Taken
*This takes place at the beginning of Breaking Dawn during the wedding. All due respects go to the wonderful Stephanie Myers. All other characters and creative differences belong to me. Thank you for reading and don't forget to review!
Chapter One
A Dance Under A Cedar Tree
Despite my endless worries the night before, my wedding ceremony had gone off without a hitch – thanks to Alice's intricate planning. One thing Alice didn't plan and couldn't have foreseen was Jacob's surprise appearance. It was the one gift I hadn't registered for that I was secretly hoping to receive, and I did.
It felt like forever since I had seen my best friend last. Maybe it was the time that had passed or my tear clouded eyes playing tricks on me but he seemed so much bigger and taller than the last time I had seen him. I had to lean my head back way further than normal to look up into his dark eyes. They were hiding something. Some secret, some question he longed to ask. Maybe a confession he was dying to tell. I was afraid to bring my suspicions to light in fear of ruining this perfect moment.
In the shade of darkness under a huge cedar tree, Jacob's warm hands wrapped around my waist. We weren't really dancing, just moving in slow, off tempo circles. It was nice. Maybe even the last time I'd feel his warm arms around me, the last time he'd want me this close, the last time he'd ever want to see me again.
Jacob's lips parted slightly as if to speak but he quickly pursed them back together, thinking twice about whatever it was he wanted to say. Perhaps I was right about his eyes. They were holding something back.
"What is it?" I asked, giving him the opportunity he was clearly looking for.
"It's nothing Bella, don't worry about it." He lied horribly. His emotions that showed otherwise were pained across his perfect copper colored face.
"Come on Jake...You expect me to believe that? What is it? What's wrong?" I asked once more in a cautious and kind tone, not wanting to turn my curiosities into a fight.
We suddenly stopped our slow circles and Jacob lightly backed me up against the cedar we were under. Alice would not be happy about bark on my delicate white dress. He took both my hands in his and stared down at them.
"Jake?" I whispered, unsure of what he was feeling. He was so hard to read sometimes.
"Bella...I...I uh..." He struggled to get the words out.
"Spit it out Jake."
"I love you." He blurted. I wasn't expecting that. There was what felt like the longest pause of silence I've ever experienced in my life. Jake knew how I felt, we had been through this, I had explained. I didn't know how to make it any clearer. I loved him but I was in love with Edward. "Bella...Please, say something."
What was I suppose to say to someone who obviously didn't listen. I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn't force words to come out. I felt this rock in my throat and this nauseating pit in my stomach. "I'm Married Jacob." I said blankly, confused and clearly stating the obvious.
"But you're still human. You're still perfect. You still have a heart Bella. And I know...I know how it beats around me. I feel it." He said with conviction, bringing my hand to my chest and placing his over it. "And you feel it too Bella."
"Jacob..." I sighed, trying to pull my hand away. His warm iron grip was to strong.
"How long?" He demanded instead of asked.
"What?"
"How long!" His voice rose a little, showing more emotion than he had probably intended.
"How long what Jake?" I tried once more to budge my hand but he instinctively brought his other to stop it.
"Until this stops beating." He applied a little pressure to my heart and then let both his hands and mine drop. "Tonight?" He asked. "Are you going to... die tonight?" He swallowed hard on die. I could hear the anger leave his voice. It was taken over by defeat, or sadness. I couldn't tell.
"No Jake...not tonight." I shook my head turning away from him. He had a way of making me feel horribly guilty for wanting a life with Edward, a life with my husband, and everything that went with it.
"Then when?" He said a little more relaxed. Visibly happy he had more time. Time for what I wasn't sure. I wasn't going to be changed tonight, but I was leaving tonight.
"One or two weeks give or take maybe. I'm not quite sure."
"Not that I'm not glad you're waiting...but why?" He said slightly defensive.
"Well I just don't want to spend my honeymoon and first few weeks of marital bliss withering in pain is all. And I want to be able to have Edward while I still want him that way." I explained, letting my mind drift to the wonderful days to come. "I just want a normal honeymoon, and every intimate detail that goes with it."
"What? You can't be serious! You can't have a normal honeymoon Bella! This isn't even a normal marriage!" He steamed, grabbing a hold of my wrist again.
