A/N: happy thanksgiving to those who celebrate! i am hoping to get a lot of writing done while i travel this weekend. love yall!

Chapter 29

In the excitement of the evening I managed to forget about my fucking father, but there he was, passed out on the couch in nothing but boxers and a sheen of sweat. The house reeked of body odor- I nearly gagged when I walked in the door.

Throwing my coat on the recliner, I approached my dad's sleeping form.

"I fucking hate you." I said, knowing he wouldn't hear but wishing he would. "I could fucking kill you right now and there would be nothing you could do about it. Put the rest of us out of our misery."

I was drunk and angry and maybe a bit delusional in my rage, talking to what was essentially a living corpse. The man smelled like he'd drunk an entire bar dry, for Christ's sake.

"Fuck you," I spat at him before turning and heading upstairs. I wouldn't let him run me out of my house, as much as I wanted to be far the fuck away from him. His name may have been on the deed, but he'd done nothing to earn this place. Alice and I paid the property taxes. We shelled out the money for a plumber when the pipes burst, and we paid the electric bill.

That asshole had no right to this house.

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep while still enraged, though it was dreamless and unsettled. When I woke up the next day and went downstairs, Dad was nowhere to be found. The house was empty- Alice stayed at Jasper's, of course, and would probably spend the day there to help him and Rose clean up. I thought about calling to offer my help, too, but I decided I was still in far too bad of a mood to socialize.

I poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat myself in front of the TV, flicking through the channels in a desperate attempt to get my mind off of all the bullshit.

Pulp Fiction, my favorite movie, was on, so I selected it with the remote and settled back into the couch.

The film's violence did something to quell my rage. It was cathartic, almost, watching the characters cheat and steal and snort heroin and fucking kill each other; a release I wouldn't be able to find in real life. Or rather, shouldn't try to find.

When the movie was nearing its end, my phone rang. Looking at it, I saw it was a number I didn't recognize, and it didn't have a Chicago area code. Thinking it was probably spam, I tried to ignore it, but the incessant buzzing as it rang put me on edge.

With a groan, I muted the TV and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Edward, hey! It's Jake."

God. Fucking. Damn it. Why did I do this to myself? I was just starting to feel a little bit better, too.

"You there?" He said when I didn't answer.

I suppressed another groan, letting my head fall back on the couch cushion and staring up at the ceiling.

"Yeah. What's up, Jacob?"

How did the fucker even get my phone number, anyway?

"Uh, you know. Not much, man. Listen…" He trailed off.

I waited, and he went on.

"I got your number from Bells' phone." Of course. "Remember, back at the cabin…"

Oh, fuck. My chest tightened immediately.

"…How you said I could call you if I needed advice? Ya know, about Bella?"

I exhaled, relieved we hadn't been caught, albeit a bit fucking disappointed. It would have made things a lot easier…

"Yeah, I guess so." I responded. "Why, what's up?"

Jake sighed. I heard him shuffling around in the background and the sound of a door closing.

"She's sleeping, I don't want to wake her up. Do you think we can meet up for a bit? We can go do something, if you want."

"Uh, I dunno, dude." I really wanted to say 'fuck no,' but I knew that was the wrong thing to do. If I gave away how much I disdained him, he might get suspicious, might finally figure out what his girlfriend's been up to behind his back.

That would make things a lot easier for me, but certainly not for Bella, and I wouldn't do that to her.

"I'm kind of busy," I went on, juggling for excuses. It was hard to come up with any when the dude knew I lived right across the street.

"I get it, man. It doesn't have to be today. Maybe during the week?"

God damnit. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose to try to chill myself back out.

"Yeah, dude," I grumbled before clearing my throat. I attempted a better-sounding attitude when I went on. "That sounds cool. I'm off on Thursday, or…"

"I usually go to Newton's to play video games on Thursdays." He interrupted, and I rolled my eyes. Of course he did. He would befriend that pussy Mike.

"Okay… I work the late shift Wednesday. I'll be free until around four."

"Perfect!" Jake exclaimed, his voice so loud I had to pull the phone from my ear. "Oops, I think I just woke her up. Gotta go, dude, see ya!"

I tossed my phone across the living room when I heard the 'click' that signified he hung up.

How the fuck did I get myself into these situations? I would have to ask Bella about it later, when she called or came over. It was Sunday, so I was hoping I'd actually get to spend some time with her like we usually did.

That was unfortunately not the case. In fact, when she finally called it was late, and the conversation was so brief I didn't even get a chance to bring up my plans with her boyfriend. The same went for the following day, and I was beginning to feel anxious and fucking desperate for her by Tuesday night, until I heard the familiar sound of rocks hitting my bedroom window.

