storm ◇ jasper hale ◇

chapter thirty-four ; normalcy

Bree was learning magic well. She was learning the basic spells, enchantments and potions. She would be learning from dawn 'til dusk, book in hand as she tried to get used to the taste of animal blood. Madej would see her grimacing every time she took a sip of the blood. It amused him to see that expression on her face.

Madej was trying to get some rest, but the house was weirdly noisy and busy.

"Fucking hell," he muttered. He grabbed a hoodie and pulled it on before he got his hearing aids and put them in. He pulled the hood up, hair a mess from his few hours of rest. He went downstairs to see Bree and Benedict talking animatedly about something - magic, probably - and he moved into the kitchen where he saw Mandy talking to Bella.

"Morning," Bella said, a teasing edge to her voice.

"I am well aware it is, like, three in the afternoon, but I am a tired bitch. What're you doing here?"

Bella shrugged, looking over at Mandy, who just gave her a look and muttered something about needing to leave for work.

'What's wrong?' he signed to her, getting some food for a sandwich.

'Edward,'

"Urgh. He is the main reason for your problems," Madej pointed out. "I'll kill him if you want. Only cost you, uh, twenty dollars." Bella frowned at him. "Well, Benny sometimes gets paid for getting rid of some supernatural creatures, when someone contacts him about them. Twenty-five to kill it, plus additional fees for tracking and buying shit like silver bullets -"

"I learn more about you and your family each day."

"Oh yeah." Madej nodded, finishing up his sandwich. "Anyway, why am I killing Edward?"

Whatever colours were in Bella's face vanished as she remembered whatever it was that Edward had done. She made a noise in the back of her throat. "So, uh ... he asked me to marry him. I said I'd think about it."

Madej nearly choked on his sandwich. "He asked you to marry him?" he repeated, not believing the words. Were his hearing aids acting up?

"Yeah. I told him I'd think about it," she said, shrugging a shoulder. "I don't even know what to do about that."

"You two aren't even together," Madej pointed out.

Bella looked at him, and her expression screamed 'I know!' which Madej would've found funny if it wasn't for the fact that Edward was crazy.

"I told him that I'd have to think about it, but, like, no? I don't think I want to marry him."

Madej patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, it could be worse, you could marry me."

It was like a lightbulb went off in Bella's head. "If we get married, Edward can't marry me. All I want is to be turned into a vampire, and Edward told me if he was to change me, then I'd have to marry him. So we should get married instead."

Madej laughed and then realised that Bella was more serious than he expected.

"Oh, you know what? Fuck it, sure. He can't marry you if you're already married."

Bella laughed, a smile on her face. "It's just ... so dumb. My mom and dad got married young and had me young. It's like repeating history, and I ... well, I don't want to go through what they did." She looked away, arms crossed over her chest.

"You won't repeat what they did. You're in control of what you want, and what you want to do. Don't marry Edward if you really don't want to. He can't force you into marrying him."

"Thanks. I think I just needed to-to vent to someone and get it off my chest."

"Have you told anyone else?" he asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.