"Hey! There he is!"
Emmett Cullen smiled to himself as he pulled off his light jacket and hung it up on the pegs next to the door. Two feet down, he swiped his timecard, punching himself in. It was his favorite time of day.
The smell of ink and…garage filled his sense of smell as he made his way to the middle of the shop. Of course, those weren't the only things he smelled. The adhesive on the pads of paper to his left had just went on, Arnold was applying Typewash liberally to the press rollers ahead of him, and, of course, there was the unmistakable smell of unspilt blood. He tapped his fist on the edge of the large cutting machine his supervisor, Brett, was working at.
"What's new boss?" Emmett greeted him, glancing at the clock. Only 4.
Brett tossed a couple job tickets at the boy, "Here's what we got tonight. Lighter load today. You got a new girl coming in tomorrow."
"I do?" He glanced up from the tickets he was reading. It was rare they had a new employee. Emmett had been there almost two years, nearly the newest one there if it hadn't been for Cameron leaving and needing to be replaced by Alex. Of course, Stacy had left and come back after Emmett started, but that didn't really count….
"Yup. High school kid's joining ya on evenings. Some girl that a friend of Kevin knows or something? Just moved to town and needs a job." Brett dragged him out of his thought spiral.
Emmett nodded in response. It would be nice to have someone else on evenings to keep him company aside from Tyler. Everyone else in the print shop left at 4:30 or 5 and there was no second shift – it was much too small to need it. That, and Tyler wasn't around much, being that he didn't actually work for the company. Instead, he rented out the portion of the shop that was only attached through the garage on the backside to run his own company.
The only reason Emmett worked evenings was due to school during most of the year and even then he only worked 4-7, and the occasional weekend if they were super busy. Not that he needed the hours or the money, but the practice was priceless.
"Figured we could have you train her in since you'll be working the same hours. You've been here long enough you know what you're doing." Brett continued. "Besides, maybe you can get a social life out of it."
Em rolled his eyes, "You know I have a girlfriend, right? I only talk about her always."
"Ahh yes. The mysterious girlfriend we've never seen."
"Dude. I've showed you pictures!"
Brett shrugged and gave him a wink, "You're good at photoshop?"
"You need a girlfriend?" Jim yelled from across the shop. He grabbed something off the table beside him and wandered over.
Emmett shook his head. He could only imagine what was coming. Jim was a balding, white haired man that had been with the company since it began nearly 50 years ago. Despite his age, he was an…interesting character. Never married, and personally Emmett could see why, he was quite interested in women…a little too interested if anyone asked.
"Here ya go," Jim threw a calendar at Em. Emmett only glanced at it while it flew through the air, but it was enough to make him groan.
"Jim…" Emmett threw it back almost as soon as it touched his hands, "I don't want your porno calendar."
Brett busted out laughing, "Throw that damn thing away!"
Emmett turned and got to work before Jim had the chance to argue. It wasn't really a porno calendar. Just one with a bunch of women in swimsuits. A local bar had them print it a couple weeks ago and Jim was "holding onto the extras just in case." Em wasn't sure why. Jim had taken three of them home after they made count. In any case, he wasn't about to ask.
An hour away, in a military apartment complex on the outskirts of Port Angeles, Alexandria Hensley was throwing clothes into drawers of her dresser. She really wasn't sure why she was unpacking. This was the 3rd time she'd been relocated in the last year and she wasn't at all convinced that they'd last long here. Nothing ever lasted too long here.
Across the room, her roommate, Kaufmann, was doing something similar with his clothing, though his organization method was…nonexistent. Her other two roommates, who were also crammed into the one-bedroom apartment, had finished hours ago and were tossing a foam football across the room.
"Can't believe you waited until the last minute to do this." Anderson chided, watching Hensley.
"This is usually you, fuck-face." Hensley rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see it. Her English accent sharp against his American one.
The four of them were quite a match. Kaufmann was the oldest at 22. His dark shaggy/curly hair was quite unusual for the military, especially their branch, but somehow he got away with it. Hensley figured he swooned the Captain's daughter with his Texan accent.
Red, who was named for his flaming red hair, had a southern accent of his own, though his voice was deep and rarely joking, unlike Kaufmann's. Red was gruff and rough in every sense of the word; hands cracked and rocky from years of intensive training and little care. He had the most scars out of all of them, topping Hensley by three.
Anderson was only the youngest in terms of mentality. Though he was 21 like Red, he had a childlike innocence about him that often carried through to his words. He didn't look the youngest, Kaufmann had him beat in that area, due to Anderson's buzzed brown hair. Surprisingly the lack of hair also took away much of his "baby face."
Hensley was the youngest at 16 and the only female of the group. Many were surprised to hear the military letting the four live together, let alone sharing a bedroom, but Hensley was unfazed. She'd practically grown up with them. They were too much like irritating older brothers to her.
"Are you excited?" Kaufmann sang, pausing his work to face her. She could feel his playful eyes staring at the back of her head.
"Not really. It's an hour drive. Why I couldn't attend school here I'm really not quite sure." The foam ball nearly hit her on the back of head, had she not moved out of the way.
Anderson laughed, "Damn! I was really hoping to catch ya off guard there."
Hensley rolled her eyes and threw it back at him, successfully hitting him in the arm while he leaned away.
"It's foam, ya pussy." Kaufmann teased the boy.
"She can make anything hit hard," Anderson whined, "I swear she can make a marshmallow hit painful."
Hensley laughed, "Maybe you have a shite pain tolerance."
