A Bad Deal?
A Succubus' Past
A/N: I rewrote this chapter sooooooooo many times because I couldn't find the right angle I wanted to work with it. But finally, finally, I've manged to get this together. Hopefully it delivers the way I want it to.
When Rosalie was six years old she made her first real friend. Her first and last real friend.
She had been having a really rough day at home. Her parents had forbidden her from doing something or another, she couldn't really recall now, but at the time it had really upset her, so much so that she ran away in the middle of the conversation. They hadn't bothered to go after her, thinking she would come back soon to the house but Rosalie wasn't planning on going back anytime soon. She wanted to run away, to hit the road with only the clothes on her back and find some new parents that would appreciate her better.
With that intention in mind she went off into the woods at the edge of Fork's small town, for what runaway didn't traipse through the woods on their journey? Brambles caught on her pink frilly dress, pulling on pure white knee high socks and scrapping painfully on her exposed legs. Bugs bit at her since it was the start of summer and their tyrannical dominion would begin and reign supreme for a couple more months until the winter claimed them. Still, she kept walking, her anger fueling her tiny limbs.
She didn't know how long she walked for, wiping tears off of her cherub cheeks with the back of her hand, until she made it to a creek. There she sat down, tired and sweating under her fancy summer dress. Her hair, which had been made up in ringlets and tied with a bow, was slowly coming apart.
Rosalie sat there on a cool flat rock, staring at her reflection in the water when there came a commotion from her right. She whipped her head in that direction, thinking it could be her parents, come to find her. If so, she would dig her heels in and refuse to listen to them. They were stupid. And dumb.
But instead, what she saw coming out of the bushes, over a little overhang, was a scrawny little kid who was yelling at the top of their lungs before barreling off of the rocky outcrop and plunging into the deeper part of the river. There was a giant splash, one that reached all the way over to Rosalie. She flinched back from the splash and watched with wary eyes as the water stayed still where the kid had jumped in. Were they okay? Would there be a corpse floating around? Just as she had gotten up to go investigate, a head popped out accompanied by the loud inhalation of oxygen. The kid made their way over to the shore, wading through the water, hair in their eyes. Rosalie watched them clamber up onto the rocks and only when they pushed the fringe out of their eyes did they notice her there.
"Oh," they made a funny shape with their mouth. "I've never seen you around here before."
"That's because I don't come here often." Rosalie responded with, even before she could decide if she really wanted to talk to this kid. They were thin and with their shirt and shorts damp and clinging to their flesh they looked even smaller. Their hair was cut unevenly and it hung around their shoulders. And their voice was high pitched. Was the kid a girl? Rosalie couldn't be sure.
"I come here a lot. Over the summer. Its my favorite spot. I can swim in the water when it gets too hot. Or I can sit on the rocks and think." The girl said unprompted and plopped down on her back onto the rocks in a patch of sunlight so that she could dry up.
Rosalie was intrigued. What kind of kid came out and did thinking for fun? "What do you think about?" she asked as she sat back down on her rock.
The girl shrugged, causing some rocks behind her back to clatter. "I dunno. Stuff. Like stuff that makes me mad. Or sad. And I think about it and then I feel better. But mostly I'm here to have fun! I love walking around the woods and having adventures with my friends."
"Aren't the woods dangerous?" Rosalie wrinkled her nose, reiterating something her parents always told her in order to keep her from wandering outside.
"Nah. Not if you know what you're doing," the girl said and then sat up. "What are you doing here? You look to be dressed too nice to be here."
Rosalie looked down at her clothes then back at the girl. Crossing her hands over her chest she stated, "I'm running away." The appearance of the girl had detracted her anger but now she remembered it.
The girl titled her head to the side curiously. Instead of asking the usual, "how come," or "why?" she asked, "Can I run away with you?"
This threw Rosalie off. "Why? Why do you want to run away with me?"
"It seems like a fun adventure."
"It's not an adventure! I'm serious!" Rosalie huffed, affronted by this girl's lack of solemnity.
"Oh," the girl's honey brown eyes widened. "Why do you want to run away?"
Rosalie went into a passionate tirade about what had happened at home and the brunette waited and listened patiently to her. By the time Rosalie had finished she had ended up crying again. The other girl took this moment to wrap her arms around the other in a hug, placing a warm kiss on Rosalie's forehead. The embrace was warm, the kiss even more so, despite the wet water and chill still clinging to the others flesh.
