Meaningful Artifacts [Edward/Jacob]

seven.

a/n: sorry if you see any errors. i'm working on multiple chapters at once.

Edward's not a fan of Forks. He doesn't like parading around in a place when the benchmark of a century hasn't even passed. His graduating class hadn't even begun the downward slope of requiring an oxygen tank and yet here he was knocking at the front door of Charlie's house, waiting to see his daughter while the guy he took Calculus with delivers a pizza next door. 

The door swings open and it has that same movie-esque quality that he expects from his life now-a-days. His disgruntled ex-wife steps out onto the porch with her arms crossed as if there is a chance in hell that he's here to see her. Charlie's looming about somewhere in the background, he can sense the disappointment only getting more pungent with time. He doesn't like that they still see one another, which is rich considering how Bella was raised. 

Though, maybe it's not the co-parenting that's got his disapproval. Maybe it's the way she answers the door like she's expecting Edward to want to see her. She stares up at him like he's going to get that smitten smile on his face and forget that they'd finally found the balls to let go, like they don't do this almost every day.  He simply peers around her, waiting for their eight-year-old to rocket through the tiny opening her mother has left to greet Edward. She flies through with the gusto of someone who isn't privy to any of his mistakes. He allows himself to cherish that for the five minutes he gets to see her on weekdays. 

"Hey Rey!" He greets her as she throws herself into his arms. 

She's still learning how to speak without going the speed of light, but she gives him the run down of how her day has gone. She's extra excited about her birthday in two weeks. He can feel eyes on him. Maybe they're waiting for this little interaction to be over so they can ask him if he's coming inside or waiting for the chance to once again slam the door in his face, or maybe there is more bad news to share. If Bella's quiet simmering is anything to go by, he'd put his money on the latter.

He puts Rey down and watches as she shoots off to go babble away to Charlie about whatever it is that's popped into her head in the couple of minutes she's been away from him. He then turns to Bella and watches as she fixes her mouth as if she's been waiting all day for this. 

"I heard you went to go see Jake." Are the first words that leave her mouth.

He's not expecting that. Why would he be expecting that? Who could have possibly told her that? He'd just left Jake's house. The dust in his driveway probably hadn't even settled yet.

Also, why would she care?

Jacob and Bella hadn't left off on a bad note exactly. He'd been at the wedding. Hell, he'd only been at the wedding to make her happy. Edward could remember his face clear as day, looking like he was in actual physical pain as he sat through the vows, before sneaking out the back when it was time to cut the cake. There was no telling where he'd run off to after that, but the last time Edward had actually seen him was when word had begun to spread about Bella being pregnant. Jacob would probably never admit it, but he'd visited Bella one night, most likely to see if the rumors were true.

He hadn't thrown a tantrum, made any noise, let his objections be known. He simply just slumped off into the night like a kicked puppy. Maybe Edward had taken some personal satisfaction from that in the moment, but that felt like it was a century ago.

So, why'd she have a problem with him speaking to Jacob?

Though, maybe that was just it. Maybe it was the fact that they hadn't left off on the wrong foot. It'd only been three months since he and Bella had officially called it quits, but he's learned that that's absolutely nothing. He practically taught Bella that it was absolutely nothing. Maybe she was hoping Jacob would be standing waiting for her after ten years, ever loyal.