Chapter 11: New looks…

Max's POV

I had said bye to the others and told Alice that they could go to Port Angeles in the car, whilst I'd be in the air.

"I could be a bit later than you guys," I explained. "But that's because I just want to have a little exploration of the surroundings; it's great to see landscapes like this from the air."

Agreeing, Alice said she completely understood, and that they would wait for me in the mall entrance, probably sitting down at the café immediately on the right from the entrance. I nodded, thanking them for the fact that they would wait for me. For some reason, that fact, that they were willing to cut short the allotted time for spree-ing so I could catch them up, warmed me. Like they thought I was more important than shopping, or, rather, that they wanted to enjoy the experience with me by their side.

I'll never forget when the others were going to the car, Bella made a compromise:

"Alice, can I drive?"

"Psh, no way, B! That Porsche is mine, and you definitely won't be able to rev her up like I can," Alice mocked.

Sighing, Bella gave in. "Fine, but I get to pick what we listen to on the iPod system."

"Sure thing. Just so long as it's decent."

"Why does everyone have a thing against my taste in music?"

The Cullens laughed at that. I'd have to ask them about it later. But what really made my day was the look on Edward's face after the next thing happened. The girls were all nicely seated in the wicked-looking yellow Porsche with the top down, (they can do this because it's not sunny, and because I say it's a convertible, lol) and Bella leant down to fiddle with the iPod. Suddenly, she smiled, obviously liking her choice in first song. As she replaced the iPod, a cool guitar tune came on, and we all listened to the lyrics, stunned that Bella, shy Bella, listened to something like this. Alice grinned, and the girls made their exit to the chorus lines: (Song is "Here comes trouble" by Honor (yes it's spelt that way) Society)

Here comes trouble again,

I'd better act carefully,

She knows what she's doing to me,

And she makes it look so easy,

Here comes trouble again,

My heart tells me to leave,

But a girl like that's on a different level,

Here comes trouble.

Eyes completely alight with mischief and disbelief, Edward stared open-mouthed in Bella's retreating direction. His mouth stretched wide into a gleaming, goofy grin. "Score," he muttered triumphantly.

Esme wacked him upside the head, and he complained until she pointed something relevant out:

"You want to explain what you meant by that to Angel?"

Edward stopped, rubbed the back of his head, then said, "You know what, I've just remembered I've forgotten to write up a biology experiment we did before we broke up for summer."

"Mmm…" Esme agreed, smiling. "I'm sure you have."

He walked towards the stairs, but stopped by me on the way.

"I'll leave the explaining to you for when she gets older," he whispered.

He's lucky he was so damn fast, so I didn't even get to decide to slap him before he was up the stairs, leaving a trail of chuckles.

Anyway, so I now was flying way above the forest, admiring the perfect landscape and getting lost in the deep viridian sea, and, of course, practising a few aerial tricks Fang taught us from the eagles. I was having an amazing time…apart from the niggling little gut-feeling that something was going to go wrong. I kept my guard up, looking for any Erasers/Flyboys, but I saw nothing. But maybe that was because I forgot to look on the ground, because the next moment, I was being torn from the sky by something grabbing my left wing and my T-shirt.

I cried out as both of us landed heavily on the ground, and I heard the creature grunt. Springing to my feet again, I saw the creature doing the same, so I managed to get a good look at it…and tried not to cringe in fear. It had to be at least eight feet high, and about ten feet long excluding the tail. Its muzzle was pulled back over teeth sharper than those the Erasers used to have. But there was no mistaking the shape and form of the animal; this was a wolf. And a freakin' huge one at that (what the hell had it been eating, bio-accumulated Miracle-Gro? Wow, check out the biology term).

It came at me again, its russet-coloured fur shimmering in the summer rays, and I leapt out of the way instinctively; there was no way I could fight that thing myself. But it was faster than I gave its size credit for, and it spun and pounced on me, pressing its nose right in my face and growling fiercely at me. Squirming, I attempted to heave the dustbin-lid-sized paws off my shoulders, but it was impossible, to I resorted to kicking. Thankfully I managed to hit something, which could well have been its untouchables considering the way it froze, seized up, then practically rolled off me with its legs in the air like a dead beetle. (Lol, sorry, I've got nothing against the guy who this is – I won't mention his name just in case any of you haven't figured out who it is – but I thought it was a funny image to have) I used this situation to my advantage, and leapt up again, launching myself in the air and using my super-speed to get me as far away from that place as possible.

