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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Eleanora Hadley stepped into the too-quiet house, her thoughts a mindless blur and she attempted to extract certain ones. It had been three days since Bella's birthday party and she hadn't received any contact from any of the Cullen's, since she and Bella had eventually left the house that fateful night.
Bella had been quickly stitched up, Ellie left with three clean breaks in the fingers of her right hand, created accidentally by Jasper. Her thoughts had entirely involved the Cullen family over the last few days, it was like they had disappeared into thin air. None of the siblings had attended Forks High School, Ellie eyeing the halls that seemed too empty to her with a heavy heart.
She was worried about all of them but in particular, Jasper, convinced that the blonde would be blaming himself entirely for the accident.
Although in the all too silent house, her thoughts had no block to stop them from running wild. Elijah eventually returned to his university, Ellie reluctantly saying goodbye. Their sibling dynamic alongside the entire family dynamic had been so good following Ellie and Allison's return from Phoenix. It was dynamic that hadn't existed since the days of the Hadley family of four but had changed slightly to accommodate the three of them.
Ellie hadn't been ready to let that go just yet, in return for the almost constant silent house when Allison was still at work, it had been nice having another person in the house for a while even if she always knew that it wouldn't last.
But she didn't have long now until she would be done with high school entirely. Although Ellie still couldn't quite believe that she was even still attending school, let alone her senior year. She had been convinced that her second chances were up but with the help of Jasper alongside her family, Ellie had finally been able to stay in school, and not complete her schoolwork from home.
Eleanora walked up the stairs of her family home, whistling a slight tune to herself as she did so, pottering around the house before finally opening the door to her bedroom with her left hand, the fingers on her right hand strapped together.
"What is it with you breaking into my house?" Ellie shouted, her heart racing at the sight of Jasper Hale standing once more in her room, his fingers delicately tracing the cover of the book of listing questions they had been playing with all summer. "Never mind that. Where on earth have you been?"
Jasper looked at the brunette, his eyes immediately falling to her strapped right hand, his body tensing and his hands balled into tight fists. "I need to tell you something."
Ellie felt her irritation grow inside her. "Well, what is it?"
"My family and I are leaving Forks."
Silence fell between the two friends as Ellie observed that vampire quietly, the words slowly clicking together in her mind. "You're leaving." She eventually stuttered out.
"Carlisle's supposed to be ten years older than he looks. People are starting to notice." Jasper continued to explain, feeling the overwhelming sadness and irritation grow within Ellie.
"Oh don't give me that bullshit excuse." Ellie dismissed. "This is because of what happened the other night, isn't it?" Ellie continued as Jasper refused to meet her eyes. "If it is accidents happen whether you are supernatural or not." She snapped.
"I don't want to hurt you," Jasper muttered quietly, his eyes still trapped on her right hand.
"You mean this?" Ellie asked, holding up her hand. "It will heal, Carlisle said eight weeks at most. It's a temporary inconvenience, I've done worst to myself with my narcolepsy accidents over the years."
"I don't care if you've done worse to yourself." Jasper continued sharply. "It could have been a lot worse, I'm dangerous to you, to Bella. What if next time it's not just a few fingers? What happens then?"
"I'd still forgive you," Ellie replied, feeling tears prick up her eyes although she willed herself to hold them back.
"You wouldn't." Jasper dismissed.
"You can't just leave," Ellie muttered to herself, the eventual end of the conversation reaching her once more. "I can't do this alone, without you. I'm just going to give up again, with narcolepsy, with my studies, all of it!"
"Yes, you can. You did just fine before I came along before my family came along." Jasper continued to insist. "You need to move on and forget."
"You promised!" Ellie let out a strangled cry although no tears fell down her cheeks. "You promised that you wouldn't let me go through this alone, and yet here you are leaving."
"I'm sorry, Eleanora." Jasper frowned, not only at the situation but the way that Ellie's full name rolled off his tongue.
"You might be, but a billion different sorrys isn't going to change anything." Ellie continued, tears slowly falling down her cheeks. "I'm not going to move on and forget anything, because I can't stop thinking about you even without this entire mess! You might think that this is the best way to go about this, although I honestly don't know why you do, but I do know that I do matter something to you, so I don't know why you are doing this."
"You know my reasons," Jasper repeated.
"And I thought we've already established that they are bullshit reasons."
"I'm sorry, Eleanora. But you'll be safer, happier this way, I promise."
Ellie shook her head frantically. "I'm just another promise you couldn't keep and that's okay."
"Goodbye, Eleanora," Jasper whispered, stepping towards the brunette to place a kiss on her forehead before disappearing into thin air once more.
Ellie stood frozen, tears slipping mindlessly down her cheeks. It wasn't just Jasper that was gone, it was all of them. Every single friendship she had created with each of the Cullens, gone, erased as it had never happened. She slid to the floor, rifling through her pockets for her phone, before clicking on the first contact.
"Hey, can you come over? I really need you right now."