She was on me the second I closed my bedroom door. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her tight against me as I kissed her back. I felt her smile against my lips, and I smiled back.

"I missed you," she sighed against my mouth, and I hummed in agreement. God, did I miss her. Without breaking our kiss, I led her towards my bed, pulling her onto my lap when I sat down on it.

We kissed for a bit longer before she pulled away, smiling up at me. I leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry I've been M.I.A. Jake's been…"

I kissed her mouth again to silence her. It worked.

"I know." I said once I pulled away. "We have plans tomorrow, actually."

Bella quirked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

I nodded, leaning in once again to press my face against the top of my head so I could breathe her in. "Yeah," I said, letting my lips travel down to her cheek, placing tiny kisses there. Her breathing hitched as I continued downward, eventually finding the softest spot behind her ear and kissing her there, too. "He stole my number from your phone and called me, asking if we could hang out and talk about you."

"You're lying," She said, her voice coming out as a sigh as I continued kissing her.

"Nope," I said against the side of her neck. "He said he needs advice, and for some reason thinks I'm the person to ask."

"Mmm," She let out a soft moan while my lips traveled down to her collarbone. "He's probably right about that, huh?"

"Probably."

Naked and perfectly satiated, Bella was laying on my chest, her little fingers playing around with my chest hairs. I had my arms wrapped around her, holding her against me as if I'd be able to keep her there forever if I held on tight enough.

"I don't really love the idea of you going out with Jake," She said eventually, not stilling her hands as they traveled across my chest. I chuckled quietly, making her body bounce with the vibrations of my laughter.

"I don't really love it, either."

I moved one of my hands to her head, running it through her soft hair. She hummed.

"That feels good," She said quietly. I smiled, leaning forward to kiss her head.

"Then I'll keep doing it." I replied, and I felt her returning smiling against my chest.

"You won't…" She started, trailing off.

"Hmm?"

"You won't say anything to Jacob, right? About us?"

My hand stilled on her head. I adjusted my body so that I could look down at her, not responding until she got the hint and looked up, making eye contact.

"I would never do that to you, Bella. You know that, right?"

She shrugged, looking away. "Yeah, I guess. But I deserve it."

My eyes rolled on their own accord. "Stop that, please." I sighed. She looked back up at me.

"Stop what, Edward?"

"Stop saying shit like 'I deserve it' or whatever. It pisses me off. You don't."

She opened her mouth to say something, but I continued, my voice a little louder. "You don't, and even if you did, it wouldn't make a difference to me. I will never do anything to hurt you. You gotta know that."

She sighed, pressing her face into my skin, dampening it. She was crying.

I resumed playing with her hair, hoping to calm her down again. I couldn't stand when this happened, when the realities of our situation found their way into my bedroom, intruding on the time I was so desperate to spend with her.

"I don't know what he wants to talk to me about." I said eventually, hoping that I was convincing her that it would all be fine. "I'm just gonna fucking agree with him or whatever. I only agreed to this because I didn't want to make him suspicious or something. I thought this was the best way…"

She nodded, though she still wouldn't look up at me. "Thank you," She said against my skin, and I sighed, nodding.

"Anything for you, baby." I slid my hand from her hair to her chin, placing just enough pressure there to get her to look at me. Her brown eyes were still swimming in tears, so I reached out, gently brushing them away. "Okay?" I asked.

She nodded, giving me a small smile. I smiled back.

"Good," I said, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "Now, stop hiding your face from me, please. I go too long without seeing it, you know."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

I met Jacob outside Bella's house at noon, as requested. He was out front, loading some shit into the back of Charlie's work truck. I looked up at the house, seeing Bella peeking through the blinds and giving her a wink before approaching her boyfriend.

Jake, overly-excited and obnoxious as ever, raved about how Charlie was letting him borrow the truck and how he was so excited to spend the day with me. I somehow managed to repress the urge to roll my eyes, instead climbing into the passenger's seat with a fake-ass smile.

We drove for a while. I was grateful Jake decided to blast his shitty music for majority of the ride, because I sure as shit didn't want to have to make more conversation than necessary. Eventually, he pulled into a parking lot that overlooked a large field. There was a small building there, boasting the name 'Seth's Shooting Range.'

I felt my eyebrows pull up, and Jake laughed.

"Surprise, dude!" He cheered, climbing out of the car and heading to the trunk. I followed and watched as he opened the cab, pulling out two shotguns and a bag that I assumed was full of bullets.

