SM owns the Twilight characters! I'm only borrowing them for my own story. That is not suitable for young readers. At all.
. . . . . . . . .
I was just getting in from a morning jog around the neighborhood with Zeus, and was surprised to find Emmett waiting outside of my door.
"Em? What's wrong?" I asked quickly.
"Oh, umm… Everything's fine, I just needed to, er, talk to you, and I was around, but I didn't have the keys. Thought I'd wait." He was shifting around, and I obviously didn't believe him. I watched him suspiciously as I unlocked my apartment and gestured for him to step inside. I told him to sit down, and grabbed us each a bottle of water.
"What's going on Emmett?" I asked sternly. I wasn't going to play guessing games with him, we were too old for that crap now.
"Bells, I want to ask Rose to marry me," he said quickly, watching me with a sort of panicked expression.
I wasn't really surprised to be honest. "About fucking time Em. So what's wrong?"
"You're… not mad? You're okay with this?"
That surprised me. "What are you talking about? Of course I am, I love Rose. She's already like a sister to me, you know that."
He let out a breath, finally relaxing and slumping on my couch. "I know you love her, it's just… You're my family Bella, and I want you to know that you're always going to come first, I'll always have your back. No matter what."
I smiled at him. "Just like I got yours. I love you too Emmett."
He laughed, and pulled me into a tight hug. We went quiet, and Charlie's absence was even heavier than usual in that moment.
"Dad would love Rose too, you know. He'd have thought she was perfect for you; because she is."
He squeezed me tighter. "Thanks Bells… I really needed to hear that," he said quietly, then coughed to clear his throat before speaking loudly. "And now! Onto the first order of business," he announced.
"And what would that be?"
"I need to find a ring."
"Emmett…"
"Come on, pleeeease. I know this isn't your thing, but I need help."
"Jasper would probably be better help than me."
"Jasper doesn't know Rose like you do though, you used to live together, come on."
"Fine, fine. When do you want to do this?"
"Right now."
I was going to argue, but one look at his determined face and I knew I didn't stand a chance.
"Fine, let me shower first."
"Yes!" He said with a triumphant fist pump, making me grin as I walked away. "Zeus and I will go hang out on the roof while we wait."
It was a long day. I was prepared though, and Rose had actually forgotten a ring in my bathroom a while back so at least we knew what size we had to get. We went to a dozen different stores before he found "The One." A beautiful, large, oval-shaped ruby ringed in diamonds on a gold band. I had to admit that it just screamed Rose. We went out to dinner at our favourite steakhouse afterwards while Emmett told me about his plans.
"I want it to be like, really fucking romantic. I was thinking maybe we could use the roof? You could 'ask me to come babysit Zeus' for some reason, and I'll take her with me. I could do a bunch of candles and shit and take her up there."
I had to admit, I was pretty impressed. "That sounds pretty awesome, but you can't just leave a bunch of candles up here unattended, you'll burn my building down," I explained logically. His face fell. "Wait! You could get those electric tea lights, they like, flicker and everything."
"That would work!" He said excitedly. We went over details and I let him know I'd help him as much as he wanted. I was happy when he offered to take Zeus for the night, since he was left alone for so long today, and I left him to raid my fridge before heading off to work for the night.
. . . . . . . . . .
Jasper scared the shit out of me on Monday when he snuck up on me in the library and trapped me in a crushing hug. He was smart about it, hugging me around my arms so I couldn't punch him.
"Thank you," he said quickly, and I relaxed and even smiled after a moment.
"I'm taking it you had a good weekend?" I asked wryly.
"Oh my god, the best weekend of my life. And I owe it all to you," he said with a glowing smile.
"Stop being so dramatic," I said with an eye roll. "What's for lunch?"
"Mexican."
We made our way over to my desk and sat down to eat. He told me all about their night on Friday, and then dinner on Saturday and their lunch date on Sunday.
"I love her," he told me, watching me worriedly. I'd been waiting for this, and set down my fork.
"I can see that, it's pretty obvious."
"You know I'd never endanger you though. We can play this however your want, it's just…" I knew what he was getting at. He wanted to protect me, but Jasper wasn't able to lie with an easy conscious, and I wasn't going to make him.
"I know Jasper, and it's okay. I'm going to talk to her," I told him, trying to sound positive.
"Hey, you don't have to do this for me, I'd never forgive myself if-"
"Hey," I cut off, and looked around before speaking again. "It's really okay Jasper. I have to. Not only is she getting suspicious, but her brother is too. I need to get ahead of this before it gets out of hand, can you just… give me a little time?"
"Of course, as long as you need," he assured me.
. . . . . . . .
It wasn't an easy thing for me to do. I'd only ever told two people of my… situation. Rose and Jasper, though Jasper didn't know many details, and most of what he did know Emmett had told him. We got together for dinner that night, but as she gushed happily about how much she completely adored Jasper, I just couldn't bring myself to bring her down from her high. Alice was a very gentle soul, she was such a caring person, and I was worried about what this would do to her. Wednesday dinner went exactly the same. It was still hard watching the five of them hangout together at the club, but I learned my lesson and just kept my distance. Hollywood's usual glances didn't even tickle me, I was so lost in my own world.
I almost asked Rose to help, and it was coming to that conclusion that finally made me just do it. This shouldn't be hard, I wouldn't let it. I would not let Victor inspire fear in me.
Our next Monday dinner, I steeled myself. I brought over the pizza, and I dove in as soon as we were both seated, before she could start.
"Alice, I need to talk to you."
He face automatically went to one of concern, and I held a hand up to stop whatever she was going to say. "Please, just let me talk for a little while. I'll answer any questions that I can after words, and I can leave if you want, but I really need to just get this out."
