Hi guys! Welcome to another installment of You Have: One New Message, and can I just say, WOW. You all are literally the sweetest. Remember last time when I said I was a little unfamiliar with the timeline of the book and show, and was using mostly youtube clips and whatever I could look up? Some sweetheart commented the timeline I needed as a guest, as well as said some very nice things. If you're reading this, thank you so much :)
Just a heads up for anyone interested, I have an AO3 account under the same penname, and will be cross posting my works there for those who prefer using that format. That's still a work in progress, but this one and What Hurts The Most should be joining The Guide and The Guard there shortly. I also have started a DeviantArt under the name SteampunkFairyCovers, where all the covers for my stories will be posted. Enjoy the chapter! I have a nice long one for you :)
You Have: One New Message
Chapter Three: Port Angeles
The sleepless nights were starting to take their toll, Bella noticed as she rolled out of bed the next morning with a sleepy yawn. She reached for her phone, intending on sending a good morning text to Damon. Her hand only found an empty space, and Bella recalled that she had broken her phone the day before. That was fine, she was going to replace it today in Port Angeles. Her vervain should be coming in today as well. Unfortunately it wouldn't be delivered until she was already at school, so she would be going solo today. Fortunately Bella could already see glimpses of sunlight streaming in through her bedroom window, and she could easily make sure she wasn't caught alone today. Wait, her bedroom window? Bella bolted upright, seeing the curtains she was sure she had closed the night before. A chill went down her spine as she sprang out of bed. She opened her window, and despite her barely touching the thing apart from locking it, it slid open without any effort on her part, or even creaking. Apart from the first time she was fairly certain he had broken into her room, he had seemed to have not bothered, though the fact that she had been up extremely late every night talking to Damon might have had something to do with that. You can't break into a room with someone who was still awake. Oh God, was he listening to her talking to Damon every night? Bella wracked her brain, trying to remember if she had said anything incriminating out loud to Damon. Anything that would implicate that she knew exactly what The Cullens were.
"Deep breaths Bella." She murmured to herself. "The Vervain is coming today. It's sunny. You're safe." After a minute of breathing, Bella again thought back to her conversations with Damon. She was fairly certain that she hadn't said anything to give her away out loud. Her vocal conversations with Damon had mostly been about mundane things, aside from a brief conversation about Vervain. Hopefully Edward Cullen couldn't hear so well that she heard Damon's side of the conversation, and was among the vast majority of Cold Ones that had no idea that the herb even had any power over them.
"It kind of has a repulsion effect on them." Damon had explained when he had first told her about it. "They're completely revolted by the scent of it. Cold Ones are more based in animal instincts. You know how animals are naturally repelled by things that are poisonous to them? It's like that." Bella could've sworn she had heard him mutter "Wish we had that." under his breath after that last statement, but she couldn't be sure. The memory of talking to Damon bolstered her, and she found herself looking forward to that night when she could finally talk to him again. She heard Charlie moving around downstairs, so she decided to go downstairs and have breakfast with her father before he had to go to work.
"Morning Bells." Charlie greeted, giving his daughter an awkward pat on the head. "You're looking sleepier than usual."
"I didn't sleep that well last night." Bella shrugged. "I felt kind of bad about breaking my phone."
"You should have some coffee." Charlie advised. "You set it to go every night anyways, and It'll help wake you up. Don't feel too bad about the phone kiddo, it was just an old cheap flip phone." Bella shrugged, helping herself to some coffee from the pot.
"Yeah, I guess. I'm getting a new one tonight when I go to Port Angeles with Jess and Angela anyways."
"Stanley and Weber." Charlie recalled. "Good kids." Charlie shifted uncomfortably, before speaking again. "You should upgrade when you go get the new phone. Some of the guys at work were talking about their kids wanting the new iphone or something." Bella grinned at her dad.
"That's ok dad, I'm not really into getting the latest stuff, or the trends."
"You should still get yourself something nice." Charlie protested. "I'll cover the difference." Charlie got up from his seat and took down the grocery fund. "I'll stop by the bank on the way home and replace it, but why don't you take this as a downpayment for a nice phone." Warmth tingled in the pit of Bella's stomach as she internally debated letting her father help get her phone. Charlie may not be the most present father, but he always did his best to make sure that Bella had everything she could possibly need or even want. "Go on, take the money Bells." Charlie prompted. Bella felt her throat constrict, like the time she had noticed that Charlie had gotten up early to put snow chains on her truck.
