Thanks for your fabulous reviews, faves, and alerts! You guys are awesome and made me all gooey inside. So, things will be moving along in this chapter with four characters chiming in with their opinions.
A/N: LunarEclipse1 created a fabulous banner for this story. It's truly awesome, go to my profile page, click on the link, and let me know what you think.
Warning: If you are offended by swearing, sex, or inappropriate behavior, it's best that you do not read this story.
This story is AU/OOC.
All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.
Mature readers 18+ only please.
Angela's POV
"Holy fuck! This place is the bomb!" Jess cried as we were shown around our penthouse suite.
"You guys! There's a hot tub located in the middle of the room!" Lauren called.
The three of us bolted to her. Lauren was already sitting in the tub stark naked. The rest of us joined her without hesitation. I mean, it was just us girls.
We sat in the giant tub and chatted about what was in store for us this weekend.
"Okay, I'm issuing a challenge."
"A challenge?" Bella questioned Lauren.
"Yes, a challenge. This weekend, we each have to have a one night stand with a delectably hot guy."
"Um, I'm not so sure..."
"Bella, we have to do this. We're in Vegas. What happens here, stays here."
A one night stand? I've never had one of those before, but then again it might be fun.
"Okay, I'll do it!" I announced, confidently.
Bella and Jess stared at me wide eyed.
"Haven't you guys ever heard of sexually transmitted diseases?" Jess asked.
"I'm not saying be stupid about it. The guy absolutely has to wear a condom, there's no doubt about that. We just have to do something that we normally wouldn't do."
Bella raised one eyebrow at Lauren.
"Alright, something you three normally wouldn't do. Besides, I haven't had a one-night stand in two years. That guy Riley was my last one."
"He was hot," Bella sighed.
"Yeah, he was. And he gave us free drinks all night. Do you think I should have dated him for a while? We would have saved a bundle on drinks."
"Nah, you said he kept farting in bed. It wouldn't have lasted."
"Good point. So, are you two in, or is it just going to be me and Angela?"
"I'm in," Jess said, resolutely.
"What about you, Bella?"
"Okay," she sighed.
Oh my God! What the hell have we just committed to? If my parents were listening in, they would probably perform an exorcism right here and now. Fortunately, they think that I'm the ultimate sinner and have completely disowned me. Thank God that Lauren's mom took me in on graduation day. This was all because I wouldn't get back together with Ben in high school. Ridiculous, if you ask me.
My parents were so parochial in their views. Everything was tied to the church and the Bible, and they were hell bent on maintaining the image that they had built for themselves. After I broke up with Ben in high school, my mother and father actually ordered me to get back together with him because he was going to Stanford.
"He may not be a minister's son, but he is going to be a doctor. He'll be able to support you and your kids easily. You won't have to work and you'll be able to volunteer at the church more often," my mom said. "Besides, his family are very involved in our church."
"Mom, I'm not getting back together with him. Can't you understand? He actually thinks I'm beneath him because I didn't get into Stanford University. He wanted me to attend a community college. I've already gotten into several good schools and with scholarships, too."
"Angela, he's right, you're only a girl. Women are incapable of thinking for themselves. You need to obey your future husband and do as he says," my father stated.
"Are you fucking with me?"
Slap! "Don't you use that vile word with me, young lady. Now, you'll do as I say and get back together with Ben. He's your future!" Slap! Slap! Smack! Then he took his belt off and started whipping me with it.
"No!" I seethed. "And don't you ever lay your hands on me again!"
My face and body were burning in pain and I bolted out of my house. Lauren's house was the closest and I frantically knocked on her door. Fortunately, she and Patricia, Lauren's mom, were home. They took one look at my face and called Charlie who I had never seen so angry in my life. When he took me to my parents' house to retrieve my belongings he seized my father by his shirt collar and told him exactly what he thought of his actions towards me. Although I didn't press any charges, Charlie put through a restraining order against my parents so they couldn't approach me. He helped me load up my belongings and drove me to Patty's house. He also said that I was welcome at his house at anytime.
After Patty and Charlie eloped last summer, he started contributing towards my housing and living expenses in Seattle so I could drop my hours down to part time. Pat did the best that she could, but it was tough on her because she didn't make as much money as a hairdresser. Charlie, though, made enough money to contribute towards both my rent and Bella's. As a result, with all of our parents putting money towards our housing and living expenses, we only had to work part time to pay for our food and money to go out with. Patty and Charlie took care of our textbook expenses, too. That amounted to a considerable amount each semester. On top of that, the two of them drove down once every two months to see us, and Patty would take care of our haircuts and color, then. Bella was the only one that didn't get her hair colored. Why would she? She had such beautiful mahogany hair. By the way, Charlie Swan looked younger and hipper since he and Patty tied the knot. She made him shave his mustache and she brought his hairstyle up to date. He even gels it now. That was Lauren's idea.
I couldn't help, but smile warmly at Bella, Jess, and Lauren. They were my best friends, no—sisters really. They would do anything for me and I would do anything for them. That's just how it was always going to be.
Carlisle's POV
The challenge: find four willing human girls, fuck them, and leave them alive. Four years ago, I would have never even considered such a thing, but now things were different. My ex-wife has gone lesbian with my one-time daughter. Do lesbian mates mark each other? Hmm...
"Carlisle, what are you thinking about?" Jasper asked.
"Do lesbian mates mark each other?"
"Do Esme and Rose even know about marking?"
"What's marking?" Emmett questioned.
"Well, there's your answer right there. If Emmett doesn't know, chances are that the four dunderfucks don't know either."
"Well, what is it Jasper?"
"Marking is something that happens between mates only. In the throes of passion, you bite them and release your venom into their carotid artery or their femoral artery. It infuses your scent into them so other vampires are aware that your mate belongs to another vampire. It also, supposedly, strengthens the bond between mates. Obviously, I've never done it because I still haven't met my mate yet, but from what I hear it's completely instinctual."
"How do we know when we've met our mates?"
"Apparently, when the time is right, we feel some sort of electricity charging through our system when we touch them."
"Wow, Rose really wasn't my mate. I've never felt anything, but cold and empty being near her."
I really felt bad. I should have told Emmett all of this when I first sired him. I used to be so ashamed about being a vampire that I neglected to share some important key points with him. Since Esme left me for Rose, I did some serious soul searching. Part of the reason why I thought that vampires were bad was because my father, a pastor, used to lead hunts to destroy all evil including witches, vampires, and werewolves. It was instilled in me, from my youth, that those three things were bad. When I became a vampire, I realized that my father never really killed the real things—innocent human beings died as a result of the self-righteous prick's hunts. But the damage was already done, I woke up as a vampire thinking that I had become some sort of an evil creature because my father had ingrained in me that vampires were evil from a very young age. That's why I denied my instincts and hunted animals for so long.
When I formed my own coven, I shared my same deluded philosophy with them. That's why Alice, Edward, Esme, and Rose hated the fact that they were vampires, and they also thought that they were above all vampires who fed from humans.
Emmett, on the other hand, never felt that way. He saw the good in all people, he was raised that way by his parents, and it was something that Rose, nor I, could ever change in him, thank God. While most of the family, including myself at the time, felt that Peter Whitlock was the scum of the earth for feeding off of humans, Emmett instantly saw the good in him. Sure, the man was crass and snarky, but he was still a good man.
Jasper was always his own person. Alice may have tried to change the way he dressed and talked, but he showed up at my house wealthier than I was, and with full knowledge of vampirism. He knew that there were good vampires and bad vampires no matter what their choice of blood variety was. He and Peter had been friends a long time. He had come back, risking his own life, to save Jasper from Maria's clutches. Only a good person would do that. When my entire family, with the exception of Emmett, scoffed at Peter and told Jasper that he was evil because he fed from humans; Jasper told them straight that they had no idea what true evil was and that it wasn't determined by whether you fed from animals or humans. Jasper knew what true evil was, and he was absolutely correct in his ascertainment. I was the one who had it all wrong.
Well, no more, I was through denying the fact that I was a vampire and, for the first time ever, I felt revitalized and recharged. Maybe it was the fact that I was feeding from humans now, I don't know. All I knew was that I was proud of the fact that I was a vampire and I was through with denying my instincts. Although I was a vampire, I was still a good person. My name is Carlisle Cullen and I'm a vampire living in a human world, and a good person at that. I'm through with pretending to be human.
"So, Carlisle, are you in for the challenge, or what?" Peter asked.
"Definitely."
Emmett and Jasper soon agreed to the challenge as well. Boy, did we have a weekend in store for us.
Jessica's POV
Oh man, am I drunk. It was our second day in Las Vegas and we were at the REHAB pool party at the Hard Rock Cafe. We had an all access pass and we were partying up a storm.
We were in the pool, in our bikinis, and carrying around frozen margaritas. The music was pumping, the sun was shining, and we were all dancing. Last night we went dancing, then went to a male strip show and partied with some strippers. Bella and Lauren were both fawning after some guy dressed in a firefighter's uniform. After that, we returned to our awesome penthouse suite and hung out in our hot tub again. None of us met anyone that we wanted to have a one night stand with, but it was all cool. The fact was that the four of us simply enjoyed each other's company. And frankly, I wasn't too sure about this one night stand thing.
I knew that Bella was freaking out. She was still a virgin for God's sake. It's not that she wanted to stay a virgin, it was just that she never really quite met anyone to whom she wanted to give it up to. I didn't blame her. I've only had sex with Mike and, to this day, I was regretting having given into his advances so easily.
On top of that, poor Bella was nearly date raped by her, then, boyfriend two years ago. She was dating a guy named Dave Jefferson. They drove to a scenic outlook and were making out, when suddenly he threw himself on top of her and tried to have his way with her. Bella asked him to stop repeatedly, but he wouldn't. He hit her in the face and ripped her clothes off. Bella kneed him in the groin, doused him with pepper spray, and ran. She called her dad while she was running and Charlie called the Seattle Police who were able to find her and bring her to safety. Charges were filed against Dave for attempted rape, and he was currently serving five years in prison.
After that, Charlie came down to Seattle and armed all of us with pepper spray and police whistles, and signed us all up for karate lessons. He was paying for all four of us still.
Some guy suddenly picked me up and placed me on his shoulders. Oh, ugh. He's one of those disgusting oiled up, super muscly guys that could be on the cover of Steroids Weekly. Blech. I'm really going to have to find a way to extract myself from his hold.
I caught Angela's eye and dragged my index finger across my forehead. That was our secret sign for, "I need help." She went and grabbed Lauren and Bella. The three of them approached me and Mister Oily Muscly.
Bella looked up at me and whispered loud enough for my captor to hear, "Jess, um, I'm not so sure if riding on Mr. Bulky's shoulders is a good idea for a pregnant girl. What if he drops you and you lose the baby."
I was down in a flash. Mr. Bulky and several other guys in the vicinity who heard Bella hightailed it away from me.
"Bella, did you have to use the pregnant thing? You even scared some of the cute dudes away."
"Yeah, well, if they can't stay with you just because you're pregnant, they're not keepers."
"I'm not pregnant, though."
"I know that! I'm just stating the facts. Any guy who runs from a pregnant girl is commitment phobic."
"Here! Here!" Lauren cheered.
"Can I just say something?" Angela asked.
"Shoot."
"I need a refill. I mean this sun is scorching. It completely melted my margarita."
"No shit, I think it's like a hundred degrees out here. What I'd do for a frozen man to hold me," I commented.
For some reason, Bella's eyes widened for a brief second. "Well, that's just not possible. Frozen men just don't exist."
"I know, silly."
"They really don't."
"Yes, Bella, I know."
"Um, good. Just so you know."
We refilled our drinks and partied some more. We were hanging out with a group of hot guys in the pool. Angela was so plastered that she was grinding into a yummy looking Latino guy as they danced. Suddenly, four chicks came wandering over and started chewing us out.
One of them, Angela's guy's girlfriend, stalked up to her and shoved her off of him.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, bitch?"
"Hey, take your hands off of my friend!" Bella looked feral with her hands on her hips.
"What? You think that you can take me?" she asked.
I smelled danger. Her three friends flanked her side and those women looked like female pro boxers. I had to protect my friends. I took my margarita and poured it over the angry girl's head. Lauren took Angela's hand, I took Bella's, and the four of us ran away from the pool party and back to our rooms.
"Gee whiz! That was close," I gasped when we got back into our suite.
"No shit! Those women looked they were ready to attack us. Good thinking with pouring the drink over her head, Jess," Lauren said.
"I can't believe those guys were hanging out and flirting with us when they had girlfriends. What jerks!" Bella seethed.
"I can't believe I threw myself onto that one guy," Angela sighed.
