Its three am. I'm a few hours late. Eh, whatever.
I don't much like this chapter, but at least we finally see Edward again, so yay for that I suppose.
I'm really tired and I just skimmed it for mistakes, so if anyone spots anything weird, please tell me and I'll fix it.
Hope you enjoy it :)
Review?
Chapter IX - Blue
"I'm telling you Edward, as soon as we get home, I demand a rematch." Emmett declared pointedly Monday morning as they walked to Spanish with Mrs Goff, giving him a determined look and thinking about how unfair it was that he could never win against his 'creepy' mind-reading brother.
Edward gave a nonchalant smirk, ignoring the gawking he received from the other occupants of the hallway with ease and shrugged. "It's not my fault you still don't know how to block out your real thoughts. You'd think after decades of knowing me you would have learned by now." He let out a laugh and ducked under the swipe his brother sent him, not even bothering to reproach him for his slightly faster than human speed. It was all in good fun anyway, and Emmett could be careful when he wanted to. He wasn't really aiming to hit him after all –doing that would most probably result in Edward crashing into the lockers and maybe only two walls if he was lucky and Emmett was using his weakest strength. Either way, it was obviously not something they needed.
His dark haired brother glared half-heartedly at him, "Yeah well, between learning how to bypass your weird mind-tricks and Alice's creepy fortune telling, excuse me if it's a little hard." He grumbled as they turned the corner. Edward let out a small huff of amusement at his brother's indignation.
Honestly, riling up Emmett was far too amusing for his own good.
I wonder if father will let me go to the Lauriana Burkley gallery this weekend, A familiar mind mused, making Edward's senses sharpen as he immediately searched for the owner. He knows I do adore her work on Surrealism. Maybe if I hurry and finish Mrs Brighton's painting I can deliver it on Friday, that way since I'll already be in Seattle, he'll have no reason to refuse…
He quickly pinpointed her in the crowd, seeing her at the far end of the hallway with a thoughtful look on her face, Government textbooks tucked into her arms and expertly weaving through the rushing sea of students.
That is until one Lauren Mallory found it funny to purposely stumble into her, resulting in Edgar falling backwards and dropping all her things. Lauren gave derisive smirk.
"Sorry," She said, but her tone of voice and facial expression showed that she clearly wasn't sorry at all, it was so obvious that even Edward would be able to tell even if he wasn't able to read her mind. He glared at the blond haired human, feeling anger pool in his stomach at her actions. How dare she have the audacity to do that? Was she really so insecure that she needed to prey on others to make herself feel better? Lauren gave one last haughty smirk before turning on her heel and walking away –all the better for her, otherwise Edward was tempted to tell her just what he thought of her.
"That wasn't very nice." Emmett remarked with a displeased frown. Edward ignored him and immediately headed to help an unbothered Edgar. His brother sighed but nonetheless followed after him.
Apparently Lauren Mallory's Motor Coordination proficiency is lacking, perhaps it would be better for her to see a specialist, The black haired girl thought idly as she gathered her papers. It still baffled him as to how someone could be so utterly oblivious to basic social interaction. How could she genuinely not suspect Lauren of intentionally hindering her course? He found it both amusing and worrying at the same time. Her ignorance would get her in trouble one day, he thought in exasperation.
He crouched in front of her and picked up her blue doodle covered notebook, looking down at it in interest for a moment and studying her name written in bold Calligraphy at the top. He supposed that it was expected that her handwriting would be just as beautiful as her artwork.
"Here." He said, handing it to her after a long moment, ignoring Emmett's questioning thoughts of "Why in the world had he taken so long just to hand over as book?" Her silver eyes lifted from the ground and met his, and it seemed to him that in those short few seconds, she could she into his soul and unravel all of his secrets. For some reason, he couldn't break his gaze, no matter how much he wanted to, until finally after what seemed like eternity, she looked away, blinking a few times before accepting it with a grateful nod and standing, dusting her hands on her signature apron. He felt his brother's curious eyes on him and heard his questions, but once again, Emmett was pointedly ignored.
It's Farnese Hercules and Adonis, She remarked to herself. Edward's lips twitched slightly in amusement at the titles. That was another thing about her –yes she acknowledged their physical attractiveness, but that was it. She wasn't 'dazzled' by them like the other humans who could barely even think coherently in their presence.
"Thank you." She told them, though she was unsure if that was the best thing to say in such a situation. She was confused as to why they had even bothered to stop and help. According to her observations, humans rarely ever did something of their free will unless they had something to gain, which was entirely correct -he would know. However, little did she know that they weren't human, and so normal human behaviours didn't apply to them.
