do de dum de do de dum de.

random.

anyways, i'm probably gonna pull an all nighter again tonight. if i can get Together finished before 3 am, i'll sleep, but after 3, it's almost pointless to sleep. i'm always more tired getting in just a few hours than i am if i don't get any at all. so, i just stay up if it's after 3.

anyways, on to things you probably care more about . . . like ch. 27? :D


30. Rebirthing: Skillet


I laughed and hugged him back. "Hey, Seth."

He continued to hug me for a little bit before pulling back and grinning at me. "Glad to be out of the house?"

I let out a sigh of content as I looked around me, finding more pleasure in the trees and cloudy skies than I ever had. "Definitely. And, it's so beautiful here. I just can't wait for twilight. It'll be just . . . perfect."

He looked up at Edward, who was now standing beside me. Edward and Seth, along with Edward and Embry, were friends. That proved me right, of course, but Edward just said I was crazy anytime I brought it up.

Emmett and Embry were closer than Edward and Embry, just like Edward and Seth were closer than Emmett and Seth. Jasper was just nice to both of them. Alice and Rosalie, on the other hand, tried avoiding them. Alice, at least, was nice about it. Rosalie was a straight up bitch.

Kinda like she was to me, actually, but a little worse now. Back when she first met me? She was just as bad, but now since she doesn't hate me anymore, she's worse to them.

Seth hit his fist against Edward's. "'Sup, Edward?"

Edward laughed as he sat on the other side of me. Seth's boiling hot arm was pressed against my left arm, and Edward's ice cold arm was on one side. While they were together, neither one of them noticed the stench, at all. They just talked.

"Nothing much, Seth. Just taking Mayzie here to the prom."

Seth nodded. "Yeah. I'm here with Peyton."

"Well, I figured that," Edward said honestly before grinning at him. "I doubt you'd come with anyone else."

I knew he saw it, but like Seth, he ignored the harsh looks the group of people not even ten feet away was giving us—well, harsh from Jacob and Bella, at least. Jessica, Lauren, and Ashley looked so jealous. I mean, I had two sexy guys on each side. Bella and Jacob, though, were glaring. Bella was glaring at me, because of Edward, and Jacob was glaring at me because of Edward and Seth. I guess he thought the friendship between Emmett, Edward, Seth, and Embry was my fault.

Well, it kinda was, but I don't give a shit what he thinks.

I decided to ignore them too, like Seth and Edward were.

"I feel so weird," I announced, laughing at the way I had to make that announcement. I just had to do it in that way, raising my hand for them and everything.

They stopped talking and looked at me with curious eyes, yet humored. They seemed to find amusement in my statement, something other than the amusement I found in it.

"I can't imagine why you would feel weird," Seth said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

He and Edward both started laughing then. Edward slapped him a high five while the duo continued, and I frowned jokingly. "You two are so mean!"

That was the most Southern thing I've said in a long time. Wow. Just the accent of the . . . wow.

"You're so mean!" Edward teased in a very good Southern accent, not far from how his voice was now. Being around me all the time, his beautiful voice was becoming more perfect. I mean, who knew Southern accents were, well, sexy?

I crossed my arms and stood up, scowling at them. "Where's my Embry-boo when I need him? He would so smack you two around for that."

They both just kept laughing as I started tapping my chin.

"Ooh! How about Emmett? He'll do it!" I exclaimed eagerly. Then, after that moment of excitement, a thought occurred to me—Rosalie—and I frowned. "I could go find him."

Cold and hot hands pulled me back on the bench instantly, slightly forcefully too, and it shocked me a little.

"Or, or, or," Seth corrected, shaking his head.

"What are you, a seal?" I snorted before crossing my arms, unable to stop myself from laughing again. "Or what, Seth?"

"Or," he said firmly, frowning at me. He obviously didn't like me making fun of him, but apparently it was perfectly okay for it to go the other way around. "You could tell us why you said you feel weird. That might help."

"You're hot, Seth," I reminded him.

"Thanks," he said smugly, not even bothering to stop himself form grinning at me. He then laughed, along with Edward on the other side.

I frowned. "Not what I meant. I meant temperature wise. And, Edward's cold. One arm is going numb from the extreme coolness, and one is getting blistered from intense heat."

"Exaggerate much?" Edward snorted.

"Just a little," I said honestly. "But, if I stay like this too long, probably not at all." I shrugged. "But, I like it here. I'm surrounded by two of my favorite people in the world. I just need my Emmett and my Embry. Then, I'll be all set." My shoulders sank. "I just realized something that I can't say out-loud."

"Why not?" Seth asked curiously as Peyton walked over and sat beside him. The others in the group now started walking in, probably because Bella suggested it.

I swear. Besides Angela and Ben, the others seemed to bow in her presence like she's some sort of goddess. I mean, sure, I love her, but I'm getting kinda sick of her.

