Alright people
Disclaimer: I BOYCOTT YOU!!
I'm begging you. On my knees here. BEGGING you to review No More Bears...or at least read it. It's sort of a...shall we say sequel to most every story on here in fandom. PLEASSEEEEE...Neways, thank you as always. LOVE YOU GUYZ WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL is more precise...Moving right along –
Shannon: Sheesh, 5 hrs. I wonder how long it's taken me to write...hmmmm. neways, thanks for the review. Ly
Euphoria Falls: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR READING NO MORE BEARS> XOXOXOXOXOXO, infinity. That is so coooolll that your in Australia. In the desert. You know what I get. SNOW! Frickin snow! Neways. Yes, well, about phillip, we were coloring easter eggs the other day, you see, and my great aunt franny, she's blind and well... phillip is pastel purple now. It's kindof tragic really. Lol. I WISH phillip had started a swing band. So much cooler than that harmonica. Anywho, I did smash his harmonica... he cried for a while, but then i gave him a panini and that made it all better.
Minimeyer: I DO INDEED LOVE CAPSLOCK. IT IS THE GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD. PERHAPS EVEN BETTER THAN SLICED BREAD. OF COURSE THATS NOT REALLY THAT HARD...YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE IS BETTER THAN SLICED BREAD?? TOASTED BREAD.
SS: I got play doh off ebay once. 100 cans...for 99 cents. I KID YOU NOT! 99 CENTS! Thanks again.
Tenpastmidnight: I don't know why, or when, or how, or where...but the image of Edward in a kilt...on a bicycle...in the rain. Is – SEXY! Thanks for that mental image. But ummm... Esme wasn't in the chapter i don't think. Which emotions?
Nobodyparticular: lol I AM YODA!! Funny, you are. Thank you exceedingly, I do.
INVX: Larry came back, unfortunately. I'm going to TRYYY this again. Only this time. The floor plans and key will be in his left nostril, and some smirf repellant will be in his right. BREATHE THROUGH UR MOUTH YOU STUPID DOG> Wow, you are a very talented foot typer. I commend you... Thanks again.
KobrahEdo: Sighs dreamily. ME too. My life would be complete if I could only have some part of that man's clothing.
MeyaRose: YAYAAYAY...glad you liked it.
KerSSica: hah. Spelled it right. GUINEA PIGS, GO TO kerSSica! NOW! O and lol about the vamp thing. I'll send you Em's now-purple flying llama she gave me. Fly Phillip, FLY! He likes harmonicas. And im in jail because I held the CVS cashier at gunpoint for antiitch cream when you cursed me...Wow, this conversation is CRAZY...i feel like we could be super friends if you didn't live in the Netherlands. I love it. And if only the werewolves weren't crippled now...if only... mushrooms out of my arse?? That sounds like a fate worse than death. Well you know what mushroom girl, I curse you with being a reindeer. FOREVER!! A reindeer with hands. So you can still review...Expecto REINDERROS! Tehehehe.
ThrushflightEdward'sstalker: Glad your back. PRAISE THE LORD HALLELUJAH! Neways, i love vjgm's stories. The barfly one...man alive.
Keyt: oh yes keyt... mwuhhahahah...yes i can. YAY NEW REVIEWER> lol. Muchos gracias.
Jjrenee85: NOTHER NEW REVIEWER. I love writing edward light and fluffy scenes. They warm my heart. Lol. Thank you very much.
Lollie-rox-my-sox: thanks very much, my friend. Fun penname.
Thefuturemrs.edwardcullen: I LOVE YOU...I think you get the reviewer of the year award. For reveiwing everything ive written and being funny and leaving long reviews. Here have...the world. I am queen of it by the way. (See one of my disclaimers. Forgot which one) EAST OF EDEN IS THE BESTEST! Changed my life. Man am I cheesy or what? What about speak?
Chapter 17
I glared at Alice. This was going to be a longggg night.
And not just because of this bachealourettes party she had falsely decided was a good idea. It was sure to sweep through like a tsunami. Debri in the form of oodles of wrapping paper and countless unnecessary imported gifts would litter everything.
It would also be a long night, as it had been a long day, because of the two words that kept echoing through my mind, refusing to let it get any rest at all. Not that I deserved any...
Kate. Leah. Kate. Leah. Kate. Leah – dead, gone, finished. And it's all your fault. Edward's speech be damned. My head was all too ready to disagree with his "this wasn't your fault" philosophy.
"Alice," I told my slave driver.
"This had better be something NON-whiny."
"Don't worry. I'm over that. Mostly. Unless you plan on taking pictures. Then we are seriously going to have some..."
"Bella," she interceded. "I'll take all the pictures I want to. I bought four disposable cameras a month ago just for the occasion. Are you really going to ruin it for me?" She was pouting.
I tried to look away in time, before my annoying pout-susceptible conscience reared its stupid, gullible head, but it was too late. She'd beat me with her dumb lower lip.
"NO," I finally admitted, albeit reluctantly. "I'll even smile for 13 percent of them."
