Chapter 24: Chapter 24

"I'm so sorry, Juliet." Sam's voice was quiet as he sat down next to her. Leah still hadn't returned from work, but Sam and Paul had come back from their patrols-nothing on Victoria. "I'm so fucking sorry."

"Me too." Her voice was hollow, it barely even sounded like her. "This is gonna kill my parents."

"I'm sorry." He repeated. There was nothing else to say. Everyone felt the exact same as Sam did. Extremely sorry. No one had said it yet, but they all knew-Juliet most of all. Any one of the Cullen's turning Bella would be breaking the treaty. Sam would have no choice but to act. The pack would have to attack, to protect the tribe.

"Don't apologize, I understand." She still didn't look at him, or move at all. "Bella made her choice. She knows...she knows what the treaty says." It was a few minutes before Sam spoke again.

"Leah should almost be here." He said. "Do you want me to tell her?"

"No, that's okay." She finally moved. Her hand detached it's self from the other, moving over and resting on Sam's arm. "Thank you Sam." Her hand fell after a few seconds, retracting back to her body. Sam watched her, unsure of what do to or say. He'd noticed, especially since Juliet had moved to La Push, that she was very isolated. Even when she was at the table with the whole pack, laughing and yelling over one another, she was always to herself. It was always Leah who reached out first, Juliet never moved outside of her own bubble unless someone else initiated it. So it felt strange, her touching his arm-almost as if it was some kind of grand gesture. Sam eventually stood up, and walked back inside. Emily was at his side right away. It was only seconds later that Leah walked through the door.

"Leah." Sam spoke. Her face immediately twisted in annoyance.

"What?" She spat.

"Juliet needs to talk to you." Leah's face softened, and she realize how gentle Sam was speaking. It was then that she took in the atmosphere of the house. Everyone was dour, and the house was practically silent. "She's out back." Leah wasted no time crossing the room and going through the open door. As she crossed the deck, she heard the door slid shut.

"Jules, what's going on?" Leah took the spot where Sam had been.

"Bella's gonna be a vampire in three weeks and there's nothing I can do to stop it." Juliet's voice was emotionless, her face unchanging from its neutral position. Leah stiffened. "I called her. She knows that I know everything. She knows that we're together, and that you imprinted on me. And I know that she's going to be a vampire in less than a month."

———————

It took two full weeks for Juliet to show any sign of life again. She stopped reading, stop painting, and if it wasn't for Leah and Seth, she probably would've stopped eating and drinking, too. Leah picked up all of Juliet's shifts at work, and Seth had volunteered to stay with Juliet while Leah was gone, something Leah very much appreciated. It wasn't until Charlie called that Juliet seemed to come out of her daze.

"Jules?" Leah walked back into their bedroom. Juliet was laying in bed, wrapped around a body pillow and staring at the wall. "Your dad's on the phone. Do you feel up to talking to him?"

"Charlie?" Her eyebrows raised ever so slightly. Leah nodded, and Juliet dug one of her arms out from under her blankets and held it out.

"I told him you weren't feeling great." Leah whispered as she handed the phone over. Juliet nodded once.

"Hey dad." Juliet laid the phone on the side of her head as she was completely horizontal so it wouldn't go anywhere. "What's up?"

"Just callin' to check in, you know." He said. "Leah said you were gettin' sick."

"Yeah." Juliet went along with the story. "I think I caught something at work."

"Oh, well that's a shame." He sighed. "Bella's graduating next week, you know?" This sentence brought the life back into Juliet, as she shot upright in bed. "And Renee had to cancel her trip 'cause Phil broke his leg during his last game." Charlie sighed. "But I don't want you to strain yourself, alright? If you're not feeling up to it, you don't have to come."

"I'm not that sick, dad." Juliet's brain was running on autopilot, she was barely aware of what she was saying. Her mind could only focus on that one sentence. "I should be fine by next week."

"Well good." Charlie's mood seemed to brighten. "Good. How about you come into town later this week, huh? Swing by after work one day or something? I can give you all the times and stuff then, I don't got em on me now."

"Okay, sounds good dad." She nodded. "I'll come by Friday for dinner, how is that?"

"Perfect. I'm sure Bella will be excited." He chuckled. "Alright kiddo, I'll let you get your rest. See you on Friday."

"Yeah, Friday." She hung up the phone, only then realizing that Leah was still standing there. "I have to go."

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Leah frowned, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Jules, you've been..." Leah sighed, reaching back and interlacing their fingers. "You've been near catatonic for the past two weeks. And now you wanna go see her graduate?"

