Sorry guys I have been SUPER busy the past few weeks so I apologize for not updating. I thought I would be able to update consistently but I am a fool and I won't be able to do so lol. But please, I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a review/fav/follow if you enjoy. Thanks :)
-Rosalie's POV, 33 years later-
"And I already have the perfect gift planned for him," Alice sighed happily, clutching her hands towards her chest in an excited, almost childish way. I rolled my eyes a bit, turning the wheel and parking the car in an empty spot.
"Which is?" I asked, putting the car into park and silently hoping for an idea, as I had no clue on what to get Jasper for his birthday.
I snorted internally at the word.
His birthday.
There was no need to celebrate those anymore; I had been content with not celebrating mine anymore, as was the rest of the family. However, when Alice and Jasper joined our family, Alice always insisted on celebrating our birthdays in place of her own. She remembered nothing of her human life—not even her own birthday.
I was jealous of her inability to remember.
"I am not telling you!" she chirped with a laugh. "I don't need you stealing any ideas."
I repressed a growl and just cleared my throat, finding it nearly impossible not to roll my eyes again.
Despite her constant cheriness that I found very hard to swallow, she was a great addition to the family; as well as Jasper. They were both polite, friendly, and got along with the rest of us. The first few weeks were a bit tough, though.
I found Alice's high spirits and nearly nonstop pep to be extremely annoying. It seemed as if she could only see the good in everything and, although she was older than me, I was more mature than her. She was much too trusting of us, embracing Carlisle in a warm hug the first time she met all of us. She showed no fear, no hesitation, no...anything...besides cheer and friendliness when she met me, Carlisle, Esme, and Edward. I, on the other hand, didn't truly trust and come to accept my 'family' until a year or two after my transformation. Her naivety, I suppose, wasn't her fault. Like I said, she couldn't remember anything and the first thing she saw as a vampire was a vision of Jasper—the love of her life. In her first moment as a vampire, she already had her life practically planned out and it was a positive one. Jasper as her mate; me, Esme, Carlisle, and Edward as her family. There was no reason for her to be upset or cautious, which angered and bothered me beyond belief.
Jasper, on the other hand, was the near opposite of Alice.
While she was giggling and hugging all of us during our first encounter, he was lingering in the back: his stance rigid and his teeth slightly bared, a rumbling growl coming from inside of him. Alice was a bit embarrassed by his behavior and told us all about his difficult past, which easily explained why he was so cautious. She assured us he was friendly and safe to be around. Carlisle, Esme, and even Edward seemed to be slightly intimidated by him and tried to be as friendly and gentle with him as possible. Meanwhile, I wasn't afraid of him. I had dealt with much worse when I was human.
Jasper, when I first met him, was the least of my fears.
After a few weeks, they finally truly settled in and, although the rest of my family accepted them almost immediately, I just started to accept them in those few weeks after our first encounter.
Jasper and I had formed a close bond and I even disclosed to him about how I wasn't afraid of him when we first met. That made him smile and he told me he respected me a lot more once I shared that with him.
Alice and I also became close, sharing a large interest in fashion. She was truly like a sister to me, although I felt as though she was like a younger one rather than an older one. She was too happy all the time and that made her seem like she was younger than me.
Maybe that was another thing I envied in her; her ability to be delighted with her current situation.
"Are you getting him a book?" I questioned, not knowing why it took me long to guess, as she wanted to go to the town bookstore today. It was drizzling, which meant we were free to be in public. I exited the car, as did Alice, and locked it behind me before we started to walk towards the entrance.
"Nope," she answered oddly. I raised an eyebrow to her peculiar expression. Her lips were bent in a bizarre way, almost as if she was trying to prevent a smile.
I knew that look; that look of her trying to fight her smile away and trying to force a giggle down her throat. I had known her for years and spent much time with her—she was hiding something. I didn't know what or why she was hiding it from me, but she was excited about something and I had no idea what she was so excited for.
When we walked in, she read the confusion on my face and quickly forced a frown. "I just needed some books for myself, but maybe a book would be a good gift for Jasper." She raised an eyebrow of her own as I stared at her, considering her idea. However, her poor joke ruined my thoughts. "Maybe he'd like a cookbook," she snickered, her devious smirk appearing again as she nodded towards the section designated for cuisine guides. I curled my lip at the joke and she laughed, going over to another section. I groaned and looked back to where she nodded, staring longingly at the cookbook section.
