"Somebody's always watching …"

A Twilight / W.i.t.c.h. Crossover

By: A J

(Standard Disclaimer Applies)

Chapter 4

Charlie pulled into the Cullens' driveway next to the limousine, and Peter gawked. "Wow, Lia said her family out here was loaded, but … Wow. That's a big limo."

"Hey, keep playing ball like I hear you do, and you'll have one yourself before long," Charlie said.

Grinning self-deprecatingly, Peter replied. "Only if I can keep off the fouls bench. I swear the refs here have it in for this Yankee. Even if my family's from south of the Mason Dixon originally."

"It's where your voice sounds like. Too much Nor-east refinement, not enough Bible-belt twang, that's all," Charlie chuckled. "Well, I'll let you out here; I've got to go home and do some sweet-talking so my girlfriend doesn't leave me on the couch." He and Pete both laughed as the younger man climbed out of the police cruiser and grabbed his suitcase from the back seat.

He was just swinging the rear passenger door shut when he heard a cool woman's voice, saying "I knew it was you right away, Dad. That engine cylinder's still missing. Better let Jacob get ahold of it before it gets worse."

"Will do, Bells. How are all the Cullens?"

"Oh, the usual. Carlisle and Esme are perfect, Jasper's sullen, Rosalie's impossible, Emmett and Alice are nosy as ever, and Edward …"

"I think the less I hear about you and your new husband's wedded bliss, the better. It definitely falls in the 'Necessary Information' heading, Isabella." Her father smiled tolerantly up at her, and she looked down in embarrassment. Peter gave the pale girl a once-over, noticing her dark brown hair, just a shade deeper than the Sheriff's, and her gorgeous designer clothes. Obviously, she'd married well, and he grinned, as his sweetheart's cousin was joining the same clan. She looked up at him just then, and Peter was taken aback by her shining, almost luminous, golden eyes.

"And how's the munchkin?" Charlie continued, not noticing her shift in attention.

"Renesmee's just as happy as I am to see you. Isn't that right, honey?" she said with a smirk, glancing towards the house. A young dark-haired girl, as pale as Isabella, came streaming down the driveway, and with a wave in passing to the stationary Peter, fairly leaped up the side of the Sheriff's cruiser to give Charlie a strangling hug.

"Ahh … Nessie … air …" he pleaded, all the while returning her embrace.

"Sorry, Grandpa," the girl said, pulling back. Peter guessed her age at about the same as Lillian Hale's, which threw off his estimate of the Sheriff's daughter wildly. He thought Isabella was barely twenty at first glance, but her daughter looked to be almost ten.

'Huh. Guess Sheriff Swan came by that bald spot the old-fashioned way,' Peter thought to himself. "Hey, Chief, thanks for the ride here," he said through the passenger window. "Now I just gotta find Cornelia and find out where I'm supposed to be sleeping tonight."

"OH! You must be Peter!" Lithe Nessie came hopping around to his side of the cruiser. "Lillian told me all about you …" She giggled, and Pete rolled his eyes. Yup, she was ten.

"Then she'll have told you I have a little sister of my own, too. And I know where all the best tickle targets are." He grinned down at her, and she gulped and backed up a step. Bella and Charlie both laughed.

"Go home, Dad, while you've still got a bed to get back to. I can't imagine Sue's too happy you're out this late."

Bella leaned down and gave her dad a hug. With a final wave and a "Night, you two. Night, Pete!" Charlie drove off.

"So you're Peter Cook, hmm?" Bella walked over to him, hand out to shake. "We've all heard about you. And don't worry, not all of it bad."

Peter took her too-cool hand and, dazzled by her smile, didn't even notice it.

"Was that Charlie's car, Bells?" a familiar voice asked from the porch. Turning, Peter and Bella both saw a seven-foot Native American with shaggy locks coming down the front steps. "Did you tell him about that misfiring cylinder?"

"Yeah, Jake. Expect him to call in the morning." Bella smiled up at her tall friend.

