light sunrise Sunset

~Previously, the Cullen's leave, Edward breaks Bella's heart in the woods, and Hermione sees Carlisle who gives her a letter for herself and Charlie. Hermione also has a very short phone call with Rosalie on the phone.

Chapter 21

Hermione sat and looked in the mirror, the bags under her eyes were dark. She gently rubbed her eyes, she needed to start getting more sleep. She stood, grabbing her concealer and dabbed a little bit on the puffy black circles. She had to apply her strength to every situation life threw at her these days. She sighed deeply, she put her head in her hands and tried to hold the tears back. It had only been a couple of weeks since the Cullen's left. She was faring better than Bella had been that was for sure.

She held her breath and waited as the urge to cry left her. She shoved all her emotions into a box deep within herself and finished applying the foundation the way her mother had shown her. She added just a tinge of blush to give herself a healthy glow. Grabbing her school things, she hurried down the stairs and out the door before she saw her cousin or her uncle.

As she drove, she thought about that fateful day and the days after. Uncle Charlie had been very supportive, but Bella could not stop blaming herself for Edward and the Cullen's leaving her. She barely left her room, and when she did it was to go to school and sometimes to eat. It seemed that Bella's birthday disaster had been the catalyst in what Charlie referred to the 'Teenage Angst'. Hermione scoffed at the terminology; they had gone way past angst at this point.

The plans that they had originally for the week between their birthdays, were blown out of the water by the Cullen's leaving town. Charlie had tried to rouse Bella for their planned mid birthday celebration, but she could not put forth the effort. Charlie had looked to Hermione for an answer, and Hermione just shrugged and said, "we can skip it if you want Uncle Charlie," he frowned, but held to the plans. In the end, it had just been the two of them.

Her birthday had come and gone, and she felt utterly alone. Bella's friends were nice enough to let her sit at their table with them; she tuned them out half of the time. When she tried to make conversation Angela, was the one that she would talk to. They had made tentative plans for the following weekend to go to Port Angeles. "Let's see if we can get Bella to come along, maybe it will help lift her spirits," Hermione agreed wholeheartedly that it was worth a try.

Hermione smiled lightly to herself, Angela was good for her. Angela was no Rosalie, nor did she want her to be. Angela was very sweet, and she could not understand why the girl spent so much time with Jessica and Lauren. Shrugging her shoulders, she pulled into the parking lot and parked her car. She parked in the rear parking lot, she found she did not mind the walk; it was a very small parking lot Afterall. With her umbrella at the ready, she opened the door and stepped out. And here we go, she thought to herself as she meandered to the entrance and into the fray that was her life.

Later in the morning, Hermione passed Bella in the hallway. When she asked Bella how she was doing, she gave her a tight smile, shrugged her shoulders, and continued walking down the hall. Hermione sighed heavily and continued her way to her classes. She would need to speak to her later when they got home. Maybe she would call Jacob, a small smile came to her mind at the thought of his name. Yes, she would call Jacob if Charlie hadn't already called him.

…

It had been three days since Hermione promised herself that she would try to get through to her cousin. Bella as per her usual was being a little less than hateful towards anyone who tried to talk to her about how she was feeling. Hermione knew that Bella's heart had been broken, everyone dealt with pain in a different way, but she was being cruel.

She sat in her room alone, refusing to reach out for help. Instead, she attacked, and she went right to the heart every time. Eyeing the letter from the Cullen's on her dresser, she wondered if she had made a mistake in not reading it yet. She laid on her bed and recalled the conversation she had with her cousin just two days earlier.

Hermione felt her mood drop, as she entered Bella's room. Hermione crawled onto the bed next to her cousin, curling up next to her, shielding her with her arms. "Mya," Bella said tucking her head down onto her cousin's shoulder.

"Shh," Hermione said soothingly, "it's going to be alright."

"Why would they leave like that?" Bella sobbed, "I thought he loved me."