"Not all of us can take an arrow to the arm." He shot back.
The other two boys joined in on her laughter, all remembering the day. In order to help his accuracy, the Sargent had Hensley stand in front of Anderson's target. They were hopeful it'd help him slow down and hit, but instead it ended with Hensley taking the arrow to the forearm. She'd been too shocked that he hit her to cry about it – as if there was any crying in their branch anyway.
Anderson had felt terrible about it until a few months later, when Hensley nicked him with a knife during training. She'd misjudged how far apart they were and caught his ear. They learned quick that injury was just part of the process.
They called lights out after tossing the ball around amongst themselves. Hensley could unpack later when there wasn't as many interruptions. As much as they wished they could've stayed up and enjoyed the night, the three boys had work and Hensley had an exciting day of a new school ahead of her.
The worst part about sharing a house with three men was the bathroom wait. Everyone says that women are slow, but Hensley could be showered and dressed 3 times in the time it takes Kaufmann to get his ass out.
She fought Red and Anderson (mostly Anderson) for the bathroom and rushed her routine so they'd quit banging on the door. So what if Anderson had to pee, he could easily go outside.
Breakfast was basically a skip meal by the time she threw on her pair of jeans, t-shirt, and flannel. Kaufmann tossed her a granola bar and handed her a to-go thermos of coffee. She took a grateful sip as she headed downstairs and out the building. He knew how to make her coffee beautifully: with a fuck-ton of sugar and creamer.
A small smile fell on her lips as she got into her Jeep. It wasn't the newest one out there anymore, but it held so many memories. Her baby roared to life as she pushed the start button.
"You sexy beast." She whispered to the car, rubbing the steering wheel.
The drive was quieter than she'd expected it to be, though she wasn't sure why. It wasn't like there'd be tons of people itching to get to Forks. Who even came up with these names anyway? Where was Spoons and Knives?
Hensley used the GPS on her phone to find the school, not that it ended up being terribly difficult. Most of the kids were already in the parking lot by the time she arrived, and the scene of a new vehicle seemed to pique their interest.
If the look of a new car didn't catch their eye, the premise of a new student certainly did. Hensley's arrival wasn't exactly announced to the school district until a few days ago and she was certain the school was under strict instruction to say nothing. After all, Hensley had seen the vetting process for a school being eligible to instruct her and it was not pretty.
She tried to ignore the eyes of strangers as she walked to the main office, bag slung over her shoulder and sunglasses over her eyes. Not like she really needed them. It was pretty cloudy and she suddenly missed the southern skies.
The office was warm, as if compensating for the fall air outside. A shorter woman with cat eye glasses greeted her, "You must be Alexandra."
"Alexan-dria" Hensley corrected with a smile, "but yes. I'm new here."
Mrs. Cope, according to her name tag, seemed surprised at her accent. Not that that was special. Everyone in America was thrilled by the sound of an English voice and often followed the sound by a zillion questions in Hensley's experience. Thankfully, Mrs. Cope didn't seem to have time for that.
"Here's your schedule. Just have all your teachers sign it and return it at the end of the day."
Hensley nodded gratefully and strolled out, trying to memorize the map so she didn't have to stare at it all day. She found her English class easy enough and was instantly doomed to the questions.
Her next three classes were much of the same. Teachers making comments about her accent, a couple brave, or nosy, students welcoming her to Forks, and a riveting lecture to listen to.
Jessica Stanley and her…friend?, Bella, were a constant in her morning classes. Jessica seemed to drone on between lectures, while Bella remained relatively quiet. Through Jessica, Hensley learned that Bella was the Chief of Police's daughter and also new to Forks from Arizona, but Hensley wasn't sure if that was a sick joke or not. Bella was incredibly pale to be coming from such a sunny state. Especially since today it was 84 degrees in Arizona and partly sunny…how could you live in so much sun and be so pasty? Hensley would ask Bella if Jessica would shut up for a few seconds.
…
"Alice wants to go down to Seattle this weekend. I told her I'd think about it. Not that I wouldn't enjoy getting away from the craziness that has been these last couple weeks, but I'm not sure leaving Esme alone with you and Cooper is smart." Rosalie sat at their usual lunchroom table talking to her boyfriend. "I mean, she's basically freaking out about Edward already, but Alice's things change all the-"
"Holy shit." Emmett whispered, staring across the room.
Rosalie shot him a bit of a glare, "Are you listening?"
"Holy shit." He repeated, eyes fixed. Rosalie tried to figure out what he was staring at but didn't see anything interesting. Just Jessica with another new girl. How many people seriously decided to move to Forks for God's sake? Didn't they know there's nothing here?
Emmett stood up and starting walking away.
"Where are you going?" Rosalie demanded, but he was too entranced to listen.
He weaved through the crowds of people that had gathered in the room and around tables, trying to reach her.
Hensley only noticed him thanks to Jessica's "Oh my god" and shocked expression. Her heart stopped momentarily. Her brain racked every source imaginable to try and figure out…how.
Hensley repeated Jessica's phrase, her voice a mere whisper. He smirked at her as he got closer. He recognized her too.
She turned and ran up to him, jumping into his arms for a famous bear hug, "Emmett!"
Emmett spun her around a few times and squeezed her as tight as he dared.
"It's so good to see you!" She exclaimed once he put her down. She turned to face Jessica and Bella, who wore matching shocked expressions.
"Guys…" Hensley stopped herself from introducing him. They went to school here, of course they knew who he was. "This is crazy."
Emmett laughed behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them gently.
