Chapter 15

Vampires Out of the Coffin Then

Willow

Jasper and she shared a look as Scott's words echoed through the room. The blond got off of her, pulling her up as he went. 'What's up with your voice?'

'I nearly died today.' Her stomach turned to stone as those words came through. 'Yeah, an old buddy of the Cullens, Laurent, ringing any bells?'

Willow got up, hands shaking as her heart thundered in her chest, Jasper immediately got onto the phone – probably to get the Denalis to explain what the hell had happened. 'What happened?'

'I am trying to keep a level head about this, Willow, because I know that this wasn't your secret to tell but I nearly was murdered today because of this.'

'No, no, I know. Scott, fuck,' her hand came up to her mouth, as nausea flooded her. 'It's not but I swore Alice needed to tell you. Look, when you get here tomorrow, we'll explain everything okay? Go over everything, but are you okay?'

Scott's bitter laugh cut her to the core. 'No, I'm not. Because not only do I find out that vampires are fucking real but also dire wolves?'

'What?'

'Yeah, five of them. Huge. The size of horses; they came out of the trees when Laurent was about to…you know, and he let me go. I don't know what happened after that, I just grabbed Bella and we ran for it. But what else is real? The wendigos from the Mountains, wizards, witches, what?'

'Werewolves aren't real…' her eyes connected with Jasper's, recognised something in that gaze and hesitated, 'at least I don't think so.'

Scott was silent on the other end as Jasper sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. 'Is he still coming tomorrow?'

Willow passed it on to Scott, who spoke when she put the speaker on. 'Well, I've got a few questions so yeah I'm still coming. You haven't eaten Willow yet so hopefully, you can wait till after I leave. And we have some talking to do, all five of us, and we won't get any privacy here.'

At that phrase, Willow's stomach began to twist into knots, her fingers following suit soon after. She didn't like that bit of wording, past experiences with it linked back to a lot of times where Mother would throw the Narcissism card down – the one where she said stuff like 'I work so hard for you to be able to get everything you want and no one appreciates me', the ones where Willow would go to bed feeling sick and nearly passing out from anxiety.

'Look, everyone's about to arrive home soon and I'd rather Gi not barge in here, I'll text you when I'm over the border and in the city.'

'Okay.' She tried not to make her voice sound small, palms sweaty, throat tight around the stone in it. 'Scott…'

'Yeah?'

'I'm glad you're okay.'

He was silent for a minute as she gnawed on her lip, Jasper lingering behind her, offering a hand for her to fidget with. 'I am too, Wills. I'll see you tomorrow.'

The phone call ended with a click, and she nearly felt her legs go from beneath her. Jasper caught her, arm around her waist, and tugged her in tight. His hand cupped the back of her head as Willow fought the anxiety in her chest, the panic fighting with it as the situation crashed down on her.

Her best friend had nearly died.

He had nearly died.

Scott Forrester had come seconds away from dying because Alice Cullen didn't tell him about what was out there.

Her arms went around him as tears streaked down her face, hiding away from everything. Jasper Whitlock had her heart, was her touchstone in an otherwise riotous world, that much was true, he made her whole world brighter, warmer and everything more exciting. But Scott Forrester – he was half of her soul.

Their friendship had been something so easy, so smooth, it felt like their souls had known each other once before. They had grown up beside each other, their whole lives, quite literally. Unlike the girls, after they had met Lucy in kindergarten, Willow and Scott didn't need to be constantly in motion, periodically the two could have been reading, building Legos, or watching films with nary a word spoken between them.

To have him taken from her, her chest felt like it had caved in. Her fingers felt numb as she clutched at Jasper's collar. They had moved, she realised as Jasper curled around her on the sofa, running a hand through her hair, the other holding her up against him. Cupping her face when she managed to calm herself down, his eyes were dark, shades swirling together in anguish. 'He's okay, sweetheart.'

'He almost wasn't.'

'But he is,' he pressed their brows together, cold fingers soothing the tight skin under her eyes, thumbs smoothing away the tears there. 'And that is what you focus on.'

Her fingers had gone numb on the collar of his hoodie, moving her face into his neck, 'She should have told him.'

'She should have.' Jasper murmured, resting his cheek on her head as he slid a hand under her shirt, smoothing the skin at the small of her back with his thumb. 'We should have kept a closer eye on him.'