"Now I can," I said brightly before looking around me. It was just me, Seth, Peyton, and Edward outside, because everyone else had headed in by now. They were sick of seeing me surrounded by these two, sick of seeing me so happy with who I was and all. "My four favorite people in the world are two vampires and two werewolves. I have no normal, human friends! I mean, I have Angela and Ben, but they're more like acquaintances, not exactly friends."

"You're more of a supernatural girl," Edward said simply before standing up. "And, if I don't get you in there very, very soon, Alice is gonna come out here and get me. She may be small, but she's lethal when things don't go perfectly. When I say massacre, that's just what she'll do to begin with. The castration? That'll be step one too."

I laughed and hugged his arm. "Alright, dearest. Let's go."

When we walked in, Swing feat. Soulja Boy by Savage started playing. It was really cool timing, if ya ask me, and I was beyond shocked.

I gasped quickly with wide eyes. "I love this song!"

"Yeah," Peyton said brightly with a smile as she walked beside me, eyebrows raised. "Eric found your playlist and used all the songs you could dance to off of that, since you weren't here to put in your votes."

I cheerfully smiled at her. "Cool. There were a lot of those, along with some where you can slow dance."

"Oh yeah," Edward agreed. "Definitely some dancing music."

I just smiled back up at him. About then, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper walked up.

"Emmett!" I exclaimed eagerly before tightly hugging him. I was basically squeezing him as hard as I possibly could. If he was a human, he would be choking.

He laughed and hugged me back. "Geez, Mayze. I just saw you thirty minutes ago."

"Doofus and Seth were makin' fun of me!" I informed him, crossing my arms stubbornly over my chest with a scowl.

Edward just laughed at me again.

Emmett frowned at Edward. "What have I told you two about making fun of my Mayzie?"

Edward frowned deeper at him, making me laugh a little. "Your Mayzie?"

"I didn't stutter," Emmett said simply before releasing me, taking a step towards him—as if he was trying to be threatening. "What'd they do, baby doll?"

Rosalie had gotten used to this. She knew it was just something we came up with when we were bored and Embry and Seth were over, hanging out. She was used to sweetie pie, baby doll, and him claiming me, because, she knew Emmett. He's the kind of guy who has fun, no matter what life throws at him. Edward is too. They're both the same in that sense. If I'm hurt, though . . . Edward beats himself up about it. Emmett, Embry, and Seth were more reasonable about that part of life.

"They said I'm weird," I informed him. "And then they were makin' fun of my Southern accent. Hit him for me, please? I can't."

"Edward," Emmett said seriously, now one hundred percent honest, before laughing. "You really have no room to talk anymore. You've got it just about as bad as she does. Give it another month, and you'll be just as bad, maybe worse."

Edward looked thoughtful for a second as he looked at them, and then, he chuckled. "You're probably right."

"Now," Emmett said firmly before gently moving over beside Edward, placing his hands gently on my shoulders. "Kiss and makeup, and just have a good time tonight."

"Okay," Edward agreed enthusiastically before leaning down and pressing his lips fervently against mine. It was only for about three seconds. Like every other kiss we've ever had, it was over way too quickly for my tastes. In my opinion, even those long, extensive kisses were too short. "Works for me. Come on, Mayze. Let's go dance our socks off."

"Or cast," I said enthusiastically. "Can I do that?"

Emmett laughed as Edward started pulling me off. "Afraid not, sweetie pie."

My shoulders sank as Edward pulled us through the dancing crowd. He was careful, though, so I wouldn't be in pain. People would stop dancing and either just stare or gawk at me as I passed.

I knew Jessica, Lauren, and Ashley hated me. I mean, it was obvious by the way they acted and the way they looked at me. They despised me. But, they loved Bella, since she hadn't stolen a guy who had rejected them many times. They were just envious. Right now, they were glaring with the darkest, most envious looks I had seen from a human yet. But, living with Rosalie for the first few weeks made their glares mean absolutely nothing to me. Compared to her glares . . . ha! They had nothing.

Edward pulled us outside and under a pavilion. It was kinda strange. We go in for just a few minutes, but when we came out, it was already twilight outside. The skies were a pretty pinkish purple color tonight instead of that threatening red from that night, months ago now.

There were a couple people out here, but when they saw us, they immediately moved back inside. The song A Thousand Years by Christina Perri started playing. Before I could protest about dancing, Edward pulled me up on his feet so all I would have to do is hold his hands and let him do all the moving.

"Time stands still," I began singing quietly, simply because I couldn't help it. "Beauty in all she is. I will be brave. I will not let anything take away what's standing in front of me. Every breath, every hour has come to this. One step closer. I have died every day waiting for you. Darling, don't be afraid. I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more. And all along, I believed I would find you. Time has brought your heart to me. I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more."

I could feel him smiling against the skin of my neck. "You have a beautiful voice. I'm gonna tell you that until you believe me too."

