Chapter 1 - Today's Normal

Bella's POV

I leaned back on the couch, relaxing back into the cushions. These were my favorite days - with Edward's fingers dancing along the piano keys and the smell of the incoming warmer weather and I had to inhale to take some of it in. The breeze came through the open window, causing my hair to sway gently. I looked out at the sunlight beginning to break through the usually cloudy blanket that hung over Forks.

The light danced across the room and my eyes followed it to where Edward was sitting, poised over the piano. In the early days of our relationship, both the first time and this newer healing time, he had shied away from letting me see his skin even after he revealed it to me that day in the meadow. Now, though, he stayed concentrated on the music. The slight change in him was enough to warm me and a small smile crossed my face as the light shimmered off of him.

The hum that left my lips caught his attention though and he looked up at me with a smile, "What?"

I tiled my head at the window, "The sun is out."

"Meadow?"

"Meadow,"

He rose from his place and came to take my hand in his. His cool temperature against my skin was perfect for days like these. Despite growing up in Arizona, my tolerance for the heat somehow changed as I adapted to the temperature around Forks. He knew this and seemed to relish in the ability to keep me cool after all the times that he had not been able to help during the winter or cooler days. We would have to take advantage of it - it was still early Spring and this was a rare heat wave.

With his fingers firmly wrapped around mine, he pulled me towards the other living area where the family was sitting. Emmett was crouched on a side table, looking down at the game of chess that he and Jasper were in the middle of. The look of concentration on his face almost made up for the fact that Esme was glaring at him ferociously for standing on one of her tables. Since their return to the house, Esme had decided to get rid of much of the old memories and begin new - much as Edward and I had tried to do. This did mean, however, that Emmett was dangerously close to breaking her new table.

Edward chuckled, from something I hadn't heard, and spoke, "Don't worry, Jasper. He is nowhere near figuring out your plan."

As Jasper chuckled darkly, Emmett yelled, "Hey, get out of my head!"

Esme's eyes were still locked on Emmett's movements as he remained hovering over her table. She did, however, turn her head slightly to speak towards where Edward and I had come to pause over the game, "Where are you two headed off to?"

Edward smiled at me. I knew they only asked these questions out loud for my benefit - she had heard what I said in the other room, "The meadow."

"It is a lovely day for it," She said this a bit through gritted teeth, her eyes twitching. I imagined that to Edward, her eyes were flying back and forth to monitor Emmett's movement.

Edward's eyes were focused on the game, obviously hearing what was flying through both of their minds. Despite the fact that the family worked hard to keep Edward's internal hearing out of their daily thoughts, Edward had openly admitted that the skill was not one the Emmett was good at. He had a one tracked mine - literally. He had a hard time disguising too much.

I didn't know chess well enough to know the technicalities of what happened, but Jasper made a move and then Emmett blurred and the pieces of the chess game were everywhere. Esme blurred next, stabilizing the table that was spinning on one leg.

"Emmett!" Esme yelled out - motherly and hardly harsh.

Emmett's head glanced back at Esme before turning back to glare at Jasper and then Edward, "Blame them! They messed up my focus."

Jasper muttered, loud enough for me to hear, "The five seconds you had of it."

"You asked for this!" Emmett made a move but I didn't see anything. At first, I thought it was because they were moving too fast for me to see - which may have been true. But the real reason I couldn't see what was happening was that Edward had removed me from being anywhere near their blurring forms.

"Whoa," He was standing in front of me and I grabbed at his shoulders while my equilibrium struggled.

"Sorry," He said sheepishly, holding my waist so that I didn't shift around anymore, "I know Rose is about to come in and separate them. You didn't need to be in the mix."

I took advantage of where my hands were on his shoulders and wrapped them around his neck, "It's okay. Just tell me who wins."

"You'll have to join the betting pool one of these days,"

"Who usually wins?"

"Emmett usually wins the strength contests. Jasper wins when it comes to brains,"

"I heard that!" Emmett yelled before there was a crash. Almost instantly, I heard Rose and Esme's voices both yell, "Emmett!"

I had to laugh a bit and Edward moved to the door. The commotion would inevitably continue without our presence. We walked to the backyard, the sun now almost completely out of the clouds. I smiled, thankful for my choice to wear a T-shirt and shorts as the temperature rose. I did not have the small bag that Edward grabbed discreetly as we made our way out. I was sure there was an extra layer for me in there.

"Ready?" He asked as he squatted down. I smiled, hopping onto his back and clasping my arms around his neck as a confirmation.

He took off and I buried my face in his neck. There were few times when I could be this close to him and not feel shy about taking in his scent. For him, he would probably assume I was trying my best to keep from fainting - as I did the first time so long ago. Instead, I was taking in the sweet smell that made my heart race each time. He smelled like home. He would blame it on his predatory aspects, but I knew it was much more to me.

