Once Upon a Moon
By bloodofbeckie
After the battle with Victoria and the newborns, Bella discovers that she is with the wrong monster after all.
Bella/Jacob. Rated for language coming out of a teenage boy, and for later chapters.
This is my first time writing a fan-fiction. Please be kind.
There is dialogue from Eclipse in this chapter. This dialogue can be found in Chapters 25-26 on pages 556-599 in Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. I had to use this dialogue to tie my story in with SM's characters.
Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight, I do not, because she is wicked awesome, and I am not.
Chapter 1: Bella
*Then Edward took a deep breath, and turned slowly to face me.*
Who was this man in front of me? I recognized his face, his hair, his eyes, his hands...but I didn't recognize what he could become. I had just watched him easily dismember another being. Granted, she was evil and she wanted me dead, but still. How could I not have seen how dangerous he truly was to me? He started talking to me, but I lost everything he said as he started walking towards me. My breath started huffing out in short gasps.
"…drop the rock please? Carefully. Don't hurt yourself." Don't hurt myself? I was ready to use it as a weapon against him, until I realized that a small piece of boulder wouldn't hurt him. He hesitated, and I dropped the rock, still maintaining my defensive position. "…I won't hurt you," he said, not even breathing, I'm sure, not to scare me with any movements, but this lack of movement petrified me even more. He kept saying he wouldn't hurt me. How could he not hurt me? He just tore Victoria apart. If he could tear apart her marble-like body, what could he do to me?
How had I not seen that he really was the monster he said he was?
I swiftly assessed my situation. Seth was still behind Edward, watching the two of us. Seth wouldn't let Edward hurt me.
"Are you…aren't you afraid of me?" I wanted to scream yes, but I couldn't speak. Every part of me was frozen in sheer fright. This is why everyone else stayed away from the Cullens. As I looked into his eyes, I saw not the love that I had been seeing all this time, but finally seeing the monster that was there, hidden for so long in their golden depths. He wasn't normal, he wasn't right or natural, like me. Like Jacob. Jacob…
"The others? Alice, Esme? The wolves?" I struggled to find my voice, concerned for the ones that I loved. It didn't sound like me, all scratchy and unused.
"All fine." he said, taking another step toward me. I cowered. His face registered shock. "You're afraid of me?" I nodded, my voice had disappeared again. "Oh, Bella." He sighed unhappily before his face suddenly whipped over to meet Seth's.
"What's she doing?" Edward asked. I felt put out, thinking he was talking about me. Seth whined, and suddenly the world stood still when a howl reverberated from Seth's chest, filling the air with its sound. Something was wrong, very wrong. Edward had dropped to his knees.
"Edward! Edward!" his eyes focused on me.
"We're fine. We're going to be okay. Sam---help him---" I realized that we weren't in danger of being attacked. But if Seth was howling like that…something was wrong with the pack. This thought made me ill, and I sagged toward the ground. Edward caught me before I could hit the rocks, but I couldn't fight him off, no matter how petrified of him I was. "Edward, what happened? What happened to Sam? Where are we going?"
"We have to go back to the clearing. The Volturi decided it was time to intercede." I couldn't make sense of the words. "Don't panic. They aren't coming for us. It's the guard that normally cleans up this mess. I'll know more when we get to the clearing."
"Is that why we're going back?" I was terrified at the thought of the guards in their black robes. A strange sound came out of my throat.
"What happened? When Seth was howling?" He hesitated at my question, then proceeded to tell me that Leah had engaged in a fight with a remaining newborn. I felt relief coarse through me, knowing it wasn't my Jacob who was hurt. Wait. Edward had said help HIM, not her.
"Edward, someone got hurt." I said this, not as a question, but as a statement. He sighed.
"Yes."
"Who?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"Jacob."
I thought that I mumbled something, then everything went black.
Once I awoke, Jacob's name was the first thing out of my lips. As I opened my eyes, I found Carlisle's reassuring face close to mine, next to Edward's stone face.
"Jacob is healing, Bella. He'll be fine."
"Jacob is okay?" I asked, looking to Carlisle.
"I examined him myself. His injuries were bad enough that it will still be a few days before he's back to normal, even if his wounds heal as quickly as they have been. Sam is trying to get him to phase back to his human form. That will make treating him easier. I didn't go to veterinary school," he said with a slight smile.
"What happened to him?" I asked, breathlessly, trying to sit myself up but failing miserably and resting myself on my elbows.
