Author's Note: Well, it occured to me yesterday that I've been really lacking in the A/N department, and not been giving credit where credit is due. So, that being said, major thanks and props go out to Rose and Allison, because without them, my writing would be utter crap, and I would have probably given up midway through the second chapter. These oh so talented losers can be found right here on , pennames, Permanent Rose and Team Graecisso, respectively. Read their stuff, because it's awesome.
I was breathless before I'd gotten halfway back to the house. I'd tacked an extra mile onto my run, and a dull ache burned in the back of my throat. I downed half my water bottle before my stomach lurched. I braced myself against a tree, using my left hand to keep my hair out of my face. My vision was blurred, and I wasn't sure how long it had taken for it to subside. When I finally could see straight, I found myself glancing down.
Was that blood? Without a doubt, I knew it was. I was disgusted with myself, yet I couldn't tear my eyes away. I looked at my left hand, a chunk of my hair had come out, and I was sure I hadn't pulled that hard, and my scalp didn't ache as though I had yanked it out. And now, I was terrified. I took a deep breath, trying to clear my head. Well, it wasn't that much. I convinced myself. And after the conversation I had with Edward yesterday, I knew I couldn't tell anyone, less they think this was more serious then they had originally believed. I swished my mouth with the rest of the water, and spit it out.
Once again, steady on my feet, I headed for home.
As I made the final turn up the driveway, I was pleased to see Seth's rusted F150 in our driveway, and even more pleased to see that he was leaning up against it. He crossed his arms over his chest, dragged a hand lazily through his raven black hair. He was talking animatedly with Edward, whose eyes flickered towards me, and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards.
"Get out of my head!" I hissed at him through gritted teeth.
"Sorry." He muttered. But I could tell from the smile he still wore that he wasn't the least bit sorry. When I blinked, he was gone.
"I'm glad you're back. I have a surprise for you."
My eyebrows shot up. "I don't want anything." I whispered as I blushed.
"Too bad." He responded with a wicked grin.
His smile brought a horrid thought to my mind. "Seth, it better not be anything…" what was the word I was looking for? "raunchy…" I finished in an embarrassed whisper.
Seth laughed loudly; the simple sound of it relaxed me. "Why do you care?"
"Because they'd all know!" I complained. "Stupid mind reading vampire."
Quickly, he'd spun me around, pressing my back into the truck. "Let them watch."
And he was kissing me then, his tongue toying with mine, tempting me to plunge deeper. He pleasured himself by tasting the line of my throat, pressing his lips to the pulse that hammered there. Nibbling on the sensitive flesh of my jaw until he felt the first quick helpless shudder pass through me. Then he was diving more deeply, more desperately when our mouths met again.
"Come on" he whispered taking my hand as we finally broke apart. I followed him in somewhat of a stupor into the house. Carlisle smiled at me as we darted past, and I felt my cheeks flame again.
"Ohmygod."
"Why do you even care, Paige?"
I wrinkled my nose. "It's weird to think about…the fact that my three hundred seventy-five year old father knows I was just being…well… ravaged in the front yard."
"You think in all that time he's never seen anyone being kissed? Or that he doesn't kiss your mother?"
"Gross." I muttered, jabbing my finger into his stomach. "That was a low blow kid."
He pushed open my bedroom door, saying nothing else. He'd taken the comforter off my bed, and laid it on the floor; spread an indoor picnic across it. I was instantly touched, and I felt tears well in the back of my eyes, threaten to spill over.
"What's the matter?" he asked quickly, eyes wide with concern.
"Nothing," I sniffled tightening my grip around his hand. "I know why you did this. I'm touched that you care enough."
With his sleeve, he wiped the corner of my eye. "You have no idea how much."
As we sat on the floor, I rested my head against his chest. He handed me half a sandwich, I dutifully took a bite, knowing the entire house was watching. See that, you buttinski vampires, I thought loudly. I'm eating.
"You shouldn't be doing it for them though"
"Seth, I…" what was I going to say? I want to be good enough for you? I want to measure up to them? "Forget it."
"I can't read your mind." He said easily with a soft smile. "So tell me what you're thinking."
I sighed. "I guess part of me knows I'm being stupid. But at the same time, I know I can't keep up with, well even with you without trying twice as hard to look good."
"You're right. You're being stupid."
I laughed shakily, and set the food down. The small amount I'd ingested seemed to be too much, and I felt my system revolt. I took three deep breaths, reminding myself that everyone would know. That Carlisle had such high standards of me, that I'd be disappointing him. I closed my eyes, letting Seth hold me close, wondering what was wrong with me.
Sensing the change in my demeanor, he changed the subject. "So Edward mentioned baseball…"
"Alice says it's going to rain." I rolled my eyes. "Apparently thunder imperative for vampire baseball."
He laughed, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. "I'd forgotten you hadn't seen them play. You'll enjoy it."
"You'll come?" I pleaded
"Of course. Hell, Me and Jake, we carry that team."
I felt more relived. And as if on cue, thunder rolled in the distance. I stood slowly, and held out my hand for him to take. "Then, prove it."
"Maybe I should talk to her…"
"Carlisle, I promised her I wasn't even going to tell you." Edward sighed, glancing at his father. "You must know it broke my dead heart to break my word."
"A gentleman's word can be broken for this, Edward. This is serious. I don't think you understand the grave medical implications of this illness."
