Meaningful Artifacts [Edward/Jacob]

thirteen.

a/n: internet's shoddy. hopefully nothing got deleted.

Edward's frazzled.

It's a foreign sensation, something he's been alive too long to even experience. He's watched people die and come back to life a concerning number of times. What he's never seen is a vampire die, be killed by his own hands, and be walking around within the next couple of decades as if nothing happened. 

He'd watched her die. Yet, there Victoria was in the museum, running at him, the same she was as when he'd last seen her. She'd snarled at him, demanding that he tell her where James was...

James who had been dead even longer. 

He'd thrown her off and pinned her to the floor. Then he saw her face, saw who he was fighting, and she'd just slipped through his fingers. Just like that.

And he feels guilty.

He feels guilty for not telling Jacob. The way the man had looked at him in his dazed state, clearly confused as he clung to consciousness. Then, the distrust in his eyes when he'd asked about her on the drive to his house. Edward wanted to say something. Though, what does he say? How does he explain seeing a dead vampire roaming around the museum? It was not that he didn't trust Jacob, it was that Jacob would think he was losing his mind. 

So, he hadn't said anything.

It felt like the smart thing to do at the time, and maybe he was right considering even his own brothers were staring at him in disbelief. 

"You killed Victoria, Eddy." Emmett helpfully reminds him, "Would you like a play-by-play of what happened?"

As much as he's teasing, Edward can see the concern in his eyes as he stares into Edward's.

"Yeah, ripped her head clean from her body." Jasper informs him. "Remember?"

He remembers. He remembers the way she'd looked at him, eyes filled with rage, her main goal to make him feel the same anguish she'd felt. She'd looked at him the exact same way in the museum. He wasn't the same man he'd been when she'd died. He didn't have anyone, similar to James, for her to take.

He and Bella hadn't lasted nearly as long as Victoria and James...

but she didn't know that.

Edward springs up from his seat, mind reeling as he scrambles for his phone, ignoring the somehow even more concerned looks from his brothers. He manages to get his cellphone into his hands and dials one of the first numbers in his contacts. He heads for the door, making his way outside without a word despite the eyes on his back. Jasper and Emmett are blocking him in and he doesn't have time to wait as he makes his way down the driveway.

"Ed, at least let me take you!" Emmett huffs, catching Edward before he can get far, "It'll be faster!"

He's lying. Edward knows he's lying, but he also doesn't want to have to explain away any remote sightings of Edward booking it if anyone does manage to catch a glimpse of him. He huffs, begrudgingly climbing into the passenger's seat. Once again, a sensation he hasn't felt in a long time courses through his veins. 

Fear. 

He's scared. He can't sit still all the way there and almost forgets himself as he stumbles up to Charlie's door, glad the man's car wasn't in the driveway. Bella knew he was coming; he'd somehow bumbled it out on his way here when she'd finally answered his call. Still, he beats on the front door for a solid minute before he twists the knob with enough force that it crumbles in his palm before he pushes the piece of wood open to see Bella standing behind it. She's staring at him as if he's lost his mind, a pot of noodles in her hand, that she's clearly ready to toss at the supposed intruder ripping off door knobs.