I still feel like a lot of you think I'm lying when I say that I'm back... but I really am! And to prove it, I'm here with another update! See? It didn't take me more than a week this time around. And if you guys want to refresh your memory, please go and watch my Chapter 24 Recap on youtube: /watch?v=KFiZGEVaeSQ (just add it to the youtube url). While you're at it, don't forget to subscribe for more story updates and chapter recaps!

I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter! :)

Chapter 25: Family Bonding

Bella POV

Landon and I stayed in the tree house for a little longer, not wanting to back home just yet. After the big discussion, we decided that we'd had enough for the day. We talked about a lot of things but we avoided the topic of the Cullens for the meantime.

"Wow," Landon breathed, his eyes wide. "I didn't realize Mandy had such a hard time at home. I always thought she's just a chill girl without a care about anything."

I'd just finished telling him about our encounter with Mandy and her mom from today's earlier events. It was hard to believe that so many reveals occurred throughout this one day.

"You stereotype her, Landon. Just because she's punk, it doesn't mean she's all cool about everything," I said, reprimanding him slightly.

He bowed his head in apology. "Yeah, you're right. It's just, who would've known?"

I agreed. "I definitely wouldn't have. It just so happened that we were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Landon's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah, you guys were looking at wedding dresses!"

I laughed and tilted my head to look at him. We were both lying down with our backs against the picnic cloth Landon had laid out on the floor of the tree house.

"We just had this whole conversation about Mandy and that's all you got out of it?"

A deep throaty laugh vibrated through him and I found myself laughing despite myself. It was nice to finally spend some alone time with him. We'd spent so much of the past few days just fighting and making up that I'd almost forgotten how effortless it was for the both of us to be together.

"Sue me!" he exclaimed. "This is the first time we've talked about the wedding ever since I proposed." As if on cue, he grasped my left hand and entwined our fingers together. He lifted our twined hands and placed a kiss on the ring.

"Are you excited?" I asked, smiling.

"Happy?" he asked incredulously. "I'm more than happy. I'm ecstatic. Delighted. Jubilant. Rapturous. Euphoric!"

I laughed. "You want me to get you a thesaurus?" I joked, tears of laughter spilling from the corner of my eyes.

He beamed with joy. "Come here."

At his words, I scooted up to close the small distance between us. I rested my head on his chest as he wrapped a comforting arm around me and pulled me closer. I threw an arm over his body, embracing him.

I exhaled softly and admitted, "I like this, it's so peaceful and quiet. Just you and me." I heard a small chuckle escape his lips. "What's so funny?"

"Remember? When I first proposed and you said no, this is exactly what I meant and wanted. Just you and me. Not Rayne. Not Ives. Not any of them. Just you and me. But you were so worried about it and now here you are, enjoying it."

I snuggled further into his embrace. "You always get me to change my mind," I confessed.

I felt his words vibrate through his chest. "That I do, my dear. That I do."

"At first I hated flying and now it's my pastime. Do you remember how I reacted when I first saw a gun lying around?" I asked, chuckling at the memory.

A belly laugh erupted from Landon. "Oh, you were hysterical, going on and on about Rhia and Marc shouldn't be exposed to violence and how one of us were likely to get the gun and shoot someone in the house, preferably Ives."

I smiled at the memory. "It looked like the real thing!" I defended.

He grinned back at me. "I'm just glad you calmed down after we told you that it was a paintball gun. And hey, look at you now, a master of Epic Paintball."

"Like I said, you have the ability to get me to change my mind," I repeated.

"Only because you're just so boring sometimes," he teased.

"I resent that!"

"Don't you and Ives always?" His eyes twinkled with mirth.

A thought popped into my head. "Speaking of Ives, what do you think his future is with Mandy?" I asked, voicing out my thought on the matter.

"They're clearly made for each other," Landon stated with no hesitation.

"I think so too," I agreed, "Ives has this childish innocence about him. He never takes anything seriously. And here comes Mandy, someone who pretends she doesn't care, but actually does. Ives needs someone who can control him and that's Mandy."

Landon's thumb caressed my exposed shoulder as I talked. "I get what you mean. I see that same in Rayne and Daniel. Daniel takes everything seriously and hates spontaneity while Rayne sometimes only sees the surface of things and is quick to disregard other people."

I tilted my head, considering what he said, and agreed. "Cassandra and Adrien," I suggested next.

Landon chuckled. "Are we going to lay here and justify why everyone is perfect for each other?"

I nodded with no shame. It was nice hearing about everyone's love lives. It gives me hope for the future, that whatever will happen won't wreck the beautiful love shared between our family.

