Felix's POV
When I walked in the house I realized nobody was home even though Bella's truck was in the driveway. I checked my phone and she had texted me. "We'll talk about what happened this morning when I get home. I'm going to Port Angeles with Jessica and Angela to help them dress shop." My stomach twisted into knots as I saw Jessica's name, I knew Lauren had been the one to post the pictures but Jessica had added me at the same time. Was it a coincidence or had they planned the post together? My head raced as I made my way up the stairs, I threw my boots without thought into the corner and sat in the papasan chair that held me like I was food in a bowl. I debated on checking Lauren's post. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, maybe the comments wouldn't be full of insults, just questions. I pulled my phone back out of my pocket and got onto the app, at this point there was over two hundred comments on the photo, again most were just people tagging their friends who laugh or shock reacted. Many people were mostly asking who it was as my face wasn't visible in the picture, and it was only obviously Leon since him and Emmett were the two tallest people in the school, Lauren didn't answer them but other people commented that it was me in the picture with Leon, most replied with disbelief or shock, more at the fact that Leon was gay, not myself. I texted Bella to wake me up when she got home if she still wanted to talk and pulled a blanket over me, shutting my eyes and forcing myself to sleep.
"Felix… Felix!" I groaned, kicking my feet out and stretching them. "You're not gonna believe what happened in Port Angeles." "Huh…?" I sat up, rubbing the cold from my eyes with my fingers. "What happened, Bella?" I listened to her as she described getting lost while running away from a group of guys only for Edward to save her. "You know how you said something about the Cullens were weird?" "Yeah." "Listen, and don't laugh. I know it sounds totally crazy but you HAVE to believe me." I nodded and leaned in and she leaned in too, then she whispered. "They're vampires." "Leon isn't." "Yes they a- wait. What? How'd you know Leon was the only one who isn't." "Because I already know what Leon is." "Tell me! Edward wouldn't tell me, he said it's not up to him." "I don't know Bella… I don't think I'm supposed to tell anyone…" "And I wasn't supposed to tell you about them, either. Spit it out!" "Fine… Fine… He's a demon." "Like… The devil kind?" "No… Well… Maybe I don't know, I didn't ask… I'd assume not because he used to be a human. Bella, why did you even tell me?" "Well… Today in Port Angeles Jessica mentioned something that Lauren posted on facebook… And if it's true I thought you should know that something was weird about Leon… Is that why you ran today?" "Of course that's why I ran today. How am I supposed to face everyone?" "What do you mean everyone?" "Bella, have you seen the post? Everyone has seen it." She shook her head no and I grabbed my phone out from under me and pulled up the post, handing it to her. "Oh wow… That's more than half the school. Well, hey. You have Leon to protect you, right? Nobody's gonna say anything with him around, he's huge." "Bella, what am I going to do when he's not there? Their camping trips?" "Oh… I didn't think of that." "He told me that he'd tell people we weren't kissing and that it was just the angle." "I don't think you should lie… I mean look he's one of the most attractive guys in school. Why not just own up to it?" "Because I don't want to be a target, Bella. We're not in Pheonix anymore, we live in a really small town and most of the people no offense to them seem like hicks like most people from small towns are… I'm done talking. I just want to go back to bed." Bella nodded and left my room without saying anything else. My stomach rumbled and I stared at the space under my bed before I rushed over and took out the box of snacks. I hid myself behind my bed and opened a bag of chips, tossing the crispy discs into my mouth. I had one bag after another, opening chocolate bars and salty snacks before I realized I made it through half the box and my stomach ached. I pushed the box back under my bed and threw the wrappers in my mini garbage can, throwing my ripped jeans over them to conceal the evidence. After a few minutes of just laying on the floor I felt sick, I rushed to the bathroom and slammed the door behind me. I sat next to the toilet and Bella knocked on the door. "Felix…? Are you okay?" "I'm fine. I'm just." I wasn't able to finish my sentence before vomiting into the toilet, none of the food was digested. I heard Charlie walk up the stairs, presumably from the slammed door. "What's wrong? Is he okay?" There was a pause before Charlie knocked on the door. "Hey kiddo, do you need me to go get you some pepto from the store?" "No… No I'm fine. Just go away." "Well… Okay." I listened to his footsteps make their way back down the stairs but I didn't hear Bella leave. "Go away, Bella." "You're not hurting yourself again, are you?" She whispered through the door. "No! I'm not! I just don't feel good." I lied. "Are you sure there isn't anything I can do?" "Just… Can you leave a bottle of water on my night stand." I heard her shuffle down the stairs and quickly forced myself to vomit the rest before she came back, flushing in between and turning on the sink to cover the noise. When I was done I rinsed out my mouth and then brushed my teeth before going back into my room and going to bed.
