Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight whatsoever, or its original characters. The only thing that I own is my own invention of characters and their background. So please don't sue me Stephanie Meyer. I live paycheck to paycheck just barely lol. :-)
"Still, he figured, sometimes you've
got to do what you've got to do,
and then sometimes you've just got to
run like hell after it's done."
― Derek Landy, Death Bringer
+The Robbery+
June 26th, 2008…Thursday
Amber's P.O.V
After Jasper dropped me off at the bookstore, things didn't get any better for me that day. Mike was outside taking his lunch break when he saw us pull up. As his eyes landed on the two of us he's pale blue orbs had nearly bugged right out of his head, and the sandwich he had once been eating nearly dropped right out of his hands. Ignoring him though, I got out of the Porsche, and turned to bid Jasper a warm goodbye. In return he reminded me that he'd send me a text later when he was sure of when would be a good time to meet up again. I thanked him politely and then shut the door behind me, as I began my trip over to the entrance of the store.
As I heard Jasper pulling out however, and driving way, I heard another car door open and slam behind me.
"Sooo, Jasper Hale huh? That's the reason why you turned me down. Then again I can't really blame you though. He was quite popular back in high school, and his family is well off," Mike quipped with jealousy lacing heavily throughout his words.
Rolling my eyes, I rounded on him.
Standing there, looking as pompously as ever, I noticed the contempt welling up in Mike's eyes. It was as if he had thought he'd caught me in some game that I wasn't even playing; a game that I'm sure he thought most girls played. Sadly for him, I wasn't one of those girls; at least anymore. However, I refused to hold pity for him, and what I thought might be his past problems. The way he had accused me, accused Jasper for that matter, only further infuriated me, and I wasn't going to stand for it. Today was not the day to get on my nerves. Especially not after this morning's incident.
"Listen Mike, I meant what I said to you last night. Jasper's just my friend, and that's all I want from any guy right now. However, if you're going to act like a child about it, then we have nothing further to discuss," and with that said I went to turn around to leave. However, I felt a hand suddenly latch itself around mine as an array of emotions began assaulting me.
…Jealousy…Guilt…Regret…Want…
I yanked my hand as fast as I could out of his hold. That last emotion nearly had me puking. However, I remained firm in my glare as I stared him down. He immediately realized he'd made the wrong move.
"I'm sorry Amber. I shouldn't have acted that way. I just thought when I saw you with him…well it just brought up a lot of old memories from high school and a lot of old envy I thought I'd gotten over. Please forgive me," he asked with the best puppy-dog look he could come up with. I wasn't a bit swayed by it though. It took a lot better to crack my hard shell.
"You still should have known better," I sighed, backing away from him slightly as I heaved my purse higher onto my shoulder, "Listen, I'll think about forgiving you. That's all I can give you, but I really am in no mood today to deal with bullshit. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work."
With that said, I turned back around and headed on inside without another interruption. Once I was in the store though, I was once again confronted with even more conflict as Latisha was currently manning the register. Looking up as I entered, she nearly hissed out from her clenched teeth, "Have a nice talk with Mike?"
"Oh get over yourself already," I finally burst, as several customers turned around to look at me curiously. Thankful Mr. Mallory, whom had traded shifts with Midge earlier this morning, had overheard everything from nearby. Within seconds he had wedged himself between the two of us; stopping whatever fight that was bound to come.
"Latisha, I want you in the back unloading stock, now," he demanded before turning to me and adding, "Amber I can use you on the register, if you please. Oh, and try to keep it down. It is a bookstore after all."
Nodding, the both of us immediately went to our duties for the rest of the day. It stayed slow most of the time, so I pretty much helped to stock the shelves and straighten the aisles. However, this did help the time go by quicker, because before long it was finally time to close, and I was once again pulling out the cleaning supplies and beginning my work around the store. All the while, Latisha took over the register up front for me without a word. As soon as the last customer had left, and the bell had made it's finally twinkle above the door, Mr. Mallory walked over to the glass and turned the sign to CLOSED, before making his way over to the cash register.
"Alright, let's get that till counted," I heard Mr. Mallory say from where I stood behind the overbearingly tall shelves. However, hearing the tinkling of the overhead bells once more, I froze in mid squat while reaching over to pick up a book off of the floor.
"I'm sorry, but we're close…"
"I don't give a shit. Give me all the money in that fucking register, NOW!"
I suddenly went rigid.
No, this couldn't be happening. Not here, and surely not now. This seemed like such a nice town; a quiet town. There couldn't be people like this around here. However, quietly peaking around the corner, I could see a man with his back to me and it was then that I realized one of my worst fears.
We were being robbed.
The man's face was covered in a ski mask, and he was currently brandishing a gun at Latisha and Arnold. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach.
"You heard me! NOW MOVE!"
Latisha slowly began opening the cash register as the man threw her his backpack to put the money inside. She was literally shaking in fear, and sobbing tears fatter than I had ever seen. She looked like she was going to be sick, and Mr. Mallory didn't look like he was fairing any better.
"Listen; let's be reasonable about this sonny. Do you really want to ruin the rest of your life," Arnold tried to say before the gunman turned his weapon towards him, and shouted, "SHUT UP OLD MAN. NO SUDDEN MOVEMENTS OR I'LL SHOOT."
I hid back around the shelves again quickly and took a deep breath. It slowly felt like the walls were caving in all around me. I could barely breathe, but as I slowly remembered my co-workers fear stricken faces, I knew what I had to do.
My cell phone was in my purse, so I couldn't call the cops. On top of that, even if I did have it, if I so much as even tried to call them, he would overhear me. However, I knew there was a panic button under the table at the register. If I distracted him long enough Latisha or Mr. Mallory could probably get to it, as well as the gun Arnold had hidden underneath as well; something that Mr. Mallory actually thought we didn't know about.
Taking one last deep gulp of air, I picked up the broom beside me and stood up. Carefully I peaked back around the shelf, before seeing that the coast was clear. Then, ever so slowly, I began inching my way up on him while he still had his back turned to me. In the process, I glanced over at my coworkers, hoping that they would notice this and be ready for when I attacked. Ever so gradually, my movements finally caught their attentions. Their eyes suddenly widen, and I even saw Latisha mouth a pleading, "No," right before I jumped.
