Welcome back! Hope everyone had a great week since summer is getting started! I would like to thank Magda95, redhairedash, Guest, Sharpeyes, writingblondie, NaFemaleGem, Shelby Duncan, KittenAlice2, myfanficaddiction, Guest, Me, LostNConfused101, and William Francies Reisen-Newman for leaving reviews!
Magda95, Yeah it definitely does have something to do with the app. I don't get notifications for any messages from there, nor does it show up for me when I open the app. Glad we both were able to contact each other!
Redhairedash, thank you! I wanted to give something different to the original. With Rosalie, I think Stephenie Meyer did try, but had to downplay it more to keep the books rated closer to PG for younger audiences. So, tragically, I wanted to give Bella her own demons to struggle with instead of holding her interests strictly onto Edward.
Guest, you're welcome! Thank you for reviewing!
SharpEyes,yeah I wasn't too happy with what I had written, so I changed the ending entirely. I hope you like the new version better. The reason she didn't look in the mirror is because she knew she must have been filthy. If I look gross, I usually shy away from mirrors, so that was kind of just me pushing myself on to the character a little. And yes, she only needs 3 hours of sleep. I tried using the comparison for vampires and how they get sloshy and uncomfortable if they drink too much and compare it with succubus in a way that they get slightly drunk and high if they consume too much. She wasn't tired physically but instead mentally from the trauma. I like to keep the canon version of Bella mostly because… Edward fell in love with Twilight Bella. She was smart, funny, perceptive, selfless, shy, and had a big heart. So I preserve these traits so that he does fall in love with her instead of just seeing her as a friend. But, Bella also keeps most of her human traits because she is around humans all the time. And she's only been a succubus for 6 months. With nomadic vampires, they leave their human lives behind and go alone, which makes them lose their humanity. But since Bella continues her human life and holds human relations, she preserves it. But, Bella is still filling into her shoes. More so now since she's not the only supernatural around. And hopefully we will see more of that once she becomes comfortable with the Cullens. Also, she only was surprised by their speed because she just woke up, and she's just not as fast as them. Just surprised to see a sibling fight in inhumane speed since she's been normally around humans.
writingblondie, glad you saw the update! Yes, the previous ending was not it for me. I wasn't happy with it at all and it needed to be changed. It left a lot of tension between the two of them, and it really did need a much lighter note.
NaFemaleGem, thank you! Yes, it is about time to bring them together more. I have been trying to focus more on her supernatural side instead of the love interest that the story will eventually come to.
Shelby Duncan, Wow! That's honestly really flattering for me that you enjoy the story that much. I sometimes go through and read it again, and I know in the future that I'm going to need to re-vise it some… just to fix possible grammatical mistakes and add some more details to the scenes mostly. I'm closing in on a year of writing, so I'm still new, but hopefully I'll get better and learn more so I can add more life to the story details!
KittenAlice2, Yepp! Edward's eyes have been open to Bella's secret, but understands that it is her story and her secret to share, including Rosalie's. It's funny because I didn't actually intend for this to be a Slow Burn! I was going to start the love interest around chapter 5 I think, but after reading reviews, I realized from you guys that if I'm going to make Bella supernatural, then we need to focus on her own struggles instead of her love life right away. Since the story is mostly canon, Angela is human, as well. But it would be cool to see her as a witch, right? Right now, the wolves are on standby because of the new treaty. Well, it's being pushed by Carlisle right now, but it's on its way to becoming finalized. Jacob, Embry, and Quil will return to the story soon. Right now, Bella is completely satisfied for a while. Three victims in one week! Well, half of a victim and two assaulters. Thank you for reading it! I get so excited to see new reviews that I check for them almost five times a day!
myfanficaddiction, Thank you! I had a really nice birthday. Spent it with my dad and my boyfriend watching a new Netflix film. Yes, finally Edward knows. I'm glad you think I'm doing well at bringing them together, because I am having a hard time doing it. Yes! I have seen other reviews calling this a slowburn. It wasn't initially intended to be. Their relationship was suppose to start forming around chapter 4 or 5 I think, but I changed the outline to fit the fact that Bella needed to explore herself first. I'm glad that you prefer the updated version over the previous.. It needed to be done because I wasn't happy with the original chapter I wrote at all because you're right, after all the emotional angst, it needed a lighter ending to it instead of adding more tension between the two of them. Thank you for pointing out that Esme has actually tasted human blood. I completely believed that she hadn't and that Carlisle was the reason for that, but yah.. I gotta keep it canon so I updated it again, and moved Esme to the side with the siblings. Thank you! Summer job is great right now. I am a Botox assistant, so it's pretty interesting. I film the videos and take pictures of the procedures and make appointments.
LostNConfused101, Exams went okay, but I got the grades I needed to get a final of five A's and one B, so that's good news. Got on the Dean's list this semester! I thought this would be a good way to bring in Rosalie eventually(:
Guest, I saw your review on the chapter, Halliday! Thank you!
Me, haha binge reading fanfiction is my specialty, too. Thank you so much!
William Francies Reisen-Newman, haha thank you! I really appreciate that, alot… I do find myself sometimes changing things in a story to fit what the readers want, but I have been trying to mix my own wants with them too.
I hope you guys preferred the updates to the last chapter and the rewrite of the ending… Now… let's get a breather that I know none of us want, but surrounding Bella with just Edward like she was in Twilight isn't the way to go. Let's spend some time with Angela, yeah?
All rights to these characters and to the Twilight Saga go to Stephenie Meyer. Enjoy!(:
Chapter 15: Treaty Line
Saturday — February 19, 2005.
I had left Edward's house with my bags and folded laundry that Esme kindly washed for me. Esme had made to tell me her goodbyes and expressed her hopes to have me over again at their home, especially when the rest of the family is around. Jasper had been upstairs when I walked back inside, and Alice had thrown herself into me with a tight hug that I had to shrug off. She knows that I'm not a fragile human, but I still had to remind her that her kind was still stronger than I was. Emmett and Rosalie had not come home that night, but Edward had told me that they would be back later in the afternoon. I hadn't asked where Carlisle was, but considering that he was a doctor, I was sure that he must be at the hospital.
I found myself surprised that I had enjoyed Edward's family, even though I didn't want to fully admit to it. Admit to liking a family of vampires. It was before I had fully come to grasp that their faces and conversations had already faded from my thoughts when Edward's touch and sculpted features had appeared. I quickly changed the images from my mind and trudged home in my truck that I knew would need to be replenished with gas. Edward must have done so already when he had driven it home from Port Angeles, but it needed to be topped off.
Angela sounded thrilled to hear from me after I had made it home, but I could hear the tiredness in her voice when I had called her number. She must not have been a morning person or fully awake, so I told her to take her time getting ready and that I would need to do the same. The shower upstairs had brought tranquility over me when it trickled over the surface of my skin, eliminating the leftover debris and sludge from my skin. I had found small trails of faint red lines running down my fingertips of dried blood from the night before. I sighed, taking ahold of my loofa and scrubbing the rest of it away.
I had properly gotten myself dressed, pulling on a pair of jeans and buttoning up a flannel halfway over my gray camisole while I tugged the comb recklessly through my damp hair, trying to pull out the tangles that had nested near the back of my hair. But the feeling of being clean had been all the more.
I left a note down on the counter for Charlie to let him know that Angela and I would be going out to get some ice cream together. I knew that he wouldn't be coming home until later this afternoon where I most likely would be home by that time, but it was an extra precaution. Charlie would most likely want to have a talk with me tonight about not being the one to let him know that I was going over to the Cullens house with someone that he had not met. When I thought about it, I wondered what Charlie would think of Alice if he had met her. Maybe he would become overwhelmed with her excitement and joy, or she had already won him over since he hadn't offered to pick me up last night.
