I cannot thank you all enough for all of the favorites, follows, and especially reviews! I love hearing back what you guys are thinking and what'd you'd like to see more of. So without further ado, here we go!
XXX
Nine Years Ago, Pensacola Beach, Florida
Addy and Bella played with one another on the beach, the sun beating down on their small bodies. Addy, only six years old, basked in the sunshine, her baby skin tanning already. Bella, on the other hand, at age eight, found herself squinting at the bright nuisance as it burned her skin.
"Addy, I don't want to do this anymore! It's not fun!"
Bella scooted away from their candle castle, her bottom lip jutting out. Addy looked up, her eyes wide with confusion.
"But why? We aren't done yet."
They stared at one another, deep blue on deep brown.
Both girls were stubborn as bulls, even at a young age.
"This is boring. Can't we do something fun?"
Addy bit her lip, "I'm having fun."
They stared at one another again and Bella found herself fiddling with a small shell in the sand beside her. Addy's hands continued to push sand into a mold for a tower, her eyes slowly falling back onto the project at hand.
Bella grew aggravated, her foot kicking out and hitting the sand castle. One end of it toppled down.
Addy's face dropped, her mouth falling open and her hands stopping mid-motion. Bella's eyes widened, slowly realizing what she had done.
"Bella!" Addy screeched, small tears already pooling up in her eyes.
"Addy, I didn't mean to, I-"
"You ruined it!" The tears fell down her face rapidly, her hands coming up to grab at her cheeks as a method of self-soothing.
Bella stood up, beginning towards Addy. The small blonde hopped to her feet, her eyes never leaving her destroyed castle as she scuttled backwards.
"No! You didn't like it and you ruined it!"
"It was a accident!" Bella reached out again, her hand just barely grazing Addy's wrist before she yanked it out of reach.
"Don't touch me!"
She turned on her heels and fled the scene, running towards the back deck of her home. Her mother sat at the patio set, a glass of lemonade in front of her as she chatted with Renee.
"Mommy," Addy cried, slowing as she got to the steps.
Pamela looked up, her eyes meeting her daughter with alarm.
Addy's tanned face was coated in partially dried streams of tears, new ones still threatening to fall. Her hands were dirty, sand still clinging to her damp bathing suit.
"Oh baby, what happened?" Pamela's hands reached out, Addy falling against her mother and allowing more tears to come out.
Bella hobbled up the steps just moments after, her face distraught as she met her own mother's eyes.
"Bella didn't want to play anymore and then she kicked my sandcastle down." Addy sobbed, her mother rubbing circles on her back.
Renee's eyes shot to Bella, her mouth a thin line, "Isabella Marie Swan, did you do that?"
Bella's mouth opened and closed for a few moments as she searched for the right words, Pamela mumbled quiet words of comfort into Addy's ear.
"Mom it was a accident! I didn't mean to! I didn't want to play anymore because it was boring but I didn't kick it on purpose."
Renee sighed and shared a glance with Pamela before nodding, motioning for Bella to approach her. Bella sighed but did so, finding a seat on her mother's lap.
"I'm sure you didn't mean to ruin her castle. But you still did, sweetie, and you still hurt her feelings. I think you should apologize, and offer to build a new one with her. Okay?" Renee spoke in a hushed tone, Bella leaning in to hear her.
Bella chewed on her bottom lip and nodded, sliding from her mother's lap and slowly wandering towards Addy and Pamela.
"Addy?" She touched Addy's arm, the younger girl turning with wide eyes.
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry I kicked your sandcastle. I didn't mean to."
Addy stared at her and sighed, slowly pulling herself from Pamela's grasp to stand in front of her cousin.
"Do you wanna make a new one?"
Addy pursed her lips and sighed, her right foot wiggling against the hardwood deck.
"I guess." She shrugged, a little grin forming.
Bella smiled and hugged her little cousin, Renee and Pamela smiling at their daughters as they ran back to the beach hand-in-hand.
XXX
Present Day
Addy sighed, thinking back to hers and Bella's first fight on the beach. Things were so simple: Bella apologized and they went back to normal, building back up what had been broken.
But things weren't that simple anymore.
It wouldn't be just an apology to put back together what was broken now; too much damage had been done.
It wasn't just a sandcastle this time, it was a whole foundation of trust, it was reliance, it was downright respect for one another.
It was all gone.
Following her comment in regards to bloodsuckers, she had fled to her room and slammed the door, leaving Bella in the living room with her mouth agape. She had later knocked on Addy's door, telling her to open it up and talk about things.
Bella needed to know how Addy knew about the "bloodsuckers."
