Ricochet

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

Chapter Three

Bella looked with sadness around her old bedroom. Charlie hadn't changed a thing. The wooden floors, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed curtains around the window-they were all part of her childhood. And now she had a child of her own. It all seemed so surreal laying CJ in the very same bed she had once slept in herself. The rocking chair from her baby days was still in the corner. She pulled it closer to the bed and sat down. It teetered a little under her weight, before steadying.

"Mommy?" CJ said in tired voice, his eyes were already beginning to droop. "I like it here. I like Grandpa Charlie. Can we stay?"

Bella felt the heavy weight of her sadness bringing her down. She would love nothing more than to promise her son that they would stay awhile so he could get to know his grandfather better. But she didn't want to make a promise that she probably wasn't going to be able to keep. Edward was already impatient to be gone. After Charlie had rudely slammed the door in his face, he had waited outside in the car, knowing his presence was clearly not wanted. He sent Bella a flurry of texts, wanting to know how long she was going to be. His arrogant assumption that she was going to leave immediately when she had only just arrived riled Bella up so much that she responded with a few angry words of her own.

It will take as long as it takes. If you can't wait, then go home.

I'll wait.

Bella had turned her phone off after that. She reached out to her son and stroked the silky black strands of his hair from his forehead.

CJ yawned and turned on his side to face her. "Can we stay?" He asked again.

"We'll see." Bella said carefully. "Now go to sleep."

Bed was CJ's safe place, his haven. He'd snuggle into the duvet as happy as a cat in the sunlight, ready for his starry dreams. He'd fall asleep in good time, either slowly or fast, either way he enjoyed that feeling of relaxing into oblivion. "I love you, Mommy." He mumbled, eyes closing.

"I love you, too, sweetheart." Bella whispered back.

"Rosalie was right when she said he looks more like you when he's asleep." Charlie's silhouette suddenly filled the doorway, blocking out the hall light.

"Did she?" Bella said curtly as she checked one last time that CJ was properly under before rising slowly out of the rocking chair.

"You shouldn't be angry with her." Charlie hesitated, scrutinising her reaction carefully. "She did the right thing."

"In your opinion."

"And yours." Charlie stood aside to give her room to pass. "I know deep down you believe that."

Bella paused at the top of the stairs, glancing over her shoulder at him. "You're right." She grudgingly conceded. "I'm sorry, Dad. For everything." Her apology sounded flat, even to her ears. She'd been fooling herself for so long that she could continue in the half life she had been living with Edward, but now that fraud had been exposed, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do now. Keeping Charlie from suffering was the point of all the effort to keep things a secret from him. It was depressing that all that effort had been wasted. "I'm surprised you're not tearing a strip off of me right now."

"There's no point." Charlie sighed. "What's done is done."

"Then tell me what you want me to do now."

"You know what you need to do."

"And what is that?"

"Listen, kiddo, I think that – that you should tell Jacob now."

Bella's face paled and she shook her head. "No."

"You have to." Charlie insisted. There was still no anger or blame in his tone, which surprised Bella. She turned around to face him fully, searching his face for answers. "When your mother left," he began, frowning, "and took you with her." He inhaled deeply, even after all these years the memory still hurt. "Well, that was a bad time for me."

"I know, Dad." Bella mumbled.

"No." Charlie shook his head firmly. "I don't think you do. It killed me, Bella. Knowing that I wasn't going to get to see you every day. That I was going to miss out on all those important milestones in your life because we were so far apart. Jacob has missed six years of CJ's life – "

"You said Rosalie explained." Bella grimaced. His words cut into her like a knife in an already open wound. She already felt guilty enough. She didn't need him twisting it.

"She did." Charlie agreed. "And as difficult and as painful as it is for me to say, I understand your reasoning."

"If you understand my reasons, why are you pushing me to tell him?"

"Because those reasons are borne out of fear. You're scared, Bella. Petrified of this Volturi. You want to martyr yourself because it's a way of easing your guilt. But that's not good enough. Because this isn't just about you anymore. Its about CJ and what he needs."

Bella didn't know much about psychoanalysis, but she was pretty sure it didn't work unless the subject was relatively honest. Sure, she could tell the absolute truth-but she knew Charlie would be crushed by it. "Look, can you accept that there are things that you don't know."

Charlie examined her obstinate expression, and switched to another line of attack. "Then you leave me no choice." He warned her.

"What does that mean?"

"It means if you won't tell Jacob, then I will."

Bella held his gaze for a long moment, willing him inside her mind to take back his last statement. But his expression remained fierce and determined, there was no way he was backing down over this one. He had her backed into a corner and he knew it. "Fine." She conceded in a flat voice. "I'll go tonight, if you want."

"I didn't mean right now." Charlie argued, frustrated. "It can wait until the morning."

Bella pretended to act dense. She turned away from him and began to head down the stairs. "I don't understand, Dad. First your mad because I refused to tell him anything, and then you say you don't want me to go."

"Don't twist things, Bella." Charlie hurriedly descended the stairs after her. "I want you to be happy- to live a safe and fulfilled life. And you won't be if you permanently chain yourself to that controlling asshole you married, just because you're scared of the consequences if you leave him."