"He was helping Leah. He pushed her out of the way but didn't have time to defend himself. The newborn got his arms around him. Most of the bones in his right half were shattered." Horrified, I stared up at him. "Sam and Paul got to him in time. He was already healing when they took him back to La Push."
"Three minutes," Alice said quietly. What? Oh yeah, the Volturi were coming. Standing up, I stepped back from Edward, who looked at me with confusion in his eyes. I didn't meet his glance. We waited for the Volturi guards to come. I was afraid of them, but I was more afraid for Jacob. What had I done? It was because of me that he was in all of this to begin with. Jane and Felix, along with two other shrouded figures walked into the clearing. I half-listened to the story of what happened, but my mind kept going to Jake. I needed to see him. Things were rolling around in my mind, plans, thoughts…hopes. Alice kept glancing over at me.
"Caius will be so interested to hear that you're still human, Bella. Perhaps he'll decide to visit." Jane said sweetly, with menacing undertones. This started the thudding in my heart. I hadn't thought about that.
"The date is set. Perhaps we'll come visit you in a few months," Alice said, glancing over at me.
"It was nice to meet you, Carlisle. Until we meet again…" Jane nodded us off, then the four of them disappeared into the thick mist.
"Well, now that's over, I need to head to La Push and check over Jacob's injuries," Carlisle said. "The rest of you, why don't you head on home?" Everyone nodded.
"Bella?" Edward asked, indicating it was time to go.
"Edward, why don't you go ahead? I'll go with Bella to her house, get her changed and showered." Alice said, stepping up to me.
"Is that okay with you , Bella?" Edward asked me, his eyes wary.
"That'd be great. Yeah. I'll catch up with you later."
"Very well," he said, handing Alice the keys to the Volvo. "Keep her safe." He stepped up to me and kissed my forehead. I felt nothing, no surge of desire, no wanting of more when his cool lips touched my warm skin. He looked at me again, as if was trying to read my mind again even though he knew he couldn't. I had never been so relieved for that quirk until now. He rose his hand in a wave then followed the rest of his family out of the clearing.
"You'd better get on my back. I'll run us to the Volvo, that way it won't take us forever to get down there." I looked at her skeptically. She was a couple of inchese shorter than me and fall thinner. I was afraid I would break her.
"You can carry me?" She laughed.
"Of course I can. Get on." I scampered up her back, and wrapped my arms around her neck. She started running, and within five minutes we were at the car. She set me down, and unlocked the car. I sat on the cool leather while she started up the car.
"Bella, I don't know what you're thinking, but all I know is that your future has disappeared. What's going on?" She asked, pulling onto the road and heading back into Forks.
"I don't really know. It's just…after seeing Edward fighting Victoria…I'm scared."
"Scared of what? There's nothing to be afraid of any more."
"Scared of him."
"You're scared of…Edward?" I sighed.
"Very."
"Well, you'll be changed in just a couple of months. You won't have anything to be afraid of anything anymore." I watched the speedometer hold at sixty while she navigated the twists and turns of the highway expertly, with hardly a glance to the road.
"No."
"No, what?"
"No, I won't be changed."
"Bella, you're not making any sense. You have to be changed."
"No. No I don't."
"The Volturi…" she started, slowing down as we approached town.
"I can't be with Edward anymore. The whole tearing the head off a vampire thing just scared the crap out of me. What if he holds me too tightly? What if his emotions get the best of him and he decides that a nip of my neck is necessary? Alice, I'm scared."
"Okay, but why can't I see your future anymore?"
"Because I'm going to tell Jake that I am in love with him too."
"What? Bella!" We pulled up to my house. My truck was still the only vehicle in the driveway, so Charlie must still be with Billy. I was anxious to get to La Push as well. I got out of the car, and Alice quickly followed me.
"Alice, I've made my decision."
"I thought you loved Edward," she said, accusingly.
"I do!"
"Then why are you going to leave him?"
"Because he's not the right person for me. Alice, look at him. Look at him. He's a vampire. I'm a human. He's perfect, I'm…flawed."
"But he loves you. He needs you."
"Alice, Edward needs someone to protect. Remember that time when he was younger, when he would kill people who hurt other people? What has he been doing all this time? He's been protecting me. He's bossed me around, made me think that my decisions aren't enough. He acts more like my father than my boyfriend, restricting where I can be, having you watch me when he goes out of town. I can't do that any more. I want a boyfriend. An equal."