"Don't cry. Your parents love you a lot. Their just being annoying. Doesn't mean you should run away." This was said with all the wisdom a fellow six year old could muster.
"Don't you ever want to run away?" Rosalie asked through sniffles as she pulled away from the other. She couldn't believe she cried in front of a stranger. Her mother always told her she had to be a proper lady and keep her emotions under control. But maybe it was because this girl was a complete stranger that she was okay with it, with letting it all loose.
"I do," the brunette affirmed as she sat down on the rock by Rosalie, the blonde scooting over to make some room. "But then I think about how sad my dad would be if I left. Because my dad only has me left. He doesn't have my mom or a sister or anything like that."
Rosalie nodded her head as she took this in. Talking to this girl made her feel better. She didn't feel as overcome with the desire to run away anymore. She felt calm now. Like all she had needed all along was someone to listen to her.
Both girls were quiet a moment before the brunette shot up off of the rock like a rocket and clapped her hands together in excitement. "Hey, why don't we play a game? It'll make you feel better!"
"Like what?"
"Like, let's pretend we did run away!"
Rosalie arched a brow. "I don't know..." She didn't actually want to run away. She was just being dramatic.
"It'll be fun. I know a perfect spot where we can have a house," the brunette exclaimed in excitement and tugged on Rosalie's hand. For the remainder of that day the two of them went around collecting sticks to build a house with. They went 'hunting' for food. They fought 'wild animals' that tried to steal their food. Whereas Rosalie had been reluctant to get busy because it would make her clothes dirty, she soon forgot when she saw how much fun the girl was having. She had twigs and leaves in her hair and mud on her shoes and shirt but her eyes were alive with joy. So Rosalie stopped caring about her dress. Her parents had money so why should it matter.
They played for so long, laughed so hard, that they forgot the passage of time. Only when the sun began to set did they turn back to trek through the woods back home.
Soon it was time to face reality once more. Rosalie would have to go back to her parents and this girl would have to go back to her dad.
They stood at the edge of the woods, dawdling. Neither looked to want to leave. "Will I see you again?" Rosalie asked tentatively.
"Yup." The brunette nodded her head vigorously. "I'll see you later-uh, what's your name?" she asked, scratching her cheek as she blanked on a name never given to her.
"Rose," Rosalie said, wanting the girl to call her this nickname, a nickname only her parents called her.
"Nice to meet ya, Rose! Such a pretty name!" With that the brunette hugged Rosalie and ran off in the opposite direction of where Rosalie lived.
"I don't know your name!" Rosalie shouted out after her, but the brunette didn't stop her running, going as fast as the wind. Soon she was gone around the corner and Rosalie was left standing on the street by herself, wondering if perhaps the girl had even been here in the first place.
That night when Rosalie got home she got the scolding of the century but she couldn't care any less because she would think of the fun adventures she had had with that weird girl who didn't care if she had a worm up her nose, or if Rosalie insulted her, and a smile would crawl onto her face only making her parents yell more. But she didn't care. Not one bit. Because she had never had someone hang out with her for that long.
Sure she had had playdates set up by her mom with the other rich kids in town but it wasn't the same. Because those were arranged and this hadn't been. She wondered if the girl would be there again next day. Or the day after that. Because right now Rosalie was getting grounded.
Eventually, once Rosalie's grounding was over, she went back to the creek, wearing substantially less nice clothing so that if she got dirty it wouldn't matter. Her mother had been very upset at the state of her clothes last time. There, much to her surprise, she found the little brunette along with some boy with thick black hair and tan skin. They were trying to build a tower out of rocks.
"Rose!" the brunette had jumped to her feet, knocking the precarious project over when she saw the blonde approaching. The boy let out an indignant "hey!" at the loss of the hard work but the girl didn't care. She launched herself at Rosalie and gave her a big hug. "I thought you would never come back!"
"I got grounded," Rosalie explained, sticking out her tongue in disgust.
"Whose that?" the boy rose to his feet. He was scrawny but wiry and tall.
"This is Rose. My friend." The brunette swung an arm around the blonde's shoulders and Rosalie felt an incredible warmth in her chest. Friend? We're friends? Rosalie had never had friends before! She wanted to squeal out loud but quickly composed herself. She didn't want to freak her new friend out. "And this is Jake. My close friend." The brunette pointed at the boy who awkwardly waved at Rosalie. No doubt he must be adjusting to her beauty. Rosalie knew she was beautiful even at this age. It was something her parents constantly liked to remind her. And Rosalie took every ounce of pride from it.