Angela called to tell me she was ready, so I placed my contacts in and drove away to her house. Angela had been dressed warm with a black and white color block sweater and a deep green fleece lined vest, paired with dark jeans. She waved goodbye to her mom as she walked out of the door, clutching tightly onto her purse as she looked towards me with an excited grin on her face. I giggled seeing her do an awkward celebration dance as she pranced down her driveway towards my truck and pulled the door wide open.
"I can't believe I have a Saturday without having to babysit!" She squealed, pulling herself into the passenger seat and closing the door shut. She looked up at me as I smiled brightly at her, and panic wavered over her gaze. "Oh! Please, don't think I hate watching the twins. I love them. I just never normally have a Saturday to myself."
"Well, to be fair, you don't exactly have a Saturday to yourself. You're spending it with me," I winked at her.
"Then I should hope you are better company than SpongeBob and Beyblades," she laughed as she struggled with locking the seat belt. I leaned over to push it in for her with slight force and pulled through her street.
"Did you get some sun yesterday?" she asked, looking at my arms where they were extended towards the steering wheel of the truck. It reminded me that my skin had turned into a flattering limestone shade, which had been much darker than my original color. I looked down at my arms, trying to think of a fast and understandable response to give her. No, I wouldn't have gotten sun because Port Angeles hadn't been sunny yesterday. It was an overcast sky.
"Self tanner," I replied through my lips quickly. "I guess I missed the tan I had during summer at Phoenix and thought to try out some of that."
"Oh," she nodded.
I had ordered a simple strawberry ice cream in a cup while she ordered a vanilla frozen yogurt with banana slices on top and chocolate chips. She shrugged at me with a sheepish grin when she explained that this is what her twin brothers normally order, and it had grown on her. It didn't seem too much like a child-ish meal. Maybe the chocolate chips, but other than that, not really. The inside of the ice cream shop had heaters in the corners of the room which was surprising considering it was a place where temperatures needed to stay cold for the product, but it also seemed strange to go and order ice cream on a chilled day. Angela pulled the collar of her vest up to wrap around the sides of her neck as she shivered after her third bite.
"Brain freeze," she winced, placing her thumb to the roof of her mouth.
Angela had spent most of the ice cream date with conversations of schoolwork and assignments that were due. I told her I was behind on a few of my assignments which she offered to help me with. I grew quiet in thought when she continued her conversation with me about the test that is coming up on Wednesday in Biology. School has not been the highest on my list of necessities. Too many other thoughts were playing through my mind. Thoughts of Edward specifically. The image in my mind of my face hardened against his torso as he rubbed his thumb smoothly over my cheek, wiping away the stray tears that were forming. When he told me he never knew what was going to happen to me, which was the reason he was driven to find me in Port Angeles. The way he had been cryptic when he shared his own thoughts last night with me and would brush away the thought when I asked him more about it.
No, I was becoming slightly delusional to believe they had any sort of meaning other than wanting to make sure I was safe. He must have been worried for his family that I was going off to break the treaty and jeopardize their lives. The treaty only specified that I couldn't hunt in Forks, so it would have been null anyways if they did find that I had killed those two men.
It was all of last night.
A small thought crossed my mind that I had forgotten about. A promise that I had made to a man that I had understood was very important for me, and I had broken and misplaced his trust in me. I slouched in my seat, noticeably frowning as I felt guilt rush over me, but it had given me an idea for today.
"How important is working on that paper this afternoon for you?" I cocked an eyebrow at her, scanning for her reaction.
She shrugged, pulling her thumb out of her mouth. "Not too important. It's not due for a while. Why?"
She pushed her spoon back into the bowl of frozen yogurt, serving herself a new scoop full of it to lift to her lips as she waited for my reply.
"Well," I began, hiding a tight smile on my lips looking up at her through my lashes. "Do you like ducks?"
-o-
Angela had come along with me out of town to the same park that I find myself in regularly on Tuesdays and Fridays. I knew that I needed to make up for not coming yesterday, and I silently spoke my apologies to Mr. Halliday when glancing over towards the area of his burial site. I had wondered what had followed after I told his son that his father had died and been buried, but I must have been able to cover my tracks well enough since there were no police showing up on my front doorstep.
Angela had been crouched down on the ground with her palm lowered down to a group of afternoon ducks that were nibbling a handful of seed from her hand. She chuckled and let out soft squeals when the ducks would accidentally nibble on the ends of her fingertips as they became savages to get as much feed from her as they could.
"Wow, they seem to like you," I laughed, sitting on the bench as I threw stray seed towards the left of the pond.
"Yeah," she smiled, standing up and wiping her hands on the pants of her legs. "My grandparents owned a farm, and they had a small pond too that geese and ducks would come to visit periodically. Sometimes when the ducks would reject their younglings, my grandparents would take them in, and he let me care for them while I was there. It was really nice. Why do you come here?"
"Just something I promised an old friend of mine that I would do."
"Huh," Angela nodded. "Are you an animal person, too?"
I let out a short burst of a laugh. "No, hardly. I never was even able to keep a goldfish alive. Luckily, these ducks are just wild and are able to take care of themselves, but they seem to enjoy free food on occasion."
Angela grinned, "Well, who would pass up on free food?"
"Exactly."
Angela walked over to the seat next to me on the bench, sitting back and exhaling a heavy sigh through her breath. She continued to hold the small smile on her face as she watched a couple of the ducks swim out of the pond and start waddling onto land, shaking their tail feathers free of water. They quacked continuously as they turned their heads, looking over at Angela as if they were associating her with food, asking for more. I lifted the bag onto the bench between us so Angela could grab another handful of seed. She scattered it onto the grass and another group of ducks swam out of the water to get to it.
"These guys are pretty greedy," she said, holding onto her smile as she leaned her elbows on her knees, watching them.
"Free food," I reminded her.
Angela and I agreed to go back to my house after we left the pond and on the ride back, we talked mildly about other topics that consisted of how she was nervous about the upcoming girl's choice dance where it was the girls who had to be the ones to ask the guys to be their dates. I thought the idea was silly in a way and wondered what the percussion would be if a guy asked the girl instead. Would that make the date invalid? She laughed at my question and said that it would be easier if the guys were the ones to ask, but also reminded me that prom is basically the dance where the boy makes up an elaborate proposal to ask the girl to prom. I agreed. Apparently, the dance was in three weeks and was surprised that Jessica hadn't already made plans.
"Don't you think she will ask Mike to go with her?" I asked.
"I'm not sure. Does she like Mike?"
I nodded. "I think so."
"If I'm being honest, I think Mike would rather you ask him to the dance if you get the chance to."
A gaped expression filled my face as I stared at her. "What?"
"You seem surprised."
"I am," I replied. "Why would Mike want me to ask him to go to the dance? He's with her right now studying."
"Yeah, a group study," she corrected. "You can't tell me that you haven't noticed Mike's affections towards you. He waits for you every day in the morning at your usual parking spot."
"Not every day," I mumbled, looking over towards the tree line as it passed quickly by with thoughts of Edward again. Thoughts of how he had been the one to be next to me that one day. To walk me to class. "Ethan waits, too."
"Yeah," she teased. "He might also like it if you ask him to the dance."
"Stop," I lightly shoved her upper arm as my cheeks flooded into a bloomed rose. "Ethan likes Jenny Cathcart."
She laughed, shoving me back. "It's cute," she said. "How they are all enamored by you."