Walking up the stairs to my bedroom, I grabbed my toiletry case and fresh clothes, then closed the door in Alice's perfect face. In the shower, I washed my hair and body, getting the grime and stress from the day off me. When I shut off the water, a pale hand shot out with my towel. I dried my body off and stepped out of the tub. Alice was perched on the counter.
"I went in your room and got you better clothes. If you're going to tell Jacob how you feel, you need to look good doing it. No sweats." I sighed, and put on the clean jeans and button up blouse she handed me. She grabbed my hairbrush and started brushing my hair.
"Are you sure about this, Bella?"
"Nope." I said, popping the P. She peeked at our reflections in the mirror.
"This is going to break Edward's heart." Of this, she could be sure.
"I know," I said. "There's no way I can avoid it." She heaved a great sigh and plugged in my hair dryer. After doing my hair and touching my up with some make-up, she stood in front of me, looking me over.
"I know you're doing what is best for yourself. I hate that this is what you have decided, but I want you to know that no matter what, you'll still be my sister, and my best friend." She wrapped her thin arms around me. I hugged her, feeling tears in my eyes.
"You won't tell him, before I can, will you?" I asked, hoping that Alice could keep my secret.
"Of course not. He'll be here when you get back though, I can assure you that. He'll want to see you. He loves you."
I know," I said, feeling resigned. She kissed my cheek, and we walked downstairs and out the door. I waved her off as I drove toward the reservation in the direction of the Black house. As I pulled into their driveway, I noticed the quiet peacefulness. There weren't any screams. Perhaps this was a good sign. I turned off the ignition and walked up to the door.
"Come on in, Bella," Billy said. The roar of my truck was easy to recognize. I let myself in like he had stated.
"Hey, Billy. Is he awake?" I asked.
"He woke up a couple of minutes ago. Go on in. I think he's waiting for you." I took a deep breath.
"Thanks." I walked to the door to his room, and took a deep, shuddering breath. I was nervous. What if he had changed his mind? What if he didn't want me anymore, now that he had seen what it would be like to be with me? I opened the door a little, and peeked in. He was waiting for me. I sighed, and stepped in. As I looked into his eyes, there was nothing there. I looked over his body, fortunately someone had covered him with a blanket, so I couldn't see the worst of his injuries. I turned, and shut the door behind me.
"Hi, Jake," I murmured. He searched my face, found something there, and made a disgusted sound.
"Before you talk, I just want to tell you something. I'm exactly right for you. It is effortless for us. Comfortable, easy as breathing. I am the natural path your life would take, if the world was the way it was supposed to be and there weren't any monsters. Bells, besides kissing you this morning, this has been the worst day. I picked the wrong place, missed the best fight, then I had to stick up for Leah when she decided to be an idiot. Now I'm all broken and it's going to take days to heal. Days, Bella! So why don't you just tell me what you have to tell me, and be done with it?"
"Jacob, what do you think I'm going to say?" I asked, curious. Couldn't he tell? I walked over to his bed, and knelt down beside him.
"What you always say. That I'm second best. That, yet again, you choose him."
"Jacob."
"Go on," he said, settling his features in the grimace that I hated.
"Jacob, I love you. This time, you're wrong. This time, and forever, I choose you." He looked into my eyes. Gingerly, I sat on the bed.
"What did you say?" he asked, sounding like he didn't believe me.
"I love you. I want to be with you. You are the one who I'm supposed to be with. You're my soul mate." Tenderly, I touched the side of his face. His mouth dropped open.
"Dr. Fang gave me too much morphine. I think I'm imagining things. Bells, are you for real?"
"Yes."
"What happened to you out there?" He asked, wonderingly.
"I realized that you're right, that Edward was right, that everyone but me was right. Edward is all kinds of wrong for me. He's not natural. He's terrifying. I can't be with him, because I'm just too nervous. Then there is you. And while you're not exactly natural either, I choose you. Jacob, the contrasts between you and Edward are insane. You're day and night. Fire and ice. Snow and desert. And I decided that I prefer the warmth," I simply said. His face was incredulous as he pulled me down to him on his good side, and hugged me tightly to him.
"I love you, Bells."
"I know. And I love you too." The tears started coming out of my eyes just as his lips finally touched mine.
A/N: Thoughts? Like it? Hate it?