Disclaimer: Oi, who reads these things anymore? You really shouldn't be reading this. No, seriously…staaaahp!
Adore
Chapter 25 –Off the Rail
At first, it didn't seem like the sort of thing that should cause such a fuss. Stolen mail? It was annoying, but not worth having a heart attack over. Or at least, that's what Emmett thought. He was holding a tissue up to his nose in case he suddenly sneezed. Jasper, being in one of his uber-serious moods, would not react well to that. Edward didn't appear to be in the brink of a breakdown like Jasper did, but he was worried. Jasper had insisted they all meet in the downstairs lobby to talk. Bella had been purposely kept out of this conversation, however, and Emmett couldn't wait to hear why.
"Okay, the whole disappearing mail thing might be my fault." Jasper hadn't sounded this embarrassed or nervous in years.
"How could it be your fault?" Emmett asked. "We're thousands of miles away."
"I have a bad feeling about this," muttered Edward. He could sense a fuck-up was about to be revealed.
"That's not helping," Jasper growled. He quickly brought his temper back down, breathing in and out. Those self-help books really worked sometimes. "But you're right, it's bad."
"Just tell us," Edward groaned. At this point, he was sick of New York, sick of being away, and he simply wanted to go home and snuggle with Bella. There had been way too much drama in their lives lately, and now Jasper was adding to it.
"I went to see Peter Wesley."
Edward's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and his face started turning red. Emmett wondered if he and Jasper had switched bodies at some point during the night.
"You did what?!" Edward fumed. "Why?"
"I wanted to warn him off," Jasper explained, unused to this volatile side of his little brother. He had expected him and Emmett to be angry, but not this. People had even begun staring at them. "Maybe we should go somewhere more private." The woman at the front desk was giving them the stink eye, and Jasper convinced himself that she knew what a dipshit he was.
They ended up in a park not far off, which everyone agreed was dodgy. There were three of them, and though they were a little too pretty, they weren't worried about being attacked. The only one they had to worry about was Edward.
"What were you thinking?!"
"I don't know!" Jasper could only answer his brother with equal volume. "I thought I could make him stop. I knew it was stupid when I got there, but some part of me needed to talk to him, and yeah, it didn't go well…"
"What did he say?" asked Emmet. He was truly worried now. They had no idea what this guy was like, or what he was capable of, and now Jasper might have started an all-out war. They really needed to start taking away his phone and car privileges.
"He was upset that I was there, but he said that nothing had happened with Bella and he insisted he doesn't follow her around. He didn't admit to having feelings for her, but it's pretty obvious he does. I don't know what I expected him to say, honestly. I don't think it would have done either of us any good if he had opened up about it."
"Do you think he was angry enough to do something?" Edward wished Jasper had consulted them before doing something reckless. Still, he was a little less pissed off than he had been a minute ago. Peter hadn't confessed to anything, which did the opposite of what it should have: it made him feel better. If he had come out and professed his love for her, he would be looking for something to smash right now.
Jasper thought about it. To say that Peter hadn't been happy when Jasper left would be putting it lightly, but beyond that? "Honestly, he really just seemed sad. Everything about him was depressing, even his house. I also got the impression that his family life is nothing to write home about. I have a feeling there's no love lost between him and his father, and he's clearly not being financially aided by him in any way."
"Wait, but we saw him out to dinner with them not that long ago," Emmett pointed out.
"Shit, you're right." Jasper had no idea what to think. "Both of his parents and a sister, right?"
"I think so."
"That doesn't mean they're close…" Hold up, why was he defending that creep?
"There's no way for us to know exactly what his situation is," Edward said. "There's no point assuming anything about his personal life. Let's just go on what we know, which is that he has a thing for Bella, and as much as wants to deny it, he follows her around. I can buy that some of those run-ins were just chance, but not all of them, especially not around the school. He knew where she was going to be and when, he even looked for her car in the parking lot. I don't buy that it wasn't on purpose."
"Neither do I," Jasper agreed. "I wish I could hate him, though."
Emmett couldn't help but smile. "I know what you mean."
Jasper was incredulous. "I doubt that, Emmett."
"He's like us," said Emmett. "I don't mean personality-wise, but when it comes to Bella, yeah. We were pretty fucking creepy when it came to her, and you can't deny it."
"I would never try to. But you're right, that's exactly it. The problem is that he's more dangerous than us."
"Dangerous as in violent?"
