Torn: Chapter 3

When Jacob ignores Bella in New Moon she develops a friendship with Quil. They become close and then he too makes the change into a werewolf. What will happen in this Quil/Bella/Jacob triangle?

Title: Torn

Rating: T

Penname: Katbug86

Characters: Bella & Quil Jr.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight!

An: Another redone chapter. Thanks to Buff82, she’s the best as always.

Chapter 3: Cliff Diving

Saturday morning I woke with a start, my heart beating frantically in my chest. Looking over at my alarm clock next to the bed it read: 6:14 am… just great. My nightmares were still plaguing me in my sleep, however, last night’s had taken an unexpected turn.

I was still wandering around in the woods frantically searching for someone. To my right I caught a figure out of the corner of my eye.

There stood Jacob, in the middle of a clearing of trees, just staring at me. I stopped my search abruptly and kept my eyes trained on his. Once again Jacob turned his back on me and started to walk away. A shudder ripped through me as that same heavy feeling of loss strangled my heart.

“Jake! Wait!” my voice rang out desperately. He continued on his way without so much as acknowledging my words. I was about to start towards him— to make him stop— in whatever way I could— when I felt someone reach out and grab my hand.

A strangled scream caught in my throat causing me to wake up way too early on a weekend.

Quickly giving up on any idea of returning to sleep, I pulled myself out of bed and shuffled towards the bathroom. I washed my face and combed out my hair, pulling it back into a ponytail before heading back to my room.

Dressing in a pair of comfy jeans and a t-shirt, and then headed down to the kitchen for some much needed breakfast.

After finishing my bowl of cereal and rinsing my dishes, I checked the clock again: 7:03. I decided to do some laundry while contemplating what Quil and I should do.

Once the washer was started with the second load and the living room completely straightened, I figured I had killed enough time and it was late enough in the morning to head to Quil’s house.

We had forgotten to exchange numbers but somehow I knew he wouldn’t have a problem with me just showing up on his doorstep. I already had a plan forming in my mind, so I ran upstairs to grab what I needed.

When I made the turn off to La Push I tried not to think about Jake and all that had happened yesterday. I was still determined to enjoy myself and not let his hurtfulness get to me. So instead I kept my eyes trained on the road until I pulled in front of Quil’s house.

I was immediately relieved, a smile creeping across my face when I saw Quil sitting outside on a small porch swing. Parking quickly, I hopped out of the truck. Watching gravel pop under my boots as I walked toward Quil’s house, I looked up to notice that he, too, had a smile on his lips.

“Morning,” he called out, sounding much livelier than he had the previous day.

“Morning,” I replied. “So, I was wondering how you would feel about cliff diving? I never got a chance to go after Jake promised to take me.” I noticed his face fell slightly at the mention of Jake but he quickly recovered with an enthusiastic grin.

“Definitely!”

He ran back inside to change into appropriate clothing as I grabbed my spare set of clothes from the truck and then followed him inside.

“Do you have a place I could change?” I asked politely, my eyes fixed on my shoes in a sudden onslaught of shyness.

“Sure. Bathroom is down that hall, first door on the left.”

I nodded thanks and rushed towards my destination. When I finished changing into a pair of lightweight shorts, still keeping on my t-shirt, I returned to the living room to find Quil waiting for me.

We drove my truck to the top of the cliffs just off the side of the beach, parking just to the side of a small trail. The path ran to the edges of the tall rocks that jutted out over the water. I knew originally I had only wanted to go cliff diving as means to further succumb myself into my delusions.

The only time that He still felt real to me was when his sweet velvet voice was ever-present in my mind. It surprised me to realize that I hardly felt the usual pain that accompanied any thought of Ed—I mean Him.

I knew I wanted to be stronger, to prove myself, which also meant letting go. I would have to let go of the voices in my head and really try to become one with reality.

I looked over at Quil who had an equal look of excitement and my grin grew bigger at the sight of him smiling. Mission accomplished, I thought to myself…Quil was smiling.

I needed to continue to bringing happiness back to him just as Jake had tried to do with me for so long. Maybe Quil could even drive away the remaining sadness within me.

“Come on,” I urged him out of the truck and towards the cliff tops. He obediently followed behind me.

I knew there were two levels from which we could jump, and as much as I was all about proving myself, I was secretly scared of jumping all the way from the top. I knew doing so would be reckless and careless; I was trying to better myself which meant trying to be more responsible. Maybe Quil wouldn’t mind me suggesting we start on the lower ledge.

He beat me to it. “Since you’ve never done this before, why don’t we start out on the lower cliff?”

I readily agreed and we slowly made our way down the rocky trail leading to the lower surface. I only tripped twice along the way, and Quil quickly caught my arm to balance me before I fell.

