Chapter Eleven
Beautiful Conundrum
The shopping trip was a disaster, to put it lightly. At the beginning, it was okay, Jacob had left her on her own disappearing elsewhere, but twenty minutes later and he was at her side reminding her that they were going to a club, not a football game. She never heard of such a rule that sixty percent of the flesh must be exposed, but what did he know, anyway? He'd never been inside of a club; he only knew from what he saw on television, which wasn't the greatest start. She could've been wrong, but two a.m. shows about drug busts didn't promote him a fashion designer.
She consoled herself with the thought that it could've been worse. From what Jasper told her Alice had frequently forced her into more than her fair share of shopping excursions.
Bella never did like shopping. It bored her. The sizes, the prices, the colors and different variety of forms. They all hung on hangers, waiting to be fished through, the annoying and chilling sound of metal against metal.
The clearance section was worse. The rejections of various articles of clothing were wedged together to be sifted through, to be checked inside of the collar instead of the printed number on the hanger because they were wrong.
It was there at the clearance rack that Jacob found her. He reminded her of the so-called "rules" and told her to buy anything and everything, he had Jasper's credit card. He looked proudly at the shoe box under his arm.
"Jake!"
"Come on, have some fun, Bells. The bloodsuckers are made of cash, he won't even miss it."
"If he wants to bite you, I'm not stopping him."
"I can take care of myself, it's him biting you that I'm sticking around to prevent."
She glared at him. "Thanks a lot."
He softened instantly, realizing his mistake. "And because when you had your memory, you didn't want much to do with anyone. I was pushed to the side."
She knew that, but she had never heard it put into those terms. Was she really so awful to leave her best friend behind? "I would never do that."
"You did, but you were a different person. Look, lets not talk about this, we have some money to spend."
It took a good two hours, but Bella did get her way and she bought plain jeans and a fitted black blouse. It was the only thing that Jacob hadn't complained about. If complaining didn't include the impatient sighing, like he was working overtime for too little of pay.
She threw the bag into the car and slumped into her seat on the way home asking the question that had been burning in her since that morning. "What is this, Jake? When did you suddenly care about what I wear?"
He shrugged and reached to the radio. She slapped his hand, but he didn't seem to notice, turning up the bass. It pounded in her head but it was similar taking a sip before drinking poison. She may have well take a sip, the impending explosion that she would have to endure at the nameless club they were going to attend.
Childishly she turned from him to the window, her arms crossed over her chest. It was going to be a long night, she could feel it.
***
When Jacob and Bella left, Jasper hunted. He filled himself of the nearby deer until he was sluggish. He'd always drunk more than the rest of his family, his thirst less controllable. It used to be a precaution, but with his temporary living conditions it turned into a necessity.
Jacob's stomach-churning scent was helpful in their case. Thanks to the close-quarters, the apartment dripped in it, and so did Bella. It was easier than it ever had been, not killing her. It didn't allow him enough room to like Jacob, but it did allow gratitude. Without him, she would have died long ago... That thought, it could've torn him to pieces. Just the thought... If it happened...
Stealthily he stayed within the shadows, running back to the hallway outside of Bella's home. The Rabbit was gone from the curb, and he waited inside, right over the dent that had yet to be fixed.
Nearly an hour later Bella scowled as she walked past him in the hallway outside of her door. She carried a light paper bag snatching her keys from her pocket, the jangling echoing her fury. He didn't need the vibrations stinging him to know how she felt. Everything else said it clearly.
"Do you want help?"
"No," she snapped, kicking the door closed.
It was humorous. He remembered Edward talking with Carlisle years ago in his study, how he compared her to a kitten with an identity crisis. She thought she was a lion. He was right, and Jasper loved it as much as he did.
He waited out from the sun to make way for the moon, for twilight to settle. Typically his cell rung; he didn't need to look at the screen to know who it was. He had specific instructions to give Jacob before he took her out shopping. The three of them had communicated through their cells. He gave Jacob one that he kept as a backup, and he reported to Jasper, and Jasper reported to Alice, and he reported back to Jacob.
"Mission accomplished," he reported into the receiver.
"Good," Alice chirped.
"Is there a reason for this? Why did you have me give him advice? You can't have possibly saw her future."
"It has nothing to do with her future. I know her, Jazz, she would've stuck out like a sore thumb at a club! He would've never taken advice from me, he knows you better. Guys listen to each other better."
He laughed. "Alright, she's angry, I'm sure that the dog did his job. I'll be sure to give him a biscuit later."
"Play nice," she trilled and hung up.
***
With her fingers Bella combed her hair. It was ridiculously straight. She didn't care to do anything to it (not that she had the supplies). She scanned herself over once, and went into the main (and only) room where Jacob and Jasper stood there in waiting. Jacob's smile widened but Jasper's lips only twitched.
"You look beautiful," he breathed in utmost seriousness.
"Careful," Jacob warned him as a blush crept over her and he took her arm. "This is going to be fun, you'll see."
