Edit - The ending of this chapter has been changed to fit where the next one is going.

Chapter 11

You Know You Love Me

Willow

The thing with being born in the late eighties, apart from growing up with some sort of plaid in your wardrobe regardless of where you lived, was that you could not read cursive. No matter how hard you tried to decipher it.

Or that was the excuse Willow was using as she squinted down at the paper in her hand.

To Miss Crawford,

It has come to our attention from our dear friend, Carlisle, that you have been made aware of our kind due to your connection to one Jasper Whitlock. Whilst we would find it imperative for you to be changed within the year to assure the fact that you do not reveal our kind to others, Carlisle has informed us that it would be unwise due to your father's position within your town. Because of this mating bond in which you have with Major Whitlock, we will firmly suggest that you have plans to undergo the change to immortality within a handful of years, though be warned, it must be sooner rather than later.

Once the change has been undergone and you have full control of your immortality, we, as the Volturi, would wish to meet you. Not only to confirm for our own eyes that the change has been completed but to also have Marcus authenticate the bond in which both you and Major Whitlock have with one another.

But should this order not be followed through with, Miss Crawford, we will come down upon the Cullen Coven with a swiftness that will have them wiped from this earth.

Regards,

Lord Aro Volturi.

'Well?' Rosalie barked, hands wringing in front of her as Emmett squeezed her shoulders from behind.

Willow wet her lips. 'Uh, basically, it says that their BFF Carlisle told them of the bond between Jasper and me and whilst they'd want me to be changed sooner rather than later, they acknowledge that with Dad being one of the main doctors, it would be a big no-no. Uh, what else,' her eyes scanned the letter again, 'that if it isn't completely and they don't have me standing in from of them in their lair as proof for confirmation on both the change and the bond, they'd rain hellfire down and scourge you from the earth. You know you love him, ex-oh, ex-oh, Aro.'

She handed the letter to Jasper from where he paced along the backside of the island, eyes dark and hands flaring by his side. He'd called Rosalie and Emmett straight away once they'd gotten into the apartment from seeing Mia off and they'd thrown an excuse down, hurrying back as soon as possible.

It wasn't that Willow wasn't nervous, she was, the vampire kings had acknowledged her existence and now her life was firmly that of sand through an hourglass. But it was the comfort of knowing that they had been notified of Richard, and what his job was, in Forks, and the importance of it that didn't have her spiralling into a panic attack.

Jasper slid an arm around her waist as she moved around the side of the island and pulled her in close. Willow held his face, smoothing over the faint scars that littered his cheekbones – the teeth's indentations making it seem like freckles in the light – and she said nothing as he pressed into them, holding her left hand, pressing his lips to her pulse. 'We have time. They know now.' she spoke, towards him mainly but letting the words pass on to the other two vampires in the room. 'That was the whole point of Carlisle writing to them, yeah? To not have them be blindsided and therefore watch our every move? In letting them know of where Dad is, what he does and the potential aftermath of me vanishing from the face of the Earth having last been seen interacting with the elusive Cullen family, it means that they could be more lenient.'

Willow felt Jasper kiss the back of her hand as Rosalie got her attention, the blonde's eyes dark with worry. 'And now that your life is actually on a timer?'

She tilted her head. 'It always is, Rose. Just because immortality is an option for me doesn't mean it's an option for everyone. Hell, we all had a brush with how fleeting life is with the accident.'

Emmett was serious. 'You're calm about this.'

'Because they know how important Dad is,' Willow gave. 'That was one of the things I worried about most with the Volturi. I think with me being away though, it's helped us both come to terms that I wasn't always going to be staying home, or in Forks for that matter.'

'And the whole having to meet the Kings thing, not freaking you out at all?'

'Like I'll be able to do anything potentially interesting for them.' She shrugged again, absently leaning into the feel of Jasper pressing his head against her temple. 'You all keep saying that what Aro wants most are Alice and Edward, right?'

Jasper spoke then, his chest vibrating under her hand that had fallen there. 'Don't sell yourself short. You could gain power.'

'Maybe. But I bet, it's nothing they find fun.' Willow said, looking up at him, teasing lightly, trying to break that awful layer of tension in the room. 'Besides, Edward can read my mind and Alice can see me, you can influence the Anxiety Express, so the chances of their powers not working on me seem pretty slim to me.'

'That,' Jasper gritted tightly, 'isn't as comforting as you would think.'

'…why not?'

