Summary:
Years after Breaking Dawn, this is a story
told from one of the imprints of one of the seven new werewolves in
the Quileute Werewolf pack.
Ailish,
the imprint, realizes she has fallen in love with her best friend -
will he reject her or will he be more than ecstactic that they will
be together? If everything works out, will something terrible and
heartbreaking happen in the end? If there are so many Choices for
her, will she be able to cope and handle the
sticky-situations?
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. PrefaceI walked to the end of the cliff and looked down to the sea below. He promised he would always be with me, god dammit! There was no point in living if he wasn't with me. I jumped off the cliff, falling into the water, not bothering to hold my breath as I slowly sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Chapter 1
As I walked into the freezing winter night, I thought about what I would tell him.
Maybe I would say I was moving to Africa.
Lame.
Maybe I would tell him he held no attraction for me anymore. Ha! So wrong! Steve was probably the most handsome and unpredictable guy I'd ever met. And when I say unpredictable I mean that you would never expect a guy like Steve, popular jock of the school, to be sweet, sensible, and caring. But he always did catch me off guard occasionally with his constantly changing mood swings. I mean yeah sure once in a while he would have a few too many drinks and he might be hardcore and rude, but only I knew that he could be my perfect kind of guy. I loved him. Until I met ~gulp~ Taylor.
I can't help who I feel for. Taylor just suddenly came into my life and took over and I barely had a choice. Taylor is just so irresistible. It's not like he's popular or abusive to try to keep you in the relationship. His eyes were like a beautiful mysterious lullaby keeping you locked there. You never want to look away. You never want to let go.
Gosh, here I go again distracting myself. I need to focus on what I'm going to say to a handsome 17 year old with wavy bronze hair and baby blue eyes.
I better tell him the truth. Don't I owe him a good explanation of why I would be breaking up with him when our relationship was going perfectly? I would just tell him I have feelings for another guy and that I don't think it's fair to him that I keep seeing him.
Maybe he won't even come tonight, hopefully, I mean he is 30 minutes late. But I knew why. He called me and told me that his car broke down.
While sitting in front of the Italian restaurant I remembered what the name was: Bella Notte, which means Beautiful Night. I laughed, it wasn't even close to a beautiful night. It was freezing out here, but that's just probably because I let my sister dress me in these skimpy clothes of hers. Huge mistake.
"Ailish!"
I sighed deeply, it was
him.
"I'm so sorry I was late! I knew that stupid car was gonna break down one day! Let's get inside. We better hurry; my reservations were at 7:30. What time is it?"
"7:47"
"Aw, shit."
I cleared my throat.
"Oh yeah, sorry. I meant 'aw shoot'!"
I laughed weakly as we walked in. I was freezing. I wished he'd offer me his jacket, but that would be asking too much considering the fact that I was breaking up with him tonight.
I shivered and he looked at me with a sense of understanding.
"Oh 'shoot' your cold. Here, take my jacket."
I couldn't it was way too much to ask from him.
"No, that's alright, I'm not that cold."
Too late. His jacket was already on my shoulders. Monday at school I'm gonna talk to him about insisting way too much. Monday? I'm pathetic, I thought I was gonna break up with him tonight.
When we walked in, there was no seating hostess to be seen and the place was deserted. Hm, how strange.
We were sitting on the benches in the restaurant talking nonchalantly for about 10 minutes before Steve snapped.
"Hello? Where the hell are the seating people in this damn place? I thought it was a 5 star restaurant!
"Let's just go back. I don't have any patience with poor service," Steve yelled loudly.
A pretty woman emerged from the side door, "Can I help you 'sir'? She said the last word menacingly.
"Yeah, actually you can. We need a table for 2, a private booth, if you can arrange that."
W-o-w. I just noticed he looked amazing. His wavy bronze hair was longer, well atleast looked longer than usual. And his muscles were perfect, although you could barely see them underneath his blue pin striped shirt, which was too loosely worn for my taste. But, his jeans were tightly worn, which made him look extremely sexy.
