Fun fact. I don't know if any of you watch Degrassi: The Next Generation, but I have always pictured Leah as the actress who plays Alex (Deanna Casaluce, if you want to look her up) rather than Julia Jones, the actress who actually portrays her in the movies. No disrespect intended toward Ms. Jones. Just thought I'd share a quick weird insight with you guys. =)
I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.
Chapter Twenty-One - Complication
I settled into a comfortable, if not quite happy pattern over the next few days. Leah was still a firecracker, but she was at least trying to be a little nicer to me. She and Seth tried to keep me company for at least an hour or so apiece each day, and Nessie would drop by after school, always with another armload of food. After a couple of days, I had to plead with the Clearwaters to help me eat it all. I didn't need to ask twice. Just when it started to seem like we might be able to make a dent in the food supply, Esme redoubled her efforts, sending Nessie over with twice as many plastic containers.
Seth taught me how to shave, which turned out to be just as dangerous with a modern razor as it was with the old-fashioned straight razors I had used in my day. Nessie was furious with me the first time. I had shaved only a couple of hours before she dropped by after school and she could still smell the fresh blood, which she insisted smelled delicious. After that, I had taken to shaving shortly after she left so that I'd be a little more healed before she came back again. For some reason, Leah found this necessity to be endlessly entertaining. She would stand behind me, making faces and heckling me every night while I tried to shave. In her own way, I supposed she was probably helping me. It forced me to focus harder on what I was doing.
As it turned out, Bella and Edward had given Nessie their blessing to go on a date with Josh Weber. It had been a difficult battle for her, but they had eventually relented, on two conditions. First, the pair should bring at least two other friends. Second, she would have to let the group meet Charlie, who was supposedly her guardian, before going out. Josh had been very enthusiastic and understanding about the conditions, and he had wasted no time in rounding up his brother and a friend of theirs to go along. Apparently, Charlie had grudgingly approved of the boy as well. I wasn't surprised; the Webers were good people through-and-through. The following day, Nessie gushed about how much fun she'd had and how much she was looking forward to seeing Josh again that weekend.
I called home every day too, to update Esme on my food preferences and speak to my brothers and sisters. Bella could never stop apologizing to me, no matter how many times I told her that I understood and that it wasn't her fault. She had deliberately swapped cars with Nessie for a few days so that she could become accustomed to my scent in the Rabbit, and she assured me that she would get over things soon. Edward had been coaching her on how to get past the temptation, and she had developed a newfound respect for his ability to be around her and to kiss her when he had been this drawn to her scent.
The only one who was able to give me any information about Rosalie was Alice. Rose still hadn't returned home, and Alice said she still saw her living in the woods somewhere. She assured me that Rosalie looked to be fine, physically at least, and that she would let me know as soon as she saw her make a decision. Nevertheless, I worried about Rose constantly. Alice couldn't comment specifically on her mental state. When I would press her further about whether Rose looked happy, she would suddenly find some excuse to pass the phone off to Jasper or Esme. That didn't seem to me like a good sign.
If only I could find it in my heart to give her what she truly wanted, maybe everything could be all right. Still, no matter what she'd done and what had happened to me, I couldn't force myself to stop loving her. She was my soulmate, if I still had a soul. I'd never given a lot of thought to that particular topic, but I had certainly heard Carlisle and Edward debate it enough over the years to understand the controversy. Now, in the face of knowing that I would die sometime in the next few decades, I began to really wonder.
Could there ever be an afterlife for me? I'd lived as a vampire for eighty years. I'd killed a handful of humans, although I'd never set out to do it. They had all been "slip-ups." Nevertheless, I'd done it. I'd taken human lives. Surely that made me one of the hellbound, even if being a vampire didn't. I tried to put that thought out of my mind whenever it reared its head. I had plenty of time to worry about things like that, after all. For now, I should focus on more immediate concerns. The trouble was, I didn't really know what those concerns were.