"Um, anyway. Emmett and I used to date a few years ago." Hensley laughed nervously, at a loss for words for once.
Jessica's jaw dropped, "What?"
"Yeah, we haven't seen each other in years." Emmett rubbed the back of his neck, "Anyway, um, Lexi, if you wanna come sit with us, we're just over there" Emmett pointed to where Rose, and now most of his other siblings, were sitting.
Hensley looked between Jess and Emmett, "Well, I mean-"
"No, no! You go catch up! Sit with us tomorrow." Jessica encouraged, giving Hensley eyes that said she must spill all details later.
"Okay, sure. I'm just going to grab lunch quick." She pointed to the line. Emmett gave her a thumbs up and headed back to his table.
If it were possible, he would be jittery. Shaking almost, from…nerves? Excitement? Probably both. He was excited to see Lexi again. To have a piece of his human life back. But also, he had so many unanswered questions. Why was she here? How was she here? When they had dated, she was 18, just outta high school. Though realistically she could say the same for him. He had been 21….
"What the hell was that?" Rosalie hissed, glaring at him when he returned to the table that was fuller than he'd left it, "We don't need more humans, Emmett."
"That's Lexi." He whispered excitedly. "That's my Lexi!"
Cooper raised his eyebrows suggestively, "Like, Lexi, Lexi?"
Emmett nodded, choosing to ignore Cooper's choice of gaze. Em had Rose now. Thinking he'd never see Lexi again had wiped any romantic feelings he'd had for her. There was no point in keeping them. He wouldn't have been able to be with her.
"What is she doing here? I thought she was almost as old as you?" The look on Rosalie's face was enough to tell him of her concern. First Edward freaking out over Bella, now Emmett finding Lexi. It was definitely a weird couple weeks.
"I dunno. We were both done with high school when we dated. She looks so…similar though. Like she hasn't aged at all either." He whispered, turning to wave at the girl in question as she walked up.
Hensley took a seat next to Emmett, glancing around the table at his…friends? Family? Her eyes stopped at the boy next to her on the opposite side.
For a moment…the world stopped.
Simultaneously, without either of them realizing it, Hensley and Alice had a vision.
Alice's face was filled with glee. Hensley's…confusion.
Emmett, seemingly unnoticing of the shift in the universe, introduced everyone, "Okay, Lexi, this is my girlfriend, Rosalie."
Hensley tore her eyes away from the boy to eye up Rose. She was beautiful, blonde hair nearly the same shade as Hensley's and sharp features. Her eyes were cautious, but Hensley couldn't blame her. If she knew their story, Hensley and Emmett's story, then she had every right to be.
"Her twin brother, Cooper."
Hensley's eyes flashed to boy next to her. He was cute. A small smile crossed his pale lips. His hair was longer for a boy, but not nearly as long as the boy Hensley had locked eyes with earlier, and pushed back out of his face. Cooper and the other blonde male looked much closer in features than he and Rosalie did, but fraternal twins didn't have to look the same.
"His girlfriend, Alice."
The small girl waved with a huge grin on her face. She was the only one who spoke, "We'll be great friends, I'm sure of it." She was so confident. Almost as if she really knew.
"Careful before you make promises. Hasn't Emmett told you any story about me? I bite." Hensley winked at Alice and smirked at Emmett.
"No kidding," Emmett agreed with an eye roll, "Lexi's a stone-cold bitch."
Almost as if it were reflex, Hensley slapped Emmett on the arm. His arm was cold, even through his long-sleeved shirt she could tell that, and hard from his years of work.
"Ow!" Emmett hissed, rubbing his arm. "I forgot how hard you hit. Damn."
Hensley was debating on apologizing until she saw the smirks on everyone else's faces. She found one to match theirs and shrugged, "Man up."
"This is Jasper," Alice finished Emmett's introductions while he continued to baby his arm. "I'm sure you guys will be very close." Once again Alice gave her a knowing eye, which was really starting to freak her out…there was no way that Alice could see what she saw…could there?
Another boy, very similar to the ones Hensley was already sitting with, pulled the chair out between her and Jasper and sat down, eyeing her up suspiciously.
"Damn. I was hoping you got hit by a car on the way here." Rosalie rolled her eyes at him, boredly checking her nails. Hensley scoffed at her comment, looking between the newcomer and Rose to see if he had an interesting insult to throw back. He did not.
"Who's this?" He gestured to Hensley.
She spoke up before anyone could answer for her, "Hi. I know this might come as a surprise to you, but I have a voice. I'm Hensley."
"Hensley?"
"Alexandria Hensley."
"This is my Lexi." Emmett interjected, breaking the cool conversation between them and putting a hand on Lexi's shoulder. "Lexi, this is my youngest brother, Edward."
Edward looked from her, to Emmett, and finally at Jasper, "Charming."
"Quite unlike your personality." Hensley muttered before taking a drink of her milk.
Rosalie purposefully met her gaze and laughed, "I like you."
"Cool."
"We'll be great friends." Rosalie mimicked Alice's tone from earlier, earning her own glare from the smallest girl.
Hensley smirked back at her, "Yes, we will."
The rest of lunch was less…stiff. Emmett and Cooper easily carried the conversation, breaking away the awkwardness with their jests and jokes. Rosalie, Edward, and Jasper remained quite quiet for the remaining conversation, but Hensley could feel Jasper's eyes on her.
Jasper was…in shock. He knew Lexi. Well, knew her scent. The same scent Emmett had blessed him with when Rosalie brought him home to be changed. The same scent Jasper missed when it faded from Emmett's person and clothes much too quickly. The scent he thought he enjoyed because he was desired her blood, but now knew he enjoyed because…well, that was complicated.
