It had been another week. Aro and I spent more and more time together, from the minute I got home from school until the early hours of the morning when I forced him to leave so I could get ready for school. I had slept less than I ever had before in my life, but that didn't seem to matter, because every moment I spent with Aro I felt more awake than ever.
Word had flown around school since Monday, that I was now the skimpy bit of arm candy for a much older man. Lauren had spun her lies to make it sound like I had stolen Aro from a wife I knew he didn't have, his age had also been exaggerated, at school he was made out to be nearly forty. Along with his over exaggerated age, she had also branded me a gold-digger, but I couldn't deny that he was obviously minted.
"So, where'd you meet this guy?" Mike was incredibly intrigued; he had crushed on and off me since middle school but had become some sort of puppy when Bella arrived, eager for her attention. Now that she was wrapped up with Edward, he was trying to gain the attention of pretty much any female in Forks.
"Oh, um," I raked my brain for a slightly better excuse than the few I'd made the other day, something believable, something sensible.
"Lauren said you met on a dating website, if you were that desperate, I would have taken you out for a date," Mike continues.
"Desperate?" I was caught between a scoff and a laugh. "We met in Seattle a few months ago, you know, when I went up with dad to that police convention."
"So, he's a police officer?" Mike asks.
"No, he is a businessman," I say, supporting at least one element of Lauren's story. "But he's not forty or married."
"Oh, Lauren said…" he trailed off as Jessica shook her head beside me.
"Yeah, Lauren's a lying cow; I wouldn't trust anything she ever said," I respond dryly and Jess snickers beside me.
"Don't worry I won't quote you on that in my valedictorian speech," she winks.
"So, this Aro guy," Mike cuts in. "How old is he then?"
I sigh and pack my books away; I flung my bag up onto the desk and shoved them all inside. "He's twenty-five, and he is fit as fuck." My final words left Mike, Jessica and Angela shell shocked.
I spent the rest of the day irritated, there was no reason to be at school now other than keep my attendance high, prospective Universities would look at little things like that when it got down to the nitty gritty, and if the rumour Lauren had spread about maths grades, then I needed all the help I could get. It was ironic really, how I made out Mike was stupid for believing Lauren's made up lies, yet here I was, scared she might have told a semblance of truth.
I had introduced Aro to Netflix the night before, he had once again snuck into my room via my window, his Spiderman skills still managing to impress. He said he didn't watch television, but he seemed transfixed by the screen, commenting on how technology never failed to impress him. I'd made the decision to watch Forest Gump, it was a favoured film of mine, and I hoped Aro found it reasonably entertaining; it was an easy watch and perfect for just cuddling together on a Thursday night.
"I've changed my mind," my voice was nothing more than mumble as my cheek squashed against his chest. We were sat together on the sofa, dad was working late and it was Friday night so Bella was at Edward's house. Dad had lifted her curfew under the understanding that she would spend more time with Jacob Black, I still hadn't mentioned the idea fact that Jake and his dad had basically kidnapped me and tried to convince me that their kids bedtime stories were true.
"About what?" Aro asks, his fingers traced patterns along the bare skin of my arm making my skin tingle.
"You, you can't leave, I won't let you," I finger one of the buttons on his shirt. He hadn't snuck into my house today, his car was parked out on the road, his shoes were by the door and his jacket and tie hung over the armrest of the sofa. It felt so good, so right.
He laughs gently, a soft rumble from his chest. "I promise I will come back, a month at most and then I will come back," he says.
"A month," I echo back. "That's a long time."
"Well I was going to wait until this party next week," he shifts under me and I sit up straighter. "But I don't see the harm in letting you have your gift early."
Aro reaches for his jacket and extracts a crisp white envelope from the inside pocket, a smile graces his lips and he passes it to me. "Congratulations on graduating."
I open the letter a two plane tickets fall out. "You got me tickets to see my mum?" I ask in disbelief, my eyes gathering with tears.
"First class from Seattle to Orlando, it's a two-week return, so you can spend some proper time away," he smiles. "Do you like it?"
"Like it?" Proper tears leaked from the corners of my eyes and I set the tickets down on the coffee table a few feet away. "I love it…it's – it's perfect!" My lips met Aro's in a searing kiss, my arms locking around his neck and forcing him back onto the cushions. Aro led back across the sofa, his hands rested at my waist as my legs settled either side of his waist, I couldn't feel his coldness any more, he was boiling, a roaring welcoming heat.
