In Which I Beg for Sweet Release From Breaking Dawn: Chapter 17 -- What Do I Look Like? The Wizard of Oz? You Need a Brain? You Need a Heart? Go Ahead. Take Mine. Take Everything I Have. · 11:09am Jul 8th, 2018
What do I look like? A writer? You need some good prose? You need some good characters? TOO BAD. They’re mine. You’re not getting anything.
With car keys in hand, Jacob takes an Aston Martin Vanquish and floors it to Seattle. He hopes to find a girl there he can imprint on to take his mind off of Bella. Well, that’s both stupid and sick. Stupid because what’re the odds? Sick because, if he finds a girl, then she’s going to have a complete stranger following her around, claiming they’re willing to do anything for her. Yeah, that’s not creepy at all. He gets out to walk and deliberately double-parks across two handicapped spots, the prick.
He spends the bulk of the day wandering around a park in Seattle, looking at girls, and not imprinting. In the early evening, when he starts noticing things that make the girls similar to Bella, he gives up and heads back to the car. At this point, a teenage girl named Lizzie walks over to him and jokes about him stealing the car. It’s her way of easing into a conversation, and it actually works better in text, believe it or not. She asks if he needs help finding anyone — he doesn’t — and reminisces about what a nice car the Vanquish is. She already has more personality than Bella, Edward, and Jacob combined. Jacob doesn’t imprint on her, so he gives her a weak goodbye and leaves her.
I wasn’t going to be able to fall in love like a normal person. Not when I was bleeding over someone else. Maybe — if it was ten years from now and Bella’s heart was long dead and I’d hauled myself through the whole grieving process and come back out in one piece again — maybe then I could offer Lizzie a ride in a fast car and talk makes and models and get to know something about her and see if I liked her as a person. But that wasn’t going to happen now.
CM + 1, and you know what? Maybe you should give it a try, Jacob. It might actually be sad if you tried talking to Lizzie for more than two seconds — maybe you’ll naturally fall in love with somebody else — and got to know her a little, but realized that nothing was “clicking” the same way it was with Bella. But, no. You don’t imprint, so love is impossible. Geez.
Back at the Cullens’, Edward’s waiting for him. He wants Jacob to try to exert some of his Alpha’s authority to deal with Leah:
“She wanted to… speak to Bella.”
“To Bella?”
Edward got all hissy then. “I won’t let Bella be upset like that again. I don’t care how justified Leah thinks she is! I didn’t hurt her — of course I didn’t — but I’ll throw her out of the house if it happens again. I’ll launch her right across the river-”
“Hold on. What did she say?” None of this was making any sense.
Edward took a deep breath, composing himself. “Leah was unnecessarily harsh. I’m not going to pretend that I understand why Bella is unable to let go of you, but I do know that she does not behave this way to hurt you. She suffers a great deal over the pain she’s inflicting on you, and on me, by asking you to stay. What Leah said was uncalled for. Bella’s been crying-”
“Wait — Leah was yelling at Bella about me?”
He nodded one sharp nod. (He nodded a nod.) “You were quite vehemently championed.”
Leah called Bella out for the way she constantly goes back to Jacob, even though it hurts everyone involved? Bitchin’. Someone with common sense. Of course, because she hurt Bella, she’s somehow the bad girl. And even if her timing was insensitive, Bella didn’t stop clinging to Jacob even after she was married.
You know what? Let’s take all the awesome characters — small-town cop Charlie, clairvoyant and bubbly Alice, relentlessly optimistic werewolf Seth, and no-nonsense werewolf Leah — and stick them in a cop show. Alice can see a crime happening that the normal police won’t be able to stop, and Charlie, with his experience, guides Seth and Leah through either preventing it or solving it quickly. It practically writes itself.
Jacob promises to talk to Leah, although he won’t dominate her. He asks how Bella’s doing:
“She’s… better in some ways. Aside from Leah’s tirade and the resulting guilt.”
Bella feels guilty. Oh, boo hoo.
Edward says that the baby has remarkably developed mental facilities (sic; it’s technically correct, but I prefer “faculties”); the baby can understand people now, has a vague sense of what hurts Bella, and is trying to avoid that. Great, even the baby gets developed to avoid hurting Bella. Edward also mentions that, while Alice and Jasper are back from hunting, Carlisle isn’t yet; Bella’s going through too much blood and he needs to get some more. The moment Carlisle returns — noon tomorrow — he’s going to ask him to take the baby out, as he’s growing too big. Which I’ve been saying for a long time.
Jacob is shocked at the suddenness with which the baby’s going to be born — he’d been planning on four more days — but Edward distracts him with a request as an Alpha. He wants to deviate from the treaty and turn Bella to save her life. Jacob asks for some time to think about it and meanders about the house. His wandering takes him upstairs, where Bella’s awake. Bella tries to apologize for the way she’s been treating him, but Jacob cuts her off. Dude. Seriously. You whine about all the pain Bella’s causing you, but when she wants to say “sorry”, you don’t let her? Holy heck. Seeing Bella awake and healthy sets Jacob’s mind: he gives Edward his permission.
Bella asks for some more blood from Rosalie and stands up to stretch her legs. A cup of blood she left on the sofa tips over and spills. But as she bends over to get pick it up, the baby tries to go after it (how does he know it’s there? He’s in an enclosed environment) and something breaks in Bella’s body. She limply collapses into Rosalie’s arms, screams in agony, and vomits blood.
…The next chapter is gonna be fun.
Clinginess Meter: 31 x 2
Jacbo's a bad boy who doesn't follow the rules, you can't tell him what to do, maaaaan.
:B
DOUBLE YOU TEE AYYYYY F
Hmm, a supernatural cop show would be awesome