I saved his eyes for last; while taking him in like I always did. While staring into those beautiful baby blue eyes I always went to my happy place.
"Certainly, right this way."
As she led us to our table, I noticed Steve was sweating. Weird. Steve never sweated unless he was nervous for a football game or he didn't study for a test good enough (his old man would always be on his butt about how if he didn't get a scholarship to college for football, grades would be the only other way in). Like I said, unpredictable.
We sat down at our booth and I was deep in thought. I never noticed I was staring him down, until I suddenly realized it. Oops, he must feel self-conscious. I bit my lip and turned away.
Wait, he was staring me down too. Now I felt self-conscious.
"You sure look beautiful tonight," Steve said coolly
What? Me? No way, why was he looking at me that way; like ~gulp~ he loved me.
This was gonna be harder than I thought.
"Thanks. You do too." I snorted 'You do too'? What was wrong with me?
He laughed, "Thanks I guess." He smiled and winked at me.
"Hello! My name is Wendy and I'll be your server tonight! Can I get you two anything?" Wow, she sure liked to smile a lot.
Steve gestured towards me; such a gentleman, "I'll have a…Dr. Pepper."
"Make that two," Steve said in his flirtatious voice
"Alright! I'll be right back!" Gosh, she was still smiling.
Under my breath I mumbled, "Don't hurry back."
"So, what's good here?" I said casually
"Have no idea. Never been here." His voice was a little shaky
"Oh"
"Yeah so I asked you out tonight because I have to get something off my chest."
"K, shoot"
"Well…wait smiley the waitress is coming back." He grinned the smile he knew I couldn't resist.
I would've laughed but my stomach suddenly felt queasy.
"Here you are, two Dr. Peppers! Anything else I can get y…"
"Nope we're good. I'll call you back when we're ready."
"Okay!" she was still smiling as she practically skipped away
Oh, I felt terrible. I was dizzy and I had a splitting headache. And my stomach felt like someone kicked me in it.
I knew why I felt like this: 1. I get overly stressed out about everything and especially about tonight with what I was going to do. 2. I took Tylenol for my splitting headache today. I could never quite get down Tylenol. What was I thinking? I would probably throw up right then and there.
Steve looked up at me smiling, then his smile turned down at the edges, "Ail you don't look so good. Maybe you should go to the restroom. Do you need me to carry you there?"
"No, I'm fine, I'll be right back"
I ran to the restroom as
fast as I could, but running was practically walking
for me while
I was sick. Steve was right at my side in an instant and picked me up
and ran to the restroom.
Uh oh, motion sickness…
I
threw up all over the ground. Thank God it didn't splat all over
Steve, it would've ruined his night even worse. Atleast I didn't
throw up that much.
I felt terrible. Right now I felt even worse than before I threw up, not because I had to throw up more, but because Steve was holding me like never before. He was stroking my hair and caressing my back like, he loved me and wanted to be with me forever. It felt like this moment would never end until the stupid, smiley waitress walked by and saw the throw up all over the ground.
"What happened? Honey did you get sick?" It was the first time I hadn't seen her smile
I sniffled, and I just realized I was crying, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Um, I'll clean this up, uh Wendy. Go back to wherever you go on your break. I'll just need a mop."
"Are you sure about that? We can get the janitor to come immediately."
"I'm positive. Now a mop, please?" His voice sounded strained
"Sure," and she walked away
I knew that I couldn't break up with him tonight. This moment was just too perfect for me to end it. I couldn't imagine my life without him now.
I looked into his
baby blue eyes with my watery hazel green eyes, and I
wanted to
kiss him so badly. His lips and face looked so soft and tender. He
reminded me of…Taylor.
I looked away from him. Every time I thought of Taylor it made me feel guilty that I was with Steve. Even though Taylor had given me a choice and said whomever I chose would be my own decision and as long as it made me happy he would never be angry with me.
Steve pulled my face back to his to look into his eyes and I turned away again. I would've kissed him, but I probably had bad breath because of me throwing up.
