T W O
{E D E N}
"Where are we going anyway?" Eden spoke up, shattering Bella's train of thought. Bella didn't answer right away and Eden repeated her question.
"First Beach. I thought that since it was a nice day, we could just go and relax." Bella answered finally. Eden nodded, smiling a little. Turning her attention back to the scenery as it seemed to crawl past. Her sister was nothing if not a slow and careful driver. Sometimes possibly a little too careful. Especially when Eden was riding in the passenger seat. Eden spoke up again, teasing gently, "You can go slower than ten miles an hour."
"I'm not going that slow." Bella answered, glancing at her younger sister out of the corner of her eye. Eden was gazing out the passenger window, watching in awe as four guys around their own age or older dove off of one of the highest cliffs overlooking First Beach.
"Oh wow. That looks like fun."
"No. Nope and no." Bella shut down the thought before it could take root in Eden's brain. Eden pouted at her sister and sighed. Giving a gentle teasing look as she muttered, "Killjoy."
"I'm not being a killjoy. You can barely swim. I'm not fond of heights and there is no way in hell I'm jumping off a cliff. And you're not going to, either. Charlie would murder me."
Eden pouted just a little more, shifting around in her seat. Tucking her leg beneath her again. Rifling through her jacket pocket until she found the headphones that hooked into her cell phone. Bella didn't like music when she drove. The silence drove Eden insane but considering Bella was older by two years and this was Bella's vehicle for the time being, Eden suffered it as best as she could, opting to make sure she had her headphones and her phone with her whenever Bella offered to take her somewhere. Or in this case, dragged her along.
Bella's eyes settled on the road in front of her and her thoughts started to drift all over again. Wondering where Edward was. Why he'd left without bothering with the formality of a goodbye. Wondering why it hurt so much and if it would ever stop hurting her.
Music played quietly from the red covered headphones her sister currently wore. The beach came into view and Bella parked the truck. Nearly the instant she'd killed the engine, Eden was out and bolting down towards the shoreline as if she couldn't get away fast enough.
About halfway to the waters edge, she collided with the muscular back of an actual giant and settled on her ass in the sand with a quiet "Oomf."
The giant turned around, gazing down at her. Dazed at first. Then scowling a little. Reaching down to pull her up off the sand and walking away without a word.
"Thank you?" Eden muttered to herself quietly. A brow raised as she wondered if there was some specific reason the guy had been annoyed by her mere presence. Shrugging it off because ultimately, it wasn't worth worrying about. She spotted her sister sitting off in the distance, huddled into a group with Jacob Black and Quil Ateara, the three having an intent conversation. Bella motioned her over and Eden wandered over, flopping down between Bella and Jacob.
"What?"
"Jacob said that guy's some kind of a cult member. Maybe it's not a good idea to talk to him."
"I wasn't."
"He just helped you off the ground and I didn't like the way he was staring at you." Bella lectured gently. Eden grumbled, giving the quiet and sassy retort, "Okay mom. I'll leave the boys alone." while flashing her sister a shit-eating grin when Bella mimicked her and stuck out her tongue. "I'm just watching out for you."
"Look.. I nearly ran the poor idiot over, okay? I hit him and then kinda hit the ground. Pretty sure I annoyed him anyway, so there's that."
"Paul Lahote is just naturally an asshole." Jacob spoke up.
"I mean if you say so? It's my belief that an asshole wouldn't have bothered helping me off the ground when I fell down though."
"Either way… If Jake says he's an asshole and he's not a good guy.." Bella lectured. Beyond eighty five percent sure that every single one of her warnings was falling on Eden's non-listening ears.
That's how it usually went, at least that's how it seemed as of late.
"I mean.. The same could be argued about a certain weirdo, Bells and yet, look what you went and did." Eden mused. Apologizing immediately when her sister tensed and for a second or two, Eden's words caused this softly pained look to come over Bella.
"Sorry.. It's just sometimes I wish you'd stop hovering sometimes. Let me do stuff."
"I'm trying."
Eden could've laughed but she didn't. If anything, Edward leaving town seemed to only worsen the whole tendency her sister had to hover and overprotect.
Eden gazed out at the water, watching it's choppy gray surface. And then she saw the four guys up on the highest cliff, poised to jump again. The guy she'd collided with was front and center. Ripping off a white tank top in a way that struck Eden as slightly animalistic.
Her breath caught in her throat and she stared at him intently. Watching as he flipped over the edge, tucking into himself. Hollering all the way down and then he hit the water with a noisy splash. She was so caught up in checking the guy out that she failed to hear her sister clearing her throat the first three times.
When she finally heard her the fourth time, she shrugged. "What? I'm not going to not look at the guy just because he's supposedly an asshole, okay? He's hot, I'm going to look. You act as if looking will lead to anything happening."
"It better not."
"Yeah, I'm with your sister on this, trouble. Paul Lahote is not the kind of guy to be interested in. I saw him get into a pretty damn violent fight at school last week."
Eden pouted to herself. But she didn't turn away or stop looking up at the cliffs.
