Chapter 3- Outsider

Synopsis: Who is the face at the window? What do they want? How will the Cullens cope with the new addition to the family in the form of Lucy?


I am SO sorry it's taken so long to update, STUFF has been going on.

Last time: [Lucy] stared out of the window into the night, and almost screamed. She jumped back nearly a foot, knocking the sofa flying.

Pressed up against the window was a face, staring in at them.

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer is the woman with the dream; I just gave one of her characters a little sister & wrote a story about it. However, Lucy is mine. I have copyright (well I don't, but it sounds impressive :D)

The Cullens jumped to their feet, all crouching and ready to attack. In a second Edward was at Lucy's side, snarling out at the figure in the gloom.

Carlisle was the only one to remain seated. He stared calmly at the face of the figure, and slowly stood up. He carefully made his way over the rubble that had been the sofa, and walked past the snarling Edward and his equally fierce niece, who suddenly seemed very threatening to everyone. He opened the French windows, and smiled at the startled half-vampire who stood before him. "Nahuel, what a nice surprise!" He said pleasantly, as if he had knocked on the door and was an old, old friend. He held out a hand to the young half-vampire, who warily took it, and allowed himself to be led inside. He looked warily around, his eyes flickering to Bella, then to Nessie, and his eyes became sad. However, he did not stare at them as he had before. His eyes searched around the room, sliding over everyone's faces, before coming to rest on Lucy. He stared at her for a long time, searching her face, as if learning the contours there. Lucy smiled at him, standing awkwardly and staring into his teak-brown eyes. All too soon, his eyes left hers, instead resting on Carlisle. He bowed slightly, and spoke in his nicely-accented voice.

"I apologise for the intrusion, Mr Carlisle. I wished to see the child again, and her mother. I am fascinated by what I see in them, and I'd like to talk to Jasper some more. I enjoyed his company on the trip here. My aunt is fine, she went ahead with Zafrina and the other amazons. They have sworn to take care of her." His face clouded as if to suggest that, if they didn't look after her, there'd be trouble.

Lucy stared at the dark-skinned angel who had just entered the room. She looked into his teak eyes, and wondered at what he was. She sifted through his mind, his memories, and was shocked to discover who he was. What he was. What he had done for her family. As she tuned back into what was Carlisle was saying, she realised he was talking about her.

"Yes Nahuel, this is Lucy. She is Edward's great-niece, from England." Carlisle smiled, and nodded at Lucy. Nahuel looked around, and once again met her butterscotch eyes with his teak ones, sweeping her away with his intense gaze. He took a step towards her, and smiled. No-one in the room had seen him smile before, and they were dazzled by the way it transformed her anguished face to become even more beautiful. He reached down, took Lucy's hand, and, still grinning, kissed it. "Pleased to meet you madam." He smiled, challenging her. She raised an eyebrow, took back her hand, and curtsied. "The same to you, young sir." She said, smiling innocently. However, everyone in the room noticed how she suddenly appeared very attractive, even more than before, if that was possible. Edward smiled down at the floor, feeling the familiar nudge on his mind, the one that subtly suggested that the small girl in front of him was the most beautiful thing he would ever see. It retracted almost immediately, as if she had decided against it, and he looked up again. She was standing there, looking ironically at Nahuel, and smiling in a charming way. She didn't need the gift. Edward loved her more than everything in this world apart from Nessie, Bella, and Alice, but she never saw herself clearly. He, the boy who had taken her in as a sister, saw her as the beauty she truly was. He saw that, although she was only 14 biologically, she looked very mature for her age, how she was tall and willowy, how her shining bronze hair cascaded down her back in subtle waves. He saw her almond-shaped yellow eyes, and wondered how no male had seen the beauty in them, the intelligence. He saw in each mind that they fell for her, but they were never good enough. They only saw her material beauty. They never saw the wonderful, bright shining person she truly was.

"Edward?"

