Hello all, and welcome back to Restraint!
I apologize for not sending anybody next chapter sneak peeks—I've had a lot going on the past few days that have drained me mentally and honestly, emotionally. I finally got back to the story and I decided to just update instead of chase down every chapter 3 review and reply to it.
Disclaimer: Let's put it this way: I own the character's internal musings, thoughts, and the ending.
~~restraint~~
The three unlikely companions sit around Edward's posh, mahogany, dining room table, the candelabras lit, and everyone dressed impeccably. With the exception of Jasper of course, who refuses to change out of his black T-Shirt and blue jeans. Bella wears a pale purple evening gown that shows a bit of her flat stomach while Edward wears dark slacks, a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black vest. They all quietly eat their dinner—but Jasper doesn't like the quiet.
"So Ed," he starts. Edward sighs in annoyance and looks up at Jasper, ready to humor him. "Do you ever order out?"
Edward's eyebrows furrow. "I'm sorry?"
Jasper smiles crookedly. "You know…girls. Whores. Booty calls."Jasper makes the humping motion against the table.
Bella snorts disapprovingly at Jasper's crassness, but doesn't say anything; she can't believe he would be so inappropriate at the dinner table. Oh wait. Yes she can. She sighs and shoots Edward and apologetic look. Edward sends her a small smile in return.
"Six months without a screw, huh? No wonder you're so uptight." He laughs, looking to Bella for a positive response to his joking, and being disappointed. She refuses to meet his gaze. "Come on Eddie, you've got to live a little. Just look at that one glass of wine you have. That's a disgrace, man. You've been nursing that all night." Jasper takes the glass from Edward's hand and drinks it all in one gulp. Bella sends negative vibes to Jasper, but she doubts he feels them. Suddenly, Jasper's eyes light up. "Do you have any ice cream?"
Edward looks at him, flabbergasted. "In the freezer."
Jasper almost skips to the kitchen. Bella rolls her eyes and mouths 'I'm sorry' to Edward. Edward just shrugs it off and grins. Jasper returns with a bottle of wine and a tub of ice cream. Edward sees that, it is his most expensive wine.
"Um, Jasper, that's an expensive bottle of wine. There's some cheaper stuff in the—"
"Oh screw the cheap stuff, Ed. We're celebrating! Let me introduce you to a titillating sensation." Jasper then ceremoniously pops the cork, and Bella shrieks cheerfully. Edward catches her eye, and she blushes shyly.
Jasper quickly fills all of their glasses with wine, and drops a scoop of ice cream in each. Edward is eyeing the concoction warily, until he sees Bella immediately down the drink. She motions for Edward to try it. "It's delicious, Edward. Try it!" And because Bella said so, Edward doesn't hesitate to drink the whole, delicious thing.
As Edward is drinking his, Jasper finishes and all but slams the glass down like it's a shot of tequila. "Oh man, that's like poetry."
Whenever Edward finishes the drink, his eyes are wide with wonder. "Well, I'll be damned." Bella giggles at Edward's surprise.
Jasper claps Edward on the back. "Come on guys, let's move this party."
They all retire to the living room and Jasper perks up with a question. "What's with all the paintings? Are you an art dealer or something?" Jasper asks, eyeing the painting, not understanding their appeal.
"I used to be. I'm more of an art collector now." Edward replies, nursing another drink.
"I think that's great." Bella interjects, but Jasper talks right over her.
"You know, I used to be a dealer." He laughs, as if he were sharing a private joke with himself. "Drugs, though. Not as reputable as art dealing. My dad was too…I bet your dad is loaded too."
Edward's eyes darken. "Among other things." He replies vaguely.
Jasper's eyebrows shoot up, and Bella looks at Edward curiously. "Oh, so you have some daddy issues, do you?"
Edward doesn't meet his gaze. "You could say that." He downs the rest of his drink in one gulp.
"What about your mom?"
