Author's Note: Still not Stephanie Meyer, Just Amber. Therefore I dont own Twilight or its characters. I do however own Ana and Jade and they are pretty awesome in my book hehe :D So I am kind of happy with this chapter, a little humor, a little romance, a little bit of everything. I hope that you guys Enjoy!!!! So as always sit back, relax, and enjoy Chapter 27 :D Read, Review, and ENJOY!!!
Chapter 27: Watching and Waiting
Jade's POV
" Jade please, please, please don't make me do this. Why cant you get Jasper for the meeting, and I will go wake up the love birds," Ana says in a hushed whisper, pleading.
" No. Why cant you get Jasper?" I ask, standing in the dark hallway pushing her towards Jasper's bedroom door.
" Because I would rather save myself another awkward situation," she hisses back heading towards the stairs.
" No, Ana, I am serious. You get Jasper, I will get Emmett and Rosalie," I say bounding towards her.
" But why?" she asks whining slightly.
" Well, because, because Jasper likes you better," I say pushing her once again towards his door.
" Ugh, fine, but any awkwardness that comes from this I'm blaming on you," she says, her voice filling with bitterness. I roll my eyes at her and start walking down the stairs.
" You should be thanking me. I am saving you from the possibility of walking in on Emmett and Rosalie fu-" I am cut off by Ana's quick and quiet laughter.
" Okay, your right. Thank you, I would really rather not see, that situation. Now go, I will be down with Jasper in a minute," she says, turning back to his door. I stop and watch her for a second as she takes a deep breath.
" You know, Ana. I haven't always been Jasper's number one fan, but maybe, just this once it wont be like all of the other times with him," I say, watching her carefully.
" I don't know, maybe," she says, lifting her hand to knock softly on the door.
I walk into the kitchen and look up when I hear someone moving around. There standing in all of his glory is Emmett. Naked.
" Oh geeze," I say turning around quickly covering my eyes.
" What are you doing up?" Emmett asks his voice strained.
" Actually I need you and Rosalie in the living room, erm, house meeting," I say wishing there was a way for me to un-see what I saw.
" Right now?" he asks, " You know what? Hold that thought." I stand in the silence of the kitchen my face turned away from where Emmett was standing, butt-naked, in the kitchen, at two o' clock in the morning. " Okay you can turn around now." I turn around slowly, unsure if I should look and I sigh in relief when I see a half dressed Emmett grinning at me.
" Sorry about that," I say, hopping up on the counter.
" Sure you are. I kind of figured you always wanted to get a peak at this package," he says cockily and I smack him lovingly upside his head.
" First, that's gross. Second, I didn't know that you frequent the kitchen at two o'clock in the morning naked, and thirdly Rose would kill both you and me," I say, laughing at the pout that forms on his face.
" Fine deny it all you want Jadey-poo, but I know the truth," he says, trying his best to come off debonair.
" Oh well now the secret is out, run away with me Em, no one has to know about our secret love affair," I say, playing along with him. I laugh wildly as a look of pure shock crosses his face.
" You are far too easy Em."
" Oh yeah, ha ha," he says, blushing wildly. For someone who loves to pull pranks and has made sarcasm an art form, he is so gullible. The sound of someone clearing their throat at the door to the kitchen catches my attention. I look over to see a sleep rumpled Rosalie staring at us.
" Hey Rose, I was just telling Em here that we are having a house meeting," I say easily, smiling at her.
" Right now?" Rosalie asks, stifling a yawn. " What could possibly be so important this early?"
" It's about Edward, living room, fifteen minutes, that should give you enough time to become somewhat coherent," I say, sliding off the counter leaving them in the kitchen.
Ana's POV
I stand outside of Jasper's door nervously twisting the hem of my shirt around my fingers. 'Damn Jade, why couldn't she have just gotten Jasper?" I think to myself. Okay so I am being a little bit childish, but I just really, really don't want to face him. Not yet at least. I take a deep breath as I hear Jade's footsteps on the stairs and I knock quickly.
" Come in," Jasper's voice muffles through the closed door. I open the door and slide in. his room is dark, except for a lone light throwing shadows around his room. " Ana," he says on a half whisper smiling slightly at me.
" Hey," I say as he stands up grabbing a shirt that was thrown carelessly over the chair.
