Battles of the Heart

Chapter 11

Bpov

Charlotte and I had left the guys at the hotel and headed to the shops. They were going to get some rooms for us all and that included Sky and Aaron as they had fallen behind us as they had stopped an extra time just before we got off the highway. They said they would meet us at the hotel and just to get Jasper to text them the details. I was expecting to be staying at one of the cheaper hotels further away from the battle site itself but Peter had insisted on getting room at the Marriott. He just couldn't have anything but the best on his lily white ass apparently and after a chuckle, Char had smacked him round the back of the head. After that, Char and I grabbed a cab for a quick 5 minute drive to Parkridge for some shopping with Peter's credit card. Charlotte looked so excited and I was just happy to make her happy. They had taken me in as family and I was truly grateful, but I would be working off the money they spent on me at their ranch when this trip was over. I hated having to rely on others for things but it was clear that Char wouldn't have let me say no to her shopping trip. Plus I really wanted to stay with them and get to finish the trip I had been waiting for months for and this seemed like the only way to get both. So ultimately this was really selfish. Before the guilt could overtake me and ruin Charlotte's excitement about getting to spend time with me I pushed it down and smiled at her.

"Thank you so much for this Char! I only need to get the bare minimum though, like I said, I'm an Old Navy girl. Just some jeans and tops… underwear too. Oh god and bathing products! Ford really took everything from me." My face dropped at the thought of how much I was about to spend. I didn't even really know these people yet no matter how comfortable and at home I felt around them.

"Don't forget some dresses and shoes. And there's no way I'm letting you leave without getting you a pair of boots of your own! Mine look incredible on you and I most definitely need to get you a pair just like them. Did you see Jasper staring at you as you came out of the hotel earlier?"

Dresses?! What is she planning for me?

Charlotte grabbed my hand and pulled from the now parked up cab, smiling at me.

"This is going to be great Charlotte but I really don't think I need dresses. All we're doing is touring battlefields and they're not really dress appropriate places."

"Well you're going to need something to where when we go out drinking and dancing. Plus it's always fun to try on dresses, right?" she retorted, knowing she had won the battle and pulled me along by the hand she still had hold of and headed towards the shops.

First stop was a quick trip to Bath and Body Works for some shower gels and body lotion for me and then went straight on to Old Navy. I saw Charlotte roll her eyes as we walked in but I couldn't care. I loved this store, they had everything I needed. I walked through the store looking at the clothes and picking a few pairs of jeans and some plain tees and oversized jumpers. This would make me feel very comfortable. Charlotte had me pick out a light blue sundress and some brown sandals and I chose myself some white canvas sneakers as well. I had to admit I really was having fun. I grabbed a couple multipacks of panties and that must have been where Charlotte drew the line because she stopped me in my tracks.

"Really Bella? Cotton granny panties? Surely we can do better than that. Let's pay for what we have here and head out. I saw a Kohl's down the way and I love the lingerie in that place."

We went to the checkout and I saw that she had added some leggings and socks of all different types into my basket. I was so thankful for her. She remembered the things I clearly forgot. All I needed after we had been to Kohl's was to find a Target or Walmart close by and get some shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste. I even needed a new toothbrush.

Fuck Ford. I can't believe he's done this. He's completely left us alone with nothing. Abandoned again Bella. Wonder what's wrong with you?

Ignoring the voice that so inconveniently popped up to let me know that I wasn't worth the attention I was getting from Charlotte and her family, I left the store with Charlotte on my right and wandered down the street with her in companionable silence. It was nice that we didn't feel the need to fill the silence with chatter about nonsense. We really were very comfortable with each other. I saw her glance at me out of the corner of my eye and I looked at her as well, she smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling me to a stop. This family sure had cold hands; I was starting to worry about their circulation.

"Bella, I wanted to thank you for this shopping trip. It's not very often I get to spend time with other women. I hope that in time you get to know me and know the reason behind why my life is this way but for now, let's stick to the good stuff. Do you want to try on some dresses with me like in a 90's movie and pick some for each other?"

She just looked so damn excited there was no way I could say no. Both of us grinning like school girls, we walked into Kohl's and went straight for the dresses and started picking a load out. Trying on the dresses was actually really fun, and we had a really good laugh. She picked out a black, strappy wraparound dress that came to my mid-thigh for me and I picked the same for her but in a pastel pink colour. It looked amazing against her pale white skin. We wandered over to the lingerie section so I could at least try to have a look through the stuff and continue to enjoy my time with Charlotte. She started to pick up the skimpiest lacy lingerie she could get her hands on and putting them against her to ask my opinion on whether they would look good on her or not. I nodded yes to every single one of them because I couldn't lie, she'd look amazing in anything. I picked up some cotton panties again for myself and added a few simple bras to the basket so I was covered for all eventualities. I decided to be a tad braver and picked up a black, lacy bra and panties set and put it against me, turning to show Charlotte and striking what would be considered a 'sexy' pose on anyone else but felt awkward to me only to realise that Charlotte was no longer alone and had been joined the guys. All four of them. Sky and Aaron had their mouths wide open and Aaron looked a little flushed and Peter looked like he was about to laugh. Jasper was looking at me like I was a siren and I was singing only for him. I blushed so hard and pulled the set away from myself when Charlotte came over and took them off me, throwing them in the basket.

