A/N: Sorry this took longer than expected. Full house around here...
Many thanks to my readers. You guys are the best. I know a lot of people say this, but it's true. Reviews absolutely make my day.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
APOV
That evening, I was leaning against my car on the treaty line. While waiting for Leah to come, I started reviewing the plan for tonight in my head.
I had managed to talk my parents and siblings into a hunting trip so I could have the house. Don't get me wrong, I want Leah to meet my family. I just don't think it needs to happen quite yet.
I would cook her dinner, and show her a small part of my family's history. After, I would take her to my favorite spot. I was nervous: I wanted tonight to be perfect.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to ponder that long. At that moment, Leah walked up from the woods. She looked stunning. Her eyes were framed with brown eyeliner, and she had the slightest hint of blush on her cheeks. She had straightened the brown parts of her hair, but curled the blonde parts. It looked stunning. My eyes drifted downward to her dress, and I think my jaw dropped a little.
The dress she was wearing hugged her body slightly, and ruffled out a little from her waist to her knees. A brown ribbon ran just below her breasts, and tied in back. Above the ribbon was white, and was spaghetti strap, which showed off her shoulder muscles perfectly. Below the ribbon, it was a light purple, white, and brown floral design. She wore a simple pair of brown converse on her feet, and I noticed her shoe laces matched the purple of the dress.
She approached me, and wrapped her arms around me, smiling and looking me in the eye. Suddenly, I felt severely insignificant in my grey halter dress and sandals. "See something you like?" She asked, smiling.
"Yes," I said, smiling right back at her. "but I told you to come dressed for a trek. I wouldn't even want to get that dress slightly dirty."
Leah grinned at me, and giggled. "You're not dressed for a trek either." She reminded me.
"Touché. Well, you're lucky I'm cooking dinner first." Her eyebrows raised in slight surprise. I giggled. "Come on, get in the car." I jerked my head toward my brother's signature silver Volvo.
LPOV
About an hour later, we were both sitting in the Cullen kitchen. Well, I was sitting. Alice was dancing around, enjoying showing off her pizza dough twirling skills. I was laughing at her, but in truth, she was really good at it and I was enjoying the show. The Cullen Kitchen was large and light colored, much like the rest of the house. The entire house was beautiful.
When we had arrived at her house, she had told me her family was out of town. I was slightly surprised at this, but not totally. Vampires do need to hunt. I know I had promised myself I would talk her into doing something else if her plans involved food, but I had decided in my head that her cooking was allowed. It was so entertaining.
She danced in a circle before throwing up the dough again, and pulled sauce and cheese out of the refrigerator while it was up in the air. When it came back down, Alice put the finishing touches on the dough, and asked "What type of pizza do you like?". I smiled.
She was in for a surprise. "I absolutely love pineapple and hamburger meat on my pizza." Most people thought that was the weirdest combination in the world. To my surprise, she pulled a few things out of the refrigerator and moments later, the pizza was in the oven. Wow, my girl was fast.
I leaned over the counter a little bit, giving Alice a very nice view. Not that I really expected her to take advantage of it, I just wanted her to see what she had. Alice glanced at me, and smiled before beginning clean up from preparation.
"So what are we going to do while the pizza is cooking?" I asked. Alice's smile grew even bigger before she responded. Her hands quickly and gracefully cleaned the bowls, knives, and other things she had used.
"I was hoping you would like to see the house? There's a great deal of history to it." She came over to me, and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I simply nodded, and we began to walk out of the room.
On the way out of the room it occurred to me. "Don't we need to set a timer?" I asked her. Alice smiled and tapped her nose. Oh.
APOV
I had decided to begin with Carlisle's study. I knew most of the history to it, and I also knew that is was one of the most beautiful rooms in the house. Even though I knew this, though, I realized it again when Leah followed me in that it must be stunning. I forgot that when I saw it almost every day. Watching Leah walk in and gasp in amazement gave me new eyes to the room, though.
She began to closely look at items, such as the books that covered the walls, and the pictures that covered the wall that didn't contain any books. Watching her, I could see the room through her eyes. I watched her search the wall of pictures and paintings for some sense of order, or meaning, but find none.
Finally, she looked at me, with questioning eyes. I opened my mouth to speak, but suddenly, I could smell the cooked pizza. I motioned for her to wait a moment, and was quickly back with a plate for her. We sat down about 5 feet in front of the wall, me facing Leah and Leah facing the wall. Then I began the explanation.
"Carlisle was born in 1664," I began. Leah's eyes widened at the date. I motioned to a picture to the left side of the wall. "His father was a pastor who led hunts against witches, werewolves, and vampires." She shivered a little at the mention of both of our species' being hunted. "His mother died giving birth to him, so Carlisle was an only child. When his father began to deteriorate, though, his father put him in charge of the hunts, to take his father's place." Leah nodded and took a bite of pizza. "Normally, the people wouldn't really be on to anything in a hunt. They would go and kill some poor citizen, and move on. One night, while he was assisting a hunt, Carlisle discovered a real vampire clan's hiding spot. He led a hunt on them, and in the process of attacking got bitten."
Leah's eyes grew wide, and she whispered, "Is that how a person gets turned into a vampire?" Oh. I thought she had known that.
I nodded. "The venom spreads, and it transforms the cells. We think the vampire had begun to feed on Carlisle, but got interrupted. Carlisle hid while transforming, staying completely silent, which couldn't have been easy. Turning is a painful process." By now, Leah had finished her pizza. "That's why he would never do this to anyone who didn't have another option. Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett were all turned as a last resort. They were all dangerously close to dying when Carlisle found them. Jasper's another entire story for another day." I winked at her. Looking out the windows of the study, I realized it was nearly dusk. "And I guess the rest of Carlisle's is, too. Come on, I want you to see something."
LPOV
As we exited the house, I noticed Alice eyeing me. Smiling, I asked "What?"
"Nothing." She said. "I was just thinking it would be a shame to ruin that dress. It's stunning."
I blushed a little bit. "What do you propose, then?" Alice obviously had a plan. Who was I to interfere?
She held out her arms. "I'll carry you."
She ran through the woods, with me in her arms. To most people, the woods would have looked like a blur. Because my eyes were used to it, though, I could see everything. The run should also have scared me. Again, I was used to it. I had no idea where she was taking me. I had never been in this section of the forest before.
Moments later, we emerged into a small clearing. Alice set me down, and covered my eyes with her hands. I felt her lean into me, and felt her cool breath on my ear. "Walk forward. I won't let you trip."
Stepping forward a couple times, I realized we must be on a rocky surface. After about ten steps, she told me to stop. When she took her hands off from over my eyes, I gasped.
I had lived in Forks and the Reservation my whole life, but I had never seen the area like this. I could see everything from this hilltop. I could see main street, the school, and even all the way to the ocean. On top of that, there was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen in my life.
Looking to my left, I could see Alice was sitting on the rocks, watching my reaction as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. I smiled, and sat down next to her. She took my hand in hers, and I leaned up against her shoulder.
We stayed like that for a long time, just watching the view and enjoying the other's company. As it grew darker, it also grew cooler, but we didn't really notice.
After a seemingly short time, a deep, loud howl broke the silence of the night. I looked up at Alice. I was caught for about the millionth time that night by her stunning beauty. It made me sad to have to leave her, but I knew that I would see her again very soon.
"That's my cue." I whispered. She looked down at me, sad but understanding. We stood, and she hugged me. We kissed for a few moments, and then she let me go.
Before I walked into the trees, I turned to Alice. She looked small, and a little sad, there in the dark. "Good night, love." I whispered before turning and running into the trees.