I sighed, knowing that I could not deny it because she was right, but it was for the wrong reasons. I thought back to the lunch period when Ethan had asked if I wanted him to go with me to pick up the books in Port Angeles, which I had declined. He then had made the offer to invite me to his heated pool at his parent's house that Jessica then turned into a pool party for our group of friends. Ethan did have Jenny, though. He was able to form a new relationship without me interfering, so maybe his adoration towards me had turned strictly into a caring friendship that genuinely just wanted to spend time with me. With Mike, though, I hadn't been completely sure. He seemed to have been backing off the affection touches since I had let him down, saying that I wasn't looking for any kind of relationship, so I did hope the best for him. I hoped it would be with Jessica.
I pulled my truck in front of my house, parking it as the engine idled its roar. Angela followed me inside, taking a look at the stair banister and the pictures of myself at a younger age in the front room with Charlie. She thought the one of me sitting in the boat fishing with him at the age of six with my pigtails was very sweet. I told her that I did not remember that day very well, but I knew that I had screamed when Charlie finally caught a fish on the line. She told me that her dad had tried taking her fishing before, but the twins seemed to be more into it than she was. I offered her something to drink which she had thanked me for when I set down a glass of water for her. It was only the midafternoon as the light came through the windows of the back of the house.
"What's it like to have a cop as a dad?" She asked, sipping the cup of water.
I had felt a little off guard by the question she asked because it was not a question I was generally asked by a person. Most of the questions people asked me at school were why I moved here from Phoenix or about how I liked Forks but asking about my father wasn't one of them.
"It can be intimidating," I nodded, trying to form coherent thoughts in my mind over the idea. "I know Forks is usually safe and that not much goes on around here enough for a high crime rate, but anything can happen."
"After I heard about that hiker, I wanted to ask you how you were feeling about it considering your dad was the one working on the case and there could be a possible suspect in the area," she said, setting the glass of water down as she reached out towards my hand. "But I wondered if you may have been too flustered to talk about it. You can talk about it, you know. It must be scary."
Oh right. The hiker.
"Yeah," I forced a smile. Angela had a kind heart. "It was, but I know Charlie is good at what he does and is responsible and trained for situations that could go wrong. But you're right, it still is scary." I had been so used to the idea of being human and unbreakable for so long now that the thought hadn't come to mind. I knew that the biggest threat in the area at the moment had to be me right now if there was local crime, but the truth is, you never know. I had looked past his job frequently, more than I had intended. I had looked past Charlie.
"He is good at his job," she nodded. "My dad thinks a lot of him."
"I'm sure Charlie appreciates that," I offered a reassuring smile.
Angela continued the conversation, asking more questions about Charlie and then proceeded to ask how I liked my new job at the nursing home. I told her that I liked it a lot and that my co-workers are really nice, but they are older than me. I mentioned that the elderly at the nursing home were sweet, which forced my thoughts to mention the nudey magazine that Mr. Rhodes had asked me to get for him, causing Angela's face to redden and laugh. She thought that situation would have been extremely uncomfortable if someone requested her for that. She asked where I would possibly purchase a set of those where I shrugged and teased about how if there was a person that could answer that question for me, it would be my friend Quil from the reservation. She was shocked that I had friends from La Push considering that the residents normally shied away from outsiders, especially from the people who lived in Forks.
There was a loud knock on the front door, causing myself to jump as I had been so engrossed in entertaining Angela. It was still too early for Charlie to already be home from fishing because he usually would go to Harry's or Billy's house after to clean the fish they would catch. I also wasn't expecting any other company today. I looked back at Angela with a raised eyebrow as I puzzled in my thoughts of who it could be. I hoped it wasn't Edward. That wasn't something I was read to explain to her, not yet. But then again, there was not a lot to explain to her.
I stood up, but Angela had already beaten me out of our chair and walked towards the front door. I followed after her and leaned against the wall of the front room. She opened the door slightly, peeking in through the crack of it, but her eyes instantly grew wide as she looked over towards me with her jaw slightly dropped. She took another peak again and pulled it open a little more. I had been confused by her expression and had instantly dreaded the idea if Edward had been the one behind the door. Now it was inevitable.
"Oh, hi!" A panting voice said. "Is Bella home?"
Angela cranked her neck towards me with raised eyebrows and her lips formed into a bright smile. "Yeah, she's right here," she said, pulling the door wider. It had been Jacob on the steps, still out of breath and his skin was rippled with sweat.
"Jacob?" I asked in confusion. "What are you doing here?"
Jacob's bright smile had quickly shown as he walked through the door and enveloped me into his arms, spinning me around. I could feel his drenched with sweat skin seeking into my shirt. If it had not been Jacob, I would have probably been thrown off by it.
"You didn't answer your house phone earlier today, and I wanted to check up on you since I hadn't seen you in a while," he said, squeezing his arms around me a little tighter before setting me back down on my feet. I laughed a little bit, looking over at Angela in an apologetic smile as I realized our girl's day had been interrupted. "Charlie said you had a sleepover at the Cullens. So as your best friend, I had to make sure they weren't keeping you hostage, but it looks like you had gone to the equator instead," he said, rubbing his thumb over the top of my hand, examining the shade of my skin. "Guess I can't call you a pale face anymore," he muttered with a wink. I scrunched my nose teasingly at him, but looked over at Angela, expecting her reaction from what Jacob had just spilled.
Angela's job dropped. "You had a sleepover at the Cullens'?"
And there it was. I tightened my lips at her expression, glancing over at Jacob once more before I began.
"I ran into Alice in Port Angeles yesterday," I offered the lie that Alice had given to Charlie. "We caught up and had dinner together, and she offered me to come over. I fell asleep." I said, shoving Jacob in the chest, causing him to slightly lose his balance before he regained it.
"I didn't know you guys were friends," Angela said in wonder. "But that's good. They don't really talk to anyone else at school."
"Yeah, because they are a bunch of weirdos," Jacob snorted, folding his arms across his chest. I glared at him for his rude comment.
"I wouldn't call them weirdos," Angela spoke up, walking closer to the both of us near the entrance to the kitchen. "They were just the new kids at school a few years ago and probably were too shy to branch out."
"Yeah, I guess," he said, rolling his eyes at me with a smirk. "Didn't my dad tell you to stay away from them?" He teased. "Something about a free truck on offer."
"You wanted that truck gone anyways," I reminded him. "And Billy is an old man with superstitions."
"I never did tell you those scary stories, did I?" Jacob looked at me with widened eyes, but I shook my head.
"Scary stories?" Angela asked.
The subject needed to be changed quickly, but I knew that I already had been a terrible host who proper manners.
"Sorry, I should have introduced the both of you. Angela, this is Jacob Black. My dad and his dad have been really close friends for a long time, so we met each other in our younger years. And Jacob, this is Angela. She goes to Forks High School with me."
Angela waved her fingers at him and offered a kind smile. Jacob reciprocated the wave with a proper toothy grin at her, and the both followed me from the front room back into the kitchen.
"I heard their home is really beautiful," Angela said.
"I thought the outside was when I first saw it, but the inside was definitely something you'd have to absorb in. Very spacious and open, and the decor is very refined."
"I bet, they all look very well dressed every day at school. I wouldn't expect their home to be any less," she said. "What's Alice like?"
"She's really nice, actually, but very enthusiastic," I grinned at the thought of her and Edward sparing on the staircase. "It can be kind of overwhelming, but she means well."
"She looks like she would be a nice person," Angela confirmed. "I just never really have spoken to her before. Was Edward there?" Her lips curled into a teasing smile.
I hitched my breath in a small gasp at her question, feeling the apples of my cheeks redden deeply at the thought of him.
"Well," I reply, looking down at my hands, folding them together, twirling my pointer fingers around each other. "He does live there."
She glanced over at Jake who had been focused on the contents in the refrigerator. His face scowling as if the items were mocking him, and he was displeased with the way they had looked at him. I wondered what had been on his mind.
