Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
This story has been adopted. The original was written and discontinued by Amiiix3. I was graciously given permission to continue the story as I saw fit. Thank you Amiiix3 for your trust.
Everyone was gathered in the kitchen and living room area when I arrived. I took one look at Edward and Tanya, seated beside each other on the caramel loveseat, and turned to leave.
"Bella, darling. How was your first night here?" Esme asked, wrapping an arm around me in another one of her strange motherly gestures.
I allowed myself to sink into her embrace. "Just like my first morning here." I shrugged. Esme smiled and led me to the kitchen. I cocked my head at the sight before us, utterly confused.
Carmen stood in front of the large, white, rectangular stove; a pan lay before her and a powdery aroma filled the air. She flipped the flat, sugared bread with a thick wooden spatula.
"What are you doing?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Carmen turned around, her dark hair swinging over her shoulder in a slow, sweeping motion. A smile stretched her ruby lips, and her golden eyes glimmered happily. Apparently cooking brought her great joy.
"We have to act human every now and then to keep suspicions down," she explained, stretching the pan out to show me the golden-brown pancake lying within.
Esme nodded. "The humans will be suspicious if we never shop at the market, and there's only one local one to make things worse, so we have to buy food there. And if we never have empty egg cartons or bags of flour, or any trash for that matter-"
"-the humans will be suspicious," Edward finished. He had arrived without me noticing. I could not help running my eyes down the length of his body as he leaned gracefully against the wooden counter.
"But why cook?" I asked, turning away from him as inconspicuously as I could.
"Because it's fun," Esme said. "What's a better way to get rid of useless food than cooking it?" I could not answer that question, partially because I did not understand it. I shrugged and shuffled closer to Carmen, who had returned to the stove and was in the process of making another pancake.
I felt Esme and Edward leave, bypassing the living room and going upstairs, their footsteps just whispers on the cold floor. I pulled myself up onto the wooden counter and watched as Carmen poured a grainy, beige batter into the pan where it bubbled for a moment before settling down and beginning to cook. The sweet, powdery smell filled the air once more, drowning out the flowery scents of us vampires.
Trying to shake the blurry image of Edward from my mind, I focused on Carmen. She, in turn, had her entire attention on the quickly cooking pancake. She flipped it smoothly to the other side and a delighted sigh fell past her lips as it fell neatly onto the pan.
"You really enjoy it, don't you?" A smile had found itself onto my own lips, watching her.
Carmen turned, surprised to find me still watching her. "Yes." She nodded.
"It's quite enjoyable. In my culture, back in my home, we would cook large meals. They were exquisite." She kissed her fingers with a flourish and laughed. I giggled with her, and watched for a few more minutes as she made a new batch of pancake batter and began on her third stack.
I finally slipped off the counter, wondering how Carmen could continue with such a boring activity; it was so repetitive. And at the same time, how she could bear to be around things that reminded her of her past life. But now I was more curious now about the Denali coven and their strange habits.
I had planned on sitting in the living room and talking to Irina and Kate, who had seemed kind enough, but I heard whispers from a room on the side of the long hall.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I followed the near silent voices to a plain white door, opened just a crack.
"Edward, stop with your pacing, please," Esme whispered softly, but demandingly. "Just tell me what it is."
"I'm sorry Esme, but I know you'll be bothered by it. You love it here," Edward sounded tortured. I could imagine him running his hands through his velvety hair.
"What is 'it'?"
"Tanya..." I turned away again, my ears burning. When would I learn not to eavesdrop? I rushed down the rest of the hall to the stairs and fell onto the third step up, staring at the front door with so much intensity I was sure it would explode any moment.
"Bella?" My eyes widened and I sucked in a frightened breath as I realized it was Esme, suddenly sitting beside me on the stair.
I turned to face her slowly, hoping my expression was calm. "Good morning again, Esme." She smiled kindly and leaned over. A thin arm draped around my shoulder, another motherly embrace of hers; again, it had that calming effect she seemed to spew.
"I heard you outside the door," she said softly. I felt the muscles in my jaw clench, waiting for her to tell me off angrily. "How could you eavesdrop on us so rudely when we took you in without a single question!"
"I apologize- I shouldn't have listened in, I'm sorry." I refused to meet her eyes, afraid of what I would find there.
But her arm tightened around me. "It's all right, Bella. I'm not mad about that, I'm worried."
