A/N: My midterm exam finished yesterday. Yay! So I wrote and here it is. Sorry it's a little bit shorter than the last chapter. I decided to write a chapter a little shorter and update sooner. But I don't come that soon, yeah? I will try for the next chapter. And thanks you all for your reviews, favorites, follows, and readings. I hope your days are as happy as you make me.:)


Chapter 9

Ticking of the clock could be heard. Bella swallowed not-there saliva. She'd been wondering when he would be mentioned. And now he's thrown in, she was sort of relieved, even.

But Quinn wasn't.

"Your husband? Edward? Where did he go?" She didn't like Edward already although she never met him before. Maybe it's because of the fact he made Bella unhappy. He's her husband. It's his responsibility to made her and their marriage happy.

It's Rosalie who answered the troubled teenager.

"Who knows? He said he's out, so he's out there right now. Maybe he's hunting, maybe not. I'm betting for his brooding in the shadow somewhere."

Alice added, though with much softer tone. "He's usually not here although Bella doesn't stay here and move out to the cabin. I think he want a space from Bella. He's not use to that he can't always get what he want. This house is his reminder of Bella and his happy times and his always very moody when he's here."

"Yeah. And if Eddie and Bella are in the same room, it gets so awkward and tense so you guys should better leave now." Emmett concluded. But Quinn had something to say.

"So it's because of him you don't stay here? Stay away from your family?" she asked to the youngest brunette.

"They're his family first." She shrugged. "And he's theirs, too."

"But that doesn't mean you're not our family," said the mother vampire. "You're no less of the family than Edward. You're my daughter, Bella. Do not doubt that."

"And you're my sister I never had." Emmett said seriously and everyone else nodded their head.

"Then, why don't you live here? Edward rarely lives here so he should move out and you're the one who should live here." Quinn suggested.

Carlisle blinked. "I never thought like that. It's a valid suggestion. What do you think Bella?"

"Well, I'd be very glad to live here with all of you but I don't want to force you to throw out your son or brother."

"He's our son for sure; but you're also our daughter. And the one who should live here must be the one who live here the most. Edward practically doesn't live here. I'll be happy and supportive if you decided to move back. But it's up to you, Bella, whether to move back or not," said Carlisle.

Bella glanced at her side. The blonde human nodded her head and gave her companion a reassuring smile.

"You can be with your family from now, Bella. And I'll be with you whenever you decide to stay."

Alice jumped on her toes. "Yeah, and if you said you wanted to stay here before, we would suggested Edward to move out; not you. He's always broody and seems like he doesn't enjoy our company very much anymore. You'll be far more pleasant housemate." She beamed and twirled like she couldn't suppress her excitement. She's so Brittany when she's like that.

"Your room is still same. We can make the guest bedroom Quinn's room. And when Edward arrives, we'll introduce him to Quinn and Quinn to him, and he can move out after that," said Esme. "I know you're uncomfortable with him and don't want to face him, Bella. But we shouldn't keep him out from what's going on in this family. Especially that something going on is as important as Quinn. You can introduce Quinn as your friend to him in person and I think it's the right thing to do."

Bella nodded while biting her lip. "You're right. But I'm worried about Quinn. You know his very protective and judgemental. As soon as he hears about Quinn, he'll jump at her."

The blonde gently patted Bella's forearm. "I've been encountered with very judgemental people. I can take the mental jabs. And you will protect me physically, won't you?"

"He'll have to destroy me before he lays a finger on you. I will protect you, Quinn. I promise."

"Then I'm not worried. And you shouldn't be worried, too. Okay?"

"Okay."

"And we'll all go to the Forks High tomorrow and gossip about teachers and criticize other students' clothes!" Alice painted a optimistic future to them.

But something sounded wrong to Quinn. "Uh, didn't you guys all went to the Forks High just a few years ago or something? Oh, and you all lived here at that time, too! Don't people get suspicious?"

"Ah, well," it was Emmett who spoke first. "We had a sort of war a few years ago. It was new-born vampire army who held a grudge on Edward versus us and the wolf shifters. We fought in the secluded area but people noticed. How can they not? There're too many of supernatural livings, after all. And we didn't keep quiet. So they sort of have suspicions but they chose to believe what they want to believe."

"And they decided to believe that we're all very odd human and chose to ignore all the unnatural things and keep their distance from us. And the ones who went to that school with us are all graduated and don't live here. Plus, Forks felt too dangerous to them, I guess." Rosalie finished for her husband.

