A/N: AS ALWAYS NOT INFRINGEMENT MEANT JUST HAVING A LITTLE FUN ON THE WATER. I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT BUT I DID OWN AN ADISPOSE STRESS TOY.
"Yeah,dad we'll be fine. It's by a lake. I know it's a different state but honestly dad we're already in a different state." Emmett was talking to Charlie while I loaded the bags into a spare car. "Yes I'll make sure Bella stays out of trouble. Yes, Rose is going to share a room with her. I know dad. Okay. Love you too. Nooo No dad I don't want to talk to..Hi mom." He slammed his head against hood of the car. "I miss you too, nothing really just going to spend the holiday at the lake." I went back into the house to get the rest of the stuff.
"Bells, go rescue your brother, Charlie put your mom on the line." I said as I grabbed the remaining bags. She laughed and skipped out to Emmett to get the phone.
"Hey son, hold up." Papa Jack called from his chess table. Bella had just beaten him again and he was putting the pieces back to the beginning. Then got up and walked me outside. "Alright, well son. One of the ranch hands got the bull set up in the trailer you just have to take off. Be careful." He patted my back and Rose gave him a hug before she got in the car.
"Papa Jack come with us." Bella said as she gave him a big hug.
"No sweetie someone has to run this place darling, besides you kids need to go have fun." He replied.
Rose and Emmett took off in the car; the plan was to let them get the house ready while we dropped off the bull.
"Alright, kiddos, you be safe and don't let Rosie drive my boat." He said as I closed my door. I waved to him as I pulled out of the drive.
"So have you ever been to the lake house? " She asked as she fiddled with the radio.
"Kinda." I snorted out as I turned on the c.d player.
"How do you kinda visit a place?" She put her feet up on the dash board.
"When we went it was just this large room. It had two beds in it, a fridge and a bathroom. That was it, I loved it but Rose hated it. We had to share a bed, so she refused to go after we were nine." I explained. "Jack put a trailer there, he says it's a nice large one. The shack is still there."
"Sounds nice, so it's a long drive, I'm going to take a nap." She said as she leaned back into her seat.
"Thanks, leave me all to myself over here." I laughed a little.
"Yup." She mumurmed out.
I drove listening to the radio and sneaking glances at her sleeping. I saw the turn off for the farm and took it down some dirt roads. I pulled up to a medium sized farm and nudged her shoulder.
"Bells wake up we're here." She looked startled and smiled as she stretched out her muscles. I saw a man walking towards us.
" ?" He asked reaching his hand out towards me.
"Yes sir, please call me Jasper." I said "This is Bella." She smiled and shook his hand.
"Well, I'm Marcus I've been doing business with your grandfather for ages." He said as we walked to the trailer.
"He told me sure, sorry if we're a little late. Where would you like me to unload him?" I asked as I got into my truck as Bella went off to front porch. He showed me where and we chatted easily while I unloaded him.
"Well sir I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" I looked around to make sure Bella was still on the porch.
"Depends on the favor son." He replied as he lead the bull into an empty stall.
"That my girl out there, she's from Washington and is going back in a couple weeks, I was thinking maybe I could leave the bull here and take her to Texhoma for a week." Almost the truth she just isn't my girl.
"The lake is beautiful this time of year, a pretty girl like that deserves to see it. I could tell you two were in love. Yeah I'll watch the bull for you." He smiled as we walked back up to the house. Bella was sitting on the porch talking to a woman. She saw me and hop down and joined me. I wrapped my arm around hers and smiled at her.
"Agnes gave me her recipe for something called dump cake, it sounds delicious." She chirped as we joined the woman and Marcus on the porch.
"Oh it is pretty girl, almost famous around these parts. Surprise she gave it away." Marcus said as he wrapped his arm around his wife.
"She was saying she wanted to make something nice for young here, how could I resist." She cooed at him.
"Here's my number sir, if anything happens or you need me to come back don't hesitate to call." I said handing him a card with my information on it.
"Thank you Jasper, now you two go enjoy your holiday." Agnes said as she shooed us off the porch.
"She was nice." Bella said as I took off down the road. "Have you ever had dump cake?"
"Yeah, grams use to make it. One of my favorites actually." I smiled at her and she shrugged. We fell into easy conversations and singing along with the songs. Her little fingers curled up like she was holding a guitar and changing cords along.
"You guys still performing?" I asked as we finished an old Elvis tune.
"Yeah, it's not the same without you." She mumbled as she continued to play her air guitar. Then we sat in uncomfortable silence until we passed the state line.
"How much longer till we get there?" She whined doing a little dance in her seat.
