Kyle (c) Penmaster51, Shayla (c) Ha-Za-A, All Twilight Characters (c) Stephaine Meyer!

Chapter 9: Friends

Shayla's POV

The incident in the forest had been the turning point for me. No not just for me, but for us, my Kyle and me.

When I had smelled the scent washing over us, I wanted to go after it. I had been getting thirsty but secretly knew I could withstand it. However, Kyle… he was young, far younger then I and he didn't have to advantage of learning to survive on animal blood with a vegetarian family. So I knew I had to do something.

So I held onto him, not restraining him totally but only slightly, just holding him there so he could keep total control. My hands locked onto his shoulders, my body against his… it was enough to keep any man still, and I knew that. But it was only Kyle who I wanted to keep still, my Kyle.

As I gazed intently into his eyes, I had felt tension, friction amongst us. I wanted nothing more but to press my lips against his. Did he feel that as well? I had no idea but I knew that's what I wanted. I wondered if he would let me kiss him. Would it be fiery and passionate? Or, would it be just sweet and simple? I didn't care.

There was this ancient instinct buried deep inside me that wanted noting more then to keep kissing him until he got sick of it. I wanted to kiss him, hug him, touch him, and love him till the end of time.

When Kyle had mention thanking Alice for something, I knew what he meant. I would have had to thank her as well, until that damn hunter crossed our path. If I wasn't a veggie vampire, I would have slaughtered that human where he stood, thirsty or not. How dare they disturb me when I was with my love!

But when Kyle had kept still, not running away, and rested his forehead against mine, I abandoned those thoughts and held onto my Kyle. He needed me, I needed him. We needed each other.

The family came running out, obviously as a precaution thanks to Alice, but when they had located us after Jasper had first found us, they had realised there was no need. Kyle and I… we belonged together; we could control one another and help each other. It was like… like we had been created for one another. I just wondered why I had to go through so much pain to get him.

So here we were now, watching another movie. Emmett lost the paper-scissors-rock match against Rosalie, so we were watching a romantic comedy, instead of the blood and gore type action films that the boys wanted to watch.

At first, Kyle and I had been sitting away from each other on the couch, slightly apart, not even touching one another, as I laid down and he sat up. But then I shifted closer, only by an inch to see it I could be that close to him. I wanted him to touch him, to feel his cool, smooth granite skin against mine. I wanted him to kiss me and hug me. I wanted him to hold me.

And then, when I was sure that he wasn't quite looking, I sat up and leant against his shoulder. His gaze flicked down to mine and I smirked at him cheekily.

He chuckled quietly as the family ignored us, and stared at the wide-screen plasma on the wall as he leant against the arm, bringing me with him. I snuggled into him, smiling shyly as he looked down at me. Something soft touched my hair as I turned back to the TV (his lips perhaps), as I felt his icy, yet warm breath tickle my ear and the back of my neck, sending non-existent goosebumps to rise up.

His hand was softly rubbing my right arm, lingering longer on the scars, before he entwined my fingers with his, resting his huge hand over the top of mine as I rested them both on his knee.

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't have experienced true love before I met Kyle like I had thought because this was true love. What Kyle and I had was love. Adrian and Peter… those were just relationships built on mistrust and lust. I was ashamed that I had even allowed myself to get involved with them, even to try and consider them as my mates. And more so that I had considered marry the scum bag I had killed just hours ago.

The movie kept on playing until about hallway through when something happened - my phone went off in my pocket.

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na,
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, naI guess I just lost my husband
I don't know where he went
So I'm gonna spend my money
I'm not gonna pay his rent… (Nope!)

If I could blush, I would have. As soon as Pink's So What began to blare from my phone, everyone stared. I sat up and pulled my cell from my pocket and flicked it open, ignoring everyone's stares. How I could have laughed at my choice of song.

"Hello?" I hadn't even bothered to see who it was.

"Shayla, soy yo, Maddy," the other end answered in Spanish. Shayla, it's me, Maddy.

I sat up a little straighter and walked out of the room and out into the backyard, to get some privacy. I understood Spanish and Maddy only talked to me in it if she didn't know how to explain something.

