Chapter Thirteen - Forks
Juliet POV
Emmett sat in the driver's seat, while Jake and Nessie sat in the middle row and we sat in the back seats. We snuggled up and messed around for most of the drive. Alice left us with the task of taking as many photos as possible for the Cullen family photo album.
We sang along to the radio, pelting snacks off each other's heads. Emmett made us scream by pretending to almost crash the car. Seth held my hand once we arrived in Washington state. I played it cool, but inside I was screaming.
Nessie took some great photos of Seth and I, her and Jake, and Emmett driving. She also took a lot of candids of us singing or laughing. Jake got a great picture of her laughing so hard she was crying.
We were beyond tired after the six hour drive. At 2 o'clock, Emmett passed a sign that said "Welcome to Forks, Washington". I poked my head out the window and looked around the town. We didn't stay in the main part for long, Emmett turned off the highway and onto a forested road.
"I can't believe we're back," Nessie shared a doe-eyed look with Jake. This place obviously held a lot of memories for them.
"Ness, when were you even born?" I asked as we bounced down the forest road.
"September eleventh of 2006," she commented airily. I gasped.
"Here we go," Jake snorted. "The great birthday debate."
"You didn't tell me it was your birthday!" I screamed.
"I don't celebrate my birthday!" Nessie insisted. "I put my foot down when I was one! My birthday really, really sucked! Nobody else in the family celebrates theirs."
"I can't believe you," I mumbled. "I feel like a total friend failure!"
"Why? It's just a day," Nessie rolled her eyes at me. "The ritual of celebrating your horrific, bloody launch into the world is just downright barbaric."
"Er, Nessie's birth was a little unconventional," Seth told me. "When's yours, anyways?"
"August ninth," I said. I never really celebrated it either. I hadn't had anyone to celebrate with since I was… thirteen.
The conversation was cut short when we arrived at a huge white house, the total opposite of ours back in Oregon. This was modern, tons of glass, and more clinical. Still, Renesmee was bouncing in her seat by the time Emmett rolled to a stop. She flew out of the car, bronze curls trailing behind her and catching the light. Jake just watched with a goofy grin as she bounded up the stairs.
Emmett got out to unload the bags while Jake ran after Nessie. Seth and I were left alone, now standing awkwardly in the yard.
"I feel like I don't belong here," I confessed to Seth. "Everyone else has such an attachment to this place besides me."
"We'll make some memories here," he promised. "And the Cullens will probably live here again some time. They always come back."
I let the excited Renesmee take me on a tour of the house. We didn't linger very long on the room she was born, and all the furniture was covered, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. She went over memories of her brief childhood again and again, from the time she warped Esme's silverware by playing with it, or the fashion shows she'd put on every day to an adoring crowd.
"Seems like you had an idyllic childhood," I commented, brushing a light layer of dust from the bookshelf we were standing beside. Her eyebrows puckered, with her lips pursed. I recognized that as her 'reflective and deep in thought' expression.
"Why haven't you told me about yours?" She asked suddenly. I guess I was trapped.
With a heavy sigh, I looked at her. "You sure you want to hear it?"
"Of course," she patted the desk next to us. We sat cross legged on the desk, watching dust motes dance along the air and catch the light
"My parents had me when they were young. I had an older sister, Erica. I guess they never really were in love. My mom cheated on my dad for a lot of their relationship. It was a whole town scandal - we lived in a small town like this one. Dad always had anger issues, and eventually he snapped. They called it a 'double homicide'. He killed my mom and her boyfriend, and then came looking for Erica and I. I'll never forget how she covered my tiny body with hers, hiding us in the closet. There was a gunshot, and I thought my sister had been killed. But when she squeezed my hand, I knew she wasn't the one who had died. We stayed in that closet for hours, afraid to leave because we knew what we'd see. But eventually Erica picked me up and told me we had to be big girls, we had to go get the police so we would be safe. On our bedroom floor, our dad was laying there. She told me not to look, but all I could see was dark red blood covering the pink flower rug we had. We had to pass their room to get to the telephone. There was two bodies there. The smell of blood still lingers sometimes, I swear I can smell it. The police came to get us. They didn't even know what to say to us. How to… explain what would happen to us," I paused to take a steady breath.
"We got separated in foster care. She was somewhere in Oregon with me, just in a different town. She kept 'acting out' so she got put in a group home for troubled teen girls. When I was thirteen, she was sixteen and she ran away. I stopped getting letters from her. There was a search for her, but nobody really cared that she was gone. No weeping parents pushing the cops to find their baby, you know? I don't know where she is now. Maybe she's dead, or maybe she's looking for me. I used to fantasize that she ran away to become a rock star and make a ton of money. Then she'd build us a castle and come rescue me. Three years passed and she hasn't come to rescue me."
Nessie had tears in her eyes when I finished. I just shrugged.
"Sometimes life deals you a rotten hand," I told her. "I just make the best of it, watching the sun set and working on my future."
"You have us, now!" Nessie pulled me into her arms. I inhaled her soft scent, burying my face in her curls. We just sat like that for nearly an hour, until we heard voices downstairs.
We joined the family in the living room.
"Charlie wants to see you," Bella fretted at her daughter. "He hasn't seen you in five years, not so much as a photo."
"I thought you moved to Oregon directly from Forks?" I asked.
"No, we went to Alaska for a few years after Nessie started to grow too much," Edward explained. "Then, we came back to Washington for a year but stayed in a different area, then when we decided that was too dangerous, we came out to Oregon."
"Reasonable," I commented.
"Alright, girls, Charlie is coming tomorrow. Then we'll talk to him about our options," Edward sighed. "Please, don't get your hopes up that Charlie will even want the change."
"How could you say that?!" Renesmee gasped. "You're offering him an eternity with Bella, and you think he'll just say 'no thank you'?!"