Edward rolled his eyes. "I think I understand just fine. I have but two medical degrees at last count. Sorry it doesn't match up to your expertise." He said, coldly.
"That's not what I meant." He exhaled and sat down roughly. "What would you do if it was Renessme?"
He bit down on his lip. "I hardly think Nessie would do anything like that."
"And Bella?" Carlisle said, brows arching quizzically upward. "When Bella was a human, you knew she held herself in ill standards, compared to us, compared to you. If she had resorted to purging her body after every meal?"
Edward had no response. It seemed to him a perfectly feasible possibility. He shuddered. "I do understand, yes."
Carlisle nodded. "I've always considered you all to be my children, but Paige is the only one that was ever truly a child, in every sense of the word. And the only one that's breakable. I can protect her from outside influences, from the world. But even when she was five, plagued by nightmares…I couldn't protect her from herself."
"The one thing you can't prevent." Edward said eyes gloomy.
"It's like the whole Preston situation all over again. I feel powerless. I despise that. But it's worse, far worse, because I feel like to some degree, this is my fault."
"Your logic is flawed."
Carlisle sighed again. "I brought her into this mess. Literally. I am solely responsible."
"Yes, because you did it on purpose. You wanted to subject her to our absolute perfection so she would feel each and every tiny inadequacy, notice every miniscule flaw. It could not have been about saving her from a physically abusive home, then, no?"
Carlisle opened his mouth to say more, but bit back his retort when he heard Paige and Seth bounding down the stairs.
"So, Seth's doing some trash talking." I said on a laugh, but my face fell when I sensed the tension in the room. My eyes narrowed, scanned the room.
"What about?" Edward asked casually.
"Oh." I shook it off, perhaps I had overreacted. "He claims he and Jake carry you guys when you play baseball"
"Is that so?" Emmett called from the kitchen.
"You know it's true!" Jake hollered from somewhere in the depths of the house
"Game on, then pup!"
We drove to the very same clearing that Edward had taken me to the day before. Jake and Emmett continued to good naturedly berate each other, individually claiming superiority.
"It's too bad Alice can't see the outcome, because then we'd know for sure that whatever team I'm on would win."
The cars emptied quickly, and a makeshift field was created before my eyes. Carlisle, Edward, Arielle, Jake, Nessie and Rosalie formed one team, while Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Bella, and Seth made the other.
I volunteered to keep score, and climbed into a tiny tree to get a better view. Thunder cracked in the distance, clouds danced across the sky. Carlisle took, what seemed like a natural position for him, on the pitchers mound. He gave me a quick glance, a tiny wink, and threw the ball.
It was like a tiny trace of light, if that, a blur that hurtled its way toward Jasper's bat. I started to think that there was absolutely no way he'd hit it, but no sooner had the notion escaped my mind, then there was a loud cracking that sent my hands flying to cover my ears.
"Home run." I whispered on a whistle.
Bella laughed from her position on third base, and called out to me. "I said the same thing once. Just wait."
Edward had disappeared, and Jasper was rounding the bases, an indistinct mass of colour that watching made me slightly light headed. The speck of white had somehow found its way into Nessie's outstretched hands, just before Jasper touched home plate.
"Out." I called incredulous.
Emmett uttered a stream of oaths, I saw Carlisle's eyes narrow, and my uncles mouth snapped shut.
I gave myself over to the game, finding I needed to pay extremely close attention, for it seemed everyone cheated wildly. My human eyes took a fair amount of abuse, it was claimed that I had missed important plays because I just couldn't see well enough. I stood by my calls, ignoring the endless rubs. Apparently I had favored my mother, and then given Seth an easy pass. I was secretly glad they were on opposite teams, because at least then I wasn't accused of rooting for one side over the other. I was simply out to get everyone. And to my surprise, Carlisle, of all people, was the biggest cheater. He pitched a dirty game, somehow adding an insane amount of spin to the ball, forcing shorter hits. Everyone knew it, but I found it so damn funny that I couldn't seem to call him out on it.
As the final inning rolled around, I was sad to see it end, for I had enjoyed it a lot. But at the same time, perhaps from watching people travel at speeds my eyes weren't equipped to handle, I was really dizzy, and somewhat nauseous. Suddenly, my breath caught in my throat, as a chill washed over my body, blackness took me under.
It pratcially happened in slow motion. Carlisle had thrown the ball and turned to grin at Arielle, when he heard the increase in her heart rate, saw her slip off the tree branch. Paige was falling; her back arched unnaturally gracefully, her hair flying untamed around her. The drop was not a high one, but everyone was thankful that Seth had been close enough by to catch her.
"Carlisle! She's not breathing!" someone screamed.
But he was already forcing air into her lungs, trying desperately to stabilize her overworked heart.
"Damn it, try harder." Arielle muttered
Paige took a shuddering breath on her own, and everyone exhaled, relieved. Her heart was still racing, fighting the lack of strength in her tiny body.
Carlisle snarled, "It's not enough! And if I go any harder, I'll break her ribs. She's too damn fragile." He inhaled, searching for the calm, turned to Edward. "I need to get her back to the house to start a central line. It's a cardiovascular collapse." He continued to compress her chest, uttering silent prayers.
"What can I do?"
"Run back, get it set up. I have to drive because I can't carry her, I'll be too slow."
He nodded, and was gone in a flash. Carlisle lifted the child into his arms, climbed into the backseat of the Mercedes, tossed the keys to Seth.
"Drive." He ordered. And they took off for home, fast as light.