"I have to." She insisted. "I don't care if she doesn't want me there. I have to be."

"Why?" Leah looked back at her. "Why is it so important?"

"Because." Juliet let out a breath. "It'll probably be the last time I ever see her."

———————

"You look perfect, Jules." Leah stood being Juliet, who was smoothing over her dress for the millionth time. "And I don't wanna have to stand the whole time so we should get going." Juliet sighed, looking at her in the mirror. "What is it?"

"I feel like nothings real anymore." She held her hand over her shoulder and Leah moved closer, one hand interlocking with Juliet's outstretched one while her other arm wrapped around Juliet's waist. "Like everything's just gonna fall apart after today."

"Well I'm real." Leah said, resting her head on Juliet's shoulder. "You're real. Charlie, Jake, Seth, all the boys. Kim, Emily. We're all real, Jules. And we'll all still be real tomorrow. We're all still here." Juliet sighed, resting her head against Leah's and shutting her eyes.

"Thank you, Leah." She felt Leah's arm squeeze her lightly. "Thank you for being real." She lifted her head, looking back in the mirror at the two of them.

"Anytime." Leah raised her head, gently pressing a kiss to Juliet's cheek. "Now c'mon. Jake said he and Billy were coming too."

——————

"You know what I just realized?" Juliet whispered to Jake. They hadn't bothered to pay attention as the teacher rattled off all the names. Bella would be close to last, anyway.

"What?" He whispered back.

"I'm gonna be forced to go to all your guys' stupid graduations, too." He rolled his eyes, elbowing her playfully. It was another twenty boring minutes of names-helped a little by Jake's jokes every few minutes-until finally, Bella was next. As she got her diploma, Jake, Charlie and Juliet stood up, and she didn't blame Leah for staying seated. She also spotted the Cullen's, also standing and clapping for Bella. It annoyed her, but she supposed it didn't really matter anymore if they annoyed her or not. They sat back down and the rest of the students' names droned on, but it was soon over.

"We gotta be gettin' home, tell Bella congratulations for us Charlie." Billy said.

"Oh, well alright." Charlie looked confused. "Thanks again for coming, I know she'll appreciate it."

"You gonna be and Sam and Em's tomorrow?" Juliet held up her fist to Jake.

"Always am." Jake nodded, bumping it. "Bye Charlie."

"Bye Jake." Charlie then turned, and began cutting through the crowd.

"Let's go wait outside." Leah said, and Juliet nodded, following her out. They lingered by the door, waiting. Juliet noticed Leah's face wrinkle into a scowl, and a second later Edward darted past them. "Ugh, the smell."

"What smell?" Juliet's eyebrows furrowed together.

"That vampire smell, ugh." Leah looked disgusted. "You used to smell like that when you still lived at Charlie's. Just because the leech hung around so much. Bleh, drove me crazy. Usually you smell so nice, it was the worst."

"I didn't know vampires had a certain smell." Juliet looked around, double checking no one was near them-and no one was. Though, it didn't surprise her. When Juliet had moved out to La Push, it had apparently created quite the gossip in town. People thought she was either crazy, pregnant, or both-her dropping out didn't help much either. Pair that with Leah's near constant scowl and large, very visible tattoo on her shoulder and no one seemed to want to get anywhere near them. Though, that served them quite nicely.

"Minty, but way too minty." Leah explained. "And really sweet. It's so gross."

"I wonder what you smell like to them." Juliet snickered. Finally, Charlie and Bella emerged from the gym.

"And here's your surprise!" Charlie smiled. Bella froze, looking at Juliet and Leah. "I know you guys haven't had much time to see each other, so I figured this would be perfect."

"Congrats, Bella." Something she'd also decided earlier was to keep things as normal and neutral as possible, for Charlie's sake.

"We're headin out to The Lodge for dinner, you two could join us if you don't have plans?" Charlie suggested.

"Ah, I would but I already promised my mom I'd be home." Leah said, and Juliet looked over at her. She knew for a fact Leah hadn't seen Sue all day, she'd been working. "But thanks for the invite, Charlie."

"Course." He nodded. "Say hi to Sue for me."

"I will." Juliet realized what she was trying to do. "Call me when you're back from dinner, I'll come pick you up." Juliet tried to give her a look, but Leah ignored it. "And congrats, Bella." With that, Leah started walking back towards her car. Juliet sighed, trying to stay calm.

"Well, let's get goin then." Charlie said, blissfully unaware. "Don't want all the good tables taken."

