DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters!! They all belong to the wonderfully talented Stephenie Meyer, who is a total beast! so don't sue me. geeze.
Chapter Two
-Missing-
Charlie was standing on the front step of the Clearwater's home, his fist poised to knock on the door when the door abruptly opened. Sue stood in the doorway, already dressed in a dark purple blouse and blue jeans, looking quite surprised to see us. "Charlie!" she exclaimed, "I wasn't expecting to see you so early!"
Charlie mumbled something incoherently, forcing me to answer Sue.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Clearwater, I forced him to join me on some last minute errands to Port Angeles. He wanted to stop by before we left."
"Oh, well come in then, come in." She waved us through the doorway, pausing to brush Charlie's cheek as he passed, and enveloping me into a warm hug. I could smell her scent, warm and earthy, similar to Jacob's. I felt a faint pang of hurt in my chest at the thought of his name.
"Bella, please call me Sue. You're making me feel old." She smiled beautifully, and led us into the kitchen.
"Are you two hungry? We have pancakes, waffles, muffins, bacon and sausage, eggs, french toast, quiche..." she trailed off as she looked through the fridge, hunting for food.
Charlie grabbed a muffin off the counter, and quickly devoured half of it. I suppresed a laugh. Sue sure knew the way to Charlie's heart: through his stomach.
"It looks like you've got enough food to feed an army here, Sue." He gestured at the kitchen table we were sitting at which was filled with breakfast items, as well as the countertops and open pantry and fridge.
Sue quickly looked away from his gaze.
"The kids are having a sort of... get-together... in the dining room right now. You know how kids are, they'll eat you out of house and home." I could hear faint voices on the other side of the room, behind the door that led to the dining room. Sue gave us a quick smile, but could see the hidden apprehension in her eyes. Something was wrong. She saw my expression.
"Are you hungry Bella? We have plenty of food..." She was trying to change the subject. I raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what she was hiding. She shook her head at me slightly, a warning to leave it alone. I followed her lead, taking a poptart off the table. I could hear the voices getting louder, closer to the door. The meeting was ending.
Charlie had finished his muffin, and had grabbed some eggs and bacon.
"Sue, I'm sorry we can't stay longer..." He really did look disappointed, and I felt a twang of guilt for taking away their personal time.
"You know what, Dad, why don't we bring her along? I mean, if she wants to go..."
Their faces simultaneously brightened.
"I'll just grab my purse and jacket. They were talking about rain today." Sue got up from the kitchen table to go to her bedroom, and as soon as she was out of sight, the dining room door opened, spilling out two humongous teenage boys, their gazes locked on the food.
"Hey Bella!" Embry called through an enormous mouthful of eggs.
"Stop talking with your mouth full, you idiot!" Quil clapped him on the back, making him spray eggs onto the kitchen floor.
"Hey! You better sweep that mess up!" Leah's sharp voice carried across the room as she walked into the kitchen with powerful yet graceful strides. Her beautiful face, so like that of her mother's and Emily's, was contorted into a mask of disgust and revulsion at her pack brothers, and if possible, twisted even worse once she spotted Charlie and me sitting at her kitchen table.
"Sorry Leah," Quil and Embry mumbed together, reaching into the closet for a broom and dustpan to clean up their mess.
"Good Morning, Leah!" Charlie called to her brightly, still enthused by Sue's agreement to join us today, not even noticing the scowl on her face.
Leah nodded to us in turn, giving us the most non-commital greeting she could manage.
"Charlie. Bella."
Seconds later, a huge blur bounded into the kitchen and pulled me into a rough hug. I heard laughter from across the room and recognized Jared's voice. "Seth! Don't strangle the poor girl! We already have problems keeping her alive as it is!" Seth loosened his grip on me and I took a quick glance at Charlie, worried that he had heard Jared's comment. I didn't have to worry; he was still enthralled in his second plateful of breakfast.
"Bella!! How've you been??" Seth Clearwater looked down into my face from his enormous height, a bright smile on his face, reminiscent of a young Jacob Black. I felt another faint tugging of pain inside my chest. I looked around for the source of the pain, but I didn't see him. Maybe he was still in the dining room with Sam and Paul.