"Jake? Jacob Black?" Peter gawked. The Quileut was even taller than when he'd seen him last, lending proof to the claim Jake had made that he was still growing.

"Hey, Peter. Where's the bike? Didn't hear you pulling up." Jacob looked around.

"Ahhhh … that's 'cause the Sheriff brought me up from town. Some nut-job with a pregnant wife ran me under by the station-house. Mike … something-or-other."

Jake and Bella glanced at each other, then both started to laugh.

"Oh, man, I knew we got caught up in our own things up here, but how did we not hear about that?" Jake doubled over, until he was nearly eye-to-eye with Renesmee, still laughing. She took advantage of his stoop, and swung up onto his back, hanging on to his shoulders for when he stood up.

"I'll have to remember to call Jessica and congratulate her. I'll have to tell Alice too. Knowing her, this wedding is just the tip of the iceberg. She'll want to throw Jess a baby shower as soon as she and Jaz get back from their honeymoon." They were all heading in the door by then, Peter lagging behind with his suitcase and helmet.

"What's this about a baby shower?" a voice sang from the living room. A gorgeous blonde woman poked her head into the foyer as Peter was closing the door behind himself. He was about to ask Cornelia what she'd done with her hair, when the woman spoke again. "What could we possibly have forgotten to get Nessie that you think you need a baby shower at this late date?

"Oh, it's not for me, Rose. Jess's pregnant. I guess we were a little busy to get their wedding invitation."

"Jessica and Mike?" Rose's laughter rang musically through the house. Bella's grin grew.

"Nice to see your educational time wasn't totally wasted, Rosalie." A young man with spiky bronze hair came out of the kitchen. Rosalie raspberried him, and Renesmee laughed from where she sat on Jacob's shoulders.

"Good one, Edward," Jacob said, ruffling the little girl's hair. For his long arms, it was barely a stretch, and Peter remembered his personal promise to ask Jacob about joining the NWU basketball team. Rosalie hissed at the young giant.

"Good night, everybody," she said, not meaning it at all. "Peter, I understand you're dating my cousin, Cornelia? Come upstairs, and tell me all about it. They were too jet-lagged to be conversational when they got here. I'll show you to your room." She sauntered away from the rest of them, and Peter, with an apologetic grin at the others, followed.

"Catch up with y'all later," he said as he went, and thumped fists with Jacob on the way past. Jogging to just behind Rosalie on the stairs, he asked her how long the Hales had been there, and asleep. She gave him a quizzical look for a second, then her musical laugh rang out again.

"Sorry, Peter, it's just going to take some getting used to. Jasper and I have been the only Hales in Forks for years, so hearing someone ask after 'the Hales', and not meaning us, is … novel." He returned her smile.

"I can understand that. We were the only Cook family in Heatherfield, but back in Sesamo, it seemed like half the town was our cousins, and cousins of cousins."

"Is that so ..?" she said, and her grin changed. Peter couldn't quite figure it out, so he went ahead and asked.

"What are you thinking?"

"Oh, just wondering how serious you and Cornelia are. Alice will want to know how many of those cousins in Sesamo to invite to the next wedding. She loves to plan parties, our Alice." Peter gulped, paling.

"Uh, actually, we really just started dating. I'm kind of her rebound guy." Her laughter was probably echoing through the whole house this time, he thought with chagrin.

"Oh, do tell. I love a good romance story." She knew the others would be listening in, and they could all use something new to talk about. 'One of the downsides of an eternal existence,' she mused, 'is that eventually, you run out of fresh gossip.' She opened the door to their last guest room. "Cornelia and her sister are across the hall, and their parents are at the end in Edward's old room." Rosalie pointed to the end of the hallway. "Bathroom's between you, and the rest of us are at the other end of the hall." She swung into the guest room, all done up in ochres and natural wood-tones. "What do you think?" she asked, twirling around.

"What?" Peter asked, confused.

