A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I should be doing geometry, but I stole Bella's whip, so who's gonna make me? Kay, that's what I thought. Please review for me. I get so excited when I come home from school and see that someone likes my story.
Edward: I like it.
Me: Thank you very much.
Bella: WHO TOOK MY FRICKIN WHIP?!
Alice: Kelli did it!
Me: Alice, you traitor! Gotta run kids. See ya!
Edward: -While running away- Don't forget to review!
Bella: GET BACK HERE!
Me: -Cracks whip- Back! Back I say!
After hunting for a few hours, my family and I gathered around our campfire. Jasper played his guitar while I sang along for my family to hear. I loved spending time with my entire family; it seemed to make up for the months I spent in my room in my parents' home, afraid that if I left, I would enter a war zone.
We spent the next day like this; hanging around our tents when we weren't hunting. Late Friday afternoon, I went on a hike with the other female members of my family while the men hiked in the other direction. They all pressed for more information about Cole, but I told them they knew nothing less than me.
We returned home that evening, all well-nourished so we could be on our best behavior when Cole came over to hang out with the guys. I spent the night at the piano making many notes on many songs I was writing.
The sunrise surprised me. Had I really spent all this time writing music? I suppose so. I went to the bathroom to shower and ready myself to face my Greek god again. I emerged from the shower to find an overly-excited Alice standing in the doorway. I sighed.
"Yes, I suppose I could let you have your fun with me today," I said, walking into her room while she squealed. She only took about half an hour with me this time, but I still looked as good as any other time I let her get hold of me. My dirty-blonde hair was curled and lay on my shoulders. I had a dark eye shadow on to draw the attention away from the lavender, bruise-like spots underneath my purple eyes. Clear gloss shined on my plump, pink lips. I was dressed in a black tank top with a thin red jacket over it. I wore skinny, dark jeans and checkered Vans slip on shoes. I gave Alice a hug and thanked her before walking down the stairs to see what had been happening while I'd been with Alice. At first, I was slightly suspicious when I found no one in the house, but when I heard a loud, booming crash from the back side of the house, I knew I hadn't missed much. The boys were fighting again. I joined my parents and sisters on the porch and watched the three younger Cullen men battling each other, noisily, I might add.
"What happened this time?" I asked no one in particular.
"Apparently Jasper used his power to beat Edward at some video game, and Emmett thought it was funny. So now Edward is taking on both of them, and winning," Rosalie said, her eyes never leaving the boys. Soon, the fight settled and Edward had both the others pinned to the ground, smiling evilly.
"I win." We all laughed on the porch before everyone went inside. Jasper and Emmett went to clean up while Edward was on his way to get Cole.
"You want me to ask him about you, Ayden?" he asked teasingly.
"If you do, I'll use my gift to have you rearranging my room for three years," I replied coldly. He hissed at me, then strode through the front door and to his Volvo. I waited patiently in my room for the boys to return. I wrote in my diary and read back to some of my older entries. I laughed at the differences I'd made in only a year. I had once been so cynical and oblivious. And now I was a vampire. Oh, how the times change.
I heard the Volvo pull up and immediately shot up from my bed. I knew I couldn't just run down the stairs and act like he just happened to arrive just as I was about to go outside and walk. That would not be good at all. Instead, I went over to Edward and Bella's room and sat with her while she shopped online; she used this as an excuse to stay home from Alice, Esme, and Rosalie's shopping trip today. She rose from the computer after we had sit for about ten minutes.
"Well, I think it's time we went to see the guys." She smiled devilishly before she pulled me up from my place on the chair next to hers.
"You traitor," I mumbled under my breath. She laughed and we went down to the game room in the basement to see what the boys were up to. The sight before us sent us to the floor in fits of laughter. The boys were playing Dance Dance Revolution; although, that wasn't the best part. The current song was Slave for You by Britney Spears. Watching the boys dancing like Britney Spears, or attempting to, was nearly enough to make even a vampire cry from amusement. They all stopped what they were doing when they heard our cries of laughter.