"Not too bad. How are you doing, Seth?" I could see a glimmer of stress and worry in his eyes as he searched for the right words to answer with.
"I'm surviving."
"Good." I was still looking around. Paul walked out of the room with Sam close behind him. Paul gave me a quick glance, waved a farewell to his comrades, and left the house. I sighed. Some things will never change.
"Where is he, Seth?" He knew who I was talking about. It almost hurt to say his name.
"Bella, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" I nodded and he led me to the front porch and onto the porch swing.
He let out a sigh.
"Bella, you haven't heard from Jacob in awhile, have you?" I shook my head, the hurt growing more pronounced. I was pretty sure Jake was avoiding me after our talk the other afternoon. I couldn't blame him. If I had been in his position, I would've hated me too.
"Jacob's gone missing."
I gasped.
"What?! How can Jake go missing? Don't you guys have that little mind thing going on, or something? How can you not know where he's at??" I was almost hysterical.
"Bella, he's too far away for most of us to hear. I'm the only one who has even made contact with him, and that was only for a minute or two." He looked at me, worried about what he was going to say next.
"I don't think he wants to be found."
I curled my arms around my stomach, trying to hold in the hurt. He didn't want to be found. Because of me. Its all my fault. He doesn't want to be found because of me.
"He left the day he got your wedding invitation in the mail. He shifted and hasn't shifted back."
"Do you know where he is?" my voice was weak as I tried not to cry. I wasn't going to break the vow I had made to myself. I wasn't going to cry over this boy anymore.
"Somewhere North. I can't be sure, but I think he's somewhere in Canada."
"Canada," I repeated. He had fled to Canada to stay away from me. I couldn't find it in my hurting heart to be mad at him. I had chosen someone else. I was a traitor to him.
"Bella, don't blame yourself." Seth patted my shoulder comfortingly. "He just had to get away for awhile, its no big deal."
"AWHILE?? AWHILE, SETH CLEARWATER?? HE'S BEEN GONE FOR ALMOST A MONTH!!" Now I was in hysterics, and I was almost screaming at the rather shocked boy next to me.
The front door opened and Charlie, Sue, and Sam walked out.
"Bella, are you alright??" Charlie looked at me, looking concerned for my sanity.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be there in a second, go ahead and wait in the truck."
Charlie looked me over a last time and led Sue down the walk to the driveway. Sam came over and kneeled next to us.
"You told her?" Sam asked Seth.
"Yeah." Seth made a move to let go of my shoulders. I hadn't even realized he had grabbed them. I was shaking, shaking from the effort of not crying, and from anger. Anger at myself.
"Bella, don't worry about Jacob. He's a big boy, he can handle it." Sam stood up and gave me a quick pat on the shoulder before walking across the road into the woods.
"I just want to know he's okay." I whispered to Seth. I was coming so close to breaking the promise to myself.
"If you want, Bella, you could come back sometime and I'll try to reach him with you with me. Does that sound alright?" He bent down to look into my face.
I nodded and tried to smile at him. He was a really great kid.
"Alright." He fave me one last hug before getting up to his feet. "Tell Edward I said 'Hi' will you?"
I nodded.
"Okay. Bye Bells." He gave his mom one last wave before heading inside.
I sniffed and grabbed my jacked before heading to my truck. I was still a little bit shakey, but I was pretty sure I was okay to drive. I was about to open my door when I saw that Charlie and Sue were sitting pretty close. Okay, I take that back. They were VERY close.
I opened my door with a clang, and they instantly broke apart, looking quite flustered.
"Oh! Bella, you're here!" Sue was trying to rearrange her clothing without without me noticing, and she was failing considerably.
Way to go Charlie! I thought, before I realized something.
My dad and his girlfriend had gone farther than me and my fiancee had, in my own vehicle. Charlie's face was beet red as I turned the key in the ignition and started off to Port Angeles.
Sometimes, life is SO unfair.