I know. It's been a while. But I promised I wouldn't abandon it…
This update is for T. Seymour, who never let me forget this story…love ya!
I plan to update more periodically, so hopefully you'll have another longish chapter in the next couple of weeks.
Again, chapters have been combined. This covers chapters 19 to 21 of P&P.
Characters belong to S. Meyer. Basic storyline belongs to J. Austen. The rest is my craziness.
A&A
The next day opened a new scene in Forks with a relish. Jake had come to town with a purpose, and he intended to do it quickly, since he'd be leaving town in just a couple of days, and having no feelings of doubt to slow him down, he set about his goal in a very business-like manner. He found Bella and Renee at breakfast in the kitchen, along with Lauren.
Jake cleared his throat and assumed a confident grin.
"Renee, Lauren, would it be too much trouble to ask for a moment alone with Bella?"
Before Bella could do anything but blush with surprise, Renee was answering.
"Oh boy! Yes! Of course! I'm sure Bella would love to have a moment or two alone with you! Come on Lauren, let's go upstairs for a couple of hours." She pulled Lauren roughly by the hand and started dragging her upstairs.
"Mom, please! Don't go!" Bella begged Renee with a nervous laugh. "I'm sure Jake has nothing to say to me that can't be said in front of everyone. Besides," she added, standing up quickly from the table and trying to make her escape, "I was just on my way out myself."
"No, nonsense Bella," Renee insisted with an undisguised stern look in her daughter's direction, "I'd like you to stay where you are."
Bella hesitated, and then deciding it would probably be best to get it over with as soon as possible, she sat down again, nervously playing with her utensils and sipping her orange juice. Renee and Lauren left, and soon, Jake sat down across from Bella and began.
"Bella," he grinned widely, "believe me when I say that your little show of modesty, rather than discourage me, just makes me want you more."
Bella ground her teeth but decided to let him finish before she castrated him.
"I'm sure you saw this coming, however unaware you may have pretended to be. My attraction for you has been too obvious for you to have mistaken it. Almost from the moment I walked into this house I decided that you would be the one that I'd pick to be my girlfriend. But before we get to that, maybe it would be good to let you know how this situation would be mutually advantageous to the both of us."
The idea that Jake could possibly believe that being his girlfriend would in any way, shape or form be advantageous to her made her want to laugh so hard that it took all her effort to keep from exploding in his face, and she therefore lost her opportunity to use his short pause as a chance to stop him from making a further fool of himself. He continued:
"My reasons for finding a suitable girlfriend to partake in a monogamous relationship are that, first, I think it's important that a man in my position, as Senator DeVolturi's assistant, set a good example for everyone else in the Senate by settling down. Also, I'm convinced it'll add greatly to my happiness. And to yours too of course," he added quickly as an afterthought. "And third, which I may have mentioned earlier, Senator De Volturi has recommended to me that settling down into a monogamous relationship would greatly increase my respectability in the Senate circles. More than once she's given me her opinion on this subject. As a matter of fact, the night before I came to Forks, while she and I were alone in her office and she was sitting on her desk while I took notes for a speech she wanted to present to the Senate, she said to me out of the blue,
'Jake, you have to find yourself a serious girlfriend. But make sure you choose properly. A quiet girl, for my sake. And for your sake, make sure she knows how to host a proper dinner party. Not a girl who's used to being spoiled, but someone who knows how to make a dollar go a long way. And as soon as you find such a girlfriend, I'll host a dinner for her here in Madison Park.'
"Now I know that in of itself is enough of a temptation for you to be my girlfriend," he said with a self-satisfied grin. "But you'll also find that she's extremely interesting to be around, and I'm sure that your brains and energy will be acceptable to her too, especially if you learn to keep your opinions to yourself in her presence."
By this point Bella was simply too stunned to say anything.
"Now I know you're probably wondering why I'd come to Forks looking for a girlfriend instead of looking in Seattle, where there are many beautiful and eligible girls that would just love to be in your place right now. The truth is that I figured since your dad is already in deep debt with me, I thought I'd do him a favor and pick a girlfriend from one of his daughters and release him of his debt. It's a win-win situation, I assure you. And I'm sure you agree that it's extremely generous of me," he said solemnly. He clapped his hands in front of himself. "And now I suppose the only thing left to say my sweetness is that I am totally crazy for you. I realize you're not in a position to contribute much financially to this relationship, and I'm fine with that. I don't mind bringing home the bacon as long as you fry it up in the pan," he chuckled.
