Chapter 3 - Tensions

The weeks of studying were frustrating but paying off - I passed my Calculus exam with a "B" by some miracle. This had come after multiple study sessions and another argument between me and my textbook. It had become my point of focus and it was a good excuse to not focus on anything else.

Edward was jumping between talking about the colleges that we could go to and the vacation that we would be taking. Charlie, the Cullens, and even me agreed that it was better to avoid international travel during this time. Instead, we spent afternoons looking at interesting photographs and stories from other travelers. Each of the Cullens seemed to be trying to win me over to their idea of a "perfect" vacation.

Emmett, much to everyone's surprise, didn't mention anywhere with a giant arcade or an obstacle course that he was sure he could break into overnight. Instead, he suggested Lake Tahoe. It was an odd thought, considering it was so close to the area that I had grown up familiar with - but he had watched the weather reports for that area. Due to dust storms and the neighboring forest fires, the sunny days were gradually becoming equal to the amount of days that it was cloudy.

Rose and Alice agreed on going to Chicago. Their focus was on the Magnificent Mile, where they could shop for the next year's worth of clothes. While the shopping did not entice me, the idea of going to where Edward was born and raised piqued my interest. He tried to remind me that he didn't remember a ton from his human years in those parts, but the idea of being there sounded worthwhile. Carlisle had let slip that there were still a lot of places that had been there when Edward was young that he could show me.

Jasper remained out of the destination betting. He was too focused on the news and monitoring Alice's visions to take a moment to join in the fun. It was unfortunate because I thought that his ideas were going to be one of the more intriguing.

Esme and Carlisle had brought up the possibility of going to Pennsylvania where they had once found a small town hidden in the mountains that had daily Halloween festivities. They had a genuine curiosity to go back and see how the times had changed, but the jokes about vampires visiting Halloweentown had become overwhelming…thanks to Emmett.

I had waited for Edward to mention a place, but he kept his lips sealed. Anytime I asked, he kept pointing out that he wanted me to have some say in the adventures that were being planned. I argued that it was much more fun to help pick from a predetermined list. He rolled his eyes at me, keeping his lips sealed.

I laid on my bed, my laptop on my stomach as I researched places that were cloudy and intriguing. For some reason, people did not want to put the two together in any way. The list that came up lacked excitement or uniqueness. I sighed, frustrated and closed my laptop.

Looking out the window, I looked at the clouded sky that I had managed to grow somewhat attached to. It might have been because I knew that a gray sky would allow Edward and the rest of them to live as normal as possible. I leaned my head back on my pillows and tried to enjoy the peace and quiet of a Sunday afternoon while the Cullens were out on a brief hunting trip. Edward had left Friday evening and I was counting the minutes until his arrival home.

I moved off the bed, wondering if there was a book at the local library that would have some travel ideas. My body also felt the urge to me - the idleness of my afternoon started to fatigue my muscles. I reached for my keys that were laying on my side table and headed out to the monster of a truck.

With some resistance, the truck roared to life. Charlie was working overtime at work, giving up a good weekend to go fishing to head to Port Angeles. While I almost considered going down that way, I realized that it would put everyone in a state of panic. I knew Alice was watching my future closely. The library nearby could not be that dangerous.

Forks library was quaint. It was the kind of place that people who had never been to Forks had to stop in to look at. The outside looked much like an elementary school and, if I had remembered old stories correctly, it had been. Inside, though, was a treasure trove to the active reader. During the summers when I was younger and only visiting for a few short weeks, I would find myself in the library during the long hours that Charlie worked and I didn't have anyone to hang out with.

I walked in now, smelling the familiar scent of old books and worn out leather. The same librarian worked there and she smiled at me silently, waving as I walked through the different shelves to the travel section. The books looked mostly untouched. Many of the people of Forks had a habit of staying home and finding entertainment on their television screens. It was true - Forks did have an undeniable beauty - but I wondered if it held much to people who had seen the world over the last hundreds of years.

