A/N: At this point, I'm sure you guys don't care about any excuses. Just thank you for being patient and I hope you enjoy this long overdue chapter!
I don't own Twilight, just this story :)
"It's twilight. It's the safest time of day for us. The easiest time. But also the saddest, in a way...the end of another day, the return of the night. Darkness is so predictable, don't you think?"
― Stephenie Meyer, Twilight
BPOV
The rest of the weekend went in a blur of training for the Cullens and the wolves. Jess decided that the two of us hang out in Port Angeles on Sunday so that we could have a "re-do" of the day we hung out a few months ago. This time we saw a comedy that actually made us laugh, we grabbed a bite at Bella Italia, she went with me to an indie bookstore so I could stock up again and I went with her to a vintage clothing store to give my opinion on some of her outfits.
Alice, of course, was disappointed that I didn't pick up something for me, but I reminded her that she had a closet full of clothes that I could sort through at any time. Edward was disappointed that we couldn't spend that time together considering the sun would be out tomorrow, but I reminded him that he needed to stay focused on how to beat Victoria.
I came home and watched the game with Charlie as we sat and ate pizza. He told me that things looked like they were beginning to calm down in Seattle, which was good news because he wouldn't have to stress himself out over the case soon. However, it was bad news because it meant Victoria was getting closer to coming to Forks.
I expressed these conflicting emotions to Edward after my father went to bed. I was looking for something to wear for school tomorrow as he sat on my bed.
"So he said that things are calming down?" Edward asked.
"Yeah, probably meaning there aren't as many people going missing anymore-but there's still a lot of families that won't have closure," I sighed. "Victoria is doing all this for someone who may not have even loved her like she believes."
"I understand what you mean: James was a predator and would use any tool at his disposal to get what he wanted," Edward said. "But do I think in his own twisted way, he might have cared for her? Maybe."
I gave up my frustrations in trying to find the one red shirt I was looking for and flopped down on my bed next to Edward.
"What's the matter?" he said stroking my hair.
"I can't find my red shirt," I mumbled. "I just got it a couple months ago and I only wore it once or twice and now it just disappeared."
As I was finishing the statement, Edward got a text from Alice.
I think I know how Victoria knew where to send Cassandra and her gang when Bella was nearly attacked.
Edward called her and put his phone on speaker so that I could hear too.
"Edward?" Alice said on the other line.
"Alice, did you see something?" Edward asked her.
"I saw them passing around Bella's scent," she explained.
"Was it a red shirt?" I asked her
"It looked like one," she sighed.
"That means they could have been in here with Charlie," I responded with a hollow voice.
"She had to have sent Riley," Edward surmised. "He would be the only one old enough to control his thirst considering he's been missing for about a year."
"That's still not comforting," I groaned.
"I think Victoria is going to move in pretty soon, so if I were you, Bella, I would see how your mom's schedule looks for Spring Break," Alice said.
"Okay, thanks, Alice," I sighed. Edward hung up after that and pulled me into his embrace.
"We'll be careful love," Edward promised me.
"I just hate the fact that any of you have to do this because of me," I told him.
Edward gently guided my face with his hand to have me look him in the eye.
"You're my mate," he told me. "I would do anything to keep you safe, plain and simple."
"But your family…" I started.
"Love you as much as I do," he finished. "Emmett's always ready for a fight, Alice is much more formidable than people give her credit for; Jasper has been through this before, but never for someone that he loves, and Rose's tenacity should make anyone run and take cover."
"What about Carlisle and Esme?" I asked.
"Although they detest violence, for you-they would be more than willing to let their natural senses take over," Edward said.
I snuggled in closer to Edward. I tried to put it out of my mind what was going on out there and just focus on the now.
"I really just want this to be over," I sighed.
"It will be," Edward promised with a kiss to my temple.
The next morning, I got ready for school with a promise to see Edward afterward. Charlie had already left for the station, leaving me a note to let me know that he would probably head down to the rez after his shift for a little while, so keep everything locked up and don't worry about dinner.
I got to school in a reasonable amount of time with a twinge of sadness that I wasn't going to see any of the Cullen's cars today. Instead, I met up with Jessica and Angela to talk about the remaining details for prom.
"So, we have the announcements for ticket sales starting this morning; I'm going to hang some of the flyers during my free period and study hall, and how are the decorations coming?" Angela rattled off.
"Decorations have my seal of approval," Jess told her. "I saw them on Sunday and they're absolutely gorgeous and perfect. How about the permit approval?"
I got an alert on my phone that Alice sent me a text.
You've got a permit approval! Talk w/ principal later ;)
"I've just got to talk to the principal during my study hall, but I think we should be all set," I told them.
"Okay, we'll start up on ticket sales during lunch and see how everything goes from there," Jess said, finalizing the plan. We split up for our individual classes and eventually we got to lunch. The buzz around prom was pretty strong, thanks to the announcements made throughout the day. And with the buzz around prom, it meant people were feeling ambitious about their plans.