Holding the broom high above my head with both hands, I carefully brought it over his head, and then quickly jerked it down. It caught along his neck, underneath his chin, and he began to struggle as I fought to keep it there. He desperately began gasping for air that would not come, as he flayed his arms back at me trying to get me to let him go. However, I wouldn't budge. The fear and the adrenalin had taken over, and I knew I had to give the others enough time.
When he finally caught me off guard, it seemed far too soon. Pushing the both of us back into a shelf, the two of us found ourselves immediately being bombarded by hundreds of books crashing down from high above our heads; each painful thump feeling like a powerful punch against our skulls. During this catastrophe though, I lost my grip on the handle and it slipped disparagingly from my hands. Finally free, he took a deep breath before scrambling to his feet to turn the gun around on me. I could only hope by this point Latisha or Mr. Mallory had gotten to the panic button.
"You fucking bitch," he screamed, as I watched in slow motion as his finger began to gradually squeeze the trigger. However, the shot never rang out, as a sudden crash was heard by the door, and a metal baseball bat was simultaneously swung at his head.
The robber hit the ground howling in pain, before crawling away. In the man's wake stood Mike Newton, as he frantically came rushing towards me. Though, in Mike's haste to get to me, he'd forgotten all about the gunman probably getting to his feet behind him.
"You son of a bitch," the robber screamed, before a shot suddenly rang out throughout the room. Once again, I watched in slow motion as the bullet just barely grazed past Mike's head as he ducked underneath. Turning around, he yelled, "The cops are on their way, buddy. Keep it up, and they'll charge you for murder too."
The man's eyes immediately widened through his ski mask, before he quickly bolted out of the store without another word.
The room was instantly quieted at his swift departure.
However, everyone was now breathing great sighs of relief. Slumping forward, I took one of my own; a very long, very deep sigh. It was one that I was glad that I could still take, and it was all thanks to Mike.
Looking around the room to make sure that everyone was okay, Mike then turned to me and asked, "Are you alright, Amber?"
"I'm a little shaken, but I'm fine. My head and my back hurt though, but I think that's just from where he shoved us against the bookcase. Otherwise I'm peachy," I answered, as I placed my quivering hands into his so that he could pull me up off the floor. All the while his emotions began to bombard me immediately.
…Fear…Anger…Regret…
"Oh Mike! You're a great big hero," Latisha yelled, as she came running towards him. Throwing her arms around his neck, I moved away to let them have their moment. Walking over to Mr. Mallory instead, I asked, "He didn't get the bag did he?"
"No, he bolted before he could. God, I should have remembered to lock that door. That gun did me no good either. I forgot all about it till now," he groaned while still shivering from the adrenalin rush.
"It's okay. I was just hoping you'd at least remember the panic button. Thank God that Mike showed up when he did though, or else…" I cringed at the thought. This would make the second time this month I'd had a brush with death. I was starting to wonder if my life would ever get back to normal.
"Oh Lord, don't even remind me. First thing tomorrow, I'm getting a better security system to put into this place. Why on earth he thought to rob a bookstore is beyond me," Mr. Mallory said with a shake of his head, before looking over at Mike, "Did you really already call the cops son?"
"No, not really," Mike said with a sheepish look while scratching at the back of his head, "I just heard the yelling from next door, and I figured you all were probably in trouble. I grabbed one of the closest baseball bats to me on the way out of the store, and just ran straight over here without a second thought. I'm glad I did though, and gratefully I had some quick thinking there at the end too, or else…well let's not even go there."
"Well like my granddaughter put it, you're a hero boy; you too Amber. If it hadn't been for you both we'd all probably be dead right now. Well anyway, I better go call the cops and let them know what just happened," Mr. Mallory began, but Latisha cut him off.
"Don't worry, Grandpa. I hit the panic button as soon as Amber attacked that guy. They should be here any minute," she answered, while still curled protectively under Mike's left arm. The two did look like a cute couple. Hopefully this experience made them see the light.
"Good job pumpkin, I'm proud of you. Well, I guess until they get here, let's just not touch anything alri…"
However, before Arnold could finish, we could already hear the sirens coming from down the street just outside the door. Within seconds there were blaring red and blue lights lighting up the walls around us. Two men in uniforms came rushing in holding their guns at their sides, before quickly realizing the threat was already gone.
"Is everybody okay," one of them asked, as an ambulance pulled up outside.
"Yeah, just a little shaken," I answered, before Mike piped up, "We're fine, but Amber over there got knocked around a little. The guy took off after I threatened him with a baseball bat, and I told him you guys were probably already on your way."
"Nice job kid," the other policeman replied with a smile, before turning to the EMT who'd just now came striding in behind the two, "The boy over there said the girl got knocked around a bit…"
"I said I'm fine," I cut in, before the EMT rolled his eyes at me, and replied evenly, "That's what they all say before they end up in a coma due to an overlooked concussion." At his words, I didn't have the heart to tell him no after being reminded of what had happened the last time. Taking a seat at the couch nearby in the reading area, I allowed him to look me over as the others recounted their stories to the two officers.
After what felt like hours, but was only a mere few minutes, the EMT finally announced that the pain I'd been feeling in my back was just from a large, gradually-forming bruise that extended from the top half of my spine, and expanded to cover the curve of my shoulders. Other than that however, he could see no other damage along my spine despite a few minor scrapes. The back of my skull however, was a different story. He concluded that the pain coming from there was from a rather good-sized bump I must have received from the collapsing books As slightly worried as he was about it, he assured me that I should be just fine, but that I still shouldn't really sleep for the next few hours just in case. That or I should have someone check on me every thirty minutes or so if I did decide to take a nap. I only rolled my eyes at that one, as if to say that was quite obvious. I knew about most of the medical gibberish due to Charlotte; not to mention Taylor's old training course that she'd taken back in high school. I guess looking back now it seemed almost like irony that it happened to be an EMT class. I could still remember the day she invited Alyssa and me to go with her to the Disaster Drill; an event that they'd shared with a neighboring school that year, who had finally decided to host it for once. That year, it had been about an Earthquake. My card at first had said Glass through the Head but I'd traded it with Alyssa since she'd wanted a gorier makeup than what was written on her own. So instead, I'd ended up with her fate; A Bruised Ankle. I got to spend most of my time there sleeping on the football field as the 'EMTs in training' tended to the more serious 'victims' of the disaster.