Hensley couldn't help but wonder if Jasper had felt the same thing she had earlier in the period. It was…a weird feeling. Nothing changed…but something changed. She couldn't pinpoint what it was. She felt comfortable? Like she knew she could trust him, which was strange considering they hadn't said anything to each other.
But even thinking about the rest of them, there was something so familiar about them. Like she'd seen their features before. Hensley scanned her memories of books and movies; they did have model-like beauty. She didn't have much exposure with media. Well, nothing past the magazines she'd seen at grocery stores…speaking of, she needed food for dinners. Maybe she could talk the boys into going with her tonight after work.
The bell signaling the end of the period rang, breaking her out of her grocery list.
"Where you going, Little Red?" Emmett asked, stretching as he stood.
She rolled her eyes at the past nickname, rightfully obtained from her red-hot temper and quickness to "throw some hands" as Emmett called it. "Um, biology I think."
"Biology?" Jasper spoke his first word. Hensley's heart took over on its own at the sound of a southern drawl to his voice. She tried to remind herself to stay calm as she nodded.
"Mr. Banner?" He asked, their eyes locked on each other.
"Uh, yeah." Hensley quickly found her voice, mentally remembering the paper with her schedule.
Jasper gave her a small smile, making her heart a complete puddle of goop now, "I'll walk with you."
Unbeknown to Hensley, her lips formed the same smile back at him, "Okay."
Also, unbeknown to Hensley, something shifted in her male counterpart that day as well.
Her legs carried her away with Jasper behind her, having gestured for her to go ahead as the path narrowed.
Emmett was thoroughly offended, scoffing at the pair, "Uh, bye!" He called after them shaking his head at his siblings.
"Oh hush," Alice waved him off, positively giddy at the exchange, "they're going to get married. It'll be great! Come on, Cooper."
Alice skipped away leaving the four confused ones behind.
On the walk to and throughout biology, Hensley and Jasper learned many things about their table partners.
They both enjoyed rock music. They both had love/hate relationships with the rowdiness of their households. They both enjoyed strategy games. They were both planners.
She moved here from Georgia after being relocated by the army. He, like Kaufmann, was originally from Texas.
She had family in England and had dual citizenship (hence the accent). He moved to Forks a couple years ago with his adoptive family.
She had three older, half-brothers in England. Cooper and Rosalie were two years older than him.
Her mother passed away weeks after her birth. His parents passed away many years ago.
"Why don't you stay with your father in England?" Jasper asked as they gathered their things.
"Oh, um…he's not my dad. He's my step-dad. But, even if he were my dad, I couldn't stay with him. I'm somewhat of a government commodity." She laughed, leading the way out of the biology lab. "Gym?"
Jasper pointed in the direction she needed to go, trying to decide which piece of that information he wanted to unpack first. He was nothing, if not practical so the more pressing information had to be discussed first, "Government Commodity?"
"Yeah, it's a…difficult thing to explain. I really can't say a whole lot about it. Basically, I'm a too-young member of the marines."
Jasper smiled, remembering his own days as a "too-young member of the military," "Fair enough. So, you're pretty…into the military thing then?"
"Not at all by choice. I've been trying to get out for years." She muttered, a new bitter taste in her mouth. "My father's been fighting them to let me out. We're making slow improvements. For example, I'm here instead of some jail cell-like room in there. I've only got two more years anyway. Once I turn 18 I'm 'officially' free."
"You're only 16?" He mused, not having realized she was so young. Especially if she had dated Emmett when he was still human.
She nodded, "Yup. Young junior over here because I'm a fucking genius."
Jasper resisted the urge to laugh, "Well, genius, enjoy your gym class." He gestured to the gym doors. "I'll see you next period for study hall."
Her eyes lit up in only a way he noticed. She hadn't realized she had that class with him as well. That fact made the chances of next period being more interesting higher than she had originally thought.
"Get outta here Jazzman, it's our turn with Little Red." Emmett slapped Jasper's back while Cooper leaned on the boy's shoulder.
"Yeah, Jazzman," He repeated in a similar drawl to Jasper's, "get lost."
Jasper forced a smile, "God help you."
God help her indeed.
…
As much as she was thinking she'd need God's help of some kind, she was fortunate enough not to have to play volleyball with a very aggressive Emmett. Not today anyway. Tomorrow she would not be so lucky.
To Hensley's surprise, Jasper was waiting for her outside the gym doors. Emmett saw him first, alerting her to his presence with a dramatic groan.
He looked nervous but seemed to relax when he caught her eye. Cooper rolled his eyes, giving Jasper a nice punch on the arm, "Chillax, Jerkoff."
"Guess what? Little Red has study period with us." Emmett announced cheerfully, putting his arm around Hensley's shoulders. This was not news to Jasper, though he was much too focused on something else to care about what Emmett was saying.
The next sentence was harder to catch, but Hensley pieced it together. Jasper's low voice was equal parts rough and threatening, "If you know what's good for you, you'll take your arm off of her shoulders."
Hensley was confused by his words. Emmett wasn't hurting her at all. He was simply being friendly, and considering her and Emmett's past, he had been much friendlier once upon a time.
Emmett didn't seem to be phased by Jasper's words because he didn't remove his arm. It wasn't until they came up to their classroom that Emmett released her. Hensley turned her head as they entered the classroom and noticed Jasper's steady glare directed at his brother.
