AN: Thanks to all who are open-minded enough to be checking this out! And especially those who are following and favouriting already! :-*
Much thanks to, jsmith84, and catgrl, for reviewing Chapter One! ;-*
I now give you Chapter Two!
Chapter Two: Meeting The Human
Once I get off my call with Peter, I am so antsy knowing he's on his way that I need to do something to take my mind off of the wait.
I decide to watch a movie. I choose an action movie and turn it up really loud so that I am forced to focus on it, instead of focusing on the sex sounds coming from Edward's room.
I can't really blame them. They'll be having to pretend they're not together the entire time Bella is over, so I understand they want to reconnect first. But hearing other people have sex always reminds me of the sex I'm not having when Peter is always so far away. And it's even worse now that I know he's on his way because I feel so desperate and anxious and it's driving me crazy.
All too soon, the movie is over. I never thought I'd be thankful to hear the sound of that human's rusty truck door slamming, but at least when she arrives a few minutes after my movie ends, I know the sex noises will have to stop and I'll have something to distract me, since Alice will want me there when they greet Bella for appearances sake.
I shut off my TV and head downstairs, arriving first, since Edward and Alice apparently want to...ah hem, finish...before they come down (pun fully intended).
I open the door and smiling, I let Bella in.
"Hi, Bella. Edward and Alice will be down shortly. They just have to finish cleaning their rooms, or whatever, before they can entertain. Would you like something to drink while you wait?" I offer, knowing it's the polite thing to say.
"Um, yeah, please. Whatever you have is fine. I know your family is on a special diet. Edward told me that's why you don't eat cafeteria food." She says, though her emotions tell me she is very skeptical of that particular cover story.
"Perfect, how about water then? Healthiest thing for you." I smile, sending her some enthusiasm and contentment.
"Sounds great." She nods, although she is radiating a bit of surprise and a hint of suspicion so I decide I need to change the subject.
"So, Bella...Alice has been pretty excited to have a new friend. I hope you're not one of those fickle girls who is a friend one week and an enemy the next?" I challenge, sending her a bit playfulness so she doesn't get offended.
"Actually no. I'm the opposite. I don't give my friendship lightly. It's why I don't have very many good friends. But once I do...I never revoke it, come hell or high water," she speaks in all honesty. "Jasper...I know Alice has secrets. Possibly a lot of them. Edward too, for that matter. In fact, probably, your whole family does. But you know what? I don't care.
"Everybody on the planet has secrets, Jasper. And whatever yours are...I promise they could never scare me away from being friends with Alice or Edward or any of you. And I also promise I would never betray a friend's confidence, under any circumstances," Bella vows and by her emotions, I can tell that she genuinely means it.
Still, I decide a little test is in order. "In saying that everyone has secrets, it implies that you do as well. But you seem like a pretty straightforward person. It's hard to believe that you have any secrets, Bella," I challenge.
She takes a deep breath and seems to resign herself to something. "Oh I do, Jasper, believe me, I have several. Some of them I keep out of necessity. Like the fact that I'm about seventy-five percent sure that my dad is not my biological father. I could never tell him that because I know how much it would devastate him.
"And then I have other secrets that I only keep out of convenience. Like how most people don't know I'm bisexual. Or that I dated only girls in Phoenix because teenage boys tend to be very immature," she confesses.
Holy fuck, I was not expecting that.
"I get that it's hard for your family to trust an outsider. Because based on what happened with Edward and the van, I'm fairly certain at least some of your secrets are supernatural. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Edward and Alice haven't come downstairs yet because they can hear everything I am saying from right where they are and are trying to be polite and not interrupt.
"But you need to know...the secret about my dad that I just told you, would destroy my family and ruin my life and my father's life if it ever got out. I told you that as a show of good faith because I want you to know I would never do anything to hurt your family.
"I don't drink alcohol, so I could never get drunk and accidentally blab. And I've broken enough bones due to sheer klutziness that I am used to pain, so I'm fairly certain I'd stand up well under torture, if anyone ever tried to get information out of me." She sighs, taking a moment to catch her breath and gather her thoughts.
"Anyway, I've said my piece. Alice, Edward, you can come down now." She smiles shyly.
And as if on cue, the doorbell rings.
"That's probably for me." I grin, forgetting about the rambling human in my excitement that my mate is finally here. I felt him getting closer and then while Bella was talking I heard them approach but I knew they could hear her and that Peter would wait until she finished her rant, which he did.
