Author's Note: I'm glad you all enjoyed my exercise in third person for the last chapter! I write fan fic because I love the characters, but also to play around and experiment with my writing. A reviewer said that they preferred Bella's perspective and missed some of it with third person, and I agree. This story in particular really is Bella's to tell, so we're back to her.
Any time with the Cullens always ended too soon and before I knew it, I was back at Charlie's mentally preparing myself for another week of school. He was in good spirits, his friends finally getting along with his daughter's adoptive family.
"Hey Bells, I hear Jake came to see you and the Cullens over the weekend." he said as we washed and dried the dishes together.
"You and your friends gossip like a bunch of old women." I laughed.
"Maybe so, but there aren't any old women around us to do it for us."
"Guess not." I agreed.
"Did you get to meet his girlfriend?"
"Not yet. He said he'd bring her by to meet both of us sometime."
"You aren't upset?" he asked with his face a little scrunched up as he looked at me.
"Upset?!" I laughed too loud to talk for a minute that he could possibly thing I was upset. "Dad, I'm engaged to Edward. I'm relieved. This means Jake will finally stop trying to convince me to be with him instead."
"Guess so." Charlie managed to say, sounding only partially disappointed.
"He's a great friend. Nothing more. I've always told him that."
"It's just that you two get along so well."
"We do. As friends. Besides, I thought you liked Edward now."
"I do."
"Then you should be happy for Jake."
"I am. Was just worried about how you're taking it."
"I am taking it just fine. I'm happy for him. And I'm going to bed. Goodnight." I said, wanting to put an end to the discussion.
"Night."
I walked upstairs and shut the door to my room, shaking my head and smiling at how things had finally fully worked out in my favor. My dad was just being himself. I knew he didn't mean anything by it other than how much he would have loved having me with his best friend's son and Billy for my father-in-law as they had hoped. Still, Charlie had accepted Edward and allowed us to spend time together, and it was all I needed.
Edward wasn't there yet, but he would be soon. There was a small package on my bed that I knew I hadn't left there, though and it caught my curiosity.
The handwriting was obviously Jacob's, much too scrawly to belong to any Cullen. I opened the box to find a small, hand-carved wolf on a charm bracelet, and a note: For my best friend.
It made me smile as I put it on. It was perfect, not just the bracelet or the gesture, but the meaning it held. Best friends. Nothing more, nothing less.
"What are you smiling at?" Edward asked with a grin as he jumped through the window. I happily extended my arm and showed him my bracelet. "So, he's allowed to give you gifts, and I'm not?" he pouted, still gently smiling, happy to see me happy, but also trying his best to look hurt and gain my sympathy.
"He didn't spend a lot of money on this. It's personal. That makes it different."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, your gifts are the extravagant type, fancy dinners, diamonds, attempting to buy me cars. I usually feel like I can never pay them back. That's why this is different."
"So then, if there's something I've been wanting to give you that I promise I spent absolutely no money on, you would be alright with that?"
"Yes." I answered, assuming he meant something he had made or composed. Maybe a new song or perhaps an updated journal. I couldn't find any issues with something he hadn't spent money on, so I agreed.
"You keep that in mind. I'll be right back." he said as he disappeared out my window. Funny how 'I'll be right back' to most people would be a quick trip to the kitchen for a glass of water, not a high-speed run across town and back faster than I could even get ready for bed. It was just one of the many things that made Edward himself.
My bed was warm and soft. I was happily snuggled under the blankets, admiring the small details of the wolf charm when he re-appeared at my feet, holding a small box of his own.
"You just ran clear across Forks and you don't even have to catch your breath?"
"No." he laughed and sat down beside my feet, facing me. "I didn't spend money on this. I promise. My father did though, a long time ago."
"Your father Edward?"
"Yes." he smiled, handing me the box. I opened the lid hesitantly, worried that it was going to contain even more large jewelry. I loved my ring, but I didn't want to have my hands covered in them, which I was sure he would do if he were allowed.