"Okay, then," Landon agreed, pulling me closer and rested his chin against my head. "We all know that my dad is immature."

I chuckled. "No," I joked.

"And yet we all love him for it. Cassie definitely wears the pants in the family. Come on now, Dad is the one who decorates the house, which says a lot. Dad is usually the more emotional one and Cassie is always there to comfort him. I've always been glad that Dad found Cassie. She's the best mom I could've ever asked for."

I longed to ask him a question but I was afraid that it might ruin the easygoing conversation we've made for ourselves.

"My mom was a druggie," Landon blurted out. My eyes widened. He'd answered my unasked question. What was your biological mom like? "I knew you were thinking about it," he added.

"I didn't – "

Landon shook his head. "No, it's okay. We've never talked about her. I think it's time we do." Landon was silent for a while and I thought that he might have changed his mind, but he spoke up again. "I really don't remember much and I'm not just saying that. I can remember glimpses of her, as much as my 2-year-old self could. I can still remember her outstretched arms, calling out for my name, after she'd come home for work. She was beautiful. Dad says Rayne is a spitting image of our mom, except for the fact that my mom had bleached blonde hair."

"Was she a good mom?" I asked.

I felt Landon shrug. "Like I said, there's not much I remember. Dad loved her. I know that for sure, but some people are just not meant to be, I guess. Anyways, apparently, my mom was caught with possession of drugs at work one day. She was fired and arrested. Dad says that was around the time they could hardly look at each other anymore. He couldn't leave her in that jail cell though. He paid for her bail but that was the end of their relationship. He filed for an annulment and gained full custody of Rayne and me. All I know is that almost soon after, my mom died of overdose."

A small gasp escaped my lips. "That's horrible," I whispered.

"It is what it is," Landon resigned.

Once against we were overwhelmed with silence I didn't know what else to say.

"That sucks."

Despite it all, Landon laughed. "Yeah, it does suck."

Attempting to lighten things up, I decided to bring Marc and Rhia up. "So, Marc and Rhia, huh?"

"What about them?" Landon asked.

I huffed. "Oh please, don't tell me you have no idea."

"Seriously, what?"

"Rhia totally has a crush on Marc." I felt Landon jolt slightly. I giggled.

"What? No way! Rhia is incapable of liking anybody!" he exclaimed.

"Stop being so dramatic," I chuckled. "I can't believe you've never noticed."

"Well, hello? We're talking about Rhia here. I always thought she just kept Marc around so that she could have a little minion to boss around."

"Remember when Rhia didn't like me back when we were in Forks?" He nodded. "She was jealous because Marc kept calling me pretty."

Landon threw his head back and cackled with laughter. "No freaking way! Oh, wait until she hears a load of this!"

I smacked his chest. "You are not allowed to talk to anyone about this!"

"What? Why?" he asked maniacally.

"Because Rhia will certifiably kill me when she finds out I've told you about it! And you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Well..."

"Landon!" I shouted.

Laughing, he managed to get out, "I'm kidding. I'm kidding!" He cupped a whole side of my head and dramatically crushed my face against his chest. "I'll never let Rhia take you away from me. Never!"

We both broke down laughing our asses off.

"Oh my," I wheezed, crackling with laughter. "I love you so much."

Landon rolled over and I soon found myself at his mercy. His knees propped themselves against either side of me; his hands rested next to my head. He lowered himself, covering my body.

"I love you too, Bella," he murmured. "And I do mean it, I won't let anyone take you away from me, not Rhia, not anyone," he vowed.

Tears threatened to escape my eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me, capturing his lips into a kiss. For a mere moment, I pulled away; my lips just hovering blow his.

"I'm yours. Forever. It doesn't matter the distance, the situation, the trouble. That, is my vow to you."

"Rise and shine, lovebirds!"

I groaned, covering my eyes from the death rays of the sun.

"What the fuck, Ives?! Get out of our room!" Landon grabbed the nearest pillow and chucked it at Ives. Ives was lucky to dodge the pillow. Landon threw it hard enough to have done some real damage.

Instead, Ives pulled back the curtains, allowing more sunshine into our room.

"Ives," I whined, dragging out his name. "What do you want?" I grabbed a pillow and buried my head under it. I felt Landon nudge himself under my dead grip and soon found him buried under the same pillow with me.

We shared a smile. His breathtaking smile was enough to wake me up. I'd rather stare at him that go back to sleep. One of his legs hooked around the back of my knees, pulling my closer.

