Not Your Enemy

Her feet moved in a magical tango with the air and surface beneath her. Her long, slim legs would twist, turn, and fly in the air like an overjoyed angel who was proud of her new wings. With her toes crying for mercy and her legs threatening to give out at any graceful second, the beautiful dancer continued on as if the pain hadn’t bothered her. As long as the in kept emotions were being released in a magical sense of passion and inspiration to actually show the world that beauty did come from excruciating pain. The body was supposed to be tamed and trained to overcome anything that stood between the person and what they wanted.

Suddenly, the dancer’s dainty feet gave out from under her, but, instead of crying out in pain or cussing lowly to herself, she just smiled and giggled like a child on a playground. Beside her was a small puppy, licking her watery cheeks and wagging his tail back and forth in exciting pleasure, for the dancer had her hands behind his ears and his nose against his like a best-friend teasing the other.

“Autmn-October Chevalier,” A voice spoke from behind her before wrapping their arms around her waist, “what, oh what, shall I do with you.”

Tobi giggled and turned around to wrap her arms around the beautiful boy in her presence, “Well, Jasper Whitlock Hale, you can sweep me off my feet and take me off to Paris.” Her eyes shined with amusement and her heart started racing as Jasper brought his face down to her and kissed her lips gently before pulling away. Growling was heard at her feet, so Tobi looked down at her puppy with smiling eyes; however, when she looked that time it wasn’t a puppy.

Paul pushed Tobi away from Jasper and held her shoulders firmly between his hands, “He’s not what you think, don’t fall deeper for his lies than you already have.”

“Paul,” Tobi breathed, not understanding what he was trying to say but know that there was more to his words than what he was giving off.

“It’s me you should be with,” his lips were closer to hers, and Tobi hated herself for wanting him to press them together instead of stalling like he had been. She knew it was wrong because she was with Jasper and Jasper loved her.

Another growl was heard, this time from Jasper and Tobi looked to the side to see that Jasper’s eyes were darkening quickly before shining red like a demon. He pulled Tobi roughly away from Paul and grinned cynically as if he had won a battle, “I’ve never lost, dog, and I’m not going to start now.”

Jasper lowed his head to Tobi’s throat and kissed in gingerly before a sharp pain erupted from-

Tobi’s leg was burning, more so than it had the day before, and she shot up from her bed with an ear popping scream that caused both Paul and Jasper to rush to her sides at once. Along with the pain in her leg and her scream, Tobi’s chest gave a violent thud forward and she bit back another scream which came out as a pitiful moan of misery. She wanted to die at that moment, everything hurt and tears clouded her eyes, but she knew she couldn’t.

“Why?” she sobbed out, leaning to the side and onto Jasper’s chest as he wrapped his frosty hands around her shoulder and rubbed her back. Tobi’s body shook as she heaved out every negative emotion through her tears, “Why didn’t I just die!?”

Paul got worried and shook his head, “No, don’t say that Tobi.” His voice sounded like he was in pain, and he knew he sounded weak to the vampire on her other side, but Paul didn’t care at the moment because his imprint was crying and in more pain than he liked.

Any pain was too much pain for his Tobi.

“I want to die!” She screeched as loud as she could and pushed herself away from Jasper to fall back against her pillow. A Nurse walked in with a needle ready, but Jasper waved her off and started calming Tobi down with his own power. Slowly, his soothing waves of peace washed over her body and she eased down enough for her relax her body and stop crying.

“Sweetheart,” Jasper cooed, laying down beside her and holding her closer to his body, “what were you dreaming of?”

Tobi nuzzled closer to Jasper and shook her head, “I was dancing, Jazz.” –she looked up and into his eyes- “I can’t dance anymore, and it’s all my fault. I’m just a fucking waste of space now, and I hate myself for causing the fire.”

“You mean the world to me,” Jasper whispered, kissing her temple and rubbing her forearm softly, “the world and so much more. If I could, I’d give my legs to you and allow you to continue living your dream. It’s my fault for pushing you, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I was just so angry with that mutt for what he did to you.”

Paul growled, “I’ve made a mistake, spare me the insults while I’m still in the room.”

“You can leave,” Jasper snapped, pausing his circular pattern on Tobi’s arm, “no one asked you to stay in the first place.”

“Listen-“

“You guys are going to give me a headache,” Tobi spoke up, looking between Paul and Jasper, “I mean can’t you stop arguing for one fucking second? I’m in a damn hospital for God’s sake!”

Both boys muttered an apology while tossing hate filled glares at each other.

Paul sat back down in his chair before the door opened and in walked Ruby with a bright smile on her face. She looked at Paul for a millisecond before smiling widely at Jasper, “Good morning, Jasper. How’d you sleep in this crappy place?”

Jasper exchanged a look with Emmett and grinned, “Like a baby.”

Ruby shook her head and laughed, “If that baby is the spawn of Satan with holy water being splashed on him all night. I bet Tobi snore the walls off the place.”

Tobi glared at her friend and pouted, “I don’t snore!”

