She stirred in her sleep. Restlessly her body twisted this way and that in her bed. Her almost panicked movements wrapped her sheets tightly around her small figure and her flailing arms knocked several pillows to the ground. Nikita watched cautiously, even helplessly, from the chair he'd placed in the empty corner in her room. Olivia began to mumble something over and over, and Nick caught a couple words. No wonder she was tossing and turning. Her voice began to grow more frantic and louder.
Finally she shot up and cried, "Mom!" before she gasped, choking on suppressed tears. Olivia brought her knees to her chest and hugged them while Nick, who was already up and sitting on her bed, immediately wrapped his cold arms around her shaking shoulders.
"It's okay, Liv, I'm here." He murmured sweetly in her ear.
She seemed to almost recoil from him, but her need for comfort overpowered her want for solitude. Liv looked up at him, her green eyes pink and puffy. She sniffed a few times, preparing herself for speech.
"She… she's gone… gone…" she managed to sputter.
He simply nodded, not needing any further explanation. This had been happening a lot lately, but this, he assumed, was the last episode. She, somehow, must have known her almost invisible mother was getting into something serious. That she was getting into some sort of trouble, trouble that threatened the sad life she was leading. And Olivia had suffered inescapable nightmares that consumed her every thought while she slept, only to wake in tears.
It was the middle of August by now. The nights warm and dry, the days sunny and cheerful. It was a lovely month, although it saddened Olivia greatly that she was unable to share it with Nikita, the sunlight being a large obstacle. So, instead of them both taking walks beneath the beautiful sun, he would sit in the cool of the shade on her back porch while she relaxed and sunbathed on the lawn. It was calm, for them both. Now, they didn't even need conversation. Sure, Nikita hadn't shared everything with her and nor Olivia with him. But they knew it would all happen in due time, that every secret would be shared, every story told and every lie confessed.
A month earlier, July, it had been swelteringly hot. Olivia spent hours curled up next to Nikita, absorbing his refreshing cool temperature. During this time, he would usually tell her more and more about himself, which she greedily asked for. In return, of course, he would demand she informed him just as much of herself. On occasion, he wouldn't even ask for information and instead request a song. He would go to his stereo and give her a familiar piano instrumental or a song with lyrics; one that he loved. The two would sit on the couch together, and Olivia would sing to him. Once, he'd rested his head in her lap and closed his eyes while she sang 'Goodbye to You' by Michelle Branch, Olivia had amused herself by playing with his hair. She wound her fingers around them and made tiny little braids out of the longer pieces. It was actually a hard task, since his hair was always such a tangled mess.
By the end of the song, there were half a dozen braids in his hair. She thought it was a hysterical sight and kept giggling. Nikita enjoyed her laughter and so he left the braids where they were for the rest of the day.
On July thirty first, Olivia celebrated her seventeenth birthday. Nikita bought her a car, of course. It was a bit flashy for her personal taste, but couldn't deny the fact that it was gorgeous and that she loved it. Nick had originally planned on a silver BMW, but couldn't quite picture Liv driving it. Instead, he found a white Mazda RX8 and got all the windows tinted the darkest possible.
She became the envy of any student who could drive at her school, especially Sierra. She was still pouting about the fact that Nick had chosen Olivia over her.
For Nikita's birthday, way back in January, Olivia had no idea to what she should buy him. She finally caved and asked.
He'd shrugged. "Nothing."
"Oh come on." Olivia persisted.
"I don't need anything… so, nothing."
In the end, she simply went out one afternoon while he was hunting and bought him a chalk and charcoal set. She tried to find the most expensive one possible, wanting to give him the best she could.
He loved it, but then again, he loved anything and everything Olivia got for him. She also gave him the permission to call her 'Olive' for the rest of that day. That was probably his favorite gift.
Ever since Olivia had begun hanging around Nikita, boys in her school were a lot more interested in her. They often stared when she walked down the halls, sometimes even smiled and winked at her. This, usually, only freaked her out and made her hurry off to class. Guys had never been something necessary for her, they were just… there. Sure, she noticed them, but never chased them. Nor did she invite them to chase her.
Anyways, they wanted to know her name, were curious about her and her marital status.
They never approached her, since Nikita refused to leave her side. It wasn't until February 14th, the legendary Valentines Day, arrived, that someone gathered up enough courage.
Gregory Matthews, one of the most recognized students in her high school. He had blond hair and brown eyes, loved cars and was insanely obnoxious. He might have adapted that attitude once he'd been crowned quarterback of their national winning football team, but one could never be sure he didn't always have the self-centered way of thinking. Not to mention he had undoubtedly a talent in the flirting department and had a reputation of moving way too fast. This boy was the one who finally decided to act on the obsession almost every guy had developed: Olivia Roberts.
Nikita had been, at the time, talking to a teacher, so Liv was free. Just as she was closing her locker, he approached her. Olivia wasn't blind, she knew Greg was good looking and she couldn't help but admit that. He wasn't beautiful, the category she put Nikita under, but he was attractive. He had a good tan and a decent amount of muscle, though it almost made her giggle when she compared his strength to that of her best friend's. Plus, he dressed nicely, with a navy polo shirt and dark jeans.
"Hey, Olivia?" He greeted casually.
"Yes?" she replied with a friendly, welcoming smile. Why is he talking to me? she wondered, Since when does he socialize with nobodies…?
Greg smiled a heartbreaking smile and leaned up against the wall of lockers.
"You going out with that Nick kid?" he asked, seeming to spit Nikita's name with strong distaste.
Olivia laughed, and covered her mouth to prevent insane giggling. "Definitely not." She said, reclaiming a straight face. "We're just real close friends."
