A/N: And here is the second chapter as promised. I've begun the third chapter already, but I have a lot to pump out this week so it might be a little late next week, but it will definitely be coming. Thank you to everyone who has already followed and favorited so early on and thank you to tlingit gurl2010, who was the first to review! As always, please let me know what you think below and I hope you enjoy :)
The next morning found Bella dressed in her favorite pair of washed black jeans and a plain yellow v-neck, her hair tied up into a messy bun as she made her way down stairs to get something to eat, only to find Emmett in the kitchen waiting with breakfast for her.
"Since when do you cook, Em?"
He pouted, appearing slightly offended, "I'll have you know I am a Master of the stovetop, Bellyboo."
"I'm surprised you didn't make a Master Chef pun." She teased, sitting down at the bar with a grin.
He frowned, "I blame the guests for knocking me off my comedic roll."
"The guests that aren't even here yet?"
"Yes," He flatlined, "Those guests."
They laughed after a moment and Bella ate the plate of only bacon quickly (a meal she would have chided Charlie for eating).
"They're here." Rose drawled, flitting into the kitchen in a blur of lavender and it occurred to Bella she had never seen Rose in a dress outside of prom.
"What? I wear dresses sometimes!" Rose frowned, catching her glance.
She held up her hands, "I didn't say anything."
"It was implied in that look you gave me!"
"Now, girls." Emmett chided, "Don't make me turn this house around with that 'she's looking at me business'!"
They both glanced at him, unamused.
He pouted once more and they left the kitchen to find Jasper letting in the three nomads as they came into the living room.
Jasper was quickly shoved aside by Peter and the tall brown haired vampire swept her up in a circle.
"My not-so-southern-Bell!" He damn near sung as he spun her in a circle, "I have been away for far too long!"
"Peter, this is the first time we're meeting in person." She reminded with a narrowed gaze before relaxing and patting him on the head.
His hair was a tousled mix of auburn brown and amber, his eyes maraschino cherry red and bright with humor as he stepped back.
"Hey! Hey! Not the hair!" He griped, dropping her onto the floor as he rushed to tend to his hair, "Do you know how hard it is to get it this windswept? I have to run like really far, Lil'bit. Not nice."
Bella rolled her eyes at his antics, beaming as Charlotte pulled her into a tight hug, doing her best to return the squeeze.
She had talked with Peter often, but most of the time Charlotte wrestled the phone away from him to have 'girl talk' that consisted of how to get the best sort of petty revenge on Edward and whatever shitty romance they were both reading at the time.
It was more than nice after having only Alice as a girl friend for so long.
She looked different in person from how Bella had expected her to- she was short and curvy and her blonde hair was long with princess curls, making her seem like some sort of angel if not for the bright crimson eyes.
"Bella!" Charlotte damn near purred and Bella smiled and laughed as she felt the blonde cop a feel as she pulled away.
"Couldn't help yourself?" Peter chortled and Charlotte smacked his arm.
"Why? You jealous?" She teased and he cocked a flirty brow.
"Not if I get to join in…"
Bella frowned at him, "Hard pass."
"What?!" Peter had pasted an aghast look on his face at the rejection, though she knew just how well how revolting the idea of them having sex was to the both of them.
Charlotte on the other hand… Yes, Bella would more than be willing with her.
Charlotte winked at her from beside Peter and Jasper finally stepped forward with the last of the three nomads from where they had been talking in the doorway.
She stilled briefly in recognition, surprised at the male before her.
She knew him. Knew him better than almost anyone she had ever known.
Garrett stepped forward, taking her hand and placing a kiss over the back.
He was as perfect in a vampire form as he was in their natural- very little difference in physical form outside of missing healthy tan he had before and the addition of redwood colored eyes in place of the pale green that had lead to many a woman attempting to flirt with him.
Same dark brown hair with a copper sheen, same tall swimmer's build dressed in the same patchwork leathers he had always favored.
Bella took comfort in the small touch of his hand against hers and swallowed down the rising wave of emotion at his introduction to her life here.
"My lady," He purred and she caught sight of confusion on Jasper's face as he stared at Garrett from behind him.
"Hi," She greeted and he dropped her hand, stepping back, satisfaction glowing in his gaze.
She had never seen that shade of red on a vampire before, but he was more than a vampire and they both knew it.
"Ooh, Bellyboo's got the hots for-"
Emmett landed on his ass as Rosalie smacked him down with a frown.
