AN: thanks for the reviews and thanks to the lovely beta and co-author Georgia Dawgette for making this story amazing.
17.
Bella was pacing in her bedroom as she phoned Alice, and thankfully her friend picked up the phone on the third ring. "Hello Bella, what can I do for you?" she said with a cold tone.
She sighed; it made her sad that her friendship with Alice was deteriorating so quickly. "Alice, Edward came here and he taunted Jared until he snapped. They are outside fighting; can you send Jasper and Emmet to take Edward home, please? And maybe Carlisle too, if Jared is hurt it's better if there is a doctor."
"I will see what I can do." Alice said quietly, and then hung up.
Bella was so shocked that she just stared at the phone for a moment; she didn't ask Alice for herself after all. She was looking after Edward and Jared's wellbeing.
A wave of anger washed through her heart, she redialed the same number and Alice answered swiftly. "Alice get your sorry ass over here, I don't give a fuck about me being welcome or a friend to you, but consider that your brother Edward is fighting with an infuriated werewolf, and you don't want him shred to pieces. I would really hate for Edward not to walk away from this fight just because he pissed off the wrong werewolf." She then had the satisfaction to shut the phone in her face, let's see how quick she came now.
After the call, she quickly put on her jacket and went outside; maybe she would be able to do something stop them. She was hearing snapping and growls in her backyard, when she reached the porch she stopped, shocked by the scene in front of her.
Edward and Jared were fighting with each other, and somehow Jared had managed to remove one of Edward's hands, which was now lying twitching on the grass. Jared wasn't completely unscathed either; he was losing some blood from a cut on his right back leg.
Edward was still taunting Jared as they fought. "Well dog, you might have her now, but she won't be with you forever, eventually she will come back to me."
Jared was growling, and though Bella couldn't understand, she knew he was telling Edward that it was never going to happen. She looked down to see Jake sitting on the steps. "Jake? Didn't I tell you to try to stop them?"
Jake shook his head, and patted the place next to him. Bella moved to sit beside him."I think they need to work out some tension, if they don't get a bite at each other they might explode when it's not the right time. We need them ready to fight alongside each other when the newborns come."
On some level she agreed with Jacob, they needed to work out some tension otherwise they might be a problem for each other during the battle. But the part of her that loved both men was worried that one of them might walk away seriously hurt from this.
She turned to look at Jacob and asked, "If you see that it's getting out of hand, will you intervene?"
Jacob nodded and smiled. "Sure, sure. As of now they are just testing each other strengths and weaknesses."
Bella sighed and continued watching, sure enough the two fighters were now just circling each other.
"What the..." Edward turned sharply to look at Bella. "Did he bite you?" He hissed.
Bella blushed and then spat. "That is none of your business."
Edward turned to look at Jake. "What are you hiding Jacob? Why are you shielding?"
Then something must have slipped through Jake's mind, because Edward roared and charged Jared. "Never!" He shouted.
Emmett, Jasper and Carlisle choose that moment to come charging out of the trees. Emmett immediately moved to block Edward from continuing his attack, while Jasper and Carlisle cautiously moved towards Jared.
Jasper must have sent a strong dose of lethargy because Jared suddenly fell to the ground. Carlisle went over to him and inspected the wound on his leg; he took from his bag a syringe and injected something into Jared. Then he stood up, and walked over to Jake and Bella. "I gave him some antibiotics, but I don't think his cut will be infected, it's already healing. As soon as we leave, you should have him phase back. If he feels sick just call me."
Bella smiled. "Thank you Carlisle... and sorry for disturbing you..."
Carlisle put up a hand to stop her. "Bella you are family, no matter what. Never hesitate to call me if you need me." He smiled at her, and then the vampires left with the wounded Edward and his detached hand.
Jared stood up after a moment, and turned to look at Jake and Bella. He howled at Jake, and Jake smirked. "I'm afraid I don't have any spare cut-off, man." Jared phased back then, "It's okay, there is nothing that Isabella hasn't already seen."
Bella put her hand over her eyes. "Jared!" She heard him chuckling and Jake said, "Fuck man! Here take mine, I have to go anyway. Keep your eyes closed Bells, I'm going to phase. See you later."
She heard the rippling sound of Jake phasing and said, "Can I open my eyes? Are you decent?"
Jared laughed, and then came over to sit near her. "Yeah, I'm wearing clothes now. What do you think he saw in Jake's mind?"
Bella turned to look at him; she needed to divert his mind from that topic. She didn't want to contemplate which of the many things he might have seen in Jacob's mind that would have caused that reaction. So she softly asked, "I don't know... How are you feeling? Does it hurt?"
"No, it doesn't. I feel just a bit pissed that the empath stopped me, but overall I think I gave him quite a scare. Your ex is creepy." Jared said.
"Said the shape-shifter about the vampire." Bella replied.
Jared shrugged his shoulders. "At least I'm human for most of the time... do you want to talk about..."
She raised an eyebrow at him, knowing exactly what he was asking about. "About what?" Let him explain, and lead the conversation for once.
He seemed uncomfortable. "... About what Cullen said... "
"He said a lot of things." Bella wasn't going to make it easier for him; he had kept her in the dark far too long.
Jared sighed. "You are being difficult, Isabella."
She laughed. "Am I now? Can you guess how frustrating this was for me until now? I never know what you are thinking most of the time."
"I'm... sorry. I don't think I've handled our relationship very well. I was so accustomed to Kim... she was always so ...hmmm... agreeable. She accommodated all my needs... and you're just so different." He stopped then like he was struggling with words. "I didn't really like it!" He finally blurted out.
Bella looked at him. "What didn't you like?"
He was looking down. "She always did what I told her to do, so docile and trusting. I never had to earn her respect or love, they were there from the start... she told me she had been in love with me since forever, imprinting made her ecstatic... I'm ashamed to say that I thought she was quite ordinary before the pull overwhelmed me. There just wasn't any challenge. Don't get me wrong, she completed me on some level, but I felt the need to go deeper... with you... I think I will... you are good for me and the wolf... I'm really sorry if I'm being complicated, I don't adapt well to change."
Bella felt a small smile tugging at her lips; finally they were taking a step in the right direction. "Jared, I understand what you are saying. Probably my inability to decide between Jake and Edward stemmed from the fact that they completed me on some levels, but they were lacking the whole package. I really think you could be what I've needed all along, we'll just need to work harder to build our relationship, it's important that we talk with each other and try to stay on the same page about things."
He looked up, and smiled softly for once. "Do you really think we could work well together?"
She nodded, and took his hand. "Admitting that we are happier with each other than when we were with the others we used to love, doesn't take away our love for them. It's just that some things are meant to be, and others aren't."
He took a deep breath. "You are wise Isabella, and I really appreciated that you defended me about the tribe coming first. Although I must admit I'm not sure I would choose the tribe over you..."
Bella felt her heart melt a bit. "Thanks Jared, but please do honor your words. If the time comes that you have to make that choice, I would want you to choose them."
He stood up, and helped her up as well; then he took her in his arms. "You are an amazing woman Isabella Swan, I hope I'll be worthy of you."
She held him tightly; enjoying his warmth and comfort. "I just think you might be."