Chapter Two: Kicks and Flares - Jake
The church was packed. Heather was usually the one conducting the services; but today her place was taken by a fellow Minister from Port Angeles. Heather, wearing a mid-calf-length white dress, stood in front of him between Charlie on her right and Kael on her left. To the right of Charlie was my Dad, in the role of Best Man. In our front row pew on Charlie's side, sat Bella and Edward, Ness, Maggie (Billy's wife) and me. Behind us were Daniel and Stephanie and Charlie's friends and colleagues. Heather didn't have any family other than Kael, but the front couple of pews on her side were taken by some of her oldest friends and Jo-Jo, who was saving a place for Kael. Behind all of us, Heather's congregation and other people from Forks had packed themselves into the remaining pews and had lined the walls of the church. Heather was well liked in the town and many of the people here today weren't among her usual congregation. There were a high proportion of women here and Bella jokingly wondered whether they were here to see Heather and Charlie, or check out Kael in a suit. I was no judge of these things, but Bella assured me that Kael did look good. I only had eyes for Ness. She looked beautiful, if a million miles away, as she sat listening to the Minister taking Charlie and Heather through vows we had made just a few months earlier.
The moment Ness got around other people at the reception, she was the Ness I knew: Confident, chatty and smiling. She kept her arm around my waist and her thumb tucked into the waistband of my pants. We were the very model of a happy newly-married couple. Where her own mother had failed comically in those first couple of years she was in Forks, Ness was the consummate actress. You would never have guessed the state she'd been in this morning, as she chatted happily to everyone. Edward and Bella, Daniel and Stephanie, Kael, Charlie and Heather, all looked on with incredulity at how she could turn on the charm like a tap. The only sticky moment came when Margaret, one of Heather's Deacons, patted Ness's stomach and made a comment about there being plenty of time for babies. I felt Ness stiffen, but she didn't seem to make anything of it, simply saying that we'd get around to it in time. But as Margaret went to talk to someone else, I caught a glimpse of Ness's expression and it told a different story. Margaret's comment had caused more distress than she displayed. She went over to get a drink and Edward intercepted her, guiding her away from the free-flowing champagne and over to join in with those who were dancing. Guiding wasn't perhaps the right word; I could see the force that she was resisting her Dad with. But it made no difference; he was much stronger than she was. Bella came over to me and the pair of us watched, as in the gathering twilight, to the sounds of Glen Miller's Moonlight Serenade, Edward twirled his 'cousin' around the makeshift dance floor. Heather and Charlie, Daniel and Stephanie, Kael and Jo-Jo were also dancing. Jo-Jo was going on vacation tomorrow and Kael was heading out of Forks for a while to catch up with his his fellow fallen angels who lived in other parts of the world.
Ness didn't look happy at all. Edward appeared to be having stern words with her. I could see his lips moving quickly.
"What's he saying?" I whispered to Bella.
"He's not happy with her fixation of getting drunk and slaking her other thirst on Margaret." She whispered back, face averted from other lip-readers.
"Oh." I sighed. This wasn't the first time she'd caused Edward difficulties with her growing anger towards people. She was altogether less controlled, now that alcohol was becoming a larger part of her life. "As if things weren't bad enough." I added. Bella put her arms around me and hugged me. I reciprocated and put my arm around her shoulder. I couldn't help thinking about our discovery this morning and Edward looked at me when he picked up the thoughts in my head. He nodded once when I mentally asked if we could talk about it.
"You know that things are all lined up, the second Ness agrees to it." Said Bella, referring to the plans that Ness felt so trapped by.
"She doesn't like that we've done this, you know that."
"I know. Edward's told me. But it's her only option and hopefully, in time, she'll see it. When she does say yes we can swing right into action."
"I'm just concerned what state she'll be in before she does agree to it. That furrow on Edward's brow has been there all day. Her head can't be a happy place to be this close to."
"It isn't and he's struggling, but he knows that he has to be here. Is she still fine about Daniel and Stephanie coming to stay?"
"I think so," I said. "Although, she hasn't mentioned it since we talked about it. She seems to find it easier to be negative than positive, so I'm guessing that if she wasn't happy about it, then she'd have said something."
"It's going to be hard on her if Stephanie does get pregnant."
"I know. I take it everything checked out?" I looked over to Daniel and Stephanie.
"Yes. Stephanie's fine. It's been amusing though, watching Daniel try to keep his hands off her for the last two months while she's been off the pill." Bella and I laughing got Daniel's attention and he smirked and rolled his eyes at us, before returning his attention to Stephanie.
Daniel and Stephanie were coming to stay with us so they could try for a baby. If it happened, and it most likely would, it would be all over in a month; giving Stephanie the whole of August to recover, before she went back to teaching in September. That was the plan anyhow, but we couldn't guarantee these things. Stephanie had done what she could to get as fit and healthy as possible to withstand a hybrid pregnancy; but the birth itself would be the real test. Getting her the other side of that and still human was the greatest difficulty. I noticed Edward beckoning me over. I walked over and he yielded Ness to me.