"Mads? ¿Por qué diablos me estás llamando?" Mads? Why the hell are you calling me? I stopped at the edge of the river and stared out across the opposite bank.

She sighed sadly. "Porque, la hermana, nosotros debemos hablar." Because, sister, we need to talk.

"¡Sí hacemos, usted... maldito, Maddy, usted totalmente me cabrea a veces! ¿Por qué el infierno le hizo... aww, sabe qué? Olvídeselo." Yeah we do, you... goddamn it, Maddy, you totally piss me off sometimes! Why the hell did you... aww, you know what? Forget it. I took the moment to pause from my rant and to breathe before I continued on.

"¡Yo no pienso que puedo pararme aún hablar con usted sabe, después de que usted lo que usted hiciera a mí! ¡Y no justo usted, Matt y Teo y el resto de la tripulación también!" I don't think I can even stand to talk to you know, after you what you did to me! And not just you, Matt and Theo and the rest of the crew too!

"Permítame explicar apropiadamente chica, yo debo disculparse la manera correcta de explicar," she answered back. Let me explain properly girl, I need to apologise the right way. To explain.

I snarled quietly. "Si, la mierda que haces!" Yes, the fuck you do!

"No sé cómo ni por donde empezar..." I don't know how or where to begin…

"Trate de comenzar aquí, y ahora!" Try starting here, and now!

"Shayla, cómo combate esto? Hazme un favor, y dar la vuelta." Shayla, how about this? Do me a favour, and turn around.

I froze, glaring at the phone, before I turned slowly and looked behind me in the direction of the house.

And there stood my former friend; she too was frozen as she stared at me in shock, her cell phone forgotten in her hand as mine slipped back into my pocket.

"Mads?" I asked confused. "What the hell are you doing here?"

She came towards me, her nervousness practically yelling out at me, before she stopped a few feet away.

We gazed each other for a few seconds before my gaze turned into a glare. Rumbling growls echoed from my chest just as more vampires appeared behind Maddy. There was Theo and Tiff, Corey and Jessie and finally, Maddy's mate, Matt. They paused and stood, slightly cluttered together, not at all defensive but wary. Corey and Tiff, they looked like they were the only ones that looked happy to see me, as they were grinning madly. I smiled at them in turn before I grimaced at the rest of them.

Yes, I was angry at them. Or, more correctly, completely and utterly pissed off at them. They had defended my family from the Volturi but what did they do a few months later? Joined them, and had not spoken to me since. Where were they when I got engaged? Where were they when I had my heartbroken? Yeah that's right, in Italy!

At least little Corey and Tiffany had the decency to come back for a moment, and I was grateful that they helped me out with my struggles.

"Shayla…" Matt's whisper interrupted my internal rant. His face was of grief and suffering when I responded to his words with a guttural snarl.

I turned away from them and climbed up the nearest tree, before I leapt onto a giant fallen log, one that Emmett had knocked over a few days beforehand. It felt better to be out of striking distance, and to be able to feel bigger then them. I turned my back on them as I counted to ten, calming myself. I counted to ten again, and then again, before I counted up to ten at least five times. I was calm now, or at least, I hoped I was.

I turned to my former friends. "Guys... how could you do that to me? I thought you were my friends! You helped us defend my niece from them!" I glared some more at them. "Like c'mon! You totally burned me out and not just me, my family too! I thought I meant more to you then that."

"But Shayla, we had a good reason to! It wasn't a choice!" Maddy cried out to me, as she stepped closer to the trunk I stood on, much taller then the rest of them.

I must have looked probably cocky to them, bitchy even. That's what I felt like then, my emotions. Bitchy, angry, disappointed, upset even…

My mood was wild because I was thirsty, I knew that much. I bit my tongue as they waited a response from me. You couldn't say what I wanted to say, these guys might have made me angry but heck, I still loved them to pieces.

I glanced towards the house as well. The only person I could see was Kyle, my Kyle, at the back window watching us. We gazed at each other for a few moments, as I analyzed his tense stature.