The next morning came without dreams or nightmares but when I woke up I felt like I hadn't slept at all. I decided on just wearing jeans and a hoodie, hoping I could hide myself for the day in the dark piece of fabric that was a few sizes too big. I made my way downstairs, sitting at the kitchen table as Charlie cooked us all breakfast for a change. I stared at the eggs on my plate, they were burnt around the edges and made me want to recoil in my seat, but at least Charlie tried. I inhaled deeply and began to eat, I didn't breath while I chewed, trying to ignore the absolute sensory horror going on in my mouth. I ate as quickly as I could to get it over with, washing it down with bitter coffee. "Hungry today?" "I'm sorry?" "You ate all your eggs this morning. Usually you don't." "Oh, yeah. I'm starving." I lied, pulling the last bit of egg into my mouth. "Here, have some of my bacon then." He picked up two pieces of bacon from his plate, transferring them to mine. I cursed internally but forced a smile on my face. "Thank you." I forced myself to eat every last bit. "Wow, you really were hungry. First time I've seen you eat everything on your plate." I nodded and Bella rubbed my shoulder with a smile, trying to comfort me. I guess Renee didn't tell Charlie about my eating habits, which why should I be surprised? She didn't take it seriously, anyways.
We made our way out to the truck, we were about to get in when a silver volvo pulled up. The passenger window rolled down and Leon waved. "You guys want a ride with us?" Edward leaned forward to wave hello. I looked over at Bella and shrugged, closing the truck door and walked towards the car. We got in with awkward hellos, me and Bella made surprised faces at each other when we buckled our seatbelts. Edward handed Bella a tan jacket and I raised my eyebrows at her, she smacked my arm in response. "I brought the jacket for you, I didn't want you to get sick." She pulled the jacket into her lap. "I'm not that delicate." I snickered and turned away to look out the window. When we got to school Leon hopped out first, meeting me at my door. He leaned over me, putting his hand on the top of the car. "How do you want to do this today?" I blushed, looking away from his face only to realize people were staring. "Well you're not making it too inconspicuous right now… So I'm guessing you don't want to hide anything." "There's nothing to hide. Even if there was, who would want to hide you?"
He grabbed my hand and turned from the car, and started walking towards the school. My fingers slowly interlocked with his, his hand enveloped mine and it made me feel like a dainty school girl. People stared at us and I tried to ignore it, when we passed Mike he just smiled and gave us a thumbs up. When Jessica saw us she waved and smiled and in that moment I knew she hadn't been apart of Lauren's scheme. When we passed Lauren and Tyler, Lauren rolled her eyes and Tyler simply acted like I didn't exist. We stood outside Government together in silence, my back against the set of lockers behind me and Leon stood in front of me as a cover. A kid came over and stared at us for a minute before he approached. "That's my locker, fags." Leon turned around, towering over the teenager. "What'd you say?" "I uh… I said I needed to get to my locker." "No… No I don't think you need your books this period." "I have a test, I need to see my no-" Leon pushed him, causing the kid to trip over his own feet and fall to the ground. Leon crouched to his knees and stared in the kids face. A couple bystanders started recording on their cellphones. "I said you don't need your books this period… Next time you need into your locker maybe you should refrain from using insults. Next time I'll beat your fucking skull in." He hacked up saliva and spit in the kids face before getting back up and standing next to me, the kid scrambled to his feet and quickly walked to whatever class he was going to.
I held my breath at the site of Leon terrorizing the kid, reminding me he truly was a monster in disguise. "You didn't have to do that." I whispered. "Why not? Now that's one less fucked up teenager that'll mess with you." His hand slinked back down to my own, he rubbed his thumb against the back of my hand. "Alright love birds, get into class the bells about to ring." Mr Jefferson said as he passed us to go into the classroom. Leon nudged me and I walked into the class, everyone stared at us as we walked to the back of the classroom and sat in the seats next to each other. "I saved you guys your seats." Eric whispered, smiling at us. "Thanks…" I whispered back, pulling out my notebook.
