As always, Stephenie Meyer owns everything.
Enjoy!
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The question is not, Can they reason? Nor, Can they talk? But, Can they suffer?
-Jeremy Bentham
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Chapter 2: 80s Hair Metal = Chicken Soup for Bella's soul
Jacob POV
I would do anything for Bella Swan.
She had to know that. I mean, I was sitting in the same room as a leech for this girl!
I'm an idiot, but for Bells, I would inhale toxic fumes – which is basically what I was doing until the leech got all clairvoyant on us. We were just trying to decide how best to keep Bella alive, when the vamp's eyes glazed over.
"Oh, Bella…"
She looked worried and my mind leapt to the redhead. Bella must have been thinking the same thing. She didn't respond verbally, but all of the blood drained from her face.
"Bella…"
This time Bella spoke.
"What is it, Alice?" Her voice was lifeless, and I could tell she was on the verge of wrapping her arms around herself.
"Bella, I need you to breathe and trust me, okay?"
The leech leaned into Bella's personal space. That was all I could stand without getting involved. I moved to Bella's side on the couch. Bella began to breathe like she was in labor.
"What's up?"
I guess the leech had forgotten I was there, which I couldn't imagine since apparently I smelled just as bad to her as she did to me.
Next thing I knew, I was being kicked out.
"Nothing, Bella and I need to have some girl talk. Can you leave us for a little while?"
Girl Talk…yeah, right. I have sisters. I know what "girl talk" looks like and this was not about to be it.
"What about – "
I didn't even get to finish the sentence.
"Don't worry about Victoria right this minute. I don't see her anywhere near here at the moment. After I speak to Bella, you and I can finish up, okay?"
Don't worry about her? What was this parasite smoking?
...or should I say sucking?
I turned to Bella to make sure she was okay with it. I'd go along with what she wanted, even if leaving her alone with the leech made my flesh crawl. Besides, at least I could get some air free of vampire funk.
"Um….okay. Just go for a run, Jake. We should be done by the time you get back…?"
The blood sucker nodded.
Well, I'm off like a dirty shirt…
I left through the back door and ran into the woods to phase. This was as good a time as any to check in with the pack. They knew I was going to try to coordinate with the leech and I needed to update them.
Embry and Paul were on patrol while everyone else went to Harry Clearwater's funeral. Embry noticed me first.
Jake! Dude, that was fast! We thought you wouldn't be done for at least another half-hour… Is everything okay?
Rather than answer, I just let my mind run through the last few minutes leading up to my dismissal.
Embry: Girl talk?? Seems fishy…
Me: Yeah, I know, but if it's what Bells wants…
Paul: Jake, you left her with the leech??!?!
Embry: Ha!…I bet you smell awful!
He was probably right, but that didn't mean he had to mention it.
Me: I do…thank for the reminder, Em. I'm gonna run for a few hours and give them some time. I'll check in with you guys later.
Paul: Make sure you run through the river a couple times before you come back to the rez…wouldn't want to-
I phased back to my human form before I could hear the rest. I love the guys, but sometimes I just need to live in my head by myself.
Running in my human form was almost as freeing as running in my wolf form. The vamp free air was amazing. Twenty minutes cooped up in a small room with a vampire was enough to make any wolf appreciate nature just that much more. I didn't make a sound. The ground seemed to cushion my footfalls. Animals got out of my way…not like they do for the leeches. The animals in the forest didn't fear us. They knew we were brothers of the wolf and respected our personal space.
After hours of running – and a few dips in the river- I figured it was about time I headed back. The sun was going down and at the very least Charlie should be home from the funeral. They couldn't possibly keep Charlie out of his own house under the pretense of "girl talk"…and if Charlie was in, then so was I.
* * *
As I neared the house, I was not assaulted by the stench of vamp so I got excited.
Maybe Bella didn't like whatever the parasite had to say and had kicked her out or something…
It wasn't until I was in the backyard that I realized that though Charlie's scent was strong (hell, I could hear him snoring upstairs) Bella's scent had faded a little too. Dread began to pool in my gut as I approached the back door. To the right of the stoop, I saw a folded piece of paper with my name on it in Bella's hand writing. I picked it up…the contents of the note didn't help my stomach one bit.
Jake-
I am going to spend some time at Alice's.
Edward is coming back and I need to find out what he wants.
I think the rest of the Cullens are coming back too.
You should probably warn the pack.
I'll be fine, Jake. Try not to worry.
-Bella
"Try not to worry"…the girl had lost her mind. I started to shake so hard, I knew I had moments before I phased. I turned on my heel and bolted for the tree line. I made it, but barely had enough time to strip before I wolfed out.
Jacob, what's going on?
Sam was phased. Great. I wasn't in the mood for an authority figure.
