A&A Ch. 7
A/N: So, some of you have told me you're enjoying the story, although you've never read P&P, and while I'm happy to know you're enjoying this anyway, I've got to urge you to go read P&P. If you're reading this it's because you enjoy love stories, and really, there are few, if any, love stories better than P&P.
I've expanded on this chapter a bit, just to fit our Twilight story line a bit better. Hope you guys enjoy it.
Disclaimer: Most characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Major plot and story line belong to Jane Austen.
"Well, my dear," said Mr. Bennet, when Elizabeth had read the note aloud, "if your daughter should have a dangerous fit of illness-if she should die, it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr. Bingley, and under your orders." – Mr. Bennett to Mrs. Bennett, regarding their daughter Jane.
As Chief of Police in the small town of Forks, Charlie Swan did okay, although by no means were he and his family living in the lap of luxury. Supposedly to supplement their income, Renee was the neighborhood Avon Representative, but she spent more on beauty products for herself, as well as for Lauren and Jessica, than what she brought in from her sales. Bella and Alice worked part-time at the local supermarket, saving up money for college, while Lauren and Jessica did nothing but watch Jersey Shore and harvest their crops on Facebook all day.
Renee's father, the late Tom Jenks, had owned and managed the McDonald's in Port Angeles, not far from the local university. When he passed away, her brother Phil took over the business. She also had another brother, Jay Jenks, living in Seattle. He was an attorney.
Forks was a half hour drive or so from Port Angeles. A short drive for the girls who usually went three or four times a week to hang out and to visit their Uncle Phil. The two youngest girls especially, Lauren and Jessica, were often in Port Angeles, since they had no jobs or anything else useful to keep them busy. So a trip to Port Angeles was often necessary to waste away their morning hours and provide them with enough gossip for the evening. And however little may have been going on in Forks itself, they were always able to learn something of interest from their uncle Phil. At the moment, they were extremely happy with the arrival of the college freshmen who'd hit town early to take summer classes at the university.
Their visits to their uncle's Mickey Ds were now the most exciting thing going on in their lives. Every day, they met a new young college boy who'd dropped in for a Big Mac and fries. Uncle Phil even hired a few of them for the summer, much to his nieces delight. They could talk of nothing else but the cute college boys working for their uncle; and Jasper's deep pockets, which still greatly excited their aunt Renee, meant nothing to them compared to the sight of Peninsula College's brightest in their yellow and black McDonald's uniforms.
After listening to them drone on and on endlessly about this subject for a few hours one morning, Charlie coolly observed,
"From all that I've heard coming out of your mouths, you two have to be stupidest girls in town. I've suspected it for some time, but now I'm truly convinced."
Lauren was thoroughly shocked into silence, but Jessica, not giving a damn what her uncle said, kept right on talking about EricYorkie, and how she hoped to see him again tomorrow.
Renee gave Charlie an incredulous glare. "I can't even believe you would say something like that to your own nieces," she hissed. "If I were to think something so horrible about anyone's family, it sure wouldn't be my own."
"If my nieces are a couple of idiots, I should hope I'd be smart enough to realize it."
"Well, as it happens, they are not idiots," Renee scowled. "They are both very smart actually."
"Well thank God Renee," Charlie teased, "that this is the only point on which you and I disagree. It would'a been nice to know that you and I could always agree on everything, but I must respectfully tell you that I think our nieces are the biggest airheads to ever walk through Forks."
"Charlie!" Renee barked. "You can't expect the girls to be as sensible as you and me. I'm sure when they get to be our age they won't think about college boys or uniformed boys-"
- "Uniformed boys!" Charlie interrupted, barely containing his laughter. "I'd hardly consider the yellow and black uniforms of the McDonald's crew to be military grade!"-
"or uniformed boys," Renee, continued, ignoring him, "anymore than we do!" I remember hanging out at my dad's McDonald's as a kid and having the hots for some of the boys working there. And if a smart, young college boy working at McDonald's would want to date one of my girls, I wouldn't object."
Just then the phone rang, saving Charlie from having to continue such an inane conversation with Renee. He quickly reached for it and handed it to Alice.
"For you honey," he said, handing the phone to one of the only creatures he considered sensible in his household.
Renee had seen that the caller-ID said 'Whitlock', and she eyed Alice eagerly while she was on the phone.
Once Alice hung up, Renee sprang on her immediately.
"Well? Who was it? What did they want? Hurry up Alice! Tell me!"
"It was Tanya," said Alice. "She said she and Irina are really bored this afternoon, so she called to see if I wanted to come over. Her brother and the rest of the guys are in Port Angeles-"
"Port Angeles!" cried Jessica. "I wonder if they're at McDonalds…"
"Mom, can I borrow your car? Our truck is acting kind of funny, and I wouldn't want to get stuck-"
"No Alice. Take your own truck. If you get stuck, maybe Jasper'll be forced to drive you home."