She nodded silently, and I just dove in before I could think about it too much.
"First off, I want to say the only reason Jasper hasn't said anything to you is because I asked him not to. It's not that he doesn't trust you, he's only trying to protect me, just like Rosalie and Emmett.
"My name is Bella Swan. Well, Isabella, but everyone always just called me Bella. In public though, I go by the name Bree Tanner. It's the false identity I've been living under for the past three years. I've had a few others, but this is the one I'm using currently in most cases.
"I have a stalker that I've been in hiding from since I was thirteen. He has a lot of resources, and things have gotten close a few times, but I haven't heard anything about him in almost two years now. I'm in something similar to a witness protection program. After their last few attempts at protecting us failed, I took things into my own hands to protect my brother and I."
She was watching me with wide eyes, frozen, so I just went on to finish. "There are only two people I've ever told this to before Alice. Rosalie and Jasper. Now that you're so close to both of them, and my brother Emmett," her mouth popped open, "I couldn't avoid telling you any longer. Alice, I know this is a lot, but if I'm going to stay in this city I need to know that you can keep this secret."
She was quiet as she thought things through, and I waited patiently, watching closely. It was two minutes before she smiled at me.
"So your name is Bella?" She said happily. I nodded. "But I should call you Bree around other people?"
"I don't like to let my false name get out either, just to make it harder to find me in case anyone recognizes Emmett. It's safer if you just call me "B" like everyone else."
"But I can call you Bella when we're alone?"
"Yes," I said with a bit of a smirk. Her face blanched.
"Shit, sorry Bella. I swear, I won't tell a soul, your secret is safe with me, I promise."
"Not even your brother?" This was the important piece, what worried me the most.
"I swear, I won't tell him a word." She reached out to hug me, but stopped herself and frowned.
I let out a sigh, and gave her an indulgent smile as I held out my arms, signalling it was okay for a hug, and she took the offer quickly with this horrible squealing noise.
"I can't believe you're Emmett's sister! I thought there was something different about you two," she said with a smile. "And you've known Jasper for a long time too?"
"A couple years, we work at the Historical Society together."
I was blown away by how easy it was. There was no awkwardness at all as we talked for the rest of the night. The only thing I didn't want to talk about was my 'stalker' himself, and she didn't push. She seemed much more interested in my lifestyle and the aspect of my disguises.
. . . . . . . . . .
Emmett was going to ask Rose on Monday. We, I mean he, had every detail planned out to the T. He had everything except for the flowers that were coming in on Sunday stored in the unused side of my apartment; boxes of those electric tea lights, fancy champagne, a bag of ice in the freezer, blankets and a picnic basket… I knew Rose was going to say yes, but I wasn't going to give her a single hint and I knew that she didn't have a clue.
She came into my office Friday before the club opened up to ask me to check into a new bartender she was thinking of hiring. I told her I'd do a check on him as soon as I got a chance.
"Hey, do you have any plans Monday?"
"Nope. Why, what's up?"
"I was wondering if you or Emmett could babysit. I have to go out of town to meet someone, and I'll be out most of the day."
"Sure, I don't mind at all. We'll probably just dip into your movie collection," she said easily, and I made sure not to smile triumphantly. "How long will you be gone?"
"I'll be taking off straight from work, and should be back around ten. You don't have to stay the whole day though, Zeus sleeps most of the morning anyways."
I texted Emmett that operation Ruby was a-go as soon as she walked out of my office, and I handed out the gear to my boys as they trickled in for work. Jake commented on my cheery mood, and I had to check myself. I enjoyed my good mood though; I'd learned long ago to appreciate these moments of happiness while they lasted. I just couldn't go looking soft in front of my employees, something that took extra effort when you were a female who was younger and smaller than everyone that worked for her.
Even Hollywood seemed to be in an especially good mood that night, wearing a slightly excited smile, and looking over at me every couple minutes as usual. I thought it was a little weird that this didn't really bother me anymore, though I was kind of surprised he hadn't just moved on yet. He's come here and done this every weekend for a month, and not once have I seen him hit on one of the many girls that tried to catch his attention, and Alice had made a point of mentioning over the week that she thought it was strange that he hadn't gone on a single date except for the one with Kate that his mother forced on him since he moved here.
He had been jealous when he thought my dog had actually been a boyfriend. I still smiled whenever I thought about that night in the alley.
Emmett came in, sitting with the four of them, and I was hit with that lonely, longing feeling that I was starting to get used to. I wanted so badly to go and talk with them, and eventually, when I realized Emmett still hadn't responded to my text message, I caved and went over. I leaned over the back of the couch to whisper to my brother.
"Did you get my text message?"
He looked confused for a moment, then smiled brightly at me and nodded. "Yeah, shit. I was replying and got distracted by a phone call and forgot to hit send, sorry."
Our attention was pulled away when Hollywood started speaking to Rose.
"Hey Rose, I've got a meeting to go over some contracts for a new film on Wednesday. My agent wants me to bring down some security though, can you spare anyone for two days?"
There was no way his agent or whoever wasn't able to arrange something like that, he was asking her for a reason. She answered him immediately though, and a little too innocently. "You should take B, she's knows L.A. Hey B, could you get the time off work?"
Emmett's face went beet red as he looked at Rose in disbelief. I was shocked too. Had she really just said that? He was watching me closely, waiting for my answer.
He just wasn't backing off, Rose had told me he was a persistent person, but damn. I was getting tired of trying to be a bitch to him, because honestly, it made me feel like shit. If I kept going like this… I was worried he'd hire someone to look into me.