I was pleasantly surprised by a simple charm in the shape of a heart. It caught the light from my bedside table and cast a rainbow of sparkles on the wall beside my bed, making me smile. I adjusted its position a little and the sparkles adjusted with it, going up higher in an intricate pattern almost like lace.
"I would have given this to you weeks ago if I knew that's how you'd react." he chuckled, obviously pleased. Maybe I should accept his gifts more often if it made him so happy.
"It's beautiful."
"It's cold and unbeating, just like mine."
"It sparkles in the light just like you." I added.
"May I?" he asked, holding one of my hands in his. I nodded. "If you're going to wear his symbol around your wrist, I thought it only fair that I be represented as well."
"Perfect." I said as he held my hand up to show me his charm now situated on my wrist alongside the wolf. He kissed my hand and held it. "Everything is perfect."
He nodded. "I'm happy that you like it. I was certain you'd panic or not want me to give it to you. My fears are so much worse than the real truth about everything."
"I hope you remember that in the future."
"It's not easy to erase decades worth of everything seemingly going wrong. Doubt. Panic." he admitted, looking at me a little sadly, but smiling again as he examined the bracelet on my wrist.
"I know, but you're doing so much better."
"I'm trying."
"Are you excited to meet Jake's girlfriend?"
He grinned. "As long as she holds his interest away from you, it wouldn't matter if she shapeshifts into a fish."
"A mermaid? Really? That's the best you can come up with?"
"Oh, this is something I should try to think about? OK, well it wouldn't matter if she were the Loch Ness monster. Or Big Foot."
I snorted and cracked up laughing. "Be serious. What do you think she's like?"
"Well, it would be unfair for me to say since I could see her in his thoughts. He's the happiest he's ever been. As am I, enough talk about Jacob." he teased at first, but when I saw his eyes turn dark as he leaned in to kiss me, my thoughts were lost. I surrendered to him. Jacob, who?
Leah called me excitedly almost the second I walked in the door from school the next day.
"Guess what?!" she practically shouted in my ear through the receiver.
"What?"
"Guess!" she loudly insisted.
"You passed your math exam."
"Well yeah but guess again."
"You beat Seth at air hockey?"
"Guess again."
"You're having chicken for dinner."
"You're no fun, Swan."
"Sorry. A hint would be nice, you know, a little help. I'm no good at this sort of thing."
"I met someone! A guy."
"That's awesome! Wait…We aren't discussing Jacob are we?"
She made gagging noises. "Hell no."
"Okay." I laughed. "Just making sure."
"No, no, definitely not. His name is Matthew. We met at the arcade in Port Angeles."
"What's he like?"
"He's a ton of fun! He likes games and racing cars. He's only a year older than me. He's studying to be a mechanic."
"That's great! I'm happy for you."
"I'm so glad to have someone to hang out with that doesn't remind me of Sam."
"What about me?" I teased.
"Oh hush, you know what I mean."
"When do I get to meet Matthew?"
"Do you and Edward want to go on a double date this weekend? I know he doesn't eat so you guys can meet up with us after dinner and we can all see a movie or something."
"I'll have to ask him, but I'm sure he'd like that."
"I'll see you then. Bye!" she said happily, hanging up before I could get another word in. I shook my head and hung up the phone. I was happy to hear her so happy, but I had never been one to discuss guys with. I hoped that would be the extent of our 'girl talk.'
"Must be something in the water in La Push." Edward joked. "Everyone is meeting their mates."
"Good thing I'm taken."
"Definitely a good thing." he said, wrapping his arms around me and smiling, dazzling me senseless without even trying. I wrapped my arms around him in return and admired his messy hair and shining eyes. "I thought you wanted to get started on dinner when we got in."
"Who cares about dinner?"
"Your dad might." he laughed. "Hey Bella, why aren't the tacos ready yet? Oh, I was too busy making out with Edward." I moved to playfully punch him, but he caught my hand carefully in his and kissed it, still laughing. "You'll only hurt yourself doing that, so please don't."
