The Beginning of Forever - A Twilight Fan Fiction

Chapter Twelve - Bella

I have to cling tighter to the tree in order to not drop like a dead sloth.

Jacob Black? Still alive?

'Are you really Bella Swan?' He shouts.

'Of course I am!' I cry back. 'Who the hell are you?'

'Jump down and I'll explain!'

'Yeah - and have your buddies chew my legs off? No way!'

'Stand off, guys,' he murmurs, and looks up at me. 'My name is Will - Jacob Black was my father.'

'Was?' I say. It hits me - Jacob's dead? A wave of loss hits me again, and I quickly run through the blurry human memories I have of Jacob Black. It hits me harder - a pain in my chest that almost brings me to my knees.

I've thought of Jacob Black every day since I left Forks. Every day.

I look at his son. He's almost a clone of him - the spitting image, down to the russet skin and the deepset eyes, that watch me, a curious combination of disgust and amazement.

'My father talked about you everyday, Bella. I know who you are. He didn't believe you were dead for a minute - he told me he looked all over the USA for you, just to bring you home.'

The pain in my chest intensifies. Vampire heartbreak? Ouch.

'Please come down. I'd like to talk to you.'

'Tell your buddies to back off and I will.'

Will sighs, and I watch in amazement as he transforms back into the russet coloured wolf. I am curious and slightly afraid as I watch him sit back on his hind legs and look over the wolves, who have formed a circle around him.

I am afraid that what I am going to hear may break me, after everything else today.

I close my eyes.

Oh Jacob, I think sadly.

He was the first friend I made here in Forks, having fixed up my truck for me. His father and mine were close friends, and I often found Charlie, Billy and Jacob in our front room, watching a game. Jacob would come up to my room and relax then, or we would hang in the kitchen while I cooked a meal for the four of us. It was a cosy arrangement - and although Jacob was a year younger than me, he was mature - and sometimes, I imagined him and myself on our own, in a cute little house between Forks and La Push.

He began to cut me out before long. After a growth spurt, his calls became less frequent, and he rarely came to see Charlie or me anymore. I watched him grow bigger before my eyes, sometimes imagining myself wrapped in those arms of his - until one day he completely cut me out.

I chased him to La Push, and watched as he charged across his lawn, his torso bare and dripping with rain. His long, silky hair had been brutally chopped off - I followed him, calling for him.

'Jacob!'

He turned around, throwing me a look that didn't belong to him - he looked afraid, terrified. Like a little boy.

'Bella,' he murmured. 'Go away.'

I froze in shock. 'Why haven't you returned my calls?'

'Go away,' he repeated. He was shaking.

'Jake, please.' I said desperately. 'What have I done?'

'Nothing, it's me-'

'Me not you, right?' I laughed scornfully. 'That's a good one.'

Jacob shook more violently, and growled at me. 'Please, Bella! Go!'

I began to shake. Jacob didn't want me. I felt a tear slide down my face, streaking down my cheek, combining with the rain drops.

'Jacob,' I whispered. 'Please. Tell me what I did.'

Jacob looked pained. 'Bella, I...'

I could see figures in the background. More Quileute boys - with no shirts. Great.

'C'mon Jake!' One shouted.

'Go, Bella.'

'What, to leave you with them?'

I remembered his fears weeks ago - the way Sam Uley had looked at him, as though he was some great prize. He feared that Sam would induce him to a bad way of life - and now it seemed it he had.

I walked forward to touch his arm. Jeez, he was hot! The shaking made no sense when he was burning up, but I couldn't think about that.

'Jacob. Please. Be my friend again. Come back to me.'

Jacob swallowed. 'I can't,' he whispered.

And with that, he leaned forward and kissed me. A soft, gentle kiss that left me hungry for more - as he pulled away, I felt another tear fall down my cheek.

'Goodbye, Bella.'

That night, my life was snatched away from me.