I Wouldn't Leave If You Let Me
Summary: Sometimes, Jacob could be a little impulsive, grabbing her arm, shaking her, yelling, and, when the anger got to be too much to contain, Jacob liked to throw things, so Bella wasn't afraid. Because Jacob would never hurt her.
"An abuser can seem emotionally needy. You can get caught in a trap of catering to him, trying to fill a bottomless pit. But he's not so much needy as entitled, so no matter how much you give him, it will never be enough. He will just keep coming up with more demands because he believes his needs are your responsibility, until you feel drained down to nothing."
― Lundy Bancroft, Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men
Giving a brief soft rapt of her knuckles, Bella entered Jacob's apartment.
"Jake?" Looking around, she shrugged off her coat and she walked deeper into the apartment. In anyone else's home she would have waited, not even entered on her own but with Jacob's place it was just as much her home as his. They picked out this place together and she still had her spare key.
Bella looked around, taking in the empty beer bottles and dirty laundry everywhere. Bella shook her head fondly, and started picking up clothes. She'd always been a neat freak and Jacob was an episode of hoarders waiting to happen.
"Jacob?" Frowning a little, Bella left the living room and peered into the dark bedroom.
"Was wondering if you'd make it," was her welcome as Jacob sat up from the bed and slipped passed her to go into the living room, not meeting her eyes. When Jacob avoided her gaze it meant something bad, it meant Jacob had done or was going to do something that Bella wouldn't like.
"What did you do?" Bella asked, as Jacob flopped on the couch, after grabbing a beer from the fridge.
"I'm surprised you'd have time. I thought you were leaving me behind," Jacob said darkly, ignoring her question, "Or did I just imagine last night?"
Bella looked down at her feet.
"Always happens with men. They promise friendship. They promise to treat you as an equal. In the end, all they want is to possess you."
― Rick Riordan, The Blood of Olympus