My body acted really before my mind could think, I felt my fingers at the hem of my t-shirt before I realised my own intention. I pulled away for a moment, the sudden rush of adrenaline pushing me forwards as I pulled my t-shirt up over their head. Aro didn't say anything as the material fell to the floor, he merely looked and allowed his fingers to spread higher. They moved from my waist up to my stomach, careful, gentle, they moved with tentative precision as they passed the indent of my belly button. I shivered slightly as his fingers followed the hard lines of my ribs and brushed the sensitive flesh beneath my bra. He sat straighter, my legs still straddling his lap, he moved my hair over my left shoulder and placed an open-mouthed kiss against the bare skin of my neck. It was instant. The sudden feeling of warmth that tightened in the base of my belly. Aro's mouth moved slowly, trailing from my neck to my shoulder, his lips grazed the strap still clinging to me, but with a single finger tucked beneath the elastic he drew it down my arm, leaving no obstructions for his mouth.
With him distracted I allowed my hands to moved against his shirt, seeking out the small buttons. I got the first one undone just as Aro moved to the other side of my neck, sweeping my hair aside he started his torturously slow teasing all over again. The first few buttons of his shirt were already loose, and I worked a few more undone so my hands could lay flat against his smooth skin.
His chest was flawlessly smooth, no hair, no freckles, no random scars. A golden pendant hung around his neck, a perfect V in what I could guess was only real gold, complete with ruby red gems which adorned the two sides of the letter, it stood out proudly against his pale flesh. I tugged the remainder of his shirt free from his trousers and fiddled to get the last button out so he was practically bare from the waist up. There may not have been any hair on his pale chest but a dark trail led down below the waistband of his trousers, my fingers followed it until they met fabric, and at that same moment Aro grasped my chin in his hand and forced my eyes back up to his.
"Celestine, we need to slow down," he says softly, releasing my chin and trailing his hand down to the hollow of my throat before allowing them to continue further running between the valley of my breasts and all the way down to the waist band of my own trousers.
"We don't have to do everything…" I couldn't help but spread my hands back over the smooth planes of his chest. "I don't mind doing stuff for you."
Aro wrapped his hands around my wrists and pulled me away from him. "I don't need you to do anything for me Celestine," he shakes his head and raises my hands to kiss my fingers, one by one. "I would happily worship you all night, giving you pleasure will give me everything and more." His eyes locked with mine and I wriggled my fingers as an indication for him to release me, once my hands were freed I held his face between my palms. "But I will not force you into anything until you are fully certain."
"You aren't forcing me into anything," my voice was as reassuring as I could make it. "I want this before you go. I need this to be you."
His lips found mine, even though I was holding his face I didn't need to pull him closer. His arms moved around me and suddenly I was the one with my back against the cushions, Aro hovering above me, his hair falling around us like a silky midnight curtain. He pressed his hips against mine, kneeling between my parted thighs, he leant down so close that every inch of his chest touched mine, I could feel his entire body, every part of him pressed tightly up against me.
His kisses got slower and although he held me close the rush of passion started to fade from him. "Next week, before I leave, if you are still certain then I will do everything you ask of me, anything you want," he trails a hand between us again, igniting the nerve endings of my skin and leaving a trail of molten desire in his wake. This time his hand didn't stop at the waistband of my jeans, it went further, his fingers grazing the zipper before briefly cupping me through my trousers. My gasp was swallowed by another kiss from Aro, before he disentangled himself from me and passed me my t-shirt.
"Your sister is home," he smirks. "I doubt you want her to catch us like this?" He stands with a small chuckle as I frantically pull my t-shirt back over my head.
Aro was still leisurely buttoning his shirt when Bella and Edward stepped into the living room. Bella's eyes bulged when she took in Aro's slightly dishevelled look, his hair was a little messy and he finished off the last two buttons of his shirt before grabbing his tie. "Good evening Isabella," Aro smiles. "And Edward, I hope you have both had a pleasant day?"
"Um, yes, it's been okay," Bella replies almost nervously, she didn't even make eye contact with Aro.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Edward asks him and he nods once, turning to me with a beaming smile before following Edward from the room.
"What are they talking about?" I ask.
"Not sure," she shrugs. "Carlisle wanted Edward to pass something on…you do realise you're wearing your t-shirt inside out?"
I could feel my cheeks blazing as I cursed and quickly changed it back round. I'm sure Aro would have notice something like that, I bet he hadn't told me just so my sister and her asshole boyfriend would notice.
"So…I take it, the whole boyfriend thing is getting serious?" Bella asks.