Anyway, as the EMT noticed my former injuries he went on to ask me where they'd come from; especially when he'd seen my bruised hand. I casually explained to him my previous accident before I had moved here, and the one that had also happened this morning. Only then did he finally realize why I wasn't so keen on seeking medical attention.
As he was looking me over though, Latisha had brought over my purse for me so that I could dig through it to pull out my phone. Turning it on, I immediately went to text Taylor and Hunter that I would be late getting home, while also explaining to them what had happened. I also made sure to tell them not to worry, and that I was fine. The last thing I needed was for them to come rushing down here in all this chaos.
At some point after that, while I was busy checking the other texts and voicemails on my phone (one or two being from my mother), the Sheriff had finally come walking in to see what had happened. He was soon followed by someone that I'd thought I wouldn't have to see for a very long while. It seems I'd made a wrong assumption in that this morning, among other things.
"AMBER! Where's Amber," a frantic voice asked from the doorway.
"She's over there with the EMT," Latisha answered lazily, before I looked up to see three gigantic men rushing over to me.
"What are you three doing here," I asked, as the EMT walked away to leave me alone with my anxious 'friends.'
"We were over at Jake's Dad's house when the call came through Charlie's radio. I remembered Hunter telling me you worked here, so we followed his cruiser on over to see if you were alright. Don't worry, we dropped Hunter off at your house earlier before we went on to see Billy," Quil informed me, as I breathed a sigh of relief at the mention of my cousin not being here with them. That would be all I needed right now was for Hunter to be nearby panicking, while I myself was still trying to relax from the ordeal.
Closing my eyes, I leaned further back into my seat as Embry quickly chose that moment to quietly slide onto the couch beside me; probably hoping that through all the chaos going on around us, I would probably be too distracted to notice him. Sadly for him though, I hadn't forgotten this morning, but at this point I could really care less. I was just glad I could still have the chance to yell at him once again for it. However, I immediately shook that thought from my mind, as I opened my eyes to meet his worried gaze.
"Are you okay? Did he hurt you," Embry questioned, as his chestnut colored orbs ghosted across every inch of me.
"I'm fine, Embry. It's just a few bumps and bruises," I groaned out unhappily, while trying to become one with the couch. However, my plans were quickly thwarted when I suddenly felt a pair of arms encase themselves around me, and lift me into a sitting position. Opening my eyes, I found myself nose to chest with Embry; actually nose to a very well muscled chest, might I add. A part of me at that moment wanted to revel in the feel of it beneath his thin black t-shirt, but another part of me was to busy occupied somewhere else. The moment his skin had brushed past mine, it was like a dam had all but burst inside of me. Immediately I felt his emotions almost violently flooding out of him in what seemed like never-ending waves. I felt like I was choking; fighting to reach the surface of the tides, but each time I would find myself further and father from it. Before long, I just gave into the fight, and let the push and pull of the waves bring me in.
….Fear…Worry…Relief…Care…Love…
Wait what was that last one, but before I could fully register it, another pair of arms had yanked me away from the torrent of Embry's confusing emotions, and I was yet again hit with another mind-numbing surge of mental conflict.
….Worry…Relief…Anger…
"Don't you ever send me a text like that again you moron," Taylor growled next to my ear, before pulling away, "Are you sure you're okay? You don't look okay? You look like your about to be sick? Amber, you better not throw up on my new shoes!"
However, her words quickly faded away into the background as a part of me suddenly felt the need to glance back at Embry one last time; still curious of what I'd just felt. Yet, as I craned my neck to look back at the three, I instantly noticed that they had all but stiffened like statues in my wake.
It felt as if the air had suddenly taken on this edgy thickness around Taylor and I; one that I'm sure we could just as easily cut with a butter knife at that moment. Slowly my eyes met the trio's as their pointed gaze stared right past us. Landing upon whatever culprit that had suddenly caused this frigid change, I watched as their eyes gradually transformed into a cluster of lethal glares. Following their hateful looks, I soon realized what all the fuss was about. It seemed Taylor had not come alone in her hurry to get to me. Behind her stood our two other friends, Jasper and Alice, looking just as uncomfortable as the other group.
"What are you two doing here," I asked curiously.
"We were with Taylor when you sent her that text. She naturally overreacted, and demanded we head right over. Hunter at least had the decency to take your text to heart, and stay home to wait. However, I think the bigger question right now is what are they doing here," Jasper asked with venom seeping deep into every syllable.
"We were with Charlie and my Dad when the call came in. We knew Amber worked here, so we followed on behind the cruiser," Jacob answered evenly, as Quil and Embry hung back; nearly shaking with anger, might I add.
"That was nice of you," Jasper drawled, before turning back to me, "Well, since your okay, we're going to head on out. I'll call you later alright?" Nodding, I watched them as they silently walked away, knowing fully well why they were leaving early. Turning my eyes over to the culprits, I saw that that their shaking had subsided. Rolling my eyes I said, "Can we just head home now. It's been a rough night."
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to prolong that for a little longer," came a voice to my left. Turning to look around, I found the Sheriff standing there with a look of guilt adorning his eyes.
"Oh come on Charlie, she's been through enough tonight. Can't you just come by her place tomorrow and question her," Embry whined, as Charlie's eyes snapped over to look at him.
"I'm sorry Embry, but I've got to. Law states that she's got to give a report while the memory's still fresh in her mind. I'm only doing my job son, and it's Sheriff Swan while I'm on the job," he declared firmly.
Swan? Where had I heard that name before?
