Battered Angel

banner by w8ing4rain

BATTERED ANGEL

Minnesota, 1935

“What did you tell him?”

Though he knew I was angry, Edward could hardly be bothered to look up from the ivory keys of his piano. “Tell who, Rosalie?”

“Emmett, you moron,” I snapped angrily. “He won’t touch me. He won’t even hold my hand.”

With a weary, bothered sigh, he closed the lid over the keys and looked up at me. “Rosalie, I did not tell him anything about what happened to you. Please remember that both Carlisle and Esme know what happened to you as a human, though probably less than I do.”

I didn’t even try to stop the hiss that escaped my lips.

Edward stood toe to toe with me in an instant. “Remember, too, Rosalie, that they may not have told him just to protect you. We all know just what think of Carlisle for giving you this life. Maybe they like Emmett more than they like you and would be upset if you tore his arm off when he tried to hold your hand.”

“I would not do that,” I whispered acidly.

“You would, and you know it,” he argued, irritating me even more by keeping his voice so calm and even. “I’ve seen it in your thoughts, Rosalie. You’re afraid, and not wrongly, of him touching you, even though you’re angry that he hasn’t.

“I was there last night when he moved his hand too close to your leg, and you thought about ripping off his fingers. And yes, Rosalie, I have told Carlisle what I heard. I only tell the thoughts that pose a threat to a member of this family, so don’t start with me on that. What Carlisle did with that information, I don’t know.”

“Like hell you don’t know what he did with that information!” I shrieked, keeping my hands balled at my sides and trying not to hit him. “Did he tell Emmett about Royce?”

Looking over my shoulder and avoiding my gaze, he gave his answer. “I don’t know.”

I couldn’t control myself any longer. I slapped him as hard as I could across the face, not even feeling the smallest twinge of guilt when I heard his jaw snap. “Fine. Have it your way,” I growled, turning on my heel and flying through the door. “Sanctimonious bastard!”

On my way to the small lake where I liked to be alone and calm down, I destroyed four trees. I didn’t mean to destroy them. I really wanted to kick a tree and break my foot, not have the tree be instantaneously pulverized to fine sawdust. I wanted that pain to make the rest of the pain I felt hurt less. But I couldn’t even have the pleasure of breaking my foot, not in this perfect, eternal body.

So, with the intention of planting four trees in the morning, I continued on to the lake. I quickly found my preferred nest beneath a copse of poplar trees and curled up, resting my chin on my knees. In seconds, I was sobbing violently.

I’d had a spot like this when we lived in Tennessee, and I’d found a matching one as soon as we arrived in Minnesota. It was a vicious cycle. I got upset over ridiculous things. I shrieked and raved like a madwoman at anyone in striking distance. And then I ran away to sob. Alone.

I need to get out, break free, and breathe again. But I don’t know how.

I was still sobbing when I heard footsteps approach two hours later. Edward would never have come at all, and the sound was far too heavy to be Esme or Carlisle. Without turning to look, I knew it was Emmett.

Wiping away the invisible tears that would never again trail down my cheeks, I tried to pull myself together. “How was your trip to town?” I asked as he sat down a few feet away from me. I said a silent, secret prayer that Edward hadn’t opened his big mouth about my outburst.

He’d been so excited to go to town with Carlisle and Esme. It was his first trip since he became a vampire, and he was eager to prove that he could control himself while shopping for clothes and games.

“My eyes are still yellow,” he informed me proudly, smiling when I turned to look. “Esme dragged me to so many clothes shops, it was terrible. But I got dominoes, chess, checkers, and a new radio.”

“All the things you wanted,” I said lightly, or at least, I hoped it sounded light. “How’s your throat?”

“It was burning,” he said with a shrug the belied that struggle I knew it would have been for him. “But we stopped on the way home and I drank two deer, so I’m fine now.”

“Yummy,” I mused as nonchalantly as possible. It was very strange, this part of me that wanted to protect Emmett from my madwoman act. I’d managed it so carefully in the year and a half since I found him in the Appalachians that he’d only seen one tiny outburst, and to be honest, he was a newborn hell bent on destroying the house at the time, so I don’t think he noticed.

He nodded and picked up a twig, gently twisting it through his fingers. “So what did you do while I was out on the town with the parents?”

My laugh sounded a little hysterical, even to me. “This and that,” I answered as airily as possible. “You know, bugged Edward. The usual.”

“That’d be why he announced that he wasn’t talking to or about you as soon as we came into the house.”

There wasn’t anything I could say in response that wouldn’t lead to me completely losing control in front of Emmett. So I didn’t say anything at all.

Emmett did, though. He spoke in a more serious, somber tone than I’d ever heard him use. “Are you okay, Rose? You’ve seem different over the last few weeks. Did I do something wrong?”

He was still so childlike, so innocent and untouched by life. It broke my heart to think that I loved him – to think that he was loved by someone so broken and bitter at life.

“No, Emmett, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m fine.”

“You’re lying,” he said bluntly. “I can see it in your eyes. Maybe I didn’t do anything, but you aren’t fine.”

I chewed on my bottom lip, my chin still resting on my knees, and drummed my fingers on my legs. Finally deciding that putting off the inevitable was foolish, I decided to go ahead and talk to him about it, about everything.

“Emmett? Has Carlisle, Esme, or Edward told you anything about my human life?”

