Miss Teen Wordpower

Today's song is Miss Teen Wordpower by The New Pornographers.

"Holy shit," Emmett muttered under his breath, loosening his hold on Edward just enough for the other man to use the wall behind him as leverage and break free of Emmett's iron grip.

The slightly smaller man immediately dropped to the dusty ground but none of the silent spectators made any move to either restrain him or help him up. Instead, all eyes were focused on the small brunette who had stunned everyone present into complete silence with one adequately timed F-bomb.

"Bel-," Edward wheezed, "Bella. I'm um, I mean uh…" he grinned sheepishly as he dusted himself off and stood erect. "So uh, hey," he finished lamely as he ran his hand though his dirt caked hair completely unsure of what to say.

Bella made no move. She was doing such an excellent impersonation of a statue that Charlie would have feared she had gone into shock were it not for the slow clenching and unclenching of her jaw as she stared the crowd down.

"Fucking hell," Bella muttered looking toward the heavens and shaking her head in disgust.

"Oh my god you broke her!" Rosalie hissed at everyone present as she came out of her trance. "You fucking broke Bella!"

His eyes still wide with shock, Charlie hesitantly inched toward his immobile daughter as though she were some sort of unpredictable wild animal. "Bells it's okay, why don't you go back to the house?" he suggested. "We were just sending Edward here on his way then-" he was cut off when Bella suddenly shot her hand up, palm forward as a signal for him to stop speaking.

"Dad don't just, don't," Bella replied with a small shake of her head. She closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them, her formerly hard stare now morphing into a look of resignation. "Just," she scrunched up her face and exhaled heavily, "just find him somewhere to stay alright. We can come up with a job for him later there's no reason he can't stay here, it would be inhumane to send him off. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do."

As soon as she was finished speaking, Bella pivoted on her heel and started back the way she had come as though nothing monumental had just occurred while everyone watched her walk away in stunned silence.

"Well that was…" Jake trailed off as he watched Bella's small form turn the corner and disappear from sight.

"I know right? Awkward." Emmett agreed in disbelief. He was shocked by his sister's lack of emotion and wondered if perhaps he should follow her but Rosalie beat him to it.

"I'm going to go talk to her," the tenacious woman announced, striding after Bella, "you guys deal with, this," she gestured toward Edward's bedraggled form before hurrying out of sight.

Edward felt like he had just had the wind knocked out of him. He wasn't sure what he had expected from Bella but he sure as hell hadn't expected her indifference and complete dismissal. He would have taken any other emotion over this.

After Rosalie trotted away, the remaining men shared a shared a series of uneasy glances before looking pointedly away from one another and clearing their throats uncomfortably.

"So, uh," Charlie stroked his moustache uneasily.

"Uh-yeah," Emmett grunted uncomfortably, shifting his weight from one leg to another before the group lapsed back into oppressive silence.

After a few more minutes of throat clearing and uneasy foot shuffling, Jacob couldn't take it anymore and let out a huff.

"Alright this is fucking ridiculous, I'll take care of this shit. You two go do," he paused for moment, "whatever the fuck it is you two do. I'll take care of him," he said jerking his head to the side.

"Yeah, that's probably, sure," Emmett mumbled before also stalking off in the direction Rosalie and Bella had disappeared.

He had considered threatening Edward's life again to really drive his point home but decided that the possibly near permanent imprints his fists had made on Edward's body would be reminder enough.

Charlie, on the other hand, chose to linger for a moment longer. Striding forward, he placed himself directly in front of the younger man and stared him down with a look that would have struck pant shitting terror in any sane man's heart.

"Consider this your one and only warning boy," he growled, his moustache twitching to show his displeasure. "I may not know exactly what happened between you and my daughter but I know enough and I'm warning you here and now, if you ever hurt her again I swear to god I'll make those zombie hordes look like a bunch of geriatrics at naptime."

Not sure how to respond, Edward gulped and nodded his head silently in understanding. He wanted to tell Charlie that there was no way in hell he would ever intentionally hurt Bella again but Mr. Swan had always scared the shit out of him and so he chose instead to remain silent lest he sign his own death warrant.

