Grey-eyed-blonde: Thanks Leon for your awesome beta services and co-writing. Thanks so much for all the reviews and subscriptions and to everyone else reading. Sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to the reviews this time.
Disclaimer: There's a saying that goes "We don't own shit." That applies here as well.
Chapter 28
Four weeks later...
JPOV
I was sitting in my room, splayed out on my unbelievably comfy bean bag chair strumming my guitar, trying to figure out how the hell my song went; but, of course I forget it and that shit sucked. I seriously needed to start making guitar tabs.
Bella was supposed to be here… 'but surprise, surprise, she's not.'
It was four thirty in the fuckin' afternoon; she was two hours late. I texted her, called her, called Esme, called Rose. I thought the whole point of Alice buying her that ridiculous iPhone was so that Bella could be reached at all times after her near-coma experience post-Cullen dump-fest. She probably couldn't figure out how to use the damn thing. I was starting to get really worried.
No. That was a lie.
I was already seriously worried about Bella four weeks ago, when she ditched on our Whistler ski trip to stay at home, get high all day, and write poetry. Normally I was all into that shit, you know, creative expression was a good fuckin' thing. Hell, I even invited her into the art room after class a couple times to try finger painting, and what does she do? She grabs the black paint – the whole friggin jar of it – and splashes it on the canvas. And then she rips up paper, angrily just ripping the shit outta the piece of paper as if it were Cullen's fucking heart, and throws it on top of the wet paint.
Hell, if it were the "old" Bella I was dealing with, I'd have applauded the effort and gave her a gold star. But it wasn't. It was the "new" Bella. I asked her if maybe she'd consider painting something a little more enlightening, you know, something less emo, but all I got out of that was a muttered 'fuck you' and a sneer.
She wasn't taking this easy, in fact she couldn't have been taking things worse. She ditched her quirky self for a different, scary Bella that I hardly recognized. She wouldn't eat, wouldn't carry on a conversation, wouldn't put any effort into anything she did. Skipped class, skipped tests, skipped hanging out with us. Snapped at Alice every day.
And now, she stood me up. I reminded her every day this week that if she was gonna get high every hour on the hour, the least she could do was invite me to join her in the festivities. That was my way of being like, 'Bells, I'm fucking worried sick about you, let's hang out, and if it's high you wanna be, I'll be high with you too.'
But that wasn't good enough. And now I was fuckin' freakin' out. She took it upon herself to go for random walks in the woods at night which was a bad idea around Forks. We had all sorts of drifters off the highway and shit camping out and chillin' in those woods, and I felt like I had to keep a twenty four seven watch on her.
Carlisle advised Esme it'd be a good idea if I stayed with her; kept an eye on her and shit, but she hated that suggestion, saying that we were supervising her or something. Snapped at me for "wanting her" or something and using this as a way of getting closer. Please, Bella. I couldn't have wanted you less right now.
I couldn't text Cullen about Bella being "sad" or else he'd lose a nut and come back here the minute he heard she wasn't doing alright.
Now if I told him she was down-in-the-dumps, ready to take her life, catatonic, wearing black like it's her mother's funeral, not talking to anyone, doing drugs all the time... fuck, then I didn't even know what he'd do.
He had to deal what he did though. He had no fucking choice. Of all of Cullen's flaws when it came to his past with women, the last thing I thought that would hurt Bella would be this big motherfucking burden. I thought it'd be easy to get him off of Bella, you know – if the fact that he was a huge womanizer didn't scare her off, or the fact that he fucked teachers and shit, or the fact that he cheated on girls or had two or three girls at a time literally, or had a girl and one on the side, or stole his best friends' girls didn't turn her off him, I thought then at least it'd be the fact that he blatantly said he just wanted to fuck her out of his system and that was it.
But no, no. Oh no. Not Bella. She fell in love with him, and he let her. I told him he shouldn't have gotten close. I told him that shit long ago. And then, since fuckin' Cullen didn't listen to shit people tell him (even when he tells you to tell him; like "hey guy, when I get in a relationship with some chick I care about, tell her to get the hell away from me or else I'll break her heart and worse"), he won't take that shit. So I had to be tactful about it and try and appeal to Bella's sensibility but that fuckin' wasn't operating either. She somehow managed to turn off her smart little brain and fall for the asshole; and I had to sit there, knowing that he'd have to run.
