A/N: This is actually a pretty happy chapter. Probably gross at some points, but mostly happy. So, yeah, have fun with that. This is probably one of the few happy chapters in this story. Sorry. Well, in the early part of it anyway.
It's been about a two weeks since that – incident. I haven't told anyone, but why would I start now? I haven't said anything about it in five years. The Cullens have noticed I've become very withdrawn from them, more than usual. They ask me a lot of questions, but I never tell them the truth. Example:
"Something happened."
"What?"
"My friend's sick."
"Are they going to be okay?"
"Probably. But I'm still worried."
I spent Sunday at their house because Charlie was out fishing. He even said I could spend the night. He was probably bringing some stripper home, so I quickly got out, mostly before he changes his mind.
I walk all the way there. It wasn't too far actually, up the hill, through the woods –
"And to Grandma's house we go," I say with a chuckle as I knock on the door.
Jasper opens it and shows me inside with a trace of a smile.
"Bella!" came the energetic cry of Alice before I could say anything to Jasper. She tackles me in a hug, and I would have hit the floor if Jasper hadn't grabbed my shoulders.
"Get off, Alice," he says.
She pouts but does. I stand back up, thanking him.
"Edward's up in his room," she says.
"I didn't intend to send all my time with him," I say, dropping my bag on the floor by the door.
"Yay!" she cries, hugging me tightly again. I feel like dying with the amount of pressure she puts on me.
Jasper senses my distress and pulls her off, holding his arms around her small waist.
"Let her hang out with Edward for a while, and then monopolize her time," he says, tossing her over his shoulder and walking off.
"Bye!" she calls from where she lays like a potato sack. And yet, she looks so comfortable.
"See ya," I say and walk up the stairs. I knock on Edward's door and hear the sound of music stop inside. He opens the door.
"Hey," he says.
"Hey," I respond. He lets me in, and I flop onto his couch. "Charlie's letting me stay for the night."
"Esme'll make you stay with Alice and Rose," he says, sitting on the other end of the couch.
"Of course," I say.
We talk for a while about random things and then Edward shots up randomly. He throws himself down on the floor, and I panic, wondering what the hell he's doing.
"Are you okay?" I ask as he crawls under the couch. I lean over and look under just to see his butt in my face. I sit back up, trying to get that image out of my head.
"Yeah, I'm just trying to find something," he says. I feel myself rising, and give a squeak. "Sorry. That was me. Anyway, I've noticed how you always read these beat up books, so I got you something new."
He crawls back out. I laugh and brush dust out of his hair and off his shoulders. He lifts up a paperback book.
"Pet Sematary?" I ask.
"Yep," he says. "I haven't read it, yet. Tell me how it is when you're done."
I nod and open to the first page.
"Bella, don't read now, silly," he says.
"Oh, right, sorry," I say with a nervous laugh.
He laughs slightly, and I put the book down.
"Did that cut heel?"
"Not yet."
I pull up my sleeve and let him see. Parts of the letters were fading faster than others.
"Why'd you do it? And why that word?"
I don't answer. How can I tell him I didn't without telling him about Charlie?
"Yeah, we don't have to talk about it," he says.
I nod.
There's a knock at the door.
"What?" Edward calls.
Alice walks in, dragging Jasper with her.
"We're gonna play a game," she says.
"What kind of game?" I ask.
She grins and pulls me up. She drags me down the stairs while I'm trying to keep my balance and not hurt myself further. Edward walks leisurely after us. She sits me down on a loveseat and makes Edward sit next to me. She and Jasper sit next to each other on two chairs, and Rose and Emmett are on the couch.
Esme and Carlisle walk in.
"We're going out for a few hours to shop," she says.
"Don't do anything stupid," Carlisle says.
"We won't," says Alice sweetly.
"Have fun," I say.
They leave and then, once Alice is positive they're gone, she dashes out of the room. She comes back a few minutes later with some random clothes and a thick stack of paper cards.
