Finley's First Day (Part II)

For those who love Finley here is a conversation about his life! Hope you enjoy!

Bella POV

When lunch started I walked into the cafeteria with a sense of unease. I knew Finley would be sitting with us but I was hoping that Edward would act a little more civil towards him than he had done this morning.

"Look who I found!" he called over when he spotted us walking over.

I saw Alice give a grin and Jasper had his eyes locked on Edward as if he were trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Did you guys have French together?" I asked as I look the seat next to Alice, Edward took the seat next to me.

"No. But some girl called Lauren came and sat next to me though." He replied with a smile on his face.

I looked at the Cullen's with a shocked expression. Humans didn't usually warm to vampires, so why an earth was Lauren of all people cosying up to Finley in the middle of French?

"Can I ask what you brought over from being human?" I enquired, desperate to know why he was so approachable.

"Mary says I must've brought over my charisma. It seems that I'm approachable to anyone, human or vampire."

So that was why. Finley definitely had charisma by the bucket load; however, it seemed that Edward was immune to it.

"That makes sense." I agreed.

"Your sister is returning tonight." Alice informed him as she casually spun an apple on her tray.

"How do you know that?" Finley asked, his face torn between awe and scepticism.

"I see decisions regarding the future. I guessed by the flowing black hair and the determination to be back with her family it must've been Guinevere."

"She prefers to be called Gwen. She hates being referred to as her full name, it drives her crazy."

"Do you get driven crazy being called your full name?" I asked unable to help myself. I knew Edward probably thought of me as a traitor but Finley seemed really interesting to me. If only he could get over his first impression of him.

"It doesn't bother me. But I prefer to be called Fin."

"Oh, ok then. Fin it is." I nodded as I took a bite of my sandwich.

"Like what fishes use to swim with." Edward stated, his voice oozing in mockery.

Fin seemed to ignore his tone and answered innocently. "Yes, exactly."

I shot a quick and panicked look at Jasper and he had his gaze on Edward again.

"Or like Huckleberry Finn." Edward emphasised as he obviously tried to wind him up.

"I think you got it." Fin replied uneasily seeing Edward's plan.

I felt uneasy too, my boyfriend was acting like a child who thinks they're smarter than the rest of the class. It didn't suit him one bit.

I tried to nudge Edward with my elbow but I was the one who came off worse. I tried to covertly rub my throbbing elbow and act like nothing had just happened, but Alice had caught a glimpse of me.

"Edward, Jasper and I need to have a chat with you." She said suddenly as she stood up.

"What about?" he asked confused, he wasn't certain as to why they needed to talk.

"Yeah, what about?" Jasper asked equally confused.

I knew that for my sake Alice was going to have a serious chat with Edward out of my earshot, and Jasper had to be involved for moral support.

"Come on." She ordered hastily as both of them stood to join her. "Catch you in a bit Bella." She winked at me and started walking away from our table.

Edward kissed me lightly and turned to join her whilst Jasper just shrugged and walked after them.

"What's going on with them?" Fin asked as he too watched them walk away.

"I think Alice is going to teach Edward some etiquette." I replied as I found myself looking into his buttercup eyes again. "What's the deal with your eyes?" I asked without thinking.

"I'm not sure really. I think its part of my charisma power. Most people can't stop staring into them, and most of the time I can get anything I want when they're looking into them. It's like hypnosis...but not, if you get what I mean."

"I have to say they are very beautiful." I admitted.

"Just like you are."

"Now Fin, none of this." I warned him as I nipped his infatuation in the bud. "Edward is my boyfriend and I love him with my heart and soul. Nothing will change that."

"I was only telling you that you're beautiful Bella." He replied taken aback. "I'm not assuming that you're gonna drop Edward like a hat and come running into my arms. I knew from the second I saw you two together that your bond with each other was unbreakable. I don't fancy trying to break it, and I wouldn't want to either. Edward is very protective; I can see that from the way he glares at me all the time, he would fight for you till the death and I don't want to die anytime soon. But I just don't see why me telling you that you're beautiful immediately means I'm gonna make a move on you. Maybe it's just the modern world for me; it was much easier back in my day."

