Chapter 3
It was about an hour later that we were woken up by sudden voices in the doorway. I opened one eye to peek towards the door, only to see my dad standing next to Billy. I knew Jacob was definitely awake, he caught the same image and laughed. I however didn't find this situation very funny, maybe more on the embarrassing side.
I knew that Charlie must have been here because I never went back home. I had no idea exactly what time it was, but I knew it was late. The only thing I did knew was that I was nowhere near ready to leave. I still needed to talk to Jacob, though I would prefer lying in bed with him any day, but time had slipped by and now I'd have to wait.
When Jacob's laughing had slowed down, Charlie walked slowly into the room and was standing right in front of me. I didn't know exactly what to do, so I just stayed where I was and did nothing.
"What exactly are you doing?" he asked, and he seemed to be prepared for the worst.
"I didn't want to leave and we fell asleep," I told him. Easy enough to answer.
He shot me a confused look. "And what about Ed-" he started to ask, but I shook my head, silently asking him to drop it and he did, moving back to the first topic. "So, what are you doing in Jacob's bed?" he asked awkwardly.
"Well, I wanted him to rest and the chair got uncomfortable." If he knew how exhausted I was from this weekend, he would understand better. But I never wanted him to know about that.
Both Billy and Jacob laughed when I said that. My dad just stood there, looking even more awkward than before. I could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his face.
"Dad, nothing happened. Jacob can barely move without hurting and besides that, we've had this discussion before, I'm not even ready for that stuff yet." The laughter stopped and I could feel the tension build. Suddenly, after I saw how red Charlie's face had gotten, I started laughing. The tension seemed to thin out bit.
The room was silent and I could tell no one else knew what to say. All I could think about was what I had wanted to talk about and not having my chance anymore. After a moment I had wondered what I was going to do tomorrow and then I thought of a way to break the silence.
"Can I come back tomorrow?" I asked Jacob.
"Of course you can," he said.
"Ok. Then I guess I really should get home now," I said, not moving.
I was hoping Charlie would be satisfied and he was. I could see him nod his head once and he turned to leave the room, Billy following. I was also pretty sure he would be waiting for me outside to make sure I wouldn't take my time leaving.
I stayed next to Jacob for a few quiet minutes, stalling and I think he was too. He leaned a bit closer to me, lips about an inch from my ear.
"I don't want you to leave either," he whispered.
I could feel tiny tingles of joy spread through my body as he said that. Though I was sure I knew he didn't want me to leave, it was nice hearing it. I needed a little reassurance from someone that I was doing the right thing and I had only hoped he wouldn't have changed his mind, and tell me it was too late for us.
I turned to him and kissed him softly on the cheek, resting my forehead against his, still not wanting to move. He sighed and reached up to lightly touch my cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb.
"I love you Bella," he whispered.
I turned to look right into his eyes. "I love you too, Jacob." It felt amazing to finally be able to say that out loud again, knowing this time he really heard me.
As I turned to get out of bed, slowly so I wouldn't make it move him too much, I felt like I had almost floated up. I had never quite felt that happy before. I was surprised at that. I had thought Edward had made me happy, but nothing compared to the feelign I got from Jacob. Of course, that added to the confusing mess, so I pushed that aside with the rest for later.
After I got up and stretched, I walked over to the door and I felt like I was actually forcing myself to leave. Something so simple I had never imagined would be so hard, especially since I would be back tomorrow. I stopped once I got to the doorway and turned to smile at Jacob, who was still watching me. He smiled his beautiful smile back and in that moment, ignoring the bad, everything felt right with the world.
Sure enough when I got out to my truck, Charlie was leaning against the police cruiser with his arms folded over his chest, waiting. I laughed at the sight of it. I waved to him so he could see I was out of the house and I got inside my truck. As I closed the door I thought about how Charlie really was a great dad and I sometimes wished I told him more often, but I knew that he hated that mushy stuff.
I drove home thinking about how my life had turned out. I wondered for a second what my life would be like if I had never decided to move to Forks. Sure I wouldn't be constantly worried about staying alive, or wondering who next wanted me dead. In Phoenix, my only worry was running down the stairs too fast and falling down, but here death seemed to be waiting around every corner I turned. Victoria may have be dead then, but I still had others who would be after me. I stopped that thought before it actually started.
Thinking about all that, I somehow knew that there were only more problems to come. I could feel them sneaking up slowly and it would only be a matter of time before some other life or death situation came out to mess things up again. I had no idea what it might be, but that's how things like that happened. It's always unexpected and at the worst timing.
It was a clear night, no clouds for once. I looked up at the sky for a second; I knew that road so well I didn't have to watch it so carefully. Every star was shining bright and I was thankful more than ever to be alive. I knew that in the next few days I had to deal with things I really didn't want to, but with knowing it was what I truly wanted, I knew it would all work out. I had no idea how it would, but it would. I had no idea how I seemed to have no real choice in the matter and I had hardly any time to think it through, but even with that I was happy with the choice that was made. And that was enough to accept it all... For now.
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