"What the hell?" Emmett asks, voicing what had to be going through everyone's mind.
Jasper, meanwhile, is having a bit of a fit of laughter. He actually laughs so hard that he falls out of his chair.
I get up and walk over. I squat down and poke him hard in the stomach.
"Are you on any drugs I should know about?" I ask with a bit of innocence in my voice.
Everyone but Alice starts laughing, Jasper even harder.
"He is not on drugs," she says, tapping her foot. She drops the clothes and the cards on the coffee table.
"Then what's wrong with him?" I ask, standing back up.
"He just knows what we're going to be doing," she says.
"Should we scared?" I ask Jasper, looking down at the blond. Tears are streaming out of his eyes.
"Probably," he says, breathing hard. He's finally stopped, and he sits up now. He wipes the tears from his eyes.
Alice rolls her eyes, and I sit down next to Edward again.
"Anyway, these cards have different dares," Alice explains, picking them up again. She pulls the rubber band off and puts it around her wrist, shuffling them. "If you don't take the dare, you have to wear a costume – a ridiculous, stupid, frilly costume. And that's just for the guys. Girls, we have to wear something very revealing. And guess what. You get part of the costume at a time. Each person has their own costume.
"Emmett, you're going to be a ballerina, in pink with a tutu, leotard, tights – all that. Edward, you get to be a princess fairy. And my Jasper gets to be a kitty." She latches her arms around his neck as she spoke, and I wonder momentarily if he'll choke. But she lets go and continues. "Rose, you get to be one of those cowgirls from some of those country music videos. I'm going to be a witch. And Bella, you're going to be the female Mad Hatter."
I feel my heart pounding against my chest. How do they not hear it? There's no way I can wear what they're asking me to. I can't do that. These dares better be something that won't kill me mentally or physically.
"Anyway, I'll go first just so you can get a better picture," she says.
She hands the cards to Jasper who shuffles them one more time. Then he pulls one off the top.
"Really?" he asks, looking at her.
"What is it?" Rose asks, starting to get up. Alice shoots her a look, and she sits back down, her eyes widening slightly.
"'Drink soda out of Jasper's bellybutton'," he reads, giving her a disgusted look. He places the card on the table, face up.
"At least you clean yours out," she says with a bright smile.
"Ew," I say.
They laugh, and Jasper grudgingly gets a bottle of soda. Alice makes him lay on his back and unbuttons his shirt. She uncaps the bottle and pours it into his bellybutton.
"How did you come up with this?" he asks.
She shrugs and bends down, sucking the soda out.
"That tickles!" Jasper cries, laughing and trying to roll away.
Alice lifts her head up a few seconds later. "That tasted really weird."
"Oh, really?" Edward asks. "Never would've thought someone's bellybutton tasted odd."
Jasper sits up and re-buttons his shirt.
"Never do that again," he says.
"If you say so," she says.
Jasper hands me the cards and I pull one off the top. I read over it and look up.
"'Draw a flower on Emmett's chest'," I read. "That's it?"
"I did all the work," says Alice. "And Google can't answer everything."
I shrug. "Well, on with, Jasper."
He complies with much grumbling from Emmett when Alice hands him a pink marker. He draws a giant flower that takes up his whole torso. Jasper even signed his name on Emmett's waist.
"Perfect!" he declares.
"I hate you," Emmett grumbles and pulls his shirt back on.
I pass the cards to Edward.
"'Kiss the person next to you'," he says. "You knew either Bella or I would get that, didn't you?"
"Actually, I was hoping I got it," she says, shrugging.
"I'm not kissing him," I say before they continue.
"Oh, am I not good enough for you?" Edward says, cocking an eyebrow.
"Th-that's not – I don't know you that well," I say. But in truth, the last person I kissed was James, and I do not want to freak out.
"Kiss him or you wear this," Alice says, holding up a small, brown skirt with a gold pattern.
"Couldn't I wear that hat?" I ask desperately. They'll see most of the bruises on my legs if I wear that skirt.
