BELLA
Bella woke up with an anxious start, finding herself alone in her bed. She extended her arm, trying to find Edward on the bed. But he was not there.
She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, looking around her room as though to find Edward hiding behind her curtains. But once again, he was not there.
There was a pounding in her head, as her heart began to palpitate as she got up from her bed in a panic. He had stayed with her the whole night, right? He promised that he wouldn't leave her anymore.
Bella sat back in her bed, pulling her knees to her chest as she felt a coldness return to her body once more. Just as it had when Edward first left her. She was suddenly so frightened that her hands were shaking. Her worst fears had been realized.
For over a week now she had been feeling him pull away. She knew he had said it was for his family. For their protection. But Bella had been waiting for this, ever since they returned from Volterra. Edward had sworn to her he would never leave her. But there he was, constantly leaving her alone.
Her heart had soared when she saw him just last night coming through her window, Romeo had came for his Juliet. But when Juliet woke up...Romeo was gone.
She looked up to her cork board, seeing the photograph of the two of them that Charlie had taken before everything changed. They were both standing side by side...Edward's face was cold and statue-like. The contrast between the two of them was painful. He looked like a god. She looked very average, even for a human, almost shamefully plain.
No...This couldn't be happening again. There had to be some explanation.
A knot of anxiety clawed at her chest, she was able to focus on her breathing before the panic really hit. But she was hyperventilating within minutes.
Was there something that happened between them the previous night? Something she misread? She thought they had been fine! Together at last! Bella had felt as though her soul was complete when she saw Edward crawled through her window. The prince to rescue his princess...
Edward had held her while she cried, the two together once more. He had promised nothing was going to change, so where was he?
As she focused on her breathing, she replayed the night in her head. And suddenly, she vaguely remembered that Carlisle had called Edward to update him on Victoria!
She heard the quick gasp, gasp, gasp, gasp of the air dragging through her lips, but she couldn't stop it. It looked like her room was shaking, like there was an earthquake, but she knew it was her own trembling that caused the illusion.
Bella shot up from her bed, looking around wildly for her phone. The anxiety seemed to ratchet up the intensity of the pounding in her head. Did something happen? Was someone hurt?
And though she felt terrible for the thought, she selfishly felt relief. Edward did not leave her again. He wouldn't leave her unless he really had to.
Bella dialed Edward quickly. He wasn't one to leave her without a note or just leave her int he middle of the night. Something had happened. Something bad.
"You have reached Edward, please leave a message."
She heard his delicate voice through her phone, as the fear continued to to consume her. Quickly hanging up, Bella dialed Alice's number.
"Hello? Bella?" Alice's velvet voice called.
A wave of relief spread through Bella, as she forced herself to continue breathing. Alice was safe.
"Bella? Are you still there?"
"Alice, I'm sorry I keep calling. I just...Is Edward with you?"
"No, he's not. Bella, I've been waiting for you to wake up to call--"
"What happened?" Bella asked quickly, feeling herself holding her breath once more. "Victoria, did she--?"
"You don't need to worry about Victoria. But we did have a little run in with the wolves while we pursued her. We have to renegotiate the treaty, we promised to stay in our house while the Quileaute leaders decide what to do."
Bella felt as though ice water had been poured on her. She tried to pull herself together, but her eyes were swimming in moisture. She could see it behind her lids — She could see Victoria's face, her lips pulled back over her teeth, her crimson eyes glowing with the obsession of her vendetta; she held Edward responsible for the demise of her love, James. She wouldn't stop until his love was taken from him, too.
"What happened? Can I speak to Edward? Is anyone hurt?"
"No one is hurt Bella, please trust me. I can call you as soon as the Quilieaute leaders make a decision."
"And Edward? I tried to call his phone but it goes directly to voicemail."
Bella heard Alice hesitate, as she felt her eyes now overflowing with moisture.
"I just need you to know he's safe" Alice said slowly. "We're hoping he can come back soon."
"What do you mean, 'come back soon?'" Bella demanded, her voice raising a pitch higher as she tried to keep it steady.
"I can't say much" Alice pleaded. "But please know, as soon as the Treaty is official again, Edward will come back."
Bella felt her mouth go dry, "But, why?"
"I just need you to trust me, can you do that Bella?"
"Let me come over, I can ditch school and you can explain to me--"
"Bella, you're not listening to me. Edward is safe. The wolves promised to look over you while we wait out their decision. This is between us, I can't tell you any details until it's official. I just need you to trust me. We're safe, no one was harmed. We just need to wait for this afternoon for the Quileaute Elders to regroup."
"What if they decide you can't stay?" Bella asked in a flat voice, feeling empty as she realized there was a possibility she would have to leave a lot sooner than she expected. Graduation was just weeks away! Couldn't the Quileaute's wait?