He looked wary, protective, just like Carlisle as he came towards Kyle and said something quietly, slightly muffled by the glass wall, and just a hum to my ears. Kyle shot a tortured last look at me before he exited the room.

"Whatever you guys, whatever," I shot back at my friends. "I would listen now but I'm thirsty. Good bye."

And with those words I leapt off the log to sprint into the woods for a long and overdue hunt.

Kyle's POV

"Just let them work this out Kyle." Carlisle had whispered to me. Then he led me away from the window, like a child having his eyes covered and dragged out of the room when a bloody part came on in a movie. I shot Shay a pained look; Carlisle gentle hand felt like a digging claw then was dragging me away from the light at the end of the tunnel, the bliss and happiness I wanted (Shayla) and into something dark and unknown (err…my family, I guess) that I didn't want to face.

It angered me. It frustrated me. It. Pissed. Me. Off.

Let them work this out; that's all I've been hearing for my life! The lawyers said that when my parents died…my friends told me that when I was waiting for things between Damon, my once best friend and I assume still human, and I to cool off…let them work it out.

I stood frozen to the spot of the room, trying to control my breathing and keep my emotions calm, the look on Shayla before she left from clouding my first impression of these new people. New scents, they smelled of the Volturi. Edward told me the whole story about Nessie and them, the whole bunch of vampires, shape-shifters, and the black cloaked Volturi and so on.

Failure. My impression of them was already clouded and the clouds were fluffy marshmallow ones ether. They were goddamn angry ones, the dark thunderstorm clouds. Jasper's wave of calm had an effect on me; I had enough strength not to rip their faces off, one by one, when they walked in warily.

A fairly big coven; besides the Volturi or the Denalis up in Alaska, they would definitely be a threat if we started to fight. A couple led the way. Maddy, I heard Shay cal her, this model-like and chocolate hair female; she has the air of compassion around her. She could be a fair opponent up against Rosalie by looks. Her mate stands near her, protective and wary. The male is at least twenty-two; that's the highest I'll go. He has dark hair is like dark chocolate, more mysterious than Maddy's light, milk chocolcate but perhaps sweeter. But far more dangerous.

There was another male. Short, blonde hair with hints of other colors; I wondered if vampires could dye their hair. He looks about eighteen, give or take a year; he's lean and muscular. A female next to him was Tiff from before; raven black hair reached her shoulders. Tall and lean seemed to fit her perfectly. Then two twins or very close looking mates. I recognized Corey from earlier; he and his twin appeared both thirteen years old.

I growled, letting it gather up in my chest and added a bit of Emmett in there. Their eyes leapt up to my face in a jolt of surprise. They didn't know me. I came after Shayla let, after the Volturi finally left the Cullens alone for now. I was new. I was a new smell; my smell was mingled with Shay's and my own.

Edward spoke up quickly, probably in hopes to ease the tension building up. "Maddy, Matt," Maddy's dark haired mate, "Theo and Tiffany," the blonde haired guy and Tiff, "Jessie and Corey," the female twin and Corey, "this is Kyle…" He hesitated to say the last part, Shay's mate, so he ended it there.

Realization crossed their face.

"Where's Peter…?" asked Maddy. I growled even more, my hand gripping the couch's side to keep myself stable and rooted to the spot. Edward quietly explained, Emmett blurted in now and then. I stood there, glaring at me.

"We didn't know…"

"That's because, you inconsiderate assess, you were with the Volturi. God, I don't even know you guys and you've already got me wanting to rip your throats out!" I snarled the last words, crouching lower and into a more offensive and aggressive position.

Carlisle and Jasper each shot me their own calm-down Kyle looks, Jasper crashing a wave of soothing emotions on everyone. Oh, Jasper better watch whose emotions he messes with…

My thoughts started to turn red. Red like blood we no longer bled anymore. I felt dangerous, dark and murderous. I didn't know these people; I could kill them without a second thought or reason. But something registered in my head. First, that probably wouldn't go well with the rest of the family. Second, that'll probably piss off the Volturi. Third, these are Shay's… I made myself think it. These are her friends. It would hurt Shay if I hurt her friends. It would hurt Shay…

I repeated that over and over in my head. But my thoughts had no affect on her friends; my words angered them (I secretly enjoyed that of course).