"He's only here for another week, shoot me if you think I'm not going to make the most of it. He's…" I trailed off with an uncontrolled smile. "Do you remember when you said I would eventually understand your obsession with Edward? Well, I totally get it now."
"Wait, don't tell me you're in love with him?" She gasps, her brow furrowing in shock, there was also a flicker of fear across her face. Why she would be scared I couldn't guess.
"I haven't said anything yet," I admit. "And I won't…not yet, don't say anything!"
Bella shakes her head. "No, no, I won't say anything," she doesn't smile, doesn't look happy about my undisclosed affections for Carlisle's friend, she just doesn't look happy at all. "But are you sure? It's a big step forward…you've only known him a few weeks and you're already taking your clothes off!"
"You don't approve?" I couldn't hide the bitterness in my voice. "Miss Isabella Swan, can't go wrong in her own idealistic world but is allowed to criticise mine."
"Cel no, I'm not criticising anything," Bella shakes her head reaches out for me, as if to comfort me by holding my hand.
"Don't try and act like you care," I hiss and snatch my hand away from her reach. "You're no better than the people at school, they already think I'm a gold-digging whore thanks to Lauren."
"No, Cel…"
I stood up from the sofa and grabbed Aro's jacket, gripping it tighter against my chest than necessary, it smelt like him but I didn't hold it to my nose and breathe in like I wanted to. I glared at Bella as I left the living room and ran into Aro and Edward who were stood in the hallway. I was surprised that we hadn't heard them talking, but even as they broke away, Edward's mouth moved as if he were speaking but I heard no sound.
"Mia cara?" It took me a few seconds to realise Aro had directed his question to me.
"Are you finished?" I ask and he smiles in conformation.
"I'm afraid I will need to go and talk to Carlisle personally," Aro says, turning away from Edward to face me fully. "Are you all right?"
"Um, yeah, I'm fine," my shoulders shrug and I force a smile onto my face. "Are you going to come round later?"
"I will try," he promises before giving me a chaste kiss goodbye. It wasn't until both Aro and Edward had left the house did I realise that I still had Aro's jacket.
I refused to speak to Bella, even when I'd finished showering and made myself a jam sandwich in the kitchen, we didn't even register each other before I headed back upstairs and shut myself into my room, closing the hatch and changing into my pyjama's.
It wasn't that late, and I had every intention of lying awake until either Aro showed up or the next day began. I fed my arms through the sleeves of his jacket, inhaling his wonderful scent before sliding my window open and burying myself under my duvet to regain the warmth I was letting escape via the opening I had just made.
My head hit the pillow, and surrounded by Aro's comforting scent, even the slight coolness of him left in his jacket made me somehow feel warm. Tears dampened my cheeks as the realisation of what I was talking to Bella about downstairs suddenly hit me. Even now, tucked up in my own bed with Aro far away across town, I could only think about him, all I could smell was him, all I wanted to feel was him. The tears were half from joy, but also half from pain. Pain that I knew we only had a week left before I wouldn't see him again for weeks. Pain that there were a hundred possibilities or scenarios that could make this feeling shatter. However, there was also joy. Joy that even after such a small amount of time, I couldn't deny that I was in love with Aro.
~V~
My whole body jerked awake. The sky outside was dark, and my alarm clock read 02:43, however that number was completely irrelevant when my eyes adjusted to the darkness and sought out the almost luminescent face of Aro sat next to my bed.
"Good morning," he whispers softly. "I'm sorry I woke you so early."
My words didn't come out as English, but I aided my illegible mumbling by throwing the duvet aside and squirming as far over as I possible could to make room for him. Aro quickly discarded his shoes, belt and tie before sliding in next to me.
"I wouldn't have thought my jacket was comfortable nightwear," Aro chuckles, his lips meeting my forehead as he bundled me into his arms. I twisted so my back was against his chest, pulling his arm around to hug. Cold and hard, I didn't care that it felt slightly like hugging an ice block.
"It smells like you," my voice sounded far away from my own ears, sleep had almost reclaimed me completely, now held by Aro I felt more content and relaxed than ever. "But you're better."
He hugged me closer. "I didn't realise I would be gone so long, but knowing that I could hold you even for a few hours was more appealing than staying away."
"I'm happy you're here," I kiss his palm, holding his hand in mine and sleepily playing with his fingers. "Now it's Saturday so we're going to have a lay in."
"A lay in?" He asks and I feel his cheek brush against my hair. "What does that entail?"