“Not much, no,” he answered and I knew, just from the uncomplicated innocence that was his nature that he wasn’t lying. “Carlisle told me that you were attacked and it made you not want to be touched without knowing it was going to happen. Is there more?”

Was there more? He had no idea how much more there was.

“Yes,” I answered quietly. “There’s more. I’ll tell you everything. And I won’t stop you if you run away.”

Emmett shook his head, still sitting a few fee away. “I’m not running away, Rosalie. But I want to know everything. I really do.”

He was so very sweet and earnest when he told me that, I couldn’t help but smile at him, laughing softly when his eyes lit up at my smile.

“All right, Emmett, I’ll tell you everything. I’ll tell you everything, because I care for you and you deserve to know the truth about me.”

If he was happy that I said I cared for him, he didn’t show it. He simply sat, perfectly still, just across from me and waited patiently for the story that was to come.

I fixed my eyes firmly on the shimmering lake in front of me as I prepared myself to tell someone things that I’d never told anyone. I couldn’t look at Emmett while I spoke. I didn’t want to see the pity and the disgust that would surely be etched all over his sweet, dimpled face.

“Four years ago, I was engaged to a man named Royce King II,” I began, stumbling over his name. “I thought the world of him. He was rich and handsome, and all the girls in my circle were insanely jealous that he chose me. I was in heaven.

“Royce took me to all the best parties and showered me with expensive gifts. He wanted me, and I couldn’t have been happier.

“Then, one night, a month before we were to be married in Rochester’s wedding of the year, I was walking home from my friend Vera’s house, when I saw Royce and a group of men in the street. They all had open bottles, and their clothes were rumpled and disheveled. I’d never really seen anyone who was actually drunk until that night. It was after Prohibition, of course, and I’d heard about the horrible things that alcohol can make a man do, but I’d never seen it, or really believed it, until that night.”

I had to stop telling the story when I heard something snap. Looking up, I saw that Emmett had somehow managed to crack the tree closest to him right down the middle. It wasn’t pity and disgust that I saw in his eyes; it was anger. “Do you want me to stop?” I asked quickly, not understanding why he might be angry.

“No. Don’t stop. Sorry about the tree,” he said sheepishly, though the anger didn’t leave his eyes. “I just know what alcohol can make a man do, and I don’t think I’m going to like where this story is going. But keep going. Please, Rosalie.”

I took a deep breath and thought back to that night. “Royce called me over to introduce me to his friends. I was wary of going close, but I didn’t know how to say no. So I went over. Royce pulled of my hat to show his friends my ‘beautiful hair.’ He wanted to take off my coat, but he was too drunk to undo the buttons properly, so he just yanked and ripped until all the brass buttons popped off. I knew then that things were already spiraling so far out of my control that I wasn’t ever going to get it back. If I’d ever had it.

“Royce went first, of course, claiming what he already knew was soon to be his. He’d thrown me to the ground and pushed my dress up before I realized what was happening to me. I didn’t know how to fight back, so I didn’t.

“I prayed, instead, that I would die, and die quickly.

“I didn’t. Royce finished with me and waved one of his friends from Georgia over. He was so very much more rough than Royce had been.” I hugged my knees more tightly to my chest as I realized that I was shaking as I told the story. “Each man, and there were five of them, including Royce, was rougher than the last. Royce got a second turn, though, and his friends convinced him to be more like them.

“One of them heard a noise, and they got spooked that there might be a policeman coming by who couldn’t be paid off, given what they’d done. They ran away like the cowards that I would soon find out they were. It wasn’t a policeman, though. It was a cat, trying to get into a metal trashcan. I saw it as I lay in the wet street, bleeding to death. That’s when Carlisle found me, of course.”

Emmett wasn’t sitting still anymore. He was up and pacing furious circles along the edge of the lake. I could see the veins bulging in his arms as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Are you okay, Emmett?” I asked, distracted from the urge to cry by the urge to comfort him.

“I’m fine,” he grunted, still pacing just as quickly. “Is there more to the story? Please, please tell me there’s more to the damn story.”

I didn’t know exactly what he wanted, how he hoped the story would end, but there was more to the story. So I kept talking. “I hated Carlisle for putting me through those three days of torture. I screamed and shrieked and begged them to kill me, to stop the pain. But they didn’t. I could hear them talking while I was burning. I heard Edward talk about how they’d have to move, because the Kings would have a search out for me. He seemed so … bothered that I was in his life now. It hurt, Emmett.

“While Royce,” I stumbled over his name again, hissing it more than saying it, “and his friends were doing what they did, I realized that my parents didn’t raise me to have a daughter. They raised a daughter to be married off and handed to someone else. It’s what people in their world do. And it’s heartless and cruel. Then I realized that Royce wasn’t going to marry me because he loved me. He was marrying me because he was supposed to have a wife and I was lucky enough to fit the definition of what his wife should be. He didn’t even wait until we were married to do what he wanted with me, Emmett!”

Emmett’s anger evaporated when I choked on a sob and bit down on my finger, desperately trying not to cry. He was at my side in an instant, pulling my hand from my mouth and crushing me to his chest. “I’ll kill him,” he vowed, pressing his face into my hair.

My laugh was even more hysterical than before. “You don’t have to. But… we’re not there yet,” I told him. “Do you want me to keep going?”