My fingers moved over the spines, looking for something to catch my interest. National Parks? Too obvious if they hunted. Tropical locations? It's too hard for them to go out. Oddities in the nation? That could work.

I grabbed the book and flipped through it, taking out a notepad and pen that I had taken along to make a list to look up later. The list grew a bit longer as I read of some of the strange hidden gems hidden around the country. I was so engrossed in my reading that I didn't think to look up.

"Hey," A voice I was all too familiar with spoke in front of me. A book simultaneously slammed down on the table that I was at, causing me to jump.

"Mike," I greeted half-heartedly as he sat down heavily on the chair across from me.

Where was Alice when I needed a warning?

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked, looking around as if trying to scout out a Cullen from around the shelves. I wished they were waiting to come out.

I held back my displeasure at his sudden presence, "I'm just doing some research for a trip."

"Oh," He took a glance at the open page that I was on, looking at the National Park that I had happened to flip open to, "Going with the chief?"

"No, with the Cullens,"

"Ah," He looked down with displeasure. The least he could do was pretend to be kind. "Right. They love camping."

I had an image of what most of Forks believe the Cullens did on sunny days - camping. The image of Alice, as a human, curled up on the ground in the middle of the forest almost made me laugh aloud. God forbid anyone ever gave her a fishing outfit.

"Yeah," I agreed, looking back down at my book. I couldn't help but look up at him, seeing the book that he was now opening. It annoyed me a bit that he hadn't asked if he could sit with me, but I decided to hold my tongue.

Based on the page of diagrams that Mike had flipped to, I could see that he seemed to be doing some reading on Nuclear history. I bit my lip to keep a sigh inside.

Was there no escaping this?

"Can you believe this shit?" He asked, pointing at the pages.

"Um," I shifted in my chair, now wanting to leave even more, "Not really."

"My dad thinks there might be a draft. I told him that plenty of young men would volunteer willingly, but he still thinks that we would need more men if this were to really happen," He tapped on the page of the book.

"I don't think this is going to be a war,"

"I don't know. Have you been watching the news?"

"I've been avoiding it a bit. Trying to stay focused on school and stuff,"

"And planning for a vacation, I see," His voice was judgmental and my eyes went back to the book in front of me. Suddenly, the words and images did not seem so delightful.

"Just hoping for the best," I decided to try to keep the conversation short and wrote down the place I was looking at before planning to leave.

"Cullen considered going into the service before?" I could tell he was searching to find a downfall in Edward. Internally, I smiled. He had wanted to fight in the war…just a hundred years ago.

"Actually, yes," My voice and posture gained confidence, "He really wanted to do that for a long time. I think our situation is changing his mind though. He might be able to help a lot more people by going into the medical field, like his father."

Mike looked like he just lost a battle himself, "Right. Dr. Cullen is really good at his job, I guess. Could probably help him through the program."

It was hard to bite back my knowledge of how brilliant Edward could be alone. However, Mike didn't need to know that there were two medical degrees sitting at the bottom of Edward's closet with an honors emblem across it. In fact, that would raise way more questions than it would justify my case.

I closed the book and went to the spot on the shelf where I found it. Mike became engrossed in his book and I was thankful for the quiet as I went to head back towards the front of the library.

"Do you know that they think that the USSR had practiced making a bomb that would make the bombs that went off in the 40s look like childplay?" He said, mostly to himself but it halted my legs.

I remembered looking at the pictures in the history book of those events. In truth, I had been avoiding that chapter over the recent several weeks in an effort to keep the concept out of my mind. That event seemed horrific; how could it possibly get bigger?

"Those would be too old now, right?" I let my questions slip and regretted my choice to walk back towards where Mike was sitting.

"I mean, I guess. My dad said that there was so much fear about the Nukes that no one has really spent a lot of time looking at their longevity or having a good understanding of it. I mean, they don't really teach us those things in school, right? Anyway, this diagram would give you an idea," He motioned towards the open book. I glanced over it.

