A/N: Okay, I've had some crazy times lately, the least of which being my old laptop being infected with a Trojan virus and needing to be scrubbed. Meaning I had to write all this out again. On a new laptop. Which I had to go out and buy. Also, I think I failed maths…
APOV
I turned my head to look at Bella closely. Her brows were drawn down in confusion and she was biting her lip in the cutest fashion. I could tell that she had no idea as to why Jacob and Billy were coming over, so I didn't bother asking.
"Carlisle, this is a breach of the treaty, we can't just sit back and let it happen," Rosalie growled out.
Our adoptive father sighed, rubbing his jaw in a gesture he used whenever he was thinking about something important. "I know that, Rosalie, but we don't even know what they want and I'm reluctant to start a war for any reason except in dire straits. Remember, they've never crossed the treaty line before and this is against Sam's and the remainder of the Pack's wishes."
Edward scoffed. "Or so he says."
I decided to be the voice of reason before this escalated. "Edward, you'll be able to verify his story by reading his mind as soon as he arrives. If he's lying, we can decapitate him and put his head on a pike."
Bella suddenly started giggling, prompting all of us to look at her in confusion. Catching sight of our expressions, she clapped her hand over her mouth and schooled her features, looking contrite. "Sorry, I don't know why I found that funny." I couldn't help but smirk slightly at her embarrassment. She looked so cute.
"Bella, do you have any idea as to why Jacob and Billy would be coming here to see you?" Carlisle asked her, glancing toward the clock on the wall as though the wolves were on a schedule.
She seemed to think about that for a minute, bottom lip finding its way between her teeth once again. "No, not really. I mean, I only met Jacob twice. Once at my house when we were establishing our own treaty and once at La Push."
My gaze snapped up from where it had been inching its way down Bella's shirt. "Why was he with you at La Push? You said that the wolves told you they'd leave you alone if you went there."
She nodded once, seemingly amused at my behaviour. "I know, but they sent Seth, one of the younger wolves to keep an eye on me. He seemed lonely and I could hear his stomach from a mile away, so I invited him to our camp for some food. One of the other wolves, a guy by the name of Paul, didn't like him 'fraternising with the enemy', and there was a little…confrontation. Jacob and the others showed up later."
I surprised even myself a little with the intensity of my growl. My hands balled up into fists and my lips curled back over my teeth. "A confrontation? Did Paul hurt you? I swear, if he did, I'll-" My soon-to-be rant was cut off by her lips on mine. My train of thought immediately went out the window as my hands found their way into her luscious locks, pulling her head closer. Her tongue ran across my bottom lip and I opened my mouth to allow her access, almost moaning out loud as she accepted.
The sound of a throat clearing broke us apart and I looked up sheepishly to see six very amused Cullens.
I turned my head back to Bella, enquiring look on my face. "What was that for?"
She smiled cheerily. "Have I ever told you how adorable you look when you get all protective?"
I chuckled slightly, eyes straying back down to her lips.
"Ahem, as much as I'd love for this to continue, and believe me, I would, but isn't this the second time that they have done something against Sam's wishes? He doesn't seem to have a lot of control over the wolves in his pack." Emmett said, looking between us curiously.
Bella shook her head at his statement. "It's not that, it's just that he doesn't want to take away their free will, which I sort of respect him for. A lot of other people would take advantage of that power. But even so, I still don't understand why he wouldn't stop Jacob from breaking the treaty, it is sort of important."
"He can't use the Alpha command with Jacob so far away and I'm guessing that Jacob isn't in his wolf form, so he can't speak to him mind-to-mind," Carlisle stated, standing up and heading over to the front door, the rest of us on his heels. Which involved extracting myself from the very comfortable Bella, something I did with great reluctance.
We all walked out on to the porch, now being able to hear the faint sound of a car engine in the distance. It was about four o' clock, the sun winding it's way through the clouds for once to illuminate the clearing that our house rested in.
"I swear Carlisle, if he doesn't have a damn good reason for being here, I'm gonna hurt him," Rosalie grumbled, her hard-ass demeanour ruined slightly by the dozing cat in her arms. I held back my smile at that scene and turned to face this new problem.