"We wouldn't agree to that, and they know that. We want peace too, it was just a misunderstanding. Carlisle is sure we will be able to negotiate in a fair way. This is just a technicality."
"What exactly happened?"
"As soon as we come to an agreement, I can call you with all of the details."
Bella felt herself hyperventilating at the thought of having to wait so many hours to know what was going on. The panic resumed itself as she felt herself gasping for air once more. Of course Alice had said it with such ease, she was immortal. What was a few hours to someone who lived forever? But for Bella? It was eternity.
"Bella? Please breathe. Edward will break the new treaty if he hears something happened to you and he wasn't there."
Bella continued to hyperventilate, her mind going into overdrive as she tried to steady herself with Alice's voice. There was something in the jumbled words that Bella could comprehend...Edward? Yes...His perfect and god-like, beautiful face came to her head and distracted her, calming her breathing.
"Is he safe?" Bella managed to choke out.
Alice paused, "Yes."
"Please call me as soon as you hear from him, okay?"
"I will. Bella, everything is okay. You do know that right? "
Bella felt her heart beating rapidly, "Yes."
Bella hung up the phone and sat down on her bed and pulled her knees up, and wrapped her arms around them once more. She tried to get control of herself, to reason with herself. Alice had said everything was fine. Alice had said Victoria was no longer a concern. The only thing to do was to wait for the Quileaute Elders to make a decision.
What's the worst that can happen?
Bella flinched. That was definitely the wrong question to ask. She was having a hard time breathing right. Okay, she thought again, what's the worst she could live through? She didn't like that question so much, either.
She had felt so panicked to wake up with Edward not there. She thought everything was going to go back to normal again. But even though she felt relieved all of the Cullens were safe, all of her future family was safe...She couldn't help but focus on how hesitant Alice was being in telling her where Edward was.
She got dressed mechanically, as she convinced herself to attend school. Yes, that would make the day go by faster, even if she knew none of the Cullens would be there.
Bella grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, heading outside towards her truck.
"Hey Bella."
The familiar husky voice sent a wave of wistfulness through her.
Bella lifted her head to meet the voice, seeing the six foot seven inches of Jacob's long body, muscled up the way no normal sixteen-and-a-half-year-old ever had been. He had on a tight black t-shirt —short-sleeved, though the day was unseasonably cool — his ragged, grease-smeared jeans, and the glossy black bike he leaned against.
A thousand memories spun in her head, tangling together — a rocky beach strewn with driftwood trees, a garage made of plastic sheds, warm sodas in a paper bag, a tiny room with one too-small shabby loveseat. The laughter in his deep-set black eyes, the feverish heat of his big hand around mine, the flash of his white teeth against his dark skin, his face stretching into the wide smile that had always been like a key to a secret door where only kindred spirits could enter.
It felt sort of like homesickness, this longing for the place and person who had sheltered her through her darkest night.
A tiny hint of the smile she remembered was suddenly playing around the edges of his lips.
"Jake..."
He leaned forward, "I think I might have been wrong before, you know, about not being able to be friends. Maybe we could manage it, on my side of the line. Want to ditch and come with me?"
Bella felt bewildered, as a wave of confused emotions engulfed her. Jacob had been ignoring her for the past few weeks, swearing never to speak to her again. And now, he randomly showed up when Edward was gone and the rest of the Cullens were on lockdown?
"So, what. Are you talking to me now?" Bella challenged. "I've called you several times."
Jacob's face fell, which made him look like a younger version of the Jake she remembered so well. "I know, I'm sorry Bella. But I'm here now, does that count for something?"
Bella saw the despair in his face, as Jacob's suffering had always triggered her protective side. It was not entirely rational — Jacob was hardly in need of any physical protection she could offer. But her arms yearned
to reach out to him. To wrap around his big, warm waist in a silent promise of acceptance and comfort.
"It does...It's just not good timing Jake."
"Why?" Jacob demanded. "This is the perfect time. No Cullens here to stop you from doing what you want."
"They could be here if your Elders would just hurry up and negotiate the treaty!"
"It's not that easy."
"And why not? They didn't do anything!"
"Let me guess, did they blame the big bad wolves for starting this conflict?" Jacob sneered.
"No..." Bella hesitated, as she didn't actually know what happened.
But Jacob could read Bella like a book. Her face had given him everything he needed to put two and two together.
"You mean" Jacob said, as he looked at her curiously. "They didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Bella asked, feeling her heart rapidly palpitating in her chest.
"About how your bloodsucker broke the treaty for his new little girlfriend. The new girl, Gwen Ortega."