"Thanks, Dad." She managed, taking the money. Charlie reached out and awkwardly patted her head again.
"I love you Bells." He informed her, heading back to his seat and tucking himself back into his breakfast and mug of coffee.
"I love you too Dad." Bella responded earnestly. She may have not ever been a fan of living in Forks, and had only ever really spent time with him for his vacations he spent with her every summer, but she really, truly did love her father. She had even found Forks growing on her as she grew used to living with at least a semi-responsible adult figure. Sure she did a lot of cooking and cleaning here, but it was nice not having to be the adult of the house. Her stomach twisted suddenly while she thought. She wasn't being fair to her mother. Sure her mother was flighty and immature, but she did care about her daughter as well. Renee had been more geared at emotional or spiritual health than her daughter's physical needs. While Bella had been forced to do all the house's billing to make sure their lights weren't shut off, Bella had been able to go talk to her mother about literally anything, and Renee would always make time to listen. Bella just had never really bothered with it, content to listen to her mother prattle energetically about whatever her latest hobby was.
Stefan had long since left for school when Damon woke up late the next morning. Thank goodness for small mercies. Damon had pulled out his phone, all ready to send Bella a good morning text when he recalled that she currently didn't have a phone. She also still hadn't barred her window with vervain yet, so she was still vulnerable to the Cold One as she slept. That thought had put him in a less than chipper mood, and he was itching for a fight when Pearl and Anna had shown up with a list of demands. Who were these bitches to order him around?
"As a reward for your help I'm willing to give you what you want most." Pearl promised.
"I want nothing fro-" He began to retort.
"Katherine." Pearl cut him off. That threw him for a loop. Could she possibly know? Damon reflected. Then he shook off the idea.
"You wouldn't even know where she was." He waved her off. "You've been under the ground for the last century and a half." Pearl leaned back, amused. She began to respond, but Damon cut her off. "Besides, I have no interest whatsoever in finding Katherine. Her loss." And he didn't, Damon was surprised to find. Spending so long devoted to one woman, only to have that thrown back into his face when he found out that she had never bothered to find him after she escaped had been one hell of a blow, but it was a blow Damon found that had lessened with each passing day. Bella had helped with the gaping wound Katherine's betrayal had left. Finding himself with an honest to God friend for the first time since Enzo had been heartening, though he had yet to tell Bella anything really substantial. How would she react if he told her that he himself was a different kind of vampire? Though she seemed afraid of the vampires at her school, that came more from the one that wanted her blood, not from the fact that they were vampires. In fact, Bella had taken the realization with a surprising amount of grace, and even now had no intentions of ratting them out.
As it turned out, Pearl was a bit of a badass, he admitted to himself as he rubbed his eyes. She had taken exception to his aggressive dismissal, and decided to take it out on his baby blues. And people said he had anger management issues.
"I have four hundred years on you, little boy. I'll rip you from limb to limb without even blinking, and you know it."
Healing had taken him a hot minute, and it had given him plenty of time to reflect on his new friendship with Bella. He was worried about her, he admitted to himself. He had done his best to push those feelings down, but he had been largely unsuccessful at that. So the next best thing was to actually admit it to himself, and work with it. Bella was still a little jumpy at the idea of telling someone she had met on the internet where she actually lived, but he would be able to find her relatively easily if he went to Washington. There couldn't be that many Bellas that lived near Port Angeles and the Reservation. It would take a while of compelling though. Not to mention that would make him no better than her little stalker Cold One, and he had told her he wasn't an internet creep that was going to randomly show up at her house. So that was out, for now at least. Maybe he could talk her into telling him in case of an emergency. Though if there was an emergency, he would get there far too late to be of any help. The quickest he would be able to get to her was about 6 hours, considering she was on the other side of the country. It just had to be Washington state, instead of Washington D.C. Either way, he had spent entirely too long brooding over his new friend. Next thing he knew, he's going to start acting more like Saint Stefan, which Damon would rather be staked than let happen.
If he started getting his brother's frown lines because of this girl, he was going to sue.