"An hour maybe, do we need to stop?" I asked and she nodded. I pulled into a gas station and she race inside. She came out with a bag full of things.
"What's all this?" I said rummaging through the sack.
"Snacks, I was hungry, you forgot to feed me." She said as she stuck her tongue out at me.
"Sorry." She punched my shoulder and shoved a red vine in my mouth. I took it out and got back on the road. She feed me snacks so I didn't have to take my hands off the wheel. We laughed and sang again.
"Catfish cove?" she asked as I pulled into the little side street that lead into the area the lake house was in. "Where's the lake?"
"It's about ten minutes away from the house, not exactly lake front property but there is a pond in the back." I explained.
"That's cool, be scary if the lake ever flooded." She was so smart I never thought of that.I shrugged as I pulled into the yard of the lake house. The little shack was still there but it had new paint and curtains. The trailer was really nice and looked pretty big.
"Wow, it's so pretty here. We get to stay here?" She said as she climbed out of the truck. We heard the front door shut.
"Dude there's no water." Emmett yelled at me as he came down the steps.
"Really Rose? You couldn't figure it out." I said as I walked into the trailer and grabbed the wrench tool from the side of the wall.
"Couldn't remember, papa always did it." She said looking at me like I was the dumb one. I shook my head at them and walked back outside to the man hole that was almost covered with grass.
"Bells stand by the sink and tell me when in turns on." I yelled at her she nodded and disappeared into the trailer. I used the tool to lift the cover and placed it inside till I felt connect with the switch. I turned it till I heard Bella yell. I put the cover back and walked into the trailer.
"You are a god." Emmett yelled as he took off to a restroom.
"Thanks brother, so what do you think? Pretty nice huh?" Rose said as she hugged me. It was, it had a little dining room attached to a decent kitchen. A huge living room, I looked and it had a room in the back with what looked like an attached bathroom. On the other end of the trailer was a smaller room and a little bathroom in the hall.
"Yeah, I'm guessing you took the master room." I said as I looked to the back room. It had a queen bed and that was it. Looks like I get the shack.
"Can we go check out the shack?" Bella said heading towards the back door.
"Yeah I have to drop my stuff off anyways." I grabbed the keys off the counter and had to tackle the door a little to open it.
"The door sticks always have." I said as I let her in.
"Jasper this is so cute. " She exclaimed as she looked around the room. Someone had remodeled it. There was only one bed set up in the corner by window unit. A curtain went across the room separating the bed from the rest of the room. A small table was on the other side with a little dresser by it. It looked like a tiny home instead of a weird kitchen with a bed in it.
"This tile is so cool." She yelled from the bathroom.
"Papa picked it out when he bought it for my grams. He got remnants from a tile store nothing matches but that's what she loved about it. He laid it all himself." I tried to explain the mismatch of pink atomic symbols, red comets and blue seahorses.
"I love it; they all go together because they don't. How old are they?" She asked running her hand across the different tiles.
"I don't know he built this house in the sixties." I answered as I leaned against the frame of the door.
I locked the door as we left the small shack.
"So what do you thinks Bella, pretty awesome huh?" Rose said as she walked out of the master room in pajamas.
"Can we stay here forever?" Bella replied as she plopped down on the couch.
"No, it's really boring down here. Good for short visits but you'd beat your brains out if you lived here." Rose replied as she plopped down next to hear.
"Where's Emmett?" I said as I sat down on the other side of Bella.
"Sent him to that burger place, they one with the weird hamburger in the window." She said flipping on the TV. We watched some movie and then ate when Emmett got back.
"I love this place; I didn't get lost on the way back." Emmett said as he threw his food away. "Plus I think that was the best burger I have ever had."
"I'm going to bed." Bella said as she threw her stuff away and walked to the back room. I grabbed the keys off the counter and went to the shack, the bed looked comfy and after driving all day I was exhausted. I heard some thunder as I changed into a pair of sleep pants. It was hot so I didn't bother with a shirt and turned the window unit on. The room got cold pretty quick so I just got under the covers. The rain started and the thunder got louder. I was almost asleep when I heard the door try to open.
"Son of a bitch." I heard a small voice yell from the other side. I opened the door and saw Bella standing on the door rubbing her shoulder. Her light gray sleep shirt was clinging to her and her hair was matted to her head.
"Bells, are you crazy it's pouring out there. Get inside." I grabbed a towel from the bathroom and handed it to her as I grabbed a clean shirt and some clean boxers for her. I handed them to her as she sneezed.
"What were you thinking?" I half yelled as I rubbed another towel though her hair holding her close to me.
"I was thinking I hate storms and you're sister is a screamer." She said turning red as she looked at the ground.