"I had better get to the bathroom to, uh, freshen up."
"Yeah, good idea. I'd better go get the mop, It doesn't seem like that waitress is gonna get it."
I felt awkward and I'm sure he did too, looking at each other like this but I turned my head and walked away. I wanted to hurry to bathroom; I probably looked like hell.
When I walked in, it smelled terrible. I suspected someone was in here, so I kept quiet; I didn't want to embarrass the person.
Uh, I hated motion activated sinks. Oh well.
I started to wash my hands and splash water on my face, when I heard a knock at the door. I guessed it was Steve. Before I went to open the door, I gargled some water just in case. When I opened the door I couldn't believe who it was. Taylor? What was he doing here? Shocked, I tried to hug him, but he pushed me away. Unthinkingly I tried to hug him again, but he still pushed me away. I wondered what was wrong with him. I tried to ask him, but I couldn't find my voice.
"Ailish," he said with much sadness in his voice, "How could you? I give you freedom to choose whoever you want and this is how you repay me?"
"Well, just like you said, you gave me freedom and I took it. I don't know what to say, Taylor. I love you. I love him. I'm confused."
"Don't be 'cuz there's only two options: 1. come with me. 2. stay with him."
"But I can't make a choice yet! I still haven't decided, why are you pressuring me like this?" Agony was obvious in my voice, but I hid it; didn't want him to see my weakness
"Because I love you. I want you. Right now."
"I want you too but…"
"No. I can't take it anymore. You have to choose. Now."
I couldn't think straight. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my eardrums. Blood rushed to my cheeks. He knows I can't be put on the spot like this.
What do I do? Who do I choose?
"That's a long enough pause to know who you chose. Goodbye, Ailish. I will always love you." His eyes were full of tears while he walked solemnly away
At seeing him almost crying, I started balling, "NO! Taylor, come back, please! I choose you! I love you!"
He disappeared past the corner and I was on my knees hyperventilating. I started hearing faint voices from far away that sounded like, "Honey? You okay? Wake up." But after that, I blacked out.
I woke up in my room. How the hell did I get here?
My Mom was laying on the end of my bed, probably waiting for me to wake up. She heard me moan and sat directly up and looked at me with sadness in her eyes. I hope she didn't know what happened with Taylor. I gulped. I didn't want to know either but his grim expression when he left kept coming back into my head and his last words kept repeating over and over again: "Goodbye, Ailish. I will always love you."
I looked at my Mom and said, "What happened? How did I get here?"
"Well you were in the restaurant and you were running to the bathroom because you felt sick or something like that and then you tripped over the stairs and hit your head pretty darn hard. You've got a bump on your head the size of a baseball."
I touched it and cried out in pain. Geez, the bump was big.
"So wait, after that I blacked out?"
"Yup. Steve drove you back here 'cuz he knows I used to be a nurse. So here you are."
Realization
hit me. Taylor never left me! He never said any of those hurtful
words to me and his pained expression never happened! I laughed. He
was
probably sitting at home on his couch eating a bag of Cheetos
watching SpongeBob like the little kid he is.
Mom looked at me questioningly, wondering why I laughed.
"So is Steve still here?" I hoped he wasn't. I didn't want him to see me like this.
"No he left at around 10:30." 10:30? What time was it?
"What time is it?"
"Uh," she looked at the clock, "12:44"
Crap. I missed my show, "Oh"
"Yeah. I don't know if you wanna see him, but Taylor's here."
"Yeah! Why didn't you tell me before?"
I jumped out of bed but
immediately fell back. Woah head rush.
"Hey you need to rest.
Sit down."
"Only if you bring Taylor in here."
"Okay, okay! So pushy." She walked out of the room mumbling something that sounded like 'If I didn't know better, Taylor is more than her best friend.'
Realization hit me again. Steve was never holding me like that. Or was he? Maybe while he was carrying me to his car he was? I don't know. I don't care. I just want Taylor. And Taylor only. All I know is that I love Taylor and I want him right here. Right now. Forever.