And All for Me, to Me, You Sue
Chapter 11: Insurance

The following days were fogged, connected by absolutely no contact between Jake and me in spite of the number of times I tried to call his house. The line was either busy, nobody answered, or Jacob was severely bedridden due to his enigmatic illness. My suspicion matured and swelled with time, entwining nauseated knots around my stomach at the concern for my best friend. It was besetting not to have any idea about the details of his predicament and the consequence it was befalling me was languishing. My energy was served solely from Callum's confident, silver words, which frequently promised that everything will be okay with Jacob.

It was now Friday, almost a week since I've last seen Jacob, however prolonged it felt since that time. Standing now in the parking lot of Forks High School after school, I crossed both my arms and my legs as I leaned back against Callum's '07 Cadillac truck, which I first experienced on Wednesday when Callum had unexpectedly showed up at my house in the morning, insisting that he may "have the honor of arriving with you to school." His ceaseless, classical phrases were arcana to the average mind and I wasn't about to test my mind's capacity and shatter the remnants of my pride, which I knew would be inevitable against Callum's inexplicable charm. I hugged my green coat closer to my body and cuddled my head against the warmth of the fur on the hood of it. Closing my eyes and tilting my head toward the sky, I felt the wind's majestic dance as it waltzed through my face. The weather was slightly warmer today with the sun just barely peeking through the whirlwind of the clouds above. When I'd glanced up earlier that day, it looked like a golden island amidst an angry sea of clouds, but nevertheless, its warmth prevailed even the tiniest iota.

Suddenly, the wind was blocked and a coat of cold slithered against my bare skin. I shot my eyes open at once, only to find a celestial, aurous figure that hovered above me. He smiled down at me handsomely, his shimmering, icy golden eyes piercing me with nourishing warmth that pulsed from inside of me. The man was enticing, with his porcelain, flawless skin and rose-stained, soft lips, which curved into a facsimile of the moon – only his were much whiter than when the shining moon was deserted in the blackened skies of night. His thick, long lashes curled perfectly and veiled his eyes lustrously as he narrowed them toward me. Stolen rays of Ra, the Sun God, encircled his figure, crafting a spiky, captivating look of brushed golden bronze around him.

Behind him, the clouds once again sauntered in front of the sun and I closed my eyes away from the sudden change in the sky. When I opened them, Callum stood before me, replacing the glittering figure from a moment ago, though the mysterious coolness from before did not evacuate from my body. He was smiling as he looked down at me. It was a playful smile, and I braced myself for whatever comment may accompany it.

"Bella, are you tactile?" he asked gently.

"What's that mean?" I scoffed at him lightly, tugging at my hands which I've just realized were imprisoned in his. When had he taken my hands? He didn't budge, but was all the while very delicate with his hold.

"Are you sensitive to touch?" he teased, smiling handsomely as he ran his hands smoothly up my arm now. "Or shall I be so bold as to wonder whether it is only mine to which you become so reactive?"

Damn, conceited bastard.

I shrugged my arms from his hands and scoffed at him once more, taking my eyes away from him as well. He laughed heartily, sounding pleased with what kind of "discovery" he made himself believe he'd just found. Before I knew it, the chime of his laughter faded, sucked within his breath as he pressed his lips against my forehead. His hands crept around my waist and he held me close against his car. Golden pearls paralyzed me in place. He gazed at me for a moment longer before sinking his eyes onto my lips. As he did so, his lips parted slightly, slowly as he breathed evenly. And then his fingers dug gently into the dimples on my lower back and he closed his eyes. He sighed just as his entire body relaxed and he was smiling when he opened his eyes again.

"You are the most beautiful creature I've ever met," he whispered, his tone hard but not fulsome, either. "Even when you are restless," he added with a small, elegant smile.