He gave me a look, probably wondering if I was excusing him from killing Royce, or telling him that Royce was already dead, but then shook himself out of it. “I want you to keep going if you want to keep going. You don’t have to. Not now. Not for me. Not ever, if that’s what you want.”

Still crushed against him, I decided to keep going. The more I said, the more it hurt, and the better I felt for it. “When I heard Edward say those things, it was like the cycle was repeating itself,” I continued, not yet sobbing uncontrollably. “I think it’s why we don’t get along so well. But Carlisle and Esme explained what I was and why. They gave me the option to go off on my own, even offering to help me find traveling companions. I still hated Carlisle for what he’d done to me, but the idea of killing humans was repulsive to me. So I stayed.”

“I’m glad you did,” he whispered.

“Me, too. Now,” I murmured softly, before the bitterness took over again. “Anyway, a couple weeks after I woke up, the Kings were still making a spectacle of looking for me, like they cared what had happened to me. So I decided to take matters into my own hands, since no one was any the wiser about what Royce and his friends had done to me.

“Edward knew from my thoughts what I planned to do, and he helped me keep it secret from Carlisle and Esme. They would never have approved. In the end, he helped me, too. He stayed close as I snuck through the streets of Rochester, hunting down each and every one of the men that had brutalized me.

“I tortured them, Emmett, just as they’d tortured me. One by one, I found them and tortured them to death. I didn’t spill a single drop of blood. I didn’t want them inside of me, not for anything. I saved Royce for last. I even stole a wedding dress, just to make it worse for him. Well, Edward stole the dress for me,” I said, correcting myself reluctantly. “But Royce was terrified when I found him. I killed the two bodyguards he’d hired, and then I found him. He wasn’t expecting me, and he suffered the worst.

“We had to move after that, of course, to Tennessee.” I paused, and then sighed, forcing myself to look up and into his eyes. “That’s my story, Emmett.”

I couldn’t read his thoughts or the emotions in his eyes. He was simply staring at me, as if I might disappear if he looked away for a moment. I waited and waited for him to say something, but he just sat there.

“I can go,” I offered finally, desperate for something to be said. “If you want.”

As I started to stand, I felt his broad hand grasp my arm, ever so gently forcing me back down and onto his lap. His arms snaked around me, locking me there. Finally, he opened his mouth slowly, ready to speak. “It is not.”

I blinked at him. I didn’t understand. “It is not what, Emmett?” I asked softly. “I don’t understand.”

He shook his head and focused even more closely on me. “It. Is. Not. Your. Story,” he said very slowly and very firmly. “What you told me is not who you are, Rosalie. Not even close.”

“Why do I feel like it is?” I mumbled morosely, finding it strange that I wasn’t at all bothered by being held down. I liked Emmett holding me.

“Because it’s most recent and it hurts the most,” he answered simply. “If you want to define yourself as something other than Royce King’s victim, you can.”

I was sobbing again, this time against Emmett’s chest. “I don’t know how,” I whimpered. “I’m alone, and I don’t know how to be anything other than his victim. I’m sorry.”

I never wanted to cry as much as I did when he slid out from underneath me, leaving me sitting on the rocky lakeshore, while he stood in front of me. He was going to run away – or hit me – I was sure of it. And I didn’t blame him a bit.

“Stand up.”

I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t watch him order me away.

“Stand up,” he repeated, gripping my shoulders lightly. but not forcefully. as he pulled me to my feet. “Stand up, Rosalie.”

I did as he asked, if only to make him happy, but I kept my gaze firmly fixed on the rocks below my feet.

“Fine,” he sighed, dropping down to one knee. “If you won’t look up, I’ll get down. It’s the way my ma taught me to do it anyway.”

“Emmett?” I had to know what he was doing. As much as I didn’t want to know, I had to.

“Rosalie Lillian Hale,” he began, taking my hand in his, “you are the most beautiful creature to ever walk the Earth. The moment I opened my eyes and looked up at you, I knew you were an angel. My angel. Angels aren’t battered and broken. Well, sometimes they are. More battered than broken, though. Battered angels can be fixed better. But when they are battered, they don’t know how beautiful they really are. They can only see that they’re battered. And they think they’re broken beyond repair.

“It takes someone special to show the battered angel that she’s beautiful, that she’s good, that she’s loved.

“I think I’m that someone special, Rosalie Lillian Hale. You are beautiful, you are good, and you are loved. By me. Maybe it won’t be enough. Maybe you’ll need more than me. But until then, can I show you the angel that you are? Will you be my angel? Even for just a little while?”

If I’d been human, I would have been drowning in my tears. Vampires can’t cry, though. Not tears, anyway. But I was crying as hard as any vampire ever had. And for the first time in two years, it didn’t hurt to cry.

“I know you picked me, saved me from that bear, because I have dimples and curly hair like your friend’s baby. But I hope, maybe, you’ve kinda gotten to like me, Rose,” he continued, growing nervous in my silence.

“Emmett, stop,” I whispered shakily. “I more than kinda like you. But are you asking me what I think you’re asking me? Are you asking me to…”

“Marry you?” he finished for me. “Yeah. I’m asking you – educated, cultured, beautiful Rosalie Lillian Hale – to marry uneducated, backwoods, average Emmett Eugene McCarty. Will you?”

