Change of Plans
JacobxBella; Edward
Rated M
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the franchise, as it belongs to Steph Meyers
Author's Note: Happy New Year, everyone! Firstly, I hope everyone had a happy holidays and new year, however you celebrated it. Secondly, I want to apologize for not returning to this story sooner. I've been busy with work and wrapping up the end of the year, and then had a bit of a scare with my dog when he suddenly lost use of his back legs. Luckily, he's okay and back walking again, though he still stumbles. Anyway, I haven't forgotten about this story, and I'm back for Bella and Jacob's story. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and more to come in the future. Love, SehunsBae37.
Change of Plans
Chapter XVIII
"Jake, can you come over, please? We need to talk about something?"
She waited anxiously for Jacob to arrive, knowing he would be at her house any minute now. It hadn't been too long that she had gotten off the phone with Jacob after he agreed to come over to talk, and Bella's nerves were a mess. If it weren't for the reason of their talk that she was inviting him over, she wouldn't be so nervous, but she was. If Bella had her way, she wouldn't bring this up at all, but she also knew it was unfair to not tell Jacob this, not when there was already so much that she had kept from him to start with, unintentionally or not. She was going to come clean, even if it hurt Jacob.
Five minutes later, Bella heard a light tap on her window. Turning her head, she saw it slide open and Jacob climb through it into her bedroom. Closing it behind him, he moved to sit on her bed with her, wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace before saying, "I'm here, honey."
"Jake," Bella said softly, leaning into his warmth as he held her. Already she was feeling comfort, but she knew once she started talking, it wouldn't last.
Pulling away, Jacob looked at her and asked, "What did you want to talk about, Bells? You sounded off on the phone. Is everything alright?"
The brunette looked up at Jacob for a moment before looking down at her hands, trying to figure out how to say what she needed to. Gentle fingers tilted her chin up so she could look into dark brown eyes, eyes that she could still see clearly in the darkness of her room, the only light being provided being that of the streetlights from outside. As she looked into them, Jacob told her softly, "You can tell me anything, Bells."
"Jake," Bella repeated, her heart beginning to beat quickly in her chest. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Opening her eyes, she looked at Jacob and continued. "Jake, I need to tell you something, something I think you should know."
"Okay…what is it?"
"It's about what happened while I was in Italy."
A look of annoyance came over Jacob's face and he let go of Bella, turning his head to look away from her. "I don't want to know what you did when you went to save that leech."
Grabbing his arm, Bella scooted closer to him and said, "But it's important that you do, Jake. You need to know why I was able to come back alive after saving Edward."
Looking back at the brunette with a look of confusion, Jacob asked, "What do you mean 'come back alive'?"
"I…When I went to save Edward in Italy, I went to Volterra to save him from the Volturi. The Volturi are the largest coven of vampires to ever exist and are essentially royalty."
"So they're like, the godfathers of leeches or something?"
"Yes, especially the three rulers; they're basically kings and create all the rules that vampires have to abide by. If any vampire breaks any crucial rules and it gets back to them, the punishment is death. And in Edward and the Cullens' case, they broke a very crucial rule."
"What rule was that?"
"That no human can ever know about the existence of vampires. Because of Edward's involvement with me, I found out what he and his family were. They were supposed to…well, they were supposed to fix the problem of me knowing about them but didn't."
"Fix it how?"
"If a human finds out about vampires, the vampires they know about in question have to either turn that human into one of them or kill them. It's all to preserve the secret of their existence. And when Edward thought that I had died, he went to the Volturi to be killed, but they wouldn't because Aro—he's like the high king—likes him and wants his power on his guard. Therefore, Edward chose to reveal himself to the public and force Aro to kill him. But I stopped him in time, and then was introduced to the Volturi. Aro was especially interested in me because he couldn't read my mind, just like Edward, but was going to have me killed. However, it was due to Edward and Alice that I wasn't, as well as a promise that Aro and the others extracted out of me for us to leave out of there alive."