I stared at him for a while longer before closing my eyes, bowing my head in immediate understanding. How he could have recognized my concern for Jacob amidst the paradise he himself has so casually just thrown me into, I don't think I'll ever know. The back of his fingers brushed my cheek and I felt his soft, perfect lips caressing my hair.

"Would you like to see him?" he offered after a while. "I'll come with you if you do."

I jerked my head toward him in alarm. "Company isn't the problem, Callum. Besides, you're not obligated to—"

"In honest consideration toward his unease with me, I still think it would be better that I go with you, Bella." But his words were well-measured, as though he exchanged some of what he thought to be inapt with more appropriate words, for my sake.

"How do you know Jacob isn't comfortable with you?"

He chuckled once. "I believe comfortable is taking the matter lightly."

"You didn't answer my question," I noted.

Suddenly, his face became serene and he locked his eyes on mine. "He looks at you in a way that I could only recognize too well in myself. It isn't difficult to appraise the rapport between the two of you. You care a lot about this boy, as he does about you."

I lowered my eyes at his words. They almost stung with the undeniable truth that clung to them. It only emphasized my anguish toward the sudden, unexplained turn of our relationship, when short weeks ago, we'd been laughing carelessly in his garage. Impetuously, the familiar feelings washed over me – a feeling I've known had always been present, but try to avoid along with the pain. I miss Jacob so much. I miss talking with him so casually, so easily in a way that I've never been able to do with anyone else. The way he'd hold me and take care of me, and the way he'd much more than tolerated me, but cared about me. Nothing could have gone wrong. The world was ours.

But this week – this one little week – was somehow changing it all. I'd grown so accustomed to running in his arms in a time of need and want and simply just because, that now I no longer have knowledge of anywhere else to go and what else to do without him. Until now, his presence had been the only thing that has kept me together. During the most vital moments of my life, it was his presence that served as a cemetery to my pain, burying my bothered thoughts aside so that I may bear him a smile. The grueling pain of something so familiar – something so dear – dissolving instantaneously without a warning feasted upon the weave of hope that Jacob has tried so hard to sew for me.

A warm, wet trail fell straight down on my cheek and I blinked in surprise. As I did so, another dropped against my other cheek and I opened my eyes in belated realization – I was crying. I whisked my face away from Callum while I brushed them dry. He was patient, silent as night as I tried to clog my tears with the yarn of hope Jacob has carefully sewn for me. In addition to having glued the pieces of my heart again and again, he'd still managed to give me something – anything – that could accelerate me from merely surviving. He was my only cause.

After a while, I was finally able to meet his patient, awaiting gaze once more. I felt fierce rushing inside of me, suddenly determined, and I wondered if it dripped from my eyes because Callum's eyes widened slightly for a fraction of a second.

"I want to see him," I mouthed in utter finality, in a tone that I hoped offered no other options.

Callum considered this momentarily, his eyebrows narrowing together, before sighing. "I'm going with you."

"Callum, I can't allow that. Jacob obviously has enough to worry about, and apparently, you've known that you're not exactly picture best-friend to him," I argued. "You're being stubborn."

"That could go either way."

"Callum—" And there it was, that rare dominance within his perfectly sculpted emotions in his eyes. This time, it was fret – pure, undeniable fret that coated all other emotions churning within the depths of his mind. Was he really that worried? And more importantly, why? I didn't mean, nor want, to inflict worry into him – into those flawless, swirling orbs. "I'll be alright," I assured him through guilt, "I'm just worried about him, but I can take care of myself if anything gets out of hand."

"Why would you assume that that is even possible?" he questioned bemusedly. As it was, I was slightly taken aback as well.

"Now that it's come to mind, I'm not—I'm not too sure," I confessed, feeling silly that I had no satisfying answer to offer to a god. "But something is going on, and I want to find out what that is. I don't believe it's anything good, either. At the very least, I want to know he's okay. He has to be okay. I just can't allow anything otherwise, Callum. He's my best friend—" And then there was a fast trail on my cheek again, like a straight plunge down a water slide.

