Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun. –B
Chapter 2
(Bella's POV)
As the day progressed, I considered ways to get out of whatever was going down at the Cullen house tonight. It would be bad enough to have to celebrate when I was in the mood to mourn. But worse than that, this was sure to involve attention and gifts.
Attention is never a good thing, as any other accident-prone klutz would agree. No one wants a spotlight when they're likely to fall on their face. And I'd very pointedly asked – well, ordered really – that no one gives me any presents this year. It looked like Charlie and Renee weren't the only ones who had decided to overlook that.
I'd never had much money, and that had never bothered me. Renee had raised me on a kindergarten teacher's salary.
Charlie wasn't getting rich at his job, either – he was the police chief here in the tiny town of Forks. My only personal income came from the three days a week I worked at the local sporting goods store. In a town this small, I was lucky to have a job. Every penny I made went into my microscopic college fund. (College was plan B. I was still hoping for plan A, but Edward was just so stubborn about leaving me human…) Edward had a lot of money – I didn't even want to think about how much. Money meant next to nothing to Edward or the rest of the Cullen's. It was just something that accumulated when you had unlimited time on your hands and a sister who had an uncanny ability to predict trends in the stock market. Edward didn't seem to understand why I objected to him spending money on me – why it made me uncomfortable if he took me to an expensive restaurant in Seattle, why he wasn't allowed to buy me a car that could reach speeds over fifty-five miles an hour, or why I wouldn't let him pay my college tuition (he was ridiculously enthusiastic about plan B).Edward thought that I was being unnecessarily difficult.
But how could I let him give me things when I had nothing to reciprocate with? He, for some unfathomable reason, wanted to be with me. Anything he gave me on top of that just threw us out of balance.
As they day went on, neither Edward nor Alice brought my birthday up again, and I began to relax a little.
We sat at our usual table for lunch.
A strange kind of truce existed at that table. The three of us – Edward, Alice, and I – sat on the extreme southern end of the table. Now that the 'older' and somewhat scarier (in Emmett's case, certainly) Cullen siblings had graduated, Alice and Edward did not seem quite so intimidating, and we did not sit here alone. My other friends, Mike and Jessica (who were in the awkward post-breakup friendship phase), Angela and Ben (whose relationship had survived the summer), Eric, Conner, Tyler, and Lauren (though that last one didn't really count in the friend category) all sat at the same table, on the other side of an invisible line.
That line dissolved on sunny days when Edward and Alice always skipped school, and then the conversation would swell out effortlessly to include me.
Edward and Alice didn't find this minor ostracism odd or hurtful the way I would have. They barely noticed it. People always felt strangely ill at ease with the Cullens, almost afraid for some reason that they couldn't explain to themselves. I was a rare exception to that rule. Sometimes it bothered Edward how very comfortable I was with being close to him. He thought he was hazardous to my health – an opinion I rejected vehemently whenever he voiced it.
The afternoon passed quickly. School ended, and Edward walked me to my truck as he usually did. But this time, he held the passenger door open for me. Alice must have been taking his car home so that he could keep me from making a run for it.
I folded my arms and made no move to get out of the rain. "It's my birthday, don't I get to drive?"
"I'm pretending it's not your birthday, just as you wished."
"If it's not my birthday, then I don't have to go to your house tonight…"
"All right," he shut the passenger door and walked past me to open the driver's side. "Happy Birthday."
"Shhh," I shushed him halfheartedly. I climbed in the opened door, wishing he'd taken the other offer.
Edward played with the radio while I drove, shaking his head in disapproval.
"You radio has horrible reception."
I frowned. I didn't like it when he picked on my truck. The truck was great – it had personality.
"You want a nice stereo? Drive your own car." I was so nervous about Alice's plans, on top of my already gloomy mood, that the words came out sharper than I'd meant them. I was hardly every bad-tempered with Edward, and my tone made him press his lips together to keep from smiling.
When I parked in front of Charlie's house, he reached over to take my face in his hands. He handled me very carefully, pressing just the tips of his fingers softly against my temples, my cheekbones, my jawline.
