Immortal Bella

Chapter Twenty-Three: Jake

I left the Cullen's early in the morning as the sun began to rise, running home to cook breakfast for Charlie. When I stepped through the threshold of the back door leading into the kitchen, I could hear two heartbeats; meaning I'd be cooking breakfast for two.

Charlie walked down the stairs about an hour later, rubbing his eyes free of sleep. When he saw me, his smiled brightened and he walked over to kiss me on the cheek, wishing a good morning before sitting down at the small breakfast table. Sue walked in about a minute afterwords, blushing lightly at the sight of me and sitting down across from Charlie after saying good morning.

I set two plates down on the table filled with bacon, hash-browns, sausages, eggs and pancakes. Charlie and Sue had thanked me as they began eating, and I washed the dishes. I smiled to myself as I listened in to their conversation, Charlie was going fishing today and he asked Sue to come along. Things were finally looking up, and I was happy about that.

"Bella?" Charlie called as they finished breakfast.
"Hm?" I replied, drying the pan I had just washed.
"Do you want to come along?" 
"Oh, no. I won't be of any help," I laughed, causing a smile to form on Charlie's face, "I'm also thinking about going to see Jake today." I decided just then; I hadn't seen him in a while, and I did miss him. Charlie nodded happily before getting up and exiting to room to get ready for the day.

After the dishes were cleaned, I went up the stairs to enter my bedroom; I hadn't been in it since I left and I didn't plan on spending much time in it. After putting my things away and zipping up my leather jacket that had become my favorite article of clothing, I left the house and began running. I planned on seeing Jake, but for now I felt like exploring.

I continued running until I reached a meadow that wasn't like mine and Edwards; it was smaller. It had began snowing which wasn't a surprise, it was October so the snow was bound to come back eventually. I stood in the middle of the meadow for a while until I heard rustling in the trees behind me.

Turning around sharply to see who had joined me, I was shocked to see a large russet wolf appear from behind the shadows.

Jacob.

"Jake!" I smiled widely, running over to him. When I reached him, he bent his head down so I could hug him. Knowing he was still breakable, I didn't squeeze his body but it was nice to be with his company, even if I couldn't hear him.

I let go and began telling him my story, and about everything I had learned. His ears perked up when I mentioned that I had a special ability, and I could tell he was interested in that. After my story ended, Jacob looked over across the small meadow and I heard a soft growl rumble from deep within him.

"What is it, Jake?" I asked. Jake didn't need to reply to me, as he had spoken to answer my question.
"He's angry that I'm here." Edward said, stepping out from behind the trees.
"Edward?" I called out, running over to him to hug him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked as I let go, grabbing his hand.
"I was out hunting when I heard you. Jacob, it's nice to actually see you.. Well, at least the true you." I had forgotten that Edward and Jacob had actually never met in person, only hearing about each other.

As I turned to face Jacob, I was disappointed as he turned around and started heading towards the woods. Letting go of Edward's hand, I stepped closer to Jake.

"Where are you going?" I asked, hurt evident in my voice.
"He's just going to transform, he'll be right back." Edward answered for him and I sighed in relief. Sure enough, about a minute later, Jacob returned in his human form. I didn't hesitate as I ran up to him and hugged him again, him wrapping his arms around my waist as he returned the gesture.

"I missed you so much." He whispered, and I closed my eyes. 
"I missed you." I replied. We let go and Edward was beside me, holding out his hand for Jacob to shake. Jake just looked down at it and scoffed, rolling his eyes as a refusal to the hand shake. Edward placed his hand in his pocket before speaking.

"It's nice to actually meet you, Jacob." Edward greeted, and Jacob rolled his eyes once more.
"Yeah well I don't really care about meeting you. I'm only here for Bella."
"Jake." I scolded him, confused with this outburst.
"Sorry, Bella." He apologized, making it obvious the apology was only for me.

"I'm going to head back to the house, will I see you later?" Edward asked. Turning to face him, I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I'll be there." Edward leaned down and left a soft kiss on my lips before disappearing, and I looked up to see the annoyance evident on Jake's face.

"Look I know you don't like him, but can you at least make an effort?" I growled in frustration. The annoyance softened on his face and he frowned slightly at me.
"I'm sorry. I just don't understand what you see in him." 
"You don't have to, I love him, and that's what matters." I detected hurt that crossed Jacob's facial featured, but he was quick to cover it.

"I love you too, Jake. But I only see you as my best friend, my brother. Will you continue to be my friend?" I was scared of his answer, but when he sighed heavily and smiled at me, my fear dissolved.

"Yeah, I'll always be your friend. No matter what you love."

-

I hung out with Jacob on the reservation coast for a bit until the sun set, and his pack came to collect him for some meeting. Saying goodbye was hard, but making promises of seeing each other again soon was easy. I had ran to the Cullen's and showed up on their doorstep, smiling brightly as Esme opened the door and invited me in.

"Bella, you don't need to wait outside, dear. You are apart of this family now, you can just enter." She smiled, hugging me as I stepped inside.

"Thank you, Esme." I hugged her back. Everyone was scattered around the house, Carlisle I assumed was in his home office, Rosalie sitting on the couch beside Emmett as he played a game, Jasper and Alice were nowhere to be found. From the other room, I could hear the sweet melody of my lullaby being played on the piano, and my smile grew, as well as Esme's.

"He's happy you're back." She whispered to me. "After you left he never really did anything. He stopped playing his music, he just sat around like a statue until he had to hunt." Hearing this hurt a bit, I hated that I put Edward through that.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered, as Esme grabbed my hand and squeezed it softly. "Everything is fine now, honey. Don't worry about it, we are all glad that you are back." The music had ended just then, and Esme smiled once more before exiting the room. 

I stood by the door as Edward appeared, smiling brightly at me as he took my hand and kissed it sweetly. He then led me out the door and we began running until we reached our meadow. We laid down in the grass and I rested my head on his chest, feeling his fingers run through my hair as we watched the stars in silence.

"I love you." Edward broke the silence, and I turned to face him.
"You are my heart," He continued, "My one true love. I have never believed there would be a love that felt so powerful towards someone, as I feel towards you. My love for you in unconditional, unbreakable, something that would last forever, until this world ends." Edward sat up, causing me to sit up with him. Reaching into his pocket, I watched as he pulled out a small black satin box.

A small gasp escaped my lips as I realized what was being held inside the box. Flipping the top up, my assumptions were correct as my eyes set on a magnificent ring. The face was a long oval, set with slanting rows of glittering round stones. The band was gold – delicate and narrow. The gold made a fragile web around the diamonds, I had never seen anything like it.

I reached forward and grabbed the ring, but before I could take it out of the box, Edward stopped me. "Let me." He murmured, taking the ring out himself. Holding out my hand, Edward slid the ring up my left ring finger where the diamonds glittered in the moonlight. Holding out my hand to admire it, I smiled.

"Isabella Marie Swan, would you do me the extraordinary favor of marrying me?" Without hesitation, I reached over and grabbed his neck, bringing him closer to me so our lips could touch.

After our embrace broke, I whispered a "yes." 

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