"I know he loved you Bells," Hermione said, stroking her cousin's hair. At this point she had no idea what the letter addressed to her said, she had not read it yet. "They left me to Bells, but I think that Carlisle thought it was the only way to protect you. I know Edward didn't want to leave you."

There was a pregnant pause, Bella abruptly sat up pulling herself from her cousin's comfort. She made a face, that told Hermione that she was feeling angry. "What would you know?" Bella demanded, "Have you ever been in love". There was a pregnant pause as Hermione searched for the answers that would appease Bella, "It would not matter if you had been, YOU CAN'T REMEMBER! So how the hell would you know what I'm feeling?"

Hermione jerked back like she was physically hit with the words. She shuttered in pain as she climbed off her Cousin's bed. She turned to look at Bella, deciding that it would be better to say nothing. She turned back towards the door, and as she jerkily opened it. Bella spoke again, this time softer, "I'm sorry," Bella sobbed, "I didn't mean... I should not have said that. I'm sorry." Hermione noticed the silent tears running down Bella's cheeks.

"It's true though," Hermione said sadly, "I don't know if I've ever been in love before, because I can't remember. I'm sorry if I said something to upset you." Hermione turned to leave when she felt her cousin's arms wrap around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Bella pleaded her head coming to rest on her shoulder, "Please forgive me."

"I'll always forgive you," Hermione said patting her cousin's back giving her a gentle hug. She guided her back to her bed and laid with her until she fell asleep.

Coming back to reality, Hermione sighed, perhaps it would be best to give Bella a little more space. She rubbed her temples, before reaching over to her bedside table and grabbing the letter that Carlisle had given her when he came to let her know they were leaving. Taking a deep breath, she opened the envelope, pulled out the letter, and opened it.

Hermione, you are by far the best person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and I hope and pray that we will see each other again. Please forgive me for leaving you.

Your best friend Rosalie.

She looked inside the envelope and she checked the paper again. That was it, she laughed, "Oh Rosalie," she sighed falling back onto the bed, "I'll miss you too."

She held the letter up again and read the words a second time. It would not do any good to dwell on it, so she tucked the letter back into the envelope and pulled out a small box from under her bed. She opened it up and put the letter in with her other memorable.

Making a snap decision, she picked up the phone and called Jacob's house. "Hi, is Jacob around," Hermione asked when Billy answered the phone.

"Hermione," Billy said happily, "how are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright, how are you doing?" she answered brightly.

"Never better," he said with a laugh, "here's Jake."

"Hermione," Jacob said brightly, "what's up?"

"Fell like taking a walk on the beach?" she asked happily.

"Like you even have to ask," Jacob said happily, "I'll meet you there?"

"Okay," she smiled into the receiver, "I'll see you soon."

They hung up, Hermione penned a short note to her uncle and cousin letting them know where she was going and left it by the phone. Grabbing her keys and her wallet, she locked the door behind her and headed to First beach.

When she arrived, Jacob was already there and waiting for her. She caught herself thinking how great he was, causing her to blush and smile happily.

He pulled her into a hug, and he held her for a few seconds before letting her go. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile, her cheeks had the small pink tint to them. He reached for her hand and they walked silently towards the waves.

"Thank you for coming," she said breaking the silence.

"Thanks for asking me to come to meet you," he replied with a grin, "I was starting to worry."

"Because you haven't heard from me in the last 5 days?" she asked playfully.

He smiled and sighed lightly, "How are you dealing with the Cullen's leaving?"

"Better than Bella that's for sure," she said with a small smile.

"Did they explain it to you?" he asked carefully.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it," she said with a shrug of her shoulders, "I mean I can understand why, but Dr. Cullen hardly gave me an explanation or even a good excuse. I mean it feels like my family has abandoned me in a way."

"Well you still got me and dad, and Charlie and Bella," he said tugging her towards the waves.

"I don't know about Bella," she said lightly, "she's been spiteful and means at times lately."

"She must have said something to hurt you," Jacob said turning to look at her. they were looking over the water now. "You don't have to do everything alone, ya know."

