Hello, darlings.

What do you think of this fantastic surprise? Twice in a week! I can not believe it, myself. :)

I hope you like it, and I hope to update soon..

In the meantime, stay safe and enjoy!

SILVER

Chapter 8: Moving on.

Jake, however, seemed distant, pensive. She almost smacked herself. She owed him a conversation. She managed to get his attention from across the room. She always found it curious how he always could read her perfectly. He smiled at her, but it was a tense smile. She tilted her head towards the door, signaling she wanted to talk to him alone. They stood up under the curious eyes of their friends and walked outside. They didn't talk until they were far enough to be out of earshot.

"Are you ok?" Bella ventured.

Jake looked surprised. "I am, why?"

She scratched her neck. "You have feelings for me. I never acknowledged them or took them seriously. I thought I had everything figured out." She sighed. "But you did make me think about my life. And it was one of the things that pushed me towards accepting Paul." She blushed. She didn't want to hurt him more than she had already had.

Jacob smiled amusedly at her. "Honey, I'm not in love with you."

Bella opened and closed her mouth a few times. "What?"

"I love you, Bella. But I'm not in love with you. I mean, if you had left the leech for me, be sure that I would have been thrilled, and I would have been thrilled. But when Paul finally imprinted, it put everything into perspective. Actually, I've known for a few weeks that my feelings for you weren't romantic." He admitted sheepishly. He had wanted to say something about Paul when she had gone to his house to hide from the leeches, but he decided against it. She wasn't the only one who had to come to terms with her feelings.

"I know I love you. I know you needed to wake up and leave the leech and live. But I also realized that the spirits didn't have it written as I once thought." He explained as simply as he could.

Bella mulled what he said. She should have been mad. He could have broken her heart the way Leah's had been. But she couldn't find it in herself to be upset. She wasn't in love with him either. She definitely loved him, but not like that. She actually felt relieved. So much so that she couldn't contain her giggle, which transitioned into laughter, infecting Jake, who laughed loudly and deeply with her.

"We are so bad." She said once she calmed down.

"But it works for us." He admitted, putting one arm around her shoulders, and pulling her towards him. She passed her arm around his waist, allowing him to be closer to her. She had always loved Jacob fraternally, so being able to be with him like this again, no awkwardness between them, just old friends fooling around, felt wonderful. She had missed her best friend.

"Thank you, Jake."

He tilted an eyebrow. "For not giving up on me. For being my friend, my confidant, for trying to kiss me, for pushing me. As mad as I was at you at first, it put things into perspective as well. I wasn't mad at you, really."

"I distinctly remember your right hook." Although it had busted her knuckles.

She blushed; she had never been a violent person except for the slap to Paul. "I was mad at myself. Because I knew I was drifting apart from Edward. But I didn't want to acknowledge that."

He nodded. "You are nothing if not stubborn. But I'm glad you finally opened your eyes."

"I did. I was going to break up with Edward the night of the training session. I didn't know there was a training, but when I found out, I postponed the breakup." She confessed. Only Paul knew that.

Jake looked at her, surprised. "I wasn't in love with him anymore. I knew I owed him the minimum of respect, so I decided to break up with him. I was planning on analyzing what I was feeling for you and Paul."

"For me?" He seemed surprised

"I mean, you also confused me. But I was sure I was in love with Paul."

He moved his head, showing he understood. They kept walking in silence for a few more minutes. For the first time, the silence was not uncomfortable. They smiled at each other, leaving their fights behind them and starting over.

"There is one thing that the pixy said." She nodded. "She said they would handle the Volturi." She gasped. She had forgotten about them.

Edward had said once that they rarely followed on their word. Something about her being thirty before they thought of her again. She really hoped that was true and not him trying to ease her mind.

"I heard that name once, Bells. It didn't sound like good news. You seemed frightened, and so did the pixy. I think you have some explaining to do." She nodded.

"I had honestly forgotten about them." She relayed what Edward had once said, the thirty years old, and all that jibber-jabber. Jake listened silently. "I will tell Paul about them."

For the moment, he would try to get that information to himself, however difficult. For what she had said about the leeches' thoughts on the other leeches' timing, they seemed like they were not a pending threat.

Just as Jake said his goodbyes to go patrolling and later to rest, she thought about the Volturi again and what Alice had said. Had she seen anything? She sighed, pulling out her phone from her pocket. It was better to know what she meant.

"Hi, Bella."