Edward blinked. He looked over at Bella, who was looking at him imploringly. Nessie drooped in her arms, obviously tired. "I think Nessie needs to go to sleep. Shall we turn in?" Bella half-smiled, and he noticed that he could no longer hear Nessie's thoughts. Bella's shield had covered her the moment Nahuel entered the room. He glanced at the young male who was now sitting deep in conversation with his beloved great-niece, and he realised that Bella wanted to get away from him, from her, from both of them. Her brain hurt. He smiled pleasantly around the room. "Yes, love, we should probably be going. Lucy?" He turned to her, and she sprang up, slightly reluctant to leave Nahuel's side. He could see it written in her mind that she was smitten. He smiled fondly at her, rising, striding over and hugging her. He kissed the top of her head, then pulled away and looked at her. "Lucy, you can have my old room, ok?" He said out loud. In her mind, he teased her;

Lucinda Joanna! Are you by chance in love? He mocked in a gentle, loving tone. Surely not, fierce little Lucy? All I can say is good luck to him. Oh, and don't use your gift, sweetheart, you don't need it.

He looked around and winked at her.

Lucy nodded. "Night, Edward." She said, looking up at him, memorising his face, as if she was afraid that she would have to leave him again.

"I'll still be here in the morning, Lucy. But right now I have to put my daughter to bed. I'll see you soon."

"Ok." She smiled sheepishly, and then let him go.

Edward took Bella's hand, and led her away. Bella looked back, and called back to the house. "Goodnight, everyone! Nice to meet you, Lucy!" She heard the crystal clear noise of everyone's mumbled replies, and, in amongst them, was the voice of her new great-niece-in-law. She smiled weakly to herself, and looked at Edward. He was staring at her, with the familiar expression, which she now knew meant that he was frustrated, trying to read her mind. She smiled, as he asked the now regular question;

"What are you thinking?"

Usually her answer would be 'I love you', or something like that, but tonight it was different. Tonight, she stared at the ground, sighed, then took a deep breath.

"Who didn't you tell me, Edward? It's obvious that she's very important to you, so why wouldn't you even mention it? You know everything about me, and I thought that I knew everything about you." She took a deep breath, and looked into his eyes. "I just need to know why." She whispered.

Edward stared straight into her beautiful, confused and bewildered gaze, and spoke slowly and sincerely;

"I love you, Bella. I always have, I always will. But you have to understand that I was ashamed. You're right, Lucy means the world to me, I think of her as the little sister I never had. But I changed her. I took away her young life when she was still so young. Yes, she looks like a 17-year-old, but she's FOURTEEN. So very, very young. I was so ashamed of what I'd done to her that I couldn't bear to tell anyone. Alice dragged the truth out of me, and threatened to tell the others. That's the only reason she knows. I wouldn't have been able to bear it if Carlisle had discovered how weak I was. And I love Carlisle a fraction of the amount I love you. If I had told you, the human for whom I had to fight the bloodlust, then I was terrified that you would run away. Or see me for the monster I truly am."

Edward finished this speech by dropping hold of her hand and turning away. Bella, alarmed at his pain, held his chin and forced him to look at her. She stared into his eyes, wishing that he could read her mind, and kissed him passionately. She held Nessie on her back, and, still kissing, led him to their cottage. She put Nessie into her room, and led Edward to theirs.

She forgave him.

Meanwhile, Lucy was deep in conversation with the beautiful man in front of her.

"So, Nahuel, tell me about yourself! How did you get here? Who changed you?" she said, smiling.

Nahuel smiled sheepishly, then looked at his feet. "No-one" he said quietly.

Lucy frowned slightly, and she searched the smooth tanned planes of his face, reading his mind.

Her eyes widened, and she whispered, "Just like Nessie!"

Nahuel frowned, and she quickly explained herself.

"Oh, don't be alarmed. I can read minds, like Edward." She smiled sweetly.

Nahual's expression didn't clear. "What is he to you? If I didn't know better, I'd think that you were related, but that cannot be. If that was so, surely you would have been with him when I met you before."