I couldn't let that happen again.
I needed him to just… lose interest. Maybe a bit of extended time with me would accomplish that, let him get it out of his system and get bored of it.
Besides, I wanted to go full out for the wedding, I had the money, there was no issue there, but a few extra bucks wouldn't hurt. I wanted to send them on a cool honeymoon, and I could use that extra cash for a private jet for them without an extra transfer from one of my other accounts…
The entire table was watching us, and I tried not to let this bother me. This man was harmless in my books, he was pretty big but I knew I could take him easily. I thought it would only be fair to warn him about what he was doing though. "You really don't want me to work for you, Hollywood."
"Oh, I'd beg to differ. You're the best there is," he said smoothly. He was good, I had to admit, and allowed myself a small smirk.
"I have my own ways of doing things, and that's not going to change. I'm also not going to kiss your ass just because you're paying me."
"Good, I don't want you too," he answered quickly. God, that was a dangerous smile, made deadly when combined with those deep green eyes. I get the whole wanting to solve a mystery thing, or even liking a challenge, but I still just couldn't get why he was trying so hard.
His mouth actually popped open in surprise when I answered. "Fine. We can go over the details when I'm done work." I turned away and went back to my spot without meeting any of the five pairs of staring eyes I could feel following me.
I had another two and a half hours to debate on whether or not I was making a horrible mistake before the night ended. After my guys handed in their equipment, and Rose was supervising the till counts, I went back out and waved him over to my office.
He was very quiet as he followed me down the hall and into the room, and inspected it very carefully as he sat down in one of the chairs on the other side of my desk. He could look all he wanted, there was nothing in the room that could give anything away about me. The only personal items were my jacket and helmet that were sitting on my couch, and he couldn't see any of my screens from where he was. I opened up an empty word document to make some quick notes. He was waiting patiently, watching me while he waited for me to start. I'd keep this quick and professional, I wouldn't give him the wrong idea about what this was.
"Flight times?"
"Tuesday at two, and the flight back is Thursday at three. I already have a second ticket." Good, at least that was taken care of. It was in-country, so I could easily get away without him seeing my false name. I still wasn't ready for him to have it by any means.
"Your meeting times?"
"Wednesday at noon, and possibly another Thursday morning."
"Where will these meetings be taking place?"
"Wednesday they'll take us out to lunch at Elemental, Thursday would just be breakfast at the hotel." That was perfect, a restaurant that I knew. The owner had lived in our building when we lived in LA and I'd walked his dog for him along with Zeus on a few occasions. It shouldn't be hard at all to get that corner table Benjamin always tried to leave free.
"Which hotel?"
"Chateau Marmont." Ugh, not so good. I've seen so many stories come out of times celebrities had stayed at that hotel, I swear they must bug their rooms or something.
Holy shit! I could try out my new RF detector. Sweet.
"Have you recently had any threats of bodily harm, or a reason to believe someone may wish you some sort of harm?"
"No."
"So, just your groupies?" I teased. I knew it wasn't something to be taken lightly though. I couldn't stand people getting into my private business. I'd take a horde of zombies over his hordes of obsessed fans any day. He laughed and answered with a nod. "Do you have any health problems?"
"Nope, fit as a fiddle."
"Any allergies?"
"Watermelon."
"Seriously?" That was pretty awesome. I'd never met someone who didn't like watermelon, so this was to closest I'd ever gotten to it. People thought I was insane for some reason when I said I didn't like melon.
"Yup." Cool. I smirked. "What?"
"I hate watermelon. It's disgusting, and those seeds are annoying as hell."
He laughed loudly, and I was a little surprised not only by how comfortable he looked talking to me, but how comfortable I was with it. It wasn't like I loved it or anything, but I was alone in a room with a man and I wasn't worried in the slightest.
"How much are you paying me?" I mostly did this for Rose, and I never charged her for it, but I've done it for two of her friends also. Her musician friend who was in a jam; that lasted two days and he paid me two grand each, and then there was that model, but it was just for a dinner.
"How's six grand? Three a day."
It was a bit much, but if I was handling the transportation, which I planned on doing, then I'd be spending a decent amount on a vehicle suitable for his status. I wonder what Harry had available. And I'd never worked for someone this high-profile before. He didn't know how much work that was going to really take me either, but I'd be earning that money. I nodded in agreement with his number.
"Okay, so I'll come collect you at noon on Tuesday. And I prefer cashier's cheques." I wasn't giving him a name to write out on it, and preferred something easier to deposit.
"I can come pick you-"
"I'm watching you Hollywood, not the other way around. If you want me to do this for you, we're doing it my way. You got that?" My voice may have come out harsh, but this was important. I couldn't let him have mixed ideas about how this was going to happen.
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?" He raised an eyebrow at me and I had to explain. "People get hurt in my line of work, and it's not easy for a lot of men to take me seriously in my field. I need to know that you won't do anything stupid if something happens."
He didn't look at me when he nodded, and that obvious lie pissed me off. I couldn't afford for him to go all chivalrous with me.
"Not good enough, look me in the eyes and give me your word." I glared at him when he looked up in surprise, and saw him falter.
"I promise. I'll let you do your job your way, no interference."
"Good. Well, I think that's all then. I'll take care of the transportation." I pulled out my backpack from under my desk and loaded all my electronics except for my personal phone into it. "Come on, I'll walk you out." I stuffed my phone in the pocket of my jacket as I threw it on, grabbed my helmet, and locked my office door before leading him out to the front. He told me his driver was on the way, and after looking up and down at the eerie stillness of the street, I decided to wait with him. This calmness felt off, and I wasn't about to let him get mugged in front of my club. I watched the dark road carefully. I could really go for a chicken burger, I think I'll stop somewhere on my way back…
"You know, you're not on the clock. You can relax."