No one else knew.
Right?
The following day Addy woke up bright and early, making toast for herself before changing into her running clothes and heading off. Given the fact that her world practically revolved around a pack of werewolves, she knew better than to run in the woods- opting to take a route through the center of Forks.
She couldn't bare to be in the same house as Bella when she knew she would be bombarded with questions at their next interaction. She was already dreading it.
"Addy! Hey!"
She slowed as she heard her name, turning to meet the light eyes of Mike Newton. She looked up, noting that she was directly in front of his family's shop.
"Uhm, hey, Mike." She chuckled, swiping the back of her hand across her forehead.
"So how's Bella doing?"
Addy stared at him for a minute, sighing and slowly shaking her head. She was so sick of hearing about her cousin, so sick of the constant worry that everyone had for her.
"She's fine." Addy shrugged, averting eye contact.
"Well can you let her know that I'm always there for her?"
For a moment, Addy could only stare at him. She inwardly rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, sure. Listen, I'm really sorry, but I have to go." She shook her head, releasing a deep huff of air before waving slightly and taking off running again.
She returned home shortly after, hopping upstairs to call her mother. Their talks had grown relatively awkward, though, given that the information Addy could give her was so limited.
Her and Bella didn't speak anymore and when they did, they were arguing. She couldn't tell her mother that.
Her boyfriend was a shapeshifting werewolf and fought vampires. She couldn't tell her mother that either.
Bella's ex boyfriend was among the very vampires that her own boyfriend fought. She especially couldn't tell her mother that.
XXX
"Addy! You're not going to keep avoiding me and this."
Addy grimaced and inhaled sharply, turning the corner at the top of the stairs and beelining for her room. Bella's foot came in between the door and the frame, her eyes hard with determination as she stared at her younger cousin.
"Isabella, move your foot."
Bella's eyes widened and she pushed her body further into Addy's room, Addy leaned on her door.
"Addyson, let me in."
They stared at one another again, each beginning to lose their patience even more.
"You know what? I don't need to be inside to find out why you called them bloodsuckers." Bella shrugged, holding her ground halfway through the doorway.
Addy giggled, shaking her head, "No, it's not going to work like that. You've kept me out of the loop since we got here. Now it's my turn."
"Grow up!"
"Me?! A leech dumped you and you turned useless, you grow up!"
"Don't call him that!"
"That's all he is!"
The door opened downstairs.
Both girls froze.
Charlie was home.
"Bella! Jacob's here to do homework." His voice carried up the stairs, a smirk lacing Addy's features.
"Better get going, Bells."
Bella shook her head, slowly removing her foot and going downstairs. Addy slammed the door, sighing and plopping on her bed to do her own homework.
The week passed, Friday coming along.
Addy, as per usual, found herself and Embry meandering around her house, making jokes with one another and treasuring each moment spent together.
"So where's Charlie?"
"Working on some case, I think."
"And Bella?"
Addy scoffed and shrugged, "Uncle Charlie said she's at the movies with friends, but she doesn't really have friends. I mean, she had to take mine."
Embry sighed.
He knew that Bella's newfound friendship with Jacob had negatively affected Addyson. It was Addyson who was originally friends with Jacob; they were best friends. Bella thought of Jacob as a child and couldn't find the time for him. Embry knew that she was hurt when Addyson saw how easily Jacob left her for Bella.
Embry wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer and kissing her temple tenderly, rubbing her arm.
"Jacob will be joining the pack soon anyway, he'll smarten up once he knows the truth."
Addy ignored his words, simply sighing and nestling closer to him. She didn't want Jacob's life to be ruined in order to see that her cousin was using him. She just wanted him to see it on his own and restore their friendship.
She missed Jacob.
Embry shuffled through Charlie's limited collection of movies and arose with a scary movie, tossing it into the DVD player and making his home on the couch beside Addyson.
Her body instinctively molded against his, her face reaching up to pepper his jaw with kisses. He felt his pulse race, a smile lighting up his features.
Addy was nearly asleep with her head resting upon her wolf's chest when the door opened and someone stumbled in. It didn't take a detective to know it was simply Bella tripping over the pile of shoes by the entrance.
Bella wandered into the living room, her eyes falling onto the couple on the couch with apprehension. Addy and Bella stared at one another.
"How was your movie?" Embry asked. He hated the tension that had become the norm when Addyson and Bella were around one another.
Bella shrugged, "It was fine," though her entire demeanor told a different story. She was quite shaken- her wide eyes, disheveled hair and nervous jitter being obvious tells.
A thought clicked in Embry's head.
"Was Jake there?"