"I'm sorry about my stupid outburst." I apologised feeling ashamed, "It's just Edward saw what you were thinking last night and he assumes you want to take me away from him. I was only setting the record straight just in case you thought there was a possibility. Can you forgive me?" I pleaded afraid that he was now going to hate me.

Luckily he didn't seem too offended anymore, I saw him smile at me and I knew I was forgiven.

With my confidence built back up I asked, "What year were you born?"

"1880. The same day as Tod Browning. July twelfth."

"Isn't he dead now?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. I was born on the same day as someone who became famous. Do you know what he's famous for?"

"No."

"Have you never seen Freaks?"

"Erm, no."

"It's a horror classic! I went to see it the year it was released. It was rather controversial at the time."

"And how old were you then?"

"The same age I am now."

"And how old is that?"

"Eighteen."

"This is going to be an awkward question but..." I hesitated. I knew from previous experience that none of the Cullen's really liked to talk about their change from human to vampire. I only knew of Edward's, Carlisle's and Alice's. No one else had volunteered their stories. But each one I had found as interesting as the other.

"But..." He probed.

"How did you change into a vampire? I mean your twin sister Gwen is one as well. How did that happen?"

"Ah. That conversation. It's usually brought up on the third or fourth lunch. Not the first."

"I'm sorry; you don't have to talk about it. I shouldn't have asked." I apologised feeling as if I'd poked my nose too far into his business.

"I don't mind talking about it. It's simpler than Gwen's."

"You two didn't get bitten at the same time?" I asked in awe.

"No. She was bitten first. I didn't see her for about a year or so. My real mother, her name was Eliza, she was heartbroken when she wasn't in her bed that morning. My father had died two years before and Gwen going missing just about broke her heart into a million pieces. She drank herself to death in the end. It was very devastating to see her in that state every day, it made me want to throw myself off of a bridge because I was a constant reminder of what she'd lost."

I reached across the table and took his hand in comfort, it was ice cold like the rest of the Cullen's but somehow I was expecting something different from him, just like his eyes. When he was ready to continue I took my hand away.

"Anyway, once she'd died I had to sell the house because I couldn't afford it singlehandedly. By chance Gwen was back in town and she pounced on me whilst I went into the woods to find some food. She bit me here, on the neck and went in for the kill, but she realised somehow in the haze of hunger that it was me and she stopped herself. She doesn't know how she did it, the newborns can't control their thirst in the first three years, but she says it was her love for me that stopped her from killing me. In my pre-transforming state she took me further into the woods where she'd been living in an abandoned cottage. She stood by me throughout the whole three days, telling me that I was going to be ok, that I was going to be a new person once the pain stopped. When it finished we decided to run away and try and find more of our kind. We were both newborns and Gwen told me that she hated killing humans but she wasn't strong enough to control her habits. We searched far and wide and finally found Mary and George in Ireland in 1905. We all travelled back to America in 1906 and they brought a place in Alaska and taught us self control. We thank them every day for putting with up us and being as patient as saints whilst training us. Gwen found it harder to find her self control in the first few years, but that's because she'd been drinking human blood for a longer time than I had." He sat in silence probably reminiscing about the past and I was taken aback about how easily he could talk about it all.

"I think that's everything." He concluded as he looked at my shocked face.

"Well that was..."

"You can't find words for it can you?" He asked as his eyes shone in pleasure.

"No."

"The Cullen's are coming back now. Edward isn't too happy about their chat by the looks of it."

"I apologise for my brother's bad behaviour." Alice informed Fin as they approached the table; she shot a fiery look in Edward's direction.

"It's no problem. It's my fault." He told Alice as he turned to face Edward, "I shouldn't have been thinking about Bella in that way Edward. I hope you can forgive me. I hope your first impression of me can be erased."

"No. Forgive me; I'm the one who let it get to me. I shouldn't have let my jealously get in the way." Edward replied almost sincerely.

