AN: Hello, it's me agian. Hope you enjoy this, the fun is about to end. : ( So sad, story almost over. Anyways--on with the show.
Disclaimer: Three guesses.
Nia POV
Adrian was pissed with me. He told me that Edward was over five times his age, and did not need a babysitter. I disagreed, and got him to sit at the Cullens anyway. I might have also pointed out that I was taking the motorcycle and that I wouldn't have room. Now Bella was hanging onto my back like her life depended on it, making me laugh through my helmet. She didn't need to be so afraid; I wasn't going to crash. And even if I did, I wasn't going very fast.
Just to prove my point, it took forever to get to Seattle. Of course, I was getting bored which wasn't helping. When we did arrive in Seattle, I parked the bike in a garage and started walking toward a café. Bella followed, mumbling something about promises.
"I'm guessing that someone at some point made you promise to never do something reckless. And I'm guessing that the person in question has the ability to quote entire Shakespearean plays in one sitting." I was, of course, talking about Edward, whom I had seen quoting Shakespeare to Bella whenever they watched one of the movies together.
She scowled at me. "Yes, and to make it worse, Charlie has made me promise to never ride a motorcycle."
"Yeah, but it was so fun to zoom out of their driveway, don't deny it. Now, I was going to tell you something."
"Something that involved stealing me away from my boyfriend and sticking me on a motorcycle?"
"Well, the bike was a spur of the moment decision. But to the rest of it yes. And I had no choice about removing Edward; he would kill me for talking about this one with you."
I was surprised that she didn't think of it herself. There were only two things that it put Edward in a murderously bad mood to talk about. A) Bella being in danger, and B) Bella becoming a vampire. Since I had just worked very hard to get Bella out of danger, it seemed unlikely that I would be here to discuss putting her in harm's way. Which left option B. An option that Edward was resigned to, but not happy with. And I was willing to bet that so soon after fighting to keep Bella alive, Edward wasn't going to be willing to do something that would, in his mind, kill her.
I grinned at her. "Why you becoming immortal, of course. Are you still planning on that happening?" I laughed at the look on her face. She looked surprised, and more than a little incensed.
"Duh I am. I would never think of giving this up," she held her wedding ring, sending across the idea that she was talking about Edward. Like I couldn't have gotten that on my own. "Just so I can be a weak human that everyone else has to protect? No, it's just--Edward has been so worried lately. I'm afraid that he will go back to feeling guilty if I have him do it."
"He will right now. But he'll get over it," no point in lying to the girl. "I was just going to ask you if you wanted me to talk to him about it." I would do it too. Even though I was sure it would either make him very angry at me or he would just try to kill me.
"Why are you so eager, I thought that you were--well, I thought that you didn't really care when it happened, so long as it all worked out all right."
"You're right. I don't really worry about the timing of things that aren't on some kind of limit. But see my friend, I think this might be. The wolves--mostly Jacob, but still--they weren't to happy to let you do this. I'm not sure how much patience they will end up having. And we might already be pushing it." Alright, let's clear some things up. In reality, I had been worrying over how this things timing was going down for a while now. That was half the reason Adrian agreed to help me. Generally speaking, Adrian would do almost anything for me when I looked worried. Maybe because I didn't look worried all that often, I was a pretty confident person. But Bella didn't need to know any of that.
"Do you think we need to hurry?"
"Not hurry, really. But putting it off until Edward is gunning for the idea probably won't end well. That was really all I needed to discuss with you. Let's go the produce store and then go to get some food."
"Why are we going to the produce store?"
"Two reasons. One: Adrian really likes those pomegranates and I want him to be less angry with me. And two: well, I really liked those pomegranates too." With a self-pleased smile, I dragged Bella back toward the bike. "Come on, even you will want dinner before we head back to Forks." And I want to eat before I returned to a very angry Adrian and an even angrier Edward. Who knows, between them this could be my last meal.
I had my backpack with me. I never left anywhere without it, by now it was just instinct to grab it. I now had four pomegranates in it, as well as some fast food I picked up. It should be plenty to at least show Adrian that I hadn't forgotten about him. There was also a box of bullets and a blade cleaning cloth. That was a heavy butt load of crap. We were just pulling into the range to Edward's abilities, and I was editing my thoughts. Actually, I was just thinking, "Look, I got her home, safe and sound. I can drive you know. Being in range for him meant that we were within a few miles away from him. I was going faster now then I had been when we left. Meaning I was at a little over 100 miles an hour. We would be there in about...maybe a couple of minutes.
Of course I was right. That was the sort of thing I was half made to do. Figure out how to take care of problems--fighting and war related problems. Like how long it would take to get to an enemy's camp. Or to get to my best friend's house, where she lived with a husband who was very, very annoyed with me. I had barely gotten myself off the bike before Edward had me half-pinned to the wall. "Where did you take her?
"Umm... Seattle, just like I said. You didn't follow, I didn't leave. Plus, they had pomegranates and unhealthy fast food. Which I brought to Adrian, and which you are now about to crush."
"And why do I care?" He had a point, he was probably not to happy with Adrian either.
