Bella's Little Sister

Chapter 38

 It was almost too cold for us to be outside that day as Jacob and I walked along the shoreline of a lake. Summer was fast approaching an end, meaning that it wouldn't be much longer afterwards that snow began to fall. My gaze was focused solely on the small ripples in the lake as a light, cool breeze blew across the surface of the water.

Despite still feeling somewhat angry with Jacob for what he had said, I knew that we couldn't avoid talking altogether, so I broke the silence. "Alice has planned a big graduation party. Which," I paused as I turned to look over at Jake. "You're invited to."

His dark eyes watched me as he spoke. "If I remember correctly, you want nothing to do with me."

"Despite your apology, I don't." My tone was flat as I responded to his statement. "But Bella will be there, and I know she'd like to see you."

"Right. Well, thanks but no thanks. I'd rather not be surrounded by vampires all night." He stopped walking, glancing out across the water as he spoke. "I wanted to do this differently, smoother. But now I'm out of time."

I took a few steps forward, watching him carefully. There was a touch of sadness in his eyes as he slowly moved his gaze back to my face. "Do what?"

Jake's expression was rather somber as he replied. "You need to hear the truth, Jess... understand all of your options. You need to know that I'm in love with you, and I want you to choose me instead of him."

My expression quickly changed from a look of confusion to one of frustration. "You don't love me, Jacob." I lowered my gaze as I quietly spoke the words, frowning as I kicked at a few rocks on the ground. "Otherwise you wouldn't continue to hurt me like you do. I think you only love the idea of me. And either way, Bella's better for you than I am." The deep breath I took was almost painful, though I held it for a few seconds. "I thought I made it pretty clear that I don't feel the same way about you."

"I don't buy it." His voice held an edge of frustration and anger.

"What don't you buy?" I raised my eyes to his face.

With narrowed eyes, Jacob insisted that I felt something for him, and he then claimed that I was only refusing to admit it. I adamantly declined again, telling him that the only thing I felt for him was frustration at his persistence. He rolled his eyes after hearing my comment about how I would never be who he wanted me to be, whether he liked it or not.

"I'm gonna fight for you until your heart stops beating," Jacob stepped closer, his dark eyes blazing.

I narrowed my eyes in anger now as I backed away from him. "You won't have to fight for long."

"You're rushing into it because you're afraid that you'll change your mind." The anger that was radiating off of Jacob was nearly tangible as he continued to advance towards me. "You wouldn't have to change for me. You wouldn't have to say goodbye to anyone, and I can give you more than Edward can. He probably can't even kiss you without hurting you." Jacob did not give me a chance to respond to that before he took my hand, placing it firmly over his chest. "Feel that?" he questioned. "Flesh and blood and warmth."

The next thing I knew, Jacob was kissing me, and it was forceful. This made my anger rise to a point that it had never reached before. A smug expression crossed his face as I shoved him back, my expression utterly dark. There was a brief feeling of pain as my nails broke through the skin on my palms but I ignored it, opting instead to retaliate against Jacob. His smirk widened as I cried out in pain, gripping my injured hand tightly with the other after attempting to punch him in the face.

I stepped from Jacob's car, slamming the door roughly behind me as I made my way quickly up the sidewalk to the house. Edward was suddenly before me, his grip gentle as he took my injured hand in his own. "Edward, don't."

"If you ever touch her against her will again..." Edward's voice was flat as he threatened Jacob, his eyes a deep shade of black.

"Don't start something here," I begged him, trying to pull him back a few steps. 

Jacob insisted to Edward that I was not sure what I wanted, and I once again pleaded for Edward to stop before it got any worse. But they only continued to argue, so I groaned in frustration before moving to sit on the steps of the porch. Bella came out of the house with dad, her expression worried as she sat next to me. My sister could tell by the look on my face that I was in no mood to explain anything, so she watched silently as our father tried to diffuse the situation.

"What's going on?" dad looked between Edward and Jacob, waiting for one of them to begin explaining.

Edward only remained silent so Jacob spoke up, stating that he kissed me. "And she broke her hand... punching my face."

Bella took my good hand in hers, successfully keeping me in place when I moved to stand as Jacob claimed that it was all a misunderstanding. Edward was quick to come to my side, telling my sister that he would have Carlisle take a look to see how bad the damage was, before helping me stand and wrapping one arm firmly around my waist as he walked me to his car.

A/N: The song for this scene is The Sound of Silence by Disturbed.

"It's just a sprain," Carlisle told me as he placed a brace over my hand. "It should heal fairly quickly."

Edward was standing close behind me, and I looked up at the sound of Emmett and Jasper entering the room. Emmett grinned as he took in my blank expression and the brace on my hand. Jasper was perched on the couch, his eyes probing as he watched me.

"Trying to walk and chew gum at the same time again, Jess?" Emmett questioned, his eyes wide with amusement.

The dark expression I gave him was quick to shut him up, and his smirk faded a bit. Edward responded for me, saying that I had punched Jacob in the face after he tried to kiss me. The answering grin Emmett wore had me fighting to hold back the faintest of smiles.

"You're gonna be a tough, little newborn." Emmett snickered as he moved to sit next to Jasper.

Rosalie, who had been reading a newspaper on the couch, threw it down on the table in front of her before walking out to the balcony, the door closing loudly behind her. Edward moved his hands to my shoulders as I lowered my gaze, taking a deep breath.

"Do you have any leads?" Carlisle glanced at Jasper and Emmett.

"No sign of the intruder," Jasper responded. "But Victoria continues to make appearances."

As they spoke, I walked out to where Rosalie was standing, pausing briefly at the bitterness in her tone as she told me to go talk to someone else about the joys of becoming a newborn. Taking another deep breath, I moved to stand next to her.

"What did I do to make you hate me so much?"

Rosalie scoffed at the words, her eyes flickering across the landscape before answering. "I don't hate you. I don't particularly like you, but..." She trailed off, shaking her head once before looking back at me. "Jess, I envy you."

"Why?" The word was spoken slowly as I tried to understand.

"You have a choice, but I didn't. None of us had a choice, but you do and you're choosing wrong." Rosalie turned her gaze back to the scenery. "I don't care how miserable your human life is."

I pursed my lips, running my fingers over the smooth wood of the railing. "I won't lie and say that my life isn't miserable, because sometimes it is. Sometimes, I wish it were all just..." My gaze wandered, flickering back and forth between the railing and the darkness of the night as I gathered my thoughts. I could feel Rosalie's gaze on me, waiting for me to continue. "Some days I wish I could be anyone else. Sometimes... sometimes I wish I could just disappear."