And I had to hold the goddamn burden of knowing that this... this crime family or whatever the shit his mom got herself into was after Edward and then in turn after Bella. It was so fuckin' random too. He'd been getting threats from them for awhile and we looked at them and kinda laughed it off being all like, "we're gonna come get you." But everyone knows you can't fuckin' come close to Cullen's mansion unless you fucking get though the very front of the driveway, buzz in there, then up the longer driveway, then get to the front door, then get let in by Aro who throws twenty questions at you, and if you make it that far, then you have to fucking find your way to one of the hundred or so rooms they have in the fucking place, and since it was built in old times they have all these hidden rooms and trap doors and panic rooms and god knows what else, so if you happen to make it past all that shit, past all the maids and shit, and find the person you're looking for, well then you're too tired to do a damn thing about it anyway.
So yeah, it was basically jokes. Plus, nobody gets into the front gate unless you know the code, and only Cullen and his dad know the code and Aro too maybe – but I doubt Aro has that much access himself even. But lately I'd been thinking, and I swear to god, that Aro is more than just a butler or whatever the hell his formal title is. He's got mad skills. Once I crept up on him in the middle of the night when I snuck into Cullen's place when we were in middle school to get baked on his balcony, he caught me off guard and nearly karate chopped me in half. I was like dude, simmer the fuck down, it's just me, I've got some chron, maybe you need a bit to chillax. I'm pretty sure the Cullens had him trained for protecting them and a lot more shit.
So when Cullen started seeing Bella, then more threats start coming being all like, "when you get a girlfriend we're gonna kill her and rape her and do other shitty things to her." That's when Cullen got fuckin' worried. I never saw the guy like that; he just fuckin' sat there, didn't say shit for days, drank and smoked and did all these stupid ass drugs, and just tried to soak it in, but couldn't. It was like a death sentence.
I seriously thought he coulda somehow distracted them until college, but he didn't seem to think so. He didn't want to take the risk with Bella, and I was all in support of him not taking risks with her. Because, hell, I loved her. That was until Edward left, and I realized how much she loved him. He told me to be a good friend, he fucking gave me permission to fall in love with her and be the one to make her happy again and make her smile and crap, but I didn't want it. Not then. Not ever. She was hurting and yeah, I'd be her friend. And I'd be the best fucking friend I could ever be. But there was no way any guy would ever compare to him in her eyes. And it was just not my place to try and match him.
Thing was, when I wanted her before, I tried to use that "burden" of his against him. I tried to make it seem like he wasn't good for him because of a, b, c and d but mainly because his mom got into the mob dealings and shit and that's why he was a no good for nothing sack of shit. That wasn't cool of me. But he was fuckin' in deep with other shit. He went to Europe one summer, and I had a girlfriend that I met during that time and loved her a lot. She was here for a camp thing. Then when she went home, we did the whole long distance thing because she was from Jacksonville and I was in Forks. So she comes down one weekend in September when school had started again, and I was hanging out in my house; it was all decorated nicely, I'd got the roses laid out on the bed, champagne and romantic shit, I wrote her a song, gonna tell her I love her, gonna give her a really nice ring, and then I get a phone call from Cullen bragging about how he "met" my girlfriend, "took the liberty of getting to know her." That shit stung hard. Turned out he had his own girlfriend at the time too; he was seeing Tanya who never found out about this who affair, but he wouldn't have cared if she did. He was just an insensitive prick.
So now I was left picking up his pieces, and honest to fuck, I didn't know what I was gonna do 'bout Bella.
She's broken.
And I'd tried, man. I'd tried more than I can. I'd visited her, brought her flowers, cookies, cake, done her homework when she was too lazy to do it so she didn't drop out; I was always helping her out here and there. I even blew off the Whistler trip when she said she wasn't going to go. But I was running out of ideas here.
Plus, with the way things were going with Alice, I didn't want to put her on the backburner because Bella didn't feel like coming back to her old self.
And let me tell you, it fuckin' sucked being the only one knowing the reason he left. Hearing everyone bash my best friend sucked. Even though he deserved most of it, they didn't know shit about what was really going on. And I just sat there and couldn't fuckin' defend him worth shit without giving something up.
He calls and texts me every day to check on Bella.