"So, uh, are you going to be playing with me and Bella today?" Jake asked, coughing when he realized he had been looking for too long.
Bella...Bella. Such a pretty name. Bella and Rose, best friends together. That phrase went well. "Yes. I'll be hanging out with the two of you."
And from that day Rosalie did. Jake wasn't always around each day, since he lived on the Reserve and had to help his dad with work around the house, not that Rosalie minded since she could get Bella all to herself those days. And they had so many adventures each day. Most of the time they hung out by the creek, letting their imaginations roam and grow. Or if not that then they went biking on some bike that Jake found and fixed up for them, taking turns as they pushed each other down the biggest hill in town. Sometimes when Rosalie got grounded, Bella would sneak over to her house and the two of them would giggle and gossip under the covers of her bed, trying to be quiet so her parents wouldn't know someone was over. But they would always dissolve into fits of laughter or screams of delight when Bella the tickle monster visited town.
And on the days that Rosalie's parents were out of town and the house was empty, then Rosalie would invite Bella over and the two of them would run around, or watch TV, or eat their fill of snacks. Rosalie's favorite part was when they went mattress surfing down the stairs, laughing all the way down.
Those summer days spent together were bliss for Rosalie. She had never had a friend before and she had never known how much fun it could be. Being with Bella made her feel safe, the girl full of energy and affection. She'd always hug Rosalie or give her a kiss on the cheek when they'd first see each other and she could always bring a goofy grin to the blonde's face. Rosalie never wanted the summer to end, but unfortunately it had to. And it did so in a cruel way.
One day, after the first day of classes had ended, Rosalie went down to the creek where Bella usually was each and every day without fail, even in the rain. But she wasn't there. So Rosalie waited, waited until it was eight at night and still there was no Bella. The blonde chalked it up to first day of school business and that Bella must be busy. Maybe she wouldn't frequent this spot anymore. But still Rosalie kept coming back to this spot, day after day, week after week, until two months had passed. This was because she didn't actually know where Bella lived. She didn't know who her father was. They never had talked about it.
Eventually Rosalie thought to go find Jake. She knew where the Reserve was, and she could walk to it if she really had to. So one day she skipped out on school and bundled up in her warmest jacket for winter was approaching without mercy, she set out for the long walk.
When she got there, she found his school and then waited him to finish. He was shocked to see her and even more shocked by her question. "Where's Bella?" he reiterated. "She's gone."
"Gone?" Rosalie echoed hollowly.
"She went to go live with her mother," Jake said softly, pity in his eyes for having to deal this harsh news to her.
"And where does her mom live?" Rosalie asked, knowing she wasn't going to like the answer but needing to know.
"In Arizona." The answer hung in the air, like a blemish that would never leave. It made Rosalie's features mar into ones of confusion and hurt. "Why? Why did she go?"
Jake shrugged. "I don't know. Something about her parents divorce. She's going to live there from now on."
"Why didn't she tell me?" Rosalie whispered out, no longer able to meet his eyes.
"I don't know. I guess she didn't want to worry you. She told me because we've been friends for a while now."
"But she told me we were friends," Rosalie's voice wavered, and she clenched her hands together to stop them from shaking.
"I dunno." Jake shrugged once more.
Rosalie nodded her head. She had to accept this information. It was the only thing she could do. She swiftly turned on her heel and walked away. Only when she was out of earshot of Jake did she let the tears fall freely on her face. It wasn't cold enough for them to freeze but she wished it was so that it would stop her tears from falling because she couldn't make them stop. She thought that she and Bella had been best friends. And as such a best friend would have said that they were leaving for forever.
Angrily and trying to hold back whimpers of pain, she tore the necklace that Bella had given her as a sign of their friendship and tossed it to the ground. She had been so happy when Bella had given it to her. And no matter how many times her mother had told her to throw it out, she always kept, never taking it off even when she bathed. It had been a sign of their close bond but now, it was just painful to wear.
She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't. She felt so betrayed. Like someone had taken her heart and stomped all over it. She had loved spending time with Bella. Every moment with her had been pure joy. But now the memories only stung her worse than a bee sting. She wished she had never met her. She wanted to yell at her. To push her. But most of all ask her to come back. And she couldn't understand all these emotions. They were tearing her young mind and body apart.
She would be inconsolable for months to come and no one would understand why.
For Rosalie had only begun to grasp what it felt like to have truly loved and to have lost.
