Chapter 2
Bella threw her bag and coat on the old coat rack. "Jake, Charlie?"
"In here Bella," Jake return. She knew they would be in the living room. It was where Charlie wanted to be the most. He was laid up on the couch and Jake sat on the floor in front of the couch. Squashed up like he was trying to fit his 6'5 body into his old VW Rabbit. The motorcycle was a much better fit for him.
"Hey guys, who's winning?"
"Shh," Charlie said with eyes glued on the final minutes of the game. He looked good today. There was color in his cheeks, a smile on his face.
Jake groaned as Charlie hooted. His teamed must have crushed Jake's pick. "You guys hungry?"
"Starving," this, of course, was Jacob who answered. He never seemed to get full.
"I'll start dinner then."
She went into the kitchen releasing the plastered fake smile and letting a tear slide down. One… that was all she would allow. She wiped it away as she heard Jacob coming into the kitchen. "Hey, sweetie," he said. He put his hands on her waist and kissed the top of her head. There was nothing romantic about this action.
It once had been. They had dated for almost three years until Bella ended it to go to college. Jake was young and needed to be free. He had only been 16 when Bella left to go to school. He was her best friend.
"He looks well today. It makes it harder somehow."
"I know," he said, understanding. "He's a tougher guy than you ever imagined. He'll last longer than they say." He left his thoughts at that and so did Bella.
Did she want him to suffer for longer than the six months the doctor gave him? She got frustrated at the thought and threw the spatula she was holding into the sink. It crashed against a glass that was in there, and she fisted her hands in her hair. Jake wrapped his arms around her and brushed his hand down her hair until her fists loosened. She turned her face into his chest and let the tears that had been threatening her all day go.
She kept them silent. She didn't want to upset Charlie. So she buried the tears in the spot she found most comforting. She couldn't help but breathe in the scent of Jacob. He smelled like the beach and motor oil. And just like Jacob. Her Jacob.
She'd never given it much thought until now when grief made them closer. She loved him. It may not be the passionate love they once hand, but she loved him nonetheless. Is this what is meant to be, she wondered.
She felt safe in these arms.
Edward jerked awake in the front seat of his Volvo. He was really hating that his partner was on his honey moon…with his sister Alice. Jasper was set to meet him here in a couple of more days. One day, he corrected mentally as he looked at the clock. It was a bit after two in the morning. Bella's light was on in her bedroom. He cocked his head to see that the black motorcycle was still in the driveway.
This made him uncomfortable. He'd done a check on the kid. Jacob Black of the local Native American tribe. He'd been a family friend since Bella was a kid coming up during summer breaks to see her dad. Apparently, they'd been more when she moved up here permanently.
Still are, he supposed.
He still didn't feel good about it.
Jake kept smoothing his hands down her hair He looked down at her. She was tougher than they gave her credit for, too. She'd composed herself to sit through dinner laughing and carrying on with her dad. Now she was sleeping in his arms. Like she used to. His heart swelled.
He still loved her more than she could ever know. She had been weak and had needed his comfort. So, he had held her while she cried after dinner up in her room. Charlie was used to Jake staying in his room at night to be there when Bella went to work. That was to good thing about being self employed. You get time off whenever you needed it.
Jake and his two best friends from the rez had started a garage. Embry and Quil took over all the work on days that Jake needed to be away. That was for or five days a week lately. But Charlie only had so much time, and he and Bella both needed all the support and help they could get.
Charlie got sick about a month before Bella graduated college. He hid it from her until she got back. Colon cancer. It was like it happened over night. Most days he barely had the energy to lift a glass of water. It hadn't responded to chemotherapy and now it was a "keep him comfortable" situation.
Jake really hated it. His dad, Billy, had already lost one friend when Harry Clearwater had a heart attack. Now he was losing Charlie, his best friend. It would be like Jake losing Bella. He shuddered at the thought.
She sighed in her sleep, and he smiled. He wasn't giving up on her heart. She'd broken it off with him when she'd gone off to the university. She's used it as an excuse.
"Jake, I am going to be hours away. You deserve to have someone who is going to be here with you. You are young…" She knew he would hate that so she had let the thought trail. "and you need to be in a relationship that is fair to you. I'll be so engrossed in and overwhelmed with school work I wouldn't be fair to you. And I will need to focus so I can get through it."
He'd known she was worried about college. She felt like she missed out on getting the best education when she moved to Forks. Her senior science class at Forks high was doing material she'd done in her freshman year AP class in Phoenix.
"I love you, Bella." He whispered to her. That's why he'd let her go. Now, she'd had her time, and he wanted her back.