"Maybe because if you asked your girlfriend, she wasn't to upset with what we just discussed. And I barely had her for an evening." And you don't want to beat the living crap out of me, Bella's watching us right now, remember. Take me outside or something, alright? Then we can fight to your heart's content, I added the last part in my thoughts, figuring Bella wouldn't approve of the idea. But it would really make Edward feel better to beat me up, and it wouldn't hurt. Too much.
"You took her on Alice's motorcycle. Why did you do that?"
"Is Alice angry with me? I just thought it looked like a cool ride. And I don't get to drive all that often when I'm not here."
Edward's eyes went black, and he growled as he released me. I cocked my head to the side, looking right at him. Then I shrugged, acting confused. Then I just walked away, not even glancing back to see exactly how mad he was. Now I had to deal with my angry boyfriend.
"Babysitting one hundred some odd year old vampires. Everyone's idea of fun." Adrian muttered in my general direction. I was surprised he spoke to me at all. Generally he got even quieter then he already was whenever he got angry.
"It certainly makes my list. Here," I passed him the fruit and food stuffs. "I figured angry teenage vampires wouldn't think to feed you, and Esme's already done that once. She wouldn't know that you needed more already."
He gave me a look. A what-the-heck-is-wrong-with-you look. "Feeling flippant?"
"A little." Now the look was a little different. Now it was a what-is-scaring-you-so-much look.
"Nothing." I said, giving him a look of my own. One that said that I was fine. I was really. Just a little worried about the wolves. And the fact that, while I was pretty sure Sam would stick by his deal, now the School knew and about vampires. And maybe the Pack as well. I was going to have to have another talk with them, and this one was not going to be fun. I had a feeling that it was about to become clear whether or not they could hate me more than they already did.
But first came pissing off a Mr. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Delightful. Edward, I kind of need to talk to you. Come on up here. I'm getting rid of Adrian right now, and then I'll tell you what my little visit with Bella was about.
"Adrian, you might want to go hang out with Emmett or something. I'm about to talk to Edward. Also, I guess that you can just stop worrying about shielding your thought, 'cause that had to be annoying."
"This isn't over yet, Nia." I just nodded at him. Like I didn't know that he wouldn't be letting me get away with not telling him. Again. He would end up coming with me. It would probably end badly, but that was okay. I was used to it by now.
Adrian walked out the door, leaving me with a quick look. Edward walked right in, obviously having read one of our minds to find out when we finished.
"Where did you take her?"
"Like I said, just out to eat. See, I even fed her." She was never in even danger. We didn't even go into the dangerous part of town Edward. And moreover, inside city limits the bike was easier to maneuver then a car is. And I'm not the best driver. See, it was for safety almost as much as fun.
"Almost." He growled.
"Well, it didn't add any harm, and I enjoyed it. Edward, you have got to calm down before I tell you what we were discussing." He took a few very deep breaths.
"Alright, Nia. I'm calm. Now, what did you need?"
I needed to know if Bella was still going to be changed. Because I am about to piss off the Pack, and it should probably be done by then. I figured thinking that was a good plan, so that when he blew up Adrian wouldn't know exactly how much I needled him. If he found out, Edward would have to get in line to kill me. And that line was getting long.
"What are you going to do with the Pack?" Now he was looking for a way out of doing it now. He knew that it would happen; he just wanted to put it off a bit more.
"Tell them that the School knows of vampires, and therefore there is a high likelihood that they know of the dogs." He gave one sharp nod, and I looked at his eyes. Black, very black. I decided that him being so calm was a bad thing, just like Adrian would be completely unruffled right before he shot someone.
"How long do I have?" Shit, that was a bad question. One that I did not want to answer.
"Two days." After that, I have to tell them. Trust me; I'm not looking forward to it. Last time one Mr. Black barely managed not to take a swing at me.
"No." He crashed a fist into the wall, violence that kind of undermined his calm voice.
"She wants it you know. Why don't you just give it to her?"
"I'll be damning her. What kind of monster would wish that on the one whom he claims to love?"
I laughed. I couldn't help it, I just saw an awfully lot of irony in that. "We're all damned, brother. What difference does being a vampire make?" Oh crap. I called him brother. I might have meant it as another needle, but that didn't change how it felt. I always knew that Bella was my sister, I mean, my blood family didn't turn out so great, after all, but accepting her new family as my own seemed to be stretching God's charity just a bit.
"That's not true. There's no way Bella would go anywhere but to heaven." He was pacing now, some of his fake calmness having faded.
"Maybe, but same point. Hard skin and unearthly glamour wouldn't impact it if it's certain."
Still hadn't mentioned the brother comment, but that wasn't surprising. He had other things on his mind. "We are damned. We aren't human--we aren't even mortal."
"I'm not human. But them again, if there was ever someone who fit the going-to-hell profile it was me. I think I've hit whatever killing slash maiming limits there are set on those things. And I think you have to be sorry to be saved. Which leads straight back to my point. You're all in good shape for the heaven thing."
"I'll talk to Bella."
"She'll tell you to get a move on. Or some variation of that." I shrugged, unless she lost her temper, she would probably be a bit gentler.
"I know." He pinched the bridge of his nose. He had chilled out a little, and I took that as a good sign. You might want to go ahead with talking to her. Bella really hates being left in the dark. He nodded again, and this time he was resigned. Edward walked out the door, hopefully to speak to his wife.