"That would be a good plan mom," Bella pointed out through pursed lips, "if you could be sure that Tanya or Irina wouldn't be the ones to drive her back."
"Oh, but if the guys are in Port Angeles, they probably took Jasper's Audi and Edward's Volvo. Tanya and Irina only have that two-seater Corvette."
"I'd really rather borrow your car mom."
"Sorry Alice. I can't spare it."
With a sigh and a smirk directed at her mother, Alice had no choice but to take the Chevy Truck she and Bella shared. Renee walked her to the door cheerfully exclaiming that it looked like a big storm was headed their way, and she might get stuck at Netherfield Estate for the night.
Her hopes were promptly answered. Alice hadn't been gone long before a major downpour hit. Bella was worried for Alice, but Renee couldn't have been more delighted. The storm continued all evening without end, growing worse and worse. It certainly didn't seem like a good idea for Alice to attempt the drive home in the truck. Eventually, she called home and let them know that she was, after all, spending the night, since Jasper and the rest of the guys were still out and there was no one to bring her home.
"This was definitely one of my best ideas." Renee congratulated herself, as if she'd somehow opened up the skies herself. She wasn't aware of the fact that her plan had worked out even better than she suspected until the phone rang the next morning, and Bella answered it.
"Hey Bella," Alice squeaked in a hoarse voice. "The truck got stuck half-way to Netherfield last night and I got soaked getting out to give it a push."
"Aw crap." Bella groaned.
"Yeah well. I woke up feeling like crap this morning, and the guys here won't let me leave until I'm better."
"Do you have a fever?" asked Bella, concern wrinkling her brow.
"A slight one. Don't worry. Other than that, body aches, chills and a sore throat, I'm fine."
Bella rolled her eyes. She hung up and told her parents.
"Well hon," Charlie said in a flat-voice from behind his paper, "if your daughter catches pneumonia and dies, at least you'll be comforted to know it was in pursuit of Jasper, and under your instruction."
Renee smirked. "Oh please. I'm not afraid of her catching pneumonia. What are we, in the 1700s? People don't die of little colds. She'll be well taken care of over there. Didn't I hear that that Cullen kid just graduated from Harvard Medical School? As long as she stays there, she'll be fine. If Lauren and Jessica weren't leaving for Port Angeles right now in the car, I'd go check in on her."
Charlie had to get to work, so he couldn't offer to take Renee in the cruiser. But Bella, feeling anxious for her sister, was determined to go, with or without a car. And since the truck and her mother's car were gone, she decided to bike it over there.
"Are you freakin' crazy?" her mother yelled. "You can't bike all the way to Netherfield Estate! It's at least ten miles from here. Through the wet forest no less! You'll be a muddy mess by the time you get there!"
"I'll be fit enough to see Alice, which is all I care about."
"Is this a hint to me Bella," asked Charlie, "to drive you over there?"
"No, dad. It's fine," Bella assured him. "Don't be late to work. I don't mind biking, you know that. It's not that far. I should be back in a few hours."
"That's really thoughtful of you," said Lauren sarcastically, "but every action, no matter how thoughtful, should be thought through carefully. And in my opinion, one shouldn't get carried away by their feelings."
Bella stared at Lauren like she had three heads, and then shaking her head quickly, reached for her bag.
"Bella, we can take you as far as the one-oh-one," Jessica offered, "But then we'll be going in the opposite direction."
"Thanks, but no thanks," Bella answered, throwing on her sneakers. "I'll just bike it all the way."
Jessica and Lauren shrugged.
"If we hurry, maybe we'll catch Eric before he takes his afternoon break!" Jessica exclaimed.
The girls each went their own way; the youngest to Port Angeles, and Bella to Netherfield Estate on her bike. She kept to the side of the highway most of the way, but then decided to take a short cut right through the forest for the last couple of miles, walking through the damp mud. She jumped over broken branches and bracken, and sprang over puddles the previous night's storm had left behind. At last, she was within view of the big, white house. With tired feet, wet, dirty clothes and a face glowing from exercise, she rang the fancy doorbell.
Tanya opened the door. Her eyes grew wide in shock as she took in the girl before her.
"Bella," she exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the condition Bella was in. She invited her in and with a forced smile asked, "What's going on?"
"I came to see how Alice is doing." Bella's wet shoes squeaked through the hallway as she made her way past Tanya.
Tanya stuck her head out the door and upon seeing Bella's bike outside turned back to her in undisguised horror.
"You mean you biked all the way over here to see how Alice was doing?"
"Yup," Bella replied nonchalantly. She was currently busy squeezing the water out of her hair, where it dripped all over the white marble tiles.