I had a sinking feeling that Jacob was coming here to tell Bella all about the reasons why she shouldn't be associating with vampires, how we were evil, vile beasts and how she'd be better off with him. The fact that I was automatically going down the route that said Jacob wanted Bella for himself didn't escape my notice. Vampires were possessive, sue me.
As if she knew where my thoughts were going, Bella stepped closer to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I did my best imitation of a limpet and attached myself to her side, absently wondering how I never noticed how cold I was before she came.
We waited like that on the porch for five minutes, long enough for Jacob to navigate the twists and turns that made up our driveway, and pull his simple, black truck up about thirty yards from our house. The scent of wet dog came next and I was amused to see my family surreptitiously edge closer to Bella, her fragrance doing wonders to drive away that horrid smell.
The wolf in the truck took a deep breath, then pushed open the door and stepped out. He glanced up at us briefly before walking around to the other door and letting out Billy, who waited patiently for his son to bring around his wheelchair. I had never seen the elder Black before, so I paid special attention to him now. He had long black hair like Jacob, with a kind, weathered face and the slightly robust frame that comes to an otherwise fit man with age.
Neither of them seemed comfortable, but for some reason, they didn't seem hostile either. In fact, Jacob seemed almost apologetic and his father looked confused.
"Jacob, for God's sakes, what is this about?" Billy hissed at him.
"I'll explain later, Dad, just go with me here," Jacob whispered back, despite knowing full well that we could hear him clearly.
"Hello Billy, Jacob," Carlisle said cordially, nodding to each of them in turn. "What brings you onto our land?"
Jacob visibly flinched at the gentle reminder that he had broken the treaty and was on our land, while Billy's expression grew sombre.
The young wolf cleared his throat nervously. "Look, I know that I broke the treaty by coming here, and I really am sorry about that, but I don't want any trouble, I just need to talk to Bella."
"So you just decided to waltz on over here?" Rosalie said, lip curled in disgust. "I'm curious, do you even understand the meaning of the word 'treaty', or did you think that it was only there to benefit you? That we had to stay here, but you had free run of the place. It exists for a reason, pup, and we both know that if this little episode were the other way around, you and yours wouldn't hesitate to kill us. So why should we spare you?"
Jacob almost visibly paled at her words. "Wait, I know what I did was wrong. I called Bella's house, but they said that she was here, and I was going to wait, I really was, but I just couldn't take not knowing. Then I was gonna call here, but my cell battery died and I was basically at the treaty line, so I just told Quil to get out of the car and I drove here because I just couldn't wait. I know that you're pissed, and you can punish me however you see fit after this, but I really need to talk to Bella. Also, my father has no idea what's going on."
After I absorbed his rant, I turned to look at Edward. He nodded once to show that Jacob was telling the truth, even though Billy's bewildered expression showed that anyway.
Bella chose that moment to step in. "Hi Jacob," she said cheerily, seemingly impervious to the tense atmosphere. She even waved a little. "Whatever you wanted must have been pretty important to bring you here, so tell me what it is and I'll see if I can help."
Her easy attitude seemed to put Jacob into a less tense mood, and my family soon followed. That is until Jacob looked straight at Bella, mouth opened to speak and Edward practically gasped. He spun in a circle and stared at her with an intense expression.
"Amazing," he breathed.
"Dude, what's with the staring?" She asked nervously. The rest of my family were looking between the two of them in abject curiosity.
He didn't say anything, just stepped back and gestured to Jacob, still looking at Bella with that intense look on his face.
A vicious hiss drew our attention to Rosalie, but it was the cat that had made the noise. He was practically sitting on her shoulder, tail puffed out and fur ruffled, teeth bared at Jacob. I had never seen Sanderson do anything but sit on people, so this new side of him was unusual. Not unexpected, Jacob was a dog after all, but still strange.
Rosalie began soothingly stroking his back until he settled back down into her arms, deep rumbling sounds still coming from his chest whenever he looked at the startled wolf. The vampire holding him, however, seemed smug. "Good kitty, growl at that nasty smelling dog," she cooed at him, no longer embarrassed about showing him affection now that he revealed a mutual dislike.
