A/N Happy 2019 to you all! Sorry I've been MIA. Getting back into the swing of things post-vacation has been tough on me. Plus my heel randomly decided to start hurting on Jan 1 and I've been limping around for a few days. It's mostly better, still doesn't like the stairs but I'm on the mend. Getting older blows, people. I need to go back to my youth and enjoy it this time around!
Congrats to my Colts and Cowboys fans. Hope the games today are better than Colts/Texans was. I was so bored I kept flipping away. Like my playoffs to be competitive! Already missing the joy that is The Red Zone. Le sigh. Good luck Bears/Eagles/Chargers/Ravens fans today. I have no horses in this race per see, just want some good games!
Glad you all loved the physical steps these two took last week! A little something different this week, but I think you'll have fun with it! See you below!
To All the Boys Chapter 24
Going to a football game now was even more fun, because Edward and I were definitely on the same page, and I didn't give a damn if his evil ex was there or not. I just got to let loose and cheer for my man, along with Angela. And this evening, Alice was with us.
We got out of Angela's car, my little sister bouncing and full of excitement.
"This time I get to watch the whole game!" she exclaimed, making me do a double-take.
"Since when have you ever been to a game?" I asked as Angela fell in step with us.
"Daddy brought me over last week so we could see you in your car with your sash!"
He had? Neither one of them had said anything. I was surprised, but I had to admit, I loved that they'd been there for me.
"Why didn't you guys say anything?"
Ali shrugged. "You were already freaked out enough over the dance stuff. And you know Dad. He's a boy," she said, like that explained everything. I supposed in a way it did.
"Well, I'm glad you were there."
"You looked so pretty! Almost as beautiful as you did for the dance." Ali did a little twirl in the parking lot. "Someday I get to wear pretty dresses and dance with handsome boys."
Lord. I couldn't imagine Alice growing up and dating and doing...other things with boys. Things like Edward and I had done last weekend. Just thinking about it made me blush.
"Where did your mind just go?" Ang asked, watching me with interest. "You're blushing."
Crap. "Nowhere. I'm just cold is all." Thank you cool fall evening for helping with my lie.
"Uh-huh." Ang didn't believe me for a minute of course, but no way was I telling her where my mind had gone. She knew things had happened over the weekend, but I didn't give her many details. I just couldn't. It was for Edward and me.
"Isabella."
Oh God. Why him? What was he even doing here?
I looked to my right, and yep, there stood Jasper Whitlock. He looked semi-normal for being at a football game at least. He was wearing jeans and a sweater. There was no bow-tie to be found, thankfully.
"Jasper. What are you doing here?" I asked, because really, I had to know. If there was going to be some random reenactment at halftime, I wanted to be warned.
"I like football." That was a surprise. "It requires strategy and planning, much like a battle in the greatest war of them all, the Civil War." That he likened it to his precious war was not a surprise at all.
Angela was looking between us with confusion. Of course she was. I hadn't told her about the letters, so she had no idea why Jasper would be talking to me at all.
"What's so great about war? And who are you? Are you my sissy's friend?" Ali demanded, staring up at Jasper with a strange look on her face.
"My name is Jasper Whitlock, ma'am." Dear Lord, Jasper just called my ten-year-old sister ma'am. "You must be Mary Alice."
Crap. I would ask how in the heck he knew my sister's name, but I suspected I knew. His "research" had probably extended to all members of my immediate family as well.
"How do you know who I am?" Of course, Alice asked on her own.
"I've done extensive research on your family."
Ali's cute little face scrunched up in confusion. "Why?"
Jasper glanced at me, and apparently the glare I was giving him was enough to get him not to tell exactly what started his research.
"Isabella and I share a history class together and it turns out that you have ancestors who fought in the Civil War. It's my future area of study, so I looked into it further. It's not often you come across someone with as deep a connection to the great South as your family has."
Ii was sure Alice didn't have half an idea what Jasper was talking about. It was best to get him gone.
"Well, it was great running into you, Jasper. We've got to go get good seats to see Edward play."