Then it suddenly hit me like a splash of cold water.
"You're Bella's father," I stated, as his eyes swung over to meet mine.
"Yeah, but how did you…"
"I moved to Forks a few days ago. You know, into that English Cottage not to far from here that's owned by the Cullen's. Jasper's sort of became a quick friend of mine, and I remember him mentioning her in passing, I guess," I said, while rubbing the back of my head. However, as I brushed past the sore spot I winced slightly as a hiss escaped past my lips. The boys didn't fail to notice this occurrence either, as they're eyes zeroed in on me.
"Well, you've got a good memory on you, kid. Yeah, I actually think I remember Nessie telling me something about you three moving in there. How do you like Fork's so far," he chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.
"Well, it's definitely not boring Sheriff," I jested back with a smile.
In turn he laughed at my joke, but quickly became serious once again when he realized what he'd first come to ask me. Within seconds he was back to doing his job. I recounted my story for him in front of the others, while he stood silently listening and taking notes. Every once in a while he'd questioned me on something, but otherwise the process went pretty quick. Before long he was patting my shoulder, and telling Taylor and the others to get me on home to rest. With that he went back over to the other officers who were also finishing wrapping up the case.
"You're an idiot," Quil suddenly blared.
"What," I asked, looking over at him with confused eyes.
"You actually tackled that guy all on your own? You're a moron. You could have gotten hurt, or better yet, killed from the sounds of it. Do you know how close to death you were," Quil raved while shaking his head.
"I agree. That was foolish Amber. You could have died," Taylor concurred from beside me with a fixed look.
"Yeah, but I'm alive and I'm okay, aren't I? Well, minus a few bumps and bruises. It could have probably been worse if I hadn't of jumped in. He could have shot Mr. Mallory or Latisha before they even had a chance to get to the panic button. Then I'd be in even more danger by being all on my own if he had found me then," I reasoned, but the four weren't hearing any of it. They were too upset. Embry looked like he was even shaking in anger; as if he were ready to combust at any moment.
"True, but you did have Mike for help, and for all we know the robber could have just took the money and ran afterwards. There was no need for you to jump in like you did," Jacob argued, as I huffed in anger.
"Fine, I get it. Bad Amber. Don't be a hero Amber. Don't protect other people's lives, Amber. You're an idiot Amber," I seethed.
"Don't forget the phrase, 'you're a moron too, Amber,'" Quil quipped from beside Jake, as Embry finally exploded.
"SHUT UP QUIL," Embry yelled, catching the attention of the others in the room; particularly Sheriff Swan, who gave him a warning look.
"What? It's the truth," Quil scoffed.
"We get it Quil, but just shut up. Listen, all of our emotions are running on high right now. Let's just get Amber home, and get some rest. I'm sure Hunter's worried by now despite what the para- Cullen said," Jacob announced, but I didn't miss that mishap of the words at the end. Whatever he was originally going to say probably wasn't good. Either way, I at least agreed with him about the going home part.
"Let me just grab my purse and my keys-"
"You're not driving. I am. You've been through to much tonight to try," Embry insisted, before grabbing my purse for me, and unlatching the clasp for the keys that were hanging off my purse, "Come on, let's go." With that he'd handed me my purse, and began making his way for the door.
"What's wrong with him? Why's he taking it so hard," I asked curiously looking around the room.
"Hormones possibly," Quil said with a serious shrug, before adding, "Actually, probably some personal problems. He and Hunter argued most of the day about you, which is probably why he's taking this so hard. Plus he saw his mom earlier."
The Hunter part I understood, but the Mom part I didn't really quite get. Yet, noticing mine and Taylor's curious looks, Jacob divulged to us, "His mother and him have been fighting for awhile now. That's why we all moved in together awhile back. He only said he saw her today, so I can only guess it didn't go well."
"Oh," was all I could say as we all went quiet.
Glancing over at the door, I could see that Embry was already in my car waiting for us. I couldn't help feeling a twinge of sympathy for him. I knew what it was like to fight with your Mom, as of currently I too was estranged with my own mother. Then, at that thought, the memory of mine and my mother's last conversation suddenly hit me like a slap to the back of the head. If something had of happened to me tonight, those words would have been the last things I said to her. All at once, I began to feel very queasy, as whatever color I had left in my face began to gradually drain away.
Turning to look at Taylor, as if a distraction would help the situation, I asked, "Do you need a ride home?"
"Yeah, but I think I'll ride back with Jacob and Quil. You can ride with the ticking time bomb out there if you want," she replied with a shrug, before looking at the two boys for an okay. They both gave her nods of their approval, before whisking her away, and on out of the bookstore. I followed closely behind them, until I was stopped by Mr. Mallory.
"Don't worry about coming in tomorrow or the next day, Amber. I'm closing the store for the next two days for repairs, and also so that way you and Latisha can get some rest. You all need it after what happened. I'm just praying you'll come back after all of this," Mr. Mallory sighed with a great slump to his shoulders.
Smiling gratefully at him, I replied, "Thanks Mr. Mallory, and don't worry about it. I think you need me now more than ever. Who else knows the many uses of a broom better than I do?"
Chuckling, he patted me on the back, before walking away. Mike chose that moment to untangle himself from the ever needy Latisha and walk over. Stopping directly in front of me, he looked at me with regret in his eyes, and it was then that I already knew what he was going to say before he said it.
"Don't worry about it either, Mike. You did good tonight, and after all of that how could I not forgive you," I said with a forced smile, as the night's troubles began weighing even heavier on me now. Mike grinned back at me, before giving me a tight hug. Then, pulling away, he said, "Go home and get some rest, Amber. You look like you're about to fall over."
Nodding, I glanced over at Latisha to find that for once she wasn't glaring at me, but looking at me with gratefulness. With another nod toward her, I mumbled, "See you later, Tish. Get some rest, promise?"
"Of course," she said, but instead of the usual scoff, I received a tiny smile of thanks.