Finally satisfied with the look of complete terror that had taken over the young man's features, Charlie stormed off leaving Edward alone with the large incredibly intimidating native man, unsure of what to expect.

Since arriving on the mesa he had been beaten, screamed at, threatened, and ignored all in the space of a few short hours. If it weren't for Bella's interference, he surely would have been fed to the clamoring masses of the undead like he surely deserved. As it was, he wasn't sure it wouldn't perhaps be better just to run off now to brave the throngs of roaming undead on his own rather than face the abuses he had suffered any longer. Before he could make up his mind, the stranger broke the tense silence.

"Jacob," the large man said gruffly putting his large hand forward to shake.

Edward eyed his hand warily for a moment expecting the large open hand to curl up into a fist at any moment. He paused briefly before finally extending his own arm and hesitantly clasping Jacob's hand, "Edward, Edward Cu-."

"Cullen," Jacob finished for him. "Oh trust me, I know who you are."

"Oh, uh yeah," Edward winced dropping his arm to his side while rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand. "I suppose you might but I'm at a bit of a disadvantage 'cause I've never heard of a Jacob Black. Are you and," he gestured toward the place Bella had once stood rather than saying her name feeling as though it had a sort of taboo placed upon it, "are you two you know?" He asked unsure of which answer he would prefer.

When it came to Bella moving on Edward was conflicted. Part of him, the mature selfless part, wanted nothing more than for her to be happy no matter what that took yet another part of him was the same selfish, jealous asshole he had been since he was a small child. That selfish bastard was desperate to hear that she had been pining for only him. It was a war that had raged in his psyche for years yet as time had passed the more selfless feelings had begun to gain ground and although he was not consciously aware of it at the moment, Edward really did hope that whatever Jacob's answer, Bella was at least as happy as one can be in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.

Jacob let out an amused snort. "You mean are me and Hell's Bells together? Oh hell no dude! What the hell gave you that idea?" He laughed. Edward couldn't stop the scowl that crossed his face as he couldn't see what Jacob found so amusing about the thought of dating Bella.

Noting Edward's reaction, Jacob decided to explain rather than start something with the new guy. He knew how important it was for every member of their small band of survivors to be willing to work together in order to survive. Besides, he was incredibly curious about the man's reactions to Bella.

From everything Bella had ever told him about her ex, Edward had broken up with her and run off with a new girl soon afterwards without hesitation but based on what Jacob had witnessed so far, it seemed as though Edward was perhaps not so over Bella as he had led her to believe. It was all very strange and he made a mental note to keep an eye on the pair's future interactions lest Edward do something stupid enough to potentially hurt Bella again.

"Hey now," Jacob chuckled , ", don't get me wrong, there's anything wrong with dating Bells, I mean what's not to like right? I mean she's good looking, smart as hell, and has saved everyone on this slab of rocks asses but I promise you man, she's not the one for me. I can confidently say now that she is one of the last living women on earth, I'm still not interested in her like that."

"That's uh, good," Edward said uncomfortably. "I mean not that it would matter to me if you were dating her. 'Cause it doesn't, matter that is," he rushed to assure Jacob. "I was just curious is all. Fuck," he muttered. "God that feels good to say. Fuck fuck fuckitty fuck fuck. You know she makes me feel weird about dropping the f-bomb? Makes me feel all twitchy when I can't properly express myself," he mumbled running his hands distractedly through his hair. "I mean what's the big fucking deal about saying fuck anyway? It's just a fucking word right? Anyway, this shit is driving me fucking nuts. Do you know where I can get a fucking cigarette? I haven't had a decent smoke in a long ass time and I feel like I could just crawl out of my fucking skin right about now, I'm going fucking crazy."

As Jacob watched, the man who had broken his best friend's heart began to pace anxiously while spewing verbal diarrhea about Bella's refusal to use the word fuck except in extreme circumstances, he could only imagine what Edward had gone through recently. Based on his appearance and the collective stories of both Rosalie and Jasper he had been through one hell of a trip, it truly was amazing he had survived.

