Title: The Best Of Times: Trailing for Hope
Chapter 38: All Alone When You Go, or Finalizing Doomsday Plans
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'm actually almost done editing the next chapter...I think. I could be wrong, don't hold me to that haha
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, followed, and favorited! :)
The next day. Wednesday. 4:09 PM. Swan House.
Ava tightened her hold on her phone, willing it to ring. Bella had gone with Edward and Jasper to think through how they were going to arrive at the site Friday morning; their scent was too strong to travel alone and without a plan, they wouldn't make it 5 feet from their home with newborns so nearby. Bella said she would call when a decision was made, but it felt like it had been hours since then.
Paul watched from the side, her behavior since Monday night was really starting to bother him; she was acting skittish before, but now, it seemed to have been amplified to an unhealthy degree. By the looks of it, he doubted she got any sleep.
When the phone rang suddenly, Ava accepted the call without a second thought and pressed it to her ear. "Hey," she said breathlessly, her burning eyes widening a fraction. She needed to keep quiet, they were in the kitchen and if she spoke too loudly Charlie would overhear.
"Hey." Bella's voice drifted through, crackling slightly with the signal.
"So?" Ava asked, darting her eyes to glance at Paul.
"With Jake, my scent was gone." Bella explained. "Um, so, he's going to take me to the site on Friday."
"Just Jake?" Ava echoed.
"Or, all wolves, I guess," Bella corrected. "Their scent is strong enough to hide ours completely."
"So…" Ava glanced around quickly to make sure Charlie wasn't nearby before locking her eyes back on Paul leaning against the kitchen counter. "What? Jake has to carry both of us? Or, one at a time…"
"Um, Paul can, uh, carry you and Jake, me. We can get there faster...they'll have to take different routes."
Ava nodded slowly, watching Paul's expression and mouthing, "did you catch that?" She pointed at the phone. He rolled his eyes and raised his eyebrows. "Yes."
6:32 PM. Swan House.
"I could die."
Ava frowned. "Don't say that."
"You're the one that's been saying it since we found out about all this shit," Paul pointed out, staring at her ceiling. He was in his favorite spot in Ava's room; stretched out on her bed, his arms folded behind his head and her soft pillows surrounding him.
"It's bad enough that I'm the one saying it." Ava deepened her frown. "I don't need you giving up on me, too."
"I'm just saying."
"Well, stop," she insisted. "Alice said that tomorrow she's coming and talk to Charlie about this weekend. I'll stay at Emily's, then in the morning we'll go to the site."
There was a silence that passed, Ava's thoughts beginning to whirl around at warp speed in her head again. But before they had a chance to overcome her, Paul spoke up.
"It's going to be a bitch carrying you up there."
"Hey." Ava ruffled, straightening up in offense. "What's that supposed to mean."
He only gave her a taunting look and she tried suppressing the smile from spreading across. "Jerk, that's just mean. You really want my last memory of you, being you calling me fat?"
"It'll be a lasting thought." He lifted his body to sit up, tossing her a pillow. "So, we sharing?"
Ava raised her hand to catch the pillow, lowering it and supplying him with only a raised brow. "Uh, what?"
"It's almost my last night," Paul said matter-of-factly, as if that was enough of an explanation.
"And?"
"You really want my last memory of you, being you not putting out?"
Ava laughed loudly, covering her mouth to stifle the noise. "Oh, my god. Get out of my room."
The next day. Thursday. 5:05 PM. Swan House.
As Alice was explaining to Charlie about her plans, Ava was trying to keep up with what she was saying, lest she need it later if Charlie asked more about it.
So far, all she got was: Alice wanted to have Ava and Bella over for a girl's getaway while her family was off on a camping trip.
Ava half-expected Charlie to shoot Alice down immediately; after the whole Italy debacle Charlie had soured with the Cullens, but Alice was a force to be reckoned with. With her bright smile and charming aura, it was hard to tell the pixie vampire no.
"…So, if it's all right with you, I would love to have them over!" Alice finished, her loveliest smile gracing her lips.
Paul and Ava were right behind Charlie and, despite Charlie standing right there, Ava was positive that Paul was still glaring at Alice over his head.
