Chapter 19

Hope you all like it

Special thanks always to my beta lellabeth

Also big thanks to UnderlinedSmile for everything!

A/N I don't own twilight, everything twilight related belongs to Stephenie Meyer

Previously on 'You Found Me'

"About what I said - you not liking Bella..."

"What about it?"

"Why don't you?" I ask, never breaking eye contact. It's the only way I'll know if he's being honest or not.

"You don't want an answer to that Jacob." He whispers harshly, staring at me with dead eyes. All his plans to try and push me away from this just draws me in.

"I need to know."

He laughs harshly, staring right back at me. "Whatever, you asked for it." He takes three steps forward, folding his arms in front of him. His head is only inches away from mine. "Bella has stolen any love I've ever felt."

I look at him confused. "She hasn't stolen me from you." I tell him, reaching to hug him. He pushes me back before I get the chance.

"You're not my first love, Jake. Edward was."

Chapter 19: Our Past

Six hours before

BPOV

RING RING

I rush towards the phone. Someone up there knows I've been bored out of my mind for the past twenty minutes. I'm starting to regret not accepting Edward's offer to go pick up the Chinese food.

I grab my cell, not bothering to look at Caller ID.

"Hello?" I huff, catching my breath.

"Bella? Oh sweetie, I'm so glad you finally answered. I've been trying to reach you for about two days now. How have you been, dear?" I hear my mother rushing out. This woman can make a rapper seem like he's talking slow.

"All's good. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were trying to reach me."

Yes, I did.

"Never mind that. Listen, your father and I wanted to invite you and Edward over to the house for New Years."

I'd be lying if I said the idea didn't sound interesting. Usually by now, I would have already left the city. I haven't spent New Years with my parents in years. And to have Edward there as well... that just excited me more.

"We'd love to. What time should we be there?"

"Well, it's about 1:30 now so how about I see you two here at eight? The food should be ready by then."

"Sounds good. We'll see you then."

"Love you sweetie," she says before hanging up.

I loved how smoothly everything was starting to go. It was as though the light at the end of my tunnel was starting to shine brighter. I hadn't felt this calm in ages - it was so nice not having to worry about money or bills and just relax. Of course, I knew as soon as I got back I was going to be ambushed by all that but I still managed to push that to the back of my mind. My lease is almost finished. Just one month left, that's all.

Feeling bored again, I went to the sink cabinet to look for the cleaning supplies. Edward has done so much to help me - the least I can do is contribute in keeping his place clean.

I changed the sheets on his/our bed, putting the old ones in the wash. I cleaned the stove, because just by looking at it you can tell it had hardly ever been done. I sprayed Windex on every window of the first floor, including on his oh-so-cherished TV. I even went so far as to wash all the dishes and put them in their appropriate drawers - harder than it sounds considering he throws all his cloths in there.

Long story short, anything that had even a speck of dirt was now shining brighter than the stars.

I didn't realize how long I had been working until I saw the time. 3:00 - shouldn't he have already been back by now?

Seven hours before

JPOV

I stare at him blankly, unable to comprehend what he's saying.

Edward, Edward... Of all people on this freaking planet - EDWARD?!

"What, Jake? You didn't expect that one, did you?" He says, his voice flooded with sarcasm.

I laugh, finally understanding. Brad stares at me confused.

"What?" He asks.

"I finally got it. Very funny, but if we want to get anywhere with communication we have to be honest with-"

"Jake, I don't think you understand," he cuts me off.

"Knock it off with the jokes now, Brad. Honestly, I'm trying to be serious with you here."

What are we going to accomplish if he's just going to be joking around the whole time?

"That what I'm trying to do here Jacob! I'm not joking. I'm not lying. Edward was my first love." He states firmly, looking up at me with a stern face. Point taken, you're annoyed.

"He's not even-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Black. Because I remember very clearly a certain argument you put up about not being gay yourself." He says, cutting me off again. "Besides, I never said the feelings were mutual."

Edward... Brad... The names themselves just didn't fit, let alone the actually people. They're nothing alike! Point taken that I don't really know Edward that much. Just... it doesn't... just... no. No. NO. What did-

Millions of thoughts and scenes starting rushing into my head, making my vision blurry.

I stumble into the table behind me by the wall, gripping on the edge for dear life. It just doesn't fit.

Is this what Brad went through when I kept something like this from him, when I told him I wasn't gay?

"Confusing? I know." He says, finally speaking up. It didn't occur to me how long I was out of it. It didn't even occur to me that I had passed out. All I know is that one minute I'm in the hallway and now I'm lying on my bed, my face in my hand.