"I am relaxed right now." There was nothing wrong with having good posture.
"Why?"
Why don't you ask proper questions? "Why what?"
"Why are you constantly scanning? Are you just paranoid?"
Oh. Yes, I guess, but I had good reasons. That didn't sound very good though. "You should always be aware of your surroundings. The moment you aren't is the moment you become weak. Vulnerable. I refuse to be either of those things." There, that sounded much more insightful. His car pulled up, and out of reflex I went to get the door for him, but he stopped me with a grin. He hesitated, halfway through closing his door.
"So, can you tell me what B stands for yet?"
He just had to ruin it, that question brought me right back down to earth. "No. Goodnight." I turned and walked around the corner, confident he could finish closing his door without getting stabbed.
. . . . . . . . . .
Emmett got lucky with the weather, it had been dry all night yesterday so he had come over and set out all of his electric tea light candles and rearranged some of the furniture in one of the nicer spots on the roof. It was my favourite corner to go read in actually, a little circular area surrounded by trees and tall plants. I warned him that it was going to take forever to turn them all on, but he said he'd be able to manage it.
So I had gone out to work as per usual on Monday morning, and it was a long day. I stayed later than usual, picked up something to eat for dinner, then went and hid in my office at the club for the rest of the night and worked. I had planned every detail of the schedule for LA that I could on Saturday, setting up my car, calling Benjamin and getting him to set me up with his reserved corner table, ( He'd been happy to, and then thrilled when I told him I was going to be there with Marcus Volturi and Edward Cullen.) I'd double checked on the flight times and the hotel reservation, and even went so far as to do an light background check on his agent and ex-girlfriend that Alice told me about. You never knew with celebrities, and I was quite relieved to find out that she hadn't been charged with anything suspicious. I didn't really know or care why they had ended their relationship, but I had no evidence telling me so far that she would be stalking him or anything like that. His agent didn't sound like an overly exceptional person, he represented the both of them along with two other actors.
The only thing I could see going wrong was if he got bored and wanted to go out to some clubs or something. Just thinking of having to watch out for him in a crowded club I had no control over gave me a migraine.
So I didn't really have much to do. After about an hour and a large bag of chips I got bored and started making lists of what I needed to pack for the trip.
I was pretty relieved when Emmett texted me at eight and said they were going to head home, so I could safely return to mine. I hadn't really expected him to clean up after himself, but was still disappointed when I found out that he didn't. I warred with myself for fifteen minutes on whether or not to clean it myself before finally deciding to leave it. It was physically painful to walk away from that mess on my grass but he'd be back tomorrow and could clean it then. I'd leave a note to remind him when they came back over to watch Zeus. It was unfortunate that pets weren't allowed in their building, but they assured me they really didn't mind. They usually slept in the other side of the apartment, but apparently they both liked hanging out at my place.
I couldn't blame them, I loved my building.
It didn't take me all that long to pack my things. I only had one small suitcase and my black backpack. I couldn't really get all of my phones onto the plane without looking like a terrorist, so I set up all of them up to forward to my personal one. The only identification I was bringing was Bree's driver's license, and I packed that with a couple prepaid credit cards and some cash in my back pack. Clothes weren't hard since I would only be wearing my professional attire around him, along with a set of pyjamas and some gym clothes.
I slept horribly, my mind was just too restless and I just tossed around in my bed all night. I was relieved when five rolled around and I could just give up and start getting ready. I went for an early morning jog with Zeus which perked me right up, and had a nice long shower before taking my time to get ready.
By nine I was completely packed, ready to go, and had nothing else to keep me busy. My house was spotless, Zeus was walked and fed, as was I, I'd made a casserole for Em and Rose and I had already checked all my phones and e-mails, so with nothing else to do, Zeus and I sat out on the roof while I played with my violin to kill the rest of the morning.
. . . . . . . . . .
I was much more relaxed by the time I left, and aside from having to say goodbye to my baby boy I was in a pretty great mood. I easily made my way to his apartment, grinning triumphantly when I got an awesome parking spot right in front of the building. There weren't even any photographers outside.
The doorman let me in, and I started to sober up from my happy mood as I rode the elevator up to his floor. I couldn't really see any complications from this. As long as I kept my sunglasses on, even if I was photographed with him no one would know it was me. No one would think to connect me to him.
And it was pretty obvious that he wanted me to come, and I wanted to know why. His interest had gone from aggravating to intriguing. Ignoring him and intimidating him had both backfired, and the only thing I could think of to make him 'lose interest' besides asking Emmett to take care of him would be to just let him get bored of trying. Two days should be enough to let him get it out of his system.
And if I was going to be Alice's friend, I needed to learn to play nice with her brother. Might as well get to know him a bit.
I didn't let myself hesitate in knocking on his door, and was slightly surprised when he opened it within seconds. He looked at me for a few seconds, and it was kind of intense. He didn't break eye contact for a second, and I felt trapped.
"Hey."
Yeah, that was it. I wasn't sure what to make of him today. Whatever, I had a schedule to keep to. "You ready?"
"Yeah, would you like to come in for a bit?"
Hah. No. "No thanks. You need help with your bags?"
He gave me a playful smirk that I tried not to look at directly. "I'm pretty sure I can handle it." I nodded, not wanting to talk because now that I was actually alone with him it put me on edge.
He can't hurt me. He's big, but I'm fast, and fucking smart. He can't hurt me.
He seemed to be in a great mood, that small, slightly smug smile never leaving his face. He was quiet though as we rode through the elevator, and I was kind of thankful.
