Chapter 12:
Bella's POV:
When I woke up in the morning, it was very bright - even inside the tent, the sunlight hurt my eyes. And I was sweating, as Jacob had predicted. Jacob was snoring lightly in my ear, his arms still wrapped around me. I pulled my head away from his feverishly warm chest and felt the sting of the cold morning on my clammy cheek. Jacob sighed in his sleep; his arms tightened unconsciously. I sighed. I ran light circles around his back until he woke up. He smiled, and I kissed him, it was an unexpectedly longer kiss, I climbed on top of him straddling him. He chuckled. "Good morning beautiful." He said, pulling away, winking. I smiled and pulled him back into a kiss.
"Morning." I said, breathless, brushing my lips against his. He ran his fingertips over my cheek.
"That's an amazing way to start the day." He whispered, kissing my neck.
"Yea..." I whispered. We just layed there for a few minutes until we had to get up. "C'mon Jake, let's start getting ready." I said, getting up. He got up after me, and I put on a sweater. We walked out together. Seth came out in his human form, and we walked over to him. "Hey Seth." I said, pulling him into a hug.
"Hey Bell." He said, hugging me back. "Sup man." He said, looking over to Jacob.
"Nothing much... when does Sam want me down there?" He asked. I stiffened.
"Well... I'm sorry to say this but the reason I'm here... right now, is to tell you that he wants you down there now..." He said, quietly.
"Damn it." He growled, lightly. "Okay... I'll head down there in a minute, phase back and go get ready with Edward."
"OK." He said, turning and running to the forest. I looked up at him sadly.
"I have to go now... you'll be okay, they'll protect you." He murmured, hugging me. "I love you, Bella."
"I love you, Jacob." I whispered brokenly. He smiled, and turned to walk away.
"Stay." I begged. He shook his head.
"Bells, I have to help the pack, and Sam won't let me back down." He whispered, softly. I had to tell him about the twins... before he left. I opened my mouth to say something... but nothing came out. He turned to leave, again.
"I'm having... tw-..." I choked, and looked down. "I'm having... twins..." I rushed. His eyes widened in surprise. He swung his face around to look at me. I stared back. I had no idea what expression was on my face. Then he lurched forward, closing the distance between is in three long strides. As his hands caught my face and his lips found mine with an eagerness that was not far from passion. One hand moved to the nape of my neck, twisting into a fist around the roots of my hair. The other hand grabbed my shoulder lightly, pulling me to him. His hand continued down my arm, finding my wrist and pulling my arm up around his neck. I left it there, while his lips, soft and warm, tried to force a response out of my mine, I was still so shocked that I couldn't respond to anything. He freed my wrist, his hand feeling its way down to my waist. His warm hand found the skin at the small of my back, and yanked me forward bowing my body against his. His lips gave up on mine for a moment, but I knew he was nowhere close to finished. His mouth followed the line of my jaw, and then explored the length of my neck. He freed my hair, reaching for my other arm to draw it around his neck like the first. Then both of his arms were constricted around my waist, and his lips found my ear.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"I saw Carlisle last night. He wanted to see me again one last time before everything started today. And he had a theory that since your a werewolf... that your baby would take after you and grow faster, and he was right. But he's was growing a lot faster than Carlisle thought, so when Carlisle checked... we saw twins." I said breathlessly smiling.
"He?" He said, smiling.
"And since their both growing faster than normal babies... I know their genders." I murmured.
"What... are their... genders?" He asked, breathlessly.
"We're having two baby... boys." I said, looking into his eyes. With a wild gasp, he brought his mouth back to mine, his fingers clutching frantically against the skin at my waist. I kissed him back, moving my lips with his. My fingers tightened in his hair, but I was pulling him closer now. He was everywhere. The piercing sunlight turned my eyelids red, and the colour fit, matched the heat. The heat was everywhere. I couldn't see, hear, or feel anything that wasn't Jacob. My hands clung to his shoulders, I loved that they were wide and strong. His hands pulled me tight against his body, and yet it was not tight enough for me. In this moment, it felt as though we were the same person. His pain had always been and would always be my pain - now his joy was my joy. I felt joy, too. Jacob's lips were still before mine were. I opened my eyes and he was staring at me with wonder and elation.
"I have to leave." He whispered.
"No." He smiled, pleased by my response.