"Ah, sorry. He's not used to shifters," Bella mumbled, smiling sheepishly. She cleared her throat. "What was it you came for, Jacob?"
He stepped forward slowly, for all the world like he didn't want to upset the cat, and looked up at Bella. "I saw what you did for Seth. He could have died, probably would have, but you stopped that from happening and since then I haven't been able to stop thinking about it and what you might be able to do."
Confusion was still evident on all of our faces, but when Jacob looked back at his wheelchair-bound father, it clicked for both Bella and I. Apparently Edward was ahead of the both of us, judging from his fascinated expression.
"Oh," Bella said slowly. "You want me to…"
"He was in a car accident a few years ago, where my mom was killed and he was paralyzed from the waist down. I just needed to know if you can," Jacob murmured, regarding Bella with an almost painful expression of hope. Billy, realizing that he was being spoken about, seemed ready to say something, but thought better of it and remained quiet.
I glanced at my girlfriend, completely unashamed of the pleasant tingle that thought invoked, seeing her staring at Billy and Jacob in quiet contemplation. "I've never tried to do something like this before. It's such an old injury, I don't know if I can…"
Twisting his t-shirt hem between his fingers, Jacob walked back behind his father and pushed him forward. "Please, just try."
"Now wait just a minute. Someone please explain to me what is happening here," Billy demanded, regarding the assembled vampires cautiously.
Bella sighed and turned her head towards me. I nudged her in Jacob's direction, smiling supportively. To my family, I said "Just wait and see."
She walked down the porch steps and over to the two Quileute's. "Hello Mr Black, it's nice to meet you."
Billy didn't seem to know how to respond so he just nodded, waiting patiently for her to approach.
Her eyes met Jacobs. "I need to check if it's possible first, and it may not be, so you need to be prepared for that."
Her gaze went to Billy and she held her hand up. "Um, I'm gonna have to touch your head."
He waited for Jacob's affirmative pat on the shoulder before nodding at her slowly.
"Ok then, here goes." She gently placed her hand on his head and closed her eyes, holding completely still for an entire thirty long seconds before opening them again and smiling at Jacob. "It's possible alright."
His entire face lit up as his mouth curled into a delighted grin. "You can do it? Really?" Without waiting for an answer, he wrapped his huge arms around her and swept her off the ground into a bear-hug.
She laughed down at him, brown hair flying as he twirled. "Down boy, I haven't done it yet."
He put her down, grin firmly in place. "Sorry, I'm just…I mean…ah hell, I'd kiss you if I wasn't sure you wouldn't appreciate it." I almost growled at the mere thought, but a knowing look from Esme made me shut up.
Bella's face sobered suddenly as she seemed to think of something. "You know that this will cause problems. People will notice and you'll have to come up with a suitable explanation."
"I'm sure Carlisle can do something about that," Edward interjected, looking excited despite the annoyed looks we were receiving from them for not letting them into the loop.
"Think of what? You really must start explaining yourselves." Carlisle was a curious person by nature and this mystery must have been killing him.
"I second that," Billy grumbled, looking extremely put out at being the topic of a conversation he knew nothing about.
"Right, I'll get right on that." Bella crouched down and looked Jacob's father right in the eyes. "Billy, don't freak out." She placed her hands on his legs and again closed her eyes.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"Dad, please just trust her. You won't regret it," Jacob said softly, looking on in expectation.
Having seen Bella heal before, I wasn't surprised when the blue lights surrounded her and Billy in a swirling sea of heavenly energy. Everyone else, minus Jacob, gasped in pure reflex at seeing something so beautiful. The lights twisted and danced soundlessly, like a flame caught in a strong wind just before it goes out. Then they focused onto the point where Billy's legs would be, gaining intensity until they were almost blinding. Then it was just…gone.
Bella slowly stood up and swayed slightly. My eyes widened and I ran to her, wrapping my arm around her waist. "Are you ok? You look exhausted."
She smiled down at me. "Alice, I'm fine, I've just never healed a wound that had already healed itself so long ago." She blinked and shook her head, looking back down at Billy.
