Blue Light Special

Growing up with a sister, who had never seemed to give up on the idea that I was her backup whenever she couldn’t talk Jasper or her girlfriends into her crazy ideas, had taught me to always pick the lesser evil in any given situation. So when James had threatened to paint my front door pink, I’d maneuvered out of it by agreeing to go shopping with him. Then he had shifted his pink door threat to Bella, who had to agree to come as well. That made him go into full planning mode, but at least he was out of our hair about babies and honeymoons. Dude was bonkers.



The barbecue had been fun. I shouldn’t have been surprised at how amazing Jake’s family and friends were – he had told me all about how he had the greatest dad in the world, the most loving mom, and a bat-shit crazy uncle. But everyone said that, and everyone was wrong. Except Jake. He did, in fact, have the greatest dad in the world, the most loving mom, and a bat-shit crazy uncle.

And then there was Bella. The pretty firecracker was equal parts great, loving, and bat-shit crazy. I wasn’t sure her idea to tell James that we were together had been a good one. Not just because the drama queen had gone off and bought goddamn baby clothes for the babies we’d have, but also because it messed with my mind. Between Bella being the most intriguing and beautiful woman I had ever met, her being Jake’s sister, and the fact that I was a really fucked up person, I had no idea how to deal with everything. I was glad that we were spending time together and becoming friends, though. Sometimes she reminded me so much of Jake, whereas other times it was difficult to believe that they had been siblings. I wasn’t even sure what I liked best – the similarities or the differences. I just knew that my sorry excuse of a life had been greatly improved by knowing them. All of them. Even crazy Uncle Harry and James. And no way was I ever admitting that to anyone.

The morning after the barbecue, James woke me up again. However, since he knocked on the door like a civilized person and presented me with an excellent reason to procrastinate from opening the emails in my inbox, I decided to forgive him.

“As much as I’m anxious to go shopping, I wouldn’t have minded if you’d answered the door naked, butter balls,” James greeted me when I opened the door – paranoid and fully dressed.

“Good morning to you, too, princess,” I said, sleepily, and looked at my watch. “Isn’t it a bit early to go shopping?”

“Watch your mouth! It’s never too early to go shopping. And until the stores open, I’ll be window shopping over here, thank you very much,” he said, brushing past me and walking over to throw himself on the couch. He looked at me expectantly.

I was really starting to hate how he thought that he could waltz in whenever he wanted. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing, just window shopping,” he replied. “Got any coffee?”

“I don’t think you need to be any more hyper than you already are. No caffeine for you,” I replied. “You can have some water or juice.”

“You’re no fun, mommy man. If you weren’t so hot, I’d hurt you for denying me coffee,” he said. “The Indian princess didn’t answer when I knocked – which sucks, by the way. It was so much more fun to pick the lock. Is she in your bed?”

“No, she’s not,” I answered, shaking my head. “And why don’t you come with a mute button?”

“Aw, you wanna push my buttons, pickle pie. That’s so sweet. I’ve got something else you can pu-”

“Can you just shut up? It’s too damn early for this,” I said just as there was a knock on the door.

“Someone could have used a blow job this morning. Just sayin’,” James called after me when I went to answer the knock.

The pretty firecracker smiled at me when I opened the door. “Good morning,” she said.

“Morning,” I greeted her. “Care to save me from insanity?”

She frowned briefly before laughing. “Let me guess. James is here.”

“What else can make a man insane this early in the day?” I asked sarcastically.

She giggled. “Aw, poor baby. I’ll call off the big bad Ja-”

“Are you done with the foreplay yet?” James interrupted, coming up behind me. “Either get it on or get going. We’ve got shopping to do, but if you wanna make babies first, it’s okay. I’ll go grab a cup of coffee with Grandpapa Swan and discuss baby names.”

I groaned. “See what I mean?” I asked Bella.

She narrowed her eyes at James. “Don’t make me sic my mom on you. You know she’ll go straight for your clothes.”

“Damn, girl. No need to be cruel,” he huffed. “But if you’re not going to get it on, we might as well leave. We need to be in Port Angeles when the stores open. Chop, chop, kids! Time for the ultimate shopping trip with the magnificent James.”

I wondered if rolling my eyes too much would give me a headache because it was entirely possible that I would be doing it a lot that day. I grabbed my jacket, keys, wallet, and cell phone and followed our fearless shopping leader. The fires of Mount Doom were waiting.

