Chapter Twenty One
Present Day (The Interview, part three)
"Let's skip ahead a little bit," Barbara said. We have heard a bit about what happened in the next year, but perhaps you all would like to chime in?"
The boys all nodded. "I'll start!" Emmett said.
"No!" the others replied. He grinned.
Carlisle spoke first. "Well, as you know, shortly after that, James and Alice had become the latest 'it' couple in the music industry and stuck together for almost a year."
Barbara nodded. "Yes, I remember that. I believe one of my co-anchors actually interviewed them during that time."
"A lot of people thought they would get married, us included," Jake said softly.
Jasper snorted, but remained quiet.
Carlisle shot him a look, but continued. "Rosalie pressed charges against Royce, causing her to be estranged from her family, who surprisingly didn't believe her when she told about all the abuse she had undergone while dating him."
Emmett's hands fisted and he couldn't help himself as he said, "I couldn't stand for that. I told her family off and demanding that she live with me. We bought a house near Carlisle and Esme and the rest of the guys in Nashville and moved into it together."
"And you, Jacob?" Barbara prompted.
He blushed. "Lynessa and I were still keeping our relationship a secret." He grinned. "It got harder, though, the closer she got to her eighteenth birthday. Neither of us has ever been known for our patience."
Edward snorted. "That is an understatement."
"What about you, Edward?"
He sighed as he thought of Bella. "Not much went on in my life. I was busy…"
"With your mystery woman?"
He nodded. He and Bella had kept their relationship a secret for quite a while. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."
"And Jasper…?" Barbara asked.
Jasper blew out a breath and Emmett clapped a hand on Jasper's shoulder. "I was still descending further and further into depression and the addictions, going from bad to worse. I was one hell of a great actor, though. No one knew, not even Emmett."
"I still hate that, Jazz-man," Emmett said softly. "We could have…"
Jasper shrugged. "Could have, should have, it's not your fault, Em. You and Rosie were busy with your own life. You needed to be there for her."
"But I abandoned you," Emmett said thickly.
Jasper shook his head. "Naw, man, you just got caught up in your own life, like I said. It's all good. Everything eventually worked out."
Emmett shot him a look. "Yeah, but getting there…"
"Totally not fucking fun," Jasper said, then caught Barbara's eye. "Oops, sorry, Barbara."
She laughed. "It's quite alright, Jasper. I've heard worse in my many years interviewing people. Let's just try not to have to bleep out too much of the interview, alright?"
He turned a faint shade of pink and nodded. "Yeah, well, I was able to get away with a lot of stuff those next few years. Everyone was busy doing their own thing. Babies, hidden relationships, relationship dramas, pregnancies, they didn't even pay attention to me and my downward spiral. They lived their own lives and they let me live mine."
"That proved to be a very poor decision indeed," Carlisle said ominously.
Barbara nodded. "Yes, we'll get there, but tell me, gentlemen, about what happened shortly after you filmed your video for 'The Call'."
"Well, to do that, we have to go back to the actual day of the shoot, and how everything went from there," Edward said.
January 2003
"Man, this one's going to be awesome!" Jake said as he bound into the studio.
"Whoopee. Another fucking video," Jasper growled under his breath.
"Come on, ya gotta admit, it's pretty fucking awesome," Emmett said with a grin. "Ed, I can't believe you wrote this song. It isn't shit."
Edward grinned. "Aww, thanks, Em. You warm my heart. Come here you big lug…" Edward went to grab Emmett in a hug and Emmett side-stepped, laughing.
"Emmie, are you sure you're okay with this?" Rosalie asked.
He grinned. "Am I sure about you acting in this part? Yes. Am I thrilled you're kissing my boy Jasper? No. But I'll deal. It's your job."
Rosalie smiled at Jasper, who also smiled. The two had grown close. Not only because of Emmett, but because Jasper had opened up to her about his mother, something that only Alice knew. His smile fell from his face as Alice came in, clinging to James.
"Hi guys!" she said cheerily.
"Hey, Alice, James," Carlisle said with a handshake to James.
'Head of the Pack' had fallen apart a few months before. Mike had been determined he was going to go out on his own and be an even bigger star. It had hurt the rest of them and they'd realized they didn't have a lot in common anymore anyway. Tyler had gotten a gig with some new dance show on Reality TV, Eric was writing a book, Mike went out to start his own career, Sam had gotten married, and also had thoughts of a solo career, and James was deciding what he wanted to do.
He'd invested wisely, so he was enjoying being towed around by Alice wherever she went. He was almost like her protector instead of her boyfriend, sometimes acting like a bulldog. All the women were in awe of him and his fierceness.
He had become, perhaps not friends, but friendly with all the boys of Breakdown. All except for Jasper, of course. James couldn't stand Jasper because he knew the truth. And Jasper didn't really seem to care that James didn't like him. In fact, he made it a point to avoid being in close proximity with Alice if at all possible.
"What are you doing here, twinkle-toes?" Emmett asked Alice.
She grinned. "I'm acting this time, no choreography, I promise."
He snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it, thankyouverymuch."
She giggled and linked arms with him as she pulled away from James and Emmett led her into the door.
