LPOV
"I'm glad to see Jacob finally smiling and back to normal," Kim said, similing shyly.
"Back to normal? What was wrong with him?" I asked, confused.
"You know, the Bella thing?" There was a hint of displeasure in her tone.
"What Bella thing?"
"You don't know?" Kim asked with wide eyes. "I'm sorry – I thought you knew. I have said anything. It's really none of my business, we can talk about it once Jacob tells you." She looked truly ashamed and turned her downcast face toward the blazing fire.
There was laughter all around me as the guys surrounded the fire, messing with each other. I looked to my right and saw Jacob laughing merrily with Embry over something Quil had said. I loved seeing him smile, and the sound of his laughter was music to my ears. It's strange to think Jacob would act differently. It's weird to think his attitude change was caused by Bella. Did they have a falling out?
"Kim," I said, nudging her arm with my elbow. "You can't just throw something like that at me and decide not to tell me. What happened with Bella?"
She hesitated before answering. "It's really not my place to tell you, Leah."
"That's too bad," I huffed, annoyed. "You started it, now finish it. Tell me or I'll ask everyone right now what the hell happened."
"Okay, okay," she said hurriedly. "Jacob was in love with Bella. They started to get really close once Edward left her, but when he came back to Washington, it tore him apart to see her choose Edward again. It really messed him up, but when you came he's been slowly getting better."
"Jacob was in love with Bella?" I asked, shocked.
"Yup," she said, sounding a little disgusted.
"For how long?" It was a stupid question and I really didn't want to know the answer to it, but it slipped out of my mouth nonetheless.
"Honestly," she sighed. "I can't remember a time when he wasn't in love with her."
"Oh." What do I say to that? How am I supposed to respond to something like that? I always knew Jacob had a little crush on Bella, but I never knew he fell in love with her. Does Edward know this? Of course he doesn't, because for some reason he can't read Bella's mind. This whole time though, this whole time I thought I was getting closer to Jacob, I have basically been his rebound. He's in love with Bella and then suddenly he's all better because I'm here? That makes no absolute sense at all. Maybe there's more to what he has to tell me. Maybe he was hesitating to mention Bella today because he knew I would react today.
He always seems so genuine though, so sincere and happy to be with me. But then again, I didn't know about his relationship with Bella beforehand so I don't really know if he treats all his friends this way, or just girls. Maybe he knew he was slowly getting under my skin. Maybe he knew that there was a slight chance that I might have actually started to develop some feelings for him. He obviously knew he was drop-dead gorgeous because really, why else would he walk around half-naked the majority of the time?
And what about Bella? Yeah, she was shocked to see that I had a close friendship with the Cullens, but she eventually warmed up to the idea. She started acting weird when the topic of Jacob came up. She looked kind of frantic, and when the topic dropped, I saw her relax back into her seat in relief.
So what does that make me? I know Jacob wouldn't just straight up use me as some rebound girl, but then again I've been gone for a while and apparently I've missed out on a lot, so I might be wrong. Do I want to be there for Jacob? Of course I want to help him heal his broken heart, but I don't want to be the girl that steps in place of Bella when he's still in love with her. Kim said he was torn up over Bella being with Edward and that he started getting better once I came back, but how is that even possible? How can anyone get over someone they love so quickly? I certainly haven't forgotten my fucking love for Samuel completely and it's been over a year! The only explanation that seems logical is that Jacob is not really realizing that he's using me to drown the feelings he has for Bella.
"I-I have to make a call," I said suddenly, getting to my feet. "I'll be right back."
"Okay," Kim said quietly, nodding.
I walked a few feet away from the bonfire and whipped out my phone to dial Edward.
He answered on the first ring. "How can I help you?" His musical voice rang out.
"Can you come pick me up?" I asked in a quiet voice.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately sounding worried.
"I'll tell you when you get here. Just come pick me up."
"I'll be there in a few minutes." I heard the sound of his car door slamming shut and the engine revving.
"Wait," I sighed. "Don't bring anyone. I just want it to be us two. We have a lot to discuss."
"Okay, no problem. Where are you at?" he asked.
"I'm at the beach. Want me to start walking up toward my house?"
"Yeah, I don't think the locals will be too happy to see me step foot on their beach."
"Okay, I'll start walking up now. I'll see you soon."
"Be careful."
I shoved my phone in my pocket and made my way back to the bonfire. Jacob looked up and gave me a confused look. I smiled and made my way toward him.
"What's up?" he asked, slinging an arm around me.
"I'm actually gonna head back," I said quietly.
"What? But we're just about to start." He looked crushed.
"I know, but I really don't feel good at all. I just need to clear my head for a while okay? I can't really do that with a group of people around."
"Okay," he nodded. "I'll go with you."
