Final chapter of the the week!
One of my longer one's, hope you don't mind.
There's some songs inhere that don't fit the timeline, but they fit so well that I just had to put them in.
If you guys are interested in a BellaxEmmett pairing, there's a story on my sister account; Dancing Warrior Goddess Teen Assassin...check it out...or not.
See you guys next week.
Thank you so much for the reviews and support, means a lot.
Read and Review. Let me know what you think.
Most importantly; Enjoy!
Rosalie watched as Bella shut the fridge for the last time. Everyone had already disappeared up the steps around 12. Having come from the east coast after full or half days of school and work; they were bone tired and jet lagged.
Jamal had apparently been up and down all day while Gloria had been cleaning and preparing foods for tomorrow so she wouldn't have as much to do, leaving them just as tired. Bella was in charge of desserts and the baked Mac and Cheese, so at 12 she sent them all to bed so she could operate freely in the kitchen while Rosalie watched from the living room couch.
"Finished?" she questioned as Bella sat next to her
"Finished" the brunette nodded, her eyes fluttering close as she fell asleep on the spot.
It was nearly 4 in the morning and the girl had not slept for more than 3 hours total the previous night, she'd move her soon enough.
Not 20 minutes later there was an ungodly screech of tires on the asphalt followed by the frantic honking of a horn. Rosalie was content to ignore it all, but Bella sat up bolt right her eyes glinting and dangerous. She leapt the coffee table and moved straight to the door, yanking it open and catching a girl with trashy blonde hair that wreaked of alcohol without breaking stride,
"Bella" the girl squeaked, she sounded equal parts relieved and terrified to see the brunette
"Sit" Bella commanded in something that nearly sounded like a growl as she shoved the girl onto the porch steps, "You stay, please?" Bella added turning to her
"Stay?" she questioned
"I'll end up in jail before the sun is up if he says something to you"
"Fine"
"Thank you" Bella nodded before she turned and continued to stride with purpose towards 3 guys getting out of the car,
"Yo dyke, you back?" one of them demanded and Rosalie bristled but stayed put, keeping her word.
Bella didn't say a word as her fist flew out and clocked the guy, sending him flat on his ass. Her movements were fluid as she quite literally sent one of his goons headfirst through driver side window and back into the car. He landed in a shower of glass and blood, his head hitting the passenger side window with a solid thud. He was not dead, but he would not be waking up anytime soon. She stooped down in front of who Rosalie now knew to be a very dazed and possibly concussed Rodney,
"What I tell you about coming around here?" Bella questioned, Rosalie's panties dampened more than they already had on the brunette's initial takedown. She'd never heard Bella so nonchalantly murderous before in her life...Edward would probably have an aneurysm
"This is between me and Trisha"
"Fine, but when you find yourself turning onto this road, that is no longer the case. Now get back in the car and drive away"
"There's two of us" the other declared defiantly showing off his gun, Rosalie stiffened poised to spring into action, but it was not needed.
In a lightning quick move, Bella had flipped Rodney onto his stomach, liberated him of his gun, leveled it on his goon and planted her foot firmly on Rodney's neck,
"I'm not the fucking one Darren, get in the fucking car and leave your gun on the floor while you're at it"
Once they were in, Bella moved and signalled for Rodney to stand,
"Pop the trunk" she informed Darren as she pressed the gun against his temple, he looked defiant, "Piss me off and you'll beg for a bullet in the brain when I'm through with you" the voice deadly and final.
Rosalie watched as Darren scrambled over the center console to pop the trunk. The trunk was packed with a bunch of crap and a few more guns and Bella set to work quickly pulling apart each gun her hand came across, pocketing all the ammo
"She's going to come back to me, she always does" Rodney glared as he slid into the driver's seat. Despite the act, he didn't dare stop to move his unconcious friends legs out of the seat or the glass that littered it.
"This time, try to keep her. Get lost."
"I'll see you later Trish" Rodney yelled before he was pulling off
"Bella, thanks so much. He was being such a jerk tonight" Trisha spoke throwing herself at Bella who caught her by the arm and shoved her into the side of the house
"How many times I have to tell you not to bring your shit this way?"
"I was in trouble and Gloria said I'm always welcome here"
"And I said you're not"
"Whatever, you don't even live here anymore. You're only here for the holiday, I do what I want and when you're gone I'll still do what I want" the girl snapped pushing Bella away and moving to walk.
