Hello, darlings. Here comes another chapter! :)
I'm enjoying being bolder with these two, it's so much fun.
If you haven't checked it, go read the first chapter of "red moon". That fic will be a place to put all the one-shots, or short stories (That will most likely comprise 4 chapters top) of Bella with different vampires. The first one is Demetri and Bella, and I'm working on part 2 of that. After that I'll start fixing one that I have with Jasper and start uploading.
This fic, silver, is not over yet. I'm not sure how many chapters are there left, but there's still a lot of fun moments to come. Now that Victoria is dead, and there are no threats, is time for Bella and Paul to enjoy freely their relationship.
Stay safe, review, and enjoy !
SILVER.
Chapter 20: Carefree.
After the newborn army had been dismantled and the injuries were accounted for, the wolves didn't allow Carlisle to tend to any of the injured wolves. Jasper thought that he would have done the same.
Alice was kind of mad at him at the moment. He had jumped in to save her from two newborns, although she claimed that she had it under control. It went against his instincts to see her in danger and not act. As a result, he had gotten bitten on the arm, and it stung; it would sting for a couple of days before it disappeared, but once again, he had another scar to add to his collection. It bothered him, despite Alice's kisses and sweet words and many decades of lovemaking and reassurances that his scars didn't matter to her.
On the way back to the house, Alice didn't let go of his hand, tracing calming circles on the back of his hand. He could feel her worry for him, despite her annoyance at him putting himself at risk.
"Are you still mad?" He whispered playfully in her ear. He knew she was, but he couldn't help it.
She sent him a glare and a tilt of her mouth, and he sent her a wave of humor. "Don't you dare, Withlock." She whispered seriously.
"Come on, darlin', you know I couldn't help it." He begged. He didn't like it when Alice was mad at him; it made him uncomfortable. Unlike Emmett, who enjoyed messing with Rosalie, he hated seeing Alice in any mood but her usual cheery self.
"I had it under control. You taught me how to fight; you know I can take them." Jasper sighed, defeated. It was true, Alice was a hell of a fighter, trained by the best, and she knew better than to solely rely on her visions when fighting with someone who was not rational.
"I know, darlin'." He kissed her forehead.
She smiled softly. She knew he didn't do it because he doubted her abilities to fight; if the situation had been reversed, she would have done the same. He smiled, amused because he knew what she was thinking. In response, she stuck her tongue out at him, making him chuckle.
…
…
…
Once they were back at the house, and they cleaned up and disposed of any turned clothes, Jasper asked everyone to meet at the living room table as they had something important to discuss.
Everyone sat at the table when they were ready. Invertedly, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose sat at one end of the table, facing the other three.
"There is no easy way to say this." Alice started, looking at Carlisle and Esme. It was sad; they have spent many years together, and it was also disappointing that to these two, whatever Edward did would never be wrong.
Jasper took her hand and squeezed it. They talked more about who was the best option to give the bad news, and they decided that Alice was the least intimidating and the sweetest of the four, despite Jasper having volunteered for the job when they first discussed it.
"We're leaving the coven." It no longer felt like a family. Rose and Emmett had agreed on that.
Esme's eyes widened in surprise. Jasper could feel her pain and disappointment, she genuinely cared for everyone, but it was becoming a matter of life and death. He would not let Edward be the cause of his demise.
"May I ask why?" Carlisle was surprisingly calm.
As the empath, Jasper was best with lying and convincing people, even without projecting. "We want to be on our own for a while. It's getting tiresome to play human and be around them 24/7." That was true, but obviously not all the truth. "This coven attracts too much attention as it is, and it attracts visitors that don't have the best intentions. It's getting uncomfortable to fight every time to keep them from hunting on the territory and have a territory marked as owned."
Esme seemed to understand what Jasper was saying, and she had to agree with him. She was the one who had the least interaction with humans, save from the few trips to the grocery store every few weeks or the charity organizations she donated to. As a housewife and someone who worked from home, she was expected to show her face in the grocery store a few times. Each of them had gone on certain occasions.
"Are you sure?" Jasper nodded. He genuinely only cared for Esme, and if she weren't with Carlisle, he would have asked her to leave as well. But she was Carlisle's mate, and she loved him for some reason.