I could tell that it was killing him inside to be apologising, however I knew that Alice must've had something on him to make him apologise and make it look good.

"No harm done." Fin replied with his nicest smile. "I gotta go to calculus, but I'll catch you at the end of the day." He informed us all as he packed up his bag and left the cafeteria. "It was nice talking with you Bella."

"The pleasure was all mine." I smiled back at him.

I wondered how Edward could not be affected by that smile. It made me want to like him even though I already did. If I were him I would've put all of that behind me after seeing Fin's smile.

It seemed I was the only one with that notion.

"What did you talk about whilst we were gone?" Edward asked casually.

"Mainly about him. I wanted to learn some stuff about his life. You know he's older than you! He was born in 1880 and the same day as Tod Browning!"

"Tod Browning the director?"

"Yeah, he did a film called Freaks or something." I replied as I tried to remember if my information had been correct.

"Is that all you talked about?"

"We talked about his change as well. It was...well I don't have the words for it, but it was his sister was the one who bit him!"

"Did you mention me by any chance?"

"Yes."

"You told him I heard his thoughts didn't you?"

"Yes. Why's that a problem?"

"Because I don't want him knowing that I can listen to his thoughts! He'll probably try and block me out now."

"What is wrong with you? He apologised like a proper gentleman and all you can worry about is the fact he knows your power now?"

I'd forgotten that Alice and Jasper were still here waiting for us to go to gym.

"As much as I agree with you Bella I think it's time to go." She told me as she grabbed my arm and led me towards the changing rooms at a fast pace.

"Why did you stop me?" I asked as I was being pulled along against my will. Coincidentally I was being pulled along to a lesson that I had to participate in against my will.

"I already told Edward off big time, I don't think he needs to be told off anymore. He's just worried about you Bella. He doesn't want to lose you."

"He's never going to lose me." I laughed, "But I don't appreciate him talking about Fin in that way. There's no competition there. Fin knows we can only be friends and ironically that's all he wants to be too."

"Ok, that's great, but just lay off Edward a bit. I think he's a bit upset now, all the women in his life seem to be yelling at him."

"What's he done to Rosalie and Esme?"

"With Esme he can do no wrong. It's just he and Rosalie have been arguing about the usual."

"What's the usual?"

"Your transformation."

"But I thought they were on the same side."

"Edward's beginning to accept the terms, but Rosalie thinks he should fight harder against it."

"Oh."

We stopped talking about it once we entered the changing rooms and gym was normal as usual. I nearly stumbled over and smacked Jasper over the head with a badminton racket but Edward caught me with ease.

"Careful, love." He whispered into my ear and I started to suspect that he was cooling down.

When Fin wasn't here Edward was back to normal.

The class ended and I was glad to be getting home. Today had been a long day and I wanted to spend the night with Edward trying to make him feel loved by me again.

We approached the car park and found Fin in his car already.

"See you tomorrow." He waved before leaving in his red Ford Mustang.

I could see Lauren glaring at me from across the car park; I took no notice whilst I put my bag in the boot of Edward's Volvo. I had the man I wanted. She could have Fin, there was no problem there.

"Did he tell you where they're living?" Edward asked me out of the blue.

"No. It didn't come up in the conversation." I replied cautiously. "Anything else you want to ask about him?"

"No. I'm fine for now."

"You know that no one would be able to take me away from you, don't you?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I think I do."

"You know you do."

I kissed his lips lightly before I got carried away and forgot to breathe again. He just smiled as he unwrapped my arms and kissed my cheek.

I hoped that the kiss had been my way of saying sorry for shouting at him earlier.

I got in the car and was sure that we'd be fine for the rest of the day, so long as Fin didn't show up and darken Edward's mood again then the rest of the night was going to be uneventful.

It seemed I was right, nothing did happen except for the arrival of Gwen, but I didn't need to worry about that until tomorrow.

You likie? Tell me what you think. You should know by now that reviews (equals) loves!

And vote on the poll! PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU!