Eyes Wide Open

JacobxBella

Rated M

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

Eyes Wide Open

Chapter 32

Bella couldn't believe the day had finally come. It was the day of her graduation ceremony. She was finally graduating high school. It all seemed so surreal to her, and yet it was here. She stood looking at herself in the mirror in her room, hoping she looked presentable. Then again, what did it matter? She'd just be wearing her cap and gown over it, so no one would be able to see what she wore anyway. Her eyes looked up from her clothes to her face, and she looked at herself once again, or more specifically, her eyes.

Chocolate brown eyes stared back at her, a little wider than she remembered them being from before she had first lost her eyesight, hidden behind sooty lashes more times than not. Jacob, her precious Jacob, had always told her she had beautiful eyes. And while she hadn't at first believed him, she could see now that he meant it and was right, and she appreciated that.

Thinking of when she had returned to Forks from Volterra and her suddenly being able to see again, it made her think of Charlie's reaction to it. And it wasn't something she had thought about until she and Jacob had pulled back in front of her house.

(Flashback…)

As they pulled up in front of the little yellow house once again, Bella smiled, happy to finally be home. It had been a long journey to Volterra, Italy and back, and she as happy to finally be back home. Oh, she couldn't wait to see Charlie once again!

At that thought, Bella suddenly gasped, her smile instantly dropping from her face. Charlie! What was her dad going to say to her suddenly having her sight back again? What was she going to tell him? She hadn't thought of what to do to cover the truth until just now, and she didn't have a single clue on how to smoothly gloss over the details of her leave.

Jacob, seeing the somewhat panicked expression on his Imprint's face, looked at her in concern and asked, "What's the matter, Bells?"

"Charlie," Bella answered. "What do I tell him about my returned eyesight? He'll wonder why I don't have my white stick anymore and how I suddenly can see again. What do I tell him?"

Her boyfriend saw her dilemma and thought a bit before saying, "Just say that…upon our trip to Italy, you found an opportunity for corrective eye surgery with a one hundred percent guarantee of having ones sight back. That sounds reasonable right? Better than saying you had venom dropped in your eyes."

That was true. Bella and Jacob had talked about how Aro had returned her eyesight to her after waking up from their lovemaking in the hotel, and she had suggested that perhaps Aro had dropped vampire venom in her eyes. It would explain why it had hurt and burned so badly. Jacob had even sniffed around her eyes and confirmed the smell of leech, though it was a very light scent. It had actually made him worry that the amount dropped in her eyes would turn her into a vampire but turns out it was only enough to repair the damage done to her eyes and nothing more. Bella had no idea how Aro had managed it, but she was grateful to him, nonetheless.

Nodding, Bella said, "Yeah okay, that will work."

She looked up at her home and took a deep breath before saying, "Let's go."

They got out of the car and grabbed their bags, walking up to her house. Barking could be heard from inside and they soon saw Shadow appear in the doorway of the screen door, barking and wagging his tail happily at the sight of his mistress and her mate. Bella, having never seen him before now, grinned at the sight of her companion and hurried to the door, opening it and allowing the black Lab to jump on her. Shadow knocked her down on the ground and licked her face, Bella giggling and hugging him as he did.

Finally able to sit up, she looked at her dog and said in awe, "Wow, you've gotten so big! I missed you, my precious boy!"

Shadow yipped happily and once again pounced on Bella, giving her doggie kisses before turning to Jacob to do the same. Sitting up once again, Bella saw Charlie standing on the porch, a smile on his face as he looked at his daughter. Stepping off the porch, he helped her up before giving her a hug saying, "Welcome home, kiddo. How was Italy?"

Hugging him back, Bella answered, "It was great. We saw so many sights and the food was delicious."

"I'll bet it was." Charlie pulled away from his daughter and looked at her almost strangely. "What do you mean you saw so many sights? Did Jacob describe them to you?"

Here it was, the moment of truth. Taking a deep breath, Bella shook her head and answered, "No, I mean I saw them. Dad, while we were in Italy, Volterra to be exact, I found an opportunity to have corrective eye surgery and it had a one hundred percent guarantee to give one back their sight."

"Bella, that could have been a scam."

"I know, but it didn't hurt to try. Well, I took it and now…," Bella grinned up at the man. "…now I can see again. I have my sight back, dad."

Charlie looked at his daughter in shock before looking at her eyes that matched his own. As he looked into them, he saw recognition in them as she looked back at them, and he smiled as well before hugging her once more.

"My kiddo can see again! Oh, this is a miracle!" Charlie said happily.

Letting her go once again, he beckoned her, Shadow, and Jacob into the house so they could all talk and catch up. And Bella did so with a smile, happily taking in her home once more after nearly a year in the dark. Even so, she had never seen more during her time blind, and thus learned so much, and she wouldn't ever forget that.

(End Flashback…)

"Bella! Are you ready?!" Charlie's voice suddenly called up the stairs, startling her out of her thoughts. "We don't want to be late!"

Looking herself over once more, Bella nodded before leaving her bedroom and walking down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, she saw her father waiting for her and she smiled saying, "Yeah, I'm ready."