Bella had to speak up then.
"Hold up there Jakey," she said, putting her hand out, palm up, in front of him. "You're getting just a tad bit ahead of yourself there. You seem to forget that I haven't even given you an answer about being your girlfriend, much less frying up your bacon!" She shuddered at the thought. "So let me do us both a favor and stop wasting our mutual time. I'm…flattered," she said through gritted teeth, "that you've lowered yourself to find me worthy of your attention, but I simply do not feel the same towards you. So I've got to turn you down. Sorry."
Jake stared at her blankly for a few seconds before a slow smile crept up his mouth once more.
"You're still playing hard to get aren't you?" he asked with a dismissive wave of the hand. "I've heard girls like you like playing cat and mouse for a while before finally giving in. No worries. I can chase you a little longer if that's how you'd like to play it," he smiled salaciously.
Bella stiffened and felt her shackles rise.
"I assure you Jake," she said coolly, "that you'll only be chasing your own tail around. I am not one of those girls that plays games. I mean what I say. You could never make me happy, and I'm sure I'm the last woman in the world who'd be able to do so for you. As a matter of fact, if your friend Senator De Volturi ever got to know me, I'm sure she'd think I was the worst candidate for your girlfriend."
"Don't even joke like that," said Jake, with an unusually sober expression. "But I honestly can't imagine that the Senator wouldn't approve of you. And you can be sure that the next time I see her I'll do nothing but sing your praises and let her know how modest you are."
"Thanks but no thanks," Bella answered. "I'm pretty sure I'm right. I wish you all happiness and riches Jake, really I do, and by turning you down I'm just doing what's in my power to make sure you get there. In offering me the position of your girlfriend you've satisfied any and all obligations you may have felt towards the situation with my father, and therefore can no longer feel guilty if we should happen to fall on hard times. Therefore the matter's settled." She rose as she spoke, getting ready to leave the room, but Jake wasn't done.
That infernal grin still in place, he said, "Well I sure hope that the next time you and I speak about this subject you give me a more favorable response! Though I'm not in the least bit discouraged, because as I said, I know girls like you like playing hard to get. And like I said, it just makes me want you more."
"Seriously Jake?" Bella said in a tone of disbelief. "I don't understand you at all. If all my words have done are encourage you further, then I have no idea how to tell you that I'm not interested in a way that'll convince you of that fact."
"It's just that I know what a great catch I am," Jake said, sitting back against his chair with an air of total confidence. "I'm definitely not below you in situation, and I have an impressive little home in Madrona. My position in the Senate circles, my connection to Ms. De Volturi, and my relationship to your own family make me irresistible to you, I'm sure. Besides," he shrugged, "yeah, you're pretty and all, but what makes you so sure anyone else'll be asking you on a date any time in the near future? Your…position in society is unfortunately so low that it may negate all your beauty and liveliness. Therefore I must conclude that you're not really serious in your rejection of me, and that you're just doing it to keep me on my toes, as girls tend to do."
"Let me make this as clear as I can for you Jake," Bella said, leaning into the table with a burning expression Jake was too blind to pick up on, "I don't pretend to be one of those girls that likes keeping men on their toes. I'd rather be thought of as a girl who is always sincere. I'll thank you one more time for the honor you believe you have given me in singling me out, but I cannot accept the role. I feel nothing for you. Do you want me to be clearer? Do not for one second think of me as a girl who is playing games, rather as a woman who speaks her mind clearly."
"You are so cute!" Jake laughed, "And I'm sure when your parents hear that I want you as my girlfriend they'll both be thrilled!"
Bella took a deep breath and let it out in one long gust, glaring at Jake. But she refused to continue such an inane conversation, and without another word stood up and left the room. If Jake insisted on believing her refusal to be just some sort of game, she'd go to Charlie and have him clear things up for Jake decisively. She was sure his behavior and manner at least would definitely not be mistaken for girlish games and flirtation. And if worse came to worse, maybe he'd even kick his ass.
oooooooooo
Jake didn't have to wait long to share his happy news with someone. As soon as Renee saw Bella leave the room, she quickly stepped inside and congratulated Jake on a job well done. Jake was all smiles as he related the details of the event to Renee. But as Jake went on, Renee's smile slowly faded. Renee knew her daughter much better than Jake did, and she wasn't as convinced as Jake seemed to be that Bella was simply playing hard to get. She mentioned this to Jake.