I longed to be a productive member of society in some way, now that I no longer had to remain on the fringes of society, lurking in the shadows and pretending to be something I wasn't. Unfortunately, getting a job or going to college weren't really options for me until we could be certain that I didn't need the protection of the pack. No one could be certain of that fact until Aro's fate was decided. If the Volturi tracked him down, they would probably find out about me too. We had no idea whether or not Demetri would be able to track Aro as a human. Alice's visions hadn't worked on him until she'd learned that he was human. Chelsea's ties, on the other hand, seemed to hold up perfectly fine, as evidenced by Eleazar's continued concern for him. It seemed as if it was a toss-up whether Demetri would be able to track him or not.
Alice had been keeping an eye on Demetri in her visions, but thus far, he hadn't even been trying to track Aro. The entire guard had been busy trying to compensate for the loss of their de facto leader. Many fights had erupted over who should take Aro's place as the third brother of the coven, but no decisions had been made. Alice kept getting flashes of different vampires occupying the third seat among the Volturi, or of no one occupying it at all. Until a decision was made, the entire guard was under strict orders to remain in Volterra. At this point, no one knew of Aro's disappearance, with the exception of my family, and the Volturi certainly didn't know about that specific leak. They planned to keep it that way until the new leadership structure had been determined.
In other words, the only thing I could do at the moment was wait and see.
Waiting and seeing had never been my style. Waiting and seeing was boring. I wanted to do something, anything. Unfortunately, even once Alice knew what was coming, I would still be forced to sit on the sidelines and hear about the battle after the fact. I wasn't accustomed to being rendered useless, nor to feeling helpless.
In the absence of anything else productive to do, I had taken to keeping the Clearwaters' house clean. Leah had corrected my initial efforts, but once I was doing things up to her standards, she seemed pretty content with the arrangement. It gave her and Seth more time to sleep, at least. They still ran patrols every day, after all. It was harder work than I'd expected it to be, but at least I felt like I was doing something. I definitely didn't want to make a nuisance of myself like Aro had in the beginning.
Friday afternoon when Nessie dropped by, she talked excitedly about her plans with Josh that night. Bella and Edward wanted to meet the boy now that Nessie was going on her second date with him, and the two were going to be alone in Port Angeles. It was easy enough to explain: Bella was supposedly Nessie's cousin, after all, and it wasn't exactly uncommon knowledge in Forks that she had married Edward and moved in with the Cullens. As far as Josh ever needed to know, he was meeting Nessie's extended family. The biggest concern was the fact that she did, after all, bear a resemblance to Edward, but with a little luck, perhaps Josh wouldn't notice or would write it off as a coincidence.
"You have to be there, Emmett. You just have to!" Nessie pleaded.
"I don't know, Ness. I don't want to cause Bella any pain or anything."
"Ask Alice!" she begged.
"Alice won't be able to see if you're there," I reminded her.
"I've decided to stay on the opposite end of the room from Bella and stand very, very still," Nessie promised, scrunching her eyes shut. "There, my mind is made up, it's not going to change. Alice should be able to see around me as long as I commit to staying away from my mother. Now call and ask her!"
No sooner had the words left Nessie's mouth than my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my pocket and read the screen.
Bella will be fine. Edward will be helping her. He won't let anything happen to you, and neither will any of the rest of us. I already told Esme you're coming. You can't disappoint her. See you soon! Love you!
"Alice," I grumbled between my teeth. "Fine," I relented, not wanting to disappoint my mother. "I'll go with you. I don't know how I'm supposed to get home afterward though. Jacob had to order a part for my Jeep. He says he's sure it will be finished this weekend, but I've got no other choice than to ride with you to get there."
"Home from where?" Leah burst in the door.
"You're home early," I remarked.
Leah shrugged. "It's Friday. Sometimes they let us out early. Anyway, home from where?"
"Going with Nessie to meet her, um, friend." Nessie hadn't yet broken the news to Jacob. I told her that I was going to tell him myself if she didn't say something to him in the next week or so, but I wanted to give her time to find the best way to let him know. Considering that their relationship had yet to change to anything other than a close friendship, it wasn't precisely a betrayal, but he would still probably take the news pretty hard. Hearing it from Leah was definitely the worst way I could imagine for him to learn of it though, so I decided it was best to keep the details to myself.
"Where?" Leah demanded. Nessie rolled her eyes, but I knew that Leah was just trying to make sure I was all right.
"To my family's house," I replied calmly.
"What?" Leah shrieked. "You can't go there! Bella will kill you!"
