A Little Thing Called Destiny - Chapter Seven
Title: A Little Thing Called Destiny - Chapter Seven
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Summary: "So, now that we've bumped into each other a total of two times in less than half an hour, what do you say we introduce ourselves? I'm Jacob." The tale of two people brought together by fate. Pure fluff. AH. AU (Click to start from beginning.)
They end up at the beach.
"So this is where it all started, huh?" Bella says, taking in her surroundings.
Jacob shrugs. "I guess so." He leads Bella to a driftwood tree nearby and sits on one of its roots. Bella sits closer to the ground and begins playing with the pebbles around them. Jacob calls her name with frustration evident in his voice and when she looks up she can see a crease in his brow.
Before he can say anything, Bella apologizes. "Jacob, I'm so sorry about what happened earlier."
Jacob's laugh is mirthless. "You mean when I told you I was falling in love with you and you ran out on me? Don't think anything of it."
"Jake, don't be like this."
"No, Bella, I will be like this. I deserve an explanation and until that happens, don't expect me to be so receptive of your apologies." He takes a hold of her hand. "Look, Beautiful, I know you have secrets and a past, but you also have me. I'm willing to listen to whatever it is and try my best to help you get over it, but I can't do that if you don't open up to me."
Bella sighs. She knows he's right. She knows that her fear of Jacob doing the same thing as Edward is unjustified, but she can't help but feel reserved about her past. Aside from Edward, Jacob is her most serious relationship. She's just afraid to mess things up. "You're right," she finally says.
"I'm all ears, Beautiful."
"I was engaged once," she says. This isn't how Bella had planned to reveal this to Jacob. It just slipped out, but now that its out in the open Bella thinks it's as good a starting point as any.
She looks up to gauge Jacob's feelings but is only met with a supportive smile that instructs her to continue.
"I met Edward my freshman year at Dartmouth."
Bella walks into the on-campus bookstore. The semester starts in two days and she just needs one last book to be fully prepared for it. She finds the customer help line and has a five minute wait until she is one person away from getting her book. The boy in front of her asks the clerk for "Ethics of Deconstruction" and she guesses he may be in her section this semester. He pays for his book and leaves.
"Hi," Bella says. "Can I please get the same book?"
The woman looks at her sadly. "Oh, I'm so sorry. We've just sold out. This class seems to be pretty popular." She laughs to ease some of the tension.
"Do you know when you'll get another shipment?"
"Next week, definitely."
Bella rubs her hand over her face. "Crap, I need it in two days."
"Well there's nothing I can do about it. Sorry."
Bella turns around to head out of the store empty handed when she feels a tap on her shoulder. She comes face to face with a boy about her age. He's a head taller than her with auburn hair, fair skin and a dazzling smile.
"Excuse me, miss. I couldn't help but overhear that you needed this book? I took the course last semester and I was just going to sell it back but, here, you can have it."
"Oh, no. Let me buy it from you, please."
"No way. I couldn't take your money. I insist."
"Okay, if you say so." Bella reluctantly takes the book from him and slips it into her purse. "You have no idea how much you've helped me out." She begins to walk toward the exit and he walks with her.
"It's no problem at all. I'm Edward Masen, by the way." He extends his hand and Bella takes it.
"Bella Swan. Nice to meet you."
They exit the bookstore and Bella begins walking toward the dorms. Edward tells her he's on the way to his dorm too. They get to the McLaughlin Cluster and Edward walks towards Goldstein Hall along with Bella. "You live in Goldstein?" she asks, surprised.
"Don't tell me you live here too!" He replies with a smile.
Bella laughs. "I do. Wow, what a coincidence."
They enter the building and Edward walks to a door on the first floor. "Must be fate," Edward says. He takes out a set of keys and unlocks his door. "See you around, Bella." He shoots her a smile and then he's inside. Bella's heart skips a beat.
On the second day of classes, she runs into Edward again in the cafeteria. She gets lost in his green eyes while he laughs about their meeting again in such a big school. She shrugs it off with a laugh, but he insists this is divine intervention's work at hand. "It's fate," he says. He asks her to join him for lunch and by the end of their meal, he's got her number.
"We started dating a week later. I thought he was perfect. He was so sweet and attentive. He was pre-med and even though that took up most of his time he always set some free time aside for me. He introduced me to his friends and family and always insisted I went on vacations with them. I fell in love with him so quickly. He was even my first." Bella sighs.
"He told me all the time that he loved me more than life itself. He always said how happy he was that fate brought us together. He'd always say 'It was my destiny to meet you, Bella.' He proposed to me the day before his graduation and we were together until the end of my senior year. We decided to hold the wedding off until after I graduated since it was so close.
