Troubleshoot

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"You know her well." Edward whispered. "How quickly you see… I didn't see. Not in time. She seemed so certain, so adamant that she had made peace with the things that she would have to give up. Again, I never imagined what she was really thinking, what she was resolving."

"Just back up a second." Jacob's sarcasm felt like acid on his tongue. He wasn't in the mood to listen to Edward's self-pitying monologue. "You claim you love her, but even after all the time you've spent together, you don't know her at all. How stupid are you?"

Edward flinched. "I thought I knew." He whispered. "I hoped I knew."

"You should have left Bella with me."

"Yes." Edward agreed faintly. "I see that now."

It was a bit late for that, though. Maybe he should have thought about all this before he pressured Bella into a marriage she didn't want. It was clear that she was feeling under duress about the whole thing, only going along with the ridiculous charade to please him, to make him happy. It was just another example of her martyr complex coming into play.

Edward stared up at Jacob from inside his own personal hell, and Jacob could see that he agreed with him, even if it was a bit late.

"I didn't know." Edward said, his words as quiet as a breath. "I never dreamed. There is no one like Bella. She is the only one…only human…. that we know of that has been in a relationship with one of my kind before. You know I always wanted her to remain human. I never wanted to take away her life – "

"Even so, you continued to risk her life, didn't you?" Jacob accused. "You came back. You should have stayed away. Every day that she is around you is another day that her life is in danger. You know this. Yet you continue to carry on with the charade, wanting her to remain human, but prepared to risk that same life because you selfishly claim you can't live without her."

"Yes." Edward agreed in a tense whisper. "I'm not going to deny the truth of your words. I did try and stay away, but it was too hard, my existence was so empty without her in it. I am everything you say I am, Jacob Black. I am indeed a selfish creature." He shook his head, the anguish in his eyes showing how revolted he was by himself.

"At last, you admit it." Jacob spat.

Edward stared up at him with a face that looked a thousand years old.

"Even you, Jacob Black, cannot hate me as much as I hate myself."

Wrong, Jacob thought, too enraged to speak.

"I know you want to kill me." Edward continued quietly.

"Yes."

"But killing me would only hurt her."

"Don't you think I already know that?" Jacob's hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"Jacob, you have to do something for me."

"The hell I do, parasite!"

Edward kept staring up at him with those same half-tired, half-crazy eyes. "For her?"

Jacob clenched his teeth together. He was tiring of this conversation. He had learned all he needed to know. Bella may still be in denial, but his offer had stopped what was potentially the worst decision she was ever going to make. She still might not choose him in the end. He would have to make himself okay with that, however, she would still be alive. That was enough solace for him to carry on living, even if it was without her in his life.

As for Edward Cullen, Jacob wasn't so sure. The leech looked deathly. His eyes were dead, so was his voice. He had struggled daily without Bella. As a result, he had nearly gotten them both killed by deciding to end his pathetic existence in Italy. Would he do so again?

Of course, Edward was reading his mind. He regarded Jacob sadly. "I would never put my family through that again. I can assure you. Even though my existence will be miserable and empty without Bella, like you, just knowing that she is out there, enjoying everything life has to offer will be enough for me."

His maudlin little speech made Jacob want to puke, made worse because it was an exact replica of what he had been thinking himself.

"You know her, Jacob. You connect with Bella on a level that I don't even understand. You are a part of her, and she is a part of you. She won't listen to me. She never has. Not really. I know that she won't listen to me now. If I call off the wedding, or delay it, it will only make her more determined to go through with it. So, its up to you now. I leave it in your hands. I won't interfere."

Jacob gazed at Edward incredulously. "You're just going ahead with the wedding preparations anyway?" He exclaimed.

"Yes." Edward lurched to his feet, his eyes burning brighter than before, wilder.

Jacob wondered if he really was going crazy. Could vampires lose their mind?