——————

Because The Lodge was the only real restaurant in town, when you didn't count the one diner, it was always super busy during special events. Today was no exception. Everyone knew everyone so everyone was talking loudly, over booths and isles. Charlie had busied himself talking to the Crowley's who were sitting behind him. Bella and Juliet, on the other hand, were silently sitting next to each other, as far away as they could possibly be from one another on the tiny bench seat. Juliet wanted to at least try to keep the cheraide up, so she turned to Bella, who barely touched her food.

"So." Bella looked surprised, and annoyed, and Juliet was talking to her. "What uh...what are you gonna do now?"

"We have some things to take care of." Bella's words were tight, unfriendly. "And then we're going to Alaska. For college."

"Oh." Juliet nodded. There was a tense silence. "Is this really how we're gonna leave it?" She'd dropped voice as low as she could with Bella still being able to hear her. Though the loudness of the restaurant made Juliet more comfortable asking something like this. "Hating each other?" Bella sighed, turning to Juliet.

"I don't hate you." She said.

"I don't hate you either." The looked at each other for a few moments. "I just...I don't want you to go, Bella. To Alaska. I want you to stay here." Bella looked surprised, and Juliet knew she knew what she was really saying. "No matter how much you think you're gonna like Alaska, it's...it's not like here. Not at all."

"How would you know?" Bella started to get defensive. "You've never been to Alaska."

"But I know enough about it to know it's...it's not right for you." Juliet struggled to find the right words. "It's too harsh and cold for someone like you. Not to mention dangerous."

"Someone like me?" Bella asked incredulously.

"You're too good for Alaska, Bella." Juliet insisted. "Please stay. Everyone wants you to. Jake, Quil, even Paul. I want you to." Bella sighed, looking down at her hands.

"I can't." She answered. "I've already paid the first part of my tuition. No refunds."

"There's nothing I can do to get you to stay?" Juliet was almost pleading now. "Nothing at all?"

"I'm better off in Alaska, Jules." Bella said softly, though Juliet was able to hear it over the loud murmur of the restaurant. "Please try to understand, it's all I want." She looked back at Juliet now. "He's all I want. Forever."

"Forever is a long time, Bella." Juliet frowned. "But I..." She sighed. "I think I understand." Bella raised her eyebrows. "Not about Alaska, I could never...but about forever."

"You have your forever, and I have mine." Bella said. "I hope yours is good to you."

"Ditto." Juliet nodded. She took a breath, realizing that her eyes had begun to water. "I'll be back." She got up, moving quickly through the restaurant towards the back. In the little hall that contained the bathroom doors, there were all two pay phones. Though, the pay part hadn't worked for decades, but the phone still worked just fine. Juliet grabbed one, quickly dialing the Clearwater house.

"Hello?"

"Just because I made up with Bella, doesn't mean you're off the hook, Leah." Juliet huffed. Leah laughed.

"I knew you wouldn't have done it if I was there, and you would've never agreed to it, so I had to give you a little push." Leah defended.

"Yeah, a push right into the fucking volcano." Leah laughed again. "Get your ass off the couch and start driving Clearwater, we'll be home soon."

"Oh, I would, but that's so hard." Leah teased.

"Leah, don't you dare."

"You know what, Jules? I think maybe a party would help you unwind."

"I am not going to that fucking party are you crazy?" Juliet hissed into the phone. "There will be vampires everywhere! Why are you suggesting this? Do you want me dead or something?"

"Relax, you're not gonna be totally alone." Leah said. "But I'm not gonna spoil the surprise. Just try to have a good time, okay? For me?"

"Leah, I will never forgive you for this."

"Yes you will."

"I'll move back in with Charlie."

"No you won't."

"Leah!" Juliet whined, almost sounding like a child being denied a new toy by their parent.

"Spend time with your sister, Jules. You'll thank me later." Leah said. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Juliet huffed before hanging up the phone. When she returned to the table, Charlie was alone.

"Alright, time for me to head out." Charlie said his final goodbyes to the Crowley's before getting up. "You want me to take you back home first Jules? I gotta run Bella out to the Cullen's."

"No, uh, I was actually thinking of going to the party." Charlie looked surprised. "Just cause, you know, I never really got to do this for myself. I just figured..." She shrugged.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Charlie nodded. "Maybe you can keep Bella away from Edward a bit." Juliet snorted.

"Is that an assignment, Chief?" Charlie rolled his eyes as they stepped out into the warm night.