Just a little chapter for ya.

I own nothing.

Drugs are bad.

Ch 8

I was lying naked in my favorite body of water: my bath tub, trying to relax my body and mind. I shouldn't have to force myself to relax, it should just happen, but with all this shit with Seth my mind wouldn't stop.

"Bella? Bell-a!" I heard Jackson calling.

"In here!" I called back.

"Bella, I need to get going- Whoa!" he said as he saw me in the tub and quickly turned around. "Awkward! Could've warned me you were taking a bath," he spoke with his back to me and Sheridan on his hip.

"It's a bubble bath, you can't see anything," I explained. "Where are you going?"

"Umm…just some errands," he cautiously turned to face me. "What happened to your arm? Is that a bruise?"

I looked down to see what he was talking about and sure enough there on the upper part of my arm was a bruise the shape of Seth's hand.

"Who did that to you Bells? What's going on?" Jackson asked worriedly.

"Nothing. Nobody. I tripped over a case of MGD at work. You know how clumsy I am. Luckily this guy was there to grab me. Kept me from face planting in the beer isle. I guess he grabbed me harder than I thought. I do bruise easily though, so…" I looked up from the bruise to see if he believed me. It didn't look like he did.

"Oh…well be careful."

"Sure." He looked like he was about to say something else. "Give me five minutes. When I'm done you can head out."

"Alright." He gave me one last look and walked away.

I got out of the tub and got ready for my day. I dressed in some old jeans and a hunter green thermal shirt. It was Saturday and I had the day off. I went downstairs to watch cartoons with Sheridan and Jackson left immediately after.

After lunch, Sheridan and I went to the Thriftway to grab a few things. I was in the refrigerated section searching out the 2% milk when Emmett rounded the corner and crashed into my buggy before he had a chance to even see me.

"Owh!" I yelped out when my buggy rolled back over my toe upon impact.

"Oh Bella! Geez! I didn't see you there. Are you ok?"

I leaned over and rubbed my big toe through my converse sneaker. "I think I'll survive. You should be careful though." I looked up at him with a small smile to show him I was joking.

"Bubba!" Sheridan squealed.

"Hey Beautiful," Emmett replied as he reached over and softly pinched her cheek. Sheridan shrugged her shoulder up against her cheek where he touched her and gave him a shy smile.

"How've you been Em?" I asked.

"Good. I'm just doing some shopping for tomorrow tonight. You're coming right?"

"Oh yeah. Poker night, of course."

"Great. Maybe you won't have to run off so fast this time. Maybe stick around and play a few hands and give us all a chance to win our money from you."

"Nah. I don't think so." I said reluctantly. "You guys don't want some lame mama hanging around putting a damper on guys night."

"You are definitely not a lame mama. I'll have you know that all of us guys think that you're a milf." He finished his statement with a wink.

My eyebrows rose and my mouth dropped open slightly. They think that I'm a milf? Is Em flirting with me? Don't blush Bella!

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, well that just goes to show that you guys smoke too much."

"Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree then," he said while looking into my eyes. Then he licked his full lips in a simple but erotic way and smiled crookedly at me. I felt like someone had turned on an oven, and that oven was me. I wanted to stick my tongue in his dimples. "I will see you two beautiful girls later." I watched his perfectly rounded ass walk away from me without saying a word. When he was out of sight and I was able to snap out of the lustful spell he had me under, I scolded myself for being such a mute idiot and for having dirty thoughts about my friend Emmett.

Jackson was back when we got home. He was in his room with the door closed and his music turned up. I guessed he wanted to be alone.

Sheridan and I were coloring later that day when Edward called.

"Hello?"

"Hey. Are you busy?"

"Not really. Just coloring with Sheridan."

"I need to talk to you about Jackson."

"Ok." I felt panic rise in my stomach, even though I knew he was here at home, I was still worried about my little brother-in-law.

"He came to the shop to see me today to ask me for a job."

"Really?" Ok, that wasn't bad, nothing to worry about.

