~~
I slid on the hard road and felt my hands scrape against it. I knew my arms would be bleeding and stinging all over but, with the rush of adrenaline, I couldn't feel it yet.
Victoria was rushing past where I had stood moments ago. Jasper's arms had reached out in an attempt to grab her but she went right past him. I saw him speed away after her.
I blinked a few times trying to regain myself. My mind was being overflowed with thoughts from the rest of the pack. They were all shouting thoughts at one another. At one point, Paul's thoughts got extremely loud and angry but too much was happening for me to realize what was going on.
I got up slowly and walked to my car. My shirt had torn slightly on the side and there was a road rash where my skin was exposed. I took deep breathes to try to ease the pain over most of my body, but it was difficult. Stinging, burning pain was always the worst type. It's like an alarm of pain that doesn't go off.
I sat in the drivers seat and laid my head back. I needed some medical assistance but I couldn't call the ambulance. My dad would panic and so would Jacob, I couldn't do that to them.
I tried to reach for my keys in the passenger seat but the pain on my arms was intense. Moving in the slightest caused a wave of pain. I needed to calm down, I needed my thoughts to be clear but, so much was happening. How could my mind be clear?
I searched for my phone, I knew it had to be somewhere in my car. The search was lengthened by how slow I had to move in order to avoid more pain. After a few mintues of searching
I heard it ring and searched frantically, ignoring my pain. I answered it assuming it was Jacob, and it was.
"Avery, we lost her." Jacob said, slightly out of breath and disappointed.
I took a deep inhale to try and hide my pain from showing in my voice. "She wants revenge so, she'll come around again."
Jacob paused before responding, I worried that an indication of my pain slipped through. "But she was so close," Jacob groaned loudly. "If only that Cullen hadn't decided to cross the treaty line and distract us."
That must've caused Paul's extremely loud thoughts. I was desperate to know who it was. "Who?"
"Emmett, I think that's his name."
I sighed in relief, Emmett was strong. He could take care of himself against the pack so, he more than likely just fine.
I heard the sound of leaves being rustled harshly, and it was coming closer. It was either Jasper or Victoria. My heart began to race in fear. I wasn't in any kind of condition to fight or run away. I heard shoes skid down the road as someone came to a halt. The person had to be near where I had landed.
"Avery!" I exhaled, it was Jasper calling my name.
My worry quickly came back as I realized I was still on the phone with Jacob. Him hearing Jasper would only make things worse between them, the last thing I wanted was for anyone to get upset. I waved my hand to get Jasper's attention. Then, I quickly moved my head out of the car and put a finger over my lips to try and get him to be quiet.
"Avery?" Jacob asked over the phone.
"Yeah?"
"Who was that?" It felt as if Jacob already knew the answer with how low his voice had gotten. It was almost frightening.
"Jacob..." I was about to explain to him what was happening knowing he'd be angry. He knew my lying giveaways, there was no getting out of the situation. "It's nothing, I'm fine. Everything is fine."
"Why is Jasper there, if he was just with us?"
"Jacob, I have to go." If I couldn't lie to him then maybe I could escape the situation.
"Avery, where are you?"
"I really have to go." Then I hung up, and guilt filled me. Jacob worried about me a lot and this would only make it worse for him.
"I'm sorry for yelling, I got worried." Jasper said after I hung up. He stayed a good distance from me, I assumed it was because of all the blood. "Carlisle will be here soon. Are you alright?" He sounded desperate, like if he was willing to risk it all just to see me and confirm if I was alright.
"Yeah, for the most part. I'm not close to dying, at least I don't think so." I joked.
Jasper laughed lightly but told me not to joke like that.
Carlisle arrived seconds later and appeared right next to me. He looked over my injuries quickly.
"What exactly happened, Avery?" Carlisle asked.
"Jasper had pushed me and I slid on the road," I explained. "But he was trying to protect me from Victoria."
"Well the thought was nice but, you're in pretty bad shape." Carlisle said with a smirk.
"Is she really?!" Jasper asked urgently.
"She'll be fine, Jasper." Carlisle chuckled.
...
Carlisle took me back to the Cullen house while Jasper drove my car. We got to the house before he did and Carlisle took me to his office to bandage my wounds.
Mostly everything was neat and organized. I felt comfortable too, it was odd to feel that way in a house full of vampires.
Carlisle gently cleaned the severe areas of road rash and put bandages around them. My arms were mostly covered in them. There was complete silence between us until Carlisle spoke up.
"So, Jasper pushed you?"
"Yeah, it was unexpected though. And I don't think he meant to push me as hard as he did."
"Is everything alright between the two of you?" I hadn't expected Carlisle to ask a question like that.
"For the most part, yes."
"He and Alice have hit a particularly rough patch in their relationship. It's unusual."
"Oh, that must suck." I tried to dismiss the topic.
"Avery, do you mind if I'm completely honest with you?" The question struck me like lightning. What was he about to ask me?
"Sure, go ahead." I let him continue, out of my pure curiosity.
"Jasper cares about you, a lot, and it makes Alice jealous. It makes her assume things. I just don't want the jealously to eat her up to the point where she ends it with Jasper. They understand each other like no one else can." Carlisle sighed lightly. "If you could please, for their sake, try to distance yourself from Jasper, it would help. I know he's mostly coming after you but, try at least."
I pursed my lips to try and hold my tongue. I was somewhat angered at Carlisle's words. It was as if he was blaming me for Alice and Jasper's rough patch. If there was anyone to blame, it's Jasper. This also meant others were noticing how close Jasper and I appeared to be. People were probably assuming I was throwing myself at him, or I was taking advantage of Jacob. I was doing none of those and the thought of someone thinking I was filled me with pure anger. I wanted to leave immediately.