I'm not entirely sure what compelled me to head over there, as I had no reason to be in that area, but I still went and browsed the shelves.
Grand Rapids, Michigan was a fairly large city, which meant there were many options offered. All types of cuisine lined the shelf, ranging from Italian to Mexican and even some Eastern European dishes; all of which I found extremely displeasing to the eye. The thought of eating any of that food disgusted me.
Another thing about being a vampire that irritated me. Human food looked, smelled, and felt absolutely nauseating.
Another thing that made me feel less human.
I would try to remind myself what it was like to be human every once in awhile, even decades after being changed. I'd sometimes drive to go hunting when I knew I could run, I would lie down every now and then and close my eyes in an attempt to sleep when I knew I couldn't, and I would sometimes try human food when I knew I hated it and I knew I would have to cough it up later.
I subtly glanced up, scouring the room for Alice. I found her in the nonfiction section, looking intently at the shelves, clearly searching for something with focus. I murmured angrily to myself, not wanting to bother her and instead grabbed the Eastern European book, flipping mindlessly through the pages to pass the time.
A fresh, mouth-watering scent filled my nose before I even felt someone behind me and my eyes darted up, noticing someone looking over my shoulder. There was also the whiff of a fancy aftershave, but the smell of his blood was much more profound.
And much more appealing.
"Hm," a husky voice said. "Borscht?" I looked to the page I was currently on, seeing a picture of a red beet soup on the page, as well as directions on how to make it. "Didn't peg you for a Communist."
The man behind me laughed and I shut the book, turning around to face him.
He was quite breathtaking—if it was even possible for my breath to be taken away.
He had an athletic build and was fairly tall. A sharp chin that was free of facial hair and he gave a smile, revealing white teeth.
A smile of purity. Of innocence.
I quickly found myself searching for dimples on his cheeks, but to no avail.
He wasn't like the man I...the man I left in the forest.
His hair was voluminous and combed back, a medium brown coloring it. His eyes were the color of the sky outside; grey with a hint of blue.
His outfit was simple but stylish; a black sweater with a green polo that peeked out of the top of his sweater. Blue jeans that fit him perfectly and white shoes to finish his selection of clothing.
"Y'know, technically I'm not supposed to talk to Commies," he said quietly, placing a hand on the shelf and leaning casually. His smile was too relaxed; too nonchalant; too...confident.
It angered me—the fact that he wasn't nervous when talking to me. He was very attractive, of course, but I was much more attractive than he was.
Not to mention my style was better too.
I found myself looking back up to his eyes, searching for any kind of intimidation within them; and kind of hesitancy. However, I still found nothing. Nothing but pure confidence in those cadet grey eyes.
He winked. "But I guess I can make an acception for you."
"I'm not a Communist," I declared, my voice firm in an attempt to combat his much too comfortable tone. He laughed, his eyes lighting up.
I struggled to keep from becoming angry again.
His laughter was not one of nervousness or anxiety in an attempt to calm himself while in the presence of indescribable beauty that was me.
His laughter was light and friendly...bold, too.
"Only a pinko would be looking at a recipe for borscht," he tilted his head, his symphonic laughter dying down.
"I'm not a Communist," I repeated sternly.
Not only was I angry that he was too brave in my presence of pure beauty, but he was calling me a Communist. I remembered how they were viewed in the 50s: vile, conniving, almost snake-like. I was not going to be viewed as one of them.
"Alright," the man nodded, putting his hands up in surrender, his arm returning to the shelf. "I think I believe you. But, to prove yourself, how about you meet me for breakfast this Saturday?"
"How does going to breakfast with you prove I'm not a Communist?" I hissed, my bitterness remaining stagnant as I saw no falter in his fearless demeanor.
"Only a Communist," he said, keeping his voice low as he spoke. "Would never show up to breakfast date with an American. If you don't show…" He eyed me, looking me from up to down, and then back up, shrugging and clicking his tongue. "I'll have to assume the worst."
"The worst being that I'm a Communist?" I asked, feeling my rigid body relax slightly as he released another laugh of silk.
"That's right," he said, flashing his teeth again and nodding to me.
His smile made my eyes soften and for a second, I considered accepting his offer just out of curiosity. Sure, he was cute and it would be a nice way to figure out more about this man and why he was so unusually confident.
But, as he maneuvered, adjusting his arm on the shelf right to the side and above of me, a fresh wave of his aftershave mixed with his human scent made my stomach twist in an unpleasant way.
Was I really considering going on a date with a human?
