A/N: I'm sorry for this chapter taking forever, I was just being lazy. Thank you to everyone that read, reviewed, put this story in their favorites, and who are following it. That means a lot me, and thank you to teamjacob0729 for pointing out my mistakes, I read over the chapter and saw them. Can't believe I miss them, hopefully this one is better. Enjoy the chapter
He could do this, all he had to do was leave the note and then he could get out of the area. It was hard for him to even come back. When Alice had informed him that Bella was in fact alive, it was a huge relief for him. She had told him that she had seen Bella kissing Jacob, not only was she alive but she had found another man to be with. It hurt him to know that Bella had moved on but he knew it was for the best.
He glanced at his watch, in five more minutes the bell would ring, so he had to make this quick. He found the faded red truck in the parking lot easily enough; looking up toward the sky he could see that it wasn't going to rain for a while yet. He thought about putting the note under the windshield wiper but decided against it, he didn't want it to get wet.
Then he noticed that the driver side window was rolled down just enough to slip the envelope into the cab. Carefully putting the envelope though the crack, he made sure that it was sitting on the seat. He had to meet the rest of the family in Boston, and he knew that Bella would be safe with wolves around. He looked at his own reflection in the window, thinking of the good times he and Bella had together, he knew that he would treasure them forever. With a sigh he started to walk away into the forest.
After the bell had rung Bella walked out of the building and went toward her truck. It had been two days since she had seen Jacob. Bella was doing okay, all things considered; she was more worried about Charlie. He had just lost one of his best friends, and he was hurting. She didn't know what to say to him, but she would be there for him when he needed her.
As she opened the truck door, she noticed a white envelope sitting on the seat. She was for a brief second she terrified that it had something to do with Victoria. But then she realized that the redhead wouldn't do something so subtle. She looked at the writing on the front and saw that it was Edward's. Her mind raced with the possibilities of what this note could mean, was he coming back or was he the vampire that drove away from her house the other night? She jumped in her truck and headed for La Push wanting to show the note to Jacob.
She made it to his house in record time, but he wasn't home and Billy wasn't there either. It started to rain as she stood on his porch; she tucked the note into her jacket to keep it dry. Just then she spotted him walking toward the house from the forest. The rain barely seemed to bother him as he walked. A smile spread across his face when he saw her, he walked a little faster to get to her and to get out of the rain of course.
Bella watched Jacob walked toward her, he didn't have a jacket, and he probably would have gotten over heated anyway. She watched him winch a little as he walked, the tennis shoes he had on were too small. The blue jeans he wore were too short in the legs, almost coming to his calves. Then her eyes came to his white t-shirt, the rain had made it transparent and cling to his chest. Bella could feel the slight blush spread across her cheeks just by looking at him. She looked down at her feet, to try and clear the image from her mind, she was here for something important. She thought of his clothes and started to think that she should take him shopping for something that would actually fit him.
Jacob stopped in from of her; she looked up at him and smiled briefly. "What's wrong is something the matter?" Bella cleared her throat before she spoke, "maybe we can go inside so we won't get soaked anymore." Jacob nodded and unlocked the door before letting her walk in first.
Bella walked into the house and sat down on the couch in the living room. "I'll be right back Bella; I'm just going to change my clothes, ok?" She answered him with a nod before he disappeared into his room. Bella set the note in her lap and took her jacket off to be more comfortable. She tapped foot nervously as she waited for Jacob to come back; she really wanted to see what Edward had written her.
Jacob had come back in the room barefoot, wearing a pair of blue jean cutoffs and a dark blue Seattle Seahawks jersey; he had two towels with him. The only reason Bella recognized it as a Seahawks jersey was from the games her father had watched. He handed her a towel so she could dry her hair a little, she smiled as she grabbed the faded pink material from him and started to dry out her hair. Jacob took his own olive green towel and quickly dried his own hair. He sat down next to her, "so what's the matter?" He noticed the note that she had with her, wondering if that's what she wanted to talk about.
She picked it back up and held it in her hands, "I found this in my truck after I got out of school, and I think it's from Edward." Jacob held back the growl that was threatening to come out. He didn't want the bloodsucker to come back to town; Bella had already been through enough, especially with that one corpse still on the loose. "I wanted to read it with you, so you would know what was going on, incase Edward or any of his family came back." He gave her the okay to open the envelope and see what the note said.