"That somehow… makes sense." Quinn said, awed.

"It's too much, isn't it?" Bella chuckled but the concern was very evident in her feather-pillow-y voice. "It must be very surreal for you."

"Well, I think living normally is surreal for all so it isn't very unbelievable and overwhelming." She finished her sentence with a long tired yawn.

Bella instantly looked apologetic. "Sorry. I haven't thought about how tired you must be. And plus, you're not fully well, are you? And you have experienced so much today. You must be exhausted. As soon as the Edward business is finished, let's get you to bed."

"That's alright. I haven't noticed how tired I am, either." Quinn waved off her apology.

It's now Esme's turn to look (not very much) apologetic.

"I'm sorry girls but will you share Bella's room for tonight? I just realized we don't have any supplies to decorate or situate the guest room to Quinn's. We'll make it her room after we go shopping and buy the supplies along with her clothes. Is that okay?"

Bella nodded without any words and Quinn looked relieved a little. She didn't want to be alone or sleep alone tonight. And she felt safe only with Bella. The blonde sent her silent thanks to the mother figure vampire.

"I'll be less lonely with her so it's okay."

Bella smiled to the ground. Quinn was less lonely with her. Her presence was affecting the blonde in a good way. She felt useful. Valuable.

"Bella doesn't sleep anyway, so the small bed won't be the problem." Rosalie commented.

"Actually, we vampires all don't sleep. You know that, Blondie?" Emmett asked teasingly.

"Yeah. Bella told me about it." Quinn replied nonchalantly. Emmett pouted. "Ah, spoilsport."

Bella just stuck out her tongue to him. "Don't think about pulling her leg, Em. She has a lot of confusing and complicated things to digest without you pull a prank on her."

Emmett didn't get fazed. "Awwwee mama bear Bella graces us with her presence!" he then paused and thought for a second. "Or is it protective girlfriend? That makes more sense."

"Makes sense? That's ridiculous. I'm… she's not… I'm not her girlfriend!" Bella stuttered and Emmett grinned. It's so much fun to rile up Bella. Quinn just blinked confused because she was yawning as he had talked and didn't hear what he said.

Bella decided to just ignore him. There's not much time before her soon to be ex-husband came to ruined all the calm and peace, after all.

"Come on, Quinn. Let's go upstairs. My room's there."

Quinn said okay, and took her hand before the two went upstairs shoulder to shoulder. The rest of the family smiled at their backs. It's so long since they saw their little human acted anything else but indifferent. How much good influence the blonde teen made to their Bella wasn't easy to go unnoticed. And she brought their Bella back to them. They know it's not just about Edward being there made Bella stayed away, it's their presence made Bella somehow guilty and reminded of him, too. It seemed like the new blonde companion gave Bella courage, the final push to overcome her guilt and face her fears: fears like being rejected by her second and current family because she wouldn't be their in-law anymore and hurt their son or brother, and left alone.

"It' time for Eddie to grow up and move out so he could be independent adult, not a brooding man child who bring everybody who's around him's feeling down." Emmett commented silently as he watched the retreating forms of the two.

"Yeah, I've been so sick of him accuse us for let Bella go when in reality, it's him who made Bella left." Alice nodded her tiny spiky head with solemn look in her heart-shaped face. She's disappointed in her brother's behavior. She expected him to be more of a gentleman and treat the lady well but his pre-modern mind seemed to don't adopt that.

Rosalie just let out a long, tired sigh and Carlisle and Esme just nodded their heads. They too, agreed with their children but Edward was their son too and they couldn't just shook off the tiny lingering hope that he might be better person next time though every time they hope, he kept brought them down.

"I just hope he wouldn't make a scene tonight. That will cause too much stress and distress for all of us." The motherly vampire said dejectedly. She knew he would definitely cause a hell of a scene but a person could have a hope, didn't they?

"Well, speaking of Edward, when is he gonna arrive, Alice? Will it be soon?" Carlisle voiced out everyone's curiosity. Alice's eyes glazed over for a second while Jasper held her right hand with his both hands.

"I think his around Forks woods so it's very near but he seems like takes his time so I say, like, about an hour maybe?" she said uncertainly, but they all knew her guess was never too wrong.

"Should we tell them about this?" asked Alice.

Rosalie shook her head. "No. Let them enjoy the last hour of peace. And I think Bella's expecting Edward soon."

