Title: I Like Me Better
Author: Pantheradraconis
Rating: M
Pairing: Bella/Rosalie
POV: Changes, 3rd Person
Summary: Bella, after graduating high school in Florida under the roof of her mother and stepdad, moves to Forks, WA for her first year of college. She arrives the summer before and spends most of her time at the res with her friends Jacob and Leah, learning about the wolves and taught to fear the cold ones. On her first day of classes at Peninsula College, Bella runs into the most gorgeous girls she's ever seen and immediately becomes infatuated with her.
Chapter 3
Emmett
"Game Over" flashes across the screen on the TV for the thirtieth time that night. Emmett slowly places the Xbox controller down on the floor in front of him, making sure not to crush the handle in his irritation. Playing Ninja Gaiden on Master Ninja difficulty was a great idea when he first got home. He was ready to be the ultimate ninja and demolish everyone in his path, but Alma had another idea in mind. He knows what's wrong, his mind isn't on the game. He closes his eyes and sighs before leaning back against the front of the couch, the sound of defeat ringing in his ears.
"You could just play Super Mario Bros for the millionth time," Edward says falling onto the couch next to Emmett. His legs bounce against Emmett's arms and his foot nudges the burly vampire's hand. Emmett groans leaning forward and turning off the Xbox; he turns on the Nintendo in the same move and grabs two controllers, dropping one on Edward's lap.
The two plug their nunchucks into the main controllers as one of the Rayman Raving Rabbids runs across the screen screaming. While Edward picks out his character style, Emmett admits his annoyance with how his school year has begun.
"A part of me just sort of expected Angela to come back to me. Is that pathetic, or what?"
"I don't think it's pathetic, just wishful thinking." Edward pushes his hand through his bronze hair. "Bunny Hunt or Sports?"
"Let's do the Bunny Hunt first."
The game begins and the two silently concentrate on shooting the Rabbids with plungers. The crazy, irreverent humor of the game is lost on the two as they carefully hit headshot after headshot.
"What do you think of Eric?" Edward asks while the game slowly moves from one area to another. They pick up their shots without missing a beat.
"You know exactly what I think of Eric," Emmett responds in a humorous laugh.
"You think he's a good match for Angela."
Emmett shrugs, "He makes her laugh."
"There's more to a relationship than making your partner laugh."
"And when did you become an expert in relationships?"
They finish the round and Edward rubs his hands down his long legs while they look through the stats.
"How did you beat me on the bullseyes?" The bronze-haired teen ponders.
"I've got skills. When are you just going to accept this of me?"
"Let's do another one, I'm sure I can beat you this time."
Emmett laughs but clicks on another location. They immediately take up their plunger shooters and take down the Rabbids.
"I may not be an expert but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about," Edward says the words a bit subconsciously and Emmett immediately wants to make fun of him, but he holds back. At least a little bit.
"Because hearing everyone's thoughts gives you that extra nudge?" Emmett asks as he shots three Rabbids in the face at the same time.
Rolling his eyes, Edward simply shrugs.
"Eric is a good guy but she doesn't love him." The burly teen comments quietly.
Emmett lowers his controller and they look through the stats again. He's still beating Edward but their scores are a lot closer this round. He starts another round without comment.
"Does she need to love him?" Edward asks slowly.
"No."
"But?"
Emmett sighs and puts down his controller. He leans his head back and rests his shoulders on the couch. He looks up at the slightly off-white ceiling and sighs heavily before closing his eyes. His vision is immediately taken over by Angela. She's in a pair of jeans, a light rain jacket, and her goofy rain boots with the ducks all over them. They had been driving home from a movie in Port Angeles when a huge rainstorm hit. Emmett had gotten his Jeep to Angela's house but the downpour was so strong they could barely make out the yellow building. On a whim, Angela jumped out and started playing in the puddles, laughing. He saw her face now, a smile showing the bright white teeth and water soaking her hair despite the hood trying to stay up. Emmett laughed as Angela opened his door and pulled him out. He was soaked in less than a minute and the two danced around kicking the puddles up in a faux water fight.
