Where we left them...
"Yes, I know there's a werewolf in my front yard." Emmett's face was shocked, but he quickly regained his composure. "And if I'm not out there in ten seconds, he's going to think I'm being held against my will and barge in here to rescue me. None of us want that, right?" I glanced at the others, who nodded slowly in agreement. "I'll make it quick, I promise." I was thankful that they didn't try to stop me as I turned to go.
I pulled the hood of my jacket up over my head as I stepped out into the rain, cursing my lack of an umbrella. The light drizzle from earlier had turned into a torrential downpour, but what else was new when you lived in one of the rainiest places on Earth? I was glad that Jake was waiting for me in the forest, so that the trees provided some protection from the onslaught of rain.
"What?" I had to shout in order to be heard over the sound of rushing water all around us.
"You know what!" he yelled back angrily. "Why didn't you warn me that they were coming back?" I had never seen this kind of rage in his eyes, the fury causing him to tremble slightly. I knew that if he didn't calm down, we would have a serious situation on our hands.
"I didn't know, Jake, I'm sorry," I begged for forgiveness, lowering my voice considerably, lest we be overheard. "I swear I didn't know." He believed me, thankfully, and stopped shaking.
"Are they all back?" he wanted to know, although I had a feeling he was worried about one in particular.
"No," I told him honestly. "Carlisle and Esme are still gone."
"So he's here then?" Jacob was fuming again.
"Yes, well, no, not here exactly." Now I was just confusing us both. "He was, but he left." I stared at the raindrops hitting the forest floor, unable to meet his eyes, knowing what I would see there. Relief. Joy. Glad that he had removed himself from my life, again.
Instead of saying something he might regret, he pulled me into his arms, and it was like having my own personal heater. I relaxed and let my arms snake their way around his neck. After all that I had been through, all that I had put myself through really, he had always been there with a shoulder that I could cry on. No more, I promised myself. I couldn't always count on him and only him to be there to comfort me.
"I really have to go now," I told him quietly.
"No, you don't," he answered fiercely, and pushed me back to look me in the eyes. "You don't owe them anything. They have no right to barge in here and…"
"What if I want them to?" I interrupted him, pleading my case. "Or does that just make me weak and desperate? Am I less of a human being because I need to be with him?" I slowly exhaled, glad to get that off my chest. Jacob stared at me in shock, not comprehending how deep my attachment to the Cullens was. Then, my exact wording caught up with me. Somewhere in my mind, I had gotten the Cullens switched with only the one in particular. Jake still looked incredulous, not caring about the rain that was continually beating down on us. I bit my lip in anticipation to how he would take my confession. I had never been completely honest with him like this, never fully explaining the depth of my pain, always hiding behind some other pretense.
"I really can't change your mind, can I?" I shook my head slowly, wishing with all my being that this could be the end of the conversation. But I knew Jake better than that, and I knew that he wouldn't go down without a fight. I wanted so badly to explain the entire situation to him, but I couldn't decide where to start.
"He loves me," I was trying to convince myself more than Jacob. I took a deep breath and tried again. "He loves me, but he doesn't think that we can be together because of what he is." He snorted, I glared, he apologized.
"Sorry, but he's right you know. The whole lot of them is all dangerous."
"And what does that make you, a harmless bunny rabbit?" I sputtered. "Besides, I know what the risks are, being around any of you. And I don't care." It seemed like I was having this conversation a lot today, but I hoped that this would be the last time. I pulled away from him, hoping to make it to the car before he could stop me, but was hindered by a tree root, one of those evil ones that stick up out of the ground. I had only started to fall before Jake caught me, pulling me up straight with a bemused expression in his eyes.
"I have to find him," I pleaded, trying to convey as much seriousness as possible. A crack of lightning sizzled through the air, distracting him long enough for me to wriggle out of his grasp and hurry over to the yellow Porsche in my driveway. I didn't recognize it, but I only knew one family that liked their cars absurdly fast. As I yanked open the passenger door, I caught a blur that I recognized as Alice hop into the driver's seat. I turned to glance in the backseat as Rosalie entered, alone, and the engine purred to life. I smiled thankfully at her, then asked, "Where are Emmett and Jasper?"
"Emmett is staying to keep that dog away from your house," Rosalie sneered.
"And Jasper is staying to keep Emmett away from said dog," Alice explained, expertly maneuvering the sports car out of the driveway and down the street. "We didn't want anything to happen while we're gone." I didn't miss the double meaning to her words, and I raised my eyebrows.
"What did you see?" I wondered, while Alice furrowed her brows in frustration.
"That's just the thing," she was definitely annoyed. "I can't see him doing anything. I can't see him at all. Or you, by extension, if you're with him." It made sense if you thought about it. They were wolves after all, acting purely on instinct. As I watched the town fly by, buildings ran together in an endless stream and I didn't even blink when Alice ran straight through a red light. The landscape turned green when we zoomed onto the highway, and then I realized that I didn't even know where we were going. I had a strong suspicion about who would be at our destination, but I needed to be a hundred percent sure.
