Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all! … The exception being the plot… haha
A/N: Oh my gosh, guys!! At the moment I'm writing this, 'Finding Family' has damn near 400 reviews!! FOUR HUNDRED! I had no idea that this story would be so popular and I'm not ashamed to say that I'm incredibly proud of it! Thank you so much and keep up the amazing reviews! They really help!
Special thanks to "Nathalia Potter" (for her funny review), "Calm Serene" (for her hilarious and oddly warming review), "truelover" (as usual for her awesomeness), "Abi94" (because I laughed out loud at her threat on my life), "Missy Skywalker" (for her insightful and as always wonderful review), and "Obsessed-over-Emmett" (for catching my Charlie the Unicorn reference hahaha). This chapter is dedicated to the lot of you! ;) Thank you, my loves, for being so wonderful.
Well, here's chapter 9. I hope you like it!!
Bella's POV
2006. Baseball Clearing, WA.
"James," I gasped. Oh, God, no. This is not good at all.
His smirk turned sinister as he glared at me. I glared right back, however I wanted to know what he was thinking. I glanced at Edward fearfully, I hadn't told my family of James; I didn't think it necessary to inform them of all of the males that had tried to pursue me.
Edward's eyes were narrowed and his mouth drawn tight into a snarl, he growled suddenly at what I assumed were the thoughts he caught in James' mind.
The dark male stepped forward slowly and raised his hands in the air in the universal sign of "I mean no harm" and, looking at Carlisle, began to speak.
"I am Laurent, this is Victoria," he motioned to the wild haired female who merely stared, "and I'm assuming that you knows James." He motioned towards James.
"No," James spoke, his voice like silk, "I only know Isabella here. I do not know the others." He smirked again at me, "It's been a long time Isabella, has it not?"
I stood straight, "What do you want James?" I know it sounded rude, but I didn't care, not after our past.
Victoria stepped towards James and ran her hand lovingly down his arm, smirking at me. "He's mine now, woman." Her voice was higher than I had imagined it to be.
I felt my family's eyes on me and I didn't need my brother's power to feel their anxiety.
I narrowed my eyes and stepped forward, my hand still holding Edward's, "You can have him, he was never anything to me. I turned him away. It's not my fault that he wouldn't stop pursuing me for years until I was forced to keep him away from me."
"Bella? So you do know him?" Jasper asked me.
I was about to answer him when Victoria answered for me, "Oh yes, yes she does know him. She knew him very well from what James here has told me." She giggled, "I'm told I'm a hundred times better than she is."
I gasped, "How dare you! I would never ever have done anything like that with the likes of him, you witch!"
Things were spiraling down quickly, much too quickly. I held Edward back as he, evidently hearing the thoughts of these intruders, lunged forward. "Emmett!" I gasped, "Help me hold him!"
Emmett did as I asked and wrapped his arms around Edward's and held him in place. I turned back toward James, "You told her this? Obviously you didn't tell her how I turned you away every single time you tried. But you didn't like that, did you James? You weren't used to being turned away, were you?" I turned my attention to my family, Laurent, and Victoria, "You see, the last time I saw James I had to take him out and tear him limb-from-limb to keep him away from me. He attacked me the last time I told him no, thinking that by overpowering me he would be able to force me into submission. He didn't anticipate that I knew a thing or two about fighting back."
James snarled at me and I growled back, "Looking for a fight, James?" I asked him.
"Bella no! He'll fight you right back!" Edward cried from behind me.
Not taking my eyes from James, I replied back to Edward, "I'm counting on it."
Jasper and Carlisle suddenly stepped on either side of me, Jasper taking my arm and Carlisle raising his hands in the air as he spoke, "This is getting out of hand, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
Laurent nodded, "I agree," He said quietly. Then, taking one of James' arms and, motioning for Victoria to take the other, began to pull in the opposite direction. Victoria complied after sending a glare towards me to which I snarled.
I felt that not only was Jasper holding me, Alice was too.
I shook them off and turned towards Edward, who was now being held by Emmet and Rosalie a good thirty feet away from me. I heard a shriek that sounded suspiciously like Esme and suddenly found myself thrown to the ground.
I turned and, after throwing the person off of me, saw James ripping away at me in attempt to fight me. I growled and launched myself at him, taking him to the ground.
"You want a repeat of LAST TIME?!" I shouted at him, my vision clouded in red. His crimson colored eyes glared at me as he snapped his teeth at me. I snapped back at his neck, desperate to rip his stupid head from his shoulders and incapacitate him long enough to burn his body. I was out to kill.
He tossed me into a tree and I heard the shouts of anger that came from Edward and my brother who both, I now saw, had lunged at the two of us and had been trying to pry us apart. I wasn't having any of this, I launched myself right back at James with a roar of rage.
In the distance I saw that Rosalie and Alice were in a sort of dance-like battle with Victoria who looked as unscathed as they did. I saw Laurent and Esme pleading for us to stop while Emmett and Carlisle were coming behind both James and Victoria to keep them at bay.