Me: Sam, they're coming back, and she's with them…IN THEIR HOUSE!
Sam: Jacob, come home.
Me: Sam, I gotta go get her first!
Sam: Come back now, Jake. You will stay at the rez tonight…if she needs you tomorrow, then you can go to her.
That was an order. I couldn't disobey. I wouldn't even be able to get my paws to move in any direction other than home. The whole "can't disobey an order from the Alpha" thing was getting old.
Me: Fine.
I phased back to human form before running full tilt through the trees back toward the rez. Bella always needed me. I was going to go find her as soon as the sun rose. Sam was on my front steps, but he could tell that I was fuming, so he let me go into my house without another word. I could hear my dad breathing heavily. He was definitely asleep. I went to my room and closed the door behind me. Dawn couldn't come quickly enough.
* * *
Bella POV
While Alice went upstairs to pack my overnight bag, I left a note for Charlie on the kitchen table and one for Jacob on the back porch. The one for Charlie said I was going to spend the night at Alice's and where to find the leftovers. In the note, I said that Alice was homesick, but wasn't ready to go back to her family. She wanted to spend the night in her old house so that she could feel close to them. I was going with her because she was scared to be in the house by herself. Even if he didn't know that Alice was a vampire and would never be scared in the house by herself, it was a horrible excuse. Luckily, I was convinced that Charlie wouldn't be in the right frame of mind to think too much about it. Knowing Charlie, he would want some alone time after the funeral anyway.
The note for Jacob explained about Edward and the rest of the Cullens coming back. I knew Jake would be back soon and would probably panic when he found out about Edward, but he would need to know so he could warn the other wolves.
I also knew that Edward coming back was a big deal…for everyone, but especially for me. I still wasn't sure how it was going to work out or why it was even happening. He didn't want me, but maybe he still wanted me to be safe. Maybe he realized that it was safer to change me and wanted to be here when it happened. HA! Yeah, right…
Alice drove Carlisle's Mercedes like a demon, but I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I didn't even notice how fast she was going until I looked up and realized that we had made it to her house. It had taken less than 10 minutes.
Alice turned to me just as I was about to get out.
"Bella, I'm going to go get your truck…. I think you may want it later."
I wasn't sure why I would want my truck, but this was Alice I was talking to, so it made no sense to me to argue.
"Sure, sure…I'll just wait here…will that be okay?"
Alice knew that I wasn't asking for permission, but for confirmation that I wouldn't be found here by Victoria, the homicidal red head, while she was gone.
"You'll be fine, Bella. I would never leave you if I didn't know you were going to be safe. The front door is open, so you can wait inside if you want. It won't take me long."
With that, she gave me the trademark Alice smile, bounded out of the car and was gone. I got my bag out of the car and headed for the front door. I didn't get a chance to tell her I still had the keys to my Chevy in my pocket. Then again, she probably knew that too and didn't need them.
The house wasn't as strange as the last time I came here, back when I was trying to have one of my auditory hallucinations. Now that Alice was back, the house was familiar again, but it still unnerved me to go inside so I sat down on the front steps and tried to get my mind to focus.
It wasn't working. I just couldn't come up with a logical motive for Edward to come back. Alice said he was coming to check up on me, but that couldn't be right. Why would he check on someone he didn't want anymore? The hole in my chest began to burn around the edges. He makes no sense. One day he says he loves me, the next he says he doesn't want me anymore. It isn't even like he lied to me in an attempt to seduce me. I mean, I would have let him do anything with me he wanted – hell, I had known he wanted to kill me and basically offered myself up on a platter- but he never took advantage of me, like most hormone-driven young men would have.
Then again, Edward was never remotely close to acting like a horny teenage boy. At that thought, I heard my Chevy coming up the drive.
Alice parked and was at my side with my bag slung over her shoulder and a plastic shopping bag in her hand before I could blink.
"What are you doing out here, Silly?"
"Just thinking…"
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Alice looked at me with such concern. I felt bad for making her worry.
"No, its fine…so what's the plan?"
"Well, Carlisle and the others should be here around 1 am. They're flying in from Alaska….Edward should be here shortly after that."
"Right…okay."
"Let's go inside, Bella. I grabbed some food from your house..." She held up the plastic shopping bag.
"I'll make you dinner…We can watch a movie—it'll be fun!" Alice grabbed my hand, pulling me into the house and up the stairs, toward Edward's room. As we reached the door, I tried to protest but she was too quick. The breeze that hit me as she opened the door was saturated with Edward's scent. I can't do this…
"Alice…not here…" My voice was barely above a whisper as I felt my stomach knot with longing.