Rosalie was the one that told her. 'There are three tiers to the Volturi – coven members that have sworn loyalty to the kings but have no beneficial powers to help them progress, then you have the Guard. These are talented vampires that all three kings have close to send out to do their bidding or protect them and their mates should something happen. And then you have the royals – Caius, Marcus and Aro, along with their mates, Athenodora who is mated to Caius and then Sulpicia, Aro's mate. It's rare for them to venture out of their territory, the wives especially after what happened to Didyme.' In a very human move, she drummed her fingers on the counter, 'The Guard has two members that would take great pleasure in messing with you. Jane and Chelsea.'

'What can they do?'

'Jane's power involves illusions.' Jasper gave her, sliding a hand under her hoodie, wrapping his fingers around her hip to rest on her stomach. 'Nothing fun. She can make whomever she has under her gaze feel immense pain. We've never encountered her ourselves but the rumours are that it rivals that of the change.' And considering that they had all stated, at least in passing, that it was like acid crawling through their veins whilst being cooked alive, that didn't sound nice. 'Chelsea can manipulate loyalty, including mating bonds. Another rumour that has gone around and has refused to be squashed, is that after Didyme's death, the only reason Marcus lives is because of her.'

Willow hadn't noticed that she had found his hand and caught it as she thought back to the painting that still hung in the Cullen house in Forks. She didn't know if she had ever seen a lonelier figure on that balcony. To think that the only thing that was keeping him functioning was an artificial bond of loyalty, to even imagine the pain that Marcus must have been in…Willow welcomed the solace that Jasper nudged at her.

'Alec is also not one to be underestimated,' Jasper continued, and knowing him for as long as she had, Willow could hear the slight differences from when something to do with strategy came up in conversation and normally. His accent teased each word, his pitch dropping a little and there was something about his body language that commanded a room. But for once, it wasn't something that had goosebumps blooming on her skin with arousal. Instead, Willow knew that these words were something that she would remember. 'If Jane is used to instil fear throughout our kind for the Volturi from afar, Alec would be the first one to take down in a fight.'

'Why?'

'He can take your senses away.'

'Allowing others to take you down.' Willow nodded, focusing slightly on the string of his hoodie. 'Well, it doesn't seem like they're going to be knocking on our door for a while so how about we table this encouraging conversation and move on?'

Rosalie moved around the island and kissed the back of her head, squeezing her free hand before heading into her shared room with Emmett with the behemoth following swiftly behind, after he took the parcel and magazines they had received.

Jasper ushered her into theirs and she found herself tucked into his embrace. 'How are you feeling? About it all.'

Willow spoke into the notch just under Adam's apple. 'It doesn't feel like it's sunk in yet. But, I mean, I had a feeling something like that would happen after you and Carlisle spoke about letting them know about me. I thought they would get back to us sooner or do something more dramatic. Like Godfather style dramatic.' She traced a scar there, the divots making the tip of her finger feel funny at the odd texture. Like marble chipped and worn by time. 'If anything,' Willow continued, words quiet in the yellow-lit room, as anxiety caused her chest to tight and palms to sweat. 'I'm more worried for Bella. She can't go about like you lot never existed, no matter how much Edward wishes, James made sure of that. She's always going to have that scar. What if someone asks about it?'

Jasper rolled them over, sliding both arms under her and cupped her head in his hands. His powers traced over her face softly, smoothing over her supraorbital bones, easing the tension headache already beginning there. With his weight – well, what she could take – on top of her and his hands cradling her, Willow let herself go slowly boneless, putting her complete trust in him.

He gave her a soft Eskimo kiss, dropping to press their foreheads together, not saying anything, just letting touch ground her back down again. Willow didn't quite understand why she was panicking over this, it wasn't like her vampires couldn't be in Forks within the hour if something was to go wrong. And they didn't even need to wait for Alice to give them the warning. Peter's gift – his 'knowing shit', as he'd coined it – was what Jasper had in his ear for fifty-odd years in the Wars, and had been tried and true with faster preparation, so he would have them leaving sooner anyway.

Maybe it was just the cold, sapping all the energy from her, that had her brain going whack?

She could just drag her vampire weighted blanket with her, and they could have a nap and a cuddle? Yes, that's what they would do. Leave the dramatic immortals in the kitchen and they could have a nap, then when she woke up, she could have mac and cheese. Fucking genius.

Willow wiggled out of Jasper's embrace before slipping under her duvet and welcoming him into her embrace, Dragon pressing against her cheek as Jasper slotted between her legs, resting his head against her chest. Willow let the repetitive movement of running a hand over his curls send her off into a doze and she did just like that.