"Meh, that's okay, we all do stupid shit sometimes. He was a hottie anyway," Lauren said.
"Lauren, you think every guy is hot."
"True." She shrugged her shoulders.
I just hope we don't run into those women again while we're in Vegas.
Peter's POV
We were getting down tonight. Yes, sir, we were. All four of us would be leaving Las Vegas happy men. That much I knew. My gift has been tingling on overdrive since we arrived here. We were dressed for a night out on the town. The sun had just gone down, so the four of us were finally able to leave the hotel and cruise the crowded Las Vegas Strip on foot. We had spent the day gambling at the hotel casino. Between Jasper's and my gifts, the four of us were able to win some big bucks. I caught sight of a huge party limo as it drove by. Two girls, a pretty brunette and a gorgeous blonde with striking green eyes had their torsos dangling out of the sunroof and were screaming their heads off. They were obviously partying it up this weekend. I couldn't take my eyes off of the blonde, she was so pretty.
The limo soon drove away and the four of us continued walking along the strip. I couldn't take my mind off of the blonde girl. She seemed really fun-loving, the type to just let go and enjoy herself. Just my type of girl. Maybe I'll run into her later tonight. My gift started tingling just then. Oh, I will. I will run into her later tonight.
We decided to go to the Marquee Nightclub at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. The place was hopping, but after greasing the palms of both bouncers with a couple hundred bucks each, the four of us were let in immediately. We found a table and sat down to watch all of the humans party it up.
"Alright guys, we find four human girls to make love to, but we can't eat them," I told the guys. "Got it?"
"Aw, I like eating them," Jasper whined.
"You can still eat their pussies, Jasper. Just don't eat them, eat them."
"Oh, got it."
"Yeah, but how do we know which ones to go for?" Emmett asked.
"I'll tell you. You trust me, right?"
"As long as it's your gift talking, yes."
"Fuck!" Carlisle snapped, suddenly. We looked up in the direction that he was glaring. Just our luck, the two mindfuckers and the two lesbos were heading straight for us.
"Oh my God! It's so good to see you guys!" Alice squealed.
Oh, my head. Her voice sounds like fingernails being dragged down a chalkboard.
"I can't say the same thing myself," Jasper snapped directly.
Rose rolled her eyes, while pussy boy pinched the bridge of his nose.
"So, what are you doing in Las Vegas?"
"None of your fucking business."
"Jazzy, let's let bygones be bygones, okay. I'm so blissfully happy with my Eddie Pooh."
I want to barf all over the bitch. Jasper just rolled his eyes.
"Good for you," I said. "Now fuck off and go roll around in bliss in your manure."
The four of them shook their heads then headed for the bar to order drinks. Just then, my gift started prodding my membranes. I looked in the direction of the entrance and the blonde party limo babe from earlier had just walked in with the brunette and two more of her pretty friends.
"Gentlemen, I believe our conquests have just entered the building," I said pointing to my head, indicating that it was my gift talking.
"Oh, yeah? Who?" Emmett asked.
"They just walked in."
The three turned to look, their eyes widened, and told me that it was impossible. They knew those girls from the time they were in Forks and the brunette was Edward's ex-girlfriend that they abandoned. My gift kept tingling, though, so I knew that these were the girls.
"I hope you have your hand warmers ready because those are the women we're meant to party with."
"Well, shit. If you say so, Pete. I'll take Jessica. She's the one with the medium brown hair and the big titties."
"Good, I'll take the hot blonde one, Carlisle, you take the tall brown haired girl, and Jasper, you take the mouthwatering brunette."
"No way! The last time I saw Bella, I tried to take a bite out of her."
"So, you won't this time. Or, are you backing out of a challenge?"
"I never back out of a challenge," he growled.
We watched as the four girls started dancing. They seemed like they were already drunk. The brunette noticed us and peered into our eyes. She shook her head and went back to dancing with her friends. They soon made their way to the bar, started doing shots and talking. They seemed like they were really tight, almost like sisters.
Alice, Edward, Esme, and Rose suddenly rushed back to our table.
"We need to leave. Bella's here," Edward spoke pointedly at Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper.
"So." Jasper shrugged his shoulders.
"I made a promise to her that it would be as if we never existed when I broke up with her."
"Not my problem. I didn't make any sort of promise to her."