"I'll come back." He promised. "But one thing first..." He bent to kiss me again, this time was different. His hands were soft on my face and warm lips were gentle, unexpectedly hesitant. It was brief, and very very sweet. His arms curled around me, and he hugged my securely. I hugged him like it was the last time, and cried quietly, as he ran down to the fight. It took several long and painful minutes before I could move. I looked back towards the camp and saw Seth. I sighed, and walked towards the tent. When I got there, Seth came up and rubbed his head against my shoulder... he was congratulating Jake and I... he had obviously heard.
"Thanks Seth..." I whispered, brokenly, patting his head. He whined, I smiled. "I'm ok."
"Congratulations..." I heard Edward murmur so low I could barely hear, I gasped and jumped closer to Seth.
"Oh my god Edward... don't scare me like that! Cough or rustle a leaf or something!" I said, putting hand across chest, my heart practically jumping out of my chest. He forced a sad smile, I frowned looking down. "And thanks..." I murmured.
"No problem... I just came back cause Jake went to the fight and I though you would like to know whats going on..." His body was sifting unconsciously as he watched, tensing for moves he would have made. The sudden absence of sound was the only warning. The deep rush of Seth's breathing cut off, and - as I'd paced my breaths with his - I noticed. I stopped breathing, too - too frightened to even make my lungs work as I realized that Edward had frozen. Oh, no. No. No. I blinked, shocked, into the brilliant light. Seth was all I could see, right beside us, his face only six inches from Edward's. They stared at each other with absolute concentration for one infinite second. Then Edward whispered urgently. "Go, Seth!" Seth wheeled and disappeared into the forest shadows. I found myself with my back pressed against the sheet cliff face. Edward stood in front of me. Relief washed through my mind at the same time that my stomach dropped through the sales of my feet. I'd misunderstood. Relief - nothing had gone wrong in the clearing. Horror - the crisis was here. Edward held his posture in front of me. Something was coming for Seth, Edward, and I.
"Who?" I whispered. The words came through his teeth in a snark that was louder than I expected. Too loud. It meant that it was far too late to hide. We were trapped, and it didn't matter who heard his answer.
"Victoria." He said, spitting the word, making it a curse. "She's not alone. She crossed my scent, following the newborns in to watch - she never meant to fight with them. She made a spur-of-the-moment decision to find me." She was close enough that he could hear her thoughts. I was so glad he'd sent Seth away. Of course, there was no one Seth could run to for help. Victoria had timed her decision perfectly. But at least Seth was safe; I couldn't see the huge sandy wolf in my head when I thought his name - just the gangly fifteen-year-old boy. Edward's body shifted - only infinitesimally, but it told me where to look. I stared at the black shadows of the forest. Two vampires edged slowly into the small opening of our camp, eyes intent, missing nothing. They glistened like diamonds in the sun. I could barely look at the blond boy - yes, he was just a boy, though he was muscular and tall, maybe my age when he was changed. His eyes - a more vivid red than I had ever seen before - could not hold mine. Though he was closest to Edward, the nearest danger, I could not watch him. Because, a few feet to the side and a few feet back, Victoria was staring at me. Her orange hair was brighter than I'd remembered, more like a flame. There was no wind here, but the fire around her face seemed to shimmer slightly, as if it were alive. Her eyes were black with thirst. She did not smile - her lips were pressed into a tight line. She gaze flickered between Edward and me, but never rested on him for more than a half-second. She could not keep her eyes from my face any more than I could keep mine from hers. Tension rolled off of her, nearly visible in the air. I could feel the desire, the all-consuming passion that held her in its grip. Almost as if I could hear her thoughts, too, I knew what she what was thinking. She was so close to what she wanted - the focus of her whole existence for more than a year now was just so close. My death. My heart beat furiously, loudly, as if to make her target more obvious. An immense distance away, from far across the the black forest, a wolf's howl echoed in the still air. With Seth gone, there was no way to interpret the sound. The blond boy looked at Victoria from the corner of his eye, waiting on her command. He was young in more ways than one. I guessed from his brilliant crimson irises that he couldn't have been a vampire for very long. He would be strong, but inept. Edward would know how to fight him. Victoria jerked her chin toward Edward, wordlessly ordering the boy forward. "Riley." Edward said, in a soft, pleading voice. The blond boy froze, his red eyes widening. "Listen to me. Victoria's just using you to distract me. She knows I'll kill you." Confusion swept across Riley's face. Edward shifted a few inches to the side, and Riley automatically compensated with an adjustment of his own. "In fact... she'll be glad she doesn't have to deal with you anymore." Edward's soft voice was compelling, almost hypnotic. I didn't like it.