I missed him so badly already and seeing his room…smelling him…it made the aching in my chest escalate to a stabbing sensation that almost brought me to my knees. The emotions that had been swimming in circles in my head began to ricochet off the walls of my mind and bounce around at odd angles.
Alice seemed to understand immediately.
"Bella, it's okay. I just have to grab something... I'm going to put your bag in my room and you can sleep on the couch. Is that okay? The family will be back in the wee hours of the morning so the all of the rooms will be occupied by the time you wake up."
All of the rooms…my stomach lurched.
"Yeah…that'll be fine. Thanks, Alice."
Alice was in and out of Edward's room in seconds, returning with a small box in her hands. I wanted to know what was in it, but couldn't bring myself to ask. Edward wasn't my business anymore. She closed the door to Edward's room and we retreated back down the hallway. After Alice tossed my bag beside the door to her room and slipped the box somewhere in the back of her closet, we went back down stairs to the kitchen.
Alice had brought leftover lasagna from my refrigerator and Breyer's Natural Vanilla ice cream from my freezer.
I couldn't help but laugh at her as she tried to heat up the lasagna, plastic Tupperware and all, into the oven at 500 degrees. After I explained why I was laughing, Alice pouted and said I could handle my own dinner. I quickly transferred the lasagna from the oven to the microwave. After that was done, I brought it into the living room and ate while Alice rummaged through the Cullen's enormous DVD collection. The DVDs were organized by genre, then alphabetically and Alice seemed to be drifting to the Romantic Comedy section.
"What about…" Alice mumbled as she perused the wide array of titles.
I definitely was not going to be able to handle a Romantic Comedy. As soon as I had had the thought, Alice turned to look at me.
"Fine, Bella." She said with a pout.
"I'm sorry, but I refuse to watch Hard Candy or Tarantino Gore with you…Can we compromise with Taking Lives…minimal romance with reasonably high level of creepiness?"
I was so relieved that Alice was willing to forgo the lovey-dovey, that I really wouldn't have cared what the compromise was.
Besides, I liked Taking Lives.
"Great!...Now, you may go get your ice cream."
I looked down and realized that I had finished my lasagna in record time. I must have been hungrier than I thought. I retreated to the kitchen, put some ice cream in a bowl and grabbed a spoon. When I returned to the living room, Alice had set up a spot the couch for me with a fluffy pillow and thick blanket. I thanked her and settled in. The couch and blanket was an amazingly comfortable combination. So comfortable, in fact, that I fell asleep during the movie. Sadly, Alice was not content to leave me alone.
"Bella, let's jam!" Alice squealed as she shook me from my slumber.
"What….?" I muttered as I rubbed my eyes.
"Bella, this is our first sleep over and we have to have FUN!"
Alice zipped over to the stereo and popped in a CD.
We are strong!
No one can tell us we're wrong
Searching our hearts for so long
Both of us knowing
Love is a battlefield
How appropriate.
Alice began to dance around and sing along. Of course, she was graceful as ever, even dancing to Pat Benatar. I giggled.
"Bella, COME ON!"
Alice grabbed my hand and tugged. I flew off the couch and would have probably hit the wall if she hadn't caught me in her deceptively skinny arms.
"Sorry, Bella. I forgot how light you are…" Alice set me down, handing me the TV remote. Grabbing the remote for the sound system, Alice jumped on the couch and began to bounce and wiggle to the music.
"Now join in, woman! I let you sleep through the movie! And I know people do this. I saw it on a movie once…"
Alice is nothing if not infectious. I giggled to myself sleepily as I jumped onto the couch beside her just in time for the chorus.
We are young
Heartache to heartache
We stand
No promises, no demands
Love is a battlefield
By the time the song was over, I was panting. I didn't mind though, this was the most fun I had had in a long time. I had never been a girlie girl, but Alice brought out the craziest behavior in me. To top it all, I honestly felt as though I had been able to release some of the tumultuous emotions that had been locked within me for the past few months. The release was great, but tiring.
I was just about to sit down on the couch when Alice aimed her "microphone" at me.
"Don't you dare quit on me yet, Swan…just one more, please? You'd be doing me a favor…" Alice had an odd gleam in her eyes, but what was one more?
"Yeah!" Alice squealed as she leveled her microphone/remote at the sound system and pressed a button.
I want action tonight!
Satisfaction all night!
"Hold on!" Alice streaked into the kitchen and was back seconds later with a glass of water. She handed it to me.
"Hurry! You've gotta have properly moistened vocal chords for 80's hair metal!"
I took a couple swallows after rolling my eyes, and then rejoined Alice on the couch.
Now I'm not looking for a love that lasts
I need a shot and I need it fast
If I can't have her, I'll take her and make her!
I want action tonight
Satisfaction all night
You've got the love I need tonight
Just then, the front door opened. I shrieked and fell on the couch…