Rosalie could see it was the wrong course of action because Bella was sleep deprived, bitchy and clearly tired of the situation. Rodney had killed already because of this girl, she knew fear of Bella for some reason was what kept Rodney somewhat in check but when she was gone for good, all bets would be off. She knew that was what worried Bella the most, so she wasn't shocked to see Bella's hand flash out to grab hold of Trisha and slam her back into the side of the house.
Bella pulled out a bullet and held it between their faces,
"You've got until tomorrow night. Go upstairs, take a long shower, go to sleep, wake up, be festive and don't bring anyone down. Fake it until you make it. I don't give a fuck. When they get stupid and come over here tomorrow night, make your choice. If you don't, I'll make it for you and trust me you won't like it. Enough of this yo-yo shit"
"You can't"
"I can and I will, you're not worth the grass you stand on. Now get out my fucking face before I decide for you"
She watched the girl stumble into the house before turning to Bella and raising an eyebrow in question,
"I can't be under the same roof as her, want to go for a drive?" Bella questioned, she had both the car keys and her keys from Jamal thanks to a few runs she had to make earlier
"Sure" Rosalie nodded
One stop at a street grate to dump the confiscated ammo and then they were driving until everything was different. She briefly wondered if they were heading back to Bella's mother's house but soon found that they were leaving the residential and heading for the more commercial area,
"Why does he fear you so much?" she questioned her curiosity getting the better of her for once in her existence
"Because he knows I could've killed him and no one would've known...twice" Bella informed her darkly, she waited for her to continue, "Just before I left, Trisha was walking with Jamal, Rodney took offence. Trisha ran and they jumped Jamal. I was on my way to the house when I saw Trisha running, I stopped her and got the story and went running. I jumped in, Jamal was pretty bad so I called the cops made sure he lived and then me and Rodney took a little ride. We had a….conversation, made sure we understood one another. He's a gang leader but it's not a gang that exist outside of Phoenix, I know those kind of guys and they wouldn't think twice if I made a call he knows that"
"But he'll come tomorrow anyway"
"Because he doesn't think I'd ever do more than punch him in the face and point guns"
"Would you?"
"Ms. Nan's moving after this year, back to New York. Once Jamal graduates, he'll going to Syracuse and he's staying on the east coast, that's where all the family is. They're the only ones that lives this far west and they did it for me. I'm not coming back so they can go, but I can't risk that things won't go to shit between now and then. So yeah, I would, I'll kill Rodney and do the time before I let him kill anyone in that house over some bullshit"
"What's stopping them from coming back later tonight?"
"All those guns I took apart, are all the guns they have, all the ammo, and no firing pins"
"You know a lot about guns"
"Learned in New York" Bella shrugged as she pulled into the parking lot of a…
"Ballet studio?" she questioned
"Mmhmm" Bella nodded brandishing her keys as she unlocked the back door as if it was nothing, "Back when my mom was trying to 'disguise' me as a girl, she paid for ballet lessons...not sure what she was thinking there. No way was I wearing those tights and stuff, so I convinced my teacher to let me sit with her assistant that played the piano during the class, that's who taught me how to play the piano" the brunette explained as she led the blonde up to the grand piano.
She listened as the girl played no specific song in general just a soothing flourish of notes,
"Sometimes you just need to beat them into submission, no need to kill" although she could easily dispose of the bodies, that was one experience she rathered the brunette not have if she could help it.
"For you...anything"
"I'm flattered" the blonde replied with a roll of her eyes, Bella only grinned.
She watched the younger girl's eyes slip close as her fingers danced over the keys, she immediately found her playing more enjoyable than Edward's which she didn't think possible because Edward was amazing. She recognized the opening to Sam Smith's "Pray", although it was a bit more embellished to make up for the other instruments and backup vocals (A/N:I am well aware some of these songs don't match the timeline but they fit so...yeah).
Rosalie watched the emotions move across Bella's face, it was the least guarded the girl had looked since they'd left the airport. She understood how much Gloria and Jamal meant to her but if Bella never entered Phoenix for the next 100 years it would still be too soon as far as she was concerned because this place was toxic for her.
The transition into what she recognized to be, "Lay Me Down" was seamless and she wondered how many people knew Bella was this musically gifted. She liked the idea of it being exclusive to relatively her and her family. The blonde wondered how many times Bella had come here in the dead of the night and wee hours of the morning to sing to an empty dance studio because she was so beyond frustrated and needed an outlet.