"Maybe. He didn't strike me as violent, but then there's no way for me to really determine that, and he's obviously up to no good." He let out another defeated sigh, roughly running his hands through his blonde hair. "I don't know how I'm going to tell Bella about this."
They didn't get to sit next to one another on the plane. Jasper came close to throwing a fit when he noticed their seats were all in different aisles. He didn't want to sit next to a stranger, and he certainly didn't want Bella sitting next to some random guy. She ended up in between two older women, however, and they did not appreciate Bella's coughing and occasional nose blowing. Jasper, being the gentleman that he was, kindly offered to switch seats with one of them. When Emmett got wind of his brilliant plan, he did the same. Both women were grateful, but none more so than Bella.
"Oh thank god!" She sniffed. "I need my human headrests with me." Edward, meanwhile, managed to convince the young man behind them to switch seats. He pointed to the attractive young woman he'd been seated next to; blonde, thin, with the apt name of Blanche. It took less than a minute for Edward to make the switch with the more than willing man. Bella was watching the entire exchange, more than a little entertained by it.
"You're all such operators," she said, grinning.
"Anything to be close to my Bella," Edward bent over her seat to give her a kiss on her dark head. "Now get some rest."
"Don't tell me what to do," she whined, eagerly curling up in her seat and laying her head on Jasper's shoulder.
By the time they finally made it to their modest house in the woods, everyone was ready to collapse.
No one had told Bella about Jasper's…mistake. She would flip, but they tried the whole "don't tell so and so" thing many times before, and it always backfired. It would have to be done.
"I'll tell her when she's feeling better," said Jasper. They hadn't even been home for a full twenty-four hours when Bella suddenly came down with a fever. She was quickly forced into bed with a wet cloth over her forehead and a thermometer in her mouth.
"This is so unnecessary," she complained. "I just want to sleep."
"Oh, you will," Emmett said. "Lots and lots of sleep. In fact, you're not leaving this bed until your fever breaks." His cold was already on its way out. He didn't understand how she could be so sick when everyone else was fine. Yet another bad omen from their trip, he thought.
By the next night, she was well enough to abandon her duvet prison and go outside. She had been coddled to death lately, and her boys could barely stand to leave her alone for ten seconds. One of them was there every time she opened her eyes, asking if she needed anything and touching her forehead to see if she was on the brink of death.
The magical moment finally occurred when her fever dissipated. Not only that, but Edward was out running errands, Emmett was at the gym, and Jasper was puttering around the house doing various chores. It was almost dinnertime, an unusual time for any of them to be out running around, but cabin fever had struck the Cullen men. Too much time spent in hotels and airplanes, and too much illness. There seemed to be more on their minds than that –even through her fever she could sense that –but she was unable to pinpoint what it might be, and, truth be told, she couldn't muster the energy to care enough to find out. All she wanted was to go outside and claim some of that fresh air she'd been missing lately.
Jasper was in his favorite room: the kitchen. Bella leaned against the entrance, watching his back as he cooked over the stove.
"Babe, I'm going outside for a few minutes," she said. She only just realized how weak her voice was.
Jasper spun around, startled. "You're awake! Are you sure you should be out of bed?" He rushed over to her to see if she was burning up.
"Jasper, if I spend one more minute in bed, I'm going to have a breakdown that involves some very unpleasant tantrums and public nudity."
He was too amused to protest. "Okay, darling. Do you want me to join you?"
Bella shook her head. "I won't be long, I just need some air."
"I'll have dinner ready by the time you come back in," he said.
She sat down on the back step. It was surprisingly cool for August, but there was still a tinge of summer in the air. It reminded her of how much she regretted as of late. She hated this summer –so much had gone wrong. But as strong as her disappointment was, her wish for it to never end was even stronger. The new semester started in less than two weeks, and she wasn't ready. She didn't think she would ever be ready, but she was determined not to cave in. Even signing up for her classes had been painful. Edward had been the one to ease her through it, to reassure her. He would be there every day with her, he promised. Nothing was going to happen, and things would be better this time. She wasn't going to be alone in this anymore. God, she loved him…and yet, it didn't alleviate the deep-seeded dread that she had become accustomed to. She didn't trust anything to go well, to be safe. Anything could happen, and that was just a fact of life.