"But it must be at least ten miles," Tanya gawked.
"Fourteen, actually," Bella corrected her. "I set my bike's odometer." She smiled at Tanya, enjoying the stunned look on her face.
Tanya was indeed startled, and for a few seconds couldn't say a word. Recovering herself, she invited Bella into the family room, where everyone but Alice was gathered.
The room came to a hushed silence upon Bella's entry, until they all came to their senses and greeted her politely.
Jasper was the only one who walked over to her. He reached out for her wet hair and tugged on it playfully.
"You're soaked Bella! Tanya, go bring a towel for Bella. You want some coffee or hot chocolate?" he offered. "Irina, go make Bella some hot chocolate," he demanded before Bella could respond.
"I'm fine. Please, don't go through so much trouble. I'm used to getting wet," Bella said, feeling her cheeks turn red.
"It's no trouble at all," Jasper assured her. Once his cousins had left the room, he leaned into Bella and whispered, "Let them earn their keep." Then he winked at her conspiratorially. Bella smiled but didn't say anything.
"Take those wet socks and sneakers off," Jasper instructed, kneeling down to help her take them off. "Edward, looks like we may have another patient for you. Why don't you go grab that stethoscope of yours so you can play doctor with Bella?" he teased.
Bella looked up into Edward's startled green eyes. He mumbled something unintelligible. "I-uh…"
"Oh stop it," Bella chided Jasper, smacking his arm. Jasper laughed.
Edward didn't know what else to say, so he said nothing more at all. He was torn between doubt that the situation with Bella's sister had really called for such a foolish trip in such weather, and mesmerized by the picture Bella made. Her long, wet hair hung wildly around her face; she'd taken her sneakers and socks off, and stood barefoot before them, and Edward couldn't resist looking down at her feet, which looked extremely soft and delicate. When she removed her raincoat, he had to suck in his breath when he saw all she had underneath was a plain, white ribbed tank-top, which hugged her chest and tiny waist perfectly. And finally, her face; her face was flushed from the exertion she'd put herself through, giving her complexion a wonderful brilliancy.
After drying herself off with the towel and taking a few obligatory sips of the hot chocolate she'd been given, Bella asked about Alice.
With a frown, Jasper answered, "I'm afraid she's not feeling too well. When I last checked on her, she had a bit of a fever, but Edward's given her some Ibuprofen. I suggested she stay in bed in the guest room and rest."
"Mind if I go see her?" Bella asked anxiously.
"I'll take you up," Tanya offered.
They left the family room and quickly made their way up the winding staircase to one of the large guestrooms in the mansion. When they opened the door, Alice's face lit up at the sight of her sister. Only her fear of worrying Bella had kept her from asking her to come see her over the phone earlier. Alice wasn't up for much conversation though.
When Tanya left them alone, all Alice could say was, "Oh Bella, they've all been so kind to me. I'm really very lucky."
Bella chuckled, smoothing back her sister's hair. "Well it's not like they could've thrown you out into the rain."
Alice attempted a small smile. "True. But they've all been very attentive. Jasper's been in here at least four times today, and Tanya and Irina have checked on me a couple of times to see if I need anything."
Bella wondered to herself if Tanya and Irina would've been so attentive if 1) it wasn't at their cousin Jasper's urging, and 2) it wasn't raining cats and dogs outside, preventing them from going anywhere. But she remained silent and instead fluffed up Alice's pillows and made sure the blankets were warmly bundled around her.
After a while, Tanya and Irina came up to Alice's room to join them.
"Alice sweety, how are you feeling? I brought you some Campbell's chicken soup," Tanya crooned in a sing-song voice.
"And I brought you up a couple of movies to watch, so you don't get too bored up here," Irina added.
"Thanks guys. That's really thoughtful," Alice whispered in a hoarse voice.
Tanya and Irina then sat with Bella and Alice to watch a movie; some vampire flick that engrossed them all immediately. When Bella saw how much attention the cousins were paying to her sister, she started to wonder if perhaps she had been too hard on them.
In the middle of the movie, two quick raps on the door made them all jump.
"Come in," Bella called out.
Edward opened the door and walked in slowly, his lips set in a tight line and looking as if he'd rather be anywhere other than there.
Not looking at anyone in particular he said, "I came to check on Alice, if she doesn't mind." His eyes quickly flashed to Bella. "I hope I'm not disturbing."
Bella shrugged. "It's up to Alice."
Alice smiled weakly. "Thanks Edward. I really appreciate it."
Tanya batted her eyelashes, flashing Edward a huge grin. "Girls, let's give Dr. Cullen," – she breathed seductively – "and his patient some privacy," she suggested, standing up. Irina and Bella stood up with her.
"Edward, is it okay if Bella stays with me?" Alice asked.
"If you don't mind, I don't," Edward responded.