"Hello, Alice. Is this a good time to talk?"

"Sure." The answer came immediately.

"Jake told me what you said about handling the Volturi, and I wanted to know what you meant by that."

"If they reach out, we will tell her you died. It's short, no further questions from them, and it doesn't require a visit from them." So, they had everything sorted out. Bella let out a sigh of relief. "Contrary to what many would think, Aro doesn't touch everyone's hands. It's too much information to store for an eternity." That was also very relieving.

"So, I don't have to worry about them?"

Alice's tone was sweetened when she answered. "No, Bella. You don't have to worry about them anymore." She felt like there was a hidden message in the last word, but she didn't want to know.

"Thank you, Alice."

The line was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Neither knew what else to say. Alice decided to be the one to break the silence. "I will miss you. Be happy, Bella."

Bella smiled. "I will miss you too, Alice. Goodbye."

It was enough for now. After the fight was over, she would say her proper goodbyes to the rest of the family. For now, she had a wolf to go back to.

…

…

…

Bella couldn't contain her laughter when she walked back inside Emily's house. It was less crowded than an hour ago. All the imprints were still there, sipping coffee, wine, or beer. Bella was not a fan of wine, so she settled for a beer. Embry and Paul were passed out on the couch, almost falling into the other.

"Are they always like that?" She murmured, trying not to be too loud as not to wake them.

"Not always." Angela answered. "Most of the time, each of them goes to their own houses to sleep. But these two didn't make it. I'm surprised they can even sleep. They ate like they have never eaten before." Kim rolled her eyes, but Bella could see the amusement in her features.

Apparently, wolves eat like they have never been fed. And her boyfriend more so than the others. She sat with the girls and enjoyed the small talk. She didn't know much about Kim, but she had noticed how Jared worshipped her. They were a lovely couple.

Since the day Paul offered his peace Oreos, she felt completely and utterly free for the first time. She found herself actively participating in the conversation and asking questions to which she genuinely wanted the answers.

She had never enjoyed a fun time like this. In all honesty, she only had two true friends. One of whom harbored a crush on her once upon a time, and the other one she couldn't talk to when she needed it the most. But now, the girls felt like true friends. She also opened up about herself, offering in return what the girls gave. She was enjoying being a carefree teenager. She texted her dad to let him know she was crashing at the reservation and continued with her evening of food, drinks, and games.

Paul and Embry must have been very tired because, despite their uncomfortable-looking positions, they were knocked out.

Emily offered the Forks girls (aka Angela and Bella) the spare bedroom and some clothes. They crashed there until the following day.

…

…

…

"You're a heavy sleeper." She greeted Paul later that morning when she saw him walking into Emily's.

He nodded. "I was beaten." He admitted.

She kissed his cheek and offered him some food. She had had a very interesting talk with her pillow and decided to wait until Paul felt ready to talk to her about what had transpired at the clearing with Edward. He had seemed fine to her the day before. So perhaps, he was really ok, and she was worrying over nothing. She had taken a deep (and silent, as not to wake Angela) breath before succumbing to her own tiredness.

"Any plans for today?" He asked her eventually.

She shook her head. "None, actually. You?"

"Do you want to go to my place?" He left it at that, not offering more information. It was enough for her. She nodded eagerly. His place meant another part of him that he was going to let her see. It was intimacy in a different way.

…

…

…

Paul's place was smaller than Emily's and Sam's. It only had one bedroom, an open kitchen connecting to the living room, where a flat-screen sat on top of white furniture. It was neatly kept but not to the point of obsessive-compulsive order.

He showed her his room. Blue walls, gray sheets, and a massive bed that looked so comfortable that she just wanted to jump in and crawl under the covers. He had some pictures here and there in the whole apartment. He had one with Jared when they were kids, one of his mom in the living room, and one empty frame that looked unused and like it hadn't a fixed spot on the house.

"What's the empty frame for?"

His ears turned red, and he looked away shortly. It was very endearing watching him be shy. This guy who was commanding and assured. It was funny. A cute funny. "For us." He said simply.

She smiled brightly at him. She stood on her tiptoes and pecked him on the lips. "I love it." His ears turned to his normal color. "You were a very cute kid." He groaned, hiding his face on her neck.

But she could feel his smile in there. He cared about Jared enough to have a picture of them as kids being displaced on his house. "I was scrawny and dumb."

She laughed hard at his description of himself. "Why do you say you were a dumb kid? No kid is dumb."