“I’m driving,” I announced on the way down the stairs.

“Shot gun!” James called out excitedly.

I groaned, and Bella laughed. It would be really fucking difficult to keep him from messing with the radio if he sat in the front seat. Damn.

The drive to Port Angeles felt like it lasted a decade. As expected, James commandeered the radio no matter how much I protested. The hyper diva singing along to some god awful pop had made me more or less deaf, and I started plotting how to leave him in Port Angeles at the end of the day.

And then the real torture started.

***

“You need this t-shirt in blue, jolly boo,” James told me decidedly and held it up.

“What? No way. It should be green to match his eyes,” Bella objected.

James narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you seriously questioning my fashion sense, princess?”

She snorted. “Hell yeah. You’re obviously color blind.”

“Color blind? Take that back! Blue goes with the delicious sex hair,” he insisted.

“So does green!”

“Blue!”

“Green!”

“Bluuuuuue!”

“Ass.”

“Yes, blue goes nicely with his ass, too.”

“How would you know?”

“Ooh, jealous that you’re not the only one who has seen his sexy ass, princess?”

“Bite me.”

“No thanks, but I’m sure Eddie-poo wouldn’t mind.”

Rolling my eyes, I decided that they had embarrassed us enough for now. People were beginning to look at us funny. I reached between them and grabbed a black shirt of the kind they had been arguing about. Smirking, I walked away.

“Or black,” I heard Bella say.

“It goes with his hair, eyes, and ass,” James agreed.

I shook my head and tried not to laugh while looking at jeans. My personal fashion gurus caught up with me and started bickering again. Soon I was sent into a fitting room with my arms full of jeans. Why me?

“Need any help undressing?” James asked through the door. “I’d be happy to lend a hand.”

“No thanks, I’m fine,” I replied quickly, briefly wondering if the chair in the fitting room could be used to block the door since I was fresh out of deadbolts.

“Want me to send Bella in to sex you up? You haven’t lived until you’ve had sex in public. Just sayin’,” he said. “Or maybe you’ve already done that. Where did you do it? Was it good? Wait, don’t answer that. Of course it was good with the shotgun you’re packing. Bella is one lucky sistah.”

“James?” I asked.

“Yes, sugar plum?”

“Please shut up.”

I snickered when I heard him huffing. The silence didn’t last long, though.

“Are you coming out soon so we can ogle your ass? That’s the most important thing about jeans, you know – how your ass looks in them. Well, and your crotch,” James said.

Before I could tell him to shut up again, the pretty firecracker had taken care of it for me.

“Ow! Why are you abusive, woman? I just want to make sure that your stud muffin doesn’t buy jeans that make his assets look less stellar than they really are. What’s wrong with that? And stop hitting me, dammit! I think you need a stud ride in the fitting room. Maybe you’ll be less aggressive afterward. Edward, come out here and make your woman stop!”

If I ever had kids, I was never taking them shopping.

I ignored Bella and James while trying on different pairs of jeans. I had no intentions of going out to model for them – they were just goddamn jeans. I didn’t even know why I was trying them on – I usually just grabbed some in my size and went to pay. Much easier, and so far everything had fit just fine.

Suddenly Bella slipped through the door and leaned against it. “Hi,” she said, biting her lip in a not very successful attempt not to smile.

“Um, hi,” I replied and pulled the jeans I had been about to take off back up. “Wha-”

Bella held a finger against her lips and took a step closer. “Ssshh!” she whispered. “I had to shut James up. He’s outside listening.”

I rolled my eyes and tried not to laugh. Bella giggled and picked up the jeans from the chair, sitting down with them on her lap. “Carry on,” she said, winking at me.

“With what?” I mouthed.

“Whatever you were doing,” she replied with a giggle.

“I hear giggling, but not moaning. There should be moaning, or you’re not doing it right,” James said from the other side of the door.

Bella and I laughed. “Go away, James,” I said.

“Hell no, if I’m missing out on the visual, I at least want the audio. Get busy, buttercups, and make some pretty babies for Auntie James,” he said. “It will be fun to tell them how I heard them being made.”

Bella hid her face in the jeans she was holding, and I closed my eyes, letting the back of my head fall back against the wall.

“James, for the love of God – go away!” I said a little louder than was probably polite in a public place.

“Fucking in public includes the risk of getting overheard or even seen. Live with it,” he stated. “Or fuck with it. Whatever.”

