Title: The Best Of Times: Trailing for Hope
Chapter 32: rIsE aNd ShInE Or, A Decision Set In Stone
Rating: T, for language I guess. If the rating changes, you'll be the second to know.
Disclaimer: I don't own any aspect of Twilight and all its proceedings, they continue to belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Summary: Ava Swan never expected to move to Forks, Washington, permanently. Then again, she never expected to be imprinted on by a hot-headed shape-shifter either. ...No Bella, or Edward-bashing. Follows storyline from "New Moon". Despite my attempts to write a believable Paul/OC fic, there's no way I can make this sound original, ever.
Notes: I apologize for any grammatical errors, as I have a crush on my coworker and I'm pretty sure homeboy has a girlfriend hahaha oh whale. Also, Happy New Year to all! Let's all make 2020 a good one.
Things pick up in this chapter, but it's pretty short compared to my other chapters thus far. So, I went ahead and edited the next chapter and I'll be posting that one in a few days following this one!
P.S. If I missed something grammatical or something doesn't make sense, please PM me and let me know!
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! :)
The next day. Saturday. 6:45 AM. Swan House.
With a hand gripping her shoulder and shaking her vigorously, a rough awakening was all that Ava received this morning.
"You're up." A relief-filled voice breathed out, Ava recognizing it immediately.
Lifting her upper body, she blinked groggily and didn't spare her guest a glance. She must have fallen asleep again last night despite her adamant beliefs that she'd be wide awake.
After a long second, Ava glared the best she could at her cousin. "Yeah, that's generally what happens when you fall asleep. You wake up." As she finished speaking, she rubbed at her eyes to try and wipe off the stiff, burning feeling.
Bella didn't pay Ava's reaction any mind, exhaling again in relief that she was okay.
Ava was still grumbling underneath her breath. "I think you gave me whiplash." She rolled her shoulders back, loosening up her muscles.
"I saw you sleeping last night, but then you didn't wake up this morning and I-"
"Wait," Ava interrupted, finding it way too early to try and make sense of what Bella was saying. "You watched me sleep?"
Furrowing her brows, Bella shook her head slightly in disbelief. "Edward and I did."
Ava leaned back, her nose wrinkling. "That's weird."
"Ava," Bella hissed.
"What?" She raised an eyebrow, mouth slightly agape. "It's weird. That's not a habit, is it?"
"Listen to me." After noting her voice laced with desperation, Ava shut her mouth.
Given a moment to speak freely, Bella began, "did you…hear, or-or see anything last night? Footsteps? Anything weird?"
A brief pause passed before Ava answered, "…I don't…" Her mind flashed to the night before. Feeling watched. Vulnerable. Weak. "Why?"
Bella eyed her before standing up. She shifted before shutting the bedroom door quietly and taking a swift seat back down. "There was someone in the house." She searched Ava's face, watching her reaction. When she didn't give one, Bella continued, "a-a vampire. We think."
Saying it out loud made things much more real and Bella stood up again, unable to remain still. She ran a shaking hand through her hair. "Another one, I mean, not Victoria. We don't know who it was, but-"
"Another one?" Ava whispered to herself, catching Bella's attention and pausing her vocal tirade. "Last night? I didn't…I-I don't..." She could feel her voice thickening.
"We have to be careful," Bella insisted, caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice her cousin's strange expression. When she got home the night before, admittedly a little late, Edward immediately sensed something was wrong.
It took some convincing on her father's end of things to allow Bella to go back to the Cullens that night. It was already late, but Bella claimed she left something important. It was there that Edward explained that it wasn't Victoria, but a completely other vampire – he didn't recognize the scent.
All in all, they were all left stumped.
"Last night, Edward sensed something when we got to the house," Bella continued. "Dad was up, but we checked on you."
"Did you leave my door open?" Ava cut off suddenly.
Bella squinted at her in confusion before shaking her head. "No. It was open," she said blankly, already back on her own train of thought.
"They're going to need help," Bella resumed, trying to remember every scrap of a detail that was spoken about. "We have to make sure no one goes without feeding too long while keeping the house guarded all the time."
As she spoke, Ava nodded dumbly. "So, the pack-"
"They should have spoken to them by now. Carlisle said he would," Bella interrupted.
Ava could hear the thump in her chest from her deepened heartbeat. Her hands had gone numb and she could feel the immediate stiffness in her fingers when she tried flexing them silently.
Inside her room.