"But don't worry Jake. I'll speak to Bella. She can be very headstrong and opinionated, but I'll make her see how silly she's being."
For the first time all morning, Jake frowned. "Renee, I beg your pardon, but if Bella is really that headstrong and opinionated, I'm not so sure I want to be dating her. If she's going to continue turning me down, maybe it's not such a good idea to keep pursuing her. I'm not sure that someone with her temper would make me at all happy."
Renee grew worried. "No, no, no Jake!" she smiled nervously. "I think you misunderstood me. Bella is only headstrong when it comes to matters like this. In everything else she's a sweet, quiet young girl. Let me speak to Charlie, and I'm sure that between the both of us we'll be able to settle her down!"
She didn't even give him time to reply, but went straight to Charlie, who was sitting in his barker lounger in the living room, watching the game.
"Charlie," she hissed quietly, so that no one could hear, "You need to do something about your daughter! Jake's asked her to be his girlfriend and she totally turned him down! She's being completely unreasonable and if you don't talk some sense into her Jake might change his mind and not want her anymore!"
Charlie turned his eyes away from the TV and fixed them on her blankly.
"What are you talking about now?"
"Of Jake and Bella!" Renee hissed under her breath. "Bella says she doesn't want Jake, and Jake's starting to think he may not want her!"
"And what do you want me to do about it? It seems like a hopeless situation."
"Speak to Bella yourself! Tell her that you insist she go out with Jake!"
Charlie stared at his wife evenly. "Tell her to get down here. I'll give her a piece of my mind."
Renee smiled and went to the stairs to call Bella down.
"Come here Bella," Charlie said when Bella came to stand at the threshold of the living room. "I've got something important to talk to you about. I understand that Jake wants you to be his girlfriend. Is this true?"
Bella nodded warily.
"Okay," Charlie answered. "And you've turned him down?"
"Yes, I did," Bella said clearly.
"Alright. Here's the gist of it. Your mom insists that you go out with him. Right Renee?"
"Yes, or I'll stop speaking to her," Renee said, crossing her arms in front of herself cantankerously.
Charlie sighed and shook his head. "You have a tough decision to make Bella. From this day on, you'll be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother won't speak to you if you turn Jake down," – he smiled impishly – "and I'll never speak to you again if you accept him."
Bella chuckled, but Renee was furious.
"Charlie, what the hell are you doing?" she yelled, no longer caring that her guest was in the other room. "You promised me you'd talk to her!"
"And I have," Charlie chuckled, turning his attention back to his TV. "Now I have two favors to ask. First, that you'll allow me to have my own opinion on the subject at hand, and second, that you'll move away from my TV now. The Mariners are up by two."
Renee glared at Charlie and stormed out of the room.
But she wasn't ready to give up, despite her husband's disappointing show. She bugged Bella over and over for the rest of the day, coaxed her; threatened her. She even tried to get Alice on her side, but Alice refused to interfere, while Bella refused to budge.
In the meantime, Jake took a walk around the block, pondering all that had occurred. He was too sure of himself to even entertain any possible reasons why Bella may have refused him; and though his pride was slightly bruised, he suffered in no other way. His feelings for Bella were completely imaginary, and if you asked him, Bella completely deserved her mother's reproach.
While the Swan household was in this uproar Leah came to hang out with them. As soon as she walked in, Jessica ran to her and whispered excitedly, "Leah, guess what's going on? Jake asked Bella to be his girlfriend and she turned him down flat!"
Leah had no time to answer before Lauren walked in to tell the same news, and no sooner had they entered the family room where Renee sat alone than she began on the same subject.
"Leah please, talk some sense into your friend!" Renee begged. "Nobody in this damn house is on my side. Nobody feels for me. I'm extremely underappreciated and nobody gives a hoot about my poor nerves!"
Leah was thankfully spared from having to respond by the entrance of Alice and Bella.
