All characters except for Annabelle Causley and a few others belong to Stephenie Meyer…and, of course, the writer is not receiving any profit for this story whatsoever.
This is an AU out of Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series. This story starts after Eclipse, two weeks before Edward and Bella's wedding.
Chapter Eleven
Annabelle leaned against the tree behind the Cullen's home –she was starting to think of it as her tree. The sun was starting to set, briefly pulling her out of her misery and loneliness as she watched the sky change colors and the mountains shift as their shadows darkened and lengthen.
"Why are you always outside," Annabelle turned to see Jasper approaching her, faintly glittering as the sun's diminishing rays touched his skin. He sank down gracefully, three feet away from her, crossing his legs and making himself comfortable.
"I was always kept indoors," Annabelle kept her eyes on this blond vampire, noticing his good looks with disinterest. He had a distinct Southern charm and aura she had learned to admired while traveling the Southern states, "Won't Alice be bothered if you sit out here, alone, with me?"
"No –she trusts me."
"But she doesn't trust me," Annabelle pulled up her knees against her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
"True," Jasper shrugged, "Which is why she's working on wedding plans by that window."
Annabelle looked up at the window he pointed at, seeing Alice's outline as she sat by a desk, working on plans for Edward and Bella's wedding. Annabelle knew Alice was able to see everything going on by the tree from that window. She smiled ruefully as she turned her eyes back to Jasper. He was sitting still, staring at the mountains, his face clear of all thoughts.
"Why are you here, with me?" Annabelle couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious, wondering if Carlisle had sent him to get information out of her, information she wasn't ready to share.
"You're exuding these waves of misery and loneliness," Jasper turned to look at her, his golden eyes glinting with empathy, "I couldn't take it anymore so I thought I'd come and keep you company."
"That should take care of the loneliness," Annabelle muttered sarcastically, resting her chin on her arms as she turned her gaze back to the setting sun.
"Yeah…I know we haven't been very welcoming –"
Annabelle scoffed as she turned to look at Jasper, "Aside from Edward, all of you have been very cold towards me. So much so I'm not sure I want to go shopping with Alice and Rosalie tomorrow after all. I don't like being glared at and disliked."
"You got to understand, Annabelle. None of us know why you are here and it is very clear from the feelings coming from you and Edward that there is something, or used to be something, between you two. We've all grown to love and care for Bella and we don't want to see her hurt. She's part of our family." Jasper leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he kept eye contact with her.
"I understand that…she's family and I'm not. There's no need to worry…Edward has made it very clear that he loves Bella. I learned to be without him for the past hundred years and I am positive I can continue the same way," Annabelle looked down at her bare feet, wiggling her toes against the grass.
"If you believe that, why do you feel hopeless and lost," Jasper tilted his head to the side, his golden eyes expressing the feelings running through her. Annabelle narrowed her eyes at him, once again wondering why he was talking to her.
"I'll deal with it," Annabelle frowned at him before turning her face away.
"You're mad at me," Jasper reached out to lightly touch Annabelle's shoulder, wanting to offer her comfort. Annabelle shifted, putting more space between them as she glared at him.
"Yes, I'm mad. But not just at you. Your entire family thinks I am here to wreck Edward's relationship with Bella. You believe me to be a whore that will seduce him into leaving her. Well, I can tell you right now, Edward was my friend before he was anything else. I care a great deal about him. I am not going to make him miserable when I know where his heart is," Annabelle stood up, looking down at Jasper as her anger grew despite his efforts to calm her, "Excuse me for feeling hopeless and lost, but Edward was the reason I've made it this far. He was the reason I decided to leave the Volturri and change my life. It's not easy having to give up the very reason why I still exist today, why I am still myself and not some monster bent on killing anything with a pulse. I've managed to keep my identity because of what Edward meant to me. That's my burden to bear, not his. I'm not a selfish person…I won't risk Edward's happiness in my struggle to keep myself together. And I refuse to let any of you continue to believe otherwise."