"Of course." Excellent. "But before you go, I was wondering if you'd given any consideration to joining one of our reenactments? It really would be a coup to have a person with such a deep connection join our battle."
Angela let out a half-laugh, half-cough sound, and I shot her a look. Her face was bright red from attempting to hold in her laughter.
Jeez. "As I said before, Jasper, I'm pretty busy on weekends with my sister and Edward…"
"Ah, yes, Edward Cullen. I've done some digging into his lineage, and he does have a connection to the Great War."
Wonderful. I couldn't wait to tell Edward he was eligible to join the reenactment with me. I was sure he'd be thrilled.
"Is that so?" I asked, edging ahead a little bit. The closer we got to the game, the better the odds of ditching Jasper.
"Yes." His face screwed up as if he'd sucked on a lemon. "His ancestors were Yankees." He spat the word Yankees as if he'd tasted something bad.
"Uh, sorry?" I managed, because now I wanted to laugh.
"It's okay. We need them as well, after all. You'd have to be on our side though."
Our side? Oh, man. This guy could not be real.
"Bella can't be against Edward. He's her boyfriend!" Alice announced, making me let out a little giggle. She was so cute. She looked outraged at the thought of me teaming up against my boyfriend.
"Mary Alice, we strive to be as authentic as possible in our reenactments. Isabella could not be a nurse for Yankee soldiers, because your family was part of the great Confederacy!"
There he went again, with his voice ringing out with passion for his beloved Confederacy. The guy should really consider getting into public speaking or something. He'd be good at it, as long as it was a subject he liked.
"Why do you keep calling her Isabella? Everyone calls her Bella. And nobody calls me Mary Alice either. It's Alice!" She stamped her foot, clearly trying to drive her point home.
And there it was. Alice got Jasper's patented look down the nose, minus the glasses this time. "I don't believe in shortening given names to nicknames. Her birth certificate says Isabella Swan, as yours says Mary Alice Swan. It's not accurate to call you anything else."
I could think of several other things to call Jasper in that moment.
"Jasper. I don't think…"
"You're weird, and I don't like you!" Alice told him, following up her words with a kick in the shin. "You leave Bella alone, or I'll have Edward beat you up!"
"Well, that would be historically accurate, what with Edward being a Yankee and all," Angela pointed out, making me laugh right out loud. I couldn't help it. Hearing Jasper's own words get used against him was all kinds of fun.
He was rubbing at his leg, glaring at all of us.
"It's clear that I have made an error in judgment when it comes to you, Isabella. I rescind my invitation for you to join in our reenactments. I'm sure we can find someone more acceptable to tend to our wounded soldiers. Maybe Jane will fit into the costume."
Oh, the horror! "Sounds good. See you around, Jasper." I took Ali's hand, in case she thought about going after him again.
"Bye, jerk!" she called over her shoulder, before turning back to me. "There are costumes?"
I had to laugh. She sounded a little put out now that she knew there was dress up involved.
"Yes, they wear Civil War uniforms, and I guess the women wear nurses uniforms or dresses or something."
"Can I do it?"
I laughed and ruffled her hair. "Seeing as you just kicked Robert E Lee, I'm guessing, I'd say you weren't invited either. Maybe in a decade or so you can try to join up."
"At first I thought he was cute. But then he was a jerkface."
Trust Alice to nail it in one. "I thought he was cute a long time ago, too. But not now."
"Well, of course he's not cute when you have Edward."
That was so very true. There was no topping Edward. I grabbed Ali's hand as we got close to the gate. I glanced over and saw Angela looking at me in speculation.
"What?" I asked as I forked over money for our tickets.
"We'll be talking as soon as we get our seats. I need the perfect spot to ogle my man."
I sighed as we made our way up the bleachers. Finally Angela found the right spot and directed us all to sit down.
I sat, and she turned to me expectantly. "Well? What in the hell was that?"
Mega crap. I knew she wasn't going to buy the history class stuff. She knew damn well I didn't know or care about my ancestors. Ali was looking at me as well. Screw it. I could tell a partial truth without revealing everything.
