A/N: Changed the summary on this. Still working on a new title... What do you think of The Prospect of Eternity Alone, or maybe just Eternity Alone. I think that sorta gets across the point I want. Lemme know what you think.
The pack was waiting when they got back to the cabin.
When Bella saw them, she flinched away. She didn't want to hurt anyone.
Jacob reached for her, letting his arm ghost across her shoulders even though she tried to move away. "It's okay, Bells. They won't hurt you."
She laughed bitterly. 'Hurt me?'
The boys tensed at her laughter, but Sam waved them down.
Bella walked slowly past them, into the cabin, grateful that they stank like Jacob and Sam, that they were wholly unappetizing. She faltered once she was inside. Should she return to her room, or should she stay in the main room?
Should she hide, or should she greet her visitors?
She squared her shoulders, and sat at the table. She watched the boys file in, and nearly laughed again to see them squeeze their wide frames into this small cabin.
Tense silence filled the room, as the wolves and the vampire stared each other down.
"Hello," Bella said. Half the boys balked. Jacob grinned, but it was like a smile stretched across the face of a skull – he didn't feel it. Anyways, he moved to sit at the table across from her, and one of the others growled.
"What are we doing, Sam? Why aren't we killing it?"
Bella flinched away from the hostility in his voice, but Sam ignored it.
"We're going to have to tell Charlie that you're dead," Sam told her without sympathy, and she cringed at his blunt attitude, fighting to keep from sobbing again. "We can't let you near him, or any of the humans, and we can't explain this away… and… Well, it's the truth, anyways."
'Oh, Charlie… I'm so sorry… Charlie, Renee… this will kill them…' She closed her eyes, knowing it was the only way. She nodded, looking up at him, still avoiding Jacob's gaze. She opened her mouth, then paused. She closed it and bit her lip. She tried again, and was surprised that her voice didn't crack when she spoke. "Tell him I was attacked by one of those big bears everyone's been seeing or something…" It depressed her that her voice was perfectly smooth. Her body no longer had a physical outlet for emotional pain. Her outer appearance could never again mirror her soul.
Jacob laughed without humor, surprising her from her thoughts. "What?" she asked him sharply.
"Bella, we're those big creatures everyone's been seeing."