A/N: WOW! You guys loved my last chapter, let's hope you guys love this one too. Sorry for the delay, but I got sucked into the Dark Hunter world and couldn't put the books down. If you like Vampires mixed with Greek Mythology, then this is definitely a book series for you. Fate Lowe is my awesome Beta!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Three hours after Emmett rudely interrupted Edward and I, we were all fed and on our way back to Seattle. Our memory confessional time didn't take as long as usual which was odd, but who was I to complain? We were all going home. Home. A word I usually associated to Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Jacob. And now, now, Edward. He was my home. Home is where the heart is, -- they always say -- and now I knew that they were right. True, my heart was always with the others, but now, after 80 years, my heart finally felt whole again. Something I didn't think would happen, but it did.
My internal monologue was cut off by Jasper's phone ringing. Edward, Alice and I were sitting in the back seat of the SUV with Jasper driving, and Emmett riding shotgun as usual. You would think our seats were labeled with our names or something, cause this was usually how were sat when we went out traveling.
Jasper grabbed his phone out of the center console and answered it without even looking at the caller-id.
"Hey Jake."
Edward turned to me with a curious look upon his face. "How did he know it was Jacob?"
"Cause nobody else besides the people in this car have that number," I replied returning my attention back out my window to watch the passing scenery.
"Yeah, we should be there within the hour. How's the bar coming along?" Jasper asked.
That got my attention. Jasper hadn't mentioned anything about the bar being trashed. I strained my ears to listen.
"Seth and Sam just finished the woodwork on the bar while Jared is finishing up painting the walls."
"Why is Paul painting the walls?" I asked leaning forward between the seats.
Jasper turned his head slightly toward me and said, "They had to been dry-walled again. Jacob threw Felix into the bar which resulted in destorying it and denting the wall behind it."
Edward stiffened next to me as I leaned back in my seat and stared at Jasper in the rear-view mirror. I watched as Jasper just shook his head.
"Yeah ok, just make sure everything is ready by the time we get there. Yeah I'll tell her hi. Later," Jasper said closing the phone and returned it to the console.
"What was that all about?" I asked looking up at Edward. He just smiled down at me. "Nothing to worry about right now," he said patting my knee.
'O-kay,' I thought as I once again returned my attention to the world outside of my window.
"By the way, Jacob says hi Bella," Jasper said not taking his eyes off the road ahead of him.
"He always says hi," I mumbled resting my head against the back of the seat.
We were about thirty minutes outside of Seattle when Emmett sat up and asked, "Hey Edward, I totally forgot to ask you, but how did you know where we were?"
"When?" Edward asked.
"When dumb-fuck Aro caught up with us, duh? What did you think I was talking about?" Emmett asked turning around in his seat to look at him.
I sat up in my seat, curious myself about how he knew where we were. "Actually, I was kinda wondering about that one myself," I said, looking expectantly at Edward.
"So am I for that matter. How come I didn't see you coming?" Alice asked leaning forward in her seat.
"Yeah, why didn't she see you coming?" Jasper asked.
'Spanish Inquisition anyone?' I thought.
I watched as Edward looked at each of us in turn, but in the end his gaze landed on Alice.
"I put a block on me. After the last clue you sent me, I blocked myself from your visions," Edward said flatly.
I watched as Alice's facial expressions went from anger to confusion. "How did you do that?" she asked still looking every bit as confused as I was. I thought he could only erase people's memories, apparently I was wrong.
'Fucker has the ability to control minds?' I thought.
I felt Edward's hand on me knee. "No, I can't control minds Bella." I blinked at him; I knew my shield was holding, so.... "How did you know that was what I was thinking?"
He squeezed my knee and just smiled. "Just a guess really."
'A guess? Yeah and monkeys fly out of my butt.'
"Are you going to explain it then?" Emmett asked. I turned from Edward and saw Emmett had almost completely turned around in his seat. He looked eager to learn what Edward was about to say and from the look of Jasper's eyes in the rear-view, I knew he was just as eager.