"We were in the middle of moving into an off-campus apartment near school since he was going to the medical school within Dartmouth. The semester before graduation, Edward got a letter from Dr. Carlisle Cullen asking him to join him on a trip and study under him. Apparently Dr. Cullen was friends with the head of the medical department and Edward had gotten a wonderful referral. He wanted Edward to join him in Africa for six years. I thought maybe he'd ask me to come with him or something other than what he did do."
"How can you just leave me like this, Edward?"
"Bella, don't you understand the opportunity I'm being given here? Dr. Cullen is one of the most respected doctors out there and he wants me! I can't just throw a chance like this away."
Bella can feel the tears come. "But you can throw me away?"
"Look, Bella, this is my future we're talking about. I can't let you hold me back."
"I thought you loved me."
"I do, I just-"
"You said I was your destiny!"
"Well this is my destiny now. Goodbye, Bella." He places his keys on the desk, grabs his bags and then leaves her in their apartment - alone.
Bella is sobbing at this point. Jacob pulls her into his arms and rubs her hair and back soothingly. "I didn't even finish the semester. I got rid of the apartment and packed up all my things. I didn't even have a plan. I couldn't go to my mother because she was traveling with her new husband and couldn't offer any support. I finally decided to come here to Charlie. I got a one-way ticket to Seattle and planned to drive out to his house, but I didn't want my dad to see me for the first time in six years and have to tell him about my failed relationship and dropping out of college, so I stayed in a hotel for a week.
"I saw a personal ad in the newspaper for a roommate and that's how I met Jessica. She was nice enough and eventually we became really close. I ran into Angela a couple of months later in a Starbucks. Turns out she'd moved to Seattle with her boyfriend for his job. She'd exclaimed that it must've been in the cards for us to meet after such a long time and I almost had a breakdown right there in the coffee shop. She made me explain to her everything that had happened with Edward and she helped me get better."
"Oh, Bella. I'm so sorry he did that to you."
Bella sniffs. "I just don't understand how someone can claim you're meant to be together and then throw that all away."
"I know, Beautiful. But you have to understand that I'm not him. I won't hurt you like he did and you shouldn't be afraid of fate and destiny because of him. They are real things and I really do believe we were meant to be together. Hell, the proof is in my father's living room!" He laughs and coaxes Bella to smile. "All I'm saying is, don't let him ruin what we have."
Bella wipes her tears away with the sleeve of her shirt. She raises up on her knees to kiss Jacob. "You really are amazing," she says when she pulls away.
"So are you."
She and Jacob lean back and watch the waves as they lap at the sand. After some time, Bella turns to Jacob. "So what's your story?"
Jacob gives her a questioning look. "What do you mean?"
"Your story. You know, the reason you are the way you are."
"You mean charming, funny and all-around awesome?" He laughs but Bella can see something else behind his smile. He's hiding behind humor.
"My mom… she died when I was nine."
"Oh, Jacob! I'm so sorry." Bella recalls the pictures on the mantel and the beautiful woman whose face simply disappeared after a certain point in time.
"She and my father got into a car accident. He was paralyzed from the waist, down. She ended up in ICU with a concussion, broken ribs and so much else. She was alive for an hour after the accident. I was the last one to see her before she went. She told me before her last breath that she only regretted one thing in her life. She said she didn't have enough fun. She didn't cherish all the fun moment's in her life. She said that sure she had good times, but her down-right fun moments were few and far between. She made me promise her that I wouldn't be like that.
"So I did more fun things. I stayed home less and went out more. I had a blast all the time, but it wasn't enough to make me happy. I realized that although I had fun in the moment, I didn't have any way to remember it by. It was the same with my mother. I had so may great memories of her, but nothing tangible."
"So you took pictures."
Jacob nods. "So I took pictures. After my best friends and I graduated high school, we got our degrees in business online and decided to open a photography company. I just want to give other people something tangible to hold on to."
"That's beautiful, Jacob."
Jacob smiles and kisses her. "You're beautiful."
Bella blushes and looks away.
"Just so you know, Bella, when I said that I was falling in love with you, I meant it. I'm not expecting you to say it back but I want you to believe it. You believe that, right?"
Bella nods.
"Say it, Beautiful."
"I believe you."
"Good." He kisses her forehead and they lay back down.
"Jacob?"
"Hmm?"
"I fell off a swing during recess in the sixth grade. My skirt flew up and all the boys in my class saw my underwear."
Jacob smirks. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because that's my real most embarrassing moment. I lied on our first date, but now I just want you to know everything about me."'
Jacob takes Bella's hand and kisses her knuckles. "Thank you for telling me that."
Bella kisses his lips in return. "And just for the record, I'm falling in love with you too."
A/N: Just wanted to take some time to thank everyone who reads. Even if you don't always review, you're appreciated!