The First Spring
2. Panic
It was in the early hours of morning, before the sun had completely come up, that Bella was sitting in her father's armchair, her fingers turning in a tireless and fidgeting routine. She wasn't sure how many hours she had been waiting, but when she heard the familiar sound of an engine pulling into her driveway she immediately straightened up and inhaled deeply, her heart beating so fast she thought it might burst from her chest.
A few seconds went by until heavy footsteps pounded up the steps of the front porch and the door burst open.
It was still dark in the house; a blue hue flowed in through the window and cast a shadow on both of them. His face was hard and stressed, but when their eyes met, it softened.
"Bells." He said as he crossed the room in two strides.
She stood up and collided into his arms, holding back a sob as he held her tightly. They didn't speak for what seemed like forever until finally he let go and looked down at her, moving his arms up to hold her shoulders.
"We're going to figure this out." He said finally. "Alright? We're going to tell the cops-"
"What?" She flinched as if she had been struck. "We're not telling the cops anything, Jake!"
"Bella, we-"
"We buried a body, Jacob! I killed James and then we buried him."
"We've been through this! It was self defense!" He argued back.
"It was self defense until we threw him in a hole!" She turned away from him and ran her fingers through her hair. "Listen, Jake, I don't-"
Bella was suddenly interrupted by a pair of headlights shining into the living room window. They both exchanged confused glances before Jacob moved towards the window slowly.
"What the-" He started to say, as he peered through the sheer curtains. "It's Detective Creepy."
"Oh, perfect. What do we do?"
Jacob thought for a moment. "Act normal."
When Edward politely knocked on the door Jacob opened it with a yank. "Hey." He said, sounding annoyed.
"Hello, Jacob. Nice to see you again. Is Isabella here?"
"She's still in bed." He said with a slight smirk.
Bella rolled her eyes with a scoff and came up next to Jacob, peering around his shoulder. "Hi, Edward."
He smiled at her. "Bella. May I come in?"
"Of course." She nudged Jacob until he stepped back and let Edward gracefully step inside. He nodded to both of them.
"I won't waste any time. I'm sure you have questions."
Bella nodded, not daring to let Edward see her look at Jacob. She had to remain completely neutral if she going to keep Edward from suspecting her.
"The official report wont be released until this afternoon, but I wanted to come by myself and personally tell you before the media does."
She nodded again, and furrowed her brows. This was the moment she had been practicing for since last night, and she had to react perfectly.
"Bella, the body we recovered from the meadow off Highway one-ten was James." Edward said, sadly. "We identified him through the dental records we had access to already while we were searching for him."
Bella sat down slowly and braced both her hands at her sides. She stared at her feet.
Jacob raised an eyebrow towards Edward. "How did you identify him so quickly?"
"My mother, Dr. Esme Cullen, is the town's coroner and mortician. When Chief Forge insisted we have an identification by tomorrow so the town wouldn't be sent into a panic, she worked tirelessly through the night. It was..." He paused, searching for the right words. "The body was, of substantial decay."
Jacob nodded and looked over at Bella, who was still staring at her feet. "Bella?"
"Bella, I am so very sorry for your loss. I know this must come as a shock."
She lifted her head to look at Edward, the tears welling in her eyes. "He's been dead all this time?"
"I am afraid so."
"Oh, God." She turned away and wiped her eyes. "He hurt me but I- I never wanted this."
"Of course not." Edward said, watching Jacob put a comforting hand on her shoulder, gently massaging it with his thumb.
"So what happens now?" Jacob asked Edward.
"Bella, Chief Forge wants you to take a few days of work. A week, perhaps."
"No, I can't-" She started but he politely put a hand up.
"I'm afraid it's not a request. We will call you when we have more information, but for now it's being treated as suspicious." He stood up and smoothed his pants. "Bodies don't bury themselves."
After Edward left, Bella agreed to spend the night at Jacob's. He waited downstairs while she packed a bag and they fled to La Push as quick as they could. Jacob's loft above his garage was a sort of safe space for them, in a way that her house hadn't been. While they both didn't want to admit it, too many terrible things had happened in Charlie Swan's home and it had become tainted by horrible memories.
When they pulled into the parking lot, Jacob's hands tightened on the steering wheel. Bella followed his gaze to the enormous tow truck that was parked on the side of the three story building. "Embry." He growled as he opened the drivers side door.