She tried not to be too concerned as she walked up to the teacher to have her slip signed. Once that was done, she took her seat next to Jasper. Rosalie walked in a few moments later plopping down next to Emmett.
After the teacher had taken attendance, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and a couple other students got up.
"You coming?" Emmett asked, turning around as he threw his backpack over his shoulder.
She looked at Jasper who was staring at her, awaiting her response, "Where are you going?"
"Just the cafeteria. It tends to be quieter out there." Emmett explained.
"Sure." Hensley shrugged and grabbed her things. Rosalie led the way back down the hall and they got a spot at their lunch table.
Hensley was in the middle of taking out her homework when Rosalie spoke to her.
"So, Lexi, what embarrassing things can you tell us about Emmett?"
Emmett's typical smile fell off of his face immediately as his head snapped over to stare blankly at his girlfriend. He quickly turned to Hensley, a small frown now forming, "Don't you dare."
Hensley looked back at him, a mischievous smirk on her face, "You mean you don't want me to tell her about the time you got so drunk you dry humped a barstool?"
Rosalie burst out laughing, eyes solely on Emmett who had his crushed shut.
"Or I could tell her about-" She was cut off by Emmett's hand firmly clamped over her mouth. Jasper, who was sitting on the other side of her, leaned over her to take a firm hold of Emmett's wrist, anger pouring out of his eyes.
Once Rosalie realized what was going on she straightened up, sending a glare Jasper's way. Jasper seemed to "sober up" as well, quickly removing his hand from Emmett.
"Well this got awkward quick." Hensley commented once Emmett also removed his hand from her mouth.
Jasper sighed, "I thought he'd hit you."
"Oh, if he'd hit me you'd have known it, because his ass would be on the ground." Hensley sent him a small smile. "Anyway, who wants to hear Emmett's potty-training song?"
Rosalie and Emmett erupted into a chorus of "Oh my God you have to" and "Oh my God please don't. I'll pay you anything," respectively. Emmett and Hensley were working out a hefty bargain to keep her quiet, but Jasper was no longer paying attention. Instead, the blond was racking his brain to try and figure out what the hell had just happened.
Jasper was used to feeling slightly out of control. Sometimes his thoughts would wander, and he would get…lost. He never acted on it; sometimes his mind was just uncooperative. But to have completely lost control, to attack Emmett mindlessly was completely new territory. He hadn't even realized he was going after him until it was too late.
Sure, Emmett was their newest addition to the vegetarian lifestyle, but even when Emmett was a newborn Jasper had never reacted with such intensity. Had he been cautious, absolutely. But to have such rage over another person's actions was unfamiliar. Jasper never had any issues with his family's friendliness towards others before.
By the time they'd finished school and returned home, Jasper was over thinking about his incidents. He was set on thinking that his heightened cautiousness was simply due to the fact that Emmett's newfound friend was potentially dangerous. She had obviously known Emmett during his time as a human. She knew that Emmett had graduated once before and been done with school. She was a threat to their family. That's why he was so…protective. It was also why he'd been so keen on getting to know her. He was also trying to pry into her past, figure out why she was there.
It seemed, though, that Edward and Rosalie were not done with this conversation. So, when Esme cheerfully asked how their day was, as she tended to do every day after school, Jasper was thrown off when Rosalie informed her that their family was in danger and that Jasper was "weird about it."
"What do you mean?" Esme asked, now completely concerned. She looked to Edward first, then Alice.
"Emmett found Lexi." Alice informed her, "like, Lexi from when he was human."
Esme nodded slowly, taking in all of the information, "Oh…. And how was that? Was she at school?"
"She just moved here. She's apparently only 16, despite her being 18 when her and Emmett were together." Edward filled her in. Jasper briefly wondered how he could know such a thing, before remembering that Edward and Isabella had been sitting just in front of them as they talked during Biology.
"Did she say anything? What was she thinking?"
"I'm not sure," Edward frowned, "I can't read her mind."
"Maybe you're losing your touch, Eddyboy. First Bella, now Lexi…." Cooper eyed up Edward. Confusion radiated from his person, no doubt about the fact that Edward seemingly was losing his touch. Was such a thing even possible?
Edward's emotions quickly became frustrated, "I'm not losing my touch. I can read everyone else's mind clearly."
"Maybe because you're used to our minds. These two are from out of town. Maybe you should get out of town and see if you still got it."
"I did go out of town. I'm fine." Edward snapped. The thought of him losing his mind reading ability irritated him greatly. Jasper couldn't help but wonder if it was a source of pride for him. Edward's narrowed eyes turned to him, "We're not talking about me. We're talking about you."
"Actually," Jasper corrected, "we were discussing the implications of human Emmett's previous girlfriend showing up in our town."
"And how freakishly protective over her you are." Cooper butted in, taking a seat next to Alice and putting his arm around her. Sometimes Jasper regretted going back for him.
Alice shrugged under Cooper's arm, "He should be protective over her. They're going to get married."
"What?" Edward, Jasper, and Cooper all stared at Alice.
"Talk about a downgrade." Cooper smirked. "She's clearly mentally damaged."
Before Jasper really knew what he was doing, him and Cooper were tumbling to the ground, Jasper snarling and baring his teeth at his brother. He was seething and his voice conveyed every ounce of it, "Say something about her again. Do it."
Two arms grabbed him around his stomach, heaving him off of a very confused Cooper. "Come on, Jasper. Snap outta it."
"Talk about me however you want, but don't you dare say anything about her." Jasper growled as he struggled slightly against Edward's grasp. He tried to shoot daggers at Cooper with his eyeballs.