"Bad." She chided and he pouted, "C'mon, Rosie! I'm the big brother! It's my job!"
Bella flushed and Garrett cast her an endearing smile loaded with far too much charm.
She felt her blush deepen and Peter made a crude gesture with his hands behind Garrett that earned him a smack from Charlotte as he too landed on his ass on the floor.
"Woman!" Peter griped and Charlotte cocked a brow at him.
"Peter Whitlock! I have a name, and you will use it!" She flicked him on the forehead, "And you will not be trying to embarass my friend! Can you act like a gentleman for once?"
"But that would be setting a false precedent." He muttered, looking away from Charlotte as he fought to contain a grin.
Charlotte huffed and sat down on the couch beside Bella who sat in the middle. Garrett was quick to take up the seat next to her and she thought she caught sight of Jasper frowning as he settled himself into one of the four chairs.
She knew if she tightened her shield he would lose sense of her and that would draw his attention certainly, but how else could she hide her past with Garrett from him?
It wasn't time for him to know the truth- it wasn't time for him to be brought into this and she still debated whether he should be in the first place.
It would change everything for him, it would shatter all that he had built here and she had been putting it off at all costs because she had loved this version of him, but it wasn't right that she hid this from him- it was his past and true present as well as hers.
And she wasn't the only one who needed him- but could she really destroy his peaceful world? Could she really be that heartless?
Things were changing, things weren't right with the world anymore and with the prophecy Apollo had spewed just before she had found him only destruction could await the both of them.
She shoved the restless thoughts aside- she still had time, goddammit!
Or at least she hoped she did.
But with Garrett's arrival, she feared the prophecy no longer lay dormant.
She relaxed and released her lower lip from between her teeth as she came back to the present, the vampires catching up as much as they could around her, all of them likely to have noticed her silence, even if they didn't question her about it.
Garrett would know why she was concerned, she had no doubt Hermes kept track of him enough to pass along the news of Apollo's prophecy.
He would no doubt try to talk to her alone and though she looked forward to it she worried over when it would be that he was left alone with her for longer than ten minutes with how suspicious Jasper seemed to be of him- of her too now, really.
Garrett was many things- charming, brave, eager- but he had a habit of being clumsy when it came to important things even if things almost always turned out alright in the end.
It was the small errors that had always gotten him in trouble in the past and though she loved him like she had loved Jasper's old self she was not blinded by that love.
Who was she kidding? She would most likely be the one to confess everything.
Even now she felt driven to confess it all, if only to see the chaos it would bring- the glorious chaos that she thrived in, almost lived for above all else.
She was not just the goddess of war, but the goddess of destruction as well and as much as she might like to pretend that she wanted better for Jasper and wanted him to be happy as he was- she yearned for the destruction of that peace far more and she hated that part of her with a passion.
Yes, she wanted Ares back, but how could she do that to him?
No, he had never breathed a word of yearning for peace or anything other than his lot in life- but who was she to deny him if he had decided it in this incarnation as Jasper?
A part of her balked at the idea- surely if he knew the truth he would want to return with her- to their family, to their people. But would he really want to? She didn't know the answer in truth and recoiled at the idea of him learning the truth only to abandon them all- no, she recoiled at the idea of him learning the truth only to abandon her.
Ares had been her first love and with him she had found acceptance- they were cut of the same cloth, twins of war and devastation, born to destroy all that stood against Olympus.
"No way!" Emmett exclaimed, breaking her away from her thoughts.
"Yes 'way'!" Garrett smirked, "A human wearing a bear costume in the woods. That was the closest to a 'vegetarian' meal I will ever come to."
Bella laughed and Garrett glanced at her, "So I hear you want help planning a death?"
"It has to be efficient and clean," Jasper drawled, apparently having relaxed from his suspicion.
Perhaps she wouldn't have to seal her shield yet.
"But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun doing it…" Emmett smirked and Peter laughed.
"What are ya' thinkin', Bear boy?" Peter asked and they all looked at him in disappointment.
"What?!" He pouted.
"Bear boy?" Bella cocked a brow, "That's pretty weak for you."
Peter turned to look at Charlotte for assistance, "She's makin' fun of me!"
"It's well deserved," His mate replied and his pout deepened.
"It is not…" He mumbled.
"Anyway…" Bella rolled her eyes.
"I was thinking we make the truck take a header off a cliff." Emmett mentioned and they all nodded.
