Thank you thank you thank you for all the feedback! I'm glad everyone likes Kyleigh. Anyway, here's 13, I own nothing, but Kyleigh.
"In all your years of school, none of you ever thought it might be a good idea to study law?" Kyleigh said exasperatedly, throwing her huge law book aside. None of them even reacted to the noise it made.
Rosalie looked up from her book and said, "None of us anticipated a law suit in our future."
Kyleigh bit her lip and looked down guiltily. Jasper glanced at Rosalie pointedly then sent a wave of calm towards his girlfriend.
"Besides," Emmet added, "It takes like a million years to get through law school."
"And it requires brains to get in," Jasper grinned.
Emmet glared at him, "My point is none of us had interest in wasting that much time to get a degree in a field we'd never work in."
Rosalie propped her legs up on his thigh, "You'd probably just eat the defendant," She teased.
Emmet growled at her then grabbed her feet, causing her to squeal and kick at him.
Kyleigh turned away as their horseplay continued and alternated between watching the rain trickle down the window and watching Jasper strumming Edward's old guitar. She stifled a sigh, well aware that though the others vehemently swore it wasn't true, this whole thing was her fault. Still, Jasper made it difficult for her to feel guilty; she wasn't sure if this was due to his gift or if it was just the general giddiness that came from his presence.
Regardless of her feelings for Jasper, she now had Rosalie, her sister and ally. She had Emmet, her stereotypically obnoxious older brother (though he made an excellent hunting partner so she couldn't complain). Then there were Esme and Carlisle, going above and beyond for her though she was barely a member of the family.
"Let's just kill them," Emmet suggested, snapping Kyleigh out of her reverie.
Jasper rolled his eyes, "Cause 2 more unexplained deaths isn't suspicious at all."
"Just a suggestion," Emmet shrugged.
"Nice try, babe," Rosalie patted his knee.
"They probably wouldn't taste good anyway," Kyleigh added with a wicked smile.
Emmet grinned at her, "Atta girl!"
"Isn't it a pity, isn't it a shame, how we break each other's hearts and cause each other pain," Jasper sang, lightly strumming the chords to Isn't It a Pity.
"I love that song!" Kyleigh exclaimed.
"Shouldn't you like young people music?" Emmet asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Young people music?" Kyleigh laughed, "What's that?"
"Like Lil Wayne and Taylor Swift."
"Um, I was told I'm too white for rap and…no comment."
"You don't dig Taylor!" Emmet gasped dramatically, "I thought all girls loved her!"
"Not this one," Kyleigh shook her head and moved over to Jasper's side. He smiled at her and held out an arm, pulling her against him then bringing the guitar back down over them as a makeshift lap band. He ducked his head and began playing quietly, then sang into her ear: "You're asking me will my love grow, I don't know, I don't know. Well you stick around and it make show, I don't know, I don't know. Something in the way she moves…"
Kyleigh shut her eyes and allowed Jasper to soothe her soul.
Darling, you're mean…
In the 2 months that Carlisle and Esme had had an empty nest, they'd learned 2 things: 1. Having no kids made the house eerily quiet and 2. Lawyers are next to impossible to work with.
"I don't trust him," Esme said to Carlisle.
"It's almost over," Carlisle reminded her, kissing her forehead, "The charges against the hospital were dropped. Anytime now the charges against me will be dropped too."
"Good because I think Kyleigh's ready to come home," Esme told him.
"Why's that?" Carlisle looked surprised.
"I'm not sure she'd had the best welcome."
"From Edward and Bella?"
"Not Edward, but you know how close Alice and Bella are. I'm sensing resentment by association. Plus, Rosalie adores Kyleigh…I think the fact that she accepted Kyleigh so quickly is a thorn in Bella's side."
Carlisle still looked confused, "But it's not Kyleigh's fault that Jasper and Rosalie love her,"
"Well yes, dear, I know, but it's on principle that Bella has to dislike her on Alice's behalf," At Carlisle's puzzled expression, "Oh never mind, it's a girl thing."
"Apparently," Carlisle laughed, "That's quite the waste of emotion. You would think Jasper could help."
"Darling, I think he's probably working overtime to keep Kyleigh calm. Besides, I don't think he can control cattiness."
"Well…Kyleigh's handling it, I'm sure. She may look like a fairy princess, but she's got the strength of an ox…or something to that effect."
Esme stared at him bemusedly, "A fairy princess?"
"Yes! With her long hair and she's so small, if you stuck some wings on her, she'd be-"
Esme pressed a finger to his lips, "Honey, you're delirious. I think you need something to eat."
Carlisle considered this, "I think you're right."
"Of course I am," Esme smiled, "Now go. I'll stay in case Sir Snyder calls." She kissed his cheek then watched him leave. Esme laughed at her husband's silliness then went and sat by the phone.