Bella raised an eyebrow but nodded, her eyes falling to the floor uncomfortably.
"How was he?"
Bella squinted her eyes at Embry as he stared at her in question. Something about this wasn't right, she knew it.
"A little weird, honestly."
Embry felt a lump in his throat, "Weird?"
Bella nodded, "He felt hot. He said he just didn't feel well, so he went straight home after."
And Embry knew.
Jacob was about to phase.
His eyes snapped down to Addyson with a new light in them and then she too knew what was happening. She grinned slightly, his face mirroring hers for a moment before he stood up.
"Addyson, it's getting late, I didn't even realize the time. But I'll text you tomorrow, alright?"
She nodded and he smiled, leaning down to kiss her before he left.
The door clicked shut behind him and Bella turned her attention back to Addy, her eyebrow raising once again.
"What was up with that?"
Addy raised an eyebrow back at her, "What was up with what?"
"He just got up and left."
"We lost track of time, he doesn't want his mom to worry." Addy shrugged, turning back to the television.
"So why'd you call, him, a bloodsucker?" Bella crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the doorway. Addy never even looking in her direction.
"Because that's what he, Edward, is." She shrugged, Bella wincing at his name.
"Why would you think that?"
"I don't think it, I know it."
"You don't-"
"Isabella, just drop it, okay?" Addy clicked off the tv, turning in her seat to face Bella. "I'm not a little kid anymore, and I'm not an idiot. Edward and his family are all vampires. It's not just your little secret anymore."
Bella was taken back, her mouth opening and shutting for a moment as she searched for an answer. Her mind was spinning, how could Addy know that? It was impossible, there was no way that she could've found out, but here she was, stating it just as calm as day.
Addy got up from the couch, walking past Bella and out of the living room, leaving her there in the doorway with her mouth still slightly open.
Later that night, a rock hitting her window pulled Addy from her sleep.
It was Embry.
He inhumanly launched himself up and into her room, a smile dancing on his face as he wrapped his arms around Addyson to pull her close. She relished in his warmth, breathing in his earthy scent.
"Well?" She asked, pulling back and staring up at his handsome face.
He broke out into a smile, "Jake phased! And boy, is he wigging out." He chuckled, running a hand through his messy hair.
Addy smiled up at him for a moment, "Is he okay, though?"
"Addyson, he was born to be the chief of this tribe. It's already as easy as breathing for him."
She couldn't help but release a breath of air. She was more than relived that he was okay.
"I've gotta head back now, but I'll see you soon, okay?"
Addy nodded in response and Embry smiled again, grasping her face and kissing her sweetly before exiting through the window.
Almost another week passed and Bella was going insane.
Jacob wasn't answering her phone calls and every time she called the house, Billy would merely say that Jacob was sick and couldn't talk.
Bella sighed as she dropped the phone onto the living room table once again. Charlie looked to her with pursed lips.
"No answer again?"
She shook her head no, "Billy just keeps saying he's sick. But if he's sick, then why can't he even talk to me?"
Charlie sighed and slowly shrugged. He didn't want to see his daughter fall back into another depression.
The next day, Bella's fears became coming true. She could hear Jacob's voice in her head, speaking of how Embry became a part of Sam's gang.
She knew he had to be a part of it.
After giving Quil a ride home, her suspicions were confirmed.
Her blood was boiling as she drove home afterwards, she was thankful that Charlie was working as she stormed into the house, managing to trip over another pair of shoes along the way.
She marched upstairs and threw open the door to Addy's room, the small blonde snapping her head upwards to look at her in confusion and alarm.
"What are you doing, Bella?"
Bella shook her head, taking a step into the brightly lit room and shutting the door, Addy's eyebrows raising as she put her books down on the bed.
"What did Sam and them do to him?"
Addy rolled her eyes and stood up, "They didn't do anything to him Bella, stop being insane."
Bella chuckled and shook her head, "I'm not being insane! Quil just told me! Now what did they do to him?"
"I'm only going to say it one more time! They didn't do anything to Jacob. They're helping him."
Bella recoiled as if she had been slapped.
"Are you really defending them right now, Addy? You're so sucked into it too that you don't even see what's wrong!"
Addy felt her mouth drop open in amusement and shock, "Oh my God, Bella, you have lost it!"
"No I haven't! I know the truth now!"
"You don't know half of the truth!"
They stared at one another, eyes hard and mouths set in thin lines.
"You can't hide the truth from me." Bella shook her head, shrugging.
Addy rolled her eyes again, "Get over yourself."
They stared at one another for a moment more before Bella stormed out of the room, effectively slamming the door behind her.