Stealing Forever - Chapter 8 - Easing the Hurt

Chapter 8 - Easing the Hurt

Generally speaking, Claire considered West Virginia a grim-looking state. She waited silently for the others to comment on their surroundings, not wanting to seem pretentious, though it was hard not to at the moment. The landscape and what she'd seen of the people left quite a bit to be desired. Of course, Embry looked around brightly, and she watched his eyes survey the road ahead as they entered the state. He craned his head to look at her and flickered his eyes toward his window with a quizzical look. Then, a mile-wide smile broke across his face; it was infectious, and she responded wordlessly, with a shrug and a small grin.

TEASER: Stealing Forever - Chapter 8

Something passed between the two, sitting in that too-loud bar in Cincinnati. Somewhere between the proceeding shots of golden liquid and the dimly-lit dank bathroom, they came to an understanding. They each would get what they needed, and there would be no discussion of it.

Bartender tried her best to keep her balance as Jake pressed himself into her again, and again, her bare back rubbing against the scratchy, graffitti and god-knows-what-covered bathroom wall. The heel of her boot on the edge of the toilet did little to help, as she jerked violently toward and away from him. Jake was fully with her, in that men’s bathroom that smelled of urine and stale liquor. What he wasnt, was thinking about the pain, and for that, he was grateful.

Stealing Forever - Chapter 1 - About Face

  

A/N – Thank you to Hopeful Wager for all her patience and betaing talents, my lovies for encouragement and comments, and Pack 100 for causing the drabble brainstorm that brought about this story in the first place. Banner here: http: // www . flickr. com/2585/4134605723_aa843a56d3_o. png

DISCLAIMER: Twilight characters and related likeness are owned by Stephenie Meyer,Little Brown Publishing. No profits have been received in the production of this piece.

-

---

Chapter 1 – About Face

---

:::JACOB:::

He was irritated with himself for leaving his license at his Mount Airy home, almost twenty minutes away from the club. Backtracking was not on the schedule, and after the third stoplight in two blocks, he grew increasingly more eager to begin the night of tomfoolery, knowing his friends were becoming ever more intoxicated without Quil and him.

Outings like this were becoming less and less frequent as they settled into their late twenties. Two of them now had wives and children, the rest, time-consuming careers, mortgages and significant others that left little opportunity for extracurriculars.

All he'd have to do is grab his identification - forgotten on his dresser instead of tucked in his wallet - then he and Quil could be on their way back to meet the group.

Stealing Forever - Chapter 2 - Sweetest Drug

:::CLAIRE:::

It had finally come.

After months of planning and place cards and registries and invites. Listening to the incessant bickering of her mother and his sisters. Selecting swatches in shades of blue and silver for cloth napkins. Food tasting and shower gifts and securing a venue.

At last, she had finally come to the veritable apex of her year-long climb towards the altar.

The dress.

Well, not quite the dress. Despite her best efforts over the last six months, that little bugger hadn't quite made itself known yet, sadly-- more like a dress, or dresses.

It was a necessary evil - and, evil it was. Over time, she'd gone through a litany of emotions, from the highs of intense happiness to the trenches of sadness, anxiety, frustration, hopelessness – all brought on by a simple lack of fabric, thread, and buttons. Her emotions all lead her back to this place in the end. Even with weekend trips to New York, Los Angeles and Paris, three wedding gown 'specialists,' not to mention wreaking havoc on Philadelphia metro, that integral part of their nuptials still remained incomplete.

Chapter 3 - Stealing Forever - Give and Take

:::EMBRY:::

"Seriously, Dude. You owe me big. Epic big," Quil grunted for the fifth time that morning, attempting to maneuver the large couch up the narrow stairs of Embry's new condo. "I don't know why you couldn't just get movers in here to help you."
"I know, I know I do, and why get movers when I've got you guys?" Embry had called the rest of their friends, and all but two were unable to help him move, and even they couldn't make it until well after lunch. How convenient that daughter's ballet recitals and trips to the market with grandmothers were impeding upon their ability to help him get all his crap into this place this particular morning.
His move into the much larger, loft-style space was past due. Things were picking up considerably at the gallery, and now he could afford something that had spacious rooms for painting and the storage of his own massive collection of artwork.

Chapter 4 - Stealing Forever - Left to Be Here

:::JACOB:::


For the rest of his life, he'd remember everything that happened that night with near inhuman, excruciatingly perfect detail.
He'd later think bitterly how he couldn't remember his first day of junior high school, or the first boy-girl party he'd ever attended or even what the topic of the first university lecture he'd ever sat through was.
But he could always remember this.

Chapter 5 - Stealing Forever - Our Own Escape

She'd always wondered why black was the socially-accepted color to wear to these things. When her grandfather died two years ago, she, her mother and sisters had all gone to Neimans and searched for Sunday-best shirts, slacks, dresses, skirts.

All in black.

Glancing tiredly at the dress hanging against the door, she sighed heavily and played with a stray string on her bath towel, void of all emotion.

She found herself sitting on the edge of the double bed in her childhood room, staring at the same paint swirl pattern on the wall opposite her for the past twenty minutes, towel still draped around her naked body, black hair still damp and stick-straight, now becoming matted against her scalp. She knew better than to let the tangled mess begin to dry before running a brush through to the ends.

She just didn't care.

Chapter 6 - Stealing Forever - Leave it All Behind

Jacob drove the next hour or so in silence. His only comfort, the swish of cars beside him, the grind of tire against road.

He opted not to turn the radio on, it seemed almost blasphemous at this point to enjoy even the smallest pleasures. It pained him even to think that he would find any happiness, however minute, while he had been the catalyst for so much pain around him.

He wasn't even sure he could process the music anyway.

TEASER MONDAY - 1/4/09

Check out teasers for Deep Undercover, Stealing Forever, and The Man In Me: Becoming Jacob  on The Fictionators Blog

Stealing Forever WON!!

Yep! Thanks to all who voted, read, and reviewed. Writing this story was a labor of love. I'm working on the next chapter as we speak, and will post a teaser sometime tomorrow.  READ STEALING FOREVER