Bella reached the last step and glowered up at him. "You don't have the first idea."

"Then tell me." Charlie demanded. "Jacob will be angry at first, but once he calms down, he'll listen. He's a good kid. Always has been."

"He's not a kid. And neither am I."

Charlie huffed out another frustrated sigh. "It's a figure of speech. Of course, he'll be upset that you rejected him…"

"I rejected him?" Bella scoffed.

Charlie looked confused for a moment. "I thought…"

"Look, Dad, what happened between me and Jake is private." Bella interrupted. She grabbed her rain jacket and pulled it on, not meeting his eyes. "Let me get this over with before I lose my courage. Rosalie?" She called out.

"Yes." The beautiful blonde immediately appeared beside her.

"I need to borrow your car." Bella held out her hand for the keys to Rosalie's hire car. "And I need you to keep an eye on CJ. And make sure that Edward does not follow me."

"Done and done." Rosalie promised as she dropped her car keys into Bella's opened palm.

Bella gazed at Rosalie bleakly. "This doesn't mean I forgive you for taking CJ."

"I will deal with the fall out to my actions. And you will do the same." Rosalie closed Bella's fingers gently over the keys. "Now go."

Bella was out the front door before she could change her mind.

Bella saw Rosalie accost Edward in her rear-view mirror as she drove too quickly through the rain-soaked streets out of town. While she drove, she worried about what Jacob's reaction was going to be. An image began to form in her mind of the last time she had seen him, and she tried to push it away before it fully formed. If it did, she knew she would probably end up turning right around again. She hoped she would be able to get him alone. She didn't want to encounter Billy or the rest of the pack for that matter. She was sure they must all hate her now, Billy most of all.

Bella recalled the last time she had been in La Push. It was gone midnight when she had turned up at the Black's front door one stormy night over six years ago, distressed and begging to see Jacob. Billy had refused to let her in, telling her that Jacob had given him strict instructions that he didn't want to see her again. "He wants you to leave him alone, Bella. You've already been selfish enough with his heart. You made your choice. Now, please go, and don't bother him again."

Bella's mind snapped back into the present as she drove Rosalie's hire car down the familiar dirt track leading to the Black's house. It soon came into view. Nothing had changed, it was still the same, small wooden place with narrow windows, the dull red paint making it resemble a tiny barn. In the past, when she used to drive her old truck, the loud roar of the engine would always tip Jacob off to her approach.

How many times had she watched him run out of the house, a happy grin plastered across his handsome face as he hurried to meet her?

There was no such greeting today. Switching off the engine, Bella sat back and stared at the house for a moment. It was in complete darkness, and she wondered if anyone was even at home. Chewing on her lower lip agitatedly, thinking Charlie was right, Bella decided she should have waited until the morning. She was about to go, when she cast her gaze in the direction of the garage, which was really two metal sheds bolted together. Once upon a time they'd sentimentally christened it 'the Taj.' That was in another lifetime. It was probably pointless, but Bella decided to investigate anyway to see if anyone was inside.

Getting out of the car, Bella walked around from the east, sticking to the trees, easing her way through the overgrown shrubbery that had grown wild in recent years. Pushing the last of it out of the way, she had a better view, and could now see light spilling out from underneath the closed doors of the garage. Someone was definitely inside. And that someone had to be Jacob. She was sure he had to be alerted to her presence now. She was making enough noise for ten people.

As soon as the thought entered her head, she heard the sound of the garage doors well-oiled hinges squeal slightly in protest as they were suddenly thrust open. Bella's breath caught in her throat as she saw Jacob emerge, his tall frame bathed in the bright light coming from the garage's interior. She stared at him in blank astonishment, not prepared for the radical changes in him since the last time she had set eyes on him. His hair was still cropped quite short, covering his head in an inky gloss like black satin. When they had last been together, he had been hellbent on growing it out again, thinking she preferred it that way. He must have cut if off again, just like he had cut her out of his life.

Bella shuddered as she drew closer, her thirsty gaze still trained on him. She noticed the planes of his face had hardened subtly, tightened…aged. His neck and shoulders were thicker somehow, his torso even buffer than she remembered. His hands were clenched into fists, with the tendons and veins more prominent under his russet skin.

But the physical changes were insignificant compared to the tortured expression on his face that made him completely unrecognisable. The open, friendly smile was gone, the warmth in his brown eyes replaced with a haunted look that was instantly disturbing. It was like her sun had imploded.

"Jake." Bella said tentatively as she stepped out of the shadows and revealed herself.

Jacob stared at her, his whole body tensing at the sound of her voice. For one infinitesimal second, she saw hope flare in his eyes, like something inside him was coming back to life. But just as quickly they dulled again.

"Jake." Bella tried again. "Its me…Bella."

Jacob shook his head in denial, staring at her like she was a ghost. "You're not real. Bella's dead. Stop haunting me. Leave me alone." He tore his eyes from hers and quickly disappeared back inside the garage, closing the doors behind him and locking them.

A/N-thanks for reading!