"Maybe." Edward answered his stray thought. "I don't know. It feels like it." He shook his head. "I have to try and hide this in front of her, she will get stressed if she thinks I'm upset about the whole baby thing. I must be composed; I can't make her decision harder. But that doesn't matter now. She has already been drawn back to you, Jacob. As I said, you have already planted the seed. Let it grow. Spend time with her. Make her see what she will be missing out on. Then maybe, slowly, she will come to her own realization, and she will be the one to call off the wedding."

"With Bella its never as easy as that." Jacob retorted in frustration. "Haven't learned that yet? I can't tell her anything that I haven't already. What do you want me to do? Tell her she's stupid? She probably already knows that."

"You can offer her what she wants. Subtlety is what's needed her. You don't need to hammer the message home. Do you have it within you to be subtle, Jacob?"

Jacob scowled. "I can be subtle."

"Good." Edward said grimly. "Whatever you think of me, Jacob, I don't care about anything but keeping her alive." He said, suddenly focused now. "If it's a child she wants, she can have it. She can have half a dozen babies. Anything she wants." He paused for a beat, grimacing again. "Even if it means having your puppies, if that's what it takes to make her stay human and happy."

He met Jacob's stare for a moment and his face was frenzied under the thin layer of control. Jacob's hard scowl crumbled as he processed his words, hope rising again in his heart.

"I will leave it to you to make her see reason, Jacob." Edward sucked in a fast breath like someone had punched him in the gut. "I must return to her now. She will be worried. Anxious that we might be tearing each other apart right now."

The mental image that provoked felt pleasing to Jacob. He watched a grim smile cross Edward's pasty face, and realized that the leech was probably picturing the same thing.

The images in Jacob's head changed, his fantasies about Bella spooling through his mind. He had imagined, countless times, about how it would be if she had chosen him, when there was still the possibility that this would happen. He hadn't been able to stop himself then. Now his hopes were raised, he couldn't stop himself now. Bella in his arms, Bella sighing his name…

Another new image joined it. One, by rights, that shouldn't have existed for him. Not yet. An image he knew he wouldn't have suffered for years if hope hadn't shoved it into his head now. But it stuck there, winding threads through his brain like a weed-poisonous and unkillable. Bella, healthy and glowing, her body round with his child.

"Enough, Jacob!" Edward cried in anguish. "I am already in enough torment." He clenched his teeth together, his hands pressed to either side of his head, as if he would crush it in his effort to stop the images he was reading in Jacob's eager mind. "Wait for Bella to call."

One moment of doubt was all he needed. Cullen had already said the seed he had planted was already having an effect. He could be patient. He could wait. Soon Bella would falter in her resolve. She would call him, then he could show her exactly what she would be missing out on. He could be subtle, despite what the leech thought.

"If she wants a child, that's what she gets." Edward repeated, obviously reading his mind again.

Jacob narrowed his eyes. "You better not change your mind again, leech. We have a deal now."

"I won't rescind." Edward declared through gritted teeth. "If Bella chooses this path, then I will step aside."

"Good." Jacob muttered. He still couldn't believe he was having this conversation. Or even thinking about this. Bella would punch him-not that he cared about that, but it would probably break her hand again.

Jacob knew he shouldn't listen to the leech, or talk to him, let him mess with his head like this. From the outside it would look like they were collaborating, colluding together to get what they wanted from Bella. But it was far from it. It was just a discussion. Whatever happened afterwards was Bella's decision. Her life was in her hands. However, a little guidance, maybe some subtle persuasion couldn't hurt. Not if it directed her onto the right path.

The hint of a worn smile tugged at the corners of Edward's mouth. "Exactly." He said, reading Jacob's mind again.

"Stay out of my head!" Jacob growled.

Edward nodded. "I'll go now and leave you alone to your thoughts."

"You do that!"

Edward said no more, but abruptly vanished, only the impressions of his knees in the dirt and a lingering, sickly fragrance proving that he had ever been there.

A/N-thanks for reading!