Esme looked from the situation currently unfolding to the rest of her family, "Perhaps we should wait for Carlisle and Emmett to get home."
…
As luck would have it, Emmett was at work. With Lexi.
Emmett had forgotten all about the fact that there was a new girl at work with the excitement of Lexi re-entering his life. As luck would have it, the new girl was Lexi. Obviously.
"Brett, this is Little Red. Careful, she throws hands." Emmett introduced her to the manager with a grin.
Hensley rolled her eyes, "That was once."
"Twice." Emmett corrected.
Hensley stared at Brett, "Do you have any dangerous machinery?"
Thankfully, Brett picked up on her subtle joke and laughed, "Can I leave you two alone here?"
Brett told Emmett what they would be doing tonight and then they got to work. Emmett gave her a quick tour, introducing her to everyone who was still there and hadn't left early. He then went about explaining job tickets; what to look for and how to read them. Finally, he got her setup on their nightly project. Overall, the whole process, at least the part she'd be doing, seemed very simple.
Around 4:30 everyone in the production areas left for the day and at 5 the salespeople left, leaving her and Emmett alone in the building.
As they worked, they chatted about "safe" topics. Neither of them brought up the fact that they were…younger than the other remembered. Neither of them brought up the fact that they hadn't aged since they'd seen each other last. It was peaceful. At some point she heard noise coming from the garage and she eyed it curiously.
"That's just Tyler. He's the dude that rents out that back space." Emmett explained upon seeing her look for the noise.
Sure enough, Tyler did appear and came to say hi. Tyler was older, probably in his late 40's Hensley estimated and smelled heavily of cigarettes. He had a good sense of humor though, cracking jokes and helping her take jabs at Emmett, which earned her the nickname "Bruiser". Hensley decided she liked him.
As her and Emmett worked, Tyler asked her about herself, where she was from and what brought her to Forks, until their shift was over. He went back to work then; which Hensley thought was ludicrous. It was 7pm.
"He basically lives here." Emmett laughed when Hensley shared her surprise. "He's divorced, his daughter's in college, and his son is grown and working, so he doesn't really have much tying him down. He's a good dude though."
Hensley agreed.
….
The Cullen household was no less of a mess when Emmett got home than when his siblings had got home. In fact, one might say it was more of a mess because Carlisle was pissed. And no one had ever seen that.
"You!" Carlisle was instantly in Emmett's face when he walked in the door. It took Em approximately ½ a second to realize that Carlisle was seething and that it was apparently because of something Emmett did. He tried to think of all the things he could've possibly done wrong. Cooper and him did fight in the living room a few weeks ago, but they didn't break anything that time. In fact, it'd been quite some time since Emmett had broken any furniture, with Cooper or otherwise.
Emmett pointed to himself, watching the concerned and humored faces of his family fall into view, "Me?"
"You." Carlisle was now inches from Emmett's face, "You did what with my daughter?!"
"Your daughter?"
"My daughter! Alexandria."
Emmett's eyes widened a little, "Alexandria…"
"Hensley." Him and Carlisle finished her name at the same time.
Emmett nodded, "Oh no…."
….
The next day was fairly uneventful. Hensley showed up for school. The Cullen's showed up for school. Hensley was subject to Jessica's never-ending questions about how her and Emmett used to date, but thankfully Hensley was prepared.
Truthfully, she wasn't sure how Emmett was in high school with her either, but she knew he had to be thinking the same for her. Either way, Hensley came up with a nice cover story for both of them, explaining to Jessica that they'd dated back in middle school, before Emmett was apparently adopted by his foster parents. Hensley played along, quite well judging by Jessica's expression, to the news that Emmett's parents had passed away and he had been moved to foster care. Unfortunately, though, Hensley hadn't been able to keep much contact with him due to her moving around so much with the military.
Jessica ate it up, so Hensley took it as a win.
Even Bella shook her head sadly, "That's gotta be awful. Losing your parents so young."
"Yeah." Hensley agreed, thinking about her lack of motherly affection in her life, "I'm just sorry I couldn't be there for him more during that time. It sounds like he's got a great set of foster parents though."
Jessica agreed, "Yeah, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen are like foster-parent/match-makers."
This caught Hensley's attention. "Dr. Cullen?"
"Yeah, their foster dad is a Doctor. As if you couldn't tell from their expensive cars and clothes." Her voice only held a hint of jealousy, but Hensley was much more focused on the new realizations that were coming to her.
Cullen could not have been that common of a last name. Right? And if it wasn't, then she knew exactly who Dr. Cullen was.
Interestingly enough, it seemed her and Emmett had a bit more in common than either of them realized.
Hensley wanted to leave it alone. She knew that asking could be detrimental to her current situation, but how long until Emmett figured out what she did? Not that it particularly mattered. Carlisle wasn't obligated to tell them anything and she really didn't think the government would come knocking on his door anytime soon. They hadn't for a few years now. Not since Hensley was moved to a more…stable position.
She knew she was freaking out and not at all for the reason that most people would be panicking.
Her fear was not that Emmett was a vampire. She knew that. Hell, she was practically one herself. Her fear was being unnecessarily transferred. She finally had a chance to get closer to Carlisle and his family. Hell would freeze before she let the military get in the way of that again. They'd done enough damage.
Hensley was still distracted after lunch. Jasper tried not to say too much about it and instead suffered in silence at her unwillingness to talk. Most people in this school thought he and his family were weird and to be avoided. He could only hope that Hensley didn't fall prey to those same ideals.
