Half Moon
Chapter Five
Edward relaxed when he smelled the familiar, sweet scent of his love through the thick walls of the house.
"Relax," he ordered the room calmly. "It's only Bella."
Jasper's shoulder muscles released a visible amount of tension. "What could she possibly be doing at this hour?" he wondered, staring pointedly at the wall clock. "It's well past eleven."
Edward could only wordlessly shake his head as he made his way to the door. "Bella?" He opened the door to reveal her pale, rounded face. "Darling, why are you here so late?"
Bella shook her head, her large eyes searching her boyfriend questioningly. "I was trying to sleep," she said, "but you never showed, and I was worried…." She trailed off when a familiar dark haired boy made his way into her line of vision. "Danny?"
Danny, who had entered the foyer to see who was at the door, gave her a fleeting smile. "Bella."
The shared a warm hearted glance before Edward broke the silence. "Bella, my love, I didn't visit you because, well, our guest paid us another visit."
"You came back," Bella stated expectantly to Danny.
Danny nodded reluctantly. "I had…nowhere else to go."
Bella spared a questioning glance between Danny and her boyfriend, but Edward didn't answer her directly. "Why don't we all go back to the living room?" he said, gesturing to the spacious, but cozy room behind the kitchen. One by one, they all filed into the room. Danny regained his spot on the loveseat, Jasper and Carlisle took a seat on a couch and Bella snuggled into her boyfriend's lap. Danny watched silently as Edward wrapped his thick, stony arms around her, shifting slightly underneath her to get comfortable.
"So," Carlisle drawled, heading the conversation, "Danny, as I was about to say, welcome to the Cullen family. Make yourself at home, and do not hesitate to ask for whatever you desire."
Danny kneaded the back of his neck with his fingers. "Uh, thanks. I'll only stay a night, though," he said. "I can go to Vlad's tomorrow."
Carlisle's expression became stony. "You must stay for as long as the Volturi are after you."
Danny frowned, but no longer found himself in the mood to argue. "Then I want to know something else. I want to know what Edward meant when the first time I was here he said 'Bella and I share the same abilities.'"
All at once, all three Vampires in the room found themselves at a loss for words. "Ah…," they all droned together, sharing quick glances.
Fortunately, they were spared when Alice barged into the room. "You're staying with us, Danny?" she grinned, dancing lightly over to the boy and ruffling his dark hair. "Excellent! You can be like the little brother I never had. I'll feed you—and tomorrow we can go shopping for clothes!"
Danny quelled the desire to yell at the older girl and argue. It was just no use telling the family that he would not be staying for long. "Great," he mumbled weakly.
Jasper chuckled. "Alice, leave the poor boy alone."
Alice crossed her arms. "I'll do what I want," she sniffed, smiling to indicate her sarcasm.
Under all the noise, no one but Edward had noticed that Bella had fallen fast asleep. "I think it's time we went to bed, wouldn't you agree?" Edward said, nodding at Bella.
Danny found himself in silent agreement when he felt how heavy his eyelids had become. He allowed himself to be dragged by his over enthusiastic host up the stairs into a spacious room reminiscent of the one he had woken up to the first time he had "visited."
"There's a spare set of PJ's on your bed, and there's a toothbrush in the bathroom. Just come downstairs when you wake up tomorrow, and I'll have breakfast ready for you," Alice said with a gracious smile. Danny gave her a tired, half hearted smile in reply before throwing himself onto the bed, burying himself deep under waves of cashmere and silk.
---
The next morning, Danny found himself wakened by a beam of sunlight marching in through a crack of the half drawn curtains. With a brief glance at his watch, he determined that he had had a longer sleep than he had had in a very long time. This was the first time in a year that he had wakened of his own accord, no alarm clocks, no stray ghosts, and no sister.
Danny winced at the thought of Jazz, but, as he slid out of bed, he quickly directed his mind elsewhere. He sleepily made his way over to the bathroom and splashed his face with water. Leaning over the counter, he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked…tired, he decided. There were dark bags under his eyes. As he stared at his reflection, his mind began to wander. Should I leave or should I stay?
