❝ Where are you now?

Was it all in my fantasy?

Where are you now?

Were you only imaginary? ❞

𓆩⛥𓆪

Whoever said that love's farewell was all sweet and tender was an absolute dickhead that had never been broken up with. Because from what Jo was witnessing, she could conclude that love's farewell brought nothing but heart-wrenching agony.

Bella was totally catatonic. Even as Sam Uley carried her all the way back to Charlie's house in silence — while Jo chatted away about the most random of subjects to ease the tension and draw Sam's attention away from the fact that Jo was eyeing his suspiciously Wolf-like tattoo. Actually, Bella's state was so bad that she didn't not speak — or even blink really — when Charlie tried to speak to her.

So, being the amazing friend that she is, Jo helped Charlie take his daughter upstairs and run her a bath in hopes that the water would be what would gently shock her out of her stupor. Charlie left the room while Jo helped Bella scrub the dirt off of her cold, pale skin before helping her out of the bath and into a pair of comfy clothes.

Bella did not say a word still, even as Jo sat with her in her room, just staring at the ceiling. It wasn't exactly easy to see.

To say Jo felt guilty would be an understatement. In a way, she felt that she was responsible for this. If she hadn't been so caught up in her own world, focusing more on a cake than the blood thirsty vampire in the same room as the girl with a paper cut, perhaps Jo could have prevented Edward's mind from spiralling and, in doing so, saved Bella from having to go through such a pain.

When Jo had just about given up on getting Bella to talk — or really just say anything other than "he's gone" — Jo stood and made her way to the door. She stopped and sighed, feeling guilty for leaving her in such a state. So, she turned back to the other girl.

"Look, Bells, I know it sucks now but it'll get better. I mean, it's not like he died or anything. Trust me, once he realises what a dick move this was, he'll come crawling right back. Maybe just... take this time for yourself. It could be good for you," she suggested, internally cringing at her shitty pep talk.

"How?" Bella breathed, her voice small and meek like a wounded animal, so quiet that Jo almost missed it, "How is this supposed to be good? I spent the entire school day waiting for him and I spend every second of every day with him, thinking about how much I love him. So how am I supposed to live without him?"

Jo should've said something heartfelt and true right then, something that could help change Bella's perspective on the whole situation. But all that came out was: "You mean he spent the entire day procrastinating on telling you that he was leaving? Jesus, what a wuss."

Yup, this is why Harper tells her never to give people advice.

Jo winced at her own insensitivity when she saw the heartbroken look on Bella's face. She really did look like she was falling apart from the inside out.

"You knew?" She whispered and like Edward's, Bella's voice reminded Jo of a thousand shards of glass, fractured and broken beyond repair.

"No— well, yeah but not really, I—" Jo groaned and threw her head back before marching back over to Bella and sitting back down on her bed with a sigh.

"You know, when Harper left... I was devastated," she started, anxiously fiddling with her fingers, "You know that I smoke like a chimney now but back then I was totally clean and when she left... I relapsed and— god, it felt like my entire life was spiralling."

Bella watched as Jo took a shaky breath, pressing her palms to her eyes before running her hands down her face. For the moment Bella listened intently to the only person that she seemed to respond to.

"I don't— Uh... I don't wanna... bore you with the details but the point is that it was a really dark time. But I had to go through it. Because I was gonna support Harper and respect her wishes because she's my best friend and I love her and... and, somehow, while stumbling through that darkness... I found me. I found a purpose. Something to work towards... something to keep me going."

"You mean... being the Thunderbird?" Bella asked, her voice slowly steadying.

Jo smiled softly.

"Yeah," she answered, "And I never would've been able to do that if Harper hadn't made the choice to leave. Neither of us would have been able to become our own, separate people,"

"Look, all I'm trying to say is..." Jo sighed and cursed quietly under her breath as she struggled to find the words, "Bella. Edward loved you. And I mean really loved you. And sometimes when you love someone, you have to do what's best for them. Edward left because he thought that it was what's best for you."