"Well." Charlie heaved a sigh, making the mistake of catching Alice's brilliant eyes. "…Alright. I guess it'll be fine." He opened his mouth to continue, a ringing noise flowing out instead of words.
Ava fumbled with her phone, reading Bella's name on the caller ID and she stepped around Charlie, Paul hot on her heels. "Sorry." She smiled sheepishly. "Be right back."
She walked out of the room in a flurry, exiting the house before accepting the call. "Hey," she greeted. Paul walked around her and leaned against the porch column.
"Hey, Alice there?" Bella asked, the white noise in the background indicating that she was in her truck.
"Yeah," Ava replied. "Everything sounds good so far. Where are you?"
"Almost home."
"Alright." Ava breathed out. "See you in a bit."
She ended the call and stared down at the dark screen for a few seconds. "Looks like this is really happening…"
"You'll be fine." Paul frowned, pushing himself off the post. "Even if you are with the bloodsucker." Sam's pack had been training with the Cullens the past three days, learning as much as they could to succeed against the newborns. He was confident in their abilities and their imminent success.
Ava had opted against showing up to the training site, much to Bella's displeasure; going the first day only amplified her worry. Add in the fact that Paul kept brushing off her concerns, giving her a sharp migraine every time.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Ava countered, feeling the frustration bubbling in her chest. Paul was so dense sometimes that it astounded her how she could have fallen for someone so one-tracked. "What about you? Or Jacob? Or the whole freaking pack? The Cullens?" She ticked off the names. "There's way more people at risk here than just me."
"Who cares?"
She scoffed in indignation, undoing her arms and fighting the urge to stomp her foot. "What do you mean, who cares? God, you're so-"
The front door swung open and Ava snapped her mouth shut. Alice walked out with Charlie, both with wide smiles on their faces. Alice had managed to only wrinkle her petite nose slightly at Paul before turning back to Charlie, plastering on a sweet smile. "Yes, scout's honor."
In that moment Ava heard the unmistakable rumble of Bella's truck nearing. A second later it came into view, Bella parking in front of the house.
"Okay, Alice, don't be a stranger." Charlie chuckled, still addressing his fully-welcomed guest. Alice only widened her smile.
"Okay," she agreed and stepped down to meet Bella once Charlie re-entered the house. Ava followed Alice, ignoring Paul's scoff as she did so.
"Your alibi for the battle is all arranged."
"Really?" Bella asked, surprise in her voice. She glanced at Ava and turned to look at the small vampire.
Alice nodded in agreement. "I told your father that our whole family's going camping this whole week, so you and I and Ava are having a sleepover at my house starting tonight. Charlie's going fishing, anyway."
"Charlie?" Bella asked, amusedly. "You guys are on a first name basis now?"
"Didn't you know?" Ava joked, a smirk forming on her face. "Charlie and Alice are best friends now."
"Me," Alice said slowly, winking at Ava. "He likes."
After a second, she blinked innocently, looking at Bella and continuing, "...actually...you and Edward will have the house to yourself tonight."
Bella furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Ava in a silent inquiry. She thought that the two of them would have been together and leave tomorrow morning; she didn't want the chance of something happening without the other.
"I'm staying at Emily's," Ava answered. "Just for tonight." She inclined her head discreetly to the side, gesturing to their current scowling spectator.
"Oh." Bella deepened the line in her brows. "Um." She turned towards Alice, strange thoughts fluttering in her mind. "Like, alone?"
Alice chuckled, misinterpreting Bella's question with a positive note. "We're all going hunting. Powering up for the battle...you're welcome."
Ava could guess on her first try what was going through Bella's mind.
"I guess," Bella said breathlessly, blinking rapidly down at the ground in thought. "...I'm going to head inside." She met Ava's eyes. "We," she corrected. "We should get some stuff together."
Alice took the hint and nodded, giving Bella a last sly smile before disappearing the blink of an eye.
Bella climbed the steps first, meeting Paul's stare and waving half-heartedly from her side. "Hey." She didn't want to be friendly, much preferring to ignore him, but for Ava's sake she would try and be civil. That way, at least Bella wouldn't be the one to blame.
"Hi," he answered curtly, crossing his arms.