I was stone still as he pulled a small, red velvet box from his pocket. He’d omitted something monumental when he listed the things he bought in town, that was brilliantly and amazingly clear. When he opened it, I was sure my heart would start beating again.

He wanted me. He really and truly wanted me. It didn’t even matter if Edward or Carlisle or Esme had told him about how I became the so-called angel that could defeat angry bears for him. He wanted me.

I felt like I was light as the air, like the breeze from the lake would pick me up and carry me away. I held on to Emmett with everything I had.

“Angels, you know,” I murmured, crying tears of pure, unadulterated joy now, “can do lots of things. Convincing boys silly enough to fight bears that they are not uneducated, backwoods, and most definitely not average is one of them.

“But you know it might not be easy living with me, don’t you?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he answered bluntly, shrugging carelessly. “It’d be boring if it was easy. And stop trying to talk yourself and me out of this and just answer the damn question, Rose.”

Rose. I used to hate that nickname for my fancy, romantic name. But coming from Emmett, there was nothing I’d rather be called.

“Yes, Emmett,” I answered with all finality, kneeling before him and moving so that our lips were almost touching. “I will be your angel. Not just for awhile, though. Forever. I’ll be your angel forever.”

THE END

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Ice Dancer

banner by FrozenSoldier

ICE DANCER

Vancouver, Canada … 2010 Winter Olympics

“Please, please, please, please.” I bounced on the cushion next to my brother, begging him with everything I had. “Please, Emmett, won’t you go with me? Please?”

“No, no, no, no.” He kept flipping through the Men’s Fitness magazine that he’d seemingly pulled out of thin air. “No, Alice, I won’t go with you. No.”

“Aw, come on,” I moaned. “It’s only for a couple hours.”

He wouldn’t look at me, the rat bastard. “Get Edward to go with you.”

“Can’t. He’s too busy mooning over Bella at the media center,” I grumbled. “Dad’s on call at the luge track and Mom wants to go with him. She said she’d go with me, but I don’t think she wants to. I know you don’t have plans.”

He finally closed the magazine and gave me his full attention. “Pipsqueak, I may not have plans set in stone, but that does not mean I want to spend an afternoon at the Olympics watching ice dancing practice. Ice dancing is boring. If it were the competition, maybe I’d take you. Why do you want to go to practice anyway?”

“The Hales are practicing this afternoon,” I answered simply – it was enough explanation for me.

“Don’t know who they are,” Emmett said. “But I’m getting the idea that you’re going to pester me until I give in, so fine, let’s go.”

I squealed and leapt off the sofa, snatching my boots, coat, and bag in one quick swoop. “Thank you, Em, you won’t regret this. I promise.”

“Whatever,” he said, locking the door behind us after I’d danced out. “But if you skip all the way there, I’m pretending like I don’t know you.”

I linked my arm through his to keep myself from skipping. On the walk to the ice arena, I chattered away about the ice dancing competition. Emmett wasn’t listening, but that never stopped me from talking. I had my reasons for being desperate to see the Hales, the US ice dancing national champions, practice for their original dance; the main one being my massive crush on Jasper Hale. I knew Emmett would thank me for making him come once he saw Jasper’s twin sister. He’d be an ice dancing fanatic in no time.

When we got to the arena, I pulled Emmett as close to the ice as we were allowed and plopped into a chair.

“I’m gonna kill Edward for mooning over Bella instead of coming here,” Emmett muttered morosely in the chair next to me. “He won’t even ask her out, the idiot.”

“We can’t all be as nutty and outgoing as you,” I giggled. “Now be quiet and watch, unless you want to ask me what’s going on. You need to pay attention.”

His only answer was to roll his eyes.

The American teams were sharing the ice with the Lithuanian teams. Tanya Varniene and Demetri Kazlauskas were evil in my opinion; they’d won the last two world titles, the most recent time in a hotly debate defeat of the Hales after the Americans had led through the compulsory dance and the original dance. There were even rumors that Demetri had tried to seduce Rosalie Hale during the competition to distract her from her performance. The better part of the rumor was that Demetri had barely recovered from a well place knee to his family jewels to compete and win.

“Personally, I think it’s so unfair that they have to practice together,” I announced, having finished filling the sort of interested Emmett in on the soap opera that was ice dancing world. “Don’t you?”

“Yep. Sure.” Emmett leaned forward in his chair as the five teams skated onto the ice. “Who’s that?”

I knew who he was talking about, of course, but I couldn’t resist teasing him. I owed him for seventeen years of teasing me. “Who’s who?”

“The blonde girl in the black leggings and turquoise top thingy,” he explained vaguely.

“Tunic, the turquoise tunic,” I said, unable to resist the urge to drag him on a little longer. “That’s Rosalie Hale. Aren’t you glad I pestered you into coming with me?”

“Yes. You have tickets to everything else she’ll be at, right?”

I was laughing hard when I answered him. “Yep. But the compulsory dance already happened and the Hales placed first. But there’s still the original dance, more practice, and the free dance. I’ve got two tickets to all of them. Why? Did you want to come?”

“Hell, yeah. Mom can go watch curling or something. There isn’t anything I’d rather do than escort my little Pipsqueak to ice dancing.”

The fact that he’d said all that with a straight face had me dying in my seat. I couldn’t speak for wheezing, so I waited until I’d calmed down and then turned my attention to the ice. I couldn’t help but focus on one particular part of one particular skater – Jasper Hale’s ass in his black skating pants.

