𝐔𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬² | 𝙰. 𝙲𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗 ✓

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐

Now that he, along with Dakota, wasn't speaking to us out of nowhere, along with treating us in a way that was completely unnatural for their characters, it felt like we were both back to how we were before them — drowning in despair.

Bella continued trying to get ahold of Jacob those past two weeks but would be stuck leaving a voicemail each time from him not answering. However, Billy did answer one of her many phone calls, and told her she needed to continue staying away — that Jacob was still sick, but apparently not from mono as he previously stated.

He told Bella that Jacob didn't have mono after all and that it was just a regular viral infection going around, which made more sense to us than mono — given it was known as the "kissing disease" to most people after all.

However, he said Jacob was still sick and resting in bed for now until he felt better, and told Bella to inform me that Dakota had caught the sickness too — further implying that we both needed to stay away from their residence.

Hearing that Dakota had fallen ill shortly after I saw her made me feel slightly bad, and even worried for her despite the irritation I still had over our argument. Part of me yearned to visit her again, to check on her and make sure she was comfortable amidst her sickness — even if she didn't want me there.

Yet, Billy had made it clear to Bella over the phone that we could not visit them, almost in a disturbingly insistent way that exhibited much more than just a normal concern for his kids spreading their contagious illness to their friends.

The way Bella described his serious tone, the way he spoke, and everything else she could pick up from their discussion, made me begin to question if something more was going on with them that they didn't want us to know.

Although I knew that speculation was likely a bit much to assume, my gut feeling only grew stronger the longer I thought about it.

Despite my concern for Dakota, I still felt strongly about how she treated me and kept telling myself I didn't want to see her — I shouldn't want to see her.

Bella, on the other hand, was clearly very worried about Jacob and kept trying to get in contact with him even after her strange conversation with his father over the phone.

Although he had told her that he'd let Jacob know that she called and wanted to speak with him, she received no calls or texts from him after that, resulting in her taking it in herself to do it herself, only to not hear anything from him.

Admittedly, her dedicated desire to reach Jacob during his absence made me start to question the purpose behind that — why did she crave his presence in particular so badly?

I knew that he had been a good friend to her and that he had helped her immensely while she continued to grieve over Edward. However, now knowing how Jacob felt for Bella made me start to look at their friendship differently — as if it was something more to her.

By the time Saturday rolled around again — a day I normally spent with Dakota out in La Push either to practice surfing or give her art lessons — I had tried to push my concerns for Dakota off to the side and focus on my calculus homework that was due that following Monday.

I was sitting crisscross in the center of my bed and was surprisingly nearly finished with the homework when I heard a couple of knocks on my bedroom door.

I figured it had to be Bella since Charlie was out fishing with his friend Harry that day, and would likely be gone for a while.

"Yeah?" I called out.

My door slowly cracked open, revealing Bella, who was dressed out of her pajamas and in clean clothes and a pair of sneakers on her feet — making me wonder if she was going out somewhere.