She leaned into him, bumping her shoulder against his, "Okay," she said with a smile.

"Okay," he copied bumping her back again lightly, "what did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking that maybe you would come and visit her at home, and maybe between you, me, and our mutual friend Angela Weber, that we could keep her busy," she said pausing to take a breath, "I was also thinking that maybe we could get her interested in your motorbike project."

"We could manage that I think," he said with a grin, "you're going to come too right?"

"When I can, yes I will," she said meeting his eyes, "Uncle Charlie is helping me with buying the bookstore in forks."

"That's wonderful!" he yipped in delight. He wrapped his arms around her to hug her, as she moved in to accept, she tripped over her own feet causing them to fall into the sand. She landed on top of him, causing them both to lose their breath. She laid there for a moment before she propped herself up to look down at him. "couldn't help yourself, could you?" he asked teasingly wiggling his eyebrows.

"You wish," she said teasingly, she went to pull away and move when he stopped her. They sat there and looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like hours.

"I do wish," he said seriously, "I think I'm starting to fall in love with you." Before she had a chance to reply, he slowly sat up, when she went to move, he pulled her into him. Their lips met slowly, cautiously, after a second or two, Hermione leaned in, winging her hands around his neck, pulling herself so she was sitting in his lap.

After a few minutes, they separated for some air. After she caught her breath she said, "I'm falling for you too Jacob." They lounged and kissed on the beach for a little longer before, the sky opened, and they were caught in a downpour. It was a warm afternoon, so there was not too much worry about getting sick. They raced back to the car, halfway back she had to stop to catch her breath, so he scooped her up and she held onto him as he ran them back to her car.

She unlocked the car and they dove in quickly out of the rain. They started laughing as they realized they were soaking wet and looking like drowned rats. "Should we go back to your place?" Hermione asked still chuckling, "how did you get here anyway?"

"I walked," Jacob said with a shrug.

"I forgot that the beach was so close to the reservation," she laughed, "let's go to your house, I haven't seen your dad in a few days either."

They sat in relative silence on the short drive back to Jacob's house. Neither knew what to say to the other. After Hermione pulled into Jacob's driveway, neither of them moved to get out of the car. "So," Jacob started to speak, "about that kiss?"

"It was more than a kiss," Hermione said gently with a small smile playing at her lips.

"So, about those kisses," he said fixing the sentence.

"What about them?" she asked with a little giggle, "is this your way of asking for another one?"

"No just if since we did a lot of admitting, I was hoping you would be my girlfriend now," he replied, there was a little tinge of red on his cheeks.

She put her finger on her lip and tapped like she was thinking. Just as he was starting to say something, she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek; but he turned his head at the last minute and their lips met. The kiss lasted a few seconds, she hummed as he pulled away, "I believe the answer you are looking for is yes," he said with a little laugh.

"Yes, I do believe that it is," she said with a giggle, "you are now mine, as I am now yours, Jacob if that answers your question."

And it did.

…

~Time skip, Hermione is going over past events it is currently January.

For Hermione time moved quickly. With the help of her uncle was able to close the purchase on the bookstore. Once people in the neighborhood realized what she was doing, they offered materials, equipment, and even services if she needed them. She agreed, but only if they let her pay them, "I accept your offer, but please let me pay you. what better way to help you build your business by helping me start mine?" After that, no one would argue with her about payment.

Hermione was not in it for the money, she just wanted something to do with her afternoons. She did not want to drive to Port Angeles for work every day after school. She did not need the money; she was well off from several things that she could not remember plus one or two things that she did not want to recall. It also served as an outlet for her cousin Bella.

By early December Hermione had the bookstore open and running. The store was closed in the mornings, but after school, you could find several high school kids spending time in the evening studying. She had set up a library system, they could come and use the academic books after school but if they wanted other books, they were required to buy them. She also set up a lending library of sorts as well as a book exchange.