Anger flooded her and she rummaged for his phone, hers still lying on the counter and she sat up, dialling Alice's number. Jasper said nothing, just moved an arm across her lap as she scrubbed her face viciously with the back of her sleeve.

'Hi.'

Rage bloomed, red hot in her chest at the subdued tone of Alice's voice. 'Congratulations,' Willow snarled, 'your ability to stick your head in the sand once Edward tells you to do something nearly got my best friend killed.'

'What…?'

'Where's Laurent?' Willow bit out, saccharine sweetness.

Jasper shifted, sitting up with her still in his lap as Alice spoke, voice small. 'I couldn't see him.'

'What do you mean?' he ordered. Willow was so consumed by all the anger and rage that that tone didn't even register with her libido. 'What?'

'He was hunting and then it went black.'

'That's not the point right now,' Willow gritted out, pushed up off the sofa, and began to pace. 'I told you that you needed to tell him about y'all but you didn't and now, my best friend was fucking seconds from being eaten having never even known. He could have been at least aware of what was out there and cautious but because you wanted to live in a bubble of humanity, he wasn't. For fuck's sake, Alice, you're a seer!'

'Edward told me I wasn't allowed to look!'

'He left Bella in the woods!' Willow roared, fed up with the fact that apparently, Edward was the coven leader. 'He doesn't get a say!'

'He's,' Alice defended, 'her Mate.'

That title was supposed to be something worth meaning, her brain couldn't help but pipe up, as the rage calmed into something that would've scared her had it not been something she was used to. It was the same rage that used to settle in her gut in New Hampshire – the one that just surpassed the tearful anger and went straight to stillness.

'And Scott Forrester is supposedly yours.' Willow spoke, words void, calm. 'And yet, Alice, Edward tells you to break up with him and you go 'sure, okay.' So, pardon me for not accepting that as an excuse at this point.' She hung up the phone before Alice had time to respond and looked at Jasper. 'Am I wrong?'

He shook his head as he came to stand in front of her, sliding his phone into his pocket. 'No,' she leant into the embrace he pulled her into. 'I would tear him to shreds if he tried to make me leave you.'

Willow, in all her rage, fear and hopelessness, found herself giving him a smile, as small though it was when she cupped his face. It was a different flush that bloomed in her chest when Jasper caught her wrist in a gentle yet anchoring grip and kissed not only her curled fingers but the palm of her hand, their eyes locking. 'As if the hounds of Hell could drag you away from me.'

Scott was ten minutes away.

Her best friend was ten minutes away, having just sent her a text when he had stopped at a set of lights, less than a handful of miles away from campus. Fingers flexing, there was worry there – mainly about what had happened back in Forks, but also about how he would be interacting with the others now that he knew.

Just parked.

She bolted for the stairs, taking the others by surprise as she darted down the steps, keys in hand, shoeless. Her chest was heaving in excitement as she hovered on the stairs as he entered the building, duffel in hand and denim jacket on. 'Hello there.'

Even after everything, Scott gave her a grin and the right response. 'General Kenobi.'

The bag was dropped to the floor and they collided with each other. If the embrace was tighter than usual, well, neither said a word, just holding each other tightly. After a minute, Willow ushered him into the lift and used that time to gently take his face, heartbreaking at the lavender bruises that he had covered a little with a day-old stubble, but the crescent marks were there, dried and scabbed.

'Fuck,' her voice broke, 'Scott, I'm so sorry.'

He pulled her back in, resting his chin on her head. 'I'm not great, but I'm alive, and we have things to hash out, that's all. Which way?'

'C'mon, this way.' She tipped her head towards their apartment. The door opened as she unlocked it again, and a grin snuck up onto her face when Leonard made Scott jerk. 'That's Leonard, they mind our shoes and coats. Say hi.'

'You bitch. I hate you.' He deadpanned, stripping off his shoes and jacket.

'No, you don't.' Willow threw back, chucking her keys into the bowl to the right of the door.

Because Scott Forrester was her best friend, and not just some white boy that played the guitar, and was in desperate need of a haircut, he took in the vampires that were lined up like little nesting dolls along the kitchen counter and broke the silence with 'So I guess, the vampire's out of the coffin then?'

'They don't sleep.' Willow coughed as she nearly choked on the sip of juice she had taken. Jasper moved over to her, smoothing circles on the base of her back, 'But, like, are you guys gonna move?'