"Oh." Nothing more needed to be said. She took the clothes and went into the bathroom. I pulled another quilt out and put it on the bed. She came out of the bath room; the shirt almost touched her knees. I couldn't even see the boxer shorts. She got into the bed and got under the all the covers. I sat down next to her and grabbed the top cover and put it over me. She was shivering I decided to go turn off the window unit when she grabbed my arm.
"Jas, get under the covers please, I'm freezing." She said as she scooted closer to the wall to make room for me.
"I can turn the window unit off." I said using all my will power not to obey her.
"Please." She said again staring at me with those big brown eyes. My brain was screaming no but my head nodded and I lifted up the blanket and curled up next to her. She lifted my arm and put her head on my chest causing my arm to wrap around her shoulders. Her little body was still shivering and her skin was cold.
"Bells, you're dad would kill me if he knew you were in my bed?" I murmured into her hair. She laughed and snuggled herself closer to me.
"Why, we're been sharing beds together since we were kids." She said as she traced patterns on my stomach.
"Yeah, that was when we were eight, we're not eight anymore." I placed my hand on top of hers to make her stop. She had no idea what she was doing to my body.
"Why nothing changed, you're still my best friend." She slurred that last sentence out. The amount this girl sleeps is astonishing.
"Something have changed they have to. Nothing stays the same forever." I replied resting my lips on the top of her hair. "Maybe things changing could be a good thing." I wanted to wait till Christmas to tell how I felt.
"How" she wrapped her foot around mine and nuzzled her head into my chest.
"Feelings change darlin, well maybe evolve is a better term. Things could be better. I mean things are great now; I'm always here for you no matter what. It's all up to you I mean I could be alone in thinking this. Wow that would suck, I mean I would get it but still it would hurt. I just don't want things to be weird between us anymore. I promise that whatever you say I won't let things get weird for us. You will always be my best friend first. Whatever you decide I will be here for you in whatever way you want me. Unless you want me far away, that would be awful but I would do that for you. I'd do anything for you. I love you, so much Bells, I just want to keep you forever. I want to kiss you every morning and make you smile every day. What do you think darlin, can we give us a chance?" a small snore was my answer. So I nudged her softly.
"Bells?" I whispered.
" , sorry. What were you saying?" She murmured wiping a little drool from her mouth. I took a deep breath. I should wait, until I can come up with a better speech at least.
"Nuthin, darlin, go back to sleep." I said kissing the top of her head.
The smell of coffee filled the little room we were in. I rubbed my eyes and grabbed my phone it was a little past nine. I hadn't slept that long in ages. I saw Bells across the room pouring coffee from an old percolator. She still had my shirt on but it looked like she brushed her hair.
"Rose bought some coffee and stuff yesterday, I'm going to make donuts if you want to join us." She said as she handed me a cup and sat down at the table near the bed. "What were you going on about last night. I'm sorry I passed out on you. It's this new medicine I'm on. Feels like I'm sleeping all the time." She was looking at the ground.
"Medicine for what darlin." I asked taking a sip of the coffee, it was really good.
"Lexapro." She paused looking ashamed of something. "I wasn't feeling right and after Charlie lawyer called my anxiety got really bad. So mom and a doctor decided I should take some anxiety medicine for awhile. I'm feeling a lot better now though. Think I'm going to stop taking it when we get home."
I put my coffee down on the floor and grabbed her arm to pull her into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her and she rested her head on my shoulder.
"Bells, why didn't you tell me. Why did Charlie lawyers call?" I asked holding her tight to me.
"Alex was releashed from prison for good behavior. He asked to contact me and Emmett." She held her breath trying to choke back tears. I began to rock her softly and stroke her hair. Alex, her birth father. The man who had killed their mother in front of them. When he turned on Bella, Emmett hit him with a lamp and got her out of there. They ran next door to a neighbor who called the cops. He had broke her arm and left her with a black eye and busted lip. I could feel the anger growing in me.
"Jas, I can't breathe." She whispered my grip on her had tightened.
"Sorry Bells, I'm so sorry."I kissed her head. "Bells, why didn't you or anyone tell me."
"You seemed so content on running away, I didn't want to bother you." She was crying now. She was going though all this alone and I have been whining about wanting to kiss her. I was a shitty friend.
"Bella, darlin. I promise to never run away again. Promise me you will tell me when something like this happens." I held her close and kept rocking us.
"Promise, don't worry. Charlie took care of it. I've been feeling better." She whispered as she tried to get out of my hold.
"Hey you two ready to get on the lake or what?" I heard from the outside of the door. Emmett was banging on the door. I groaned and let Bella get up to open the door. After a few yanks on the handle she was able to open it. I got up and found a shirt and some swim trunks.
