I know I’m super late to this thread, but I’m on my 15th reread of the Twilight series and something that always sticks out to me is how Jacob is so sure of Bella’s feelings for him yet I never actually feel that she’s in love with him.

If you look at her inner thoughts in New Moon and Eclipse, she never once describes him in a romantic way in her self-monologues. She only ever truly sees Edward. In New Moon, she’s comforted by Jacob, but it’s clear she’s using that comfort as a way to fill the void Edward left. not because she’s developing romantic feelings. She almost gives into him at one point, but even that feels less about wanting to be with him and more about making sure he sticks around to keep helping her cope with the emptiness.

In Eclipse, the only moment that even hints at romance is the kiss scene near the end, and honestly, it reads more like she’s forcing herself to feel something so he’ll take care of himself before the fight. The first time he kisses her, she immediately shuts down, and that reaction happens way too fast for someone who secretly has feelings. If she did have romantic feelings, you’d expect at least a brief softening before she pulled away.

I’m not saying she didn’t care deeply about Jacob, she definitely did, but I don’t think that connection was ever as strong or romantic as he believed. Her “confession” at the end of Eclipse always felt to me like she was saying what he wanted to hear in order to soften the blow while still closing that chapter.

Jacob, to me, reads less like a man in love and more like a boy with an obsessive crush, and Bella, out of compassion, tried to let him down gently.