Disclaimer: The characters of Twilight are owned by Stephenie Meyer. The content, ideas and intellectual property of this story and the 'American Vampire Series' in its entirety are owned by Just4ALE. I definitely don't own U2's One.

A/N 1: The timelines have converged.

Chapter 15: Sad Songs Say So Much

BPOV

As I sat on a plane to Seattle on Wednesday morning, I worked on the draft summary document for the project. We were close to the end and this trip would be my last before the results were presented to the client. As I worked through the document, I became distracted as I replayed the events of the past few weeks over in my mind. Jacob was having a hard time holding back... it was almost like I could tangibly feel his desire. I had to respect the fact that he hadn't made a move on me as he once might have so many years ago.

I remembered the first kiss we shared after the BCG holiday formal his first year there. We'd both had a lot to drink and as I went to leave the party, he had followed me out. When no one was looking, he'd grabbed my hand telling me that I should come home with him and he started pulling me into a cab. I held firm in my tracks, pulling back on his hand, laughing and telling him no and my actions instead yanked him to me by accident. It was like a set of magnets: our lips literally crashed into each other and we were wrapped around each other right there on the sidewalk making out. Realizing that any one of our co-workers could walk out and see us – and afraid of what might have happened if I went with him – I broke our kiss, stepped back from him, jumped in the cab and had the driver take off, leaving him on the sidewalk.

This was a different Jake I was dealing with. I thought – no, I knew – that he was being extra careful about his actions, knowing that if he moved too quickly, I'd hop in that cab and drive off again. At the same time, he was making his intent all too clear.

"Jacob, I really don't need you to drive me to the airport," I said to him as we worked late that Tuesday night before I had to leave. We sat in a conference room at the office eating take out Chinese food.

"Why, Bells? It's not a problem for me."

"I can catch a cab! It is business travel anyway so the client will pay for it."

"Okay," he said. "If you're going to be stubborn about it! I just wanted to be able to spend a little more time with you before you went away."

"Uh, we spend every evening together; we have for the past six weeks working on this damned project. Now we're also in boxing classes at dawn twice a week."

"Well, then, can you see how I'd have Bella withdrawal?"

I shook my head. "I'm only going for the weekend right after the Seattle interviews." I took my chopsticks and grabbed some noodles out of the carton he was holding, then I popped them into my mouth.

"Hey!" he protested. I laughed and tried to lick the sauce that had splattered on my face from the noodles. I couldn't reach it so I grabbed for my napkin.

Jake's hands were suddenly on my wrists, stopping me from using the napkin. I looked up from his hand to figure out what was up. His face was less than a foot from mine and his eyes were staring at my mouth. My heart froze. No! Not ready yet! I held my breath.

He took my napkin from my hand and wiped the sauce that was just off the corner of my mouth very softly. "Breathe, Bella," he said. "I never used to make you this nervous."

I looked down again. "It's not you Jake. You know that. I'm just not…"

He put the napkin on the table and then his hand came up under my chin. He gently moved my face back up toward his. My eyes were afraid to meet his.

"Bells, look at me please."

I looked up hesitantly.

He was staring at my lips again. "I want to kiss you. So much." His eyes met mine. "But, I'll wait if you need me to. I know it's still too soon for you." His thumb lightly touched my lips before removing his hand from my face. We were still staring at each other when we heard a slight cough.

Two of the analysts were standing at the door, looking at the both of us and gawking.

Great. Now we'll be office gossip. Like I need that too.

~#~

I spent two days in Seattle finishing up rounds of meetings and interviews for the tail-end of the project. Typing up my notes and my instructions for finishing up the model, I sent the notes and the draft document to Greg and Jacob before starting off on my weekend. I was a little nervous as I drove to Forks late Friday afternoon to visit with Charlie. Sometimes my dad could be so observant and more than a little overprotective and nosy, and other times completely clueless. I was kind of hoping I'd get clueless Charlie this weekend. Unfortunately, I was feeling a little guilty; Dad loved it when I cooked for him, but I was too tired after the past several weeks of travel, meetings and late nights. Instead, I offered to treat him to his favorite steak and cobbler dinner at the local diner. As his girlfriend Sue couldn't join us that night, it ended up being just the two of us.

I got my fabulous conversational skills from Charlie. We ate quietly, the dialogue not exactly flowing at first, but that was our way. We spoke when necessary.

"So what have you been up to? How is work?"

"Good. I'm working with a lot of the old people from before B'school, so it is kind of comforting to be back." I paused to take a sip of my Coke. "Remember my manager from the Buenos Aires project?" I doubted that Charlie remembered anything I told him. It was my mom who remembered names, despite her scatterbrained little mind.

"Yes, I remember you telling me about him." Oh great, I might have the wrong Charlie with me here tonight.