"My darling sister here"-I shot a mock glare at Alice- "came across a box of old letters that I had written, most of them years ago, to boys I liked."
Ali's little lip came out in a pout. "I said I was sorry."
I patted her back. "I know. And I forgive you."
"What did she do?" Angela asked, leaning forward, ready to hear the gossip as always.
"She mailed them."
"And one of them was Jasper? How did I not know this?" she demanded.
I laughed. "It was in sixth grade, and it lasted about a week. I didn't know you as well, then, so there was no reason for you to know."
Ang sighed. "You should have told me anyway. I told you about that crush I had on Mike Newton in the fifth grade."
She had a point. "Sorry. I really didn't think it was a big deal. Anyway, Jasper got the letter and looked into my ancestry and invited me to a reenactment. I was already with Edward when he asked, so I used that as my excuse, when I apparently should have told him I had no interest in the Civil War or its reenactments."
Angela let out a laugh. "I wish to God I'd seen that conversation. It had to have been priceless."
I rolled my eyes. "It was something. He kept calling me Isabella and gave me the same crap about nicknames that he gave Ali."
"I like my nicknames," she announced. "Alice, Ali, and especially Cat! They're good names. He's mean. Can I kick him again?"
I shook my head. "No. I don't think he'll be talking to any Swans in the near future, thanks to you, Ali."
"Good." She sat back with a satisfied smile.
"So, you said there were letters. As in more than one? Who else got one?"
Crap. "Eric." That one was easy.
She laughed. "That explains why he keeps calling you his girlfriend. I wondered about that but thought maybe he was joking about you being his beard or something."
"Why would Bella be a beard?" Alice asked. "What does that mean?"
I gave Angela a look. "Thanks a lot." I turned to my sister. "It's nothing, sweetie. Just a saying you don't need to know about for a long time."
I knew that wasn't going to be enough for my curious little sister, so I changed the subject. "Tyler was another."
Angela let out a hoot of laughter. "Oh my God, that has to have been an old crush. That guy has been a jerk since he hit puberty."
So true. "Yes, fifth grade."
"Who else? No wonder you made Homecoming court. You had guys coming out the woodwork." Angela laughed when I smacked her leg. "Come on, Swan. Out with it."
"Emmett."
"Oh, boy! Awkward! That has to be from a long time ago, right? He's cool with it?"
Bless her for assuming that it was an old letter. And damn me for it not having been. But I was taking the out.
"It was awkward for a bit, but we're all good now." Sort of. Things would never be the same, but my letter wasn't the sole reason for that, so I didn't feel the need to clarify. Ang knew things had changed anyway, seeing as he never hung out with us anymore.
"That's good."
"And Edward!" Alice piped up, smiling proudly. "She got her boyfriend because of me! I helped by mailing the letters, even though it was wrong to snoop," she added when I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Uh-huh."
"You wrote a letter to Edward?" Ang asked, and suddenly her face lit up. "The party! Your first kiss! That's when you wrote that one, right? When the evil whore started to hate you?"
I could laugh about it now. "Yes. I wrote it right after I got home." I shook my head. "He talked to me about it on the track, and that's when I kissed him." The rest she didn't need to know.
"Well, hot damn! What was in this letter? Maybe I should write one to Ben."
I shook my head. "As if you need to do that. It was ridiculous, really. Just stuff about how cute he was and how I hoped I could kiss him again."
"Wish granted, four years later! That's awesome." Angela beamed at me. "Clearly he liked it."
I smiled as I thought about it. "He did. And it definitely put me on his radar. We started talking after school that day, and that was it." Minus a few rules and such.
"That's an awesome story," Angela declared, smiling proudly. "Way better than Ben and me bonding over my caricatures at the party."
I shook my head. "No, you guys were really cute. Lost in your own world in the middle of the party. It's cool that Edward introduced you."
Angela smiled. "You know, that's right. We wouldn't be together if you and Edward hadn't gotten together, so I guess I owe my relationship to Alice mailing those letters, too."