Edward hums and Emmett is pulled back into the present moment.
"How do you know you're in love?" Edward asks softly.
Emmett thinks of the first time he saw Angela at Forks High School. She was half-hidden behind a large camera with a ridiculously fancy lens. There was nothing special about her; she was never the prettiest girl in the crowd, she didn't have the best jokes, she wasn't the smartest in the classroom, but every time Emmett saw her, he felt himself more and more drawn to her. Before he even realized it, she had become the prettiest, the funniest, the smartest of any girl he'd ever known. Suddenly there was no other girl, only Angela.
Emmett turns and looks at Edward. He is leaning back against the couch, his own eyes closed and a small smile on his lips.
"Does it feel the same with Leah?"
The bronze-hair moves slowly from side to side as Edward shakes his head. "I don't even know Leah. She's…" He opens his eyes but his vision is far away. "She's no one to me and yet I feel like she could be."
"Do you think she does it on purpose?" Emmett asks, his thoughts wandering to the times Esme has spoken to the grey wolf.
"Maybe not consciously," Edward answers cryptically. "I mean, she's been here twice and it's not like I'm never around."
Emmett picks up his controller again and switches the game over to the multiplayer sports. Edward picks up his controller but leans forward and grabs another one. Jasper and Rosalie walk into the living room, Jasper taking up a spot on the floor and Rosalie joining Edward on the couch. The bronze-haired boy passes the extra controller over to Jasper as Emmett picks the Precision category.
The game begins and Emmett works through the strange outlining game. Jasper attempts to bump into the burly teen, but Emmett keeps his arms out of Jasper's grasp and finishes the round with a pretty high score.
Edward's round starts and he gets through four objects before Rosalie says, "Your mutt came by today."
"What?!" Edward's game drawing goes wonky and he loses the rest of the points from his turn. "When? Why didn't you tell me?"
Rosalie rolls her eyes and begins picking at her nails, cleaning out invisible dirt. "An hour or two ago. While you were in the piano room playing chopsticks or whatever it is you do in there."
Emmett and Jasper look at each other, Emmett silently asking if Jasper knew. The blonde boy shrugs his shoulders and takes up his controller as his turn begins. The burly teen looks back over his shoulder at his strangely calm brother. Normally, if Edward is expecting a package and Rosalie hides it on him, the vampire boy would go ballistic on the blonde; the fight often ending with the destruction of some of their property, followed by the quick rebuild before Esme finds out. This reaction from Edward is so confusing even Rosalie turns to give the teen a strange look.
The blonde reaches out and touches Edward's forehead with the back of her hand as if checking for an impossible fever. "Are you feeling okay?" She asks in a high, uncomfortable voice.
Edward knocks her hand down and asks, "Did she say anything? Of course not, she was in her wolf form. How long did she stay? Why didn't I hear her?"
"Weren't you wearing headphones?" Emmett asks, fascinated by the conversation.
"Oh right," The bronze-haired boy responds in a half-laugh. Emmett is now seriously confused by Edward's behavior.
Rosalie leans back on the couch, her eyes still fixed on Edward as she taps her nails on her thighs. She fidgets with her shirt, taps on her thighs again, stands up, and then flops back down on the couch facing Edward more. She leans in before pulling back, opens her mouth, and then closes it again. Emmett raises his eyebrow at her and she huffs in exasperation.
"Did she leave anything?" Jasper asks as he finishes up his perfect round. It's amazing what a vampire can accomplish without the distractions of his brothers.
