How It All Goes Down
Treaty
- Life has gone back to normal. The Cullens have moved back to town. Carlisle works at the hospital again. Edward and Bella are back in school.
- Bella is under house arrest, aside from school and work, and Edward has strict visiting hours. He helps her catch up on school and prepare for college.
- Bella misses Jacob, but he doesn’t answer her calls. Edward thinks Bella should keep her distance:
"The enmity is rooted too deep… He’s very young. It would most likely turn into a fight, and I don’t know if I could stop before I k––." (24.22) - Bella remembers that Jacob feels the same way about Edward. Their hostile relationship brings Bella back to her own version of Romeo and Juliet, starring Edward as Romeo and Jacob as Paris: "They fight. Paris falls" (24.28).
- Arriving home from work, Bella and Edward find her motorcycle parked right next to Charlie’s cruiser in the driveway. Bella is livid, because Jacob has betrayed her trust.
- Jacob is there with his wolf pack. The hostility between him and Edward is palpable. Nevertheless, Edward thanks Jacob for saving Bella’s life and asks if there is anything he can do for him. Yes. Jacob wants him to stay away from Bella. Of course that doesn’t fly with Bella.
- So Jacob explains that the specifics of the treaty state "If any of [the vampires] bite a human, the truce is over. Bite, not kill" (Epilogue.97).
- In other words, if Bella becomes a vampire the werewolves will attack the Cullens. Charlie, who has just discovered Bella’s motorcycle, interrupts their meeting.
- Before Edward shuttles Bella away, she vows to herself, "I would find a way to keep my friend" (Epilogue.140).
- Bella acknowledges that she’s up against some serious problems: if she doesn’t become a vampire, the Volturi will kill her. If she does, the werewolves are going to attack her future family. Her only comfort is that Edward is with her:
Edward was here, with his arms around me… I could face anything as long as that was true. (Epilogue.149-150)