Gold met silver as the chords once again transitioned seamlessly into Adele's "When We Were Young". Emotions were high, higher than either of them were anywhere near comfortable witnessing or expressing yet neither dared to look away as the brunette sang. Bella was the first to pull away as the song crescendoed as she finished it off.
Bella smiled and kissed her as the chords once again transitioned effortlessly, swirling together before separating into "Remedy". This time Rosalie smiled as Bella sung, because this was them in every sense, even she knew that. They were both wholly uncomfortable with the large range of emotions, each of them having their own specific niche, some of which overlapped but for one another...when it was needed, they would try.
They'd both been hurt in the past, Bella was still getting hurt and as a result they were emotionally stunted and most would say that they need not be in a relationship until they could be better but for one another they would at least try and that was all that really mattered. She was strong where Bella was not, Bella was strong where she was not and where they both struggled they helped one another.
The song changed once again and she soon recognized the opening to "Make You Feel My Love", her head rested on Bella's shoulder as Bella sang softly to her. As the song ended Bella finally pulled her hands away from the ivory keys,
"You need to sleep" Rosalie frowned softly, she could sense the sun would be on it's way up again to start the day and Bella had slept for all of 6 minutes.
"Yeah" she nodded sleepily stretching out across the piano bench and resting her head in Rosalie's lap. It was a wide plush bench that showed Bella's one time mentor clearly cared about comfort over the formality of a regular piano bench. Of course Bella was far too tall to use the thing as a bed as her feet were still touching the ground but it was absolutely better than nothing at all.
It was nearly noon when they returned, Gloria taking one look at them and frowned in the direction of Trisha who looked conveniently busy,
"You can call in a sub for the day" Jamal noted, the moment he saw Trisha that morning and no car outside he knew things had gone down while everyone else was blissfully unaware. He didn't have the patience to ask the girl and he knew Bella would never tell him but he needed to see that she was okay.
"I'll be fine, I'll meet you in a bit, just need a hot shower" Bella replied waving him off, she didn't look like she'd been up all night like he knew she tended to be but she did look awfully stiff
"Thanks for getting her to sleep a little bit" he noted because he knew it had to be Rosalie.
Bella didn't dwell on things but she had to be exhausted to sleep most times, especially if she'd been upset. It was like the anger was like a shot of energy to her system.
Rosalie nodded before winking at Jensen, a 5 year old boy that had taken a shining to her. He had spent his entire time right next to Rosalie talking her up and ignoring Bella's empty threats to his dessert rights. The boy grinned widely at her before darting off with his twin sister Jennet who seemed to worship everything about Bella.
Of course Bella treated her like a princess as she had dubbed Bella her girl Prince Charming and charm Bella had until everyone was in bed. There were a few other kids running around, ranging from 14-17, they mostly stuck together but it was a large family and they knew how to interact without the awkwardness a blend of Jamaican and Dominican cultures.
Gloria was the only one of her 6 siblings to not have kids and she was the only one to still alive but she treated her now adult and married nieces and nephews like they were her very own children. In total, not counting she and Bella, there were 24 people so Thanksgiving dinner was an outdoor affair.
Rosalie slipped outside, freshly showered and dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a thin sweater, more for looks than warmth
"Hi" Jensen smiled up at her, offering his hand
"Hi, what are those two up to?" Rosalie smiled taking the boys offered hand. He barely flinched at her chilled skin, the shower had warmed her up considerably and his own hand would keep her hand warm while he held it. Vampires weren't as much cold as they simply just lacked heat of their own.
"Bella already beat Jamal on the pull up bar, it's time for push-ups then basketball"
"Who do you think will win?"
"Bella, she always win" Jensen replied simply as they came to stand near the others.
Bella flashed her a smirk, there was a small tremor in her arms but Jamal's was just marginally more noticeable
"Kick up" Selena yelled and both quickly kicked up into handstands, slowly shifting onto one hand. It was a testament to both their strength, athleticism, and balance...ironic, considering how clumsy Belal could be at times.
"Down" Selena yelled after the minute mark, Rosalie eyed the rolling muscles as Bella controlled her descent back into push-ups.