"Don't listen Riley. I told you about their mind tricks." Victoria said, and my mouth fell open in shock at the sound of her voice. "I told you about their mind tricks. You know I love only you." Her voice was not strong, wild, catlike growl I would have put with her face and stance. It was soft, it was high - a babyish, soprano tinkling. The kind of voice that went with blond curls and pink bubble gum. It made no sense coming through her bared, glistening teeth.
"I can read her mind. So I know what she thinks of you."
"He's lying." She said, soothingly.
"She only created you and this army to avenge her true mate... James. It's the only thing she cares about. Not you." When he said Jame's name, Victoria's lips pulled back in a teeth-baring grimace. Her eyes stayed locked on me. Riley cast a frantic glance in her direction. She slowly looked in his direction.
"There's only you. You know that."
"Think about it. Your from Forks. You know the area. That's the only reason she chose you. She doesn't love you."
"Riley... don't...let him do this to us. You know I love you." Riley's face was desperate as he looked to Victoria for answers. Riley's jaw tightened, and he squared his shoulders. His eyes emptied - there was no more confusion, no more suspicion. There was no though at all. He tensed himself to attack. Victoria's body seemed to be trembling, she was so tightly wound. Her fingers were ready claws, waiting for Edward to move just one more inch away from me. He took a step forward.
"Your dead." He said, in a light voice. The snarl came from none of them. A mammoth tan shape flew through the centre of the opening, throwing Riley to the ground.
"No!" Victoria cried, her baby voice shrill with disbelief. A yard and a half in front of me, the huge wolf ripped and tore at the blond vampire beneath him. Something white and hard smacked into the rocks by my feet. I cringed away from it. Victoria did not spare one glance for the boy she'd just pledged her love to. Her eyes were still on me, filled with a disappointment so ferocious that she looked deranged. "No." She said, again, through her teeth, as Edward started to move toward her, blocking her path to me. Riley was on his feet again, looking misshapen and haggard, but he was able to fling a vicious kick into Seth's shoulder. I heard the bone crunch. Seth backed off and started to circle, limping. Riley had his arms out, ready, though he seemed to be missing part of one hand... Only a few yards away from that fight, Edward and Victoria were dancing. Not quite circling, because Edward was not allowing her to position herself closer to me. She sashayed back, moving from side to side, trying to find a hole in his defence. He shadowed her footwork lithely, stalking her with perfect concentration. He began to move just a fraction of a second before she moved, reading her intentions in her thoughts. Seth lunged at Riley from the side, and something tore with a hideous, grating screech. Another heavy white chunk flew into the forest with a thud. Riley roared in fury, and Seth skidded back - amazingly light on his feet for his size - as Riley took a swipe at him with one mangled hand. Victoria was weaving through the tree trunks at the far end of the little opening now. She was torn, her feet pulling her toward safety while her eyes yearned toward me as if I were a magnet, reeling her in. I could see the burning desire to kill warring with her survival instinct.
"Don't go, Victoria." Edward murmured, in that same hypotonic tone as before. "You'll never get another change like this." She showed her teeth and hissed at him, but she seemed unable to move farther away from me. "But I don't know why you even bother with Bella anymore... she was never my mate." Confusion swept through Victoria's eyes, looking from me back to Edward. "She has an Imprint... Jacob Black... she's pregnant with his twins... their getting married and she's apart of the pack now... she's not mine." He said, his voice was a mixture of disgust and sadness. "But you can always run later." Edward purred. "Plenty of time for that. It' what you do, isn't it? It's why James kept you around. Useful, if you like to play deadly games. A partner with an uncanny instinct for escaping. He shouldn't have left you - he could have used your skills when we caught up to him in Phoenix." A snarl ripped from between her lips. "That's all you ever were to him, though. Silly to waste so much energy avenging someone who had less affection for you than a hunter for his mount. You were never more than convenience to him. I would know." Edward's lips pulled up on one side as he tapped his temple. With a strangled screech, Victoria darted out of the trees again, feinting to the side. Edward responded, and the dance began again. Jus then, Riley's fist caught Seth's flank, and a low yelp coughed out of Seth's throat. Seth backed away, his shoulder twitching as if he were tying to shake off the pain. Please, I wanted to plead with Riley, but I couldn't find the muscles to make my mouth open, to pull the air up from my lungs. Please, he's just a child! Why hadn't Seth run away? Hey didn't he run now? Riley was closing the distance between them again, suddenly interested in her partners' fate. I could see her, from the corner of my eyes, judge the distance between Riley and me. Seth snapped at Riley, forcing him back again, and Victoria hissed. Seth wasn't limping anymore. His circling took him within inches of Edward; his tail brushed Edward's back, and Victoria's eyes bulged. "No, he won't turn on me." Edward said, answering the question in Victoria's head. He used her distraction to slide closer. "You provided is with a common enemy. You allied us." She clenched her teeth, trying to keep her focus on Edward alone. "Look more closely, Victoria." He murmured, pulling at the threads of her concentration. "Is he really so much like the monster James tracked across Siberia. Her eyes popped wide open, and then began flickering wildly from Edward to Seth to me, around and around.