She only had time to debate for a split-second on telling Bella what happened during the night but before she came to a decision there was a sharp knocking at her door. Both girls jumped up at the sudden noise, nerves on edge.
"Uh, Jacob and…Peter, are here."
Ava visibly relaxed at her uncle's voice and she took a shaky breath, hoping her voice was clear enough to not spark suspicion from Charlie or Bella. "Okay, on my way down!" She called before turning to Bella. "I need to change."
Bella glanced down, taking in her pajamas, before nodding uneasily. "Yeah, okay."
As she stepped out of Ava's room and walked towards her own, Bella caught Paul's eye at the foot of the stairs. His eyes narrowed sharply, glancing in the direction of Ava's room before meeting Bella's gaze.
She pursed her lips, ignoring his glare and shoving her door open roughly. Bella's feeling towards the majority of the Uley pack still hadn't changed, despite keeping in close contact with Jake. She hated that there was still a huge rift in her relationship with Ava; Bella had never been the type to express herself emotionally, so trying to mend the relationship was much harder than she thought. She didn't have much experience in trying to get Ava to speak to her, only having the empty apologies that she thought would help in the beginning; never had an argument or disagreement lasted over a day, and Ava was nearly always the one to initiate some sort of contact. And Bella would go from there.
As terrifying this situation was, a small part of her was glad that this had happened because it gave Bella a good reason to talk to her.
6:57 AM. Swan House.
When Bella walked out, Ava shut the door behind her. She rested her forehead against the wood desperately, trying to think through any possible scenario that would explain the strange happenings.
And when nothing came to mind, she turned on her heel and pressed her back against the door. She raked her hand through the front of her hair, holding it in place while she attempted to breath calmly.
Ava didn't have the mental storage to think about how everything was going to change; all that she was running with at full speed was how she could have died.
That vampire in the house could have slashed her to pieces the night before. They could have bitten her, bled her dry, and wouldn't have had a single problem with it. Not only her, but Charlie. With a final shaky breath, she heaved herself off the door, swaying slightly.
She didn't know how much time had passed since Bella left, the time having morphed into a blur. Ava only assumed that it had been long enough, and she quickly threw on a random pair of jeans hanging on the back of her desk chair and grabbed a shirt off a hanger. She ran her still trembling fingers through her hair, trying to get a semblance of a style before noticing her incredibly dark under-eye circles.
Ava had done a good job hiding them until this point. Now, they were too far gone for just makeup; she needed sleep. The hues of purple stretched from her inner eye away from her nose in a soft arch; her eyes were bright, but the red veins branching off were definitely noticeable giving the impression of either consecutive weeks of insomnia or a constant smoker of green.
It took her a second before thinking, makeup. Even if it didn't cover completely, she felt the need to try.
She wasn't planning on slamming her face into her makeup bag today, but she did slather on a layer of concealer and curl her eyelashes. With a single drop of eye drops in each of her eyes, Ava was ready, already feeling more refreshed.
It isn't gonna get much better.
She opened her bedroom door, distracted with digging through her bag to make sure she had her phone.
Much to her shock, she abruptly collided with a stone wall. Strong arms encircled her to keep her from stumbling and she immediately recognized them. "What are you doing up here?"
"Getting you," Paul snapped, scanning her over. He jumped into the questions instantly. "You're okay? What happened? Why weren't-"
"I'm fine." She cut him off, a tight smile plastering itself across her face.
Ava was hoping to have a minute or two to gather herself and give a believable front. Looks like now she was going to have to wing it. "I didn't hear anything. See anything." She attempted to interweave her words with a reassuring lace. "I'm okay."
The idea wasn't smart, Ava knew that much. But she had done a good job at keeping her paranoia at bay; she knew that if she said something now, Paul would be even more upset that she hadn't told him. She already suspected that he wasn't buying it because he had on a biting scowl, even at this early hour.
In an attempt of ill-placed humor to wipe the expression from his face, Ava joked, "...how'd you get past Charlie?"
It didn't work.
"You're staying at Emily's until-"
"What?" Ava snorted, shaking off his hold. His face was completely serious and for the first time she could recall, he looked pissed. Only this time it was at her.
