Vampires and Chocolate
Chapter Twenty-Three
Knights In Black Leather
Edward POV
The breakfast in bed maneuver went off without a hitch; the girls simply assumed we ate before waking them as we were already dressed for the day. Well, Alice and Rose assumed so. Bella, I have no idea. Around Bella I have the sensation of dancing in a mine field.
She seems to notice everything, filing it away in her mind for future reference. I took false comfort in the fact that fiction is so far from reality that she may never guess correctly. But then, they seem to know a lot about that fiction. I overheard Bella and Alice discussing the Anne Rice novels, comparing them to other stories they'd read. And then, frighteningly, to folk legends. Now fiction may be far from the truth, but the folktales were the opposite. They hit too close to home. Bella particularly seemed knowledgeable of the folk legends. But hadn't made the connection quite yet, or I'm sure she would have said something.
It's not that we want to keep them from knowing, of course they would need to know, and would eventually know. We just hoped that they would get to know us before finding out about the scary parts.
My thoughts were disrupted as Bella entered the living room of the suite. She was wearing the cashmere baseball sweater that Jasper picked out yesterday, it made me think of one day teaching her to play our version of the game with us. The change would solve her clumsiness problem, and after the girls joined us we would have enough players for a proper game. I realized this was the first unforced positive thought towards her changing I had yet. It gave me hope that I would be able to cope with the idea. Which in itself would help immensely when it came time to talk to her about it.
"You said something about books?" she asked, her whole expression was hopeful, as she laced her fingers through mine.
"Yes," I couldn't help but grin. "I called a taxi; it will be here in about ten minutes. The others are taking the cars; they'll meet us so we can head back,"
"Hey, Bella." Rose asked. "Find me something to read?"
"Me too!" Alice added.
"I never go to a bookstore without bringing something home for you," Bella answered.
"Me, too!" Emmett and Jasper called, making Bella grin.
The rest of the day was amazing. We wandered through the bookstore together, completely oblivious to the time. At the special display table for Halloween, she picked up a collective works of Edgar Allen Poe.
"It is Halloween after all," she grinned.
"Maybe we should read it together," I suggested. Atleast she had skipped over the copy of Dracula laying beside it. That would have been awkward, even if she didn't have any idea.
"We make it a party and have the others join us," Bella added. "Alice and Rose love this kind of thing too. Jasper seems to like poetry, so maybe he'd like it…"
"Emmett would love it because he could be dramatic," I nodded, agreeing. The whole group fit together perfectly, as if we were a puzzle with the pieces divided into two groups. "We could light a fire and some candles,"
"I bet Emmett would love a couple chemlights then," Bella giggled as I took the book from her. Then she picked up a recording of "War of the Worlds" from the same table. "We could listen to this after. I listen to the radio broadcast every year, but always fall asleep before the end."
We moved on through the aisles, pausing to look, add another book to the basket, or occasionally she'd allow me to steal a quick kiss.
When we got to the fashion section she took her time picking out three books for Alice, mostly on history of design or clothing construction. But when we got to the automotive section she stared, bewildered at the selection.
"She usually tells me what books she wants," she said quietly.
"Would you know if she already had a book if you saw it?" I asked her. She nodded. "Then I'll find her something,"
We then found books for Jasper and Emmett, adding them to the growing collection in the basket until it was overflowing. Bella pouted as I paid for the books.
Then I had to face the inevitable and bring her to lunch. But by that time I had a plan. Seafood. It was perfect; I would spend enough time picking it apart to appear to eat. Not to mention Bella would be similarly occupied.
Again, the plan worked, especially since Bella had never had lobster before. She was busy trying to figure out how to eat it, and once she did with my help, and enjoying the different taste. She never noticed that as much as I picked apart my food, every bite was hidden in the napkin under the table.
After lunch we headed to a music store and progressed much the same as we had in the bookstore, but she stayed much closer to me. I was able to keep one arm around her waist as we lazily searched through each genre until we came up with something we liked, or thought one of the others would like.
By the time Jasper pulled up in Carlisle's car, Bella was resting against me much as she had last night. Alice was already curled up and fast asleep covered in the jacket Esme gave her and her head resting on Jasper's jacket. She was dreaming of New York again, a brief vision of the three girls standing outside a store window giggling together. She smiled in her sleep, and I couldn't help but smile as well.
The smile on Bella's face was priceless as I helped her into the car. She murmured a greeting to Jasper, who smiled back and patted her head as he switched to the passenger side. "Missed you," Jasper said sliding into the car. 'Sister' he thought, and I felt the strangest surge of happiness that he would consider Bella his sister and miss her presence as I realized I had missed Alice's bubbly personality that day.