"She's dead."
Bella shoots Jasper a toxic look from the couch, but he doesn't glance at her. "I'm very sorry about that, Ed." Jasper says sincerely. "My mom's still alive; she breeds dogs. That's what I'm going to do too." Jasper says this with a sort of childlike joy in his eyes, free of worries and cares.
Edward appreciates Jasper's honest confession and raises his drink to that.
"What kind of dogs do you reckon I'll breed?" Jasper asks playfully.
Edward chuckles sincerely. "I don't know."
"Come on; guess." Jasper implores.
"I really don't—"
"Just guess!" Jasper suddenly shouts, looking pissed off beyond belief. Bella cringes and averts her eyes from Jasper's outburst, knowing it's the alcohol that's doing this to him.
Edward scrambles for a breed that Jasper might be interested in. "Rottweilers? Pit bulls?"
Jasper smirks as if he expected this answer. He pulls out a piece of paper from his back pocket and unveils pictures of...poodles?
"Poodles, Ed!" Jasper exclaims animatedly. "Miniatures. That's what I'm using your money for in Thailand. I'm going to start my own kennel. Look anywhere in Asia, and what do you see? Gucci, McDonalds, Wal-Mart—you see, when they get to a certain level, they all want to be white." Edward lets out an involuntary snigger at Jasper's candid speech, but quickly covers it up. Bella chuckles humorlessly beside them.
"Jasper…"
"Quiet, babe." He turns back to Edward. "Look little poodles! Soon, every one of the Asians will want one. Either as a pet, or as a high class meal." Bella giggles to herself.
Bella's laughter is contagious, and all the alcohol is getting to Edward, so he starts laughing too. The thought of Jasper, all hardened and weathered, nurturing little pink and white poodle dogs, was possibly the most comical thought Edward had ever had in his life.
Jasper's smile breaks, "What's so funny?"
Edward senses Jasper is close to snapping, so he tries to sober up as best as he can. "I like it, Jasper. I think it's a really good idea."
Jasper's bright grin returns, and it makes his eyes crinkle. "I knew you'd get it, Eddie."
Edward looks over at Bella and sees her digging through a nearby drawer. She pulls out an old vinyl record. "What's this?"
Edward's clears his throat. "It's jazz music."
Bella glances up at him through thick eyelashes. "How do you play it?"
He shifts uncomfortably. "Y-You don't. It's mint condition, never been played. It's a first edition."
Jasper looks at Edward like he had just sung the national anthem in Klingon. "What's the point of having a record if you're not going to play it?"
Edward searches for a harmless answer. "I just don't think it's your type of thing."
Jasper grows serious. "Put the thing on." Edward watches him for a moment to measure his seriousness. Jasper is sobered. Edward scoffs, slightly offended that he's ignoring his wishes to keep his first edition untouched (then again, what else does he expect from a captor?), but moves to put the record on. Jasper finishes the last of his drink. "Let's get something straight, Ed. You don't know anything about me. Got it? Nothing."
The opening of an upbeat jazz song starts playing through the room through the old record player, calming the mood instantly.
"See? I like that. It's nice." Jasper declares, starting to do a drunken jig in the middle of the living room. Bella and Edward both chuckle at Jasper's improvised dancing; Jasper's eyes land on Edward. "What are you looking at? Well, come out here and dance yourself. Show us what you can do." He moves to sit down on the couch.
"Really?" Edward laughs. Bella nods excitedly, and he acquiesces. He starts dancing like Jasper did, only his dancing is so much more graceful, it looks to Bella like actual dancing. It warms her heart so much to see Edward finally having fun, and letting go; she gets up to go join him. Edward's eyes widen in surprise and excitement when he sees her dancing with him. She giggles and shoves Edward down on the couch next Jasper. She then starts doing an impromptu dance for him—this, Jasper wouldn't mind, if it hadn't been meant for Edward. Jasper grinds his teeth.
