Chapter 7 - Changes and Then Some

Charlotte's P.O.V.

That night at dinner, to play it safe, I didn't mention just what we would be doing; all I said that was Adrian invited me to hang out that weekend and that I hadn't given him my answer yet. Their reactions were mostly silent, so I didn't know how Joe, Lizzy, and Mary were reacting; but, once they spoke, they were clearly on the negative side of things, so it wasn't any stretch of the imagination to figure out that they were frowning and unhappy.

"Charlotte, we did just mention yesterday that Adrian's a bit too fast-paced for you and it might be better to find some other friends, didn't we?" Jo asked. "Or, if we didn't say it directly, at least it was implied, and we really expected that you'd know better than that."

"It's not that Adrian might not be a good kid," Lizzy cut in, always the more open-minded of the two. "But you said yourself that his family prefers to keep some sort of distance, and even if Adrian doesn't act like it now, sooner or later he might be pressured to end his friendship with you if he hasn't already. It's too early to tell, of course, but—"

"And that's just the problem!" Joe said. "It's much too early for things to be going this fast! You met the boy, what, yesterday? And spent maybe two hours tops with him, or four if you count today?"

"Even I've gotta admit, Char, knowing you like I do, this is really unlike you," Mary said, grabbing my hand in that sympathetic way unique to her. "Slow things down and think things over before jumping into anything."

And, temptations aside, stepping back from the situation for even a bit made me change my mind. I got caught up in Adrian's hype earlier, that was my first reaction; but I wasn't kidding about being "a good girl" and therefore really paying attention to the advice of my family. Adrian couldn't hold that against me, especially not when he seemed so close to his family.

So, in the middle of bio class on Friday, I finally got around to telling him how I felt about the whole thing, and now at the end of class he's escorting me out as usual, though being unusually quiet. It takes me barely a few seconds to determine that we're not heading to the cafeteria, but almost in the opposite direction I'd guess.

I stop, or try to anyway, but Adrian's grip on my arm feels like he's half-carrying me, and it doesn't affect our pace almost at all.

"Where are we going?" I ask. "Adrian, stop, tell me where we're going!"

"I just want some privacy without anyone to overhear us," he says, his voice restrained but not unfriendly.

"Can you give me some specifics at least?" It's hard to keep from sounding worried, especially since he hasn't said a word since I gave him the official 'no'.

"It's just behind the gym, Charlotte, I promise."

I want to trust him, but it's not until I feel the pavement beneath my feet and then get seated on what feels like a bleacher bench that I actually believe Adrian. I don't know what my other guess was for where he was taking me, but it makes me feel foolish that I ever doubted him.

Even though that doesn't make sense and you should doubt someone who's practically a stranger, I remind myself.

I hear Adrian pacing back and forth, his breathing steady—kind of slow, actually, like he's holding his breath a lot and then breathing only in odd moments, though that's kind of ridiculous and weird for me to think of—and wait to hear what he has to say. When he finally does talk though, it's surprisingly little for a guy who until now has proved to be quite a chatterbox. "Why, Charlotte? Is is something I've done, something I shouldn't have said?"

I'm a bit startled, to be honest. Usually it's always my fault for being the buzzkill, for holding someone back, for making a mistake; I've never had someone else assume it was their fault first.

"What? N-no, it really isn't! Look, I meant exactly what I said: just that this is too soon and that I don't really know you well enough to go on a hike in the woods." And I'm sure that if I mentioned that was Adrian's suggestion to my family, they would've come up with a hundred other reasons why it was a bad idea.

"Not to put you on the spot or anything, but why didn't you just say so yesterday?" he asks.

"Uh..." Okay, now I'm stuck.

I feel him sit down next to me, still some distance between us. "Was this what you were planning on saying from the beginning and you just wanted to be sure? Or...does this have something to do with what your family said when you asked them?"

Bingo! Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

"I guess that's not hard to figure out, but I really did think about this myself," I say, turning to face him, if only to let him know that I'm serious. "At first, it sounded great, but even then I wondered if I wasn't getting ahead of myself. Besides the fact that I hardly know you, Adrian—though, don't get me wrong, I want to—it's also that a hike is a huge thing for me, something I'm not ready or comfortable to try out yet. But that doesn't mean that I don't want to hang out. Not at a movie, like you said, but—" And now, the compromise, something that would hopefully make everybody happy: "How about we hang out at a neutral place close by? Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone if we go to the library to study, maybe help me catch up on one or two things in bio, and then we can go get lunch or something." I pause. "I'll buy."

It doesn't sound half as good as what he first offered, and I fully expect him to say no.