He was right. The page had the diagram of the bomb that did go off in the 40s. It held the radius that it would cover and compared it to a US city in a way that made my stomach hurt. The truth was right on the page - there had been many other nuclear weaponry that had been made that would reach 6,000x that of the explosion that we had seen in the 40s. The names were all different, but they all lead to the same conclusion.

Life changing in a way that we had never known before.

My nausea was back in full force as I continued to read over the page. The words "Uranium" and "Plutonium" were all familiar, but the diabolical uses of them were horrific. I squinted a bit as I tried to understand the small components that went in to making a Hydrogen bomb. I failed to see how any person at any point in history could have believed that this was a good idea.

"Good news," Mike's voice broke through my mind's struggle, "it would be unlikely that any other countries' target towards us would be near here. We have Seattle, but that would be unlikely to be a main target. That doesn't mean that it wouldn't affect us though. Power grids, food supplies, and internet access would definitely be targeted."

His words were enough. I muttered a quick goodbye before marching right out of the library, hardly stopping to wave at the librarian. I hurried to my truck, grabbing at the door handle and slamming myself into the truck. I laid my head against the steering wheel and closed my eyes, wishing that this was an elaborate dream that I could wake up from.

I tried to focus on my breathing. It was coming out in uncontrollable gasps and I laid a hand on my chest to feel the heart pound under my fingers. A hard, sharp spike seemed to be pointed in the center of my ribs.

I hadn't truly felt like that since Edward had been gone. The memory of that tugged at my chest and I tried my hardest to push all of it out of my mind.

My phone went off, a small chirping coming from my pocket. I grabbed it, checking quickly to see who was calling and rolled my eyes to see that it was Alice.

"Hello?"

"Don't you roll your eyes at me,"

"Sorry," Looking around as if a camera was on me, "What's going on?"

"I saw you looking pretty upset. I didn't catch everything that Mike said, but he should have kept his mouth shut," Her anger was real over the phone and I imagined what her face looked like.

"It's okay," I leaned back into my seat, "It's just getting into my head, you know?"

"I can see that," There was the faint sound of wind in the background. I was curious where she was running to.

"Are you still hunting?" I asked, feeling awkward at the prospect of her running to catch an animal while also on the phone with me.

She giggled at the idea too, "No. I'm running to meet with the rest of the family. Edward went off with Emmett and Rose for the day. We're all meeting up to head back. We should be there by nightfall."

I looked at the clock, knowing that the next few hours would go slow now that I knew that they were on their way back, "So, Edward does not know about Mike's lovely presence?"

"No. I could keep it a secret,"

"No more secrets, Alice,"

"Oh, right! I like this new side of things. He would probably smell him on you. He has a particular hatred for anything 'Mike Newton',"

She giggled at something that I wasn't sure of. She took my silence as a question, "Jasper told me that he does have a uniquely bad smell for a human."

"Good to know," the vampire humor was still new to me but I tried it out, "probably the only thing keeping him alive, huh?"

I heard some laughter and then Alice made a noise, "Oh, you've been thinking of places to go! I see us deciding this evening!"

This surprised me, "I guess I'm coming over?"

"Just be there when we get there! Charlie won't mind - he'll be late tonight,"

I laughed at what life was like with a psychic as your best friend, "Okay. See you later."

I sat on the couch in Edward's room, looking out the window. The sun was setting and the haze of the afternoon was slightly opening up - just enough for some of the sunset to burst through. I hoped that the clouds would be overhanging tomorrow, so that the Cullens would be in their classes.

The house was different without them all here. I had been here with Edward several times when it was just us, but it was very different when I was the only person in the house. I felt noisy when I had walked in, using the key that Carlisle and Esme gave me months ago. I could tell it was different. There was not the familiar feeling of energy that they all seemed to bring.

I glanced around at Edward's room, wondering what it was like for him when I was asleep or before he met me. He had many small trinkets and memorabilia from all his years walking along the Earth. When we had first met, I had found it captivating to see all the small things that he had gathered along the way. I wondered what our lives would look like when it was both of us; both of our things gathered into the shelving of the room.