Jasper couldn't blame her if she had. Humans had a fairly decent danger-detector, even if some didn't utilize it. Humans knew they had to stay away from his family. Could they really explain why? No, but that worked out better anyway.
Thankfully Jasper's fears were quickly subsided.
Aside from the weekend, because she had no reason to visit and had no idea where they lived, Hensley spent a lot of time with the Cullen's the next few days. Jasper in particular.
Of course, she was interested in getting to know the rest of her family, but there was something about Jasper that just…pulled her in. Like an invisible connection between them that kept pulling them together when they got too far apart.
Hensley hoped that she wasn't the only weird one who felt this way, but by the way her and Jasper talked continuously during lunches and study hall, she had her doubts that she was.
Though she talked to the Cullen's continuously, one topic in particular was never brought up. It seemed as if they'd created a truce of sorts. She never brought up the fact she knew they were vampires and they never brought up the fact that she was not supposed to be in high school (well, by Emmett's memories anyway). It worked nicely, actually. Made things simpler, for now.
For now, being that there was still the issue of her vision the first day of school. If her vision was to come true, the topic would have to be brought up eventually. But for now, she was content to let the elephant in the room stay. It wasn't bothering anyone. Let it sit in the corner and eat peanuts if it pleased.
Her "brother's" as Emmett still occasionally called them, even though he knew the truth now, were not as content to let the elephant stay.
"I really don't see why it matters so much." She shrugged, drying a cup that Anderson had finished washing.
"Because, aren't you curious? I mean, he was what? 22 when we met him?" Kaufmann tried to remember his previous conversations with human Emmett. "I mean, it's a little weird."
"Okay, but he could easily come back and say the same thing to me. I was '18' when we were together. What am I doing back in high school?" Hensley shot back.
"He's not military though."
"You realize that being in the military doesn't usually change your age, yes?"
Red agreed, "Exactly. And there's no way he can know about this." He gestured to the four of them. "Too much confidential shit being explained there."
Kaufmann shrugged, leaning up against a counter, "I get it. I do. I know it's easier not to talk about it, but if you're going to bone his brother-"
"Oh my god!" Hensley threw her hands up and spun around to face her friend, "I just met the kid last week."
Kaufmann shrugged again, this time with a more suggestive look on his face, "Didn't stop you with Emmett."
Hensley took the towel she was using and whipped it at Kaufmann with a satisfying snap as it hit him in the thigh. "You bitch." He cussed with a laugh, rubbing the spot she'd hit.
She was in the middle of laughing when it hit her. A stabbing pain right in her chest. "Ahh…" Hensley immediately fell to her knees, clutching her chest. She scanned her body, mainly her chest, for any signs of malfunction but found nothing. A phantom pain. A damn painful one.
All three boys were down beside her as soon as their brains registered the situation.
"What's going on?" Kaufmann demanded.
"Do you need a doctor?" Red eyed her, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.
Anderson added, "A hospital?"
"I'm f-fine." Hensley muttered her voice just as strained as her chest. "Probably just muscle spasms."
"Probably?" Red questioned again, looking skeptical. It was…well, never, that Hensley didn't know what was wrong with her.
Hensley nodded, her voice a little more even this time, "All good." Eventually, as she got used to the pain, she stood and stretched. The boys stared at her suspiciously but seeing that she wasn't dying on them in the very near future they tried to relax. Hensley resumed drying dished and tried to act like everything was good. She could still feel their eyes on her, waiting for something to happen.
She couldn't blame them. She was far from all good. She'd never had unexplained pain before, especially not with her military enhancements. A small wave of panic washed over her at this. Was something malfunctioning? Was she injured and didn't know it? It didn't feel…serious? More like a pulled muscle at this point.
The more she thought about it the more content she convinced herself to be with it. She probably wasn't dying. That probability was insanely slim. And as long as she wasn't dying, she could easily handle whatever was wrong.
Aside from the ache that she couldn't shake, the rest of the night and the next morning were normal. And by the morning, Hensley was pretty satisfied that she pulled a muscle and left it at that.
She arrived at school around her normal time and waited for the Cullen's in the parking lot. It had become a tradition of sorts for them or her, whoever arrived sooner, to wait for them. She saw their familiar vehicles and started to walk over when they parked.
Today however, all of them but Emmett passed by her without a single word. Emmett lingered behind, giving her a sympathic look and a quick apology before trailing after his siblings.
The pain in Lexi's chest got worse.
They ignored her the rest of the school day. She was clearly unwelcome to sit with them, so she sat with Jessica and Bella, eyeing them up painfully. Had she done something wrong? Her brain scrambled to replay their conversations. They seemed cheerful, like they enjoyed her company. Even at work, Emmett and she were pleasant. Was Emmett hurt by a joke she'd made with Tyler?
During study hall they all stayed put. None of them leaving for the cafeteria in case it would give her opportunity to sit with them. That sucked too.
Work was awkward. She wasn't sure if she could talk to Emmett or not. He had been the only one to apologize, but the rest of the day was spent in silence.
Tyler didn't come out to visit, so she ultimately had no reason to talk to Emmett. As they walked to their cars in the parking lot that night, Lexi hesitated by her door. She turned around to face Emmett, who met her eyes.
"I'm sorry for whatever I did."
Emmett looked like he wanted to say something. But he never did.
The next few days were the same. No communication. Awkwardness at work. No one seemed to know why the Cullen's closed themselves off from her. Only Bella seemed remotely sympathetic. Edward had done the same thing to her.