Thoughts of homicide are temporarily wiped away whenever Bella reaches out for Jasper. He happily takes her hands and starts dancing with his girl in the middle of the living room, wanting to stake his claim on his love, right in front of Edward. But then, to his dismay and anger, Bella reaches for Edward as well, and starts dancing between them both, with Jasper behind her, and Edward in front of her.
Bella does this because she sensed Jasper's irritation building—she hates getting him upset. She really just wants to dance with Edward though. Edward's dancing is refined where Jasper's is sloppy and drunken. She settles on being sandwiched between them. Edward seems to have fun, and for the moment, that's all that Bella really cares about.
Deciding to be sneaky, Bella stealthily snakes out of the sandwich, with Edward not realizing she's gone. He's still dancing, and Jasper leans for Edward's ear, "I didn't know you felt that way, Eddie."
When Edward realizes he was dancing with just Jasper, he jumps at least three feet away; Bella's tinkling laughter fills the whole house, and Edward's heart.
Jasper chuckles too, "Okay you kids, I'll be right back, I gotta take a piss and a smoke." He walks straight out the double glass doors. He immediately finds an old, broken down shed. A perfect place to unwind and think of a way to secure his bonds with Bella.
As he's doing his business Jasper spots a painting facing the wall. That's bizarre, he thinks, what's a painting doing out here? He carefully plucks it up from its place and has to squint to make sure he's seeing the painting right.
It's a painting of Marie Walker, just like the picture in Edward's room; only it's been sliced through, like someone cut it in rage.
Jasper can't help shake the feeling that something is wrong.
~~restraint~~
Inside the house, Edward groans in irritation.
"Doesn't he know there's a bathroom inside?" He asks to the air; his ears perk up when he hears Bella giggling at his comment.
A slower song starts, and Edward reaches out his hand in offering. Bella doesn't even have to think about it, and takes his hand. He hums in appreciation as she presses herself up against him. "You dance very well."
She smiles and drops her eyes, "You too, Edward."
He moves to catch her gaze again, "Are you a fan of jazz music?"
She nods, "And classical. Debussy is my favorite, but I like Beethoven as well."
Edward is astounded. How could such a cultured, kind, and stunning young woman be with someone like Jasper and involved so heavily with crime? "You should have never doubted that you could pull off being a member of high society—you have such sophisticated taste." Bella's mouth falls open. She searches for a reply but, just flounders around and shuts her mouth. "Debussy is my favorite too. I could never compose such songs as Clair De Lune, though."
Bella's eyebrows shoot up. "You're a pianist?"
He grins and nods. "Since I was ten."
"That's amazing."
"If you say so." Edward holds on to her closer; she doesn't protest, but instead, rests his head on her shoulder. "Any favorite books?"
"Wuthering Heights is my favorite book of all time!" She admits shyly. Edward studies her, confounded. Bella quickly grows uncomfortable under his gaze. "What?"
He shakes his head, most of his lighthearted visage gone. "I just don't understand it. How someone as brilliant as you could end up like this."
Bella's mood sinks, and she throws Edward's hands off of her. "You don't know anything about me, Edward."
He reaches out for her hand and takes it. "I know that dead beat doesn't deserve you. He treats you terribly. It's almost blasphemous how badly he treats you. You're made of finer stuff that he is." He says with much more force and confidence than she's ever heard from. She wonders where this bold Edward had been, and can't help but become a little endeared to him.
But Jasper loves her as much as he can. He may not be perfect, but he is hers. "Don't touch me." She rips her hand out of his and stalks away. Edward follows her.
"You'll never make it to Thailand—you don't even have a passport." Edward reasons.
"Jasper has it all figured out." She shoots back.
"But things are different now. There's all sorts of security checks and screenings. Trust me, you will both be caught."
"You don't know what you're talking about, Edward!" She knows he does know what he's talking about, and that scares her. Every hope she has about escaping her hellish life revolves around her and Jasper running away to Thailand.
