Chapter 11

BELLAPOV

Jenna was actually a really nice person. She told me that she had taken custody of her niece and nephew after their parents died in a car accident. Sad. And, as it turns out, she was a bit of a gossip. She had a lot to talk about. But there was a positive side, it gave me depth and insight to group dynamics and relationships. Barbie might be able to use that kind of information. Usually gossips annoyed the fuck out of me, but for some reason, it wasn't as irritating with Jenna as when other people did it.

I'm thinking about you Jessica Stanley. And you, Lauren Mallory

For someone who was unaware of the supernatural, she sure noticed a whole lot of everything else. She told me that she had thought her niece's ex boyfriend was still in love with her. But there might be something going on between him and Caroline, Elena's friend. She was currently in a relationship with a "boy", Stefan, that looked rather serious, and that Matt, the ex, didn't like him, which was understandable. While at the same time Stefan's older brother, Damon, was falling in love with her, and trying to deny it. And the same brother had done something, she wasn't sure what, to Caroline. Either way, Jenna was pretty sure Caroline hated him now, so it must have been serious.

Not to mention that her other friend, Bonnie, seemed to hate both brothers for some reason. And Bonnie is dating Jeremy, her nephew.

To Jenna, it was irritating that everyone else seemed to think she was clueless about her charges lives. She did notice things.

"Seems like there's a soap opera going on around here." I laughed.

She snorted in agreement. "Tell me about it. Way, way too much drama."

She had let me in too a surprising degree. So, my response had two motives. One, I wanted to share as much as I could to reciprocate, because, planning aside, I thought we could be great friends. The second, was that if I didn't, it might make her uncomfortable and that couldn't happen. If we were, unfortunately, unable to remain friends for some reason, I wanted her to introduce me to some of the others before we parted ways.

It seemed I was in luck. Just as I was thinking this, the bell over the door chimed and, out of habit, I glanced up. And walking into the Grill were three people.

The first was a rather tall, blonde haired boy. I recognized him as Matt the ex. Hah. the next one was Caroline, the baby vamp that apparently hated Damon. The third made me feel very gleeful.

It was the doppelganger's brother himself. Jeremy Gilbert. Mwahahahahahaha. Oh crap, I'm spending too much time with Barbie. Oh well. Not a thing I'll do to change it.

Jeremy spotted Jenna and I and strolled over. His friends continued on to the bar and began ordering quite a few lunches. He looked casual but I could see the wariness he held as he looked at me. It was understandable, I mean, so many new people hanging around, trying to hurt the people that he loved.

Jenna looked up and smiled at him in welcome. "Jeremy! What are you up to?"

"Just on a lunch run, Aunt Jenna." his eyes still pinned cautiously on me, smart boy, "who's this?" He questioned.

"Oh," Jenna exclaimed, "Jeremy this is Bella, she just moved here. Bella, as you may have guessed, this is my nephew, Jeremy."

I smiled, "it's nice to meet you, Jeremy, Jenna has already told me a bit about you."

He was about to speak when Jenna interrupted, "Bella has offered to help with the dance in an effort to get to know more people here."

"That really nice of you," he said finally, "you didn't have to do that."

"Well," I smiled wryly, " I did just about knock her over, it was the least I could do, she already looked so overwhelmed."

His friends were calling him over. He turned to look at them, then looked back at us, but I could see that some of the caution had faded. That made me smile again. He returned it, it was small, but it was there. He quickly said goodbye, and ran to join his friends.

I turned to Jenna, grabbing the last of my french fries, "I like him," I told her.

Time skip

Later, after returning home, I sat on my bed and called my father to check in as he'd asked. I quickly told him about what I was doing, but I didn't tell him where I was. I didn't want certain people trying to come find me. I had been thinking lately, that Edward and I had unfinished business. And with how controlling he had been acting before I left, he might actually try to come and drag me back to Forks.

In Charlie's normal way he didn't push, he simply assured himself that I was safe and moved on.

"Bells," now he had a smile on his face. I could hear it in his voice. "You'll never guess what happened today."

"What," I asked. It had to be good, otherwise he hardly ever went into specifics.