"Why the fuck would you promise her something like that?" Emmett asked, angrily.
"Come on, Emmett. You know that the human memory is like a sieve. Time heals all wounds for their kind."
"And I'm sure that, in your infinite wisdom, you told her that, too," Carlisle growled sarcastically.
"Yes, he did," a pretty voice chimed in. She took a look at Alice's hand in Edward's and added, "I can see what kept you distracted."
"Bella, I didn't mean..."
"Don't worry about it. You mean absolutely nothing to me. Well, actually, your name does mean something—I can recall looking up 'worthless prick' in Webster's Dictionary and, oddly, it was defined as Edward Cullen. Who knew? Oh, yeah, I did."
"How the hell can you say that about him? He was nothing but nice to you!" Rosalie seethed.
"Really? Manipulative maybe, but nice? That's stretching it, don't you think?"
Esme put her arm around Rosalie to keep her calm. She kissed her on the lips with tongue.
"Ooh, some girl on girl action. I guess I wasn't the only one that was strung along. What happened? Did they abandon you fuckers in the woods, too?" Bella asked Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper.
"What do you mean by you were abandoned in the woods?" Jasper questioned. His teeth were clenched, his fists were balled up, and he was growling.
"Oh, you didn't know..." Bella started.
"Bella, that was a private conversation between you and Edward. It's not meant to be repeated in front of others," Alice interrupted.
"Well, then, how come you know about it, if it's so...um...private? Oh, I know, you must have planned the whole thing." Bella donned a perplexed expression and started rubbing her temples, mimicking Alice whenever she got a vision. We all started laughing.
"I'll tell you the story," my pretty blonde strode up to the table. "Edward broke up with Bella in the woods and didn't even have the decency to walk her home. She could have been mauled by a bear, or attacked by a wolf, or skunked, for that matter. Anyway, there was a huge search party involving all of Forks and La Push, and, in the end, they found her with hypothermia at three in the morning. She was in the hospital for four days. My mom is going to break his nose the next time she sees him. You, Edward Cullen are the pariah of Forks. Don't ever bother setting foot in that town again."
"I can't believe you told people about our break-up. Have you no decency or respect for what we once had?" Edward asked Bella.
"I'm sorry, when my father, the Chief of Police, asks me a question, I answer it; particularly when the fucking moron that I had been dating puts my life in danger."
Bella's other two friends approached the table. They gasped in shock at the sight of Edward and Alice, and Esme and Rosalie together.
"I told you the family was tapped," Jessica whispered into Bella's ear. "They're inbred."
"She did, you know," the other girl, whose name I still didn't know agreed.
"Trust me, it's just those four that are tapped," Bella said. "Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper are normal. I don't know the other dude, I've never met him. He looks freaky, though."
"Are you kidding me? He's hot," my blonde stated, and I could smell the sweet scent of her arousal wafting to my nose. I inhaled a deep breath.
"You think everyone's hot. You used to think Edward Cullen was hot."
"So did you."
"Touche, I had major vision problems back then. They've since been repaired."
I squeezed the hand warmers and made sure that my hands were nice and toasty. I stood up and introduced myself. "The name's Peter Whitlock." I stuck my hand out to shake theirs.
"Jessica," titty girl said.
"Hi, I'm Angela," the tall girl giggled.
"I'm Bella. Hand warmers? Really?" she whispered for only the vampires to hear. Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper broke out in chuckles.
"I'm Lauren," the blonde girl said with a smile. Fuck me. Electricity. Sparks. Shit. She's my mate.
Alice suddenly shook her head. "Ugh, Bella, what are you doing here?"
"None of your fucking business."
"Well, would you mind leaving the club. We're having a family discussion here."
"Um, just to let you know, they're not our family," Emmett informed Bella.
"Yes, I would mind, Alice. You see, this is America, it's a free country and my friends and I can roam where we want to. In fact, I think I'll just plant my ass right here in between Jasper and my new buddy, Peter," she smirked and did just that.
You do that, Kitten. Bring that bodacious ass of yours right in between me and Jasper. We'll protect you. Hot damn, the girl meant for Jasper was all kinds of sexy and her scent was just plain mouthwatering...and there's something else...something...fuck, she's a virgin! That lucky bastard. Meh, I like them more experienced anyway.
"Bella, language please," Edward had the audacity to chastise her.
