COLD WATER

sixteen.            i got you

▬ "THE LAST TIME WE DID THIS, I almost died." Cori mumbled as she followed Bella through the undergrowth of the forest, her eyes on her feet as she stepped over tree roots and rocks.

"I told you you didn't have to come."

"Again, I'm not letting you trek into the woods alone, especially when this Victoria chick is out here and wants to kill you. I'm a good sister."

"And I'm not?" Bella asked, looking over her shoulder.

"That's not what I meant." She shook her head, making Bella chuckle a little.

"Just come on." Bella rolled her eyes, pushing a tree branch out of the way.

"So, why did we need to come all the way out here just for the view?" Cori asked, getting a little winded – that's why she gave up on hiking. "Are you gonna take pictures or something?"

"Uh, sure." Bella nodded, but Cori could tell something was off.

"Oh, God." She huffed as they broke through the trees near the cliff. "This isn't another one of those adrenaline junkie things that you do so you can see that psycho, is it?"

Bella was quiet for a moment and Cori sighed, running her hands over her braids. "I told you not to come."

"Jeez, Bella, do you have a death wish or something?" She huffed, putting herself between her sister and the edge. "This is crazy and potentially dangerous."

"You've done it."

"Yeah, from lower down and I had the guys with me and Dad knew where I was, so did Harry and Billy." She argued. "No one knows we're here, there's no one to help us if we get pulled under. You could hit the rocks, you could drown."

"I don't care." Bella pushed her to the side. "I have to see him."

"You realize that this isn't healthy, right?"

"And you sleeping with your best friend is?" She snapped back, stepping closer to the edge, and Cori went silent. She was so sure that no one other than Rachel and Kim knew and for Bella to throw that in her face was a little hard to take. "Yeah, you're not so subtle."

"You're a bitch." She shook her head. "You do not have to bring Carter into this, and how is what I'm doing not healthy? We're friends and we fool around a little, but I'm not pinning after Emmett. I'm not using Carter as a replacement. But you pinning after Edward, sitting in your room for months, using Jake as some kind of buffer, and all this insane shit that you do just so you can see him... none of this is healthy. You need help, Bella. Professional help."

"No, I need to see him." And with that she simply stepped off the edge.

Cori gasped, running to the edge as tears filled her eyes. "Bella!" She watched and let out a small sigh when she saw her head break the surface. "Oh my God." She breathed out, but her relief was washed away when a wave rolled over Bella and pulled her under. "No, no, no." Her hands shook as she took a breath and wiped her tears, watching again as a wave rolled over her sister. "Okay." She took a breath and stepped up to the edge. "You've done this before." She told herself then she stepped off the edge.

She squeezed her eyes closed and bit her lip as she fell, her braids and clothes whipping in the wind until she hit the water. The second she did, she was using her arms and legs to get to the surface, but a wave took her under before she could. Panic rose in her chest, and she swam harder to reach the surface and she did, only long enough to take a breath before she was pulled under again.

She squinted her eyes, seeing a black mass move towards her and she turned to swim away, but she didn't get far before an arm snaked around her waist and hauled her to the surface, but she was kicking and squirming the entire time. "It's me!" She stopped fighting and opened her eyes to see Paul as she panted. "I got you, Munchkin." He told her and she let out a relieved breath as she clung to him and he swam them towards the shore.

"Thanks, I-"

"Are you insane?" He cut her off once they were on the beach, her arms wrapped tightly around herself to combat the cold, but it was no use with her clothes soaked through.

"Bella jumped. I had-"

"I don't give a damn what your sister does! You don't jump off a cliff!" He shouted, water droplets rolling down his face and chest.

"You do it all the time!" She shouted back, her anger rising.

"Bit a difference there, Munchkin." He huffed and she rolled her eyes, her teeth chattering.

"I d-don't care!" Tears filled her eyes again, a mix of anger and worry flooding her as she shifted on her feet, the water in her shoes sloshing as she did so. "Bella-"

He put his hands on her shoulders, cutting her off. "She's fine."

"How do you-" There was a splashing sound and they both turned to see Jacob carrying Bella out of the water but she was unconscious. "Oh, God." She cried, tears joining the water on her cheeks as she rushed towards them, but Paul held her back as the other boy started CPR. Cori turned and buried her face in Paul's chest, her arms tucked between them as she cried and he rubbed her back, watching as Jacob demanded that Bella breathe again and he let out a relieved sigh when she gasped and opened her eyes.

"Look, Munchkin, she's okay." He told the girl in his arms and she turned her head to see her sitting up a little bit, but Jacob held most of her weight. Cori let out a breath and leaned into Paul again, her hands gripping as his sides so she had something to hold onto. It had been a stressful day.

"Get them home!" Sam shouted from a little ways down the beach and both boys looked up at him. "I'm gonna go help out at Harry's place!"

"What happened at Harry's?" Bella asked and Cori turned her head a little bit, she also wanted to know.

"Harry Clearwater had a heart attack." Jacob answered, looking from Bella to Cori as the younger girl shook her head, tears filling her again. "Charlie and my dad are over at his place with his family."

"Is he okay?" Cori asked, her voice small as she clung to Paul.

"I'm sorry, Munchkin, he didn't make it." Another sob wrecked her body as she clung to him and he kissed the top of her head as he rubbed her back trying to generate more heat for the freezing girl.

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▬ CORI LET OUT A RELIEVED breath when they neared the Swan house, she was looking forward to taking a warm shower, putting on her warmest pajamas and calling Carter for a night of cuddling and hot chocolate. Mostly she just wanted to get away from Jacob and Bella, who seemed to forget that she sat in the cab of the truck with them – after getting the girls dry clothes, Cori insisted that Paul head over to Harry's, mostly to check on Charlie for her but also to help out where he could.

But Cori's hopes of getting away from the rather nauseating pair were dashed when she opened the truck door only to have Jacob reach across the truck and pull it closed again. "Oh, come on. I've been listening to you two for fifteen minutes, let me out."

"There's a vampire." He told them and Bella pulled Cori closer to her.

"How do you know?"

"I can smell it." He answered as he crunk the truck back up."I'm getting you out of here."

"I just wanna take a shower." Cori whined, looking up at the house with an almost wistful look in her eyes as Bella looked around for any sign of danger, but she stopped when she saw a black car parked on the other side of the road.

"That's Carlisle's car. They're here." Bella turned and reached over Cori to open the door before shoving her sister.

"Pushy." She mumbled as she jumped down and stepped to the side, getting out of Bella's way.

"Bella, it's a trick." The boy climbed out after them, following them towards the house. "Stop!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "You gotta come with me. Both of you."

"They won't hurt us." Bella told him and he went on about how he couldn't protect them. Cori's eyes bounced between them, her patience weaning, before she turned and rushed towards the house caring little about the fact that it could be some other vampire and not one of the Cullens.

"Cori!" Jacob shouted as the girl unlocked the door, his hand falling from Bella's arm and she took that as her chance to follow her sister, leaving the boy outside as she closed the door behind them.

"Do you see them?" Bella whispered then a light flipped on and the two girls jumped as they spun around to see one of the Cullens. "Alice?" Bella jumped towards her, wrapping her in a tight hug but a noise caught Cori's attention and she turned and made her way into the living room. She heard footsteps behind her and she turned to see one of the vampires she was sure she'd never see again.

"Hey, Shorty."