'Thought you would be more scared by now.' Emmett spoke, acting like Scott was a deer in the forest.

The human in question raised an eyebrow. 'I already had my breakdown, thank you very much. Luckily no one was there to witness it but I've already had that emotional release, so now I've moved on to the sarcastic commentary.'

Rosalie came closer, 'May I?'

'As long as you don't sneak a taste.' Rosalie still stood there, staring at him, waiting for his actual consent. 'Yes, Rosalie.' He nodded, 'you can touch them.'

Jasper was the one that spoke then, accent deepening his words. 'The chances of those scarring, Scott, it's pretty high.'

'But he didn't even get a vein.' Scott frowned as Rosalie released that petal-soft grip on his chin.

Jasper shook his head. 'The venom in our teeth? It's in the carotin of our nails, and it can leave traces behind. Did he do anything else?'

Scott settled on one of the bar stools, the stubble rasped against his palm. 'He licked me.'

Willow held back a gag, grimacing at the image of the elegant vampire she had seen in Denali to the one that had nearly killed Scott. Jasper sighed. 'Yeah, they'll scar.'

'I won't turn into one of you, though?'

'No!' the Cullens chorused, quick to reassure him. Rosalie was the one to rest a hand on his forearm.

'No, we have to bite with intent to accomplish that.'

He stripped off his beanie and Willow blinked, not being able to hold back the comment that fell from her mouth. 'Why do you look like a hobo?'

They locked eyes, deep brown to hazel. 'Because I give zero fucks, Wills. And I wanted to see what I would look like with long hair.'

'Can I give it a trim, at least?'

Jasper kissed her hairline. 'I, honestly, think that his hair is what is really important at this point, sweetheart.'

Willow tipped her head a little. 'Fair. Tea? Hot cocoa?'

'Cocoa.'

She ushered them away as she set about getting the stuff out – both of them, not coffee drinking because one, Willow thought the shit was mank and two, Scott preferred energy drinks – and they made their way over to sofas in the living room.

'So,' she could hear Scott drawled, 'why was he scared shitless of you?'

'What?' Jasper blinked, 'when did I come up?'

'Apparently, Laurent went to the house, to see if you were all there and since a plank of wood can lie better than Bella, I said if he really wanted to talk to you lot, I could phone Willow and your name came up and it made him hesitate. So what? Are you some scary motherfucker or something?'

Jasper puffed a bitter laugh, the note only being noticed by Emmett, Rosalie, and her. 'Or something.'

'What did you mean by werewolves?' Willow asked, handing Scott his mug, before curling up in the space that Jasper had made, arm slung over the back of the sofa.

Scott's face tightened as a furrow dug itself in between his brow. 'You don't know?'

She looked at the Cullens, or rather Hales and singular Cullen, 'Is this to do with the reason why you all aren't allowed on Quileute land?'

Jasper slid his fingers through her hair as Emmett spoke up, serious for a moment. 'All we can say is that we have rules that enable both us and the people of the Quileute tribe to coexist, which also means not to reveal each other's secret.'

Rosalie gave an embarrassed grin. 'We also thought you knew. Bella figured out what we were from the story that Jacob Black told her.'

The memory was faint, but Willow took a sip of her drink and sighed. 'Rose, if this happened at the La Push trip when those two went off on a walk, I was drawing at a bench. In the other direction by the cars. So, no. I did not know.'

Scott snorted into his whipped cream, barely missing getting it in his nose. 'Surprise!' he swallowed and blinked, before gesturing to his eyes. 'Your eyes?'

Emmett grinned. 'We hunt animals, not humans. Call ourselves 'vegetarians.'

'Oh? But wait,' he frowned, 'that sleepover, you were asleep.'

Jasper did that guy chin-tip. 'Me. Some of us have extra quirks.'

'What?'

Willow sighed heavily and shifted, sitting upright. 'Long story short. Alice – seer, Edward – a knock off Professor X, and Jasper – mood ring, and emotional support vampire.'

The hot chocolate that Scott held hovered inches from his mouth. 'Have you…?'

'No.' Jasper denied, and Willow didn't even need to look at him, hearing his hand scrap down his face. 'No, I haven't influenced any of us – except to encourage you to do something. Like when you asked Alice out? Just a little nudge. I can also make myself seem so unimportant that people overlook me. It's great.'