I gave Bella my jacket, and told her, "Sleep, Sweetheart. We'll take you home,"
Bella POV
I woke this time to my alarm clock's screeching. Again, I didn't remember getting home much less to bed last night. But sure as his promise I was at home, it was Monday morning and the dream weekend was over. There was school and work all week. We didn't have any days off because of the weekend we just took and so time spent with the guys was going to be limited to school.
I ran into Alice in the bathroom. She spiked her hair with gel as I brushed mine and ran the straightening iron over it. She was singing, "Six o'clock already, I was just in the middle of a dream."
I suppose I was still on the high from the weekend because I joined in singing, "I was kissin' Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream. But I can't be late 'cause then I guess I just won't get paid. These are the days when you wish your bed was already made."
Rosalie must have heard us; she never can resist a good sing a long. By then we were all dancing, using hairbrushes as microphones and singing, "It's just another manic Monday. I wish it was Sunday 'cause that's my funday. My I don't have to runday. It's just another manic Monday"
We collapsed in giggles until Alice pulled herself from the floor to rummage through the purchases from yesterday and hand us clothing.
Rose started singing as we got dressed, her strong voice belting out "Proud Mary" from her bedroom. Of course Alice and I joined in on the chorus.
Once in the kitchen, making coffee and eating pop tarts, the radio was tuned to the station I listen to most often. "With a little help from my friends" began to play and I couldn't help but sing along, dancing around the kitchen with Rosalie, empty coffee mugs in hand. Alice joined in as we pulled our jackets on, and our boots.
I went to grab my bag, only to find it replaced with a new, soft leather messenger bag in black. Edward probably bought it when he got my purse on Saturday while Emmett carried Rosalie and I away. I shook my head as I kept singing. I may have a week of school and work to look forward to, but I was in a damn good mood and intended on staying that way. Well, at least until math class.
As Rosalie pulled the door closed behind us, Alice darted off towards our car like a bullet. Glancing over I saw two figures leaning against it, and out of my peripheral I was the now familiar silver shimmer.
"'Morning, Jasper, Emmett," I called as I headed towards Edward.
He was smiling at me, and when I was close enough he took a couple of steps to meet me and scooped me into his arms. He lifted me up to him, to kiss me slowly and gently. Just before he set me down he murmured, "Good morning, Love," and kissed my forehead as I responded.
Maybe this week wouldn't be as bad as I thought.
Alice POV
The boys helped a lot that week, doing what they called little things. Like making sure that Bella ate something other than chicken wings for dinner. Edward had arranged for different restaurants to deliver dinner to Bella and I on our breaks every night. He also made sure Rosalie ate a good meal as well. Emmett had taken it upon himself to do our housecleaning for the week, and surprisingly every night the house was a little cleaner. Not that it wasn't clean to begin with, but the things we left as "good enough" now sparkled. He had even gathered all of our laundry and sent it out to be cleaned. Not to mention that things that were broken or in need of replacing (door hinges, cracked tiles, caulking around windows) was all taken care of.
Jasper made sure that each of our bedside tables had a bouquet of fresh lavender; he said to help us relax. The same with the chamomile tea waiting for us when we got to the house. Along with a cd in each of our players that was music recorded by Edward specifically for each of us to help us relax to sleep. Jasper also made sure we had all the groceries possibly needed, and the coffee pot was set up on it's timer to go in the morning with the table already set for breakfast. The table had a bouquet of sunflowers and daisies on it.
Not to mention the little notes left for us in various places. Love notes from our partners, happy notes from the other two. We were spoilt on fresh sheets on turned down beds with pajamas laying out for us each night. On Friday we stumbled in to find envelopes containing certificates to a spa.
The whole week they treated us like queens, leaving the lunch table to go get something if we showed the slightest inclination to want it. Edward had to be the worst, never more than a few feet away from Bella, wearing a frustrated expression as he tried to predict whether she needed or wanted something.
Finally it was Saturday, only one more day and we would have Monday off. Unfortunately tomorrow was Sunday and the second half of the sale, in which's madness I currently was in the middle of. It also meant pro football to Bella, and a very long day after the long day of college football on Saturday. She was thankful she wasn't going to have to show up for the Monday night football crowd.
Finally I was climbing into the car as soon as she pulled up. I teased her, "Whew! You reek, Bells. Cigarettes, buffalo sauce, and is that beer?"
"Yeah, some jerk wanted his own version of a one girl wet t-shirt contest," she complained.
"Did you dry out enough before you left?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah. That happened just before the lunch rush," she answered, wearily.
"And it's still that bad?" I asked and she nodded.
Bella suddenly hit the breaks hard and they protested with a loud screech.
"Bella!" I gasped, clutching the dashboard "What the hell…" But I saw why she had hit her breaks. We were on our normal route home; we had to take a short trip down a dark alley to get to the main highway. But tonight in the middle of the alley was what appeared to be a pile of cloth, but it moved.
For the second time I gasped, "What the hell?"
"I don't know Alice," Bella answered. "It's not right whatever it is, call 911,"
I scrambled for my phone in my pocket, but never made it. No sooner were the words out of Bella's mouth, it seemed like every window in the car shattered of its own accord. They didn't of course. Hands reached in unlocking the doors, yanking the doors open, and pulling us out of the car. It was so dark in the alley, though the sun hadn't completely set, I couldn't even make out how many there were.
I felt detached from myself, as I heard both my own and Bella's screams cut off by them clamping their hands over our mouths.
"Oh, feisty are we?" one man asked as we struggled. I felt myself shoved against the side of a building, my head bouncing off of it to where I saw stars. I couldn't see or hear Bella as they began to yank at my clothes.
Then I heard it, the growling sounds of engines very close. The men holding us froze, us taking advantage struggled harder I heard Bella. She was maybe five feet to my right as the darkness was cut through by two beams of light, the quiet of the evening broken by growling engines. Or I think it was the engines, it was a very odd sound. Two motorcycles screeched to a stop, one just in front of where Bella was struggling the second right in front of me. I saw the figure on the first one pull his helmet off, but other than a silhouette, I couldn't make much out yet as my eyes adjusted to the darkness.
"If you value your life you will let them go," the familiar voice sounded, but with an unfamiliar dangerous edge. I relaxed immediately, Edward, and considering the second figure didn't look like a NFL linebacker, Jasper was maybe five feet from me.
I glanced at Edward and he looked… scary. That's the only way to describe it. In my memory he was just over six foot and built like any other growing teenage boy, muscular in the lanky way that is given by gaining several inches in height quickly. With gold colored eyes that were kind and annoyed by turns.
But his eyes glinted black metallic in the headlight from Jasper's motorcycle, as my eyes adjusted further in the darkness. I waited, waited for the men to drag them off their motorcycles as well. I was shaking with fear, fear for us, for Jasper and Edward, they were only teenage boys after all. But the men seemed as frightened as I was and released us. As soon as the two holding me released their grip enough, I ran to Jasper.
Bella POV
His eyes never left the men as he handed the helmet to me and said "Get on," Though his expression still held that dangerous look, his tone was the same he always used towards me.
I took the black helmet with shaking hands, and pulled it on. Fear settled like a rock in my stomach, hard and unmoving. Even Edward and Jasper's presence didn't help ease it; in fact it got worse the moment they arrived. I blamed it on worry for them, though seeing the steely anger in their eyes I knew they could handle themselves. I grabbed Edward's leather jacket and scrambled none too gracefully onto the bike behind him. I thought that once I was holding onto Edward the fear would be less, but somehow it increased. I was shaking, grasping his jacket tightly, but the fear increased nearly choking me.
"Hold tight, Love, "he said, and I immediately released my grip and wrapped my arms around his waist. Edward revved the bike and peeled out, leaving the four men pressed against the alley walls.
When we got to the highway and Jasper and Alice pulled up even with us I began to feel calm and safe. I couldn't see Edward of course, and Alice was wearing Jasper's helmet, but I could see Jasper. I don't believe I've ever seen easy-going Jasper upset over anything before, but you could clearly tell he was angry. His eyes seemed very dark, very different from the understanding expression he usually wore. He looked as if he were concentrating really hard on something as well. Driving, possibly. For all I know it's hard to drive one of these things.
But they were fun, I began to realize as the dark forest rushed by. I slid as close as I could get to Edward, wrapping my arms tighter but my muscles relaxed. Now, out of danger, I noticed the helmet smelt of him, the feel of butter soft leather of his jacket beneath my fingers, the tug of the wind on my clothing, and the feel of the engine beneath me. I could hear the faint growl of it as well; different than it was when they approached in the alley. Yes, motorcycles are definitely fun. I would have to talk Edward into doing this again.
I laughed; I was enjoying myself so much. Jasper looked towards me, a look of shock on his face. He couldn't have heard me. Between the helmet, wind, and the engines there is no way he heard me laugh. Besides, what if he did. I was having fun.
I snuggled closer to Edward, relishing the feel of him against me along with all of the other sensations. The rest of the ride to their house, the smile never left my face and Jasper kept shooting me curious looks.