"It's not only Jasper and Alice." Rose interjected. "Em, and I are leaving too." Esme's eyes widened in shock. She knew this life was too much sometimes, and sometimes she also wished to leave and be secluded, but she had promised Carlisle in his way of forgiving himself and trying to make peace with what he was. She could not fault her children (because that's what they will always be, irrespective of the few years that separated them) for choosing to leave. She could only offer her support.
Under the watchful eye of the four who were leaving, Esme stood and hugged them. "I will miss you very much." She also kissed each of their cheeks. "Promise to keep in touch."
"We promise." Rose said, smiling softly.
Esme sat down again. Edward was stunned, quiet. His emotions were all over the place. Most likely, he didn't understand why he was being left behind.
"You're taking my siblings with you?!" Of course Edward would latch out to him.
Jasper was not looking to pick a fight, so he stayed silent. However, to his surprise, Emmett spoke loudly. "Now we're your siblings? What were we when Alice asked you to leave Bella alone? What were we when you risked everyone's neck when you decided to leave Bella and then go to the Volturi because you wallow in self-pity? What were we when just a few hours ago you let slip a newborn and watched it attack a wolf? Do you realize that you don't care about anyone but yourself?" Alice was looking at Emmett with wide eyes. He never let on that he had been scared about what happened with the Volturi. I'm fact, he never spoke of it, not to her, at least.
Edward was certainly not expecting to be called out on his bulshit, and he had hoped that everyone had been too busy at the fight to notice.
Jasper understood his emotions. Reading Edward like an open book had always come easy to Jasper. "He could have been seriously injured or killed. And we would have had to clean up your mess by either going to war with the wolves or compromising by doing something neither of us wants."
Esme was an enigma to Jasper. She didn't follow Carlisle blindly, but she also protected Edward as if he were a baby. He would have to ask Alice about it later, but he could see a breakup in the future.
Rose passed Jasper the documents that Jenks had gotten ready for them. "You need to sign these papers, and it'll be official." He passed them to Esme, clearly a defying move towards Carlisle's leadership.
Esme grabbed the pen that rested on top of the papers and signed immediately, not caring to look at what was inside. She gave Edward the papers and the pen with a stern look that admitted no complaints. Edward growled but signed, passing then the papers to Carlisle.
"I suggest you don't say what you were going to say." It was the first time that Alice had told Carlisle to shut up. "It's done. Nothing you say or do will change it. Please sign, and we'll be on our way."
Carlisle nodded; too surprised to say anything, he simply signed the papers and slid them back to Jasper. They just had to pack their bags and personal belongings and get on their merry way. Emmett had rented a moving truck because they were not even leaving the beds; they were done, completely. Alice was taking her beloved Porsche with her; Emmett would be driving the moving truck while Jasper got Emmett's jeep and Rose her precious convertible. It was going to be tough, but they would manage.
A few hours later, they were on their way to Peter's and Charlotte's in Texas.
Bella arrived home late that Saturday night. She had left Paul's house with the promise that he would call her if he needed anything not sexually related (to which he laughed and kissed her forehead). He promised to call her if anything came up. He had his doctor's orders to take it easy for two weeks. His job with Jared's dad was going to be taken care of by Jared himself. He would be very bored, with Bella working full time five days of the week, it was likely that he would not see much of her. This sucked, truly. He didn't like sitting still and doing nothing.
"Isabella Marie Swan!" Charlie's angry voice made Bella shudder. This was his dad-cop voice.
Bella entered the living room under Charlie's watchful stare. There was no sugar coating her way out whatever she had done to make Charlie this angry with her.
"Have you been riding those deadly bikes again?" He demanded to know. Bella was surprised by this. Since Jake busted her out to Charlie a few months ago, hoping to create trouble between Bella and Edward, Charlie had been furious and had grounded her.
"No!" She said a little too loudly, which didn't serve to make it believable. What had brought this on?
Charlie eyed her with his cop-trained eye, looking for signs of lies. "Are you being honest with me?" He asked again, softer this time.
"I swear I am."
Charlie hummed, deciding to believe her. "How is that boyfriend of yours? Billy told me he was with Jake riding bikes and that he also got hurt." Bella thanked Billy for his genius cover story.