" I'm so glad you came to talk to me. Look I know that I have a lot of explaining to do," he starts saying and I just roll my eyes holding up my hand to him.
" Whoa, hold on. I didn't come to talk to you about us. I came to tell you that we are having a house meeting," I say, backing up towards the door.
" Wait about what?" he asks walking towards me.
" Its about Edward," I say, my back bumping up against the door. I shrink away from him as he steps closer. He stops his face a breath away from mine.
" I see. Ana, you know that we are going to have to talk, soon," he says, running a hand carefully over my hair.
" I know, just not now. This isn't about us now. This is about Edward, and Jade," I say, reaching for the door knob behind me. I side step opening the door and walking out before he can say anything in return. Call me a coward I don't care, but I am just not ready to face my fate.
Jade's POV
I sit on the couch facing the window watching the rain fall steadily outside. I hear footsteps on the stairs and look up to see a frazzled Ana walking down.
" Hey, is he coming?" I ask, and she just simply nods as she sits down next to me. " You okay?"
" Yeah," Ana says quickly and I watch as she shakes her head. " Okay, no I'm not. But this isn't about me."
" Annalisa," I say my voice growing stern and I look up when I see the others entering the room. I look at her deeply letting her know with unspoken words that we will be talking when all of this mess is over Edward. If we can stop it from getting worse before its too late.
" Okay, so what was so important that it couldn't wait?" Rosalie asks, her voice still tired and slightly annoyed.
" Okay, well. First of all. Have any of you spoken to Alice?" I ask, taking the initiative to explain everything.
" No," Emmett says, looking at me questioningly. I let out a breath and look around the room.
" Okay, well by now you all know that Bella showed up. Well I was standing in the kitchen when Alice came over in a pretty pissed off mood. Alice saw something, about the baby," I say, and I watch as everyone but Ana's, eyes widen with silent panic. " Before anyone asks, the baby is fine. The baby, isn't Edward's." I stop talking letting what I just said sink in.
" Wait so Bella lied. About everything?" Rosalie asks, standing up pacing the room furiously.
" Yes. But that isn't the worst part," I say clasping my hands in front of me.
" How could it be worse? She lied to Edward about the baby, what is worse than that?" Jasper asks, his voice icy cold.
" It gets worse, because Edward has already made up his mind about what he is going to do about it," I say, waiting to see if someone will be able to guess it.
" What is he going to do?" Rosalie asks, her eyes widening as I look at her and she finally gets it.
" Oh no. He cant be that stupid."
" Yes, yes he can be," I say, sitting back against the couch.
" Am I the only one who is completely lost here?" Emmett asks, looking at me and Rosalie like we are crazy.
" He's going to marry her," Rosalie says, sitting heavily next to him.
" What?" Jasper asks looking at us like we are pulling some sort of bad joke on him. I look at him nodding my head.
" Yeah. Alice saw it, they are going to get married. Unless we can stop it," I say my tone turning harsh.
" How do you suggest we do that?" Emmett asks, his voice deep and full of emotions.
" I don't know exactly. Ana said something to Alice, about Jacob having to know about what was going on and Alice just told her she was a genius, told us to get you guys together, and left faster than I could collect my thoughts," I say, laughing slightly at the whole situation.
" That's Alice for you," Jasper murmurs and I slide my eyes towards Ana to gauge her reaction. She just stares ahead, studying a particular spot over Emmett's head deeply. We slide into silence. The whole room quiet. No one speaking a single word, not even Emmett with his usual smart ass remarks. Nothing.
The ringing of the phone makes all of us jump and Rosalie scrambles to pick it up.
" Hey, yeah she told us. How do you think we are all taking it? Okay yeah see you then," Rosalie hangs up the phone turning slowly to look at us. " Whatever Alice has planned, it must be good. She said she will be here in half an hour, and to get breakfast going. Apparently we are all going to need the energy."
" Okay then, whose cooking?" Emmett asks his face relaxing from his tense state to amusement easily.
" I will," Ana says her voice sounding small and disconnected. I watch as she walks into the kitchen slowly, and just as I am about to jump up to offer my help, Jasper stands to his feet. " I'll help," Jasper says, walking behind her quickly. I stare around the room looking at Emmett and Rosalie. I haven't quite figured out their relationship. Emmett's easy going, laid back nature differs so dramatically from Rosalie's serious and sneaky sense of humor. Emmett stands up and walks out of the room and into the kitchen leaving me and Rosalie alone. She stares at me for a second, her eyes un-readable.