"25," she said.
"13."
"23?"
"14."
"20. Or I'll permanently botox one onto your face," she commanded.
I sighed. "Fine."
She beamed. "Now, about Charlie..."
I looked at her with a flabbergasted expression on my face. "How'd you know?"
She tapped her head, and then eyeballed me like I was the biggest moron on the planet.
Oh right - psychic.
"Well, I need to tell him," I said.
"In person?"
"That'd be best... You think it would be a good idea to bring Edward?"
"I think it would be a bad idea not to bring him," she suggested. "Edward!"
He was down the stairs like a rocket, looking horrified. I guess Emmett had started his bachelor's party early.
In his mad rush to leave the house, he couldn't be bothered with petty human things, walking at a normal pace for one. I was carried out of the house. Before I had time to form a coherent thought, I was sitting in the seat of his Volvo.
The door shut, and I could see an Edward-colored blur move around to the driver's side. Then, the blur stopped, thought better of something, and returned to my side.
In a flash of chrome, my seatbelt was buckled, and he was all of sudden sitting at the wheel starting the car. "Safety first," he muttered.
I snickered. "You know, after all I've been through, it wouldn't surprise me at all if something like not wearing a seatbelt would be how I actually died."
He smiled...which was – odd. "I think your blatant lack of mobility skills would get you first."
"Gravity loathes, despises, and in all other ways hates me."
Pulling out of the drive, he shrugged. "Can't say I disagree."
Forks had been slacking on its reputation lately, being all sunny and whatnot. Finally, it was back to its old ways. The clouds were letting down misty drizzle.
After that, it was silent for a while.
Leah. Kate. Leah. Kate. Leah. Kate.
As it turned out, the silence wasn't very silent at all. Those two names, those two futures that had been lost for all time constantly scrolled through my head like a marquee.
I took it for a while, feeling like I needed to be punished for my sins, the sins that Edward kept denying I'd committed, which only made them all the more worse.
Tears seeped into my orbs. I closed my eyes and tried to blink them away before Edward took notice.
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't care what came out of my mouth, as long as it took my mind off of everything.
"Nice weather."
Edward looked at the sky, which was pouring buckets of rain over the already wet...I could say ground, but that would be inaccurate. The ground was no longer visible for the thick blanket of fog swallowing everything.
Then he looked at me suspiciously. "If you're a whale maybe..."
"I am," I teased, before proceeding to do a top-notch Dory impersonation. "Helllllooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuooo."
Yes, indeed I could sink that low to get back inside my bubble.
And for the second time that day, I received the "you are a moron" stare.
"Finding Nemo is a classic," I defended.
"Singing turtles. Dancing seagulls. Bubble infatuated fish..." he started. "Not exactly my cup of tea."
I gasped. "So you did watch it?"
"Didn't need to," he replied. "Saw the entire thing through the minds of clown-fish loving elementary school kids."
"That's still not the same."
He lowered his eyebrows. "Bella...you're being...odd...today. Well, odder."
So, he was going to bring it up. My Disney/Pixar disguise had failed miserably, been burnt to a crisp.
Luckily, we had arrived at Charlie's by now.
I all but leapt out of the car and sprinted towards the door; it wouldn't appear weird thanks to the rain. I was suddenly glad that Forks had chosen today to start acting like itself.
Yet at the same time, my escape was also my trap. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire, I thought wryly, turning the doorknob.
"Dad," I called.
"Isabella Swan, just where have you been exactly?" Charlie's face was a nice shade of red. My blushes had some serious competition.
Uh, oh. I'd forgotten about earlier, forgotten about how mad I'd made my father.
"Just driving Dad, honestly. And then we went over to Edward's house to see Alice," I said meekly. "You can call them if you want to."
The bright red dulled to a peachy-pink hue. "Still, Bells, just taking off like that. You didn't even take your cell phone!"
I bowed my head.
Edward took some of the heat for me. "It's just been stressful lately, Sir."
Well, wasn't that the understatement of the year.
"I just needed some time to think. All's well that ends well?" I suggested.
Charlie must not have been keen on fighting with me, because he sat back down on the couch and sighed, defeated.
Now came the hard part. "Umm...Dad? There's something I need to tell you..."
"Renee already did," he said quietly. There was a strange tone in his voice, a sadness.
I rushed over to hug him. "I'm sorry, it's just that...well, a week won't hurt."
His sad eyes were unhinging me. I was just a handful of heartbeats away from canceling, when Edward walked up beside me.
"I always knew it would happen," Charlie said, "I just wasn't prepared, I guess. I've been putting it off and putting it off, and..." he looked at me sheepishly, "not being supportive."
I shook my head. "You're not supposed to be supportive. You're supposed to be the one cleaning his shotgun when my fiancee walks through the door."
He smiled a little. "Well anyway, now that it's staring me in the face..." Charlie trailed off. There weren't any tears – yet.
He pulled me to him in a hug. "I'm going to miss you."
