FOREVER

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"You were there, Bella. You know what happened."

"You know that's not true. I was blind to the whole thing. I need to know, Jake, for clarity's sake."

Jacob looked me over and groaned. He apparently didn't want to be here doing this right now. My assumptions were that he brought me to these woods for other frivolous activities but that wasn't going to happen. He should have known that by now. I reached up and placed my hand over the scar on my neck. It was therapeutic almost, feeling her there...permanently and forever. Jacob ran a hand through his hair and his eyes met mine. This was taking too long for me so I spoke again.

"Look, all that I know was that after our little escapade in my room, you cursed the Cullens and ran off. Mere hours later, Alice and the entire family are leaving me! Don't tell me you didn't have a part to play in that." I pointed a finger at him and he glared at it. Then he heaved a great breath and I watched his shoulders fall.

"I'm afraid that if I tell you, you won't speak to me again," he said softly. That was definitely a foreboding comment. And I couldn't tell him what he wanted to hear. Because I might just not want to speak to him ever again after hearing his testimony. So I merely looked at him and waited. He waited too and after a few more moments he finally started speaking, turning around so that I didn't have to see him.

"We, the pack, knew that you guys were going to the field tomorrow. Beyond the south side of the trees is Quileute territory so we scouted to make sure that it wouldn't be breached and that you would be safe. I saw the intruders. They came from the north or we would have stopped them before they reached you. However, your precious Cullens seemed to have taken care of it. Then I saw Alice leap at you and it took Quil and Embry to hold me back." He looked at me then as if he expected some sort of reaction. I didn't give him the satisfaction of one and he glowered before continuing.

"Alice leapt at you and the blonde one pulled her back. Then one of them was dragging you away. And you were protesting to go back to her. That's when I couldn't watch anymore. I left Quil and Embry to make sure you would stay safe and headed to your room to wait for you. I didn't mean to get so angry but, Bella, you have to see my side of the story!" I gave him an expectant look. Because I didn't see his side of the story. The Cullens didn't want Alice to attack me and Alice sure as hell didn't mean to attack me. Rosalie grabbing her was proof alone that they didn't want that. Otherwise they would have let her continue to ravage me.

Jacob began breathing heavily, getting angry and I found myself a tree to lean against. He came just a bit closer but stopped when he was still what I would consider a safe distance away. "I don't know what happened to make Alice jump at you but the point was that she did. And it was simple. How can you be with someone that can change like that?" He snapped his fingers violently and I flinched. He looked at me as if he'd said something profound. When it hit me that he was serious, I couldn't help but laugh out loud a bit.

"Are you serious, Jacob? If I got you mad enough I'd end up just like Emily or worse." He flinched at my words but I knew he deserved them. The realizations of his ignorance hit me wave after wave and I grew angrier with each thought. "You rag on them all the time, Jacob, but what's the difference between the two of you save for hair and body temperature? Blood to them is your rage. Hell, I'm the only one without murderous tendencies but you don't see me throwing my judgment around, do you? You're just like them!"

Jacob was in front of me in a moment, shaking violently. His fist raised and I shielded my eyes to hear him pounding at the tree behind me. It shuddered against my back with his force and I fell to my knees. Jacob hit the tree a few times more and I heard him stepping away. When I finally looked up I saw his palm reaching out to me. His eyes were pained and his breathing returned to normal so I took it and he helped me up. We stood in silence for a few moments and despite my best efforts, he couldn't look me in the eye. So I turned my eyes to the ground, letting him make the next move, whatever it was going to be.