“Why don’t we get out of here?” I asked Bella who looked like she was trying to smother herself in the jeans.

She looked up and nodded while trying to keep the laughter in. “I’ll just…turn around while you change into your own clothes,” she whispered and cleared her throat before giggling again.

“Um, I just need my jeans,” I said sheepishly.

“Oh!” She giggled and rummaged through the jeans until she found the ones without tags. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” I quickly changed while she had her back to me, but as I was buttoning them, I caught her glancing at me in the mirror. I grinned at her, and she quickly averted her eyes. She blushed a little and hid her face in the jeans again while I just laughed. She was fucking cute.

James looked us over carefully when we exited the fitting room, even going as far as sniffing Bella before she smacked him. The rest of the day was spent trailing around after him as he plowed through every store he could find. I didn’t buy a tenth of what he wanted me to buy – especially not when he tried to convince me that pink was the color that only real men could pull off. Bella and I only just managed to convince him to stop for lunch, and he spent the entire meal commenting on the people around us – what they were wearing, what they looked like, how they walked, and if they were gay or not. According to James, half the population was secretly gay.

After lunch, we shopped a little more, this time mostly for Bella, as James had gotten it into his head that we should have matching outfits. We didn’t end up matching, but Bella did bring home a few shopping bags as well. James did, too. He had ventured into the most random stores while Bella and I took a breather or got a cup of coffee. I definitely didn’t want to know what he had purchased at Victoria’s Secret, Baby Gap, and the little place with sex toys he had spent forever in.

Bella and I tried to lose him a couple of times without any luck, and after we threatened never to go shopping with him again – like I would anyway – he finally agreed to call it a day.

“This has been the best day ever!” he enthused on the drive back to Forks.

Bella and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

When we got back to Forks, it was time to go to work. I was pretty beat, and my knee protested with every step I took. It turned out to be a slow night, thankfully, and I could spend a lot of time leaning against the bar, not putting weight on my bad leg.

“If this night gets any slower, I’m falling asleep,” Bella said with a sigh, leaning against the bar next to me.

I chuckled. “Take a nap on the counter – we’ll work around you.”

“It’s tempting,” she allowed with a grin. “I’d just be dead if my dad caught me.”

“See, this is the problem with today’s youth,” James said, joining us after serving a sullen-looking Renee, who was probably disappointed that Charlie wasn’t working. “No stamina. No wonder we’re not seeing any babies yet.”

“Dude, stop it with the baby obsession or get one of your own,” Bella told him.

“And how am I going to do that?” he asked. “I had delicious squeeze here picked out as my baby momma, but then you went and snatched him. Tramp.”

“Freak,” Bella shot back.

“Whore.”

“Slut.”

“Bitch,” James fired off before suddenly starting to jump up and down while clapping his hands. “Ooh! You know what we should do?”

“Lock you in the office so we can’t see how silly you look?” Bella suggested, straight-faced.

I snorted.

“Ha, ha,” James deadpanned. “No, no, we need to make drinks!”

“Hallelujah!” Bella exclaimed. “He finally understands what he’s supposed to do at work.”

“You’re a riot, you really are,” he said. “But what I meant was that we should make drinks for each other. Like a contest to see who can invent the best drink. It’s not like we’re fucking doing anything else anyway.”

Bella shrugged. “Why not? You in, soldier boy?”

I tried not to smirk as a memory resurfaced. “Absolutely.”

James squealed and clapped his hands before running down to the opposite end of the bar. Bella shrugged and went to look at the bottles on the shelves behind us. I knew exactly what to make, so I grabbed what I needed from the shelves and started mixing. I didn’t remember the exact ratios, but I remembered what it was supposed to taste like.

I smiled as I recalled how one night, when Jake and I had been stationed together, we had been talking about our deployments overseas. We had lamented the lack of decent food on the tours, and after a few beers too many, come up with our own version of what rations should consist of. Our suggestions had not been healthy by any means – primarily fast food and candy, plus obscene amounts of alcohol. We had even designed our very own drink to be included in the ration.

A Dust Remover.

It was designed to remove the godforsaken dust from the throats of the men and women stuck in the desert fighting a war they sometimes had difficulty making heads or tails of – while getting them drunk off their asses at the same time. We would have been famous if we had ever launched our idea. I hadn’t thought about that night for a long time, but it was one of many, many happy memories I had of Jake. I wanted to share it with Bella – and win the contest, because not only did a Dust Remover hit hard, it also tasted great.

