It Hurts the Most

“No!” I screamed sliding down the wall until I hit the floor. “You’re lying to me, you have to be. He can’t be gone, he promised.”

I felt a pair of warm arms wrap themselves around me and I pushed them away. Embry was only trying to comfort me and I knew that, what brother wouldn’t when something like this happened to his sister? But his embrace reminded me too much of Jacob’s.

“It’s all your fault,” I whispered turning to face Embry. “You let him go! Even though you knew he wasn’t able.”

“Mel, I’m sorry! He just made it seem like he had everything under control. Sam even thought he could handle it. No, Jake could handle patrolling by himself, there were just to many of them. We found this in his pocket though,” Embry explained pulling a small black box out of this pocket.

That box just made everything harder. I knew what was in there without even having to open it. Leah had been hinting around for weeks that Jacob was going to pop the question. Of course I didn’t believe her until now. We were only nineteen for God’s sake.

When I think of how awkward, romantic, and cheesy Jacob would have made the proposal it made me laugh and think of how awkward he was when he told me that he’d imprinted on me.

”Embry will you just tell me what’s going on with you? Your never home anymore and when you are home we either arguing like now, your stuffing your face or your passed out in your room,” I ranted to my brother as he dumped out the clothes from his bag and began to pull things out of this closet and throw them at Jacob, who starting shoving them into the bag.

“Melody you know I would tell you what’s going if I could but you have to trust me on this one, I can’t tell you,” he replied then suddenly stopped what he was doing and a huge grin spread across his face and I noticed a look of horror go across Jacob’s. “Well, maybe I can’t tell you what’s going on. But my dear friend Jake can.”

I turned towards Jacob expecting an explanation but was met with him giving my brother a mad yet almost hurt expression. “Can we talk outside?” he muttered.

He walked out of my brothers room without waiting for an answer. I glanced over at Embry and he gave me a shooing motion with his hands. I left the room and caught up with Jacob near the bottom of the stairs.

“You might want to brace yourself for this. It’ll be shocking to hear,” he said sitting down on our front porch steps. “I’m guessing that you probably want to know why I can tell you buy your brother can’t?” I nodded. “I’ll get to that part later in the story. Umm, so I think I might just come out and say it you’ll hear the legend from the elders at the bonfire soon enough anyway. We’re, well we being me, your brother, Quil, Sam, Jared, Paul, Seth, and Leah, are werewolves.”

If it hadn’t been for the completely serious look on his face I would have busted out laughing. But something in his voice and his body language told me that he was being serious.

“And Embry couldn’t tell me that…why?” I asked not really seeing how it mattered who told me.

“That’s another thing. You see we’re only aloud to tell who we’ve imprinted on.”

I nodded once, understanding what he just said, then got confused again. “What does imprinting mean?”

“When us werewolves imprint on someone it means that we’ve found out soul mate,” he explained and when he saw my still confused face he continued on. “You’re my imprint Melody. I’m in love with you.”

Later that night I sat on my bed just staring at the black box sitting on my nightstand. I hadn’t worked up enough courage yet to open it but I swear that I’m getting close.

My hand was hovering just over the box when I thought of Billy. I wondered how he took the news. He was alone now. I’m sure one of Jake’s sisters would come and help take care of him now but nothing would be able to take the place of Jacob for any of us. I moved my hand just to the side and picked up the phone and dial the number that had probably been branded into my brain from the amount of times I’ve called it in the past three years.

He answered on the third ring and I could tell just from his simple ‘hello’ that he’d been crying.

“Hey, it’s Melody,” I spoke calmly trying to hold back tears again. I had to try and be strong for Billy, he’d been nothing but nice to me. I couldn’t make this harder for him.

As he started speaking again I heard other voices in the background, he had family over, maybe it was a bad time to call. “It’s nice talking to you Melody,” he began. “Did Embry give you the ring Jake had on him? It’s horrible that you had to find out he was going to propose that way, I’m sure Jacob would have rather given it to you himself. Filthy leeches had to get in the way of it though.”

“Yeah, I was actually just going to look at it when I though of you. But, you sound like your busy with guests so I’ll let you go. Just make sure you call me if you need any help with anything. Are planning on having a funeral?” I questioned hoping he wouldn’t say what I thought he would.

“There isn’t much of a body for a funeral to be able to happen. But I’m hoping to get everyone gathered for a memorial.”