"Ow Jake...that hurts." I said above a whisper. He was shaking. I didn't want to upset him even more with him this close to me.
"Have you lost your mind? I know you have a death wish Bella but you can't be that stupid! Tell me you're joking!" His hands gripped tighter around my wrists. I could feel the blood flow to them restrict and the awful pins and needles feeling that followed.
"Jake..."
"You want to be intimate with someone? Be intimate with me. I won't hurt you. Being with me will be like breathing. It's natural. Having a normal honeymoon with a vampire isn't 'normal Bella!" He spat out. He realized his own anger building and took a few deep breaths in and out to calm himself. I took my chance to calm him myself.
"Jake, I'm sorry I said anything..." I paused to think what would be best to say. "I'm so glad you came Jacob..." I struggled to release my wrists again. He took note and let them go, only to have his grip move to my shoulders. His giant heated hands engulfed them, his fingers overlapping. "I love you too...You know I do...But you know how I feel about Edward. It's him, It's always been him. He is my husband... and you are my bestfriend. So please, be my bestfriend Jake and understand."
"I can't." He sighed, Letting me go. He turned his back to me but stayed close enough to keep me trapped against the tree. "I almost didn't come tonight. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to say goodbye to you once and for all...and it looks like I'm doing a terrible job."
"You don't have to say goodbye Jake..." I put a comforting hand on the backside of his still shaking shoulder. The last thing I needed was a werewolf tearing up my wedding reception with most of the town in attendance. "I'm right here, I'm here."
"Oh Bella!" Jacob gleamed. His face lit up at my misconstrued words. "I knew you wouldn't leave me!" He crushed his full wet lips against mine. This entire situation felt so familiar, but he had more force, more passion than any time before.
"Jake...No...that's...not what...I meant..." I managed to mutter between kisses. I felt light headed. I leaned back up against the tree for support. Jake took a countering step towards me and let some of his body weight fall into each kiss.
"Let me show you Bella. How easy it would be for me and you. How natural..." He kissed me once more. "...this would be if this was our honeymoon." Jake's advances roamed from my lips down my neck, from my neck to my chest. He kissed the exposed skin around my clavicle and back up to my lips just as I was about to object.
I brought my hands up to his chest and tried to push his six foot something form away from me. He was so big, so tall, so strong, so warm. I felt my way up from his chest to his back. Wrapping my what felt like tiny arms around his torso and tapped, then dug my perfectly manicured red nails into his skin knowing it wouldn't hurt him but hoping he would get the hint but much to my dismay, he took it as me wanting more.
He reached down and grabbed my thigh, bringing my leg up around his, holding it there in place. His hands ran up and under my dress, his fingers finding my garner and ripping it from my leg. His discarding of something I thought to be so silly earlier when Alice insisted on slipping it on suddenly felt like a slap in the face and a personal dig at Edward. Like Jake was taking something from me that was solely Edward's to take. Wherever Jacob was intending to take this make-out session, I was going to end it.
"Jake! Stop!" I demanded, breaking my lips from his.
"Too fast?" He asked panting, letting my leg drop with one last squeeze. "I'll slow down honey." He said running his hands through my up-do, shaking the pins out with his fingers.
"Jacob..." I began to cry, overwhelmed. I didn't know what to do.
He suddenly stopped kissing me when he felt my tears hit his lips. "Bella?" He looked down at me confused. "Are you alright?" His voice full of genuine concern.
"No!" I cried in a whisper. I knew he would hear it.
"What's wrong honey? Did I hurt you? What did I do?" He took a step back, protecting me from the uncertainty of his own actions.
"Just go away..." I sank down the tree, feeling my dress rip as I slowly reached the ground. "Just go away..." I cried shaking my head, bringing my knees to my chest and burying my head in them.
"Bella I'm...I'm so...I'm..." I heard him stutter before a moment of silence. He dropped something at my feet and took off in the woods. I didn't bother to look up to make sure he was gone. I didn't care. I was too hurt that he would do something like this again. Not long after I had heard him leave I heard someone else approach.
"Bella? Bella!"