With that, I made my way out the door, and to the car. Opening up the passenger's side, I slid on in and shut the door behind me. All the while Embry remained eerily quiet staring straight ahead, as his hands gripped my steering wheel tightly. Once I was buckled up, he put the car in reverse and backed out. Thank God his driving wasn't as scary as Alice's or Jasper's. That's all I needed was another life threatening scenario tonight.
Driving down the road, the car remained strangely quiet inside as Embry seemed to be rendered mute at the moment. He was just glaring ahead, still clutching tightly to the steering wheel, with his jaw firmly clenched.
He was still very angry.
I tried to make myself look as small as possible at that moment, as I wrapped the blanket the EMT had given me even tighter around myself. All of the sudden however, Embry reached over and flipped on the heat to the car, before returning his hand back to the steering wheel. Not a word was said about it. Well, at least until I opened my big mouth.
"Thanks," I murmured, as my eyes gingerly swept over to look at him.
Nodding, he didn't say much else. Though it seemed my moronic brain didn't really comprehend that that was his way of talking right now through his anger. Instead, my mouth decided to stupidly take control of me once again.
"It wasn't dumb of me to protect them you know. I would have done the same for you if we had been in that same situation. That's just who I am. I don't like seeing people hurting for no good reason."
Embry's eyes snapped over to me, and I saw the feral look creep up into his eyes. Shaking his head, he replied through clenched teeth, "That isn't the point. You willingly risked your life, and could have gotten yourself killed. That's what bugs me. With everything that happened this morning…Ugggh, that would've been the last conversation we had, and I don't think I could live without y-…well, with that."
"Well you don't have too. We have all the time in the world now to right our wrongs. I'm still alive, and okay, and that's all that matters," I declared with a firm look in his direction. Embry's eyes softened slightly at my words, and his grip on the steering wheel lessoned a bit. Looking back over to me, he said, "Quil was still right, you know? You are a bit of a moron for doing what you did."
"Yeah, but a moron who's still alive and kicking, and who seems to have some very good strength behind her arms might I add," I chuckled, while flexing one of my arms.
Then I finally heard it. He laughed. Yes, he actually laughed.
Chuckling, he asked, "How did you do that anyway? Someone as tiny as you doesn't seem like they would have the strength."
"Hey, I take offense to that! I'm average size! You're the one who's a giant. Besides which, tiny people can pull off great things with the right adrenalin pumping through them. Like that mother who lifted a car off of her baby, well, or so I've heard. Still though, adrenalin can do amazing things," I countered with narrowed eyes, but a grin lining my lips.
"Well, for now, let's stay away from that adrenalin. It makes you do stupid things obviously," Embry quipped, before turning off onto the nearly hidden road that led off towards my house.
As we passed by the only other house on the road, I saw Embry eyeing it warily. However, before I could ask what his deal was, he questioned, "So what's going on with you and that one guy? The one you were hugging?"
"Mike? Well nothing really. He works next door to me. We're kind of slowly becoming friends. Well, at least now that he's not hitting on me," I giggled, as Embry's head swiveled around to look at me.
"Well remind him you now have three new friends who can beat him into a pulp if he ever tries again."
"Will do," came my answer, as we finally pulled up in front of my place. Parking the car in the driveway, Embry shut it off and got on out. I followed his lead, as I noticed the boys' car parked behind Taylor's. From the looks of it, they were probably already inside recounting tonight's story to Hunter.
Sure enough, the moment Embry and I hit the porch's last step, the door came swinging open, and Hunter rushed out screaming at me.
"You ever do something stupid like that again, and I'll lock you in your room for the rest of your life, older cousin or not!"
"Hello to you to Hunter," I mumbled, before I was crushed tightly into his arms, while the same emotions I had been feeling from everyone else tonight came flooding with him.
By this point I was so used to them I didn't even pay attention. Instead I wrapped my feeble looking arms around him and refused to let go as the incident finally hit me like a ton of bricks. Breathing in deeply, I felt the tears slowly beginning to form. Just the thought of crying had me clutching my cousin even tighter.
"Shhh, everything's okay now," Hunter cooed, as he held me just as closely. I heard him sniffle as silently as he could, but I knew better. I'd always known Hunter better. He wasn't just a cousin to me. He was like a brother.
"Here, let's get her inside," Embry insisted, as I felt Hunter nod above my head. Okay, maybe I was wrong, but was it just me or had my dear sweet cousin gotten taller from the last time he hugged me? Man, I really needed to start paying more attention to Hunter.
Either way though, I let the two lead me on inside and into the living room where the others were lounging at. Immediately everyone scooted over on the large couch for Hunter and me when they saw us walk in. Sitting down, I curled my legs up onto the couch, while laying my head against his shoulder. Before long I even heard Rain rush over to me to start nudging my leg with his nose. Lazily I reached over to pat him on his wonderfully soft, furry head.
"I think you broke her Embry," Quil announced from the recliner nearby.
"Oh shut up Quil! I'm not the one who made her start crying," Embry huffed, as I realized he'd taken a seat to my left.
"Then why…"
"It's just now hitting her. It happens to everyone when they go through something traumatic," Hunter explained, before asking Jake, "Can you go get me a glass of water for her?"
He must have nodded, because the next second I heard him get up from the couch to head on into the kitchen.
"You okay now, Lynnie," Hunter asked cautiously.
"Call me Lynnie again, and you won't get to find out," I grumbled in agitation. Hunter merely chuckled, before announcing to the rest of the room, "Yep, definitely alright."
Sniffling, I finally removed my head from my cousin's shoulder to look around the room. Though it was nearly the end of June, someone had started a fire in the fireplace nearby, while above the large mantle the big screen T.V was currently playing an episode of Two and a Half Men. At the moment Charlie was currently trying to flirt with one of Jake's teachers. I loved this show; well mostly for Charlie Sheen's portrayal of the character. If they ever got rid of him, I'm sure I would stop watching it in a heartbeat.
"Here you go," a voice said from above me, as a glass of water appeared in front of my eyes almost magically.
