Chapter 11 - Perspective

"You serious? Oh ho, things just got good!" Emmett laughed, in his typical way finding humor in almost anything.

"What the? Did I miss something here?" Slowly, Adrian's face was becoming antagonistic again.

Edward had a fleeting thought of punching Emmett for how loudly he was laughing, treating this like it was the most hilarious thing ever to have happened, but they didn't have time for a fight right now. "Take Charlotte home first and make some excuse about why she has to leave," he instructed Adrian instead. "Can you control yourself long enough to do that, or do I have to?"

"What? I'm hanging out with her today, Edward, I already said—"

"For her own safety, I suggest you do it. Please, Adrian, for her safety and for all of us," Edward said.

Adrian blinked. It wasn't often—or ever, really—that Edward begged like this, but if it was really that serious, then...

He gave a nod. "I can do it. I won't ever hurt her."

Whatever Edward read in either his face or his thoughts was convincing enough, and the older vampire stepped out of his way. Jogging up the steps, Adrian came up with what to say to Charlotte, though already he was regretting what he had just agreed to. He hated not knowing what the hell was going on, and something told him that whatever had just happened, it was a game-changer...

Fortunately, Charlotte cooperated and apologized profusely for just "barging in on them like that", and furthermore asked that they communicate her apologies to Seth as well. It didn't take Edward to read her mind for all of them to guess that she thought that she was the reason Seth had suddenly left, though of course she had just the opposite effect on him. Edward and Alice spilled the beans about Seth while Adrian took her home, and then they collectively explained to the werewolf once he returned that they had to talk to Adrian before doing anything else.

"I know it's hard, but you've got to help us out," Edward pleaded with him, feeling guilty just at seeing the pained look on the werewolf's face. "I wouldn't ask it of you to say away from her, Seth, I promise. Just give us one day to explain things to Adrian, and then come back. But please give us a chance to set things right so that they don't get out of control. There's a lot on the line here, more than you realize."

Seth merely nodded at that and then ran off again, still in his wolf form, but he was a good person and Edward knew he'd keep to his word. He sensed Seth's restless thoughts and felt almost as if they were his own back when he had first met Bella, but he knew it was the right thing to get some distance between, well, everyone until they could sort things out with Adrian. Today, things had already gone better than anticipated—now all he had to do was make sure things stayed on a good course, even though in truth it was quickly becoming a tangled situation.

It wasn't quite as bad as when Jacob had imprinted on Nessie, but...

It comes pretty close, Edward thought.

Once Adrian came home, the glare he cast Edward told enough even without Edward reading his thoughts on how he was pissed because Charlotte felt guilty about leaving, like it was all her fault. Adrian had tried explaining otherwise, but he felt pretty peeved at how the day had turned out as compared to how he planned it. For once, Edward wouldn't be confronting him alone, and so instead he stepped back and let Carlisle take the lead. Like everyone in the family, Adrian respected Carlisle more than anyone else, and automatically regarded him as a father figure; and, considering that in life Adrian's own father had been a drunk who barely contacted his family at all except after months at a time, this came as no surprise.

Besides which, Carlisle always knew what to say, and he had no way of "cheating" like Edward did, as Adrian put it.

"I hope you can apologize to Charlotte for how we ran her off earlier," Carlisle began. "As Edward said though, it was necessary."

Adrian stuffed his hands in his pockets, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. "Yeah, though he didn't explain why it was so urgent."

"The reason we invited Seth here today was to finally introduce you to the werewolves around these parts," Carlisle explained. "It was quite unexpected for you to bring Charlotte along here and, I must confess, I'm surprised you did it, Adrian." He stared hard at Adrian, making him feel like a little kid again. "Nevertheless, what's done is done and we were happy to see the girl, especially as she seems to be a friend you're interested in. It's a positive step for you; however, it just came at a bad time."

"Would Seth have hurt Charlotte, is that what you're trying to tell me?" Adrian asked, getting antsy at not knowing where this was going.

"He told you himself that werewolves protect humans," Edward cut in. "If anything, he's even less likely to hurt her than you are."

Adrian bared his teeth at him. "For the last time, I'd never—"

"Anyway, to move on, one of the things that we haven't had a chance to tell you about werewolves yet—in fact, we didn't see the need for it so soon—is how their...uh, mating system works," Jasper interrupted.

"It's something they can't control and a thousand times more binding than you can imagine," Carlisle continued. "They call it 'imprinting', and though none of us could explain it to you in exact terms, it's their instinctual choosing of a mate that takes over them and can't be changed or reversed."

"Once they see the person they've imprinted on, it's like their whole world is centered around that person," Bella said. "The last time it happened was before we met you, ten years ago. My friend, Jacob, had imprinted at that time, and from what he told me, it's impossible to be separated from that person, to ever feel whole again without them."

"Jacob," Adrian mused. "Another werewolf, I'm guessing."

Alice nodded. "The point is that they can't choose or control who they imprint on, and, just now this morning, as soon as he saw her, Seth imprinted on Charlotte."

If they expected an instantaneous flare-up at this news—and both Emmett and Jasper were ready to jump in if Adrian did—then they were disappointed. Indeed, as usual, Adrian bypassed their expectations, and to all but Edward, his next words came as a surprise.