How is she? Did she eat enough today? Is she being safe? Does she seem happy? Is she keeping on top of her schoolwork? Is there any chance she'll forget about me sooner than later? Have the Volturi been around? Has anyone suspected anything? Has Alice been too nosey for her own good (to the point where she'd compromise the whole damn plan)? Have you talked to Bella yet today? Why haven't you talked to her yet?
So most days, I felt like a fuckin' stalker. My only consolation was that he gave me the one hundred percent go ahead to start seeing Alice (not that I was waiting for that or anything), despite my being a "second class citizen" in his eyes. And sure, I was no heir or anything like he was. I wasn't American royalty. But I could make damn sure she was treated like the princess she was. My amazing, sexy American heiress.
I drove over to Alice's at five o'clock sharp, 'cause I knew how much she hated it when I was late.
Run up to the door, wait, backtrack; grab a handful of flowers out of Mrs. Brandon's perfectly manicured greenhouse garden, back to the door, knock on the door, deep breath.
She answers the door, smiling widely, and she's dressed to kill. None of this couture crap or high-fashion Vogue stuff I didn't really care for, but more like the grade-nine Alice I fell in love with. She was wearing jeans (not skinny silver coloured jeans or weird neon blue ones that she wears to make a fashion statement, but just regular, plain old jeans... probably still expensive as hell but at least they're a little more normal looking) and a tight white turtleneck that looked soft as hell. Probably cashmere or something luxe, and probably straight out of France too. Who fucking cares though, because it's hugging her body perfectly and let me tell you, that's some smokin body she has. She's got a headband in her hair and her skin's all glowing and soft like it always is, and all I want to do is be with her now, and forever.
"You look, wow. Alice, you look really, really pretty," I mumbled, suddenly losing my cool. Way to go, Whitlock. Tool.
Of all the times we hung out with the group, just shooting the shit, not even giving a damn, or hell even when we were fucking each other senseless in the art room back in the beginning of the school year, I never got nervous. But now, today, it's all different. It's like I never really met her before; it's like that was some sorta shell, some hard exterior that was impenetrable.
But today, she's like my fantasy Alice come true – the girl in the art room with the big brown eyes that lit up once she held the paintbrush to the canvas, and let her imagination and true, true passion (not the fashion shit, but the deeper passion – the passion for drawing, creating, exploring the canvas) take over her inhibitions. Plus her true compassion and empathy for Bella really shone through now, which was amazing to see because I never saw the really caring side of Alice before. It was incredible, and she was incredible for being so sweet to Bella even though Bella barked at her daily and had a short fuse with everyone, but especially Alice.
She smiled widely and I think she even blushed a little. She took my hand with her dainty hand and led me inside, twirling herself around me, graceful as a ballerina.
I took her mid-twirl, wrapped my arm around her lower back, and dove in for a passionate kiss. After our lips parted, I savoured her taste for a minute, nuzzling my nose against her neck, then trailed little kisses from her collarbone up to her neck, and back to her lips once more.
"Mmm, well, hello to you too," she whispered, wrapping her tiny hands around my neck to embrace me for another deep kiss.
Just before we were about to get all hot and heavy in the entryway, her father cleared his throat loudly, and shit I got so nervous I almost dropped Alice flat on the ground.
"Whitlock, you're showing off some pretty fancy moves there, pal," he grunted. I could never tell if the guy was joking or not.
Mr. Masen-Cullen-Brandon, or whatever he called himself formally, didn't generally come across as all that intimidating, but ever since I started "seeing" Alice, I was scared shitless over trying to impress him. Looks-wise, he was your typical millionaire: expensive impeccably-tailed clothing, well-groomed, stayed fit (a cycler, if I recall correctly), and to my detriment, was very, very protective and concerned about pleasing his one and only daughter. Not that I disagreed with those concerns; I was fucking concerned about keeping Alice happy, and now in light of all this Volturi shit, I was also scared about her safety.
"Hello Mr. Masen, err. Cullen," I muttered. "Sir." Nice Whitlock, way to ruin the most important impression you can make.
"You can call me William, Whitlock, just like you always have," he said, rather amused at my nervousness. He shook my hand firmly and headed toward the long corridor.
