Part III

The Scene: Jacob and Bella are driving back to Bella's house after cliff jumping (done together, only Bella almost drowned, not on purpose, however). Jake senses a disturbance, which interrupts their romantic moment.

"Jake, I'm so sorry. About almost drowning, about Harry…" He shook his head. "Bells, that wasn't your fault. I'm glad you're okay, that's why I've been…distant all evening. And you didn't kill Harry, so don't worry about it. I'm just worried about Billy."

I shivered involuntarily. He put his arm around my shoulder. "We're never doing that again, though, by the way," he whispered. I burst into laughter. He would have laughed along under different circumstances, but seeing as his father's best friend (besides Charlie) was dead, he only smiled vaguely.

All of a sudden he stopped the car abruptly. I was thrown forward by the force of his foot hitting the brakes. He held out an arm to stop me from hitting the air bag. "Whoa," he muttered, turning off the car. We were a few houses down from mine.

"What?" I mumbled, regaining control of my body and putting my seatbelt on, even though we were stopped. He sniffed the air a few times, and I felt the urge to chuckle, but then I saw it. Sitting in my driveway was a car. Edward's car.

I tensed up and suddenly grew angry. Why was he here? It had been months since our breakup and I was doing what he wanted, making a better life for myself. There was no reason why he should think he had to come back and screw it up. I also realized that besides anger and tension, I felt pain. I was hurt. His return was making that hole in my heart, which had already begun to heal, fester again.

I looked over at Jake. He was definitely mad, too. His mouth was fixed into an awful scowl, his knuckles, still attached to the steering wheel, were white, and his eyes, perhaps like mine, were full of pain, but for a different reason.

He caught my gaze. "What are we going to do?" I whispered, my voice barely audible. He looked away, towards the house. "I am going to find out what his freaking problem is. You are staying here." I was about to argue, but decided against it. He was starting to shake with anger. I nodded and watched as he exited the truck, slammed the door, and walked up to the house. He disappeared around the back, and I listened intently for any sounds. There were none.

It must have been a good 15 minutes before Jake opened the front door and beckoned to me. I jumped in the driver's seat, drove my truck up to the house, got out, and walked up to him. "What's going on?" I asked, my voice wavering. He shook his head and nudged me into the house. "I'm out here when you're done," was his 'answer.' I couldn't believe he was leaving me to do the dirty work, but then again, this was my battle, not his. I had to do my part. He had probably already done his.

I took a deep breath, nodded, and entered my home. It was way too quiet, but I remembered about being brave and walked into the kitchen, where the light was on. With her back to me was…

"Alice?" She spun around, a nervous expression on her face. "Oh Bella," she cried, coming up to embrace me. I awkwardly hugged her back, but she pulled away. "You smell disgusting. Like wet dog," she said, holding her nose. I chuckled.

"Yes, well, I guess you could say that I went from one extreme to the other," I replied. "You've really let yourself go," she murmured, looking me up and down. "Thanks," I said sarcastically, but she didn't seem to notice my tone.

She sighed. "Tell me what happened earlier before I tell you what I saw," she said, sitting down at the table. I crossed my arms. "What did you see, Alice?" I told her firmly. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, like it was a trial to tell me.

"I saw you jumping off a cliff. You were drowning. I thought you were dead, Bella, I really did, so I had to come and find out for myself."

I rolled my eyes. "Alice, it's called a sport. Cliff jumping is something people in La Push do for fun." Her eyes turned black. "So that dog put you up to it?" she asked severely. I got mad.

"He's not a dog! He's a werewolf, there's a difference, Alice! How'd you like to be called a sparkling rock? Leave him along and pay attention to me!" I couldn't believe how arrogant that sounded, but it was out. And in this situation, it was the truth.

Alice smiled weakly. "You finally think about yourself, nowadays? And I understand your point, sorry." She rubbed her forehead and sighed again. This time, it sounded like it hurt.

"Bella, I think there's a huge problem here. Rosalie was with me when I had the vision, and I had to tell her, and you know how she is. She texted Edward and told him, quite insincere, and now he thinks that you're dead."

I stared at her. "So?" I asked, turning away to fetch something in the refrigerator. She stood up. "Bella!" she cried. "Don't you understand? He thinks you're dead, so he's going to the Volturi in Italy. He…he wants to die too!" I was in mid-swig of a bottle of Gatorade while the comment was made. I spat it all out in a spray of green all over the counter.

"What!?" I shrieked. Jacob was in the room in a split second, standing loyally beside me. "Did she hurt you?" he asked in a deadly calm voice. I shook my head. Alice repeated her statement.

"Edward heard about the cliff incident, and he thinks she's dead, Black. He's going to kill himself." Jacob rolled his eyes. "The bloodsucker's being melodramatic. Just tell him she's not dead and get out of here. Why should Bella care whether or not he's going to off himself after what he did to her?"

Alice freaked out. I thought she was going to pull out massive tufts of hair. "My brother is not melodramatic, he loved her!" Jake violently shook his head. "He left her in the middle of a freaking forest, leech. I doubt that's true love."

Alice started to cry and turned to me, having given up on breaking Jacob. "He's not listening to me, Bella. Edward won't answer my calls or texts. I already tried as soon as Jacob came in and told me. He won't listen to anything but you. Please, you have to come with me, to Italy!"

Jacob started to protest, but I grabbed his arm. "Alice, I…I can't. I'm sorry this is happening, I wish it wouldn't, but…I can't go with you." My heart was tearing into so many different pieces. I grabbed Jake's hand and squeezed, wiping my tears with the opposite hand.

Alice hung her head. "I know he hurt you," she said, "but you can forget all about it once we make sure he's going to live…"

The phone started ringing. Alice perked up, lifted an ear towards it, then sprinted over and picked it up. "Swan residence," she said softly. All was quiet. Jacob tensed up.

Alice handed the phone out to the air and beckoned me over. I took it and whispered, "Hello?" into the receiver.

"Bella?" came the answer. "Yes," I mumbled. "Now do you believe Alice?" There was silence for the longest time. Then I heard Edward breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank God," he murmured. "Yes, I believe. Bella, I'm sorry…"

"Shut up and get out of my life like you said you would," I screamed, my voice breaking. I slammed the phone down and Alice sighed. "My work is done," she said quietly and moved over to get her things. Jake came over and held me, but not before he turned to Alice and told her to get out.

She left without a word.

Hope you enjoyed, please R&R!