Jasper stayed where he was as Annabelle stalked off, heading towards the mountains, her hair fluttering behind her. He realized what a mistake he'd made into believing Annabelle was a conniving slut –Rosalie's words, not his –instead of seeing her as she truly was. A hurting sixteen year old still unable to cope with the way her life had been drastically changed. Wishing he could throttle the Volturri with his bare hands, he now understood why Edward seemed torn between Annabelle and Bella.
Bella may be the one he loved now…but Annabelle was the one his life had centered around. As crazy as it sounded, Edward was still tied to Annabelle…that explained why he felt responsible for her. Shaking his head, Jasper stood up and headed to the house, wanting to share his new discoveries with Alice. If anyone would understand, it would be Alice and he knew she would do everything possible to rectify the situation. With luck, Alice would become a much-needed friend to Annabelle.
"I like what you've done to the room," Annabelle looked up to find Alice leaning against the doorframe, a tentatively friendly smile on her face. Swallowing hard in an effort to dislodge the knot in her throat, she couldn't help but feel grateful for Alice's offered friendship. Aside from Alice, Edward was her only friend.
"Thank you," Annabelle placed the book she had been reading onto the arm of the burgundy suede sofa she had bought to replace the black leather one. She beckoned for Alice to come into the room and take a seat, shifting to tuck her feet under her, "I really enjoyed the shopping spree. You're a lot of fun…as for your sister…well…" Annabelle shifted her eyes to the windows, knowing full well saying anything to a Cullen about a Cullen was not a smart idea.
"Give her time. I know right now she's acting like a bitch with a stick up her butt," Alice grinned as Annabelle's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "But she'll come around. It's always been hard for her to let others in. Rosalie is barely warming up to Bella and she's been around for about two years."
"Uh…two years," Annabelle shook her head, brushing her fingers against the gold cashmere throw draped over the back of the sofa, "I sure as hell don't stand a chance then. Not when she's convinced I'm here to steal away your men."
"Where did you hear that," Alice chuckled, feeling uncomfortable because Annabelle was hitting a little too close to home. Annabelle looked at her, seeing right through her pretence at not knowing what Annabelle was talking about.
"Edward told me," Annabelle sighed, wiggling deeper into the sofa cushions. She let her head fall back, looking at Alice through half closed eyes. Alice leaned back into the sofa, biting her bottom lip before turning to look at Annabelle.
"Edward's always had a big mouth," Alice sighed loudly, crossing her arms in a show of frustration towards her brother.
"That is true," Annabelle gave her a one-sided smile, "Even as children, he always had trouble keeping his mouth shut."
Alice laughed as she moved around, getting comfortable, "What was Edward like as a kid?"
"He was hilarious. He loved to break the rules, do things he knew would get him in trouble. Normally, that would be hard enough to figure out but he also had a problem with his conscience," Annabelle laughed as memories came flooding back, rich with detail, "Every time he did something wrong, he couldn't keep his mouth shut. He always succumbed to the need to confess his sins and transgressions. Most of his punishments were his own fault, not just because he broke the rules but also because he felt it necessary to confess. Eventually, his dad would sit him down every night and simply ask 'You have anything to tell me son?' Edward would break like a dried up twig if there was anything he was hiding."
"He's gotten better with that," Alice kicked her shoes off, burying her toes into the plush golden carpet Annabelle had purchased to replace the dark blue one, "He can hide his own thoughts rather well but he seems to have a problem keeping other people's thoughts to himself."
Annabelle laughed, feeling more like the girl she used to be, "He was always good at keeping my secrets. I was able to trust him with anything…the only times I was punished for stuff we did was if we were both caught. His need to confess only extended to his own actions…he always took the blame whenever I helped him with something. Like the time we freed the hens from the coup…" Annabelle couldn't continue, laughing harder as she recalled the mess they had made and his parents' reaction when they saw what was left of the chicken coup.