Like I was especially breakable. Which was exactly the case – compared with him, at least.
"You sho9uld be in a good mood, today of all days," he whispered. His sweet breath fanned across my face.
"And if I don't want to be in a good mood?" I asked, my breathing uneven.
His golden eyes smoldered. "Too bad."
My head was already spinning by the time he leaned closer and pressed his icy lips against mine. As he intended, no doubt, I forgot all about my worries, and concentrated on remembering how to inhale and exhale.
His mouth lingered on mine, cold and smooth and gentle, until I wrapped my arms around his neck and threw myself into the kiss with a little too much enthusiasm. I could feel his lips curve upward as he let go of my face and reached back to unlock my grip on him.
Edward had drawn many careful lines for our physical relationship with the intent being to keep my alive.
Though I respected the need for maintaining a safe distance between my skin and his razor-ship, venom-coated teeth, I tended to forget about trivial things like that when he was kissing me.
"Be good, please," he breathed against my cheek. He pressed his lips gently to mine one more time and then pulled away, folding my arms across my stomach.
My pulse was thudding in my ears. I put my hand over my heart. It drummed hyperactively under my palm.
"Do you think I'll ever get better at this?" I wondered, mostly to myself. "That my heart might someday stop trying to jump out of my chest wherever you touch me?"
"I really hope not," he said, a bit smug.
I rolled my eyes. "Let's go watch the Capulet's and Montague's back each other up, all right?"
"You wish, my command."
Edward sprawled across the couch while I started the movie, fast-forwarding through the opening credits.
(Edward's POV)
She perched herself on the edge of the sofa in front of me and I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her against my chest. I wasn't exactly as comfortable as a sofa cushion would be, what with my chest being hard and cold as an ice sculpture, but she seemed to prefer me instead.
I pulled the old afghan off the back of the couch and draped it over her so that she wouldn't freeze beside my body.
"You know, I've never had much patience with Romeo." I commented as the movie started.
"What's wrong with Romeo?" She asked seemingly offended.
I rearranged us a little bit so that I was facing her and situated my arm on the back of the couch.
"Well, first of all, he's in love with this Rosaline – don't you think it makes him seem a little fickle? And then a few minutes after their wedding, he kills Juliet's cousin. That's not very brilliant. He made mistake after mistake. Could he have destroyed his own happiness any more thoroughly?"
She sighed. "Do you want me to watch this alone?"
"No, I'll mostly be watching you, anyway." My fingers traced patterns across the warm smooth skin of her arm, raising goose bumps. "Will you cry?"
"Probably," she admitted, "if I'm paying attention."
"I won't distract you then." I surrendered, and pressed my lips to her hair.
I could tell that I was still distracting her and after a few minutes I started whispering Romeo's lines in her ear. And to my amusement, she did cry when Juliet woke and found her new husband dead.
But watching this got me thinking and I sighed loudly.
"I admit, I do sort of envy him here," I told her drying the tears with a lock of her hair.
"She's very pretty."
Wait, what? I made a disgusted sound. "I don't envy him the girl – just the ease of the suicide," I clarified in a teasing tone. "You humans have it so easy! All you have to do is throw down one tiny vial of plant extracts…"
"What?" she gasped.
"It's something I had to think about once, and I knew from Carlisle's experience that it wouldn't be simple. I'm not even sure how many ways Carlisle tried to kill himself in the beginning… after he realized what he'd become…"
She twisted around so that she could see my face.
"What are you talking about?" She demanded. "What do you mean 'this was something you had to think about once'?"
Shit, maybe I shouldn't have brought this up, but it was too late now.
"Last spring when you were… nearly killed…" I paused to take a deep unneeded breath, struggling to return to me teasing tone. "Of course I was trying to focus on finding you alive, but part of my mind was making contingency plans. Like I said, it's not as easy for me as it is for a human."