I forgot how much I just don't like talking to people. Why did I agree to do this again?
Oh yeah, because I didn't have a choice. I was running out of options for dealing with this guy.
I grinned when I saw the appreciative look on his face when he eyed my truck, then the surprise when he watched me unlock it. She was beautiful, now. Dad had given her to me for my sixteenth birthday. I could have bought myself a beautiful car of my own, I had the money, but I didn't want anything else at the time. Emmett had helped me with some of the work on it when I was younger, but when I met Rose the two of us were able to completely rebuild her. She ran like a dream now, looked like one too.
It also looked nothing like it did before, but the sentimental value was still there.
"Is this your truck?"
God, what was with him and his obvious questions? I usually just chose to ignore people when they asked stupid questions, but that would have been no way to start off this trip. "Of course not, I just thought we'd play a little bit of real life GTA before skipping town." His eyes went wide, and I kept talking to stop myself from laughing at him. "She looked more like a piece of scrap metal when I first got her, but I loved her immediately. It's taken a lot of work over the past four years, but I've gotten her into pretty good shape."
"I thought you drove a bike though?"
"I do, but I can't very well carry a suitcase, let alone two on my Harley now, can I?" I closed the tailgate and slid into the truck. I didn't look at him, but he was watching me with a friendly smile.
Fuck, he smiled a lot, and it was messing with me.
"Well, it's a gorgeous truck."
"Thanks." I checked my shoulder then pulled out onto the road, thankful for something to concentrate on.
"Why didn't you just take a cab?"
I thought about my answer quickly, deciding there would be no harm in giving him the PG13 version of my reason. "Because I don't trust other drivers." Because every time someone else is driving I have flashbacks of being thrown out of a moving car.
"It doesn't seem like you trust many things," he mused, watching me carefully.
He was right. "I don't." And I had damn good reasons for the way I was. I learn quickly from my mistakes. I needed to get out of this dangerous area of conversation. "You mind if I put on some music?"
"Not at all," he answered easily. I hit play on my CD player, content to listen to whatever I had left in there. I felt myself instantly relax at the sound of No Quarter. "Led Zeppelin?" He asked with a pleased smile.
"Yeah, are you a fan?" I asked, trying to hide my pleasure in the fact that he might have some awesome taste in music.
"Huge fan. I have all of their albums on Vinyl, and even got to go see their tribute concert in London back in 2007. Jason Bonham did drums for his father again, but it was amazing."
I gaped at him for a moment, and had to force myself to keep watching the road. It took a moment to find my words.
"Are you shitting me?"
He looked wary for a second, before giving me that crooked smirk. "Nope."
"Wow. Talk about a chance of a lifetime. They would have been so amazing to see live…" He nodded, but didn't rub it in or anything, which was good because I was insanely envious. He didn't talk for the rest of the drive, there was only the soothing music and the low rumble of my truck, and I actually felt myself starting to relax in the quiet. It wasn't uncomfortable, even with his frequent glances, as odd at that was.
And of course, that sense of comfort made me slightly uneasy.
I was very reluctant to leave the safety of my truck, but I didn't let myself even think of hesitating. If I was anything, it was professional when I worked. And that's what this was; work. We grabbed our bags and I locked my truck before walking over to the shuttle, and I felt like all of my senses became almost hyper-aware. I kept my breathing even while walking to the back of the shuttle, the farthest seat from the door and driver, and Hollywood came and sat right the fuck beside me. The bench was small, and there was barely two inches of space between us. My pulse was pounding in my ears as my mind quickly went through a list of possible ways to escape. I watched the driver's face in the rear-view mirror, Hollywood sitting quietly beside me, the man sitting two benches up from us, and a couple with three children sitting up by the front.
I was safe. I was okay. There's no reason for any of these people to want to hurt me.
People don't need reasons to hurt other people.
None of these people have the ability to hurt me. I'm stronger than all of them.
If he moves half an inch I'm going to break his arm.
Finally we made it to the airport, and I was kind of impressed by my charge's good behavior. He was quiet, polite, and always had a hint of a smile playing on his lips. He was being the perfect company right now, actually. I was grateful he kept his sunglasses on also, not drawing extra attention to us. We went through the airport without a problem until we went through security. The man recognized him, and Hollywood kept him quiet and happy, shaking his hand while saying hi and even signing an autograph. He waited patiently for me to come through as I went through the metal detectors.
They went off of course, and I gave the guard a sheepish grin before handing him my "Doctor's Note." He gave me a sad smile, waved his wand over me, and when it only went off over my hip he waved me through with a "Have a nice trip sweetie." I was once again relieved when Hollywood didn't ask anything, he just waited patiently for me to come through. We were boarded quickly, and although I didn't approve of the seats, I was relieved to finally be on the plane. I sent Harry a text as soon as we were seated, confirming my arrival time, and it improved my mood when he replied back, telling me he'd be waiting, before we had to turn off our electronics.
I needed to become friends with someone who had a private plane. That would be nice. I glanced over at the actor next to me as I offered him a piece of gum, and wondered if he's ever thought in investing in his own plane. He could certainly afford it.
I don't use people, I just admit it's useful to know people with certain privileges. My relationships are never one sided either, I have a certain arsenal of my own talents that I use to help the people I know whenever I can.
Five hours. I set my timer on my watch out of habit; I knew I wouldn't fall asleep, but on the off chance I did, I didn't want to give my neighbour an excuse to touch me.
The seat belt light went off after we'd steadied in the air and I took my book out of my bag, not really wanting to read it but really wanting a distraction from my current environment. I opened it to where I'd left off before realizing I'd brought the wrong book; I'd stopped reading this one because I'd gotten bored of it. A really bad habit of mine, half reading books.
