Act II
Chapter 20 ━━ Giant Bears & Kisses

━━━━━━━━☆★☆━━━━━━━━

Shelley watches Charlie and Harry check their fishing gear outside from the window. 

Bella who is on the phone, leaving another message for the millionth time, her desperation has reached its peak. "Jacob. Please. Call me."

Jacob has blocked Bella after that incident of me missing in the woods and according to Charlie, he's under the flu. Bella hangs up, leans her forehead against the phone. 

Shelley puts a hand on her shoulder. "It's mono, Bells."

"He's too sick to even call?" The brunette complains.

"You just gotta wait it out." The blonde assures her sister and takes a seat on the couch.

Charlie enters the living room. "Harry and I will be back by three." He announces to Bella, not expecting the blonde. Anxiety covers his face as he notices his younger daughter. "You okay, Shells?"

"Yeah." 

"You know, I don't have to go fishing…" Charlie trails off, worrying lingering in his voice.

Forcing a smile, she speaks. "No, go. I'll call Jess or someone. Beside Bella's here."

"Good. But stay here or at Jess's. No hikes or anything. We're issuing a warning about those bears." Charlie warns. 

"Okay, dad." Shelley nods.

But that doesn't satisfy him. So he turns to his elder daughter. "Bells, keep your eyes on your sister."

"Sure, Charlie." Bella laughs.

"Dad, I'm not a kid!" 

"That… I know. And also I know that Bella is responsible and you're reckless. And I think about your safety. No more arguments. I'm leaving." He says and leaves.

"So… I'm reckless now?" Shelley huffs, considering the fact that Bella dated a vampire and tried to drive those dead-looking motorcycles.

"Yes, you're." Bella laughs.

Later, Shelley pulls Bella's truck in the garage and stops the engine. Visiting Jessica's home is fun but it is kind of annoying how Jessica tries to dig into more about Esdras and her friendship, questioning how it is impossible for her to see them as friends.

The blonde opens the front door with her extra key and walks into the kitchen for a glass of water to notice a note from Bella. She has gone for a walk.

The front door and she hears Charlie's voice. 

"Kids, I'm home!" 

Shelley walks to the living room to see Charlie and Harry Clearwater washing their fishing gear. 

"Well, hello, Oldman." She greets Charlie and turns to Harry giving him a smile, which he returns.

"You went to visit your friend?" Charlie asks.

"Yeah. It's fun." She replies, leaning against the door frame.

"That's good news." He looks at her. "Where's Bells?"

"She has gone for a walk." She says, showing him the note.

Suddenly, the front door opens again and Bella jumps in through it. Burst in, out of breath. 

Charlie spins. "Bella? What's wrong?"

"They're not giant bears. I saw them. Up in a meadow." The brunette spills, still out of breath.

"Damn it, I told Shell not to go into the woods and this time you went?!" Charlie scolds.

"What did you see, Bella?" Harry questions.

"Wolves. They're wolves." 

Shelley raises an eyebrow as Harry sighs ever so slightly at Bella's answer.

"Five of them. The size of cars. I swear. They went after something and I ran." Bella adds.

Charlie grabs up the phone; as he dials. "Harry, can you get some men from the rez?"

"Sure. Yeah. I'll just-" Harry seems more concerned than gung-ho as he slips out. 

"Jerry? Put a hunting party together. Tranq guns, large large-calibre guns. There's something dangerous out there." Charlie speaks into the phone.

Shelley drags her sister out of their sight and whispers to her. "What is it?"

"It's Victoria." Bella whispers back. "She's after revenge. Me."

Victoria is a vampire and the mate of James, who ended Bella in the hospital with a vampire bite on her wrist last time. If it wasn't for Cullens, she could have died that day. 

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." Bella shrugs cluelessly. "But if she came after me, Charlie would try to protect me and he'd die."

"I'll call Esdras." She says taking her phone out.

Bella stops her sister, shakes her head in disapproval. "They're after Edward. They're trying to track him down. It is selfish to ask for help right now."

Shelley's eyes darted around the house, vulnerability spinning in on her. "I can't let her kill you either!"

As Charlie hangs up, goes to his gun cabinet. "I've gotta go to the station." 

"Good! That's good." The blonde states.

He looks at the twins with suspicion. "You two okay here? You want to come with?" 

"Actually, we need to see a friend." Bella says.

Bella wasn't lying to Charlie about seeing a friend. And that friend happens to be Jacob. And she needed to take the blonde with her. 

We're currently in front of the Blacks' residence. Bella knocks. Then knocks again. Finally, Billy answers. 

