AUTHOR'S NOTE: The last chapter I'll be able to post for a while. My husband's finally graduating from Basic and I'm off to go see him and bring him home. So that means for the next seventeen days, my only thoughts will be on spending time with him! But! I'm going to try and write where I can, I just want y'all to know that I haven't given up on my stories. They're just taking a momentary backseat to something I've been waiting on for over two months. So enjoy and please, leave lots of love for me to come back to.

Stephenie Meyer owns it all, I just own the originals.


CHAPTER SONG: FAINT - LINKIN PARK

"I am a little bit of loneliness a little bit of disregard. Handful of complaints but I can't help the fact that everyone can see these scars. I am what I want you to want what I want you to feel. But it's like no matter what I do, I can't convince you, to just believe this is real. So I let go, watching you, turn your back like you always do. Face away and pretend that I'm not, but I'll be here cause you're all that I got."


Chapter Four:

As soon as I got back to the house, Rosalie and Alice knew that something was up. I hated them both for it, but at the same time I was itching to talk to someone.

I needed help in piecing together what had happened at the Thriftway. Things like that just didn't happen to me. Not even before the fire, when I'd been whole and easily blended into the background.

"Okay," My sisters caught me in my room as soon as I cleared the door. I could tell by their expressions that they were grateful for the diversion. I'd noticed Jasper and his girlfriend in the living room when I came in. "What happened?"

I glared at Rose for a second then shrugged before turning to pitch back into my beloved chair. The same chair I'd busted Rose in just one night before. "Just had a weird run in at the store, that's all."

"Bull." Rose went on but gaped at our tiny sister when Alice cut in unceremoniously.

"There's more to the story than that. I can tell. Now you have two seconds to spill before we drag your cute little butt out of this room and subject you to the worst kind of torture."

I instantly looked around for something to throw at her and frowned when I found nothing. Just my luck. Pulling in so much air that my cheeks expanded, I blew the breath out noisily and gestured for them to sit down. "A guy literally ran into me at the store, okay?"

"Was he hot?"

"Rose!" I gaped at her for a minute, slowly shaking my head back and forth. "You are very much taken, remember?"

"So?" She shrugged as if I wasn't stating the obvious and waved her hand impatiently. "I can still glance at the menu. Now what happened after he literally ran into you?"

"He apologized." I shrugged again, secretly enjoying this a lot more than I probably should've been. But it served them both right, ambushing me so quickly. They could've at least given me a little more time to digest everything. "He introduced himself, he didn't look tweaked when I told him my name. And he followed me out of the store, practically digging for more information."

The blonde and brunette hovering over me exchanged knowing glances then a bright smile split Alice's features. "He was hitting on you!"

"Wait!" Rosalie threw in impatiently and waved her hands in front of her. "You didn't answer the most important question; was he hot?"

I gave her a look that just screamed "duuuuh" then sighed morosely. "It doesn't matter, okay? Two things are working against me here. One, the horrible disfigurement known as my upper body. And second? Well...."

They exchanged looks again when I started shifting uncomfortably in my seat. I was surprised to actually find sympathy in Rosalie's eyes when she stared down at me again.

"You're still hung up on Jasper." It wasn't a question.

I kicked my leg out to connect my still-sneakered foot with her leg, but she neatly dodged me. I should've been expecting that. She was with Emmett, after all. I cringed involuntarily when unwanted thoughts filled my mind of all the surprise attacks she probably had to deal with.

"Why state the obvious?" I asked and smiled sweetly at both of them as I swept my hands up beside me. Not giving them a chance to say anything else, I jumped out of my chair and pushed past them. "Now get out. I have to get ready for work."

"You're not scheduled tonight." Rosalie threw in, her eyes narrowed in a telling way. She knew exactly what was up. I didn't want to be in the house anymore than I had to be. I knew it hurt Esme to have me constantly flying out the door, especially now that Jasper was home.

But this place was starting to feel a little more crowded than my comfort level allowed. "I got called in."

"Bull!" Rose sputtered and grabbed my shoulders to bodily turn to face her. I cursed the height difference and stared up at her indifferently. "Plus Esme was really hoping we could all sit down for a family dinner. You know we haven't had one since before you and Jasper...."

I raised an eyebrow when she trailed off, but I didn't need her to finish that statement to know where she was going with this. We hadn't all sat down together since Jasper and I left for Santa Cruz.

Sighing, I flailed my arms then let them drop back against my body. "Why can't y'all just let me escape? Give me my illusions, please? I don't want to be here."

"We don't either!" Alice inserted then stared empathetically at me. "None of us like her, I promise. But I really think you'll enjoy dinner. Edward's been making one snide comment after another at the girl. Bella's nearly fallen off the couch at least twice."

"She's still here?" I squeaked in surprise then swore mentally.

"Yup." Rose nodded convincingly and let me go. "Charlie's spending the weekend in La Push, so she's flying solo for a little while. She refused to go to Jacksonville for the holidays."

I snickered in spite of myself, knowing exactly why she'd opted out of that little excursion. She didn't want to be away from Edward if she could possibly help it.

A wild flash of jealousy shot through me and I worked to reign it back in. It wasn't her fautl she was in a healthy, functioning relationship. And it weirded me out a little when my thoughts suddenly shifted back to the mysterious guy named Damon.

Shaking my head slowly, I forgot all about my pretense of going into work and trudged down the hall after my beautiful sisters. I intentionally kept my hoodie on, lying that it was a little cold in the house. Which wasn't a complete fabrication. My skin still reacted weirdly with temperature changes. And the Cullens hadn't fully commited to the heating idea yet. That was just around the corner though.