Leon walked me to my next class, he pulled me besides the door and kissed my forehead. "Alice is going to meet you here so you guys can walk to gym together." I nodded, I hadn't really paid attention to the fact both Edward and Alice were in my gym class. Actually, they were so good at blending in that the only time I'd noticed the other Cullens was when Bella pointed them out the first day. The only reason why I had ever noticed Leon was from the absolute bloodlust that radiated off of him, he was like a walking deflection with a sign that read danger. He nudged me into my next class, probably to make sure I wouldn't try and skip. Class was relatively boring, we went over different types of poetry and we analyzed a few short ones. When the bell rang I waited outside the classroom, it didn't take long for the short haired vampire to come into view. "Felix!" She waved at me and I met her halfway down the hall. "Thanks for walking me to gym." "Oh, no problem. So, when are you and Bella gonna finally come over to the house and meet everyone!" "Oh… I'm not sure. You really think they want to meet us?" "Of course, especially Carslile and Esme… Well maybe not Rosalie but that's okay." "Well, when Leon invites me over I'd be happy to meet everyone." We made our way into gym and I groaned when I realized none of the equipment was out. "What's wrong, Felix?" "No equipment, that means we're probably running laps." "You don't like running?" "Not if it's just running, I like baseball and I'm pretty good at volleyball but I don't like just running." "Let's just jog, then. What's Coach Clapp gonna do, yell at us?" I pursed my lips and nodded, we left each other to dress down but met back up when we came out of the locker rooms.
Of course, Coach Clapp told us we were running laps and blew on his whistle. Alice and I jogged around the gym, she didn't break a sweat. "What's that?" She pointed to my arms. "Why's there all those marks." I grimaced and thought about whether to be honest or not, would it be ironic to tell a vampire that you like to see yourself bleed? I widened my eyes, I had forgotten Edward was in gym with us, I looked around the room only find him staring wide eyed at me. He knows. "I uh, I guess the simplest way to put it is I'm pretty fucked up in the head." "So you cut yourself?" She asked blatantly. "Yeah… Seeing blood, well just my blood. Kind of just reminds me that I'm alive. Sometimes I get so depressed I don't feel like I'm really here and I just run on autopilot. When I harm myself it reminds me that I'm still here." She was silent for a minute before she spoke again. "Doesn't it hurt, though?" "Well, sometimes. I guess that's the part that makes it the most effective, if it doesn't hurt what's the point? I'm trying to remind myself I'm here… The easiest way to do that is to stimulate myself." "I guess so… I don't really like it but I think I understand." She paused for a minute before speaking again. "Are you and Leon going to the dance?" "The dance? I don't know, he didn't express any interest." Well it is girls choice." I looked at her with bewilderment. "Are you telling me I'm the girl in this situation?" I acted offended and she laughed. "Well…" We had finished our laps and she leaned in and whispered. "You kind of strike me as a bottom." Instantly the heat rose to my cheeks. "I guess so… Do you think I should ask him?" "Yes!" She said a little too loud, we got a couple stares but they didn't look for too long. "Okay… I think I will." We parted ways to the locker rooms, I snuck into a stall to change into my clothes. I jumped as the curtain opened up and the flash of a picture being taken on a phone, I couldn't see who it was through the flash, they ran right after. I sighed, throwing the hoodie over my head, I honestly didn't really care, there was nothing to see.
