A/N: Guess who's back, back, back, back again, gain, gain?
Razzy's back, back, back-tell friend, friend, friend!
I know I said that this was currently on hiatus (well, I did in another story, but I guess you guys never got the memo, did you? I'm dead serious, I JUST realized that. Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry! It's cause my dad gave me a quote-unquote "extra homework assignment") but Rory-not to mention some of my other characters-just will NOT shut up right now. So I was like "Okay! I'll write, I'll write, just please make the voices stop!"
Okay, I wasn't quite so reluctant.
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I'd respond to all of you individually, but I want to get this out as soon as possible, and I don't know when I'll have the time to sit down and respond to all of them, and I figure you guys would rather have an update…right?
Whoa…déjà vu.
But anyway, thank you all so much. Also, I might need Nutjob Nick later on, but he is for rent. To be paid in reviews. And also, some people seemed surprised that it was Jasper…which made me excited, because people never tell me they were surprised at what I wrote. Hooray for my first plot twist!
Also, I found pictures of all my characters. The link (singular-all in one spot) is on my profile, if anyone is interested.
Chapter Notes: This takes place before the Eclipse battle, when the Cullens still think the wolves can go die and vice versa.
Which made this all the more entertaining to write.
Also, I had some stuff written in Jasper's POV about finding out she'd gone missing and trying to find her, but I hated it, so I just decided to trash it and let you know in the A/N that Edward went to Bella's house and Charlie was getting worried (I always imagined that Chief Swan would be the type to worry when scary stuff happens, especially considering the fact that not much crap actually happens in Forks. At least, before Bella moved to town, but you see my point.) Edward, knowing that Jasper sees Rory as a little sister, informs him of this, but he already knew, he knew ever since Edward made the DECISION to actually pay attention to what Charlie was thinking for once-he usually tunes it out, since whenever Ed's close enough to hear him, Charlie's usually cussing him out in his mind-but anyway, Alice had a vision of Edward coming and telling them that, and them finding her in a subway station-and since there are no subway stations in Forks, they knew Rory had to be in a bigger city, so they try Seattle and the find her there. The reason it took so long was just because Edward doesn't like being cussed out. Most people don't.
If any of that made no sense, sorry. I just made it up as I went along.
Disclaimer: When I own Twilight, I shall throw an enormous party and you're all invited! But I don't. Yet. So no party. I know, bummer, right? I also don't own the song "You're Pitiful" by Weird Al. It has nothing to do with this chapter, I just like that song. It makes me giggle. Especially where he's like "La-la-la-la loser…"
Dog Person
Chapter Two
(Seth's POV; Some time earlier)
"That last part was uncalled for." I told Leah, frowning.
"You only had two requirements-that she know you didn't die or anything, and that she knows that she's not welcome to come looking for you." Leah snapped. "I did my job."
I didn't answer, so Leah went upstairs.
Being a werewolf, apparently, meant not being allowed to have much of a social life, mainly because of the risk involved, and partially because having to come up with fake excuse after fake excuse would've been exhausting. (Because it's not like you can just tell your friends what you're actually doing. "Hey, wanna hang out?" "No, I have to go look out for vampires." No.) Which pretty much meant that I'd never be seeing Rory again. My other friends all went to my school. I only ever saw Rory at the diner. I hadn't known Rory nearly as long as I'd known the people at my school, but it felt worse having to blow her, off, which was why I couldn't bring myself to do it myself and had to have Leah do it.
The reason? I knew my other friends would be okay. They'd be offended, and they'd wonder what was going on, sure. But they'd be fine without me. They'd move on.
Rory was a different story. She might act like she didn't care about anything, that she was fine and didn't need anyone else, but I could tell that wasn't true. In a way, she was like Leah on lesser scale-she only acted like that because she was absolutely terrified of anyone figuring out how fragile she really was.
Which was why I didn't mention the fact that I had figured that out, months ago.
I ran over what Leah had said.
"Is this Rory Neilson?" she'd asked, just to make sure she didn't waste her breath on the wrong person. Pause.
"Fine." She'd said, sounding more irritated than usual then.
"Hi. This is Leah Clearwater. Seth's sister. He wanted me to tell you that he can't come next week. Or ever. But it's not because he's hurt or anything, he's fine. He's just not coming. And he said not to come looking for him or anything. Basically, he never wants to see you again. Have a nice day."