"He's shaken up, but he got the better part of the deal. The doctor told him to take it easy for a couple of weeks." She was glad she could talk to Charlie like this, despite being a huge secret that he could not be privy to. She could tell him things that were closer to the truth.
"Does he need anything?" Charlie had always been a good man, and it warmed Bella's heart that he was at least worried about one of her boyfriends. Clearly, the last one hadn't been big on his list.
She smiled and shook her head. "I left him settled on the bed and made him promise to call if he needed something." She was expecting a few calls and texts on his behalf complaining about having nothing to do.
"He's a good kid." Charlie worded his thoughts out loud. Bella eyed him curiously. Since Seth brought that envelope, Charlie had been pensive, something not very common with him.
"He is." She agreed. "Dad, are you ok?"
Charlie came down from his thoughts, almost tempted to tell Bella what the contents of the envelope were, but he didn't want to burden her with something that was out of her hands. He kissed her forehead and nodded. "I'm fine, kiddo. Don't worry."
Before going to bed, Bella needed to take something off her mind, and she needed an adult's advice.
"Dad." She called, following him to the kitchen. He turned around, giving her his attention. "I need some advice."
Charlie's eyes widened suddenly, and his angry dad-cop face was back. "You're not pregnant, are you?"
"God no!" She yelled, blushing deeply. "Way to jump to conclusions, dad."
Charlie shrugged, blushing as well. One never knows, he thought. "Ok, what advice do you need?"
"I think Jake is seeing someone, and she's not too keen on my friendship with him." It stung that Jake was avoiding her, and of course, now that he had his entire right side crushed, it was not a good time to ask about this. "He's been avoiding me. So, should I talk to the girl and ask what the deal is? Should I confront Jake? I think she might think that Jake has feelings for me still, or something like that, which I know is not true…" When Charlie offered Bella to come to live with him, his imagination didn't extend to this kind of boys' troubles. He sighed; he wouldn't want it any other way. Having Bella here the past year and something has been the greatest gift ever.
"Bells, I know it my hurt that Jake's avoiding you for this girl; it's a reproachable behavior, to be honest, but I think you need to let them talk to you when they're ready. Let this girl come to terms with the fact that he is best friends with a girl he had strong feelings for." This was very nice, Bella thought. Having this kind of conversation with Charlie was rare, but it was very nice. "Let them come to you. They might still be figuring out what they have." He'd certainly had gone through that.
Bella was not known for being a patient person, but she could see that whatever was stopping Jake from telling Bella about Leah was not precisely her problem. It might not even be related to her. As Charlie had said, they were probably still figuring everything between them.
Bella kissed Charlie's cheek and thanked him for the advice. "I'm off to sleep. I have to be early at the store."
Charlie said his goodnights and retired to his bed as well.
Before sleeping, Bella checked on Paul to see how he was feeling. His response made her snort and laugh.
I am beginning to understand the workings of self-pleasure.
He could not be that turned on constantly.
Be careful not to overexert yourself. She answered with a big smile on her face. It was so fun to tease him.
Don't worry, baby. Even if I do, I can always take care of you. Jesus, he was like a sex addict or something. But then, so was she. He was addicting.
Not if you hurt yourself. It's two weeks that could turn into three if you're not careful. And I'm not the one with constant wood.
Paul's middle finger emoji had her hiding her face in her pillow to drown the sound of her laugh.
Sleep tight. I'll check on you tomorrow. I love you. She texted after a few minutes, adding a heart emoji at the end. She felt so carefree. These past months had been so tense and heavy that texting and using silly emojis felt a little foreign to her, but she loved it.
Love you too, baby girl. He sent her a picture of himself without a shirt, adding a text that said, 'sweet dreams.'
He was playing with fire, but two could play the same game. She took off her pajama shorts, leaving her with a shirt she had stolen from Paul's closet and her underwear. As she was going to sleep, she didn't need a bra. He'd mentioned that seeing her in his shirt had been very sexy. She stood up in front of her mirror and snapped a picture of herself, which she sent to him with the same text he'd added to his picture.
His replay gave him the victory, damn him. I want you looking like that in my bed. I can't wait till I can take that off you.
She had to take a cold shower. Sexting was not a good idea when you had to abstain for two weeks, and they were on day zero. Gold help her.