Soon, maybe too soon for my sniffing needs, we arrived at the meadow. The warmer weather was starting to cause the wildlife to grow again. It was still early so the flowers had not fully bloomed.

"Here," He laid down a blanket from the backpack. It was a fair assumption, the grass had not quite softened yet after the streak of colder weather we had. I sat down on the ground and hugged my legs to my chest.

He sat down beside me and I smiled at his glittering skin, "Thank you."

"Always," He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. I remembered him mentioning, a long time ago, that the fresh air and my scent mixed together had made it easier on him. The reminder that being around me caused him pain made me sigh. How different our experiences were when it came to scents.

"What? What's wrong?"

Cue Edward's worry.

"No, nothing's wrong," He had come closer in the moment after my sigh, leaning to rest a hand on my back, "I was just thinking of my scent and your pain."

He shook his head, nuzzling into the side of my neck, "Hardly a notice these days."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Why do I find that hard to believe?"

He chuckled, tugging me closer to him. I went willingly as he laid back, pulling me playfully over him. I adored this side of Edward. The side that was playful and fun and mine. It was a side of him that I was happy to have reserved for our secret moments.

"You should never question a terrifying monster," He nuzzled further into my neck.

"That would require me to actually see a terrifying monster,"

"You never learn,"

He swung us around, laying me on my side and burrowing his face into my neck. His cool lips made contact with my skin and it made me laugh a bit as his fingers danced at my sides.

It still surprised me, occasionally, that our relationship had shifted back to where we had been. No - that was a lie. It had gone somewhere so much better than what we had before. He was becoming a much more confident version of himself, one that could laugh and play around with me instead of remaining a stoic all the time.

It hadn't been easy. After his return, our nights together were hesitant as he cautiously engaged in conversation. I worked hard to be truthful with the past - we couldn't avoid it. Renee had been the queen of burying the past, but I knew that would explode on us later. So, I had been honest. I told him of my dormant stage, of how Jake helped me, and all the stupid moves I made in an effort to hear him or feel him.

He listened through his own cringing, but he kept listening. He didn't run away or turn away as I spilled my guts out. He didn't argue with my antics after I scolded him the first time. It slowly worked as he heard my truth. Eventually, he also opened up about his own experiences.

His stories were bleak and they tore at my heart. He had chased Victoria the best he could, but then he ended up curling up within himself. I imagined him that day in Volterra during those stories; the way his eyes had been void of emotion and his body seeming more of a shell than a man. It crushed my heart, but I listened and we healed from that.

Those days seemed so far even though they were only months ago. Now, his hands were at my side and my laugh was filling our meadow. It was almost perfect.

"But really," he continued as I calmed my laughter, laying my head on the blanket and looking up at him, "the pain hardly exists. I learned real pain. Nothing else could compare to that."

I sighed, reaching up to run my fingers through his hair. He hummed, laying back on the blanket and pulling me into his chest. I took the opportunity to lay my head on his chest, right over where his heart would be. The chill from his skin seeped through and I sighed happily at the contrast from the heat of the day.

Instead of digging deeper into what we were talking about, I decided to stay lost in the moment. His chilled fingers played with my hair, lifting pieces to twirl them around in his fingers. A wave of contentment came over me and I hoped that it was sweeping over Edward as well. By his sigh and the way his other hand that was not too busy playing with my hair came to squeeze my fingers against his chest, I guessed that he was feeling the same.

As the day moved over us, I considered the next several months. My senior year had started in a haze of loving Edward and losing him. Then, within a flash, I was looking down the path of college. Or, at least, Edward was looking at all the options and the best living situations we could find. The thought of him being so adjusted to the idea of living with me was one thing, but it was still incredible to consider the idea of moving towards college.

These were my feelings alone. The rest of them had done it all already. Many, many times. In truth, I was focused on the idea of becoming one of them too much to focus on what I would do in the meantime. The idea of what to study made my heart pump faster. I hardly considered it until Edward asked me several nights ago what programs I would want to consider. My mind was unruly with options.

"I can almost hear your mind, love," He whispered, kissing the top of my head.

I shrugged, "Thinking of the next few weeks."

"The end of high school," he chuckled, "It's an emotional time for everyone. Jasper hates the last few weeks of school every year."

"I'm sure," I chuckled, thinking back to Angela's sudden outburst of tears as she hugged Mike and Jessica earlier last week, "...but that wasn't really my thoughts. I think I'm ready for high school to be over."

"Yet, you are willing to do it over and over again," I knew he was joking and I rolled my eyes.

"To be with you," I added.

He hummed. He lifted my hand from his chest and brought it to his lips. I lifted myself up and looked down at him. The sun was shining across the meadow in full force and curvature of his face causing reflections of lights to spark everywhere. I ran my fingers over his cheek, taking in the smoothness despite the appearance of crystals. It was hard to believe that this skin could kill anything.

Edward's eyes zeroed in on the back of my arm suddenly, running a hand across the skin that was now becoming red. He sighed, looking borderline glum, "I haven't bought sunscreen."

