Disclaimer: I do not, nor will ever, own the Twilight Saga, or any of its characters and plots.
TW: This story will contain references to child abuse (physical, mental, sexual), self-harm, and suicide attempts (both past and present).
There will also be themes of rape and dubious consent (dubcon), as well as consensual sexual scenes between teenagers. If this bothers you, I recommend not reading further.
Ash
The day had been going fairly normal.
He'd gotten up around eight o'clock, eaten the breakfast Jasper had so kindly prepared, and then worked on the massive stack of homework that his school had sent home for him to complete since he was supposed to be home with some contagious illness, according to Carlisle, who'd become the town's most prestigious doctor.
He was sitting at the desk in the small room off his bedroom, Edward on one side of him checking his work and helping him if needed, and Jasper reading some book he'd found in his father's office.
It was shortly before lunch that a sharp pain exploded just behind Ash's left ear.
"Ow." He absently said, lifting his hand to his head.
Both vampires instantly looked at him in concern, lowering their paper or book, respectively. He shook his head, pushing his rolling chair away from the desk.
"Just a headache." He muttered, staring blankly at the top of the desk…
"Ash?" Edward prompted, and he glanced up.
Without him noticing, minutes had flown past, if the clock on the wall was still accurate.
"Yeah?" He asked, blinking.
He didn't hear Edward's response, staring blankly at the crescent-shaped scar on his left collarbone. When he blinked again, nearly ten minutes had passed.
"Hey, Izzy, something's wrong." He said, nudging the wall that kept the Front separated from the rest of the mind.
No shit, dumbass. He swore she replied, and he smiled.
Then, without warning, agony spread through his head, starting from the base of his skull, and moving down the middle of his forehead. He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the palms of his hands against his eyes.
"Stop. STOP!" He shouted, but it was too late.
With one last shot of pain, it ended. He found himself on the floor, his hands still pressed to his face while Edward held a cloth against his bleeding nose. Jasper knelt on the other side of him, his hand moving gently through his hair.
"I-I need to – "
"Go; you're safe." Edward whispered, and Ash pulled back, allowing the body to collapse against them as he fled to his mind.
The others were strangely silent when he appeared, looking at the two newcomers. Dolan was nowhere in sight.
The first newcomer, a girl about fourteen with whitish-blonde hair and light green eyes, lifted her head, tears running down her face. Next to her, the man in his late twenties with light brown hair and gentle blue eyes, rubbed her back comfortingly.
"They broke us." The girl whispered, curling up with her arms wrapped around her knees.
The man sighed, wrapping his arms around her.
"Who are you?" Ash asked, stepping forward.
"My name is Noah, and hers is Rowan… I remember us being called Dolan, though." He admitted.
Eden inhaled sharply as Izzy whispered, "Dolan split."
Sylas burst into tears, turning, and burying his face in Onyx's stomach. Onyx, for the most part, appeared unaffected.
"We all knew this might happen." They said, shrugging.
Ash nodded in agreement.
"Welcome, Rowan and Noah. Despite the loss of Dolan, you are both deserving to be here. Do you know of your roles, so that we may pair you off?" He asked gently, crouching down beside them.
Noah smiled gratefully.
"You're truly kind, Ash. I believe I am a caretaker of sorts. I assume that Dolan held that role?" He asked.
"Among others." Ash agreed, and then turned to Rowan, who sniffled.
"And what about you?" He prompted.
Rowan lifted her eyes, tears still running down her face.
"I-I'm one of the bad guys, aren't I?" She whispered, covering her face with her hands.
"Another persecutor." Izzy said, stunned.
Ash reached out, pulling her hands away from her face and lacing his fingers through them.
"Look at me, Rowan," He said, waiting until she did. "You are not a bad person. Being a persecutor means many different things, and it's up to you to decide what you want it to mean. Onyx," he motioned to the dark brunette, "is a persecutor as well, but they have done many things to protect us. Dolan was our trauma holder when he was here, and since you broke off from him, you are just as valid and needed as he was."