I followed her line of sight and saw him sitting in his chair with an absolute awe-struck expression on his face. He swallowed once, his face a mask of shock as he regarded his legs.
His foot twitched.
There was utter silence in the clearing as Billy placed one foot on the ground, followed by the other, then stood up to his full height for the first time in years. Rapid blinking wasn't enough to stop the tear that made its way down his face. He just stood there, as though he just couldn't comprehend what was happening.
He brushed his hand across his face quickly and slowly took a single step forward.
"My God," Carlisle breathed, but I was too enraptured by the scene taking place before me to turn around.
A tremulous laugh escaped from Billy's lips as he continued walking, savouring every step as though he feared he might not be able to take another. He looked up at his son through wet eyes, only coming up to his shoulder, and pulled him into a fierce hug.
"Still shorter than you, my boy." His voice almost cracked as he spoke.
Jacob wiped at his eyes impatiently. "You'll always be shorter than me, old man."
"How did you know that she could…that she could do this?" Billy gestured to his legs, which were tapping as though they never wanted to be still again. "I haven't used them in years, they should be weak as a new-born lambs, but I feel great, they feel strong."
Clearing his throat, Jacob grinned down at his father. "When Seth was attacked by Paul, his injuries were a lot more severe than we made it seem." He pointed at Bella. "She put her hands on his neck and those lights shone, and the next thing I know, Seth is up and hopping all over her. It was the damndest thing I've ever seen, but I didn't want anyone to tell you until I knew if she could do anything for you."
Billy started, as though only now remembering Bella. He snapped his head around and stared at her. That lasted for about ten seconds before he walked purposely over and pulled her into a bear-hug, lifting her off the ground much like his son had.
Bella chuckled at his exuberance. "Geeze, what is it today, is there a sign somewhere that says 'Bear-hug me'?"
He pulled away with a little sniffle, gazing at her with undisguised gratitude. "Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me." He laughed again. "God, when I woke up this morning, I had no idea that I'd be going to bed tonight with working legs!"
I couldn't help my own grin. Bella, my girlfriend, had just given this man back the gift of walking, a true and genuine miracle. I still wasn't quite sure what I had done to deserve her, but I had no intention of letting her go. Looking back at my family, I saw their expressions of awe and shock, none more so than Carlisle. For someone who had devoted his life to helping others, seeing something like this would be incredible.
"How is this possible? Mr Black's spinal cord was completely severed in the crash, there was absolutely no way that he would ever walk again." Carlisle walked forward, eyes locked onto Billy, before he switched them to Bella who had made her way back over to me as soon as the elder Black released her.
She opened her mouth to say something in response, but the sound of heavy running footsteps reached our ears and cut her off. I cocked my head to the side to hear better and realised that it was most likely the other wolves come to get Jacob and his father. The stench grew progressively worse as six horse-sized wolves burst from the tree line…only to skid to a stop in their tracks as they caught sight of Billy.
It was almost comical, seeing all of their furry, teeth-filled jaws collectively drop. Once again, there was dead silence in the clearing, with everyone waiting to see how they would react. I tightened my grip on Bella's waist, pulling her closer and waited.
"Well, this isn't awkward at all," Bella said, looking around at everybody with obvious interest. I couldn't help but smile at her lack of tension.
One of the wolves, with dark grey fur, let loose a low growl in her direction, eyes locked on her and teeth bared. I stiffened visibly, my own lips curling in response. The rest of my family moved in closer to the both of us in a protective stance. But it was the reaction of the remaining wolves that surprised me. The turned to the grey wolf and growled viciously at him, one of the lighter grey ones even snapping at him with its teeth.
I looked to the side and saw that Bella was smiling slightly. "Hey there Paul. How's the tail this morning?"
He gave her the wolf equivalent of a dirty look, raised his chin, turned around and left, growling all the while. As he was leaving, I caught sight of his tail and had to immediately press my face into Bella's shoulder to keep from laughing out loud. Rosalie and Emmett didn't share my idea and the sounds of their snickers followed Paul as he left.
The fur on his tail, as well as a large portion of his hindquarters was almost completely gone, with only a little stubble left. It looked absolutely ridiculous.