"I apologize," she whispered. "We don't have to talk about boys if you don't want to."
My eyes followed in the direction hers had gone, and I understood her suspicion.
"Oh!" I waved my hands. "No, Jake and I are just friends. He's practically a little brother to me," I smiled, glancing back over at Jacob whose eyebrows had furrowed in deep concentration when trying to choose which soda to drink from the fridge. "Besides, I just never had a boy to talk about before. Well, I don't have one to talk about now, either. Edward is just…"
"Just…?"
"Complicated," I breathed out heavily, leaning back in my seat, shying my face away as I thought of him again for another countless time, trying to hold back the flattened smile that was curled on the edges of my lips.
"Bella Swan, you're being awfully vague," she winked, holding in her short chuckle.
"As in," I sighed. "Nothing is going on, really. We are both just completely different people who also share similarities." That was as simple of a way to explain it.
"And that's complicated?" I tilted my chin in confirmation. "Hmm."
"Hmm, indeed," I snorted.
"I remember him asking you to join him for lunch the other day. I thought it was really nice of him to offer."
"Who offered?" Jacob asked, walking back to the kitchen table with his decided can of Dr. Pepper.
"Edward," I said, wincing at the anticipation of his reaction. Jacob stared blankly at me, as he assessed my own expression on my face. He looked slightly confused as he formed different thoughts through his mind over the name.
"That's the guy that saved you from a car accident, right?"
I nodded.
"Well, I guess they all can't be too bad, then," he shrugged, pulling out a chair at the table to the left of me. He pulled back the tab on the can, causing it to pop and fizz over a little bit. I laughed at him, where he now held an embarrassed expression on his face. I quickly stood up to grab a paper towel sheet and walked back over to the table to clean it off.
"Sorry," he slouched, embarrassingly.
"It was probably mad at you for taking too long to decide," I smirked.
"I should've picked the Coca-Cola then if it's going to be playing games on me like that," he grumbled, sipping on it. "Sorry for barging in on your day," he looked over at Angela. "If I knew that Bella had friends over, I wouldn't have interrupted you guys."
"No! Don't apologize. It was sweet of you to check in on her."
"Yeah, about that… I actually have a cellphone now," I said, pulling it out of my flannel pocket and placing it down onto the table. "So, if you can't reach me at home, you can call me on this instead."
"You didn't tell me you got a cellphone!" Angela gasped. "I would have given you my number if I knew."
"I forget that I do, normally. Not used to it, yet."
"May I?" she asked, reaching her hand out towards it.
"Yeah, go ahead," I smiled at her. She reached to grab it and pulled it over towards herself to light the screen. She pressed in a couple of buttons on the phone, and I assumed she had been programming her number into it. When she pulled out her own phone, I stood up from the table and walked to the kitchen counter, pulling out a notepad and pen from the drawer and came back to my chair to sit down. I quickly jotted down my cellphone number onto it and ripped the page out to hand to Jacob.
"Just call me on that number next time you can't reach me," I grinned. He scanned the number a few times on the page, trying to memorize it before folding it and sliding it into his pocket. "I promise I will answer it on the first ring every time."
"And I promise I won't let this get into the wrong hands," he joked. "Who knows how much Quil will try to contact you if he finds out you have a direct number, he can call you with."
"Eh, Quil doesn't scare me," I laughed.
"Quil?" Angela asked. "The friend of yours that you mentioned asking about where you can pick up nudey magazines from?"
Jacob's jaw dropped as his eyes opened with amusement where the ends of his parted lips were tugging into a smile. I groaned, dropping my face into the palms of my hands at the embarrassment of the statement that had completely come out of context.
Angela looked confused between the two of us until realization crossed her expression. She gasped and we both explained the situation at the nursing home to Jacob who could not help but contain his laughter when he had acted out how my facial expressions must have come across when the question had come up from Mr. Rhodes. I told him that at first, I was embarrassed, but then felt determined to fulfill his request which only caused Jacob to bark louder. He mentioned that he had found a stack of them underneath Quil's bed one time and then told me to swear not to mention it to him. Quil had been flustered when he saw Jacob pull out the stack, and now Jacob occasionally teases him about it if Quil ever gets on his nerves.
"Are you going to be going to that pool party at Ethan's?" I asked, sliding my own empty glass of water back and forth on the table between my fingers.
"I haven't talked to my mom about it yet, but I don't think she would mind if I told her about Ethan and had her call his family to confirm it," she sighed. "Would go over better if she knew the Chief's daughter was going to be there," she smirked.
"Are you saying that you're using me?" I scoffed with sarcasm.
Angela shrugged a laugh. "If that's what you prefer to call it, then sure," she paused briefly before catching my attention with hers. "I know you're new here and are still getting to know all of us at school. But I am glad we met," she smiled.
"Me too," I said assuring, reaching my hand out to hers. "I mean it."
And I did mean it.
"Pool party?" Jacob asked. "Am I invited?"
"Depends on if you're going to keep calling them pale faces," I raised a smug grin.
"Just not to you, at least."
-o-
Monday had come soon enough with the regular workload of school along with upcoming tests that my classes had been preparing for the last couple weeks of school. Jessica had been enthusiastic about the group study date that they had this weekend. She asked me the same question that others had asked me today about how I had gotten so much color on my skin in such a short period of time, but I responded with the same answer that I had given Angela. Self-tanner. Luckily, Angela was a trustworthy person who did not care too much for gossip, so news that I had been at the Cullen house Friday night had not made it onto the school grounds. Angela had told Jacob that he would be invited to the pool party if he would like to go since they had gotten to know each other better that afternoon, and he joked at first that he wasn't sure if he could handle more than two pale faces in his life but became serious when he gave his real reason that he wasn't sure what his plans were with his dad. He explained briefly about Billy's condition to her which forced tears to form into her eyes, causing her to jump out of her seat quickly and wrap her arms around him. I smiled at the friendship that was forming between the three of us. I never had a large group of friends before, or this many friends in the slightest.
Mr. Taylor called me this morning before I had left for school to tell me that I now have been completely put into the system and will be able to login to my own personal account on the computer the next time that I come into work which wouldn't be until tomorrow. I sighed thinking about Mrs. Weaver again, wanting to get to know more information about what she knew about a succubus after all these years with her daughter. I had been attracted to the idea of eventually meeting her, but I wasn't sure when the next time she would come to visit her mother. Abigail was her name, but that is all I knew about her. I wondered if she was also trying to live a normal life like me, maybe even close to the life that the Cullens were living. She was only twenty-three when she had been turned, so I thought over the possibility that she was living on her own, or had been going to college repeatedly, attending class day to day like I had been here. Maybe she had decided to take up acting at some point like she had planned to do when she drove out to California with her friends but changed her name to cover up her identity. No, possibly not. The non-existent aging would go noticed.
Angela had beamed brightly at me when I sat down next to her at lunch. She reminded me that she had a really nice time Saturday and thought very highly of Jacob's and my friendship. She was more excited to meet the rest of his friends eventually since Jacob had offered the idea. He warned her that Quil would most likely try to flirt with her, causing Angela to laugh at the nonsense. He did give more credit to Embry though, saying that she would probably like him better. We didn't make plans to meet up any time soon, but he said that if we ever decide to go to First Beach, that they will be there.
"Edward is looking at you from their lunch table," Jessica nodded sideways.
I looked over towards their table where Edward's stare had bore into mine. A charming half smile formed on his lips as he waved and gestured his neck for me to come sit with him and his family. I hesitated slightly at the idea of it since I hadn't formally met Jasper, Emmett, or Rosalie yet, but Alice had looked over my way with a beaming smile of excitement, which only fueled my curiosity further.