Click.
My dad always said I was too perceptive for my own good. Which, I realized now, was true. If I hadn't been perceptive, I wouldn't have anticipated what this going to do to Rory. If I hadn't anticipated that, then I would've told her myself, and I would've been able to tell her in a less…hostile way. And then she wouldn't be as royally ticked off, not to mention hurt, as she probably was right then.
I tried calling her the next to day to explain that it wasn't anything against her, but her brother, the second oldest one, answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi, this is Seth Clearwater, is Rory home?"
"Oh, it's you." He spat. "Yes, she's home, but I doubt she wants to talk to you right now."
"Well-"
"Attempt to contact her again in any way, shape or form, and you'll be out cold so long that even if you do wake up, it'll be in a box six feet under."
And then he hung up.
I didn't call back.
I couldn't help but wonder who was going to wind up putting her back together. Someone was going to have to eventually-she couldn't do it alone, and you knew that because you could tell how hard she tried to.
Whoever it was, they were going to have their work cut out for them.
So add that to the list of stuff I felt guilty about. If Leah and I hadn't phased, our dad would still be here. That was a big one. Then, after everything that had happened to my sister, I still found something to be jealous of-not even something worth being jealous of. Having no friends? And then the whole thing with Rory.
"Way to go, Slick." I thought sarcastically.
Sometimes, when the voice in my head got like that, it sounded just like Leah.
(Rory's POV; Where we last left off)
Observation One: Jasper wasn't alone. Alice was there too, which was a good thing, because I had this feeling that if she weren't, I'd be dead already. Alice looked concerned, but Jasper…didn't.
Observation Two: Jasper was ticked.
"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed. I frowned, stood up, and almost lost my balance for a minute-made of equal parts insomnia and malnutrition-but Jasper caught me by the arm and steadied me, so he couldn't have been that angry.
"Nice to see you too." I said sarcastically.
"Rory, look at yourself. You're a mess."
"Thanks, you look great, too."
"I'm serious. You need to go home."
"I-how did you even find me?"
"It wasn't all that hard, to be honest." Alice said. "We knew you wouldn't want to be found…after that it was just logic."
"If you knew I didn't want to be found, then why did you come looking?" I snapped.
"Sometimes what you want isn't the same as what you need. What you need is to go home."
"I can't."
"Can't,
or-"
"Don't-" I interrupted, "Don't you dare say
'won't.' I can't. I just can't, okay? So just go…go
away."
I sat back down and looked pointedly away from them, instead choosing to mad dog Nutjob Nick, who was watching this exchange with interest.
Alice crouched down and put an icy cold hand on my shoulder. "Hey," she said quietly, "Why can't you go back?"
She had a high, comforting voice, not shrill but almost musical, and that might have been part of why I actually responded.
"How do you even know they want me back?" I demanded. "They were already all P. when I left, and I didn't even leave a note or anything."
Alice looked up at Jasper, who knelt down as well, so we were all on the same level; something I was grateful for considering that having someone that angry at me towering over me was making me a little paranoid.
"Rory," Jasper said, not sounding nearly as ticked as he had a minute ago, "You know, your family has been looking everywhere for you? There are signs and everything. They got the police involved."
"They're your family," Alice said. "How could they not want you back?"
"You don't know anything about my family," I muttered. "With your perfect white-bread all-American thing going for you…" It didn't occur to me until later how ghetto-elitist I sounded right then.
There was a pause.
"Did you know that we were adopted, Rory?" Jasper asked.
"So I've heard."
"Yes, well…before I joined the Cullen family, I belonged to a very…different sort of family. Not at all white-bread…definitely not all-American."
Before, I'd been staring past them toward the tracks; now, my head snapped up and I stared at him. There was empathy in his expression; it seemed like he was as desperate for a connection as I was. I was well aware that by "different," he probably meant something entirely different, and much worse, than what "different" meant being applied to my own family; but the empathy was still there. The feelings of being outcaste in the one unit you should have always been included in; the feelings of confusion and isolation and wondering what 'family' really meant, and wondering what if you were where you were supposed to be, and the desperation just to make that all go away, to understand, to not care anymore. He understood that.