"Thanks," I murmured to Jacob, before taking a huge sip. Swallowing, I leaned over to put the glass down on the coffee table nearby. As I did so, I heard Taylor give a quiet groan as she watched me put in directly on the glass instead of the coaster beside it. She may be young, but she was definitely a homemaker in the making.
"God, I'm so tired," I moaned, as the drowsiness finally hit me.
"Then go to sleep," Hunter insisted, but shaking my head, I replied, "Can't. I bumped my head against one of the bookshelves, and of course the EMT freaked out. He said I shouldn't sleep for a few hours. I think I might even kill him for telling me that."
"Oh Amber, he was just doing his job," Taylor reasoned, before swiftly adding, "Besides, you can to sleep. We'll just have to keep a close eye on you for a few hours is all."
"Which is exactly why I'm not falling asleep, because as soon as I do, one of you will freakin' wake me up anyway to make sure that I'm not dead. So, uh-uh. I'm not going to tease myself with that notion," I barely mumbled while trying to keep my eyes as wide open as possibly. Watching the show kind of helped to keep them that way, but in the end my head was still pounding, and staring at the screen wasn't helping that part at all.
"Stop whining, and go to bed, Amber. You look like you're getting ready to fall over. Besides which, this is your fault anyway missy. So I don't wanna hear it," Hunter insisted, as he bent down to pat Rain roughly on the head. Currently Rain was trying to chew on his shoes; the very ones he was wearing might I add. So far though, Hunter hadn't had any luck getting him to stop, at least until Jake snapped at him. Suddenly Rain bowed his head, and lied back on the floor in submission with a pitiful whine.
"How in the hell did you do that? He won't even listen to me," Hunter cried, while looking between Jake and Rain.
"It's all about showing them who's the alpha dog, or else they'll pick on you," Jake chuckled, as he shared a humorous look with Embry and Quil, "Anyway though, back to the subject of Amber. You're cousin is right. You need to go get some sleep, or else you'll be even worse off than you are now."
Rolling my eyes, I was about to retort, but I was suddenly stopped as a hand securely wrapped itself around my chest from behind, and pulled me down into a nice warm, soft lap. Thankfully their skin had narrowly avoided touching with mine. However, I still looked up to glare at the culprit, as he smiled cheekily down at me.
"Go to sleep," he ordered, before shoving a pillow under my head.
Mumbling some very colorful words underneath my breath, I turned over and faced his…well maybe that hadn't been a good idea. Quickly I turned back around, and lied on my other side, as I brought my legs up onto the couch with me. Silently, I laid them across Hunter's legs.
"Fine, but you three are staying to make sure those two aren't going to wake me up every twenty minutes. Ya'll can just watch T.V. while I sleep, for all I care," I grumbled while closing my eyes.
"But what if I have to get up and pee," Hunter cried, as I curled my legs around his waist.
"Hold it and deal with it. You're one of the few in here trying to force me to sleep," I answered with a yawn as the adrenalin finally began to leave my system, and in turn left a pounding headache in its wake.
"Fine, but when I pee on you, don't say I didn't try to warn you. Right Embry," Hunter replied, as his voice began to sound even further off.
"Huh…what? Oh yeah, sure," Embry mumbled, as if distracted. Though as much as I wanted to find out why he was, I couldn't bring myself to even so much as move from my comfortable spot. By that point the heat that was coming off of him just felt too good to resist. Slowly I was drifting in between dreamland and reality. The last thing I heard before I finally slipped away was Hunter demanding that Taylor order something from Domino's instead of cooking tonight, and Jacob saying he was going to go call Sam about changing shifts. Then, right after that, I was out like a light, and drifting through the happiest dream I had had in a long time; filled with love and content.
However, it didn't last long. A little while later I heard two distant voices talking too one another. They sounded so far away, that I was sure they couldn't be in the same room. Though, it didn't matter much, because I knew those two voices so well by now to understand their jumbled words. Taylor was arguing with Embry about waking me up to see if I was alright, while he was promising her that I was perfectly fine. She wasn't happy about it at all, but instead of fighting him, she just walked off. I was glad she did though, because the next second I felt an arm pull me closer into the warmth, and that's all it took for me to fall into the dream world once again. At least what I thought would be a wonderful dream world.
I was lying draped across his lap, smiling contentedly. I could even smell the fresh pines, and the fragrance of autumn slowly ending in the air around us, as he twirled my hair through his finger. In the distance I could hear Pittman's high school football team practicing, as the band patiently waited to take over the field for their own practice. I couldn't help praying that the team would take much longer than usual, so that way I could just lay here with him a little longer instead having to go help my high school band set up for their drills.
"It looks like their wrapping up," Jacob breathed softly into my ear, ruining whatever hope I might have had.
Opening my eyes slowly, I found Jacob's head bent down to block the sun with his golden locks. Smiling up into his butterscotch eyes with my own dark brown, I said, "Just one more minute. That's all I ask."
Laughing from deep within his chest, Jacob said to me ever so casually, "Fine by me. I don't want you to get up either, but it looks like Aylssa is nearly ready to kill you for not being down there with her and Taylor."
"They can deal with it. It's not like I'm really part of the band, I'm just one of the insignificant band managers like you. So if you really want to point fingers, dear sweet boyfriend, you're supposed to be down there as well," I countered cheekily, before gesturing for him to back up so that I could get to my feet.
The metal bleacher's creaked ominously beneath me as I stood up, but I was so used to the sound I hardly noticed. The bleacher's had become like a second home to me within minutes of starting my freshman year. Looking over at Jake, I noticed he was no longer gazing at me, but at the group of notorious druggies that inhabited our school. Currently they were mocking the 'band geeks,' and the 'stupid jocks,' from the other side of the field.
My eyes narrowed in on their supposed leader, Noelle Carter. I honestly couldn't stand her. The sad thing about it really was that we used to be friends back in the eighth grade before she started hanging out with that group. I wanted nothing to do with them. I knew what they were all about, and from the way Noelle's eyes had looked earlier within the day, she was probably due for another hit of whatever she was using. It just made me sick, especially since the teachers really did nothing about it.
