Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Series.
2. STITCHES
"There are no words I can use to properly convey how...how aghast I am at failing you so spectacularly." Carlisle was not looking at me at all, for which I was glad since I was trying to reign in that little snap of temper. "Jasper, I am sorry."
Jasper wasn't exactly in a state to answer, still stunned silent by the sudden revelation of the reason behind his centuries of struggle with a vampire's most base instinct.
"We are all at fault in considering you weakest when it came to controlling your thirst when Madeleine was indeed correct about you being the strongest of us all...and that I am the most culpable for not realizing this myself sooner." He stepped closer to Jasper then. "I know this is no excuse and I do not intend to try and justify my deplorable blindness to your situation. After all you've gone through, you deserve a better coven leader than I."
"No, Carlisle-" Jasper cut off, quick to deny his chosen leader's self recriminations but equally unsure how to continue. He didn't get a chance to gather his thoughts though as Esme was suddenly attempting to crush him with her embrace.
"Oh Jasper, I'm so sorry!" Esme warbled unsteadily. I was sure if she could, she would be bawling her eyes out right now. "How could I not realize how much you were suffering all this time!" She sobbed audibly then, though her eyes remained detestably dry. "My baby's so strong!"
"Esme..." Truly, Jasper was very much out of his element. Even now, decades after leaving behind the southern vampire wars, my Jazz was still very unused to all this unconditional love and support - and I know he adored them all the more for it.
"If that's true, then why didn't he ever tell anyone? Couldn't he tell the difference between his thirst and someone else's?" Bella cut in to the touching family moment, not even addressing the thoughtless inquiry at Jasper but at me. "And besides that, what made you think it was your place to talk to their dad like that?" She criticized harshly.
For a breathless few moments, I literally could not formulate a coherent thought from the mix of shock, anger, mortification, and hurt at my sister's outburst.
"What makes her think it's her place?" To my surprise, it was Rosalie that spoke up in my defense, voice deceptively soft. "She's our sister."
A blind, emotionally inept turd could tell how much a slap to the face those three words were to Bella from the involuntary jerk back she did, face falling dramatically and looking incredibly hurt - as if she had a right to, as if she were the victim. Honestly.
"From day one, all Maddy's been concerned about is keeping our secret and making sure we'd be happy - without even caring about her own secrets or safety, the stupid bitch," Rosalie's voice continued to grow louder and louder. "And from day one she's been defending the disgusting behavior you've had towards her since you moved here, always telling us how you were different, how you were closer and a good sister before coming to Forks!" She was practically shrieking now. "And frankly, I'm sick of hearing her fucking excuses for your fucked up behavior! If Maddy didn't still love you so much despite being a sorry excuse for a human being, I'd have popped your stupid bobble head off your body the first opportunity I got!"
"I told you you're not touching a hair on Bella's head or I'd rip yours off!" Edward growled furiously, crouching half defensively in front of his singer.
"Try it, you dickless wonder!" Rosalie hissed back. "If that thing didn't share relation with our Maddy, then I would have killed her for the danger she posed to our family, never mind your sick fascination with her!"
"When are you going to get over the fact that I think you're as physically appealing to me as a crude blow up doll," Edward sneered nastily in return.
I gasped loudly at that, scandalized in equal parts by the tasteless insult coming from stick-up-his-ass Edward as I was by him insulting Rosalie so horribly at all. Seriously, what the fuck?!
As expected, Rosalie shrieked in unholy fury and had leapt to attack Edward but was held back by Emmet's firm grip, though he was sending Edward quite the furious, murderous scowl for the insult towards his lovely mate.
"Enough!" Carlisle half growled, half shouted in command. I was pretty amazed when they really did stop instantly, looking like guilty, though recalcitrant children as they turned to him. "Edward that insult was entirely uncalled for and you will apologize immediately!" He reprimanded, sounding very much like Charlie when he caught me being especially rude to someone.
For a moment Edward looked like he wouldn't comply, but then-
"Edward!" Carlisle barked sharply, looking angrier than I'd ever seen him. Edward's expression fell into a sullen frown, slumping tense shoulders as he rose from his defensive crouch.
"I...apologize Rosalie. I realize that my last statement was taking things too far," he offered stiffly, but at least he sounded sincere and appropriately repentant. A subtle glance and returning nod from Jasper told me it was, in fact, sincere. Huh. So Edward could actually learn? Interesting.
"And Isabella..." he looked to the very pale, shaking sister of mine. "Rosalie could have put it much more nicely, and perhaps kept a few of her personal opinions to herself, but," he looked her squarely in the eye, face firm, "we do consider Madeleine family. She truly has become an irreplaceable support to us and while I understand that it is not my place to tell, or even advise, you on how to treat your sister, I would like to ask that you refrain from...speaking to her in such a way when we are near. Please."