Conviently right when we all sat down for dinner. How coincidental.

"Honey," Esme looked at me sternly as I reached out to grasp my normal chair. "Don't you think it's a little warm to wear that at the table?"

"I don't want to get sick." I muttered, keeping my eyes trained on her. I could see Jasper and Miranda enter the room from the corner of my eye. "Can't chance it."

Edward came up behind me right then and lightly tugged on the hood of my sweatshirt. "Since when are you squeamish about the battle wounds, Bay? We're all used to them now."

"Not everyone." I muttered but yanked my hoodie off anyway. Once it was thrown back into my room, I rejoined the others and sat dutifully between Alice and Edward. Bella was on his other side, Emmett on Alice's left.

My comment was passed over as Esme began serving dinner. As soon as the smell of her fried chicken hit my nostrils, my mouth started watering and all I could think about was food. I dug in with gusto, earning a snicker from Edward. It later turned into a hiss of pain when he stuck his fork in my pile of mashed potatoes, earning a bite from me on his outstretched arm.

"You little vampire!" He teased, laughing right along with almost everyone and jokingly rubbed the spot on his arm I'd just bit.

"Oh grow a thicker skin." I taunted, even smiling sweetly at him before I fixed my eyes on my plate. Jasper and his girlfriend were seated right across from me. Looking directly up was not an option since the blonde heathen was laying it on a little thick with Jasper. Did she not realize that his parents were sitting at the exact same table?!

I was able to ignore it through a good portion of the meal, ignoring the eyes on the skin exposed under my tank top. I even overlooked the flirty little giggles and coos floating over from across the table. But when a rather lewd comment left her lips just seconds after Jasper jumped visibly, I'd had enough.

"Will you two just stop?!" I nearly shouted, throwing my fork onto my plate. I finally looked up then and stared at the guilty party.

"Stop what?" Miranda answered, just like I thought she would. Her eyes were a little wider than normal, but I could tell the innocence surrounding them was probably about as real as her hair. Seriously. Someone needed to tell the girl that her roots were growing in and throwing off the whole blonde motif.

"You know what." I challenged instead of backing down, earning stares from the rest of our gathered family. "I may be the only one, but I really don't want to hear about all the nasty little thoughts you feel you need to share with everyone else. Rooms are made for a reason, and I'm pretty sure those rooms come with a damn lock on the door. Figure out how useful they are."

"Baylee!" Esme gasped as I scrambled out of my chair and started to push it back into the table. She didn't sound nearly as shocked as she should've to actually sell her portrayal, and I felt a little giddy with relief. So much so that I decided to push the envelope a little more.

"And while we're on the subject of gawdy behavior, why don't you just get the staring over with?" I felt rooted in place behind my chair, my hands gripping the curved backing so hard my knuckles were turning white. "I'll even give you the full view if you want. Tell you the whole story since you weren't prepped ahead of time." As soon as the words left my mouth, I threw a pointed stare in Jasper's direction.

There were a couple more gasps before I shoved away from my chair and stalked down the hall. I'd just cleared my doorway when I was aware of someone following me. Expecting it to be one of the family members that usually followed me, I turned and jumped in surprise when I met Jasper's angry eyes.

"What the hell, Baylee?" He hissed and pushed me further into my room before slamming the door. "Don't you think you're overdoing it with the jealous ex-girlfriend role?"

I didn't think it was possible but even more anger rushed through me. So much so that I struck out and shoved Jasper back into the door. "Don't you dare! This has nothing to do with you. She was out of line and you know it!"

"She's my girlfriend." He threw back, as if that was going to stop the arguement dead.

"Yeah, and don't you think you should've filled her in on the freak in the house? You know how I feel about being stared at, Jasper! You know that's the one thing I cannot stand and you set me up for it anyway! So do you feel better now?" I rushed out, connecting another powerful shove against his chest when he rose from the door.

"Calm down!" He hissed as if he'd suddenly realized how easily our voices carried.

Too bad I was beyond caring. "And for the record? I'm not your ex-girlfriend. I was never your girlfriend to begin with! You effectively shut down on me before things could get that far. But I don't care, okay? I really don't care who you date. I don't give a shit about that girl in there. What I do care about, and what you should care about, is how she's conducting herself in this house. Your family's done way too much for me for me to sit there and stomach that. Nevermind her gawking at me every chance she gets! Does it really make her feel better to see how damaged her supposed competition is?"

"It's not like that. There is no competition."

I recoiled as if he'd actually slapped me. Part of me reasoned that he might as well have. I'd of rathered have to deal with that than the words he was hurling at me.

"She's who I'm with now! And so she got a little too flirty, so what? Why are you getting so damn bent out of shape about this?"

Clenching my jaw, a weird sort of scream slipped through anyway. "You're so damn dense." I finally yelled and pushed him into the door again. "Have a little respect for your family, damnit. And by your family, I do not mean me. I mean nothing to you, remember? And I'm perfectly fine keeping it that way." Pausing to take a steadying breath, I squared my shoulders and folded my arms across my chest. "Now get out."

He didn't make a move toward the door he was still leaning against.

"I mean it, Jasper." I spoke so quietly that I was even scaring myself. "Get. Out. Or at least get out of the way so I can leave."

That finally sparked some sort of movement in my former best friend's body. He inched aside enough for me to clear him and get the door open. I flung the wide oak door away from the frame, not caring if I hit him or not. My path was clear and once I had my hoodie and keys, I went straight for the door.

"Don't wait up!"