"You're right," Alice agreed. "And Quinn seems pretty tired. A short nap before the big encounter will do her good."

"Yeah, I think she's awesome though she looked a little worn out, she didn't seem to be intimidated by us and she didn't even blink a eye when Bells mentioned Eddie would probable try to harm her. She seems strong." Emmett confessed. And everyone nodded.

He continued. "Bella needs person like her: the strong mind one. Though she got most of her insecurities about her body and appearance, I think she still has other insecurities, like, the fear of being abandoned because she's not good enough or something."

Rosalie leaned in to her husband's chest. "We'll see how strong her mind is in about an hour. I hope she will be as we expect. Bella doesn't need another more person to disappoint her."

Carlisle nodded his head. "We'll see."

QBQBQBQBQBQB

While the others were talking downstairs, Bella was actually disappointed but with another reason. What reason, she didn't know. It probably was due to the fact that if she moved back here, she'd no longer have any privacy anymore because of the vampire senses and all that. But she expected that so that mustn't be it. Because disappointments were always following expectations. You got disappointed because something didn't meet your expectations. So what did she expect to cause a disappointment?

Quinn was now lying in her big, untouched-for-a-few-years bed to trying to get a wink of sleep before the mind reader arrives. She had half sleepwalked while they came up the stairs. How the blonde withhold that much of sleepiness in front of others baffled the brunette vampire and some sort of admiration grew on her.

Maybe the cold the blonde had had before still had an effect on her, Bella mused. The blonde said she was a cheerleader after all, and cheerleaders didn't get tired this fast. I should have kept more watchful eyes on her, the brunette chastised herself. Quinn could get sick, not like her, and the blonde needed as much energy as possible before the coming-soon event. Why can't I do anything perfect? Why am I still such a klutz even as a vampire?

Before the dark thoughts consume her, with one glance to the sleeping blonde took all the negative thoughts and feelings away. She looked so peaceful. Her entire body was relaxed against a soft white fabric and her skin gleamed under the gentle tone of night stand beside the bed. As the faint yellowy light shaded the angelic face, it looked more dramatic and like it's from the one of Leonardo da Vinci's sfumato technique used pictures. Right now, the blonde was the art of night's light; glowing softly.

Bella was captivated. She recalled the syndrome named Stendhal. Stendhal syndrome is what you feel when you first encounter with the art that effects you, overwhelms you, paralyzes you. The great writer had first felt it when he had first saw Giotto's frescoes.

The vampire felt her knees weakened. Did she just get Stendhal syndrome from a girl? A human female? She had thought Edward was like a Greek god or something with his beautiful wild bronze hair and his perfect body when she first saw him a few years ago, but not like this. Never like this. She had fangirl-ed him. She had had a crush on him.

But now, with the human's un-humanly rosy lips, elegant chin and delicious cheekbones, the brunette was lost. She didn't fangirl the blonde nor have a crush on her because she couldn't do things. She wasn't at the place where she could doing, because doing meant she had control over herself. So she couldn't do anything. The control was at the sleeping blonde's court. She held a power of the vampire's feeling without herself knowing that. The blonde made Bella felt like her stomach was on fire and every inch of her skin was itchy. She made the vampire lick her lips, looked down at the glorious curve between her collarbones. Quinn made her feel the desire. The desire to caress the smooth skin under the all the layers of the comforter and the clothes. The desire to lend a peck on that baby pink cheek light as a butterfly in spring.

Oh, how she wished to kiss her on the tip of her cute, yet stubborn nose. To trail it along side of her jaw-line, and to travel down to the fragile neck and to the palpitating purse point.

The blonde was shining apple under the predator's gaze without the guard. She was fresh, fragrant, tasteful, and would bleed red like the skin of an apple if the brunette took a bite. But she couldn't. Bite her. So she'd settle on nibbling on skin, kissing, yeah, lots and lots and lots of kisses. And…

"Edward's almost here, Bella. Get ready."

"Yeah, he'll be here within a minute."

And then like they read her mind, voices of her family called out to her broke her trance. Bella shuddered so hard she almost jumped. What the hell had she been thinking? She couldn't think like that. Not about Quinn, not about anyone. She had licked her lips as she watched the blonde sleeping. And she'd felt the desire to bite her! And kiss her! How…?

"Why — in the name of God — is everyone's head blank?!"

How could she forget about that demanding tone of his voice? Yeah, oh joy. Here came Edward.