I pouted and he kissed my lips softly. "After dinner, love." he promised. I reluctantly untangled myself from his arms and started chopping cilantro as he watched.
"I'm surprised you're letting me use a knife."
"I don't think you're at risk of losing any fingers today. Although I would prefer you avoid all sharp objects, shapeshifters, vehicles, bees…" he trailed off. "Wild animals, sick people…Maybe I should just bubble wrap you."
"You forget that suffocation is a thing."
"I can leave your nose out."
"Then how would you kiss me?"
"Very, very carefully."
"Emmett would pop all the bubbles."
"Not if he had to wrestle with me first."
"And you and your brother wrestling near me is totally safe, right?"
He frowned, not having thought about that possibility. "Then, I guess a knife is the least of my worries."
I laughed and sat down the knife to stand in front of him. "I'm so happy that you're here with me. I still don't think I tell you that enough."
He stroked my cheek with his fingers, the coolness soothing my mild blush that I seemed to always have around him. "I wish I'd never left."
"Me too."
"I've missed so much time with you. Time that I can never get back."
"We will have an eternity together."
The thought made him frown. "I still hate to hurt you and take you away from your friends and family to give us that eternity."
"You won't be taking me away from anyone. I can still call and write Charlie and the Quileutes, especially now that they're alright with you all."
"Do you think these good relations will stay intact after your change?" he asked sadly.
"I'm sure they will be understanding."
"It will break our treaty."
"Then we negotiate it ahead of time." I insisted.
"Oh hey, I know we've promised not to bite any human or else it will void our treaty but I'm actually going to bite your favorite human and I want your blessing to do it. It also means she will never see one of your other favorite humans again, which will make him sad and maybe suspicious of why she isn't visiting. But I swear this is just a one-time thing and we really mean it now. We won't bite any humans ever again no matter what happens. And we won't grow our numbers again even though we promised you that we wouldn't."
"Not like that, obviously."
"I don't see any way of doing it that wouldn't have terrible consequences."
"What if we just ask them? The worse they can say is no."
"No, the worse they can say is making us leave Forks or even voiding our treaty and trying to kill us."
"They wouldn't, especially not now."
"We can't know that." he insisted, his expression serious.
"What did you say last night about your fears being worse than reality?"
"I know. And I'm trying, but not with something like this. We'll have to leave town first and maybe call and seek forgiveness later."
"Can I at least try to ask them?" I insisted, knowing that my friends could be reasoned with.
"We can't risk them knowing that we intend to change you."
"What if I just tell them it's hypothetical?"
"You're a terrible liar. They would know that it wasn't hypothetical."
"Hmm…" I thought, slowly working on dinner as I went through various scenarios in my head. I knew that I would have to ask Sam or someone with authority in the tribe. Billy was going to be a hard no for sure, no matter how far he'd come. I wasn't too comfortable with Old Quil. I wondered if Seth, Leah, or Jacob would be best to approach first. Perhaps they could turn things in our favor like how Seth had with the Cullen's donation.
"Charlie's here." Edward said in a whisper, kissing my head right as I started to hear keys in the door. "I'll see you tonight."
"What, you don't want to choke up tacos for me?" I teased. He looked at me, conflicted.
"I'm kidding, go."
He disappeared out the back door, shutting it softly, and across the yard in a flash of color. Charlie appeared in the kitchen just seconds later.
"Smells good!"
"Hey dad. How was work?"
"Good. Boring. What's going on with you?"
"Not much. School was ok. Leah called as soon as I got in to tell me that she has a boyfriend."
"Man, all the Quileute teens are pairing off this week."
"That's what I said."
"Must be that time of year." he laughed. "You need me to help you with anything?"
"No, I've got it. Go get comfortable."
He grunted and happily went through the house to change and settle in front of the TV. All in all, despite the crazy weekend, things were their new normal. I finished dinner and continued trying to decide how to keep the Quileutes on our side and get their blessing to allow me to officially become a Cullen.
Surely, now that Jacob and several of the other wolves had imprinted, they would understand a strong desire to be with your other half forever?