When the practice was finished, I grabbed Emmett’s elbow and pulled him out of his seat, towing him along behind me as I weaved through the small crowd and made for the exit. “Come on, Shrek, maybe we can catch them when they leave.”

Surprisingly, he picked up the pace. “Okay, Pipsqueak, I can stalk her for awhile,” he admitted bluntly. “Hey, you aren’t stalking her brother, what’s-his-name, are you? He’s too old for you, if you are.”

“His name is Jasper, yes I am, and no, he’s not,” I said, answering every question at once. “I’m almost eighteen, he’s almost twenty-one – we’re good. And you know, they’re twins so Rosalie’s almost the same age as you.”

That shut him up and I found us a prime spot right by the door that I’d already scoped out as the skater’s exit.

The Hales were the last to leave the arena, but I couldn’t have left even if I’d wanted to – Emmett wasn’t going anywhere. There were about twenty fans and a few press people gathered and they went along the line, signing autographs, posing for pictures, and answering questions. Emmett had moved us, by lifting me an inch off the ground by the back of my jacket and carrying me, to the end of the line to wait for them.

The moment Rosalie came into view, Emmett started flirting. She apparently didn’t mind a bit, making a beeline for him with Jasper close behind. That was, of course, just fine with me.

“Aren’t you Alice Cullen?” he asked, stopping in front me.

The fact that Jasper Hale knew who I was left me completely unable to do anything other than nod that I was Alice Cullen. I felt like an idiot, but it couldn’t really be helped.

“I remember your long program at Skate Canada,” Jasper continued. “It was really good, you should have at least placed third. Why didn’t you compete at Nationals last month? Jessica Stanley was telling one story, but I’m guessing you got hurt.”

If Emmett hadn’t had a grip on the back of my coat, I would have melted into a puddle right then and there. I’d competed in the ladies competition at Skate Canada after Whitney Lee was injured and a spot opened up. It’d been my first time competing at the senior level internationally and I’d been so nervous that I could hardly remember my how I’d skated. More importantly, Jasper Hale thought I deserved the bronze medal!

I knew the rumors that Jessica Stanley, the reigning US champion and all around frigid ice queen, was spreading about me. Edward, my sometimes idiot brother, had turned her down a half dozen times and she had it out for me. So she spread the rumor that I missed Nationals because I got knocked up by my coach. It wasn’t true at all. I’d slipped a disc in my back when I fell attempting a triple axel on what would forever be known as Black Friday in more ways than one to me.

I told Jasper about my injury and he reached over the barricade to hug me lightly. “Are you okay now? Will you be able to compete in the fall?”

“I hope so,” I said, hoping my voice sounded less like the nervous whisper to him than it did to me. “My dad’s an orthopedic surgeon, so I know I won’t screw up my recovery. I just hope I can jump again.”

“There’s always ice dancing if you can’t,” he offered. “I may be biased, but I think it’s harder than singles.”

I knew that Jasper had balanced a singles career with his ice dancing until three years earlier. He’d been good, too, and the skating world was shocked when he opted for the discipline that Americans never won. So I didn’t doubt he knew if dance or singles was harder. “I’ll remember that,” I promised.

“Come on, Jas,” Rosalie said, interrupting us. “We’ve got to go to that team meeting.”

“See you around, Alice?” Jasper asked as he followed his sister.

I giggled out what I hoped sounded like an agreement.

“Pipsqueak,” Emmett said, sighing deeply as he stood next to me, “do not let me miss the next thing that she is supposed to be at. Got it? I will be there.”

==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==

The original dance was the very next night.

“Are you going to complain until Rosalie skates?” I asked Emmett as we settled into our seats across the ice from the judges. We weren’t right on the ice, but about halfway up – the perfect location.

“No, I’ll be good because I know she’s coming,” he promised, winking at me. “When does she skate?”

“They skate second to last because they’re second after the compulsory dance,” I said. “And, just so you know, there is a theme of sorts to all the programs. Every team has to skate to music that is native to the country that they represent. So it might seem strange at times.”

“What’s Rosalie skating to?”

I could barely believe my ears. Emmett was actually taking an interest in skating beyond just the girls. Sort of. “Rosalie and Jasper are skating to Cherokee Morning Song. They even spent three weeks with the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma to learn how they could incorporate traditional dancing into the program.”

I expected to have to keep waking him up, but I didn’t. He spent a lot of time playing Angry Birds his iPhone, but he stayed awake. Birds were completely forgotten when the Hales took the ice.

Their program was magical. Skating programs were usually fast and furious to up the difficulty level, but Jasper and Rosalie kept their program incredibly difficult while skating far more slowly to the exact pace of the music. Their scores vaulted them ahead of Canadian team that skated just before them. The only question was where Varniene and Kazlauskas would fit in.

They placed behind the Hales.

“I’m in love,” Emmett sighed as the seats around us emptied quickly.

I sighed too, accidentally imitating him. “Me too.”

“Come on, Pipsqueak, let’s see if there’s any chance we can talk to them,” he demanded, hopping to his feet and grabbing my hand.

“Aw, Shrek, did you get her phone number yesterday?” I groaned. “Are we supposed to meet them somewhere?”