"Emily's," he bit out slowly, as if speaking to a child. Her immediate refusal had struck a nerve and he resisted the urge to just haul her there, whether she wanted to or not. "You need to stay safe-"
She furrowed her brows and brushed past him, making her way towards the stairs. She could feel his presence almost directly behind her, but she continued on, taking a few steps down. "I'm not staying at Emily's. Bella and Charlie are-"
"Are you kidding me?" He hissed, his voice directly by her ear and his breath fanning across the side of her face. "Some leech broke into your house and-"
"I'm fine," Ava assured distractedly; the front door was open, and she could see Jacob and Bella were outside along with Edward. Glancing to the side to make sure Charlie wasn't within hearing distance, she hopped down the remaining steps.
"And, you don't even seem to care. Ava, Emily's is better, I can keep-"
"Stop," Ava whispered harshly, turning her head and trying her best to ignore the close proximity that they were in.
From up close, Ava could see her reflection in his eyes and the lightest sprinkle of freckles across his nose; his skin was blemish-free, save for a small scar that was hidden in his eyebrow, and his lips were perfect. …Only that they were downturned in a scathing frown.
Disregarding the turn in her stomach, only for completely different reasons that the situation called for, she ground out, "I'm staying here."
8:15 AM. Emily Young and Sam Uley's House.
"They'll guard at they're designated times. When they need to hunt, we'll switch." Sam informed, speaking to his pack all seated around.
"So, it's a whole 'nother one?" Quil rubbed the back of his neck, wrinkling his nose in discomfort.
Jared blew out a heavy breath, lolling his head to look at Ava. "Dude, your cousin is a leech magnet."
She only pursed her lips in response to him, turning to address Sam. "So, what? Is there a method, or shifts…? When will we start? Or, how will you know-"
"Shifts," Sam assured, cutting her off before she continued, nodding once. Seeing the blatant worry across her face, he attempted to ease her nerves. "Ava, you don't need to worry. With everyone working toward the same goal, we'll get them."
"I know." Ava tried smiling. They were trying to help, but her mind was too occupied to think straight. She had no idea what was going to happen; Victoria was still after Bella, and now they had another vampire to keep an eye out for.
Sam continued on, dividing up the shifts between the pack. The only missing face was Jacob, since he had remained back with Bella and Edward.
Leah was hovering to the side; her arms crossed and face displaying her signature glare. She wasn't looking at anyone, her eyes trained on the floor but still listening. She wasn't interested in helping the Cullens or their little trainee vampire but doing so meant that she had a chance to take one out without breaking any rules.
Besides, if the leech took out the airhead as Leah had dubbed her in their time together, that would be inconvenient.
"Wait, so if they're shifts, we're going to have to guard at night sometimes? Then go to school in the morning?" Embry complained. "Why can't the Cullens just guard it every night? It's not like they need the sleep."
"It's not ideal." Sam agreed. "But, we're going to have to make it work. You won't be on guard every night, Embry. And nightly guards do mean our chances of being spotted are lessened."
The dark-haired boy continued mumbling under his breath, and Jared chimed in, "besides, if the Cullens guard at night and we guard it during the day, it's not like you'd be able to go to school anyway, stupid."
They boys quibbled for a few minutes.
Paul stayed quiet through all this. He'd been by Ava's side since earlier that morning, but he was so damn pissed. Pissed at her for not listening to him. Pissed at her leech-lover of a cousin for causing more fucking problems. Even pissed at himself for not keeping a constant eye on her.
That parasite should have never gotten that close. He could still smell the disgustingly sweet stench clinging onto her, and now that the pack had the scent, there was no way it was going to set foot nearby without being ripped apart.
Needless to say,…he wasn't happy.
He had on a permanent glare, biting the head off anyone who asked about it. After he accidentally snapped at Sam, everyone backed off. Paul wasn't one for raising his voice to his alpha, holding him with the highest respect, but after that everyone opted to keep their distance.
Everyone except Ava, that is.
And even if she did want to stay away, he wouldn't let her. If Ava was going to be stubborn and remain at her house, then he was going to make damn sure she was safe.
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Incorrect Quote(s) of the Chapter:
Ava, refusing to believe that there was a vampire in the house: There's a very logical explanation for all this.
Bella: Quick, tell me.
Ava: This house is haunted.
.+.
Paul: Do you even take anything I say into consideration?
Ava: ...I do.
Paul:
Ava: Well, I try to.
Paul:
Ava: Well, I try to want to.
.+.
Paul: Maybe we should hold hands.
Ava:
Paul: ...for safety.
Ava, genuinely thinking about her safety: Shit, you're right.
.+.
Bella, trying her hardest to get Ava to forgive her: I made a marshmallow Ava. See? Her arms are crossed because she's mad at marshmallow Bella. You like it?
Ava, choking up: It's fine.