"So...what the hell does that mean?" he asked, staring hard at each of them in turn. "Are you trying to tell me that Seth's going to...what, put the moves on Charlotte or something?" He laughed. "And you're saying that she'd be safer with a guy who can morph into a giant wolf and rip her a new one than with me?"

"We're not saying anything," Esme said, ever the one to try to keep people calm. "We just thought you should be aware of what happened and why it was better for you to take Charlotte back home. Also, it's to prepare you to see more of Seth, when he comes around."

"When?" Adrian echoed dangerously.

Edward stepped forward. "He will come by to see Charlotte, and soon. Again, he can't control it and can't be apart for her. And I suggest you don't fight him on it, because allies or not, a werewolf will fight to protect what's his."

"But Charlotte's not his!" Adrian snarled, causing Emmett to take a step forward just in case. "Heck, she's not mine either, though—" He paused, suddenly aware of what he was admitting. Before, both to himself and to his family, he had insisted that he was only interested in befriending Charlotte, but...

Who was he kidding? Whether it was barely a few days or not, months had passed and he had never taken such an interest in anything else! Especially since what they'd talked about just earlier that morning in the car, with Charlotte saying she'd accept him no matter what...Adrian had felt closer to her than to anyone else since first starting this life! She made him feel normal, and—

And if there was one thing to piss him off, it was knowing that Edward could hear every single thing that he was thinking now!

Edward stepped back, his face calm but his body tense. "I'm not trying to, believe me."

Adrian wanted to believe him, but he was getting angry regardless. Taking a deep breath—and regretting it since the stink of Seth still lingered—Adrian attempted to calm himself down. He didn't want any confrontations now, but...

"Let me summarize what's going on here," he said. "One, you're telling me yet again why getting close to a human is a bad idea. Two, you're telling me that a werewolf will now be involved with Charlotte whether I like it or not, and that apparently this is something that can't be helped. And three, none of you are telling me what the heck I should be doing right now!"

Rosalie uncrossed her arms and stepped forward from where she had been leaning back against a wall. "There's nothing to do at this point but let nature run its course," she snapped, then turned to Alice. "Do you see what's going to happen?" she asked.

Alice shook her head slowly. "You know that with the werewolves my visions are cloudy, unclear. But right now, since nothing's been decided, I can't tell what's going to happen."

Rosalie faced Adrian. "See? Although if I were you, I'd stay away just for good measure."

"Rose..." Emmett said.

"Edward's been telling you from the beginning, and I agree with him," Rosalie continued. "She's more perceptive than you think, and if she finds out something about us—"

"Stop being paranoid," Adrian growled, to which Emmett defensively growled back. Stepping back, Adrian relaxed. "Look, thanks for explaining the whole 'situation' to me, but I don't care. Right now, all that meeting Seth's done so far is complicate a day that was supposed to be perfectly simple for me and Charlotte. Right now, she's definitely confused with what's going on, and I don't know what I'm going to tell her since it obviously can't be the truth, but I want all of you to do me a favour, okay? Stop being hostile to her, because she can sense when she's not wanted and I get the feeling that's something she's had enough of." He turned to Edward. "Am I right?"

Edward pursed his lips but didn't say anything, and in the next moment Adrian was gone.

The family look at each other uncertainly, but it was Emmett who spoke first to break the tension. "Well, that went better than expected."

Rosalie sighed, walking off. "If this turns out to be like last time, he'll wind up getting us all killed. May as well turn the girl now and get it over with." She left, Emmett close behind.

Jasper smirked. "No need to be so crude about it," he said, also turning to leave. "And wouldn't want to let him hear you say that." He and Alice also left.

Bella was the most thoughtful out of all of them, which, unfortunately, Edward couldn't read since her natural shields were up. "What is it?" he asked his wife.

Bella shook her head. "I was just thinking that Rosalie must really be scared this time, after what happened. Remember how when it came down to voting me in or out she voted out? She told me that a human life was all she'd ever wanted, what I was giving up, and now for Charlotte she's saying just the opposite. I think it means that she's scared, and makes me wonder if maybe we shouldn't be too."

The Volturi aren't near us, Alice would sense if Aro's taken an interest," Carlisle said.

Bella nodded. Months back, when they had first moved back to Forks, Aro had sent scouts just to inquire into things, but fortunately at that time Alice had seen them coming and the family had been able to get Adrian away on a quick weekend trip to Montana, for some early-season snowboarding. As far as the Volturi knew, Adrian didn't exist, and it was dangerous to have them learn of him considering his powers. But since that time and now that Aro knew that the Cullens had taken up permanent residence in Forks again, Bella had wondered on more than one occasion if maybe Aro had some other way of watching them that sidestepped the blank spots in Alice's vision.

It was a very uncertain and fragile situation and...she sided with Rosalie in that things could get very dangerous if Charlotte did end up knowing too much about them. But was Seth's involvement going to make things better or worse—now that was the big question.

A/N: This chapter was really fun to write, as instead of just having Edward rag on Adrian, now it's the entire family who's taking on a point of view on his relationship with Charlotte! It was also just really easy to write as well, since having so many members of the Cullen family to work with and put in their two cents, so to speak, made the process go much faster. For those of you curious on the Seth side of things though, please stay tuned for next chapter, since that'll be one focusing on the werewolves!

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ALSO, I've just gotten a question in one of the reviews asking how often I'll be updating this fic, and the answer is 3-4 times a week. Any updating information is posted on my profile page in case there are any changes though, so please check there to see what's what!