Author's Note:
Hiya! Long time no see. I wrote this oneshot a while ago after watching and reading Purple Hearts last year but never posted because life has been chaotic.
I did change a few things to it. But not a lot. Also I liked the movie version a ton more than the book so I am going to stick to that...
Anyways hope you all enjoy it! Much love, Izzy!
I hummed as I felt my brow furrow in concentration. The ivory keys hummed a sweet melody into the room as my fingers slowly moved over them.
"No, that doesn't sound right…" I mumbled as I continued to play, a crease appearing in my brow as I stared down at the old leather bound book and loose leaf papers littered on top of the piano.
Why wasn't the song coming out right? Damn it. I had it. I almost had it, I can feel it. It's almost right.
"Bee, while I am really glad that the smell of stale beer inspires you, you're going to need to come slice some lemons if you want to stay in the tip pool. The bar opens in ten minutes and Waylon told us he wants us at our best tonight." Kate said.
I let out a small laugh, and sigh before turning to look at her, "I swear I'll be right there. I love you guys." I replied as I continued to play.
Garrett snorted and shook his head from where he stood behind the bar as he wiped it down.
The night ran smoothly, as usual. We had a good group of people in the bar tonight.
While Kate and I took orders around, moving as quickly as we could.
Finally the time came for our group play. Waylon had allowed us to play two songs tonight, and while the group was rather calm, we decided it would be a good idea to play calm and mellow songs.
It was great, sadly time always flew while we were on stage. It felt like five seconds ago, I was asking the group how we were doing tonight and now we were almost done playing the second song.
The beat of the music slowly swirls and pulses around me.
I closed my eyes as I waited for the right cord to hit so I could sing again, as Embry finished playing his guitar solo.
"Off with your head
Dance til you're dead
Heads will roll
Heads will roll
Heads will roll
On the floor
Glitter on the wet streets
Silver over everything
The river's all wet
You're all chrome
Dripping with alchemy
Shiver stop shivering
The glitter's all wet
You're all chrome
The men cry out the girls cry out
The men cry out the girls cry out
The men cry out, oh no
The men cry out the girls cry out
The men cry out the girls cry out
The men cry out, oh no
Oh oh! Oh!
Oh oh! Oh!
Off, off with your head
Dance, dance til you're dead (dead)
Heads will roll
Heads will roll
Heads will roll
On the floor
Looking glass
Take the past
Shut your eyes
Realize
Looking glass
Take the past
Shut your eyes
Realize
Glitter on the wet streets
Silver over everything
The river's all wet
You're all chrome
You're all chrome
Oh!
Oh oh!
Off, off, off with your head
Dance, dance dance til you're dead
Off, off, off with your head
Dance, dance, dance til you're dead
Off, off, off with your head
Dance, dance, dance til you're dead
Off, off, off with your head
Dance, dance, dance til you're dead
Off, off, off with your head
Dance, dance, dance til you're dead
Off, off, off with your head
Dance, dance, dance til you're dead."
As soon as the song ended the small audience clapped, and 'whhhooo!'d and whistling as the song finished.
"Thanks for allowing us to play for you, and Waylon for the opportunity. Please don't forget to tip your servers." I say with a wink, as we all come off.
Garrett, Kate, her cousin, Irina, and Laurent follow me off the stage.
"Thanks for coming to play, guys. Tonight was great." I say cheerfully.
As I begin to put my apron on, Kate nudges me with her elbow, and nods towards the door.
"Look, B, your favorite." She says, amused as she tied her apron.
I frown before turning to the door.
As I do, I groan inwardly, and turn to her with an annoyed eye roll.
"Hey! Hey, how's it going, buddy?" One of them greets another in the group loudly.
"Oh, great. Marines." I mumbled, throwing my head back with a groan. "Mild to medium harassment by nine, chaotic evil by ten." I sigh as I pull out my notepad, as I pull on a fake smile.
As I turn around, I hear someone call my attention.
"Hey stranger."
I blinked in surprise. "Jake?!" I gasp.
"Bells!" He smiles and opens his arms to me.
"Stop! Jake?!" I call excited as I smile and rush forward and jump into his waiting arms.
"Surprise!" He said after he spun me around and set me on my feet before stepping back.
"I've missed you, you freak." I say as I smile widely.
It had been years since we moved from Forks. It had been years since I had seen him.
I used to babysit him when he was in elementary school and I was freshman year of highschool. The last time I saw him… he was ten.
"I missed you too, Swan." He said affectionately.
As he did, I reached up to rub his head, only to realize he had a buzz cut instead of his long black hair. Immediately missing said hair.
"Oh my God! Look at the buzz. No, I'm not okay with this, at all." I said as he chuckled.
Kate cleared her throat to gain my attention.
I turned sheepishly, before pulling him in her direction. "Oh, uh, Kate, Jake. Jake. Kate." I introduced, as she gave me an inquiring look.
"Nice to meet you." He said, smiling widely.
"Kate, and her boyfriend Garrett over there are in the Loyals with me. Jake, we grew up together, and I was his babysitter." I explained, reaching up to squeeze his face affectionately.