My dearest Bella,
Even though I have left of you, you have never left my mind or my heart. I had hoped that you had moved on, but when I received word of your death, I was shattered. I could not go on existing when I knew you were dead. I knew that even though I wasn't with you at the time, it was still my fault. In my grief I sought to die by the hands of the Volturi. As I was about to commit my crime by exposing myself to sunlight, Alice rushed toward me through the crowd. She blurted out that you were alive and that you were with someone else. I saw her memories of seeing you in the arms of Jacob Black. Jacob being a werewolf makes Alice's sight blind toward him and other werewolves or anyone near them, that's why she thought you were dead . He and his pack will be enough to protect you from any harm. I hope you will be happy with him, and know I will never stop loving you. I wish you both a wonderful life.
Edward
Bella calmly put the note back in the envelope; she set it on the coffee table and sat back. "I guess he's not coming back. I can't believe he would do something like that when he thought I was dead. Of course given my recent behavior, maybe I can." She gave Jacob a look that said how sorry she was for the way she had been acting these last few months. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his sides, giving him the biggest hug that she could muster. All of the panic she had felt earlier just melted away as she embraced Jacob's warmth.
Jacob returned her hug with everything he had. His mouth went toward her ear, he gently whispered, "hey all the crap Edward put you through is over and done with, now all we have to do is take care of this one bloodsucker so we can more on." Bella snuggled into his chest as she mumbled an okay. Jacob held her tightly for as long as he could, Bella seemed content to just listen to his breathing and heartbeat for a while. Jacob loved his new relationship with Bella, and in a more basic way he loved how it made his dreams and morning showers much more enjoyable. Jacob quickly cleared his mind of those thoughts before it got out of hand, now was not the time for that.
Bella detangled herself Jacob after a few minutes of their hug, "do you want to get some homework done since I'm here." Bella hopped up to her feet to go to her truck to get her book bag. Jacob gave her his trademarked "sure, sure" as he got off the couch and walked in the kitchen to get them both a snack. Bella threw on her jacket, pulling the hood over her head as she walked to the door. She honestly felt better about everything, and she thought that if she could have a future of any kind was good. When she got to her truck she got her bag then quickly walked back to the house.
Jacob was waiting in the living room with his own homework on the coffee table, with two large glasses filled with ice cold root beer and a big bowl of cheese puffs next to it. Bella plopped onto the couch right next to Jacob and took a sip of her root beer. "Thanks for the soda Jacob." Jacob grabbed a cheese puff and ate it before taking a drink of his own soda. "Your welcome, I'd figured you'd want something to drink."
Bella looked at what type of homework Jacob had and saw a notebook with a copy of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein sitting on top. When Bella looked at the title she mentally breathed a sigh of relief as long as it wasn't Shakespeare, she could handle it. "How far are you with the book?" Jacob wiped his hands on his cutoffs before picking up the book that had looked like it had seen better days. He briefly thumbed through it before saying, "well with everything going on lately, I'm still on chapter one. I was hoping I could finish it because I have a report on it due next week. And I have some math that I need to work on; it needs to be turned in tomorrow. What about you, what do you have?" He let out a long sigh as he put the book down.
Bella opened up her book bag and dug through it, she pulled out a history book with some worksheets inside the first cover. "I have some science I need to do and I need to study for a test in history that's at the end of this week." She set her book down on the table next to her glass. "Well we better get started before it gets too late." Bella took a drink of her soda before opening up her book, while Jacob grabbed another cheese puff before getting his math homework. It was going to be a busy night.
Two weeks later Bella sat in a church next to her father as they both mourned the loss of one of his best friends. Bella felt bad for her father, it made her own loss small by comparison she had lost a boyfriend that she had only known for a few months while her father had lost a friend that he had known for decades. She let the tears fall that she had been trying to hold back, she sought and gave comfort by holding her father's hand; he squeezed right back as they both listened to the pastor's words.
There were a lot of people at the funeral, Bella wasn't really all that surprised by it. Harry Clearwater was known and had many friends in La Push, Forks, and even a few friends from high school that he was still close with had come from out of state to say their final goodbyes. This was the first funeral Bella had ever attended, these last few weeks had made her realize how short and precious life really is and how terrible it was that she wanted to just throw it away. She felt sick at the thought of losing contact with the people she loved.
Bella looked toward her right and saw Sue and her kids next to Charlie. Bella hadn't seen them since that night they all had dinner at Jacob's house. Sue was quietly crying, Seth put his arm around his mother. Sue wore a long sleeved black ankle-length dress with a pair black boots. Her long hair was worn in a loose braid. And the only jewelry she wore was her wedding ring, a simple gold band with a single small diamond and thin silver chain necklace.