Realizing that this thrilling conversation wasn't going to go anywhere, Ava nudged Bella towards the front door, poking at her lower back. "Can you grab my duffel from your room? I don't think you ever gave it back."
"Yeah," Bella quickly agreed, disappearing through the door.
"And you," Ava started, turning towards Paul slowly. "Gotta scat. I'll see you at Emily's later."
"I just got here." He immediately frowned.
Ava let out a scoff. "Just got here? You've been here for, like, three hours."
"So."
"Go," Ava repeated slowly. "And I'll see you at Emily's. Sam is going to bar you from coming here." She shoved his shoulder towards the steps and he continued grumbling, even after taking off down the road.
Rolling her eyes at his dramatics, she barely walked into the house when Bella whizzed past her. "What?"
"Don't go into the kitchen," Bella advised, not slowing down a fraction up the stairs and into her room.
Obviously, Ava did exactly what Bella told her not to do.
And unfortunately, she was now caught in an awkward position because of it.
Of course, she didn't know what she was walking into. Charlie was running a hand down his face but once he noticed his niece eyeing him strangely, he groaned in exasperation. This can't be happening.
"...Look Ava, I'm kind of on a roll here," Charlie started awkwardly. He definitely didn't think he was equipped to handle this; he had half-a-mind to call up his sister and demand her to tell Ava about this, but knowing her she would just go over the biology of it. In fact, she would probably just glaze over it, not taking into account how much things have clearly changed in teenagers nowadays.
"You're...you're not, you know, involved or anything, are you?"
Ava gave him a strange look, walking past the dining table to grab Charlie's sandwich on the counter. "What?"
"You know." He waved around emptily. "Like, are you taking…p-precautions or-or-"
"Oh, my god." Ava dropped the sandwich back the plate and shook her head, feeling the immediate heat rise in her cheeks. "No!"
Charlie's eyes snapped open wider and she backtracked, holding up her hands in defense. "No, no! I mean, yes!" She groaned loudly, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm not-not doing anything that would...warrant precautions."
"You're not...you and that kid, Paul, aren't-"
Ava didn't even get the chance to notice that Charlie used Paul's actual name because she backed up into the fridge. "No! No, no, no." She continued shaking her head. "We're friends, I told you this."
"Well, that was a while ago," Charlie pointed out, clearly just as uncomfortable with the situation as she was. "Didn't know if that was still true."
"Still true," Ava insisted, inching towards the doorway. "If that changes, I'll let you know," she finished brusquely, scampering out of the kitchen.
Seems like Charlie was giving Bella…'the talk'...and Bella high-tailed it out of there.
I need to start listening to her more, Ava thought with a shudder.
Favorite and Follow! And if you have a second, leave a review and tell me what you think! Also, just as a side note, all of my university classes are being switched over to online because of the posed health risk of being in large groups and I don't know how I feel about it.
Incorrect Quote(s) of the Chapter:
[talking about the newborn battle]
Ava: I think the glass is half empty.
Paul: I think the glass if half full.
Ava: I think you're full of shit.
.+.
Charlie: It's time to talk to you girls about the birds and the bees.
Ava and Bella, cringing: Oh, no…
Charlie: They're disappearing at an alarming rate.
.+.
Paul: Are you alright? You didn't sleep at all last night.
Ava: I got a solid eight minutes.
Ava: Not consecutively but it's fine. You're not even that blurry.
.+.
Paul: Hey, Ava, let's bang.
Paul: Oops, I meant hang.
Paul:
Paul: No, I didn't.
.+.
Charlie: I need you to be in charge while I'm at work.
Ava: I'm your girl.
Charlie: You have to be alert.
Ava: I'm kinda your girl.
Charlie: And keep Bella out of trouble.
Ava: You need another girl.
[alternatively]
Charlie: I need you to be in charge while I'm at work.
Bella: I'm your girl.
Charlie: You have to act wisely.
Bella: I'm kinda your girl.
Charlie: And keep Ava out of trouble.
Bella: You need another girl.
(in conclusion, don't leave them alone, ever.)
.+.
Paul: When you said you could make some 'magic' in bed, this isn't what I had in mind.
Ava: Is this your card?
Paul, softly: Holy shit.