Mean to me…
"Ky," Jasper murmured, watching his leg jump up and down.
"Hmm?"
Jasper clapped a hand on her knee, "You're making me bounce."
"Oh, sorry…" Kyleigh said sheepishly, making an effort to stay still.
"Twitchy," Emmet called across the porch.
Kyleigh stuck her tongue out at him as Rosalie walked in the room, "That was mature," she said dryly, sitting down with Nessie.
"I try," Kyleigh shrugged, tapping her foot against the step beneath her. It was another long day in Montana. They went hunting almost every day, more for sport than food. Jasper gave her a daily guitar lesson, though she still sucked even after 2 months. Kyleigh was hurt that once she'd united with Bella, Alice had given up on trying to be friends with her. Of course, they were civil to her, but sometimes she'd walk into a room and they'd fall silent, making it clear who they were talking about.
Kyleigh jumped when Jasper reached down and held her foot, "Sor-"
"I know," Jasper smiled at her, "You need to relax."
"You can say that as many times as you want, it's still not going to achieve the desired effect."
"How about this?" He stroked her cheek.
"Nope," She shook her head.
"This?" He cupped her face in his hands.
"No," She mumbled.
"Liar," He murmured, kissing her while simultaneously sending a wave of calm towards her.
Kyleigh sighed and sagged against him until he pulled away, "Now?"
Kyleigh nodded and smiled stupidly.
Alice, having seen this sickly romantic moment, cleared her throat loudly, "There's going to be a small trial, no jury. They've dropped the murder charge; apparently the hospital made a case about it. They tried to put together a file to clear Carlisle's charges too, but the judge dismissed it, saying that murder or not, protocol was broken and something needs to be done."
"So this is like a malpractice trial?" Emmet furrowed his brow.
"Right," Alice nodded, keeping her eyes on Kyleigh.
"Well, at least it's not a murder charge," Rosalie declared, trying to sound cheerful.
Alice scoffed, turning away from them.
"She's right, Kyleigh's parents could've gone all Grey's Anatomy on them and went on a killing spree to get revenge," Jasper laughed.
"…since when do you watch Grey's?" Kyleigh said incredulously.
Jasper shrugged, "Back when Rose and Emmet were on their honeymoon and I was single," He stared at Alice's back then turned to Kyleigh, "Esme had it on and I had nothing else to do so I watched it."
"Seattle has the worst SWAT team ever," Kyleigh shuddered.
"I know, it makes me glad we moved. They were horrible," Jasper agreed.
"So are we just pretending like this isn't happening?" Alice interrupted angrily, turning around to face them.
"Of course not," Rosalie glared, "But what, exactly, can we do about it from here?"
Alice didn't have an answer to that and instead opened her mouth to say something about Kyleigh.
"Stop," a soft voice said. They all turned and saw Edward leaning against the door, "Enough, Alice." She opened her mouth, but he cut her off, "I know what you want to say, but please, hold your tongue. She feels guilty enough, and not just about the lawsuit."
Kyleigh stared at Edward wide eyed, feeling a little violated, but then again that's how she typically felt about her other brother.
"If you could hear her thoughts, you'd stop giving her grief and let her be happy. So leave her alone, Alice, let it be."
Alice paused then pushed past Edward out of the room. He nodded to them then called Nessie over and took her inside.
"Wow," Kyleigh said finally, "Well, if she didn't hate me before, she certainly does now."
"Don't say that," Jasper whispered, entwining his fingers with hers. They sat in silence, no one knowing what to say.
"Aw man," Edward groaned suddenly. They all looked at him, "Now I have that song stuck in my head."
"What song?" Rosalie asked.
"That Beatles song!" He sang a few lines vastly out of key, causing them to wince.
"Emmet, let it be!" Kyleigh begged, massaging her ears.
"Well sorry we can't all have perfect voices," Emmet grumbled.
"There's nothing wrong with sucking, as long as you spare everyone else by not singing," Rosalie soothed.
"People are mean."
"Life's not fair," Kyleigh replied.
Emmet sighed wearily, "Who wants to do something?" He asked, standing up.
Rosalie and Jasper rolled their eyes, but Kyleigh jumped to her feet, "Okay! What should we do?"
Emmet shrugged, "I dunno…vandalize some cars?"
Kyleigh grinned and nodded then they darted around the house.
"They probably aren't kidding, right?" Rosalie asked.
"I doubt it," Jasper replied then the 2 of them vaulted after their significant others.
So I'm leaving for school Tuesday and I don't know when I'll get an internet connection, but I'll keep writing until I do. I'm working on 14 right now. Thank you again for the feedback, please keep reading and reviewing!