"Fuck that, uncle" Jamal declared flopping back onto his stomach mid-pushup
"Jamal" the group of 6 teenagers yelled in annoyance as Jenett leapt unto Bella cheering
"I told you, boy talks a good game. Never bet against me" Bella grinned as she bounced Jennet on her hip who was happily collecting the winnings of her fruitful bet.
"4 on 4 what's teams?" Hector questioned as he began tying his sneakers.
In the end Bella, Jamal, Julio, and Selena ended up on a team against Hector, Archie, Tamia, and Kevin, while she, Jennet, and Jensen sat on a nearby bench to watch.
"Call your own fouls, 2's are 1's, 3's are 2's, game is 32" Hector reeled off.
Rosalie wondered if things were different where Bella would be, because she was clearly exceptionally good at the sport. Despite her clear height advantage for the most part, it was Bella's skill set that separated her from the others, she was sure she'd never seen the clumsy girl move so gracefully since she'd known her. She was also a fierce competitor but she clearly was against the whole calling fouls thing as she got whacked on the way to the basket but still managed to finish most times. It was clearly unfair to have Jamal and Bella on the same team but the opposing team was smart enough to try and keep the ball out of their hands for as long as possible and force the other two to score.
Having Jasper and Emmett as brothers meant she was well versed in all things sports and while she had not become nearly as rabidly hooked as Anna had, she could enjoy a good game with no complaints. Therefore she recognized a hell of a move when she saw one, such as the jab step leading into a crossover that got Bella by Archie and gave her an open lane to cock the ball back and slam it through the hoop. She didn't even know the girl could jump that damn high as she landed flexing as she really had been fouled on the way up but had not called it as per usual.
The game ended with Bella's team winning it 32-20, and soon she was once again fully packed and they were heading for Renee's house with promises that they'd be back in time for dinner at 8.
They ignored the stares as they headed to Bella's bedroom, unlocking the door and disappearing inside.
Rosalie eyed the brunette as she fixed the cuff of her shirt, the girl cleaned up rather impressively, simple black slacks, a navy blue dress shirt, black suede ankle boots, paired with golden Versace accessories. It wasn't a surprise as Bella often did wear expensive things often, they just weren't particularly obvious most times. How she could afford them...she had yet to find out,
"Well done" she practically purred at the girl who winked at her as her own eyes roamed the simple but elegant black dress the blonde wore
"You're perfect" Bella mumbled
"You're welcome" she smirked as Bella grabbed the duffle bag with their clothes as they would not be returning, they were on a flight back to Washington at 6 in the morning so they'd be leaving from Gloria's and heading straight to the airport, her suitcase was already in the trunk of the car.
Bella disappeared outside to go put the bag in the trunk and Rory made his way over, in his khakis and sweater vest. He had two older boys with him that were staring at her blatantly, neither could be more than 16.
"Hey Rosalie, nice dress" he smiled, there wasn't much cleavage on display and it was a long sleeved dress but it was clearly enough for the two boys to stare at
"Thank you, you clean up well" she smiled reaching out to adjust his collar, she could smell the two boy's arousals from here and she fought the urge to curl up her lip and hiss at them.
She was well aware of Bella's presence behind her as the brunette's arm slipped around Rosalie's waist and her hand settled on the top of her ass,
"Hey Rory. Casey, Jonah" Bella nodded tightly, it was the first time Bella had done something so blatantly and physically possessive and Rosalie was surprised.
She had began to think Bella simply was not the physically possessive type, obviously it simply depended on the occasion.
In her heels she was the same height as Bella so she simply turned and cocked an eyebrow at the younger girl. She rolled her eyes at the sheepish look Bella gave her as she began to pull her arm away but she simply reached back and held the girl's hand in place before slipping her arm around Bella's waist. She ignored the look of anger and disgust on Renee's face she spotted and chose to focus on the awestruck look on the teenage boys face,
"Just...well done" Casey mumbled as he shook Bella's hand, bowing a bit
"Bella, come introduce your friend" Phil smiled as he waved her over, there was nothing wrong with Phil except his family was a bit uppity and he had terrible taste in women.
As predicted, she and Bella were not seated at the table which made it far easier to push off the food she did take onto Bella's plate, 7:15 they were waving goodbye and slipping out and heading for Gloria's.
The excuse worked and she was not subjected to eat any food for the night while she got to witness Bella and Jamal finish a full chicken off by themselves not to mention the turkey legs they had claimed earlier in the night,
"Don't you two eat anymore, you won't be able to entertain us" Gloria chastised as she took the basket of rolls away from them
"Yes ma'am" they chorused both still eating.
