Author's Note: Short outtake on what happened after the bet between Carlisle and the boys at the end of Chapter 36: Value.
After I took care of Fang, we left for our outing, heading the direction of the hot springs. Carlisle and Jasper quickly fed on a group of deer, but I was being a little more particular, wanting to hopefully come across something "tastier", as Emmett had put it. I could hear their thoughts. They had intentionally fed off the first thing available in order to have more time to plan their strategy.
Jasper was remembering a particularly high embankment close to the springs. At the bottom was a quagmire of mud and mess, compliments of a slow seepage of heated water. It wasn't enough to make a pool, but was just perfect for a mud bath. He ran all three of us through his mind. He didn't particularly care that I was listening.
At first, Jasper had been cocky about the bet, stating that he knew he was fine simply because Alice didn't blow up his phone the moment the bet was made. Emmett threw him an evil grin and reminded him of Henry and Nessie's presence in the car. "You might be right, and you just might not be" he baited Jasper, alluding to the fact that their presence could possibly block Alice's visions. Carlisle had laughed at the look on Jasper's face, causing Jasper to launch over the desk and tumble Carlisle to the floor. I had chosen to search out Fang at that moment, leaving them to work it out.
Emmett was more interested in finding something a little feistier than a deer at this point. He would get to his strategy after that. Carlisle had already written me off, so he was running through the possibilities of Emmett and Jasper.
I veered off toward one of the areas I knew was frequented by mountain lions. It was the same region that I had brought Bella to on the night we visited the springs for the first time. I would have to stop hunting the creatures soon, as the mating season would begin within the next few weeks. It was important that we not over hunt any creature in this forest. Soon, we would be moving to Seattle and the national parks to the north of the city would be our hunting grounds.
I paused at the rock outcrop where Bella and I had stopped. I was in luck, and followed the scent of a mountain lion into the trees. The flow of the warm blood down my throat muted the thirst, and I briefly fantasized about Bella's blood. I had tasted it twice, the night James had attacked her and the day of Nessie's birth. On both occasions, I had been frantic in my attempts to save Bella's life, unable to savor the brief tastes.
My perfect recall, however, allowed me to bring it up in excruciating detail. I growled briefly into the animal's throat as he twitched against me, letting my imagination run wild for a moment. My thirst raged as my body fell victim to the whims of my fantasy. I took down a deer out of necessity, finishing off the demands my bloodlust had engendered.
I traveled back toward my family using the trees instead of the ground. No matter how quiet I attempted to be, I knew they would hear my travel. This was less an offensive strategy than a defensive one; it was more difficult for us to attack in the trees.
I heard Carlisle and Jasper laughing and stopped, crouching on a branch where I could watch them. They were facing off in a small clearing, their bodies bouncing off each other in blurs. Carlisle must have caught Jasper under his legs because I saw his body hit the ground. Carlisle stood over him, laughing, which was a tactical error on his part. Jasper swept his arm out and took Carlisle's legs right out from under him. Carlisle flipped as he was falling, bringing his elbow into Jasper's stomach. I heard the air whoosh out of Jasper.
The branch bowed a little as Emmett sat down beside me. "Who are you putting your money on?"
"Does it really matter? They're getting dirty, and you and I sit here pristinely."
Emmett chuckled at the observation. Carlisle and Jasper rolled over multiple times attempting to gain dominance. Within a few moments, they obviously decided to call it quits and broke apart, shaking the dirt and bracken off.
"Well, I guess it's time to get the show on the road. If we can keep clean between here and the springs, then it'll be between the two of them," Emmett observed.
"Hmm, I don't think Jasper really wants to lose. So I wouldn't turn my back on him," I warned.
We scrambled down the tree and joined Carlisle and Jasper. As we took off running together, I monitored their thoughts, determined to not fall prey to anything. At one point, I heard Carlisle's laughter as he shoved Emmett, bouncing him off a tree. Then I heard him decide to lunge at my legs and skirted to one side to avoid him. But even though I could hear Jasper and Emmett's thoughts, I couldn't always avoid a collective attack.
The four of us tumbled into a pile of bodies and blows were exchanged at random. We hadn't played like this in a while, and continued to "beat the hell" out of each other, laughing at the collective curses that echoed through the area when particularly brutal blows were received. It reminded me of a pack of young lions I had once observed on a trip to Africa, playfully practicing their hunting skills on each other.
Emmett chuckled when he flopped onto his back a little later. "This is so much better than shopping. I can't believe we aren't able to talk the girls into this."
I was resting with my back against a tree, Jasper and Carlisle leaned against one of the rocks we had cracked with Emmett's head. I chuckled, "Em, every time you and Rose attempt to wrestle, it doesn't end up anything like this. None of us want to be around you then."
He grinned up at the sky, "True…"
Jasper stood, rubbing his stomach in the spot where I had landed a pretty good blow. "Let's go, I'm drooling over the thoughts of the hot water."
As we began to get closer to the springs, I thought about how funny it would be to see Alice's face if she had to park her shiny car next to Bella's truck. The more I thought about it the funnier it got. I began snickering and then caught Jasper's thoughts. CRAP!
As the laughter began to pour out of me, I knew I was doomed. I fell to my knees, cursing Jasper between the laughs escaping my body. Carlisle immediately realized what was occurring, and he urged Jasper on while he and Emmett pick me up under the arms, and start toward the location of the mud bath.
"Sorry, Edward," Carlisle said, laughing at my garbled growl. "All's fair in love and war. And in this case, for Jasper, it's both."
I heard Emmett laugh slightly. "Serves him right."
I attempted to drag my heels and grab at things to stop the progress, but Jasper would just nudge my hysteria a little higher if I was able to obtain too good of a grasp on something. I saw the edge ahead of us and realized I wasn't going to get away from Emmett's strength. One thought emerged; I could possibly take him down with me. I'd do my best to grab him as they threw me over. If I was lucky, I could get Emmett to land first.
"Edward, nothing personal, bro, but its time you get the dirty end of the deal for once," Emmett said, and I started laughing hysterically at his weak attempt at sarcasm. Damn Jasper…
When Carlisle released me, Emmett picked my thrashing body up. He lifted me over his head, and started to toss me. At that precise moment, Jasper disengaged his hold over me and I wrapped my hands around Emmett's wrist. He followed me over the edge. It was over for me, so instead of fighting the fall I straightened out so that I would land on my back. This time the laughter was all mine as I listened to Emmett's liberal cursing.
From above, I heard Carlisle humor as he watched our falling bodies from the ledge, and read Jasper's thoughts. Carlisle didn't realize, until it was too late, the error he made. As I sank into the muck, having heard Emmett hit just before me, I wondered which one of us Carlisle was going to land on. Jasper started whistling Dixie as he walked away from the ledge above, on his way to the springs.
_____
Carlisle and I declared Emmett the loser of the bet because he hit the mud first. There was no way to discern who was dirtier. When the three of us arrived at the spring after washing off in the river, Jasper barely graced us with a look, as he rested with his body in the steaming water; his head laid back against the stones staring at the sky above us. He just needed a cigar sticking out of his mouth to be the epitome of the playboy relaxing.
"Nice bath, boys?" he drawled.
Emmett stepped into the water and sat down beside him. "Smart ass," he replied.
Jasper began laughing at his hostility. "That's what you get when you attempt to take on a superior intellect."
Carlisle was behind Emmett and Jasper hanging his water logged clothes over the branches next to Jasper's, and snorted at his comment.
Jasper should have known better. It wasn't often that a double cross like he had pulled was left unchallenged. I lunged at his legs at the same time that Carlisle and Emmett grabbed his shoulders. He attempted to work his black magic on us all the way to the mud pit, but when one would fall, the other two would continue the journey. We launched Jasper over the side and watched him turn the fall into a perfect swan dive. Emmett jumped over first and Carlisle and I quickly followed, landing on top of Jasper.
When we were finally through wrestling, mud was splattered half way up the cliff, and every inch of our bodies were covered in it. We looked like old horror movie creatures. Jasper's hair stuck out wildly in clumped spikes and I could see through his thoughts that I looked like I had dreadlocks. Emmett looked like the meal he so desired, a large brown bear. Carlisle actually had to spit a mouthful of mud out before he could even speak.
"We're even now. I don't know about you, but I'm going to go wash up and enjoy the springs."
We sat in the water soaking for hours. We traded insults, discussed the pros and cons of the current sports teams, talked about our move to Seattle, and generally just bonded. As I saw that dusk was approaching, I made the comment that the girls should be back anytime. I was the first to get out and put on my swimming trunks. Much to Carlisle's mock horror, we had ultimately had to go nude to keep the mud from our shorts from polluting the water.
Inspiration struck, and I blurred to grab everyone else's clothing. After all, they had all conspired against me at first. I ran as fast as I could toward the house, knowing that I could outrun them and Jasper's capabilities. I heard them calling me all sorts of vile names and their footsteps not far behind me as we traveled through the woods. As I passed through the door of the house, I whispered to the girls, "Incoming," before I streaked up the stairs.
The whistles and catcalls announced their arrival as they slid to an embarrassed halt in front of the women. Bella had covered Nessie's eyes. They had been so intent on catching me that they hadn't thought to listen and see if anyone was home yet. Carlisle and Jasper hesitated only a second before dashing to their rooms. Emmett, on the other hand, was pure Emmett, sauntering up the stairs to the sound of Rosalie's can-can rendition.
Check out hopeforastalemate's story Breaking!! Interesting twist on breaking Carlisle.
Again, I cannot say enough good things about my two betas:
CullenFest - for her patience with me and my anxiety about writing. She has encouraged me to continue to write even when I've felt like giving up. Check her stories out here on Fan Fiction.
Crmcneill - for his mighty red pen! If you haven't read his story Downward Spiral please go over and read it. Congrats to him on winning the Judge's Choice award in the Mentalward contest for this story!