Eventually, Jacob and Quil talked Bella got involved in a quieter discussion, leaving her pretty much to her own devices as they talked.
Eden dug around in her jacket pocket for her headphones and shed her jacket, balling it up to use as a pillow. Then she opened up the book she'd been reading on her phone, picking back up where she left off.
Every now and then, she'd stop and look around. She could feel someone's eyes practically staring a hole through her. Every time she'd look around to try and figure out who or what was going on, there wouldn't be a soul nearby who could've possibly been staring at her.
Eden finally let it go and for the remainder of the time she sat there, she didn't bother looking up or acknowledging the fact that someone nearby was staring at her. Watching her.
Then a football settled right next to her leg. She glanced at it and then at the group of guys just down the beach who seemed to be in a heated debate over who would come and retrieve the ball.
When she locked eyes with the guy she'd collided into earlier, she stuck out her tongue and after staring for a few seconds because she managed to get lost in his intent gaze back, she looked away, turning her attention back to what she'd been reading on her phone screen instead.
"Hey! Hey you!" one of the guys called out to her.
She slipped off her headphones and pointed to herself. The guy grinned, jogging over. She glanced at the football by her feet and smirking, she sprang up off the sand, bending to pick it up. Throwing the ball back to the guy who'd come to get it.
"Thanks."
"Not a problem." Eden answered politely.
"What's your name?" the giant of a guy asked.
"Eden. What's yours?" Eden asked in response.
"Jared. I gotta get going now, get back over there. See ya around?"
Eden shrugged in response because she probably wouldn't see them again. Bella didn't really come to First Beach often. If Eden came, she usually came alone and usually, no one else was there when she chose to come. Which was the way she preferred it, truth be told. Eden sank back down to sit in the sand. Then she turned her attention back to what she'd been engrossed in reading because it was just starting to get to the really hot and steamy parts...
{ }
"What the hell do you mean you're not going over to get the ball? You're the one who threw the fucking thing over there." Jared eyed Paul. Giving a boisterous laugh as he extended a hand to pretend to take Paul's temperature.
Paul growled quietly and stepped out of reach. "I'm not fuckin going. You or Embry can go."
"Well, is he sick? There's a girl, a pretty one at that… and Paul Lahote, known ladies man of La Push High isn't rushing over to cozy up?" Embry mused, a brow raising as soon as he heard Paul growl again, a little angrier this time.
They'd been riding his ass for a few weeks now. They were starting to figure out that he'd imprinted. Luckily, he managed to keep his mind quiet during patrols when they were in their wolf forms and any of the other three could pick up on his every thought. So they didn't know that the girl he'd just gotten so distracted by that he nearly threw the ball at her was actually the girl in question. The girl. His other half. The imprint his inner wolf had chosen.
Jared could see the slightest shake in Paul's hand and he muttered calmly, "Okay, fine. But for fucks sake.. If you won't go get the ball, don't throw the fucking thing over there again. Next time? It's sitting there, buddy."
"I don't fuckin care." Paul snapped.
Embry eyed Paul as Jared set off to retrieve the football Paul had thrown over by the brunette who'd shown up to First Beach with Bella Swan earlier. "Any reason you won't go over there?"
"Because I just don't fucking want to. Reason enough for ya, Call?"
Embry eyed him suspiciously. "Okay then." he muttered after a second or two, going quiet. He didn't voice his suspicion, but Paul's odd behavior, especially right now, seemed to really settle any lingering doubt Embry had on the matter.
Paul had to have imprinted.
He'd been in a mood for weeks now. And just now, seeing the brunette with Bella, Paul's mood had only gotten twice as bad.
Jared made his way back over, smirking.
Paul glared angrily at Jared. Stepping up to him before he could even stop himself. "The hell was that, Cameron, huh?"
"Hey, whoa. Easy, Lahote. I was just being friendly. Her name is Eden, by the way."
Paul growled quietly, his fists clenching at his sides. Sam seemed to pick up on the tension and came over, stepping between the two. Gazing at Paul with a raised brow. "The hell is wrong with you, Paul?"
"Not one fucking thing."
"Then calm down and walk it off. Now." Sam commanded calmly.
Paul stormed away, walking further down the beach. Leaving the remainder of the pack to quietly discuss what they now had more than a sneaking suspicion had to be going on.
"Oh, he definitely imprinted."
"And I think I know who the girl might be. Just going off of the way he was acting just now when I came back with the football and her name…" Jared trailed off, nodding to the brunette sprawled on her stomach in the sand, her legs raised behind her. Wiggling bare feet around in the air as she hummed along to a Nirvana song and twisted strands of her hair around her fingertips as her eyes remained glued to the screen of the phone in her hand.
"You don't think.."
"Well, he's said from the beginning that he fully intends to fight imprint if it ever happens to him." Sam muttered, glancing in the direction of the girl and then over at Paul, who was gazing in her direction for what had to be the tenth time that afternoon.
Sam shrugged. "Hope the idiot realizes that the imprint bond isn't something he can just will into submission."