He must have realized I wasn't going to reply, so he continued.

"When I was fifteen years old, I realized I was gay. I remember being at a party. Everybody was drunk, including myself, and we were playing spin the bottle. No rules. Whoever the bottle landed on, you had to kiss. I kissed three girls that night, each worse than the last. I figured maybe it was the way we kissed. But the girls seemed so content with it. I realized to them it was great kiss - but it wasn't for me.

"It was Marcus's turn, and he spun the bottle. It landed on me. At first we all laughed, until everyone was chanting 'kiss, kiss' from every direction. I was so wasted I thought, what the hell? I leaned in and kissed him. I loved it. He moved to pull away, but I couldn't stop. I grabbed the back of his head, pulling our lips closer together. He gagged, shoving me away from. He called me a **. And everyone started chanting it. I just remember looking at him blankly. I couldn't believe what I had just done. So I ran. I got into my car, when I realized I left my keys inside.

"That's when Edward came out. He was the only one at the party who wasn't drunk. He had two shots but that was it. For the rest of us two shots did the job. Anyways, he headed out with my keys. I remember being so mad, I told him that whatever joke he had to tell him I had probably already heard it and it wasn't that funny. He shook his head, before he walked over to me in the driver's seat opening the door and telling me to get out. It took a few minutes but finally I gave up my pride and let him drag me home.

"The morning after, I noticed he left a note taped to my forehead with his number on it. It said how he lived just across the street and that if I ever needed anything, there he was. It also said I was in grave need of a shower. After that, we hung out every weekend. His mother knew I was gay and was okay with it. His father was a little edgy at first but was able to accept it. It was better than how it was at my house. My parents were so against homosexuals, I didn't even make an effort in telling them the truth. He was one year older than me so he always took me drove me around. I was so shocked at how he accepted me. He didn't care what or who I was into. He just looked at my personality. In my mind he was my knight in shining armour. In his, we were just friends."

I sigh, taking a deep breath, letting all the information sink in.

"Okay, then how does Bella get into this?"

He laughs, not looking at me. "How doesn't she? I was going to tell Edward about my feelings. I was just too tired of holding them back. He comes home from school, I'm waiting on his porch. His eyes are wide open, and he has the biggest smile. I ask what happened. He smiles even wider and says 'she talked to me.' Than he goes into detail about some Bella that I've never heard of before. Whether he meant to or not, every conversation we had from that day on turned into one about Bella. I grew to hate a girl I've never met. Now that my obsession on Edward has passed, she moves on to ruin the life of my other love." He says, looking straight at me when he says 'love'.

"It's not her fault any of this... that happened." I try to reason with him.

"That's what makes it worse. That's what makes it harder to hate her. It's that she doesn't know."

"If it's hard to hate her, then don't."

He shrugs, shaking his head. I guess that's the best answer I'm going to get for right now.

"Well, now that that's done-"

"Can we tell Edward now?" He asks, putting on his poker face again.

"Brad, don't you just want to relax for a moment? You just confessed a lot and-"

"No, we need to tell him now. The sooner the better." He states, standing his ground.

I sigh. No use in arguing with him. "Alright, but I'm talking to him."

I leave the bedroom without a second glance. If I looked back, I know he'd try to argue with me. I think we've argued more than enough.

Grabbing the business card for his restaurant, I start dialling the digits.

I press call and lean against counter as it rings.

"Hello?" I hear him answer.

Six Hours Before:

EPOV

HONK! HONK! HONK!

So, maybe I was being a little aggressive with the steering wheel horn but that man almost ran me off the road!

I sigh. At least nothing happened.

My phone begins to ring as I pull up to the restaurant, but I don't recognize the number on the screen.

"Hello?" I answer, pulling my car into park and opening the door.

"Um... is Edward Cullen there?" The man on the phone asks nervously.

"Speaking," I reply back, slamming the car door shut and placing my keys in my pocket.

"Edward, this is Jacob - Jacob Black." I turn to look at my phone in surprise, halting in front of the entrance.

"Um... Jacob, how did you get my cell number?" I ask as I enter the restaurant, nodding at Joe that I was here for a collection.

"Something came up. Listen, I really need to talk to you," I hear him say.

"Okay, hold on a sec." I say, moving the phone to my other ear. I hand Joe thirty dollars before grabbing the bag and waving good-bye.

"Okay, Jacob. You have my full attention. What's up?"

See you nest week.

-B