Romeo & Juliet [Part 12]
Pairing: Jacob Black x OC!Swan
Word Count: 2176
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 13
Death was a painful reminder of how fragile human life can be. It lingers like an afterthought and sneaks to the foreground when least expected. She used to believe there were two human experiences that every person must encounter in their lives: their birth and their death. It was two experiences that tied people together. The birth, solidifying the sacred bond between mother and child, and death, the culmination of memories sharpening from the living.
But death didn't strike everyone the same. Some would find themselves back into the Earth, whether it was in a casket or ashes, while others were damned to roam for eternity in a pointless existence.
Harry Clearwater was the former. He was born a human and died human. He was a father, a husband, a friend, and a pillar to his community. His death left ripples in the lives of those around him and Sloan could only perceive the aftermath.
Her father was never good with grief. The death of a life-long friend only pulled him further into the unspoken sorrow that had encompassed his life. She knew her father had suffered hardships in his life, he had the tendency to bottle it up from the people closest to him, to bestow a facade for all to see, and right now Sloan could see he desperately needed comfort.
At the moment, he was not just the sheriff of a small town, he was a man who had lost a friend. A man who stood by the recent widow and her children as they too grieve for a husband and father. A man who only had his two daughters to turn to and was disappointed to find one missing.
Bella had left a simple note behind. There was no explanation on where she'd wandered off to or when she was coming back. She simply wrote Edward, the boy who had abandoned her in the woods, was in danger. He writing sloppy as if she wrote it in a hurry.
Her father stayed scanning the note as if he'd missed something. A clue of where she had gone. The kind of danger she was delving into, but it wouldn't. It couldn't even if it was sentient. There was nothing more written on the flimsy page.
Sloan gently placed her hand on his shoulder, his muscles stiff, "Dad, let's get to bed." The two had recently arrived home after a strenuous time sorting out details for Harry's funeral. They were drained and were hoping to get some sleep, but the note had captured his attention.
"But, Bella..." He tried to argue, but his voice was hoarse.
"Is already gone." She wished Bella had chosen a different date. A day where Harry Clearwater wasn't dead. A day where their father was burdened with dead hitchhikers, or the growing number of missing persons reports in Seattle. It wasn't a good time, but with Bella it never was. "She's eighteen and she left willingly. We can't force her to come back."
It was a bitter truth that rang too true. Bella was an adult now in the eyes of the law and legally, they could not force her to come back home. They were limited on how to navigate the situation.
"Okay." His voice was beaten. The world had not been kind. He slowly rose from the kitchen chair and made his way up the stairs. He stopped at the very end of the stairway, "Get some sleep, okay?"
Sloan watched as his figure disappeared up the stairs before picking up the note to scan it herself. The sheet was from the notepad she had bought at the nearby bookshop. Small leaf designs were ingrained as a border.
The words 'Edward's in trouble. Going with Alice' was scribbled heavy-highhandedly in pen. There was only one Alice Bella knew. Alice Cullen. Why would she return? Did that mean they were all going to come back?
The Cullens attracted trouble. That much Sloan could tell simply by existing around their orbit; not like Bella who'd continuously found herself in their circle. Sloan had the sense to stay away even when she was oblivious. Her instincts ensured she kept her distance from the weird family. Even disregarding attempts made from Alice herself.
But Bella was enthralled by them and in turn, they were too, in their own twisted way. Bella was ensnared in whatever trap they'd laid and the fawn had fallen in a false sense of security mindlessly waiting for the imminent slaughter to come. Was Bella's blood like a drug to them? Was her blood so enticing that they could not allow for her to stray too far from their path.
She knew there were only a few ways this could end. Bella's odds for survival were slim at best. Death seemed inevitable, like it always had, but this strain of death felt obscure. It wasn't quiet nor peaceful. It was agonizing. It was the sort of death Sloan hoped her father would never have to witness. A death shrouded in mystery with unfathomable cause.
At a certain point, Sloan would have to come to terms that Bella might already be dead. Whatever sort of trouble Edward must’ve found himself in could’ve been too much for a mere human. Her clumsy twin sister. And then what? Their father would drown in work, never able to look at her face because it was too similar to Bella’s, while their mother would pretend she only had one daughter. And she too would suffer a tantalizing fate; forced to know a vague truth and withhold from it all she loves.
How could she break the news to the wolves? To Jacob? She had seen the burden they carry close to their hearts, the Cullens would only increase the workload of the mess they’d left behind. The boys were already suffering enough. Why couldn’t the Cullens see that? Why couldn’t they stay away for the rest of their miserable lives? All she knew was that it was a problem for the morning. Right now, she could barely keep her eyes open. She let the note fall back into the table before climbing up the stairs.
The next morning was filled with tense silence. Her father and Sloan found themselves once again seated at the kitchen table contemplating on what to do about the Bella situation. Her father was still dumbfounded that Bella didn’t even have the audacity to call him before she left. He never asked for much, but Bella seemed to somehow tear clear boundaries.