Perhaps instinctively – abiding by his strict gentlemanly gestures – Callum pulled me into his arms, his hand buried into my hair as he kept me close against his firm, solid chest. He was quiet for some time, and I wished I could have read his face. I felt a cold chill whip past me and I curved my arms to befit his muscular form, circling my arms around his shoulders as I pressed myself against him.

Finally, he whispered against my ear, his lips buried into my hair. "Please be careful."

Callum's words still lingered around my head as I was driving over to Jacob's after he dropped me off at my house to switch cars. His prudence toward the situation was baffling, however disturbingly suspicious it may be. It was comforting to be within his line of concern, but I didn't want to cause him unnecessary worry over me. Or was it all that unnecessary? In the back of my mind, there still resided a powerful and fearful suspicion toward what was going on with Jacob. Like all dreams that end, it was almost inevitable. And like nightmares, inescapable.

My truck screeched to a flinty stop in front of Jacob's house, and I hurried to get out before any doubt or hesitation builds into my mind. As I shut the door closed, I was startled to find Billy behind it again, even when I expected as much. For a second, I slapped my hand against my chest, but my head was quicker. I quickly withdrew my hand before I could display a measure of vulnerability and straightened my chin. His eyes dripped with irritated fury and his lips formed a straight line – concealing grinding teeth, I guessed. I held firm and delivered him a menacing glare back. I was tired of being treated like a fool by this whole situation.

"Bella—," he started in a controlled but hard tone.

"No more of this, Billy, I've had enough. You're not sending me away again," I interrupted him coldly. "Let me see Jacob!"

"You don't understand what you want! Don't you see this is for his own good? Don't you care enough to try and understand—"

"Care?" I spat the word angrily, "Don't you understand that this is me caring? I've phoned so many times. You're on wheels; where could you possibly be during the times I've called, Billy? I'm tired of being seen as a fool. All I want is to see him." I fought back the tears as I spoke, and it collected as a massive chunk within my chest that I was sure would haunt me again later.

When he didn't speak, I continued – it was second to crying. "What's going on, Billy? If not you, then this is definitely unlike Jacob. Can't I just see him? I don't even know if he's okay—" I stopped before the sudden ache in my heart could leak as a quiver in my voice more than it already has. I bowed my head, hiding my face as an insurance policy.

"Just," Billy voiced after a while, "to see him."

I snapped my head forward, unbelieving his words after a while, but looking at his face, I could see in his eyes that he's given up. And another emotion I couldn't quite fit into the puzzle. It was almost fear, seen by the deepened crease between his eyes, but I can't understand why such would be the case.

"Follow me," he commanded sternly as he twirled his wheelchair expertly toward the house.

I practically sprinted behind him, an anxious excitement clawing at my skin as I got closer and closer to Jacob. Their house was how it always had been, with its two dim lights and old, wooden flooring, and the ancient mess that the two residents of the house never failed to keep. The only things that were different were the four sets of eyes that now penetrated through mine through indifferent but cautious stares. I recognized Sam Uley as the tallest, standing in front of the others with his arms crossed against his chest, and Embry, a boy to whom Jacob once introduced me to and who now turned his face away from me when our eyes met. The other two were slightly taller than Embry; evidently older but otherwise unknown to me. Their noses squinted insultingly as they stared. Abruptly, I broke my eyes free from theirs as I focused on the more important matter at hand; my reason for being here: Jacob.

I turned toward Billy expectantly. "Where is he?" I asked, ignoring the others and their complete, unsurprised ease toward my arrogance. I had no tolerance for any more things to think about.

"Sam," Billy called, and Sam came forth without another word from him. He continued on through the narrowed hallway and I guessed that he expected me to follow. I hurried behind him and we stopped by Jacob's room. Sam knocked lightly, and when we heard no reply, slowly creaked the door open.