"Okay. Okay. Don't say that in front of everybody." He chuckled, squeezing my face too.
"Baby-faced Jakey." One of the men cooked at him.
We both turned to see the group watching us with smiles on their faces.
"See, what you did?" He mumbled, feigning annoyance.
I snorted as we made our way over to the table.
"Bella was just telling me how much she loves military boys." Kate said, smirking at me as she dodged my elbow.
Jake snorted, before turning to smirk at me, "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah."
"Mmm." I hummed trying to keep my unimpressed expression off my face.
I stepped on his foot causing him to wince as the group of men eyed me with interest.
Jake ignored my annoyance before turning to me with an excited smile, "Uh, these are the guys. We've got two weeks 'til we ship out to Iraq." He explained.
I snort, "Wait. We're still in Iraq?" I asked.
Jake gave me a look, "Not out yet." He replied.
I sighed, "Another war that never ends." I mumbled, "In that case, what you guys wanna drink?" I asked, pasting a smile as I turned to give my attention to the group of men, who were watching us intently. "First one is on the house." I add, as I hug Jake.
"Thank you." He mumbled as he sat down in one of the stools.
I nodded, as I pulled out my notepad, and pen.
"Hey!" One of them says excitedly.
A blonde baby faced man turns towards me, and tilts his head, "Tequila?" He asks.
I refrain from smiling, and turn to Kate. "Say, Kate, does he look old enough to drink tequila?" I ask her.
She gave me a smirk before shaking her head, "Absolutely not." She says, turning with a wide smile as she eyes him.
"Double that." One of the other males says with his arms crossed.
"Copy that." I say, with a sigh.
As I turn to look at the next one, I jerk my chin to him, wordlessly asking him for his order.
His brow furrows as he thinks for a second before he says, in a deep, smooth voice. "I'll have a Coke.."
"Okay. My kinda guy." I softly says.
"Hell yeah." He responds immediately. "Could you throw in some lemon slices with that?" He adds a second later.
I smirk in response, "How about you pace yourself, bro?" I snip before turning away and heading to put in their drink order.
I could hear the group 'woah'ing at him as I do.
From where I stood I could hear them still talking about me as I told Garrett the table's order.
"She's totally into you, bro."
I could see them congratulating him as I turned to give him an unimpressed look.
Jake turned towards him, wearing the same look I was. "No. Okay? Just no. It's not gonna happen, never. Just let it go, cheekbones." He said.
I bit back a snort as Garrett raised a brow, and gave Kate part of the order.
The smile on Mr. Green Eyes dropped as Jake spoke. "What? You two—?" The man asked Jake, leaning towards him.
Jake shook his head at him in response, "No, she's like an older sister to me." He replied.
Kate sighed, as she set part of the order on the table, "Uh, Bella has a strict, 'no soldiers' policy, sorry." She told them.
"We're Marines." Green Eyes said.
"What's that about?" One of the others says.
The baby-faced blonde one turned and smiled at her, "Well, that means more of us for you then." He said, smiling at her.
Kate smirked back, and answered without a beat. Laughing as she did. "Oh. Tempting. Let me just run it by my girlfriend." She replied as Garrett laughed and handed the rest of the order to me.
I shook my head at him, before heading towards the table.
The entire group was still laughing at the blonde as I approached the table.
"Three tequilas, and a coke." I said as I began to set them down.
One of the guys gave me a weird look, "So we're good enough to fight for your ass, but not enough to touch it?" He asked sarcastically.
I turned to give a disgusted look, scoffing at his comment, "Excuse me?"
"Okay, I'll excuse you, this time, " he replied with a wide smile.
Without hesitation, I dropped the tray onto the table, scoffing in disgust at him. "I can't with this trash. You deal with them, Kate." I threw over my shoulder before heading back to the bar.
"Real smooth." One of them told him.
"What the hell? Come on, bro. " Jake told him.
"Let me see what I can do." Green eyes said.
The quiet man in the group shook his head, "Good luck, behave yourself, Mase. Don't do what he did." He teased.
"Dude that has the perfect track record." The rude one said.
I gave him a raised brow before sighing turning towards Garret. "You need me to kick them out?" He asked me quietly.
I shook my head and sat down. "No, let them enjoy their night…" I mumbled.
The bar seemed to be practically winding down as I looked around the room. Most of the patrons who were here had already paid their tab and left home.
I felt a presence, followed by the smell of an enticing cologne. I turned to find the green-eyed man standing next to me staring at me, apologetically.
I gave him an annoyed look before turning back to the bar.
"Hey, I just want to apologize for our friend. He is a bit —" He mumbled, scoffing as he looked at him.
"Okay." I said, keeping my head forward.
A moment later I heard him click his tongue, while still looking at me curiously.
"Uh, I'm Edward, by the way. What's your name?" He asked, sticking out his hand in my direction.
I try not to let my annoyance and disgust show at the situation, before turning to really look at him.
