A/N: Here y'are! Chaptah 12. This one's a bit longer, so be happy!
Thanks again to my fantab beta, KiwiCantDance.
Also, thanks to everyone who already voted for me in the Twilight Awards. (Terry, Blondie, etc.) Lurve ya! If you haven't already, you can vote for Acceptance (It will say by PeaceLoveTwilight) in the categories of Angst/Drama and Post-BD at www.twilightawards./?pageid88
Enjoy!
Chapter 12: Leaving
Dismissing all misgivings, I successfully packed a suitcase and made my flight plans in less than half an hour. I took a healthy plethora of clothes, some money, and my cell phone, that's all I thought I would need.
"I can drop you off at the airport if you'd like," Jacob offered as he watched me zip up my suitcase.
I sighed and answered without looking at him, "You don't have to go to the trouble when I can run just as easily."
"But you can't let everyone see that," he protested, "You have to blend in."
I heaved a sigh again. Truth was, I was afraid of leaving. It was so comfortable and easy here, where everything was familiar, it was my comfort zone. I hadn't been alone with me, myself, and I for more than a day in quite a while. What would happen when I was without the two people who cared for me and vice versa? Now, I loved them more than anything else in the world, everything in the world put together. l
I grew slightly hysterical. What if isolation wasn't the best idea? Oh, I'm second-guessing myself...if I thought I was going crazy now...
"Bella…?" He rest a hand on my shoulder, I didn't budge. No recognition. "Bella!" Recognition confirmed, "Are you—" I turned to face Jacob.
"You may drive me," I told him firmly, somewhat formally, stopping him mid-sentence and making up my mind. I couldn't falter now. This trip would save me, or it wouldn't. If it didn't save me, at least it would be better for everyone else.
"Good." A stretchy smile broke out on his face and he told with strong conviction, "Bells, this is going to help you. I can feel it. I know it. Soon, you'll be in great spirits."
I tried to grin back, but despairing images of 'suicidal me' flashed through my head and I shuddered involuntarily.
Jake stared at me with visible concern. He barely opened his mouth to voice his concern, "You okay?" His eyes darted away from my face and back again.
"Yeah, yeah." I shook it off. "Let's go."
He blinked then shrugged. "Renesmee!" he called.
"Yeah?" I heard her bored voice respond from her room upstairs.
"Your mother and I are about to leave for the airport. Are you coming?"
There was no spoken reply, but I heard her soft footsteps heading toward us. When she reached us in the living room, she was sullen, and silent.
"Do you want to ride along with us, hon'?" I asked her.
A shrug. "Not really."
"Is something wrong?" Renesmee was usually cheery and bright. What was going on with her today?
A head shake. "I'm fine. I'll—I'll miss you, Mom."
"Oh, sweetie, is that it?" I pulled into my arms and hugged her tight to my chest. "I'll be back soon. You'll have lots of fun with Jake while I'm gone."
She gave me a quick glance, then looked down and nodded. I gave her a kiss on the cheek, and later waved my goodbye when Jacob and I had gotten into the car. These were my good-bye's. My daughter waved back with an odd little smile.
"What was that all about?" I let my head fall back against the head rest and my eyes drifted closed.
"What was what all about?"
"Well, first off, the way you and Renesmee are speaking to each other. You haven't called her Renesmee since she was born; it's always the damn comparison to the Loch Ness Monster." I feigned nonchalance with my tone, but my words spoke a whole other story.
He didn't smile, but kept his eyes on the road ahead of him. "Yeah, she's being weird all of a sudden, like we're no longer connected." My eyes tore open.
"What? You mean the imprint is—" Bye-bye nonchalance.
"It has nothing to do with the imprint," he interrupted loudly, booming, "It's just—I don't know. It's like she doesn't trust me anymore, or doesn't care for me anymore." He seemed frustrated, and I could understand why. I was more than frustrated when the one I loved didn't love me anymore.
Damn Edward, always interrupting my thoughts to show me his pretty little face.
"That's terrible," I focused on Jacob, banishing Edward from my head.
"Mm…"
"You know, she has been acting strange lately," I said after a moment, as an after-thought, "Today, I popped into her room and she was talking to some person she claimed was Leah. The thing is, she was flustered and I heard her talking about me before I stepped into the room."
"Huh."
"I think—I think she was talking to some kind of shrink or something. About me. About—well, how I've been lately," I blurted out.
Jake looked at me. "Really…? You think she would go that far?"
My eyes drifted closed once again. "I would hope not. I'm not in that bad of a condition, am I?"
His mouth twitched. "No—of course not!"
I popped one squinted eye open and we looked at each other for a moment, and then burst into spontaneous laughter.
"Bells," he paused, but smiled, "why do you think you're going on this trip?"
I rolled my eyes. "I know, I know. I guess it's just a little scary for me right now. To look in the mirror and not know yourself anymore? It's a living hell. I am forever grateful for this trip, Jacob. It will be good for me, if lonely."
He put his arm around me as we reached the airport. "I know it will, Bella. I know it will."
After long goodbyes and a pass through security, I boarded my flight to Buenos Aires. When a man sat in the seat next to me, I realized that I hadn't remembered to hunt before leaving; it wasn't as easy for me to resist his blood. I used to be stronger. When I was in my happy stage, I could resist the pull without hunting for weeks, up to a month. But now, I was tired of the world and my brain probably wasn't functioning properly, it's like I'm human Bella with the dysfunctional brain that he couldn't read. This was going to prove to be...difficult.
The man leaned toward me, scalding my throat and mouth with a ferocious burning sensation. "Er, hello, I'm Tom."
"Hi. I'm Isabella." I was limiting my sentences, while also limiting my breaths.
He smiled. "Nice to meet you, Isabella,"
"You too," I responded with a weak smile of my own, being conscious of my teeth.
I slipped a magazine from out of the pocket of the back of the seat in front of me and began reading. This was good, he couldn't bother me any more; my lungs couldn't take another word.
He was silent for the rest of the flight. But after the long wait, as we were rising from our seats and leaving the plane, he whispered in my direction, "You're very pretty, little girl. Care to come along with me? My wife will never know." His hand drifted toward my thigh, but I flinched away. Careful not to make eye-contact or skin-contact, I flew past him and shuffled off the plane to get to the luggage check.
After locating and picking up my small suitcase, I went outside and called a taxi with a wave of my hand. I got a ride in no time, I climbed in and silently handed the driver the address of the villa I would be staying in. It was Rosalie and Emmett's, actually; she had told me I was free to use it at any time. I thought: why not take up this offer? So I did.
After a long ride, the driver stopped at a secluded, obviously pricey, white building with many windows. It was surrounded by jungle on all sides, this 'too green' I was fine with. It was, Perfect! I paid generously, and for dramatic effect, I stepped out of the cab one leg at a time and closed the door behind me without giving it so much as a look. My eyes were glued to scene. The car drove away and I took my first steps toward my new temporary home with its two stories, many rooms, and Victorian style roofing and columns. I smiled, but the smile turned upside-down when my vision caught onto to something.
I could see a large shadow moving in the house, behind the windows. Was someone breaking in?