"Oh geez, are you guys really doing this in front of me?" Ives wailed. "Stop it! Stop it right now!"

"Shut up, Ives!" both Landon and I shouted.

I heard Ives stomping out of the room and was glad to hear it.

"Good morning," I greeted a smiling Landon.

"A good morning it is," he agreed, stealing a peck on my lips.

I sighed. "I suppose we should go see what Ives is so excited about."

"No, we don't," Landon contradicted. I smirked. "We could stay here in bed, have a little – "

"No!" a shout came from downstairs. "No! You will not have sexual interactions in that bed!" The declaration was quickly followed by an "Ouch!"

"Ives! There are children in the house!" I heard Rayne reprimand.

"It's not like they're innocent – Ow!"

"Just keep your mouth shut, Ives," Patrick said with boredom.

"Can I have my ice cream now?" Marc's soft voice asked. I could just imagine him tugging on Rayne's shirt with a pleading look in his eyes.

Landon groaned. "They just don't want us to be happy, huh?"

"What about our happiness – Hey!"

"Really, Ives?" Daniel's voice was unmistakable. "How many times do you want to be assaulted by Rayne?"

"I say we let Rayne assault him some more, maybe she'll finally scare the idiocy away from him," Rhia drawled.

"I resent that!"

"You resent everything."

"I do not!"

"I just want my ice cream!" Marc shrieked.

Landon groaned and pulled away to shout. "Okay! Freaking hell! We're getting up! You happy?!"

"Very!" Ives shouted back.

Landon irritably got out of the bed to slam the door shut.

"Someone's being temperamental."

"IVES, SHUT UP!" all voices in the room rose to share the same cause.

Landon grumbled and ran his fingers through his unruly hair. I propped myself on my elbows to watch him pace back and forth adorably. I had every right to crave him like candy. His shoulders were straightened with tension but it only further outlined his arm and back muscles. I watched as his boxers hung dangerously low on his waist.

I didn't even realize it but Landon had stopped pacing. Instead, he stood with his arms crossed; a smug smile adorned his face.

"Ms. Bella Roux, are you eye-fucking me?" he questioned with mock shock.

I smiled sweetly. "What ever did I do to make you think so?"

He grinned and pounced on the bed. I bounced along with the bed and cackled with laughter as Landon tackled me into the bed. He nuzzled my neck and blew raspberries against my shoulders. I grabbed his neck and rolled us over so that I'd be straddling him. His hands automatically found themselves on my hips, steadying me.

"Oh how the tables have turned!" I spoke dramatically.

"Geez, they're role-playing now!"

I narrowed my eyes in annoyance. "Ives!" I yelled, "Do you want me to tell everyone of your larping escapades?"

I was met with silence.

"What the hell is larping?" Patrick queried with curiosity.

"Nothing!" Ives yelled, quick to defend.

"I thought so!" I shouted back, "Now leave Landon and me alone for ten minutes! You'll survive!"

From beneath me, Landon beamed with pride. "You handled that very well," he stated with a smile. "Now tell me, what is this larping?"

I grinned. "It's – "

"No! Bella! Don't you dare – " The rest of the noises that escaped Ives' mouth were unintelligible mumbles.

"Finally! Someone shut him up!" Rhia praised.

"My ice cream!"

I chuckled and collapsed on top of Landon. "So much for peace and quiet, huh?"

"Soon," he promised. "I'll make sure of it."

"You never know, we might actually miss all this banter," I suggested. Landon and I stared at each other, then laughed. "No way."

"I'll take peace and quiet over them any day," Landon agreed.

"That's hurtful!"

"Stop listening in on our conversation, damn it!" Landon yelled.

I smiled. "Yeah, definitely peace and quiet."

Finally, Landon and I got the ten minutes we asked for. The voices downstairs muted as I heard them disperse.

"So, we have ten minutes," I pointed out.

"Shower?" he suggested with a glint in his eyes.

"Shower," I agreed with a smirk before padding off into the bathroom.

Soooooo? I really enjoyed this chapter. I've been itching to have our Fiore/Roux family back into the story and here they are!

Check out the the recap for this chapter here: /watch?v=9pAYFeUlUiE I've also got some big news for you guys at the end of the video! So check it out!

Also, it would mean the world to me if you guys can check out my personal youtube channel: abadjaaay. I've really been wanting to get into youtube for a while and I've finally decided to go through with it. If you guys are fans of Cassandra Clare, I recently just put my an original song I wrote for the Infernal Devices. It would be amazing if you guys can go check it out: /watch?v=Qnmd4DBQ8u8.

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