Writer in the Dark - J. HALE

51 - ᴘᴏᴏʟ

THE NEXT few days were without threat and full of relaxation, for her anyways. She was in the middle of a phase where talking or seeing people just wasn't on her radar. She lived in books, writing and music along with daily hour-long phone calls from Jasper - who was ever so supportive of her sudden need to be away from society. She didn't quite know what bought on the, what she called, writing coma but she just could not pull herself away from literature. The days passed quickly, four days specifically, before she reached a rut where the words would just not form in her brain. So she woke from her coma, cleaned her entire house, then finally invited Jasper over for a much-needed face to face meeting.

When he arrived at the house, he remained completely still and silent for a minute just watching her as she flicked through the book in her lap. He smiled as she wrote in one of the margins, fully analysing a random sentence within it. She had her feet tucked up underneath her, a soft and fluffy blanket scrawled across her lap and he just did not want to disturb her peace. "What?" she chuckled lightly, looking up from the pages once she reached the end of a chapter.

"Nothing," he shrugged, as he took a seat on the sofa next to her. She looked at him with a raised brow then sighed, resting her head on his shoulder as a rerun of one of her favourite shows started to play on the television. "Edward and Bella set a date," he spoke softly, wrapping one of his arms over her shoulders.

"They did?" she responded, eyes still fixed on the screen as she raised her brows. She hadn't expected it to go so quickly, even if Bella was as enthusiastic about becoming a vampire as she was.

"Alice is already planning the wedding, be careful you don't get roped into it," he chuckled softly, already having been roped into flower shopping with her, Luna happened to be busy.  It was not a fun experience for him, at all. And just like that, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Twice, then for a third time.

"How much do you want to bet that's Alice?" she sighed, a light chuckle coming out on the exhale.

"I'll give you the revenge motorbike if it's not," he replied after a moment through. She picked her head up and turned to look at him, finding a completely serious expression looking back at her. She immediately dug her phone out from the pile of blankets and sighed.

"Damn. She wants to go dress shopping, apparently, I don't own anything weddingy enough."

He raised a brow as she settled her head back down on his shoulder, "What about that short black one with all the embroidered flowers on it?"

"See that's what I thought too," she replied a little louder than before, showing frustration that she didn't know that she felt She thought about it for a moment, silently thinking as she watched the moving images on the television. Then she sighed, "Maybe I'll just go, just to see if there is anything better than that dress. And if I don't find one then I have a backup, a very good and comfortable backup."

"That's a very good plan...Though you'd look beautiful in anything."

She exhaled sharply, "Even a neon yellow dress with light blue polka dots?"

He turned his head. Looking down at her as if he was contemplating it. "I think you could pull it off," he added, fully hiding the grin that formed on his face from her.

"You better be kidding," she responded, laughing softly at the picture of her in the dress in her mind.

"Nope," he replied, popping the p ever so slightly.

"I must escape the soppiness, help!" she exclaimed, attempting to claw her way out from his arms as the warmth began to trickle into her stomach. Jasper was not having any of it. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to the sofa, laughter erupting from both of them as he hugged her tightly.

-

Later in the day, the two-headed to a bar in Port Angeles. With a little bit of a mind trick from Athena and Jasper's id, they made it in without any problems. It wasn't like they were going to drink anyway, so the bar wasn't under any sort of legal problems. Instead, they headed into one of the back rooms with a pool table, it had been his idea and she was more than happy to play in fact she was rather excited. The last time she had played pool was with Luna, months ago, and she hadn't been the best opponent - given that she was constantly distracted chatting to random mortals that came up to her. "Let's make a bet," Jasper suggested as he plucked the cues off the wall while Athena set up the table.

"Interesting," she replied as he handed her a cue.

He grinned, "If I win, you have to wear the polka dot dress to the wedding."

"Do they even make those?" she chuckled with a raised brow, wondering who on earth would design something like that.

"Alice can make it, don't you worry."

She paused in thought, wondering if it was wise to bet on something like this. To hell with it, it's not like she really cared. She nodded, "Alright and what if I win?"

"That depends on what you want," he shrugged, watching as she set some music on the single player in the room. She was silent for a good minute, thinking over all the possible options that she could use as a win for her. Then a wide grin pulled at her lips, which she hid before she turned back around.

"If I win," she spoke slowly, walking towards the table. "Then were are officially together." She watched as his eyes widened, something sparking behind them. "Deal?" she asked nonchalantly, hiding the nerves that swam in her stomach from him.

"I might just let you win," he replied with a smirk.

She shook her head. "Nope you can't do that, I can tell if you do and the deal will be eradicated."

"Deal," he responded quicker than he had meant to, moving out of the way so she could break. "Ladies first."

She rolled her eyes then stepped up to the table, beginning the game with a simple break. The sound of a potted ball echoed in her ears as she listened to it travel through the mechanisms, the game had begun. A game that she desperately wanted to win, not just because of the threat of having to wear such an awful dress.

During the entire game, she made sure that he did not cheat once. Even with that though, Athena completely annihilated the game. She potted ball after ball, without even showing any sort of emotion. The time came for her to pot the last ball, the one that would win the game. Jasper still had a few left and one of them was right in the near-perfect path of her shot. So she risked it and used the back wall of the table, hitting the black ball and watching as it travelled across the table - falling straight into one of the pockets.

She nearly celebrated then remembered the white ball. The ball still spun around, moving dangerously close to the pocket at the other end of the table. If that went in then it was game over, Jasper would win by default. It teetered on the edge of the pocket, looking like it would fall with the slightest nudge. Just as it began to fall, Jasper shot to the other end of the table and stopped it before it could even graze the mechanism that would take it away forever. "Cheating!" she exclaimed, pointing at the ball that he placed on the table - making sure it was still.

"I don't care," he responded as he walked back over to her. Before she could get out another word of protest, he ran a hand through her hair and placed it on the very back of her neck which closed the very small remaining gap between them. It started out soft at first, like all the kisses normally did, then it developed into something deeper - the type of kiss that had her toes curling in her boots and soft sighs escaping her lips when the kiss broke for just a second. His hands found her waist, trailling his fingers up and down her spine. He pulled away for just a moment, staring straight in her eyes as he smirked softly. "You win."

And she didn't even try to argue.