"Not the same?" She snarled, in her little girl's soprano. "Impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible." Edward murmured, as he moved another inch closer to her. "Except what you want. You'll never touch her." She shook her head, fast and jerky, fighting his diversions, and tried to duck around him, but he was in play to clock her as soon as she'd thought of the plan. Her face contorted in frustration, and then she shifted lower into her crouch, and stalked deliberately forward. Victoria was no inexperienced, instinct-driven new born. She was lethal. Even I could tell the difference between her and Riley. Edward shifted, too, as they closed on each other. The dance increased in tempo. It was like Alice and Jasper in the meadow, a blurred spiralling of movement, only this dance was not as perfectly choreographed. Sharp crunches and cracking reverberated off the cliff face whenever someone slipped in their formation. But they were moving too fast for me to see who was making the mistakes... Riley was distracted by the violent ballet, his eyes anxious for his partner. Seth struck, crunching off another small piece of the vampire. Riley bellowed and launched a massive backhand blow that caught Seth full in his broad chest. Seth's huge body soared ten feet and crashed into the rocky wall over my head with a force that seemed to shake the whole peak. I heard the breath whoosh from his lungs, and I ducked out of the way as he rebounded off the stone and collapsed on the ground a few feet in front of me. A low whisper escaped through Seths teeth. Sharp fragments of gray stone showered down on my head, scratching my exposed skin. Adrenaline jolted through my veins. Behind Riley, all I could see was the twisting flame of Victoria's hair and a blur of white. The increasingly frequent metallic snaps and tears, the gasps and shocked hissing, made it clear that the dance was turning deadly for someone. But which someone? Riley lurched toward me, his red eyes brilliant with fury. He glared at the limp mountain of sand-coloured fur between us, and his hands - mangled, broken hands - curled into talons. His mouth opened, widened, his teeth glistening, as he prepared to rip out Seth's throat. A second kick of adrenaline hit like an electric shock, and everything was suddenly very clear. Both fights were too close. Seth was about to lose his, and I had no idea if Edward was winning or losing. They needed help. A distraction. Something to give them an edge. My hand gripped the stone spiked so tightly I could feel the skin breaking. Was I strong enough? Was I brave enough? How hard could I shove the rough stone in my body? Would this buy Seth enough time to get back on his feet? Would he heal fast enough for my sacrifice to do him any good? I raked the point of the shard up my arm, yanking my thick sweater back to expose the skin, and then pressed the sharp tip to the crease at my elbow. I steeled myself and sucked in one deep breath. Victoria was distracted by the sound of my gasp. Her eyes, holding still of one tiny portion of a second, met mine. Fury and curiosity mingled strangely in her expression. I pushed the sharp tip of the shard into my elbow and dragged it down, and felt the blood drip down my arm. In that same short second, the dance broke violently apart. It happened so quickly that it was over before I could follow the sequence of events. I tried to catch up in my head. Victoria had flown out of the blurred formation and smashed into a tall spruce about halfway up the tree. She dropped back to the earth already crouched to spring. Simultaneously, Edward - all but invisible with speed - had twisted backward and caught the inspecting Riley by the arm. It had looked like Edward planted his foot against Riley's back, and heaved - the little campsite was filled with Riley's piercing shriek of agony. At the same time, Seth leaped to his feet, cutting off most of my view. But I could still see Victoria. And, though she looked oddly deformed - as if she were unable to straighten up completely. She coiled and sprang. Something small and white whistled though the air and collided with her mid-flight. The impact sounded like an explosion, and it threw her against another tree - this one snapped in half. She landed on her feet again, crouched and ready, but Edward was already in place. Victoria kicked something aside with a flick of her bare foot - the missile that had crippled her attack. It rolled toward me, and I realized what it was. My stomach lurched. The fingers were still twitching; grasping at the blades of grass, Riley's arm began to drag itself mindlessly across the ground. Seth was circling Riley again, and now Riley was retreating. He backed away from the advancing werewolf, his face rigid with pain. He raised one arm defensively, Seth rushed Riley, and the vampire was clearly off balance. I saw Seth sink his teeth into Riley's right shoulder and tear, jumping back again. With an earsplitting metallic screech, Riley lost his other arm. Seth shook his head, flinging the arm into the woods. The broken hissing noice that come through Seth's teeth sounded like snickering. Riley screamed out a tortured plea.