After a little experimenting, I finally got it right. I made three of them and put the bottles away. Bella and James were still busy with their concoctions, so I served the few customers who came up to the bar. There weren’t many left in the booths, so we weren’t neglecting our duties by having a little contest.

“Done!” James announced a little later, carrying three very, very pink drinks with umbrellas over to where Bella was also clearing up what she had been using.

“What took you so long?” I teased.

“Watch your mouth, baby doll,” James said. “Perfection takes time. You spent nine months in your mama’s belly, did you not?”

I rolled my eyes and passed out my drinks. “Here. Taste the winner.”

Bella snorted. “No way. Mine is the best.”

“You are so adorable in your ignorance,” James cooed. “Pink is the way to go. Not green and…um, what the hell is that color?”

I laughed. Dust Removers might not look very appealing, but I was still convinced that they tasted better than whatever the competition had come up with. “Who cares what color it is as long as it tastes good?”

“That’s what I always say,” James said, nodding. “Although, I’m not usually talking about drinks.”

Bella groaned. “I think it’s time to pick a winner. Shall we, gentlemen?”

I tasted Bella’s first. It was green and actually tasted really good. I wondered if she had a name for it, because Pretty Firecracker came to mind. I then tried the pink nightmare James had created and nearly spit it back out. Goddamn. It tasted like sugar. And nothing else.

“I win!” James announced.

“Like hell you do,” Bella objected. “Edward, tell me I’m right.”

“You’re right,” I replied.

“Well, who can trust that decision when two thirds of the judges are sleeping with each other? I’m the voice of reason, and I say that I win.” He scooped up the drinks he had made and went back to the other end of the bar singing We Are the Champions. Nutcase.

Bella shook her head and took another sip of her Dust Remover. “This is great, Edward. What’s in it?”

“Sorry, can’t tell you. It’s a secret,” I replied.

“But what if I want another one?” she asked with an amused smile.

“I’ll make you as many as you’d like,” I said. “It’s called a Dust Remover. Jake and I invented it years ago, drunk and fed up with the rations on deployments. We figured fast food, candy, and booze would go over much better. In our drunken haze, we were sure that this particular drink would go over especially well overseas.”

Bella laughed and then bit her lip. “I love it when you tell me about him. It’s like getting little pieces of him back that I thought were lost forever. Thank you for sharing this with me. It’s definitely the winning drink.”

A thirsty customer wanting one last drink before closing time craved Bella’s attention, and I started cleaning up our glasses. I thought about how it got easier all the time to talk about Jake – especially with Bella. She was right about how sharing memories of him somehow kept him alive. Not a day went by where I didn’t desperately wish that he was still around, or that we could have switched places. The more I got to know his amazing family, the more it hurt knowing that he had been ripped away from them. They had deserved to get their son and brother back alive.

Later that night when I tried to fall asleep, I considered attempting another visit to the cemetery soon. I felt bad about not going, but at the same time, I really didn’t want to look at some stupid stone with Jake’s name on it. I missed my best friend, and I wanted him back. I had no use for a stone with a name.

The days passed without me going anywhere near the cemetery. I also didn’t check the emails that waited for me in my inbox, nor did I attempt to contact Jasper. I was more or less content in my own little bubble with all the craziness James and the firecracker provided. It was like having a small part of Jake because he had been as nuts as the town he had been born and raised in. It fit, and I liked it.

Work was always fun. My knee bothered me on occasion, but not enough to say anything or sit down as Sue had told me to. If nothing else, the pain reminded me about how lucky I was to be alive, and how close I had come to losing both my life and my leg. The patrons of the bar were mostly a friendly bunch with a few crazies thrown in. Drunken Renee with her crush on Charlie was hilarious, especially because it made him all frazzled and embarrassed. One night, she had even climbed onto the bar and serenaded him. I had been the fortunate guy who got to get her down from there. Harry had also stopped by once after the barbecue, carrying his faithful mug. He wasn’t quite as intoxicated as he had been when Bella and I had found him in the forest, but close. He had also still been rambling about vampires.

Some nights, Bella and I would gang up on James – or they would gang up on me. Sometimes James and I even ganged up on Bella. When Charlie worked the bar, he took part in the fun, favoring when we all ganged up on James. Early one evening when Charlie, Bella, and I did just that, my rarely used cell phone vibrated in my pocket. We weren’t that busy yet, so I stepped out back to answer it. The display read Jasper, and I hesitated. Did I really want to listen to him right then? Before I made the decision, it stopped ringing, only to start back up again immediately. Crap. Might as well answer or he’d be calling non-stop all night.