I whipped my head around to stare at Bella with wide eyes. "You didn't?"
She grinned rakishly, obviously not in the least bit sorry.
Emmett boomed out another laugh. "You did that?" She nodded. "Awesome! Geeze, between whatever the hell you did to him and healing Billy, you have a whole bag full of tricks."
Five wolf heads simultaneously shifted to Bella, then to Billy, then back again. It was like a game of tennis.
Jacob cleared his throat. "Um, maybe you guys should shift back?"
I had seen Sam, their Alpha, in his wolf form, so I knew that he was the black one that nodded. They turned around slowly, most of them still staring at the newly mobile Billy, and disappeared back into the woods. We waited for a minute as the sounds of rustling clothes reached our ears, then five Quileute's walked out, each wearing cut-off denim shorts, except the only female, who was also wearing a t-shirt.
They immediately crowded around Billy, looking him up and down like they couldn't believe their eyes.
"Billy, you're…," Sam's voice trailed off as he clapped Jacob's father on the shoulder, still having to look down on him.
"Walking tall?" Billy inquired, smiling hugely. The tears that he had in his eyes hadn't fully dried yet, but he was no longer outright crying. Considering how quickly everything had happened, I knew that it hadn't even really hit him yet and he would most likely be in shock until he got home. Then the real waterworks would start.
The youngest of the wolves snorted. "Well, I wouldn't say 'tall', Mr B, but you got that walking thing down."
Billy smacked him on the shoulder. "Hey, respect your elders young'un."
The boy, who looked like a really beefy fifteen year old, held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm respecting, I swear. Seriously Mr B, congrats."
"As much as I hate to break up this love-fest, which is not at all, I was just wondering if the whole damn lot of you have forgotten about that pesky little treaty we have," Rosalie said with forced nonchalance, looking about as pissed off as the puffed up cat in her arms. Sanderson, bless his poor soul, looked like his worst nightmare had just come true and he was subsequently burrowing further into my sisters arms. Even Rosalie wasn't unaffected by what she had just witnessed, but when she was surprised, she usually reverted to bitchiness unless she was surrounded by family.
Sam winced. "Oh, crap, right. I'm sorry for coming here, but we just needed to get Jacob off your land and ask him what the hell he was thinking." His eyes strayed to Billy and over to Bella, where they stayed. "I guess we know what that was."
"And you all needed to shift into your wolf form to do that?" She continued.
"Well, it was faster than a car and we had hoped to get here before anything happened."
Carlisle walked forward. "In all honesty, I don't hold anything against Jacob. Yes, I would have preferred him to wait, but I can understand where he was coming from. No harm, no foul."
Rosalie scoffed in disgust. "Of course, just let them get away with it." Sanderson seconded her statement with a hiss in the general direction of Jacob. I really needed to separate those two, it was becoming eerie.
Sam glanced at my sister, then decided that Carlisle was a better bet. "Thank you for understanding. We thought that Jacob would wait as well, not to mention the fact that we didn't even think that it would work. Which it obviously has." He looked over at Bella. "I guess once again we owe you our thanks."
To my surprise, Bella blushed slightly. "It's no problem. To be honest, I didn't even know I could heal such an old scar."
Sam's reaction to this surprised me. He looked like a light bulb had gone off in his head and his eyes rounded. "Scars, you can heal scars?"
Bella cocked her head to the side slightly. "Why do I get the feeling that you're gonna ask me to do something?"
He ran a hand over his jaw, eyes downcast in obvious shame. "It's my imprint, Emily. A year ago, when I first started shifting, I had an accident and she was hurt. It left some pretty serious scars on her face. She keeps telling me not to blame myself, that she's learning to live with it, but I can tell it bothers her. I know I don't have any right to ask you, but…" He peeked up at her from under his lashes, looking almost like a little boy.
Bella sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Of course I'll help, but you'll have the same problem as Billy. People will notice if her scars just disappear."
"You could always send her somewhere for a while and say she's getting surgery done," Jasper offered, back to his normal stoic self now that he had time to adjust to the miracle of seeing Billy walking again.
