AN: The following is a one-shot au scene that's been stuck in my head ever since I read the wikia's description for Joss.
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average
.:.
Bella understands the need for a storm as soon as bat meets ball for the first time in her presence.
Jasper is crouched in a batting position while out on the field Alice is raring to pitch. The petite vampire looks off in the distant for a moment before looking right at her mate and throwing the ball without a moment's hesitation. It hurls towards Jasper at a rapid speed but he has no trouble meeting it. The resulting boom that echoes upon impact is impressive, rivaling the loudest of thunders.
The sound pierces through the noise-canceling headphones she'd been given and continues to ring in her ears for seconds after.
The Cullen matriarch had insisted she use the accessory as protection and she'd only done as told to indulge her. Now, however, she reaches over and gives Esme's hand a squeeze in silent thanks because there's no telling how bad it would have been if she hadn't had them. It was that grand of a strike.
She watches as Jasper runs at a blur, not pausing for a second after he hit the target, while the others out in the distance run after the flying ball.
Admittedly, she doesn't know much about the original game, but it seems like this one is more of a race to see what comes first. With their speed and skill, either home base is reached and Jasper scores a point for his team or the ball is caught in the air and the other team scores a point.
It doesn't take long for the result of this turn to come and she shakes her head in amusement at Emmett's hollering; his team caught the ball.
.:.
The game has been going for roughly ten minutes now and Bella is completely lost.
She had managed to keep track of what happened at first but her limited vision's inability to decipher the blurs of movement quickly enough had gotten the better of her and she stopped trying.
Now she just sits and watches all their movements with a sort of awed appreciation.
It's not everyday that one gets to watch a family of vampires play a game of hyped up baseball under the cover of a thunderstorm after all.
But then the game comes to a standstill as Alice becomes locked in a vision midway through her run. The others all reach her side in an instant, so she hitches a ride with Esme to the far end of the field where they are located to see what's going on. They don't have to wait much longer for a reply as Edward reads her mind to see the vision.
"Someone's coming and they're not human."
It's the only thing that he's able to voice before said someone breaks through the tree line and diverts their attention.
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"Is there room for another?" Is the first thing this new person says when they reach a respectable distance, their voice an unexciting drawl.
The figure that accompanies the voice isn't anything remarkable either.
It's a woman with light brown hair framing a rather ordinary face. She's dressed in frayed blue jeans and a rather worn loose fitting button down shirt but has no shoes. If it weren't for the burgundy of her eyes and the paleness of her skin, it would be a challenge to convince anyone she was a vampire at first sight.
It was pretty impressive how utterly average she appeared, actually.
There was nothing else besides those vampire qualities that would cause the woman to stand out amongst a crowd. She could easily blend into anywhere with her lackluster appearance. Be anyone she wanted with how ordinary she came across.
Yet despite the averageness of her outer appearance, there was something so attractive about her manner to Bella.
She was different to the Cullens.
Where the Cullens' beauty was so grand it was clearly inhuman, the woman's was more of a subtle shine in her eyes and an assertiveness she wore like a second skin.
She held herself in a manner that spoke of an inner confidence so strong it would be difficult to tear down. And it was obvious from the way she dressed that she did not care much for what others thought of her. The leisurely stroll she adopted as she walked to them was evident of that unconcerned attitude.
She seemed to be the epitome of cool and calm, something Bella could never achieve and the Cullens failed at.
It wasn't mesmerizing, per say, but it did garner a second look.
.:.
Thanks for reading.