What were the consequences of simply phasing out of the house right now? Of not even notifying the family he was leaving? Though they had been of no help when he asked them about the people who attacked his home, he knew he could not leave without a goodbye; as kind as they had been to him, they deserved at least that. But where would he go? He would not go home—he didn't want himself to feel those memories, to think about his family; he wanted to lock them out of his mind for as long as he could. But where, then? To Vlad's? What could Vlad possibly do for him that he couldn't do for himself? Worse, Danny thought, paling, could he bear it if he went to Vlad for help and the billionaire turned him away? That, he figured, would hurt more than anything.
For now, he was content with living in the moment. He was numb to emotions, and he wanted to stay that way. He would go downstairs, eat, thank the Cullens for their hospitality, leave, and wander by himself to think. As he thought about his host family, the course of his mind shifted. They were certainly a strange family. All of them—every single one—were breathtakingly beautiful. They were like marble statues, all fluidly moving without any hesitations. It almost made him envious. Bella was the only one of them who truly seemed like a normal, if clumsy, human being, though even in her plainness, she, too, was striking. The whole Cullen family gave off waves of cold, making him feel strangely warm in comparison, which was very new feeling, considering he was half ghost. Unlike them, Bella felt like someone he could connect with, someone who was nice enough to share conversation with.
For some strange reason, Danny found his cheeks suddenly grow warm and he turned quickly away from the mirror. He spotted a fresh set of clothes folded perfectly next to the door. Bending down, he picked up a light blue tee shirt that was oddly just his size. The jeans underneath it also fit him perfectly. He glanced at himself once more in the mirror after he had changed clothes. In contrast to what he normally wore, he looked very blue, he decided, but otherwise it looked fine. With that, he left the room and trudged down the stairs, not quite prepared to face the cheerful Alice who was surely waiting for him downstairs.
When he reached the kitchen, he was surprised to find Bella and Edward sitting at the table. Danny took a seat next to Bella before they shared a quick smile.
"Good morning," she said lightly.
"'Morning," Danny slurred tirely back.
"Danny! You came just in time!" Danny cringed at the enthusiasm in Alice's voice. Alice, dressed in a petite brown apron, stepped to the table with two plates filled with breakfast food and set them down in front of Danny and Bella. "I made flapjacks," she said, smiling with all her teeth, clearly proud of her accomplishment. "Oh, Bella, look! Doesn't that shirt bring out the color of his eyes?"
Bella, fork in her mouth, looked between Danny's eyes and the shirt before nodding. Setting the fork down, she said, "You really do know how to pick clothes, don't you?"
Alice's grin doubled just as Danny frowned. "Why aren't you guys eating anything?" he asked Edward and Alice.
Edward shrugged and simply said, "I am not hungry."
Alice did not answer; she instead left the room, claiming to be looking for Jasper.
A short ringing cut through the kitchen and Bella quickly pulled a bulky, silver cell phone from the pocket of her pants. "It's Jacob," she announced, flipping the phone and pressing several buttons and reading the screen. "He says he's coming over."
Edward's brows furrowed. "But why?"
Bella looked discreetly at Danny, who was staring wide eyed at the couple before she passed the phone to her boyfriend and let him read the text. Danny looked away, slightly embarrassed by how blatantly they were excluding him.
"Text him back," Edward told Bella after a slight pause. "Tell him it is not necessary. You are safe with me."
"I know you don't like Jacob, Edward," Bella groaned, "but he needs to know what's going on."
Edward gave her a long look. "He does not need to come," he said, his deep voice ringing with finality.
Bella rolled her eyes, flipped open her phone and began texting a reply. Danny found himself wondering about the animosity between Edward and Jacob. Bella seemed to be the only neutral party.
"Well, if he can't come here," Bella said almost absentmindedly as she texted, "then I'm going to visit him."