"Oh, and Whitlock?" he said, turning to face me. "As long as you keep Alice smiling like she is now, you're just fine in my books." He nodded his head in consent and left the room.
I let out the breath I was apparently holding, a little louder than I expected.
"Oh Jasper!" Alice giggled, playfully tugging on my earlobe before kissing it. "You're so silly sometimes."
APOV
I was so thrilled to have Jasper over tonight. I had butterflies fluttering around in my stomach all day in anticipation of tonight's date. We were going ice skating in the park; I couldn't wait to have an excuse for him to wrap his arms around me and twirl me around like a ballerina like he always does. Then hopefully dessert at Chez Michel on Main.
To be perfectly honest, things had been just incredible for us since Edward left. That was when Jasper really knew he wanted me. I think it had something to do with him being scared to date "Cullen's cousin" while he was in town, but maybe it was something else. He was terrified of daddy which was ridiculous since daddy loved whoever made me happy. Whatever it was, he was definitely over Bella. He said she was too in love with Edward, and when he had the chance, he didn't even want in her that way. He wanted to be her friend, her best friend just like he was now, but nothing more. Ever.
I didn't feel like a consolation prize either. Are you kidding me? I wouldn't have fucking touched Jazz if I had even the slightest suspicion I was just a 'second choice' of his.
No, he was different now. And to be honest, I think he even made me a little different, for the better.
At Forks High, I had an image to uphold; I was the "fashionista" that was going places in life; I was going to be a huge designer in Paris and everyone knew that. I was never seen without a Vogue, an oversized designer bag (my Louis or Balenciaga lately), and at least three designer items. Plus being a member of the 'group' meant I had to reinforce my status as being Forks royalty, like the rest of us did. Nobody talked to us unless we talked to them first, and so God help you if you parked in one of our parking spots. Edward wouldn't let you ever live that down.
But with Jasper, I could be silly and goofy and not wear couture all the time and he loved me all the same. And on top of this, he still believed I was destined to become an amazing designer, even when I just wore jeans and a t-shirt. In fact, he might have even preferred it when I wasn't dressed to kill, but that didn't mean I'd drop couture altogether. I'd just be more... modest about it, I guess. Maybe he was threatened that other guys kept checking me out when we were in public. Who knows.
So today, for instance, I settled on my J Brand pencil cut jeans; Cypress wash, because they were totally more casual than say, my super skinny leg Rock and Republic Berlin jean; resistance wash. Then I wore my super soft, comfy, merino wool turtleneck by 3.1 Philip Lim, a Burberry headband (because it's classic, polished and preppy without screaming "snob"), simple jewelry (my Tiffany & Co. charm bracelet that I got as a Valentine's Day present from daddy last year, and pearl earrings), and my new Jean Paul Gaultier black satin ballerina flats. I was super excited to try out my new Marc by Marc Jacobs wool coat, paired with my Burberry scarf for skating. I'd look like I just stepped out of the pages of French Vogue, and would put Carrie Bradshaw's outfits to shame.
Jasper wore a navy zip up sweater and Rag & Bone dark wash jeans (that I totally made him buy last week when we went shopping in Seattle) with brown Cole Haan leather loafers and his black Italian wool coat; which would really complement my outfit for tonight. No matter what Jas threw together (and believe me, I'm sure he always threw his clothes together) he looked unique, laid-back, casual, and absolutely dashing. Unlike my cousin who had his own personal shopper (who kept him decked out in Lacoste, Hugo Boss, and other very high end preppy sophisticated looks) Jasper had his own fashion sense and brought forth whatever was in style to his own unique pieces. Emmett on the other hand was a total prepster-jock through and through, basically sporting whatever was featured in the latest A&F catalogue. But that's cool, it's not like Rose was a couture queen or anything. They both always looked like they stepped out of an Abercrombie fashion shoot.
"Thanks for the flowers by the way," I said appreciatively, taking them off the counter where he placed them. "I'll get a vase for these."
Even though my mother was getting a little irritated that Jasper was grabbing flowers out of her obsessively groomed greenhouse, I thought it was an adorable gesture. And Emilio had nothing better to do with his time anyway. I mean, it was what he got paid for, right?
I danced over to the kitchen and put the flowers in a tall crystal vase. "Burgundy tulips are my favourite," I flashed Jasper an appreciative smile.