The thought brought a small smile to my face when I heard a familiar whoop echo from outside. I had opened up Edward's large window, wanting to soak up the evening air and hoping that he would scurry faster back. I looked out now from my spot, seeing several figures emerging from the woods.

"Bellllllllllaaaaaaaaa!" Emmett hollered from where he was walking. I had heard comments throughout my time with the Cullens that they were all usually energized after a hunt. Still, Emmett seemed to have the best time unleashing his wild side.

I laughed a bit from my spot, waving slightly at the figures. There was a sudden blur and a faint burst of air and suddenly, Edward was standing in front of me.

"Alice only told me you would be here a few moments ago," He smiled widely, leaning down and kissing me securely, lifting me from my spot on his couch. He pulled away abruptly, despite my displeasure, "I would have run a lot faster if I had known."

"That was why I kept it to myself!" Alice yelled from outside. Jasper and Emmett were playfully wrestling in the backyard.

He glared slightly in the general direction of his family before wrapping me up in his arms, "How are you? What have you been up to? Did you sleep okay?"

My nightmares had gotten out of hand the last few weeks. Luckily, my exhaustion from lack of sleep from the previous days of the week won out. That and some melatonin and sleepy tea.

"I'm good, especially now," I motioned to his arms around me and he smiled a bit shyly, tightening them a bit, "No bad dreams that I can remember. How was hunting?"

"Good, though I was thinking of a good excuse to come back for most of the trip," He revealed.

"He thinks we're lame now!" Emmett yelled before a loud crash happened. I leaned back to see that Jasper had taken the opportunity to flig him onto his back.

"Thanks for getting his guard down!" Jasper laughed at Emmett's unhappy expression.

"You mother fu-"

"Boys!" Esme yelled. They both froze, "Be nice."

It was funny to hear her stern-motherly voice. It was surprising, too. I had only received her nicer tones.

Edward smiled at his mother's way then looked down at himself. I followed his gaze and was surprised to see that he had a tear down the side of his gray T-shirt. I gasped, my hand going to the exposed skin as if I thought there would be a gash underneath.

"Are you okay?" My voice had raised in octaves.

He chuckled, his hand finding mine and squeezing it, "Of course. Just a Mountain Lion with a lot of energy. Can't break my skin but they rip our clothing a lot."

"Oh," Once he had confirmed that he was okay, I became extremely aware that my hand was on his bare skin. The bare skin that was midway up his chest. The bare skin that I had mostly not seen since that day in Volterra and, truth be told, my mind had not been where it was now, "I'm glad."

"Yeah," His voice grew quiet and his forehead came to rest on mine. I kept my hand where it was, feeling a buzz work its way over my skin. I was surprised when his hand did not remove mine, his fingers tightening ever so slightly around mine. If anything, I could feel him minutely move me closer towards him.

"Does that happen a lot?" I whispered, needing to stay something to fill in the empty space.

He shrugged a bit, seeming distracted, "Only when they have claws."

"Right," I managed to say before his lips met mine.

This kiss was instantly different from the rest. My hand was on his skin and I felt myself fighting the urge to move my fingers in some way. His arm tightened around me, practically lifting me off the ground. I wrapped my free arm around his shoulders, locking my fingers into his hair to keep in place. My strength was nothing compared to his, but he wasn't fighting me.

His hand that was holding mine to his abdomen left and wrapped fully around me. He lifted me clear off the ground and, in an effort to make this comfortable, I wrapped my legs around his waist. My hands that had been fighting its natural urges moved to his back, feeling under his shirt. His muscles seemed to ripple as my fingers played across the muscles that I found tensing.

His lips were insistent and passionate. The force of his affection was causing my neck to arch to make the space for him to conquer mine. I was surprised, but I didn't want the surprise to overcome my clear enjoyment of the entire situation. Out of slight experimentation, I ran my fingernails through his hair. The response was immediate and urgent as he let out a noise I had never heard before. I didn't know what it meant exactly, but it made a thrilling shot of electricity shoot all the way through my body.