"So, the Cullens went camping again?" Angela asked as we watched someone do an elaborate "promposal".
"Yeah, they heard it would be pretty clear this weekend so they wanted to take advantage," I said.
"Hey ladies," Eric said walking up to the table.
"Hey Eric, how many tickets are you getting?" Jess asked.
"Two," he said proudly. "There's this girl I met in my SAT prep class who goes to St. Agnes that I'm gonna ask."
"Good for you, Eric," Angela said with a smile.
"So any fun plans for spring break?" Eric asked us.
"I don't know about fun, but I'm going on a mission trip to Haiti with my parents," Angela volunteered.
"I'm heading down to Florida to visit my mom and stepdad," I mentioned.
"As of now, nothing," Jess shrugged. "Maybe I'll just veg out that week."
"Well, I have an extra ticket," I said. "Why don't you come down to Florida with me?"
"Seriously?" Jess asked excitedly.
"Yeah, if you veg out anywhere-let it be on a sunny beach," I answered.
"I'm in!" Jess said.
We finished selling the tickets and started heading towards class.
"Hey, Angela-I'll catch up with you in a second. I wanna start getting some info from Bella about our trip to Florida," Jess said.
"Okay, I'll see you in class," Ang said with a wave.
Jess peeked around the corner and dragged me into the nearest girls' bathroom. She peeked under the stalls to make sure no one else was in there with us before she began talking.
"You don't want to talk about Florida do you?" I asked.
"I do because I thought Edward would be the one using that ticket," Jess said. "That woman that's after you, she's getting closer isn't she?"
"Yeah, she is," I admitted with a sigh. Jess's breathing began to get a little shaky because, like me, someone she cared about was about to put his in danger.
"Jess?" I asked.
"I'm sorry, it's just…" Jess trailed off.
"It's a lot to take in, I know," I reassured her with a hug.
"Do you really think they'll be okay?" Jess asked after I released her.
"Well Jasper has been showing them moves to avoid getting hurt," I started.
"How does he know so much about newborn vampires?" Jess asked me.
"This may not be the best conversation for right now," I whispered as a couple sophomore girls came into the bathroom.
"After school at your house then?" Jess asked me. I nodded and the two of us went to class.
Luckily for us, Angela had some last minute packing to do so Jess and I would be able to talk freely at my house. When we both pulled in, there was a yellow Porsche coupe sitting outside my house. When Jasper and Alice climbed out the car, I knew it was safe.
"Nice ride," Jess said coming up next to me.
"Well, my birthday was coming up and Edward felt like he owed me something pretty big for what I did in Italy, so…" Alice trailed off.
"So he got you the very car you 'borrowed'?" I asked.
"She did her best to act surprised," Jasper smirked.
"I can't help what I see," Alice retorted.
"So planning surprises for Alice are kind of null and void aren't they?" Jess asked.
"A little bit," Jasper shrugged. "But I still try to anyway."
"So you wanted to ask about Jasper's past?" Alice said.
"That's gotta weird you out on occasion, even with knowing the family secret," Jess said.
"Rarely," I shrugged. The four of us went into the house and sat down around my table.
"So before I joined the Cullens, I was a Major in the Texas Calvary during the Civil War," Jasper began. "I had ran away from home because my father didn't agree with the war in the first place. One night, I ran into a group of three immortal women-Maria, the leader saw something in me that she believed would be useful to her."
On hearing the name Maria, Alice let out a small snarl.
"Not a fan I take it?" Jess said.
"Let's just say she should hope she never crosses paths with me," Alice said darkly.
Jasper took her hand and calmed her before he carried on. "Once she turned me, it turned out that the natural charisma that I had when I was still human, had turned me into an Empath. She decided that she wanted to create an army in the South."
"An army for what?" Jess and I asked.
"She wanted to claim different territories along the south; along the way, she wanted me to train the different newborns that she created. If they failed her in any way or she felt their loyalty wavering, she had me kill them," Jasper said sadly.
"That must have been hard on you," I said.
"It got to the point that I couldn't be around the constant cycle of blood and violence," Jasper said sadly. "I left and wandered for a few years with a couple-Peter and Charlotte. Then, one day in a little diner in the middle of nowhere, I met Alice."
"You kept me waiting long enough," Alice nudged him.
"Well, I'm sorry ma'am," Jasper smiled fondly at her. "My life changed completely that day. I took her hand and for the first time, I felt hope. I don't know where or what I would be without her."
"I'm happy that you were able to find a better path, Jasper," Jess said.
"Thank you, Jessica," Jasper smiled at her. "But I can sense that you're worried."
"I am," she admitted. "Will this really work?"