"Whatcha reading?" He asked playfully. I couldn't answer, my entire body and mind tensing as he unexpectedly leaned in close to me. I was so startled that I didn't have a chance to compose myself fast enough, and flinched away from him quickly.
He pulled away from me almost instantly though, looking at me worriedly. That look could have killed me. I'd lived so much of my life with those looks from others, walking on needles around me so as to not set me off, trigger a panic attack, looking at me like a pathetic victim.
It wasn't just the look though, it was the fact that the look came from him. And he didn't even know.
Not him too.
"Sorry, I-"
"Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies," I blurted quickly. My mind was still in chaos but I tried to at least look calm. I was livid, with myself, for just not being able to be fucking normal.
This was Victor's fault, it was all his fucking fault.
Someday. Someday, I'll show him exactly how much I hate him, right before I kill him.
"What?" I was pulled back to the present by my neighbor. Not trusting my voice, or wanting to repeat myself, I just showed him the cover of the book. I tried to put a bit more space in between us, but it did nothing to settle my nerves. It didn't help that I was trapped in a metal prison bulleting through the air. "Is it any good?"
I tried to only concentrate on the immediate question, to block everything else out, and it helped a bit. "It's not bad. I don't really have the patience to read the same book twice, so this one is riding the line of annoying me."
He laughed, and that sound was able to do what all the therapists, doctors and drugs had never been able to do. What only Zeus had ever been able to help me with. He stopped the darkness threatening to pull me in. The pounding in my ears slowed down, it became easier to breathe, and the nausea faded.
I watched him curiously, my confusion warring with my surprise and relief. How did he do that?
When he stopped, opening his eyes and grinning at me, a different type of nervousness fluttered through my stomach; something much, much more dangerous than panic attacks and anger management issues. I looked away from him quickly.
"Hey, I'm sorry I-"
"Just respect my personal space Hollywood, and I'll respect yours. Drop it."
I didn't let myself look at his face, and it was hard. I did not want to risk seeing hurt in his eyes, or worse, concern. I somehow knew it would be more painful for me if I saw evidence that I had made him feel either of those.
"Okay."
He didn't say a thing to me for the rest of the flight. It wasn't the comfortable silence we had shared in my truck though; this was strained. I hated how tempted I was to look over at him. I hated that all I could think about was what he must be thinking of me. Did he make up his own theories for my weird behaviour? What were they? My eyes raced over the writing on the pages, but the dull words offered no distraction.
Just say something to him. Anything. Just break the silence. That's what he wants, isn't it? Your attention? Ask him if he's looking forward to being back in LA. That's normal enough. You'd be being polite. It's no big deal.
I just couldn't do it though. Even when I finished the book, I just stared at the back of the chair in front of me in an effort to restrain myself from looking at him. I could feel his eyes on me. Why was I so afraid?
I almost moaned in relief when my watch beeped. Life was always easier when I followed a schedule, had a task to perform. I put away my book, slipped my glasses back on and did up my belt in anticipation of getting off of this horrid plane.
It was much easier to get off the plane then to get on, and with my charge wearing his own pair of designer Aviators, and the denseness of the crowded airport, we made it outside without incident. My mood lightened immediately when I saw Harry leaning against a beautiful, black BMW. I made my way over to him, keeping a close eye on Hollywood and the people surrounding us, making sure not to step too far away from him.
"Hey kiddo. The tank's full, and I have the second key. Just park her here and I'll pick her up the afternoon after tomorrow. There's a second set of plates in the trunk if you need them, okay?"
I nodded to Harry, giving him one of my rare, real smiles. He didn't know what my deal was, and I knew he'd never ask, but he knew there was something there. He'd always had a bit of a soft spot for me since I'd helped his daughter. I'm sure he would have broken the man's nose just like I had, but I'd been closer.
I had my own way of advertising my classes, I guess.
I gave him a nod, before whispering my thank you back to him. He gave me a quick wink before disappearing into the crowd.
Ugh. Crowds. They had noticed him, and I quickly ushered him into the car. They were taking pictures, but seemed wise enough not to get close to him. After his bag was in the trunk and he was safely inside the cab of the car, I dashed over to my door before more pictures could be taken of me.
"Nice ride," he noted.
I was really glad that he talked first. I tried to make my voice as easy as possible, trying to redeem my earlier behaviour. "Had to get something suitable for Mr. Hollywood's social status."
The relief I felt when he gave me an easy smile was pretty powerful.
The car handled beautifully, and my mood brightened immensely as I easily made the way over to the hotel. My passenger grabbed onto the door a couple times, but never verbalized a complaint about my driving. When we got to our destination, I was reluctant to hand her over to the young valet, and made sure that he understood there would be consequences, mainly being my anger, if anything happened to her, before quickly making my way over to Hollywood's side. He'd already been noticed, though I knew there was little I could do about that in this city. There were three things that I could, and would, ensure; that no one got close enough to touch him, that he didn't end up in jail, and that no one got a picture of me without my sunglasses on.
And at that moment someone tried to fuck with one of those things. A man in his mid-twenties with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes jumped out of the crowd towards Edward, and I was in between them in a second, redirecting his outstretched arm to an uncomfortable position behind his back as I turned him around. He was angry and started shouting at me, but I shut him up quickly.
"Mind your mouth, and his personal space. I have no problem getting into yours, and I assure you that I can dislocate your shoulder with one quick tug, boy." I released him, and I smiled as he bolted without a word.