"Hm." Carlisle tapped his finger against his chin in thought. "Facial scar removal is effective, but it doesn't get rid of the scar completely. The use of lasers can only make rough scars smoother, and skin grafts still leave behind some scarring."
"Yeah, but not a lot of people know that. We can send her away for a couple of months and when she gets back, just say that the scars are so small that you can't see them unless you look real close. Then, if people ask to, or just ask questions, Emily can say that she'd just like to put it all behind her. Who'd know the difference?" This came from one of the other wolves, most likely Embry.
"Her doctor would," Emmett put in.
Billy held up a finger. "Ah, that's not going to be a problem. Her doctor is Jason Ayers; he's on the tribal council and knows all about our tribes shifting abilities. He's my doctor too, and neither Emily nor I know any others, present company excluded. No one else would know enough about it to question it."
Carlisle nodded slowly. "That could work. He could also help with the façade of your rehab." He looked at Bella. "Although you would have to explain how it happened in the first place."
Bella shifted beside me, uncomfortable expression on her face. "I know that at this point, it wouldn't make much of a difference, but I'd still like to keep the number of people who know about me to a minimum."
Several of the wolves looked down at their shoes, some clearing their throats nervously.
"Um, well…" Jacob trailed off.
Bella narrowed her eyes. "You didn't?" More feet shuffling. "How many?"
"The entire tribal council," Billy stated slowly.
"And, um, the parents who have children who shift," Jacob continued.
"And our imprints," Sam mumbled.
"Oh, and Uncle Larry who owns the surf shop," the youngest wolf, who I'm guessing was Seth, put in.
Bella groaned in frustration. "Great. Why don't I just put out a freaking news bulletin?"
"Um, sorry?" Seth's apology came out more like a question and Bella's lips quirked slightly in response.
"Whatever, can't do anything about that now I suppose," she sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
I couldn't help but frown slightly at that. Healing Billy must have taken more out of her than she had let on. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired." An impressive yawn followed her statement, complete with arm stretching and back arching, not to mention causing more than one appreciative glance from the assembled Quileute's.
"Is there anything else you needed, or..?" I asked sweetly, wrapping my arm more firmly around her waist, in a gesture they couldn't ignore, or misinterpret. They got the message, if the widened eyes all around and the two crestfallen expressions on Jacob's and Seth's faces were anything to go by.
"No, I guess there's not." Billy walked back to his chair, looking at it silently for a few moments before picking it up and putting it in the truck. "Bella, I'd like to thank you again for what you did, it changed my life."
Jacob grinned at her. "Me too. And I know that it was wrong coming over here, but considering the way it turned out, I can't be sorry." This last was directed at my parents, and he sounded sincere.
As Billy and his son piled back into the truck, the rest of them said their goodbyes, mainly at Bella because they were still wary of us. Sam, however, waited until the rest of them had left and was still standing at the forests edge, looking uncertain, when Bella smiled at him.
"I'll heal her, Sam. Just give me a time and place."
Sam gave her a grateful look. "Thank you." He finally turned and headed into the woods, the sounds of his steps soon changing into heavier, louder versions as he shifted.
No one spoke for several minutes, just absorbing everything that had happened.
"Well, that sure was interesting," Bella drawled, paying specific attention to a squirrel that was perched on one of the far-off branches, nibbling on a nut with tiny, precise movements.
Edward shook his head. "You can sure say that again."
None of my family members had taken their eyes off of Bella since the wolves left, only Sanderson was paying no attention, instead having his head burrowed into Rosalie's shoulder in a fitful doze, wolves forgotten. Our talk had taken about a half an hour, start to finish and the sun was still high in the sky, shooting random shafts of light through the patchwork of clouds.
"Bella, don't take this the wrong way, because I actually like you, but what in the hell are you?"
"Rosalie!" Esme admonished, shooting an apologetic glance at the girl beside me.
"No, she's right Esme, it's not exactly a secret anymore and keeping you in what little shade there is left is sort of pointless now."