" How are you doing?" Rosalie finally asks, as she walks over sitting next to me.
" Fine," I say, putting my brave face on. I know its faltering. My emotions when it comes to Edward have been faltering from the moment that I realized I was in love with him, and admitted it out loud. She sighs heavily.
" I know that you and I haven't had a lot of time, to become close Jade. But you need to know that I know better," she says her eyes swimming deeply with emotion. I lay my head against my knees and cup the back of my head.
" I don't know what to do Rose. I have been trying to hold it all together, but from the moment that Alice said that she saw Edward marrying Bella, all I have wanted to do is fall apart," I say, my voice shaky. I blink against hot tears wishing to hell that I just wont cry. She simply scoots closer wrapping an arm tightly around me.
" I know that it seems hard right now. But what Alice has in store, there is no way that the wedding is going to happen," she whispers and I smile as a few tears slide down my cheeks.
" I hope to hell that your right Rose," I say, wiping my eyes fiercely with the back of my hands.
"Breakfast is ready," Emmett says, beaming around the door way at us.
I push my food around on my plate trying to get caught up in Emmett's upbeat conversation. It doesn't work. My spirits lift slightly when I hear the front door slam open and shut.
" Alice is here," Emmett says bounding to the kitchen doorway to scoop Alice up into a bone crushing hug.
" Okay, Em, let me go," Alice squeals lightly as she is set on her feet. " Glad to see you all took me seriously when I said that you would need to fuel up. It's going to be a long day."
" Yeah and since you left us all in suspense, are you going to tell us what is going on in your head?" Ana asks, sitting cross legged in her chair, the t-shirt she is wearing baggy on her, her hair pulled tightly in a pony tail and I smile at just how child like she looks.
" Well you were right last night Ana. Jacob did know that Bella was gone. Seems that when Bella left, she left nothing but a note behind. He also has an idea that the baby isn't Edward's," Alice says, looking around at everyone in kitchen. " So, I bought him a plane ticket." She looks over at the clock. " His flight leaves at six, so I will be picking him up at eleven. I don't have the exact time that this 'wedding' is supposed to be happening but I have a pretty good idea that its going to be early afternoon, probably around one or so. That doesn't give us a lot of time to stop this, but I am sure that if we work together that we can do this."
" Okay, so what exactly is it that you want us to do?" I ask, looking at her from across the table.
" That's easy. Keep Edward away from the house. Don't let him come home, in fact Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie, you guys should handle that. You guys know how to keep your minds blank, I have to go. Everyone meet here at noon," she says, stealing a drink from the closest cup of coffee to her. And just like the night before she sails out of the kitchen and the house like a whirlwind.
" Well, that should be easy enough. Keep Edward out of the house he lives in," Jasper says, walking grumpily up the stairs.
" Yeah, easy," I reiterate, walking towards the stairs praying that this insane plan of Alice's will work.
I don't know how long I have been pacing in my room. The last time I checked the time, Jacob's plane would be landing.
" Jade, stop pacing, you are going to make a hole in the carpet," Ana says from her bed.
" Sorry, it's just. What if this doesn't work Ana?" I ask turning to look at her. In this very moment, that is my worst fear. That we wont be able to stop this wedding in time, and that because I couldn't, I wouldn't let my guard down, Edward would slip through my fingers, and completely out of my reach. My body starts shaking as I lower myself to my bed.
" Jade," Ana says walking over to me wrapping me in a tight hug. " It's going to work. It has too. There has to be a reason that Alice saw what she did. Fate is giving you the chance to change all of this, all you have to do is take the risk and change it." I look at my best friend. The one who in these last few months has gone through more than I could ever imagine. Her emotions have been screwed with and all because she fell in love. In this moment she speaks with wisdom far beyond her years, and with the heart of someone who, although she has felt the pain of heart ache, still truly believes in love.
" I know, I'm just scared," I admit, looking at her.
" What's love, if not a little scary?" she asks, pulling me to her so that my head is cradled on her shoulder. We sit there, both of us hurting in our own ways, watching as the time clicks down. Waiting with every breath we take, until the moment that we are given to change fate, and make it our own.