PETRICHOR , paul lahote.

018. heavy hearts

LENA WENT STRAIGHT TO BELLA'S HOUSE. After kissing Paul, she needed the ultimate distraction, and what makes a better distraction than hanging out in a field with Edward, Jacob and Bella?

A clusterfuck of awkwardness.

She walked there, her mind whirring. Why the hell did she kiss Paul? Well, she knew why. She needed to know if she was in love with him or if she was crazy.

She would much rather be crazy.

But no, she just had to be in love with him. She ran—not the best option to make, but she couldn't stand there and listen to Paul reject her. He would be nice about it, too. Respectful, not mean, because they grew out of being mean to each other. Then she would have to live with it, with him, sitting around and watching from afar as he fell in love with someone else. Someone who wasn't her.

Had she been in love with him this entire time? Is that why she hated it so much when he was rude to her? Why she was upset when they considered themselves friends only? Probably.

Rebecca was going to have a field day with this.

"You're not fighting? What did you pull a muscle or something?" Jacob asked as he strutted toward them. Lena arrived at Bella's just in time to hear Edward back out of fighting with the newborns, and now they were on their way to deliver the plan of action to Jake.

"He's doing it for me, okay?" Bella said.

"Whatever." Jacob bristled, "Just tell me the plan."

Jasper turned to him, "This field will give us an advantage in battle. We need to lure the newborns with Bella's scent. It needs to end here."

"Edward and I are going to a campsite." Bella told him, "Even if he carries me, they'll still pick up my scent."

"Your stench however, is revolting." Edward spoke, and Lena held back a laugh. Even if it was a slight dig at her.

"Dude, you really don't wanna start comparing stinks." Jake said.

"What he means is," Bella interrupted, "that your scent will mask mine if you carry me."

"Done." Jake agreed.

"This is not a good idea." Edward said to his brother.

"Edward." Jasper smirked, "They won't wanna get anywhere near his...odour."

"Can't Lena do it?" Edward asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Lena has another job." The blonde said, looking at her, "If she's willing."

"What do you need, soldier?" She teased.

Jasper smirked, "I need you to run laps around the perimeter. Make sure that they stay within this area, that none of them are tempted to...look elsewhere."

She nodded, "I can do that."

"Okay, let's try it." Bella stepped forward, allowing Jacob to pick her up into his arms.

"Run." Edward said, and Jacob smirked before setting off into the woods with the human girl in his arms. The trio watched as they disappeared into the trees.

Jasper waited a couple of minutes before setting off to see if he could track Bella, leaving the two alone in the field. It was silent, until Edward turned to her with a frown. She'd made the mistake of letting her mind run wild.

"You ran?"

She turned to him, "So did you."

Edward winced at the memory, "Leaving Bella was the biggest mistake I've ever made. Why did you do it?"