I didn't stop or even slow down until I spotted the mall Alice had told me about. Hovering in the air for some time, I debated how I should enter the building (and no; I'm not talking about whether to calmly stroll through the doors or to smash them open with a high kick). I could go through the window in the toilets, check myself in the mirror, clean myself up, go out of the toilets through the window again, then act perfectly normal as I walk through the front doors, like I hadn't just been attacked by some genetically-modified wolf.

I followed through with my plan, and groaned at the sight in the mirror; I looked like crap. There, I thought I'd be frank. I wiped all the mud off my face and clothes as much as possible, and removed the few twigs from my hair, but there was nothing I could do about the small scratch on my right cheek. It had already dried to a thin, but deep-red and noticeable scab. I sighed in frustration, quickly thinking up a story that I was landing in the forest to check something out and didn't see a branch in the way, and then nodded. Wriggling out of the window again, I walked around the side of the mall to the front doors, where I rebuilt my façade and strode completely normally into the building.

I suppose you're expecting me to describe every tiny detail in the shopping centre, but to be honest, it was just like every other mall you've been to. It was big, bright – 'cause of the huge glass windows framing the highly-suspended ceiling – and bursting with people, probably because it was the summer holidays and kids could find nothing better to do with themselves in such a long duration of free-time. You know, like kicking the crap out of some bird-kid-icidal robots, or dumpster-diving for that night's meal.

I spotted Alice, Bella, Rosalie and Ella sitting at the café, just like Alice had said they would, at a table directly behind the flimsy barricade used at cafés; you know, the poles with the seat-belt material running near the tops, joining them up. I waved back at them once Ella pointed me out, and jogged over to them after she had brandished a cup of something that looked like hot chocolate with cream and chocolate sprinkles on the top. Okay, sure, it was summer; but sometimes it's nice to have hot chocolate when you're stressed, and I thought I qualified for that adjective after my near-mauling experience.

"Hey, guys," I greeted them. "Sorry I kept you waiting."

"Max," Ella scolded. She drew a line across her cheek. "What'd you do?" See above for the story I told them.

"Okay," I said, ignoring the suspicious glances I was receiving from Alice. "Let's go get glamorised."

We all stood up, only to be interrupted. "Um, actually, Alice…" We turned to Bella, who was looking quite sheepish, but she suddenly straightened up. "I'm going to go off on my own around here, because I want it to be a surprise to everyone."

Alice grimaced. "I don't know Bella; your record for fashion sense hasn't been great so far."

Rolling her eyes, Bella countered, "Please have a little faith in me, Alice. I'll explain everything when you see me." She paused. "Tell you what; if I don't meet your standards of amazing-ness, you and Rose can take me shopping every weekend for six months."

Both Rose's and Alice's eyebrows shot up, so I guessed Bella was not one to promise such a thing lightly. Alice looked at Bella curiously, as if trying to sense something, trying to find something wrong with her. I half-expected her to go up to Bella and start feeling her forehead and asking if she was sick. Instead, I knew that she was trying to look for a future outcome of Bella's decision. Apparently she didn't find one, as she accepted Bella's request still with the confused look on her face.

Whilst Bella went off, promising to explain everything later, when she felt it was the right time, we walked off in the opposite direction. We didn't get far, as Rose spotted something in the window of Abercrombie and Fitch, and went in to try it on. Strangely, instead of following her, like I thought we were going to do, Alice said we'd meet her outside the shop. She agreed instantly.

Once Alice and I were alone, she shuffled closer to me and said in a low voice,

"I was tracking your future through your flight to make sure you didn't meet those robot things," she explained. "But your future disappeared at one point. The others don't know, but I wanted to ask you what happened."

I sighed and told her of my acquaintance with the giant of the forest, and she didn't seem at all surprised to hear that there were huge wolves running loose in the forest she had right by her house. She seemed to freeze for a second though, and asked a puzzling question.

"What colour was the wolf?"

I frowned at her, confused. "Russet, why?"

Her jaw tensed, and I could tell she was obviously angry at something, but she refused to tell me, saying she'd let Bella explain when we told her later, when we got back to her house. There was something going on in their world that I had a feeling would impact our – mine and the flock's – world very soon. And I definitely didn't like that feeling.

Bella's POV

After asking Alice if I could go off on my own, I constantly checked around me to see if they had followed me. Call if paranoia, I call it preservation of a part of my life I didn't want them to find out from each other. I want to be the one to tell them all. Especially Edward.

Of course, I made my way immediately to the shop "Opio". I knew the kind of clothes I was looking for would be found there. What I didn't know was that something else I was unconsciously looking for would be found there too.

As I entered the shop, I heard his voice, but I guess it didn't register, because when I saw him, talking to a young woman about how her size of a certain dress would be in stock next week, I froze in the middle of the shop doorway. His hazel-coloured head bobbed up and down in agreement with the woman, and she then left, leaving him free to turn towards me, to fix his pale, pale blue eyes on my now-much-older figure, to freeze in recognition and memory.