"Bella already knows this, but I guess that there is no point in keeping it from you guys as well. I spent fifteen years in Thailand meditating. In that time I learned to block certain things, one of them was reading people's thoughts. It didn't happen over night mind you, but after three months of utter stillness, I looked up one day and noticed one of the monks in my room. I hadn't heard him come in, at all. When he noticed how black my eyes were, he flinched, and that's when I snapped out of it and heard his thoughts again. It was weird at first, listening to my own thoughts and no one else's, but so refreshing as well. Five years into my meditation, another vampire came calling. He too had the gift of visions, but they weren't as subjective as Alice's. Whereas Alice can see the path from one's decisions, this one knew of the decision before it was made and what would happen afterwards. He was the one who taught me how to block myself from other's 'sight'."
Alice shifted forward and looked at me. I didn't recognize the look on her face and wondered if I had the same look on mine. "You knew all of this?" she asked.
I shook my head. "Not all of it, but the part about him meditating, yes." I reached for Edward's hand and clasped it in mine. He turned his head from Emmett and looked down at our hands smiling.
"Ok, well that explains, how Alice wasn't able to see you coming, but not why,' Emmett said turning back around in his seat.
"Actually it does Emmett," Jasper said looking over at him for a second.
"How do you figure?" Emmett asked.
"Well, when Aro touched her, he couldn't find anything on Bella's powers because Edward erased them. If Edward hadn't blocked himself from her visions then Aro would have known he was coming."
"Exactly," Edward said smiling at Jasper.
"But how did you find us?" Alice asked looking between Edward and I.
Silence permeated the car and I looked out of my window waiting for Edward's answer. I felt Edward's thumb rubbing soft lazy circles across the back of my hand when it hit me.
"I need you to do something for me Mike," Edward asked.
"Shoot," Mike replied.
"Head on down to Malibu. Be there by 11 pm and go to a bar called 'New Moon', its a shit hole, but when you get there, look for a girl with chestnut brown hair, and her head hung down."
"Why?"
"Just do it, ok? And here, take this, and swallow it," Edward said, placing something in Mike's hand.
"What is this?"
"Just a vitamin C tablet, you look like shit," Edward said laughing and slapping him on his back.
"Mike?" I gasped, turning away from the window and looking up at Edward. His face said it all, I was right on target.
"That wasn't a vitamin tablet was it?" I asked.
Edward just shook his head.
'Son of a bitch! Clever little fucker aren't you?' I thought as I dropped my shield so he could hear me.
Edward just smirked and nodded.
"What are you talking about?" Jasper asked.
I leaned forward so I could look at Alice. She nodded her head at me, knowing what I was going to say next. "You remember how Alice took you guys downtown for dinner? I asked leaning back and looking at Jasper in the rear-view.
"Yeah."
"Well, Alice told me to go to that bar me and you passed and told me that the first human I lay eyes on would be my dinner. Of course, we later found out why," I said holding up mine and Edward's hands. "But what she didn't know was Edward had sent him there with a purpose. The tablet Edward made him swallow was a tracer. Edward sent him there looking specifically for me, so when I drank from him, the tracer was transfered to me and he tracked us all the way to Aro."
"Ooooh," Jasper and Emmett said in unison.
"Exactly," Edward said looking down at me and smiling.
Forty-five minutes later we parked out front of the our bar and hoped out. We were greeted by Sam and Seth, who immediately went to Edward and enveloped him with hugs.
'Huh? Didn't see that one coming,' I thought as I watched Edward chatting with them like they were friends.
Jasper handed me my two duffel bags and as I passed by Edward, I heard him mutter a thanks to Sam, who only answered with a nod. I walked through the front doors to the bar and took in the new decor.
'Not Bad,' Ithought as I looked around and noticed all the new changes. The bar that Jasper usually tended was new obviously from what Jacob had said on the phone. I walked up and placed my bags on the bar top and surveyed the area more. My eyes scanned the wall behind the bar and took in all the photos that were now housed in new frames. I took in each picture with a smile and remembered when each picture was taken. Most of the pictures were of Emmett, Jasper, and I together, since we were the actual owners of the bar. A few were of Jacob and I, Jasper and Alice, some of Alice and myself. One was of Jasper and I, which was one of my favorites since it was taken just fifteen years after my change and I had felt somewhat healed emotionally. It was a simple picture of us sitting against a tree, with my back leaning against his chest while his arms were draped casually over my chest as though he were hugging me. Both of us had our eyes closed and peaceful smiles on our faces. A lot of people actually thought we were a couple when we first opened the bar, but Alice squashed that thought from everyone's mind when she decided to host a Singles Night and I was the first on the bar when she asked for all the single ladies to step up.