“Hello?”

“Hey, man. I’m just driving into Forks. Are you at the motel?” Jasper asked, slightly muffled from music in the background.

I closed my eyes. I did not want him to be in Forks. Unfortunately, the town wasn’t big enough to hide in. Even if I said that I was still staying at the motel, he would probably end up in the bar and find me anyway. There wasn’t a hell of a lot of things to do in the evenings other than come here.

“No, I’m at the bar. It’s rig-”

“Oh, yeah, I see it. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Just need to park. See ya!” And then he was gone.

I stared at my phone. I was not ready to see or talk to Jasper again – nor did I particularly want to. And I sure as hell didn’t like the fact that it was completely out of my hands. With a sigh, I slid my phone into my pocket and walked back out to the bar. Maybe I could hog all the customers from the others and claim I was too busy to talk to him.

“There you are, dickle pop. I missed you,” James said to me when I joined him at the opposite end of the bar from where Bella and Charlie worked in tandem.

“I was gone less than five minutes,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

“So? You’re the best eye candy in here,” he said as if that even made sense.

I ignored him and went to serve a group of young, giggling women who ended up eyeing me just as much as James did. It was quickly turning out to be the night from hell. Before I had even finished serving them their first round, three of them had slipped me their phone numbers. James saw and narrowed his eyes at me, nodding toward Bella.

I chuckled. “They’re already in the trash.”

“They better be. No one hurts my Indian princess. Not even you, candy man,” he warned me.

I had no intention of hurting the pretty firecracker. I knew it wouldn’t have hurt her if I had kept the phone numbers, but I had no interest in the giggle squad or anyone else for that matter. I was still getting used to my new life, and I didn’t need any complications.

“Edward!”

I looked up and saw Jasper approaching the bar. Speaking of complications…

“Hi,” I said. It was really weird to see him again after all this time. My best friend had been a lanky, floppy-haired boy in worn jeans and crinkled shirts. In front of me was a grown man, who at the same time looked very different and exactly the same. He just wasn’t my best friend anymore and hadn’t been for a long time. I also doubted he would ever be any kind of friend again, though it appeared he disagreed, since he had driven all the way up to Forks.

Suddenly, James hip checked me. “I’ll get this one,” he said and sent a blinding smile in Jasper’s direction. “What can I get you, sugar bum?”

Jasper looked slightly uncomfortable. His eyes strayed to me for help, but I just laughed. Dude hadn’t had my back when I’d needed it, so I was letting James go to town with his new, shiny toy.

“Um, whatever you have on tap is fine,” Jasper replied.

“Coming right up,” James said, winking at Jasper. As he brushed past me, I heard him muttering about other things coming right up and something about tapping that all right. I laughed even harder and decided that I didn’t mind Jasper coming to town. I might not have thought him worthy of my friendship, but it was fun to see James messing with someone else for a change.

“So, a bartender, huh?” Jasper said, looking around.

“Yep,” I replied curtly.

“That’s cool,” he said. The alarmed look on his face returned as James brought him his beer. I took the opportunity to slip away to serve some customers while James got his flirt on. That shit was hilarious, especially because Jasper looked confused and slightly terrified.

“Who’s he got his claws in now?” Bella asked me a little later, nodding toward James and Jasper. We had slowly migrated toward the middle of the bar, leaving Charlie and James to defend the flanks. It wasn’t overly busy, so James kept Jasper entertained. Maybe if I was lucky, I could avoid him until closing time.

“An old friend of mine,” I replied. “We were best friends as kids and all through high school, but when I joined the Army, he went with the general consensus that it was the worst idea I’d ever had. Now – eight goddamn years too late – he’s trying to make amends for some reason.”

“No wonder you left him at James’ mercy,” Bella commented and reached out to squeeze my arm briefly. “I’m sorry you didn’t have any support from the people closest to you. I understand why they didn’t want you to go and risk your life, but I don’t understand why they didn’t respect your decision or admired your courage. That’s what we went through when Jake signed up. I didn’t like it, but I respected it and admired him for it. Still do, even now.”

“I’ve known for years that Chief was blessed with a better sister than me,” I said and winked at her.