"Yeah, well, I'm working with him again, and also with my friend Jacob."

"Jacob? Jacob, your old boyfriend?" Of course my dad would remember a boyfriend.

"He wasn't exactly my boyfriend, Dad." I've only ever had one boyfriend. "But it is that Jacob."

"How is that going? Is it uncomfortable?" he asked.

"No, Jake's been great. We've been hanging out a bit."

"Hanging out? Dating now?" Yep, wrong Charlie. Damn it.

"No, it's not like that. We just work together and we've been taking boxing classes together."

He raised his eyebrows, a little amused smile on his face. "You've been boxing?"

I rolled my eyes. "Dad, don't act like I'm the same uncoordinated teenager I once was. I do a mean karate chop," I said. "We're taking aerobic boxing. It's kind of fun. I've been getting my exercise in, with that and kickboxing."

"Well, that might explain why you look thinner. You're one lean muscle now, huh?"

I looked down at my plate. It was silent for another long while and then Charlie spoke quietly.

"Bella, if he were here, I'd shoot him. You know that, right? And I'd get away with it."

I knew he wasn't talking about Jacob. You could try. "Thanks, Dad."

He was hesitant to ask the next question. "What happened with Edward, Bells? Alice was just here in February talking about wedding plans."

"I guess he changed his mind," I said.

"He ended it? And you don't even know what happened?"

"Sometimes things don't work out, okay? You ought to know that." He was silent as he nodded. "Do we have to talk about it?"

"No Bells, if you don't want to, it's okay."

"Thanks."

"So what do we do with your house?"

"I moved out of the house a few months ago, Dad, to an apartment. Remember?"

"No, Bells, I mean your house, not his."

"I didn't buy anything yet. I need to save up."

Charlie just stared at me and spoke a little more slowly, as if he were talking to a five-year old. "I mean your house that is under construction… the one in the woods?"

You're trying to tell me something, aren't you? This is like 'Who's on First!' I shook my head. "What are you talking about?"

"Alice and Jasper bought property here in February. Sue's son Seth showed them around back then and then he helped Alice find some additional local contractors to get hopping on the house over the past two months. It is the talk of the town. I think Alice was thinking you'd get married in it. I guess she hoped that you and Edward would get back together."

I could feel the shock on my face. "What???"

Charlie's brow furrowed. "Do you not know about this? Bells, I got a call from a Mr. Jason Scott, a lawyer. He found out from your office that you'd be here this weekend and he wanted to send over your copies of the paperwork. I got a FedEx this morning at the station; I have it back at home. The house is in your name. I haven't bothered to check it out just yet but from what I've heard around town the place is like a palace."

A freakin' house. In the middle of nowhere. What the hell am I going to do with that???

~#~

When we got back home, Charlie handed me a large legal-sized FedEx envelope filled with papers. A business card and a small note from Mr. Scott were clipped to the front of the bundle inside the package. The note indicated that I was to call at any time. Okay, Mr. Scott. Let's try you on a Saturday morning. To my surprise he answered and he was eager to meet up with me before I left town. As I had an early afternoon flight out on Sunday, I agreed to meet him before heading to the Seattle airport.

On Sunday, Charlie went fishing and so we said our goodbyes early. Later that morning, I took the paperwork and made my way to Mr. Scott's office. I was more than a little annoyed that I had to deal with this when I had been trying to have a nice relaxing weekend AWAY from all of what I'd left behind in Chicago. Well, Bella, be civil. It's not his fault.

I parked outside the address on the paperwork and strode up the walk to an open door with a sign on it that said "Jason Scott, Attorney at Law". Standing right by that open door was a short, balding and paunchy man in about his mid-fifties. "Ms. Swan?" he asked.

"Yes, Bella," I replied.

"Jason Scott, the Cullen family lawyer," he said, extending his hand. I shook it and then he gestured to his open office door. I walked in and he closed the door behind us. "Please follow me to my office, Ms. Swan."

We made our way to his rather bland office. He gestured to a chair and I took a seat. Then he moved to sit behind his desk and looked at me. His eyes were curious and a little nervous.

"Well, Ms. Swan, I'm so pleased to meet you. Congratulations on your engagement to Mr. Edward."

My heart dropped into my stomach. Aw crap, that was what I was afraid of. Will this hell never end? I swallowed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Scott. I'm afraid that there must be some mistake and that is why I'm here. Edward and I are no longer engaged. And I don't think the family would want for me to have this house."

His brow furrowed. "I'm sorry to hear that, Ms. Swan. While I have only met Mr. Jasper, I was thrilled to hear that Mr. Edward had finally found his partner." He paused. "Pardon me but may I ask when you and he called off your engagement?"

"In May," I answered quickly. I could give him the exact date, hour, minute and second if he wanted, but I suspected May would suffice.

"Ms. Swan…" he began.

"Bella, please."

"Bella, Mr. Jasper and his wife had these papers drawn for you just a few days ago. Surely they know about the state of your relationship?"

What the hell? I was confused. "Yes, of course they do. I just saw Jasper in June. There must be a mistake. Obviously, I can't keep the house if I'm not going to be part of the family."

"Ms. Sw… Bella, if I may. I have worked for the Cullen family for a long time, as did my partner before me. They are a unique family." He seemed a little frightened.

"Yes they are." You have NO idea buddy. On second thought, based on that look, maybe you do.

"I have tremendous respect for them," he said carefully. "They are valued clients, as you might imagine." I nodded.

"Therefore," he continued, "you'll forgive me if I say that I must abide by their wishes. If Mr. Jasper indicated that the house should be yours, it must be so. If you choose to sell it after you take possession, it is your choice… but I must complete the transaction for them."

So, now I was having this house forced down my throat. It was bad enough I still had the $30K I tried to return and they wouldn't accept. Were they trying to buy peace of mind? Appease their guilt that one of them had wronged me so much?

I sighed. "Mr. Scott, I wouldn't want to cause any trouble for you. I'll sign the damn papers and then you can tell Jazz… I mean, Jasper and Alice, that you've fulfilled your duties."

~#~

I sat in my car outside of Mr. Scott's office with all of my paperwork. A fucking house. If I kept the stupid thing, I'd never be free of him. I would have to sell it and maybe donate the money to charity. I didn't want any more reminders, not even the proceeds.

I left to make my way to the airport. Trying to distract myself from all of the crap I had to deal with, I made the mistake of turning on the radio. No sooner had I put it on than an old U2 song came on the radio: One. Of course, I was raw after realizing I was still tied to him in some way, so the lyrics were speaking to me. And they were really pissing me off:

Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without…

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should

I was hit momentarily by a crazy thought. Shit, is Bono a vampire too?? Nah, that guy is aging... couldn't be.

"Fucking songs," I muttered. My anger was boiling over. "Fucking house. FUCKING SON OF A BITCH COCKSUCKER EDWARD CULLEN!!!" Yeah, I was mad. The fuck word was flowing freely, more freely than usual. I'd spent too much time with Nicki and Serena and their Sopranos potty mouths.

I pulled off the next exit and looped back the opposite way down the highway. I was going to see this damned house. I'd see about taking a later flight that night.

As I re-entered Forks, I punched in the address on the paperwork in the car's GPS. Funny that it was only a short distance from Charlie's house, but it was deep in the woods. I almost missed the turn-off.

The driveway was long and windy and eventually opened to a clearing. There was the construction site. The house was well on its way to being finished and it was pretty big. I guessed that Esme had designed it… it looked similar to Denali, with all of the big windows and several floors. Even the look of the damned house was a reminder. I'd have to sell it for sure.

I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head. My anger wasn't going away. God, I wish I could punch something! Kick something! Suddenly, I wondered if they'd built a Karate studio for me here like they did in Denali. I looped around the house to see if there was a garage like they had in Alaska. Then the separate structure came into view. Yep, a two story garage. Who wants to bet that it's up there? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

This building was actually complete. I got out of the car and decided to take a look. I found the stairs and made my way up. I used the keys that Mr. Scott had provided when I signed the paperwork to open the door at the top of the stairs.

There it was… a huge beautiful studio, bigger and better than the one in Denali. It was once again all cherry wood and well lit with the big windows. This one wasn't just for Karate. The room could be divided into two distinct halves. The half by the mirror was empty but for the large punching bag in the corner and boxing gloves nearby. That part was almost an exact replica of the one in Alaska.

The other half… well, it was like my old circus school. There was a low single trapeze complete with padding built into the floor underneath it. There were six poles lined up in three rows of two about ten feet apart from each other… like the ones that they climb in the Mystere show in Vegas. There was a bungee rope with a huge hula hoop-type thing attached to the end, just like in O, and there was a rope leading up to the ceiling with a knot about ¾ of the way up: a Spanish Web. The whole studio was already stocked, including a stereo system built into the wall complete with a place for my iPod. I shook my head. Alice.

And then I looked at the large mirror. Shit! Is that another surveillance room? I ran out of the studio and looked for another entrance. I found the other door and ran up the stairs, afraid of whom I might find. I breathed a sigh of relief at finding the surveillance room empty after I was able to unlock the door. I looked out into my studio and I decided then I was going to stay for a while. Alice had built this for me and the least I could do was make use of it once before I sold the whole crappy place. There was a sofa in the surveillance room; if I couldn't find a later flight, I'd just sleep here. I didn't want to go back to Charlie's house and have to explain. I needed to do this, alone.