'That was a fun night!' I thought remembering.
I finished going over the pictures, laughing when I came to the one of Emmett and I arm wrestling. Jasper had snapped the photo at the exact moment I had beat him. My face had a knowing smirk while Emmett lookedlike I had just kicked him in the balls, which when beating Emmett at arm wrestling is just as painful, especially when it's me doing it.
'Poor Emmett,' I thought.
I finished looking over every photo, when I noticed that something was off.
Something was missing.
I scanned the wall again, my eyes dancing from one photo to another and when I got to the end of the line, I went back the other way. I must have stood there for a good ten minutes looking from one photo to another trying to figure out what exactly was missing. I felt ahand on my shoulder and knew it was Edward from the electrical current that was running down my arm. I felt his fingers interlock with mine and looked up at him to see that he was staring at the photos on the wall in front of him. I returned to my scanning of the photos when it finally clicked and I noticed what was missing. I squeezed Edward's hand in acknowledgement and gasped as a pain I hadn't felt in 84 years welled up in my heart. There was only one photo that could produce this feeling and the fact that it was missing just made it worse.
The last set of pictures of me and my dad Charlie. Alice had made a collage of those pictures of us. She had given it to me after the funeral. I knew what pictures were in the collage. The first was my favorite picture of us. Tears blurred my vision as I remembered the day that it was taken. It was taken one year before he died; the day before he found out he had cancer, the day of my college graduation. It was just of him hugging me, but what made the photo all the more precious to me was that you could clearly see the tears streaming down his face.
"I'm so proud of you Bells," he whispered into my hair.
"Thank you daddy,' I whispered back as my own tears fell.
I might have been dead for four years, but I had never been morethankful that my tear ducts still worked as I did that day. Charlie had noticed something was different about me after my accident on my eighteenth birthday, but was just so grateful that I was ok, that he never said anything.
"No matter how old you get, you will always be my little girl," he whispered as he pulled back and kissed my forehead.
If anybody else had done that I would have pushed them away and yelled at them, but this was my father and he was the only person that was allowed such a tender affection towards me after Edward left. It was when he kissed my forehead a second time that Jasper had snapped the photo. Forever freezing the image that Charlie and I had been affectionate with one another as a daughter and her father should. I remember my mother begging Jasper for a copy of the photo. Charlie and I had never really been affectionate with one another which was why these photos meant so much to me. They proved that my father loved me and now they were missing.
"What is it Bella?" Edward asked as he looked down at me. I looked up at him as the tears spilled over. He moved quickly to brush them away with his thumbs while cradling my head and searching my eyes for an answer.
"There's a photo collage missing," I gasped as I struggled to find my breath that had somehow lodged itself in my throat. My knees suddenly felt weak and I could feel myself falling toward the floor. Edward caught me around the waist and lowered me to the floor, moving to sit me in his lap. My head fell against his shoulder as more tears came.
"Emmett! Jasper! Come in here," Edward yelled. I could feel his breath on my face as he continued to wipe away my tears and it actually did calm the steady ache in my heart.
I heard footsteps running across the hardwood floors and stopping in front of us. I felt Edward kiss my hair softly as Jasper knelt down next to me and I watched as he his eyes flashed to blue in the second it took him to take the sight of my own.
"What's wrong with her? Why are her eyes blue?" Edward asked.
Jasper took the hand that I reached out to him with and immediately started sobbing. "Oh God," Jasper sobbed. I knew he could now feel exactly what I was feeling. My eyes rarely turned blue. The last time that they turned blue was when Charlie breathed his last breath. Jasper gently pulled me from Edward's lap and into his.
"But..." Edward whispered as I felt his lands linger on my arms. He seemed reluctant to let me go, but sighed as Jasper sobbed, "I got her."