The physical and mental toll his journey to Acoma must have taken on the man, coupled with his nicotine withdrawals and the emotional turmoil the sudden reappearance of his ex in the middle of the desert must have caused had to be giving him hell. Jacob was anxious to get Edward somewhere secluded so he could sleep the worst of his rapidly approaching nervous breakdown off rather than allow him to roam free and cause more damage than he already had.

"Hey man you look pretty beaten up. Come with me and I'll get you fixed up with somewhere to stay so you can get cleaned up and then I'll see what I can do about your cigarette problem as well as getting you something to eat. Sound good?" Jacob offered, prepared to drag the smaller man off if necessary.

Edward stopped his nervous pacing and nodded in response. He was anxious to get somewhere, preferably private, where he could lose his shit without everyone watching. The past few days had been hell on earth and he felt his walls crumbling quickly, already feelings he had kept bottled up were beginning to spew forth like a soda full of Mentos. Not good.

Without a moment's hesitation, Jacob began striding in the direction opposite to the route Bella had taken. He was certain without a shadow of a doubt that housing Edward near the Swans would be an epically stupid decision so he had decided on a house far enough away from Bella not to cause problems yet still close enough to the existing community not to make Edward feel ostracized. He was actually going to be bunking next door to Esme's dwelling somewhere no one else wanted to be due to the grisly nature of her research.

"So this is you," Jacob said as he ushered Edward into the cool dark interior of the small adobe dwelling. "Bedroom's just through there and the latrines at the end of the road. I'll be back with fresh water and some food in awhile so that you can get washed up and get something to eat. I'll also check around for some smokes. While I'm gone you might want to lay down for awhile 'cause I'll be honest, you look like shit. In fact some of the zeds I've seen look more alive than you do right now."

"Gee thanks," Edward replied sarcastically before yawning loudly and collapsing heavily onto the worn looking sofa, suddenly far too drained to stumble the few steps toward the small bedroom. "Maybe I will lie down for a while," he mumbled wearily as he stretched himself out, "just for awhile though."

"For sure man, for sure," Jacob agreed as he began backing out the screened door. "I'll just see about those cigarettes for you." He received no response Edward had already succumbed to unconsciousness.

Time to find out what the fuck is going on around here, Jacob thought as he shut the door behind him. Bella's reaction to Edward's sudden appearance was certainly not something he would ever have expected. He assumed Rosalie had told her ahead of time that they had been traveling together so that would explain why she didn't seem surprised to see him but her lack of emotional response had him concerned.

When Jacob and Bella had first become close, Bella had confided in him about some of her past with Edward Cullen. He knew just how deeply in love with him she had been and how certain she had been about their future. Not that Bella had been convinced that they were going to get married, buy a house, have lots of babies and live happily ever after. Those were more Alice's goals rather than Bella's. Instead Bella had just been more certain of their love for one another than she had been of anything before or since. His betrayal of that had rocked her to her very core and had torn her apart from the inside out, the damage so extensive that it took years just for a genuine smile to once again grace her lips.

Jacob knew all of this and so had expected some sort of confrontation. Personally he thought she should have really let Edward have it. He had witnessed in awe as Isabella Swan had ripped deserving individuals completely knew assholes on several occasions and felt that the verbal castration of her ex would have been warranted but she had barely uttered a peep. At worst she could have broken down in tears. The only indication she had given that she was now okay was her dropping of the f-bomb not once but twice. In the few years he had known Bella, Jacob had not once heard her let one slip, it was unheard of and judging by the reactions of Rosalie and the Swans, he wasn't the only one.

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Okay I'm sorry! Believe me, I know it's been a long time and it was killing me too but I had to do some research, I actually went to Acoma Pueblo (yeah I didn't make any of the sky city up) and poked around so I could continue to make this story fairly realistic. I live in Albuquerque most of the year so everything about the city is legit in case you were wondering.

Anyway I hope you all take pity on my soul and leave me some love and let me know what you think. I know this isn't the big confrontation you were all expecting but I promise you'll get your fireworks, SOON! Besides, it would be super predictable if Bella were to scream at Edward or break down and cry but my Bella has a pair of ginormous titanium balls.

XOXO,

Bellarella