I could only imagine what happened to Jake that night.

(Jacob’s Point of View) So here I am. I’ve finally convinced Sam and all the others that I am capable of patrolling by myself. Nothing but being bored usually happens when we patrol anyway. At least nothing that I couldn’t handle by myself.

That freaky physic vampire sees when their kind are coming and they take care of it. The most we get to do is save some lost hikers every once in a blue moon. Of course now that I’ve said that someone huge is going to happen and I’m going to have to run and go get all the guys so they can laugh and call me a hypocrite. Oh, if only I knew how right I was.

“Having fun out here by yourself, mut?” A creepy voice said from behind me.

I turned around instantly and was met with a harsh kick in the face. It took my all to not whimper in pain.

“Oh my dear, Lisa, we’re going to have some fun with this one tonight,” he said with a smirk appearing on his face. I can only imagine where everything would go from here.

I backed up and took a look at my surroundings and tried to get a good look at the ten or so vampires that had jus shown up. There was no way I could make it out of this. It would take a miracle and some luck. And without Melody with me, those were two things that I lacked.

The only female there, Lisa, was the first to attack me. Well besides the kick delivered by the first to show up. She started kicking full force while six others, three on each side, held me still.

After that closed my eyes and though about Mel, my father, and the pack. Then I though of my mother, I guess I’ll be seeing her sooner than I though.

Then everything went black.

Two days after my phone call with Billy, I received a call from him. He told me that the memorial was all figured out and that I should be at the town hall in twenty minutes. I rushed to get ready and was almost late, but here I sit, surrounded my all of Jake’s family and of course the rest of the pack. There all taking turns telling their favorite stories involving Jacob, while I sit here and try not to burst into tears.

“Do you remember when he used to follow that Swan girl around like a lost puppy?” Quil asked.

Yeah, I remember that alright. I despise that girl, he only needed Jake around when her precious bloodsucker was away. She made me sick.

“I remember when he kept telling us all that he loved her and she loved him back she just didn’t know it yet. God, that boy was so desperate,” Jared laughed and hearing them talk about Jacob and love in the same though reminded me of when he first told me that he loved me.

“You jump, I jump remember?” Rose from Titanic whispered to Jack. Out of all the possible movies Jacob could have picked out he just had to pick out the one that made me bawl my eyes out.

“Ugh,” I groaned and turned to bury my head into Jake’s chest. I didn’t want for him to see me cry. I didn’t like feeling weak around him while he was all big and strong.

Jake just laughed, “What you don’t like this movie? I’ve never met a girl before that didn’t like this movie.”

“That’s not the probably. This is one of my favorite movies. It’s just that I can’t watch it without crying. I don’t like crying around other people, it makes me feel…I don’t know. Weak?” I explained, refusing to tell him the true reason why. Because then he’d go on some long explanation.

Jacob sighed the looked down at me, “Babe, I don’t care if you cry. Well, I do, but not if it’s just over a movie.”

“You’re so sweet, Jake.”

“I love you,” he whispered, then pressed a light kiss on my forehead.

“What?” I asked, not knowing for sure if I heard him right. It sounded like he just said that he loves me. That can’t be true.

“I said, I love you, Melody.”

I couldn’t take anymore of this. It was all just too much, and I had no idea how Billy was still sitting here. Out of everyone here, Jake’s death had to effect me and Billy the most.

When I got out of the small town hall I took off straight towards the forest. That was where Jake always took me when he got upset with the pack and needed to cool off. Sam had told him countless time to not take me, to just go by himself and cool down. But Jake needed someone there will him to just vent to and he knew that every other person out there would judge him by what he said, except me.

When I reached the edge of the forest, I stopped dead in my tracks. I was standing just feet away from the exact spot there they had found Jake’s dead body. He was right next to the tree that we’d carved out initials into a year into our life together.

The vampires had to have known about it, that wouldn’t be just a coincidence.

I walked straight to the tree. My fingers traced the fading letters we’d carved there, while my free hand reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring box. I hadn’t gone anywhere without it since Embry gave it to me three days ago.

I fell to my knees and started digging a very small hole and the base of the tree. Once it was done I opened the box and looked at the ring one last time before closing it and placing it slowing in the hole.

“I love you too, Jake,” I whispered, packing the dirt back into the hole. “I love you too…”