"Hi, Billy. I know Jacob's sick but-" Bella starts.

Billy cuts her off. "He's out with friends." 

Taken aback at his words, the brunette says. "Oh."

"I'll let him know you two came by." Billy starts to close the door, but Bella stops him. 

"Wait. He's got mono, right? That's what you told my dad." 

"You two should go home." Billy speaks with compassion and closes the door. 

The twins walk to the truck. Bella climbs in after the blonde, slams the door, pissed. Start the truck. Then turn it off. Deciding, Bella tosses the keys aside and sinks into her seat to wait.

"What are you doing?" Shelley asks her sister, even though she already knows her reason.

"Waiting."

Rain pours down and Shelley looks out the passenger window to notice Billy looking at Bella with sympathy. Then closes the curtain. 

Suddenly, there's a knock at the driver's window. They spin to find Jacob standing there. But his face is shockingly different. His hair is cropped short. No friendly smile. No warmth in his eyes. Just a hard, brooding resentment. The blood quickly looks away before his eyes set on her. She doesn't want to deal with him. Not again.

Bella is taken aback. She climbs out of the truck to find behind Jacob stand Sam Uley, Jared, Paul and Embry. They're oblivious to the rain, and wear minimal clothes. 

"You cut your hair."

"Go away." Jacob turns away and Sam leads the group toward the house. Jacob follows. 

Shelley notes his sure-footed strides. His awkward growth spurt disappeared overnight. So as Bella, who grabs his arm. 

"What happened to you?"

He stops, turns back. The others wait on the porch for him. They're out of earshot, but won't leave him alone with her. 

Bella lowers her voice. But the blonde still can hear her. "I can help. We can help." 

His face is hard as he shakes his head. He's not talking. 

"Sam got to you. What did he do?" Bella asks.

"Sam's trying to help me, don't blame him." He responds.

"Then who?"

Jacob talks bitterly, seething his voice. "How 'bout those filthy, reeking bloodsuckers you love? The Cullens."

Thrown at his words, Bella speaks. "I... don't know what you're-"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

He's shaking, almost convulsing with anger. Weird.

The elder twin regroups. "The Cullens are long gone. How are they to blame?"

"They started all this by existing. Goddamn leeches." He spits.

"Jacob." Sam calls him out.

Jacob glances at Sam, who gives him a look. Jacob takes a breath, trying to calm himself. "I can't be friends with you anymore."

"Jake, I know I hurt you. I should have been more up-front but I needed you, I still do. I don't know what that means yet, but if you give me time-"

"Stop. Don't. It's not you." He says.

"It's not you, it's me?" Bella mocks him. "God."

"It's true. I'm not… good." He says. 

"You're wrong." 

"It doesn't matter. This is over." 

"I can't take losing my best friend, too."

"You already have."

"Don't say that. You promised…" She trails off.

"Go home, Bella. Don't come back." He repeats and turns to join his new gang.

Bella slowly makes her way to the truck and gets in. She almost burst into tears and that's the point the blonde lost it. 

Shelley slams open the truck door and jogs towards Jacob with her maximum speed. She grabs his arm and forces him to turn to her, which he does. But then she shoves him, hard with all her anger, keeping direct eye contact. "Who the fuck are you thinking you are?! I let you break my heart. But I'm not letting you break Bella's heart too!"

He looks frozen with different emotions swirling on his face. Hard to read.

"Are you even listening to me-!" The blonde screams with all the strength she can muster. She suddenly stops as his mouth covers hers, the moment she dreamed of for so long. His warm lips are gentle but firm. 

A wave of warmth fills Shelley up, spilling out from her heart and the warmth of his lips on hers and rushing to every corner of her body, the cracks in between her toes, the crooks of her elbows, the tips of her ears. Every inch of her is saturated with love along with the fireworks and sparks. She kisses him back with the heat engulfing her body even though they're totally exposed to the rain. He places his hand on her waist and draws her closer, deepening the kiss. She's so lost and in love with this moment. But then, something clicks in her mind. Why is she letting him use her like this?

Shelley grimaces and shivers with anger as well as fear. Placing her both hands on his chest, she pushes him away from her, breaking the kiss. "What the fuck?!"

"Shelley." He breathes out, lovingly. 

"No, I don't wanna hear anything from you!" She interrupts him. "Ezra's right. You're a ridiculous scumbag!"

The blonde runs this time to make sure he won't stop her. What the hell is he even thinking? She gets into the truck, when Bella looks at her with a shocked expression. 

"So… he's the guy." 

"Drive!" The blonde demands her sister as she notices Jacob, still standing in the rain… watching.