Willow settled into him again, cocoa finished. 'In my opinion, Edward is the most invasive. Everything you think, the dude hears so even those little secret, secret things that you never told us about-'

'Yeah, okay!' Scott threw a pillow towards her, face flushing as Willow cackled when Jasper caught it in an absent move. 'So whose oldest?'

Jasper held a hand up, the words bitter. 'Was involved in the idiotic side of the Civil War because of my father.'

'Dude…'

'Yep.'

'Not cool.'

'Yup.'

'Also, massive cradle robber.'

The comment caused the group to laugh. Rosalie spoke up next, 'I'm next, born in 1915, became a vampire in 1933.'

Emmett had as much tack as a drunk golden retriever, 'I tried to hug a bear two years later.'

'He tried to go 1v1 with a black bear.' Rosalie deadpanned and Scott laughed a little.

Jasper took the serious role next. 'Scott.' Their eyes locked. 'You know if you tell anyone you're going to be risking us all.'

Scott's face screwed. 'How?' Willow got up, a hand going to his shoulder as she walked to where she had tucked the Volturi letter as the vampires explained the royal family. 'But what about Willow?'

'Here.'

Sitting on the edge of the sofa, Willow watched his face as his dark gaze scanned the page. Scott had one of the better poker faces in the group, but his emotions showed in his eyes. He was putting up a confident front, but trauma had her picking up the subtle ques. His quips, jokes and over-done easiness screamed that, whilst he was accepting of the Cullens, he wasn't exactly at her level yet.

'Why does this sound like a teen romance?' Scott whined, hunching over. 'What? The fuck?'

'Yup.' Willow nodded. 'But wait, it gets worse.'

'I swear to fuck if you say that some other creature is real, Willow, I will scream.'

'No…' her gaze flicked up to Jasper and he shook his head. 'No, Edward watched Bella sleep. Before they got together.'

Scott slid down on the sofa. 'What the fuck?'

'And she found it romantic.'

'Stooooop.'

'You're such a bitch.' Jasper laughed, slipping out from being her pillow as the other two got up, heading for their shoes.

'Wait,' Scott propped himself up on his elbows. 'Where are you going?'

Jasper kissed her gently as Rosalie spoke. 'We're headed over to Denali – sort things out there and update the others. Hunt as well. We'll be back by tomorrow evening.'

Willow caught Jasper's hand, his thumb smoothing over the back of hers. 'Try not to beat everyone up too hard. You'll irritate Esme.'

He puffed a laugh, kissing her again quickly. 'Only if he pushes it.'

'It's Edward, hon, he will.'

'Then I'll let him keep his limbs.' He murmured, 'Try not to cause too much trouble.'

'We'll try.'

With one last kiss and a nudge of love and affection, the vampires left, Emmett locking the door behind him. Scott still had himself propped up. 'I thought they would be here for a while.'

'They usually hunt a few times a week,' Willow slouched down, 'but with Laurent, Jasper was pissed. He and Rosalie both were. Edward isn't exactly in the Good Books right now.' He crawled over to lie perpendicular to her head. She held out a hand, letting their fingers interlock tightly. 'I'm so fucking sorry.'

'I know.' Scott whispered. 'It's…easier than I thought it would be. I think it helped with having interacted with them on a more familial level but fuck, dude.'

'Sometimes it still freaks me out.' Willow admitted, rolling to look at the top of his head. 'Like the fact that they have an island? Carlisle bought Esme an island for an anniversary present and it was thrown out into a conversation like it was a bracelet? Carlisle has first edition novels that go back centuries. And sometimes he'll bring up someone that we've read in the history books and talk about them like they're a friend.'

'What about everything else?'

Willow turned back to stare at the ceiling. 'When we all found out that Edward had a…thing for Bella, about the whole 'watching her sleep' thing, he brought up how sometimes, after New Hampshire, Jasper would stay over. He would read or do something on his laptop, but it was nice to just have someone else there, made me feel less lonely. But Edward brought it up and I blinked, and Jasper had him against the wall by the throat. Scott, they may play human, but they aren't. And I know that. I took a week to stew with the idea before I said anything because I needed to get my head around everything.'

'What's with the Mate thing?' he asked, rolling onto his stomach, 'I mean Aero—'

'Ah-ro.'

'Same thing. He brought up,' Scott leant over to the coffee table and snagged the paper laying there, scanned it and found what he was looking for, 'Because of this mating bond in which you have with Major Whitlock – Jasper isn't a Hale?'