"What the fuck did you say to her? You little prick!" Lauren got right up into his face. "Don't you dare tell my best friend what to do. You have no right! You worthless, spineless, piece of shit!"
"You go girl! Tell the turd brain how it is!" Jess cheered.
The four girls angrily stared down the two twisted couples.
"Bella, when did you become like this? You were always so proper, you were never this crass."
"Breaking news. I've always been this crass, fucker. I was just pretending to be someone I wasn't when I was with you. Oh, but you're really good at that, aren't you?"
He seemed shocked by her candor.
"Um, I can attest to the fact that she has a mouth like a sailor," Angela added. "Remember the Marines..."
"Shh!" Bella silenced her.
What Marines? Damn it, now I need to find out all about this.
"So, may I offer you ladies a drink?" I asked, politely.
"Sure, I'll take a margarita," Lauren said. Angela and Jessica both nodded in agreement.
"Double shot of Jack, straight," Bella stated. I saw Jasper grin at that. Fucker could live in a barrel of Jack Daniels and never leave. Actually, so could I, come to think of it.
"Just order a bottle of Jack Daniels, Pete," Jasper suggested happily.
"I can't believe you're drinking such an unladylike beverage," Alice stated in disbelief. "And you're dressed so...so...common. What happened to all of those nice clothes I bought for you?"
"Oh, I donated them to the needy. You should be happy to know that you did a community service."
Alice bared her teeth at Bella. Jasper and I both put a protective arm around her.
I flagged our waitress down and ordered their drinks. "Make sure that you put whatever these four beautiful ladies order tonight on my tab. The two couples over there aren't with our party. We don't know who they are," I added. "Um, you four can skedaddle now."
"No, I think we'll join you," Edward said.
"Why you sanctimonious, little prick! What the fuck? Are you trying to fuck up everyone's evening? No one here wants your egotistical ass here with us. We're trying to enjoy ourselves. Now, would you take your incestuous family with you and fuck off. Keep your fucking promise to me, Edward Cullen. Make like you don't exist. Go on! Scat!" Bella hollered at the top of her lungs.
"Is there a problem here?" a bouncer came to our table and asked.
The four girls turned to him and smiled sweetly. "Yes, this man here won't leave my friend alone. They used to date, but she broke up with him. Now, he's taken to stalking her. My friend is just trying to enjoy her time with her boyfriend right there," Angela explained. "This monster even has a restraining order out against him."
Bella acted like she was terrified and leaned into Jasper. He hammed it up, put his arm around her, and pulled her onto his lap. He had a look of amazement and realization on his face while Bella donned a shocked look.
The bouncer approached the two couples. "I'm going to have to ask you four to leave. We don't need any trouble with the law here."
"She's lying, sir." Rose smiled at the bouncer sweetly, trying to dazzle him.
"Sir, my friend would never lie. She's a minister's daughter. You can call my father if you need confirmation. He's the Chief of Police in Forks, Washington." Bella smiled innocently at the bouncer. Wow, did she just one-up Rose, or what?
"Look, if you four don't leave, we're going to have to call the cops and have you forcibly removed. Now which is it?"
"We're leaving, now," Esme assured the bouncer, and quickly turned towards the entrance.
The four of them were escorted out of the club by the bouncer.
As they were leaving, Alice whispered to Edward, "I can't see any of them anymore. What's going on, Eddie Pooh?"
"I don't know, but I think it's best we stay away from them. Clearly they're beneath us and not the type of people that we want to associate with. Did you notice that Carlisle was wearing contacts? I'm sure he's succumbed to their inhumane way of life. I wouldn't be surprised if they were in contact with the Volturi."
"Oh, goodbye and good riddance!" Bella called after them, cheerfully. You know, I really like her. She's totally cool.
"So, Angela, I've always meant to tell you, my father was a religious leader, too. He was an Anglican pastor."
"Really? I feel so bad for you. I can't stand my parents. They're views on the world are so parochial."
"I never knew my mother, but my father's views were pretty skewed. I didn't get along very well with him either. He had no compassion whatsoever."
"My parents wrote me off before I even graduated from high school. I live with Lauren's mom and Bella's dad now whenever I go back to Forks."
"With both of them?" Carlisle asked curiously.
