Most of the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Note: As of 6/5/17 this chapter has been updated.
We arrive in record time, I assume that's because my father would rather not have Jacob's blood splattered all over his precious Volvo.
Kate, Garrett, Tanya, Eleazar, and Carmen are already out and ready to greet us. I'm out of the car as soon as it comes to a stop and I practically sprint towards Kate and nearly tackle her.
"Jeez, Lace, I've missed you too, but there's no need to knock me on my ass," We laugh together. Then, I hear footsteps crunching through the snow, but they don't come from behind me like they should. They come from behind Kate. I look behind my extended family to see a beautiful dark haired, fair skinned, boy. Although, "boy" is a bit of a loose term, seeing as he's obviously a vampire like most of my family.
"Who's this?" I hear Carlisle question from behind me, not taking my eyes off of the beautiful boy who seems to be staring right back at me.
Tanya is the one who answers, "This is Alexander, we found him wandering a few days ago. He, like us, lives on an animal diet, so we offered him a place here."
I take my eyes off of Alexander then, understanding by the tone of Tanya's voice what she hoped he would be for her. Tanya's been without a mate for far longer than I have. I walk to join my parents and my sister, my eyes now on Tanya. I'm not surprised she would label Alexander as a potential mate, heck, she even had feelings for my father when they had first met.
"You can call me Alex," his voice came quietly from behind Tanya, it fell upon my ears like the first snow of winter. Gentle and soft. Smooth and velvety. I glance at him to see that his eyes are still on me. I quickly look down at my feet.
I miss a short conversation between my father and Tanya, only realizing that everyone is walking towards the house when I feel my father's hand on my back, pushing me forward.
I cringed as I realized that he most definitely knew how I felt about this boy. Then I had an even better realization, Dad knew what he was thinking…
"Not a chance," Dad mumbles. Dammit.
"Language," Dad scolds, but he laughs.
Lucky us, we don't all have to stay in one house. The cabin-like home that my parents, Ness, me, and Jacob are staying in is significantly larger than the one back in Forks. The front door opens up into a decently sized living room with a semi-modern looking fireplace and a simple kitchen. Then there is a small spiral staircase that leads upstairs to the bedrooms. Three doors in a small hallway. My parents' room is at the end of the hallway, Ness and her dog's room is on the left and mine is on the right. My own room. I've shared a room with Ness my whole life, but I finally have my own room and it almost feels like something is missing.
The room is simple, but beautiful. The bed is mostly black, with the exception of a purple and blue bedspread, with an upholstered headboard. The walls are a simple lilac color and the floor is a dark wood. There is a simple modern white desk with a strand of fairy lights hanging above it. I walk over to it and sit my laptop of the smooth white surface, the desk is either very new or hasn't ever been used. Then, I toss my messenger bag with my other various belongings. I comb my fingers through my long red-brown hair and plop down onto the bedspread.
I don't know how long I lay there, stuck in thought, when I hear a knock at my door.
"Come in," I groan as I sit up on my bed. Dad walks in. "Ugh, listen, I'm not really in the mood for a lecture about boys."
Dad chuckles as he sits on the edge of my bed, "Actually, I came in here to see if you were okay. You've been in here for over an hour and your thoughts were starting to get...dark, to say the least."
"They wouldn't be if you'd just tell me what you know," I say, meaning for it to come out angrily, but it only comes out as more of a sad whisper.
"Well, I'll tell you this," he pauses, "You're right about what Tanya thinks about Alex." I sigh angrily. Dad stands up, kisses my hair, and walks out.
I decide to go find Kate, she'll listen at least. I find her in her room organizing items on a shelf.
"Hey," she says simply when I walk in.
"Hey," I smile, "Can you...um...walk with me for a minute?" She raises an eyebrow, but nods. When we're far enough from the house that no one would hear us, I tell her everything. She confirms what I already knew about Tanya, but then she says something that makes me sad for Tanya, but relieved.
"I don't think he feels the same about her, though," Kate says simply, then she winks at me. We talk about various other things on our way back towards the house, like how things are going with her and Garrett, if her and Tanya still miss Irina. I'll always feel kinda bad about that, considering Ness and I were kind of the reason for that. Kate always tells me not to blame myself for what happened, though. I never listen.
By the time we get back to the house it's dark, so I say my farewell to Kate and start to head back home. I stop halfway there when I hear quiet footsteps in the snow. I whip around to see the boy with darker hair than mine and amber eyes.
"Hey," he says quietly, looking somewhat shy.
"Hey," I say as I feel myself blush. Ah, now there's a trait from my dear mother.
"I was just..." he stops, then sighs. "Nevermind."
"No, what were you going to say?" I press.
"No, forget it," he says, looking at his shoes.
"Tell me," I say, realizing that with every word we had been moving closer and closer to each other, and that I was now barely a foot away from him.
"I was...curious..." he says, quieter now, "...so, I...followed you."
"Please tell me you only started following me after I got back from walking with Kate," I whisper.
The apologetic look on his face says it all. I blush even harder, mortified. I look at my shoes. I feel a hand quickly caress my cheek, I look up and he's gone. My heart nearly stops in my chest. I practically sprint back to the house and up to my room. I slam the door and faceplant into the pillows on my bed, screaming into one of them.
There's no way a guy like him could ever like me. I'm so plain. And he's...well he's extraordinary. He could probably find a dozen vampire girls that would adore him. Why would he ever choose me? I wasn't even fully a vampire, I was a damn twisted half-breed. I am far more twisted and evil than my sister. I was what nearly killed my mother. Ness might have always been the most kind-hearted and pure creature in the world. I, however deserved to be killed the night I was born, I should have been killed that night. So, what stopped them from ripping my head from my body? Jacob hates me, he always has, so he wouldn't have stopped them from hurting me, so why?
"Rosalace Annabelle Cullen," my father says, sounding concerned, from the edge of my bed. I didn't even hear him come in. I look up at him.
"It would've killed Ness if you had died that night," he explains. "It would've hurt her more than if she had died herself. Besides, Jacob imprinting on Ness showed the wolves that you were both human enough for that to be possible. The threat they had come there to destroy, no longer existed."
I open my mouth to speak, but he stops me.
"You are not evil, Lacey. Nor have you ever been. You are just as pure and kind-hearted as you think your sister is. It was not your fault that your mother nearly died. Jacob might silently blame you for it, but no one else will ever see it that way. And that includes your mother and I."
"Thanks," I say bitterly. He sighs.
"You're so much like your mother," he says under his breath. "So stubborn, so blind to how everyone else actually sees you." He tousles my hair as he gets up and walks out.