When I left the dressing room, Edward cornered me. "How long have you known?" He whispered to me, his voice was stern. "I don't know what you mean." "You're not stupid, Felix, you're not tricking any of us when you act so innocent and oblivious." I felt the anger rise up in my throat. "I'm not acting like anything, maybe if you guys weren't so fucking obvious I would've never found out." "Did Leon tell you?" "No, Bella and I figured it out ourselves… Maybe next time you'll let the two humans get crushed by the car and you wouldn't have to fucking deal with the consequences." I walked off before I got any angrier. How dare he accuse me of being malicious? Trigonometry went horribly, I was way behind the class and had no desire to catch up. When I exited the classroom Leon was already waiting for me. "How was gym?" "It was okay. Alice and I talked." "What about?" "Things and stuff." "You're not going to tell me? "Nope." I walked backwards with a smile, he reached for my hand and I took his. "Do you like dancing?" He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Of course that's what you guys talked about… Yes, I do enjoy dancing every once in a while." "Interesting…" I mused, I tripped over my feet and Leon grabbed me by the collar of my hoodie before I could completely fall, pulling me back up to my feet. "Thank you." He nodded and I smiled again. "Would you want to dance with me?" "That.. Would be lovely." I grinned with teeth as he directed me into the classroom, when we sat our inside legs touched each other. I couldn't pay attention that class, I mostly doodled in my notebook and Leon took notes for me. He ripped the page of notes out and handed it to me at the end of class, which I folded and put into my bag.
We met Edward and Bella at the car, she sat up front and Leon sat in the back with me. He held his hand on my thigh and I blushed, Edward groaned and looked at me in the rear view mirror. "Can you at least try to control your thoughts, Felix?" Leon laughed and looked at Edward through the mirror. "Cat's out of the bag, huh?" Edward seemed to grunt and I sighed. "So it wasn't an issue when I found out you could read minds like a fucking psycho but it is an issue when I find out you're a being of the undead." He looked at me in the mirror again. "Yes, that's exactly the situation, here." "I'm not gonna tell anybody, chill out." "I know… Besides, even if you did, who would believe you?" I rolled my eyes at him and looked out the window.
The rest of the ride home was silent, Leon kissed the top of my head before I got out of the car and went inside. "You going to the dance?" I looked at Bella with a raised eyebrow. "You know I don't dance, Felix." "Just asking." "Are you going?" "Yeah." "Well why didn't you tell me? We have to go to Port Angeles to find you a suit!" Bella called Charlie and told him we were going to Port Angeles, she rushed me into the truck and we made our way there. We stopped at a small boutique filled with suits and dresses. I texted Leon and asked him what color suit he was wearing. He responded by saying he'd coordinate with whatever I chose. Bella and I looked around the store, she stopped on a dark burgundy suit. "What about this one?" I looked at it and nodded. "It's nice…" I peered over at the dresses on the other side of the store, biting my bottom lip. "Did you want to wear a dress?" I jumped at Bella's question. "Umm… Maybe…" "Well then, let's look." She grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the dresses.
An older lady approached us. "Are we looking for dresses today?" Bella nodded at her. "Yeah, we were thinking about red." "Oh, red will look great on you, dear." "Oh it's not for me, it's for him." I felt myself blush and I looked at my feet, a bit embarrassed. The woman pursed her lips together, sneering at me. "Maybe Ashley can help with that." She walked away and I heard her arguing with somebody, a few minutes later a younger woman approached us. "My name's Ashley, I hear you're looking for a dress?" She spoke directly to me and I nodded. "Okay!" She pressed her hands together at her chest. "I would suggest something without sleeves because you do have some muscles." I nodded and the woman pulled me over to a section of long sleeved dresses. Bella and Ashley picked out a couple of dresses and practically shoved me into the fitting room. The last one I tried on was a dress that I picked out was a satin spaghetti strap v neck a line dress that had a high slit. I looked at myself in the mirror in the dressing room before I walked out, Ashley squealed in excitement. "That's definitely it." She shoved a pair of black lace up heels and I put them on, she looked at Bella and nodded. I went back into the dressing room and got back into my normal clothes, grabbing the dress and heels on my way out. We paid and went to leave, I could hear the older lady behind me. "It's just not right." "Whatever, mom. What damage is a boy in a dress gonna do?"
When we walked through the door Charlie perked up on the couch. "Bells, you going to the dance after all?" He pointed to the dress in her hand. "No, Felix is." "What's he gonna wear?" She held up the dress and it took a minute for it to register. "Are you sure?" He looked at me and I frowned. "I thought it looked good." I mumbled. "I don't care what you wear, I just want to make sure you're prepared that other people might not think the same way." " Dad, I'm aware." He threw his hands up in the air. "Okay… Just making sure. Since I thought you'd be home late I ordered pizza, it's in the kitchen." I took the dress and shoes from Bella and put them in my closet, going back downstairs and grabbing a slice of pizza. I ate quickly and then went to bed.