"Where is he?" I asked softly.
"Home," Alice said simply, and pushed the gas pedal harder. I leaned my head against the cool window, trying to concentrate on what I would say to him. Rosalie had been exceptionally quiet until now, speaking up for the first time.
"You'll figure it out, Bella," she assured me, placing a cool hand on my upper arm. "These things tend to work themselves out." More than anything, I wanted to believe her. My heart did, at least, but my head was convinced that things had already worked themselves out. This is what I had wanted, wasn't it? I was the one who pushed him away this morning, the one who told him to get out. Alice slammed on the brakes and stopped in the middle of the room. I jerked forward, not wearing the proper restraints. Seatbelts didn't really matter when you were running after the love of your life.
"Alice!" I screeched. "Are you trying to get me killed?"
"Bella, you're not having second thoughts about this," she growled. I glared at her, about to protest. "I may not be able to read your mind, but I know when your decisions are wavering. I can still put two and two together. "
"Bella, you're miserable without him," Rosalie reminded me. "You don't sleep well, you don't laugh, Bella, you don't even blush like you used to. For whatever reason, you can't be yourself without him. And it's the same vice versa. You two complete each other, in more ways than one." I gaped at her, amazed at this new side of Rosalie.
"How would you know?" I wondered.
"Because I get the same way when Emmett leaves, even if it's only hunting for a weekend. And Alice, too, if Jasper gets called away." Alice nodded her head furiously. "Maybe it's not as deep as your pain, seeing that he was gone for a long time," she paused, "but we feel it too. We understand, Bella. You just have to trust us with this." She gave me a pointed look. "You do still trust us, right?"
"Of course I do," I stated emphatically. "But..."
"No buts," Rosalie said firmly. "End of discussion." Before she had finished her statement, Alice was back on the road.
"He does make a good point though," I continued, not to be deterred. "I'm only human, and he's not." Alice glanced into the rearview mirror, seeking some kind of confirmation. Rosalie said something too fast for me to understand, then Alice turned back to me.
"I'm going to talk to him before you," she told me. "Butter him up, so to speak. It'll be fine, Bella." Her words soothed me, knowing that I wouldn't be going in alone, that I would have some kind of support, and before I knew it Alice had found the obscure turn off that I knew so well. So he had gone home, I thought. Interesting. I had expected him to get as far as possible, away from me, and anything that reminded him of me. To come back to the place we had spent so much time together was oddly comforting. I knew that had our roles been reversed, I would have done the same thing. Maybe they were right, about us completing each other, being two halves of something neither of us could comprehend.
Alice pulled the Porsche directly up in front of the house, not bothering to be inconspicuous. He had probably heard their thoughts from a mile away. There was no use in trying to hide anything around him, I knew that much.
Edward POV
For once, they hadn't tried to hide their thoughts. While they were still miles away, I heard Rosalie wondering something about getting rid of fleas. How fitting, I thought, that Alice's thoughts were concentrated on how little had changed in our absence. It's like we never even left. If only it could be. I knew Bella was with them, from the way Rosalie felt uncomfortable in the back seat. Alice was driving, of course, and I calculated the time I had left in solitude. Under five minutes, give or take depending on how much traffic had to weave through. Less, considering that it was still early morning and not many people were awake yet, much less out and about. I continued playing my piano, blissfully ignoring whatever was coming next. With Alice involved, it was almost pointless to try and control the situation, knowing that it had already been tweaked until the outcome was favorable. I wasn't sure what favorable meant in Alice's book, but the best that I could hope for was forgiveness. For everything I put them through, for everything I couldn't tell them, and for everything I still wouldn't tell them. Some things were best kept private, and I hoped Alice would understand. I wasn't sure of her intentions by bringing Bella here, or even how she had been convinced to come. She had made it perfectly clear that I was to disappear and never come back. My fingers paused at the sound of a well-tuned engine pulling up in front of the house. I let out a low whistle at the spectacular vehicle Alice had found.
Nice, isn't it? She walked through the door, alone, and I smiled in response. I was surprised the rental company had one, too. I may just have to acquire one of these permanently…She continued thinking about her glorious Porsche until I cleared my throat. Get to the point, I decided to say, but she answered before I could form the words.
"Edward Cullen, have you lost your freaking mind?"
I hope you snickered there at the end, because I definitely did. Yay for the longest chapter yet! The next chapter is the one I have been itching to right since I started this whole thing, but unfortunately it will be a while before I can get to it. I'm going out of town for a week and won't be able to write while I'm gone.
Until then, there is a matter of great importance that I need your input on. As the readers, you are the people I am aiming to please, and here is your chance to make your views known. Whose point of view should the next chapter be in? Edward? Bella? Alice? Other? Let me know. You have the entire week I am gone to tell me, because once I get back and start writing, it will be too late. Many thanks for making it this far :)