Seth was trying and failing not to cry, Bella felt for him the mere thought of losing one of her parents made her feel horrible, let alone losing them at such a young age. His hair had been cut short like Jacob's; he wore a black that was a little too big for him. She quickly glanced at Leah; her own hair had been cut short as well. Was Leah a werewolf too? Bella didn't think that was possible, she thought only some of the boys could be werewolves. Jacob never told her that girls could become one too. Leah was dressed in a long blue jean skirt, black blouse, black belt with a silver buckle, and a pair of black flats. Leah caught Bella looking at her, and Leah glared at her. Bella looked away and started focusing on the pastor again.
Out of the corner of her eye Bella saw Jacob looking her, he was worried about her. She mouthed the words 'I'm alright' and left it at that. She let her eyes linger on him for a second before turning away. She helped him find a pair of black jeans and a pair of boots that fit him and he borrowed a black button up shirt from his father. Billy himself wore a suit similar to the one that her father wore just of s slightly darker color. Bella herself wore a white blouse, a thigh-length black blazer, black slacks, and black flats. She had worn the outfit for a job interview when she lived in Phoenix, she didn't get the job but she still kept the outfit just in case she needed something nice to wear. She could still feel Leah's eyes on her, Bella didn't look back though. She hoped that the service would go by faster so she could get away from Leah's evil eye.
After the funeral, Sue invited people to her home for the reception. Bella felt awkward being there with the way Leah had been acting earlier. She watched from the living room as Leah argued with her mother in kitchen. "I don't care if she was being thoughtful I'm not eating anything that Emily made. You know what she and Sam did to me." Sue let out a tired sigh, "Fine but please keep your voice down, you are making a scene." Leah let out small growl and ran in to her room, slamming the door behind her. Conversion picked up again as Charlie and Billy talked to Sue about Leah's behavior.
"So Seth how have you been doing, are you ok?" Bella asked after the silence was broken. He cleared his throat, "fine I guess with everything going on you know." Bella nodded, she thought she should ask them what's been bugging her since the funeral. "Why was Leah giving me the death glare earlier, does she hate me or something?" Both of the boys gave each other a look before Jacob spoke up. "Um…you might want to ask Leah about that it's really not our place to say." Bella gave him a curious look before saying ok; she excused herself before she left. Seth started telling Jacob about the 1965 Mustang, he and his dad were fixing up for Seth's sixteenth birthday. Jacob told him that he'd help finish fixing it with him, Seth was excited to hear that.
Bella walked toward Leah's door and knocked, "go away" was the reply given. Bella wouldn't turn away she wanted to know what was going on. She knocked again a little louder, she heard Leah stomp over to the door. Leah pulled it open yelling, "WHAT?!" She narrowed her eyes when she saw who it was. "Oh it's you; just go away I really don't want to deal with you right now" she snarled. She turned and started to walk toward her bed, well she didn't tell me to go away again Bella thought. She silently walked in and closed the door behind her.
Bella looked around briefly, the room was bare expect for a dresser, a small desk, a folding chair, and a twin bed against the wall close to the door. The flood was littered with clothes; Bella wasn't sure what was clean and what wasn't. Leah stood by her bed with her arms folded and a scowl on her face. "Well what do you want?" Bella took a minute to gather her thoughts, before she spoke with the intimidating figure. "I just want to know why you were giving me such mean looks earlier did I do something to you, if I did I'm sorry." Bella apologized with everything she had.
"Yeah you did do something to me; if it wasn't for you those stupid fucking leeches would have been gone before we could have ever turned in to fur balls." Bella's heart stopped, she was right about them being werewolves. Leah got in to Bella's face; she could see the tears getting ready to fall from Leah's eyes. "If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have to risk our lives chasing some crazy redheaded succubus. If it wasn't for you my d… my dad would still be alive." Her tears were freely falling, she sniffled then spoke "and if it wasn't for you Sam and I still could be…" Leah finally plopped on to the bed, she tried to wipe the tears away but they kept coming.
Bella gently sat down next to her, "Leah I know it won't mean anything to you but I'm sorry I wish never have met Edward and gotten everyone in to such a mess. I didn't even want to come to Forks in the first place I mostly did it so my mom could be alone with her new husband. And so could spend some time with my dad." For some reason Leah snorted at that. "Look I know what it's like to be dumped, just ask Jacob I was totally catatonic when Edward left me. It may not be what happened to you and Sam, but if you ever want to talk about it I'm here, ok?" Leah actually smiled for the first time in forever; she put her arm around Bella and gently squeezed her. "Thanks I will," Bella put her own arm around Leah and squeezed back, "great."
To be continued…
A/N: Well tell me what you think, good or bad I want to hear it and please tell me if I made any more mistakes. Thanks for reading, goodbye