Carlisle immediately perked up at this, looking like an eager puppy staring at the biscuit tin. He put his hands in his pockets, then took them back out, crossing his arms only to uncross them a moment later. He was fidgeting, that meant he was fighting curiosity. "Does that mean that you intend to tell us what you are?"
Bella shrugged. "Sure, why not, everybody else seems to know." She looked down at me and I smiled back, standing up on my tiptoes to kiss her. Unfortunately, neither of us seemed to know that it was meant to be a peck, because it was about twenty seconds later when we were broken apart by yet another throat clearing. Both of us looked up sheepishly, Bella's cheeks turning an appealing shade of pink.
"Maybe we should just record that sound and play it on repeat," Emmett suggested, looking between the two of us curiously.
"Ahem, sorry," Bella mumbled, eyes straying down to my lips before she jerked them back up to my family. "So, you want me to tell you or show you?" Her voice was slightly tense, but nothing like last night when she was telling me.
Jasper's brows furrowed. "I'm going for showing."
Emmett raised a hand. "I second that."
Edward, Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie all nodded at her and she sighed, pulling away from me and walking closer to the centre of the clearing.
This time, she didn't bother leaving any time between taking off the ring and unfurling her wings, instead opting to do them both simultaneously. Much like the healing, having seen it before, I was the only one whose eyes didn't widen when the blue lights appeared, or gasp when they flowed together to form two shapes. A second before her wings materialized, her glamour dropped, hair and skin paling, eyes turning a silvery-blue, body becoming perfectly refined and facial features smoothing out into perfection. When the two great wings did finally form, held out slightly from her back like a bird of prey, the clearing was more silent than I've ever heard it. No one spoke, no one moved, not even me. And that was because I had never seen Bella in the sunlight.
Her skin's luminescent quality was less pronounced than in the moonlight, but she still gave off a faint shine. Her eyes sparkled like twin sapphires of the highest quality and the light brought out the silver tints in her wings. But that wasn't what had me staring. A shaft of light had chosen that moment to illuminate a patch of the clearing, mainly Bella, causing her to look up with a look of mild bewilderment on her face. It hit her hair and somehow reflected off of it in a way that probably shouldn't have been possible, but the effect it gave looked exactly like a-
"Is that a halo?" My voice was the first to break the deafening silence and it sounded sort of confused. The light had made a sort of circular, glowing effect atop Bella's head. It wasn't as pronounced as it was on TV, or in pictures of angels, but it was still there, in an understated, gorgeous sort of way. Even though I had seen her like this before, I was still stunned by the sheer otherworldliness of her.
Her eyes rolled up as she tried to look at the crown of her head. "Yeah, it's just how the lights reflect or something. It only happens in direct sunlight and not at all if I wear a hat." Her tone of voice showed that she was slightly embarrassed by it. Her tone of voice also caused my family to jerk slightly, not that I blamed them. Today seemed to be a day of wide-eyed speechlessness, even the loud Emmett and the ever stoic Jasper looked like black moor goldfish.
Bella fluffed her wings slightly and ran her hand through her hair, eyes on her shoes. She looked so nervous that I couldn't help but go over to her, entwining my fingers through hers in a show of moral support. She smiled down at me, eyes taking in my sparkling form with avid interest and I tucked myself into her side as she folded her wings across her back. "It looks good on you," I commented, then chuckled. "But then again, what wouldn't?"
"A potato sack?" She inquired.
I cocked my head to the side, gaze roaming up and down her body. "Nope. I'm fairly certain if you wore a potato sack, you'd start a trend. They'd have you up on that runway in a second. "
"Oh Lord, the life of a model wouldn't suit me at all."
"Why not? You're gorgeous and you eat about as much as a peckish field mouse, you'd fit right in. Besides, Victoria's Secret has that angel exhibit with that white underwear and the fake wings." I paused, images of Bella in underwear flashing before my eyes. "My mind just went to a very happy place."
She made a mock-disgusted sound. "For God's sake, Alice, get your mind out of the gutter."
I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Oh don't act like you've never taken a trip there yourself."
"But Alice, I'm an angel, a pillar of moral standing and righteousness, defender of the weak, protector of the innocent, lover of tiny fuzzy creatures. I would never do such a thing," she deadpanned.
