OK, this isn't a long chapter but its an imporant one. Trust me, it gets tense.
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PLEEEEEASE ;)
Destiny
Chapter 15
I took a deep breath. Crunch time.
Walking up her driveway, I saw her dad at the window. He spotted me, waved and disappeared to the front door which he opened widely in welcome. As soon as I was at the front step he yanked me into a bear hug. "Thank you so so much Edward!" He practically sobbed into my shoulder. "You saved her... you... thank you."
I wrapped my arms round him slightly awkwardly, though it wasn't too bad considering he's like another dad to me.
He held me at arms length, his eyes wet and joyful. "Thank you." He whispered, choking up. I smiled at him, unsure of what to say. Charlie is usually so strong and never shows emotion yet there he stood, blubbering up like a child, and then Renee appeared out from the kitchen and rushed towards me. She pulled me into another suffocating embrace- she'd already nearly choked me at the hospital when Bella was admitted- and kissed me on the cheek. "We can't thank you enough!" She cried, her words thick with tears. "You have no idea how much it means to us!"
Actually, I do.
Just as she released me the terrible twins tumbled out of the living room and, squeaking in delight, clamped themselves to my legs. I laughed as they refused to let go but inside, I wanted to cry. It was like being passed along an emotional chain and each link was pushing me closer to breaking point. Bella's near death experience had made them appreciate her more. They would see her hospital experience as one that made them realise what an amazing daughter and sister they had. I would see it as the time I nearly lost her again: the first on the cliff, the second as she told me to get out. Yet here I was. I wasn't sure what would happen when I reached the end of the chain.
"Bella?" I managed to ask Charlie above the din the twins were creating.
"Upstairs." He answered, smiling brightly as he tried to unhook Emmet from my legs.
I nodded, shook Alice off the other and apprehensively climbed the stairs to her room. As I approached I could hear my heart beat pump louder and louder, drowning out the hubbub from the hall. I couldn't hear anything else till I was infront of her door which was wallpapered in photographs. I paused to look over the record of the years. I featured in more photos than Emmet and Alice put together. I laughed lightly at one of me and Bella when we were six. We had been making chocolate cake and were covered in batter, flour and cocoa powder. I felt a twinge of pain as I saw half of my face was covered over by a picture of her and Jacob with their arms around eachother and they were staring all lovey-dovey into eachother's eyes. It was quite sickening.
I was just about to knock on her door, worried about what she was going to say when she saw me, when I heard a male voice on the inside.
Jacob.
My stomach coiled up and though I knew she would kill me if she found out, I leant my ear to the door and listened in.
"-So worried!" I heard Jacob murmur, "To know you'd nearly died by something as small as tripping. Why were you on the hills anyway? Nothing would have happened if you'd come to lunch with me. I was sick with worry."
I bet you were. So sick, you didn't even visit her in hospital.
As if he could hear my thoughts he continued, "And I'm sorry I couldn't visit"- Couldn't?- "But I was so busy with training and school work and stuff, you know?"
I contained a cough as fury like I'd never felt before surged through me. He was too busy to visit his close-to-death-girlfriend? What a piece of shit! It took every bit if self-control I had not to burst through the door and tell him what a little fucker he was but I wanted to hear Bella's reaction.
"Yeah..." She murmured. I smiled as I heard the dissatisfaction in her voice.
"But," she went on, "You did save me."
"What?" asked Jacob, puzzlement colouring his voice.
"What?" I spat, barely able to keep mine inaudible.
"You saved my life." Said Bella, I could sense her frowning as she tried to figure out Jacobs confusion. "One of the nurses told me. And you did visit me, when I was asleep. The nurse told me so."
There was a split second of silence before Jacob answered her, "Oh yeah. I didn't count that as a visit. It was so stressful not being able to speak to you. I could barely look at you the same way after seeing you when you were at deaths door."
I wanted to burst into the room and give him a good kick through deaths door but I knew Bella wouldn't know why and would send me away before I had the chance to explain why I'd just killed her oh-so-heroic-boyfriend. I had to give him some credit; he could spin a web of lies in no time at all. I just had to bide my time till I had the opportunity to trap him in them. I groaned quietly. More waiting.
The creak of a floorboard reminded me of the couple in the room. "Thank you", said Bella quietly. So quietly I had to strain to hear her. So quietly, she must have been very close to him.
And then they weren't speaking anymore and I left before I had to hear them make out any longer. It took so much self-control to not break the door down and break Jacob down; so much effort not to scream and yell till my voice was hoarse and he was death; it took so much heartache to leave after being so sure I'd be able to resolve things with her. I stole out of the house, miraculously managing to avoid the family, and ran as fast as I could- not fast enough- to my house. I sprinted into my room and sat rigidly on my bed trying to dispel my anger and figure out what to do.
Just thinking about it all was giving me a headache. It had been me that had caused the confusion that drove her up that hill in the first place. It had been me that had saved her. It had been me that visited her every day in the hospital. It had been me that was there when she woke up for the first time. It was me she sent away.
And it was Jacob that was now taking the credit for saving her life. It was Jacob that didn't know her like I did. It was Jacob that had made me so mad that day. It was Jacob that had gotten to her before I did. It was Jacob who had lied about saving her. It was Jacob that had not even visited her.
I may have cried but I was too pissed off the notice. I had learned what being in love felt like years ago, a feeling that carried up to this day and stretched beyond. It was a feeling that gave me hope and consumed my every thought. It was a feeling that made me dream of her and treasure her and remember every little thing she said, did and every expression she made. It was a feeling that I thought would be the only feeling that would give me this powerful sense of drive and purpose.
But now I had learned what it felt like to hate.
You think you have it bad, waiting for the next chapter. My friends had to cope with getting half way through this chapter before i could get them the next notebook. So count yourselves lucky you got the full picture on this one.
I'd count myself luck if i got some reviews... Oh my word, did someone just drop that hint or was it me? :P
Ruth out x