When they walked inside they were greeted by loud music that blared from surround sound speakers mounted on the corners of the walls. Jacob looked around, his eyes wide with disbelief, until he looked through the glass window and into the office to see Embry, sitting in the office with his feet propped up on the desk. He was leaned back in the chair, loudly talking on the phone.
Bella resisted a chuckle as she followed Jacob into the office. When Embry noticed him standing in the doorway - arms crossed and eyes like daggers - he jumped up, knocking papers off the desk and scattering them all over the floor. He said something quickly into the phone and hung up.
"Jake! Buddy! You're home!" He squealed like a helpless piglet.
"What did the hell did you do to my garage?" Jacob yelled over the music.
"Oh, you mean the upgrades?" Embry yelled back, his voice an octave higher than normal.
"Upgrades? Who told you to upgrade anything? And where did the tow truck come from?"
"Hey! Can we turn the music down?" Bella yelled, covering her ears with her hands.
Embry shrugged and reached over to a stereo sitting on a file cabinet and switched it off. The music cut short and everything fell silent. "Sorry 'bout that." He said sheepishly.
"Where is everybody?" Jacob demanded.
"It's Friday." Embry stated.
"So?"
"We don't work on Friday's."
"Since when?"
"Since... you left..." Embry said slowly, wincing.
"Bells," Jacob started, turning to look at her. "Why don't you go upstairs and unpack your things while Embry and I have a talk?"
Embry blinked and looked at Bella for help, but she simply smiled and rubbed Jacob's back. "Sure. Go easy on him, though. He did manage to keep the business running."
"Mmhm." Jacob kept his eyes on Embry.
As she climbed the stairs to the apartment above, the sound of Jacob yelling grew quieter. She sighed as she shut the door and went into his bedroom to unpack her duffle-bag. Hours later, when he finally emerged from the garage, she was already tucked into his bed under the covers. They had mutually agreed to have a long and overdue nap after realizing neither one had slept the night before. She watched him quietly pull his shirt over his head as he yawned.
"How'd it go?"
"I could have tore his throat out with my teeth." He grumbled. "We're, uh, keeping the tow truck, though."
She smirked. "You look exhausted, Jake."
"I am." He said as he tossed his shirt across the room and collapsed onto the bed next to her. Bella rolled over until she was on her side, facing Jacob. She looked at him until he turned his head to meet her eyes, giving her a half smile. "You okay?"
"No." She smiled sadly. "Are you?"
"No." He said, touching her face with his thumb. "But we will be."
"How can you stay so positive?"
"Because I have you." Jacob replied, his voice suddenly thick with lust.
Blushing, Bella dropped her eyes and smiled. When she didn't answer he rolled over until he mimicked her position, and they were inches away from each other.
"Do I, have you?" He asked, sounding both hopeful and bashful.
"Titles and obligations." She poked his nose with the tip of her finger. "Remember?"
"Oh, right." He pursed his lips. "Can't that wait?"
"No way, you said so yourself last time."
"Sure, sure. Alright. If we're going to use titles obligations than that means you have to tell Officer Hopeful that we're together now, officially together." He smirked at her.
"I'm sure he caught that when you told him I was still in bed earlier." She raised an eyebrow sarcastically.
Jacob smiled. "I couldn't help myself. I had to mark my territory."
"You're not a dog, Jake." She giggled as he reached down to tickle her middle.
He nestled himself on top of her and nuzzled her nose, making her laugh even harder. "Titles and obligations?" He asked.
"Titles and obligations." She answered, nuzzling him back.
The next morning, Bella woke before Jacob. She crept into the kitchen to fix them breakfast while the sounds of him snoring drifted from the bedroom and into the small hallway.
While the pancakes sizzled on the frying pan she jogged downstairs and outside to the mailbox. It was still fairly early and nobody had shown up to open the garage yet, so she grabbed the bundle of flyers, letters, and newspaper and took it all back upstairs.
After flipping the pancakes and pulling a package of bacon from the fridge, Bella sat down on the bar stool and reached for the newspaper. She took a sip of tea from the chipped mug and opened to the second page, only noticing the envelope inside when it slipped out and landed on the floor. Standing up, she reached down and picked it up, then drew her eyebrows together in question at the letter that was addressed to both Jacob and her.
Frowning, she took it upon herself to tear open the envelope and unfold the small white note inside. When she read the only sentence scrawled on the page the mug fell from her hand, the porcelain loudly shattering into pieces.
In red ink, the words "I know what you did." were written in cursive writing.