"Hey, Ange?" I broke my stare from Edward and looked towards her. I knew walking over to them now would create a stir of conversation at the lunch table, but if he was inviting me over there, it had to be important.
Angela gave a knowing nod, forming a pressed smile that showed understanding. "Get out of here," she laughed. "But just remind me later about how complicated it is," she whispered as I stood up from the table, grabbing onto my lunch tray and bag and slinging the strap over my shoulder. I stuck my tongue out at her teasingly and walked over towards the Cullen table.
Edward had moved his chair over and pulled over a chair from the empty table behind him, bringing it between him and Alice.
"Oh, thanks," I said, placing my bag down next to it. I heard slight whispers coming from my usual lunch table from Jessica and Lauren who were questioning why I was sitting with them. I heard Angela defend me, telling them that it wasn't their business when it comes to my friendship with the Cullens, and that I would tell them whenever I was ready to. Jessica gasped, and pressed for more details, but Angela shrugged it off.
"Hello, Bella!" Alice squealed, as I sat down into the chair. The rest of the table offered warmed smiles towards me, but Emmet's had possibly been in the running for the widest one with Alice. I glanced at him with a confused expression, but he up roared into a belly laugh. I felt startled suddenly as I looked over towards Edward who had been growling at his brother, taking the apple from his lunch tray and flinging it at Emmett's forehead. Emmett's eyes widened, but the large smile didn't leave his face. Rosalie nudged her elbow into him, which he had expressed an 'ow.'
"Sorry for my brother. He is a little clueless when it comes to being polite," Edward said. "And when it comes to being polite, Bella, this is my family. Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie," he held his hand up towards each person, respectively. "And this is Bella Swan."
"Hello," I said shyly, digging my fingers into the fabric of my jeans.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella," Jasper nodded towards me, but held his lips tightly together.
"Hell yeah, it's cool to have another killer in town," Emmett laughed.
I was taken aback immediately at the word he chose to compare to me.
"Emmett!" Rosalie shoved her elbow into his upper arm again to scold him, causing him to let go of another hurt response. "Like Edward said, sorry about my husband. He can be very childish in the most unprecedented way."
"Yeah," Emmett chuckled. "Sorry about that. What I meant was, it's going to be pretty exciting to have someone different around."
Edward's fingers were pushed against the bridge of his nose, angling his face towards me with eyes darkened with concern. I shook my head at him to not plead for an apology anymore. Alice had pulled my hands from my lap, wrapping them into hers as she clasped the top of her hand against mine.
"So, today is the day!" Alice squealed with excitement, practically bouncing in her seat.
"What's today?" I asked slowly, looking between her and Edward.
"That we welcome you into our family in a non-legal, but binding agreement with the wolves, of course! Well, tonight actually," she corrected herself. "Our whole family including you will meet at the territory line to meet with the dogs to finalize the treaty. We just need you there to make it official."
"I need to go in order for it to be applied to me?" I asked, but she just nodded. "Wow," I breathed out a desperate exhale. "I didn't realize that I would have to do that."
"It's really not a big deal, I promise. When we learned of the wolve's existence again, Jasper and I had to go, too."
"It is kind of a big deal," I interrupted. "Your family would be solely responsible for whatever actions I commit in Forks. You all could die because of me."
"No, of course not," Edward said. "No one believes that."
"You don't believe that I'm capable of hurting someone?" I asked, cocking my eyebrow towards him with bewilderment. "I've already done it before. That's the whole reason we are signing the treaty because of my own mistakes."
"Bella, none of us believe you will do it again," he pointedly said.
"And why not?" I asked in frustration. "You made it perfectly clear when you compared me to uncontrollable newborns." I heard Rosalie muffled gasp as her hand flew to her opened mouth.
"Bella," Alice squeezed her palms tighter around mine. I glanced back over towards her, and her features no longer held a bright smile. Her eyes bore into the bridge of my nose as she held my gaze. "We discussed this before. We believe in you, and that belief in you is not misplaced. We want to do this, all of us. We would love nothing more than to have you a part of our family, even if it's just in the form of a truce."
Family. She keeps using the word family. Her eyes glanced briefly at Edward, but then back to mine.
"Okay," I settled into a mumble, not wanting to continue my protest. If they all wanted to be lunatics and agree to this for my own sake and willingly jeopardize their family, I was not going to argue any further. "Okay, fine."
"Great!" The smile then returned on her face instantly as she unclasped her hands around mine. I exhaled heavily as I shifted my eyes over towards Edward. He nodded at me, forming a grin on the upturned edges of his lips.
"When tonight? I have plans to cook for Charlie and have dinner with him after he gets off work."
"No to worry," Edward said. "Charlie will already be in his room asleep by the time that we are planning to meet. I'll notify you when they are on their way to the treaty line, and I will meet with you outside of your home."
"Charlie will hear your car in front of the house."
He grinned, glancing back down at his hand on the table and back up at me. "A car will not be able to make it to where we are meeting. We plan to go on foot."
Biology period passed where Edward had spoken to me more about the plan for tonight. He said he would meet with me outside of my bedroom window around ten-thirty, but his family will already be on their way to the boundary line. He spoke that the Quileute territory covered all the reservation, plus some of the land that traditionally belongs to the Hohs and the Makahs. In some places, the boundary line followed the main road, now Highway 101, but in others it followed the old tribal lines. Having these boundaries kept the Cullens away from their land, but the town of Forks, along with a few other surrounding towns, and the highway were "truce areas" where both could be allied to venture.
If I had not been able to hide it from him well, the truth was that I was apprehensive to go on foot together. Before, I had chased after him all the way to Alaska, but he hadn't known I was following him, and he was considerably much faster than I was. I worried that I would only slow him down. I frowned slightly, chewing on my lower lip as I looked away from him. Would he think less of me knowing that I could not compete with him in the case of speed and strength? He knew these aspects of me, already, but possibly for him to see it himself, it might change the way he views me. As if I'm not an equal.
He informed me that Sam and Jared would show up in their wolf form by reason of that they would not trust his family or I to not attack. With Edward's capability of reading minds, this made this possible for he would be the one to translate their thoughts for them to the family and to me about the treaty. I thought it was silly that the wolves thought so much that the Cullens would provoke them, but I understood it after careful thought. I had presumed the same thing not too long ago.
I drove home to prepare dinner for Charlie, where I decided to put together a parmesan chicken with stuffed baked potato. It was not too theatrical of a dish, but it left me enough busy work to keep my mind distracted from what as to come tonight. I would be meeting with the wolves to tell them to leave me alone and to not follow me anymore. To tell them that I would allow the Cullens to take full responsibility for all my actions. I pushed the chicken into the oven with a sigh at the thought. I knew it was possible for me to make mistakes, and they couldn't afford that. Not with their lives.
"Dinner smells good, Bells," Charlie came through the front door, putting away his coat and gun belt. "What are you making?"
"Chicken parm with stuffed baked potato," I grinned at him, adding the green onion on top of the mixture. I wiped my hands together and grabbed the kitchen towel to clean off the debri better. "How was work?"
"It was fine, the usual," he grumbled.
"Still no clues?"
"Not a damn one, but it's not our problem anymore. They dropped the case," he sighed, flopping himself down at the kitchen table.
"Well, then it's good you had the fishing trip this weekend to distract you from it," I reminded him.
"Yeah, Harry did better than me this time around, but I caught enough." I nodded. "School going okay today?"
"I have a test in biology Wednesday," I admitted.
"And you're prepared for it?" His eyebrow raised, but I nodded at him quickly to ease his parental worry. "Good." Charlie stood up from the kitchen table and walked into the living room to turn on the tv. I heard him groan in aches as he sat down on the couch, putting his legs up on the coffee table.