Her eyes shined with tears as she looked up at him, but he could see the faint outline of hope on her face. He hoped the best for her. He hoped she wouldn't go through what Lane had years ago, when his guilt and Ash's shame of him had caused him to split.
"Onyx and Izzy, will you both watch over her?" He asked, standing, and looking at the two others.
Izzy smiled and nodded, whilst Onyx just shrugged, looking at the new girl with bemusement in their eyes.
"As for Noah, I think Isla and Eden can help you get settled." He said, and both girls nodded in agreement.
"What about me?" Sylas pouted, turning from Onyx.
Ash smiled at the young boy.
"I think it's about time you brighten the place up a bit, yeah? We could use some colorful pictures." He suggested, and Sylas perked up as a small workshop appeared in the corner.
With the others now tasked and the new split somewhat settled, he returned to the Front. While he was gone, Edward had cleaned up his face, and he'd been moved to the couch in the office.
"Dolan split." He informed them when he regained his bearings on the real world.
Jasper's hand tightened around his in surprise, while Edward leaned forward, his eyes widening.
"Is everything okay?" He asked gently.
Ash looked down, studying the scars on the back of Jasper's hand.
"Everything is fine. The two new alters are Noah, a caretaker of sorts – I suspect he won't Front much – and Rowan, a… persecutor."
He kept his eyes down, even as Jasper inhaled sharply, and Edward moved from the chair to his side.
"Rowan is younger than Onyx, about fourteen, which makes her even more unpredictable. Even in the short time I spoke to her, she was very distraught. I think she received much more of Dolan's memories than Noah did." He murmured.
He wasn't lying to her when he said that Onyx had done a lot of good things for them… it was just, in the beginning, all Onyx had wanted to do was hurt them. It had taken years for them to reconcile to the system, and even now, there were some slipups.
Onyx as a persecutor was very violent, and often unable to be compromised with. When they wanted to do something, even as horrible as suicide, they did it. Ash had learned how to recognize many of Onyx's triggers, and kept them away from them, but he wasn't perfect. The new scars on his wrists proved that.
"Talk to us, Ash." Jasper murmured, squeezing his hand. "When you start feeling overwhelmed, you tend to hold it all in, and it's not healthy."
Ash looked up at him, studying his amber eyes. His eye color was because of them, Ash thought to himself.
A shiver of pleasure ran down his spine at the thought of them taking his blood. Edward suddenly choked on air, which was preposterous to begin with, considering he didn't need to breathe.
Ash groaned, covering his burning face with his hands.
"I can't control my thoughts, Red." He muttered, blushing between his hands as Edward chuckled.
"What? What happened?" Jasper asked, utterly confused.
"It appears Mr. Ash has a vampire fetish." Edward explained, and Ash groaned again, wishing the floor would open up and swallow him.
Jasper laughed too, his fingers trailing soothingly over the top of his thigh.
"Is that right? Is the thought of us biting you exciting?" Jasper purred in his ear.
His breath caught, images flying through his head unbidden.
"Hm… I think he's going to hide behind his hands all day. He surely won't mind us doing this."
Edward's words made him curious enough to peak through his fingers, the sight of the two extremely attractive vampires making out mere inches from his face enough to make his hands drop to his lap.
Fire unlike anything he'd ever felt before lit his insides, making him desperate to feel their lips on his, their hands on him.
"Bloody hell." He breathed, utterly entranced by the sight of their tongues moving in and out of each other's mouths.
Jasper's hand continued stroking his thigh, angled slightly to move closer to between his legs with every pass. They were teasing him, he realized, and it was working. As soon as Jasper pulled back, he moved forward, pressing his lips against the empath's, straddling his legs.
"Hmm.." Edward murmured in appreciation, watching them.