And there on the queen-sized, simple bed was Jacob, deep within sleep and perfectly safe. Recognizing his height when he's standing up was obvious enough, but seeing his legs dangle past the foot of his bed was a whole, 'nother story. I instinctively pushed a step forward, afraid to wake him and careful at the same time – all of a sudden, Callum's ludicrousness was rubbing off on me. He shifted then, but otherwise snored like he was miles away in slumber. I took that chance to close the remaining distance between us. Standing beside him caused a relieved tug at my heart.

"Le'go o' my Eggo," Jacob mumbled, his voice vexed and his eyebrows coming together.

I had to close my eyes to keep from laughing out loud. He was still the same old Jacob – my Jacob. I felt so happy. Just hearing his voice – and even his glass-breaking snore – and seeing him so peaceful while he slept; that was all I wanted. Unable to help it, I smiled as I reveled in this sweet, quiet moment with him. He was safe and right then, nothing else mattered – not all the confusion and the questions I still had or the momentarily silenced fear that remained in the back of my head. What did it all matter to me now, when the object of all my reasoning and all my tolerance was here with me now.

My hand automatically reached to touch his cheek and prove to myself that it was real, but I pulled it back as soon as it escaped from my control. Everybody knew he's got an uncanny ability to will himself to sleep, and I'm still not sure if waking up takes as little effort from him as well. I don't want to take the risk; I would let him sleep. What little I was given was good enough for now.

Instead, I very carefully fixed his blanket against him, uncaring of the fact that he'll ruin it again in a few minutes. I turned to Sam, whom I almost forgot about as he stood by the doorway the whole time, just watching us, and nodded. Before I headed out, I turned back to my best friend one more time and smiled. My effort with his blanket was already put to waste.

"I've missed you, as I still do," and then that dogged tear fell for the hundredth time today, "Wake up to be with me soon."

I closed the door behind me as quietly as I could.

"Thank you," I whispered to Billy before I climbed back inside my truck.

He only nodded and sent me his regards for Charlie.

My mind was strewn in sections of confusion, discontent, and contentment – perhaps why confusion was part of it in the first place. I was so glad to see that Jacob was well, even if I doubt that even the sickliest disease could keep that boy from his sleep. I smiled – I had to. He was just like a baby asleep, but at all the right times, he would become a man that was capable and strong. And with that, I decided that seeing him was enough. I could live with that for now – I could be content. I focused on the road ahead of me, where I measured what time it must be through the growing dusty sky. At Forks, you could hardly tell from the sky what time of day it was, but here at La Push, it was easier to determine because of the slight penetration of the sun through the clouds just beyond the horizon. The ocean was almost a deep onyx color and the waves were wild as they rippled ashore. Yes, I could be content…

Suddenly, a deafening, sharp howl echoed swiftly passed me, like a sound wave that raced with the speed of light. Instinctively, I skidded into an abrupt stop and looked through both my rear and side mirrors. I felt my heart thump with fear, and it pushed roughly against my chest as though it was trying to drag me forward on its own. My mind was blank, but I felt myself fiddling for the stick and grasping it tightly. I waited. Nothing came to feed my formidable curiosity, not even a sound. After just a few more seconds, however, an impetuous wind struck me cold and paralyzed, and I detected a quick but large blur of something dark flitting through the woods.

"We have to go after him! He's not well!" someone yelled a few distances away from me, into the woods.

As soon as I realized whose voice it was – and more importantly, what he was talking about – my breath paused against my lungs. I could only think, 'Jacob!'

I know, I knoooooow. It's been FOREVER and some of you have probably given up on me... But I hope to revive even the smallest amount of the fans for this fanfiction, because I feel so bad for not having written an update in months. My new school has been such a brat, but eh... Now I know it's a very short chapter, but I really wanted to create a whole 'nother chapter for the upcoming part. I hope you guys liked it! I'll be working on the next one soon. =] See you guys around - handwritten