"Worried?" My brow furrowed, confused.
"You didn't hear what Edward was telling me about?" I shook my head slowly, watching Esme closely. She tried not to show it, but the relief was clear on her face.
I bit my lip to keep myself from asking, but the question tumbled out anyways. "What was Edward telling you about?" Esme opened her mouth a few times, then closed it again and again. She pursed her lips and opened her mouth again, then closed it. "It was nothing important, dear." Her smile was relaxed, but her eyes were tight.
I would not push it. "All right." I mimicked her smile, right down to the eyes.
She stood up. "We can go hunting tonight, if you want."
I nodded vigorously, finally looking forward to something. "I would love that!" The night was young. The sky was still a light shade of navy and the stars had just begun to twinkle into life.
"Are you excited, Bella?" Kate asked me, as I attempted to sit still on the living room couch. We were waiting for Carlisle to return home. Esme was upstairs 'getting ready', though I could not imagine what she needed to get ready for.
I tried not to jump up and begin running around. An entire day of waiting had left me extremely impatient in these last few minutes. I heard something rumble, and glanced up for perhaps the hundredth time, hoping to see Carlisle's shining black car rolling down the drive. Kate followed my gaze and smiled. "Apparently you're more excited than we thought. I should call Esme down then, before you run off by yourself," she joked, but did not move.
Kate was not going; her eyes were a rich, beautiful topaz all around. The entire Denali coven was staying back for this hunting trip. "We just went yesterday, and the girls did a few days before. Besides, it would be less conspicuous if only a few of us went at a time," Eleazar had said when I asked him.
"Carlisle is here." Esme was suddenly beside us, looking absolutely gorgeous in long black pants and a long sleeved black shirt. Her skin contrasted it beautifully, her glossy pink lips spread in an excited smile.
"Esme, you look lovely..."
She dropped her eyes, embarrassed. "Is it too much?" she asked, tugging at the plain pair of pants.
"No, it's very simple, but you make it lovely," Kate took the words right out of my mouth. We grinned at each other.
"Oh, well then..." Esme pushed a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. "I just wanted to look nice for Carlisle, you know."
I tried to hide my wide grin. "Where is he?"
"I saw his car coming down the drive. They're so slow... if only we could run, we would be everywhere much faster, but of course we have to look human for... well, for the humans."
I heard soft footsteps and looked up, expecting Carlisle, but meeting a pair of hypnotizing onyx eyes instead; wisps of bronze hair were falling into them as they blinked at me. A strange expression was on Edward's face, but I looked away before I could figure out what it was.
"Good, Edward, you're ready. We can leave now, Bella." Esme grinned and turned for the door.
"Wait- he's going?" I could not hide the irritation in my voice.
Edward looked hurt, as Esme answered slowly. "Of course..."
There was an awkward silence, in which my head pounded annoyingly and everyone stared at me expectantly. I forced a smile. "That's wonderful!"
"Yes, Edward needs a little practice on his abstinence as well," Esme said, watching Edward and sounding as close to bitter as I had ever heard her. Edward dropped his eyes to the floor.
"Esme?" Carlisle's quiet voice found us from the door.
"Coming," she replied. "Let's go then?" she asked, turning to us.
"Right behind you." Edward saluted, earning himself a little laugh from his mother. We met Carlisle at the door. He was no longer wearing his doctor's coat, but was also dressed in all black. I glanced over to find Edward in the same attire.
I frowned down at my khaki shorts and white shirt. "Erm... Esme, is this all right to wear?" I tugged at the shirt.
"Yes, it's perfect. We usually go hunting in the afternoon, and it's easier to wear black then to blend in with the trees as much as we can, as well as hiding the dirt and blood, of course. What you're wearing is perfect, if you don't mind it becoming dirty." I shrugged, relieved. I did not have anything that even fully covered my legs, let alone my arms.
We walked out into the night, shutting the door behind us. More stars had winked into life; they floated above us, some as bright as frozen fireworks in the dark, Alaskan sky.
"We're going to the very center of the largest forest nearby," Carlisle explained, as we took off at a run. Edward was at the head of the pack, so fast he was almost a blur in my vision. His moved lithely and with grace, like a cheetah. Esme, Carlisle, and I ran together, me slightly behind the couple so I would not bypass them.
"Where is the largest forest?" I asked.