“So what if I did?” he asked as we walked along the concourse. “You got the hots for Jasper and I like her. She just texted me and said to meet them in the same spot. Don’t you want to go?”

“Shut up and let’s go,” I muttered. I couldn’t let him know how excited I was by his forward, blunt nature in that moment – he’d gloat about it for weeks.

==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==

The four of us ended up at the Medals Plaza. With embarrassing instructions that I stay where he could see me, Emmett the ogre wandered deep into the crowd with Rosalie. I was never big on crowds and I was a little worried that I’d get jostled and hurt my back again, so I hung on the fringes of the crowd. Jasper stayed by me.

“Would you like some hot chocolate?” he asked, gesturing toward the cart that was selling it. “It’s cold tonight.”

I said I did and walked with him to the buy it; he paid for mine and got a cup of his own. “Are you going to get in trouble with your coach for being out tonight?” I asked shyly.

Jasper shook his head and led me to a bench at the back of the crowd, sitting down only after I did. “No. Vladimir competed in the 1984 Olympics and the USSR team didn’t let them do much of anything. His theory is that we’ve trained enough; sitting in our hotel rooms or practicing extra now would be like cramming for a test – counterproductive. And then he muttered something about not seeing the Olympics making us grouchy in our old age. He’s so strange. Not to mention grouchy.”

I laughed and blew on my drink to cool it. “I’ve heard that about him.”

“Grouchy and strange or not, he’s pretty much a genius at what he does,” Jasper said, laughing as he sipped his hot chocolate. “I meant to ask you, is your father one of the Team USA doctors? It took me awhile, but I think I finally put all the pieces together.”

I smiled and nodded. “Yep. He’s working mostly with the luge, bobsleigh, and skeleton teams though.”

“My neighbors in the Athlete’s Village are both on the skeleton team and we made a deal that they’d come to the free dance if I went to the skeleton finals. Are you going?”

Butterflies promptly took flight in my stomach. I knew it wasn’t a date – my dad was the team doctor so it made sense that I might be going and Jasper had already promised to go, but he was still interested in whether or not I was going. “Um, yeah, I am,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound like a giggling schoolgirl. “I’ve always wanted to try skeleton, but I’m too small. And it’d probably give my coach and my parents aneurysms.”

Jasper’s smile and twinkling eyes turned the gentle swarm of butterflies into mad rush of beating wings. “Makes sense, I suppose,” he agreed. “Anyway, I don’t know if your father gets tickets or not, but I can get a guest pass with my ticket. If you want to come with me, that is.”

“Yeah, that’d be really great,” I said, still hoping I didn’t sound like a silly little girl. “Thank you.”

Emmett and Rosalie found us again a little while later; they’d already made plans to go to Whistler and watch some of the alpine skiing events after the ice dancing competition was finished. Emmett and I walked Jasper and Rosalie as close as we could get to the Athlete’s Village and then made our way back to our hotel. Edward, our sadly missing in action brother, was actually in the café in the lobby. He was still mooning over Bella as they had coffee and talked, but he’d been spotted. That was a definite improvement.

Emmett snickered as we stepped into the elevator. “He’s going to become a journalist just so he can hang out in the media centers with her, isn’t he?”

“Mom and Dad will be glad he finally picked something to do,” I deadpanned, giggling before I turned serious. “Shrek, Jasper bought me hot chocolate and offered me a guest pass to skeleton. Did he ask me on a date?”

Emmett faked a sniffle. “My little Pipsqueak is growing up. So sad. But seriously, yes, it is a date. You’ve spent too much time in an ice rink,” he said, shaking his head ruefully. “Being eighteen and having to ask your brother if you got asked out on a date, it’s just wrong.”

He was being annoying, but I didn’t care. Jasper Hale had asked me on a date! I didn’t even care that my parents were going to be there.

==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==

I punched Emmett the next morning when he woke me up before nine. My hand hurt and I wanted to kick him for good measure, but then I remembered that we were going to watch the Hales practice for their free dance.

“She’s got a date,” Emmett explained to my gaping parents as I raced around the hotel room to get ready in record time. “Well, for skeleton later, but the guy’s practicing this morning.”

“And you’re going to watch ice dancing?” my dad asked, perhaps more shocked by that than how fast I was moving. “Again?”

“Yep,” I answered for him. “Shrek’s got it bad for my date’s sister slash partner. They’re going to skiing after she’s done competing.”

My mom was still speechless, so my dad was left to answer again. “Okay. Have fun.”

Edward rode down to the lobby with us, no doubt seeking about one Miss Bella Swan. “You two are strange,” he said, shaking his head as he leaned against the wall, “getting up early to go to ice dance practice. I never saw it coming, Em. Not from you.”

“This is rich,” Emmett groaned. “The stalker is calling us weird for supporting Team USA however we can. What’re we going to do about this, Pipsqueak?”

I winked at him and Edward promptly started begging us not to do anything. Emmett understood my wink and, when we got off the elevator, I put the plan into action. Bella was there – waiting for him, I could only imagine. I threw my arms around Edward and tried to keep a straight face. “Bye, Sexy Eddie,” I squealed, letting go of him and darting to Emmett’s side.

“Yeah, see ya later, Sex Ed!” he bellowed across the lobby.

The look on Edward’s face was priceless and, luckily, I captured it with my iPhone for all eternity. “We are in so much trouble, Shrek,” I laughed as we headed out into the cold Vancouver air.