This question jostles Edward into action and he flies out of the living room through the back door. Emmett and Rosalie exchange a look but the blonde merely shrugs at his unasked question. Emmett wonders what has gotten into Edward. He's always been the more refined of them all. He stays a step back, much like Jasper, but not out of fear, more so out of respect for people's space. He's arrogant and stuck up, much like Rosalie, but not out of disinterest, more so out of a lack of curiosity. He's the definition of brother and son, without him the family feels disconnected, and yet he, himself, stays slightly out of reach of everyone. Maybe that's why the black sheep of the wolf pack imprinted on him.
Edward doesn't come back and eventually the evening continues. Rosalie picks up the extra controller and destroys the boys with the cow throwing minigame.
Bella
Tuesday morning, Bella gets to Peninsula College early to meet up with Angela for coffee and bagels. Bella had bought the coffee from The Coffee Box while Angela was picking up breakfast burritos at the PUB Market & Deli. The teens agreed to meet outside the PUB, which tended to be quite busy before the morning classes; this is why Bella is currently freezing outside under the overcast sky and bristling wind.
"There you are!" Angela calls out as she scrambles over to Bella's seat. "Why are you so bundled up?"
"It's fffreezing!" Bella stutters out. She passes Angela her coffee while pulling her own in under her nose and trying to make herself into a smaller bundle of warmth.
Angela looks around like a thermometer is in sight before shrugging and sitting down next to Bella. The shorter girl knows it's only 60 degrees or so, but coming from a state where winter only hits 70, she is understandably more cold than the Washingtonites. The teens are seated on a bench with their backs to the PUB and begin eating their burritos while watching the crowds move past.
"This is pretty good," Bella says as she feels the warmth of the food and the coffee work its magic. Maybe she was more hungry than cold.
"It's alright," Angela agrees, picking at the veggies inside her burrito, or the lack thereof.
Bella laughs at the seriousness Angela's face is making at a wrinkly pepper. Angela puts the pepper back in her burrito and puts it down next to her.
"So, what's the big plan you want to work on? Is it for one of your classes?"
Shaking her head, Bella begins to explain. "So I know you gave me your number because of the College Success project and I am working on my part, I promise. I've got the "Against" argument for Social Learning half written up, okay more like only a page, but it'll be done before tomorrow - I promise."
"You promise?" Angela quips.
Bella rolls her eyes and continues, "Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyway, I messaged you because I have a project of my own, a sort of problem I need to fix, and I was hoping you might be able to help me with it."
Angela shrugs and drinks her coffee slowly. "Sure, probably. I mean, it depends on what it is as to whether or not I'll be of any help."
"I think you will!" Bella says enthusiastically.
"Why me?"
"Oh well," Bella looks down at her coffee and shrugs. "You see, I don't really have any friends here yet. Well, I mean I do, on the Res, but they don't really travel to Port Angeles all that often and you're here already." Bella looks up at Angela and sees the small smile in the girl's eyes. "I like you, Angela, like, you're really nice and stuff. You know that, right?"
The taller girl shrugs and takes another sip of her coffee, a small smile on her lips.
"Ok," Angela says, leaning in a little. "What's the problem?"
"I have a crush," Bella admits matter-of-factly.
Angela blinks a few times before leaning back slightly. Bella watches the taller girl's response and laughs.
"Oh, right! I'm sorry. Not on you. I mean, you're great and all, but not really my type."
The taller girl blinks again before giggling softly. She quickly responds, "Oh, that's not why. I didn't mean to lean back like that. Your problem just sort of threw me off. I don't think I've ever heard someone call a crush a problem before."
Bella blushes slightly and takes a few sips of her coffee. She leans back on the bench and looks out over the crowd.
"Normally, I wouldn't call it a problem either. I mean, crushes come and go, right? I've been on a few dates, but nothing really serious. I've liked people, I've thought whoever was incredibly hot, but not like this. This is different. This is the first time I've wanted to go out of my way just to get this person to notice me. Just to look at me again!"
"It sounds like you've got it bad," Angela giggles. "I'm curious though, why didn't you contact Alice about this? I mean, you two definitely hit it off."