School was difficult for Bella that day. Not because she was having trouble with the schoolwork, because she had already gone over most of it in her AP classes back in Phoenix, but because she had found herself more than a little distracted. She was jumpy at best, trying not to be found alone in case Edward Cullens was waiting for his opportunity to strike, hidden from the sun. Also, she felt the loss of her phone keenly, as her only line of contact to Damon. The combination of both of those things almost made her a nervous wreck.
Bella had found Damon's virtual presence to be a real comfort in regards to her current life on the edge potentially getting eaten. Not to mention that she genuinely enjoyed talking to him. Though they didn't have much in common personality wise, Bella had found a kindred spirit in Damon in many other things, and an equal in conversation that she usually only found in people who were at least middle aged. Her mother hadn't been lying when she said it was like she had been born in her 40s, and only got older as she grew up.
It had been a real relief to hear the final bell. She spilled out into the parking lot with the flood of other students, all eager to get the hell out of school. Bella had parked as far away from the woods as she could today, and she all but ran to the imagined safety of her truck. Her old rust bucket may not do much against a Cold One, but she certainly felt a hell of a lot more secure.
The drive home was a bit of a blur for Bella, worried because this was the first time all day that she was alone. She beelined for the mailbox the moment she pulled in the driveway. Yes, her package had in fact been delivered. She hastily made her way inside. If she was quick, she would be able to prepare the Vervain to anoint both her window and her truck before Jessica arrived to pick her up. She had ordered quite a bit of the herb, so she was sure she had enough. Vervain had a fairly pleasant scent, Bella noticed as soon as she opened the package. Grassy and citrussy. Almost like citronella, but a bit more muted and less fruity smelling.
In no time at all, Bella had rubbed the herb into the wood of her windowsill, had brushed what had basically been vervain tea all over her window, and had made a couple of bunches of the flowers to hang on her window and in her car. She heard Jessica pull in her driveway, and rushed to get downstairs before Jess got impatient. Jess had just started honking as Bella opened her front door. She could see Angela chastising Jessica as she approached the car, and she smiled somewhat sheepishly as she climbed into the backseat.
"What took you so long?" Jess complained, immediately throwing her car into reverse and speeding down the road.
"She wasn't that long, Jess." Angela objected, smiling at Bella. Jessica huffed.
"Whatever." She said, focusing on the road. "If all the good stuff is gone, don't blame me."
Jess drove like a maniac, even more so when the threat of being pulled over by anyone that knew them, like Charlie, had passed. Bella didn't say something, but said a silent prayer that Jessica didn't smash them flat like a pancake. Port Angeles was supposed to be a full hour away, but Jessica got them there in an impressively short amount of time. God have mercy on her soul if she ever came across a more manic driver than Jessica Stanley. The girls planned on hitting all of the little boutiques in the town, as well as the Goodwill just in case. Bella eyed the antique shop, and resolved to come back some other time herself.
Though she generally speaking absolutely loathed shopping, Bella found herself invigorated by the estrogen rush. Jessica's enthusiasm was infectious as well, and she found herself contemplating shoes with Angela. The tall girl was considering a pair of heels, but worried that it might make her too intimidating for her date to the dance. Jessica was flitting from rack to rack of dresses like a little fairy, looking not only for herself, but Angela.
"Oh Ang, you have to try this on!" Jessica exclaimed. "It's gonna make your boobs look amazing."
"Jessica!" Angela exclaimed, her face bright red.
"I'm just saying." Jessica shrugged shamelessly, handing her friend the dress to try on. "Are you sure you have to go to Seattle that day Bells? I think that blue one over there would look really pretty with your skin. You're so pale after all." Bella shook her head, suddenly intensely grateful that she didn't have to go through what Angela's suffering.
"No, I'm good. I'd rather a halfway decent bookstore to a dance anyways. You see how I am on a flat surface. Can you imagine me trying to dance?" Jessica winced in understanding then, as if picturing the catastrophe that Bella attempting to dance would cause.
"Gotcha, you go be lame doing your boring stuff then." She waved off as Angela came out of the fitting room. "Ooh, Angela! You look amazing!" Angela looked at her friend with pursed lips, hands finding their way to her hips.
"Jessica, stop insulting Bella. She's not lame because she doesn't want to go to the dance." She admonished. "Bella, why don't you go get your new phone now? We'll meet you at the restaurant. You don't have to stand here and let Jess bully you."