I returned to his side, and calmly led him into the hotel while in my mind I was startled by my own mental use of his name. I wasn't happy about my slip, or the way thinking his name made me feel. His eyes were on me, watching me curiously.
"What did you say to him?"
I didn't really hesitate in answering, this was one part of myself that I didn't feel the need to hide. I was good at my job. "I explained how rude it was to walk up and invade someone's personal space, and how easy it is to disconnect a shoulder."
He laughed, and it had that same calming, warming effect it had on me on the plane. He didn't shy away from me, or look at me like I was crazy or dangerous. He just looked amused. I quickly got the key for the room, and took the bag trolley from the bell hop, dismissing him with a stern look before we walked onto the elevator.
I was happy that the silence in the elevator didn't feel strained anymore.
It was a gorgeous room, obviously an effort had been put in to accommodate his name, and I felt very relieved I had brought my scanner with me. I pulled it out of my bag quickly, turning it on, and waited until it picked up the Wi-Fi signal on my phone before I started inspecting the room.
"What are you doing?"
I held up a hand to silence him quickly, not wanting him to give me away if my hunch had been correct. I'd rather they not be tipped off, in case they were able to remotely shut any devices off and start them again later.
I picked up the first signal as I passed the couch, and backtracked. I dropped to the ground, and while sliding my hand along the bottom frame of the coffee table I easily found the bug.
And I felt pretty damn proud of myself for doing it.
I placed it on the table, giving him a meaningful look as I signalled for him to remain quiet, and scanned the rest of the suite. There was one in each bedroom hidden in the lampshades, in the kitchen under one of the cupboards. The one that grossed me out the most was the one on the back of the toilet. After one last cursory sweep, I gathered the five little bugs, and put them in an ashtray outside. It was a subtle insult to whoever had put them there; they had been beaten, and we knew what they had tried to do. If they didn't already know, they'd know when they found them in a neat little pile on the balcony. I was certain the noise of the traffic would drown out any noise from inside. Nothing interesting was going to happen in the suite while we were here, unless he got over this odd interest in me and decided to bring back some… company.
I tried to ignore how sick that thought made me feel, but it was hard. He was watching me in curious surprise when I walked back inside.
"Are those what I think they are?"
I nodded. "Microphones." He eyed my little device, and I handed it over to him. I thought he might have seen it in one of his movies, (I couldn't watch his movies. Though I owned them all, watching him on screen reminded me too much of the one movie he did that changed my life even more,) but he looked pretty clueless. "It picks up on radio waves. If something is transmitting a wireless signal, this little baby will pick up on it in seconds."
"Why would they bug my room?"
Oh, sweetie, what sort of bubble have you been living in? Of course they had. "Come on Hollywood, do you really need to ask that? I bet this place misses having your face on all their magazines."
I hated that look on his face, it was one I knew all too well. The face of someone whose secrets are constantly hunted, constantly watched.
He had chosen this life though, wanted it.
I didn't. Victor chose this life for me when he failed in killing me.
No, I would not let myself get angry over that. I wasn't going to even think about it. I grabbed my bag and went over to the couch and pulled out my laptop to check my e-mails, but I couldn't get a secure IP address on the hotel's WiFi, so I just checked on my phone isntead. I smiled when I got to my personal e-mail, that I reserved from Emmett, Rose and Jasper, and had something from my hopefully soon-to-be sister-in-law. Hollywood took his bag over to his room, and I opened it quickly.
To: B
From: R. Hale
Subject: I'm going to F*cking kill you
I know he didn't do this on his own. How long have you known? How long were you planning this! I'd be hounding you with phone calls but I don't want to interrupt anything ;)
My jaw actually dropped.
Calm the hell down, that was a joke. I know how you get when you work, and I don't want anyone to kidnap my cousin. He gives good Christmas presents.
I had to smile at that. I missed her already.
In all seriousness though, I just couldn't wait until you got home to say thank-you. It was so beautiful, perfect. We have much to discuss! Can't wait until you get home. I love you!
Please be safe,
Rose
I smiled happily, kicking off my shoes before I shot her a text.
I'm glad that it's finally done! You know that I hate keeping secrets from you, but I didn't think you'd mind this one. Just checked into the hotel and read your e-mail, there haven't been any incidents.
Hollywood came back into the room, and I forced myself back into work mode. I had a job to do here, I could deal with personal stuff after all my bases were covered.
"Your agent will be meeting us here at eleven, and I'll drive the three of us to the restaurant afterwards. The meeting should be about three hours." This was going to be easy as long as I kept on my toes. Unless he gets lonely… I kept my face neutral, professional, ignoring the sick feeling in my gut that I was quickly learning to hate. "Do you have anything else you want to do tomorrow?"
He seemed genuinely surprised. "Like what?"
That sort of stumped me for a second, and I chose my words carefully. Why did he always make me spell things out like this? Ugh. "Like whatever you want to do. I'm here to follow you, but if possible I would like to have some forewarning of your plans."
"No, just the meeting," he answered quickly, dropping down onto the other couch. I was a bit surprised; did he really want to sit in here and do nothing? We were back on his old stomping grounds, I'd thought he'd want to make some appearances.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I hate this city. I just want to do this thing and go home." I was a little surprised, and completely intrigued with the venom in his voice. He was carrying a very strong sort of hate with him.
And that was absolutely none of my business. I just nodded, and I saw a bit of relief in his expression. Like he was in desperate need of a shield, he grabbed a large manila envelope out of his bag that contained a thick stack of papers, and buried himself in the words of whatever he was reading, going over things with a highlighter.
He was obviously uncomfortable, and I felt a little guilty. It was him that had said it, not me, but he was obviously regretting it. I didn't really get what the big deal was; I hated tons of things, it wasn't something I'd be embarrassed by.