She smiled. “I love it when you call him Chief. And you just give me your sister’s address, and I’ll go kick her ass for you. Jake tried to teach me how to fight when we were kids, but the only way I could beat him was by pulling his hair. That worked really well until he cut it short. As long as your sister has hair, I can take her.”

I laughed. “Thanks, Xena, but Alice isn’t worth it.”

“Jazz! Dude!” a voice suddenly boomed out of nowhere, drowning out whatever Bella had been about to say. I looked up and saw Emmett bolting over to where Jasper was sitting. How the hell did they know each other? Jasper stood up, and the two of them hugged while James looked longingly at them. I watched with a frown as they started talking animatedly.

“Your sorry excuse for a friend knows Emmett?” Bella asked with raised eyebrows.

“It appears so,” I replied.

“Small world, huh?” she commented. “Oh, hey, Rose.”

The now melted ice queen smiled at Bella and me as she approached the bar. A few feet away, she stumbled but managed to regain her balance before face planting on the floor. She smiled sheepishly. “Hey, guys.”

“Hello, Rose,” I greeted her.

Bella started mixing her a drink, apparently not even needing to ask what she wanted. Rose looked over at Emmett and Jasper. “It’s weird that Emmett didn’t mention that his old roommate from college was coming to town,” she said, accepting the drink from Bella with a smile.

“Emmett and Jasper were roommates in college?” I asked, surprised.

Rose nodded. “You know Jasper?”

“Yeah…we were best friends when we were kids,” I replied. “I um, lost contact with him after high school.”

“It’s a small world,” Rose commented and sipped her drink. “In college, Jasper had the most annoying girlfriend. I always suspected that she was on speed because she was so damn hyper all the time. And her mood swings…ugh. When I was down visiting Emmett, we used to check into a motel for the weekend just to avoid her. I hope Jasper wised up and dumped her moody ass.”

I snorted. “That description sounds familiar.”

Rose’s eyes flew to meet mine. “You know her, too?”

“Well, it does sound an awful lot like my twin sister, Alice, and I know they’ve been together on and off since sophomore year of high school,” I replied. “They got engaged three days after graduation, and my parents were oddly delighted.”

“Shit, I’m sorry, Edward! I didn’t mean to insult your sister,” Rose said, flushing crimson.

I laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Rose. Honestly. She made the choice to turn her back on me eight years ago, so nothing you say about her will offend me. Hell, if you catch me in the right mood, I might join you if you want to bash her further.”

“I’m still embarrassed,” Rose said. “I really need to learn how to keep my mouth shut.”

“It’s fine,” I assured her. “If it makes you feel any better, I can tell you that she acted like a really uncompassionate bitch when I was in the hospital after Afghanistan. Don’t apologize for calling them like you see them.”

“Is there anyone in your life from before the Army who isn’t shitty?” Bella asked, wrinkling her nose. “Really, I think you should adopt James as your sister rather than this Alice woman.”

“It would be an upgrade, that’s for sure,” I said with a chuckle.

I worked for another hour before I couldn’t avoid the end of the bar where Jasper and Emmett were seated any longer. James had cornered me earlier to gush about how dreamy Jasper was and asked why I had been hiding him for so long. Someone certainly had a new crush.

“Hey, Emmett,” I said.

“Hey, man!” he greeted me. “So how cool is it that we all know each other, huh?”

“When you told me you were in Forks, it didn’t even register with me that Emmett might be here still,” Jasper said. “We were roommates in college.”

“Yeah, I know. Rose just told me,” I replied.

I stood around listening as the two of them recalled their epic college days with frat parties, pranks, and whatnot. Not having gone to college myself, I couldn’t really relate to any of it. I just kept thinking that while they had been going to parties, egged some frat house, and doing what sounded like a minimal amount of studying, I had been risking my life in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe in the end, the joke was on me, however. They both had educations now, while I just had a bum knee.

I listened to their stories between serving customers, and the more I heard, the more I realized that they had been really good friends in college. It was kind of ironic that my best friend and Jake’s best friend had found each other, just as Jake and I had. Jasper hadn’t supported my decision to join the Army, and Emmett hadn’t been able to join with Jake like he had wanted to. In a roundabout way, the fact that Emmett obviously thought highly of Jasper – and had done so during a time where I had considered him nothing more than an epic asshole – counted to me. I had thought the world of Jake, and Jake’s best friend seemed to vouch for Jasper – so how bad could he be? Maybe he really had just been a misguided youth who had been too in love with Alice to make up his own mind.