"I wasn't bullying!" Jess whined as Bella grinned at Angela. The tall girl took "Mom Friend" to a whole new level as she scolded Jess, much to the shorter girl's dismay.
"Yeah, I think I will." Bella said, excited to have her contact with Damon restored. "I'll catch you guys in a bit." Angela smiled at Bella as she walked away, Jessica already absorbed in her dress hunt once more.
Bella walked out of the cell phone store, absorbed in setting everything up. She had taken Charlie's advice and gotten herself a smartphone this time, not a cheap flip phone. She was particularly excited about Skype, which she made a mental note to download as soon as she got home. She would be able to video chat with her mother now. "And Damon, if he wants to" she thought to herself. Speaking of Damon, she input his number in the contacts, and immediately hit the call button. It rang for a moment while Bella walked down the street, before Bella heard his already familiar voice.
"Hello."
"Good news is, I'm still alive." Bella said by way of greeting. "Bad news is that my old number is no more. Rest in Peace, old phone." More like rest in pieces, considering how her phone broke.
"Bella." Damon said, and was Bella imagining things, or did it seem like he had sighed in relief? "So everything went ok today?"
"Pretty much." Bella said, rounding a corner. "I had a mini heart attack every time I was in danger of being left alone, but nothing happened. I got the vervain today. I set everything up. Protected my window and my truck."
"You should also get some for yourself as well." Damon advised. "In some jewelry, or even put some in a drink."
"Good call." Bella commented, absently letting her feet guide her back towards where she was supposed to meet Angela and Jessica. "I'll start putting it in the coffee pot, that way Charlie can be protected too."
"Charlie?" Damon questioned curiously. Bella heard two women laughing in the background of wherever he was, and Bella felt her stomach twist uncomfortably.
"My Dad." Bella answered. "Where are you, anyways?"
"A bar." Damon said frankly. "You call your dad by his name?"
"Force of habit. Why are you at a bar?" Damon grunted at her question.
"I had an annoying run in this morning, and I decided I needed a night out to make myself feel better." He told her.
"Are you ok?" She asked, stopping for a moment as she saw a car coming. For a moment her heart stopped as she thought she spotted a silver Volvo, but she quickly calmed herself down. The sun was going down, Bella having taken a bit longer in the cell phone store than she anticipated. That meant that she was once again vulnerable. Honestly, she was going to start going grey from stress and paranoia if this kept up.
"Oh, I'm just peachy." He groused. "My self righteous baby brother just walked in with his girlfriend."
"I didn't know you had a brother." Bella observed. She still didn't know a lot about Damon, she realized. Though the same could just as easily be said about him with her. Maybe it was time to change that.
"Oh yeah. Saint Stefan. Nothing all that interesting about him. Broody, frowny, and loves spreading his broodiness around him." Damon snorted. "He's got a head like an Easter Island statue." Bella laughed at that, not noticing the shadowy figures that had started to follow her.
"Sounds like he's an interesting person." Bella observed. She heard a scrape of a foot on the sidewalk behind her, and stiffened.
"Hardly." Damon sniffed. "Didn't you listen to a word I just said, mia bella?" Bella immediately took the next turn available to her. She wasn't quite sure where she was, having not paid that much attention to where she was going, being distracted by Damon. She heard the footsteps following her, and Bella felt her stomach turn once more.
"Damon." She hissed "I think I'm being followed." Damon swore.
"Where are you?" He demanded. "Please tell me you're in public." Bella shook her head, though she knew Damon obviously couldn't see it.
"I'm walking back to meet up with my friends. I got lost." Damon cursed again, and she could hear him moving as he let out a constant and frankly impressive string of obscenities. Bella turned again at the first opportunity, and cursed herself as she saw a group of people coming toward her. She had been herded.
"What's going on Bella?" Damon demanded. "Where are you?!"
"It's humans." she hissed again. "Not Edward. I think I'm about to be mugged." She dropped her phone in her bag then to free her hands if need be, mentally reviewing all the self defense she knew. The phone was still on the line with Damon, who was still swearing as she lowered the phone.
"Hey pretty lady." The leader greeted as soon as he got close enough. "How you doin?" Bella glared at him, and attempted to just pass by. That of course didn't work, as another one sidestepped and easily blocked her path.