I smile and close my eyes, feeling myself drift even further. "You'll just have to wait and see…"
~V~
"Why are you involved again?" I ask dad on Monday morning, he had been trying to explain why the Forks Police department were helping Seattle with a case.
"The boy in question, Riley Biers went missing a year ago, he's from Forks, there are tens of missing person cases just like his happening all over Seattle, they want us in the loop in case they can find a link to his or any of the others disappearance."
"Is there a pattern? Age, gender, race?"
"No, not that anyone can see, fairly young, no one over the age of thirty five but no one younger than…seventeen I think," he says. "Regardless of location I want you to be extra careful okay, no randomly going off."
I nod and collect my bag from the bottom of the stairs. "Alright, I'll be safe, I always am," I say and leave the house. Bella had left a few minutes earlier, but she was waiting outside in Edward's car. As I slid into the backseat of the Volvo and Edward took off down the road my thoughts drifted to the events that would occur this Friday at the Cullen's graduation party.
It would be my final day with Aro, a whole month spent in his company, it felt like we'd known each other years, yet at the same time this month had flown by far too quickly. I would have to get him a present to say goodbye, but I'm not sure what I could get for him, nothing that would ever compete with the plane tickets he got me. I was also slightly nervous of his promise, 'if I still wanted to', how could I not? A thought came to my mind, something I had never done before but decided that for this, for someone so special to me I would just have to get over the embarrassment.
Everyone was buzzing at school, only four more full days before we'd be free of compulsory education and allowed to fly out into the world to fend for ourselves. Most of my friends had forgotten about grilling me on my boyfriend and were more focused on getting people to write in their graduation books and take cheesy pictures to remember each other when they were at college. Jessica pulled me over after English Literature for a photo together. We were locker buddies, so had a obligatory snap in front of our lockers. It was quite a relaxed day. None of the teachers really taught us anything, all our work was submitted and the tests had been completed, some of the grumpy ones made us do proper work while the others gave us tips on how to deal with 'real life'.
At lunch Alice came and spoke to me.
"Have you decided what you're going to wear on Friday?" She asks.
"I was just going to go for jeans," I shrug. "Why is there a dress code?"
"It's a graduation party!" She shakes her head as if that fact made something change. "And I overheard a little birdie say you invited Aro?"
"Well he is staying with you, so he was going to be there anyway," I shrug again feeling my cheeks warm.
"As your boyfriend," Alice adds with a smirk. "So you've got to dress to impress."
"I've got a dress I wore on our first date, he liked that, I'll just wear it again."
Alice scoffed and held her hands up as if praying. "No, no, no, you cannot wear that again," she states firmly. "You'll come to Port Angeles, tonight with me?"
"Tonight?"
"Yeah, we won't be too long, we'll grab dinner together if we run late."
"Um, I'll have to ask my dad, but um, sure," I smile and Alice beams.
"Fantastic!"
I text dad asking permission, unsure whether I wanted his answer to be a yes or no, Alice was slightly intense for my liking and spending time with her meant less time to spend with Aro. Dad replied with a simple 'okay', and I sighed internally when I let Alice know before final period.
At the end of the day Alice came and found me and we made our way across the car park to a Yellow Porsche, everyone at school had kind of gotten used to how eccentric the Cullen's were, but this, was an extra step.
"So, have any plans for after Friday night?" She asks once we were well underway and leaving Forks behind us.
"Um, just going to hang out with Aro, as he leaves on Saturday," I say, probably just highlighting the obvious.
"No nice last evening plans then?" Alice inquires raising a dainty eyebrow and staring more at me than the road. I'd never spent much time with any of the Cullen's alone. Carlisle had seen and spoken to me quite a lot when I was in hospital and when I had visited for physio, he was a typical nice doctor, always had a smile and was polite, never asked more questions than necessary even though one of his sons was dating my sister.
Although Alice was nice, I wasn't planning on telling her how I planned to drag Aro away from the party so he could fulfil his promise, or how I was actually going to use her impromptu shopping trip to gather myself some supplies. "I'm not sure, he'll probably surprise me, he's good at doing that."
"Oh yes," Alice smiles. "Aro is very good at surprises, although you have thrown him, he usually has a much better knack for understanding people."
"Does he not understand me?" I ask tentatively.
"I think that is just another reason as to why he is so infatuated with you, he likes puzzles."
"I'm a puzzle?"
"That's not a bad thing," Alice grins. "As I said, he loves puzzles."