Emmett offered Jasper his couch for the night, and they left about an hour before closing time. Jasper had asked if I was free the next day for breakfast, and I had agreed. We would never be best friends again, that much I knew, but maybe we could just stop being awkward around each other.

James was pouting after Jasper had left with Rose and Emmett. “What the hell is in the water wherever you come from?” he asked me, sighing heavily. “You and the blond stud are so damn fine that a guy might just spontaneously combust. Why the hell aren’t any of you gay?”

“Um, sorry?” I said with a grin

“Stop moping and come help me with the kegs, boy,” Charlie called after him.

“Yes, sir, papa Swan,” James replied. “You can comfort me.”

“Like hell,” Charlie replied, snorting, and disappeared out back with James in tow.

I laughed, and so did Bella at the other end of the bar. At least she did for a moment. Then I watched with a frown as she froze, and the bottle she had been holding slipped out of her hand and shattered against the floor. Her eyes were fixed on the door, and when I looked to see what had caused such a reaction in her, I saw a Native American guy grinning at her.

“Start pouring the beer, bitch. I’m thirsty,” he ordered with a sneer as he sauntered up to the bar.

I didn’t know who the hell the guy was, but I sure as hell didn’t like him. And by the looks of it, neither did Bella.

“Are you deaf, you slut? I want beer!” he yelled.

The few customers left all turned their heads to look at him, and I saw red immediately. I walked around the counter to intercept him before he reached the end of the bar where Bella was frozen in place. Before I got to him, Charlie shot out from the storage area and grabbed his arm.

“You’re not welcome here, and you know that,” he said to the guy. “Now get the hell out of my bar! You’re not even allowed to look at my daughter!”

“Get off me, man. Your daughter is a little bitch who needs to be taught a fucking lesson,” the idiot said, trying to get Charlie to let go off him arm by shoving him.

I rushed over to grab the fucker’s other arm before he managed to hurt Charlie.

“Thanks, Edward,” Charlie said to me. “Help me get this punk out of here.”

“My pleasure,” I replied, yanking the guy’s arm around to his back, twisting it more than necessary.

“Ow! You’re breaking my arm! Shit. Who the hell are you, anyway? If you’re fucking Bella, I swear I’ll kill you, man!” he yelled, trying to twist free.

He was a big guy, but I had no problem keeping a hold of him. The more words that came out of his mouth, the more I twisted his arm. I shoved him up the stairs with Charlie trailing behind us.

“If I ever see you on my property again, I’m calling the sheriff,” Charlie told him. “And if you ever so much as mention Bella’s name again, I’m gonna shoot you. You got that?”

The idiot didn’t reply, so I twisted his arm further.

“Argh! Fuck! Yes! Just let go of my fucking arm!” he whined.

I twisted it a little extra before shoving him toward the parking lot. He looked back over his shoulder to glare at me, but he didn’t say anything as he disappeared into the dark.

“Thanks, son,” Charlie said and sighed. “I really wish I could just shoot that punk and be done with it. Would you mind staying here for a few minutes to make sure he doesn’t come back? I need to make sure Bella is okay.”

“Sure,” I replied.

He squeezed my shoulder. “Thanks.”

I looked in the direction the scumbag had disappeared off to while Charlie went back downstairs. I had no idea what had just happened, and I wasn’t sure it was even any of my business. I couldn’t get the image out of my mind of Bella, pale and rooted to the spot while the idiot spewed insults at her. I really wanted to shoot the bastard myself, too.

After ten minutes, there was no trace of anyone out in the parking lot, and I went back downstairs. It was closing time, and I nodded to a few customers on the stairs. Inside the bar, Bella was sitting at the counter sipping a glass of orange juice. I couldn’t help but hope it was spiked with vodka, because she sure looked like she could use it. Charlie was at the cash register, and James was pacing while looking up at the shelves with liquor once in a while. As soon as he spotted me, he nearly ran over to me.

“How do you make a Molotov cocktail?” he asked. “This fierce bitch is gonna torch that fucker Embry’s house!”

I hesitated. I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. If he broke into people’s houses, maybe he torched them, too. I then looked over at Bella, who was still as pale as earlier, looking completely defeated. I had absolutely no clue what was going on, but I didn’t like seeing the pretty firecracker like that.

I turned back to James. “You need a breakable bottle filled with gasoline and a wick soaked in alcohol.”