Bella laughs and agrees, "Alice is definitely a blast and I did actually ask her, but she said she was busy this morning and I really wanted to get down to work, you know?"
The taller girl smiles and nods, understanding completely. She looks up across the quad before suddenly looking back down as if pretending she didn't notice someone.
Bella looks out at the crowd of people and begins searching each face, trying to find who might have caught Angela's attention like that. There's a group of boys with incredibly long legs walking in a fast-moving group, a basketball in the hands of one of them. Two girls walk by, one sharing something on her phone with the other. They both look like the image is incredibly unappealing. One person trips over something invisible and quickly looks up making sure no one saw.
Just as she's about to look away, Bella's eye catches the shine of blonde hair. Her eyes widen and she focuses in on her angel, Rosalie.
"There she is!" Bella says in a stage-whisper.
Angela looks up and searches the crowds. "Where?" She looks a moment longer before asking, "Who?"
"Rosalie," Bella says, and almost as if her voice carried across the loud and busy quad, the blonde looks in her direction.
"Oh," Angela's voice calls from beside the shorter girl, but Bella barely hears it.
Edward
The teen vampire moves along the Oil City Trailhead only a few paces past the Hoh River. At the pace they are going, it'll take them five years to make it all the way to Second Beach. Still, the walks are pleasant enough and the company isn't all terrible. Dr. Appletree spends most of her time thinking about different brands of bug spray and trying to name all The Beach Boys singles in order from her most favorite to least favorite. More often than not she starts humming one. The four students spend most of their time talking about regular life drama, which Edward avoids at all costs. Two of the conservationists have attempted to carry on a conversation with Edward, but they quickly gave up. He didn't want to be bothered by all the mundane topics of these humans. He heard enough from their thoughts.
No, most days were calm and serene. Edward often looked forward to the long, peaceful walks, even when he pulls the short straw and has to trample through the woods. Edward laughs at his joke, as if he could ever trample anywhere.
Today is a fine day. There is a thick overcast with the hint of some rain later on. Alice informed him the rain wouldn't start until well past noon and would only be a misting. When she said it, however, she scrunched up her nose and quickly began thinking about a possible interaction Rosalie would have with Angela at school. Alice was starting to get frustrated by the short, inconsistent futures she's been seeing of Rosalie. Edward attempted to talk to Alice about them, but she merely shooed him away. Jasper informed him that Alice was still trying to figure out if she was happy with the change of her sight, or frustrated with her lack of certainty. Edward laughed, grabbed his raincoat, and went off to start his day.
He looks out over the forest line and sees one of the kids sliding on a wet log and landing on her butt. Edward raises an eyebrow but manages to keep his laugh to himself.
Good to know he's not the chivalrous type.
Edward stops mid-step and slowly turns around. Behind him, about 100 meters back, is his wolf, Leah. She watches him carefully, her own steps faltering slightly before continuing at an even, albeit slow, pace.
Just breathe, Leah, just breathe. It's not a big deal. We're going to have to face each other eventually and it's not like he's going to attack you. She visibly gulps but keeps walking. Breathe. It's fine. It'll be fine. Just relax.
Edward stands perfectly still, unsure what to do with his hands. He watches Leah shake her own hands out, flexing the long, thin fingers in and out, in and out. He watches her nostrils flare slightly with her deep breaths. He watches her legs flex with each stilted stride.
Leah is wearing cut off jean shorts and a pair of worn down flip flops. Her shirt is another band tee but she has the good grace to wear a thin military style jacket, giving the illusion that she may be slightly cold. Edward knows better. He knows the wolves run at hotter temperatures and aren't affected by the cold the same way humans are. He briefly wonders what her skin would feel like.
He isn't moving. Why isn't he moving? Is he going to wait for me? Ugh, maybe he is the chivalrous type. What am I getting myself into?
