In the morning, Alice sends me a text. My hearing aid is ready to be picked up. I know they can't come to drop it off here, so I arrange for us to meet at the line, as we always do. Someone will have to drive me. Preferably Jacob, but preferably anyone else.

The events of last night have me reeling. He loves me. Him, not the imprint. Yet, that doesn't change his horrid deception. Nothing ever will.

Once I'm out of bed, I put on the clothes I came here in and pack my bag. I have accumulated more things as of now, and though my bag was practically empty when I came here, it has much more things in it now. I leave the packed bag inside the room.

Outside, the boys have made breakfast.

Jacob stands up and stares at me, "Alice texted me. It's ready?"

I nod, looking at the other two boys. I cannot bear to say goodbye. It's too painful. I've never had a goodbye before, especially since Cedar has promised he would come back.

"Should we get going now?" I ask.

"Eat something first," Jacob says, and I can finally tell that it's a suggestion, not an order.

I sit down at the table and pile up my food. Quil stares deep into his plate, never looking up at me, while Embry exchanges tense glances between Jacob and me. They eat, but wordlessly. I'm the first to be done even though I'm the last to join. I make my way over to the sink and begin to wash my dishes.

Jacob creeps up behind me. He reaches over my shoulders to put his dish in the sink. His body presses against my back, and I feel warmth all over.

I turn around to look at him, my hands still covered in soap. He looks down at me, his eyes narrowing in.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"I'm washing dishes," I answer.

He shakes his head, "I meant today. What is your plan?"

I turn back around and rinse the suds off my hands. Then, I walk over towards the door, put my shoes on, and wait for him.

"Are you leaving forever?" Embry asks.

"My stuff is still here," I answer. It's a nonanswer. Either my clothes and documents have been left behind because I'm staying or they simply haven't been taken yet. "I'll be back after we pick up the hearing aid."

Jacob walks into the bedroom I've been using and picks up the full bag of things. He walks to the door and leaves the house, abandoning me inside. I stare at Quil and Embry. Embry is tight-lipped but Quil's jaw is wide open.

Embry raises a hand towards me, from far away, and I walk out the door following after Jacob.

We get in his car, the one I've only ridden in once before, and leave the house without saying goodbye.

"Why'd you bring my bag?" I ask.

He shrugs, "didn't want you to have to come back and get it. They don't want to say goodbye to you more than once."

"What about you?" I ask. "What do you want?"

He moves over and jolts the stick next to his seat and we start to speed up. I might never learn how to drive. I'll have to find a house near my job, which is hard in a rural area. There's no public transportation here, and I'd have to learn how to take it anyway.

"I want you to be happy, at any cost," he answers. He looks at me and then back out the windshield.

What do I want? What will make me happy? He certainly makes me the happiest I've ever been, but also the angriest. Words are quieter than actions, and while his words are perfect, his actions are horrific. They kill me. They destroy me.

"What if that happiness means I'll be without you?" I ask.

"I don't see why you would want that," he tells me.

I glare at him and he shrugs.

"Honestly," he continues, "I don't know what you expect from the world, but I could give you everything and more. Why turn that away?"

"Because you're a liar," I tell him, "and not in the way that I'm a liar. My lies hurt nobody. I didn't trick anyone into falling in love with me."

The car slows and he has to quickly adjust something.

"What?" I ask. Cars shouldn't make me nervous in a world filled with vampires, but they do. "What's wrong?"

"Did you just say you love me?" he asks, finally taking his hand off the stick. The car comes to the slowest of stops as he looks at me.

Did I say I loved him? Do I love him?

I do, I realize. It's terrible, but I do.

I have to stay.

"Can we just keep going?" I ask him. I don't want to tell him. It feels like admitting defeat, rather than jumping into life.

He moves the stick again and we begin to drive. Slowly, we climb up to the speed that you're supposed to drive on these back roads. We drive through them, winding around corners and passing by all sorts of trees. I wonder what animals are in the forest, and would I ever be able to find them?

Alice is already waiting for us at the border. She steps out of the car just as we park, holding a box in her hand. When Jacob and I get out of the car she runs up and grabs me.

"I'm so happy you've decided to stay!" she puts her arms around me, pulling me into a hug.

I look over my shoulder at Jacob, who just stares at me.

She blinks, "have you not told him yet? I can't see past those damn mutts."

Jacob slams the car door and jogs into the forest.

I am about to chase after him, but Alice grabs me. Her grip is hard, like rock formed around my arm.

"Wait," she says. "Put in your other hearing aid."

She lets go and I quickly open the box and put in the hearing aid. I'm thankful that it works. Besides being vampires, the Cullens are seemingly magical. I nod and chase after Jacob into the forest.

"Jacob!" I shout, running after him, careful to move my feet over tree branches and through the bush. "I just realized... Jacob, wait!"

He stops, waiting for me at the edge of the forest. He turns around and I burst into his arms.

"Jacob, please," I tell him. "It's you. It's always been you."

My grip around him tightens, trying to hold him in place. No matter how strong I am, he is much stronger than me. With one push he could easily escape my grasp. I cling to him anyway, like magnets cling to each other. We are like magnets. We repel and attract, opposite ends and ends that cannot stay away from each other.

"When?" he asks. "When did you realized?"

"In the car," I tell him. "Maybe ten minutes before we pulled up."

He lifts me up off him, and I wrap my legs around his torso. His arms hold me while mine wrap around his head. We stare at each other, our faces inches apart.

I kiss him this time. I'd kiss him again and again if I could. I'm terrified to be here, and I'm unhappy, but I'm also ecstatic. This is the best worst thing that has ever happened to me. I cannot tell what parts of him want to be with me and what parts are forced to love me, but I feel the same way. It's the same but different as well.

"Truth or drink," he says, pulling away.

I exhale, "we don't have any drinks. What are you-"

"So you have to choose truth," he points out. He clears his throat. "Truth or drink. You're staying?"

"Truth," I tell him. "Although, we do have to move out of your house and into Forks. Unfortunately."

"Nothing is unfortunate when it comes to you," he points out.

I laugh and kiss him again. I think, perhaps, he is right.

~~~~~

This is super short, but there is just the epilogue left. It'll be pretty tasty, I promise. Enjoy!