Goodbye Forks, Hello Mystic Falls

Chapter Four

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EPOV

We sat there in the Salvatore brothers' home, hanging out, talking, even . . . laughing. Perhaps I suddenly felt so comfortable because I felt, when it came right down to it, that we had the advantage if things ever did get out of control. Not only had we discovered that I could read their thoughts, but also that Alice and Jasper's powers worked as well. Jasper setting the mood tonight really helped.

The only one who was still rubbing me the wrong way was Damon, but I tried to keep my mouth shut. It was a great thing to be able to read his mind and not have him know that I could. He had some impure thoughts about Bella throughout the night, and I had to stop myself from lunging for his throat. And, like me, it wasn't just her blood that appealed to him. He was physically attracted by her. He was taken with her.

"Come on, Bella, one shot," Damon said, smiling, pouring a shot of vodka on the bar. "Elena did one. Can't you keep up with the humans even?"

I walked forward. "She doesn't drink."

Bella frowned. "I've actually never even tasted alcohol."

Elena locked arms with her. "Not even a taste?"

"Come on, let her have a little fun . . . Eddie." Damon smirked at me.

Bella looked at me with a questioning look on her face, and I saw it. She wanted to do it. I was all about her having all of these human experiences, could I really tell her no without sounding like a controlling beast? "If you want to try it, go ahead, love," I told her, watching her smile at Damon. She looked happy to be doing something normal, even if it was with a bunch of other vampires. And it's not like she was going to get drunk on one shot, and I was here to take care of her. Maybe this was a good thing. Anything that put a smile on her face like that had to be.

"Bottoms up," Damon said, handing her the shot.

Bella took it like she'd been drinking her whole life, but I did find the look on her face afterward adorable. She was obviously not fond of the taste.

"Thatta girl," Damon said, patting her on the back lightly. I couldn't stop myself from walking over and removing his hand. He just rolled his eyes at me.

"Edward, can we go talk outside for a moment?" Jasper suddenly asked me.

And leave Bella alone?

"I'll stay here with Bella," Alice offered.

I looked over at Stefan and listened to his thoughts . . .

Edward has to know that Bella is safe. Damon won't hurt her. Even if he would I would stop him.

I liked Stefan more and more by the moment.

"Let's go," I told Jasper, following him outside.

We stood outside the Salvatore house, the late night sky illuminated with stars. For a moment I wanted to go back inside and grab Bella to show her. How often did we get skies like this in Forks? Hardly ever.

"What do you think?" Jasper asked me, interrupting my thoughts.

"I think we can trust them," I replied. "Especially Stefan."

"And Damon?"

I groaned. "I'm not sure about him yet."

"Haven't you been . . . " Reading his mind? He wasn't going to say the words out loud. We didn't know how far these vampires could hear, and the last thing we wanted was for them to know our secrets.

"Yes, but, I haven't made up my mind completely on him," I replied, not wanting to say anything more until we had left.

We stayed outside for about fifteen more minutes, discussing everything we could without saying too much. It was times like these when I felt luckiest to be able to hear other people's thoughts. It helped our conversation run that much more smoothly. Jasper was as weary of Damon as I was, but he had also agreed with me when it came to Stefan. He seemed like a good guy . . . a guy we could trust.

When we went back inside I thought I was either going to annihilate Damon . . . or my sister.

There was Bella, dancing with Elena to some awful pop song, holding a cocktail in her hand. She was drunk.

"Edward!" Bella exclaimed as I entered the room, running up to me and throwing herself into my arms, spilling some alcohol on my shirt. "Sorry," she muttered, still smiling.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm drunk!"

"Yes, I see that . . . "

I looked over and glowered at Alice. She smiled apologetically at me and then said, "Bella's just trying to have some fun."

Fun was one thing, but how much had she had to drink?

"You're little girlfriend here is a lightweight," Damon said from behind the bar.

"You think?" I snapped back. "Don't you recall her telling you she had never drank before?" Damon shrugged.

"She's only had a few," Elena said, coming up to Bella and me. "She'll be alright, Edward."

I had to hand it to Elena, she was comforting. I also noticed how good she smelled. Nothing like Bella did, but still, there was something there. I wondered if her blood was what attracted Stefan to her in the first place.

I held Bella closer to me, just gratified that she was safe in my arms. "I think we need to get you back to the hotel," I whispered in her ear.

She touched my cold face with her hands. "You don't wanna party?"

I laughed. "No, love, I don't want to party."

"Why don't you guys stay here for the night?" Stefan offered. "We have plenty of bedrooms. I'm sure you could all use a decent night of sleep."

Alice stared at him. "You guys sleep?"

Stefan stared right back. "You don't?" Alice shook her head.

"Intriguing," Damon muttered, making himself yet another drink.

Another advantage we had over them. They needed sleep. It seemed so ridiculous to me.

"Stay," Elena told me. "I would love to spend some more time with Bella." She then got a better look at Bella, who was slumped up in my arms, a drunk grin on her face. "Actually, I'll take her into the kitchen for some coffee. What do you think, Bella?"

"No more vodka?"

"No more vodka," Elena agreed.

"Yes, do that," Damon said. "Us vamps need to talk some business."

The last thing I wanted to do was have Bella leave my sight, but she seemed safe with Elena, especially since Damon was staying here with me. They would only be a room away.

"First things, first," Damon started, walking in circles around my siblings and me. "We have a bit of a problem here in Mystic Falls."

"What is it?" Jasper asked.

"A vampire. Her name is Katherine."

I had heard thoughts about her all night from both the Salvatore brothers and Elena. I had known that they were going to ask our help in killing her. I just hadn't decided what we should do about it yet.

"She's very powerful," Stefan added. "She's much older than us, much stronger."

"And very vengeful," Damon cut in.

I was getting confused. Every time they thought of Katherine I was seeing Elena. It didn't seem to make any sense . . .

"Why is she vengeful?" Alice asked.

"Long story," Damon replied.

"She's hasn't been around in a couple of weeks," Stefan told us. "But she could reappear at any moment . . . and you guys should probably know that she looks like Elena."

"Exactly like Elena," Damon added. "Don't be fooled."

I looked at my siblings and wondered what we were going to do.

Should we help them?

"Why don't you let my siblings and me discuss this later," I said, walking across the room. "I want to get Bella into bed."

Oh, so would I.

Damon's thoughts had me stop dead in my tracks. Before I had anytime to think of the repercussions of Damon knowing I could read his mind, I snarled back, "I'm sure you would, pervert."

Damon stood there, glaring at me for a few seconds. His mind seemed to be on overdrive . . .

He hears my thoughts? Interesting . . .