"But he said that wasn't good enough for him," Bella cried, "He told me that he didn't want me."

Jo rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please, he didn't mean any of that," she stated confidently.

"You think so?" She asked like a heartbroken child, scooting closer to Jo's side.

"I know so."

Bella leaned into Jo's side and Jo awkwardly gritted her teeth and lifted her arm to wrap it around Bella.

"Edward had your best interests at heart, okay? And maybe, if you take this time for yourself then... when he does come back, you can be with him knowing that you don't need to be with him. Does that make sense?"

Bella sniffled.

"Yeah," she whispered, "I think so."

The broken girl chuckled as more tears streamed down her face.

"You know, Jo, you're not so bad at this," Bella told her.

𓆩⛥𓆪

Jo didn't go home that night. Instead, she drove over to Grams's place where she would crash for the night. When Jo stepped into the house — because, unsurprisingly, the girl had a key — Grams was on the couch, sound asleep with the tv still playing and a near-empty glass of whiskey set on the coffee table before her.

Jo sighed, switching the tv off and taking the whiskey glass to the kitchen sink — but not before downing the last tiny sip — before she reached for a blanket to drape over Grams's sleeping form. Just as she did so, however, something caught Jo's eye. An old, worn out, black and white picture that rested on Grams's chest, the woman's hand holding it to her heart.

Slowly, Jo slipped the photo out from Grams's grasp, being careful not to wake her, and cautiously backed up to sit on the Lay-Z-Boy beside the couch.

It was a black and white photo of a young man and woman. The man was handsome, with sharp, chiselled features and long, shiny hair and muscles so defined they could've given Emmett and Paul's a run for their money. In the photo, the man was looking down, with so much love in his eyes, at the woman pulled close to his side whose breathtaking beauty was unparalleled. She smiled up at him, arms wrapped around his torso and eyes bright with a love that Jo has never known. It made her wonder who on Earth these people could be.

But as Jo looked closer at the smiling woman, her features became more and more familiar by the second and she came to realise that this woman was Grams.

Jo turned the photograph over to see what was scribbled onto the back.

"Maggie and John 2 weeks before their wedding," Jo read aloud.

Holy shit. Grams had a husband?

Jo didn't know why but she could never picture Grams as someone's wife. She seemed too free and strong, too outspoken and independent to be tied down to some man. But there was no mistaking that the woman in the photo was Maggie Stonewall and the look of pure elation on her face was one that Jo had never seen on Grams face before. It made her look so different, almost unrecognisable, like the woman in the photo was a completely different person.

Jo looked up at Grams's sleeping form with pity. She must've lost him somehow. Why else wouldn't he be with her now, Jo figured.

"Don't you look at me like that," Grams suddenly scolded, her eyes still closed.

Jo's eyes widened with surprise. She turned her head, looking around the room to see if there was anyone else present. Was Grams talking to her?

"Yes, I'm talking to you, Johara," she said in her hoarse, sleepy voice as if reading Jo's mind, "And you better wipe that look off your face and go to bed before I do it for you."

"Yes ma'am," Jo immediately responded, knowing Grams was 100% percent serious and got super cranky when woken up — you know the rule 'never wake a sleeping baby'? Well, Harper and Jo had their own version of that: never wake a sleeping Grams.

So, Jo quietly crept upstairs to Harper's old room and, once the door was safely shut, she pulled out her phone and dialled Harper's number.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Harper's groggy voice snapped over the phone.

Similarly, to the Grams rule, Jo had her own rule for Harper: never wake a sleeping Harper. Ever. But seeing as she was on the other side of the country, Jo decided to take her chances.

"Yeah sorry," Jo said shortly, dismissing her friend's annoyance, "Question: did you know Grams was married?"

"Ugh, could this not wait till morning?!" Harper demanded.

"Ummm... technically it is morning where you are," she retorted, "And just answer the question."

Harper sighed.

"Yeah, of course I knew. Takes two to tango remember? Or do we need to have 'The Talk'?" She mocked.

Jo'a face scrunched with disgust.

