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Adore

Chapter 24 –Folly

An entire week passed since Jasper's foolish visit to Peter Wesley. He went to bed anxious, and he woke up anxious, every day expecting a terrible consequence of his actions to come and viciously bite him in the ass. Nothing happened. If it did, he would know it immediately, because no doubt Bella would be the one to find out and confront him. He wondered why Peter hadn't made some attempt to contact her. This was his opportunity, wasn't it? Tell her what a temperamental idiot her lover was (as if she didn't already know), and how inappropriate he had been, how threatened he had felt. Poor Peter Wesley. It was a good card to play…but he wasn't. It was possible he had genuinely scared him away, but Jasper wasn't so easily convinced.

He had made it his mission to place all of his unspent energy into planning their vacation. It distracted him, and briefly relieved him of his anxiety. More importantly, it made Bella and his brothers happy. No one was more excited than Bella.

"New York!" She squealed. They had settled on the east coast a few days earlier. In Jasper's opinion, the further from Washington they got the better. But to everyone else, they just wanted to see the other side of the country. California would have been nice, maybe even Vegas, but it was almost too easy, too close. They had never gone that far east before. So New York it was.

"And D.C.," Emmett reminded her. "And New Jersey. And Philly. Am I missing anything?"

Bella's face fell. She turned to Jasper. "We can't fit all of that into a week, can we?"

Jasper raised his eyebrows. "Probably not, unless we skip a lot of sights. We could try stretching it out a few days longer, I suppose. It's not like we can't afford it."

They weren't rich by any means, but he had to remember that there were three incomes combined, plus Bella's inheritance and the money she occasionally earned. If they didn't spend too much on hotels, they would be able to swing it. By the massive smile erupting on Bella's face, he could tell he'd said the right thing.

"Really?!" Yes, she was desperate to get away. It had been a long time since they'd even ventured past the state border, and she was bored. They all were.

"Yes, darling." He happily let her smother him in hugs and drawn-out kisses. Fuck it, he would spend all his money if it meant making her this happy.

"I don't know why we thought a week was enough to begin with," Emmett said. "We still have a month or so before school starts. Might as well do as much as we can. Ooh, scuba diving!"

"In New York?" Edward asked.

"Shit. Can't we go to Florida, too?"

"Maybe next time, Em."

"Christmas?"

Bella gasped. "Wait, are we going on vacation for Christmas?"

"Um…" Jasper hadn't thought about it. "Maybe?"

"I vote yes," said Emmett. "Scuba diving! And, you know, the wax museum."

"Mom and dad will miss us," Edward pointed out. "They're used to our family holidays."

"They can come along, then."

Jasper groaned. "Can we focus on New York for now? These things take planning, and if we're going to leave in another week then we need to get on it now."

"On it!" Bella was their self-appointed travel agent. She had never planned a trip before. Sure, she'd traveled as a child and moved around the states, but it wasn't for fun. No sightseeing or picture taking, no cherished family togetherness or nostalgic memories. Just 'get on the damn plane and be quiet.' Come to think of it, she'd never packed her own bags as a little girl, or even a teenager. Her father always had his goons do that for them. The thought of them touching her belongings gave her the creeps. Thankfully, times had indeed changed. She currently had ten internet browsers open. She wanted to go everywhere, do everything. Now!

There were two other Cullens, however, who were not on board with this trip.

"Mom and dad aren't too thrilled," Edward announced a few hours later. He'd managed to get off the phone with his mom after nearly an hour of her worried jabbering.

"Why?" Bella asked.

"Mom doesn't think it's safe. She's worried something's going to happen while we're gone." Edward wasn't as baffled by this as Bella was. She still wasn't over the break-in or assault. In her mind, danger followed her children around like a lion on the prowl, and now was not the time to go far away from their family and friends. When he pointed out that they had no friends, she got irritated.

"She's still traumatized by what happened a few weeks ago," said Edward.

Bella felt a rare tinge of annoyance towards Esme. "It didn't even happen to her. If anyone's going to be traumatized, it should be me."

Edward laughed. "You're right, but she's a mom, and she likes to protect her flock." He bent down and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "She'll be fine. It may take a few days, but she'll calm down."

"I hope so. I don't want this to weigh on her for the rest of her life, you know? It could have been so much worse, and we were lucky. You can also tell her that we have no plans to die anytime soon. We survived all that other crap, didn't we? We're tough."

Edward smiled ruefully. "That we are." He didn't want to tell her that it wasn't just his mother who was worried. The thought of something happening to his parents while they were gone had crossed his mind, and it was enough to make him reconsider their plans. On top of that, New York wasn't exactly the friendliest city, and their track record wasn't reassuring him. Bella was braver than he was. After all that had happened to her, it would be understandable for her to hold back and hide from the world and the adventures it had to offer. No one would blame her. But she was all about moving forward and experiencing life. If she didn't, the only person who would win was her father. With that thought in mind, he pushed his worries aside.

It took more than a few days to convince their parents that the world wasn't going to end while they were gone. They drove them to the airport, Esme practically in tears.

"Stick together, and don't stay out too late. Call me every day!"

"Yes mommy," Emmett said, doing his best impression of a toddler.

"I'm serious! I want to know how you are. It would make me feel a whole lot better, so just do it. Please," she added, realizing how demanding she was being.

Jasper hugged her. "Mom, stop worrying so much. We'll be fine. Call us if anything happens, okay?"