"Yeah, I'm about to change, want to help me hitch the boat to the truck?" I asked him as I went to the bathroom.
"Yeah, sure man, meet you outside." He said as he gave a Bella a hug. I heard them whispering to each other then leave. After I got dressed I walk back to my truck and drove it to the barn the boat was in. I got everything line up and Emmett helped me connected all the pieces.
"So brother, she told me about Alex." I said as we finished hitching up the boat.
"Yeah, son of a bitch wants to apologize or some shit." He said as he leaned against the boat. "Bella didn't leave the house for a week after dad told us. She was too scared. Jas, brother she was a mess. The only one that could get near her was mom or Rose." I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry man." I whispered, I was such a coward she needed me and I was hiding from her like a little girl.
"I felt like I was a little kid again,completely helpless." He was trying not to cry. "They took her a doctor finally she's been doing a lot better."
"You're not helpless you know, you saved her that night. You've always been her hero."
"Yeah, but you're the first person she talked to after that night. I might have saved her but you're the one who fixed her. She wouldn't even talked to the doctors or Charlie they couldn't get near her without her screaming or freaking out. Then you come along and offer you hand and she took it. "He was looking at the ground. I never knew how bad it was before she came to live with Charlie.
"I didn't know." I whispered finally. I honestly didn't know how to respond to him.
"Just remember that next time you decide to run off asshat." And just like that the joking bear was back.
"Hey Rose is going to eat all the donuts unless you two get in her." We heard Bella call from the trailer.
Emmett put me in a headlock and rubbed the top of my head.
"Kay sis we'll be there in a second." He bellowed at her. "Hey man, let it go. She been happy the last few weeks don't ruin her day okay. He whispered at me. I nodded and followed him into the trailer.
"Looks like papa got a bigger boat. Think we can handle it?" Rose asked as we entered the trailer.
"It's pretty big, mostly worried about hauling it to the lake. After that I don't think I'll have any troubles." I said as I sat next to Bella. She smiled remembering what papa had said before we left.
After we ate we all got into my truck, it made a small groaning noise under the weight of the boat. I got a little worried but the truck did just fine. We made it to the lake and I srated to back the truck and boat into the water. Rose hopped out and headed to the boat to steer it into the water.
"Hey man, I'm trusting you with my baby. Just back it slowly until you hear me yell okay." I said I as I got out.
"Rose, why don't you and Bell go get a dock slip for the week. I'll bring the boat to the dock." I said as I climbed into the boat. She pouted and dragged Bella to the dock office. After about ten minutes of yelling at Emmett and him almost sinking my truck we got the boat into the water. He went and parked the truck and walked up to the dock. Rose and Bells were standing by the dock slip we were assigned to. I pulled the boat into it and threw a rope to Rose and she tied the boat off. She and Emmett hopped unto the boat but Bells looked scared.I climbed out unto the dock and stood next to her.
" Whats wrong darling." I said as I walked to were Rose had tied off the boat.
"I'm going to fall." She whispered cling to a post for dear life. I laughed and put my hand on her shoulders.
"Emmett help you're sister dumbass." Rose yelled as she sat behind the wheel of the boat. He got the the edge and held his hand out. I pulled the rope causing the boat to get closer to the dock.
"Alright darling, I'm right here. Just reached out and take your brothers hand. We won't let you fall.I whispered prying her fingers from the post. She was shaking but took Emmett hand and made an akward hop unto the boat. She sat down on the bench and looked at me. I undid the rope and pushed the boat away from the dock. I grabbed a railing a hop unto the front. I walked across to the wheel and shoved Rose out of the way.
"Hey" She yelled hitting my shoulder. I smiled and turned to motor on low and cruised out of the dock. Once we past the no wake zone I threw the three person tube out.
"Rose I think Emmett would love to go for a tube ride." I said with a wink. She smiled the evil smile she has mastered.
"Yeah, baby I think you'd love it." She said turning to look at him by his sister. She put on a life jacket and jumped in the water.
"So what is tubing?" He asked as he put a jacket on.
"Just a little water fun. Just sit in the tube and enjoy the ride." I said as I made sure the rope was secured to the boat.
"Is this dangerous?" Bella asked as she sat down next to me.
"Maybe a little but it's fun." I said with a smile.
A/N: TUBING IS FUN AND SCARY. KIND OF LIKE WRITING A STORY. AS ALWAYS THANK YOU FOR READING AND ALL YOUR REVIEWS MAKE ME SMILE. NOW OFF TO MAKING THE GOODIE BAGS FOR MY BABIES SECOND BIRTHDAY.