"Bella…." Edward gave her a warning glare, which she ignored.
She set down her phone on the counter, but stood up crossing her arms. "I know, Edward," she said. "I know you don't like him, but he's still my friend."
Edward nodded reluctantly, still frowning. "I'm going out, then. Danny." Danny's head snapped up at the sound of his name. "You stay here. Carlisle will be here to keep an eye on you."
Bella looked apologetically at Danny after Edward left the room. "Would you like to come?" she asked, "I'm sure if you were with me, then Edward wouldn't mind you being out. Especially since we're just visiting Jacob."
"Um," Danny began hesitantly.
"It'll only be for a short while," Bella pleaded.
Danny really couldn't argue. "Sure."
"Cool!" Bella grinned as she grabbed her coat. "I'll be outside starting up the car. Come outside after you've cleared your plate."
It was only then that Danny noticed that his half eaten breakfast was still sitting in front of him. "Okay," he said after she left.
He grabbed his plate and threw it in the sink, listening outside as the rumble of a truck reached his ears. He was about to leave the kitchen when he noticed that Bella had left her cell phone. It sat, unguarded on the counter, where she had forgotten it. Looking around for any trace of anyone from the Cullen family, he grabbed it, curiosity burning. His morals made him hesitate, but they ultimately could not stop him from reading Jacob's text.
"'I'm coming over,'" he read quietly to himself, "'I smelled that kid back on the Cullens' land. I don't think he's safe to be around. He doesn't feel normal to me. Tell the bloodsucker.'"
Danny paused to think about the meaning of the last word, but continued on to read Bella's reply. "Edward says I'm safe and I don't see why you don't like Danny. He's a really nice boy. But don't move—I'm coming over to visit you."
Danny flipped the phone shut, his mind racing. What did Jacob mean by 'bloodsucker?' Was it an inside joke? And Bella thinks I'm nice….
His mind blanked when Bella honked the horn. Danny yelped and ran to the car.
"What took you so long?" Bella asked, sounding annoyed.
Danny didn't address her question and instead held out her phone. "You left it on the counter."
"Oh," she said, pocketing it, "thanks." She stepped on the gas and they were off. "Jacob's really great when you get to know him," she said conversationally. "He might be a little rough on the outside, but on the inside, he's still a sweet boy, really." She looked away from the road for a moment to give Danny a reassuring smile. "I think you guys will get along really well."
Danny couldn't really add much to that, as he had only once before met Jacob, so he continued looking out of the windshield.
"So," Bella began again more seriously when the silence grew. "It's really sad that we had to meet the way we did—and that you came back because of, well…. Edward told me what happened—I'm really sorry…."
"It's fine," Danny mumbled under his breath, closing his eyes briefly to stop the images of his family from coursing through his brain.
"Well, I was just thinking we could be good friends," she said, focusing on the road, "if the Volturi wasn't involved."
"I don't—" Danny cut himself short, biting his tongue in regret.
"Go on?" Bella goaded.
Danny sighed. "I don't see why we can't be good friends even if those…people are 'after me' or whatever," he said. "You know, I really don't understand why they'd want me, anyway. I never did anything!"
Bella, too, sighed. "I don't really have the answer…. Sorry." She gazed sadly out the window, tightening her grip on the wheel. "But if we're going to be good friends, then we should get to know each other better."
"What do you want to know?" Danny asked, intrigued by the girl's outspokenness. She was being incredibly nice to him, and he couldn't understand why.
"Well, what's your last name?"
"Fenton," Danny said simply. "Yours?"
"I'm Bella Swan," she proclaimed proudly. "Your turn."
"Um," Danny drawled as he thought of a question. "Have you always lived here?"
"No. I actually just moved here last year," Bella said. "What about you? You do live in Forks, right?"
"No…. I live in Amity Park."
"That's far away!" the girl exclaimed. "It's, what, a four hour drive, right?"
