Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight! NUUU!
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A strange noise echoing through the house awoke Aubrey the next morning from her difficult sleep. She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, trying to decipher what it could be. It sounded like gasping...muffled sharp gasping. Jack.
She shot out of her bed, throwing her legs over the side and walking out into the hallway quickly. She peered inot her father's room, finding it empty. She listened. The sounds were coming from the main room. Aubrey turned and walked through the kitchen, turning to see her father sitting on the couch. He was crying. Aubrey's mouth opened slightly as her eyes moved from her father's face down to the box in front of him. A box still unpacked from the move.
She saw a book open on Jack's lap and her eyes began to sting with the beginnings of tears. It was an old family album, one of the few they owned. Jack's trembling hands held the book open to a page with a picture of his son seven years before. It was becoming wet with tears as they fell upon the page, forming dark spots. Aubrey glided over to him, putting a hand softly on his shoulder. He didn't look up.
"What did I do?" he asked in a shaky voice. "What did I do?"
"Nothing, Dad," said Aubrey consolingly. "It wasn't your fault."
"He's my son...I drove him away somehow..."
"It's not your FAULT!" said Aubrey strongly. Jack looked up at her glumly. "It's his own stupid fault! Don't blame yourself for what that dumbass did!"
"Aubrey..." said Jack, his voice growing more solid. "Mind your language..."
"Dad! He just walked out! He just left us like Mo-" She broke off, tears suddenly choking her. She hadn't even realized she was crying until now. Jack pulled her down beside him on the couch, draping an arm over her shoulder comfortingly. His tears seemed to be gone in the face of hers.
"Grace left because of me," he said. "I know that for a fact. I also know you blame yourself for that. It was all me. You know why. You get mad at me for the exact same reason. Like with Little Miss Thriftway. Can't say I blame you..." he shook his head. "But Guy was waiting to get out of our household for years. He hates me. It is my fault, and I have to live with that knowledge. The knowledge that I drive my children away from me..." He stopped, his voice breaking. Aubrey hugged him.
"You don't drive your children away, Dad," she said. "I won't leave you."
"No, I want you to get out eventually, I do," said Jack. "Just...don't disappear without a trace..."
"You know I won't."
They sat there, leaning on one another on the couch for a few minutes. Aubrey stared blankly at the picture of her brother. His cocky smile…dark hair…green eyes…her eyes. How he infuriated her. They broke apart, Jack smiling now, his sadness remedied.
"Come on. Breakfast time," he said, putting the picture book down in the box, and kicking the box over to the wall, out of the way. He bounded over to the kitchen area, his jaunty personality returning quickly. Aubrey slowly stood, following him. His now-bright attitude was affecting her. She smiled as he struck a kingly pose, cracking some eggs into a bowl and beginning to scramble. What would they do without each other?
The mood remained cheery for the rest of breakfast, leading into the late morning. Jack and Aubrey pulled out an ancient-looking Candyland game that they'd obviously had since she was a toddler. There were red stains on the box from where Aubrey had left a halfway-sucked candycane one long lost Christmas. Jack was losing.
"Damnit! I'm stuck in the Candycane Forest again!" shouted Jack, slamming his little green piece down on the candycane space. Aubrey laughed triumphantly, moving ahead two green spaces up by the Ice Cream Sea. The doorbell rang and Jack got up to answer it.
"Ah...hi...and what are you selling?" Aubrey heard him ask.
"Hello Mr. Neils. I'm here to speak to your daughter," said an all too familiar musical voice. Aubrey froze, turning white as a sheet, her eyes wide.
"Oh...and who are you?" asked Jack.
"Sorry, we've not been introduced. My name is Marek Rhodes. We spoke on the phone once," said the voice. Aubrey stood up.
"Ah yeah, the academic son-in-law!" exclaimed Jack. Aubrey could almost hear him smirking. Oh why did he have to answer the door? She walked over, straightening her shirt.
"Hi," she said, not looking at the overbearingly attractive boy in the doorway, but rather at her father, who, predictably, was smirking. "Dad, it's your turn," she said pointedly.
"Fine fine, come on in, Marek, we were just playing Candyland," said Jack, turning and walking back inside the house. Aubrey glanced up at her project partner, fully aware of her blazing red ears.
"Why are you here?" she hissed under her breath.
"Thought I'd stop by," said Marek. He smirked at her, gliding past. Aubrey closed the door, her eyes burning along with her ears.