She looked off into space as if she was remembering our last trip to Phoenix; making it look almost like she spun in circles for the past few minutes. She unthinkingly started tracing the crescent shaped scar on her wrist that was always a few degrees cooler than the rest of her skin.
She suddenly shook her head – as if she was trying to shake away the bad memories.
"Contingency plans?" She repeated.
"Well, I wasn't going to live without you." I rolled my eyes, thinking that she should know this by now. I thought that it was obvious. "But I wasn't sure how to do it – I knew Emmett and Jasper would never help, let alone Lilly… so I was thinking maybe I would go to Italy and do something to provoke the Volturi." I murmured as I stared off in to space, continuing to contemplate different ways that I could have gotten them to kill me, regardless of the fact that Aro had always wanted me to join his guard.
"What is a Volturi?" Bella demanded to know, sounding absolutely furious. But that still didn't pull me out of my thinking.
"The Volturi are a family," I explained, my eyes still remote. "A very old, very powerful family of our kind. They are the closest think our world has to a royal family, I suppose. Carlisle lived with them briefly in his early years, in Italy, before he settled in America – do you remember the story?"
"Of course I remember. They are the ones who make and enforce the laws, right? Lilly said something about that when I first found out what you guys were."
"Yeah, they do. You don't irritate the Volturi," I went on. "Not unless you want to die – or whatever it is we do." I said calmly.
She grabbed my face and held it in between her hands very tightly.
"You must never, never, never think of anything like that again!" She said. "No matter what might ever happen to me, you are not allowed to hurt yourself!"
"I'll never put you in danger again, so it's a moot point."
"Put me in danger! I thought we'd established that all the bad luck is my fault?" She pressed getting angrier. "How dare you even think like that?"
"What would you do if the situation were reversed?" I asked.
"That's not the same thing!"
I didn't understand what the difference was.
I chuckled.
"What if something happened to you?" She asked. "Would you want me to go of myself?"
The thought of her hurting herself because of me sent a ripple of pain threw my heart and I knew that she could see the pain etched across my face.
"I guess I see your point… a little." I admitted. "But what would I do without you?"
"Whatever you were doing before I came along and complicated your existence."
I sighed. "You make that sound so easy."
"It should be. I'm not really that interesting."
I was about to argue, but I knew that no matter what, she would never see herself the way that I do. But none of this was the point.
"Moot point," I reminded her. I could hear Charlie's thoughts and his cruiser as he began to get closer to the house. I pulled myself up into a more formal posture and shifted her to the side so that we were no longer touching.
"Charlie?" She guessed.
I smiled and after a moment I knew that she could hear him as well as he pulled into the driveway. She reached out and took my hand firmly and gave me a sly smirk as if to say 'he can deal with this much at least and get over it.'
It was then that Charlie came in with a pizza box.
"Hey, kids," He grinned at us. "I thought you'd like a break from cooking and washing dishes for your birthday. Hungary?"
"Sure. Thanks, Dad."
Charlie never commented on my apparent lack of appetite. He was used to passing on dinner.
"Do you mind if I borrow Bella for the evening?" I asked as soon as he and Bella were done.
She looked at Charlie hopefully. I knew she was hoping that he would say 'no' but his thoughts weren't giving me that impression in the least.
"That's fine – the Mariners are playing the Sox tonight," Charlie explained, and the hope on Bella's face disappeared. "So I won't be any kind of company… Here." He scooped up the camera he'd gotten her on her mother's suggestion and threw it to her.
It was a bad idea to do that, because her coordination was nowhere near good. I watched as the camera glanced off the tip of her finger, and tumbled toward the floor. I snagged it before it could crash onto the linoleum.
"Nice save," Charlie noted. "If they're doing something fun at the Cullens' tonight, Bella, you should take some pictures. You know how your mother gets – she'll be wanting to see the pictures faster than you can take them."
"Good idea, Charlie." I said handing her the camera.
She turned the camera on me and snapped the first picture. "It works." I almost laughed out loud, knowing that she meant that I showed up on film, what with me being a vampire.