Bella sat back down and Tanya, looking somewhat flustered, exited the room with her sister.
Edward sat on the opposite edge of the bed Bella was sitting on. He gently took Alice's hand to help her sit up, and then angled himself so that he was sitting behind Alice. Blowing lightly on his stethoscope first to warm it up, he lifted the bottom of Alice's t-shirt and placed the stethoscope against her back.
"Take a few deep breaths," he instructed. His tone was professional but not unfriendly. Alice did as she was told.
When he was done, he moved to face Alice. "Open your mouth." Again, Alice complied quietly. He then proceeded to examine her throat with his medical instrument before moving on to each ear. He gently tugged on each ear with one hand as he placed the light of the instrument close to each ear, and moved in close enough so that Alice could feel his breath on her cheek.
When he was done with that, he rubbed both his hands together quickly and placed two fingers on either side of her neck, massaging softly.
"Does that hurt?" he asked in a low voice.
Alice, whose eyes had gotten half-lidded by this point, snapped them open quickly. "Um, what?"
Bella hid a smirk.
"Does it feel painful when I touch your throat here?" Edward repeated, moving each set of two fingers in slow circles over Alice's neck.
"Uh, no. It definitely doesn't feel painful," Alice whispered.
Edward frowned, looking somewhat confused. He dropped his hands away and Alice exhaled softly while Edward put away his instruments. Bella fought to suppress a laugh at her sister's expense.
Edward stood up. "Everything still looks clear Alice. Looks like it's just a really bad cold. Keep resting and drink plenty of fluids. You should be fine in a few days."
Alice lay back down. "Thanks Edward," she offered in a weak voice.
Edward nodded and moved his eyes to Bella. She half-smiled at him before turning back to Alice to reiterate what he'd said about rest and fluids. With a serious expression, Edward took the opportunity to excuse himself and left the sisters to themselves.
As soon as the door was closed behind him, Bella burst into laughter. She fanned Alice's face and asked, "Are you okay? Should I get you some smelling salts, a change of panties? Do you need a cigarette?"
"Oh shut up!" Aliced growled, but she couldn't suppress a smile. "See how you would've faired if it would've been you he was examining."
"I'd rather die a slow, painful death than ever let him examine me. Besides, he does absolutely nothing for me," Bella assured Alice.
"Then you're either blind or dead," Alice snorted quietly.
"You'd better not let Jasper hear you saying that," Bella teased.
Alice's smile widened at the mention of Jasper. "Believe me, Jasper has nothing to worry about. Assuming he'd care one way or the other," she corrected.
"Oh trust me. He'd care," Bella said.
Just then, Tanya and Irina walked back into the room, and they resumed watching their movie without another word.
The girls spent the remainder of the afternoon in Alice's room, until Bella decided she should start heading home if she didn't want to get caught out in the dark. Tanya offered to drive her home, and Bella readily accepted. The movie was turned off and the news channel came on air.
"…wind gusts in excess of sixty-five miles an hour. Visibility in the Olympic area is close to zero. Batten down the hatches guys. This storm's going to be one for the records. No one should be out in this. Unless it's an emergency, stay where you are…"
"Bella, you can't go in this! It's practically a tornado out there!" Alice cried.
Before Bella could respond, her cell phone chimed. A look at the caller-ID showed it was Charlie.
"Bella, things are really ugly out there. I can come get you if you really want me to, but I think it'd be better if you just stayed there for the night."
Bella didn't want to argue with her father, or risk having him come get her in such horrible weather. But the thought of spending the night at Netherfield…
"Dad, I-"
Three raps at the door cut her off mid-sentence. Jasper opened the door quickly, with Edward standing close behind him, looking as uncomfortable as ever.
"Bella, there's no way we're letting you go home in this. You're spending the night."
"I have no clothes," she responded, both to Jasper and her father, who was still on the phone.
"Jazz please, tell her she has to stay," Alice begged. Jasper quickly went to her side and took her hand, offering her a comforting smile.
Jasper turned to Tanya. "Hey cuz, didn't you just go shopping a couple'a days ago? I know I saw you come in with all sorts'a shopping bags."
"Uh, yes," Tanya responded coolly. Her eyes flashed to Bella and Bella could've sworn she saw the beginnings of contempt on her face. "But-"
"Let me ask you something," Jasper interrupted her before she could continue. "Is that what you needed to borrow a few hundred dollars for that morning?"
"Um, yes but-" Tanya stuttered, growing pale.
"Well then, that kills two birds with one stone. You no longer owe me that money, and now Bella has clothes for the next couple'a days."
Tanya had no other choice but to comply, and Bella had no choice but to consent to stay. And she asked her father to let everyone at home know that she'd be at Netherfield for the next couple of days.
A/N: Hmm. So things start heating up.
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