"Now where are you going sugar?" He leered. The others joined them then, circling her in. She was trapped. Ok, self defence. Heel of the hand to the nose, and hook the thumb around the eye, right? A car peeled around the corner with a harsh squeal, and Bella rushed into the street, knocking aside one of the men. Either this car was going to stop for her, or she would be hit. The car ground to a halt just short of her, and Bella took in what had stopped for her.
A silver Volvo.
"Get in the car." Edward Cullen demanded as his passenger side door opened. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire. Not letting herself a moment to doubt her actions, Bella dove into the car. Edward immediately took off, nearly hitting one of the men as he raced away.
"Put your seatbelt on." He demanded as he sped down the streets of Port Angeles. Bella complied, remembering that she still had Damon on the line.
"Edward." She greeted, trying to calm herself down as she complied. Hopefully Damon remembered that Edward was the Cold One, and would keep quiet. "What are you doing here?"
"Don't worry about it." He said tightly. "Talk to me, please. Say something to distract me so I don't go back there and rip those guys apart." Bella looked around, trying to think of something, when her eyes fell on the speedometer.
Edward Cullen made Jessica Stanley look like a 90 year old woman.
"Holy crow!" She yelped. "Slow down!" Edward quirked a quizzical brow at her, but heeded her request.
A few minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant she was supposed to meet Jess and Angela at. "How did you know where?" She began, and turned to see him getting out of his car. "What are you doing?"
"I'm taking you to dinner." Edward responded. He smiled slightly, but his eyes were hard. "You should call your friends before I have to track them down too, I don't think I would be able to restrain myself if I ran into your other friends again." Bella agreed, and took out her phone. Unfortunately, that meant she would have to hang up with Damon. As she went for her phone, she felt Edward's eyes on her, looking at her worriedly. "I'm okay, really." She told him. There was a double meaning in that. She hoped Damon could hear her. I'm okay. Bella called Angela, thinking that Jessica must be the one driving.
"Hello?" Angela answered her phone, a little breathlessly.
"Angela, it's Bella."
"Bella! Where are you?" She demanded. "We've been worried sick!"
"Yeah, we had to eat and everything, you were so long." Jess interjected. Angela must've put her on speaker.
"I'm sorry." Bella said, truly sorry for worrying her friends. "I got lost on the way back from the store. I had to get a ride to the restaurant."
"A ride? From who?" Jess demanded.
"Uh, Edward Cullen." Good, let people know she was with him.
"EDWARD CULLEN?!" Jessica shrieked. Edward gave a crooked grin, and beckoned for the phone. Bella gave it to him, and he put the phone to his ear.
"Hi." He greeted the girls on the other end. "Sorry for the trouble girls, but you can go on and head home. Bella probably should get some food in her. I'll go ahead and bring her home." He paused for a minute, listening to whoever responded to him, before he chuckled lowly. "Yes Angela, you have my word I will bring her home safe and sound." He said, looking Bella in the eyes as he said that to her friend, as if promising her as well as Angela. He hung up then, and handed the phone back to Bella. She pocketed it, wondering if there was any way she could redial Damon without Edward knowing.
"You know, I'm not really hungry." She protested, crossing her arms.
"Humor me." Edward offered her his arm, which Bella pointedly ignored. Edward then moved to the door to the restaurant, which he opened with an obstinate look to his face. Realizing that there would be no further discussion about it, Bella walked past him into the restaurant with a sigh.
"Are you happy, Caveman?" She demanded, glaring at him.
"Ecstatic." Edward deadpanned, making his way to the hostess. They were quickly seated in a private booth, and the hostess looked almost glassy eyed as she walked away.
"You really shouldn't do that to people." Bella observed. Edward looked confused.
"Do what?"
"Dazzle people like that, the poor girl is probably hyperventilating in the kitchen right now." Edward looked even more confused. "Oh, come on. You can't tell me you don't know the effect you have on people." Or maybe she was just used to Damon at this point, who practically oozed self confidence.
"I dazzle people?" He asked her quizzically.
"Yeah, that's how you keep getting your way with people."
"Do I dazzle you?" He asked, ignoring her comment
"Not really." Bella shrugged. "Most of the time you're more exasperating than anything else. The little game of hot and cold you seem to be playing with me is really annoying." Edward laughed, a little wonderingly, as their server came out. Edward just mimicked her order, and the waitress quickly left, giving Edward a long sideways look. He didn't see it though, as he was staring unblinkingly at Bella. "What?"