Even though I could tell he was excited for our date, he was clearly preoccupied with his worrying over Bella.
"Jazz, what's wrong," I took his hands in mind and looked deep into his eyes. They weren't their normal shade of deep brown; when he was sad or angry they were lighter, almost a topaz shade, and an icy expression exuded from them. I didn't care how superficial and materialistic I came off to others, inside I was a deeply empathetic and caring person who could read how anyone was feeling. I also had this crazy gut instinct, where I almost always knew if something was going to go wrong. That instinct had been full-fledged ever since Edward left, and it almost always had something to do with Bella.
"It's Bella, isn't it?" I didn't have to ask, I already knew.
He nodded solemnly, rubbing his temples in frustration. "What the hell are we supposed to do, Alice? Huh? Pick up the pieces after Edward? Well I've tried, Al," he paced back and forth in front of me. "I tried and damnit, she's not listening, and I'll be damned if she even gives a shit about our efforts, 'scuse my language."
"No, no apologies," there were more important issues at hand than his language, as long as daddy didn't hear. Or the fact that he called me Al sometimes, which totally made me cringe. "And I know, I'm in the same position. I'm constantly worried that she's gotten into some serious trouble. I keep getting these intuitions, you know? And seriously I've about had it with being blamed for all her problems. She freaks out at me ten times a day. It's like, what am I? Bella's punching bag? And she's high all the time, doesn't give a crap about her school work, and if you ask me," I lowered my voice, "I think she's about out for that scholarship. The teachers are none too impressed with her rebellious behaviour. Skipping class, getting up and leaving in the middle of lecture, coming to class high the few days a week she actually attends, and God knows what else. She's definitely behind in all her classes."
Jasper nodded in agreement. It was like we were talking about a child or something, someone who couldn't possibly know the consequences of their actions.
"Esme's worried sick; rightfully so, too. She hardly ever sees Bella but hears from Rose what kind of shit she's getting herself into. Esme's thinking therapy or some crap, but doesn't want to push anything on her especially cuz she's still dealing with her mom, which just about did her in," he added.
"I mean, what a jerk move of Edward, too. He could've been nicer about it. I didn't ever think he'd stay with her long enough, but you know I was only in it for the game really, the scholarship, right? Past then I left it in fate's hands, because I know he's such a player," I said.
I didn't expect him to leave her for Christ's sake. What the hell was his deal anyway? I had no clue where the hell he went, and my dad or Carlisle wouldn't bother telling me. They just said he was vacationing and pissing off to avoid responsibility, but what else was new? As if Carlisle should be encouraging – no promoting, this type of behaviour. Edward certainly took after his mother if this was any indication of his behaviour.
"Yeah, well, I'm sure he has his reasons for running. We can't be too quick to judge. I can't at least. I'm not asking Bella to ever forgive him, hell; I hope she never speaks to him again. But he's still my friend, no matter what he did. He's just a fucking idiot and he knows it."
Idiot or no idiot, he was my cousin. "Yeah, you're right, Jazz. Except I think I need time before I forgive him." He stomped all over Bella's heart just because he felt like fuckin' a new chick and didn't know how to break up with someone nor did he care to learn. Jerk. Not to mention all the shit he said and did to Bella…
"So, how about that skating, hmm?" I needed Jasper's arms around me, holding me tightly, making sure I didn't fall...
He ran his fingers through those devastatingly handsome blonde locks and flashed me a smile that sent butterflies wild in my stomach. "I think that's a very, very good idea."
Grey-eyed-blonde: Yep... that's pretty much it. I hope you liked it. If not, review and tell me all about it. If you did like it, well then review too. Thanks! ALSO _ you will all LOVE the next chapter - firstly because Leon's writing it (yay!) and secondly because it's just all sorts of awesome. Seriously.
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Leon McFrenchington: I like what Grey wrote, personally. Getting into these side characters' mind is actually refreshing. Alright, next chapter was supposed to be Rose/Em POV... but I decided to be nice and do BPOV. And Grey happens to like the idea... and so do I... and I think you all will too... so I'm going with that. I do want my old question to remain, though--once I do write R/EMPOV, do you want a lemon between them or just more character development like this chapter? Let me know in reviews. There are a lot of you alerting this, and we'd love to know what you think. Please review and let us know.