"You're welcome!" Ali piped up, peering across my lap.
Angela laughed. "Thanks, kiddo."
The game started, so we tabled all relationship talk and had a blast cheering on our boys. Alice really got into it, cheering and screaming any time Edward's name was called. She lost her mind when he scored a touchdown. It was adorable. I loved their friendship.
The game ended with us victorious again, winning 27 to 24. Ali was thrilled as we made our way down the bleachers. I was three steps from the bottom when someone bumped me, hard. I felt myself losing my balance, and the railing was too far away. Short of grabbing someone and taking them down with me, I was out of luck. I put my hands out and did my best to keep from slamming my face into the ground.
My arms locked, and I heard a crack and a bolt of pain shoot up my left arm. Mega crap.
"Bella!" Ali was shouting, as Angela pushed people out of the way to get to me. "Are you okay, sissy?"
I tried to tell her I was fine, but the pain in my left wrist wasn't letting me speak. I just shook my head as tears started to spill down Ali's face. Angela took off, and I did my best to try not to focus on the pain I was in.
There were people all around me, asking if I was okay, some reaching for me, but I didn't want anyone to move me. I was afraid if I took my hands off the ground, I was going to pass out or something.
"Bella!" I heard his voice and knew that I was going to be okay. Thank God. Edward was here.
Angela led him through the people and he crouched down next to me, concern all over his handsome face.
"Baby? Are you okay?"
"I think it's broken," I told him, gesturing toward my left wrist with my head.
"Your arm? Wrist?" I nodded at the word wrist.
"Okay. I'm going to help you get up. It's just your wrist, right? I don't want to move you if anything else is hurting."
I shook my head. "Just the wrist, I think." If anything else hurt, the pain in my wrist was overshadowing it.
Edward kept his eyes on me. "Everyone, move back!" he shouted, all authoritatively. It would have been sexy if my hand wasn't falling off.
The people around us listened and gave us some space. Edward took my right arm gently in both his hands. "I'm going to pull you up, baby. Just let me take your weight. Don't use your left arm at all."
That wasn't going to be a problem. Edward started to straighten out of his crouched position, pulling me gently. I got my feet under me and stood, gasping a little when my left hand came off the ground.
"Does anything else hurt?" Edward asked again, his eyes moving over me. "Your knees?"
I glanced down and saw that there were holes and some blood. "Just scrapes, I think." I could feel pain there as well, but it was nothing like my wrist.
"Can you walk? Or do you want me to carry you to my car?"
"I can walk," I told him because it was true. Though I kinda of wanted him to carry me, because I really wanted to be held while I cried.
He put his arm around me, being careful not jostle my left side. "Come on."
"Are you okay, Bella?" My sister's strained voice reached my ears. Shit. The tears were streaming down her face, and I wanted to comfort her, but moving was not an option.
"I'll be fine, Ali. Just need some ice."
"Ice my ass," Edward told me. "You're going to the hospital."
No. No way. I shook my head frantically and tried to pull away from him.
"She hates hospitals," Ali told him. "Mama died in one, and she's been afraid ever since."
Embarrassing but true. I couldn't do it. I wouldn't.
"Bella, we need to find out if it's broken. And if it is, you need a cast. You have to go to the hospital. I'll stay with you the whole time, I swear."
I shook my head, afraid I was going to pass out from the pure terror filling me at the thought of the hospital.
"Please, Edward! I can't! Please don't make me." I wasn't too proud to beg.
Edward looked at me for a moment before sighing and squaring his shoulders. "Fine."
Thank God.
"I'm going to take you to see my father, then."
Well, now, that was a surprise, but one I was more than willing to go with . "Okay. Let's go see your dad."
Maybe something good could come out of this injury. I hoped so.
A/N Yep! Time to meet Carlisle! Not quite the way Bella planned, but it was fun to use the canon injury my own way :) I'll definitely post two chapters next week (I finished both outtakes this week, so I've written it all now!) so we'll see what happens with Daddy C! See you soon!