"I swear to God if they cause any problems…"
"I'll deal with it," Jacob answered, slipping his hand into mine. Squeezing tightly, he got up, and motioned for me to follow him down the steps. However, as we rounded around the football field to meet up with Alyssa and Taylor, I could hear a chorus from above us. Looking up to figure out what all the commotion was, I inwardly cringed.
There, sitting in the opposite bleachers, was Noelle and her gang singing, "Amber and Jacob sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"
"Just ignore them, baby," Jacob cooed, leaning over to kiss my forehead. However, this time it was only Noelle's voice that sang out. However, the tune had changed entirely.
"Yeah, I'd hold on real tight too, Amber. Never know when somebody might take him from ya," Noelle cackled heartily, as her friends laughed behind her.
I froze in my tracks, but before I could turn around to face her, Jacob was already calling back, "You're just jealous cause you don't have anybody, Noelle. So go pop some more pills with your friends and sulk about how horrible your life is. Cause honestly, I could care less."
"You sure about that? Could always have something better," she prattled, before looking around to see if anybody else was looking. Then, suddenly, I found my mouth hitting the floor as she rose up her shirt and bra to flash him. The look on both our faces was priceless for her as she fell over giggling incessantly.
"Slut," I growled, before yanking Jacob's hand to follow me away from the whore.
When we were finally away from the group, I turned to look around at Jacob only to find him still staring back. Figures. What fourteen-year-old boy wouldn't look, but at that moment I should have known better.
"Jacob, come on. We've got to go," I smiled, as his eyes turned back around to look at me. Slowly his blank look formed into a genuine smile, and he began following me once again to help set up the podium for the band.
At some point while the band was practicing, I leaned over to ask him, "How's everything going on at home by the way? You haven't mentioned how you're mom's taking your brother being back home after being sent off for so long. I know it's probably been hard on you too. You always did say he was a bit of a jerk."
Jacob's eyes slowly darkened, as a shadowed passed over his golden orbs, and what smile he had left slowly melted away into a deep frown. Looking over at me, he replied, "I don't want to talk about it, Amber." However, as he said this, I watched as he tried to stealthily cover his arms a little better with his jacket. Though, before he fully had them hidden, I could see just the faintest trace of bruising and a litter of fresh cuts.
"Jacob your…"
"AMBER! I SAID I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT OKAY," and that was the first time he ever yelled at me, but it was never the last, because suddenly I wasn't standing on that football field anymore. No, I was somewhere else; somewhere much darker. I'd suddenly found myself back in the car on that horrid night with Jacob, and we were arguing once more.
"What? You mean how I told you I LOVED YOU," he screamed, as once again an inhumanly growl came bursting from between his crimson red lips.
"NO! WHEN YOU SAID YOU'D COME BACK! NOT A YEAR LATER WHEN I'M FINALLY GETTING OVER YOU!"
"I COULDN'T COME BACK FOR YOU THEN! WOULD YOU REALLY HAVE WANTED TO END UP LIKE THIS?"
"LIKE WHAT," I screeched.
"LIKE A…." but whatever he had been about to say was blurred out by an ear piercing scream, and suddenly I was jerked awake.
I awoke with a strangled cry, as the ground beneath me jumped up in surprise. Suddenly I was falling through the air, and just when I was getting ready to brace myself for the impact that would eventually come…it didn't. However, it wasn't someone else this time to catch me. It had, for once, been my own self.
Somehow, and I'm not sure how exactly, I'd managed to right myself in time and land in a cat-like crouch.
I blinked my eyes a couple of times, before gazing around at the shocked room full of people. As of the moment, Hunter, Jacob, Quil, and some other guy I had never met before were currently lounging around in my living room, staring at me with controllers firmly griped in two of the guys' hands. Looking up, I saw on our flat screen a multi-player video game paused at what I would only assume was a crucial point in it. Slowly my eyes drifted away from the T.V., and down onto the floor. There I found, surrounding the group of people sitting around the room, were several empty boxes of Domino's pizza and about five 2 liters nearly emptied of their contents.
"Um," I began, hoping to salvage this situation, but I immediately realized that was going to be impossible as the unknown guy within the room suddenly laughed out, "Wow, that was funny."
Almost simultaneously, I heard a growl behind me, and turned to find Embry glaring at the intruder. However, his eyes quickly met mine in concern, when he noticed I'd been looking over at him.
"Are you okay," he carefully asked, as I slowly got to my feet realizing that it had been because of him I had ended up on the floor.
"Yeah, just…bad dream is all," I mumbled as red slowly stained my cheeks.
Suddenly Taylor burst into the room like a mad-woman screaming, "What? What's going on? Is everyone okay?"
"Everyone's fine Tay. I just had a nightmare is all," I shrugged, as I took a seat between Embry and Hunter again.
"Thank God. For a minute there, I thought you were being attacked or something," Taylor confessed, as her eyes darted over to Embry accusingly. Thankfully, instead of starting an argument with her, Embry chose to brush this aside. Instead, he returned his chocolate brown orbs back to staring at the T.V., as the boys restarted their game. As they did so, my eyes once again zeroed in on the intruder I'd seen earlier.
"No offense at make things even more awkward, but who in the hell are you," I asked pointedly looking at the unnamed man within the room, but it was then that I slowly began recognizing his familiar face as he swiveled around to glance back at me.
I had seen him before, but I just couldn't place where…
"I'm Collin Littlesea. You know, the one who helped you find Rain at the animal shelter? Anyway, the guys invited me over to play a few video games, while you were still passed out," Collin informed me, as I caught sight of Rain happily sitting beside him looking almost expectantly at me.
"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry about that. I'm still kind of coming too. It's good to um see you again, I guess," I muttered, before looking over at Taylor for some help.
However, she far from helped me.
"Amber, did you remember to take your uh…well you know, today," she softly asked inching towards me.
Glaring at her, I shook my head.
"Well, how about you go and take it, while I clean up this mess. By the way, I saved some pizza for you in the microwave since these guys devoured the rest," she glared pointedly. Hunter just shrugged as if it was no big deal, but at least the other guys had the decency to look guilty.
