I do not own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.
April and Gabby, thank you for pre-reading, and Fran, thank you for editing. Any mistakes left are my own.
** Just a warning, Empov can be a bit emotional. Alice's isn't as bad.
Ch. 28
EmPOV
I snapped the ball, and it flew through the air missing my target by a long shot.
"McCarty, what the hell do you call that?" Coach yelled from the sideline.
"What the fuck, Mack, Cheney was wide open, why did you throw to Yorkie," Crowley complained.
"Lay off. It's not like you've never made a mistake on the field," I growled in frustration.
"Yeah, but you don't," he scoffed.
The whistle blew. "All right bring it in," Coach hollered.
The team jogged to the sidelines and huddled up. Coach looked at us and shook his head in disappointment.
"I'm not sure the team that was on the field just now is the same team that has a winning streak. I'm calling it quits for today since it is obvious we aren't getting anywhere. Tomorrow you will all bring your A game, or there will be hell to pay. Now get off my field and hit the showers," Coach ordered
The team started to collect their things and jog up the hill.
"Not you, McCarty, I want a word with you," he called me back.
"Sup, Coach," I asked.
"What was going on with you? I've never seen you play this badly in your four years on the team," he asked, seeming concerned.
"Nothing. Everything is fine," I lied.
He didn't seem to buy it either. "Get your head back in the game. If you have another day like this, I will bench you immediately—Captain or not. Do I need to remind you that there will be scouts at the game on Friday?"
"No, sir. It won't happen again," I promised.
"Good. I want you to do laps before hitting the showers and be ready for tomorrow. I'm counting on you to lead this team." He clapped my shoulder and headed for the locker room.
RR
When I pulled into my driveway, I was surprised to see that my father was already home. He had the hood of his truck up and was tinkering with the engine.
"You're home early," I said, closing the door of my Jeep.
"Coach called me. Says you've been slacking on the field." He looked up at me, beer in one hand and wrench in the other.
"It's nothing but an off day; aren't I allowed one of those once in a while." I rolled my eyes and leaned up against my hood.
"Is it some chick? Word of advice, just get her under you and then fuck her out of your system. You can't afford to have a pair of tits distract you from your goals," he advised.
"This has nothing to do with some chick," I argued.
"Then maybe you need to find a hot little number to work out your pent up frustrations. It isn't good for a guy to go too long without getting his dick wet. Just make sure you wrap it, or you'll be saddled with some brat, and you'll have to give up your dreams." He tipped his bottle back.
"Real nice." I cringed.
Did I really think that shit was funny before?
"Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm only looking out for you." He smirked.
"Whatever, man. I'm going for a run." I headed down the driveway.
"Don't be gone long, there's a game on the tube tonight," he yelled after me.
I took off down the street, the only sound was my feet hitting the pavement and the wind in the trees. The autumn air was cool—perfect for a good run. I took a left at the next intersection and continued about two miles before I slowed down.
I paused for a moment before pushing the gate open to Fork's Cemetery. I weaved my way through the familiar path, coming to a stop in front of a pale gravestone.
"Hey, Grandma, sorry it's been awhile. Football season has been going strong. The team is doing well this year, have you been watching?" I asked.
"I've been doing good…" I hesitated.
"Actually, that's a lie. You know me better than that. I can't help but think you would be disappointed in the way I have been acting the last few years. I've made a lot of mistakes," I admitted, slumping to my knees.
"I'm trying to be better. More of the man you would want me to be; then maybe I would be worthy of someone like…"
"Emmett?"
Shit, I was starting to hallucinate about Rose outside of my dreams.
"Emmett McCarty, I know you can hear me," Rose called.
I turned to see the goddess herself, standing further down the row, staring at me with her arms crossed in front of her.
"Rose, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"I could ask you the same thing. I saw you when I was driving by and decided to stop. And you?" She arched her eyebrow.
"Visiting with my grandmother." I gestured to the grave in front of me. "Grandma, you remember Rose."