Christmas was interesting, Bella was only coming out of her room to go to school and eat. Jacob would come over for dinner two nights a week. He took over for Bella with helping in the kitchen, Bella thought they were a cute couple. Watching them together made her miss Edward more than ever. Charlie saw that Hermione was happy and left them to be. As it was, he and Billy were already planning the wedding, the fact that they m get to show them their plans made them chuckle.

She smiled as she sat at her front counter with a cup of tea that she fixed for herself with the new machine that she got for the book shop. She was thinking about everything that Bella seemed to be getting herself into these last few weeks. Something was going on, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it. She sighed into her cup; she was very happy in her relationship with Jacob. He was sweet and thoughtful, and she could not wait until she could go and see him again. First, she had to figure out what to do about Bella. She looked at the datebook she kept in her purse. It was the middle of January, she wondered where the time had gone off too.

It had all started with the test driving of the motorbike that Bella helped Jacob fix-up. It took them a couple of months to fix them. When they were testing them, Bella wrecked the bike into a tree, and she had told Hermione that she saw Edward. Hermione was stunned, she told Jacob that he needed to keep an eye on Bella when they were out riding because she was afraid that Bella would purposely put herself into another dangerous situation.

Then right after new year's, she ran off to go ride on a motorbike with some stranger in Port Angeles after seeing a movie with Hermione and Angela. Bella raced towards the bikers asking if she could take a ride with one of them. Afterward, Bella was being pulled aside and yelled at by Hermione for being reckless. It was not until after that, that Hermione recommended that she spend less time alone. Hermione started dragging her all over the place.

She looked at the clock, it was Friday, and the place was deserted. Everyone had plans except Bella as she was under house arrest because of the stunt she had just pulled in Port Angeles. Hermione shook her head as though it would clear her head, nope she had plans to go to Jacobs.

She closed the shop and headed to Jacob's house; she would be there a little early, but she did not think he would mind. She laughed lightly as she locked the door and headed out. She made it there in practically no time at all, she knocked on the door, and then twisted the knob and entered the house.

"Hermione hello," Billy said from the living room. He was sitting on the couch, with her uncle and a few boys from the reservation.

"Hello Billy, Uncle Charlie," she replied with a smile, "do you know where Jacob is?"

"He's in the Garage," Billy said happily.

"Thank you," she replied, she hugged her uncle, waved goodbye and went to the garage where she knew Jacob would be. "Jacob," she called, he immediately rolled out from under a red truck all covered in grease. "did I can't you at a bad time," she asked with a giggle.

"Nope," he said with a grin, "perfect timing."

She handed him the rag off of his workbench and handed it to him, "here you go," she smiled.

"I missed you," he said kissing her hand as he took the rag from her hand.

"I missed you too," she said returning the kiss once his hands were clean. After a few moments, she continued, "there are a bunch of boys watching football in your living room."

"Yea, it's why I came out here," he said making a weird face. "something us going on with them. I think it might be some sort of gang. They've been hanging out over by the cliffs by the beach."

"Were they the ones we saw cliff diving?" she asked curiously.

"Yes," he said, "they cut their hair off and they have bulked up."

"I wonder what is going on with them," she said casually, "have you gone cliff diving before?"

He nodded his head, "I'll take you cliff diving some time, I think you'll like it."

"I'd like that," she said happily, "I'm worried about Bella."

"I heard she was on house arrest because of her running off when you and Angela took her to Port Angeles." He said nodding his head and pulling her closer to him. He walked them over to the couch on the other side of the garage.

"She scared the dickens out of me," she said leaning into him, "I'm worried that she's going to lose herself and end up dying."

"Shh," he said kissing her head, "don't think like that."

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, she changed the topic and discussed school and enjoyed lots of little kisses.

A/N: I'm ending it here for now. I will try to update again soon. I started back to work so I don't have as much free time. Leave me a review and tell me how I'm doing. thanks for reading!

P.S. I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight, the characters merely play a part in my need for Angsty stories.