"We will," said Carlisle.

"And don't overdo it at work, dad," Jasper warned. "I hate to think of you being miserable because of that sociopath."

His father shook his head. "I'll try, but no promises. There's only so much I can do right now. Just enjoy yourselves, kids, and don't worry about us. You deserve a good time." He kissed Bella on the cheek and embraced his three sons, doing a better job of hiding his emotions than his wife, who at this point was unable to contain herself.

"Call me on the flight!" She bawled, pulling all four of them in for a group hug. Was she trying to make them change their minds, they all wondered? They would have been amused if it weren't so painful to watch.

It wasn't the vacation of their dreams, but as promised, no one died, no one was hurt, and everyone made it back alive.

The first week was a success. They took in New York and D.C. Bella and Jasper enjoyed visiting the Smithsonian museums more than anything else. Emmett had grumbled about it, saying that one museum was enough, and couldn't they go to a theme park instead?

Edward had insisted on seeing not one, but two Broadway shows. When Jasper protested the price, he'd quickly whipped out his credit card and said, "My treat." No one was going to argue with that.

Week two was not as nice. Both Jasper and Edward came down with colds, and by the end of it, Bella and Emmett had been afflicted as well. No one felt well enough to travel far after that.

"I'm dying," Emmett said, sprawled out on their plush hotel bed.

"Ugh, I don't want to get on an airplane tomorrow," moaned Bella. "I don't want to be that person who's sneezing and snotting on everything and making everyone uncomfortable."

"It was that sick guy on the subway, I know it was," Emmett lamented. "I told Jasper we should move further away from him, but he never listens, and now we're all doomed."

Edward was getting tired of his whining. "Jesus, Emmett, you'll be back to normal in a few days."

"A few days should be today."

Edward rolled his eyes. He couldn't wait for Jasper to come back from his food and pharmacy run. Nothing like Chinese food and cold medication to fuel one's appetite. Bella was in the midst of falling asleep, but Emmett refused to shut up. Would it be wrong to stick a pillow over his head?

"I hate New York," he continued, his voice nasally. "Everyone is sick here. So much snot."

It was almost a relief when Emmett's complain-a-thon was interrupted by Edward's phone ringing. He wasn't surprised to see his mom's name pop up on his screen –she had made good on her promise to talk to them every day. She'd gone from slightly worried on their arrival, to reassured on their second day. She'd been fine ever since, aside from acting as if they were all dying from the flu. Today, however, her voice was shaking.

"I went to check your mail today," she said. She'd made it her number one job since they left. She got their mail and made sure everything in the house was in working order.

"Okay?" Edward didn't know where she was going with this.

"And it wasn't there."

Edward frowned. "Well they do skip some days. It's rare, but it's happened before."

"It happened yesterday, too," she informed him. "I thought it was odd, but I assumed they didn't have anything for you. But then there was nothing today, either. I think someone's stealing it."

A loud groan emitted from Edward's throat. This was just what they needed to cap off their trip. Telling his brothers was going to be a blast. "It could be a coincidence, right?" He knew he was reaching.

"Honestly Edward, I don't think it is." She sounded so anxious. Suddenly he was glad they were flying back tomorrow. He ran through a mental list of everything that could have been stolen: one or two magazines, credit card statements, credit card offers, bank statements…They might have to cancel a few cards. Oh joy.

Jasper walked in a few minutes later, his arms weighed down with shopping bags. His was covered in a sheen of sweat, and his face was red from the heat, but he looked surprisingly happy under the current circumstances. "Man, New York is something else. I was almost run over twice within the first five minutes I was out, and there's a red carpet event happening not far away. Pretty sure it was one of those celebrity types who tried to kill me."

Edward couldn't help but be amused. It wasn't usual for Jasper to take near-death so lightly. "I guess they thought they should give it a shot before we leave tomorrow. At least one of us had to be the target of an assassin."

Jasper snickered. "Yeah, please don't tell mom about that."

And there was his opening. "Speaking of mom…" Edward dreaded telling Jasper the most. Better to get it over with, he thought.

"What's up?"

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't in the mood to deal with this, and he had a feeling no one else would be either. "She said someone stole our mail. Twice."

Jasper dropped the bags he'd been carrying. "When?"

"The last two days. She's pretty sure it was stolen. I mean it's never been skipped two days in a row. I can't even remember the last time we didn't get any. I just don't know who would do that. We're not on a main road or in a neighborhood; we're out of the way, yet someone's made it their mission to take it. They must know we're not there."

He watched as his older brother's face morphed into one of horror and, if he wasn't mistaken, self-loathing. "Jasper?"

"Shit," was the response he received. "This is all my fault."

"I know it's a pain in the ass, but we'll get it sorted out once we're home tomorrow." Edward tried to reassure him, but Jasper just shook his head. "And I don't see how it could be your fault." What was wrong with him?

"Look, I need to tell you something," said Jasper. From the look on his face, Edward knew it was about to get a lot worse.

A/N I hope you enjoyed this new chapter! I should have another update out soon (I'm on a roll!). In the meantime, I just launched a Facebook page, Twitter (never thought I'd say that), and a new writing blog! I'm still learning the ropes and getting things set up, but I'm so excited! Please check them out on my profile if you get a chance. I would love to interact with you guys and share things with you through the weird world of social media. :3

P.S. Fanfiction is being weird about hyperlinking, so they may not all be working, but everything should be there.