Everyone, but Tobi, laughed, a bit before they stepped out on Ruby’s request so she could spend time with Tobi before school.

“How are you holding up, kiddo?” she asked her French best friend. She had hung around Tobi and her family long enough to pick up on subtle hints of the accent and was actually pretty good at mocking them.

Tobi shrugged and thought about the dream and mental breakdown just minutes before Ruby and Emmett had arrived, “Oh, I’m just dandy. You know, I just can’t dance anymore.” The bitter sarcasm was heavy in her voice, and Tobi knew she sounded like a bitch when the words came out.

Ruby frowned. “Whoa, no need for the heavy sarcasm. A simple no would’ve been fine.”

Tobi immediately regretted her tone and shot Ruby a small look, “Crap, I’m sorry… I’m just…”

“No need to be sorry, Tobi, you’ve gone through hell. It’s okay to have a little hate in your heart, just don’t let it overcome you.”

“And that is why you’re my best friend,” Tobi smiled. “Your occasional wisdom is astounding”

Ruby scoffed. “Occasional? How about every single day?”

They girls shared a nice laugh together about that.

Once Ruby and Emmett headed to school, Tobi was stuck alone once again with Paul and Jasper. Tobi heard Paul’s stomach growl and laughed a bit, “Are you hungry, Pup?” She had been thinking of names of affection for her friend ever since they cleared the air and ‘Pup’ stuck out the most. It could sound like a term of endearment to an outsider but only few people knew of the dirty little secret they shared.

Paul grinned and winked at her, “Just a bit.”

“Well, go eat and I promise I won’t ditch you for the beach while you’re gone,” Tobi smiled, trying to ease the morbid air that constantly stuck to her slim body, “and while you’re getting whatever it is you want, can you get me something? Anything?”

“Anything for you babe,” Paul winked once more before kissing the top of her head and walking out of the room toward the cafeteria.

Jasper stiffened when he had heard Tobi call Paul ‘Pup’. Had she known about Paul’s secret? Or most important, had she known that he was a vampire? He looked down at his girlfriend who was looking out of the window and kissed her cheek before getting up. Her blood was around him often enough for him to get use to, but not enough for him not to thirst for it. The burning in his throat and darkened eyes had been a common thing ever since he kissed Tobi Saturday night.

“Are you going to eat to?” Tobi asked, smiling up at him

Jasper nodded, “I don’t like the food here so I’ll be around town. I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Tobi nodded and pulled him down into a short kiss, “Be careful.”

An hour had passed before Paul walked back into the room with two large bags from a diner just a couple of blocks away, “I had to wait for them to finish, sorry I took too long.”

“It’s fine, I was just catching up on some writing,” Tobi held up the large, thick journal her mom had brought her the night before they had left for Charlie’s house, “this is supposed to last me five years, but, I swear, at the rate I’m going it’ll only last a couple of months.”

Paul laughed and placed the smaller bag on Tobi’s portable table that sat against the wall, “I hope you like waffles and eggs.”

Tobi smiled widely and nodded, “You seem to know me all too well.”

The two joked and watched crappy daytime television together for the remainder of the morning and well into the day before Paul walked to the gift shop to buy cards so they could play a couple of games. It was fun, and Tobi was happy that she had been imprinted by Paul because his sense of humor was both perverted and witty; much like Ruby at times.

Sometime during the day, their games ended up turning serious and Paul was on the subject of his imprinting once more.

“You know how Sam found out his romantic imprint on Emily?” Paul asked, looking away from the Jerry Springer show that was on and into Tobi’s eyes.

She shook her head and waited curiously for him to explain everything he had just started.

“Well, to be sure, Sam kissed her and confirmed that he harbored strong, loving feelings for her,” Paul explained, “and recently I was just wondering if what we have should be that of a brother and sister.”

Tobi smiled awkwardly and shook her head, confused, “What are you talking about?”

“I have to kiss you,” Paul murmured, standing from his chair and walking over to Tobi’s bedside, “just to be sure.”

“Paul,” Tobi whispered, looking up at him as his head got closer to her, “we…can’t…-“ her words were lost as she lost herself in his eyes. She felt her heart hammering against her ribcage and almost gasped for breath when she realized that she wanted Paul to kiss her.

Just as his lips were just centimeters from hers, the sound of the door opening filled the room and only one thought crossed Tobi’s mind.

Jasper.

However, when she glanced to the side she found Ruby and the air got a bit more awkward than before, “Um,” Tobi was able to say once her breath was caught, her cheeks heated dangerously and her heart monitor went crazy, “Hey, Ruby.”

Ruby walked in the rest of the way and glared at Paul, “Hey, Tobi, Paul… dearest friend, would you mind coming outside and chat with me for a bit?”

“I would mind,” he growled and started to shake, but when Tobi placed her hand on his, he calmed down. He looked down into Tobi’s soft eyes and everything that drove him over the edge didn’t matter, as long as she was around.

“Just go,” Tobi whispered with an encouraging smile.

Ruby flashed Tobi a grin and winked as she closed the door.

Tobi tried to listen to what was going on, but heard muffles and then out of nowhere it sounded as if someone had been punched in the gut with brass knuckles. She sat up a bit and looked at the door, waiting for Paul to come in and apologize for losing his temper and punching her friend; but only Ruby walked in seconds later with a small smile on her face.

“What happened? I heard someone in pain,” Tobi said, her worry going toward Paul now.

“Paul was being a douche, so I kicked him in the nuts.”

Tobi gasped and crossed her arms at her friend, “Ruby!”

Ruby smirked. “Oh, don’t worry, he’ll still be able to have babies. But the woman who does want to have babies with him is doomed and cursed.”

Tobi laughed.

“I’m not going to ask what happened when I first came in here, but… I need to know,” Ruby sat down on the bed.

Tobi shook her head and looked down at her lap, ashamed of what was about to happen because of the betrayal she felt toward Jasper, “Nothing happened.”

“Yeah, because I came in, otherwise, if I had been ten seconds late, I would’ve found you two kissing each other.”

“I would’ve stopped it!”

“Yeah? Paul sure uses a lot of tongue, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have gotten a single word out,” Ruby said to herself in a mumble.

“Huh?” Tobi asked, confused as to how Ruby knew about Paul and his kissing habits.

“Nothing! I won’t mention it if you promise me that nothing is going to almost happen again.”

“I promise. I love Jasper, I wouldn’t hurt him,” Tobi whispered, wanting Ruby to understand that she cared for Jasper far too much to have him in pain because of her.

Ruby smirked. “You said the L word.”

Tobi blinked in surprise. She hadn’t used the love word on anyone other than her family and Ruby before and she wasn’t sure she had said it for real, “I did?”

“You did,” Ruby poked her side. “You’re in love, you’re in love, you’re in love!” she said in a sing song voice.

The girls were interrupted by Alice, Rosalie, Esme, and Bella. Esme walked in with a small container of what looked like late lunch or an early dinner and placed it on the table before walking over to Tobi and hugging her. After her was Alice who kissed Tobi’s cheek before placing the small ring Jasper had given her on in Tobi’s hands and winking. Bella just waved meekly and said something along the lines of ‘It’s a little weird to see someone other than myself in here’. Rosalie was last, she hugged Tobi briefly before looking into her eyes seriously and shaking her head.

“No more fire?”

Tobi shook her head and smiled, “No more fire.”

Once they were gone, Ruby and Tobi talked some more before Emmett walked in and grinned at Tobi like a little boy who wanted a lollipop, “Tobi.”

“Yeah?” Tobi asked, confused as to why he was acknowledging her before his girlfriend. It wasn’t that Tobi didn’t like Emmett, it was just that they had only hung out just several times and they hadn’t really gotten on a comfortable friend level. She loved him, however, because he made Ruby happy.

“Please tell Ruby that it would be great for her to go out with me tonight.”

Tobi smirked and nodded while looking over at Ruby, “I think it’d be a splendid idea.”

Ruby made a face. “I’m not leaving her alone.”

“She won’t be alone,” Jasper walked in, his eyes were a brighter topaz color. He walked to Tobi’s bedside and kissed her before pulling away and taking her hands in his, “sorry, I’m so late.”

“As long as you’re here, I’m fine,” Tobi smiled and kissed him once more, “guess what survived the fire.”

Jasper looked down at her hand and nodded, “Je t’aime.”

“Jasper, look at me,” Tobi asked, waiting for his eyes to meet hers.

When they did, Tobi pressed her lips passionately against his and even went as far as licking her tongue against his bottom lip. Jasper opened his mouth, holding his breath so he didn’t lose control, but found it hard. Battling with himself, Jasper went forward and pushed Tobi back down so he was over her and their kiss got even more heated.

Tobi’s hands shook from her nerves, but she put her hands under his shirt and rubbed his lean, muscular body while a small fire ignited in her stomach, “Je t’aime trop.” (I love you too)

Jasper couldn’t contain himself and pressed his body against hers after hearing the words. He felt his need for her grown and wasn’t ashamed of the bulge growing in his pants. His hands went toward her chest and the moment he squeezed and Tobi moaned, the door opened and Paul walked in to see his imprint doing more than talking with the tick.

“Fucking her in the hospital isn’t a real manly thing to do,” Paul barked, his voice edgy and jealous and angry all in one.

Jasper pulled away from Tobi and rolled to the side to glare at Paul. He hated him, but was thankful, for walking in. He stood up and tossed Tobi an apologetic glance before deciding to go home and take care of his issue by himself.

Tobi nodded, understanding, “Be careful. I love you.”

Jasper kissed her one more time before smiling, “I love you too.”

The two boys glared at each other once more before Jasper had gone and Paul had replaced him on Tobi’s side.

“You love him.”

Tobi looked up at Paul and nodded, “Yeah, I…I think I do. Why?”

Paul shook his head and ran his fingers through his cropped hair, “I think… I think I love you.”