"Damn! Get it!" Emmett's voice rang out through the forest outside and Edward broke away. It was the first time the thought of his family being in hearing range struck my mind.

Edward's eyes were wild and dark as they looked into mine. I knew that my eyes couldn't change the way he could, but my expression must have mirrored his because he gulped. A part of me wanted to memorize that expression because it was the first time I had considered him looking like a seventeen year old. Or as someone equal to me. Or as someone that, in this particular situation, seemed momentarily weakened from my presence. His hands remained frozen where they were, locked around me and holding my body tightly to him. My heart was hammering.

I was convinced this was my first glimpse at heaven.

Edward seemed to find himself as he slowly lowered me to the ground. If he could blush, I could almost guess that was the shy expression that crossed his face. I removed my fingers from his skin, reluctantly and took a step back with a very real blush covering my cheek. His eyes were still intense and I had to look down at my feet to avoid reaching forward and trying to initiate another round.

"I think…I think I'll go wash up," He spoke softly.

"Okay," I whispered, folding my arms behind me.

"Love?" He whispered and I looked up into his softened expression, his golden eyes shining.

I went to answer but his lips slowly lowered to mine. This kiss was much more tame and affectionate. I sighed into it and relaxed. He smiled against my lips and pulled back, smoothing my hair that might have been messed up from his fingers moments before.

"Alice is eagerly waiting for you downstairs," he kissed my hand, "I'll be down in a few moments."

"Okay," I turned to head down the stairs. I was a bit dreamy as I headed down the hallway, a smile still playing on my face.

In a surprise move, I felt familiar cool hands on my waist. Edward pulled me back slightly, leaning around to kiss my cheek playfully and waiting long enough to see me smile at him over my shoulder before he grabbed a pile of clothes and headed into the bathroom. For some reason, the kiss on my cheek had almost filled me with more butterflies than the other kiss. This one reminded me of falling for him in the very beginning.

I headed down the stairs in a happy mindset. I turned the corner to see that some of the family had made their way inside. Alice was already looking up at me with a huge grin on her face while Esme and Carlisle tried their best not to seem obvious to what happened. The one true thing that I was thankful for was that Edward was not truly seventeen and his parents were not watching us like hawks. I fought to try to keep my thoughts at bay so that blush would not transform my cheeks into a scarlet color.

There was a loud thud that practically raddled the house and Esme sighed, "Those boys."

"C'mon," Alice hopped up from her spot and looped her arm through mine, "you've already missed a lot of the show."

I walked outside beside her, looking around at the yard. Sure enough, Emmett stood on one side with a huge smirk on his face. One thing I had learned very quickly when it came to knowing Emmett - that expression meant some sort of competition was at hand. Jasper was on the other side, his expression a picture of composure. Then, just like that, they disappeared towards each other. I only could faintly see the blur of color as the two of them collided. The sound confirmed that they were truly going at each other.

"Do they do this during the hunting trip?" I asked, Alice wincing a bit at something that happened. I couldn't see it.

"Not during. They do it a lot once we return back. There's a lot of energy that comes from a fresh hunt," Her eyes were moving quickly as she watched what was happening.

"Whose winning?" I whispered, even though I knew it was no secret.

"It's too close to tell right now," she smiled.

I heard Jasper's voice from somewhere in the blur of colors and the sound of collisions, "You're supposed to side with me!"

"Only if you win!" Alice giggled. I smiled.

"Siblings for the win!" Emmett shouted and then I could see him, because he dove into Jasper and sent them both tumbling through the ground. Alice didn't move, so I knew that there was still complete playfulness between the two.

I looked over at her, chuckling, "I don't know how you do that. I feel like I would always have to side with Edward."

She winked a bit, "You'll learn."

Alice's reassurance constantly of the future the last several weeks had been a grounding promise that the world was not going to implode so soon as to prevent me from becoming a part of the family. The thought relaxed me a bit as Jasper hopped up and crouched, playfully hissing at Emmett as Emmett just grinned at the challenge.