I hugged Jasper's waist and held on like my life depended it, burying my head into his firm chest. True, I felt guilty that it wasn't Edward that I clung to, but he wasn't there when Charlie died, Jasper was. Jasper had been the one to hold me that day as I cried to the point of exhaustion and I needed him now to deal with the terrible ache that had settled in my heart. Jasper rested his head on top of mine as he sobbed and whispered, "It's ok."
I felt Emmett's hand rub slow circles on my back and said, "It's just something that happens."
"Then why are your eyes blue as well Emmett? And yours Jasper's? What is going on?" Edward asked sounding slightly exasperated.
I felt Emmett squeeze me right shoulder and I nodded. He was silently asking me if it was ok to tell Edward why our eyes were blue.
"I don't know why your eyes don't change color Edward as the rest of ours do, but one of the reasons why they turn blue is sadness. Bella on the other hand..." Emmett trailed off.
"What?" Edward asked.
I turned my head away from Jasper's chest and looked at Edward. The look on his face was one of panic. He obviously didn't know what was going on.
"It's ok Emmett, you can tell him," I whispered as I stared at Edward's frantic face. Jasper's arms tightened around my shoulders as he took one away and gently combed through my hair. It was the same gesture he used the day Charlie died to calm me down and it started to have the same effect now. The one bad thing about combining powers, was that when I was like this, Jasper couldn't calm us down. I had to calm down a little myself first before he could do it, but not today. I wouldn't be calm until I found out what happened to my photos.
"Let's just say this is only the second time I have ever seen her eyes blue," Emmett said moving back to me and started to rub my back again.
"When was the first time?" Edward asked furrowing his brows and looking at me.
Jasper cleared his throat. "When Charlie died."
"Oh."
Edward blinked at me and I watched as remorse quickly replaced his panic stricken face. He now knew why I had willing to go toJasper's arms. He knew that it was Jasper who had been the one to help me through that difficult time.
Emmett kissed me on the top of my head. "I'm gonna go back outside and help the boys. There are a few more things that need to be fixed out there," he said.
"Ok," I whispered as I watched him disappear out the front door.
Edward looked up to Jasper. "Thank you."
"For?" Jasper asked.
"For taking care of her. For keeping your promise," Edward said was he moved toward me and held out a visibly shaking hand. Jasper squeezed me once and loosened his grasp. I took Edward's hand and scooted back over to his lap. I started to feel much calmer once Edward locked his arms tightly around my back and when I looked up from his chest to look at Jasper, I noticed his eyes had turned back to his usual golden topaz color. I smiled at him as I felt my own eyes change and mouthed 'thank you' to him.
I tilted my head up to look up at Edward as he smiled down at me, seeing that my eyes were back to normal. "Now why were you so upset?" he asked.
I looked back at Jasper who was now staring at the wall behind the bar. Whenhiseyes widened suddenly, I knew he noticed the collage was missing. He looked back at me, eyes still widened from shock and disbelief and stood up abruptly.
"Son of a bitch!" he muttered under his breath. I untangled myself from Edward and stood up as well, moving over to Jasper as his hands clenched into fists. I looked back at Edward who was still sitting on the floor shifting his head back and forth from me to Jasper. "What?" he asked looking at me.
Jasper closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. When he open his eyes and looked back up at me, I saw anger swimming behind the topaz color. I heard Edward stand up and move over to us.
"Would either of you care to tell mewhat the fuck is going on? What is so important about this missing collage?" Edward asked. Jasper and I just stared at one another and I nodded my head at him. Jasper blinked at me before turning to Edward and said, "The photo collage, the one that is missing, were the last set of recent photos that Bella had of her and Charlie. They were from her college graduation. Besides the fact that they were of her and Charlie, they had extreme sentimental value to her, as well as the rest of us. The fact that they are gone, well..." Jasper paused.
Edward scoffed. "Is that all? Well, we can get copies made. Where are the negatives?"
I almost laughed at Edward, because he obvious didn't catch what Jasper had actually said. I felt Jasper move towards Edward and I pulled Jasper back and looked at him, telling him with my eyes that I would take care of this. Jasper nodded and walked over the bar and grabbed my bags of the countertop and disappeared up the stairs to my bedroom.
I looked at Edward who looked dumbfounded by Jasper's behavior. "What's his problem?" he asked.