And anyway, it was the gentlemanly thing to do. Something both his human mother and Esme would praise him for.
Next to him, Emmett grinned. "Not a problem. Just doing our civil duty as protectors of the weak and defenders of the helpless!" He stated jokingly. Edgar gave him a blank stare, and he could hear her trying to figure out what he meant. Clearly, the joke was lost on her.
Emmett for his part, was wondering if it wasn't as funny as he thought it was since she hadn't laughed. Or if she just had no sense of humor at all. Edward resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation at the both of them.
"I see…" She finally answered, though she was still confused.
Emmett coughed awkwardly, "So, um, Edgar right?" He asked, though he already knew her name. The girl in question simply nodded in confirmation. He placed a hand on his broad chest. "I'm Emmett," He introduced, before gesturing at his companion. "And this is my younger brother, Edward." Edward gave her a smile.
She didn't return it.
Emmett continued on, oblivious. "Nice to meet you." He said with an easy going grin. "You did a really great drawing of Rose by the way. It looked exactly like her! She's even framed it." He told her. Edgar's mind took a second to process who this 'Rosalie' was, but then her first encounter with them flashed through her mind, as well as her conversation with Alice in Art class the previous week.
"Aphrodite you mean?" She inquired and he snorted. Next to him, Emmett registered what she had just said, and he let out a booming laugh, drawing a few surprised stares from the other occupants of the large corridor.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Agreed Emmett. Suddenly, Edward was assaulted by a long train of angry insults coming from their current subject of conversation and he winced. It seemed that the Aphrodite in question had found them and wasn't very happy.
Edgar noticed the fuming blond behind them and compared her to an angry arch-angel about to descend her wrath upon the sinful humans of Earth. Edward resisted the urge to laugh, because it was the most apt description he had ever heard.
"She looks very angry." The black haired remarked, much to his brother's confusion.
"What do you mean-?" He cut himself off, registering her presence and slowly he turned around, sheepish grin in place. Edward's amusement grew as his brother seemed to somehow become paler than he already was and his thoughts turned frantic at the sight of his wife standing at the other end of the hallway, arms crossed and sending him a withering glare.
I'm going to die today, Emmett thought and Edward couldn't help but snort.
"You best go see what she wants Emmett. Edgar's right, she does look 'angry'." Rosalie's glare transferred from the terrified curly haired vampire to himself, but he was unfazed, instead staring her down evenly.
The insults she sent him were proof of her long life, and would make a sailor cringe, but Edward was used to them –being subjected to her ire at least twice a day.
She huffed and turned sharply on her heel, stomping away and leaving miniscule cracks on the ground, blond hair flowing behind her. Emmett didn't even bother saying goodbye, rushing after her as fast as her could without actually bypassing human speed.
The two of them watched him in silence until he disappeared completely, before Edward turned back to Edgar. She looked back at him, wondering idly why his hair constantly looked like it was on fire, much to his amusement.
"Let me walk you to class." He offered, lest she go alone and another incident like the last happened. She continued watching him for a moment, contemplating his offer, before choosing to decline, much to his surprise.
"No." And with that, she tried to step around him and continue on her way. Edward for his part was extremely baffled. He immediately fell into step next to her, intent on asking why she had refused. No human had ever refused him.
"It's better if I do. What if someone 'stumbles' into you again?" She didn't register his sarcasm, instead an image of her sitting in a nice kitchen at a round table with an unfamiliar man that looked like an older, male version of Edgar flashed through her mind.
"A strange male followed me into the forest behind school in order to warn me of the dangers of woodland creatures during the late autumn season." She said to her father in her memory. To Edward's eyes, it was quite clear that he panicked for his daughter.
"…Just avoid him from now on." He ordered sternly. Edgar shrugged and nodded in acceptance.
"I didn't much like him anyway" She answered easily, before the memory dissipated, leaving Edward reeling.
"My father told me to stay away from you." She told him honestly. Edward was still lost in the memory. Yes, fine, he understood where Edgar's father was coming from. If he had heard that someone had followed his daughter into the forest he would have reacted the same way –even Edward acknowledged the fact that what he had done was stalkerish and disturbing, so no, he couldn't find it in himself to be angry with the man. In fact, he should be happy that Edgar's father had told her to stay away from him, since that meant they couldn't associate anymore, and he should leave it at that.
But he wasn't happy –instead he felt utterly miserable at the prospect of having to stay away from her, which really didn't make sense to him at all, because it was the rational thing to do, and anyway, he was simply curious about her, and when his interest had waned, he'd move on. He saw no reason as to why he couldn't just leave her alone earlier than planned. It was better in the long run anyway.