Eventually all that remained at the table were desserts as everyone had taken to the dance floor including Bella and Jamal who were dancing full blown Hip-Hop routines with one another,
"They watched 'You Got Served' with Omarion and Mario and they've been hooked" Gloria smiled at Rosalie as she took a seat next to the blonde vampire
"How old were they?"
"12, they saved their allowances and the money they made cleaning pools and built the dancefloor themselves to practice"
"Because of one movie?"
"I know, I was so mad when I came home and found it. I admired their drive though and they got this good just watching movies and music videos so really I'm more impressed than I am mad now that I look back on it"
"They made a mess didn't they?"
"One hell of a mess. I know you're young and she says you haven't been together too long, but you are good for her and while I don't know much about you she is good for you too. I have faith in my baby girl. I raised her to be the perfect gentlewoman"
"She is good for me, I don't know so much about me" she had no idea why she was telling this woman these things
"You are, she used to be cold, especially when she left that dreadful woman's house. Tonight I saw no anger, no hate, none of that self-hate, and inadequacy she always had. You made that difference. You've given her more confidence to be proud of herself than Jamal and I have ever been able to and I thank you for that"
"I am only returning the favor"
"Tell me something" the woman smiled and Rosalie inclined her head in the affirmative, "How often does she wear her sunglasses around you?"
Rosalie paused to think about it and it had been a while, they were always on hand but she rarely ever wore them anymore
"It's been a while" the blonde remarked
"You make her that confident, she used to wear them constantly"
"She shouldn't hide them"
"I agree. She's beautiful isn't she?"
"Beyond that"
"And you're one in the same. I don't think she realizes it but it's about to be 2010 and while the world has come a long way it's not ready to accept people like Bella just yet, she's simply just too beautiful or charismatic to be ignored"
"I know" if Bella wasn't so good looking or able to simply draw people in without trying, she doubted so many people would be so okay with her and everything she was about.
Her charisma was almost hypnotic and Rosalie wondered what it would be like when she was turned because if Bella could override a human's natural self preservation so they could be able to interact with Alice, which they wouldn't have dared done before...something like that as a vampire could make her the perfect hunter.
"Stay strong for the both of you, she'll need it from time to time and don't be afraid to lean on her, she's a strong girl"
"I'll remember that" Rosalie nodded
"Enough of this, I want some bachata so I can dance with my wife" Manuel declared, pulling their attention, as he moved back to the dance floor as the music changed. She recognized the musical style from the latin world tour Alice had for the family 50 years ago. Of course Mexico was avoided for obvious reasons.
"Can you dance bachata?" Gloria questioned as she waved Bella over
"A bit" she replied modestly
"Dance with your girl honey, enjoy her. But if you get tired let her know or she'll dance all night and never give you a break" Gloria smiled before she was smacking Bella's arm as the girl approached
"Ow, what I do?" Bella whined
"Dance with your date mija (slang for my daughter)"
"Yes ma'am" Bella grinned before offering her hand to the blonde vampire who took it with a smirk and followed her to the the dance floor.
Bella pulled her into her arms as they quickly found their rhythm as the brunette sang quietly along with the songs she knew and hummed along with the others as they moved around the dance floor.
Of course it was short lived as Rodney had pulled up calling for Trisha. Bella stayed rooted to her spot on the dancefloor as Gloria held Jamal in place. There was a shouting match that ensued but Trisha was firm in her declaration that it was in fact over and she wanted nothing to do with the boy anymore. He looked like he was about to remove her by force but thought better of look at jamal would have anyone thinking twice, and if they found it in them to summon the courage, one look at Bella would dispel it. The brunette's face betrayed nothing but that's what made it worse because Bella's eyes glinted in the light like a blade in the moonlight poised to stab and cut. Spitting at Trisha's feet, as one last hoorah, Rodney wisely got in his car and drove away. The girl went straight to Gloria, nodding briefly to Bella before letting the woman whisk her away,
"Right then" Bella nodded and once again they were dancing the others quickly forgetting the bit of drama as they returned to their activities.
Rosalie thought it best not to dwell on Bella's flawless hip movements and what that would most definitely translate into.
No need to scar Jensen and Jenett this early in their lives.