Charlie and I spoke more through the kitchen and living room walls about work, asking me if I was enjoying it so far, which I told him that it was great. He mentioned he hasn't run into Mr. Taylor in some odd years but admitted that the guy had a knack for raiding the local bars. I believed him. It was then that I asked him if he knew of a woman named Mrs. Weaver. She had been a resident there for a couple of years now, but he mentioned that the name was not familiar to him. That was another dead end. They must keep themselves private in a way to keep suspicion away from Abigail, if need be, but the Cullens were well known, everyone knew them, so why keep Abigail and Mrs. Weaver in the dark?
Dinner was better than I expected it to turn out. I thought maybe I had burned it when I had neglected to set a timer for the chicken, but it still held a lot of moisture and was pleasurable to the pallet. Charlie praised me for it as he normally does and asked about if I was going to invite Angela and Jacob over again this coming weekend, but I told him I had not made plans for such. Charlie had met Angela on Saturday after he came home from work and they had gotten along very well. He had suspicions that Jake had a small crush on her, but I told him that Jake was usually a friendly person and teased about how he would not compromise their sacred Quileute bloodline. Charlie peeked up at me for that comment, causing me to blush in embarrassment for making it.
It was getting late in the evening after I cleaned the pots and pans of the meal, and watched Charlie climb the steps of the stairs into his room after I had gotten out of the shower and taken care of my normal ritual. I probably shouldn't have pushed to clean myself after today knowing I was going to just reappear in the woods later tonight, but I needed it to clear my head.
I paced around in my room, straddling the comb through the strands of my hair as I was looking through my closet for something to wear. I knew I did not need to dress for the occasion, but I also knew most of my pair of jeans had dirtied from my previous runs. I needed new clothing soon. I settled for a pair of shorts that I normally wore in Phoenix during the fall weather since I wasn't bothered by the cold air and re-used the flannel that I had worn this weekend with a change into a black camisole instead. I looked down at my outfit, contemplating the choice of it, and looked diligently at my ruined pair of sneakers that I still normally wore. They would need to be replaced too. The rubber lining of the seal had been coming apart, leaving the top fabric of the toe to begin unraveling. I frustratingly sighed as I ran my fingers through the roots of my hair. I couldn't place why this was something that was bothering me at the moment, but it must have just been the nerves.
Could I let them do this for me? Could I allow them to risk their lives in the sake of my own comfort to be away from the wolves? The decision continuously formed contemplations in my head of different scenarios where I would cause issues and be the case for their demise. What of the possibility that I couldn't control the subconscious monster's way of pushing me towards a classmate of mine at school? What if I let it in, and allow him to blind me of the damage I could bring to the Cullens?
There was a tapping on my bedroom window, causing me to spin in too quick of a movement as the breath in my lungs escaped me. I stood there, in shock to see Edward perched in the tree outside of my bedroom window that I normally would use. I exhaled a sigh, realizing that my fears had been unwarranted and walked over to the clear view, pushing the window open with ease. It creaked loudly, which only left me to wince as the sound rattled in my eardrums, but Edward didn't seem bothered.
"What are you doing here?" I said sharply to him. "Someone will see you!"
"It's ten-thirty," he grinned, making himself more comfortable as his back rested against the thicken trunk of the tree and his body had been nestled on the base of the branch that outgrowths from it. He had his leg arched with his foot placed along the length of the branch with the other swinging low next to it.
"Oh."
There was a pause between the two of us. I walked away from the window to sit on the edge of my bed as I continued the whirlwind of thoughts of different scenarios in my head for reasons that I shouldn't go tonight. I realized I was not looking at Edward anymore as I heard the small tick of his lips parting to speak.
"Have something on your mind?" he asked with concern in his deepened eyes.
I didn't respond though, looking away from the refined features on his face as the moon casted shadows along the ridges of his jaw and nose. It only quickened my anxiety.
"Bella, we wouldn't be doing this if it weren't a discussion already had. We understand what we are agreeing to, and none of us are worried."
"It's not fair," I shook my head.
He nods, "Not everything is, but in this case, it is a collective serendipity."
"A win-win," I murmured but that didn't make sense. It was only I that was getting something out of this deal, while they were forcing themselves into a chicken coop. "And what do you and your family win?"
Edward shrugs. "Peace from them for a little while longer. We like to avoid them if possible and adding you to the treaty as our own means you join our family in a way but also entitles that we no longer have to deal with any more conversation with them. At least not for a while." He paused, clicking the roof of his mouth, turning his eyes back towards me. "My family understands the need to sustain yourself, but the wolves are much less forgiving to my kind, and more unforgiving to something they don't understand."
"Then why were you guys watching me too if you understood?" I asked, now turning my words into a whisper as I hung my head low. "Acting like I didn't exist… I heard Esme on the phone." The day in the grocery store when Esme held panic and worry about me.
"The wolves were worried about you, like I had mentioned before," he continued, looking towards me through the brush of his lashes. "And when they experienced your strength, they had issues of you becoming an ally to us."
I stared puzzling at him, trying to find the correct argument to respond with. "Correct me if I'm wrong," I began. "But there are two wolves, and seven of you."
His lips pressed into a line. "My father, Carlisle, is a very passive person. He doesn't instigate war or disagreement." He leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree.
"You mentioned that…"
"When the wolves asked us to break communication and ensure that you were not going to harm someone in Forks, Carlisle agreed. There was a controversial conversation between my family about your diet, which led us to understand that you consume human food, forcing us to believe that you had other ways of sustaining yourself. We were not in unison about what you are, but we could hear the beating of your heart, hear the organs of your digestive system working collectively, but then it was Rosalie who mentioned that you seemed relieved in the cafeteria after consuming food. We concluded that as long as you fed off ordinary human consumption, that you would have been fine." His eyes darted away from me, seeing his eyebrows had furrowed together in frustration and remorse as his fingers clung tightly into the fabric of his pants. "It wasn't until Esme had come across you in the grocery store that we realized our mistake. It then became a collective agreement that we will be solely responsible for anything that pertains to you."
I shook my head at him, peeking past him towards the tree line. It was about guilt and shame.
"Now you may think of this as a pity deal, but even if you hadn't harmed anyone, we still would ensure our trust in you," he corrected.
But Alice had said the same.
"Why?" I asked. "You can't just know what's going to happen if you trust me. You said Alice can't see anything that involves me which only puts your family in danger."
He looked away again, sucking his lips in between his teeth. He shrugged after a few moments.
"That's correct," he confirmed with a smirk. "Would end very badly if we misplaced our confidence. But you aren't the only member of our family that we have to keep a selective eye on. Jasper is the most recent to join ours and the lifestyle hasn't come easily to him. It's a struggle for him to abstain at all." He glanced away from me again, as he looked upwards towards the night sky. He did not change his glance towards me. "Are you ready?"
"Oh," I breathed out a heavy breath of air from my lungs, darting my eyes between him and the tree line. "I'm not as fast as you," I wanted to remind him before we took off. "You're going to have to slow down for me."
He chuckled, "Not a problem."
And he was faster than me, darting through the tree line after I had successfully leapt through the window. He only hesitated as he watched me after I landed, but with a nod, he took off with intention for me to follow. He must not have thought too clearly about how much slower than him I was. It was possibly a heavy thirty percent in comparison to him. I jumped over the boulders and rocks along with the roots of the trees that stretched from the undergrowth of the brambles and bushes. Even his breathing was even, as I knew mine had been lightly jagged. Running didn't cause me to tire, but I still had my human aspects of needing to use my lungs to push myself.