"You know old Ronald, lives just outside of town?"

"Yeah, what about him?" Ronald was a war veteran who had just been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's.

"Today he went to the store to buy apples and ice cream, or something, when Eric and his mother, who's just broken her leg, pulled into the handicapped spot he was aiming for. That got him mad. So he pulled right up next to Eric and body checked him with the door.

"He what?" I was trying not to laugh. "Why?"

"I asked him and do you know what he said?" Little snickers were coming through the phone. He continued before I could answer and said.

"He says, people are always pullin' into those handicap spots, they get out and there's nothin' wrong with them, don't you hate that? So he should be grateful. I made an honest man out of 'im. I can't believe that lady started swingin' her crutches at me. Like that was gunna help."

"We had to take his license for that, not that he would have been able to drive for much longer anyway."

I couldn't help it. I snorted, then laughed. I was still laughing when Barbie came in and sat next to me on the bed, practically radiating mischief and happiness through our bond. When I hung up, finished with my conversation, he asked me what was so funny. I told him the story. He agreed that Ronald probably should not be driving anymore. That didn't stop him from laughing though.

I remembered my earlier concerns and asked, "Hey, Barbie, do you remember when Mother convinced you to come after me? You said she sounded familiar, do you know why?"

He frowned, thinking. "Yes I remember, I put it aside to think about later because your more important."

Awwww, he said the sweetest things to me. That deserved a kiss. But later, if I kissed him, I would get side tracked. Mission first.

I reached out to Mother and got her attention. "Mother, why did Nik feel like your voice was familiar?" I asked out loud for his benefit.

She seemed amused. "Probably because it was." She responded.

Mother had spoken to both of us so Nik could hear her, and he seemed to be thinking the same thing I was. "What?"

Confused I asked her how. She responded and while I understood, I was also amazed, I had a feeling Nik was as well. "Whenever a creature of the supernatural is changing, for instance, when werewolves and shapeshifters sleep for the first time after changing, when vampires and Cold Ones are in transition, or a witch's powers first emerge, I speak to them. I help instill the new instincts that ensure their survival."

"In the case of a witch, I run through rules or guidelines to a witch's power. In some cases I help them get a handle on controlling their abilities. The same with gifted Cold Ones. they may be mistakes, but they would wreak more havoc if their abilities were uncontrolled."

I thanked her for answering my questions and turned to Barbie.

"Why are you here?" I asked, "aren't you supposed to be hijacking a body right about now?"

He smiled. "I was getting ready when I got a phone call I thought you would find interesting." he paused, and smiled wickedly. I giggled at his expression. And finally leaned in and kissed him.

It was absolutely perfect. I loved kissing him. It was like fire running through me, filling both of us with our joy at having found each other.

Separating with difficulty, I asked, "what phone call?"

"It seems that the Volturi have noticed a rather large lack of newborn wars down in the south. They're running around like headless chickens, frantically trying to find the army that managed to decimate all five territories. They want to either incorporate it into the Volturi or find away to destroy it."

"Good luck finding an army," I laughed.

"Also, I found one Katerina Petrova lurking around, she's at the apartment with Maddox."

"Keep an eye on her," I warned, "you never know what her kind have up their sleeve. Someone could slip her vervain, and next thing you know you compel her to do something and she vanishes."

He nodded, taking my words seriously. He knew it was good advice. We decided to watch a movie until it was time for him to go. Zombieland was always a classic. And I needed Tallahassee's humor. All of a sudden I had all these worries and doubts. I had no idea how this whole body switching thing would affect our bond, I was a little concerned. I knew he could feel it, so he stayed with me as long as possible, giving me a toe curling kiss before leaving.

I fell asleep trying to convince myself it would be okay.

An: Here we are! Another chapter. . Finally. I had this ready days ago but we were doing reno's and they shut of the internet. Now, we are getting really busy at home with reno's and the end of the school year, so it might be a while, be prepared. Also, my grandfather's name was Ronald, he was a war veteran with Alzheimer's, and that scene with the door really did happen. Word for word. I put it in as tribute because he died a few weeks ago. Reviews are appreciated.