"She always wins this stupid game..." muttered Jack, pulling a yellow card, which landed him right onto the space with the black spot. "Damn!" Aubrey retook her seat on the couch as Marek settled into a chair they'd pulled in from the kitchen. She deftly took a card and moved two purple spaces ahead. Jack sighed sadly, then looked up at their guest. "So, why are you here, Marek?"
"Well, Mr. Neils--"
"Jack."
"--Jack, I was going to ask your permission to take Aubrey out to lunch today," he said. Jack raised an eyebrow, his eyes moving to his red-eared daughter, who was glancing at Marek suspiciously. Marek winked at her.
"Well...it's fine with me," said Jack, his old smirk crossing his face once more as he pulled a card and threw it aside with a small shake of the head. "You up for it, Aubrey?"
"Yes..." mumbled Aubrey, drawing a card and moving two more green spaces. "And I win."
"Every time!" exclaimed Jack, knocking her piece off the board in frustration.
"Ready to go" Aubrey asked Marek, standing.
"If you wish," he responded, standing as well.
"Alright then, go on," grumbled Jack, knocking his own Candyland piece over broodingly. "It was nice to meet you, Marek."
"Likewise," said Marek with a smirk. Aubrey deliberately walked to the door and out into the...sun? She looked up.
Sure enough, the sun was shining brightly in the sky. The cloud that had blocked it a few minutes before had moved, leaving the glowing orb to project it's rays onto the planet's surface. Aubrey looked around as Marek stepped out of her house, quickly closing the door. She gasped.
His skin was glittering now as if it were finely sculpted of white crystal. It only enhanced his already superhuman beauty, rendering Aubrey speechless. He looked at her, then down at himself, then back at her, smirking.
"You like?" he asked, twirling. Showoff.
"I...I..." stuttered Aubrey, totally unprepared for this. "I...is it real?" Marek walked over to her and moved an icy, sparkling hand across her cheek in a caress.
"As real as you," he said. Aubrey stared into his golden eyes. They kept this eye contact for a moment, then Aubrey blinked, looking away.
"But...why are you here?" she asked. He shrugged.
"Like I said, I'm taking you out to lunch," he said. Aubrey raised her eyebrow.
"Lunch for who?" she asked warily. Marek laughed.
"Foolish mortal, tricks are for kids," he said, placing a cold hand on her lower back and steering her towards his car.
Once inside, Marek no longer shimmered like a newfound jewel from the deep, but Aubrey still could not keep her eyes off of him. She was so absorbed by his presence that she hardly noticed the alarmingly speedy driving.
"Are you feeling better today?" asked Marek, looking at her after a while. Aubrey blinked, breaking her trance, then nodded. She found she really was feeling better. More optimistic, anyway.
"Yes, sleep really does wonders," she said. Marek sighed.
"I wish I could sleep. I have too much time on my hands as it is, and with the entire night free to do as I please, I can hardly stand staying with the Cullens all the time. Though Emmett is rather amusing to wrestle with..." He smirked. Aubrey's eyes widened. In a match against Emmett, Marek didn't look as if he stood a chance. Emmett could surely snap him like a twig.
"Where do you go," asked Aubrey, "if you don't stay with them?"
"I wander throughout the northwest," said Marek. "Or I hunt sometimes. Sometimes I wander into bigger cities and find their 24-hour entertainments, but a lot of the time I watch you sleep." Aubrey choked.
"You watch me sleep? You said you only did it once!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, that was the first time," said Marek, grinning guiltily. "Well Edward did it so often and took such joy in it, I had to know what the fuss was about. And he must have some real sense of humor after all because it is incredibly entertaining." Aubrey chose not to comment, instead staring out of the window with a snort. The rest of the drive passed quickly and they arrived soon enough.
"Here we are," said the angel, parking the Trans-Am and looking at his distracted passenger.
"Wha?" she asked. Marek sniggered, climbing out of the car. Not a second later, Aubrey's door was being opened for her. She climbed out, rolling her eyes at him.
"I don't think I can get used to that speed thing," she said. Marek laughed. The restaurant he had chosen was positioned at the time so that the building cast a shadow over the parking lot where they were. He had really done his research. Aubrey looked around at the unfamiliar scenery.
"We're not in Forks still, are we?" she asked.
"We're in Port Angeles," said Marek.
"Why?" asked Aubrey.