Danny nodded, thinking of the flight between Amity Park and Forks. It was a long distance, even for him.
"Wow," Bella said, recapturing his attention. "Hmm, I've got one; how old are you?"
"I'm seventeen," Danny said without hesitation.
"We're the same age, then," Bella said. "And hey, we're here!"
Danny surveyed the surrounding area before he hopped out of the car. It looked like a small ranch just sitting on the edge of a thick forest. Jacob appeared from behind one of the beams supporting the porch overhang.
"Bella!" he called in surprise as he engulfed the girl in a one armed hug. "You brought…him."
"I decided we should all have a fresh start," Bella explained. "This," she said, gesturing towards the shy boy, "is Danny Fenton from Amity Park."
"Amity Park," Jacob echoed. "That's not even in Washington, is it?"
"No," Danny confirmed.
Jacob sighed at Bella's naivety. "Nice to meet you, Danny Fenton" he said, reluctantly extending a sooty hand. "I'm Jacob Black."
Danny gave the wolfish boy's hand a firm shake before dropping it. Jacob couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Danny rubbing his own hand on his pants. "Sorry I'm dirty," he said, "I was working on my bike."
"You have a motorcycle?" Danny asked.
"In the garage," Jacob said, throwing a clean towel over his shoulder. "Just bought it, too. An old Vespa."
Danny could not refrain from taking a peek inside the garage at the shiny white bike.
"A Vespa?" Bella said, laughing. "Isn't that a little…girly for you, Jacob?"
"Actually, now that you mention it," Jacob said, baring his shining, pointed white teeth, "it's meant to be a gift."
"A gift?" she echoed.
"Yes. A gift to a close friend. A very special girl."
His grin grew even wider as Bella's eyes sparkled in realization. "Jacob!" she yelled. "You shouldn't have!"
She ran inside the garage, bypassing Danny, who trudged slowly after her. She traced all the smooth surfaces of the motorcycle.
"The motor doesn't work, yet," Jacob said, "but I figure it'll be better than your truck. And every time you ride it, you can think of me!"
"It's beautiful," Bella breathed.
Jacob, slightly agitated by Danny's presence, fidgeted. "Come on, Bells, let's eat lunch. You can say hi to everyone."
"And they can meet Danny!"
"Yeah…," Jacob said weakly. "And they can meet Danny."
---
All in all, Danny decided, lunch could have always been worse. He had been introduced to the Black family, and, though many of their names escaped him, a lot of their friends. All of them, funnily enough, acted the same as Jacob Black did. They had the same animalistic qualities about their faces and habits. One of the older boys even held an uncanny resemblance to Wolf. They ate large steaks for lunch, which was very uncommon, and they almost whined at each other when something went wrong. At first, the family had been very stand-offish, giving Danny the impression that he was not welcome, but as time wore on, and Bella forced them together, they grew slightly warmer towards him.
"For some reason, I like you, Danny," one of the older men, Jared, said, surprising the boy, who had been silent for most of lunch. "You seem like a fine young man."
This comment earned him strange looks from around the table, but garnered a smile from Danny. "Thank you."
The rest of the time spent at Jacob's house was just as awkward for Danny. Danny followed Bella around as she walked with Jacob, and he became almost sickened by their constant banter. By the time Bella decided it was time to leave, the grey sky had become dark, and it was nearing dusk.
"I should go," she told Jacob, "Edward's expecting us back before dinner."
"Oh, that lee—your boyfriend can lay off," Jacob said with a wave of his hand. "He's too uptight. You've only been here for a little while."
"We've been here for three hours, Jacob," Bella replied. "I really have to get Danny back, anyway."
"Fine," Jacob said, giving up. "Give me a hug, and I'll let you go."
Danny rolled his eyes, but Bella gave Jacob one last smile before falling into his large arms. "See you later, Jacob," she said, backing away.
But Jacob didn't answer. Instead, he grew very still. Danny stared at him oddly, but Jacob took no notice. His eyes grew wide and looked out past Bella's shoulder towards the forest, and his nostrils flared as he breathed in quietly.