"Sure, sure," she agreed half-heartedly.
He jerked to a stop bringing her with him. "What did you say?"
"Sure, sure?"
A strange expression came over him, clouding his earlier happiness. The air froze as if they were expecting a terrible occurrence. Time ceased for a whole minute.
"What is it?"
Jacob shook his head. "Nothing. Lets go."
She wasn't able to object as he started dragging her to the door, Jasper following a few steps behind.
The smoke-colored building sat at the end of a long street lined with twenty-four-seven stores, gas stations and fast food restaurants. The lights were bright in the darkness, the occasional car flying by throwing them into extreme shadows of themselves.
"I learned a bit of mechanics from Rosalie. I can make this go faster."
"Stay away from it leech, you've done enough damage."
Bella hid her grin behind her hair. she could tell that the derogatory mythical terms, the glares, and all of the pent-up hostility did not go far. She was willing to bet the rest of her memory that they did like each other, if not anything other than comrades. That was good enough for her.
"Have I ever been to a club?" It didn't sound like her, but neither did a motorcycle and cliff jumping.
"No," Jacob answered. "Your socialism didn't change."
"It did a little," she disputed watching the stillness of Jasper in the review mirror. Their gazes caught and her stomach tightened, her head hazing over.
She lost count of how many times she questioned their friendship. Aside that he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen, he was quiet, reserved in his manner of speak and action. Even if they had one class together, and even if they had shared a table, who made the first move? Neither of them were ones to break silences...
Jacob coughed sharply bringing them back into the car. They were turning into a nearly filled parking lot spilled with grease and oil stains.
***
Jasper struggled with his innate desire to turn around and to look straight into her eyes, without their medium of the mirror. However, Jacob pitiably coughed, and she was the first to break their contact. It was as though someone reached in and tore a string of his frozen heart. Regardless that the organ did not function anymore, he felt that it could with her. He felt strangely... Alive. Living in her eyes.
A diverseness of people (from look-alike Preps to Goths) lined up outside the door where a man who would rival the size of Emmett checked their i.d.s. When they made their way up to him Jasper put his plan into action, carefully sliding the tip of Jacob's card out of his pocket placing it in his, keeping his features smooth as he did so.
The bouncer glanced at his and Bella's I.d.s and Jacob's panic rose, escalating as he fished in his pockets frantically. Jasper never had so much fun in his life.
"I had it!"
"Sir, if you don't have identification on you I have to ask you to step aside."
"No, I had it, it's here somewhere."
"Step out of line, sir."
Bella's pity struck him odd, and she reached for his arm. "We'll leave, don't worry about it."
"I'm -"
"I think that since we're already here, that we should make the most of it," Jasper suggested quickly. "Bella and I can go on in and we'll meet up with you later." He placed his palm flat against her lower back sending a small douses of cooperation. He hated doing it, manipulating her the way he was, but it was important to him, he wanted nothing else.
Jacob was appalled, and more than angry. Jasper winked to him and the anger boiled his back as he led her inside, the door opening for them.
Strobe lights of a multitude of colors swung from the distant ceiling, a hoard of humans on the dance floor swaying and waving their arms to the beat, only a few of them aware of it. Some lounged against the wall, drinks of strong alcoholic odor in hand. The emotions of sexual desire, stupor, fordable happiness, and sick swirled in the air.
It wasn't two seconds and Bella rounded on him, yelling above the overly loud music. "What was that for?!"
He bowed to her ear inhaling her scent and feeling the knives it caused down his throat. It was worth it, to be that close. "Jacob's had his time with you. You remember him. You don't remember me."
She softened but only slightly. "This has to be hard for you." She waved at the crowd and their flowing blood beneath fragile skin.
He stopped breathing the moment they broke away from the dog and he swallowed then, his nose wrinkling. It was plenty of an answer for her.
Blue flashed over them, her complexion seemed paler after its passing. She was so fragile, and he never thought of it before, until then. One wrong move, an accident that took less than a second...
She didn't hide her emotions, she let them pour out and into him without shame. Trust, wonder, worry, and care. It choked him, the sweetest feelings he'd ever experienced from someone towards him.
It took all of his control not to get closer to her, but all he could do was offer his hand. To his elation she didn't hesitate, she accepted. There was no repulsion from his icy touch, and her warm one (though a burden to his thirst) felt right in his. He'd endure the torture if it meant he didn't have to let go, glad to have an excuse then.
They weaved through the dancers. Tugs on his arm alerted him that she was being jostled. It slowed their progress as he tried not to snap her wrist and tried not to breathe. When there was a greater tug he saw in the glass of someone's drink that behind him was a lusting heavy-set man with a hold on her other wrist attempting to pull her in the opposite direction, to him, away from Jasper.
"C'mon, deary, I'm much better," he slurred in her face. She backed as far as she could bumping into a lady, but no one paid her any mind. There was hardly any fear, only disgust. So typical of her, but those emotions were barely felt above his own...