Edward steps closer to her and grabs her by her forearms, not too tightly though. "Things have changed, Bella. Jasper has murdered two people. They're going to catch up with you."
"Jasper!" Bella shouts, not wanting to accept what Edward is saying.
"Listen to me, Bella." He holds eye contact with her. "You haven't done anything wrong. Just, look at you." Edward places one hand on her cheek. "You're so beautiful. You have your whole life ahead of you. You could turn yourself in tomorrow, and walk." By the end of his speech, he is cradling her face in his hands.
She closes her eyes to hide her pain. "Walk to what, Edward? Back to Seattle? Back to a life of throwing away my dignity just so I can survive? Back to a life where my dad is dead and my mother shuns me for not being good enough? What kind of life is that?" She's ashamed of her past, and knows Edward will finally see her for what she is. But to her surprise, Edward releases her face and captures her hands. She glares back up at him.
The wound in Bella's heart is open wide for Edward to see. She's spent so long repressing her past, she's forgotten how much agony is accompanied with remembering it. Bella hates to think about how ashamed her father, her idol, would be, knowing how her life has gone. She doesn't want to imagine him watching her, as she pleasured men, even ones older than him. She wants him to remember her to be the good, determined, and proud girl he knew. Even more so, she doesn't want to remember how she lived alone with her mother, a broken girl, after her father was ripped from her by the hands of terminal disease when she was fourteen. She doesn't want to remember how she'd gone to her mother, looking for love and comfort, and had only found criticism and rejection. She'd needed Renee to be a mother then more than ever, and she had denied her. The night Bella had run away, at the ripe age of seventeen, she recalls how Renee had drunkenly begged Bella to get out of her sight, because she looked too much like him. Bella decided she would do both of them a kindness and get out of her sight forever. She'd left her home of Phoenix and taken her truck as far north as she could until it officially broke down in Seattle; with nowhere near enough money to repair it, Bella set her roots down in Seattle doing the easiest thing she could do for the most money—strip, and eventually sell her body.
Bella shudders, pushing back tears and breaks out of her reverie. "Jasper loves me just the way that I am."
"But you don't love you the way you are." Edward whispers, with nothing but affection in his emerald eyes.
"Boo!" Jasper shouts from across the room, and the two jump apart. When they look back, they both gasp sharply.
Jasper has the painting of Marie Walker, with his head sticking through the gash in the painting.
"Hey, Ed! I found this outside." He admits gleefully then turns very grave. "I thought you might have lost it."
Bella can only gape at Edward. What happened to the painting of Marie? Did he do it?
Edward's reaction spurs a chuckle in Jasper. "You reckon an art critic did this? Or have you been a bad boy?"
Edward tries to swallow the lump in his throat unsuccessfully. "She left me."
"Crap!" Jasper replies, still talking through the gash in Marie Walker's torso.
Edward pinches the bridge of his nose. "She left me, Jasper. Alright?"
"Haha, bullshit!" Jasper replies with self-assurance. "A pampered bitch like her just walks out without any of her stuff? Her clothes, jewelry, and make up?"
Bella looks to Edward, wanting to know the answer as well. She doesn't understand it either.
Edward swallows hard and averts his eyes from both of them. "She left because, my father paid her a great sum of money to disappear. And she did." Edward looks like he's fighting back tears. "They met for lunch, and I never saw her again."
Jasper shakes his head. "What kind of dad would do that?"
Edward meets Jasper sure gaze and explains grimly, "He always said she was a gold digging liar. I guess she was."
Jasper lets out a strangled laugh. Bella buries her head in her hands out of embarrassment, and Edward stares off into space. "Oops. Well, I guess I brought this night to a rewarding ending."
~~restraint~~
So there you go; theories, thoughts, and comments all go in reviews.
I'll give sneak peeks this time.