"Victoria!" Victoria did not even flinch to the sound of her name. Her eyes did not flicker once toward her partner. Seth launched himself forward with the force of a wrecking ball. The thrust carried both Seth and Riley into the trees, where the metallic screeching was matched by Riley's screams. Screams that were abruptly cut off, while the sounds of rock being ripped to shreds continued. Though she spared Riley no farewell glance, Victoria seemed to realize that she was on her own. She began to back away from Edward, frenzied disappointment blazing in her eyes. She threw me one short, agonized stare of longing, and then started to retreat faster.
"No." Edward crooned, his voice seductive, I cringed at the sound of it. "Stay just a little longer." She wheeled and flew toward the refuge of the forest like and arrow from a bow. But Edward was faster - a bullet from a gun. He caught her unprotected back at the edge of the trees and, with one last, simple step, the dance was over. Edward's mouth brushed once across her neck, like a caress. The squealing calmer coming from Seth's attacks covered every other noise, so there was no discernible sound to make the image one of violence. He could have been kissing her. And then the fiery tangle of hair was no longer connected to the rest of her body. The shivering orange waves fell to the ground, and bounced once before rolling toward the trees. I forced my eyes - frozen wide open with shock - to move, so that I could not examine too closely the oval object wrapped in tendrils of shivering, fiery hair. Edward was in motion again. Swift and coolly businesslike, he dismembered the headless corpse. I could not go to him - I could not make my feet respond; they were bolted to the stone beneath them. I stood frozen to the cliff wall, horrified - while he piled the quivering, twitching limbs and then covered them with dry pine needles. Then he darted into the forest after Seth. I didn't have time to recover before both he and Seth were back. Edward with his arms full of Riley. Seth was carrying a large chunk - the torso - in his mouth. They added their burden to the pile, and Edward pulled a silver rectangle from his pocket. He flipped open the butane lighter and held the flame to the dry tinder. It caught at once; long tongues of orange fire licked rapidly across the pyre. "Get every piece." Edward said, in a low aside to Seth. Together, the werewolf and the vampire scoured the campsite, occasionally tossing small lumps if white stone into the blaze. Seth handled the pieces with his teeth. My brain wasn't working well enough for me to understand why he didn't change back to a form with hands. Edward kept his eyes on his work. And then they were done, and the raging fire was sending a pillar of choking purple toward the sky. The thick smoke curled up slowly, looking more solid than it should; it smelled like burning incense, and the scent was uncomfortable. It was heavy, too strong. It made me nauseous, and I felt bumps in my stomach. I put one hand on my stomach, and one across my mouth. Seth made that snickering sound again, deep in his chest. A smile flickered across Edward's tense face. Edward stretched out his arm, his hand curled into a fist. Seth grinned, revealing the long row of dagger teeth, and bumped his nose against Edward's hand. "Nice teamwork." Edward murmured. Seth coughed a laugh. Then Edward took a deep breath, and turned slowly to face me. I did not understand his expression. His eyes were as wary as if I were another enemy - more than wary, they were afraid. Yet he'd shown no fear at all when he'd faced Victoria and Riley... My mind was stuck, stunned and useless as my body. I stared at him bewildered. "Bella." He said, in his softest tone, walking toward me with exaggerated slowness, his hands held up, palms forward. Dazed as I was, it reminded me oddly of a suspect approaching a policeman, showing that he wasn't armed... "Bella, can you drop the rock, please? Carefully. Don't hurt yourself." I'd forgotten all about my crude weapon. Edward hesitated a few feet from me, his hands still in the air, his eyes still fearful. It took me a few long seconds to remember how to move my fingers. Then the rock clattered to the ground, while my hand stayed frozen in the same position. Edward relaxed slightly when my hands were empty, but came no closer. "You don't have to be afraid, Bella." Edward murmured. "You're safe. I won't hurt you." I hadn't noticed Seth had gone into the forest, but he walked out in his human form, and it was comforting to see someone from the pack, instead of vampires. He walked passed Edward and came over and gave me a comforting hug. I sighed, relaxing. I breathed in the familiar wolf scent the pack all had, and it immediately calmed down the nauseousness.