Bella shrunk in on herself, beet red from mortification and shame as, while Carlisle's delivery wasn't angry or scolding, his gently taking her to task seemed more effective than a harsh reprimand.
"I'm sorry," she apologized readily, tugging self consciously at her sleeves. "This...this is kind of all my fault anyway. "She mumbled. "Maddy was only trying to stop something worse from happening. If I wasn't so clumsy -all over a stupid papercut - I'm sorry."
Carlisle's gaze softened and he smiled warmly at her. "You shouldn't apologize for being human," he returned kindly. "It would have been no one's fault. We can't help what we are."
"still...maybe it's better if I go home for now?" she half asked hesitantly. "Not that I don't really appreciate all you've done for me and everything!" Bella was hasty to add. "This was all really nice and I can't wait to open all my presents, but -"
"We understand, dear," Esme interrupted her nervous babbling, smiling kindly at her. "Oh! But let me wrap up your cake so you can take it home with you!" Esme was gone in the next blink, the cake with her.
Bella left with a few more awkward thank yous, goodbyes, ill hidden relief, and a nearly tangibly reluctant nod in my direction before being willingly shepherded away by Edward back to home.
A short, thick period of silence had me incapable of not saying something.
"Well, this is awkward," I delivered in perfect deadpan.
Emmett broke first, snickering loudly and breaking the tension that had built from the moment Bella walked into the room. In a blink, they turned from a distant coven of cautious supernaturals to a warm, close family of unique individuals - Carlisle and Esme smiled warmly, Rosalie sneered and flipped her hair while Emmett cooed adoringly over her, and Jasper visibly relaxed from his battle ready posture - the very air around them seemed to have melted into a comfortable, more intimate setting.
"I should probably head out, too," I excused myself far more naturally. "The time it takes to give my own goodbyes will probably be enough for Bella to be holed up in her room by the time I get back."
And so it was.
"We're ba~ack," I sang with my creepy horror movie voice as I grandly opened the front door. Chuckles erupted from both behind and in front of me as Dad had come to greet us at the door.
"You, uh, you and Bella came home early," he started awkwardly. "And it looked like she was sulking about something?" He couldn't help the amused grin that tugged at his lips when I made a face. "I take it something happened?"
"Yeah, 'something' happened, alright," I muttered, but not quite sure what to tell him. Turns out I didn't need to since Jasper stepped up.
"Maddy arranged a modest party for Isabella and tried to offer subtle assistance on how to minimize her admittedly frequent bouts of clumsiness - to not ruin the mood," Jasper started.
"Bu~ut," Dad drawled, obviously having an idea of where this was going.
"But Isabella grew suspicious and, I'm sorry but in my opinion, overreacted and responded in what I thought was an unnecessarily rude manner to Maddy's well meant intentions," Jasper reported grimly. "I'm afraid Rosalie didn't take kindly to that and shouted which in turn got Edward to defend her, leading to them fighting and - well, needless to say our father shut them down and disciplined them. I hope you don't mind, but he ended up giving Isabella a bit of a scolding as well since her attitude towards Maddy was the trigger, more or less."
"Well, I know your father is a good man, level headed," Dad started slowly, reluctantly. "If he thought Bella deserved a little bit of a talking to then it was likely deserved, and considering the scene you set and her past record involving her and Maddy, I can't really say it's that unbelievable..." He rubbed harshly at the side of his neck, face scrunched. "From the looks of it, Bella's mortified enough so it's probably best I just, uh, ignore it entirely. The situation is pretty much resolved, yeah?" He asked Jasper half hopefully.
Jasper nodded firmly. "Fights are pretty normal in our family. They start as fast as they finish and Carlisle has no issue with Isabella. I said scolding but it was more like a request for more civil behavior around each other at least in their presence."
"Good, uh, good to hear," Dad cleared his throat awkwardly in the small silence that followed. "Soooo... everything is okay then - at least, you know, mostly?" His eyes darted to the stairs where Bella no doubt trudged up not so long ago.
"I suppose," I drawled uncaringly, only to smirk a little, "at least it won't be any more awkward than usual around here," I finished, pointedly eyeing Dad with a raised brow. He couldn't help huffing out a laugh at that, his tense shoulders finally relaxing completely.
"Ha ha," he replied dryly.
"Something on your mind, Jazz?" I asked, falling to sit back on my bed as he quietly shut the door. "You were quiet the whole ride back here."
Wordlessly, Jasper settled himself on the ground in front of me, hands running lightly from my knees and up my thighs until they settled loosely on my hips.
In response, I gave him a bright, playful smile as I casually wrapped my legs around his middle and crossed my ankles. His returning smile was stupidly dazzling.
"Since the moment you came into my life, you have shattered every preconception I've had about my very existence," he started very solemnly, stealing my breath from the beginning of what I could tell is a long speech. "The belief that no one would fall in love with me," he kissed my tummy. "The belief that I would never be good enough for them if anyone did," he kissed the cloth between my breasts. "The belief that I could never change for the better," he kissed the hollow of my collarbone. "The belief...that my turning and ability made me the weakest link in my chosen coven." He kissed me firmly on the mouth.
