you plan on doing?"

"Admittedly, I don't know how to feel about it. I do know two things, though. The first is that I won't abort the baby and terminate the pregnancy. And the second is that I will do whatever is necessary for the baby's best interest."

Looking at her, Jacob could feel his heart thumping in his chest. Bella wasn't going to terminate her pregnancy. She didn't state she was going to keep the baby, but this decision to look after it while it resided inside of her was a win as far as he was concerned. But he did wonder if she had thought about that as an option. Voicing these thoughts, Jacob asked Bella what she planned on doing when the baby was born. Was she going to keep the baby, or put it up for adoption? Bella simply stated that she would eventually decide once her head was straight.

Nodding, Jacob said, "Well, whatever you decide, I'll be right by you side through it all, Bells."

Bella smiled up at Jacob and leant against his strong shoulder, resting her head there. She instantly felt warm and comforted by him, his presence always a comfort to her. And when Jacob wrapped his strong arm around her and held her close, she felt like she was at home. Snuggling closer to him, she whispered, "You know, despite everything, you are and will always be my best friend. I care about you, Jake."

"I know, and I shared that same sentiment," Jacob replied softly.

Silence flowed between them again, not awkward but comfortable, a silence that they could easily stay in if they wanted. After a while, Jacob finally asked, "So where did Blondie take you when she rescued you from your leech?"

Bella giggled at Jacob's nickname for Rosalie before answering, "To talk. Like I said before, she talked to me to give me some things to think about, some perspective about the baby and stuff. Truth be told, she hates Edward as much as you do."

Jacob laughed in response, finding it funny that one of the members of the Cullen clan would openly hate on the golden boy. His laughter coming down to a chuckle, he said, "Cool, we have that in common at least. But I doubt we'll ever be friends, even if we did bond over our mutual hatred. I am glad that she is looking out for you, though. She's looking out for you concerning Cullen and the baby, and I'm happy she is. It lets me know you have someone you can rely on if I can't be there."

Realizing he was right, Bella smiled and nodded. She had an ally in Rosalie, even if they didn't really like one another. She was glad she listened to Rosalie and talked to Jacob. They still had much to discuss, but they would do that in time. But the one thing that she wanted to happen between them was for them to make up, and they had. And because of this, she was now happy.

Later that evening, Bella was in the kitchen at Jacob and Billy's home busy cooking away for dinner. Bella had stuck around talking and laughing with the two men after her and Jacob had made up, and it was like nothing had ever changed between them. It was like it always had been, even before the Cullens had returned. All was well between Jacob and Bella, and Billy was happy about that. Bella was cooking a lasagna with ricotta cheese and pepperonis and had prepared a spinach salad to have on the side. She moved around so effortlessly in the kitchen that Billy would have sworn Bella had lived there all her life.

Checking on her meat sauce, Bella caught Jacob sticking his hand in to sample it. Smacking his hand with a spoon, she said, "Not yet."

"Aw, come on Bells," Jacob whined. "It tastes good."

"I know, but that doesn't mean you can have some now. Besides, it's still hot."

Billy shook his head in amusement at the two teenagers from his spot in the living room, seeing them playfully bicker like they always would. He really was glad to see them together again and no longer fighting. Jacob had told him that Bella didn't plan on terminating her pregnancy, but still didn't know what she planned on doing with the baby. He understood how she felt, as it had to be overwhelming for her to make such a big decision, especially with the pregnancy being so unexpected. Personally, he hoped she would consider keeping his grandchild. He was also aware of the danger her being pregnant could put her in with the Cullens, especially the one she called her boyfriend. His son had told him about what had happened earlier that day when he had gone over to the Swan house, and it made him worry. It definitely made him worry about when she eventually went back home. Maybe he could get Jacob or another member of the Pack to stand guard outside her home tonight.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Bella turned to him and asked if it was alright if she and Charlie stay for dinner. Smiling at her, Billy said, "You cooked Bella, so of course you can stay. You know you and Charlie are always welcome."

Turning to Jacob, he said, "Son, call the station and invite Charlie over. In fact, tell him I told him to come."

Jacob chuckled and went to the house phone. While he was calling the police station, Billy turned to Bella and said, "I'm glad you and my son are talking again."

"We still have some things to work out," Bella stated. "But I'm also glad that things are back to normal between us now."

Bella looked towards Jacob to find him laughing on the phone from whatever it was her father had said. Seeing him so full of life and smiling, his face shining, Bella couldn't help but smile at him. She felt her heart warm in her chest and that warm feeling spread all throughout her body. And she hoped that now that she and Jacob had made up and were friends again, that warm feeling would stay.