Edward and Alice come downstairs just as I am opening the door.
I am vaguely aware, out of the corner of my consciousness, that Alice is getting a vision. But Peter is finally standing in front of me. Seeing him and not attacking him with kisses seems like an insurmountable task which requires all of my focus.
As such, when I hug him (in a way that I hope looks platonic from Bella's standpoint) my attention is entirely on Peter. So much so that I barely register when Charlotte and Bella move toward each other.
I hardly notice when Edward, likely as a result of reading Alice's vision from her mind, tries to remove Bella from Charlotte's embrace and I am only brought back to my surroundings when I heard the loud crunch of Charlotte decapitating him with a snarl.
"Fuck off, Edward. You can have your head back when I say so!" She growls. Oh shit!
I send out a wave of calm to everyone in the room and move to sit down on the couch beside Charlotte and Bella. "What in the world just happened, Char?" I question, though not in an accusatory tone.
"He tried to take my mate away from me." Char whimpers, still holding Bella in such a way that the human can't see what happened to Edward.
Bella doesn't seem to mind, though. She is snuggling into Char so intentionally that it looks like she's trying to burrow into her.
"He was reacting to a vision I had of you turning Bella, Charlotte." Alice frowns, trying to keep her wits and not go feral. She knows enough about my family to know that Char could've done a lot worse than just decapitate Edward had she wanted to.
I can tell that even though Alice's instincts are warring with her to avenge her mate, she knows it wouldn't help anything to start shit with Char over it. Edward is safe, though probably in a lot of pain. But he will recover.
"Of course I am gonna turn her! She's my mate! What else am I supposed to do? Leave her human and vulnerable? What kind of a mate would I be if I did that?" Charlotte frowned.
"You could at least have the decency to ask her first," Rose butts in as the rest of the family all filter into the room to see what the commotion is.
And so, Char carefully pulls Bella up so that she is sitting in Charlotte's lap looking into her eyes. "Hi, Sugar. I'm your mate. My name is Charlotte. I know you have no idea what's going on here, but please don't be scared, alright?" she coaxes.
Bella smiles radiantly. "Why would I be scared? You're like…'the one', right?"
Charlotte beams. "In human terms of thinking, that's essentially accurate. But for vampires, it's a lot more complicated than that."
"Vampires, huh?" Bella grins turning to face me. "I knew there was a secret." She sticks her tongue out at me and turns back to Charlotte. "So...you want me to be like you? A vampire?"
"Yes. There isn't anything in the world I want more. Will you do it? Will you agree to spend forever with me?" Charlotte questions hopefully.
"I will, yes. Is Edward dead though? Because if you killed him, I think we might need to attend couples counseling." Bella frowns, though she doesn't still doesn't seem afraid.
"No, I only temporarily decapitated him. It's painful but once Alice re-attaches him, he'll be fine. He'll just have a ghastly new scar to show for it, that's all," Char assures her.
"Can I see him?" Bella asks.
"Of course. Just be prepared for him to essentially be a talking head." Char cautions.
Bella nods. "I've seen Stardust. I'll be fine. I don't smell any blood, so I'm guessing vampires don't bleed? Blood is the only thing that makes me squeamish."
"You're right, we have venom instead of blood," Char says, spinning Bella around in her lap so that she is facing Edward, who is now laid out in Alice's arms while she prepares to reattach him.
"Hi, Edward. I'm sorry you got your head torn off because of me. I hope you don't hate me now." Bella sighs.
"No, I could never hate you, Bella. Besides, it wasn't your fault," he assures her.
Alice begins using her venom to reattach Edward. Most of the time, the re-attachment process is excruciating if another vampire uses their venom, or just plain painful if you use your own. But when your mate uses their venom, it's actually a very sexual act.
Soon, Edward is moaning and we can all see his arousal straining through his trousers.
"Don't worry, Bella. That's normal when reattachment is performed by a mate. The sex receptors take over in place of the pain receptors." Charlotte assures her as Edward starts crying out in ecstasy.
Dammit, Char! Way to blow our cover!
Bella seems embarrassed for a moment and I start to hope that maybe she didn't even notice Charlotte's slip. Then her emotions turn to confusion. "Wait...are you saying Edward and Alice are mates? But Alice is with Jasper, right?"
"Sorry, Edward." Char sighs. "I was fine lying when I thought the human in question was just a plaything of yours but as it turns out, Bella is my mate. I won't lie to my mate. Not even for Peter and Jasper. I'm really sorry boys.