Esme came walking outside with a set of potted dirt, smiling and shaking her head at her two sons. As long as they were taking their playful shenanigans outside of the house and away from any of her valuables, she loved their youthful behavior. She set the pots down by the side of the house and walked towards where I was standing.

"I think I'm going to try to start growing a few things," She held up a few packets of seeds, "It's going to be hard with this weather, but I want to give it a solid effort. I've thought about it in the past, but there's hardly anyone around to eat it and sometimes the food pantries don't love it when you bring in perishables."

She held up a few different options, "So, which ones should I try?"

I looked at her options, hiding a smile as she seemed to be holding in her excitement that I hadn't argued with her efforts. I pointed at the cabbage, kale, and cauliflower. I had seen some of the people on the reservation grow the other crops that she had in her hands but struggled to get much reward.

"Excellent," She smiled.

Rose came out, walking over to one of the chairs that they had sitting outside. It was a lounge chair and she laid back, looking at where her husband was still lightly wrestling with Jasper. She looked bored, glancing over at where everyone was.

We all should have seen it coming. Jasper put his head down and rammed into Emmett, Emmett locking his feet into the ground. The result was his legs digging into the ground and dirt flying through the air. The dirt flew with speed and, even though she tried, Rose could not run away fast enough to prevent the dirt and mud from hitting her hair and clothing. She gasped and immediately, the boys came to a guilty stop.

"Oh, shit…babe," Emmett's eyes looked panicked as he neared her with his arms outstretched.

"Don't," She hissed, flicking off a piece of dirt that was hanging from her eyelash.

I stayed close to Alice's side as Rose stomped into the house with Emmett trailing behind her. Jasper chuckled, coming over to where Alice and I were standing. She reached up and pulled some of the wildlife that got tangled up into his hair.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked, looking at where Rose had just disappeared into the house.

"Oh, yeah," Edward appeared next to me, the tips of his hair glistening from the shower that he had just taken, "She's just being silly. I don't think she's actually mad."

"Definitely not," Jasper wrapped an arm around Alice, "Her feelings were much less angry and much more inappropriate."

I blushed a little bit at the innuendo and the realization that Jasper could feel when we felt that emotion, too. My thoughts flashed back to a few moments ago when Edward and I were in his room.

"Looks like I missed a good show, though," Edward smiled softly, sliding his fingers softly into mine.

"Just a bit," I moved to his side, wiggling my way under his arm.

His skin felt warmer than it usually did. This was probably thanks to his shower and the warm temperature around us. Whatever it was, we both seemed to take the opportunity to be closer together before his temperature returned to normal.

I saw more than heard what happened next. Esme, Jasper, Alice, and Edward's heads all moved at the same moment, looking off at something I couldn't see. I glanced at the way their eyes were all narrowed in on. My initial thought was that Victoria had finally decided to show up after all this time, coming at us when we were least expecting it and throwing everyone off. The bit of fear that shot through me seemed to stiffen up Jasper and I felt Edward's hands run soothingly down my arm.

"It's a delivery truck," Edward spoke softly into my ear and I relaxed a bit.

"Sorry," I felt silly, my blush creeping up my cheeks a bit.

"Don't be," He took my hand and led me towards the front of the house. Alice skipped next to me, dragging Jasper behind her.

"After this, you have to tell me what you've decided. I think you haven't quite decided, but I think you have some ideas for the trip and I can't wait," She chattered off, smiling at me.

"Where did these ideas finally come from?" Edward asked and I cringed a bit, remembering my conversation with Mike earlier.

It did not go unnoticed. Edward stopped and looked over at me with an eyebrow raised. I glanced over at Alice and saw that her face had become frozen in concentration. I remembered Edward saying that she was one of the best when it came to blocking him out of her mind. I looked back at Edward and saw him slightly narrowing his eyes in Alice's direction.

I had been correct.

"What did I miss?" He asked, glancing behind him to see the delivery truck now reversing into the driveway.

"I went to the library to keep looking up places. I was there for a while and Mike showed up and started talking about…well, everything going on. It was not so fun," His nostril slightly flared at my words.

