/Yesterday was a holiday here in Canada, so happy Thanksgiving to all those that celebrated yesterday or over the weekend.
Also fun fact, I have surpassed the word count of Twilight (The first book, not the series) *takes a bow* this story has been the most consistent thing I have done recently that didn't have to do with my home or children. As someone with ADHD, I have a hard time sticking with one thing for a long time, but this story isn't stopping anytime soon. I'm so happy for everyone's support and kind words, and even the critiques. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter./
JPOV
Bella jumped when the lightning struck nearby, the boom loud enough to cause my ears to ring and I felt a tingling of electricity through my toes. It must have hit really close. The power flicked off and I was grateful my dad was no longer in a wheelchair because he always needed help when the power was out or we'd end up with broken lamps, and sore toes.
The next strike came only a few seconds later and Bella jumped again, my eyes easily able to see her in the dark. This time she held her breath for a few seconds and when she finally let it out, it was unsteady. I forgot how lightning affected her, and I had hoped that since Victoria was gone, that her fears would be as well, but I guess I was wrong.
I led Bella into her room while Leah and Sam lit some candles and brought out a deck of cards to pass the time. It wasn't quite late enough to get some sleep and with the nearness of the storm, sleep would be difficult with a werewolves heightened hearing.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her, hoping I might be able to put her at ease if she finally told me why these storms scared her.
Another strike and a small sob left her lips. I pulled her into a tight hug so she would know she was safe and eventually she spoke.
"As you know, the first time I met Victoria, James and Laurent, was in a clearing. The Cullen's were playing baseball. They needed to wait for a storm because the sound of them hitting the ball was loud and echoed like thunder. What you don't know is when I realised that Victoria was after me, I started having nightmares.
"It seemed to only happen when you weren't around, but every single time, no matter where I was in the dream, there was thunder in the distance. I don't know if I was predicting it or if it was a coincidence, but the day she attacked, there was a storm. I heard the first rumble just as my eyes closed from blood loss, right when I thought I had lost you forever.
"When I woke up, attached to an IV, blood bag and pain killers, there was thunder. When I heard you weren't waking up, it was like my biggest fears came to life and right then, lightning struck nearby. It seems that with the scariest times in my life, there's always a storm."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you after the battle, and more sorry I wasn't there for you when my memory returned. It must have been hard, watching me hooked up to machines. I would have lost it if our roles were reversed. I would have begged the spirits to bring you back to me."
"I did." She said, her voice small and helpless sounding. I never knew that she spoke to the spirits. I knew she wasn't religious so I never expected her to pray at all. "And they listened. It took me about a week to finally have faith that someone was listening, and when I was finished begging them to bring their alpha back, my dad ran outside and told me you were waking up."
Another strike, and another jump from Bella. I walked us over to the bed and sat down with my back against the headboard and Bella between my legs. I wrapped my arms around her, touching everywhere but the front of her, like a cocoon, hoping I could help to quell her fear.
"So it was either a coincidence because it had already been a week, or the spirits listened and woke me up?"
"It was literally the second I asked. There is no way it was a coincidence. I feel responsible for everything though. If I hadn't begged them, would you have stayed asleep until your brain was healed too? Did my begging wake you too early?"
Could she be right?
"Even if it had, it wouldn't be your fault for the things I did. And it wouldn't be the spirits faults either so don't be mad at them. It was all me, of course a memory-less me, but it was still me." I leaned my head forward, resting my cheek on her head. "We'll be okay Bells. We'll get there. I hope someday you can forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive, Jake. You weren't you. And when you were. You were scared. I understand that, I just don't want it to happen again. I also don't want to keep having this conversation. It happened, we moved past it, let's stop bringing it up, okay?"
"Yeah."
The storm continued, but our conversation was over. I held onto Bella and I think it calmed her some, but her thoughts were still there. She needed a distraction but I had no idea what. She made the decision for me though when she turned her head around and placed her lips on mine, moving them slowly before tracing mine with her tongue.
Our passionate night drowned out the sound of the thunder, and Bella was successfully distracted until the storm passed.
When I woke the next morning to the sound of the alarm on my phone telling me it was time for school, Bella grabbed it and shut it off, already awake and starting her day.
"No school, powers out for both La Push and Forks as well as parts of Port Angeles. They're saying some lines are down and it's going to take at least the day to fix. Your boss also text and said not to bother coming in unless the power is back."
"You were going through my texts? What happened to trust?" I joked, knowing she wasn't doing anything wrong, and smiled at her to let her know I wasn't serious.
"It popped up when I was turning off your alarm." She said, tossing a pillow at my head. "I called your dad to see if everything was okay. He said no damage there and he was just going to stay in today and suggested we do the same. There are power lines down up the road from him. I also called my dad. He said he was extremely busy and couldn't talk. He was called in to work early. My mom on the other hand is taking today as a day to redecorate my room with all of her things since she has nothing better to do."
"So what you're saying is, this is one situation the pack can't help with and they get a day off. Awesome. What would you like to do?"
There was a knock at the door before Sam spoke. "Jake, can I get your help with something?"
Bella walked over to the door, her short skirt flowing as her hips moved, and opened it up. "What's up?"
"Lots of debris washed onto the beaches. There's also broken branches everywhere, including the roads. Was going to get everyone together and start clean-up."