"Hey Seth..." I whispered.
"Hey Bells... how are you doing?" He murmured.
"I'm ok..." I pulled back, and looked Seth top to body, scanning for injuries. "Are you ok?" He chuckled and pulled me back into a hug.
"I'm fine Bells." I started to sob.
"Bella, Bella. It's over, it's over."
"I'm fine." I gasped. "I'm ok. I'm just. Freaking out. Give me. A minute. The others? Jacob, Quil? The Cullen's?"
"All fine. It's over there, too. It went smoothly. We got the worst of it here." Edward answered. I let myself absorb that for a moment, let it sink in and settle in my head. My family and my friends were safe. Victoria was never coming after me again. It was over. We were all going to be fine. He looked up like someone had called him. Seth and I looked at him.
"What?" I asked.
"Alice needs us back. Seth... you take her back... I'll take another path." He turned and disappeared into the shadows of the forest. I looked at Seth and he nodded. He phased and layed down so I could get on his back. I climbed on he got up again, and I held on as tightly as I could, as he ran down the forest. When we got to the clearing, he set me down, and I climbed off and he walked over to the other wolves and nuzzled heads with them. I looked up and the wolves were waiting by the forest and the Cullen's including Edward were standing by the fire that had all the newborns in it. I looked at Jacob and I started walking towards them, but everyone was looking at this one last newborn that they missed, Leah engaged him alone and the newborn got her by the neck and was going to kill her. "Leah don't!" Edward yelled. Jacob ran over and took the newborn off her shoulder and the newborn changed targets to Jacob and got behind him and wrapped his arms around Jacobs body and pushed inward and we all heard the cracking of his ribs, I fell down on my knees feeling through the imprint his pain... the pain was more than one thing. There was the pain that was Jacob's... all his ribs had broken, my ribs weren't broken but it felt like they were... and there was the pain in my heart, seeing Jacob hurt... and there was another strange pain in my stomach, I gasped and then screamed holding somewhere in between my stomach and my ribs... My vision got blurry, and I felt a pair of warm and cold hands on me. Under my hands I felt my stomach get bigger, I looked at Jacob. He had fell to the ground and phased back to his human form. He was gasping my name.
"Jacob!" I screamed. "Get... me to... Jacob!" I gasped. Someone lifted me up, and started to carry me towards Jacob, I looked up, it was Sam, I looked back to Jacob. When we got to Jacob, Sam gently put me down next to Jacob, I managed to find the strength to crawl to Jacob, I put his back on my knees and his head on my chest. We both gasped in pain and relief.
"Bella..." He whispered.
"Jake... I'm right here." Carlisle was checking Jacob's ribs, I looked up at Sam, and saw that he was checking my growing stomach, Jacob began to breath in and out really fast looking to me... I put my hand on his cheek, crying, he closed his eyes in pain. He opened his eyes again, and put his hand on my stomach, I breathed in, sobbing. I put my forehead to his.
"Your... going to... be... ok." He whispered, reassuringly. I looked at him in the eye, he was shaking. I bent down and kissed him like it would be the last time. And then I looked back at Sam, running my hand through Jacob's hair.
"Bella... I need you to calm down... don't stress about anything... Jacob's going to be fine... your babies are stressing out and their... phasing inside of you." My eyes went wide, shocked. Leah came around, and ran towards us.
"Jacob you idiot, I had it!" She yelled.
"Leah!" Sam ordered.
"The bones have already started to heal." Carlisle said, calmly.
"We need to get Bella, Jacob, and the pack out of here, before the volturi get here, we don't want to fight with them." Edward said, looking at Carlisle.