All too soon we were pulling into the garage. No sooner had Edward cut the engine off, I hadn't even time to begin to pull the helmet off, he was off the bike and scooping me up off the seat. He pulled the helmet gently, but impatiently off my head. I heard it hit the floor as he took my face in his hands, his now golden eyes searching mine as if looking for some injury.
Then he kissed me, in a way he hadn't in real life, in a way I hadn't even dreamt of since that first night. Riding the motorcycle was a definite second to this. I was gasping for air when he finally pulled away, only to rest his forehead against mine.
"Promise me," He said, his eyes were pleading "You will quit that job and let me take care of you,"
"Only if we can do that again," I gasped.
He straightened with a shocked expression, "You want to be attacked and…" he began.
"No!" I gasped, definitely not that. Why in the hell would he think I'd want that? "I meant the motorcycle."
I watched his expression relax, he pulled me closer again.
"Yes, I'll bring you out on the motorcycle again, Bella," he sighed, his lips against my hair.
"The kiss wasn't bad either," I said, against his jacket.
He laughed, kissed me gently and said, "We'll do that too. Now come inside, I'll call Emmett and tell him to get Rose to bring some things over for you and Alice. I don't want you two out of my sight tonight, and I think Jasper feels the same,"
As we walked into the house I got the first good look at him all night. His already messy hair was windblown; his skin looked especially pale next to the black leather of his jacket…and his pants? Oh Lord, he was wearing leather pants. I wonder if he'd wear those next time he took me for a ride. I'd also need to find a way to get a better look in the house before he changed. If the girls at school were jealous, I was in trouble. If they saw him like this they'd kill me to get to him, and I couldn't blame them one bit especially when he smiled down at me and pulled me closer to him.
I blushed, and bit my lip to keep from giggling as I heard Alice giggle. A quick glance told me Jasper was wearing the same, and that Alice had definitely noticed. She was probably plotting ways to get him to wear them again. I couldn't help but giggle myself, as both of the guys looked at us trying to figure out the joke.
"Bella, I can't believe you want to go on that thing again," Alice said with a shudder. "I thought it was terrifying."
As Edward called Emmett I could only think one thing. Rosalie was going to be crazy jealous.
Alice POV
Though Bella and I never returned to work, they had no problem with Rose continuing at her job. It may have been because she loves messing around with greasy car parts, but I really believe it's because she was never alone there.
Everyday either Emmett or Edward would go to work and "help" her, sometimes both. Jasper however was always with Bella and I. He had little inclination towards cars in general. Like Bella and I, as long as it had wheels, a motor and wasn't about to break down we were content. It was nice when it was pretty or moved fast, but not necessary.
If we thought the helpfulness from the guys would end when that week ended, we were wrong. The flowers were consistently refreshed. If we began to do housework one of them would be right there helping us, not taking over what we would be doing but just helping out. If Bella started doing dishes, Jasper was drying them and putting them away while having one of their quiet discussions. If I was dusting, Emmett would be reaching the places too high for me while teasing me about my height. Rosalie's folding laundry, Edward was helping and talking about cars.
The only time they left us was when they went home to do the chores they had there, usually arranging it around when we ate dinner.
The main downside was we were without a car. We had abandoned it in that alleyway and when Jasper and Emmett returned that night to retrieve it, it was gone. So on Monday morning we all squeezed into Edward's Volvo, Edward and Emmett upfront (much to Edward's distaste) and us three girls squeezed into the back with Jasper.
The next morning we walked out, expecting to see the guys and the silver Volvo. What we found a glossy red VW uhh… something. Rosalie rattled off a bunch of letters and numbers as if it made sense to Bella and I. Finally we got a translation, basically a good safe car for three teenage girls. It had its perks black leather heated seats, navigation system, and a sunroof. It was also tinted very dark and had an excellent sound system.
Bella was shaking her head, "I just don't believe this,"
"What, this surprises you?" Rosalie asked. "After last weekend nothing should surprise you."
"I know, but a new car?" She said.
"Oh get in and enjoy it, Edward will stress if he doesn't think you are enjoying it," Rosalie told her. "Didn't you realize that's what the boy wants?"
Rosalie pulled the car into the spot Emmett was standing in, as he was the second day they were here, and jumped out to hug and thank each of them in turn. I followed her, leaving Bella to murmur thanks to all of them and to be reassured by Edward.
This chapter is dedicated to Leatherpants!Draco. As he couldn't really make an appearance, we have Leatherpants!Edward and Leatherpants!Jasper to make up for it. Almost.
GO STEELERS! (Sorry, couldn't resist)