“Two against one, Pipsqueak,” he assured me, laughing even harder, “we’ll never lose. Oh, and put that on Facebook right now.”

==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==

Emmett was weirdly entranced by the free dance practice, so I snapped a picture of his version of Edward mooning over Bella and put that on Facebook too. If there was one thing that was totally true about Alice Cullen, it was that she didn’t play favorites when it came to her brothers. They both knew it too – it was all good. I expected that there’d be a photo of me looking all dopey while Jasper practiced posted by the end of the day.

I watched everything, mostly to gauge what Jasper and Rosalie would need to do if they were going to capture the gold. Most of the other teams at that practice session, Tanya and Demetri included, ran through their programs at least twice, but the Hales didn’t. Instead, they picked out certain parts and ran through only those.

I knew the psychology of it perfectly. They wanted to make it clear that they weren’t worried about the competition, even if they were. It was strange that the Lithuanians didn’t do same.

The Hales even went so far as to leave practice early, motioning me and Emmett to follow them.

“Don’t they have family that should be hanging around instead of us?” Emmett wondered while we stood as close to the locker rooms as the burly security guard would allow. “Like parents or something?”

I shook my head. “They were orphaned when they were twelve,” I explained, making a mental note to never let Jasper know that I’d googled him rather extensively. “They lived with their grandfather, but he died four years ago. So no, no family. And don’t tell Rosalie that I told you all that. You either looked it up yourself or play dumb until she tells you.”

He saluted me. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Come on,” Rosalie said as she breezed out of the locker room. “A friend of mine told me about a coffee shop that’s pretty much undiscovered by the tourists and athletes. I need quiet and I need coffee.” She linked her arm through Emmett’s and led the way out of the arena.

Jasper shrugged, twirling his finger around his ear to silently tell me that he thought his sister was crazy. When I clapped my hand over my mouth to hold back a laugh, he bit his lip to do the same and held his hand out to me.

“You don’t have gloves?” he asked when I put my bare hand in his. “It’s freezing out.”

“I don’t think skaters feel the cold in their fingers so much after so much time in ice rinks,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t make Rosalie give me gloves – I liked holding his hand. “You don’t have gloves either.”

“Touché,” he allowed, holding the door open for me. “Did you want go for coffee or go somewhere else? They seem like they have more private in mind.”

Rosalie’s hand had dropped to Emmett’s ass and his hand was venturing away from her shoulder and toward her chest. It seemed caffeine and serenity weren’t all that she needed.

“Yeah, we should leave them alone,” I agreed warily. “I don’t have any ideas about where to go, though, and you’re the one who has to compete tomorrow, so you pick.”

“We’ll go to the coffee shop. They can go where they like. Just not to my room!” he yelled as Rosalie and Emmett wandered away. When I looked at him curiously, he shrugged. “I don’t have a roommate, she does. And a key to my room. I think it’s pretty clear what they’re going to be doing.”

We went to the coffee shop, making small talk along the way, and were both happy to discover that it was relatively undiscovered by tourists and athletes alike. I led the way to a small table in a corner that was walled with shelves filled with old books. “Is this okay?” I asked nervously, wondering if perhaps had been right and I had spent too much time in an ice rink.

“Yep, nice and private,” he agreed. “What kind of coffee do you want?”

He refused to let me insist on paying, I claimed it was only fair since he’d bought my hot chocolate, and ended up buying me a peppermint mocha.

It was a little bit more than small talk while we drank our mochas. The only rule Jasper insisted on was that we not talk about skating in any form. It was an easy enough rule to abide by. It turned out that we had many, many things in common. So we talked about books, movies, music, and then we went through each other’s wallets on the theory that you could learn a lot about someone by doing that.

“You’re very neat,” I complimented him when I’d finished my inventory of his wallet. “But I saw you slip something out before you gave it to me, that’s cheating.”

“It was a, um, condom,” Jasper said, dropping his eyes to his cup as his cheeks reddened. “I, uh, didn’t want you to get the, um, wrong idea.”

I put my head down on the table and tried not to groan too loudly.

==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==

Our impromptu date ended better than it was at that moment. We ended up staying until Rosalie and Emmett came looking for us. Given the state of disarray they both arrived in, there had been no hidden condoms between them.

I was up at the crack of dawn the next morning, bouncing nervously on the sofa bed that I slept on in the suite I shared with my parents.

“You do know you’re not the one competing, right?” my dad asked as he poured himself coffee. “And, before you ask, given the amount you’re bouncing already, you can’t have any coffee.”

I scowled at him and made a beeline to get my own coffee. “I know I’m not competing, but if Jasper doesn’t do well, he might think I’m bad luck,” I whined, snatching at a sugar packet before he could hide them from me. “What would I do then?”

“Do about what?” my mom asked as she emerged from the bathroom.

“Don’t ask, Esme,” my dad warned her. “Unless it’s a ‘girl thing’, I really wouldn’t recommend asking.”

I stuck my tongue out and took my coffee into the bathroom, stealing the shower before he had a chance to protest. As I shut the door, I heard my mom declare that I was in love. My dad replied that he was going to ask Emmett to keep a close eye on me. Little did he know about what Emmett preferred to keep a close eye on.