"Alright, and thanks Tay," I answered, before swiftly making my way on out of the room, and up the stairs. I was so far gone in my head that I barely even noticed the height as I made my way over to the bathroom door.
Once inside, I ambled on over to the little orange bottle sitting on the sink. Picking it up, I took off the child proof lid, and poured one of the tiny blue pills into my hand. I only had a moment to stare at the distasteful item before I finally gave in and popped it into the back of my mouth. Forgoing the water this time around, I quickly swallowed the pill and replaced the lid back onto the bottle.
Sighing, I quickly went to use the restroom, before coming back out to the mirror to straighten myself up a bit. Once I was as close to satisfied as I was going to get, I finally headed back on down the stairs to get something to eat. Reaching the bottom safely, I casually turned the corner, and made my way into the kitchen to find Taylor cooking.
"Thought you ordered pizza for a reason," I grumbled, as I headed over to the microwave.
"I did, but this is just some home-made cookies. Baking tends to keep my mind off of other things, however don't use that as a way to change the subject, Amber," Taylor warned with a fixed glare, before going on to add, "You can't forget to take those pills, or you'll slip back into old habits."
"I know," I mumbled guiltily, as I set the microwave to warm up my two pieces of pepperoni pizza. As the light turned on inside, I quietly watched as the plate spun round and round. Eventually, I felt my eyes go cross-eyed at the motion. Blinking them for better vision again, I turned around to find Taylor still glancing over at me curiously. Raising my brow at her, she took that as her cue to finally ask what was on her mind.
"So, what was it about anyway?"
"What was what about," I questioned while hungrily watching her stir the batter of cookie dough.
"You know what? The dream. What was it about? I haven't heard you scream like that since…well, since Jacob left you to be blunt," Taylor concluded, before she froze in mid stir. Turning to look up at me, she asked, "It wasn't about him, was it?"
Nodding my head, I replied, "It was just another piece to the puzzle, about the night of the crash. Things are slowly coming back, but it's like my mind is purposely blocking it out, and for what reason I don't understand."
"Maybe because deep inside you don't want to relive it at all, or because it was just too tragic…either way, are you sure you don't want to see somebody again about…"
"No," I suddenly spat out angrily, before adding, "I don't need a damn crock of a doctor telling me how to feel and what to think."
"But…"
"NO TAYLOR!"
Taylor went silent at my scream, but I could see in her eyes she was deeply hurt. My eyes softened for only a second, before she replied viciously, "You know, you're not the only one with ghosts, Amber. Some of us are just willing to accept help, and get past them."
"Oh really, then why aren't you sleeping," I snipped, before turning my back on her to grab the pizza out of the microwave. With that said, I muttered, "I'll be in my room. Tell the boys I'm glad they stayed, but I'm not feeling up to company right now." However, as I went to exit the kitchen, I heard her mutter under her breath, "I'm not your mom or you maid. You can tell them yourself."
It was only then that I began to feel slightly bad for my behavior. I probably could have been more understanding, and a little less cruel. However, like always with our fights, my pride got the best of me in the end, and I chose to ignore her whispered words instead as I made my way up the stairs.
Once in my room, I abandoned most of my pizza on the dresser, having eaten most it halfway up the steps. Carefully, I made my way over to my nightstand, and opened my top drawer. Reaching inside, I pulled out a single photo frame covered in dust.
Wiping the dirt off the glass, I gazed into the faces of two innocents from so long ago. Their smiles were once so full of laughter and tenderness, but now…but now one of them was gone, and the other was just a ghost of who she once was.
I gazed a few minutes longer into the photo that Jake and I had taken on our first date at the raceway; go-karts zooming by like blurs behind us. However, before long I eventually found the bitterness slowly filling me up inside at the memory, and as if the photo itself had burned me, I tossed the picture aside; back into the drawer from where it had been resting for the longest time. There was no need to keep relying on the past. I needed to change; I needed to move on with my life. I couldn't mourn anymore, because it was killing me.
But still, I wanted to know why?
I wanted to understand why he had come that night?
I wanted to know why they found his body in the driver's seat and not mine.
However, most of all, I wanted to know where he'd been for the past year, and why he hadn't returned until that fateful night.
"What did you want to tell me, Jake," I whispered to the silent air around me, as if it would give me the answers I so desperately craved.
However, the air remained as still as ever before. So, shaking my head, I headed on over to my bed and snuggled in underneath the covers. Though, not once did my eyes close, as I stared out of my giant bay windows, and up at the clear, bright moon hanging high over the silhouette of the darkened forest. For once the sky was clear tonight, and for that I was glad, because it was about time something good happened around here. God only knows we need it now more than ever.
And there it is, another chapter dished out. Sadly this will probably be the last for a little while until I get back into the swing of things with this fandom. Right now I'm just focusing all of my efforts of my ROTG fanfiction, Be Brave. So please forgive me, but hopefully this chapter will sate you for the time being despite everything. Though once again, I am truly sorry that you will have to wait awhile again for another update after this.
Anyway though, I'd like to thank my reviewers for their kind words. It was really great to know you loved the story so far, and hopefully continue to as well-…wintermoon7…and brokenasylumist.
Once again, I sadly don't have a song I listened to for this chapter. Well, I probably did in the beginning when I first wrote it, but I've honestly forgotten what it was. I will try to start leaving myself messages when I write chapters to remind myself, so that way you'll know music really fits the chapters. Until then though, so sorry.
Also, since I haven't had time to really edit the next chapter, and I know there are way too many mistakes, and things I'm probably going to have to change, I don't think it's a good idea to leave a preview just in case the scene doesn't make the cut. Once more, I am really sorry.
Either way though, I really hope you liked this chapter, and if you're not too made at me for everything, I truly do hope you leave a review. If you have any questions about the story or the chapter just message me, or leave it in a review, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Until next time though ladies and gentlemen, I bid you adieu.
Sincerely, DesireOfFantasy
P.S. PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW! Embry would be so happy if you did. He's giving you his famous puppy dog pout right now too. Real puppy dog face and all. LOL