He slowed his pace down so I could follow close behind until then he had been running along next to me. He did not stare into my direction, but I could see the hint of a smile forming on the edges of his upturned lips. He was amused with me, making me not be able to hide the chuckle forming from my parted lips. His head quickly turned to me, and the crooked smile grew wider as we continued our pace. I heard small chattering from farther away, knowing that it must have been his family joining into conversation with one another, but I hadn't been able to smell the hint of dampened pine yet. The wolves must have been late.
Ahead of us, the family was coming closer where Alice was climbed onto the back of Jasper, and Esme had her head leaned against Carlisle's chest. Along with that, Emmett and Rosalie were slouched against one of the trees with their hands clasped together.
Edward began slowing his pace the closer we got, which I followed until we had another hundred feet where we now settled into a brisk walk next to each other.
"Damn, he keeps you on your toes huh, Bella?" Emmett called out, forcing the rest of the family to turn their expressions towards us. Esme held a kind soft grin to me, while Carlisle nodded to Edward and then to me with politeness. Alice grinned widely in excitement where Jasper tilted his head in welcome and Rosalie held the same kind grin that Esme offered.
"Yeah," I exhaled, catching my breath. "You can say that."
Edward snorted, and walked a little passed me as he was staring between the six of his family members. He nodded a few times, shook his head other times, and then sighed, looking back to me. I stared between the Cullens, understanding that they were speaking to him through thoughts, but I didn't argue. I just wanted to get this over with.
"Thank you for joining us, Bella. I'm sorry I wasn't able to speak with you when you had stayed with us," Carlisle spoke. His step was measured, careful as he approached me. He raised his hand tentatively, and I stepped forward to shake hands with him.
"It's nice to see you again, Dr. Cullen."
"Please, call me Carlisle."
"Carlisle," I grinned at him, with my sudden confidence surprising me. I could feel Edward's quiet relief at my side, but it wasn't needed. I knew that I had placed trust in Carlisle before at the hospital.
Esme's smile still held, "I hope you know there isn't need for you to worry. The wolves won't harm you."
I shook my head. "It's not me I'm worried about," I sighed, looking at Edward. His face didn't fester. "I just don't want to be the reason you all get hurt."
"Nonsense," she waved me off. "We know what we are doing. No need for you to doubt."
I nodded, still with uncertainty.
"They are close," Edward said aloud. He turned his neck towards the direction, causing the rest of the Cullens to stiffen. Emmet and Rosalie leaned away from the tree as he softly pushed her behind himself. Alice still held true onto Jasper's back, and I could see his fingers lightly squeeze her thighs. Esme and Carlisle never left each other's side. He seemed to have more confidence in the wolves. And Edward moved in front of me. It was strange. I saw the behavior in the rest of his paired family, but Edward was alone in that sense, but he still felt the compulsion to move in a protective stance.
I placed my hand on the top of his shoulder, letting him know that I was fine and not in fear. He turned his neck, glancing at me with a nod and stepped to the side.
The scent of dampened forest pine started to invade my nostrils as the wolves came closer. I could see their large forms edging forward from the darkness. I was taken aback slightly as their teeth snarled, looking across the line at us, and tightened their stairs on me, but I didn't replace my footing. I stood, lowering my head to them as I glared with my lips puu tree ressed tightly. I felt Edward's cool hands grasp lightly onto my wrist, causing me to break my trance staring at the wolves. He nodded with a grin, and looked back at them.
Carlisle took a slow, deliberate step forward. It was a careful movement, designed to reassure.
"Welcome," he greeted. Sam, the large black wolves nodded his head, not keeping his eyes off of me, and then I could hear the rumble of a growl form into Edward's throat as he stepped forward slightly in front of me again, but I turned my hand to grab onto his forearm, to pull him back. Edward's eyes widened when he looked back at me, but he complied and stepped back next to my side.
"Is her darkened complexion the sign of recent feeding," Edward responded in a strange, flat tone, and I realized at once that the words came from Sam.
"Yes," I responded, looking up at Edward who gave me a reassuring nod, and I looked back at the wolves. "In Port Angeles. There were two men circling a young girl behind an alley way, with obscene intentions for her. I questioned the man and his actions were of normal nature to him, with multiple past victims. So, I took care of them."
"By killing them," Edward answered for Sam again.
"Yes," I replied firmly. "I did."
Emmett's face lit up in awe where a wide grin formed, Rosalie's face held a smug grin, while Esme looked over at me and Edward with wonder, but he held his hand up to her.
Sam and Jared growled at me in unison, causing Edward to stiffen under my grasp on his forearm.
"It was not in Forks's territory, which was a part of the agreement for Bella," Carlisle said. "She did not commit any violations to it."
"To you, she did not. To us, she had taken a human life," Edward spoke in a flat tone. I narrowed my eyes on Sam.
"You should be happy she took care of a criminal, you mongrels," Rosalie's arms were crossed as she shouted from behind Emmett. I had not completely taken a look at Rosalie for quite some time, but her beauty had radiated through her scowl as the moonlight featured over her top lip, cascading a shadow over her bottom one as her teeth had almost glistened in it. I was surprised she held no anger in her voice towards me. A sane person would if they were to hear I had killed someone, especially after having to clean up the mess.
Jared walked a few inches forward, baring his teeth at me, while I had done the same in return. Sam smacked his jaws on the scruff of Jared's fur, causing him to exclaim a small yelp, and step back.
"Do you see how you are explaining that it is not fair for you when you are the one killing to feed yourself while human lives are lost?" Edward grumbled, answering Sam's thoughts.
I hitched my breath at his comment, not taking my eyes off at him as my arms slug to my side in defeat. He was not wrong. I was taking more lives than I have for myself, just to sustain my feeding habits and continue living. How was that fair? How was it fair for the man looking at the stars? The doctor who went to school for years to save people, the man hiking in the woods, and Mr. Halliday. Mr. Halliday had asked me to do it for him, but he believed it was his time to go. I wouldn't apologize for my actions towards the two men in Port Angeles, I saved more lives than the ones I took from them.
"Bella," Edward asked, looking down at me in worry. I hadn't noticed the tears spilling over my cheeks which I quickly wiped away with the sleeve of my flannel.
I nodded. "I'm fine."
I glanced back over to Sam and Jared whose eyes were narrowed at me.
"We had a deal," I huffed. "And I had done what I had to do to save the lives of future victims in that area, and I would do it all over again without hesitation. If you would prefer for me to not feed and instead attack someone in Forks out of lack of control, then that life would be in your hands, not mine." My chin jutted out further as I felt more irritation with them. "Now, do you accept the terms of my portion of the treaty? Or do you not." My fingers flexed. I was prepared to move further in on them. I could attack if I needed to. No. If I attacked, I would be putting the lives of the Cullens in danger. Because of me.
Jared and Sam looked back between each other, and then back towards me and the rest of the Cullens. Their faces held composed expressions as they nodded to them, and the wolves held a small growl again, clenching their eyes.
"Yes," Edward spoke. "We will comply with the terms of the treaty. But," Edward paused. "as well as the Cullens, you are not welcome in La Push."
Not being able to come to La Push meant that I no longer would be able to visit Jacob and his friends with Charlie. But that would just have to be understood. I could continue my friendships outside of the territory with them with no cause or issue.
"Okay," I nodded, but the flash of my recent moments that I had been in La Push crossed my mind. The one that I had thought of recently to ask Charlie about. The ill-scented energy that tasted bitter on my tongue. "Harry Clearwater."
The wolves both looked strangely at me with a grunt of confirmation at the name.
"I am not completely aware of the exact situation, but I think it would be wise if you were to take him to the hospital to run some tests," I said. His energy smelled different than the others, I remembered. Something off. "I'm not sure what it was, but something about him had been different. Not in the way that you two are different, but medically."