I went out to my car and got my suitcase and brought it up to the studio. Getting out my thicker yoga pants and a tank top, I changed in the bathroom and tied my hair up in a ponytail. Then I got my iPod out and connected it to the system. Knowing Alice, the electricity would be working. I pressed the power button. Of course it was. Thanks Alice. She must have known I'd need to do this. I couldn't be mad at her.

I needed movement. I needed to channel all this hurt and anger and get it out. I needed to leave it behind tonight so that I could move on. I needed to purge myself of Edward Cullen, if that was even possible.

I had no plan. I'd just go wherever the songs took me. To start off, I decided to put on my "Pissed Off and Need to Kick Something" playlist – yes, that was its actual name. Jacob helped me pull this one together one day after our boxing class and we used it quite often when we went to the gym in his building. Thank God for Jacob.

Who'd have thought that one day I'd be thinking that? The boy made me so crazy all of those years ago… and now he was helping me through my hurt with a different dumbass guy. I'd lived to see the day that Jacob admitted his mistake; I wondered if stupid Edward would ever regret HIS actions. Truthfully, part of me hoped that I'd get a chance to see him beg for forgiveness... preferably on his knees. Heh heh, asshole! But the more civilized part of me hoped that if he did regret what he'd done that he wouldn't bother to tell me after I'd moved on. Keep it to yourself, Cullen. After this night, I hope I never think of you again.

Which, I knew, was very unlikely, but hopefully, if I did think of him, the pain would be substantially lessened. Of course, if I just burned down the whole fucking house and studio, that would be a real purge, wouldn't it? YEAH! Nah, I wouldn't do that, although it felt great to think about it. No, it would be best to sell it and do something good for someone with whatever I could get for it.

I scrolled through the Pissed Off playlist and checked the songs for the tempo. Yeah, these would be good to start with. I pressed Random and then Play.

Billy Joel – "Pressure". I put on the boxing gloves and started punching and kicking the bag. It felt great! But as the song moved on, the vision in my head shifted and I started imagining the trapeze with this song. I removed the gloves and took a forceful long run at the single trapeze. I quickly lifted my butt up and hooked my knees to the bar, hanging upside down as the swing swayed back and forth with my movement. Then I swung my body up to reach for the chains above the bar and climbed up.

Building momentum and height, I swung back and forth, kicking my legs out and pulling back on the two chains holding me up to pump up the swing. When it was high enough, I timed my fall back at the back end of the swing, held myself by my knees again and let go at the peak of the front end, kicking my legs down to land on my feet. I stuck the landing as Billy Joel yelled out "Pressure!" Perfect 10!

The next song that came on was Korn – "Word Up!" That was clearly just a rockin' song. I spent time punching and kicking the hell out of the bag. Then Genesis – "No Reply at All" - fitting song since I was trying to purge the asshole who just up and disappeared on me. I kept the boxing gloves on and continued knocking the punching bag. God it felt good. It was definitely cathartic.

But as I punched the thing, I started thinking of an entirely different Genesis song. It wasn't MY song, the one I once loved and had seen my visions put to reality on the ice so long ago. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure if I'd ever listen to that again. No, the one I was thinking of in that moment was in fact an older medley from a CD that Charlie bought me and that I took to Dartmouth with me. I hadn't thought of that song in years. I used to drive Nicole crazy with that one, playing it every day a bit too early in the morning. In fact, when she and I competed in The Roommate Game in our dorm our Senior Year - it was the college version of that old game show The Newlywed Game - she named this as my most annoying habit.

Yeah, it was a perfect song to work out all of my anger. I ran to the iPod and scrolled through to find it. Genesis's "In The Cage" medley from the Three Sides Live CD. This was a VERY long song at almost 12 minutes. I punched it up.

Years ago, when I use to listen to this, I had conjured up an entire - admittedly weird - stage production in my head. It involved a prison, cellmates who broke out of jail and escaped, and their reunion on the outside trying to find love and live a normal life. It was actually quite involved. Hmmm. With The Shawshank Redemption as my favorite movie, I'd clearly need to talk to that psychiatrist at some point to work out my fascination with prisons for sure. The shrink probably would tell me that I had some secret fantasy about being held captive and tied up… Hmmm, do I? I'm sure Edward would have tested that theory. Yeesh. I shook my head, not wanting to know.

I decided to stop worrying about any odd fetishes at that moment. Instead, I wanted to see if I could rebuild that old routine with this crazy, fast and intense song in this well-stocked room. I wanted to be free.

Nope, I'm not flying back to Chicago tonight.

A/N 2: You go Bella! Get it all out.

Thank you for reading so far. PLEASE leave feedback…

Post A/N: Thanks again to those of you who've continued to read this, leave me feedback and/or put me on alerts or favorite lists. I actually check out each of your profiles when you do that to see what you say about yourself, where you're from and what else you're reading. You've pointed me to some great stuff...