Song: I'll Never Break Your Heart - Backstreet Boys (...i grew up in the 90's...shut up)
Adelaide sat on her couch staring angrily at the floor the next morning; tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall. She couldn't believe that had happened. He had kissed her, but what was worse was that she had kissed him back. Why had she been so stupid? Why hadn't she stopped him? Why hadn't she stopped herself? This was wrong, all wrong. She couldn't be going through this again. Not now, not ever. She had promised herself, no more, she was done. That was all ancient history. Although history does have a tendency to repeat itself.
A knock sounded at the door. Grumbling to herself, Adelaide stood up to answer it. She wasn't paying much attention to anything else besides her vulgar thoughts, and was unpleasantly surprised when the door swung open. Standing there was Jacob Black, who must have been nearing seven feet tall. He grinned, she scowled.
"What?"
"Hey Adelaide!"
"What?" she repeated.
"Can we talk?" He asked, taking an unwelcome step inside.
"I don't do talking."
"Ok…can I talk? Just promise to hear me out."
"No. Get out of my house."
"Please?" he walked over and sat down on the couch. He smiled warmly as he patted the seat beside him.
"I'd rather stand," she responded coolly, crossing her arms.
"About the other day…I'm really sorry. But everything I said was true. I'm in love with you Adelaide. I know it doesn't make much sense, but it's true. Kind of like love at first sight, if you believe in that, I guess."
"I don't." she scowled. He went on as if she hadn't spoken.
"But what I said about Cullen, it was all true, every word of it. He's a real live, blood sucking vampire Adelaide. Now I know you want to believe that creatures like vampires don't exist, that they're only a figment of Hollywood's imagination, but you need to believe me, for your own safety."
It was silent for a few seconds before Adelaide blinked, and spoke up. "Listen kid, get off whatever drugs you're on, and get the hell out of my house. Now."
Jacob stood, but made no advancements toward the door. "This is all real Adelaide. My friend, Bella, I've told you about her, she's marrying one of them, and pretty soon, she won't be the Bella I know. Please think about it." Only then did he walk out.
Fuming, Adelaide slammed the door behind him. Who was he to just show up to her house, unannounced, and start talking about fantasy creatures? It was ludicrous.
"The treaty's off," Edward growled in a low voice, storming into the dinning room of the Cullen house, where the rest of his family, and his fiancée were seated.
"What happened?" Carlisle asked fiercely.
"He told her, the human, Adelaide. He told her what we were."
The room became deathly silent. Edward and Alice exchanged meaningful glances, while thoughts reeled behind Bella's eyes that Edward wished he could read.
"He told her that before, practically screamed it across the parking lot at Olympic Outfitters," Scott muttered darkly. He liked the idea of the treaty being null and void no more than the others did.
"The treaty is…or rather, was that if you didn't bite a human, they wouldn't reveal that you exist. So wasn't it technically broken that day on First Beach, when Jacob told me the legends?"
Jasper nodded. It was an odd occurrence when he would speak up. "You're right Bella."
"We're going to have a problem with the wolves," Esme mused.
"We'll have to relocate," Rosalie put her two cents in.
"The dogs can't do anything. We're still getting married," Edward stated, taking Bella's hand. Edward avoided Rosalie's eyes and kept his thoughts on the upcoming wedding, because he knew what he would find if the looked there, if he read her mind, he knew what he would hear. She would tell him he's being selfish, that one lowly human wasn't worth what he was putting his family through. But he didn't care.
Adelaide bustled around the store. It was the peak of hiking and camping season, and apparently word had spread that Forks' own Olympic Outfitters was the place to go for all camping and hiking needs. She tried to keep a pleasant exterior, checking patrons out at the register and trying to direct others to various aisles, all the while apologizing for the wait, due to them being short-handed. Scott was nearly two hours late for his shift, and Adelaide made a mental note to brutally maim him next time she saw him. Right about the time she was at her wits end, nearly an hour and a half later, Scott finally strolled in.
"Hey Addie, sorry I'm-"
She didn't hear the last bit of his apology, nor did she want to, as she stalked away to help a customer at the counter. They didn't speak until they had forced the last customer out of the shop in order to maintain regular closing time. Adelaide was grateful she had the next day off and that she wouldn't be dealing with it again for several days.