I pretended to gasp, "How dare you not buy something you can never use?"

He gave me a silly side-eye and sat up. I moved with him, shifting to pick out the twigs that got stuck in his hair. He rolled up the blanket while I sighed, pouting a bit.

"You don't need sun burn," He smiled, putting the blanket back into the backpack.

"True," I conceded, standing up, "I'm sure I wouldn't burn right away."

"You're nearly cooked now,"

"Fine,"

Within ten minutes, we were walking back into the house. The commotion that we left behind seemed to be at bay for the day. Jasper and Emmett were nowhere in sight, but I realized that they might have just taken their challenges deeper in the forest.

As we walked into the house, I realized that the back of my arms were actually a bit burned. I tried to be subtle as I touched the skin on the back of my arm, pressing down to see how much damage I had done. Edward's eyes narrowed and he quickly went to find lotion that I had begun to keep here.

"Did he not bring sunscreen?" Esme's motherly presence appeared next to me as she looked at my slightly reddened skin. I smiled, shaking my head as I heard Edward groan from up the stairs.

"It was spur of the moment," It was true.

Edward was next to me the next moment and ushered me to the couch. I wanted to brush off the whole ordeal, but then his fingers were dancing on my shoulders and I relaxed. I suddenly found myself wishing that he had brought the sunscreen to the meadow instead.

Carlisle came in, smiling softly at Edward's actions as he sat behind me and rubbed the lotion into my shoulder and arms. Jasper, Emmett, and Rose followed in after him, Emmett's shirt was ripped down the side but he didn't seem to notice or didn't care. I bit back a laugh as he squatted down on the ground in front of the chair that Rose often sat on. She sighed, looking at the shirt for a moment before taking her seat behind him.

Carlisle turned on the TV, probably for the benefit of my comfort. Alice suddenly appeared, holding up a color sheet. She silently held it up to my face, her eyes focused more on the side of my face than anything else. She "tsked" once, looking at the burn that was starting on my arm. Then, she smiled and nodded.

I raised an eyebrow in question but she just turned to sit by Jasper.

It felt good, in these moments, when they were in their natural habitat and I fit in somehow. I was still human, unsure of long silence and needing to eat and use the restroom, but they still made it seem like my place in their family room made sense. I leaned back, pressing my back into Edward's chest once he finished. Once again, the coolness of his skin had its benefits.

I was in my haze of thought when Edward stiffened slightly behind me. I looked up, alert from this movement. The news anchor was discussing the current struggles and tensions in the world. I tended to avoid the news, as the vampire world had kept Edward and I busy over the short period of us being together. Now, though, the words on the screen caught my attention.

"The United Nations have sat in council today over the announcements of nuclear resources being seen put back into productions with the threat of terror around the world…"

"Nuclear?" I whispered, in a way that was meant to be to myself.

That didn't exist in a house of vampires.

"It's been in the back pocket of certain countries since the 40s through the 60s. In reality, only two bombs have every been dropped with the intent of an attack. Everything else has been test rounds that were not meant to hurt anyone. That being said, no one knows how much of the nuclear resources are still active or useful. That makes it even worse than if we knew," Jasper rattled off, completely engrossed in the news.

I knew all of the basics from history classes, but his words were much more interesting. His words came from experience.

His eyes were narrowing as the news continued, "This is the first time threats have become this serious in a long time."

"Do you think there is anything real behind it?" Carlisle asked him. When it came to war and fear tactics, the family often turned to Jasper for his input. While Carlisle had been alive for much longer, he had never been on the "inside" of war lines. Jasper had - and studied them closely as history moved forward.

Jasper tilted his head a bit, "There's a certain quality of fear to it. Pointing an empty missile towards one of your enemies is a threat. It should be just talk and no action."

Edward's arms moved around me, pulling me closer into him. While Jasper's words seemed to hold some truth, the look on his face made me nervous. I reached up to take Edward's hands in my own as we watched the news. I turned my head to look at him, just a glance, to see his face frozen in an unreadable mask.

Carlisle stood up, probably feeling the overwhelming tension that had settled around the room, "We'll just have to see."

Alice's face was concentrated. Her expression slowly caught everyone's eye. Carlisle watched her closely and I realized that Edward's expression probably meant that he was also in Alice's mind, trying to watch as she traced the lines of the future. His fingers tightened slightly around me.

"It's too blurry to know anything right now," She looked around as her eyes cleared. I relaxed a bit, thankful that she didn't see an impending doom.

"That means they haven't decided," Jasper whispered, coming to sit next to Alice immediately.

Suddenly, my relief did not feel so genuine.

A/N

New story. I've always played around with ideas of what the world would look like for the Cullens if there was some sort of crisis. Obviously, the last few years have given all of us an insight of what the world would look like if things were rough!

New post soon - this is mainly a set up to see where all the characters are in before the main conflict of the story.

Happy New Year. Stay safe.