"Wanna say that again?" snarled Theo.

"Sure. You're. A. Bunch. As-"

"People, we're all civilized here," Carlisle warned. I curled my lip but refrained from moving closer. Carlisle was not only my father at the moment; he was my coven leader as well.

"We had no choice Carlisle! You know that as well as we do and Shay does," Maddy said.

I grunted, disbelieving them. Jasper was not only one of my closest brothers, but also my manners mentor. He shot me another look, more of a glare than anything and I started to saw my lip, trying to stop myself from any other noise making.

"So…" Everyone stared at me and I felt myself shrink. But I persevered and continued on but immediately changed what I was going to say. "Where'd Shay go?" And without me? The thought stung like a nasty wasp sting- how did I remember this complete random crap?

"Hunting. She was getting a bit…err, angry," Corey answered.

Ah yes. Shay got a wee bit moody when she was thirsty. I grinned silently to myself, escaping reality for a moment before returning. "All right-y then." I looked at all of them and headed for the door.

That got the others, her friends, curious. "Are you following her?" It must've been taboo or something like that, to follow the moody mate of mine and I turned around, smiling still.

Calling Shay my mate and mine was like the thrill of falling in love with her all over again. And again. Beautiful words for such a beautiful, independent vampire girl.

"Yes I am following my mate to make sure she's okay." Screw them. I'll only like them when they apologize and maybe…Shayla apologizes. The Theo and Matt exchanged looks (Tiff and Corey seemed unsurprised; they must've already guessed) and I growled, realizing they could have powers I didn't know about and I wondered what passed through their thoughts.

Maddy nodded, as if signaling for me to go. I snorted and cracked my neck, a display equal to kicking or spitting in her direction. Screw her. Where's Shay? I got grumpy; I knew that. I was like that crazy old uncle in every book the main character or minor character has but no one has in real life. I could be fun, exciting or sensitive and wise…also grumpy and partially drunk, Shay being my beautiful wine.

Matt growled at me, taking a threatening step forward. I leapt off the porch and landed nosily on the ground. I flaunted my walk- no; I strutted across the lawn like I owned the place. Just to push their buttons. I heard the annoyed mumbling and hisses from them.

Aren't we going to have wonderful company? I followed Shay's trail, memories of when I first tracked her flooding back to me. There was her scent there! And again! Her wonderful scent was everywhere if I sniffed hard enough. I soon found her sitting next to a drained animal.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise at deer lying next to her. Eddie-boy (I wasn't in a good mood now and I reverted to calling him that out of the sheer joy it gave me to see him irritated) had told me it was her least favorite animal. She must've been very, very thirsty to divert to the…lower-class blood.

"How you doing?" I whispered, plopping down next to her but at an arm's length away.

She sighed, I could see she was pulling on her best poker face, and turned to look at me. Her face was supposed to be like a blank sheet of paper but I saw through the disguise. I laughed, starting to claw out grass and through the little blades into the air.

"I annoyed the hell out of them, you know that?"

She tried not to snicker. She pulled up her legs and tucked her head into her knees, frozen in place. I resisted the urge to poke her; I guess I was really in one of my annoying, pestering moods.

"Yeah, I don't think I gave them a very good first impression of myself. I was like a snotty little kid," but you were like that when you were a human kid, I thought glumly; here comes the depressed mood now, "and practically flipped them off." I laughed half-heartedly. "So…if you ever need me to kill them, you don't have to ask twice."

"They're part of the Volturi because they had no choice. They didn't chose that Kyle," she whispered, partially to herself and the other half to me. I stopped moving, stopped breathing and listened only.

"They're still my friends. I would have to kill you," I wondered if it hurt her to say those words, even playfully because she smirked; I saw her lips tug upwards from her knees, "then. And hopefully save them."

"Gee, thanks. Love is great from this family," I muttered. She laughed this time and turned to look at me.