Lucy looked at him, and suddenly her bottom lip began to tremble. She turned away from him, curled up into a ball, and sobbed. By this point, it was just her and him, as the others had gone off to their separate rooms. He took a swift glance around, and put a hesitant hand on her back. She read in his mind that this was a big deal for him, that he rarely let anyone in, let alone touched anyone. She felt as if she would glow with happiness, then realised why he was comforting her, and was pitched back into despair. He suspected her, was worried, and she had hurt him by reading his mind. And what he had said had ripped open deep wounds in her heart. She had put all of her pain and anguish about missing Edward away at the back of her mind, but his words brought her agony screaming back to the very forefront of her brain. She dissolved once again into dry sobs, blinking and sniffing, though no tears left her marblesque eyes. She was as distraught as a vampire could be, but still no tears. One of the curses of what she was.

Nahuel's voice brought her back to reality. He sounded worried, scared, and upset, "Lucy, please look at me! What is wrong? What did I say to upset you so much? Please, I cannot bear to see you this way!" He cried out.

She pulled herself together, and looked back at him. His eyes were clouded with worry, and he looked at her dejectedly. Her heart broke once again to see that she had caused him so much pain. Her expression now mirrored his.

"Nahuel, it wasn't your fault! You weren't to know that I had such a twisted past" she said, laughing ironically.

She took a deep breath. "Look, I'm actually related to Edward. He's my fathers mothers brother. If that makes any sense at all!" She laughed again. "I was changed at the age of fourteen, in London, on 31st November 1938. Edward saved my life. He stopped me from being mugged of all the money I had in the world, and if that horrible man had managed to mug me, I doubt I would have lived long. This was in the middle of a huge war between my country and Germany." She said. This last part as an explanation to Nahuel, who, she read in his mind, had never heard of World War II.

"Anyway, Edward killed the mugger, feasted on his blood, and was about to go, before he recognised his sister's hair and features in me. Realising that I was related to him, he changed me, and tended for me until I was strong. He looked after me, and we travelled the world together. "

Lucy's eyes stared into the distance, as she remembered the times they had laughed, the times she had nearly cried, and the times that he had comforted her. Then she remembered why she was telling Nahuel this, and she became sad again. Her head drooped, her shoulders hunched, and she felt so terrible and pained.

"Then he left," she whispered. "He had to return, so he left. I missed him so much, my life lost all meaning with my creator and guide gone. I set out to find another companion, my soulmate, but, I guess, there isn't anyone in the world meant for me. I've scoured the globe. I guess Edward is all I'll ever get as far as male company goes, and there's no romantic interest there. God, that's incest!" She shuddered, then stared at the curtains without really seeing them. "Maybe I'm just destined to be alone." She murmured, more to herself than to Nahuel, but, nevertheless, he heard it, and he was saddened when he saw her face twisted by grief. He put his hand on her shoulder again, looking intently at her back until she turned back to him.

Though she had pulled herself back together, her golden eyes were still sad and dark. "But, anyway, I managed top track him down, after all these years, and so much has happened since then. I knew two of them already, and they've been so kind to me, but I can't help feeling that this isn't my home. Edward seems to want me here, but for how long? Until his wife cracks under the pressure and they have some huge row over me? That could be anytime. I know Bella's a good person, I saw that in everyone's minds today, but she didn't know about me, and Edward knows everything about her. It's bound to be upsetting for her. And then what? Will she resent me? I really have no idea what she made of me. All I can hope for is that she liked me, and that I can stay here. I don't think I can leave Edward again. I couldn't take it, leaving after finally finding him." She sighed, and looked at Nahuel. "He is to me what your aunt is to you, but so much more. He's the brother I never had, just like she's the mother you've felt guilty for ever since her death. In real life, they're your aunt and my great uncle, but to us, they're so much more, so much better, than some remote relative."

Nahuel looked at her a little suspiciously again, narrowing his eyes, and she sighed again, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry, I'm so used to reading people's minds, you probably think I'm a nosy little emotional wreck. I'll try to control myself." She stared at her knees, twisting her hands in her lap.

Nahuel reached out, gripping her hands in his own, and she slowly looked up to meet his passionate eyes. He adjusted their hands so that he held one of her hands in each of his.

His intense gaze stared defiantly into hers, and he whispered two sentences that would change both of their lives;

"You say you will try to resist. But I cannot resist a moment longer."

And then he kissed her.

CHAPTER 3 COMPLETE!!!!!!!!!!!

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Sorry again that it's so late! Crazy exam stuff has happened a LOT recently :S