The wolf reaches up and rubs her hand through her short hair, sighing deeply. Edward coughs, unsure how to sound words anymore. Should he say something? He feels like he should say something.
At least he can't hear my thoughts right now.
"Uh, sorry, um…" Edward stutters out. Stuttering? Really? He's not one to stutter. What is this wolf doing to him? "I, um, I can, actually."
Leah stops about 20 meters away and tilts her head. She starts thinking about biology, for some reason. Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
Edward laughs and rubs the back of his neck. He closes his eyes and slowly breathes, in and out, in and out. When he opens his eyes again, Leah is looking him straight in the eye.
You can hear me?
The vampire nods, the barest movement, but Leah sees. She stares. She lets her mouth drop open. She laughs. The wolf laughs so hard she starts to cry. Edward tries to understand, tries to listen to the jumble of thoughts cascading through her brain as she loses herself in laughter. He stands there, baffled.
"Would you two stop goofing off and get back to work?" Dr. Appletree calls out from the forest, a few paces away from them. "I'm trying to catalog the different types of moss and your laughter is very distracting." She continues to mumble as she leans down and brushes her hand over the soft patch of moss on a large stone.
Leah smiles at the doctor and turns back to Edward. The vampire is shocked at how pretty Leah's eyes are when she smiles. He blinks a few times, expecting this lightweight feeling to leave him, but instead he continues to feel… What? What is it he's feeling? Content? It feels so strange. So foreign. Out of place.
As the wolf walks up next to him, still an arms length away, Edward asks, "Are you going to get in trouble? With your pack?" He doesn't ask if she'll get in trouble with Sam. He's not sure about the relationship between those two, but to think it's strained at best, is more than enough to work with.
Leah nods, one simple dip of her head. "I'm going to get in trouble no matter what, so what the hell?"
She turns and begins walking down the path. Edward turns with her, following, but walking beside her. They remain, always a few paces apart, never close enough to touch, never close enough to admit they are walking together. Silent in their footsteps as well as their words, still so unsure of each other. Edward listens as Leah sings lyrics in her head, one song after another. It's different from Dr. Appletree. She's different from all the other minds he's forced to hear. Perhaps this is contentment.
At times I wonder why I fool with you/But this is new to me, this is new to you/Initially, I didn't wanna fall for you/Gather my attention it was all for you, so don't/Take advantage, don't leave my heart damaged/To understand that things go a little bit better when you plan it, oh/So won't you send me your location/Let's focus on communicating/'Cause I just need the time and place to come through." - Location by Khalid
A/N: I've noticed quite a few people comment on the relationships I've chosen as being odd, or it's simply the first time they've seen them together. I didn't search for Edward/Leah or Emmett/Angela nor have I read any stories with them but I'm still surprised no one has put them together. Edward and Leah are both black sheep types of their respective coven and pack. They're both angry and confused by what they've become and they both feel like the gifts they're given are more like curses. I thought they were a logical choice and I'm honestly having a lot of fun writing them together.
For Emmett and Leah, it was a bit more of a stretch. I knew I wanted the storyline of Twilight to more or less have happened; I wanted there to be at least one human who knew about the vampires as well as having Bella aware of the wolves. I guess I went with Emmett because he would be the only Cullen left single (because I knew Edward would be with Leah and Rosalie with Bella). I tried to think of who would be the best match for Emmett and easily crossed off Lauren and Jessica as being too haughty and Mike as being too straight. I crossed off Ben, Tyler, and Samantha as being too random. Once I realized Angela was left, I started to decide whether the two would work. Emmett is an absolute sweetheart and would treat Angela like an angel. Angela would probably get wrapped up in that but if the events of Twilight happened (i.e. James attacked her and threatened her family), I feel Angela would be far more logical than Bella ever was. Bella has always been an extremely emotional person, which is by no means bad, simply different than Angela. I also feel Angela to be very forgiving, which means she could end up back with Emmett. I guess we shall see if it works out!
What are your thoughts?