"That's good," Charlie said, thinking Bella was talking to him. "Hey, say hi to Lilly and Alice for me. I haven't seen either of them for a while." Charlie's mouth was pulled down on one corner.
"It's been three days since Alice has been here and Lilly only just got back from her honey moon last night." She reminded him. Charlie was crazy about Lilly and Alice. He'd become attached last spring when they'd helped her through her awkward convalescence; Charlie would be forever grateful to them for saving him from the horror of an almost-adult daughter who needed help showering "I'll tell them."
"Okay. You kids have fun tonight." It was clearly a dismissal. Charlie was already edging toward the living room and the TV.
I smiled, triumphant, and took her hand to pull her from the kitchen and out the front door and began to drive.
The engine groaned louder than usual as I pushed it over fifty.
"Take it easy," she warned me.
"You know what you would love? A nice little Audi coupe. Very quiet, lots of power…"
"There's nothing wrong with my truck. And speaking of expensive nonessentials, if you know what's good for you, you didn't spend any money on my birthday presents." She gave me a mock glare.
"Not a dime." I said virtuously.
"Good."
"Can you do me a favor?"
"That depends on what it is."
I sighed and made sure she saw my serious expression. "Bella, the last real birthday any of us had was Emmett in 1935. Cut us a little slack, and don't be too difficult tonight. They're all very excited."
She looked startled for a second before she shook herself out of it. I knew that when I said things that pertained to my or my family's age that she has a hard time wrapping her head around it. "Fine, I'll behave." She sighed.
"I probably should warn you…" I trailed off trying to think of a way to put this delicately.
"Please do."
"When I say they're all excited… I do mean all of them."
"Everyone?" She choked. "I thought Emmett and Rosalie were in Africa?" The rest of Forks was under the impression that Lilly and Jasper were going to take a year off to get used to married life while Emmett and Rosalie had gone off to college this year, to Dartmouth.
"Emmett wanted to be here. Just like Lilly and Jasper."
"But… Rosalie?"
"I know, Bella. Don't worry; she'll be on her best behavior."
She didn't answer. I knew that it was impossible for her not to worry.
Unlike Alice and Lilly, my other adopted sister didn't like Bella much. Actually the feeling was a little bit stronger than just dislike. As far as Rosalie was concerned, Bella was an unwelcome intruder into our family's secret life.
Bella felt horribly guilty about the present situation, guessing that Rosalie and Emmett's prolonged absence was her fault, even as she furtively enjoyed not having to see her, she missed Emmett.
I decided to change the subject. "So, if you won't let me get you the Audi, isn't there anything that you'd like for your birthday?"
The words came out in a whisper. "You know what I want."
A deep frown carved creases onto my forehead. I really wished that I had stuck to the topic of Rosalie. We've had this argument so often lately and more today than usual.
"Not tonight, Bella. Please."
"Well, maybe Alice or Lilly will give me what I want."
I snapped my head in her direction and growled a deep menacing sound. "I told you before that there is no way that Jasper would let Lilly do anything of the sort. And Alice would never defy my wishes like that. This isn't going to be your last birthday, Bella." I vowed.
"That's not fair!" she snapped and I started grinding my teeth together.
We were pulling up to the house now. Bright light shined from every window on the first two floors. A long line of glowing Japanese lanterns hung from the porch eaves, reflecting a soft radiance on the huge cedars that surrounded the house. Big bowls of flowers – pink roses - lined the wide stairs up to the front doors.
Bella moaned.
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. "This is a party," I reminded her. "Try to be a good sport."
"Sure," she muttered.
I came around to get her door, and offered her my hand.
"I have a question."
I waited warily.
"If I develop this film," she said, toying with the camera in her hands, "will you show up in the picture?"
I started laughing. I helped her hour of the car, pulled her up the stairs, and was still laughing as I opened the door for her.
(Jasper's POV)
Bella and Edward entered through the front door. We were all waiting in the huge white living room. Lilly was in front of my with my arms wrapped around her middle and she had her hands on my arms, holding me tightly.
They walked through the doorway into the living room and we greeted her with a loud chorus of "Happy Birthday, Bella!" while Bella blushed and looked down.
The girls had decorated every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses, while the guys and I situated all of the furniture. There was a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward's grand piano, holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents.
The horror in her emotions over how Alice insisted we decorate for her party was evident on her face, mixed with a feeling of being uncomfortable and a smidge of happiness.
Edward must have read my mind as I was reading her emotions, because he wrapped an encouraging arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head
Carlisle and Esme were closest to the door, so they were the first to greet Bella. Esme wrapped her arms carefully around her in a hug, her soft, caramel-colored hair brushing against her cheek as she kissed her forehead, and then Carlisle put his arm around her shoulders.
"Sorry about this, Bella," he stage-whispered, even though the rest of us could all hear him. "We couldn't rein Alice in."
Lilly giggled in my arms and I placed a hard kiss on her temple. She turned her head to look back at me and smiled sweetly and leaned in a kissed my lips before turning her attention back on Bella. I gave her a squeeze that she returned and rested my chin against the side of her head as I looked on over the party.
Rosalie and Emmett stood behind Carlisle and Esme. Rose didn't smile, but surprisingly she didn't glare. Emmett's face was stretched into a huge grin and his emotions emitted joy and excitement.
They have been gone for months and came back the week of the wedding, but left again and have been gone since the day after our wedding and came back the same time that we did last night.
"You haven't changed at all," Emmett said with mock disappointment. "I expected a perceptible difference, but here you are, red-faced just like always."
We all chuckled as Bella's blush deepened as she said, "Thanks a lot, Emmett."
He laughed, "I have to step out for a second" – he paused to wink conspicuously towards the rest of us– "Don't do anything funny while I'm gone."
"I'll try," she murmured.
Alice grabbed Lilly's hand and pulled her out of my arms and skipped forward, all of their teeth sparkling as they smiled in the bright light. I smiled too as I watched everyone and soaked up the happiness and love around me, but kept my distance. I leaned against the post at the foot of the stairs as I watched my wife hug Bella and wish her a happy birthday. Bella looked over at me and smiled and I nodded my head in her direction, but stayed put where I was.
I haven't really interacted with Bella since Phoenix except for the small occasions where I would drop Lilly off with Bella, but I continued to stay away from her. It wasn't anything personal, but for her own safety, not to mention the fact that Edward doesn't like me being around her. Even though I still drink human blood once a month, I still have problems with my thirst, but they aren't half as bad as they used to be. Next week is supposed to be when we get our next does of human blood.
"Time to open presents!" Alice declared. She put her hand under her elbow and towed her to the table with the cake and Lilly took a seat on the couch. I followed her over there and sat on the arm of the couch and placed my hand on her back.
Bella put on her best martyr face. "Alice, I know I told you I didn't want anything – "
"But I didn't listen," she interrupted, smug. "Open it." She took the camera from her hands and replaced it with a big, square, silver box.
I smirked as I felt her confusion from how light that the box was. The tag on the top said that it was from Emmett and Rosalie.
Self-consciously, she tore the paper off and then stared at the box it concealed.
She looked at the box and turned it over, studying it. She still couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be, so she opened the box, hoping to find more information. But the box was empty.
"Um…thanks."
Rosalie cracked a smile and I began to laugh. I could hear Lilly's musical giggle as well as everyone else was trying to hide their amusement.
I decided to put her out of her misery and confusion.
"It's a stereo for your truck," I explained.
"Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it." Alice said always one step ahead of everyone.
"Thanks, Rosalie." She told her, grinning. "Thanks, Emmett!" she called more loudly.
We could hear his booming laugh from her truck, causing her to giggle, regardless of how she tried to suppress it.
"Here, open mine and Jasper's next." Lilly said handing her the small metallic robin's egg blue packages.
Bella looked over at us with a small smile before she opened the first package. She pulled out the felt box and opened it and gasped.
It was a white gold locket in the shape of an oval with two stones together among other designs that were engraved. The stones were their birthstones; Sapphire for September (Bella's birthday) and Blue Topaz Turquoise for December (Lilly's Birthday).
"Oh my gosh! It's so beautiful!" Bella gushed.
"Open it!" Lilly encouraged.
Bella carefully opened the locket and gasped. Inside there was a picture of Bella and Lilly with their arms around each other. On the opposite side there was an engraving that says 'My sister, My friend, My heart'.
She looked back up at Lilly with a smile. "Thank you."
"You're most welcome."
"You have one too!" Bella exclaimed pointing to Lilly's neck.
"Yeah, I got them both at the same time." She said. "Open Jasper's now."
She opened the packaging and looked back up at me with wide eyes.
"You got me an IPhone?" She asked. "This is too much!"
"You'll take it and you'll like it." I chuckled.
"I spoke to Charlie and he had it set up on his plan. He said to say that it was the second part of your present from him if Jasper got you the phone."
She looked at me for a moment before giving me a small smile and nodding. "Thank you,"
"Here, Bella, this is from Esme and I." Carlisle said handing her an envelope.
She smiled and opened the envelope and pulled out what was inside.
"We thought you could use the trip. You've been looking a little pale lately." Esme grinned.
Bella looked up confused. "There are two vouchers?"
"Either you can go twice, or you can take a guest." Carlisle said.
"Thank you guys so much. My mom will love this!" She said.
"Open mine and Edward's next!" Alice said, so excited her voice was a high-pitched trill. She held a small, flat square in her hand.
Bella turned to give Edward a basilisk glare. "You promised."
Before he could answer, Emmett bounded through the door. "Just in time!" he crowed. He pushed in behind me as I shifted a bit closer to her than usual to get a better look.
"I didn't spend a dime," Edward assured her and brushed a strand of hair from her face.
Bella inhaled deeply and turned to Alice. "Give it to me." She sighed.
Emmett chuckled with delight.
She took the little package, rolling her eyes at Edward while she stuck her finger under the edge of the paper and jerked it under the tape.
"Shoot," she muttered when the paper slicked her finger; she pulled it out to examine the damage. "Paper cut."
And then I smelled it.
Blood.
A/N: Cliffy! So, how did you guys like it? Read and Review! I would really like your feedback!
Like I said before, there is going to be a lot more Jasper and Lilly in this book, but the next chapter, maybe even the one after that, is going to have Bella and Edward's POV, since what happens between them is the whole reason why the Cullen's leave.
I am actually writing their POV's even though people know their story, because I want people who have never read SM's Twilight before to be able to read this and know exactly what is going on and not have had to read the original.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them on my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note!
Guest 7/22/12 . chapter 1
Amazing way to start the story! And the wedding sounded amazing also. I hope that you can update this very soon. I have read the first story Dhampir. But I was wondering about them getting married, Are they out of high school?
Yeah, they are out of High School. If you read Dhampir, then you will have noticed that in Chapter 1, it says that she was a senior while Bella was a junior. If it is now September, that means they have graduated in either May or June. Thanks for your interest in the story and keep on reading!
Check out my other stories!
'Attempting to Covet'
'Dhampir' RECENTLY COMPLETED
'Far Fetched Realities'
'Mirror Image'
'Other Worldly Beauty'
'Dhampir: Broken Moonlight' (SEQUEL) NEW!
'Perplexing Revelations'
'Pretexting'
'The Heart's Desire'
'Intricate Beauty' NEW!
'The Major'
'Twilight ReVAMPed'
If you enjoyed this story so far, check out some of my other stories on my FanFiction page! Also, I am still accepting Twilight stories that involve Jasper/any female leads or Bella/selected male leads
if anyone is looking for a Beta Reader. I will make exceptions on the characters depending on the plot.
I am also now accepting Phantom of the Opera FanFictions that include Erik! I will also
be accepting Titanic FanFictions featuring Jack, The Ghost Whisperer that feature Melinda and
Law and Order SVU that feature Elliot. PM me for details!
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Xo BellaItalia oX