"You're feeling ok, not dizzy, nauseous?" He questioned carefully. Truthfully, Bella had been feeling like that almost constantly since she found out what Edward was, so she was hardly at risk of going into shock.
"If you're waiting for me to go into shock, that's probably not going to happen." Bella informed him. He looked at her wonderingly.
"Isabella Swan, you may just be the strangest human I've ever met." He said, shaking his head.
"Gee, thanks."
"I mean that in the best way possible." He quickly added. "You're the first person I've been actually interested in...far too long. You actually seem intelligent, most of the time."
"What a wonderful thing to say." Bella said dryly. "I'm a lot cleverer than you think I am." Clever enough to figure him out. This boy...vampire...whatever, clearly needed therapy. Speaking of needing therapy "So, why were you following me?"
"I wasn't following you." Edward deflected. Bella quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Want to try that again, without the bullshit this time?" She asked, internally wondering at the nerve she had that seemed to come out of nowhere. Damon must have been rubbing off on her, that sounded like something he would say. Edward reeled back in his seat. He stared at her for a good while, and Bella met his gaze. Though she was well aware of the risk he posed, she was less afraid now that he was in front of her, than when he was merely a possibility. He obviously had no plans on eating her, considering he had not only saved her, but his eyes were bright gold, a sign that he had recently fed on animals. Also, as he stared at her, her mind recalled Damon's description of his brother. Edward had an Easter Island head too. As he stared though, realization lit up Edward's eyes. Uh oh, that wasn't good.
"You know, don't you?" He breathed. That's why you've changed. You went from constantly asking questions, to avoiding me."
"I wasn't avoiding you." Bella objected hollowly. This wasn't good. "And know what?" It was Edward's turn to quirk an eyebrow at her.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Bella." He said quietly. "This is just more complicated now." Bella studied Edward for a minute, before deciding to bite the bullet.
"I may have heard some interesting stories when I visited La Push." She confessed. Edward seemed to both tighten and relax all at once at her confession.
"Say it." He replied tersely. "Out loud." Bella took a deep, steadying breath.
"Vampire." Edward seemed to deflate at the word. He looked at her, a little lost. Bella's food came then, and they were quiet until the waitress left.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"I was." She confessed. "But I'm not so much anymore. If you wanted me dead, I would be already."
"You still should be." He confessed. "You're still not safe with me, but I can't stay away."
"Because you want my blood?"
"Because I want your blood." Edward confirmed. "God, do I wish I didn't, but I do." Bella nodded.
"You can trust me, you know. I won't out you and your family."
"I think I have to now." Edward admitted. "You're much more observant than I anticipated, and I haven't been able to get a read on you. The only other person who has been able to block me is Alice, and it's nothing like how you do."
"Read?" Bella asked. "Like reading minds?" Edward nodded.
"Alice can block me by covering up her surface thoughts, but with you, it's totally blank. It's like no one is there." Bella shook her head.
"So you're saying I'm mindless?" Edward grinned again at her.
"That's pretty obviously not the case." He said, looking a bit lighter now that the air was clearer between them. "I'm sure you have questions."
"You bet I do."
Edward had safely seen Bella home, like he had promised Angela. Bella was in a rush to get up to her room, but knew she had to stop and talk to Charlie first. Edward had driven so fast that they had likely passed Jess and Angela on the road. She spent some time with her father, who was happy to see her new phone. As soon as she could though, she sprinted up the stairs to call Damon. She had texted him while still in the car with Edward, updating him that she was fine, and that Edward was bringing her home, and again right before she walked in the door, letting him know that she would call him as soon as she could. She whipped out her phone, and sent him a quick message.
Bella: You have a smartphone, right?
Damon: Hello to you too. You've been giving me mini heart attacks all night, you know that?
Bella: Sorry about that. I couldn't avoid him. Answer the question though, do you have a smartphone?
Damon: Of course I do, why?
Bella: Download Skype. We can video chat.
Damon: Ah, so at last you get to see that my username wasn't a lie, mia bella. Hold on.