I internally shook my head, a certain joy filling my body after I decided I was going to reject this man.
He was much too confident this entire time, but the moment I rejected him, surely he would squirm in an uncomfortable and embarrassed way. He would be humbled; he would realize that I was much too beautiful for him to be so bold and he would walk away from me—ashamed, with his tail between his legs.
I straightened myself out and put on my best look of disappointment as I could.
"I'm sorry," I started. "I-"
"She'll be there!" Alice piped up, appearing on my other side. She put an arm around me and gave a beaming grin to the man before me. "This is Rosalie and she will definitely meet you for breakfast. And you are, handsome?"
"Kenneth," he said, giving me another perfect smile and removing his arm from the shelf, reaching it out to me. I reluctantly shook it and he nodded to me. "See you Saturday, then, Rosalie. Bristow's Diner, 7:30."
He turned and left the book aisle, heading to another part of the bookstore. I waited patiently until he had his back completely turned before locking Alice's wrist in an iron-tight grip and dragging her towards the door with me.
"Wait, Rose I have to pay for these books," she protested as we neared the door. "Rosalie-"
I abruptly turned back and knocked the books out of her arm with my free hand and continued leading her towards the door, pushing through it once we reached it and still gripping her wrist as we headed to the car.
I was fuming and was so close to flipping her over and slamming her into the car. I was ready to reject the man, ready to humiliate him and his stupid air of confidence that seemed to leak out of every pore. That stupid air of confidence that never faltered the entire time he spoke to me. That stupid air of confidence that seemed to leak from every pore of his.
"Ouch, what?!" Alice shrieked, rubbing her wrist once I let go.
"Why did you do that?!" I yelled, but lowered my voice once a few nearby people looked over to see what the commotion was. I bit my lip as I glanced over at them and got in the car, Alice doing so as well. I clenched the wheel tightly, feeling it creak under my hands from the immense amount of pressure I was applying to it.
"Do what?" Alice asked and I rolled my eyes at her failure to see the obvious reason I was upset with her. "Accept that date for you? Why"
"Because I…" I started to say, but stopped. What was I going to tell her?
Because, Alice, I am so vain that I would rather see a man interested in me humiliated by my hand than suck up my own pride and try to date him.
"Because I'm not interested in dating," I said, which was a half lie I supposed.
"Oh, please," Alice scoffed, waving me off. "Edward told me you were, he can hear you thinking about the possibilities of having a mate all the time."
"Yes—a mate, Alice," I growled, giving in and not denying her claim. I did want a mate, but I wasn't sure if I was ready for one. Not after the man in the woods. "Not a human!"
"It'll be fine!" She said, brushing me off again. "Trust me—he's super nice. You guys will have a great time Saturday."
I tilted my head, fidgeting at her comment. What would happen if I were to go?
By curiosity grew, but I forced it down with a frown. "Who says I'm going?" I grumbled, putting the car into reverse and pulling out of the spot as I looked backwards.
"You're going, I already know," she shrugged nonchalantly. "I've known since last week."
I felt my face freeze as I stopped the car, half of it still in the spot. "What?" I asked, looking to her and awaiting her answer.
"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I've known about all this since last week." I continued to stare at her as she flickered a confused look in my direction and pointed to herself. "I can see the future, Rose."
I shook off her sarcasm of the obvious fact that she could see the future and lowered my voice. "This was the reason you wanted to come to the bookstore, wasn't it?" I asked, my voice low and dangerous as my anger returned. She just raised her shoulders a little and that was my answer. I felt my hands tighten around the wheel even more and, one second later, the wheel snapped, the top of it shattering as that's where my hands were. I ignored the broken wheel and shot daggers at Alice. "You set this whole thing up!"
"I just wanted to help, Rose!" she argued defensively, her eyebrows slanted up in care and concern. "And I actually did want some books but you forced me out of the store before I could buy them," she mumbled, crossing her arms and turning to the front, no longer facing me. I bit my tongue, shaking my head at her and placing my hands on the bottom of the wheel, finally pulling fully out of the spot as put the car in park.
Who was she to mettle in my love life and purposely set this up?
I took a deep, quiet breath as I calmed down. I knew she just wanted to help and meant well, but it still irritated me nevertheless that she felt she needed to intervene and help me. I wasn't a child; quite the opposite, actually. I could find my own dates and I suppressed a growl at the thought of me going on this date after she basically set it up for me.
Once again, I was going to allow my proud self to remain that way, even against Alice's attempts.