"We'd need a lot of blood- have you been storing some of her own?" Charlotte asked and they all looked at her with impressed expressions except for Rosalie.
"You stole that idea from that Fable comic."
If Char could have blushed she would have been.
"You read comics, Rose? I thought all you read was Cosmo."
"Shut up, Bella."
Bella laughed.
"Why don't we start withdrawing blood now, we have about a week to store some away and we could probably get enough if we also drain as much as we can from her when she's changed." Jasper drawled and they nodded.
"I'll do it, until Carlisle gets back at least." Rose shrugged, "I have enough medical training to do it properly."
They nodded and Bella followed the blonde to Carlisle's office to begin, bursting out into laughter when Charlotte copped another feel as she passed her.
She could sense Peter pouting from rooms away.
Hours later found her in her bedroom with Charlotte, the petite blonde and her watching nineties teen movies to pass the time, Bella snacking on popcorn as they entertained themselves.
Jasper knocked on the door and opened it.
"We're going hunting, Bella." He said, "Peter's teaching Garrett how to play video games down stairs. We should be back when you wake up in the morning."
She nodded, smiling at him, "Have fun."
She raised her voice slightly, "Watch out for humans in bear costumes, Em."
"Will do, Bellyboo!" He called out from downstairs.
Jasper nodded, his expression contemplative for a moment as if he couldn't make up his mind on something.
After a moment he nodded again and left the room, shutting the door.
Several minutes passed and then Charlotte broke the almost silence.
"They're gone."
Bella nodded.
"You've got great tits for a granny." Char drawled and Bella burst out laughing.
Peter was her grandon via her son with Ares, originally a human demigod that Enyo had practically raised herself after his human mother had died due to cholera.
His father, Enyalius, had taken his father's place amongst the Olympic council since his father had been incarnated as a mortal and had been unable to raise him properly as the domains he had been governing were busy almost all the time.
Enyo had helped where she could, but she had very little care for governance and had preferred to care for her grandson in the mortal realm instead.
Peter burst into the room a moment after Charlotte had announced the Cullens departure.
"Gran! I want your sugar cookies!"
Bella stared at him in silence for a moment.
"Peter. You're a vampire."
He rolled his eyes, "Yes. And I am a vampire that wants sugar cookies."
She shrugged, "Alright then."
An hour passed where she made the sugar cookies her vampiric grandson craved, fed them to him, and heckled at him as he ran for the hills to wash his mouth out with some poor human SOBs blood in Seattle, his mate heckling at him as well as they left for the city.
Garrett had been silent throughout all of it but she was not surprised to find him waiting for her in her room.
His back was to her and she entered without breaking her stride, shutting the door softly as she kept her gaze fixed on his back as he stared out the wall of glass that served as the window to the outer world- a world that they both chose to live in and yet wasn't their true home no matter how closely the mortal world could at times resemble it.
He leaned against the wall partially, relaxed as he breathed in and out despite not actually having to.
His patchwork leather coat was bronzed with age, worn but clearly well kept, his matching pants were well kept as well, though not as much as the coat, some of the leather patches needing mending.
They said nothing for several moments and Bella was content with it- she had never felt the need for silly words with him though she could admit that she had missed his teasing flirtations, never spoken with disrespect.
His frame was slightly thinner than his godly form's, but he did seem firmer as she'd expect of a vampire.
Her insides warmed at the sight of him standing there, heat growing in her center as she continued her perusal of him.
Strong shoulders that she fondly recalled clawing into in the midst of passion, arms that she yearned to be encompassed in once more, his hands caressing her lovingly in the quiet of night like no one other than Ares' had before.
She had loved them both, but part of her had preferred Garrett as he had never strayed from her, had never chosen another of her.
Ares had been her husband since they had both reached their domains, but he had frequently set out with dozens of their godly peers and more mortals than she could count.
She had hated him for that, but as she grew older she found freedom in their marriage's openness.
She had taken lovers of her own- many of them just for the physical comfort they offered her, some for the love they offered.
Garrett had been one that could fit easily into both categories and though she had thought he would grow tired of her- he had instead sworn himself to her and in some ways she felt more connected to him than she had ever felt to Ares.
"Enyo…" He purred softly as he turned away from the window, his eyes darkening as he stared at her in the same way she knew she had been staring at him.
"Honos…" She murmured.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading. Do any of ya'll have any predictions for the story? What do you think the dynamic between Jasper and Bella will be? Jasper and Garrett? Garrett and Bella? Let me know below! :)