"It will," he assured her. "It's the first time I've worked with wolves, but the idea is still the same. I promise we'll all do our best to protect each other."
"Thank you," Jess breathed.
"Alice, have you been able to see anything?" I asked her.
"The day after you leave, she'll come for us," Alice said. "Meaning she hasn't been looking as clearly as I thought she would."
"But why wouldn't she come earlier?" I asked. "Not that I want her to."
"She realizes she's been getting sloppy, so she's giving each one a chance to 'be found' to give their families closure. Not out of kindness, but to cover her own ass," Alice said.
"So what do we do now?" Jess asked.
"For now, just continue to act as normal as possible," Jasper said.
"That's should be easy," Jess sighed. I nodded my agreement.
I called Charlie to let him know that the Cullens 'came back early' from their camping trip and that they had invited me over for dinner. He said that was fine and that he might just stay at Billy's for the night.
"Yay! Impromptu sleepover!" Alice cheered.
"Lucky," Jess jokingly pouted.
"When this is all over, maybe we can do a proper girls' night," Alice told her. "Well, as proper as one can be with two vampires that don't eat or sleep," she added when she noticed Jess' disbelieving stare.
"Well, I better head home," Jessica said. "I might be asking a lot, but..."
"We don't mind following you home to make sure you're safe, Jess," Alice smiled kindly at her.
"Plus, I think Jacob would gladly kill us if we didn't," Jasper added.
Alice went to do a quick security sweep upstairs while grabbing a few of my things and the four of us left my house. We made it to Jessica's without any incident and with a promise to call her so we can talk about spring break plans, we left to head back to the Cullen's house
Twilight was really beginning to set in when we pulled up to the house. Edward was waiting for me on the bottom stair and was by my side in a flash when I had fully put the car in park. He hugged me to him as tightly as he could without injury to me and I did the same.
"I missed you today," He whispered as he kissed me against the temple.
"I missed you too," I whispered back.
"Aww, they're so sweetly nauseating," Emmett said wiping a pretend tear from his eye.
"Way to ruin the moment, babe," Rose said with a playful roll of her eyes. "Esme has been cooking all day, so you might be set for a couple days."
"She knows it's just Charlie and me, right?" I laughed in astonishment.
"Oh, I know," Esme said from the door. "But, I like to make sure my family is well taken care of and that includes the two of you as well."
I tried to hide that my eyes were tearing up before I came into the house, but Edward sweetly squeezed my hand to let me know that it was okay.
I went in to wash up for dinner and Edward set up a table on the outer deck for me.
"I thought you might want to dine under the stars tonight," He said as he pulled out my chair for me.
"Well, thank you kind sir," I jokingly curtsied and went to sit down. We talked about what happened during school today and some more about the training that the family went through while they were gone today.
Once I finished my dinner, Edward suggested that we watch a movie with the family because they missed spending time with me too. All of the couples snuggled up together as we watched Rose's pick of "The Apartment."
I wasn't sure when the movie ended, but when I woke up Edward was gently laying me on our bed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep," I said as I stretched.
"It happens," he smiled at me. "I don't think you even made it all the way through the first act."
"Lovely," I sighed. "I'm sure Emmett was having a field day."
"Rose threatened bodily harm if he messed with you in any way," Edward laughed.
"Thanks, Rose," I said.
"You're welcome!" She called up, causing Edward and I to laugh.
"So what happens now?" I sighed.
"Now, you get some sleep and we'll worry about what happens with Victoria," Edward said.
"I know you're worried about what can happen to us, but I promise you don't need to," he added.
"It's hard not to," I admitted. "I know you can handle yourselves, but vengeance has been what's kept Victoria going for almost a year. I still get nervous that Jasper's training may not be enough."
"I have something to show you," Edward said. He got up and grabbed something off the top shelf of his closet. It looked small like a jewelry box from what I can see. He sat next to me again on his bed and looked me in the eye.
"This was my mother's," he began to explain to me. "I had thought about this before I left, but my pride kept me from even thinking about this anymore."
He opened the box to reveal a beautiful golden ring with a larger diamond in the middle and smaller diamonds encircling it.
"It's beautiful," I said.
"I know that I want a future with you, Bella," Edward said to me. "And if it weren't for the fact that you'd think I'm insane, I'd ask you to marry me right now. I just wanted to show you this because while she's fighting for vengeance, I'm fighting for us."
I kissed him to show the emotions I couldn't formulate into words and just simply said, "I love you."
"As I love you," he said to me. Without changing clothes, we just laid in bed together. Just before I drifted to sleep for the rest of the night, I whispered, "I am glad you're waiting to ask me though."
He chuckled lightly and I fell asleep feeling secure about the situation at hand.
Thanks so much again for your patience guys! Hopefully, I'll be back sooner than later and for the new followers and favoriters-I'll shout you out next chapter I promise!
Until next time,
xoxo