A grave look came over the Shifter's face, almost as if he knew where she was going with her words. "And what promise did you have to make them, Bella?"
Here it was, the moment of truth. Taking a deep breath, Bella opened her mouth and answered, "I promised them that in order for the Cullens to not be punished or killed, I would become a vampire."
Jacob inhaled sharply, his fists clenched on his legs, though Bella could tell they were shaking in the dark. He closed his eyes tightly as he took in what she said. Keeping his eyes closed, he then asked through clenched teeth, "And because these leeches are royal, a made promise can't be extracted? So you're expected to go through with it?"
"…Yes."
"Damn it!" Jacob hissed, standing up from the bed, his form trembling. He paced agitatedly before quickly moving to the window and jumping out of it.
"Jake!" Bella called after him, running to the window to see him dart into the woods. Feeling hurt that he was so upset, and because of her no less, Bella ran from the window and to her bedroom door, throwing it open and rushing out of it. She stumbled down the steps, her bare feet hitting the bottom before running to the front door. She ignored Charlie's call of her name as she threw the door open and ran out into the night, the night air cool on her exposed skin, as she was still wearing the tank top and shorts she wore to bed.
She ran to the woods, still ignoring her father as he called to her from the porch, hoping to catch up with and find Jacob so she could explain. Damn it, she needed to explain, to make him understand why she had made that promise, as well as that she no longer wanted to, or had any desire to keep it. As she ran, she called out, "Jake! Jake, come back! Please, come back!"
The last time she ran and stumbled along in these woods, she was going after Edward, only to wander in circles for hours. But this time, she was going after Jacob, and she was going to go in a straight line if she could. Her bare feet kept moving through the woods, the ground damp here and dry there as she moved along, continually calling Jacob's name. Bella eventually stopped to catch her breath, leaning against a tree as she looked out into the woods, hoping to see Jacob—in either of his forms—in the darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she finally spotted him, Jacob still in his human form, punching a tree in anger and frustration.
Slowly walking up to him, Bella pleaded, "Jake, I know you're upset, but please listen to me."
"Upset? I'm not upset, Bella; I'm furious!" Jacob shouted, punching the tree one more time, the bark cracking and giving out. The tree fell, luckily on neither of them the sound of it hitting the ground loud in the quiet woods. He heaved for a bit before running his hand down his face, then gripping his hair agitatedly. Looking back at her, he asked, "Why did you make that promise, Bella? And don't tell me it was just so you could walk out of there alive, because I know you better than that."
Tears beginning to form in her eyes, Bella told him, "Because I wanted to be at the time. I wanted to be a vampire and I wanted to be with Edward forever. I believed I was his mate and not just his Singer. I thought I was special enough to him that he'd fight his bloodlust to be with me; it all made sense to me. But I never thought once that I was being dazzled and possibly manipulated from the beginning. Making that promise was a no brainer to me, and I didn't believe it to be a problem. But then…then I found out I was pregnant, and everything changed after that. Edward's true colors came through, I had forgotten all about the Volturi and my promise, and we were working on getting our friendship back on track. I know I should have told you all this sooner, but I swear I didn't think about it until today at the sparring session. I'm sorry."
Silence followed Bella's explanation and apology, the night air quiet outside of a rustling sound here or there. As for Bella, all she could hear was the pounding of her heart in her ear. She didn't know what Jacob was going to say or do now that he knew the truth. She didn't know where this put their friendship, if it had ruined it again. But she hoped to high heaven that he would understand. It would kill her if he didn't and ignored her all over again because of this situation again.
As for Jacob, he was finally calming down. He could hear the sincerity in Bella's voice, especially when she had said that she was sorry. He knew in his heart that the promise she had made was no longer a priority of hers, that her heart wasn't in it. Even so, he needed to hear her say it. Stepping closer to her, he asked, "So you don't want to be a vampire anymore?"