"Bella, get in the car," he ordered, his voice no longer joking, but serious and deep. "Danny, too. Get in the car."
"What—?" both Bella and Danny mouthed at the same time, neither making any move to follow Jacob's command.
"Jacob, what is it?" Bella asked anxiously.
"Get in the car!" Jacob's voice was a harsh whisper, now.
Danny spun when he hear a twig snap from behind.
Three eerily beautiful people ambled slowly out of the thick forest. The front door flew open behind them all, signaling the arrival of one of the Black family members.
"Jacob, I hear you; what is it—?" But the voice, which Danny had recognized as Quil's, stopped short when he saw the three figures slowly stalking towards them.
"If it isn't the very two people we were ordered to find," the man in the middle of the newcomers chuckled.
"Jane and Dmitri!" Danny heard Bella's terrified whisper beside him.
As if by instinct, Jacob took a defensive stance in front of them both. "Why are you here?" he growled, hackles standing on end.
"I think you know, dog," the beautiful red haired woman on the left said lightly, throwing her nose into the air.
"I'm giving you the count of three to get off our land," Jacob said in a low, menacing voice. Behind his back, Bella and Danny shared a shocked look.
"Or you'll what?" the woman said with a laugh. "Bark us away?"
Without warning, a huge dog leapt from behind Jacob through the air and caught the slim figure of the woman with a swipe of its large paws. The woman recoiled, but seemed otherwise unfazed. The dog, which was just rolling itself back onto its feet suddenly froze. It fell back down onto its side, whimpering in agony.
"Embry!" Jacob yelled, and before Danny could blink, the unbelievable happened. Jacob's features twisted and elongated; his fingers grew together, thickened and shrunk. Suddenly, there was no longer a boy in front of Danny, but a huge wolf. Danny yelped and jumped back, pulling Bella with him.
"Danny, relax!" Bella whispered loudly. "It's still Jacob!"
Suddenly, five large wolves ran at the three people, but several of them were fended back by some invisible force which made them fall and cry out in pain.
"What's going on?" Danny yelled, but his only answer was a sharp yank on his arm. He felt his shoulder pop out of place and, with a yelp of pain, he spun to face his attacker. It was the woman who hadn't yet spoken; a tall, brunette with an evil, red smile.
As he struggled to pull out of her death grip, he heard Bella cry out. The brunette woman had Bella in her other hand. Danny could not help but wonder how anyone could be so strong. Surely she wasn't a ghost….
"Don't struggle and it'll be a lot easier for us both," the woman soothed, but Bella began to struggle even harder.
Danny was next to himself in despair. Surely he wouldn't call too much attention to himself if he used his ghost powers now….
Without further delay, the boy grabbed onto Bella's free hand. She didn't even have time to protest before Danny yelled at the brunette woman. "Get off of us!"
He felt the familiar tingly of intangibility and pulled them both away from their attacker. The brunette woman screamed when she could no longer see them. "Come back here!"
Danny didn't hesitate; he ran, dragging Bella away from the fight into the forest. They dodged fighting wolves and avoided flying debris. "This way!" Danny whispered to the girl in his grip. When they made it to the forest, he regained both tangibility and visibility and dropped Bella's arm. Both of them were panting heavily, but Danny continued watching the fighting taking place only feet away. Bella, however, was staring at her hands.
"What?" she said, still breathless, catching Danny's attention. "What just happened?"
Danny had hoped against all hope that Bella hadn't noticed anything, but he knew that it would have been too good to be true. He turned from the fight to see the girl still looking at her palms, her eyes wide.
She looked slowly up at him, shaking. "What are you?"
A/N: Thanks for reviewing! I'm sorry if I got some facts wrong.... :) And yes, I know there's a crossover section now. Don't worry--I'll put it there...eventually. I just wanted to post this really fast and leave. I'll have time to fix the details later.