See the thing of being asked to create your friend's first tattoo – first permanent tattoo – was trying to get it right.

Willow sat at the dining table, Emmett across from her doing an essay for a class that she forgot the name of, tracing the filigree from his grandfather's pocket watch that Scott had faxed a picture of, onto a piece of paper. She had notes by her elbow – ideas that he had had and potential places he wanted it to be. Willow was currently trying to do the shoulder placement one. Adding in the hands pointing to the three and the ten – Elizabeth and Daniel's wedding anniversary was the tenth of March – she held it out at a distance, blinking at it.

Had she been staring at this for too long?

Because it looked like shit.

Willow had originally sat down at the table across from Emmett to draw it as a celebration to be done with her midterms –not having been able to do any drawing for a vast majority of the term with so many assignments to do. And things had been going well, except she'd been focused on it for about three hours now and hated everything about it.

A hand entered her vision and she handed it over to Emmett who took it in. 'What cards?'

She shrugged, 'Dunno yet, we're going to decide when he gets here.'

'Would you ever get one?' Emmett asked, glancing up from the page. 'A tattoo.'

'I always liked them.' Willow admitted, watching as he stared at it, 'Mother would never have allowed it which, with the state of our relationship, gives me the drive to want to get one. And Dad has a few.'

'Your dad has tattoos?'

'…Yes?' Willow laughed, 'He's got a huge half piece – which is a Plague Doctor with the Rod of Asclepius - and then a fewer smaller– mainly with the three of us. I remember when he came home with the one he got for me. It's a willow tree leaf that goes up the back of his ankle, and he showed it to Mother – she went nuclear. Hates them. I think she was also a little annoyed that it involved my nickname instead of my full name and that it wasn't something as simple as the two arrows he had for the twins. So the first thing he did when they divorced was to get a set of Western hemlock on the back of his left forearm. She got the twins in the divorce, or rather they couldn't leave fast enough, so he got one for him and one for me.'

Emmett grinned. 'Nice.'

'Apart from that one, I think his favourite is the Plague Doctor one. Him, Uncle Derek and Uncle Mark all had something with them that I never really understood.' Willow explained, bringing her good leg up and resting her chin on her knee. 'When they all passed their Boards, they all got something to do with it, but Dad always talked about getting it tattooed on him. He prefers the black and grey styles, and the darker imagery that they give off sometimes. I think he liked the idea of it too, especially because around that time Ridgeway was about, and he was spending more time in Seattle helping people even if he was terrified himself.'

'It looks awesome.' He tipped his chin to the page as he slid it over. 'You're just staring at it too long. Work on something else.'

The chair nearly ended on the floor when she sank back. 'But I don't know what I want to draw.'

'And you can't draw your favourite subject.' He teased, grinning at the flush that crept up her neck. 'If I could draw, I'd do the same with Rose.'

'Borderline creepily?'

He seemed to think on it. 'Maybe a little?'

They stared at each other before bursting into giggles, before falling silent again, going back to their tasks. Willow took in the way the light hit Emmett's face; the early spring sun was not yet warm enough to completely cut through the cloud cover – it was merely enhancing the already supernatural beauty there – and had the basic frame and shapes down within a handful of minutes.

'I'm sorry that Bella can't come up.' She quietly gave when the silence had settled into a comfortable plateau.

She caught the furrow to his brow as Emmett worked, running a finger through the keys of his laptop, cleaning them. 'She's living her life, and I think it's good that she isn't, that she's staying there and focusing on herself.'

'I know you two were closer than the rest of us.'

'Rosalie warned me.'

'About what?'

'After James.' Emmett seemed so sad that Willow got up and moved to his side, leaning into him. 'We all sort of knew that Edward was looking for the first opportunity to leave her, we just all thought that maybe he was just panicking about it and would relax after a while, you know? But Rosalie warned me to try not to get too close with Bella just in case. She wasn't trying to hurt me or anything.'

'She was trying to protect you.' Willow murmured, resting her chin on his bicep. Rosalie wasn't a scrapper, wasn't one to throw the first punch, but she fought back using her words like a knife. And Emmett did love Bella like a little sister, she had seen the way he went about the apartment for weeks after the birthday party from Hell, hurt and heartsore. 'I'm still sorry that she can't come.'