"If you don't get them I think everyone will tell you off. They looked amazing Bella, and with those curves you would look fuck hot."

"Beautiful." If I hadn't been staring right back at him, I don't think I would have been able to hear Jasper say it.

Holy shit. HOLY SHIT! Jasper thinks I'm beautiful…

Wow. I wonder what's wrong with him.

I could feel my blush increasing and spreading down to my chest and Jasper's eyes followed it down, his eyes now lingering there. My breath hitched and his eyes shot right back up to mine and he had the decency to look a little embarrassed, but not by much. Charlotte stopped the eye fucking we were giving each other, with a small clearing of her throat and pulled me away from them all to take me to the checkout. With all the lingerie that she had put in the basket for herself, the total had really racked up and I felt ashamed about it. I had added to it by having the unneeded dress and lingerie for myself in there and I wished I could have said no to them. However, I was beginning to realise there was no saying no to this family. We met the guys back at the front of the store.

"Bella, we were just talking about getting a little bite to eat at the pizza place over there if you're up for it? Then we can head over to the Walmart near the hotel. It's just a 10 minute drive over there. I know you'll need some extra stuff as the douchelord took it all." Aaron said as he pointed down the street towards the pizza place he was talking about. I agreed and as we were turned to head over there, Jasper reached over and took the shopping bags from me.

"Bella, we'll leave you guys to have some family time together and meet you back at the hotel if that would be okay? I have some calls to make and I'm sure there's a lot for you guys to talk about too." He nodded his head towards Sky and Aaron and walked away towards Peter and Char who were waiting for him a little further away from the way that we were about to walk in. I nodded at Char who was looking towards me and we smiled at each other. We may not have made any proper deep connection shit but we really did feel more comfortable around each other.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? We don't mind, and it's the least we can do after you paid for our room." said Sky, looking like he hoped they said no. We didn't have their seemingly endless amount of money and we hadn't budgeted for things like this. They shook their heads and told us to have fun and we would see them back at the hotel. I was a little sad that I wouldn't get to spend much time with Jasper but I was so happy that I got my brothers back to myself for a night. We turned and started walking towards the pizza place.

"So then! What's our room like? Which one of you is stuck sharing a bed with me?" I laughed and they both groaned. They hated having to share a bed with me because I spread out as much as I could and stole duvet. That's what they say anyway. I refuse to believe that.

"Actually neither of us will be sharing a bed with you tonight." Sky said, looking at Aaron shiftily.

"So you two are sharing a bed? Do you need to tell me something?"

"No, Bella. We aren't sharing a bed either and no, we don't have something to tell you, jeez. One night in a bed together and already you're planning for us to be together." Aaron laughed, and I was utterly confused.

"So what, you managed to get me an extra cot to sleep on or something? You two are keeping something from me. Spit it out."

"Bella, you're not sharing a room with us. Well, technically you're not sharing a suite with us. They got a two bedroom suite and got us a one bedroom suite. Aaron and I will be taking turns sleeping on the sofa bed and Peter insisted that Jasper would be taking the sofa in their suite to give you the bed to yourself. The said he wanted to treat you because he has a horrid dare in store for you after what you made him do at the gas station." Sky started laughing at the memory of Peter at the gas station. Hell we all did. The sight of him carrying all that stuff and the guy behind the counter staring after him looking shocked as hell was the one of the funniest things I think I'd ever seen.

"And you let him? Guys what the hell? Did you really not want to be with me for one night that much?" I asked, pissed that they has just abandoned me. Wait, they're taking turns sleeping on the sofa bed?

"Bells, it's not just one night. They booked those rooms until we set off for the wedding. That will be home base for a while as its pretty central to where we'll be visiting after here. We're sorry, we figured you might want your own space for a while and not spend more of their money on getting a suite to yourself. Were we wrong?" Aaron had stopped outside the small restaurant as he asked the question. We all stood outside the doors and I shrugged in defeat.

"I guess you're right. I didn't realise that we would be staying here for so long. I'll be trying to pay this all back for a long time!"

They laughed at me and shook their head but we all went into the restaurant and took a seat at a table together. The guys got a pizza and a meatball sub between them with a couple of sodas while I ordered an italiano salad and some fried jalapenos with a soda. We laughed and talked about how the rest of the trip was going to be different without Ford here.

"You mean you'll be free to do what you want with no judgement or repercussions? You won't be scared to lose family and your home for having yourself some fun with other people? Is that what you mean by different Bells? You deserve way better than you were getting while living with that tool. You need to start looking for a new place to live. Maybe you could stay with the Whitlocks for a while? They seem to be real fond of you." Sky said with a smirk, not knowing that I had already agreed to go home with them for a while.

"What would you say if I never went back home? Would you visit me wherever I ended up?" I had to know. He was right about finding somewhere new to live and I was starting to imagine maybe getting a small apartment near the Whitlock ranch so I could continue to work there and pay off this massive debt we were racking up. It would be nice but I would miss Sky and Aaron like crazy. And Ford too, to some extent. He may have pissed me off and screwed me over but he was till family to me. He had still taken me in when I had needed it and stopped me being shipped off the live with Charlie after he had just married Sue and became the step-father of two kids who had just lost their dad a couple of years earlier. Although, maybe me living with Charlie wouldn't have been the worst idea. That's where Jasper had been living all this time and I could have met him earlier. But at that point he was living with his ex. That wouldn't have been the best meeting.

"Where would you go? Are you really going to do what Ford said and travel around like a nomad until he apologises?" Aaron was seriously asking, but I think he knew what I had on my mind. "Or are you thinking of moving close to a certain someone? You really seem keen on Jasper. I'm happy for you."

"Seems a bit fast to me Bells, but as long as you're safe and happy that's all I want for you. So is that where you're thinking of going?"

I told them about the plan to work at the ranch with the for a little while over the fall to work off some of the money we were spending and that I had thought about getting an apartment out there and staying there. I was sure they wouldn't mind. They had accepted me into their family with surprising speed and I never moved this fast but I was more than happy to take a space in their family. I wanted to be a part of them and I wanted that feeling of belonging that I got when I was with them to continue. I was actually getting antsy to get back to them and hurried the guys along so we could get to Walmart. Getting into Sky's truck, we all settled in and go on the way to the shop.

"To answer your question, Bells, we would totally visit you all the time. As much as we could. If you make the decision to make yourself happy and stay there with them then we will do all we can help you stay happy there. We love you Bells. We're never going to do to you what he did. We will support you fully. And forever. Never forget that." Sky never expressed his feelings this much so to hear him say those words meant a lot to me. I stayed quiet and smiled at him as he caught my eye in the rear view mirror. He nodded and we carried on driving in silence.

Jasper and his family had certainly been a bolt out of the blue but they had already showed me what it meant to be wanted and accepted in a family even after only knowing them a very short amount of time. They truly meant a lot to me without even having been in my life before. But it really did feel like they had been in my life forever. This feeling of family wasn't fake. It wasn't me just searching for the smallest piece of love and acceptance I could find. It felt like true family, like I was home when I was with them. They completed me. I felt stupid thinking about it but I had never felt as whole as I did when I was with them. Relaxed and okay to be myself. I never worried what they thought of me. It was refreshing. With Ford and my mom and Charlie, I always held myself to high standards, as did they. I couldn't do anything 'unbecoming' of a lady which included swearing, shouting, having too much fun or just generally being me. I was definitely starting to come out of my shell with them around.

I started going over what I needed from the shop with the guys and they were adding their own things in so we all grouped our money together and got to writing a full list of all the things we would need. Since there were kitchenettes in the suites we would be staying in we wrote down a list of who would cook what and when and started to write some grocery lists. We would probably be back here a lot for the fresh stuff so we weren't too desperate to get everything in one hit, we just liked to be prepared. We were finally ready to get out of the truck and head into the shop when my phone started pinging with incoming messages.

One was from Jasper.

Don't worry. You don't have to do what he says!
Jasper

To say I was confused was putting it lightly. Don't have to what who says? The next was from Charlotte.

Please pay no attention to attention to him. He is a child! I enjoyed
our time together today and hope we can do it again soon!
Char

Okay so I assumed I was waiting for a message from Peter now. He was the only child I knew that also knew Jasper and Charlotte. Sure enough, it came through a second later.

Bella, my little hellion. Your challenge, should you choose to
accept it is…

Oh it's on Peter. It's fuckin' on!

AN

Ahhhh thank you everyone for your reviews and for continuing to read this little story of mine! I appreciate everything you do so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter because we may just be getting some lemony goodness in the next chapter... if you all review! Mwahaha

See you all again soon! Stay safe and stay beautiful *hearts*

Also would just like say another sorry to my lovely beta VeldanTwilight for not sending this chapter to her either. I promise I will get better an actually sending them over!