"Sure, that sounds reasonable." He sighs. "And though 'reasonable' is not usually my thing, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it out once." And then a chuckle. "I guess it would pretty much be my fault if you fail bio because you can't pay attention in class. You care about your grades?"

I smile. "As much as anyone should, yes."

"Then I'm game for some studying. And as for lunch, I'll buy. Let me prove that I'm a gentleman even if I do rough it sometimes." Standing up, he takes my arm and then begins walking me back to class. By now, I'm more or less used to the coldness of his hand, and am seriously considering asking him if he's anemic or something, but it feels rude to ask this early on. Not that I'd judge him for it if he was though; if I can be blind, he can be anemic, and somehow we'll make up our own unique twosome.

Gosh, can you be any more corny? I ask myself. And I'm 90% sure I'm blushing, though I can only hope he's not noticing.

"Besides which, hanging out outside of school might be a good idea at that," he says. "At least that way we won't have to miss out on any future info in class. Mr. Nolan mentioned that we'd be using the microscopes next week for a lab."

"Sounds...experimental," I laugh.

"You study cell characteristics and I study what they look like?" he proposes.

"Deal!"

It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but at the same time, friendships didn't work that way with one person forcing the other out of their comfort zone. And especially not with someone you've just met. However, even if Adrian had still been human, he wouldn't have acted any different.

But then again, if I was still human, then I wouldn't be so focused on Charlotte to begin with, right? Adrian wondered.

It was early Saturday morning and, of course, he was up and about, no sleep needed. Sleep was one of the things he missed the most, or, more specifically, dreaming. He'd always had the awesomest dreams, usually something inspired by all his online gaming. Now though, with all those hours of free time in the darkness—though nothing was ever 100% dark for him anymore, not with his vampire vision—and while everyone else was busy with each other, Adrian very much had a lot of time to himself and to think. In the end, he'd decided that Charlotte was right and that it was a good thing that at least one of them was being sensible. And while on the one hand he was not looking forward to studying at all, if it made Charlotte happy, he was willing to go along with it.

And not to mention that it made his family relax, even if only a bit. Edward had more or less left him alone since that time they'd spoken before, but it was clear by just his absence alone that the older vampire was pleased that Adrian wouldn't be alone with Charlotte anywhere. A public library was hardly the place that Adrian would lose control, after all.

Not that it would ever have come to that even out in the woods though; Adrian would sooner take away his own sense of smell rather than let that happen.

Relax. It's better this way and at least you know she's on the same track with considering you a friend, Adrian reminded himself.

He'd have to be content with little, such was his lot in life as a vampire.

Off in the distance, he heard a wolf howling, though it didn't sound like any ordinary wolf. It was getting closer, which was strange, since animals usually stayed away from the Cullen household, a natural protective instinct.

It's larger. Faster.

But just then Adrian's cell beeped, informing him that it was nine o'clock. The library opened at 9:30 on Saturdays and he'd arranged to pick up Charlotte at her house. It'd be his first time meeting her family, and that in itself was nerve-wracking enough since it meant he had to make a good impression if he wanted to continue hanging out with her. So, in other words, he'd think about other things later and just focus on that for now.

He'd hunted the night before, so he should look decent and not too predatory. That was a start. And then there was his planned outfit: jeans and a sweater, also known as the most casual outfit he could think of. Casual, harmless, and friendly, like a golden retriever.

Another howl sounded in the distance just as Adrian was climbing into his car—a renovated Rover, made for rough terrain.

There it is again. And...hot damn, what's that stink?! For some reason, it made him feel like ripping the steering wheel off the dashboard and bearing his teeth, automatic defense mode.

Forget it, let's just leave. And then, putting his car into gear, Adrian drove away at a speed that, back when he was human, he would have instantly gotten grounded for.

Barely five minutes after he'd left, an enormous, sandy-coloured wolf with large feet and glowing golden eyes appeared in front of the Cullen house, tail wagging and tongue lolling out.

A/N: Much as I'd love to push forward on plot development on all fronts, I decided to dial it down a bit in this chapter and review how, even for impatient teenagers, there's a time to step back and really take a practical look at things. I hope readers also like the way I handled it, in that even though it's going to slow down the development of how quickly Charlotte gets keyed in on all vampire-werewolf happenings, it does help in the relationship development between her and Adrian.

In the next chapter we finally get (re)introduced to Seth and finally start with his role in the story! I'm super excited for that and I hope you are too!

Please review, follow, and favourite if you like the story! At this point, I'd really love to get some input from readers on how they feel about the story so far and if they like where it's going, so please comment if you are reading!