It was this, more than anything, that persuaded me to stand up and say "Okay." Unlike Jasper, I would probably not need to be adopted by another family any time soon; but still, Jasper understood. It meant more to me than I would ever admit.
We started walking away-it took me a moment to gather my bearings, but I did-when I stopped suddenly.
"Wait," I said, resting a hand against the all and pulling off a shoe. Alice and Jasper exchanged a wary glance, wondering if my time as a runaway had affected my sanity, but then I pulled out all the money I had left. None of it was the original cash I'd brought with me, but people liked to throw money at me and tell me to get a job, which I thought was a little counter-productive, but not like I was complaining.
I walked over to Nutjob Nick, who had still been watching me, and handed him the money. Sure, he was a psycho, but he'd served as a perfect example of what I did not want to become, and for that I would always be grateful.
As I walked back to Alice and Jasper, I felt something bounce against the back of my head.
"Ow," I muttered, turning around. Looking down, I saw a single quarter lying there, and glancing up at Nick, I saw he was laughing that wheezing laugh of his that sounded more like a dog coughing a really long cough than a laugh. Infuriated, I picked up the quarter and threw it back at him (he just laughed louder) and had started screaming at him-
"WHAT THE FUDGE YOU BUTTER LICKING LITTLE-"
But then Alice linked arms with me and dragged me away, and didn't let go until we reached the street. It didn't really matter, though; a strange sense of calm had just overtaken me, and for some reason, I didn't really care anymore.
As they led me to the car, we passed someone that I recognized, but took me a minute to realize who it was.
I stopped and turned. Jasper and Alice turned around, watching me.
Seth was staring at me like he'd never seen me before. He kept blinking like he was confused. Heck, there was something going on. The boy standing in front of me had hurt me. I knew that. But somehow, I seemed closer and more attached to him than ever. It was almost possessive, and it freaked me out.
Then he asked, "Rory?"
I didn't answer right away. "Yeah," I said finally, "It's me, Seth."
"What…happened to you?"
I realized what I must have looked like right then-the only washing my hair had had in a month was hand soap and a sink in a public bathroom. Which can be used as an indicator for my other hygiene habits. My eyes were gaunt from lack of sleep and exhaustion, and I was so pale, not as pale as Alice or Jasper, but getting there. And thinner than I was supposed to be. Altogether, highly unhealthy looking.
Seth spared me from answering. "Have you been living on the streets or something?"
I pointed to the steps leading to the subways. "Down there, actually."
"But-why?"
I suddenly noticed someone watching us, a woman about my mother's age who looked related to Seth. I guess she was his mother. There was another woman, younger, about Whitney's age, that I guessed must be Leah, but she was, for some reason, glaring at Jasper and Alice. His mom was looking at her son, her eyes occasionally flickering to me, with recognition in them that I couldn't define.
I shrugged in response to Seth's question. "I'm going home now. But that's not important." He looked like he disagreed, but I continued before he could interrupt. "What happened to you, Seth? You just flaked out that one time. Why?"
Why couldn't I bring myself to be mad at him?
"I'm sorry," he said quickly, but not insincerely-it was almost frantic. "I'm so, so sorry about that, it's just that-"
His sister smacked him in the back on the head.
"Ow. Okay, I can't tell you right now, but please believe me, it wasn't my choice. I didn't want to, I wanted to tell you at least, but I just couldn't."
Hm. Avoiding me for vague and unknown reasons. Sound familiar? I think so.
I looked over at Jasper and Alice. They seemed to know what was going on, too, and they didn't seem to be happy about it. Why was I so out of the loop?
Seth noticed Jasper, narrowed his eyes, and took a step forward, challenging, almost instinctively, then got hold of himself and turned back to me. Weird.
"Listen," he said, pointedly ignoring my 'what was that?' look. "Um, maybe this isn't the best time to talk about this-do you want me to come to the diner again? Friday?"
"Friday is Claire's birthday." Leah interjected. With the tone she used, a word like "stupid" or "Moron" or something to that extent would not have been out of place at the end of the sentence.
"What about Saturday?" Seth asked. "Around eight?"
"Um…sure…sounds good. I don't think we're open then, though" I said, "so come around and knock on the back door, okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that."