Alice parked outside a boutique full of dresses and outfits worthy of…well, Alice Cullen. She picked a few things out for herself and insisted that I try some on even though they were way out of my price range.
"You have to let me buy that for you!" Alice exclaims as I stand before the mirror, the pale shimmery lilac skirt swishing around my mid-calf. I was very pretty but if I allowed Alice to buy me the skirt then I'd had to search for a top to match, and I doubt Alice would allow me to pair it with anything less than designer. "In fact, I'm not giving you a choice, you and Bella are far too stubborn, neither of you let me treat you!"
I didn't argue against her, but there was no reason for Alice to treat me. She'd given Bella birthday and Christmas presents, but I had never received nor wanted anything from any of the Cullen's.
The price that was rung up at the cash register made me feel light headed, but Alice just waved her card as if it were the easiest thing in the world spending a few hundred dollars in an afternoon.
Alice ushered me back into the car, shoving our shopping bags in the back and cheerfully ignoring my protests to spending any more of her money. "Nonsense!" She exclaims and turns her beast of a car on, the engine growling to life. "Please let me treat you to just a top, to complete the outfit?"
"Alice," I sigh and her short hair bounces as she shakes her head. "Fine, but it has to be less than half the price of that skirt."
"Kill joy," she smirks and drives us through the town to a collection of shops. We searched for a suitable top to match my skirt, once again Alice made me try on many an item of clothing and change shop three times before we settled on something we both agreed on. A slightly cropped purple (slightly darker than the skirt) with a silver mesh overlay, Alice was certain that it would work perfectly with the sparkles sewn into the skirt.
"Okay, you're right," I say as we head out of the shop and start making our way back to the car. "It is a better outfit than I ever would have found by myself."
"You'll look stunning on Friday," Alice smiles. "It's a shame Bella won't let me dress her up, she is insisting on jeans," she cringes.
"To be fair, I was going to wear jeans until you asked me to come out this afternoon," I admit, my eye suddenly caught the edge of a chemist. "Hey, Alice do you mind if I pop in there, just need to pick up a few things."
"Sure, I'll come with you," she grins and skips towards the entrance.
"Um, it's ugh…" I racked my brain for another excuse. "I need to pick up some lady stuff, you know," I hoped the awkward shrug of my shoulders and the grimace I held was enough to deter her from coming inside with me.
"Oh," Alice's mouth made a small, but perfectly shaped O. "I'll run these bags back to the car and I'll meet you outside." I grinned with a breath of relief and thanked her while passing the shopping bags over.
The door chimed as I entered, it was practically empty save for the young man behind the counter who was reading a comic and a woman was trying to balance her young child at her hip while reaching for baby formula at the same time.
I wove up and down the aisles trying to find what I was looking for, unsure whether it would be in the male or female sections, or perhaps split between the two. In the end I found an entire shelving unit stocked with various bits and pieces next to the mouthwash. Pervious to this very moment I had never really thought that buying anything like this would prove much of a challenge but I had been proven wrong.
There were tens of different boxes, all labelled with promises of different things, her pleasure, his pleasure, tingling, thin, large, extra large, durable, flavoured. My eyes got larger at flavoured, a whole bundle of images flooding my mind as to why you'd ever want or need a condom to be flavoured. I picked up a box from the shelf and inspected the reasonably plain packaging. Ribbed for her pleasure. Heat flooded my cheeks and I returned the box to the shelf, would Aro be offended by these? From my own experience with males – regardless if they were teenage boys – they all believed that they needed no assistance in the bedroom, because every man knew what he was doing in that department. Although I could never believe any of the boys from school, I had no doubt that Aro would know exactly what he was doing.
I ignored the ones with specific sizes, again I didn't want to offend and finally decided on the thin ones, because the packaging reassured me that they had equal durability and protection as the regular ones but with an undisrupted feel.
The next item on my list I had been throwing back and forth since we'd left Forks, but I thought I would get some anyway just to cover all bases. Once again there were lots of flavoured ones, some that claimed to provide certain sensations but they freaked me out, so I chose a plain hypoallergenic lubricant and took my two purchases to the counter.
The young man raised his eyes from his comic when I arrived, his eyebrows kept climbing as he ran the two items through the till and asked for the money. With my cheeks flaming I shoved the plastic bag inside my rucksack and went outside to wait for Alice.
~V~
We had made good time so I talked Alice out of stopping for food, a jam sandwich at home would see me through and I was excited to see Aro, although with the items in my rucksack gaining weight by the second I'm not sure if I could ever stop blushing when I saw him again.
