Jared Whitlock; Daughter of Jasper Hale

Chapter 70: We Have The Whole Summer

Jared P.O.V

Gotta love Uncle Peter. Charlotte tuts at him in mock annoyance, slapping his arm with a rolled up newspaper that seemingly appears from nowhere. "Hey, that's my Playboy magazine!" He outbursts, reaching for it. "I know." Charlotte frowns. "That's why I hit you." She glowers.

"Playboy?" Aro cuts in. Charlotte pulls a digusted face. "Don't worry about it." She mutters, shoving away inside her jacket, where it hopefully never resurfaces.

I push the two 'children' to the side so I can explain everything. "This is Francesco." I point to him and he nods at Peter. "Ok," Peter nods back.

"This is Aro-"
"I know who he is!" Peter cuts in quickly. "Aro, Reeve, Francesco. Never in my life did I think I'd have Aro Volturi in my house." He smirks before glancing at the window. "Are there any more outside?" He checks nervously and Aro holds up a hand in reassurance.

"Have no fear, my friend." He smiles, but Peter isn't satisfied. "That doesn't answer my question, Aro." He takes a challenging step forward and Aunt Charlotte grabs my arm in anxiety.
I brush her off gently and Reeve skips to my side. "There's no one else, Peter. I promise." She adds quietly, placing a delicate hand on his arm.

"Well," Charlotte clears her throat after a few seconds of silence. I cringe inwardly at the awkwardness. Aro's eyes have not left Peter's face and it's making him nervous. Aro seems to have that effect on everyone but his brothers.

"Can we wrap this up, please?" Charlotte enquires, brightening her tone, in the hope of gaining Aro and Peter's attention.
"Meaning what exactly?" Aro's eyes flit from Peter to Charlotte as he comes back down to Earth.

"Meaning can we put an end to this and leave this....misunderstanding to clear?" She translates, and I see the struggle in her carefully trying to choose her words. Aro's smug smirk pisses me off big time, as he knows the effect he has on her and he fastens his cloak.

"Very well, we'll be on our way." He leads Reeve by the hand to the front door. We follow them out, but Reeve rushes back at the last second to kiss me and throws herself into my arms. I cling to her also, feeling an overwhelming sadness as it hits me; I may not see her in a while after this.

"Relax baby," She whispers in my ear, although we both know very well that the others, including Aro, can hear. It's as if she reads my mind. "We have a whole summer to look forward to. We'll spend many evenings together, I'll make sure of it." She adds in an even more urgent whisper.

I can't think of any other reply so I let Aro pull her away to the sleek black car that Francesco has waiting for them. She peers at me through the dark glass, a soft sad smiles stretches her face as they drive away, leaving me with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Peter leads me back into the house. He falls backwards against the closed front door, eyes clenched shut in relief. "Thank God that's over." He groans deeply as Charlotte sits at the table, sipping a fresh cup of tea. I go to step into the kitchen but Peter has other ideas.

"Jared?" I turn back to him. He's still sitting slouched against the closed front door. "We need to talk."

I cautiously step to him. "Okay..." I shrug and perch on the table, careful not to spill Aunt Charlotte's tea. Peter and Charlotte exchange sad, defeated glances.

"We know you won't agree with us, but, you need to understand that you can never see Reeve again."

What?! No, God no.

I go to protest but Peter continues, holding up a hand to silence me. "Please let me finish. Aro is a very powerful and dangerous man. If he got his hands on you for good, well, anything could happen." He breaks off to lock eyes with me. "We don't want you going over to the dark side."

Charlotte nods agreement and grabs his hand. "This isn't some Harry Potter fanfic. I'm not joining Slytherin." I tease, but my smile fades when I see that they're serious. "You don't think I could actually be like them, do you?" I peer hard at their expressions but they remain straight faced and calm.

"I...I wouldn't kill innocent people like them! Surely you know that!" I gasp in horror. My hand clamps over my mouth when I realise they aren't objecting. "No way is this happening." I jump off quickly, backing away. "You think I'm a monster." My eyes narrow. "You think I'm just like my mother!"

I turn away from them, a feeling of betrayal forming in the put of my stomach. "I'm no cold blooded killer, Peter." I assure.
"Uncle Peter," He corrects in a calm voice which only makes me feel worse.

"You have to see it from our perspectives. When Aro and Reeve arrived earlier, I thought....I thought." He groans and his head buries itself in his arms, resting on the table. Aunt Charlotte looks up at me and finishes the sentence for him.

"He thought they'd come to kill you. And us." She grimaces. "You mean the world to us, Jared. You are our responsibility." She stands up and sighs.

"At times like this, we have to take matters into our own hands."
Peter lifts his head from the table and looks at me. "We're going to cut ties with Reeve and her family."

"No! You can't do that!" I kick at the nearest thing to me, a cabinet and Charlotte tries to calm me. "Jared, look, this is for the best."
"You don't know anything!" I scream, tears pouring down my face in horror. "You cruel bastards!"

Peter shakes his head. "Jared, this is to keep us all safe. Reeve and you cannot be together."

"I LOVE HER! HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY MAKE A DECISION WITHOUT ME BEING ABLE TO NEGOTIATE?" I scream.
I fall to the floor, blubbering, wiping my face viciously although the tears don't stop. The action is hopeless.

It's like trying to dry dishes with a wet cloth.

Peter pulls out my phone. "I need to delete Reeve's number." He scrolls through quickly and I don't try to stop him.
"Reeve will still call, we'll still be able to talk." I cry.

"I know," Peter says. "That's why I have to do this." He throws the phone to the ground and smashes it under the heel of his shoe. "NO!!!" I try to tackle him although it's hopeless as the phone has already been demolished into tiny pieces by Peter's strength.

"NO! PLEASE!!" Charlotte holds me back gently while Peter scoops up the broken particles and throws them into the bin.

"One day," He says. "Just one day, you'll forgive me."