"You're part of this crazy family too, deal with it." She eyed my still new-looking Cullen bracelet on my wrist. I twirled it and then cooed, "Oh yes! I love, love, love my dear family of Carlisle," I reached for her and she giggled; Shayla Cullen giggled and started to edge out of the way, "and Esme!"

My fingertips brushed her skin and I felt (I admitted also) the sexual tension, the warm friction that flashed from my finger to her thigh. "Alice." I continued and I was about to pull her to me when she slipped from my grasp.

She darted up, smiling and challenging me the same time. I smirked, cocky and confident and completely over my depressed moods. I still have newborn mood swings.

"And let's not forget Jasper!" She took off and I raced after, laughing and continued on telling her how much I loved my family.

"And Eddie-boy," I said that extra loud. "Bella and Nessie." She was running slowly and I easily used that to my advantage. I started to gain ground on her. "Rosalie." I was almost within reach; I grinned and leapt at her. "Emmett and most of all…"

We rolled down a hill, clutching each other's clothing as we tumbled. I was in practical hysterics when we reached the bottom and was bottled over my stomach, laughing. Why? I really don't know… But it got Shay to laugh and so we laughed. I grabbed her and pulled her to me. She molded to the awkward shape my body was in like it was completely and totally natural and stared at me.

I leaned in closely and felt like teasing her. I knew if she had a beating heart right now, it would skip a beat or at least, accelerate. She was thinking what I was thinking and what I wanted to do…but again, not today. I could feel the urge to make her mine, my own and only mine, right there and then. To feel her skin against mine, pure in it's beauty and her mouth pressed up against mine. The urge was almost as worse as thirst, especially when I was so close. I let my cool breath pool over her face and let her drink it in as I spoke.

"And most of all, my mate… I love you, Shayla Cullen." I exhaled again and then pulled back.

"I love you too, Kyle," she said with a sigh. The disappointment was clear on her face. That sent me into a fit of laughter.

"You're so…odd, Shay." I said, calming myself.

"That's coming from the weird, mood-swinging," she caught onto that I suppose, "Irish vampire holding me like I was going to blow away!" She smiled at me; it seemed to brighten the whole world, not just my own.

"Oh, you forgot incredibly handsome and with a beautiful voice too!" I crowed. She smacked my arm and wiggled free, jumping up.

"What now?" she asked.

Uh… I didn't get that far. "Why not some more hunting?" That's when my cell phone rang. I pulled it out, barely remembering I had one and wondering why it wasn't broken and looked at the caller I.D. Alice. Hmm…that could only mean one thing.

"Uh, hello? Alice what is it?"

"Is Shay with you?" she whispered. Urgency and excitement was very detectable in her voice; it's like she was holding in a happy squeal of some sort.

"Duh." I laughed as I rolled up and stepped away from her. She dramatically pouted before I saw her face concentrate on listening in on my conversation. I snickered, pulling my face into my famous goofy smile.

"Oh the eaves-dropping she-vampire is here, all right!" I teased and she stuck out her tongue. I chuckled and turned my attention back to Alice.

"Well…" Then she whispered, very, very quietly. Shay tried to get closer but I pushed her off, smiling at her.

"Watch it Kyle! Tell me what is she saying! Please!" I shook my head and kept her at an arm's distance away.

"Don't be such a nosy Nelly," I said, quoting my aunt and ruffled her hair. She let out a frustrated hiss as I let her go and she stood back.

I listened; I became interested in very quickly. A birthday party? For Shayla? By her Volturi Friends… hmmm. This could be interesting. I thanked Alice and clicked goodbye. I slipped the cell into my pocket, sat down on the forest floor cross-legged and patted the ground beside me.

Shay huffed stubbornly and said, "What was that all about?" I smirked and shook my head. I showed her I wasn't going to say anything about the subject and pressed my lips defiantly together. Her eyes lingered on them a bit longer than needed and I felt another smile engulf my face. She looked away for a second before curiosity pulled at her again.

"Not going to respond, eh?" she asked and I gave my goofy grin.

"You betcha!"