"We'll take everyone back to Billy's." Sam said.
"I'll be there as soon as I can." Carlisle said.
"Just... hang in there Jake." I murmured. He nodded. The pack moved around and picked him up, he screamed out in pain. I sobbed, as Sam picked me up and walked us right behind Jacob.
"There coming!" I heard Alice yell. And they all went and stood in a circle around the fire to deal with the volturi. And then everything went black. When I woke up... I was laying down in my truck outside of Billy's house. I noticed all the pain was gone, and my stomach went down. I breathed in relieved, and slowly got up, then carefully got out of the truck, and walked towards the house. Everyone was standing, waiting. Then I stopped dead in my tracks, when I heard Jacob screams. I looked up horrified.
"It's been going on for a while." Quil said.
"Docs breaking his bones." Jared said, brokenly.
"Why did he have to butt in... I could have taken that tick." Leah said, aggravated.
"Oh give it a rest Leah." Paul said. I stalked up to Leah, beyond pissed-off.
"You want to know why he butt in... because that tick... was going to kill you... so instead of being pissed off because you can't do anything... maybe you should be thanking him for putting his life on the line to save you!" I yelled, Paul wrapped his arms around me, stopping me from going any closer to Leah, She stepped back annoyed. I growled, as Carlisle and Sam stepped out of the door. Everyone looked up at them.
"The worst is over. He'll be alright. I gave him some morphine, but his body temperature will burn it off soon." Carlisle said, walking down the stairs.
"Thank you!" Billy said, meaningfully, looking up at Carlisle, putting his hand out to shake. Carlisle looked down at Billy gratefully and shook his hand. And then turned to look at me.
"He's asking for you." Carlisle said, nodding his head back at the house. I looked at him, and nodded, walking past everyone into the house. I hesitated at the door to Jacob's room. I opened the door a crack and leaned hesitantly in. Jacob was waiting for me, his face calm and smooth. The haggard, gaunt look was gone, but only a careful blankness took its place. There was no animation in his dark eyes. Thankfully, someone had covered him with a quilt. It was a relief not to have to see the extent of the damage. I stepped in and shut the door quietly behind me.
"Hi, Jake." I murmured. He didn't answer at first. He looked at my face for a long moment. Then, with some effort, he rearranged his expression into a smile.
"Bella." He breathed. I walked over to his bed, and he moved over to half the bed and waved me in with his good hand. I gently climbed in. He was sweaty and a bit dirty, but I cuddled him without caring. "Yeah, I sort of thought it might be like that." He sighed. "Toady has definitely taken a turn for the worse. First I was forced to go to the wrong place, miss the best fight and Seth gets all the glory." I chuckled, and he smiled. "Then Leah has to be an idiot trying to prove she's as tough as the rest of is and I have to be the idiot who saves her. And now this." He waved his left and a little in the air.
"I swear... one day I will beat the shit out of her." I promised, and he laughed. "But seriously Jake... how are you feeling?" I mumbled, against his chest. What a stupid question.
"A little stoned. isn't sure how much pain medication I need, so he's going with trial and error. Think he overdid it."
"But you're not in pain."
"No. At least, I can't feel my injuries." He said, smiling. I bit my lip. I was never going to get through this. The wry humour left his face, and his eyes warmed up. His forehead creased, like he was worried.
"How about you?" He asked, sounding really concerned. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine... just happy I'm here with you. That everyone's okay." I murmured. He smiled, and I looked up at him, and kissed him, lightly, as I traced patterns on his back, he sighed, and for a second we forgot that he was injured, and our kiss became more desperate, then he winced, and I pulled away.
"Sorry..." I whispered, worriedly, biting my lip. He chuckled.
"I'm fine. Don't stress out too much, just relax." He chuckled, nuzzling his nose against mine. I smiled.
"Sleep..." I whispered, in the softest tone I had. He close his eyes, and leaned his head against mine. I stretched my neck up to whisper in his ear, laying my cheek against his warm skin. "I love you Jacob." I murmured, closing my eyes.
"I love you too Bella." He breathed, his arm tightening automatically around my waist. With a sigh, he turned he cheek toward me. I leaned in and kissed his face softly.
"Goodnight Jacob." He laughed lightly.
"Goodnight Bella." And a few minutes later I heard the light snore in the back of his throat, and I smiled content, knowing that everything was ok, and it was ok to sleep now. And like that, we fell asleep together.