"No, I don't," she answered softly. "I haven't for a while, especially now that I want to have and keep this baby. I know for certain I am not, and have never been Edward's mate, or had a genuine connection with him outside of being his Singer. He may have really cared about and loved me at one point, but I know I don't feel the same way about him anymore. If anything, he's made me hurt you more than I would ever want to. Actually, I don't ever want to hurt you Jake, but that seems to be all that I'm doing."
A small, sad smile appeared on Jacob's face. "Well, they say that you always hurt the one you love. Or in my case, get hurt by the one you love."
The tears that had formed in Bella's eyes spilt over at hearing him say that. If only he knew, and damn it she wanted him to know. Now was probably not an appropriate time to tell him, but she didn't know when she'd get another time. After all, if not now, when? Taking a deep breath, Bella finally confessed, "But I do love you."
Jacob stared at her in shock, almost like he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Blinking, he asked, "Really?"
"Yes. I love you, Jake. And I'm sorry for all the hurt that I've caused you. You don't deserve it, and I don't deserve you."
Bella wrapped her arms around herself, looking down at her feet as she did. It was silent between them for a moment before Jacob gently grabbed hold of her face, gently lifting it to have her look at him. He looked into her chocolate brown eyes for a while before smiling and pulling her into his arms, holding her close to him. Bella wrapped her arms around him as she melded to his strong form, more tears filling and spilling from her eyes as she cried into his chest. Jacob hadn't said it, but she knew that in some way, he had forgiven her, and that he believed that her feelings for him were genuine. It was all she had wanted and couldn't help but be thankful that he had listened to her.
Looking up at him, she asked, "So, are we okay?"
"Yeah, we're okay. And I know it was hard for you to tell me this, and my reaction probably didn't help, but I'm glad you told me. I'm sorry for how I reacted, Bells."
"It's okay, I understand. But Jake, you should know that there is still more I must tell you. And you're going to have to tell the Pack."
"Don't worry, I will. But as for informing me of more, we'll get back to that. Right now, let's just let this sink in and give me time to tell the Pack this much. Okay?"
Bella nodded. "Okay, but the Volturi and the Cullens are going to hold me to that promise. Well, all but Rosalie; she'd be the only one willing to get me out of it if she could. That, and if I could get out of it."
Jacob rubbed her back comfortingly. "Let's worry about that when we get there. But for now, let's get you home. I heard Charlie calling after you, and I'm sure he's pissed off. That, and no need for you to get sick."
Taking her hand, Jacob began to lead Bella back towards her home, the two of them walking together in silence. After a while, Jacob chuckled and remarked, "I can't believe you ran out here with no shoes and almost no clothes on."
"Well, I had a good reason to do so," Bella replied with a sweet smile.
It wasn't long before they reached the edge of the woods outside of Bella's house, the two of them spotting Charlie waiting on the porch, an anxious expression on his face. There was also a look of anger on his face as well, which was to be expected. Bella was about to bid Jacob 'goodnight' and go face Charlie's wrath, but stopped when Jacob didn't release her hand right away. Looking back up at him, she said, "Jake?"
Jacob looked down at her before smiling and saying, "I love you too, Bells."
Bella couldn't help but grin at his heartfelt words. Standing on her toes, she wrapped her arms around Jacob's neck and pressed her lips against his in a sweet kiss, her heart beating faster than it ever had, her stomach erupting in butterflies as the Shifter returned her kiss. The kiss ending, they smiled at each other before Jacob kissed her once more and gently pushed her towards the woods' edge saying, "You better go before Charlie blows a bigger gasket than what he's already going to blow."
Giggling, Bella nodded and told Jacob that she'd see him tomorrow, to which Jacob agreed. And as she left the woods and walked back to her house, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. Even with Charlie yelling at and berating her, threatening to ground her if she ran off into the woods at night with no warning again, she couldn't find it in her to be remorseful about it. After all, if she hadn't, things wouldn't have worked out the way they had. She had confessed her feelings for Jacob, he had taken and reciprocated, and things seemed like they were going to be alright. Well, for now anyway.