"Sure, clothing then breakfast first."
Sam nodded then turned to Bella. "Leah's staying. She would like to finish whatever planning you were in the middle of yesterday."
"Sounds good. We'll be right out."
BPOV
"So, to save money you want to do a… standing ceremony?" I was a bit confused to say the least. I couldn't picture a ceremony where everyone stands. "Would short people like me have to stand at the front?"
"No, it will be like… here me draw it."
Leah took her white board that we'd been using and put two little dots in the center, then another to form a triangle. Then four more dots. 2 behind one of the center dots and 2 behind a different center dot.
"This is me, you and Angela, these are Sam, Jake and Paul. The lone dot is Billy, who will be officiating the wedding."
Next she drew a swiggly circle surround the dots be far away.
"This will be a ribbon and each of these bumps will be a vase of flowers it's attached to. Guests will stand outside the circle. Nobody will have a bad view that way."
"That's a really good idea. This is going to be so beautiful."
"I really hope so. Ok so it's going to be like this hippie picnic for the reception. Everyone gets a blanket or towel and just hangs out in the grass with finger foods and champagne, wine, beer and… apple juice for the kids?"
"Sparkling apple cider." I said, remembering my magical day in the woods before the storm hit.
"What?"
"Yesterday Jake pulled out what I thought was a bottle of wine when he took me for a little picnic for my birthday. It was sparkling apple cider. I also think the grocery store sells non-alcohol drinks, they're like zero point five percent. I have no idea how they make them but they'd be a good option for non-drinkers."
"This is exactly why you're my maid of honor. You are amazing. Ok so I'll just write that on my list. I'm going to have to figure out who will and who won't be drinking. Do you think your dad would allow you a glass of champagne to toast?" Leah asked, but I already knew the answer.
"Of course. He knows I'm not going to get drunk and end up in some bathroom puking my guts up. We actually went to a wedding over the summer, one of his co-workers got married and he let me have a small glass of wine."
"Ok, so alcohol doesn't really affect us because of the heat, so I should be good to have the rest of the party toast with a glass, assuming they even want to."
Leah started scribbling something down in the notebook she used that was specifically bought for the wedding. It had sections in it and she was using them for different things. Lists, time and date planning. She even had a checklist that said how long before a wedding certain things should be accomplished, like booking a DJ. I was actually really excited to be doing this. Of course she said my role as maid of honor would temporarily shift to Angela in the few days before the weddings because she wanted to be my first official customer at Bella Luna, and buy her wedding cake from me which would make me too busy to do any last minute things.
I hadn't told anyone yet, but I applied at a bakery in Forks to learn the ins and outs of the business aspect and had an interview set for Monday.
"Did you hear me?" Leah asked. Crap, I zoned out again.
"Sorry. Was thinking about something. What did you say?"
"I was hoping to go on Saturday up to Seattle. They have so many more options for dresses and it's one of the few things that's actually going to have a high cost in this wedding. The dresses and tuxes, the cake, and we're hiring a photographer."
"Alright. Well I'm free this weekend and I already know Angela is because we were going to hang out."
"Perfect! I'll drive."
"Oh wait… I promised Jake… ya know what? I'll just do that tomorrow when he's done school." I can't believe I forgot our plan to tap into his brain.
"You didn't hear?" Jake said as he, Sam and Quil walked into the house. "A power pole was downed that connects the school to the grid, they have to put a whole new pole in and won't be able to get it done until the weekend because of all of the other things they need to fix. No school until Monday at the earliest."
"Oh, that's not good." I replied.
"Says the bookworm." Quil joked, nudging me gently on the shoulder.
"Shut up, Quil." Jake jumped in. "I was hoping maybe we could get that done sooner, in case I need some… recovery time."
"Woah. T.M.I. Jake." Quil pretended to cover his ears. "lalalalalala. I can't hear you with my virgin ears."
Jake swatted Quil in the arm. "We're going to talk to Edward about this whole wolf thing. See if maybe he can figure this out with an inside look."
"You really think that's a good idea?" Quil asked. "I mean, the things he'll see." Quil glanced my way.
"I said the same thi…"
"It's fine Quil. He sees things like that all the time with literally everyone. He doesn't have feelings for me anymore, so I just have to get deal with it. If it makes things better with Jake, than it's worth it."
"Alright. Good luck."
"I'm definitely going to need it. Thanks, man."
I sent Edward a text to see if he was available, and he told us to head on up. We met at the old airport where everyone trained for the fight with Victoria and when we got there, Edward and Alice were already there.
"Alice!" I ran over and gave her a hug. "I thought you were still in Sweden with Jasper?"
"We decided to come home early. I was getting home sick. And good timing too! Edward says that Charlie and Renee got back together! That is so exciting." Alice said, clapping her hands like a small child.
"I ran into them at the grocery store, Bree wanted frozen waffles. I told her Esme would be more than willing to make waffles since we purchased a waffle iron but she insisted it had to be frozen, with blueberries. They were shopping for dinner and... Remind me that I hate mind reading." Edward said then got an odd look on his face.
"Oh, God. Eww!" I said, getting an idea what he saw based on his expression. "Can we just get this over with?"
Everyone agreed, so we walked to the clearing and sat on the mostly dried concrete runway that was not in use.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