"Jasper, you're pretty good," I said between breaths while still rolling in the floor laughing.
"Okay, ladies, that enough rofl-coptoring for you today," Edward said while helping us up. It was then I noticed that Cole was blushing a violent shade of red.
"Hey, Ayden, how are you today, other than amused?" Cole asked me, looking down.
"I'm fine, how are you?" I said, smiling confidently. He looked around nervously for a moment before answering me.
"I'm okay, but I'm better now," he said, smiling brightly at me. I wished, once again, I could blush.
"Well, I'm glad we could all help with that," I said, gesturing to my brothers and sister.
"I'm pretty sure you're a good part of the improvement; no offense, guys," he said, laughing.
"None taken; we get it," Emmett said, winking at him.
"Well, I think we're going for a walk," Bella said, grabbing my arm and leading my out of the game room. We walked out the back door and took off to the clearing that had become our new baseball field and my new getaway. We sat in the grass and looked up at the clouds in the afternoon sky for a while before she turned to me and sighed.
"Alice called just before you came to my room," she said.
"Did something bad happen?" I asked, slightly alarmed. She laughed lightly.
"No; something good, actually. She saw Cole and Lauren breaking up in the near future. She thinks he's cheating on her with you." I brightened at this new revelation.
"Well, that's…interesting," I said, trying to hide my enthusiasm. I failed; my smile eventually broke through my covered expression.
"I just thought I'd talk to you about some of the things having a relationship with a human entails, just in case." Bella was so thoughtful, and there would be no one better to help me with this.
"Distance is your friend. You'll have to be careful with kissing because of the venom in your mouth. It's also wise to spend a lot of time with him, so you can build up an immunity to his scent. I was Edward's singer and he overcame my scent after only a few months; this shouldn't be as hard as my relationship was when I was human." We talked a bit more, then realized the time was quickly passing and ran back home. I couldn't pick up his scent when I entered the house. My hopes fell as Emmett came into the room with Edward. He joined his wife to hug and kiss her while I sat on the adjacent couch with Emmett.
"When did Cole leave? And where's Jasper?" I asked, hoping I would see him appear.
"Jasper took him to get some stuff so he could spend the night," Emmett said, looking bored. I was instantly excited and suddenly remembered the game from earlier.
"So who won at DDR? I have a feeling Jasper kicked your butts." Bella laughed and Edward scoffed.
"Of course he did; Jasper's the king of DDR," Edward said, rolling his eyes.
"Sore loser," I said and he growled at me.
"Care to take this outside?" I challenged him.
"Ladies first," he said as he gestured me to the back side of the house. Bella and Emmett followed excitedly as Edward and I crouched a few feet away from each other in the yard. We circled the area for a moment before I jumped toward him. He ran at me and we were entangled in a wrestling match. Bella and Emmett cheered me on, laughing. Being a newborn had so many advantages. I beat him and walked away, leaving him sitting in the yard cross-legged, pouting. Bella ran to her husband and comforted him with the fact that I was much younger than he. I could tell she was stifling a laugh. When we went back to the family room, Jasper pulled up in his new Lexus that Edward had given him as a gift when we moved to Rochester; Edward had said he felt bad for him always having to ride in the Porsche with Alice.
The two came in and took in the site before them: Edward and I looked slightly disheveled from our fight earlier.
"Woah, what happened to the two of you?" Cole asked.
"Just a little sibling rivalry," I said, standing with Bella and walking up the stairs. As Rosalie always said, 'you must play hard to get in order to hold their interest.'
We went to my room and immediately went to the computer. We had nothing to do for the next hour or so while I played hard to get, so we edited pictures of the boys on photoshop. Each boy's head was placed on the body of his mate. We printed the pictures, made copies, and hung them all through the house. I had to hand it to Emmett, only he could look good in Rose's bikini. One of the vampire-boys must've heard us, because we heard footsteps coming from the game room. We rushed back into my room, being absolutely silent.
"What the hell is this?!" Jasper screamed from the hall. I could hear the others erupt in laughter before Emmett and Edward caught sight of themselves on their wives' bodies. Soon, only Cole's laughter could be heard.