Bella waited for a minute, before her phone started to buzz, indicating an incoming skype call. Bella hesitated for a moment, frantically smoothing her hair, before picking up. Oh, wow. Damon really hadn't been lying with his username. Damon Salvatore was easily the most gorgeous man Bella had ever seen. His raven hair was perfectly messy, and his eyes were so blue, she found herself missing clear skies a little less. He looked at her a moment, before speaking for the first time.
"Well mia bella, you see I wasn't lying." he grinned. Bella's heart pounded as she managed to smile back at him.
"Well hello to you too Damon, it's so nice to finally see you." Bella teased, before lowering her voice to mimic Damon. "It's good to finally see you too Bella, considering we've never actually seen each other before. Excuse me while I say something self centered instead."
"Are you mocking me?" Damon asked incredulously.
"No Bella, I would never do something so sarcastic." Bella continued to mock. She could see how tense he had been, and felt bad. Damon had done so much to soothe her worries with his sarcastic banter, so maybe Bella would be able to do the same for him."
"Well, you know Damon," Damon started to say, raising his voice as much as he could "I was so busy giving you constant heart attacks by my constant getting into danger and leaving you hanging that I just couldn't resist saying something." Bella laughed then, loud and hard.
"What even was that?" She demanded. "That was the worst impression I've ever heard. How did your voice get so squeaky?"
"You're one to talk. You sounded like you were gargling marbles. I only wanted to make you feel better about your own impression." Damon snickered, before his face grew somber. "What happened tonight Bella?" And so Bella recounted the events of the evening. When Bella got to being pushed around by the men on the street, Damon's face darkened. He dropped the phone, but before he left the view of the camera, she could've sworn she saw black veins around his eyes. He was normal looking again by the time he picked the phone back up, but something itched at the back of Bella's head. She pushed it aside for now.
"So, there's something else I have to tell you." Bella said nervously.
"What, did Eddie pants confess his undying love for you on your little dinner date?" he snarked. "Obviously you weren't the dinner, or else you wouldn't be so lucky as to be looking at me right now."
"About that…" Bella drifted off.
"Shit, really?!" Damon exclaimed, looking dumbfounded, and more than a little displeased.
"No, not that." Bella hastily corrected "But he may or may not have figured out that I know."
"Shit."
"Yeah." Bella then recounted the events of dinner to him. Damon looked pissed.
"You seriously can't believe his "oh woe is me" act, Bella." Damon said, irritated. "He's probably manipulating you."
"I have a pretty good grasp on people Damon." Bella retorted. "He wasn't lying to me."
"But he's not people Bella. He's a predator." Damon sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I trust you Bella, I do. I just don't even know where you live actually, and I can't protect you from Virginia." They were both quiet for a moment, as if they were both steeping in Damon's words. Damon looked almost as surprised as Bella felt at his words. Bella had almost immediately pegged Damon as not the typical "caring" type, and though they had obviously both gotten close quickly, Bella had fully expected for Damon to never admit to caring for her enough to actually say it mattered to him what happened to her.
"Forks." Bella blurted out suddenly. Damon cocked his head to the side, looking at her like she had lost her mind.
"Spoons? Knives? Why are you talking about cutlery Bella?" Damon asked, voice heavy with bemusement.
"That's where I live." Bella confessed. "Forks, Washington." Now that she had finally spilled the beans, Bella found herself incapable of not telling Damon. She told him everything, from her life in Phoenix with her mother, to what it was like living with Charlie in Forks. Damon listened absently, looking at something to the side. He asked questions occasionally, proving that he was in fact listening, but was distracted.
"And you're going to Seattle this weekend?" He asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"I know this may be a bit quick for you Bella, considering everything, but what if I met you in Seattle? It would give me the chance to check things out and make sure you're safe from the sparklepire." Bella looked at him, eyes wide.
"You want to see me?"
"No, mia bella. I want to go to Seattle for the grunge music and the museum of pop culture.." Damon replied sarcastically. "Yes, I want to see you, dumbass." Bella was a bit breathless for a moment. Her mind raced, and she was quiet long enough for Damon to prompt her again.
"Okay." Bella breathed. She gathered herself, before smiling at him. "Okay, Damon. I don't know what exactly you're so certain you can do against a Vampire, but I would love to see you."
"Oh Bella," Damon chuckled lowly. "You'd be surprised as to what I can do."