He sighed so heavily, her chin moved before he cupped the back of her head and kissed her on the crown. The fraternal move had a lump lodging itself in the back of her throat. 'Thanks, kid.'

Was this what having a big brother that cared was like? Emmett loved with his whole being, cared for those he held dear with every cell that he had. He gave and gave and never asked for anything in return. He took what Rosalie considered broken and painstakingly 'put her back together' whilst showing her that there was nothing broken in her, to begin with.

He gave Willow piggyback rides when her leg hurt, pushed the trolley with her in, spinning her in the aisles to make her giggle so hard she snorted. Emmett was everything she used to think Jonathon should be, who meant what he said with no hidden barbs or masks because he was trying to show off to a girl he liked. And sometimes she forgot that he was technically seventy-odd years old – who, before he died, was the main breadwinner in his family - and not the twenty-year-old he physically seemed.

'What do you want for dinner?'

'Dinosaur chicken nuggets.' Willow didn't even have to think, craving the simple things in the aftermath of exams. 'Do we have any baby potatoes too?' She followed him to the kitchen and cheered when she found about a handful and a half left in the pantry. 'Don't put the nuggets on yet, these take a while.'

'What are you doing?'

'Chips, but not chips. You'll see.' She held a hand up as she whacked the oven to the right temperature. Richard had taught her to make them when he was too lazy to cut everything up and they were healthier than fries as they were baked and not fried in hot oil.

Emmett perked himself up on the island as she put the baby potatoes onto boil in salted water, chucking a timer on for around 20 minutes. 'You got any plans for Scott? Apart from the tattoo.'

'I have three goals.' Willow announced as she was rummaging for the garlic bulb they had in the fridge. 'To get him, if he wants, drunk at least once. Not blackout or vomit worthy…'

'But enough that he knows what it's like.' He nodded. 'Next one?'

'Get him laid. Mia and Rebecca are up for going to one of the clubs in the city and, if you three are keen, you can come too? Don't know what night that is gonna be but that could happen then. And then the third one is the tattoo. So,' there was a bang as she smashed the cloves of garlic under the side of her knife on the board, plopping those with a few knobs of butter into a small pan on the stove. 'depends on him and what he wants to do.'

'He a nature guy?'

'Yeah actually.' Willow nodded. 'Before we all knew how to drive, we'd go camping in the woods outside the house – we'd hike for a few hours to this adorable little clearing and camp there for a few days. When we got our licenses, we still obviously kept the idea up but just moved further afield.'

'You keen for a hike?'

She raised an eyebrow as she swirled the pan. 'You lot keen to play human for a handful of hours?'

His eyes rolled in amusement. 'You know we don't do everything fast.'

'Lookup a few trails and see what the others think, and I'll throw the idea to him when he calls.'

He moved to the laptop that he had been working on, before bringing it to the island, and slid into one of the seats there.

They sat beside each other, trying to figure out where to go when the timer went off. Moving over to the pot of potatoes, Willow checked them before draining them. Then, with a trick Richard had taught her to make them fluffier, she put a plate over the top of the colander and shook them before dropping them onto the tray. 'Why don't we take him to the Bridge again? Or around there?' Willow threw out as she took a masher and squashed them. She didn't realise that Emmett was watching as she put some garlic butter over the top of them with some salt before sliding them in for a good half hour to forty minutes.

'Sometimes I forget that you know how to cook and that you're comfortable there.' He said brightly, 'But what was with the maraca- potatoes?'

'Makes them fluffier.' She made herself a drink before ushering him over to the sofa. 'The chicken nuggets have to go in, in the next twenty minutes.'

Emmett held the laptop on his bent knee. 'Cool. Anyway, whilst the bridge would be cool, I have an idea,' he brought up a map of Vancouver. 'Last time Rose and I were here, there was a hiking trail being solidified by Lighthouse Park, here.' He pointed it out. 'Loads of trails there and it's very pretty. We could pack some food and make a day of it? And the weather's supposed to be grey skies so you could get some moody inspo.'

She went to respond when the door opened, Rosalie and Jasper's voice coming through – Rosalie complaining about the number of words needed for her latest assignment. The brunettes shared a look before Willow spoke. 'Rose, not that I'm not feeling your pain – but you don't sleep?'

'That is not the point.' She stressed at them. 'What are you two doing?'

'Looking at things to do with Scott when he's here.' Emmett piped up, grinning over at her and it was like the rage melted away from the blonde. It was adorably disgusting.