Once inside, their favorite director put them all to work with their costume designers, getting their 'look' figured out for the video. This new song was one Edward has written after Tanya and that whole disaster. It was the first single off their newest album, set to release in just a few weeks.
It took no time at all for Laurent to get them ready and into position. "Okay, Alice. I will need you and Jasper in the sound room together," he said.
"What for?" Alice asked, her eyes growing a bit wider.
"You will be the 'girlfriend' that gets cheated on. So, naturally, you two can work together while we are filming the other things, yes?"
They looked at one another. "O-okay," Alice said, smiling slightly. "Come on, Jasper."
"Alice…" James started.
She kissed his lips. "It's fine, Jamey. Just give us a little time to get this done, alight?"
"If you're sure," he said uncertainly.
She smiled slightly. "I am. Now, go on, enjoy talking with the guys. Maybe you can be one of the extras in the video."
He let out a snort. "That's okay. I'll just sit and watch." He narrowed his eyes at Jasper. "And I will be watching."
Jasper's eyebrow went up but he wisely kept his mouth shut. Wisely, that is, until he got Alice alone. "What bug is up James's butt?"
Alice blinked. "Excuse me?"
"It's clear he doesn't like me. I was just wondering why."
Alice's mouth fell open. "Are you serious?"
He shrugged. "I just didn't know, you know, why he didn't like me."
She shook her head. "Jasper, I just…" She sighed. "You know what? Just, never mind."
"What, Alice? Just say it already." He sounded almost defeated.
She just looked at him. "Jazz…I…" She snapped her mouth shut as one of the sound techs came in.
Jasper grabbed her arm. "Alice, please?"
She bit her lip. She had a tear in her eye as she walked away from him, into the sound booth.
He felt a tug in his heart. He had a bad feeling he was never going to get the chance to be her friend again. He followed her into the booth dejectedly.
"So, here are the scripts…" the sound tech said.
Alice accepted hers and read over it. "You…are you sure you want me for this?"
"Of course," Jasper said. "You're the sweet, innocent girl waiting at home for her boyfriend. I'm the son of a bitch cheating on you."
She frowned. "And you think…"
"You have the sweet, innocent voice going on. Besides, Rosalie is the vixen, you know?"
Alice sighed. "Fine. Let's do this."
Filming was in full swing as Esme and Foster arrived. "Esme!" Carlisle said, coming over from where he had been standing, watching Edward in the 'grocery store' scene.
"Hello, boys," Esme said with a smile. The other men in the group had become like brothers to her, and she loved them all. "I thought we would stop in and see how you all are doing."
"Great, Esme," Jake said with a grin. He saw so much of Ness in her older sister, and it made him miss her more on occasion. Esme knew what was going on with them, and she allowed him to visit with Lynessa when she came down. He was very cautious with her though, taking great care not to abuse the kindness Esme was bestowing upon them.
"Hi, Foster," said Bella. She normally followed along with Edward wherever they went.
"Bewwa!" Foster cried, reaching for her.
She laughed and grabbed him from Esme, swinging him around. "Want to go see a car?"
"Car!" he squealed, then began giggling as she carried him off.
"Jasper, how are you?" Esme asked. "You look like you've lost weight."
Jasper grinned at her. She had almost become a 'mother' to the group. "Well, Edward's monopolizing Bella's time, so she's not been cooking for us lately."
Esme frowned. "Maybe we need to hire you boys a cook." She did a rather 'Esme' type thing and ran her hand across his face, stopping to brush upon his newest piercing, a Labret piercing. "Do you really feel like putting holes in your body is the way to go, Jasper?"
He looked at her a moment and said coldly, "Last time I checked, Esme, you aren't my mother."
"Jasper…" Carlisle said in warning.
But Esme nodded. "It's alright, Carlisle. He has a point. I've overstepped. I apologize, Jasper."
He nodded solemnly. "No problem, Esme. It's…nice to have someone give a fuck about me, in any case." And with that, he walked away.
"I, uh, I guess I'll go check on him," Jacob said before following behind Jasper.
Carlisle ran a hand through his hair. "Uh, well…"
Esme smiled. "Carlisle, I need a moment of your time."
"Carlisle! We need you now!" the director yelled.
"Shit, love, I need to go…"
"Wait, Carlisle."
"Can't it wait? I've got to go. You know how Laurent is…"
"Carlisle, please?"
He kissed her forehead. "I'll be finished before you know it." He turned away from her, heading toward the set.
"I have something I need to tell you."
The plea in her voice had him turning back toward her. "Esme…what is it?"
He watched as she captured her bottom lip with her teeth. "I...Carlisle, I don't know how to say this…"
"Oh, God," Carlisle muttered, his heart falling. "What is it?"
"I'm…I'm pregnant."
Carlisle's eyes grew wide. "P-p-pregnant?"
She blushed and nodded.
"I-I-are you shitting me?"
She looked at him a moment and burst out laughing.
"What?" he asked.
She just giggled and pulled him to her, hugging him tightly. "I love you."
"Oh, Esme! I love you too! You've made me so very happy!" He swung her around and kissed her passionately.