A rumbling car came into view and parked near the beach. Bella stepped out of the car with a scared look on her face, and I rolled my eyes. How nice of her to show up.
"Hey, Jake!" Bella smiled, making a bee line toward us. "Hi, Leah!"
I nodded back at her.
"Bella?" Jacob sounded confused and surprised to see her. "What are you doing?"
Not wanting to stick around to see Jacob fawn over my best friends girlfriend, I decided to make my exit. "I'll see you around, Jake. Nice seeing you, Bella."
I hurriedly walked past the two of them and started to jog up the street in case Jacob was insane enough to follow me, because that's something he totally would do.
I saw Edward's car already parked outside my house. I picked up my speed and threw open the door, flinging myself in the passenger's side. "Let's go."
We sped away down the highway, away from La Push and away from Forks.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"So are you going to let me know what's wrong?" he asked.
"Where do I start?" I groaned.
"We'll talk about every person who's troubling you one by one," he laughed, but I knew he was being completely serious.
"It's a long list," I warned.
"Well it's a good thing I don't need sleep then," he joked.
I felt the corners of my lips curve up into a smile, "Yeah, how convenient. But all right, I guess we can start off with my parents."
"What about them?" he asked, his brows knitting together in confusion.
"I know they're in on this big secret," I started, and saw his eyes narrow slightly. "And yeah, it bothers me that they don't trust me enough to tell me, but what bothers me even more is the fact that they let Samuel come and go in my house whenever the hell he wants! It's like they forgot what he did to me…."
"Lee," he sighed, "It's not what you think, I promise you that. I can assure you they haven't forgotten what he's done. Sam Uley is a leader to the other boys."
"Some leader he is," I snorted disapprovingly. "I heard that all of the boys that follow him like lost puppies have been missing so much school that the majority of their teachers have given up on them."
"I didn't know they stopped going to school," Edward said, looking guilty.
"Neither did I!" I exclaimed, exasperated. "I wanted to strangle Seth when I found out!"
"Speaking of your brother," Edward started, "Has he been giving you trouble too?"
"Yes and no. He's in on the big secret, he follows Samuel around, and he's always going into the forest."
Edward nodded and kept silent.
"And he's always questioning me about who I hungout with when I was with you and your fam," I said, shaking my head.
"I'm assuming he's not the only one who's been asking you about us?" he asked, glancing at the scowl on my face.
"Nope," I said bitterly.
"Ah," he says. "I assume there are more people on this list of yours?"
"Oh yeah," I snort. "But I'm just gonna cut it down to the main reason I'm here."
"Which is?"
"Jacob."
"Jacob Black?"
"That's the one," I sigh.
"What about him?" Edward asked, I saw his grip tightening around the steering wheel.
"Did you know he's in love with Bella?" I asked, not liking the sadness I heard in my voice.
"Yes," he said sadly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, frowning. "You could have saved me a lot of time."
"I thought he was going to be a man and tell you himself," he said darkly, "but I stand corrected."
"I think I was starting to fall for him. He's been such a good guy, you know? Every time I was with him, I just felt like I was in the right place, like nothing could ever go wrong. Then I hear these annoying animalistic sounds in my head – which reminds me, do you think your dad can check my head? Anyway, I just found out that Jacob has been heartbroken over Bella going back to you, but once I got back, he went back to normal. I'm his rebound. I hate men."
"I don't think he's using you," Edward said slowly, parking the car by some park I didn't know the name to.
"I do," I say in a flat tone. "He might not realize it, but he's using me to drown the pain of losing Bella. God, why does everyone like her?"
He offered a loud laugh even at my current resentment toward his girlfriend. "You're amazing, Leah. You are a wonderful, strong, and beautiful woman that any man would be lucky to have. I may not be Jacob's biggest fan, but I know enough to know that the boy is not using you. If I can see how wonderful you are, he will too. How do I know this? That's easy. Apparently when it comes to women, he and I have the same taste."
"Ain't that the truth," I sighed. "Thanks, by the way, you sure know how to boost a girls ego."
"My pleasure," he smiled. "What are BFF's for?"
I burst out laughing and clutched my sides. This was too good, no one could ever get Edward to conform to speaking in acronyms, this was a huge success for me! I was having one of those silent laughs that made you look stupid. He eventually joined in on the laughter and for a moment it was like we were back in Alaska ranting about everything that was wrong in our lives. For a moment, I didn't feel the aching pain over the possibility that Jacob was still painfully in love with Bella. For a moment we were just two friends laughing life in the eye.
a/n: Heyyy! I just wanted to let you all know that I got the role of Leah in the Twilight Role Play thing on FF. I got an invite from the creator, she told me that she sends invitations to people who other authors and readers suggest to invite, so I thank you all for suggesting that I get sent an invite! I went through an audition process and landed the role of Leah lol. Thanks again!