"Uh…Hi, Grandma McCarty." Rose gave an awkward wave, glancing at the stone.
I pointed out a tiny marker. "And this is my older sister, Leah. She passed away before she was even one, died in her sleep, I can't remember what it is called…"
"SIDS, that's terrible. I'm sorry, Emmett." Rose frowned.
I shrugged. "This one was my Aunt Carmen," I gestured to another stone.
"She was so young." Rose sat next to me.
"Sixteen. She was hit by a drunk driver and didn't make it." I frowned. "And last but not least, my mom. Well, as you know, I killed her."
Rose's head snapped towards me. "Emmett, you didn't kill your mother. Did your father tell you that?"
"No, but I think it's obvious that's what happened, isn't it? You know what; maybe it is the best that you stay away from me. Any woman around a McCarty man doesn't end well, I might be cursed." I suddenly realized.
"Oh for Pete's sake. Look at me," Rose commanded.
I met her blue eyes, although her voice was stern her eyes were filled with compassion.
"Not one of these deaths are your fault or your dad's or your grandfather's…where is your grandfather?" She looked back at the stones.
"He ran out on Grandma when my dad was a kid. So I have no clue if he's still alive or not," I answered.
"Okay, well he's an ass, but that still doesn't make what happen anyone's fault. I don't believe in curses, bad luck maybe, but not curses, and you shouldn't either. I will admit all these deaths were tragic and way too early. Have you ever talk to your dad about this?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course not," I scoffed, I could just hear him now.
"Well, why not. You're obviously holding on to some pretty intense stuff. Take it from someone who knows, going around pretending everything is perfect will come back to bite you in the ass. I was wrong about my own parents. I thought the only way to make them happy was to do what I thought they wanted for me—but I had it wrong," she suggested.
"My dad is nothing like your parents, Rose. We don't talk about our feelings, only sissy men do that," I answered how my father would have.
"Well, that's a bunch of misogynistic bullcrap." Rose snorted. "We need to talk, that's why I stopped. What was with you at lunch, you ran out on Bella?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Bella is fine," I insisted.
"Emmett," Rose scolded. "You know that…"
"Stop…she has to be fine." I refused to lose any other person close to me.
"You stop it and get your head out of your ass. Bella needs us, we all failed her last time. This time we need to support her like she has done for us since she moved home. I don't know why you refuse to admit the truth, but it won't change the fact her cancer is back," Rose said sternly.
I closed my eyes, the fact Bella was sick scared the shit out of me. She was so young like the others. What if she didn't make this time?
I felt a warm hand rest above my fist. "Emmett, we need to be strong for her. I'm scared too, but we can't abandon her or let her see our fear. You always wanted to be the leader of our group, so now is the time to step up. Can you do that?" Rose asked.
RR
APOV
"Mary Alice, can you come in here, please," he yelled out from the living room before I could even shut the front door.
What does he want now?
He ignored me for the better part of eight years and even left me behind two years ago. Now, suddenly he wants to be my father again.
As if! That door was forever nailed shut if you ask me.
I was not in the mood to deal with him today.
I stopped in the doorway and crossed my arms in front of me and waited for him to notice I was there. He finally glanced up from his paper with an irritated look.
"Mary…oh there you are. Why didn't you say anything?" he demanded.
I shrugged.
He huffed in annoyance. "Where have you been?"
"School." I rolled my eyes.
"I mean besides that. You're never home more than five minutes before leaving again." He didn't seem pleased with my answer—not that I cared.
"School, work, and my friends," I stated simply.
"Well, that ends now. I expect you home every night after school. You are not to go to any friend's house without my permission, and you're quitting that horrible job. No daughter of mine is going to work for Walmart." He wrinkled his nose in distaste.
"Who do you think you are? You can't just come back after being gone for years and order me around like you give a damn. I'm not quitting my job, I like my job." I blew up at him.