"No, no. I think I got it," she assured, "But what happened? With Grams and the guy?"

"Well, Grams doesn't really like to talk about it but from what Mom's told me they were insanely in love — like Edward and Bella but healthy." Harper tiredly explained.

"Holy shit. Is that even possible?"

"You're asking the wrong person, hon."

"What? Why? I thought things with that Julia chick were good? What happened?" Jo asked, concern side-tracking their conversation.

"Yeah... turns out she was just looking for a fling before she went off to college," Harper said sadly, "And, as my luck would have it, she had a boyfriend and didn't want anyone to know about us and— everything just became so overcomplicated."

"Oh, Harp, I'm so sorry," Jo said, sympathy naturally filling her voice when she tried to comfort Harper, unlike how difficult she found it to show sympathy and care with others like Bella, "Screw her. You deserve so much better, you hear me?"

"Yeah. Screw her."

"I say you ditch her and those other dumb New York shitbags and come hang out here with the best people on the planet," Jo suggested hopefully.

Jo could somehow feel Harper playfully roll her eyes.

"Oh, yeah," Harper laughed, "I could sure use some more of that refreshing La Push modesty in my life," she remarked sarcastically before adding, "I have actually been thinking about it... moving back but... I don't know— it doesn't matter. What were we talking about?"

Now, Jo and Harper had always been close. Thick as thieves, practically joined at the hip those two. They could talk about anything no matter how shameful and embarrassing or emotional and heart-wrenching but even they had their boundaries. And they both understood that some things just needed more time before they could be said aloud. And Jo knew exactly when Harper was truly not ready to talk about something. So, respecting Harper's boundaries, Jo back-tracked to what she originally wanted to ask.

"Oh yeah!" She realised, "Grams's husband. I wanted to know what happened to him."

"Well, again, I don't know much since Grams didn't really like to talk about it. But when my mom was a kid, there was a period of time where Grams had to go away for "work" a lot," Harper recalled.

"Work? You mean like Thunderbird stuff?" Jo queried with furrowed brows.

"I guess so, yeah," Harper assumed, "My mom said that there was some accident. Grams like got into this crazy fight with someone from work. Apparently it got real bloody."

"Shit, really?" She commented with surprise.

"Yeah, it was like a whole thing. Anyway, something went wrong at work and there was a lot of collateral damage. My grandpa, John Stonewall, being part of that collateral damage," Harper said.

"Damn," Jo breathed sitting down onto the edge of Harper's bed, "That's horrible. Poor Grams."

"Yeah. Mom says she was never the same after that. I mean, she was still Grams but not quite as... full and happy, you know?"

Jo sighed and bit her lip, shaking her head.

"I can't even imagine what that must've been like."

"I don't know exactly what happened but whatever it was, Mom says Grams blames herself like crazy for what happened to him."

Jo sighed and walked over to the window, phone still held up to her ear as she looked out at the forest with a mixed emotions, it was the kind of conflicted look you'd see on a face that was worn and creased with age but not that of one still so youthful and pure. There was once a time when Jo would look out at that forest with nothing but wonder and innocence in her eyes but now, her eyes bore the weight of a crushing knowledge too heavy for such a young mind to behold.

Grams had always told Jo that while this whole Thunderbird 'gig' was sweet, it was also dangerous and would come at a great cost. Jo had always thought that if the Thunderbird was so powerful then surely nothing bad could happen to them. But she never thought about how those around her would be impacted by her new life. How the people she loved could be put in such grave danger for merely associating with her. Now, all Jo could think about was what it would be like to be put in Grams's position. If Jo were to slip up, if she got someone hurt or worse... Harper, Grams, hell, even Jacob! She couldn't bare the thought of being responsible for hurting someone she loved.

And suddenly, Jo had a newfound understanding and respect for Edward and his choice to leave, even if it was a ridiculous and impulsive one.

"You ever miss the old days when our biggest problem was failing a Chem test?" Jo asked Harper, trying to drag her mind away from the thoughts that plagued her.

Harper scoffed.

"All the time, babe, all the damn time."