"How close?" Gregory inched a bit closer to her. She failed to notice.
"I don't know… extremely. Like best friends, siblings practically." She shrugged, ceasing to observe that he was only inches apart from her.
"Hmmm…" he pursed his lips, one of his hands finding their way to one of the belt loops on Liv's jeans. He tugged on it, bringing her a bit closer. Her cheeks burned, he grinned. She didn't protest to this, since she wasn't sure if she should.
"So, Olivia, you know the Valentine's Dance tonight?"
Unable to even whisper anything, she merely nodded.
"I was wondering, would you like to go with--" something caught his eye over her shoulder: Nikita. He was standing at the other end of the hallway, furious. He was totally jealous as far as Greg's simple mind could conclude. Of course this wasn't true, Nick was merely insanely protective, but that wasn't how he saw it. Gregory smirked. "—me?" he finished quickly, his chocolate brown eyes returning to Olivia.
She stared at him in utter disbelief. "W-well… I-I… yeah, s-sure, I guess….." she stumbled ungracefully over the words.
"Awesome." He smiled, and she could detect a small trace of a devil in that grin before his face got too close for her to tell anymore. Greg practically slammed his mouth to hers. His lips moved against hers fiercely, forcing them open, only to let his tongue continue. Olivia tried desperately to push him off, but he was much stronger than her and only smiled as he continued to push further into the embrace. Passersby stared in half disgust, half jealousy.
One of Gregory's hands started to slide up her torso. From her waist…to her stomach, tracing over her rib cage…
Out of nowhere, he was gone. All contact between the two had disappeared. Olivia opened her green eyes wide with shock to see what had happened, and saw Nikita. His lips were twitching and his eyes sharp. Dammit, he was thirsty. She could hear a low growl echoing in his chest and a hiss sliding through his teeth. He hand one of his stone cold hands tightly around Gregory Matthews' neck. The poor boy's face started turning purple.
"Nick!" Liv shouted. She didn't even bother trying to pull his arms off, knowing the effort would be useless and lost.
The whole hallways froze to turn and stare at them. Gregory's friends were freaking out and debating whether or not they should interfere.
"Nick, put him down!!" she screamed, her voice breaking on the last word. She was still slightly in shock.
Nikita finally looked at her. His face was hard and his eyes harder. For a moment, she was terrified of him. "You can't be serious!" he scoffed.
"Now!" she screeched.
Nick sighed and removed his hand from the boy's neck, letting him fall into a crumpled heap on the floor. Greg coughed and crawled away, back to his friends while Nick went to Olivia. Before he said anything to her, he suddenly remembered something and whipped around. He shouted after Gregory, "And you can forget about going to the dance with her, you perverted son of a bitch." The words were shot with such venom, everyone within hearing range quivered. He got a pathetic wheeze in reply from the cocky quarterback.
When Nick turned back around, however, Olivia was gone. He rolled his predatory grey eyes and went off to find her.
"I could have handled it myself. You're lucky he didn't die." She scolded him later, during lunch.
"No you couldn't. And it wasn't luck that prevented that freak's death." He retorted.
"Could so." She said childishly, and came very close to adding 'He's a freak? Look who's talking, bloodsucker.', but stopped herself. That might hurt his feelings. "And what right do you have to refuse his invitation on my behalf? It's my choice." She took a bite out of her hamburger.
"Could not. And, yes, I didn't have any right to do that. But it was for your own good, Liv. Besides, you make lousy choices."
"Could so. And I do not. I chose to stay friends with you, didn't I?" Olivia raised her eyebrows, sipping her lemonade.
"Nu-uh. And that's exactly my point. Lousy choices." He smirked, stirring the coffee he'd bought as a prop.
"Ugh, says you." She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.
"Yes, says I. Though it sort of was my fault, since I almost begged you to do so." He frowned, staring into his drink somewhat mournfully.
"Well, now, don't go blaming yourself. Sometime you're such a self-pitying little creature…. And could so!!"
Nikita laughed. "Okay, maybe, maybe you could have handled it yourself."
"Thank you." She mumbled, not looking at him.
And the conversation ended there. They never mentioned it again, both embarrassed by the event.
Now, he sat, rubbing her back and trying his very best to soothe her. She sobbed uncontrollably, hugging her knees tightly to chest.
"Shhh…. Liv, it was just a dream…" he kissed the top of her head, and was content with hearing her weeping starting to cease. Then the phone rang. Well, not Olivia's home phone, or even her cell. It was a completely different ring tone. Nikita stiffened slightly and was gone and back in a flash. He held a phone Olivia had never seen before. It was a cell phone, rather obviously. She guessed he'd always had it, but just rarely ever used it.
Nick flipped it open and answered with a quick and sharp, "Yes?"
Olivia strained to hear the rushed words coming from his lips. They hardly seemed to move, appearing as if all they were doing was twitching continuously.
"...what?" Nikita sounded surprised. "I can't..." mumble, mumble, "no…no…" mumbled, sigh, "Carlisle, I said no."
Carlisle? Olivia wondered, Who's that?
Nick sighed quietly one more time, "Fine… fine!" mumble, mumble, "I'll be there by tomorrow." And he closed the phone.
"Nick, what's going--"
"Where's your suitcase?" he asked quickly, interrupting.
"In the basement somewhere… why--"
"Hush for a moment, Liv." He interrupted once again, holding up one finger.
"No." Olivia refused. "Nikita, what's going on?" she demanded, using his full first name. It was something she hardly ever did.
Nikita paused, unsure, and stared at her for a long while.
"We're going to Forks." He stated flatly.
"… where?!"