In truth, I wasn't attached to being a cashier at a department store, although I could probably write a book about all the things I have seen. However, he didn't have the right to dictate my life, he lost that right when he abandoned me for the she-devil.
"I am your father, you will show me respect," he demanded, looking angry.
"To be my father, you would have had to be here to be one. Instead, you dropped me like a bad habit to follow some bitch. And now that she's left you, you think you can just come crawling back and pick up like nothing happened? Bullshit. You have done nothing to deserve my respect," I said more to him in the last two minutes than I have in eight years. "I'm done."
I turned and headed back down the hallway, heading straight for my car. I heard his footsteps behind me, so I quickened my pace. I had just grabbed the door handle when he called out.
"If you leave, I'll call the police and have you dragged back, Mary Alice,' he threatened.
I scoffed. "Yeah, you do that. But just so you know, I'm friends with Bella Swan, and she just found out today her cancer was back. So I doubt Chief Swan will be in the mood to deal with you, you're not one of his favorite people right now. And it's Alice." I got into the car and sped away.
I got half way to the Swan's before I realized today probably wasn't the best day for me to show up. I knew Bella promised me that I would always be welcome, but I felt I couldn't burden her with my troubles today.
I was starting to understand why Bella didn't want to say anything about the possibility that she was sick. I had been upset at first, but I realized now she was doing it with our best interest in mind.
I turned down another street and headed to the Hale's. I wasn't as close to Rose as I was Bella but we were getting there. I pulled into their driveway and headed for the door.
I rang the bell, but I couldn't hear it, so I started to knock.
"Hold on, I'm coming." I heard Jasper yell.
He opened the door while pulling on a shirt, I was momentarily distracted by the tattoo on his chest. Was that a black haired Alice from Wonderland?
"Alice, is everything okay?" he asked.
"I'm sorry. I didn't hear the doorbell, so I didn't think it rang," I said sheepishly. "Is Rose home?"
"No, she's not. She went to run an errand, but she should be back soon if you would like to come in." He stepped aside.
"Do you think your parents would mind if I spent the night here?" I asked.
"They aren't home right now, but you know they said you were welcome at any time. Is everything okay?" he repeated.
"Yes…no. I feel like I need to do something crazy. Do you have any joints?" I asked loudly.
"Shh…" He pulled me into the house and shut the door. "I never thought I would have to tell you to keep your voice down." He snickered.
"Sorry. Well…" I bit my lip.
"No, I got rid of all that stuff." He shook his head.
"What about a cigarette?" I didn't smoke, but I felt the urge to do something he would hate.
"I quit." Jasper pulled up his sleeve and showed me a patch on his bicep.
"Oh…I didn't know. When did you do that?" I asked.
"About two hours ago." It was his turn to look sheepish.
"Good for you. Did you quit for Bella?" I asked.
The two of them had a connection I didn't fully understand. I was curious if he like liked her.
"Not really, it was more like it was time, ya' know. Cigarettes were another act of rebellion that grew into a bad habit. I don't feel the need to rebel anymore. But I guess you're partly right, I knew with her relapse that being exposed to it wouldn't help." He shrugged.
I nodded and glanced at his freshly dyed hair. It was a blue that brought out his eyes. I loved that color on him.
"Could you dye my hair pink?" I asked.
He quirked an eyebrow at me then smirked. "Sure, why not. But just to warn you, since your hair is so dark, I will have to use peroxide first."
"That's fine." I bounced on my toes.
"Okay, follow me. Before we start, you should shampoo and condition your hair. Use mine and not Rose's, the chemicals in hers can mess up the process." He went into their joint bathroom. He opened the small closet and pulled out two bottles then a button down shirt that had a couple of stains.
"Put this on after so we can protect your clothes. Oh, and let your hair air dry," he instructed. He took a small lock of my hair for a strand test and then left me to it.
About a half an hour later, I sat on a stool in the bathroom. Jasper put on some gloves and was getting things ready.
"This is the last chance to stop, no going back from here." Jasper looked at me in the mirror.