“I’m going to send her back to Jacksonville.” Sloan had never heard her father use that tone before, but even she could tell it was absolute. Bella had crossed too many unambiguous lines and her father was tired. There was too much going on that needed his attention. He’d hoped Bella was more responsible than what she’d displayed over the past 24 hours.
“Okay.” There was nothing more she could say and she definitely would not go to bat for her sister. This was a ditch she dug herself in and she alone would have to crawl out of it. Sloan would not pretend what Bella did was rational. Nothing she had been doing was sensible and although she's heard the saying that ‘Love makes you do crazy things’ this simply wasn’t a situation that fell into that category.
Her father’s face was contorted, “I’ll call your mother and let her know my decision. Hopefully, she can clear out a room for your sister.” There was a silent question behind his words. Would you go too?
It was like he was waiting for her to deliver the final blow. Her mother, more than a decade ago, broke his spirit as she craved to escape the confines of a small town and not even a few months ago, Bella had used the same jarring words their mother once uttered to him. To him, it must’ve been history repeating itself with each blow hampering his self-worth.
She didn’t want to go back to Renee. There was nothing left for her there. Forks, despite being the small town her mother desperately needed to escape from, had wormed its way into her heart. It was no longer a foreign place that was once a memory, but had slowly become her home. “I would like to stay. If you’ll let me.” Sloan didn’t want to overstay her welcome nor did she blame her father if he wanted her gone too. She would go without complaints if he wished to send her back.
His eyes were slightly glassy as a smile arose that could be seen as optimistic, “‘Course you can.”
She returned the smile briefly. She was not about to leave her grieving father to an empty house. What kind of daughter would she be if she did? “I’ll go call your mother. Get things ready for when your sister returns.” Bella wouldn’t have a choice. Not this time. She couldn’t slip away from this one. The consequences were slowly catching up to her and her future was shifting.
The call was anything, but brief. She’d caught snippets of her father arguing his perspective and her mother angrily yelling about responsibility and family. Sloan had no doubt that her mother was trying to spin the blame on her father, but he wasn’t responsible for the actions of an eighteen-year-old adult. Bella had left on her own free will. No one forced her to follow Alice to a void of vampirism. That was solely on Bella. She wished her mother could see that. It wasn’t the first time they had called Renee about Bella’s behavior, but she chose to be ignorant of Bella’s recent change in behavior.
“Dad!” Sloan had successfully caught his attention away from the berating session her mother was forcing upon him. “Let me talk to her.” She had more recent experience in handling Renee.
‘Are you sure?’ He mouthed.
She nodded before he reluctantly handed over the phone.
“Mom.” Sloan said, garnering the attention of her mother, stopping her from continuing at her shriek fest.
“Can you believe him?” Her pitch toned down just a bit before the frustration began to take over once again. “How he wants to get rid of Bella. Just like that. No warning. No nothing. Offering nothing in return. He’s unbelievable.
“Mom, it’s not out of nowhere.” Sloan mentioned, “Ever since the breakup between her and Edward, she’s been acting insane. Dad has offered to get her help. She just refused at every turn. Dad told you this.” When she wouldn’t leave me alone. But she held her tongue as including such details would not help in getting through to her mother. Her mother responded well to a gentle hand to help guide her to the truth; to let her think she’d come to her own conclusions. It was one of the only ways to handle her mother.
“Why hadn’t anyone called me if it was getting worse?” Her mother simply didn’t understand that she barely listens to the words her father utters. When Sloan was a little girl, she learned early on that her mother likes to ignore her problems until they become unavoidable, and then complains when it has become too much for her mental health. Sloan had done this song and dance countless times. It was easier just to pretend and follow along. “We didn’t want to worry you. We thought she was getting better until now.”
Her mother hummed as if she was thinking of something. “Fine.” Renee relented, “She’ll come back to Jacksonville. I think she’ll appreciate the weather more. Forks is so dreary. Are you coming back as well? I can have Phil move the yoga studio to the garage.”
“I’m going to stay here.” She said, “I like Forks and Dad doesn’t mind that if I stay.”
Her mother paused for a moment, “Don’t know why dear. It’s awfully dreadful there, but if that’s what you want.”
Sloan was confident she would not regret her decision. She had a lot going on here and she would not uproot the life she had carved for herself. “It is.”
“Tell your father to call me when Bella comes home and we can go over the specifics later.” Her mother said.
She muttered a quiet, “Okay.”
“I’ll call you soon.” She wouldn’t, often forgetting to call when life was sweet, but Sloan wasn’t going to argue technicalities. She had done what she intended to do and her mother was happy at the moment. “Goodbye.”
Sloan didn’t get the chance to mutter a similar goodbye before she heard her mother hang up. She stayed by the phone, hearing the static for a beat or two longer, before returning the phone back to its intended space. She turned to her father, who watched her silently, and let out a small, “Bella’s going to Jacksonville.” There was a relief that washed over the two of them like a storm cloud had dispersed the second the words left her mouth.
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