'He really is clueless sometimes,' I thought to myself while shaking my head.
"I thought you could read minds," I said.
"I can, but I have been blocking since we got back."
"Well, if you hadn't been blocking your ability, you would have known why Jasper got pissed," I said walking over to the bar and hoisting myself on to the top of it.
'Hmm....nice wood. I wonder if it's mahogany?' I thought gliding my hand over the smooth bar top.
Edward walked over to me and joined me atop the bar. "So are you going to explain it?" he asked.
"Well, the fact that you so easily dismissed what he said was what set him off. We can't get copies made Edward," I said looked over at him.
"Why's that?" he asked.
"Well, if you had listened to what Jasper had said you would know why," I retorted.
"Cut the bullshit Bella."
I laughed; I couldn't help myself. I was mentally drained and was surprised my shield was still holding.
"What's so funny?" he asked looking at me as though I had lost my mind.
"You," I laughed. I calmed myself before continuing. "The reason why we can't get copies made, is because those were the last set of those pictures. They were the only pictures I had left of Charlie."
Edward blinked and I watched as the realization of what I had just said finally settled into his eyes.
"Oh," he said.
"Yeah, that's why I was so upset. Now, as soon as Jacob shows up, I can rip him a new one for letting Felix destroy those pictures."
Just then the front door to the bar opened and in walked Jacob, followed by Alice, Emmett, Seth, and Sam.
"Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear," Edward said quietly under his breath.
I smirked at him and said, "That was so cliche."
"I know. It just seemed to fit," he said.
"Bells!" Jacob yelled running up to me. Emmett and the others stayed back by the door. He scooped me up into a hug, lifting me off the bar and spun me around in circles. I laughed, letting Jacob be happy for a few seconds before I beat the shit out of him. He stopped and set me down in front of him. He was all smiles and happiness, little did he know I was about to knock him into next week.
'Stupid little shit!' I thought as I smiled back up at him.
Jacob looked up from my face and peered over my head. "Leech," he said nodding his head once at Edward.
"Mutt," Edward replied, nodding his head once as well.
Jacob looked back down at me. "So, how was your trip?" Jacob asked.
I stepped back from him, cocking my right arm back and letting it snap forward to connect with his jaw. Jacob flew back from me and crashed into the floor, sliding across it to where he finally stopped at the feet of Emmett. Sam and Emmett started laughing hysterically while Jacob blinked and shook his head. Hishand came up and rubbed his jaw where I had hit him.
"I think you broke my jaw," Jacob said through clenched teeth.
I heard Edward laugh quietly behind me. "Be glad that's the only thing she broke," he said coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. I relaxed into his embrace and rubbed my hands softly down his forearms to his hands where I intertwined our fingers.
"I told you you'd be lucky if you only walked away with a broken jaw," Emmett laughed holding his hand out towards Sam. "Pay up sucker. I won the bet!"
Sam reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He fished out what looked to be a hundred dollar bill and clapped it into Emmett's hand. "You were right, I shouldn't bet against Alice," Sam said putting his wallet back into his back pocket.
I looked at Alice and smiled as she looked up with a sad smile and winked. That sad smile told me she knew about the missing photos, but the fact that I had just broken Jacob's jaw made up for some of it. I nodded at her telling her with my eyes that I was ok. She looked down at Jacob who was still on the floor at their feet and broke out laughing.
"What's so funny shrimp?" Jacob asked as he reset his jaw. "Fuck!" he whispered.
"You should have just phased you moron," Seth said holding his hand down to Jacob and helping him off the floor.
Alice walked over to me and smiled. "Don't worry. Everything will be ok."
"I know," I said smiling back at her.
She kissed my cheek and ran up the back stairs leaving me and the boys alone.
"Alrighty!" Emmett said rubbing his hands together.
We all stared at him in confusion.
Edward groaned behind me and I craned my head back to look up at him. He just shook his head and said, "Emmett."
I looked back at Emmett who had our signature devious grin plastered all over his face.
'Oh God no!' I thought.
"Party time!!!" Emmett said.
A/N: Reviews make me smile! And the more reviews I get, the quicker that lemon you guys want gets written!!