'No. They use Hale more often because of the weight it has in their world.' Willow offered, 'Look, I won't tell why they do because that's Jasper's story and he needs to be the one to tell you it but on the Mating Bond thing, it's exactly as it sounds.'

'What – like soulmates?'

She nodded. 'Alice thought that you two were meant to be, but…'

'You don't think so. I thought she could see the future.'

Willow sighed heavily, rolling to look at him again. 'From what I've been given, and from what I've worked out, her visions are decision-based. They can change depending on how someone acts. So, maybe she thought you two were meant to be together because of Jasper and I, or maybe she meets that person through you. Besides, even if you were meant to be, and she did come crawling back, I swear to fuck if you didn't make her work for it…'

'Fair.' Scott acquiesced, throwing the letter back on the table. 'What happened with Victoria and James?'

'No idea.'

'What?'

She squinted. 'Well, I know the gist but not actually what went down because I was up here, looking at campuses with Dad when all that shit went down but Jasper told me what happened when I got back. Why?'

'Because Laurent said something…' he veered off, 'about how she wants like tit for tat with Edward. He killed her Mate, she'll kill his.'

Willow sat up so fast, she got a headrush, snagging her phone from the table and dialling Jasper. 'Edward was wrong.'

'What do you mean?'

Willow thrust the phone out to Scott, 'Tell him what you just told me. About Victoria.'

Her hands were jittery as Scott took the phone, 'Before he went to try and eat me, Laurent said something about how he was doing Victoria a favour by coming by Forks. That she was waiting to get back at Edward for what happened with James – that she wanted him to get the lay of the land, see if you lot were still around. What's so bad?'

There was a drawl to Jasper's voice, a cadence that seemed too calm as it came through the tinny speaker. 'Because Edward wasn't the one who dealt the killin' blow on the redhead, I was.'

Willow spoke as Scott took a few seconds to let that information settle. 'But Peter hasn't sent anything though, right?'

'No, darlin, he hasn't.'

Her stomach rolled at the panic coursing through her. 'But…'

'But it doesn't mean that we shouldn't be prepared.'

Willow took a deep breath and shoved the panic into a book, pushed it to the back of her mind and focused on the situation at hand. 'Right, so we got the conversation with the Denali coven out of the way and then focus on Victoria.'

'We'll be back by nightfall tomorrow.' Jasper spoke, as she lifted the phone to her ear, Scott slumping against the sofa. 'If she has any self-awareness, she'll stay away from you and Scott and the wolves will be protecting Forks and La Push so everyone else will be fine, darlin'

She breathed heavily through her nose for a few seconds before she shut her eyes. 'Just be careful and get back safe, hon.'

'I mean it, Wilhelmina,' Jasper's voice was confident in her ear, making the anxiety and panic recede a bit. She knew her vampire had the skill, it was what made him formidable enough to have the Volturi offering the white flag, 'if she wants to keep that head attached, she won't touch you.'

'I know.' Victoria would be signing her death warrant if she did, but that didn't mean that Willow didn't worry. 'I know. Go hunt and then let me know how everything goes with the others. I love you.'

'I love you too.'

He hung up first and Willow moved over to the fridge where the margarita mix was. Scott followed as she got it out, along with one of the limes, the two chilled glasses there and a cutting board. 'What was that about?'

Willow was quiet as she rolled the lime under her palm, cut it, and plopped a slice in each salted rimmed glass, and poured the mixture in. She took a gulp before she looked at him. 'Because things just got a helluva lot more complicated. What movie do you want to watch?'

Probably not nearly as action-packed as last chapter, and probably not as dramatic as some of you were wanting but I needed to start laying down the groundwork for Eclipse because we are getting to the end of this hell-hole of a book, people.

Scott will be in Canada for the entirety of Spring Break - which means for us non-Americans, two weeks - so things will be moving along at a faster pace. I haven't quite worked out what exactly will be happening apart from the point Willow has brought up before but there will be more talks about the Cullens and shit. Don't worry, it's just that Scott drinks his Respect People juice in the mornings and knows when someone needs a nudge and when they need to be left alone.

Anyway, this chapter did not want to be written, so if she's a lil clunky, I apologise, some are easier than others and my Muse has been rather slow lately but sometimes I surprise myself with my foreshadowing skills.

Let me know what you think and I'll see you next Wednesday,

Enjoy,

K x