"Hope the idiot realizes it before he goes apeshit and takes out someone." Embry muttered. Catching eyes with Jacob, only to have Jacob glare at him and look away. "And apparently, Jacob is over there telling anyone who will listen that cult bullshit again."
"He'll understand when it happens to him. His father seems to think he's just on the verge of joining us."
"Understand or not, he doesn't have to be a dick." Embry muttered quietly.
Jared chuckled, nodding in the direction of the brunette. "Just caught her staring at Paul when he wasn't looking at her. It was kinda sweet, actually. Do we intervene and try to talk sense into Paul or do we let the idiot suffer a while more?"
Sam gazed at Paul, mulling it over. "He's going to need a lot of time to learn to control himself. But he has to want to learn. For now, all we can do is let him suffer. And hope that sooner or later, he realizes he can't fight the bond. I tried just to avoid hurting Leah when I imprinted Emily.. Look how well that played out." Sam muttered, going quiet. "If he's steering clear of her, there's no sense in mentioning anything we suspect." he mused.
"Agreed." Embry and Jared answered in unison.
The brunette slunk past, headphones in. Eyes still glued to the screen of her phone as she headed in the direction of the little row of shops and stands at the top of the beach. Close to where Paul currently was.
"No sense in denying ourselves amusement in the meantime." Jared teased, only to be met with Sam shaking his head firmly.
{ }
After she found some change in the cup holder of her sister's truck and stashed her jacket for the time being because she was starting to get a little warmer, Eden shut the door to the truck with her hip and glanced down the beach. Towards the boardwalk. Grimacing because there were so many people lingering and the lines at the little shops lining the boardwalk were packed already.
Despite it, she started to wander over.
Bella stopped her and she turned, glancing back at her sister. Suck-popping a cinnamon flavored bubble and tapping a foot against the sand as she called out in a teasing tone, "Yes, mother?"
"Are you going to get drinks?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Can you bring me back one too? Here.. Charlie sent money with us in case we wanted anything."
Eden jogged over, taking the money. Walking off again in the direction of the shops and stalls located on the opposite end of the beach. She stopped a minute to dig out her phone and open back up the app she'd been reading on and as she wandered in the direction of the boardwalk, she walked right past the group of guys who'd been tossing the football around earlier. Tensing a little at the way they were all just sort of watching her and then whispering quietly amongst themselves.
"That's not weird at all boys. Not even a little." Eden muttered to herself as she shook her head. By the time she stood in line at a drink machine, she was scrolling through her music playlist. Stopping on a song by Stevie Nicks, humming along to it quietly while she waited for the line to die down just a little.
She could feel someone staring at her again but she didn't bother with looking up for a little while. When she took a break to keep from straining her eyes, she glanced around quickly. Right as the guy she'd bumped into earlier was looking away from her and preparing to look back down.
She stuck out her tongue at him for a second time in the day and looked down before he got the chance to do it first. Turning herself away from him completely as she moved up in line a little. Singing along to the song she was listening to quietly. "Any day now, people." she muttered to herself.
A throat cleared from behind her and she tore her gaze off of what she'd been reading. Tilting her head slightly to gaze up at the giant of a guy she'd bumped into earlier. She swallowed hard to swallow down a lump as it grew in her throat.
"The line's moving again."
"Indeed it is." Eden noticed and moved up with the rest of the line.
"Not smart to wander around barefoot when there's broken glass and sharp rocks and shit everywhere."
Eden gazed up at the guy as he said it. He shrugged as if he didn't care one way or another, yet he felt the need to say it. She laughed softly and shrugged. "I'll uh.. I'll keep that in mind."
It was finally her turn at the soda machine and when the machine spat out her dollar bill twice, she grumbled, trying a third time.
The guy reached out, taking the dollar from her, grumbling as if doing so annoyed him somehow. She spun around, placing a hand on her hip. Giving him a questioning glance.
He took the dollar and ran it along the edge of the machine until it was flat and then he held it out to her. "There."
Before she could thank him or ask him why he kept popping up if the very presence of her annoyed him so damn much, he was gone. She watched him walk away and laughed quietly about it.
After getting the drinks, she made her way back down the beach towards her sister, Jacob and Quil. Tossing Bella her drink as she flopped down on the sand nearby.
She took a few sips of her own drink and she caught herself gazing around. Searching for the guy again. When she spotted him down the beach near a roaring fire, she watched him a few seconds. Trying to figure him out.
When she happened to catch him looking her way yet again, she tried a different approach. Instead of sticking her tongue out yet again, she gave a soft smile. A playful wink. And quickly, she turned around.
Let him try to figure her out for a change today.
[ post script ] Omg, thanks to MysteryFan1997 for the review and encouragement! I'm definitely going to have to check out your Twilight fanfiction, I took a glance at it and I love that it's about Rosalie! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. And for the encouragement to continue.
For clarity's sake, the time between this chapter and the last is quite a few weeks. We're officially at the part where Bella's begun hanging around with Jacob (pre-phase) and they're gonna do the motorcycle riding things eventually.