Black & Blue |C. Cullen|

THIRTEEN

I sat by the water with Carlisle, he told me he needed to talk, so I figured why not take the chance to stretch my legs. He sat farther away from me than normal, I tried not to over-analyse it. I looked out at the horizon line and breathed in the smell of the salt water. He turned to me and then looked away like he was fighting a battle in his head.

"Spit it out before you explode," I let my hair fall as I titled my head back and laughed a bit.

"Jessamine," he started, "I have to leave."

"For how long?" I didn't alter my position.

"Indefinitely," he replied, I sat up and looked at him, confusion in my gaze.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I can't tell you that," he still wouldn't look at me.

"And why is that?" I asked, sitting straighter.

"My family and I have to leave, we have to keep our whereabouts hidden," he explained.

"Why are you leaving?" I questioned.

"I am trying to pass for forty when I can hardly pass for thirty-five," he started, "People are starting to question me."

"Tell me the real reason," I demanded.

He sighed, "I put you in danger, Jessamine. I'm toxic for you, I can't be around you anymore."

"All right," I stood up, "think about how ridiculous that sounds and then let's pretend that this conversation never happened. I'm going to go back home, and in like an hour you come and we'll watch movies," I started walking backwards.

"Jessamine," he looked at me.

"Shh, don't say anything. Just show up in an hour and we'll forget this ever happened," I held my finger over my mouth, took out my car keys, and got into my car. I drove all the way home with a knot in my stomach and short breaths, I needed the end of the hour to come. I sat on my couch and waited for him to show up.

Eventually, I wrapped myself in a blanket and watched the door. I watched the door for hours, I ended up falling asleep on the floor that night waiting for Carlisle to walk through the door, he never did.

The memory replayed in my head at least twice a day, every day. Usually, I would get lost in thought while looking over charts at the clinic. This time I got lost in thought while cooking a small dinner for myself.

It had been months since they had left, I still had Alice's jeans, I wore them when I was missing her. I had Carlisle's jacket in my closet, I looked at it from time to time hoping that some way hope itself would bring him back.

I changed the house around for the second time, I kept the paint colours, but I added decorations that brought more of a natural vibe, so to speak, to the atmosphere. I sat on the floor in front of my coffee table and lit candles around me while I watched re-runs of Grey's Anatomy. I ate half of my food, I never finished all of it, I never had the appetite.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts, I used my phone to open up the hidden camera on the front porch. I saw Aaron standing there with his arms crossed. I stood up quietly and snuck out the side door. As soon as I closed the door, I took off running with all of the speed I could manage. My feet slapped against the wet pavement, the pain didn't stop me from running.

He had figured it out seconds later and was trailing me. He couldn't shift in the middle of the road, however, so he wasn't as fast as he could have been. He kept reaching out to grasp at my shirt, but I was just fast enough to escape. My lungs were burning and my sides were hurting. My heart was racing beyond what it should have been, I still kept running.

At one point, tears stained my cheeks because I knew that I was going to falter soon, whereas Aaron possessed an unlimited amount of energy. I still continued to run, although my legs felt like a mixture of fire and jello. He was the dog and I was the rabbit, he was chasing his prey and he wasn't going to stop until he caught me.

I saw a figure that looked similar to Carlisle, I pushed the thought aside as it could have been a figment of my imagination. I knew that Aaron was right behind me, I was trembling while running, my fall was going to happen soon. I decided to take a risky action, I stopped and turned to face Aaron. He stumbled as he stopped running and he went to grab my hair, I dodged his grasp.

"Fuck you, you don't get to push me around anymore," I pushed his chest with as much force as I could manage. He started to tremble with rage, "And if you're going to act like a spoiled toddler about it, go somewhere else," I spat.

"You don't get to tell me what to do," he grabbed my throat and held me up, I grasped at it and kicked his chest.

He dropped me on the ground and I was sent into a coughing fit trying to catch my breath. I had been wrong, the figure that resembled Carlisle wasn't a figure of my imagination. He ran up to me, picked me up, and ran back to his car. I grasped at my throat as he continued to drive away from the scene, I took shallow breaths and panted.

"I'm so sorry, Jessamine," he possessed a pained look as turned off the car after he parked it in the garage.

"I- can't- breathe," I whispered as I grasped at my throat.

"Let me see," he brought his hand towards my neck, I shifted farther away.

"You didn't show up," I said through barely a whisper.

"I know, and I'm so sorry, Jessamine. However, I need to see the damage Aaron did to you," he came closer to me, we were still in the car.

I dropped my hand and his cool fingers took over, feeling around for any damage. I could obviously breathe, because I was talking, but I couldn't breathe well. He took me hand next, "Look at me, please." I did as I was requested to. "Breathe with me, breathe in... 2... 3... 4, breathe out... 2... 3... 4," the cycle repeated until my throat felt normal again.

"I'm still mad at you," I got out of the car and walked into the house.