We pulled up outside my house, multiple cars were outside. Dad's cruiser was in the drive, Bella and just pulled up in her truck, Edward's Volvo was parked on the curb and Aro's Audi was across the road.
"Crikey, some gathering," I smile warily as Alice brings the Porsche to a stop just behind the Volvo. Bella stepped out of the passenger side of the truck, clutching her arm to her chest while Jake jumped out of the cab and strode around to the front of the house.
It was like watching a slow motion unfold. Edward seemed to tense up to a height I never realised he had, while Jacob took an equally menacing stance. Alice and I scrambled out of her car but didn't exactly rush towards the impending fight.
"If you ever touch her against her will again!" Edward's voice was a cross between a shout and a growl, it made the hairs on my neck stand on end at its venomous.
"Edward don't do this-" Bella's futile attempt at talking them down was brushed aside.
"She's not sure on what she wants," Jacob fires back, he looked older than when I'd seen him the other day, older and taller and bigger and scarier.
"Let me give you a clue," Edward pushes closer to Jacob, their noses almost touching as they growled at each other. "Wait for her to say the words."
"Fine," Jacob sneers. "And she will."
"Jacob just go, okay," Bella pleads, trying to push her way in between the two boys. The front door opened spreading light down over the porch and the front path.
"Hey, hey, hey," Dad hurried down the steps in full police mode ready to break up the fight, he managed to part the two of them with somewhat ease but I think they decided that having a full blown fight in front of my dad was going to do them no favours. "What's going on?" Dad asks, looking between the two of them like scolded school children. I was too focused on the events unfolding before me that I jumped slightly when a familiar hand came to rest on my shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Aro asks softly.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," I smile. "Which one do you reckon will get kicked off our land first?" I ask under my breath with a smirk.
"I kissed Bella," Jacob's voice met my ears and I returned my attention back to the unfolding events before me. "And she broke her hand…punching my face."
My own hand rose to cover my mouth, I wasn't sure whether it was to smother my gasp of shock, or the tumbling laughter that followed. If her love triangle wasn't awkward enough.
"It was just a misunderstanding," Jacob says solemnly and all four of them share awkward glances before Dad finally pats Jacob on the shoulder and tells him to leave. Edward insists he take Bella to Carlisle, and even though I could tell dad wanted to protest he couldn't deny that seeing a doctor was probably best.
"Thanks for the afternoon Alice, it was really nice to spend time with you," I thank her and accept her hug as she passes me my bags.
"We need to do it again," she beams. "Just think of all the days out we'll have over summer!"
When Alice had pulled away, following the long-gone tail lights of Edward's Volvo I could finally focus my attention to Aro.
"I missed you." My head turned to look at him, he was wearing jeans and a high necked woollen jumper, so casual and carefree, I just wanted to curl up on the sofa and cuddle him until I fell asleep.
"I missed you too," he smiles and places a kiss against my temple. "But I think it would be best if I went home, just to reassure your father that I'm not forcing myself on you either."
My eyes flickered over to where dad was standing with his arms crossed on the porch. Considering Aro and dad had both been in the house then I assumed they'd been talking, they were practically friends now.
"Okay," I sigh slightly disappointed. "But you'll be back later, right?"
"I'll be as quick as I can," he grins and releases my shoulder. "See you later Charlie," Aro gives an uncharacteristic wave towards my dad who only responds with a nod of his head. Aro walks across the road as I head inside, the soft purr of his car heading off down the road is the last sound I hear before the door shuts behind me.
"Nice trip?" Dad asks eyeing my bags.
"Yeah, picked up an outfit for the party on Friday, Alice is actually really nice," I tell him and he smiles with a nod.
"Yeah, I guess the whole family can't be that bad."
"I think we only have a problem with Edward…What do you think about Jake?"
"Boy needs to learn how to reign in his emotions, got a stiff bit of competition," dad sighs, he was obviously routing for Jake, which is why he didn't seem too concerned over Bella's injury. "You going to come and watch the game?"
"No, I'm going to grab a sandwich and go to bed, Alice's energy and shopping has drained me," I chuckle and leave dad watching the football before I head upstairs. I stored my stuff in my room, the outfit for Friday stowed carefully away in my wardrobe and my other buys secretly hidden away in a shoebox under my bed, I didn't want Aro accidentally happening across them. After showering I changed for bed and waited patiently with the window open while I ate. Aro's head popped into view just as the clock struck eight and I couldn't hold back the smile that took over my face.