i'm right here || jasper whitlock

five

Chapter 5-

Halloween night. One month since the Cullens left town.

Theresa never particularly loved or hated Halloween. But this year, as she sat on the front porch steps next to Bella, handing out candy, she decided that she disliked the haunted holiday.

"Pretend to be happy, at least," Charlie said as he walked out of the house in heavy boots and down the steps. Once his shoes hit the driveway, he turned to face the two Swan girls. "You're gonna scare the kids away," He said.

"Bye, Charlie," Theresa said, her voice monotone like it had been since Jasper left.

"Be safe!" Bella called out to her father.

Charlie smiled at the girls before getting in his police cruiser and driving off.

~~~~

The rest of the night went slow. The two teenagers sat in silence while waiting for the other trick-or-treaters to arrive.

Bella cleared her throat, causing Theresa to look at her, candy wrapper in hand.

"What?" Theresa asked her cousin as she stared at her. Bella looked down at the candy wrapped in her hand. Theresa sighed, "Fine," She said before pushing her candy bowl towards Bella, away from herself.

"It's not like the kids have been picking the Twizzlers anyway," Theresa said as she took a bite of the red licorice, "Kids have no taste these days."

"Now you're sounding like Charlie," Bella said, laughing.

"Maybe we should tell scary stories to pass the time," Bella suggested, "Since the kid's probably told their friends that we're the house with the shit candy."

"Nothing scares me anymore."

"Alright, emo," Bella said jokingly, making Theresa's frown turn into a smile.

"The night before my 18th birthday, I had a bad dream," Bella said, ignoring Theresa's protests.

"It was of nan. Do you remember her?" Bella asked her cousin but was only met with a shrug. Theresa only saw her grandmother once every now and then. It wasn't necessarily her grandmother's fault; it was her parents'. Once they moved, they never went out of their way to visit the family left in Forks. A relationship with her nan was just another missing piece of Theresa's childhood.

"Well, in my dream, I was talking to her," Bella continued, telling her story. "Then, out of nowhere, Edward appeared. I was so scared that I told him not to enter the sunlight. Nan would've freaked if she saw him-"

"Sparkle?" Theresa interrupted. Bella nudged the girl with her shoulder before continuing, "Anyway, Nan didn't freak out. So, I went to introduce them, but when I did, I realized it was me looking in a mirror."

Theresa watched as Bella's smile slowly left her face, "I was so scared of growing old, now-"

"It doesn't matter," Theresa said, completing Bella's sentence.

Theresa took a deep breath before speaking again, her eyes clouded with tears, "That was a scary story, Bells."

Bella leaned her head on Theresa's shoulder. Theresa could feel her take a deep breath in and out.

"Bella?" Theresa asked, her voice frail.

"Yeah?" Bella responded, tears filling her eyes.

"W-will-" Theresa took a shaky breath before continuing to talk, scared her voice would fail her, "Will we ever be okay?"

Theresa felt Bella shake her head, "I don't-"

"Trick or treat!"

The two teenage girls were so stuck in their little world that they didn't even notice the little vampire walk up to them, pillowcase already full of candy, yet open and ready for more.

Theresa wiped off the tears that escaped her eyes before grabbing the bowl of twirlers and handing it to the little girl, "Here," she said as she placed it into the young girl's hands, "Happy Halloween."

"Thank you," She said through false fangs before running down the walkway and reaching up to connect her and her mother's hands again.

Seeing the mother and daughter smile and laugh only brought more pain to Theresa.

"Old people are weird," Theresa heard the little girl say to her mom as they walked away.

"That's it. I hate Halloween. Goodnight," Theresa said before getting up from the concrete step and walking inside the house; the screen door shut behind her.