That hurt. My heart was throbbing because I'd like to say that I was only going to be around the corner if he needed me, but I couldn't. I'd be in Antarctica, ferociously controlling the world's penguin populations – with my teeth.
I hugged him back tighter. I really would miss him, but I didn't have to worry about saying goodbye until tomorrow.
Later, Edward, Charlie, and I were all three sitting on the couch. Charlie was engrossed in his football game.
Edward and I pretended to be, but were actually playing footsies and taking turns squeezing each other's hands.
Taking a sip of his Coke, Charlie turned the channel. "Let's see what's on the news."
A lady in a white blouse was standing under an umbrella, microphone in hand, forest as her background.
"This has been the second bear attack this week. Officials will be laying traps all day long. It is strongly advised that anyone living near these areas stay away from the forest. Now, this man standing behind me." The camera angle changed. "Your son was Leah's friend?"
She gestured to Billy.
He had tears in his eyes. "Yeah, she was over at the house a lot. The whole lot of em." He sniffled. "They were like brothers and sisters. Like children to me."
My hand was white from gripping Edward's. Tears stung the corners of my own eyes.
The anchorwoman deemed him not able to go on, for she pulled her microphone back and continued with her story with annoying indifference.
"Oh my God," Charlie dropped the remote. "Leah Clearwater? It couldn't be."
He was staring dumbfounded at the TV...now on a commercial for scooter chairs. So, was I. It was different when it was just announced like that.
"I'm sorry," Edward whispered. To whom, I wasn't sure.
I draped my arm around Charlie's shoulder and rested my head on him.
Later that day, Edward drove me to the hospital to visit Jake in total silence. The anchorwoman had completely burst my bubble. Not a trace was left.
I was finally just accepting it. That didn't dull the pain, though.
The only sound in the car was the constant squeak of the windshield wipers.
Arriving at the hospital, Edward pulled up to the drop-off section.
"Aren't you coming in?"
He shook his head. "All things considered, I don't think that would be such a good idea."
I nodded. I really wanted him with me, but I wouldn't force him. Then, I shut the door.
Walking into the facility, I could smell that clean linen smell that always accompanies hospitals. I asked the lady at the desk where I could find one Jacob Black.
"Take the East Wing elevators up to the second floor, hitch a right, and walk through the double doors. Room 216."
Easy enough. What wasn't going to be easy were the words I'd have to say to him.
"Jake," I said when I caught sight of him.
He covered almost every inch of the hospital bed. If they weren't held in some kind of sling, his feet would have been dangling off the end.
"Jake?" I asked again.
He didn't respond, being unconscious. I sighed. I hadn't considered this setback.
Pulling up a chair, I sat beside him, He didn't have a shirt on. Gauze was wrapped around his upper torso. Ribs must have been broken, too. I winced.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered, grabbing his hand. I didn't know what else to say. I wish he would wake up.
"Bella?" a familiar voice behind me floated to my ears.
I turned around. "Carlisle?"
His eyes were dark, the bags under them purple. He had put off feeding so that he could take care of his patients.
The doctor strolled into the room and injected something into Jake's IV tubes.
"He'll be out for a while," he informed me. "Pain medication."
I nodded. "He's going to be okay though, right?"
"Fit as a fiddle in a few days." His lips twisted into a sad smile. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for tomorrow?"
I rose. "Whatever you say, Alice."
He chuckled as I began to leave. I took one last look at the werewolf on the bed.
Outside, I spotted the silver Volvo immediately.
The first words out of my mouth when I slid into my seat were, "I don't think we should get married."
Edward's head whipped around. His eyes blazed.
I held up my hands. "Tomorrow, Edward," I corrected. "I don't think we should get married tomorrow."
As he pulled out of the spot, he quickly recovered. "Tomorrow's as good as any other day."
"That wasn't your attitude a month ago. I just want it to be at a completely happy time, you know? Don't you want it to be special?"
"What did Jacob say to you?" he snapped.
"Nothing," I snapped back. "He wasn't even conscious for crying out loud. This is my opinion!"
Gently, the back of his hand caressed the side of my face. "I'm sorry," he said, "I just find myself incredibly impatient when I'm around you."
"Wish you would've felt like that earlier," I grumbled, thinking about the 'bed' incident that night in his house.
He laughed.
"But seriously, Edward. There's something going on. I'm not stupid. The werewolves and the Malinaught deal? What's happening?"
His grip tightened. "Nothing."
"Liar."
"You won't like it."
A/N: I apologize if this chapter was boredom in the flesh...well in the ink...that's not right either...in the electrons?! Anywho, there's this PLACE I'm trying to get to. And it's turning out to be an exceedingly LONGGG journey to get to this PLACE. Grrrr... At the same time, I'm trying not to rush it. So...you see my predicament! I might not post for a few days, so that I can write bout this PLACE. Then, I'll go back and write the umm... journey chapters so to speak, and you'll get updates like lightning. Now, click on the little blue link that says "Lily Turtle", scroll down, and R&R No More Bears...plz.