Bella gazed into the woods in front of her. It was dark enough now for the trees to have been transformed into giant black shapes, and the various paths were blacked out. Thinking about all the times she had awoken in them was almost enough to cause a panic attack. It was much nicer to look at it from a distance than to actually be in it with god knows what else. She rested her eyes on one of the bigger trees. It stood near the threshold, its various branches waving at her in the light breeze that had just picked up. If it ever toppled over, she thought, it would likely crush their little shed out back. The house was a safe distance from it, from where she was currently sitting. She didn't know why she suddenly started thinking about falling trees, but something about its dark shape was foreboding. Intimidated by a tree, Bella? You do need help. Her eyes darted over to the shed. They didn't keep much in there; a lawn mower, some tools, and fold-up chairs that nobody ever used. It was a lonely little shack out there.
She squinted. There was something next to the shed that she hadn't seen before. A tree? Her eyes narrowed further. It didn't look like a tree. It was difficult to make out a definite shape, but she could say with fair certainty that it hadn't been there a minute ago. Her spine reacted before any other part of her body did. An alarm was going off in her head. Get inside. She straightened up, her whole body shaking. The form shifted ever so slightly, but she was unable to determine if it was moving closer or further. She calculated in her head how far away it was: forty feet, and that was being generous. If she hadn't just gone to the bathroom, she was sure she'd be peeing herself right then and there. One part of her brain told her not to move, and maybe he won't know that you've seen him. The logical part of her brain told her that of course he knows. You're staring right at him. He wasn't moving.
He was waiting. He was watching. Her.
She bolted up, giving the screen door an aggressive tug. He might try racing her inside, she told herself. He might be fast, and she was slow. But she was inside, and she locked both doors and flipped on the outside light, thinking it might scare him off. She was panting, and she realized just how hot she had gotten in the last few minutes.
"Jasper!" She went over to the window and peered out. He was no longer standing by the shed, or anywhere in view, for that matter. Maybe he had snuck up to the house and was crouching, or, with any luck, he had run off back into the woods.
Jasper came running in. "What is it?" He looked her over for any signs that she was unwell. All he saw was panic .
"There was a man outside," she said.
Jasper froze. He felt like throwing up. "Where?"
"By the shed. He was just standing there watching me."
"Was it Peter?"
"I couldn't make out who it was, it's too dark."
"Oh god," Jasper felt a wave of nausea overcome him. "It's him."
"Peter?"
He bobbed his head.
Bella was confused. "Wait, how are you so sure?"
"Because I pissed him off a couple weeks ago." Well now it was out.
"…you saw him?" Jasper gave another nod, and in an instant, Bella's fear turned into fury. "Where?"
"At his house."
Bella had the sudden urge to sit down. She walked into the nearest room and found a chair, gripping the edges of it until her knuckles were white. He followed her, a shamed dog who knew he had done wrong and was about to be punished. Bella sat for a minute, adjusting to the abrupt shifts in emotions: tranquility, terror, anger, betrayal. "You went to his house?" She finally asked.
"I know I shouldn't have, Bella, and believe me, darling, I regret it more than anyone else. I only wanted to tell him to stay away, but…I don't know."
"But you ended up aggravating the predator," she said. "What…what happened? What did he say?"
"Not much. He denied following you, and he wouldn't admit to wanting you. He was pretty upset."
"I bet."
"I think he was stealing our mail while we were away, too…" He watched as her face went blank. She was never scarier than in moments like this.
"Well isn't that fantastic," she uttered moments later. "I don't know what to do. We still can't prove anything. He's just going to terrorize us for as long as he can. He'll show up, leave no trace, and by the time the police get here, he'll be long gone."
"He'll slip up, darling. They always do."
She didn't believe him. "He's got a rich family who could probably bail him out of anything he got himself into."
He couldn't argue with that. "Perhaps. He wants us to be scared, though, and we can't let him think we are."
Bella laughed. "I'm terrified, Jasper. I'm not a good actress, and he knows it. He could see it on my face every day at school, and he probably reveled in it. It gives him power."
Jasper knelt down, grabbing her chin so that she couldn't look away from him. "I won't let him hurt you."
"You say that, Jasper, but he's invaded our home now. He's outside, and he doesn't care if we know. He's not afraid, and that makes him all the more dangerous."
A/N Working on the next chapter as we speak!
P.S. I have a new poll on my profile that I'd love for you to check out. I put it up now so that everyone has a good amount of time to vote while I finish up Adore in the next few weeks. So please vote if you get a chance!