"She needs to dance with you." He said quietly.
I looked down at her questioningly but her face held none of the hostility that it had done before. She seemed to be still acting the happy newlywed, so I held her in my arms and to my surprise she placed her face against my chest. It felt like a drink of water after a trek across the most barren desert. I'd ached for this and would take it whether she was acting or not. I gently kissed the top of her head and she looked up at me. She stretched upwards and for the first time in well over three weeks our lips touched. I held her a little more tightly and wished the kiss would last forever. But I didn't press her for more when she broke away. Her brown eyes searched mine, for what, I didn't know.
"Let's go home." She said suddenly.
"Don't you want to wait for Charlie and Heather to go?"
"I'm tired. You look tired too. I'm sure they won't mind. There are lots of other people still here and it's been ages since we spent time together."
"OK." I replied, taking whatever she said at face value. We said goodbye to Charlie and Heather and as we walked to the truck, Ness took my hand.
Her kisses weren't her usual ones, but they were kisses all the same. She was in my arms too, instead of camped out over the other side of the bed. And she wasn't drunk either which was a bonus, as she could really hurt me when she was oblivious to her own strength. Not that I would ever tell her that. To get any kind of time in bed with her these days was precious.
As we kissed she responded by pulling me closer and something more familiar and loving emerged in those kisses. Here she was, my girl, buried under all the heartache. After what felt like an eternity it was bliss to touch her skin again and feel the swell of her breast under my hands. She ran her hands over me and I allowed myself to savour her touch. I'd missed it so much. She kissed down my neck and I winced, as her razor-sharp teeth sank into the muscle high on my chest just below my shoulder. She didn't suck, she didn't want my blood the way she'd want other blood. It was her way of anchoring herself to me, her way of saying 'you're mine and don't you ever forget it'. Not that I ever would. Ness gave a low growl, her signal that she wanted me. I moved on top of her and almost instantly found myself on my back, sprawled on the floor several feet from the bed. I looked back at her in shock. She'd growled, I was positive I'd heard it. But her eyes were dead again.
"What's the point?" She said sadly and got out of bed.
I went over to her, making a grab for her hand as she went for the bedroom door. "Where are you going?"
"Mom and Dad's."
"What? Why?"
"I can't be with you, all you want is sex and I can't give you that."
"But you growled at me." I said, unsure now whether I'd heard right. Perhaps in my desire for her I'd imagined it?
"I didn't growl!" She snapped.
"OK. I'm sorry, I must have imagined it. But you don't need to go over to the cottage; there are eleven other bedrooms here if you don't want to sleep with me."
"OK." She sighed. "I won't go over. But I need some air." She pulled away again and went downstairs. "I'm going out."
"In your pyjamas?"
"Yeah. I'll go hunt up a mountain lion, ha ha." The laugh was mirthless and a throw back to a happier time last summer.
I heard the click of the front door as it closed behind her. I went to the window and looked out, but she was already gone. She wouldn't want me following her, I knew from her angry phase how well that went down. It would be better for me to let her run it off.
I thought about what had just happened. No, she'd growled, I hadn't made that up. She had wanted me, but something had stopped her. She was starting to over think it now and worrying about it wasn't going to help matters. I closed my eyes and thought of those happier times; of those weeks on Isle Esmé when not even air could get between us. I'd call Esmé tomorrow and see if I could take Ness there on vacation. Perhaps being in a place that she loved so much would ease her worries and help her relax. I'd caught a glimpse of my Ness and I needed to do everything I could to focus on that girl; not this dead-eyed one who was now out in the forest somewhere. Doing what? Was Ness the one who'd killed the young woman that we'd found? Should I call Jared and ask him to keep an eye out for her tonight? She'd be incandescent with anger at me if I did; but at the same time I was duty-bound to protect human life, even if it was from my wife. I picked up my phone and texted Jared asking him to keep a look-out for her. I didn't say why though. That was something that I was still struggling to admit to. I got back into bed and grabbed her pillow, inhaling her scent and remembering a time when a seductive growl from Ness was the thing I looked forward to most in the world.
But in the morning when I awoke Ness wasn't beside me. I went downstairs and found her passed out on the living room sofa, a three-quarters empty bottle of vodka on the table in front of her. Her feet were filthy; she'd definitely been out running. She'd been hunting too; there was dried blood around her mouth. Jared had replied that none of his pack had seen her. I carried her back to bed and left her to sleep it off. In the kitchen, more empty food packaging in the bin told me that she'd made a night of it. She'd finished up almost a full loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. Her dirty footprints trailed over the white tiled floor and as I waited for the coffee to filter through, I washed the floor down and made a list of what needed to be done before Stephanie and Daniel got here. It was a lot and I could have done with someone who could work at vampire speed to help me with it. But I'd manage and they'd understand if it wasn't all perfect when they arrived.