He's handsome. Extremely so. I would have to be a blind woman to not notice.
I notice that he is tall. At least six foot one or two. I could be wrong about his height, though. Just by glancing at him I could tell he is muscular yet lean, if the way his sweater clings to him is anything to go by. But not too muscular like those body builder types. Toned.
His eyes are a distinct green color, and his hair is a unique color. Bronze with snippets of blonde in it.
And he has what can only be described as a kind smile, with a hint of cockiness in it. The small birthmark on the corner of his upper lip on the left side, is what probably makes all the girls he talks to want to drop their panties.
I also notice he is trying to not tap his fingers as he waits for my response, and that as he moves his hands he's got a hint of tattoos.
With a sigh, I look up to meet his gaze, "Your waitress/ bartender for the night. Have a fun night, Edward." I reply, before heading towards a table that was motioning for me.
His table gasps and begins laughing as I do.
"You know, we're not all alike." He calls after me.
I turn around, scoffing a laugh in disbelief, "Oh really?" I asked him.
"Yeah." He replies as he crosses his arms over his chest.
"Because your friend is talking about his right to touch my ass. Which apparently you also feel entitled to." I snipped.
He scoffed and shook his head. "Okay, we're just blowing off some steam. It's uh… It's actually a pretty big night." He told me, calmly.
I gave him a look, motioning him to proceed.
"It's our last night on leave. We ship off in a few weeks." He explained.
I nodded, "I get it, I do, but, uh, that's not really an excuse for casual misogyny. I mean, you're cute and everything, but…" I reply as he laughs.
"Okay, alright. I uh, I get this." He said as he tries to stop smiling.
"What do you get?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.
"You. Yeah." He says.
I raise an eyebrow at him, "Me?" I ask with a surprised scoff.
He nods, "Yeah. You're kind of predictable. I've —I've met your type before. Yeah." He says.
I laugh, "Oh? Do tell." I say sarcastically, placing a hand on my hip.
"Drive a Lexus that your parents paid for, but it's a hybrid, so it's okay. You… you probably tweet a lot about other people's rights, but when it actually comes down to— " He manages to list off before I cut him off.
"Sorry, it's just fascinating to me. Do you have a PhD in mansplaining?" I asked sarcastically.
He laughs, and continues, "When it actually comes down to fighting for these rights you don't want to do anythin, right? Because guns are wrong and mean. You're a pacifist. I guess, it's our job to go and fight these battles for you, right?" He sarcastically says.
I scoff and roll my eyes at him as Kate watches amused.
He leans in, giving me a sardonic look "I bet you have a little 'peace-dove' tattoo on your back to prove it." He says.
I give him a wide angelic smile, "On my ass, actually. Which you can't touch but you can kiss." I replied, before walking away.
"Nailed it." One of the guys called to him.
The other ones were laughing their asses off, as I went to the other side of the bar where Garrett was standing. "Or they just skip to chaotic evil." I sighed, stretching.
"You see the guy with a baby face, who also looks like a prepubescent twelve year old? He told me I should reconsider my stance on men, because if I marry him, I would get incredible health insurance." Kate said as Garrett laughed.
"That bit you in the ass didn't it, babe?" He commented as he passed by and went to wipe the now empty table of the forgotten patrons.
I looked at her, amused. "Wow. Health insurance. That's some dirty talk right there." I deadpanned.
"Oh yeah. So hot." She said in agreement.
A noise interrupted our laughter, causing my smile to fall.
"Where's that coming from?" She asked.
"My bag. I made it annoying so as not to ignore it." I explained as she passed me my bag. "Uh, hey, can you cover for me for like five minutes?" I asked.
She nodded, "Yeah, of course, you okay?" She asked, concerned.
I nodded in response, "You know." I replied, as I quickly made my way out of the bar toward my car.
As I stepped outside I almost laughed at the irony of Edward's words. My old Subaru Outback '94 sat before me, decrepit and in need of some tlc but that was a luxury I couldn't afford at the moment.
I quickly got into it and pulled out my glucometer, the blood reagent strip, and a lancet.
I quickly shove the reagent strip into the meter, before l quickly pricking my finger and squeezing it, watching a little blood slowly oozed out of the tiny spot where I pricked. Once it's in, I quickly drop the blood into the strip and wait for the results.
The results showed my glucose was down causing me to sigh. That was the reason I had been feeling so tired.
I neglected to eat earlier and this was the result of it.
Without hesitation I pulled out the glass vile of insulin, and my syringe.
I shove the syringe into the vile and slowly fill it. Flicking it so there is no air.
As I do I realize the vile is almost out of insulin. "Shit." I sigh.
Before grabbing my arm and detecting the correct place to inject before I do.
By the time I made it back inside, the bar was almost empty, sans a few, still sipping their beer.
"Go home, Bells, we've got it covered." Garrett says as he finishes wiping down a table.
Kate nodded before handing me my cut of the tips. "Go. Well see you tomorrow." She says.
I nodded before turning back around and heading to my car.
Author's Note:
So, what'd you think? Good? No Good?
Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed it.