"She won't," I assured her. "Alice said it will be fine. I'm just trying to figure out how to get home."
"If you're so intent on going, I'm going with you," Leah announced. Well, it actually wasn't such a bad plan. At least I'd have a ride home.
My phone buzzed again.
Tonight just disappeared. Do you know anything about that?
I sighed, sending Alice a return text. Leah is coming. She wants to keep an eye on me. Probably on Josh too.
I didn't bother putting my phone away. I just held it in my hand until it buzzed again a few seconds later.
That explains it. Well, I can see Bella tomorrow, and her eyes are still gold.
That would have to do. Nessie squealed with delight, throwing her arms around my neck. She grabbed my arm excitedly and dragged me outside into her car before I had time to react.
"I'll be right behind you," Leah promised, climbing onto her motorcycle. Apparently, she'd taken a spin on Jacob's motorcycle a few times and decided that she needed one of her own. It suited her, I decided. She grabbed up the rarely-used helmet and placed it onto her head. She wasn't likely to sustain serious injuries in the event of a crash, but I would need the helmet for the return trip. I shuddered slightly at the thought of the trip back. I didn't have a problem with motorcycles. I had a problem with riding on the back. I knew Leah would slug me if she had even the faintest idea that I felt that way, so I resolved to keep my mouth shut on that particular point.
The trip to my family's house was uneventful. Nessie and I made small talk, and I reminded her that she needed to tell Jacob about Josh soon. She promised that she would tell him this weekend, which satisfied me. Kid had a right to know.
When we arrived, there was an unfamiliar car out front. Looked like Josh had beaten us. Nessie sprinted out of the car at the top speed that would have been remotely believable for a human girl and burst into the house. I trailed a short distance behind her, lingering outside and chuckling to myself at her display of nerves. I heard Leah's motorcycle pull up a second later. I waited patiently for Leah, knowing she would tear my head off if I went inside without my wolf escort.
"Emmett!" Alice pounced on me before I was even entirely through the door. If Leah hadn't been standing behind me, I was fairly sure she might have knocked me over. "We miss you so, so, so much," she continued, ignoring the evil glare that Leah was aiming at her.
"Hey Alice," I grinned. "Miss you guys too."
Jasper was next in line, giving me an awkward one-armed man-hug and wincing at my anguish. "I hope we can get you home soon," he said, pulling backward. "Edward cheats at games, and Aro squeals like a little girl every time something starts to attack him."
Carlisle shook my hand warmly, figuratively at least, since his hands were ice-cold. Esme was the worst of all. She gripped me tightly, spilling out a series of questions about the food she'd prepared before I even had time to say hello. Even Aro was pleased to see me. He appeared to have been dressed by Alice, probably so Josh wouldn't think he was quite so strange. At least she'd gotten that womens' bottom-enhancing underwear away from him. I hoped she'd burned it.
Bella and Edward were seated on the couch, with Bella pressed as firmly against Edward's body as she could possibly be. She clenched her hands in her lap, Edward's arm clutching her. His lips were moving, but I couldn't hear any sound. I could only assume he was whispering reassuringly to her. She flashed me an apologetic smile, and I nodded to her in return. "Hey Bella, Edward. Good to see you both."
"It's good to see you too," Edward replied for both of them. Bella was likely trying to breathe as little as possible and didn't want to waste her air on speaking.
Standing just in front of them, oblivious to the mortal danger his life would be in if Bella lost control, was a teenaged boy I didn't recognize. He had dark brown hair that was cropped close enough to nearly be suitable for joining the army. The boy wore a dark blue button-down shirt and khakis, both of which looked to have been meticulously pressed that morning. His face was either meticulously groomed, or he wasn't quite old enough to need to shave yet. My human eyes couldn't tell which it was. Either he really wanted to impress the family, or I could see why Nessie, Junior Queen of Fashion, had taken such a shine to him. Nessie beckoned him to where we stood, intent on keeping her promise to Alice.
"Everyone, this is Josh Weber. Josh, this is my cousin Bella," Nessie lied smoothly, pointing out her mother. "Next to her is her husband Edward. These are his parents, Carlisle and Esme, his sister Alice, and his brothers Jasper and Emmett—Emmett recently had to move away for his job, which is why everyone is so happy to see him. Over there are Aro and Leah. They're friends of the family." I waited for Leah's indignant snort at being referred to as a "family friend," but it never came. I guessed she was really trying to be on her best behavior.