"Actually," Jasper said quietly, coming and putting a hand on my shoulder, "I don't know if that's the best idea."
I looked up at him, surprised.
Seth looked like he was
going to say something, but Leah spoke up instead.
"Yeah?"
she challenged, glaring at Jasper, "Because I think it's a
fantastic idea."
"I'd have to disagree with you, then." Jasper said, glaring back at Leah. Alice came and stood by Jasper, and suddenly Jasper and Alice were having a glare-off with the Clearwaters, and I was caught in between. Nobody seemed to notice me, even though I was relatively sure that I'd been the start of the "disagreement" as Jasper so eloquently put it, the liar. It seemed like something else was causing them to clash, something that I, of course, didn't know about.
When it came to these people, I really didn't get to know anything, did I?
I coughed pointedly.
"I think," Seth
said finally, "That Rory can be friends with who she wants to be
friends with. She does have a mind."
"Thank you," I said,
but it was lost in what Alice said.
"Well, you have a point." She said, "But we're her friends too, and friends don't let friends hang out with other friends if they think those friends are going to hurt her."
Leah snorted. "Yeah, she's a lot safer with you-" she glanced at me before continuing, "people, than she is with us."
There was a double meaning in the word "people," but I didn't catch what it was.
"Yes," Jasper said, "I think she is, actually."
"Then you obviously haven't done your homework, considering the fact that people like us were designed for the sole purpose of protecting people like her," Leah gestured to me, "And people like you were designed to do just the opposite."
"Is ANYONE going to tell me what's going on?" I asked.
Everyone ignored me.
I sighed.
"You know," Mrs. Clearwater said finally, "We really should get going. Birthday shopping to do."
"But of course," Jasper said, steering me back in the direction we'd been walking before.
"See you Saturday," Seth said as we were leaving, probably just to spite Alice and Jasper. It worked. Jasper's hold on my shoulder tightened. I glanced back to respond, when I noticed something that had escaped my notice in all the confusion before.
"Seth," I said slowly, "Its…going to rain soon, you know."
"Yeah…I'm assuming, considering we're in Seattle."
"So can I ask why all you're wearing is a pair of shorts?"
"Oh…yeah….ah, now's not the best time for long explanations, but-well, here." He walked over to me and rested his hand on my arm.
"Holy crap! Seth, see a doctor or something!" His hand was burning. It had to be over 100. It couldn't be healthy.
He just laughed. "If anyone needs a doctor, it's you." He was smiling, but I could tell he was being serious.
"I'm fine, Seth, honest. I'm going home now. You need to see someone about that."
He looked at me skeptically, then said, "I'm fine. And if I come over Friday and you don't look better, I'm kidnapping you and taking you to the doctor myself."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."
"Good. See you-"
"SETH!" Leah screeched from down the street.
"Later!" he finished, and took off running to meet his family, who had kept walking the other direction.
Wow. Seth should be in track or something, cause he could run.
As we walked to Alice and Jasper's car, Jasper told me to be careful.
"Pay attention when you're around Seth, or Leah for that matter." He instructed. "Stay alert…be ready to run at a moment's notice, just in case something…strange happens."
"Um…why?"
"Just…humor me, okay?"
"Sure…"
"Promise me."
"Okay. I promise." I said, still confused. As I got into the back seat and pulled on the seat belt, I said, "So…I don't suppose either of you will tell me what happened back there?"
"Nope." Alice said cheerfully. "Do you want to stop for lunch? You must be starving."
I wanted to protest, but that same sense of calm came over me again and as I realized how tired-and yes, hungry-I really was, I stopped caring about the scene I'd just been a part of.
I wound up falling asleep in the back seat of their car. I had this freaking weird dream.
Half of me was freezing, the other half was burning up, and I started running as the donut shop went up in flames around me while Leah cackled maniacally. When I got out, it was snowing but I was dressed in my summer clothes from Florida, just shorts and a t-shirt. Jasper and Alice were telling me to get into their car, and Seth was telling me to follow him, and Robert Frost poems kept repeating themselves around me by some unknown force.
"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say, in ice…"
A/N: Whoot whoot!
Now I just gotta get Classic 3 up.
I know it's been awhile, but I think it would be cool if you guys reviewed anyway…