I clawed at James as Jasper pulled me away and I was wonderfully glad to see that I certainly had done a number on him. His marble skin was torn in many places from my teeth and nails and his hair was in disarray. I'm sure I looked no better; we had been rolling around fighting on the ground, after all.
"Let me go Jasper! Let me go!" I pulled away from my brother as I watched Edward punch James' face into the ground. I was mildly satisfied to see he was just as enraged as I was.
"No Bella!" Jasper didn't struggle with me much. I knew that this was because of his experience with newborns and I certainly didn't have the strength of one.
James aimed a punch at Edward and when I saw it connect with my love's face I went ballistic, "Let me GO!"
Emmett had jumped in and ripped away one of James's arms. When James shrieked in pain I noticed that Victoria had disappeared and the rest of my family had jumped in to help. Jasper had handed me off to the arms of Esme, Rosalie, and Alice as he went and gave James a punch to the face before ripping his other arm away. "That's for my sister you sorry excuse of a man!" I watched as they tore him apart and lit a fire to consume his remains.
There was a long shriek of agonizing pain that came from the forest that I recognized as Victoria as James was burned.
As soon as they were sure he was properly burning, Edward came running towards me and pulled me into his arms.
I collapsed with him on the ground as I clutched at him, my face buried in his chest as I breathed in his scent to calm myself. Oh, Lord, how I had fallen in such love with this man.
He pulled away for a moment to cradle my face and kiss every inch of it, "I was so worried for you," He whispered, "So, so worried, my love."
I merely nodded as I kissed him back. My nerves were shot.
I felt Edward stiffen and I stiffened in response, turning to see what he was staring at. I saw Laurent and Carlisle in conversation, Carlisle with his arm wrapped around Esme's shoulders, holding her tight to his side.
"I am deeply sorry for my companions," Laurent was saying, "You were in every right, of course, to have retaliated. James was out of line."
Emmett growled, "Out of line?! He freaking jumped Bella with her back turned!"
Carlisle held up a hand towards Emmett and Rosalie took the chance to pull him away, "Let's go, Em," she said quietly, "Let's go hunt or something. We'll find you some bears." I watched as she pulled him off towards the forest.
"Be careful, you two," Alice said quietly, knowing that they would be able to hear her.
She and my brother came towards Edward and I who were still sitting on the ground. Alice lunged at the two of us, but Jasper was faster and pulled me into his arms.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Bella," he said into my hair. I held tighter, still slightly shaken, my anger gone.
"Me too," I replied. He let me go, Edward took my hand again, and Alice threw her little arms around my waist. She was shaking with dry sobs and Jasper had to use his power to calm her.
Esme called for us now, telling us that it was certainly time to go home and we all agreed, so, picking up our baseball gear, we made our way back to the house. Carlisle mentioned along the way that Laurent, interested in our diet, was going to meet up in Denali with another coven like our own to give it a try. I hoped that it worked out for him.
When we got back to the house, Esme hugged us all and ran her hands over us to make sure we weren't injured in any way. "Go clean yourselves up," she said quietly. She was a mother through and through and I smiled at her and nodded.
Edward hadn't let me go since the embrace I had with my brother, and for that I was glad. We walked upstairs and into our room where we closed the door quietly and turned to face each other.
Edward and I had, within the last six months, combined our rooms into one and added a bed, though for now we had no purpose but to use the bed for cuddling and the like. We had an unspoken agreement that none of that would happen without marriage, but now wasn't the time to think about that.
As I stared into his smoldering golden eyes, I couldn't help but feel that our game of baseball earlier today was so far away. His hand came and caressed my cheek and my eyes closed of their own accord. I breathed a small sigh when he pulled me closer to him as we danced our way toward the bed. He gently lay me down and hovered over me just staring at me.
I reached up and pulled him down beside me and felt his free hand move down from my shoulder, to my waist, around my hip and down my thigh where he hooked his hand under my leg and hoisted it up and over his hip. He kissed me softly before touching our foreheads together. I was melting inside, my love for him burning.
"I love you so much, Bella," He whispered, his cool, sweet breath washing over my face.
"I love you too, Edward, so much." I ran my fingers around his ear, knowing that he liked that.
He tightened his grip around me, "When James attacked, you, I didn't know what to think—," he trailed off, shaking his head. As I watched his jaw tighten and his nostrils flare I knew he was keeping in the sobs that threatened to come from my own chest too. He sniffed, "I didn't know what to think when you retaliated and jumped back at him. I know you can take care of yourself, but it nearly killed me seeing whenever he would gain the upper hand and throw you like a doll. I couldn't take it."
I placed my hand on his cheek and then pulled him closer, my cheek now pressed to his bronze hair as I comforted him. "Edward," I whispered, "Oh, my Edward. I'm okay. I'm here. I'm fine. You helped. You and Jasper and Emmett, you helped. He's gone now." I whispered to him.
He nodded, and we were silent for some time, just staring at one another, touching, kissing, and giving the other reassuring squeezes from time to time.