"Oh, come on, Bella," Emmett says.
I sigh and look up at Edward.
"I won't bite," he says.
I feel a growing sense of panic but finally lean over. He leans down and presses his lips gently to me. I was scared, but something about him calmed me down. But I broke away very quickly.
"Happy?" I say.
"Oh, come on, I'm sure he wasn't that bad," Rose says.
"Was I?" Edward asks.
"No," I mutter, feeling my cheeks heat up.
Edward seems amused and hands the cards to Rose.
As the game goes on, Emmett is actually the first one to refuse a dare. His dare was to go a month without video games. He flat out refused, stood up, grabbed a piece of clothing and went to the bathroom. He came back in a pink leotard, nothing else.
Rose just about died of laughter. The rest of us laughed pretty hard, too.
Alice cracked next at the idea of dying her hair pink. She came back with a very short black dress on. Jagged at the edge. Jasper had a sly smile on his face as he looked at her.
Edward cracked next at the mention of telling everyone his deepest secret. He was forced to put on a sequin green shirt that only covered the chest area. I couldn't look at him without laughing.
Rose cracked at the idea of dying everything she owned black and having to dress all in black (Gothic black) for a week. She's now wearing a white shirt (through which Emmett pointed out you could see her bra) that ties at the front and shows all of her stomach. Alice would pick costumes like this.
When Carlisle and Esme come back, it's to find Edward in a newly-added green sequin skirt, Jasper in a black leotard and a tail, Emmett with a pink tutu and a tiara in his hair, Rose with a short denim skirt added on, Alice with witch's hat on, and me in normal clothes.
"What happened?" they ask together.
"Alice said we were going to play a game. And we did. But I think I won," I explain. "See, I'm not in some insane costume, or cross-dressing like the guys."
Emmett, Edward and Jasper seem to take this as a major blow and sulk slightly.
"I think we're going to leave again," says Esme and drags Carlisle back out of the house.
"Adios!" cries Emmett. "Now, Bella, your turn. Edward, pick a card."
He's getting way to into this.
"'Place ice cubes down your shirt, and leave them there until they melt'," he says. "'And the person next to you has to place them down there'."
"Really?" I ask, glaring at her. "That is so invasive."
She rolls her eyes, shaking her head. She gets up and returns moments later with a plate of ice. She hands the plate to Edward.
"Sorry," he says, taking the first and dropping them down my shirt. They get caught in my bra, and I'm freezing.
"Damn you, Alice!" I scream as he drops the final ice cube. "Go to hell."
"Love you, too," she says.
I sigh. Then shiver. "What gave you this idea?"
She shrugs.
Edward has to ask out the girl he likes. He looks worried and then turns to me.
"Will you go on a date with me?" he asks.
My eyes go wide, and Alice falls out of her chair, so surprised by this. None of expected this, at all.
"Uh," I stammer. I swallow. "Yeah, I will."
He smiles and hugs me. "Thanks for not making me look stupid," he whispers in my ear.
"But I meant it," I respond just as quietly.
He lets go, and we move on with the game. The ice cubes are starting to melt, and my shirt's getting wet. This is gonna turn into a wet t-shirt contest. That would so figure. At least I don't have white on.
Rose has to lick Jasper's ear and bite it. Jasper seems to be on the bad end of a lot of these. He rubs his ear after Rose lets go, saying that it hurt.
Emmett then has to have someone of his choosing that's not Rose sit on his lap until it's his turn again. And so he decides to torture me by making me sit on him. I am so apprehensive and nervous about it, but I go through anyway, telling him I'm going to smack him if he starts doing anything.
"I'm loyal!" he says, shocked.
I shake my head and wait. Most of the ice has melted, but I'm still so cold that I feel gooseflesh there.
Alice is unlucky enough to be dared to eat a sardines and peanut butter sandwich. She refused and got to pull on fishnet stockings.
"Humph," she declared, sitting back down. "Never ever ever."