When I'm uncomfortable, I like to be given space.
I'm hungry.
"Are you hungry?" I asked him. It'd be rude to cook for only myself, and I had asked for them to put food in the kitchen. He looked up at me in surprise, but his stomach had no problem in giving me prompt response by growling angrily. "I'll take that as a yes. What do you want?"
"I'm not picky," he answered, and those words were music to my ears. I really wanted some pasta, but there was none in the cupboards. There was flour and eggs though. Milk, butter, tomato sauce… I could make some, it'll just take a bit longer. Rosé sauce too. I smiled as I got to work, loving how my mind was able to just block out the world and concentrate all of my focus on the task at hand. Cooking always relaxed me, reminding me of when life had been easy, happy, living in the tiny town of Forks with Charlie and Emmett, seeing their smiling faces as they ate the food I cooked for them.
Then Victor had to come along and destroy everything.
I was distracted from my building anger when Hollywood strolled into the kitchen, watching me curiously. He took a seat by the counter, watching me, not saying a word.
And I was surprised to find that I really didn't mind.
He was quiet, seemingly content just watching me as I mixed my eggs and flour, made my sauce and cut up some vegetables, then rolled out the dough. I didn't have my pasta roller, but I'd made do without before, and rolled up my thin sheet of dough and cut it in slices to make some fettuccine.
I didn't say a word either, but I'd noticed his amused smile from the corner of my eye every once in a while.
It was oddly comfortable.
When I finished I set a plate in front of him, and I was about to make my own then quickly decided to wash the counter first. That egg and flour mixture could turn into fucking cement if left too long.
"Oh my god, this is fucking delicious," he said over a mouthful of food. I smiled at him before thinking better of it.
"Thank you."
He just sort of stared at me for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"Yeah, in a sec." I scrubbed the crap off of the counter, then cleaned my pan, pot and cutting board before standing them up to dry. Then finally, finally, I sat down with my plate and pretty much inhaled it.
Not to sound conceited, but I was a pretty awesome cook.
I found him smiling, trying not to look directly at me. Maybe I should have been embarrassed, but my table manners were extraordinary compared to Emmett's. Growing up in my house, you had to eat fast, or you didn't eat at all.
He thanked me again for dinner before leaving the kitchen, and I went through the fridge to take inventory of what else was in there. It all seemed incredibly healthy, and I was disappointed that I couldn't find any cookies or something that had chocolate in it. I could really go for some chocolate. I gave up pretty quickly, and paused when I walked back into the living room.
He was lying back on the couch wearing a pair of comfy-looking grey flannel pants, and a plain white t-shirt that hugged his muscular torso perfectly, watching TV and looking completely relaxed.
You know, he probably wouldn't mind if you sat on that other couch and watched with him…
But he just looked at me, and I quickly reminded myself that I wasn't hired to hang out with him. He didn't invite me, and I wouldn't force my presence on him. Besides, I wasn't supposed to be friendly. I needed to be boring.
I like to think I was very good at never over-staying my welcome, and with that thought, I quickly went out onto the balcony, closing the door behind myself, and took out my phone.
Shit, I should have brought out my laptop and gotten some work done… I looked up though, and my employer had an irritated look on his face, so I decided to stay exactly where I was. I looked at my phone, and smiled when I had messages from both Rose and Em. I read his first, knowing he was much more impatient than his fiancé was.
How's it going? Is he making you uncomfortable? If he gets anywhere near you I will destroy him. Let me know you're okay, and you know what I mean.
Zeus misses his mommy. He loves you, and so do I!
And I know people in LA. Just say the word.
I shook my head as I went to reply. God, I loved my brother.
Relax Em, I'm fine. Give my baby boy a treat for me.
I opened up Rose's next.
Emmett's freaking out over here, I've had to talk him out of going to the airport multiple times.
I'm worried too though. I know Edward would never hurt you, but I know you're probably on edge just being in the same suite as him. I just wanted to remind you that it's okay to feel that way; it's not weakness. It's strength, because even though you're uncomfortable, you're killing those fears with your actions.
I know how hard this is for you, and I'm so proud of you.
I love you, and feel free to call if you can't sleep and need someone to talk to.
I closed my eyes after reading that, breathing slowly. She knew me so well, just like I knew her. I've made more progress in the two years or so we'd known each other than I had in the five years after Victor attacked me before I met her. She was the only person that could really know how I felt, who had felt that way before also.
There was a relief in texting; it was easy to act when someone couldn't hear or see you.
I really am fine, and I will be fine.
Thank you though.
And one more to Emmett, just to stay on the safe side.
If you fly out to LA, I'll show Rose the videos of our dance recitals.
There, that should do it. I pulled up my Tetris app on my phone, and got lost in the game. I wasn't really paying attention to how many games I played, but I eventually got bored, closing the app, and saw that it was close to two in the morning. I stood up, stretched, and walked back inside.
I froze when I noticed he was still on the couch, but he was sound asleep, snoring softly. I probably looked crazy creepy while I stood there for a moment, not quite sure what to do.
That really didn't look comfortable, and he had that meeting tomorrow, but… no, I couldn't wake him up. I wouldn't.
It felt wrong leaving him like that though.
With a sigh, I went and found a blanket and carefully draped it over him, then turned off the TV before going into my room.
. . . . . . . . . .
So, her comfort zone is pretty much out of sight for her at this moment, but she's doing what she thinks is best with the options she has. Questions, comments? Please leave a review!
And thank you to everyone who's left a review, followed, or favourited so far! You guys are awesome! :)