"So," I said after awhile, "What about those showers?" I winked at him, stood, and danced into the large closet where I found that bikini that Alice had bought me (thinking to myself in wonder how something like this could pass as appropriate in the presence of a man), and some swim trunks for him. I walked back into the room to find Edward still sitting as I had left him before throwing the trunks at him. I winked again and sashayed to the bathroom where I left the door cracked slightly ('Oh I'm such a tease,' I thought to myself) where I undressed and put on the bikini before turning on the water to a steaming temperature.
I got in and stood under the water waiting for him to come in, watching the door. The glass enclosure of the stand-up granite shower was fogging up quickly and I smirked as I ran a hand through my now wet hair, imagining what Edward was going to look like in those swim trunks. I shivered in anticipation. Oh, this was the naughtiest I've ever been, especially around a man!
The door to the bathroom opened and shut and I looked on as the bronze-haired God stood before me. The feelings that stirred in the pit of my stomach suddenly weren't uncomfortable and I itched to get my hands on him. His chiseled chest, arms, and toned stomach were taught and absolutely breathtaking.
He opened the glass door and, not taking his eyes off of me, closed it before stepping into the dual shower with me. I looked him up and down, watching the water run down his body in droplets. Oh, Lord.
If I were human still, my face would've been so red!
I forced my eyes back up to meet his and caught him looking my body up and down as well.
Yes, I thought, my face would certainly be the color of a cooked lobster.
Feeling self-conscious, I reached around him for the shampoo when his hand darted out and grabbed the bottle from my hand. I looked at him in question as he deposited some into his hand and motioned for me to come closer to him.
"May I?" He asked. I merely nodded, my knees going weak.
There was a granite bench that was carved into the shower that I sat on as he lathered the shampoo in my hair, cleansing it. He rinsed my hair, conditioned it, and rinsed it again.
He was reaching for the shower gel and the loofah when I stopped him and repeated the process with him.
I never knew that showering with someone could be so erotic.
I kissed him as we washed the dirt from our bodies, our swimsuits keeping us covered.
Too covered, my mind shouted at me. I shot that voice right down. Now was not the time, no matter how much I wouldn't mind at the moment.
"I love you," he whispered to me, his arms around my waist.
"And I you," I replied, the water from the showerheads coming down over our heads as we kissed and held one another close.
After our shower, we dried one another off, continuing our need to touch, hold, and caress the other. He stepped out of the bathroom, telling me to wait a moment, and returned quickly holding a stack of clothes for me. He handed them to me and kissed me before stepping back out.
I looked at the clothes he brought me and grinned as I saw that he had included a bra and panties for me and they were wrapped in my shirt. I would've laughed out loud if I weren't touched.
I dressed and gave him a moment to do the same. I threw my hair up into a bun so it would wave as it dried and stepped out into the bedroom to see Edward sitting on the couch waiting for me.
"Let's go downstairs and see if everyone else is done, shall we?" I asked him as I took his hand and pulled him downstairs.
Indeed, everyone was downstairs in the living room watching television with the exception of Esme who was dusting. We sat down on one of the couches and watched along, it was some newscast.
"Bella," Jasper broke the silence, "How exactly did you know James?"
I looked at him and noticed that the whole family looked interested as they stared at me, "Oh, well." I started, "I met him when I was travelling through Ohio, near Cincinnati. It was 1935 or 1936. He was just travelling through as well. He saw me hunting and wasn't quite intrigued at my diet, but he had questions. I won't say that he was taken with me; I believe that he just saw me as another girl to have his way with as he evidently didn't have Victoria then. Basically he kept coming on to me and I would always shoot him down. Finally, it became too much and he attacked me and I fought him back, ripped him to pieces and left him to put himself back together. I haven't seen him until today."
My family sat back and let the information sink in.
"How come you never told us?" Alice asked.
I smiled, "Because I never thought it was necessary to tell you about the one vampire that stalked me years ago or the other men that tried to court me. It's over now."
We sat in silence, watching the television for the next hour. Edward and I were playing with each other's hands and occasionally stealing kisses from one another.
I was just thinking about a paper I had to write for our English class that was due sometime next week when Alice suddenly gasped.
"Alice?" Rosalie asked.
Suddenly, Edward growled, "You've got to be kidding me!"
Choruses of "What?" "What is it?" "What's happening?" and "Hello?! Not a mind reader!" (Courtesy of Emmett) filled the room.
Alice shook her head as her vision ended. She looked at Edward, "Did you get that?" her face read.
Edward nodded, "You'd think that she'd stay away, but no!"
I became frustrated, evidently Rosalie did too as she asked, "What the hell is it?"
Edward drew a deep breath; "Victoria has come up with a plan to gather an army of newborns to take us on. I'm assuming for revenge for her mate James."
"How does she expect to do that?" Carlisle asked.
"It looks," Alice said, "that she's decided to go down to the South and ask for a group of them from someone."
Emmett's next statement went for every single one of us as we sat, stunned at this new revelation.
"Well, shit."
A/N: So, what did you think?!! Oh shit is right, yeah? Lol REVIEW!!
OH!!! HEY!!! I added pics to my profile of the shirt Bella wears in chapter 7 AND the swimsuit mentioned in this chapter. HAHA Can you imagine Alice buying that for Bella and Bella's reaction to it?! Hysterical… ;)
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!! I love you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading!