We stood like that for a fair few minutes before he inclined his head to me in greeting, then gestured for me to follow him to the stock room of the shop. I followed him without question, my paranoia going completely out of the window, and we found a secluded spot in the dark warehouse, hidden by rows and rows of shelves and by the hum of delivery vans bringing in the next stock. He turned slowly around, eventually resting his back against the wall and staring at me again before lifting a hand to my eyes, tracing a finger directly under them.

"I'd recognise those eyes anywhere," he said, his voice soft and reminiscent. "Even after seven years."

I looked down guiltily. "I hadn't meant it to be so long, Loyal. I heard you made it out about three years ago, but I just didn't want to dig up skeletons again; you never know, with skeletons like ours, they may still be alive."

"Exactly, which is why I don't blame you," he insisted. He sighed, dropping his hand but continuing to look at my face. "You just remind me so much of him."

I shrugged, ignoring the pain in my chest when I thought of him. "He's more confident than I am." I deliberately used the abbreviation 'he's'; I wasn't sure whether I should use the present or past tense.

Loyal frowned at me, stepping closer. "Maybe now, but he wasn't before. You used to come into this shop every summer when you were with your dad, looking for both kick-ass clothes and for me, because we used to be best friends. You were the one always sticking up for me, not the other way around." He suddenly looked so sad and completely defeated. "When I got back, I heard a few people talking about you, probably from Forks High, and I got curious. So I asked them what you were like, and you know what they said, Bella? They said that Bella Swan is the shiest creature on planet Earth." He exhaled sharply and shook his head, tears threatening to spill from his memorable eyes. His figure was getting fuzzy with my own tears as memories came spilling back, which I knew he would be remembering, and which I knew would serve as justification. He let out a quiet sob and pulled me close, bending his head down to bury his face in my hair, as I muffled my cries in his black work-shirt.

Once we had both calmed down somewhat, we stood in each other's embrace, taking comfort from an old friend's company. We eventually broke apart, but we didn't go back into the shop just yet. So Loyal decided to strike up a relatively normal conversation.

"So what brings you back? To this specific shop?"

Holding up my left hand and showing him the engagement ring, I explained, "I'm going to have a new family soon, and it's the kind of close-knit family where you don't keep secrets. So I want them to find out from me, sort of like dying by my own hand."

"Please don't use that analogy," Loyal begged, flinching.

"Sorry," I replied sincerely. "Anyway," I continued, "some kids have just come into my life, and you know what? They're experiments too."

Loyal's eyes grew wide. "You're kidding! Oh, my God, you should definitely tell them; they could help you out. Maybe even be able to take you back there to go and free –" he cut off, realising that I would have thought about that already.

But I shook my head. "The youngest one is only about six. I won't ask them to go back to hell-on-earth just to…help me."

Loyal sighed again. "You always think of other people, never about yourself." He smiled slightly, then patted my shoulder. "Come on; let's go get you some new-old clothes." I smiled at him, then started following him back into "Opio". "Oh, hey," he continued, "listen to this; there's a karaoke contest in the Grand Square of the mall at lunchtime today. Except it's all about bringing what you got to the stage with your own songs. Maybe you should go along then, and give that soon-to-be family of yours an explosive intro to the new-old Bella Swan."

"You know what," I replied, "I might just do that. I haven't sung in so long, and I miss it." I grabbed Loyal's hand just before we entered back into the shop. "Loyal, are you really okay with me being engaged? I mean, I know you had a thing for me back then."

He held up his hand to stop me. "I'm okay with it, I promise. And yes, I did have a thing for you back then, and, looking like you do now and, no doubt, will when you put the clothes on, I still do have a thing for you. But life moved in its own way, and stopped me from being with you. So I didn't get the opportunity to be with you like I wanted to. But I won't interfere with your life, and if you love the guy like I know you do – don't deny it, I saw the light in your eyes when you showed me the ring – I know you will be very happy with him."

I smiled warmly at him, and hugged him again. He returned the favour and asked, "Still friends though, right? Because I still just want to spend time with you."

Smiling even wider, I looked up at him. "Best friends, like always."

We broke apart, grinning like complete fools. "Now," Loyal said. "Let's sort out that explosive-Bella look."

Hey, guys. Hopefully that chapter was cool. I kind of liked it, but don't any of you review and ask questions about what Bella's past is about, and what her history with Loyal is. It's all going to become clear later in the story. I promise. And I'll try not to keep you hanging for too long.

Fly on,

NitnatRide