"Shut it!" They all screamed at once. Bella and I ran into the hall to face three very upset vampires.
"Why, Bella?" Edward asked, attempting to dazzle her into an apology. She looked away quickly to avoid his mesmerizing gaze.
"We were bored…" she said innocently.
"Fine. Just take them down." The boys descended the stairs and went back to their games; Bella and I decided to follow this time. The game had switched to Guitar Hero, and Cole was succeeding. I cheered him on as he battled Emmett at The Beast and the Harlot by Avenged Sevenfold. We stayed like this until Alice, Rosalie, and Esme returned from shopping and Carlisle came home from work. Each couple broke off and spent their time together, leaving me alone with Cole. I could hear the poor boy's heart rate accelerate rapidly as we ascended the stairs to my room.
"Well, have you enjoyed your day with the elusive Cullen family?" I asked, patting the floor next to me for him to sit. His eyes caught sight of something in the back of my room and he immediately went for it. He pulled my grandfather's guitar from behind my desk. He sat next to me and began to strum it.
"I loved my day; especially since it involved you." I smiled, though it didn't touch my eyes; I felt guilty.
"What about Lauren?"
"Things aren't really working out with her. She's way too jealous of you, but then again, she has perfectly good reason to be. Her boyfriend is falling for the most beautiful girl in the school." He smiled and I felt like my heart had jumped back to life.
"Cole…can I tell you something? I feel like it's something I really need to talk to you about."
"Anything, anytime, Ayden." He put the guitar over to the side and patted his shoulder, letting me lay on him while he wrapped an arm around my cold, marble body.
"I don't know if I'm ready to be with anyone yet. My ex-boyfriend…he raped me."
"Is this guy still living?" he asked, suddenly tense and angry. I smiled at the irony.
"I don't know; I haven't seen him since February," I said. That was at least half-truthful.
"Ayden, I hope you wouldn't think I would do that, but I understand your insecurities and I want to help make you better; I want you to trust me." I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him softly; it was a very tight hug to a human. It reminded me of the hug I'd received from Emmett that day in my room in my parents' home. I pulled back to see a tear forming in the corner of his right eye.
"Cole, what's wrong?" I asked, alarmed.
"Nothing; I just can't believe anyone would want to hurt someone as amazing as you. You're far too special."
I spent the next hour explaining my life before the Cullens saved me. I had to edit slightly, of course. I wish I could count how many times he hugged me that night. When I broke down dry-sobbing into his chest, he kissed the top of my head. This made me smile and gave me more happiness than I ever thought possible. I lay my head back on his shoulder as he picked up the guitar and began playing again. He played Thunder by Boys Like Girls and I thought about how much he meant to me. Eventually, he began falling asleep on the edge of my bed. I helped him up from the floor and walked him to the guest room. He collapsed on the bed and I knew he was asleep.
I made my way downstairs to find Edward, Bella, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett sitting around playing truth or dare. Typical. I sat down with them and the girls dared me to tell them everything that happened. I told them the entire story, which led to many excited squeals, followed my mocking squeals from the boys. I sat with my brothers and sisters laughing when a knock was heard at the door. I heard Alice and Edward growl as I rose to answer it. When our guest stepped in, growls erupted from all my siblings, though they were inaudible to Cole's ears. I stood in absolute silence and shock, afraid to move.
A/N: Ooh! Who has come to visit our peaceful vampire coven?
Edward: Find out in the next episode of…
Together: The Ninth Cullen!
Me: Don't even ask about the rofl-coptor thing; that's totally an inside joke for Hannah. :D Hope you guys liked the chapter.
Edward: I know about that joke. It's funny.
Bella: Kelli, can I pwease have my whip? –Puppy eyes-
Me: -Cracks whip- Never, you fiend! –Hiss-
Edward: Ladies, be n-
Me & Bella: Shut it, Eddie!
Edward: DON'T CALL ME ED-
Me: -Cracks whip- Back to the cage!
Bella: Please review. :)