"Yeah, I think he feels like he needs to help out around the house, with money I mean."

"You and I both know there's no need for that. What did you tell him?"

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I told him I would think about it. On one hand I know that you really don't need any help financially but on the other he's almost seventeen. Most guys his age want extra money for stuff, like dates and going out with friends, you know? And I could use an extra pair of hands around here."

"So he would only be involved in the mechanic part of your business, not the other part…"

"Yes, of course, no weed. I wouldn't dream of it."

"Ok, good. Yes, then you have my blessing. I think it sounds like a good idea."

"Great, then I guess I will let him know."

"Alright."

"Bella, he told me about the bruise."

"Oh." Shit.

"I don't think he believed the story you gave him. I think he's more perceptive than you think."

"Damn."

"You should start thinking about being more discreet. Or…"

"Or what?"

"Or just tell him."

"What? No way! I couldn't. What would he think? No. Not gonna happen."

"Just think about it. If he knew, it might be safer, for everyone."

"I don't think so Edward."

"I'm just asking you to think about it. Meanwhile, why don't you tell me what really happened to your arm?"

"I just had a little run in with a customer. I'm figuring it out. Don't worry."

"Maybe I can help. Tell me. Was it one of my customers?"

"You know Seth?"

"Seth Clearwater. Yeah, I know him. He put his hands on you?!"

"He's been buying a lot lately, more than any of my other customers, and he swore that he wasn't dealing to any kids, but Friday night when I went to the game I saw him. I knew he was lying. I should've trusted my gut. So, when I confronted him he got angry and grabbed me. It wasn't that bad really. I do bruise easy. But he threatened to tell the Chief. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about him yet."

"You have to decide if his dealing to kids is worth the money he pays you for weed. He's probably going to deal to anybody who's looking to buy. If it's not worth it to you, ignore his pages. He'll find another supplier."

That night Seth paged me once and I didn't call him.

Sunday morning I woke up early. I felt like making pancakes for Sheridan and Jackson. Myself too. To my surprise when I got downstairs Jackson was sitting at the table sipping coffee.

"Good Morning," I said.

"Morning," he said back with a small smile.

"What are you doing up so early?"

Jackson slightly shrugged his shoulders and said, "I haven't been sleeping so great."

"You having girl trouble?" I made myself busy with starting on the pancakes.

"Guess you could say that."

"You want some pancakes?"

"Sure."

I looked up at him to tell him that girls can be fickle and that they make stupid decisions sometimes and that things would work out. But I wasn't sure if he was talking about Katie or me. And I'm not sure if I wanted to know if it was me. So I brought up the small brown cardboard box that sat in front of him on the table. "What's that?"

He released his coffee cup and picked up the box to extend it out towards me. "Not sure. I found it by the door this morning. It has your name on it."

I put down the whisk and took the box from him. "humm…wonder what it could be."

While breaking it open I thought about who would send me something and came up with no one. Inside was a note, and underneath the note was something that looked like brass knuckles, but not made of brass. Upon closer inspection I saw that it was a stun gun called blast knuckles. 950,000 volts. What the hell? Who the hell?

I opened the note.

Bella,

This is for next time you trip at work.

Edward

I smiled.

"Is that a stun gun? Wow! It is! I saw a video on youtube of these guys using one of those on each other. Blast knuckles are bad ass." Jackson explained. "I heard that if you shock someone below the waist it will make them piss their pants," he continued with a chuckle.

"Sweet." I wrapped my fingers through the stun gun with my pointer finger over the little red trigger button. With my other hand I switched it into the on position. The little red light lit up and I got excited. Jackson watched with wide eyes. I briefly pressed the red button and there was a bright flash with a loud crackling noise that resounded throughout the kitchen. It startled us both.

"Holy shit, that's amazing," I said with awe. I loved it. It made me feel so powerful. I couldn't wait to use it.

Later I texted Edward a thank you.

The movie quote from the last chapter was from Girl. No one got it. There is no movie quote in this chapter. :(