Speak || A Twilight Fanfic

Chapter 14

Not seeing Jacob for almost three weeks had not been as catastrophic as Gabriella had thought it would be. It had been odd, she couldn't lie. She had gotten used to seeing him at least once or twice in a week and coming home to an empty house had been unusual. Still, it had not sent her into the comatose whirlwind her sister had fallen into after her boyfriend had seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth.

Charlie hadn't questioned it at first. Mostly because Gabi didn't seem any different, and she still talked to someone on the phone most days. Nothing was amiss in the eyes of the household.

Until a switch flipped inside Bella. Halfway through Gabi's Jacob detox, her older sister started to disappear a couple of times a week. She didn't know where she was going or what she was doing, but she was happy that Bella seemed to be doing better. Whether it had been because of their father's ultimatum or because she genuinely was starting to move on didn't matter. Gabriella was simply happy that her sister seemed content.

Her mind was also occupied with a certain boy and what he had done to make sure she was okay. In the days after the accident, he called her every morning and every night, reminding her to change her bandages and apply antibiotic ointment. He always asked how her bruise was doing and made sure she remembered to ice it every night. He had made her feel cared for, and he had made sure she knew that someone out there was watching out for her well-being.

The feelings that fluttered in Gabi's heart were still unclear to her. She couldn't deny the magnetism that pulled her toward Paul, and the more she got to know him, the more she understood her gravitation toward him. Just not what had spurred it on.

"Hey, Gabi, I'm going out soon," Bella called out. "I left some breakfast done in the microwave."

"Where are you going?" Gabi asked, peering her head down the stairs.

"On a hike."

"By yourself again?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm trying to get used to being there by myself again."

"If you give me a couple of minutes to get ready, I could go with you. Make sure you don't fall this time," the younger girl offered. "I wouldn't mind some sisterly bonding.."

"Uh, well... you know, maybe next time?" Bella stammered. "I'm kind of short on time, and I have a shift at Newton's soon after."

"Oh, that's okay. Just be careful, then. Wouldn't want another ER visit."

"Right," she chuckled dryly. "I'll see you later, Gabs."

"Yeah. See you."

Much like the past weeks, even if she was doing well, Bella seemed to be avoiding her sister. And it felt no different than when she wouldn't speak at all. At least at that point, she would at least meet Gabi's eyeline. It had sent her down a spiral as she wondered what she had done for her sister to spend as little time as she could with her.

But she had no time to dwell on her sister's rejection. She didn't want to. Instead, she packed a backpack full of art supplies –paints, brushes, and a canvas notebook. The items were coated with a layer of dust, left abandoned and untouched for many years.

Gabriella had grown up loving everything artistic. It was a side Bella was not in tune with, and it had made her feel closer to her mother because of it. When they had been on the road, many a time did Renée and her youngest daughter stop by a creek or a clearing to paint the scenery before them. If they didn't paint, they would prop up a couple of chairs and spend hours knitting or crocheting. Those were the moments she thought there would be a possibility that she and Bella could be on equal footing.

As she got ready to go, she realized there was no way she had no way of getting anywhere near the place she had in mind without a set of wheels. Her father had promised that as soon as he could, he would get her a car, but for the time being, she was stuck hitching rides with her sister to school and depending on others to drive her anywhere. She never realized how inconvenient it was to not have a car now that she was... single?