"It surrounds our current home and extends in all directions." Carlisle waved a hand at the light evergreen forest we had just entered. A few minutes of running and we were finally in the thickest part of the forest. The canopy of evergreen bristles, covered with a light blanket of snow, was so thick the dark sky and its blooming stars were completely invisible. I peered up, attempting to divide the branches with my eyes and catch a peek at the lovely Alaskan sky, but nothing could be seen, and I dropped my gaze with a sigh.
"All right, Bella," Carlisle said, turning to me with a clap of his hands.
"Edward tells me that you already hunted once?" I nodded. "Then we will put Edward in charge of watching you again, and Esme and I will stay back." I must have looked confused, because he explained, "We don't want to make you nervous by crowding around you, so Esme and I will keep guard here just in case you leave the forest."
I nodded again, feeling a tingle of nerves begin in my arms and legs. I bounced up and down a few times.
Carlisle and Esme fell back a few steps, hidden among the shadows of the trees. Edward's soft fingers were suddenly at my waist, a shock sending a different sort of feeling through my nerves. I gasped and jumped back a step, narrowing my eyes at the handsome vampire before me.
Esme shifted behind us, rustling a few thin branches. I composed myself, if only for her, and turned to Edward with what I hoped was a kind smile. "You surprised me, Mr. Cullen."
He raised an eyebrow, but his hand retreated to his side. "This way please, Ms. Swan." I followed him until we were almost a mile away from where we had left Esme and Carlisle. I was about to ask why we were so far, when I smelled it.
The most ambrosial scent in the world reached my nose, twirling around in ribbons of sweetness, taunting me. My muscles coiled; I was a predator again.
"Where?" I whispered softly, turning on the spot. My eyes caught a quick movement behind a tree. I leaned forward, only to find it was an inedible squirrel.
"Be patient, Bella." Edward's soft murmur of my name distracted me, and I missed the deer shoot forward right across my path. I continued to stare at him though, unable to wrench my gaze from his deep, soulful eyes and full lips. The tip of his tongue darted out to moisten them with the venom that pulsed through our veins. He turned to me curiously.
"Bella...?"
I swallowed, and finally pulled my eyes away from his. "Sorry," I muttered. I made to leave.
"Wait, Bella!" Edward reached out and took my arm.
I twisted away from him as if I'd been burnt. "Leave me alone," I hissed.
"Bella, please." The desperation in his voice made me stop. I took a few steps back and crossed my arms, watching him expectantly. He sighed and ran a hand through his silky hair; it fell back to perfect disarray— my mind stuttered. "Bella, please tell me why you have been acting so strangely."
"I haven't been acting strangely– you have."
"How? What did I do?" He pleaded with his eyes, and I had to look away before I could speak again.
"Tanya," I muttered. As soon as the word was out of my mouth, I could not believe I had admitted it; I had handed Edward my weakness, placed in a pretty box with a bow on it, no less.
Edward raised his eyebrows, surprise clear in his expression. Then his eyes fell and his jaw clenched. "What did she say to you?"
It was my turn to be surprised. "N-nothing." I would not admit that it had bothered me when she had 'threatened' me, or that I had heard their conversation.
"Tanya has always been rather... protective of me, if you will..."
"I've noticed," I said coldly.
"Please Bella, whatever she's said to you is a lie. There is nothing between us and there never was. Her affections have been misplaced. The other night, I told her clearly that I did not want to be with her, and–"
" –what?" I cut him off, sure I had misheard him.
"I told her... that she was wrong to pursue me...," Edward said slowly, watching me sharply. I shook my head, as if to rid my ears of water. Could he be lying to me? But as our eyes met, I knew he was telling the truth. I cursed myself for eavesdropping, of course no good could come of it.
But my mouth was stretching into a smile. "All right," I shrugged, hoping I did not look too please. Edward smiled as well, and took two steps forward so that we were closer.
"Truce?" He held out a hand. I rolled my eyes, but laughed and grabbed his hand anyway. There was no ignoring the warmth in my stomach I felt when our skin touched and his grip tightened around mine. He pulled on my hand and I stumbled forward into him. I could feel his slight muscles pressed against my own.
"S-sorry," I stuttered, endlessly embarrassed.
He gave me a beautiful, crooked smile and swept his messy, bronze hair from his eyes again. "Quite all right."
"Edward! Bella!" We jumped back from each other and smoothed our clothing, glancing at each other giddily, like two sheepish schoolchildren.