Willow tipped her head back when Jasper came out of their room, his clean shirt dropping over his stomach, and she was rewarded with a Spiderman kiss. 'Hi, you, how were your classes?'

'Alright.' He tipped his head, sinking on the sofa beside her, sliding an arm around her as Willow tipped into him. 'The brain is always so strange. Anyway, what are we planning?'

'Hike one of the days,' she turned back to the laptop, 'then probably explore the city a bit on a few other ones, and then he has his tattoo on the day before he heads back so you all won't be around the smell of old blood and plasma.'

'What?'

'Sometimes tattoos bleed and leak plasma as the body freaks from the fact that a foreign substance is being rapidly applied to wherever it's being placed. So, I not subtlety encouraged him to go for the later day so that he's not having to worry about hitting it as we're out and shit. But it so you all don't have to deal with that.'

'Nice one.' Emmett grinned, getting up to not only put her chicken nuggets in but to put in the movie. Which was Scream.

'You know I've seen this before, right?' Willow grinned as the case got chucked onto the table, 'Along with Halloween and Friday the 13th. I will say though that Billy and Stu have got a lot of homoerotic vibes with all their interactions. And their weapon of choice.'

'Stop.' Jasper grinned as he slid a hand over her mouth, 'Do not apply psychology to this film.'

She shrugged. 'I wasn't trying to. But why do Michael and Jason just walk everywhere? They'd be a fuckton scarier if they ran full tilt at someone. Like no thanks. Imagine just getting this fucking dude with a machete and a hockey mask just booking it towards you? God, it would be awful.'

'What about zombies? You prefer walkers or runners?'

Willow turned a little as Emmett threw the question towards her, disregarding the fact that Rosalie and Jasper were laughing at them. 'That is a different scenario altogether. What are my parameters here? Am I in suburbia or a city or am I in the middle of the country? Do I have obstacles to dodge and trap them? How fast are they? How do they change? Are there stages, Emmett? Why are you lot laughing? This could happen. Humans are stupid.'

Jasper kissed the back of her head, chuckling. 'I don't think he thought you'd take it so seriously.'

She twisted, staring up at him aghast. 'Have you all forgotten how stupid we are? There are three films about a dinosaur park going wrong and yet still we're all like 'yes, that's a great idea.' So, zombies could happen, and you have my full and willing consent because like fuck, I'm dealing with that.' By the end of her spiel, both Rosalie and Emmett were leaning on something, wheezing with laughter. So much so that Willow would've thought they'd be red in the face if they were human. 'I'm just saying.'

That night as she settled into her bed with a book a cup of hot chocolate, Willow couldn't help but think about how much her life had changed in a handful of months. Yes, she was still close to her high school friends – even managing to snag a long Skype call with Lucy every fortnight to catch up on things and the same with Gi but every week – but she felt healthier.

Probably because she wasn't having to stress about having to go to New Hampshire.

It was strange how much hindsight and distance affected how one looked at a relationship. But then again, she did have Dr Florence painstakingly point out all the red flags in not only the relationship she had with Genevieve and her mother but with Jonathon. And her interactions with Emmett earlier just cemented those in her mind.

Willow couldn't help but wonder if she would always love them. Not to the extent where she would sacrifice her mental wellbeing for them again, but always wanting them to be happy and content where their life was going? Was that naïve of her to think so?

Shaking her head, she slid a bookmark into place – a receipt – and turned off her light after putting her glasses down. Jasper would be in at some point but Dragon would do as a cuddle buddy till then.

As Willow moved around the kitchen the next mid-morning, making herself a drink and some breakfast, her phone went with Scott's ringtone.

'Yo.'

'Bella is going to herself killed doing this shit,' Scott's voice was harsh, a boiling anger she knew that, from experience, had been building for a while, 'and she can't even see it.'

The apartment froze. All of her vampires became the statues they seemed and Willow blinked, as her stomach turned to stone. 'I'm sorry…what?'

(Edit - I had to change the ending a little, because the next chapter was getting too long)

HEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEEHE

Fun fact - there were Gossip Girl books before the show so there's a lil tip bit for y'all.

I AM ON CHAPTER 60, FUCKING LOOK AT ME GO HERE GUYS. The farthest I've gotten when writing fanfic is 30 chapters so I continually shock myself.

Hint - the next chapter may go back a few days so you all can find out how he knows but let's see if you can guess in your reviews, what you think will happen?

Anyway, hope you all have a nice week and I'll hear from you next Wednesday.

Enjoy,

K x