But alas, instead of accepting the fact that it was time to leave her alone, his brain was thinking of a way to find a loophole in her father's words. And he was also ignoring the fact that she apparently didn't like him –which was surprising, but not a major problem. He would just show her that no, he really wasn't the creepy stalker she thought he was, and sometimes first impressions (second, since they had already met before the whole forest ordeal?) weren't always the best impressions.
He didn't even understand why he was so intent on proving that to her. Though a part of him would at least like to be thought of as at least civil, and not a stranger who followed people into the woods. Yes, that was all. He was just clearing his name.
"Alright," He agreed, realising belatedly that he had been silent for a long moment and she was wondering why he hadn't voiced his acceptance and left her alone. Sadly, he wasn't about to. "But technically, I approached you, therefore you are not in fact, disobeying your father's orders since you didn't actively seek me out." He told her with a crooked grin, hoping that his charms would work on her. She wasn't even fazed. The warning bell rang shrilly throughout the school, causing students to become frantic and she stopped in front of a classroom door. Government, he saw.
She paused before pushing the door open, giving him a shrewd look, trying to find fault in his admittedly strange logic. Her brain worked around his reasoning and her father's order, but realising that he was indeed correct (much to his satisfaction), she frowned. "Well, if you actively seek me out further, then I shall do my best to avoid you." She told him, her mind already decided.
He gave a nonchalant smirk, amused that she thought she could. "You can try." He answered, because it was only fair to allow her too. If she managed to avoid him then alright, it meant that they wouldn't have to associate with each other (secretly he was hoping that she would be able to because he really needed to leave the poor girl alone) at all and they could each carry on with their lives like normal.
Edgar gave him a long stare, wary of his blatant confidence, before looking away and entering the classroom.
To be honest, Emmett could agree with Alice and Edward that maybe Rosalie was overreacting just a little. Yes, he understood the dangers of exposing themselves to the humans, but making friends with one didn't automatically mean spilling all of your secrets. And anyway, even if somehow, the girl ended up finding out their secret, who the hell was going to believe her? They'd probably think she'd finally completely jumped off the deep-end and was imagining things.
So really, they had nothing to worry about.
Obviously though, he wouldn't be telling Rosalie that. Not if he wanted to be completely shut out for the next couple of decades, but the fact remained that she was getting worked up over nothing. She had completely blown up on him just for telling her a joke, and God knew what she had planned for Edward now that it was clear that his younger brother was ignoring Rosalie's protests and doing what he wanted.
It's not like Emmet couldn't understand their interest however, because the girl was interesting, if slightly weird. Not to mention that she smelled nice, but not in the food type of way, but in the perfume-y kind. Even Jasper had commented on it, saying that she didn't really smell like anything except her natural scent. So it was kind of refreshing to be able to talk to a human without having to restrain yourself and fight the constant urge to drain them dry.
Their parents were pretty relaxed about the whole thing too, much to Rosalie's ire. No matter how many times she tried to convince Carlisle to use his influence and order Edward and Alice to avoid the girl, he just would budge. All he would do was nod sagely, and say in this really calm and rational voice that so far, the two of them weren't doing anything to endanger the family, and so he saw no reason to deprive them of the first interesting thing they had come across in decades.
And that was another thing. His brother, the one who always seemed as if someone had just killed his puppy, all doom and gloom most days was finally showing some expression. Granted, he had been getting better over the years (at least now he had moved on from cursing his own existence and preaching about damned souls to cursing the fact that he was forced to live for all eternity yet there was nothing to do), but the past couple of weeks he had been oddly more alive. It was odd to talk about a vampire like that, Emmett knew, but it was the only way he could describe it.
It wasn't anything extreme, like Edward laughing often or even smiling frequently (it would take a little more time before any of that happened), it was in the small things. For example, Edward, as much as he complained about being a Vampire, had never much liked humans as a whole. It happened after you lived for such a long time, eventually one was able to see things clearly and unbiasedly, and apparently, Edward didn't like what he found.
Now all of a sudden he was suddenly studying them. Hell, Emmett had walked into Edward's bedroom the previous week to see if he was interested in a spar, and much to his surprise, he found Edward reading a book on Human Psychology.
Needless to say, Emmett had been taken aback quite a bit.
Anyway, his point was, Edward was interested in this girl, and whenever Edward's attention was captured, he tended to get really involved in whatever it was.
He just hoped for his brother's sake, that he ended up becoming bored with the girl before Friday, otherwise with the way Rosalie was going, she just might rip off his head before the end of the week.