"Yeah, I'll try." I said, but only because I wanted this thing between Jasper and I to stop for my own reasons.
Not much was said after that. Carlisle cleaned and bandaged the rest of my wounds and Jasper had returned with my car.
I quickly thanked Carlisle and walked outside. I had no idea where Jasper was, not that I cared, but I worried that he would find me. But, unfortunately, I found him. He was leaning against my car, he must've been waiting for me. Of all the things I needed right now, it was not Jasper.
He looked at me and his eyes lit up. He shouldn't be looking at me like that, and I hated that he did. Jasper's eyes lit up because I was a shiny new thing but things that were once were once shiny, get dull with age because they're reliable, therefore they're better. Dull things just don't look as good compared to shiny things. Alice was dull but, she was reliable. To Jasper, I would always be shiny. And that wasn't his fault but, I know he'd never see me as anything other than shiny.
"Give me my keys." I demanded.
"You don't seem in the best shape to drive, I could drop you off at home." Jasper suggested, only slightly deterred.
"I'll be fine." I replied in a monotone voice, holding my hand out for my keys.
"Are you sure, I really don't mind--"
"YES, JUST GIVE ME MY FUCKING KEYS!" I exploded.
My frustration and anger were just expanding inside me and there was no way I could keep it inside any longer. Looking at Jasper and seeing how he looked at me made it worse. He should be looking at Alice like that because Alice was so much better than me. Alice was stable ground. And I was a rocky terrain that no one ever attempted to trek through except for Jacob.
Jasper said nothing and put the keys in my hand softly. Part of me worried that I hurt his feelings but, of all people to give my worry to, it wasn't Jasper.
I sped out of the driveway and onto the road. I didn't look back at Jasper.
I looked over at my phone. I had completely forgotten it when I left with Carlisle. Jacob must've called a million times. I looked to see how long ago the most recent call was, even though my dad's most consistent request was to not use my phone while driving. There was only four calls from Jacob and his last one was an hour ago. My dad was the most recent call and it was thirty minutes ago. Either Jacob was freaking out or being reasonable and waiting for me to return.
...
When I got home, I knew Jacob was there but he was in my room. And my dad had no idea he was there. If my dad knew Jacob was in my room I would've probably smelled blood.
I turned off my car and pulled on a hoodie so my bandages wouldn't be noticeable to my dad.
As soon as I walked in, I could feel a tense mood. Jacob knew I returned and my dad had been waiting for me on the living room couch, while watching the evening news.
"Why didn't you answer when I called you?" My dad asked.
"I was driving," One little white lie couldn't hurt. "Didn't wanna break that rule."
"Oh, alright then." There was some suspicion in his voice but he made nothing of it.
I went to my room and saw Jacob sitting on the edge of my bed. He was anxious and somewhat erractic. I decided to keep my hoodie on.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"That vampire smell is all over you." Jacob said with disgust. "I just want to know what happened." Jacob was bouncing his leg rapidly, he wasn't angry, he was anxious.
"Please, don't get angry." After I said that, I realized it wasn't the best thing to say. "I didn't say home when you guys were waiting for Victoria. I was on the road right next to the treaty line, just in case something happened. Jasper found me and we started talking. Then Victoria suddenly passed by me but Jasper pushed me out of the way. It was a bit rough but I'm fine. Carlisle bandaged me up."
"Bandages?" Jacob's attention was turning to Jasper, I could already tell.
"Yeah, it was because I slid on the road but they're minor injuries." I tried to ease his anger but, my words changed nothing. "They're on my arms."
Jacob rose to his feet and walked towards me. He saw the bandages on my hands first and hesitantly touched my fingers. He didn't want to add to my pain.
"I swear I'm fine." I added.
Jacob gently lifted up the sleeve to reveal my entire forearm covered in bandages. His breathing got heavier and his heart beat went faster.
"This is anything but fine. What was Jasper doing with you anyway?" Jacob questioned.
"He found me and we just talked, that's all."
My phone rang suddenly and broke my focus. Who could be calling me this late? I pulled my arm away from Jacob and took out my phone. It was Jasper. I considered not answering it but Jasper rarely called me. This had to be important. I paused before answering, preparing for Jacob to get even angrier.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Alice had a vision, she says she needs to talk to you immediately."
"Why can't she tell me now?"
"She says it's really important and it needs to be discussed in private." What could Alice have seen? Did it involve the Volturi? Oh no, no, no, what if it did really involve them?
"Okay, I'll be on my way then." I hung up before Jasper could say anything else.
"Yeah, why don't we go visit the Cullens? Especially Jasper." Jacob was getting angrier. "I'd definitely like to talk to him." His voice got lower and more dangerous.
"Jacob, don't. I know what you're thinking but--" Without letting me finish, Jacob began to walk towards my window. "Jacob, stop!" I shouted, not caring if my dad heard. I cared more about making Jacob reconsider about going to the Cullens.
"No, I've had enough with Jasper!" One leg was already out the window. Jacob would get to the Cullens house before me and he was too angry to care about the treaty line.
"Jacob, please!" I grabbed onto his arm. I was practically begging for Jacob to not run off. "You're not thinking straight. It'll make things worse. I--I won't go, if it'll make you stay, please."
Jacob pulled away from my grasp and ran off in the direction of the Cullen house. I panicked and rushed for my keys. I ran down the stairs and heard my dad say something but I didn't catch any of it. My only objective in that moment was to make it to the treaty line before Jacob.