"Bella, Alice isn't Jasper's mate. She's his cover story. Just as I was always Peter's cover story. Jasper and Peter are mates. But they hide their relationship because of homophobic assholes like Edward here, who aren't accepting of same-sex mating," She reluctantly explains.
I can tell she feels bad for outing us but I understand why she can't lie to Bella. There's no one I would be willing to lie to Peter for. You just don't lie to your mate.
Bella's emotions turn to surprise and then to hurt and embarrassment. "Edward? Is that true? You're homophobic? I thought you were my friend. But...I can't be friends with someone who can't accept me for who I am," she chokes, tears streaming down her face. Char holds her tightly, trying to console her. If Char didn't hate Edward before, she certainly will now for making her mate cry.
Alice, having finished reattaching Edward, attempts to smooth things over. Poor Alice, ever the optimist.
"Bella...you have to understand, Edward is from a time in history when it wasn't acceptable to be gay. He doesn't mean to be hurtful, he just has a hard time with it, that's all," she explains gently.
"Right, because we should never try to learn from history's mistakes? We should just keep repeating them? So I guess anti-Semitism and slavery and burning people at the stake are all cool too, right? Charlotte...can you take me home, please? I don't really have any desire to be here anymore." Bella sighs and her feelings read a mixture of disappointment, betrayal, and emotional exhaustion.
"Sure thing, Sug." Char nods. And the two of them head out to Bella's rustbucket.
"Well...that could have gone better." I frown.
"At least she doesn't care that we're vampires." Emmett grins, trying to put a positive spin on things.
"You know, Edward, I just hope for your sake that Alice hasn't lost a friend over this. I know I, for one, couldn't live with myself if I knew I had taken happiness away from Jasper." Peter frowns.
"But I don't even have anything against Bella! I didn't even know she was bisexual!" Edward defends.
"Answer me this, Edward…if you had known, would you have still been friends with her?" Pete asks him.
"Of course I would have! Jasper is a full-on Sodomite and I haven't disowned him yet!" Edward huffs.
"First of all, that word is highly offensive. Especially to me." Rose growls. "Do you even know what the crimes of the people of Sodom were, Edward? Sodom was a town full of rapists! They didn't care about the gender of their victims and they certainly weren't engaging in loving, consensual, same-sex relationships. If you are going to insist on using the Bible to justify your bigotry, you could at least be accurate about it," she states, her arms folded across her chest.
"And furthermore…" Peter begins, picking up right where Rose leaves off. "If your definition of 'friendship' is merely not disowning someone...that's setting the bar pretty low, don't you think? You're not Jasper's friend, so don't you dare pretend to be. If everyone had friends like you, they wouldn't need enemies, that's for certain."
"Alright...I understand that everyone is angry. But please, try to remember all the good things Edward has done?" Alice pleads and I can tell from her emotions how hard this is on her.
She doesn't agree with Edward's outlook anymore than the rest of us do, but still, he is her mate. And as much as he might be one of the villains in mine and Peter's story, I know he has always been the hero in hers.
Alice has faced a lot of discrimination, abuse, intolerance, and downright cruelty, being Intersex. Most of the time, nobody even knows. But occasionally there are times, at least in Alice's case, when it becomes obvious. Being a girl born with a fully functioning phallus of above-average size...generally requires a bit of a workaround.
She always has to be careful what she wears (one of the reasons she is so obsessed with fashion) and she has a permanent note excusing her from gym class. But even though Alice is very careful, there are times when someone accidentally finds out or just suspects. And at those times, Edward has always been her biggest defender.
I can remember multiple occasions when Edward has calmly and carefully put some inconsiderate, or even cruel, human in a headlock, making them piss themselves with fear over some remark that they made about Alice. It's one of Edward's more redeeming qualities, and I know his love and acceptance means the world to Alice. I just wish he had even a small fraction as much love and acceptance for Peter and me.
I send out a wave of calm to everyone. "Pete and I are gonna go hunt and then we'll go check on Bella and Charlotte," I offer, taking his hand in mine. "Come on, Peter, time to munch on some squirrels." I tease, leading him out of the house into the woods.
AN: I should mention that at any point in this story you have any questions, please feel free to PM me if you don't want to ask them in your review.
The purpose of this story is to educate, and while I don't claim to be an expert in any field, I will gladly answer what I can and do my best to find the answer if I don't already know it.
Hugs, Love and Blessings,
-BMW