Jasper refuses to go streak through the middle of town (don't blame him, it's cold!) and now has whiskers painted on his face.
My turn, and I have to put on Edward's shirt. His real shirt, not the green, sequin one. I go to the bathroom and pull on the tight, gray, long-sleeved shirt. I'm just happy it's long-sleeved.
"Hey, Eddie, why do you wear tight clothes?" I ask, seating myself on Emmett again. I'm still not comfortable about this. But at least I'm not wearing that wet one anymore, and I cheated and dumped out the other ice cubes. But they won't know that.
"Don't call me Eddie," he says. "And it's an old shirt. But it was clean. So I wore it."
I shrug and then it's his turn. Rose refuses hers of kissing the next person that walks into the room ("I am not kissing Carlisle or Esme!") and puts on leather wrist bands with leather strings.
Emmett's turn and I take my seat. We continue the game, until everyone but me has on their full costume. I laugh at them, running to get the camera in Alice's room before they dare to take off anything. I take a picture of Edward from as many angles as I can. I do the same for the others and ask Alice for some copies.
She agrees.
We eat dinner, and I, as the winner, force everyone to stay in their costumes. I was smirking throughout dinner.
"Pleased, are you?" Emmett asked with a bit of menace.
"Yup," I say. "Most fun I've had in months."
And this time I'm not lying.
"Months?" asks Esme.
"Yep," I answer. "Boring life before you guys moved in. No friends, pretty much. Spent my time painting. And-"
I'm suddenly up and flying to the bathroom. I manage to shut the door and get over the toilet before throwing up. The vile burns my throat as my dinner make another appearance.
"Bella?" I hear someone ask, knocking on the door. It's Edward. "You okay?"
I finish, flush the toilet and wash my hands, cupping them and drinking some water. I open the door.
"Better," I say. "Something probably just didn't agree with me."
We walk back out and they all ask me what happened. I told them what I told Edward.
I shove my plate away. "I'm not that hungry anyway."
"Are you sure you want to stay?" asks Esme.
"I'm not going home just 'cause something didn't agree with me," I answer. "Besides, it's so funny seeing Edward as a fairy, Emmett as a ballerina, and Jasper as a cat. I'm not going home with them still dressed as that!"
With the lies taken out, though, it would have read differently: I'm not going home because something didn't agree with me. Charlie would probably kick my ass, and enjoy me along with the stripper. Sorry, but I don't feel like dealing with that and everything else.
We play some more games, but these aren't going to be ones that involve stripping, cross-dressing, or anything else. Just normal games.
In the end, we each go to our separate bedrooms, but I camp out on the couch. They kept offering me other places, but I said I was fine.
"Good night!" I said, ending their argument as I rolled over on my side, back to them, and pulled the blanket over my head.
They left and I rolled back onto my back. I sighed and lowered the blanket. I eventually fell asleep, but I didn't sleep very well. I end up waking up at a little after three, my heart pounding and drenched in sweat. The blankets are twisted around my legs, and I had to work hard to get them off.
I sat up, swinging up legs over the side. I put my face in my hands, sighing. I never sleep right anymore. And now I don't wanna sleep again, afraid to return to the nightmare.
I clutched my stomach as another wave of nausea washed over me. I dashed to the bathroom in time to throw up nothing but water and stomach acid.
"Damn," I muttered aloud. I spent the rest of the night running back and forth to puke. Maybe I'm really getting sick this time.
Jasper was the first one down the stairs in the morning. Well, except for Carlisle. He was already at work.
"Hey, Bella," he said, standing at the foot of the stairs. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah," I say before running off again.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asks, walking up to me when I get back. He places a hand on my forehead. "You're burning up. Esme will want you to stay here, and she'll probably call Carlisle. C'mon, back on the couch."
He guides me back and places me down, pulling the blanket up. He's acting like the older brother I had always wanted.
"Alice will be disappointed, she was going to dress you up," he says.
"There's always later," I answer.