I took a deep breath and smiled. "Do it."
"So why do you feel the need to do something crazy?" he asked, starting to squirt my hair with a bottle of peroxide.
"I had an argument with him." I scowled.
"Him, who? Is someone giving you trouble?" His fingers paused from massaging the chemicals. His eyes hardened slightly, and he appeared to be upset.
"Him, my so-called father. To me he's not worthy of the title, yet,he thinks he can just come back and control my life by ordering me around." I crossed my arms in front of me. "So I told him off, then left. I can't go back while he's there."
"Good for you. I hate that he chased you from your home." He gave me a sympathetic look.
"That house hasn't felt like a home in years," I admitted.
"You know that you have a place here. Or at the Swan's or Cullen's. Stay away from McCarty's though. Emmett is better than he used to be, but his dad is an ass," he advised.
"I was actually halfway to Bella's before I realized this wasn't the time to burden her with my issues. I was upset with her earlier for not confiding in us because she didn't want to add to our problems. Now I understand why she did it. She wasn't doing it to be hurtful, just the opposite," I said.
"I'm willing to bet she'd still listen if you need her to," Jasper suggested.
"Maybe later." I felt comfortable talking to him. "Do you like her?"
Jasper glanced up and looked confused. "Who? Bella? She's cool."
"No I mean like-like her," I asked him while I still had the nerve.
The poor guy looked even more confused before he shook his head. "No. She's definitely Cullen's girl. Both of them are head over feet for each other. Don't get me wrong, Cullen is lucky to have her, but she's not my type."
"Oh, you two just seemed close sometimes," I admitted.
He shrugged. "Not much different than Posey. She was the first person in awhile who seemed to get to know me without reservations, but yet called me out for my crap. In fact, she worked her magic on all of us in similar yet different ways." He gave me a knowing look.
He was right. Bella was the first person to pay attention to me at school in a long while. Teachers never called on me to answer questions, and the other kids, save for one, never looked at me. Bella wouldn't let it go that I wouldn't speak to her and didn't rest until she knew if I was okay.
"We should do something for her before she leaves," I muttered.
"Like what? I don't think we have enough time to plan anything big." Jasper finished applying the chemicals to my hair.
"Maybe give her the send off we should have eight years ago," I suggested.
"I'm sure Posey and Cullen would be down for that. Can't say the same with McCarty, he was acting nutty earlier," Jasper said.
Jasper set a timer and placed it on the sink. I watched him put away the peroxide and rinse off the comb he used. I got conflicting signs from him. One moment he seemed to like me and the next he was pushing me away. I wondered if he knew that I knew he would follow me home whenever I had the late shift at work. That had to be some sort of sign right? I decided to take the advice of a co-worker who told me that sometimes you just need to jump.
"Jasper, would you like to go to the movies with me sometime?" I asked before I lost my courage.
He straightened up from the sink and eyed me curiously. "Are you asking me on a date, Ali?"
I bit my lip and started to shake my head then changed it to a nod. He raised an eyebrow and looked away for a moment.
"Are you asking me because it will piss off your father? I know that he hates me." He turned back to me.
"No. I didn't even think about that." I paused. "I won't lie and say it wouldn't be an added bonus, but that's not why I asked. Actually, nevermind, forget I asked." My cheeks burned from embarrassment.
I turned to flee into Rose's room to hide. Jasper grabbed my hand stopping me.
"I would love to go on a date with you, Alice," he said softly.
"Yeah?" I felt relieved and a bit giddy.
"Yeah." He flashed a smile at me.
A/N:
I combined their POVs into one chapter because otherwise, they would be very short. Now you know what was going on with Emmett. There has been a lot of loss in his family, so he's not handling Bella being sick well. Luckily, Rose was there to set his head on straight.
I'm sure a few of you are pleased Alice stood up for herself and even had the courage to ask Jasper out.
Thank you for all the love and reviews you have given my story.