"Oh, please, do tell," Alice's smile stretched into a grin as she tried to picture the mischievous little boy Edward had been.
"We were seven, playing tag in his back yard. His parents' cook kept this chicken coup back there for fresh eggs and poultry. Well, Edward was it and I was running away from him. As I ran by the chicken coup, I couldn't help but noticed how sad the chickens looked, pecking at the ground. I stopped and Edward stopped next to me, telling me how tag isn't fun unless one of us is running away.
"I point out the sad chickens to Edward, telling him how it's not fair to keep them fenced in when they would be much happier if they were able to go wherever they wanted. After serious consideration, and a glance over his shoulder, Edward opened the gate, telling me to get the outside hens free while he went into the hen house to free the ones in there. As you can imagine it was only seconds later when this awful noise came from the hen house, practically drowning Edward's screams. He ran out of the hen house, screaming how the hens were ganging up on him. His father runs out of the house to see what the commotion is about and finds Edward outside the hen house; he's covered in egg yolk, eggshells, feathers and bird droppings. Edward just stands there, staring at his father, his eyes huge, knowing full well this was not good.
"I myself had been behind the hen house, trying to catch a hen, when I heard the back door slam open. I froze, crouching down to the ground so I wouldn't be seen. Sure enough, after being asked, Edward explains how he decided to free the hens because they looked sad all fenced in. At this point, I know I'm home free as long as I don't get caught. After a while, I hear Edward and his dad go into the house and I get out of the chicken coup as fast as possible, running towards the tree house, praying to God they don't look out the window.
"After a couple of minutes, Edward's mom comes out to the yard, calling out my name. I climb down from the tree house, pretending to be sleepy. Edward's mom asks me what I was doing up in the tree house and I tell her how Edward and I had been playing hide-and-seek and how he took so long to find me I had fallen asleep. Needless to say, none of the parents suspected me of being part of the chicken coup fiasco…even after my mother found hen feathers in my hair."
Alice was laughing so hard she was having difficulty breathing. Holding her stomach, she couldn't help but laugh harder as the door swung open, revealing Edward standing there with a suspicious look on his face. His eyes moved from Annabelle to Alice then back again, groaning as their laughter increased.
"Not the chicken coup fiasco, Annie," Edward stomped his foot, reminiscent of when he was a little boy and couldn't get his way, "Of all stories for you to tell you had to share that one?"
"Oh, Edward, Bella will love it," Alice slid further down the couch, gasping for air as she pictured Edward covered in chicken gunk. Edward growled at her before turning his glare to Annabelle. Annabelle grinned at him, knowing full well that Edward's glare was worst than his actual bite…not literally, of course.
"Oh, come on, Eddie," Annabelle's grinned grew bigger as Edward visibly cringed at the nickname, "It's only fair your sister Alice know a little about what you were like as a kid. It's your fault that most of those stories make you look like a fool."
Edward bared his teeth at her as he turned to walk out of the room, closing the door behind him but not before throwing out a warning, "No more stories Annie or, I swear, you will regret it."
Annabelle chuckled, feeling relaxed as she swept her gaze over her room. She was quite pleased with the overall décor, having installed bookshelves for books, as well as shelving for the scented candles she fancied. She had bought several of her favorite books at a bookstore in Seattle to bring back to Forks, putting in orders for the rest to be delivered. Reading was a passion she had developed over the past hundred years, an outlet that allowed her to escape her life and live in a world far from the room she was kept in.
She had bought yards and yards of burgundy and gold silk fabric, using it to frame the floor-to-ceiling window wall. With a bit of work, she had managed to bring the sunset inside her room. The colors surrounding her had always soothed her, reminding her of the life she used to have, the life she still missed.
Turning, she finally noticed Alice had left her to her thoughts. Annabelle smiled as she picked up her new copy of Jane Eyre, picking up where she had left off. She had to admit, joining the Cullens may have started out as a bad idea, but now, well, she couldn't help but think it a good choice after all.