"I felt like driving a ways," said Marek. "And so nobody we know comes in, sees us, and gets the wrong idea." His eyes plainly told her he was thinking of Jessica. She nodded, following him inside.
They were seated in no time by a smitten waitress who couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of Marek. She didn't even seem to notice Aubrey staring at her.
"Two Pepsi's," said Marek, articulating each word so that it would penetrate the blonde's daze. She nodded vaguely, writing the order down without looking and walked away, head still turned to Marek, resulting in a collision with another waitress. Marek chuckled softly, turning to Aubrey.
"It really is true, all they say about blondes," he said in a low voice. Aubrey gave him a disapproving look.
"I see how you would know. You make it all true. Now really, you come over unexpectedly, you don't even warn me about the sun effect, and you take me out to lunch. You've got to have a reason for it." Marek frowned.
"I could have just wanted to take you out to lunch," he said. Aubrey gave him a sarcastic look. "I could have! But, as you so correctly suspected, there is indeed a reason this time."
"Do tell," said Aubrey.
"Just a little preparation for tomorrow," started Marek. "I'll get you at nine and take you to the Cullens'. Bella doesn't know she's going yet, but Edward plans to tell her in the morning. The main event is welcoming Bella. They know I'm bringing you over, but I think it's best to arrive a bit later just so we catch them in high spirits. Prepare to be lectured. No doubt Carlisle will want to speak with us. Mainly you. I've been being lectured all night." He grimaced and Aubrey nodded. "And you will probably have to have a private conversation with Edward and Alice."
"Why?" asked Aubrey, wary. Marek looked disgruntled.
"Because Edward needs to read your mind and Alice needs to see how it will affect the future," he said. "And I block both. They're going to separate me from you so they can be sure that I'm not blocking anything from their sights." Aubrey nodded slowly.
"So...Bella knows about..."
"Edward told her," confirmed Marek. "But that's alright because they're in love." He made a slight face at the word and Aubrey frowned.
"So it's not alright for me to know...why?" she asked.
"Because there's nothing stopping you from exposing us," said Marek. "Bella is bound by her love for Edward, but you're free to skip off and divulge our secret to the world."
"Hey, I'm bound to you by friendship," pointed out Aubrey, a little resentful. "That's got to count for something." Marek shrugged.
"It's not good enough for dear Mister Edward," he said, rolling his eyes. "He hates me. So wound up about everything. And I'm older than him."
"And you don't know why you told me still?" asked Aubrey.
"Not a clue," said Marek distractedly, but there was a slight look in his eyes that struck Aubrey's interest.
"Are you positive?" she asked. Marek didn't answer.
The waitress returned at that moment with their drinks and Aubrey quickly emptied her glass, having not realized how thirsty she was. Marek sipped his little by little, casually watching her.
"I didn't think you could drink soda," she commented.
"We can, but it's not our preference," said Marek, raising an eyebrow at her pointedly. Aubrey rolled her eyes.
They stopped thier conversation as the waitress returned, no doubt just to lay eyes on Marek once more, and handed Aubrey a grilled cheese she had ordered. Marek, who had claimed to have already eaten (receiving a snort from Aubrey), casually took the check, filling it out absent-mindedly.
"I could pay," said Aubrey.
"I have centuries of money built up," said Marek. "Let me spend it where I will. I'll get more eventually."
"Fine..." said Aubrey, feeling a little guilty nonetheless.
She finished and they returned to the car, making it back to her house in what seemed like no time. Marek parked and waited for a promising cloud to block the sun before getting out and opening Aubrey's door in one fluid motion.
"Did you two have a good time?" asked Aubrey's father as they entered the living room. He sat on the couch, various sandwich ingredients spread out along the table in front of him.
"Excellent," said Marek. "Might I steal her again tomorrow as well? We're having a house party. Around nine in the morning lasting all day."
"Sure, no problem," said Jack. "Unless Aubrey has a problem with it."
"Thank you, sir," said Marek, kissing Aubrey on the cheek before walking back to the door. "I'll see you in the morning, Aubrey," he said, closing the door as he stepped outside.
"Yeah..." said Aubrey vaguely, a hand on the cheek he had kissed, staring at the closed door.
"Good choice. He's attractive...and rich. A little old fashioned, though, like one of those ancient millionaires," said Jack, breaking the silence. He sneered at Aubrey's exasperated face as she walked to the couch and took a seat beside him. She didn't know how much longer she could stand this teasing.
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