"Oh, my dad and her mom eloped in Reno last year. It shocked the hell out of us, but when we thought about it, the two of them would always ride in together whenever they came to visit us in Seattle," Bella explained. "That's over six hours roundtrip together in the car."
"Is that where you live, Seattle?"
"Yes, we're due to start our senior year at the University of Washington."
"What are your majors?"
"I'm a nursing major," Angela said.
"Education," Jessica replied.
"Psychology," my girl stated.
"And you, Bella?"
"Oh, Bella's going to be attending college for her entire life since she won't be able to get a job with her majors."
"And what major is that?"
"I'm dual majoring in English and history. I couldn't decide between the two, you see. I like them both. I'm thinking of adding on a third major in anthropology, or maybe sociology. But, then again, maybe I should just go for my master's degree, or even get a PhD."
"Do you see what I mean? None of her majors lead to jobs. My mom and her dad are battening down the hatches so they can support her for the rest of their lives. What she should really do is major in culinary arts. She's an amazing cook," Lauren said.
"I'd love to sample some of your cooking," Jasper stated.
"Oh, anytime," Bella chuckled, then whispered, "I may be your food source, but the blood's not for sampling. Oh, and tell your buddy with the shit-eating grin to blink or something. He's been sitting in the same position, staring at Lauren, without moving, for the last ten minutes."
Shit, I wasn't used to interacting with humans. I started blinking my eyes rapidly.
"Did you get something in your eyes?" Lauren asked.
"Uh, contacts. His eyes get really dry sometimes," Jasper said quickly.
Jasper followed me to the bathroom. Both of us threw in new contacts lenses. I was shoved up against the wall with Jasper's hand wrapped around my neck within seconds.
"What the fuck is going on Pete? Why are we here? What are you hiding?"
"Nothing, I just knew that we had to be here, just like I knew that those four girls were meant for us. I didn't know in what capacity until I shook Lauren's hand. I think they're meant to be our mates. Correction, I know that Lauren is my mate. I've never felt that much electricity in my life. My whole body still has volts churning through it."
"She's so different, Peter; stronger, more self-assured, she's..."
"She's your mate, Jasper. She was made for you. She wasn't made for that pussy Edward, he was just a bump in the road on her way to you, designed to make her the woman she is today. The same goes for Alice, you were never meant for her. She was only there so you could realize that the Major is his own man and he was no longer going to be manipulated by anyone—man or woman. Bella, she's your woman. You know this. She was designed for you. Only a woman with that much hutzpah is worthy enough to be the Major's mate."
Jasper gulped at the realization and released his hold on me.
"I knew this," he admitted. "I knew this in Phoenix, but I thought it was impossible for a vampire to be mated to a human so I just shrugged it off. She accidentally brushed up against me in Phoenix and I felt sparks. I was the one to kill James, the vampire who tried to hurt her. It wasn't Edward, it was me. I was hell bent on killing him and keeping her safe. It was like I was possessed. I fucked up, Peter. I should have never left Forks."
"No, Jasper. You needed to leave Forks. You, Carlisle, and Emmett all did. Those four girls needed to form a bond just like the four of us did. We all needed to become stronger, that's why it took until today for fate to bring us all together. Everything that happened in the last four years, happened to bring us to this day."
"Did Alice know about this?" he asked.
"I don't know. It's possible, but then again, maybe not. The bitch is so focused on her own future that I'm pretty sure that she doesn't bother with anyone else's unless it's to her benefit or her mate's. I don't think you being Bella's mate has even entered her visions."
"You're probably right."
"Now, let's get out there and fire up our mates. The challenge is still on, you know. Oh, and your mate's a virgin."
"I know, her blood is completely untainted. I can smell it. Your mate's um...experienced."
"That's how I like 'em. You know that."
"Yeah, well, with Lauren Mallory you'll be getting a lot of experience," he chuckled. "She was like a one woman drive-thru in Forks."
Well hot damn! I've hit the mother lode!
So, what did y'all think? Now that you have more background information on the characters, did you think I paired them off appropriately? Carlisle has certainly done some serious soul searching, hasn't he? Do you all want to murder Angela's parents? How about Alice and Edward? Should we throw them into the pyre too? Did you like how the girls all stood defiantly in front of Alice and Edward? What did you think of Petey? I'd love to hear your opinions. Let me know in your review and I promise to respond. XOXO mama4dukes