The graduation ceremony honestly passed in a blur for Bella. It all seemed to happen in increments. First, she had walked out on the lawn with her graduating class, barely listened to Jessica's valedictorian speech, and then was standing in alphabetical order to receive her high school diploma. As she shook the principle's hand and received her diploma, she remembered hearing loud hooping and hollering from her fan club, i.e. Jacob and the Pack. She had looked over towards them and smiled embarrassedly as they cheered and clapped for her, but her smile grew upon seeing Jacob's proud expression. After that, the ceremony had become a blur once more until she had become aware of her fellow classmates cheering and tossing their graduation caps in the air. Smiling, she simply took hers off and made her way through the crowd towards her family.

She was stopped by Jessica and given a hug, being told that she was having a graduation sleepover the next night and that she was invited; she also made sure to reassure Bella that Lauren would not be present and it would just be her and Angela there with her. Bella agreed and told her she'd be there before continuing on her way. Eventually she pushed her way through the crowd and was soon wrapped up into strong arms and lifted off the ground in a warm hug. Grinning, she returned the hug before looking at her boyfriend.

"I'm a high school graduate now," Bella said with a smile.

"And I'm so proud of you, honey," Jacob replied with his own smile before stealing her lips in a sweet kiss.

As she pulled away, Bella was soon wrapped up into hugs from all of the Pack, Quil and Embry placing her on their shoulders and chanting her name. Billy laughed and told them to place her back on her feet before giving her a congratulatory hug as well, telling her he was proud of her accomplishment and that Sarah would have been proud, too. Hearing that made tears well up in Bella's eyes, as she knew that his deceased wife really would have been. Finally, she turned to Charlie who was looking at her with a father's pride, though his eyes were shining with tears.

Moving to hug her father, Bella said softly, "Don't cry, dad."

"I'm not," Charlie immediately denied. "It's just sweat."

Bella snickered and looked up at him before saying, "Come on dad, you can tell me whatever it is."

Charlie shrugged before saying, "You're a graduate now. It won't be long before you go off to college and leave your old man."

"Dad, I won't be going far. Didn't I tell you where I was going?"

"No."

The brunette simply smiled. "I'll be attending Washington State in the fall. I won't be far from home, and I can visit whenever I want."

Jacob grinned and hugged his Imprint from behind. "That's great! That means you can come home every weekend."

Billy shook his head. "Maybe not every weekend, son. But Bella can come home for a visit and if we want, we can go to her."

Charlie smiled and said, "That's great, kiddo. I'll be looking forward to it, but I'm going to enjoy our time right now until then."

Bella smiled and was about to ask what was going to happen now, but a call of her name caught her attention. Turning she saw Natalie making her way towards her through the crowd. Bella remembered the first time she actually saw the redhaired woman and had to admit Charlie's description of her was spot on. She really was as pretty as her father had described, and along with her kind personality, it was no wonder her father had fallen for her. As Natalie reached them, she smiled at Bella and gave her a hug saying, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it for the ceremony. An emergency happened at the pharmacy and I couldn't leave. But I got you a present and a card."

"Thanks Natalie, that's kind of you. And it's no problem, really," Bella replied with a smile.

Natalie nodded and greeted everyone else before giving Charlie a kiss on his cheek. Embry excused himself to go and find Angela, wanting to congratulate his girlfriend on her graduating as well. Bella turned back to Jacob and asked, "So, what now?"

Jacob wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close to him before saying, "Now we head to the Res. We're throwing a party just for you. Ms. Opal and Sue are preparing things as we speak. They should be done soon, so we should be leaving now."

"Yes, we should," Billy agreed, having heard what his son said. "Alright everyone, back to La Push. It's time for Bella's graduation party to commence."

The Pack cheered before rushing back to their cars, Jacob pushing his father along and Bella walking with Charlie and Natalie. As she did, she couldn't help but smile. Life was so sweet right now, and she couldn't help but think it would get sweeter. Her life had turned topsy-turvy after she had moved to Forks, but after losing her eyesight and becoming blind, it seemed to have righted itself back up. Only this time, she saw things for what they really were, and saw for herself who really cared for her and loved her for who she was. She had thought she had already known, but losing her sight had opened her eyes more than they had ever been when she had been able to see. And even now with her sight back, her eyes were still wide open to everything around her, and she couldn't help but smile at what the future would bring, along with the lessons she had learned and was bound to learn later.

Chocolate brown eyes looked over to Jacob who was conversing with Billy as he pushed him along in his chair. Jacob, feeling Bella's gaze on him, looked her way and smiled brightly at her, the sight making her heart swell in her chest as well as beat faster.

And to think, you were the one to help me open my eyes, Bella thought as she looked at her boyfriend. Jacob hadn't given up on her when she had lost her sight, hadn't pitied her, but instead had embraced her and helped her find her feet, and she would forever be grateful to him for that. She loved him so much and knew that her life wouldn't be complete without him in it. And she knew that he would always be present in her future through thick and thin, no matter what. Yes, she could see her life was going to be much sweeter, and she couldn't wait to taste it.

Author's Note: This is the end of Eyes Wide Open. I had so much fun writing this story, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as it went along. Thank you all so much for sticking by this story and going along with Bella's journey through being blind. I really appreciate your support and your kind reviews. Also, the site has been glitching for the past few days, but hopefully it is fully fixed now, as I am able to finally update my stories. Thank you all for your patience during the meantime. Please stay tuned for what is to come next, and again, thank you all so much. XOXO, SehunsBae37.