twelve. 

hot chocolate

tw: blood, death, assault (non-SA)

   When she opened her eyes, JT was not in Alice's strangely empty bedroom. Her eyes squinted at the harsh light above her head, and she realized with a terrifying familiarity that she was on the soccer field at her old school. The itchy tulle on her legs sent her heart rate rocketing, along with the music thumping from within her school.

   A distant scream rang dully in her ears. It grew louder like an annoying alarm clock set for way too early in the morning until she realized she wasn't alone. A girl with black hair and blood spattered olive skin pulled her alongside her as they both ran towards the gymnasium. The girl was limping hard but still managed to haul JT by her side.

   "Come on, Josie!" The girl screamed again. The friction from the turf field on her bare feet burned as they ran. Where were her shoes again?

   "Oh Josie!" A man's voice sing-songed. JT felt herself physically convulse and then drop as the girl dragging her suddenly fell, knife protruding from her back. "Why couldn't you have just come alone like I asked? You just had to bring Gaia with you."

   Gaia. Her best friend. The girl lying dead beside her.

   A hand gripped at her upper arm, yanking her upward and around so she was flipped to lie on her back. "You're mine, Josie. Why can't you see that?" The terror that had seized at her chest and kept her frozen snapped. She swung her arms, hoping for contact. Scratching at any surface she could reach, she listened to him roar in pain and anger. "Stop it! Josie, why are you hurting me? We're soulmates!"

   "We're not soulmates!" She yelled, tearing at anything she could. "You're crazy!" He was. He was delusional. He was delusional and he was going to kill her to keep his fucked up fantasy alive.

   The knife he had raised came down.

   In all honesty, agreeing to spend the night with Alice Cullen had seemed like a fine idea when presented with it. There were comfy air mattresses -- Alice said she was getting a new mattress delivered because her old one had a problem -- comfy pajamas, and the thermostat seemed to be set just right. But waking up with a near scream scrambling out of your throat in the home of your new friend and her entire family was not what she had in mind.

   Alice was beside her in an instant, yet JT had difficulty pulling the dark haired girl dressed in pink from her head. "JT, it's me. It's Alice. You're safe." Alice was careful not to touch her as JT's chest heaved. Her eyes finally focused on her surroundings. Joey's voice whispered comfortingly in her ear.

   Breathe, J-dog, breathe. You've got this girl.

   "JT?"

   She looked at Alice before burying her face in her hands. "I'm sorry. Nightmare."

   Alice smiled gently. "Don't apologize. Nightmares are normal. You can't control them, unfortunately."

   JT rubbed at her eyes harshly with her palms, feeling soreness in her chest. "Fuck. Can you look at my stitches, please? I need to make sure I didn't tear any."

   The pixie girl nodded and watched intently as JT pulled up Edward's shirt to reveal where Carlisle had sewn her skin back together. "Still intact," Alice hummed, skimming her cold fingers over the area.

   "That feels nice," JT breathed. "Your fingers are freezing."

   "The area does look fairly inflamed, though. That may be why the cold feels nice." Alice took her fingers from JT's skin. "Do you want to have Carlisle look? I think he's still awake."

   JT checked her watch. It was 1:30 in the morning, why would Carlisle be awake? "I don't want to bother him--"

   A gentle knock sounded at the door. "I thought I heard you guys up. I made some hot chocolate. May I come in?" It was the doc himself, carrying two mugs that carried a perfect scent of warm chocolate and marshmallows.

   Alice looked to JT, who nodded. "Yeah, come on in. We were just looking at JT's stitches. She had a nightmare and was thrashing a little bit." JT felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment. "We were just talking about whether or not to have you look at it."

   Carlisle's handsome face paused in thought. "I can do that, if you wish," he offered. Her face felt hotter. His silk pajama set was embroidered with a C on the chest pocket. A little voice in her head nagged about classic rich people pajamas, but she nodded and shook the thoughts away.

   "If it's no trouble. I don't want you to have to be a doctor when you're not working," she said quietly. He smiled with the charisma of a thousand kings and the sun melted together into one person. He set the two mugs down on one of Alice's tables before hold a hand out to help her stand. His skin, like Alice's, was freezing.

   "If you'd lift your shirt a little," he prompted. She appreciated that he was letting her take it at her own pace. It made her feel safer. Carlisle had never made her uncomfortable as other doctors she had seen had. A few doctors had heard what happened and had even suggested that she was at fault for her attack. They suggested that she had lead her stalker to believe that they were meant to be when she had literally only asked the delusional boy for a pencil once. "Stay with me, kiddo." Carlisle's voice pulled her from her thoughts. "I'm going to touch the area, okay? I just washed my hands but I can do it again if you'd like."

   JT shook her head. "You're fine. Thank you."

   "Do you mind me asking what happened?" Alice asked softly. "I obviously don't want to invade your space or anything." 

   The blonde girl flinched when Carlisle laid his hand gently on her stitched abdomen, the coolness seeping in an alleviating some of the pain in her side. She looked to him briefly for some form of reassurance that she didn't know she needed. When he nodded, she sighed. 

   "I was attacked at a school dance. One of my classmates had been stalking me. He...he killed my friend Gaia. He tried to kill me, too." She kept her gaze on the far wall. "There was a homemade poison on his knives." 

   As if he could sense that she could no longer speak, Carlisle took his hand away and turned her body towards the light to get a better look. "The poison should've killed you, JT, but your immune system is quite resilient." 

   "Not resilient enough to heal the tissue though, huh Doc?" JT quipped. He gave a vaguely humored smirk. 

   "Just try not to rest on that side for this evening. Ice it when you get home, okay?" The patriarch ordered. He had such a comforting feeling about him that had always given JT a sense of peace, and not once had she ever disliked him. 

   "Yessir," she said quietly. "Thank you for this and the hot chocolate." 

   "Of course." He ruffled Alice's hair and left in a nearly silent swish of silk pajamas. 

   Alice handed the second mug to JT. "Is he in jail or dead, at least?"  When JT blanched, Alice gestured to her ribs. "The guy that did this to you. Is he in jail or dead?" 

   JT swallowed. "Yeah. Attica." 

   Alice's wide eyes widened further. "Shit. He's in max security?" 

   JT nodded. "He killed eight people in his old place because he heard someone say the name Josephine," she whispered. Her name had caused the death of eight people. Six prisoners. Two guards. "So they moved him." 

   "What's his name?" 

   The question shouldn't have been a shock, but it sent waves down her spine. "Jason Gardener." The air hissed between her teeth. 

   "God. Who would've thought that a man named Jason would have a killing problem?" Alice shook her head. "Sorry. Sarcasm is one of my coping mechanisms." 

   JT huffed. "We have that in common." It was silent for a bit, the girls sipping on the hot chocolate. 

   "Want me to bore you to sleep about French fashion?" Alice chirped, perking up at the idea of distracting JT from her trauma. 

   "Sure, Alice." She listened as Alice prattled on about French designers and the runway shows she'd observed in person. The warmth of the hot chocolate made her drowsy. Soon enough, the warm sweetness of the drink and of Alice's voice put her to a sound sleep once more. 

a/n: hello loves! I'd like to apologize for not being active in my updating. my stepdad passed in September, and my aunt passed two weeks ago. I also have classes and a job as well, so things have been extremely busy and exhausting. I hope to be better for all of you, and I hope that you enjoy this short lil chapter. 

all my love, 

hadley