"I shouldn't be that surprised. His mind has been on nothing else but that for the past few weeks,"

"I could tell. He just told me a lot that I didn't know. I was being silly about it. It's not a big deal,"

He ran a finger down my cheek, looking at my face in a way that seems to be searching for something. I looked back, knowing that he wanted to make sure I was really okay. It was true - I was. It was small compared to everything else that had been going on. He kissed my forehead and turned his attention to the driver.

Carlisle came out of the house to sign off on the purchase. I felt strange to stand and watch as an item that they ordered came here. The delivery man paused for a moment at the appearance that was all around the Cullen house. I didn't blame him - apart from me - everyone else looked miraculous. The only one who might have looked a bit different was Jasper and that was because he was covered in dirt.

Once the back of the truck opened, my jaw dropped. It was full. I could make out the first several items - a deep freezer, giant bags of rice, and something that looked like an air ventilation system. I looked around at everyone but no one seemed shocked.

"What is this?" I whispered to Edward, who seemed somewhat relaxed despite the presence of another human at his home and the sudden introduction of so many products.

We took a few steps back as they started unloading the items. It was comical to see Jasper jumping forward to help "lift" one of the items. He probably could have had two of the bigger items piled on top of each other with one of his hands. Edward moved forward without answering my question to start grabbing a few items to set them in the garage.

"Alice?" I looked over at Alice, hoping she would answer my question.

"It's the "just in case" preparation. You know how we prepare," Her tone was clear - she was trying to keep me calm.

The air ventilation threw me off. I watched the bags of rice come in and the rain collector. My mouth dropped quickly, turning to look back at her, "This cannot be all for me?"

"It's not,"

"You guys don't need to eat or drink water or breathe fresh air,"

"It goes against most of our instincts to not breathe naturally, so that one is not just for you,"

"Okay," I said cautiously.

They continued until the truck was empty before the driver pulled the truck out and away. The sun had completely gone down at that point and the lights in the garage came on for my benefit. Rose came back out into the garage, her hair freshly clear and damn. Emmett's looked the same as they took in the new items around the garage. There was so much that they had to move their cars out of it to make room until it became organized.

Esme and Carlisle came up to me after all the cars had been moved, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I responded to Esme's question. It was a tentative response.

"You know," She wrapped her arm around me now, "This is what we do for our family. Always had been. It's just something we all have to get used to. Plus, I'm sure this will help calm Edward and your father."

"My father?"

"We've all been talking. He agrees that we're very prepared when it comes to these things. He thinks we are serial campers, after all. He said it was a good idea for us to count you into our preparations,"

"He doesn't think we're all being paranoid?"

She squeezed me against her, "It's better to be looking at it than for it. I'm sure we'll never have to use it."

Edward came to my side then and kissed my cheek. Esme let me go for the time being and Edward and I stepped aside.

"Please don't be mad," Edward whispered quietly. He looked worried at my reaction. I hated that I still felt like this was going above and beyond what they should do. I took a deep breath.

"I'm not mad. I think I'm overwhelmed," It was the truth. Talking about preparing for the worst and actually doing and seeing it were two different things.

He nodded, kissing my forehead and holding me against him for just a moment. It was more comforting than he would give it credit for. A part of me relaxed a bit more as his arm slid around my back to hold onto me.

Maybe the embrace was for both of us.

"Oh, enough with the seriousness!" Alice clapped her hands together and it faintly reminded me of my mother. A smile curled on the edge of my lips, "We have vacation to discuss!"

I chuckled a bit, pulling away from Edward to look over at her, "Okay."

She clapped her hands and the family moved to head back inside. For a moment, the stuff in the garage would go into the back of our minds. Hopefully, where it would stay for a while.

A/N

Thanks for reading! I apologize that this is a week late - I struggled with the internet for a bit. The next two chapters are already written! Can't wait to hear what you think!

Please let me know your thoughts - maybe guesses on where they are going!

Be healthy and safe.