Then I caught the way Nessie was looking at her. Had she made a sound that was too quiet for me to hear? "Leah, no!" Nessie half-shrieked. "You cannot!"
I knew it would be safer to stay behind Leah, but I had to see what exactly was going on. I slowly inched my way around her, keeping close to Jasper in the unlikely event that Bella would somehow break free from Edward. Once I had moved around to the proper angle, I could clearly see what Nessie was reacting to. Leah was staring at Josh strangely. Not quite like a woman seeing a sun for the first time, but...
Without taking her eyes off Josh, Leah shook her head slowly from side to side. "I don't think I am," she replied. "But, there's something... Something about him... I don't know what it is."
"Ness? What's going on?" Josh asked innocently. A fair question. To an outsider, it would look pretty strange for a bunch of people to be contemplating whether or not someone had imprinted on Nessie's date.
"Leah has trouble sometimes with her vision," Nessie said, continuing to shoot daggers at Leah with her eyes. "I was just reminding her that she can't drive home when it happens."
Josh frowned, furrowing his brow in an expression of clear confusion. Nessie's lie hadn't quite covered all of the tracks, after all. There was still the matter of Leah's reaction to Nessie's outburst. Before Josh had time to press the issue, I suddenly felt very calm and understanding. I glanced at Jasper, who winked at me in confirmation that he was in control of the situation.
"Okay, good idea. Safety first," Josh said, his eyes slightly unfocused from the calmness overtaking his body.
Bella pursed her lips. She looked like she wanted to say something, but I knew she was focusing too hard on not racing across the room to kill me. She looked helplessly at Edward, who cleared his throat.
"I know we invited you over because we wanted to spend a little time with you, Josh, but in light of Leah's... condition, perhaps it would be best of you three were on your way so that we can look after her. I'm terribly sorry for our lack of hospitality. Would you mind dropping by to visit at a later date so that we can converse properly?"
"Three?" I asked, confused.
"My brother Isaac is going with us too. He had to use the restroom. As soon as he comes back downstairs, if he ever finds his way in this huge house," Josh paused to laugh nervously, "we can all go."
I wondered if the Weber twins normally went on one another's dates, but I realized that Josh's brother was probably tagging along because of "Charlie's" earlier requirement that Nessie shouldn't be alone with Josh on a date. Edward bent his head down slightly and scratched the top of his head with his index finger, then raised it again. I recognized the gesture as one of his surreptitious nods and smiled. God, how was it possible that I had actually missed Edward answering all of my unspoken questions?
I soon heard the noisy, clunky footsteps that could only belong to a teenaged boy making their way across the upstairs hallway. Leah still hadn't taken her eyes off of Josh, but since he believed she had gone temporarily blind, he didn't seem particularly fazed by it. Another boy descended the stairs, his facial features identical to Josh, but the style of his hair and clothing were very different. While Josh was practically the dictionary definition of "clean cut," Isaac looked like he probably held band practices in his parents' garage. His hair was shaggy around his face, giving the general appearance of having just rolled out of bed. He wore jeans that didn't appear to have been washed anytime in the past year and a black hooded sweatshirt. Now I could definitely tell that Josh was a meticulous shaver. Isaac had about a weeks' worth of hair growth on his face.
"Ready, Isaac?" Josh asked, jingling his car keys at his twin.
"We're leaving already? But we just got here," Isaac answered.
At the sound of his voice, Leah reluctantly turned away from Josh momentarily to make sure the room's latest addition wasn't any sort of threat to my safety. I expected her to turn her gaze back to Josh immediately, but instead, she gaped openly at Isaac. In comparison to her new expression of enthrallment, the way she had regarded Josh a moment ago seemed almost like contempt. She looked like a person who had just found religion, and the young man she was regarding was God himself. Her muscles relaxed, and all of the tension suddenly faded from her body. Jasper was gaping at her, having realized just slightly before the rest of us what was going on. He had felt this emotion once before.
"Okay," she announced, still refusing to tear her eyes off of Isaac. "Now I imprinted."