"Look, there she comes," Renee smirked, "looking all happy and carefree, without a care in the world," she taunted, waving an arm. "But I'll tell you what Mizz Bella," she sneered, "if you go around turning down every guy that shows any interest in you, you'll never get yourself married, and then who the hell is supposed to take care of you in the future?"
"Um, myself?" Bella responded dryly.
"Hmph!" Renee snorted. "Like I told you in front of your father, I'm done with you! I'm never speaking to you again! I don't speak to disobedient children. Not that I enjoy talking all that much in the first place, you know, 'cause of my nerves and all. Oh!" she bemoaned, pressing one hand to her forehead, "No one knows how much I suffer! But there you go, that's what happens when you never complain."
Her daughters and nieces listened to her in silence, knowing better than to interfere with Renee's ramblings when she got in one of these moods. She talked on and on therefore, until Jake himself suddenly walked in, looking more sullen than usual. As soon as Renee caught sight of him, she said to the girls,
"Now all of you get out of here and let Jake and I have a word together please!"
Bella didn't wait to be asked twice, and Alice and Lauren followed, but Jessica dug her feet in and refused to budge, and Leah, held back first by Jake who quickly greeted her and then sent his regards for her family, moved to the window slowly and then pretended to admire the landscape.
"Jake," Renee began ruefully, "I-"
"My dear Renee," Jake cut her off, "how 'bout we never speak of this again? I mean, who am I to judge the behavior of your daughter?" he said in a critical tone. "But I resign myself to accept your daughter's decision, especially since I begin to question how happy we would have been together anyway. I sincerely hope you're not offended by the withdrawal of my offer."
"But Jake-" Renee begged anxiously.
He put a hand up to silence her.
"All I wanted was to find a sweet willing girl for myself, and yeah, of course I saw the advantage this would give your family, but oh well, I tried my best," he shrugged.
Renee was left speechless, for once.
oooooooooo
The discussion of Jake's offer was now finally at an end. Bella was only left to have to deal with the uncomfortable feelings the whole incident left behind, and her mother's petty looks here and there. As for Jake himself, the total loss of his esteem towards her was not reflected by embarrassment or dejection, or by trying to avoid her, but by the cool and resentful attitude he gave her. He barely said a word to her afterwards, which was honestly just fine by Bella, and his attentions for the rest of his stay were transferred to Leah, who was kind enough to listen to him. Bella was more than relieved by all this.
Later that day the girls took a ride to Port Angeles, where they were all thrilled to meet up with Mike again. He joined them on their walk around town and then went with them to their Uncle's house, where he received everyone's regrets at having missed him at the Netherfield party. To Bella though, he gave a long explanation for his absence.
"I figured it would probably not be a good idea to be in the same room with Edward again. Being around him for so many hours would probably be more than I could bear, and things may have gotten out of hand."
Bella was extremely impressed by his maturity and restraint, and they enjoyed each other's company for the rest of the day. Mike even returned to Forks with them, and throughout the day it was towards Bella to whom he gave most of his attention. Bella was on top of the world, and she even introduced him to Charlie and Renee.
While they were all hanging out, Alice checked her iPhone and Bella saw her face fall as she read whatever was on the screen. Alice fixed her features quickly and put her phone away, trying to rejoin the conversation with her usual cheeriness. But Bella saw the change in Alice's attitude, and even all Mike's attention couldn't ease her mind. Until at last Mike had gone and she and Alice were alone. Alice pulled out her phone and stared at it.
"I received a few texts from Tanya. She basically says she and her family have all left Netherfield Estate and have gone to New York, and don't have any plans on returning to Forks. Here, let me read them to you."
Al, we've left Neth. and on our way to NYC! Jazz had to go back for biz.
Al, the only thing I'll miss about that 2cent town is you. Hope to see you soon! Txt me!
Bella rolled her eyes at the insincere tone of the messages, and though she was surprised by how quickly they'd left, she couldn't honestly say it upset her. Besides, just because they'd be gone from Netherfield wouldn't be reason to detain Jasper from seeing Alice. And as to the loss of Tanya and Irina's company, she was sure that Alice would get over it as soon as she saw Jasper again.
"It's too bad," Bella said after a short pause, "that you didn't get to see your friends before they left. But at least you can look forward to seeing them again eventually. And I'm sure Jasper won't be too long in New York before he comes back.