Jasper bit his lip, and he gasped, his fingers curling in Jasper's hair as the vampire's tongue entered his mouth. There was a slight metallic taste in his mouth, and he felt a wave of desire rush through him.
A distant phone ringing interrupted them, and Ash reluctantly pulled away.
"You could ignore it." Jasper suggested, pulling his mouth back to his.
Ash moaned as Jasper's hands found his waist, pulling him down against his hardness. Edward ran his fingers down his back, dipping under his shirt. Jasper released his mouth and Ash lifted his arms long enough for Edward to pull his shirt off.
He wasn't wearing a bra. Why would he? The things were bloody uncomfortable, and he hadn't had plans to go anywhere.
Edward smirked at his thoughts, pressing his lips to his as Jasper moved down, sucking, and nipping at his skin.
The day passed quickly, and Ash barely managed to get any more work done, too consumed with pleasing, and being pleased by his two lovers. He fell asleep curled between them, the ignored phone call the last thing from his mind.
Rowan
She woke up in the arms of two very unfamiliar men, and promptly screamed, scrambling away from them. Her back pressed against the wall, her breathing unsteady, and her heart racing in her chest.
Where was she? One moment she was standing in her 'bedroom', and the next, she was in an entirely different place.
"Rowan, hey, it's okay." The red-headed one said, his voice gentle. "My name is Edward Cullen. This is Jasper."
He motioned to the blonde next to him.
"R-Red? A-And Jas?" She stammered, her eyes flickering between them.
She'd heard of them before. The others spoke fondly of them. Edward smiled, and it was kind and patient. When he nodded in confirmation, she instantly burst into tears, sliding down the wall.
"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Jasper asked, concerned.
She buried her face into her knees, pulling them up to her chest.
"I-I messed it up, didn't I? I'm such a failure. I can't even be polite to their lovers." She sobbed.
Why did she always ruin everything she touched?
"You didn't ruin anything." Edward insisted, and when she looked up, he was completely dressed, crouching down in front of her.
How had he managed to dress that quickly? It was impressive. He smiled.
"Perhaps one day I'll tell you." He winked playfully, and she smiled a bit, wiping away her tears.
She was being quite pathetic for just waking up.
"Nonsense. You reacted just as you should've." He refuted and held out his hand. "Now, will you do me the honors of letting me make you breakfast?"
She nodded slowly, taking his hand. It felt nice in her hand.
"What about Jas?" She asked as they walked down the hallway.
"He needs to do something first." Edward replied, and then asked, "So, what are we feeling today, for breakfast?"
She glanced up at him, a bit startled. She got to choose? She couldn't ever remember eating breakfast, as herself now, or as Dolan.
"Um… I don't…"
She trailed off, tears pricking her eyes. She couldn't even decide what to eat.
"That's fine. Depending on who wakes up, I usually just make the same things." Edward laughed softly, his hand tightening around hers. "Being a vampire, we don't really need to eat, but Esme has taught me a few of her tricks. For some reason, she loves to cook."
His voice was gentle, and she felt herself relax as she listened to him. He made her eggs and toast and continued to talk about random things as she ate.
After breakfast, Jasper reappeared, his eyes more gold than before, but with little flecks of red in them.
"Rowan, I'm going to go hunt, but Jas is going to be here with you."
She looked up at Jasper shyly, her eyes moving to Edward.
"Okay." She murmured.
With that, he pressed his lips against her forehead and vanished. Silence fell over the room, a bit awkward, if she did say so herself.
"This is your first time out of your mind, right?" Jasper asked, sitting in the chair Edward had vacated.
She murmured in agreement, and he smiled.
"You know, you remind me of Isla. She was always soft-spoken."
Rowan moved then, wrapping her arms around Jasper's neck as she crawled into his lap. His arms immediately came to circle her.
"Izzy said your hugs are the best." She explained softly, and he chuckled, a wave of love brushing over her skin.
She smiled, burying her face into his collar.
"Thanks." She whispered.