"He may not see it that way, honey," Edward tried to explain, but Nessie held up a hand.
"Don't want to hear it, Dad," she said, turning and bolting up the stairs. Bella and Edward just shared exasperated looks.
"Hey, Jules, you wanna build a pillow fort up in the guest bedroom?" Seth asked, bounding into the living room. My mind flashed to all the things we could end up doing in that pillow fort. Edward looked pained.
"Don't be doing anything impure to my little sister," he warned Seth. "I'll know, pal. I will know, and I will end you."
My heart swelled when he called me little sister. I just winked at him and grabbed the terrified Seth, running up the stairs with him to the guest room. We moved furniture, gathered blankets and came up with a plan. It took over an hour and a lot of swearing, but we got a decent-looking blanket fort.
Luckily we made it large enough for Seth and I to fit. We stretched out on the mattress that we'd flopped onto the floor, surrounded by quilts and pillows. The light filtered through gave everything a pinkish hue. It was warm, cozy and nice as rain pounded the roof.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked meekly. Seth nodded, his lead resting on his arm, just staring at me. "We've kissed a few-ish times now… So… what are we?"
Before he could answer, I covered my face. "Oh, God, I'm sorry. I never know what to do when a guy kisses me, like, does he want to be my boyfriend? Do we just have a 'thing'? What even is a thing?! And then I sound all needy by asking for a label, like, God she's so high maintenance. Just - forget I asked, please."
"Juliet," Seth stopped me. "I didn't know how to bring it up. I want nothing more in this world than to be your boyfriend and let everyone on the Earth know about it, if you'll have me."
I, very slowly, uncovered my face to make sure he wasn't joking. He really wasn't. As a reply, I launched myself at him, rolling onto his chest and into his arms. We stared at each other for a heartbeat before Seth's lips found mine and we disappeared into our own little world.
He rolled me over so that he was above me, kissing down my jaw, down to the hollow of my neck. Placing soft kisses on my cheekbones, my nose, my forehead. Kissing my lips gently, so tenderly and then all at once, diving forcefully into me. I met every step with eager enthusiasm. I took pride in his ragged breath as I kissed down his neck, sucking on his skin just lightly. Kissing his collarbones, nipping his shoulders. Laying with some of his weight on top of me, and then just laying together with our legs intertwined, our lips pressed together. I couldn't get enough, exploring his mouth, his skin. Our hands traveled tentatively, his winding into my hair, sliding down my back, across my butt. My hands memorised his firm shoulders, toned back and stomach. He actually moaned when my hand found its way onto his chest.
I didn't know how long it had been when Nessie gently interrupted us.
"Er - Jules, Seth, it's time for dinner," she coughed. I was starving! Seth and I joined the rest of the family down in the kitchen.
"Good evening," Jake snorted. "Nice of you to join us."
Nessie elbowed him under the table - giving him a 'stop that, Jacob' look. I blushed as under the light, you could see the tiny hickeys on both of our bodies, the slightly raw lips and distant, dreamy eyes. Nobody said anything until dinner, when Esme and Carlisle asked to speak with me privately.
They sat me down in Carlisle's study. I was acutely aware I was sitting in Nessie's birth room and tried to ignore that fact.
"We've noticed that you and Seth are becoming… intimate," Carlisle began, sounding torn between using his doctor voice or his dad voice.
"Understandably, we'd like to avoid any accidents," Esme took over. "So if you need access to any contraceptives, please don't hesitate to ask us or even your sisters, although I'd prefer you came to us."
"Oh, my god, Mom, Dad, I'm a virgin!" I blurted. "Seth only just became my, um, boyfriend."
"Oh," Esme raised her eyebrows. "Well, honey, it just seemed a little… well, this is good. What I said still stands. In addition, since Jake and Renesmee are allowed sleepovers, we're trusting you to behave. Seth can sleep in your room and vice versa."
"Thank you," I said genuinely.
"And, we trust you know how… everything works?" Carlisle asked awkwardly. "If you have any questions at all -"
"I'll definitely ask. Thank you," I repeated. "Really."
"Alright," Esme clapped her hands together, beaming. "I think that went well. Now, go play, dear."
"Not too much," Carlisle couldn't help but make the joke. I laughed while Esme shot him a scolding look.
"Okay, thanks again, Mom, Dad. I'm going to go now," I excused myself, darting up the stairs. I'd sustained enough awkwardness for one night. What really got to me, though, was that I'd so unthinkingly referred to them as my parents.
I couldn't ponder it long because I ran into Nessie on the stairs. She grabbed me and pulled me in like she was going to kiss me. I momentarily worried about some vampire custom I hadn't been introduced to until she whispered in my ear.
"I'm gonna tell Jake how I feel," she hissed. "Tonight, I'll put on something really sexy and show him I'm all grown up."
"Get it, girl," I whispered back. "Are you nervous?"
"A little. Alice let me borrow a little nightgown of hers. She says soon we'll go shopping to get us our own - you know, sexy things."
"Mom and Dad just tried to give me the sex talk," I whispered. Nessie cringed.
"Mine did that to me last year!" she continued whispering. Emmett appeared at the end of the hall.
"Are you guys making out?" He asked with a laugh. "What the Hell?"
"We are not making out!" I protested, spinning around. "We're sharing secrets."
"Secrets about what?" Emmett joined us, bending low. "I want to be let in."
"Do you need the sex talk? I hear Carlisle's giving them out tonight," Nessie snorted. Emmett shook his head.
"Think I'm good in that department, little one," he drawled. "Speaking of which, have you seen Rose?"
"With Alice in your room," Nessie said. He nodded and darted off. "Okay, time to go show Jake what I've got."
"Good luck," I whispered, padding off to find Seth.