"But Tanya sent me another text clearly saying that none of them will return to Forks any time in the near future. Look, I'll read it to you."
Al, looks like Jazz's biz might take longer than we thought! And since he prob won't want to leave, we're all staying with him for the rest of the summer! All our friends are already here. Wish I could see you again, but oh well!
"I think this makes it perfectly clear," said Alice, "that he won't be coming back this summer."
"It's only perfectly clear that Tanya doesn't want him to."
"Why would you say that? It would be his own doing. He is his own master, isn't he? But wait, there's more. Let me read you the text that really made me feel like crap. I won't keep it from you."
Al, Edward's anxious to see his sis Rose again, and so are we! She's so cool in every way! Jazz totes has the hots for her! I told you that b4, right? :) We're going to hook them up!
"What do you think of that Bella?" Alice asked sadly. "Doesn't that prove that Tanya has no expectations between me and her cousin? That she's sure Jasper has no feelings for me and that if she at all suspects that I have feelings for him, she wants to let me down easy? Can that text mean anything else?"
"Yes, it can," Bella answered indignantly. "Do you want to hear what I think?"
"Desperately."
"Alright. In very few words, here we go. Tanya's an evil, snotty bitch and sees that Jasper's in love with you, but she wants him to be with Rosalie Cullen so she can hang with New York's elite, so she followed him back to New York hoping to keep him there and convince you that he doesn't care about you."
Alice shook her head, unconvinced.
"Trust me Alice. No one who's seen you and Jasper together can doubt how much he cares about you unless they're deaf, mute and blind. I'm sure Tanya knows it, she's not that stupid. If she'd seen half as much love in Edward towards herself she would've ordered her wedding dress already. But the truth is," Bella said with a simple shrug, "we're not rich, or important, and Tanya thinks if she can get Jasper and Rosalie together it'll increase her chances of landing Edward, and I gotta give it to her, she might've had a good little plan going there if it wasn't for a certain Heidi DeVolturi in her way. But Alice, sweetie, you can't really believe that because Tanya tells you that Jasper has the hots for Rosalie he's any less in love with you than he was when he last saw you, or that she'll somehow be able to convince him that instead of being in love with you, he's in love with her friend Rosalie!"
"If we agreed on Tanya's personality," Alice replied, "your theory would make me feel a whole lot better. But I don't buy it Bella. Tanya wouldn't willfully deceive anyone, and the best that I can hope for is that she's somehow mistaken herself."
"Okay, fine," Bella smirked. "That's a good enough theory, since you won't believe mine. Give her the benefit of the doubt and believe her to be mistaken. You've done your duty as a good friend now, and can't feel guilty."
"But Bella," Alice moaned, throwing her head into her hands, "how am I supposed to feel, knowing that Jasper's closest friends and family don't want him with me?"
"Only you can decide that," Bella answered, "and after careful deliberation, if you find that the pain of displeasing his cousins would be worse than the happiness of being his girlfriend, than by all means, dump him," she finished with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Don't tease me Bella," Alice smiled faintly. "You know that even though it would upset me to disappoint them, I wouldn't hesitate to choose the latter."
"I didn't think you would," Bella agreed with a grin, "and that being the case I can't really take this entire situation too seriously."
"But if he doesn't return again at all this summer, I may not have a choice to make!" Alice wailed. "So many things can happen between now and the fall!"
Bella just couldn't accept the idea of Jasper not returning. It seemed to her more like Tanya's wishful hoping than an actual possibility and she couldn't imagine for a moment that regardless of how much Tanya may have hoped and planned it, Jasper would allow himself to be persuaded so.
She repeated to Alice what she felt on the subject and eventually was able to calm her down. And soon Alice was dreaming of Jasper's return to Netherfield again.
Alice and Bella both agreed however, that Renee should only be told that the Netherfield group had left, without letting her in on the specifics of Tanya's texts. But even this bit of information was enough to throw Renee into a tizzy, and she cried and moaned about how messed up it was that the group should have to leave just when they were all getting so close. But after whining and complaining about it at some length, she consoled herself with the thought that Jasper would soon return, and would have dinner with them in Forks, and even though she'd only offered to make fried pork chops, she figured she could fancy it up a bit more and roast a chicken.
A/N: Thoughts? Let me know that you're reading, and what you're thinking...