“Walk much Bella?” he laughed and I blushed.

Once again on a flat surface at the end of the trail, I walked towards the edge of the cliff to peer down at the water. Although today was unusually warm and comfortable, I feared that the water would not be. Quil stepped up beside me and glanced down.

“Looks like a good day to jump. The waves aren’t too bad,” he observed.

“So….do you just jump?” My eyes were a little wide as I was still considering what I was about to do. Even from the lower level the jump was high. It was terrifying and exciting all at once.

Quil chuckled a little at my expression. “Yeah, just get a little run going and then jump away from the rocks into the water. I can go first to show you if you’d like?” My eyes widened at the word run. All I could picture was me running toward the edge of a cliff, my toe catching on a rock, and my body tumbling over the edge—bouncing against the rocks on the way down like an Old Looney Tunes cartoon.

Pushing that scary—albeit funny—visual aside, I considered his offer for a moment and attempted to gather my courage. “Why don’t we jump together?” I suggested raising my eyebrow expectantly. He seemed to think for a moment of his own before answering with a large grin and a nod of his head.

“Sounds good.”

I allowed him to reach for my hand as we took a few steps back for our running start. His hand was warm, much like Jacob’s, but I quickly discarded that thought, on what I was about to do.

“Ok, on the count of three,” he reasoned.

I nodded, my heart pounding against my rib cage. My fingers tightened around Quil’s hand as I drew in a deep breath. He returned my nod, giving me a small smile before he turned, narrowing his eyes at the wide open expanse in front of us.

“ One…”

“Two…”

“Three…”

Before I knew what was happening, we were running as Quil tugged me along, and we launched ourselves from the top of the cliff into the cold water below.

The thrill was exhilarating! I felt the warm breeze whip through my hair, and the happy squeal that poured from my lungs just added to the excitement. I could hear Quil’s hoots of equal excitement sounding next to me.

We crashed through the water together, Quil’s hand still tightly wrapped around my own. I was right when I thought the water was less than warm.
Its icy temperature was startling, but I quickly recovered and began attempting to swim up through the water with my legs and arms as Quil released my hand.

Together we broke the surface of the water, each with a goofy grin plastered on our faces.

“That was…just…wow.” I gushed through exasperated breaths, the glacial water lapping at my chin as I bobbed in the water. I was in awe of how free I had felt while flying through the air, adrenaline pumped through my body, making me feel wild—feral.

“Yeah. Wow,” Quil agreed. “Let’s do it again!”

We spent the next few hours taking turns jumping into the frigid water, alternating between the high and low ledges. After one more jump off the lower cliff I had coaxed Quil into jumping with me off the high one.

At times I would sit to catch my breath and bask in the sun as he continued to jump. I would rest on the sand of the beach below and look up to watch him launch himself again, following him with my eyes until he hit the water. Then wait for him to break the surface with a carefree smile on his face once more.

As I sat there with my legs stretched out in front of me, my weight resting back on my palms, I studied the boy before me swimming towards the shore. His skin was darkly tanned in contrast to my own, about a shade lighter than Jake’s. No, I will not think about Jake right now, I scolded myself.

His hair came down, just brushing against the tops of his ears in a silky black color. I watched as he made his way onto shore and came to sit at my side, flinging the water from his hair all over me like a wet dog in the process.

I giggled a bit at his childish behavior, as did he before his stomach grumbled loudly in an audible reminder that it was most likely time for lunch.

He chuckled with embarrassment, a slight blush to his cheeks. “I guess I’m hungry.”

The grumble from my own stomach answered in agreement. “Yeah, I guess I am too,” I laughed.

Together we climbed back up the trail to my truck. Quil once again helping me remain upright. As I tripped for the third time, Quil caught me by the waist just in time. I could have sworn I heard a loud rumble in the trees several yards in front of us. I hesitated for a second, shooting Quil a questioning glance. He smiled back with ease, and I decided it was nothing. Redirecting my attention back in front of me, we finished our hike to the top.

***

Handing Quil the extra towel I’d brought, he nodded in thanks. I smiled, shivering as a breeze brushed across my damp skin and wrapped my towel quickly around my shoulders.

“So,” he spoke slow, looking around at nothing in particular, “lunch at my place? We could make sandwiches or something.”

“Sounds great,” I said, motioning for him to jump in the truck. Pulling the gear shift into drive, I glanced back at the cliffs one last time, sighing in contentment. “Thanks for doing this with me. I had a lot of fun.”

“No problem,” he shrugged and then his stomach growled again, loudly. We both laughed— the lightness of the atmosphere a welcome feeling. I beamed at him, pressing my foot into the accelerator and turning my attention to the road. The smile hugged tightly to my mouth, happiness bubbling in my stomach, because I had found a friend.