"What do you mean?"
"He's an older man," I replied. "Things go wrong with age, and I think you should mention that to him."
They both nodded, looking at each other with small whimpers of worry. They looked back at Carlisle and I, then Edward.
"Treaty is decided and granted. That being said, if she violates it, we will be back."
"I count on it," I growled under my breath.
They walked away back into the darkness, but none of our eyes left them until they were no longer visible. The Cullens had begun to converse with one another about the meeting and how they wondered if the wolves would keep their deal of the treaty and uphold my portion of it, but I assumed that my information of Harry Clearwater had sealed their intentions. Edward turned towards me, asking if I had been alright, which I told him I was. I just wanted to go home now, mostly. I looked up at him, forcing a small smile on my lips, and turned away. The rest of the Cullens had offered me into their arms, which I accepted with politeness. I didn't care to explain my thoughts. I didn't want to talk about it at all. Relief is what I felt, but also their words had stung.
"Can I walk you home?" Edward asked.
"Yeah," I smiled at him. "That would be nice."
Edward and I had made it in quick time back to the front of my house. I looked upwards towards my window, and at the tree that Edward had recently been perched in. Edward slightly took a step back away from me, but his eyes had been sketched onto the back of my head.
"Would you like to come inside?" I asked him, turning my head to assess his expression. His lips had parted slightly, as he looked at me and towards my bedroom window again. "If not, I understand. I'm sure you and your family have things—" but he had interrupted me.
"Yes, thank you," he replied with a soft grin, which I nodded to, concealing away the blossom on my cheeks.
I jumped towards the horizontal branch, grabbing onto it and swinging myself through the open window, only causing an easy thud as my worn-out sneakers had touched the floorboards. There had been a chilled wind that had brushed across my neck, seeing that it was Edward who had already climbed in.
His body had stilled as he took glances around my room, his eyes assessing the different decorations and furniture that was placed, but his eyes had only subtly glanced onto my unmade bed.
"Not what you expected?" I asked, walking backwards until I had landed onto the corner of my bed.
"No, not exactly."
"You seem shocked. Didn't you already see this through the window?"
"There was a glare." The corners of his lips turned up.
"A glare? Your vampire vision can't see past—" I stopped when Edward subtly snorted. "You're teasing me," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Only a tad, but no. I didn't peek before," he smiled, glancing towards me as he walked towards the rocking chair in the corner of my room, and gently sat down into it. He glanced towards my bedroom door when one of Charlie's deep snores had amplified through the hallway.
"I wouldn't say your room wasn't to be expected, entirely."
"It hasn't changed since I was young," I pointed out. "I don't think Charlie knew what to do with it."
"The bedspread seems more like you," he nodded towards it. "Is purple a favorite color of yours?"
I shook my head, glancing down at it as I cramp the fabric between my fingers.
"No, not necessarily."
In the silence between us, he stood up and walked slowly over to the desk with the secondhand computer and looked down at the phone line that was stabled against the floorboards towards the nearest jack. His expression changed as he had investigated the light blue color of my walls, and then glanced towards my closet that was shut. I watched him, tentatively as his movements were rigid, but very light. He had been interested in seeing this it seemed, but the low tremor of panic had trickled over my skin as his eyes averted over towards the bedside desk that held assortments of books and some CD's. His fingers trailed over the desk, nudging the tips into the grooves of the wood and ran his fingertips around the CD player, pressing the button to push it open.
"It's empty," he noted.
"I haven't really had much effort to sit around and listen to music, but my usual CD is in my truck," I breathed out.
He sighed, looking over at me with the complexion of a faint smile on his lips, and replaced himself back into the rocking chair. He hummed softly, looking at me and back to the window.
"Edward?"
"Bella."
"I'm fine, honestly." And I was, but there had been a minute tear in my chest at the thought of him leaving just yet.
He nodded, leaning back in the rocking chair, and letting it push him forward. I listened as the wooden chair creaked underneath him when it rocked forwards again, leaving only the sound of that and Charlie's snores apparent.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
But he did not answer. There was a ping of brood in his expression, where his eyes had looked alive, but pained all the same.
"Edward?"
"I wasn't sure if you were going to accept the treaty." Even with the whisper of his voice, it still was hard, and echoed the expression on his face as the inner portions of his eyebrows were turned upwards. "What they said, Bella." He shook his head as I could hear the rasp of his throat breaking through the normal velvet of it. "You can't think that way."
"They weren't wrong."
"I used to think much the same," he continued. "But my thoughts on it have changed. They changed because of you. So yes, they were wrong."
I fell silent at his words, staring blankly at him, but eager all the same for him to continue, but he did not.
He only continued to push himself backwards on the rocking chair every couple of minutes as thoughts searched through him. Occasionally he would stare at me with worry but look away back out of the window. I had told him that I would be only a quick moment away in the bathroom to change out of my clothes and into a pair of sweats and a tank top, where I then repositioned myself back onto the bed, but I sat this time against the pillow at the head of it.
I had wondered what was going through his thoughts and what his words had meant. His thoughts on things had changed because of me, but how so? I wondered if it may have been something that he had also experienced himself, but I didn't think it was the time to ask that question, or maybe he hadn't been ready to speak on it. He had mentioned before that his family has had their own slip ups and that he was among the members that had harmed a human before, but Edward looked reserved. Possibly, it wasn't the time. I continued to stare at him, wondering and waiting. Staring as the way the the lines on his face were sculpted as the shadow from his jaw appeared over his neck. I stared at the way his clothes had almost matched a familiar color scheme of lighter and darker greys. His shoes had been slightly dirtied from the run, but it was clear they were polished recently, possibly even brand new. His fingers sat on the arm rest of the chair, and I could see his fingers tighten periodically. His hair had swept over his eyes, where he normally would push back the strands. His lips looked soft, but almost refined into hardness. And his eyes, darker than they had been over the weekend, but still held waves of amber.
"Bella?" he broke through the lull.
"Edward," I replied, taken aback from my assessment.
"When's your birthday?"
I puzzled at him for a moment before replying. He couldn't have been interested in that. "September thirteenth." I said, almost mockingly.
"September thirteenth," he muttered faintly through his lips. "What's your favorite color if not purple?" He asked, his face grave.
I paused, taking a second to think as I glanced out through the window into the night sky.
"It changes day by day," I answered honestly, pulling the side of my cheek in between my teeth. I found it odd that the atmosphere had turned into this. With him asking me the most normal and human questions.
"Have you picked a favorite color of yours today?"
"I guess I can't say that stars are my favorite color," I muttered.
He snorted, dropping his serious expression. "Stars?" He asked, skeptically.
I shrugged. "I miss them. You don't see them very well through the heavy fog, even with the new eyesight."
He nodded. "The beauty of Forks."
"When's your birthday?" I asked, leaning forward, studying his expression.
He looked almost confused, as if he had been bewildered of me to ask such a question.
"No one has asked me that in a long time," he spoke, his lips parted as he stared at me with what seemed to be a hint of embarrassment.
"Well, I'm asking you now." I replied, a grin tugging on the edges of my lips. "When's your birthday, Edward?"
"June twentieth," he replied quickly.
"June twentieth," I muttered to myself to remember.
Why would I need to remember?
A/N
Thank you all for your reviews of the last chapter and I'm glad you all enjoyed the updated version of it. Work has been taking a lot of my time away from being able to write because I normally just go home afterwards to watch tv and fall asleep to it… so bear with me. I know… I should update once a week now I find it is getting harder. I'm going to go back and start working on more stuff for my outline.
I hope to see at least 10 reviews on this chapter before I update again... And until next time! (: