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Without further ado…
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Chapter Four
"It's Quaint!"
Jasper:
According to Bella we were about halfway done with our journey to her apartment. And when I said journey, I meant it. If she was correct in her estimation, her apartment was easily four miles away from Larry's, and that was vaguely concerning. I never spent much time around Edward's pet human or humans in general, so I was far from an expert on their needs, but walking in the cold every night alone didn't seem entirely safe. And it wasn't as if this was a gentle walk, Bella was clearly huffin' and puffin' trying to maintain her brisk pace, eyes darting into every alley we passed. At one point, a homeless man shouted something at her and threw a bottle at the street and she looked entirely too unphased. After that I made sure to walk either right beside or right behind her, ready to defend her at a moment's notice, and it was a good thing too, due to all the various disasters occurring around us. She clearly didn't want to talk, or she just couldn't due to lack of breath, but I was fine with the silence.
It gave me a chance to analyze her emotions and her body language more, and process the bizarre situation I found myself in. Plus, it was probably easier this way, Bella definitely was about to open a big can of worms on my coven, I could tell from the constant undercurrent of fear and dread in her emotions, and her initial reaction to us, and I didn't really want to get into it tonight. What did surprise me though was that the silence wasn't uncomfortable, most humans seemed to rush to fill any silence with words, but Bella remained comfortably silent as I walked alongside her. I liked it. Her constant flurry of emotions were a bit rough, the strong ones just a flicker in an abyss of nothing, but other than that I found myself enjoying the walk, and I was rather glad I was able to help Bella get home safely, something about her personality shift drew me to her, and I wanted to ensure I had plenty more opportunities to unravel the mystery of the new her in the future.
"Jasper, we're here." We had arrived at a building I would describe as rickety if I was being nice. If I was being honest I would call it like it was: a decrepit piece of shit. "You can go off to your cushy hotel now, I'm just going to head up to bed." Bella deadpanned.
"I'd like to see how to get to your specific apartment, and what kind've gentleman would I be if I didn't walk you all the way to your room darlin'?" I gave her a wink and strode on through the tattered front doors.
I could hear a bum fight down the way, and even I knew this type of bad neighborhood was no place for an attractive single woman. It was a pretty rough part of town, and her building fit right in. Internally I cringed thinking about what the inside of her apartment must look like, and I really hoped it was better than the condition of the lobby implied.
Bella led me past an elevator that had 'OUT OF ORDER' spray-painted on its doors, and into a poorly lit cement stairwell. As we climbed the flights of stairs I watched Bella dodge the spots covered in vomit and/or urine as if it was second nature, and while I had definitely been through worse, I had to admit this experience was pretty disgusting. It was also kind of disturbing she didn't even have to think about dodging the spots of unsavory materials as she continued her trek, she just climbed with a natural flow that implied she had done this a million times before this one, and the lack of disgust on her face spoke to that as well. I suddenly felt a strong wave of pity for the small auburn-haired creature, she clearly had been through a lot to survive.
After about four flights of atrocious stains, obstacles, and smells, Bella motioned me through a door. This hallway wasn't nearly as bad as the stairwell, but I wouldn't say it was good either. The ceiling was yellow and sagging in spots due to extensive water damage, and the purple patterned carpet was pulling up in sporadic places revealing chipped cement. We walked to the end of the hall, and Bella got her keys out and unlocked her door. She swung it open and I braced myself for the potential squalor I was about to see.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Bella didn't seem to notice my reaction and proceeded to turn the light on and walk in just to spin around to give me a glare, clearly daring me to say something about her barren apartment. It really wasn't that bad, it was tiny, smaller than one of Alice's walk-in closets with a tiny kitchenette to the right of the door and a frameless twin bed in the left-hand corner. There was a small window on the far wall which was frosty with age but it still let the moonlight in, and in its sill sat a green leafy plant. I scanned the apartment for signs of her previous life and found no family photos or mementos, but I noticed a large poster on the wall depicting a familiar blonde girl holding a stake.
I let out a long laugh. "You think this is funny Jasper? This is all I can afford and where I have been living on my own for the better part of two years, so keep any condescending opinions to yourself." She snarled looking furious.
I managed to rein in my laughs and put my hands up in surrender. "I'm not laughin' at you darlin' or your place. I just couldn't help but notice Sarah Michelle Gellar eyeing me, and it forced me to laugh. It is strangely fitting for this new you, and I like it."
She relaxed and her cheeks became tinged with pink. "You know who Buffy is? I just had to cover up a mark on the wall, and it seemed funny enough in a dark kind of way." She wiped her scarred hand over her face and smiled. I quickly realized how the joke could come from a place of darkness. She had faced death at the hands of vampires too many times, and it stung knowing I was a part of that. However, the fact she was willing to joke about it at least a little brought me some solace, she still found the strength to be humorous no matter how shitty life got, and it reminded me of Peter a little bit.
I waved at the poster. "Buffy is definitely one of Emmett's favorite shows. A hot blonde on a show about campy vampires? Especially one datin' a giant pale brunette? God, I think it might be him and Rosalie's favorite costume ever." Her smile stopped reaching her eyes, and internally I felt a little bad for bringing up Emmett, I should've remembered they used to be close.
"Also, as for the apartment, I've always been a fan of minimalism myself." I joked. Bella's eyes turned mischievous and I watched her bend down to grab something off her bed. Then I did something I can't remember doing for the longest time in my vampire life: I got distracted. Bella Swan had grown up, and that grown-up had a really good looking ass. It was curved in just the right way, the lean V of her back leading to a perfectly rounded rear clothed in rich navy-blue deni-
I barely had time to react before I was hit by something in the face. I prepared to catch the form of whatever the object was after it had rebounded, but my plans were thwarted when upon contact with my face it burst, showering the room with showers of small tufts of white feathers. My hands were left empty as a pillowcase fell to the floor, and I just stared on, wide-eyed at Bella standing in the midst of the feather shower, almost bent over laughing.
Her long hair had fallen in waves over her shoulders and she had both hands clasped over her mouth. "That worked out so much better than I thought it would. Serves you right asshole, it's only minimalism if you're filthy rich and choose this lifestyle, not when you just can't afford nice things like an end table." She wrinkled her nose at the mess of white feathers adorning her yellow oak-paneled floor. "By the way, you owe me a new pillow."
I nodded. "I'll steal you one from the hotel. That is if you don't just don't want to skip the middle man and just head there for the night."
"Look, it hasn't escaped my notice that I live in a dump on the nasty part of town but I really needed some space and time spent in familiar surroundings after my shit show of a night tonight, okay? Besides once I make it through the safety of my doors," A couple of large thumps sounded from above and Bella glared at the ceiling. "It all usually calms down." Thump. "I mean sometimes my neighbors are a bit noisy," Thump. "But it calms down," Thump. "After a bit." Thump.
I raised an eyebrow at Bella. The thumps initially sounded like an indignant person stamping their feet, but they had developed into the sounds and crashes that accompanied the hurtling of objects.
I quickly heard the screaming of two distinct voices.
"I saw you out with that whore! Don't you lie to me, Tony! Its all the girls were talking about when we were getting our nails done today!"
"Dina. baby, I promise I didn't sleep with that girl! I barely even know her!"
"I know you did you fucking pig! " I heard the clear sound of glass shattering above us.
"I'm gonna make you pay for that you rotten son-of-a-bitch!" Thump.
Powder rained down from the ceiling, and she sighed. "Sweet Jesus, God really had to rile Tony and Dina up while you were here just to spite me." The sound of more screams accompanied her words, and she looked at me, silently pleading. "Look, Jasper-"
"I'm not draggin' you to the hotel darlin'. You said you wanted to stay here, so you stay," She breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. "But, I'm staying too." She bristled and opened her mouth as if to respond.
I held up a hand and continued. "I know you've had a lot of the bullshit protector act from Eddie, and I know it was worthless in the end because you can clearly hold your own all by your lonesome, but Peter put me on protector duty tonight and I'm not goin' to go back just to lie and tell him you were safe and sound. First off, the lil'fucker would probably know I'm lying, and then he'd come back and be all 'protective big brother' on you and you'd end up smothered and I'd end up gettin' beat from both him and Char, and neither of us wants that." She deflated and fell back onto her bed in defeat.
I felt a flicker of overwhelming exhaustion from her and I quickly began wrapping it up, "Second off, even you admitted this was a bad part of town, and I personally don't feel like leavin' ya here. So I can either hang around inside this place with you, or I can hang around outside breakin' up the bum fights, the choice is yours."
She gave a laugh disguised as a sharp exhale and raised her head to look at me. "Oh cowboy, if you went out front there is not a chance in hell you would be doing anything but fending off prostitutes. Let me just get ready for bed and you can practice lurking in the corner while I sleep like the nightmarish blast from my past that you are!"
The nickname stirred some unknown emotions in my chest, but they were pleasant enough so I let them slide. Bella had gotten up to her bed and proceeded to grab some clothes out of one of her mini kitchenette's lower cabinets. Once again, I was no expert in human activities, but that did not seem like a place for clothes. Actually I think Alice would try to skin me alive if I did that, and the bitch would probably light my jeans on fire while she was at it too. Banishing thoughts of the pixie out of my head I watched her disappear into a door next to where the kitchenette ended, and I wondered why I hadn't noticed the door before. I didn't really know what to do with myself so I looked up in thought and found that the ceiling in Bella's room wasn't safe from the same water damage that afflicted the hall and it actually looked rather unsteady, but thankfully the wall-shaking thumping had calmed. The powder from Tony and Dina's earlier escapades lay on the floor next to the feathers from mine and Bella's, and I carefully cleaned it up, scooping it into a small trashcan by the fridge. I also shot a quick text to Peter saying I was staying the night, but I expected no response.
Bella pranced out of the bathroom carrying her old clothes and a plastic disposable water bottle. She had changed into some ratty sweatpants and a skin-tight black tank top, but despite the tattered garbs, she still looked rather attractive. I wonder why that matters to me now, I've slept with beautiful women and looked at borderline goddesses, so why did Bella, a human girl, even register on my radar? Actually the more I thought about it, it would take a blind and deaf man to fail to notice her allure. I mean even the poster boy of celibacy himself did, and God knows Eddie still moons after this girl however many years later.
"Jasper I'm uh, just gonna head to bed. You can do… well, whatever it is you're gonna do." Bella said as she looked out the window and set her pile of used clothes on the sill. She uncapped the water bottle and poured half of the water into the plant and chugged the other half before she laid it on the sill as well.
She climbed into bed under the covers and sleepily slurred, "Hey Jasp, can you turn the switch?"
"What?" I had no idea what she was trying to tell me.
"Jaasssspppp the switch, turn the switch, make it go dark." Oh shit, she must mean the light switch. I flitted over and turned it off to a quiet mumble of thanks.
"Hey darlin', may I send you some emotions to help you sleep?" I inquired, probably to the empty darkness.
"Yes please!" Bella whispered back, slurring her words. She was most likely almost fully unconscious.
"Night Bella." I replied.
She grunted. "Don't call me that, prick."
Well, I guess she wasn't unconscious enough. I sent her a strong dose of lethargy to avoid an argument for my slip, and sat down against the wall and closed my eyes. If I sent her enough lethargy, then I could absorb her manufactured experience myself and fall into a pseudo-sleep. I began to feel it working, a pleasant feeling that started in my toes and climbed upward until my eyes slipped closed on their own accord and I slipped into the void of semi-unconsciousness.