"We have a range back on the Res," He said, handing me one of the guns. I took it carefully, not particularly keen on gun safety. "Me and my boys always used to go shooting when we had something to talk about. C'mon, dude, follow me."

Inside the building, I stood back while Jake talked to the man at the counter, going over protocols and shit. I was so fucking out of my element, I wondered if Jake did it on purpose; maybe he felt he had something to prove to me. After all, he spent his days completely outside his comfort zone, instead doing his best to get by on the South Side, a place that was, most definitely, in my element.

Unfortunately.

I continued to follow Jake until we approached a large field with targets across it. Jake put his stuff down on the bench there, so I did the same, following his lead because I didn't know what the fuck else to do.

"You ever do something like this before, dude?" I shook my head, and he laughed. "Nice. That makes it more fun. Here, give me the gun and I'll teach you."

After a twenty minute lesson on gun safety, how to load and unload, whatever, Jake grabbed his gun and pointed it at one of the targets.

"You just take a deep breath and aim. When you're ready, exhale," He demonstrated the notion, "and pull the trigger."

BOOM! It was louder than I expected. I jumped, making Jake laugh again.

I would have been getting seriously fucking pissed off if the dude wasn't holding a gun.

"Alright, dude, your turn."

I followed his instructions, taking a deep breath and letting it out before shooting. I missed the target by a wide margin, but felt a smile creep up my face, regardless.

It was pretty fun.

We took turns for a while, saying nothing of consequence. Jake cheered me on when I got close and, eventually, hit one of the targets right in it's center.

"See, dude? It's pretty sweet, isn't it?"

I shrugged, trying to play it cool, but I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. "Makes me feel like I'm in a movie."

Jake laughed, nodding. "Right?! I always told the boys at home that the shotgun made me feel like Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction."

I snorted, the irony of the situation not lost on me. I was watching that fucking movie, maybe even that scene, when he called me the other day.

I told him such, and we both laughed. "That's so funny, dude! Its my favorite movie."

"Mine, too."

This thought sobered me. I wasn't sure why, but the knowledge that him and I had anything in common made me feel sick to my stomach.

Jake took one more shot, hitting his target square in the center, before putting the gun down and facing me.

"Me and Bella got into a big fight after the Halloween party." He said.

I nodded. "I figured," He raised his eyebrows. "You wouldn't have needed advice if you didn't, right?"

"Right," Jake agreed, sighing. "It's just like… since moving here, I'm learning about a whole new side of her that I didn't know existed, you know? I thought I knew her so well, but…"

"She's a tough nut to crack." I said. He smiled sadly.

"Yeah, she is. You understand her, though."

"I wouldn't say all that."

"I would. It seems like every time she stumps me, there you are, knowing exactly what to say."

I shrugged. Jacob sighed again, sitting down on the bench. I stayed where I was standing.

"Don't you think it's messed up to go and let your girlfriend break other dude's noses? I mean, shit, it feels fucked up."

I shrugged again, not really sure what he wanted me to say. This felt less like he was looking for advice and more like he just needed to vent. It almost made me feel bad for him. Almost.

"I guess so," I eventually agreed. "If your girlfriend wasn't Bella."

"See!" He exclaimed. "That's what I mean! You say it like its so damn obvious, but for me… It's not obvious to me. That's not the Bella I met. That's not the way I think of her."

"Things were different in Arizona, I'm sure…"

"Sure, things were different. We weren't living in a shit hole like we do here." He stopped, glancing at me apologetically. "No offense."

"None taken. It's a shit hole."

"Things were different, but I'm not. She is, though. Not always, not when we're alone, but when anyone else is around…"

I repressed my cringe at the mention of them alone. "I don't know what she's like when you guys are…" I had to clear my throat before I could say the word, "alone, and I don't know what she was like in Phoenix, but the way she is around me? The way she was at the Halloween party? That's one hundred percent Bella."

Jake sighed, looking up towards the sky for a minute before jumping out of his seat, reaching for his shotgun.

"Whatever. I guess I'll figure her out one day. We have nothing but time, right?"

"Sure." I agreed, hoping that I was lying through my teeth but not entirely sure. Maybe they did have time. That's what Bella asked me for, isn't it?

Time to let Jacob get to know the real her, maybe. Time for him to realize she is not who he thought she was. Time for him to make the decision to end it, so she didn't have to.

"Do you love her?" I asked, the words coming from my mouth at their own volition.

Jake, who had his gun pointed across the field, flicked his eyes to mine and pulled the trigger. Another bullseye, and he wasn't even looking.

"Yeah, of course I do."