Author's Note: My internet is finally back up and working so expect updates daily again.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight characters. (I'm getting really sick of putting this on every chapter. You know it by now, so this is the last chapter I'm posting it on.)
Chapter 12: Uninvited Guests
By now, the entire house had been unpacked and organized. Alice was going from room to room, making lists of everything she needed to buy in order to make the house feel like home. Or, in her words, to "make it pretty."
I dried my hair in my bathroom and smiled to myself. I had my family back. Carlisle and Esme were undoubtedly better than I could have ever expected or ever asked for. Alice was my best friend and my most trusted confidant. Emmett and Rosalie, even though my relationship with the latter was a little tense, were always looking out for me and had my best interests at heart. Jasper no longer kept a distance from me but was still quiet, yet I knew how much he cared. And Edward. I couldn't say enough about him. He was pure perfection and I loved him more than anything. And I knew that he loved me too. My life was heavenly perfection. Which usually just means that this is when things are about to go horribly wrong I thought to myself.
I looked down at the ring on my right hand as I finished brushing out my hair. No, I told myself. I wouldn't think like that. School started in a week and I was going to allow myself to be happy. I wasn't going to wait for the other shoe to drop. Instead, I was going to keep both feet on the ground.
I saw myself in the mirror. Since I had been turned, I hadn't truly looked at myself. I touched my cold, hard cheek and looked into my eyes; they were almost completely black. I had only 'eaten' a few days ago but it wasn't the sort of meal that I was used to. But besides that, I truly was beautiful. My skin was pale, but it suited me. And my hair seemed to flow the way it never had in my human life; perfectly. My cheek bones, once fairly defined, now were obvious and high instead of low and bulky. I ran my hands through my hair and backed away from the mirror and walked out of the bathroom.
My clothes were hanging in the closet in the bedroom and it took me only a few minutes to pick out my outfit. I needed to hunt before I went shopping with Alice and Edward. I grabbed a tight fitting pair of dark blue jeans and a brown v-neck blouse with golden stripes.
I felt Edward come up behind me and wrap his arms around my waist.
"Hello, love." He said, as he kissed my neck, gently swaying me back and forth.
I set my arms over his, smiling to myself and breathed in his scent. It was warm, sweet and comforting, almost intoxicating. I couldn't get enough of it. I turned around to face him, his arms still around me. I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Hello yourself." I whispered, my lips almost touching his. He leaned in to kiss me; I pulled back, teasing him. He looked at me with confused, disappointed eyes and I smiled back at him, letting him know that I was playing with him.
He leaned in again. And again I pulled back, this time allowing his lips to just barely touch mine.
He jutted his lower lip out and pouted pathetically.
"Oh, pouty. Don't pout." I said with a chuckle.
He started to let go of me, backing away and loosening his grip. I pulled him closer to me and kissed him, feeling his sadness fade. Neither of us was breathing. He began walking me towards the bed as he kissed me, rubbing my back.
I pulled away then. "No, stop." I said, smiling.
"Okay." He said, kissing my forehead.
"What did you want to do today?" he asked.
"Well we promised Alice that we'd go shopping with her so first, I need to do some hunting, then we can go."
"When did we promise Alice to go shopping? I don't remember that." He said, obviously confused.
"I guess technically I promised I would go so long as you would. And she said that you would go so I pretty much assumed that she saw you telling me you'd go. So yeah. You did promise. Sort of. Just….right….now….and not….before. If that makes any sense." I said, confusing even myself.
"Okay." He said drawing out the word. "How about we go hunting first? I know some places we can go. I'm guessing you'll like moose best seeing as it's what I like the least and that's what you tend to go towards. We'll get some penguins eventually."
I smiled up at him, grabbing my car keys.
"Nope, I'm driving this time." He said.
I wasn't arguing this time.
We got into the car and he drove for a few minutes until he ran out of road in some little known expanse of wilderness. I unbuckled my seatbelt and before I could reach for the door, it was already opened for me. I smiled at him thankfully and stepped out of the car.
He held my hand as we walked a little farther into the woods.
"Did you want to hunt together or go our separate ways this time?" he asked.
"I guess we can go separate ways. I don't want to feel like I'm putting on a show while I'm trying to eat." I said, teasing him. He was always telling me what an impressive hunter I was. Almost like precognition he had said once. I laughed at him.
"Alright then. I'll see you later. A couple of hours? Back at the car?" I nodded. "Okay. I love you, Bella." He said, putting his hand on my cheek and kissing my forehead.
"I love you too, Edward." I told him. I grabbed his chin and brought him down to look at me so that I could kiss him properly. "Bye."
An hour had passed and I had seen how right Edward was. I loved moose. There was little challenge in hunting them as they didn't run particularly fast compared to what I was used to. But they were a very angry animal. Actually getting the kill was what challenged me, and they tasted just as sweet, if not sweeter as the deer I loved so much.
I had already drunk two of them and was looking for another when I heard something moving not too far away from me. I smelled the air, trying to find out if maybe it was Edward catching up to me. But it wasn't.
But the scent was very familiar. I knew it well but couldn't quite place it. I smelled the air again; my eyes closed trying to concentrate, knowing that if I could get one good whiff, I'd know what it was. The noise stopped and I looked up. I began running in the direction of the noise, sniffing at the air as it grew in intensity. Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks.
It couldn't be who I thought it was. My eyes had to be playing tricks on me. It was impossible.
"Bella?" Jacob growled with wide eyes. His arms were shaking.