"I love you," he whispered fervently. Another firm kiss. "Te amo," another, "aishite imasu," another, "tha grádh agam dhuibh," another, "saranghamnida*." A much longer, deeper kiss this time. "There will never be enough words, enough ways, in the human language to express what it is I feel for you," he finished just as solemnly as he began, forcing a shuddering breath out of me.
"Fuck you and your shamelessly excessive romancing bullshit," I croaked out unsteadily, trying to blink away my teary eyes but only succeeding in making a few drops streak down my cheeks. "How fucking dare you turn me into this emotional sobbing mess," an actual sob warping the middle of my sentence as if to demonstrate my point.
After the first statement, he had blinked in startlement before he - I assume - assessed my emotions and slowly began to grin, only to break out into unrestrained laughter by the end of my response.
I wasn't ashamed to say that his laugh had honestly short circuited my brain then. There were plenty of things he did that accomplished much the same(most sensual in nature), but until this point, never him laughing. It was very clear to me why. Never, in the inordinate amount of time we've spent together - alone or in company - had Jasper ever laugh so freely, so openly unapologetically happy. He was practically radiating with elation and considering exactly what his ability was, I had no doubt that his mood was literally infectious as I felt my own love and excitement and joy bubble and crest in my chest in an attempt to match his.
He wiped at the half dried tears that were already itching at my cheeks with cool thumbs, feeling unbelievably nice on my heated face as he caressed my features.
"You made me break my promise already," he said as his laughs turn to chuckles. He smirked then. "Don't worry," he assured, "I forgive you."
Automatically I smacked his shoulder at the smartass response, laughing shakily and pouncing him, burying my face in his chest.
"You're learning waaay too much from me."
It was the sound of hushed urgent whispers and the lack of a cold body beside me under the heating blanket that had my brain trying pathetically to wake me from deep slumber. It couldn't be earlier than the asscrack of dawn from the way my lids refused to unfuck my eyes.
"An adorable puppy named Cottonball better be stuck down a fucking well," I rasped hoarsely from sleep as I reluctantly pried open stupid heavy lids and blinked from how stupid painful the action was.
"That's oddly specific," Emmett commented, stepping closer to my bed. "Is that the only reason you'll accept or am I gonna have to do a lot of sucking up to make it up to you?"
"Oh, there'll be dickload of sucking up and pandering to my whims regardless for forcing these blasphemous hours of consciousness on me," I hissed as I sat up as slowly as a senior citizen from a chair.
"Your words are kind of slurred when your sleepy, it's funny," was Emmett's only reply.
"Yeah? And unicorns like sucking faerie dick," I snapped, making Emmett and Jasper start snickering in disbelief. "If we're done making useless commentary; the reason for your presence here?" I demanded more than asked, a bit more awake but still unbelievably cranky.
"Now I don't know if I want to tell you," he teased.
"Emmett," Jasper and I hissed together, though his urging was a bit more commanding and exasperated than deadass tired and cranky.
"Alright, alright!" Emmett huffed, holding his hands up in mock surrender, though his grin was anything but repentant. Of course I straightened and woke completely when his usually playful grin dropped completely and he looked me straight in the eye. "You need to come back to the house."
AN: Hello all! Surprisingly as tentatively not-promised I finished the next chapter before the end of the year! Admittedly, it was mostly because the chapter itself was shorter than I expected, but I think it was good. Just saying now, sorry but don't expect the next chapter before the end of the year. I may have switched to just one job when they offered me more days, and the pay is better because of tips but it's still this daily juggle between work, mental issues(fuck stress), and self care, and holidays - especially December holidays - make everything crazy busy both at work and in personal lives.
Anyway! As always, thank you for reading and feel free to leave reviews! And a special thank you for your utmost patience and understanding. (✿´꒳`)ﾉ°
*- I know, I know; Jasper being disgustingly romantic, but I can't help myself... saying I love you in a bunch of different languages was a sappy cliché I couldn't resist. In order of language it goes English(obviously), Latin(I wanted to go for the root language, but it's the same as Spanish and similar to Italian, again obviously), Japanese(their culture actually doesn't say it often since they prefer expressing love through actions not words-romantic idea in its own right), Scottish Gaelic(this one I'm a bit iffy about but it says it means I love you in the romantic/affectionate sense so I used it, but if I'm wrong you can tell me), and Korean(the most formal way you can say it in their language). Jasper being the utterly devoted sap he is obviously took it upon himself to thoroughly familiarize himself with everything Maddy likes- meaning he looked into her favorite reading material, anime, k-dramas, etcetera and learned everything he could about it all(he happens to share her love of historical k-dramas and manga in particular.)