Monday came back around, and by this time, Lexi was quite sick of it. She had apologized. She asked Emmett to talk to her, like a person, and just explain what she did wrong. And she got nothing.
But quite honestly, Jasper hurt the most. Even if she had offended Emmett with a joke, why did he ignore her? Her feelings were only heightened by the fact that she thought they had something. Or at least were beginning to have something. How could he toss her away like she was nothing to him?
She decided she was going to get an answer out of them. One way or another she was going to talk to them.
She waited outside her car for them to arrive like she had all week. As soon as they parked she started for them again, determination set in her face. She figured Jasper would be the easiest to corner. Aside from Emmett, he was the person she knew best. He was the one she really cared about.
Her eyes stared him down the entire walk and once he was close enough, she opened her mouth to speak, "We need to talk."
He walked right by. Not a word.
Anger welled up in her throat. "You guys really have some fucking nerve!" She shouted at them, causing them to slow their pace. "I don't know if Emmett told you, but I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you hate my guts this week."
Jasper stopped. He wanted to face her. He refused to face her. He couldn't.
"Nothing? You guys have nothing to say to me?"
No response. Not even a look. Hensley was pissed.
She dropped her backpack, marching right up to Jasper. With her left hand, she grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Her right? A killer right hook straight to the jaw.
Alice gasped and all of the Cullen's turned to face her now. Emmett quickly rushed to pull Lexi away while Jasper reeled from her hit, his hand on his jaw.
Hurt was in his eyes as he looked at her, which fueled the pain in her chest. Good.
"Easy," Emmett whispered to her.
She shoved him away, "Touch me again. You'll be next." Her eyes were fierce, a slight red tinge to them shining through, which had been the real reason Emmett had picked the nickname "Little Red."
She grabbed her backpack and stormed away, glaring hard at every single Cullen as she went.
Cooper scoffed, "That went well."
Emmett slowly tipped his head back, staring at the sky. Jasper, next to him, felt his jaw. The punch had hurt. Both in his jaw and in his chest. He sighed; his face just as set in anger as Lexi's had been. "Fuck you guys."
Jasper turned and headed inside, fuming nearly as much as the girl before him.
At lunch it was Jasper's turn to corner her. He had grabbed a table by himself on the edge of the lunchroom, waiting for her to get out of the line.
Her and Bella were in line together, having met at Bella's locker earlier. Aside from the Cullen's Bella was the person she'd spent a good amount of time with. They were both new to school and, recently, had Cullen problems, which brought them together.
"I heard you punched Jasper Hale in the face this morning," Bella said conversationally. "Any chance you got a swing in at his brother?"
Hensley knew exactly which Cullen Bella was referencing. Apparently it was a habit of theirs to pretend to be friendly and then dump you. "Do you want me to? I will. Won't even charge ya."
Bella laughed, "Yeah, you should. Tell him it's from Bella, with love."
Hensley joined her in laughing at her movie reference.
Once Lexi started walking to her table with Bella, Jasper made his move.
"Nice face, Hale." She taunted as he approached her.
"We should talk."
Hensley scoffed, "Oh now you wanna talk. Did you decide it's convenient for you to chat with me now?"
Jasper closed his eyes briefly, "I always wanted to talk to you."
Hensley rolled her eyes.
"Please sit with me." Jasper's voice was practically begging. She almost felt bad.
She sighed, "Fine. You have 15 minutes. I'll see you in a bit, Bella."
"Good luck." The other girl muttered, as she went to join Jessica and the lunch group.
Hensley trailed after Jasper to his lonely table and sat down.
"What do you want?" She demanded, opening her chocolate milk and taking a drink.
"I want to apologize for how I and my family have treated you. You should know that it's not how any of us want to go about this, well, except for maybe Edward."
"Yeah, Bella paid me five bucks to punch Edward later in the face today." Hensley partially lied. She had said she'd do it no charge, but the joke was funnier if Bella had paid her.
Jasper smirked, "Do I have to pay to watch?"
"I'll give you the 'Less of An Asshole' discount. You only gotta pay $2.50."
He chuckled at this and for the first time in too long, the tension in her chest finally let up.
"So anyway, what do you mean this isn't how you wanna go about this?"
Jasper glanced to the table his siblings were sitting at and back at her, "Your father is…very protective of you."
Lexi gaped at him. No way. No fucking way. "Are you serious?"
Jasper shrugged. "He thinks it would be best for you…not to have too much contact with…our lifestyle." His voice was low, glancing around again.
Lexi sat back in her chair in disbelief. So, they were the same and that's exactly how she recognized the Cullen's features. Fucking Carlisle Cullen. Meddling in her social life because he didn't want her near too many vampires?! He did remember what she was yes? She rolled her eyes.
"I'm technically breaking his rules by talking to you," Jasper continued, "But I'm not sure I could've…complied for much longer."
She found a surge of confidence, somehow. Whether it was the pieces she'd recently put together or the…new territory they were covering she wasn't sure. "Do you feel it to?"
Jasper quirked his brow at her, "Feel what?"
Lexi rubbed the spot where her chest had hurt the most the last couple days, a nervousness now seeping from her. Jasper's eyes widened slightly, and he opened his mouth marginally to speak, but the words died on his tongue. Realizing she was still waiting for a response, and unsure if his reaction was response enough, he nodded.
She nodded back at him, picking up her milk, "This is a fucked-up world, isn't it?"
Jasper raised his milk as well, clinking it with hers as if they were toasting, "Welcome to the club."