"The room, silly. Alice and Esme did the rest of the house, but this was my personal project. Those two are big fans of light and bright, but while this was my room, I wanted somewhere my hair could outshine the décor," she said with a coy grin. It reminded Peter of Cornelia all over again, and he smiled back.

"It's nice, Rose. It really does bring out your hair, and your eyes." Her smile ramped up to megawatt levels, and he cheered inwardly. 'Definitely a Hale,' Peter thought. 'She soaks up compliments like Cornelia.'

"Soooo ..?" she said after a minute. "You were going to tell me all about yourself, and my cousin Cornelia." She plunked herself down on the bed, and patted the mattress next to her.

He sat down wearily, feeling all the bruises dumping the bike was leaving him. "Okay, first you'll need some background for this. The same year my family moved to Heatherfield, another one did, from Fadden Hills. Mother, Susan, and daughter, Will. Will's the same age as my sister Taranee, and Cornelia, and three other girls. Hay, Irma, and Elyon. The night we all moved into town, Halloween, there's this big party at the school, and these six all click. Like, major, ya know? Friends for life, it's that good. My sweety's BFF Elyon, who she's known since kindergarten, suddenly goes missing, and the other five go all Scooby Doo to find her. Cornelia meets Caleb, who's this real rebel, works for a group of people from Meridian. Not sure where that is, never asked. He's helping them find Elly, and falls for Cornelia. Actually, from what I hear, it's mutual.

"Anyway, they find Elyon, who's apparently been kidnapped by a half-brother trying to get controlling interest of some family business, also in Meridian, and Caleb's like this gopher for the company that thinks Elyon would run it better, 'cause her brother's a jerk, and they convince the company to give her the head chair, 'cept in proxy, since she's still a minor. So her parents get a deciding vote in the company in her name, and they're shway cool, so they run it like it needs to be run."

"How does this come back to you and Cornelia?" Rosalie asked when he paused for a breath, engrossed. She was sure there was more to this, but Peter could only give her the parts he knew, after all.

"It's coming up. Anyway, the next spring, Elyon and her family are now taking trips every weekend to Meridian to take care of any company stuff they have to, and then they find out that Caleb's mom, Nerissa, wants the company for herself. Naturally, the girls all go Scooby again, and find all the dirt they can to keep their friend from losing her company. Even Caleb, who tells us that the Browns are the best thing for Meridian. Sorry, missed that set of facts, Meridian is like, the company town, and Brown is Elyon's last name. So, they oust Nerissa as well, but the whole strain on all the girls is killing their relationships. Caleb and Cornelia break up, Will and Matt do too … Sorry, missed that as well. Matt's in my grade, and a guitarist in the local rock band. His bass player is dating my sister. But their relationship takes a dive at the same time as Cornelia's with Caleb, who's gotten out of Meridian and works for the Lin's Chinese restaurant, the Silver Dragon. That's Hay's family. Then Caleb starts dating Will, Matt starts dating Elyon, and Cornelia and I start going out.

"That was last year, just before I left for college here at NWU. Believe it or not, I'm willing to go the distance with her. She was a spoiled princess when she and my sister started to hang, but she's really grown up. Helped my sister to, as well. Taranee used to be afraid of her own shadow, and everything else. With all her friends, Will, Lia, Hay and the rest, she's … well, all I can say is that all of them are better together, and I'm just lucky to have found that one of 'em likes me."

Rosalie looked at him appraisingly for one moment, and chuckled. "I think you're both lucky, Peter. I also think you need to sleep off your accident. You're babbling." She stood up in one fluid motion, and drifted silently to the door. "There's pain medicine in the bathroom cabinet. She may have finally grown out of it, but back in high school, Bella was such a klutz, Edward kept everything from aspirin to ACE bandages around at all times." She smiled at something, then waved and left, shutting the door. Peter groaned as he kicked off his shoes, and flopped back on the bed.

"I babbled, huh? Guess Hay-hay's contagious." He turned over, and was asleep within minutes.