Images of snapping his neck with the twist of his fingers came to Jasper's mind in quick session. If only he could've gotten by with it. However, he stepped between them, his golden eyes bearing into his dilated pupils. He opened his mouth to demand that he let her go, but he growled territorially, it ripping out of his chest, an instinct he couldn't control. All he could think was, she's mine.
The drunken man stumbled back, suddenly frightened, right into the hard stomach of Jacob who came behind him in time to keep Jasper from doing the extreme of his precious inclinations. Bella's wrist was freed as the poor inebriated fool peered up into the man-eating grin, a flash of red over his teeth. It made him appear more sinister but it was true for the pup. He was as dangerous as Jasper.
"Slipped in through the window," he told Jasper, jerking his head towards the bathrooms that were in the corner. "Go on and get out of here, I'll take care of this one," he grabbed his shoulder.
He nodded once.
"Just get her out of here, and don't forget, I'm killing you later!"
The man's eyes widened at that declaration, but Jasper who continued to keep her hand in his started to the window. He guarded her next to him, keeping her cautiously in his sights. There was a small worry about her and he suspected it was for the trouble that Jacob wouldn't get into. It was like her to be worried about the wrong thing.
Jasper saw that there was indeed a window off to the side hidden from weak human eyes. He flipped the latch and opened it before kneeling and motioning for her to climb on. She did, again, without hesitation, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.
"I'm a bit heavier than -"
He chuckled gently disrupting her needless warning. "You weigh nothing to me," he informed and hopped out, careful with the precious girl on his back.
***
Bella's lungs heaved with the excess effort. Wrapped snugly as she was around him, it was hard to keep her thoughts straight. The gush of wind that blew on her face allowed her to stay in the present, feeling the muscles tense and ripple under her as he ran through back alleyways. Her hair whipped over her nose and closed eyes, the scent of her strawberry shampoo.
The breeze slowed as did Jasper. He lowered to the gravel behind an ominous building, allowing her to slide off. The toe of her foot slipped and she lost her balance, her other foot tripping the one that was twisting to the side, but before she fell he caught her waist. She gripped his shoulders, their bodies pressed against one another. He didn't let go, and neither did she. Her heart raced, breathless once more, and it wasn't from her near fall. Her adrenaline was pumping for a different reason.
His fingers loosened but did not release. He appeared to have been enjoying what would be akin to a meal, feeding off the position they were in. In some way, he was. He was drinking in her emotions.
It was odd, knowing there was nothing she could hide, but she didn't feel embarrassed. She wouldn't hide her face or close herself off even if she could. She found it strangely exhilarating, and she knew, that he was friends with her for a reason, and he couldn't have minded what he felt from her.
"You're a beautiful conundrum. You're not ashamed. That's good. You shouldn't be."
She lightly ran her fingertips over his cheek. There was a light curvature to his skin, like he had scars feathered over him. "You're beautiful too."
"To humans I am."
"You're dead leech!"
"And to some I'm a parasite," he muttered turning his head to Jacob's bellows.
Jacob stormed up the alleyway to their right, the streetlights fading from his furious visage. He stopped several feet from them, scrunching his nose in foul curiosity. "What is this?"
Bella promptly removed herself from Jasper, the lack of contact surprisingly opening a void in her chest she didn't know was there, but the way she formed herself to him was not appropriate for her friend – other friend, to see. "Nothing. I'm sorry we left you, Jake -"
"You don't need to apologize," he glared pointedly at him and the look was mirrored with equal venom.
"Did you take care of the human," he asked tediously.
"Yes."
She looked from one to the other. "What do you mean, 'take care of'? Jake, you didn't kill him?!"
"No," he said shockingly. "A few broken bones never killed anyone."
Her mouth parted, ready to reprimand.
"He's fine. Jeez, Bells, give me credit here. We don't kill humans, we protect them."
"That was extreme -"
"It was a joke! But if you think that we're not going to protect you, you must have hit your head a little too hard!"
Without reason, a smile broke out between them, and she laughed. She didn't know why, she had the feeling that Jacob and her did it all before, that they argued, and it was coming from someplace else, the past she couldn't retrieve.
She took her boys hands and led them back to where she hoped the car was. In each hand, hot and cold. A werewolf and a vampire. Her best friends. They walked through the night, making their way home.
A/N: I apologize deeply that this chapter has taken so long. When I became sick I fell greatly behind in a writing contest (Nanowrimo) that I was participating in. I also did not anticipate how much time it would take and relinquished my other writing projects temporarily.
I did win the contest (yay) and I'm back, and will be updating more frequently like I used to! I'm very sorry and hope for your forgiveness! I have missed Fan-Fiction so much it borders on pathetic. Now I'm back with renewed energy and passion!
Thank so much to all of you! If I have not said so before, you are the best readers ever! I'm a very lucky writer.