==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==

Once again, it was only Emmett and I that went to watch the ice skating. Our dad was on duty at the moguls event and Bella was covering women’s ice hockey so Edward had naturally followed her there.

The last group of teams to skate had just left their warm-ups when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I see you in the stands. Kiss me for good luck?

I looked down at the area near the kiss and cry. Jasper saw me and put his phone to his lips. I laughed and copied him, kissing my phone and earning strange looks from Emmett and the woman sitting on the other side of me.

It vibrated again while it was against my lips.

Thanks. I hoped you would do that. No pressure or anything, but do you want to be my girlfriend? Text YES or NO.

The squeal I let out earned stranger looks than kissing the phone had.

YES. Of course.

I could see his smile from my seat.

==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==

Jasper and Rosalie, they were no longer simply the Hales to me, skated last, just after Varniene and Kazlauskas got sort of presumptuous and performed a program to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. The Lithuanians scored high and vaulted into first place.

My stomach literally ached in two minutes it took for Jasper and Rosalie to begin their program. I knew Emmett felt the same when I glanced over and saw that his knuckles were white as he gripped the armrests on his chair.

“Can Rosalie win?” he asked, leaning close to me as the crowd roared over Varniene and Kazlauskas’ scores. “Honest opinion, Pipsqueak, can it happen?”

“I don’t know, Shrek,” I moaned pitifully. “I hope so. Honest, I do, but I don’t know. The new scoring systems are supposed to keep out any chances of favoritism, but we’ll see.”

Emmett, ever the softie at heart, blew Rosalie a kiss when she glanced our way.

Jasper and Rosalie skated to Hans Zimmer’s 160 BPM from the Angels & Demons soundtrack. It wasn’t classic ice dancing music by any means, but it worked for them. It was edgy and new, something that wasn’t all that common ice dancing. In other words, they’d have to skate perfectly to convince the judges.

And they did skate perfectly.

I hopped out of my chair before they finished, Emmett right beside me.

It took the longest time for the scores to come up. My stomach went from aching to outright hurting. I didn’t want to think about how Jasper felt just then.

In the end, though, Jasper and Rosalie defeated Varniene and Kazlauskas, becoming the first Americans to ever win ice dancing gold at the Olympics.

Rosalie cried on the podium, I cried in the stands, Jasper blinked a lot on the podium, and I heard Emmett sniffle next to me.

It was very strange, indeed.

==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==

I didn’t get to see Jasper much over the next couple days because of the press and promotional things he had to do, but we did finally meet up properly at the skeleton event as promised.

Thankfully, my parents didn’t embarrass me when I introduced them to Jasper. They just congratulated him and told us to have fun.

“So do I get to be nervous watching you skate in Sochi in four years?” Jasper asked as we found our seats in the stands.

“You’re quitting!” I exclaimed. “Sorry, but probably not. My dad and the other doctors aren’t sure that my back could hold up to another injury like that.”

He put his arm around me and hugged me gently. “I don’t really want to quit, but Rosalie does. Well, she is.” His foot was bouncing nervously as he tried to figure out how to say whatever it was that he wanted to say. “I hope this doesn’t come out wrong, since you’ve only just agreed to be my girlfriend, but do you want to try ice dancing?”

“Me? Ice dance?” I thought I knew what he was asking, but I had to be sure.

“Yeah, with me,” he clarified, proving I knew what he was trying to say. “Rosalie’s quitting and I don’t want to. You aren’t sure about going back to singles. So why not try ice dancing with me? There aren’t any jumps and the lifts aren’t as dangerous as pairs. I could teach you.”

“We’d be spending every moment together,” I pointed out. The very thought made me a little bit giddy.

“Mm-hmm,” Jasper hummed. “There’s that added bonus. You can think about it, if you want. You don’t need to answer now.”

“It can’t hurt, can it? Let’s do it.” I grinned at him, my eyes widening in surprise when he leaned close and kissed me.

==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==/==\\==

“SHREK!” I screamed, bounding into my brother’s hotel and room and pouncing on him.

“‘Sup, Pipsqueak?” he asked lazily, moving his laptop before I broke it.

“Jasper kissed me, I’m going back to skating, I’m going to try ice dancing with Jasper, and Rosalie’s quitting.” I took a deep breath and scooted off his lap. “Did you get all that?”

“Yep,” he said, laughing. “And, aside from the kissing bit, I know Rosalie’s quitting and I knew Jasper was going to talk to you about that. He kissed you?”

I laughed at Emmett’s narrowed, suspicious eyes. “Do you think Jasper did that after what you did with Rosalie?”

“Shhh!” he hissed, clamping his paw-like hand over my mouth. “Mom’s in the bathroom.”

I licked his palm and scrambled away from him. “Aren’t you glad I pestered you into going to ice dancing practice?”

Puffing out his chest and cringing like what he was about to say would surely be painful, he nodded. “Yeah, Pipsqueak, I am. Thank you. But now,” he said, shakily his head sadly, “we must focus on sibling retribution. Edward was at the ice dancing finals and got a picture of me with a drop of water on my cheek during the medal’s ceremony. He posted it on Facebook. He must pay.”

Drop of water on his cheek? I’d let him pretend that if he needed to, but he’d never live it down.

“Come on, Shrek,” I said, pulling him off the bed. “I’ve got just the thing to get back at Edward…”

THE END

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.