Perspicuous (J.HALE)

24

I moved my thumb in concentric circles on Ethan's back, trying to ignore the seeping warmth of his drool pooling on my shirt just beneath my collar bone.

Despite the tension in the room, the activity within it was notably mundane. I held a book in the other hand—that I wasn't reading—with my legs on Jasper's lap, who was using them as a makeshift table for his sketchbook. He'd taken to drawing as a distraction from the emotional environment, stealing the book from Alice, who apparently used to use it when she had particularly vivid visions. He'd started off just drawing household objects and the various little trinkets that Esme placed around the house but moved on to people. He was in the midst of a depiction of Emmett, where he lay on his back on the floor, tossing a baseball up into the air and catching it with the other hand.

Bella was stuck in a cycle of lurching forward to gag over a bucket and sagging back down onto the couch with a rattling exhale. Edward hovered at the arm of the sofa, trying to coax her into drinking some water each time she unleashed the contents of her stomach. We hadn't spoken since the argument in the kitchen, but I was fine with that. The fact that the dislike was mutual had been explicitly confirmed, so I no longer worried about his opinion. It had taken a lot of mediation from Alice to get Jasper to calm down afterward, as he was almost as riled as I had been.

Carlisle continued to read and research, but to no avail. Esme buzzed about trying to look after everyone, making food for the wolves and I—Jake, Leah and Seth were posted at different lookout points around the house. I hadn't spoken to Paul, either. Or Jared. I still had the instinct to reach for my phone and tap out a message to them when the house was particularly silent, but I resisted. If they were willing to murder my friend, and her unborn child, they weren't the people I thought they were.

Leah wouldn't speak to me. I didn't mind—we'd never really spoken even when I was still seeing Sam's pack. She seemed the type to keep to herself, and was honestly rather intimidating, so I didn't approach.

"Are you cold?" Edward asked Bella, voice soft.

She was buried in blankets, but still nodded.

"I got it," Jake grunted, shuffling down the sofa toward her from where he'd been taking a nap and pulling her into his body.

There was a bout of quiet, and I went back to the book that I wasn't reading.

"Don't do that."

I looked up.

"What?" Bella croaked.

"Smile like I'm your favourite person in the world."

"You're one of them."

I flinched. If she kept talking like that, he was never going to get over her.

She sighed. "It feels complete when you're here, Jake."

I almost threw the book at her.

Jasper looked up from his sketch and met my eyes for a fraction of a second. The tension in my stomach eased in an instant, and I pressed my lips together, raising an eyebrow in his direction. He shouldn't have been wasting energy on my emotions—he had far too many to deal with already. He went back to his drawing.

Bella let out a groan and pushed herself upright, holding a hand to her ballooned stomach. Edward grabbed the bucket again and held it under her chin, but she didn't appear to need it. She whimpered and shook for a moment, but then subdued.

"We need to find a way to get some food into her system," Esme murmured, eyes jumping between Bella and Carlisle.

Alice shook her head. "If only I could see the foetus-