"Mad?" Scott asked in a whisper.
Adelaide whirled around to face him, furry, no doubt, ebbed in her crystal eyes.
"No Scott, it's the busiest time of year for us, and you show up three and a half hours late without so much as a phone call. I'm not mad. I'm furious." Without another word, she grabbed her keys from the employee coat rack and stalked out the door.
"Addie, wait!"
"Don't call me Addie!" she shrieked, thrusting open her car door.
"Adelaide Claire Larkin! Will you just stop for a minute?" That caught her attention. She turned slowly to face him.
"What?" she snarled quietly.
"You're mad about something, and I have a sneaking suspicion it's not just the fact I was late."
"Well observed. What do you want?"
"I want to know why the hell you're mad at me!"
She sighed and looked at the pavement. She didn't want to tell him, because it would involve explaining things she never wanted to relive. But by just looking into his deep golden eyes, she knew he needed to know what had upset her. He deserved to know.
"You kissed me," she whispered.
"You kissed back," he replied softly, confused.
"I know I did. That's why I'm upset."
It was evident that Scott was still confused. "Can we go somewhere and talk?"
She smiled a small smile. "No." And with that, Adelaide got in her car and drove off.
Adelaide had only just sunk onto the couch, deep in thought, when there was a knock at the door. Praying it wasn't Jacob Black, she crossed the room and answered it. Standing there, the porch light gleaming off his face, was Scott.
"What are you doing here?" She asked tiredly.
"We need to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about, Scott," she sighed.
"You're wrong Adelaide, there's everything to talk about."
Butterflies infiltrated her stomach as he grabbed her hand, leading her to the swing set on one end of the covered porch that ran the length of the house.
"Why do you keep running?"
It was a simple question, but it hit home on so many different levels for Adelaide.
"You wouldn't understand," she responded in a quiet whisper, looking down.
"I'd understand more than you like to believe."
She stayed quiet. She didn't want to relieve it.
"I know it must hurt Adelaide. But please, I'm only asking because I want you to stop running from me."
"There was this boy, Peter, and I loved him a lot. We started going out junior year, and I couldn't have been happier. We never fought, never disagreed; we were, in all obvious ways, perfect for each other. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I was going to marry that boy. He was my happily ever after."
"So what happened?"
"Prom night, my senior year, we agreed to meet at my best friend, Annie's house for pictures, then the limo would take us to dinner, then to the dance. When I got there, her sister answered the door, she just looked at me with this expression…it should have warned me. But of course, me being me, didn't listen to my instincts. I greeted her sister, then took off up the stairs. When I opened Annie's door…she was in there with Pete. They were-he was-" she couldn't choke out the rest of the words. Tears pouring out of her eyes, she buried her face into Scott's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.
"He cheated on you with your best friend," he stated, lifting her chin up, looking into her tear filled crystal blue eyes.
Adelaide nodded. "I didn't know what to do, so I ran. As I ran out of the house, I passed Annie's boyfriend." Adelaide remembered Robert's face as she passed him, the look of concern and innocence that was ebbed into his face was heartbreaking. "School the next Monday was pure hell. Annie and Peter had changed the story, making it seem Robert and I were the cheaters. Our school was small, so it quickly turned against us…"
"You were alone the rest of your senior year, no friends." Scott guessed. By the way she reacted, he knew he was right.
"I can't have that happen again Scott. I can't let myself fall for anyone again, they'll just end up breaking my heart. I can't let myself love someone more than they love me."
He took her face in his hands, and stared deeply into her eyes. "I promise, Addie that will never happen again. I will never, under any circumstances, break your heart."
"How can I be sure you're telling the truth?"
"Because I would rather die, one hundred painful deaths, than live without you for one day."
They sat like that, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder, for an unmeasured amount of time. Though it felt as if Scott was carved out of granite, Adelaide didn't care. It felt so comfortable, so familiar to be sitting like this with him. It felt as if they had been sitting like this together their entire lives, and in the back of her mind, Adelaide hoped they would continue to sit like this for as long as they both lived.