This made me happy to hear, and I had to smile up at him, but there was something I needed to talk to him about, something serious. Even though tonight was supposed to be perfect and happy, I knew that tonight, right now, was the best time to start. It was more like something I was about to try to guilt him into, and I had to start trying now.

"Have you heard?" I asked softly as I looked up at him, changing the subject so I could catch him off guard. "Werewolves and their imprint . . . they're living forever. Only vampires can kill them."

"Yeah," he said quietly while nodding, not understanding at the moment just where I was going. "I've heard. I didn't know about the fact that only we can kill them, though—not that it really matters."

It wasn't clicking yet.

"Bella's gonna live forever," I went on. "Jacob, Embry, you, Emmett, Seth . . . ."

From the way his eyebrows furrowed, I was starting to see the click. He was now suspicious as he thoughtfully stared at me. Well, it was more like thoughtfully and skeptically, because I knew he didn't like this talk. "Your point?"

"Out of all the people closest to me, besides my parents, I'm the only one dying," I said gently as he suddenly stopped dancing, leaving us both hand-in-hand and simply standing there staring at each other. I was trying to be nice about it, but at the same time, being nice might be the defeat of me.

His face twisted as he looked away from me. "What are you getting at, Mayze? I'm perfectly aware of this fact. I don't like thinking about that right now, though."

I pursed my lips as I thought of another point to bring up, something else to go off of for fuel. "Edward, how far does this thing go? Is marriage possible? Is that possible?"

"Absolutely not," he said darkly through his teeth, eyes tight. "That's the farthest thing from possible, Mayze."

"So, what? You're gonna just stand back and let me die?" I asked softly, doing my best to sound hurt. It probably sounded sincere, because I really was hurt by the fact. He didn't want to change me, so that meant he obviously didn't wanna stop me from dying.

"That's how it's supposed to be," he insisted quietly. "That's called life, Mayze."

I began feeling defeated, already, but I knew I couldn't give up just yet. "But when everyone I care about isn't dying, how can that possibly be how it's supposed to be?"

"If werewolves and vampires didn't exist," he restarted as he looked me in the eyes to try and help stop this conversation, "you and Embry would be together, Jacob and Bella still would be, and you wouldn't give eternity a second thought."

"If," I said firmly. "That's a strong two-letter word, Edward. If they didn't exist. But, they do. Edward, I'm dying right now. I don't care who my sister and her boyfriend are. I don't care that I'm supposed to hate you and avoid you." My teeth clenched together so I could force back the tears, the ones that were about to stray from my eyes. "I just want you. I always will, forever."

His smile was pained and half-hearted as he looked deeply into my eyes, searching for something to fix this; as if he would find the solutions to all of our problems in my eyes. "And just a normal, long, happy life wouldn't be enough?"

"No," I said simply while shaking my head, voice gentle but still firm. "It wouldn't. Not now, not ever. Not when everyone I care about has forever. I want you, always."

He let out a breath and looked away, off towards a distance somewhat. It was a frustrated sound, even hurt. For a minute, at least, he was looking off at that distant spot. He slowly shook his head, finally, as he looked back at me, after a little bit—a short time that seemed like hours. His jaw was locked, and his eyes were slightly angry, but at the same time, pained. "Fine. Now?"

"Yeah," I whispered while nodding, voice shaking a little. "And, we'll deal with Jacob later. I just want you."

He leaned me back slowly, like he was dipping me, and I could feel his lips getting closer to my neck by the way my heart started racing. The tip of his lips moved up and down my neck, and I swallowed visibly.

Oh my tigers. Was this gonna hurt as badly as what Dusk did to me did? My mind began racing at the speed of light, and I couldn't think straight. Couldn't process anything.

Then, what happened then shocked me. His lips gently kissed my neck, and he looked back up at me through eyes filled with more pain than before he dipped me.

"I'm not ready to kill you yet, Mayze," he whispered. "You're only sixteen. I don't ever want to kill you."

"But it'll make it all so much easier," I insisted. "You know that. We all do."

"Yeah," he agreed sarcastically, tone a little bitter. "And your best friend would kill us. The pack would have every right to rip us to shreds and burn the pieces."

I sighed and laid my head against his stone cold shoulder. "We'll figure that out."

He just sighed again. This time, though, it sounded more pained, different than before.

For now, this was just perfect. I was the princess, and he was my prince. My beautiful, perfect, prince. This was my fairytale. For now, this was enough. Not always, but for now.

If that sounds stupid, oh well. It was the thing that was letting this night continue to stay happy and positive.

"For now," I said softly. "This is fine. But, not forever. Maybe another year or too."

He looked crushed as he stared at me.

"But for now," I said happily as my arms wrapped around his neck, to lighten the mood again. "I'm just living the fairytale life with my prince."

He smiled half-heartedly, because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make things better instantly. His lips softly, tenderly met mine for just two short seconds after that, which seemed to help things.

"Well, for now, that's all I ask," he whispered before kissing me again.