I scoffed, taking in the twinkle in her deep blue eyes. "Sure, and I haven't caught you staring at my ass before."
She blinked. "…you noticed that, huh?"
In our easy bantering we seemed to have forgotten my shell-shocked family and were soon reminded of that fact when Emmett let an almost silent "Dude" escape. We turned in unison to face them, finding them in the same positions they had been in moments before. Only Sanderson had shifted, flipping onto his back in Rosalie's arms, paws tucked into his chest and tail stretched out to its full length.
Carlisle opened his mouth, but no sound came out so he closed it again. He made two more attempts before aborting speech altogether and settling for vague and slightly erratic hand gestures. Being a devout man of God, this would be slightly…ground-breaking for him. Thankfully he wasn't human or he would have had a heart attack by now.
"Um, maybe we should all go in and sit down?" I suggested, trying to break Carlisle out of his state.
It worked, as he let out a tiny 'yes'. Bella and I walked up the steps, walking past my family, who caught Bella's enhanced scent and took a round of involuntary, deep breaths. We made our way silently into the living room, everyone else taking their seats. Bella remained standing for a few moments, long enough to dematerialise her wings. She then sat down on the armchair she had used before and I happily climbed into her lap, sighing in contentment as she wrapped her arms around me.
I idly played with her white hair, marvelling at its texture, as my family stared holes in her forehead. Now that she was out of the direct sunlight, her halo had disappeared, but the faint glow of her skin still remained.
She cleared her throat. "Ok, so, I'm an angel. Any questions?"
I almost laughed at the bluntness of it and I was fast discovering that bluntness was one of her traits.
Carlisle shook his head and visibly pulled himself together." A f…ahem, a few." His voice took on a slightly reverent tone. "Where do you come from?"
"Not a friggin' clue."
He seemed taken aback by her answer and even I was surprised, but only because hearing her say 'friggin'' in that voice was strange.
Jasper leaned forward, arms on his knees. "You don't know?"
She shook her head. "Not really, no. My family were out hunting one night, they saw what they thought was a comet and went to check it out. Infant me was there. Sort of like Superman but without the spaceship."
It was silent as they absorbed this, the sound of the ticking clock even louder than normal.
"So you fell from the sky?" Rosalie asked, keeping up a gentle petting motion on the cat.
"Essentially. In the grand scheme of things, I know as much about where I came from as you do."
"Doesn't that bother you?"
Bella shrugged. "Sure, but since I can't exactly look up my birth parents on the internet to find out more, I've decided not to worry about it."
"Wow, you're so non-broody. Is that an angel thing or can anyone learn it, like maybe Edward?" Emmett usually used humour to relieve tense situations and he was falling back on that now.
We all turned to the man in question. He had a deeply pensive look on his face as he gazed at Bella. "Why are you here?"
Bella raised both of her eyebrows in query. "Here in this room? In America? In existence?"
"In here with us?" He clarified.
"Well, I am dating one of you and I thought that I should meet her family."
"No, I mean, we're vampires, you're an a…an angel. Why would you bother with us?"
Out of all of us, Edward was the one who believed we were soulless monsters the most. He had been a deeply religious person, even as a human teenager and his fear that God had turned His back on him had been a point of deep pain for him.
Bella absently ran her fingers over my arm in a gentle, sloping pattern, leaving tingles and a faint glow behind before it faded. I watched it in fascination, savouring the warmth she exuded.
"I can't tell you anything about the bigger picture when it comes to souls or anything, I don't have a hotline to God, but I personally believe that the fact that you feel emotions and choose the life you have, indicates the presence of a soul. I mean, I love my family and they love me and I've never questioned their moral standards just because they're vampires. Besides, did I mention I'm very fond of one of you?"
My lips twitched into a smile and I lay my head on her shoulder, curling up contentedly. Her questing fingers moved up to my neck, continuing with their patterns and I felt a deep purr rumbling in my chest. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sanderson jerk his head up and stare at me for several moments before laying his head back down on Rosalie's shoulder.
"This is…amazing," Carlisle breathed. "Do you have any idea what this means? It shows the presence of a higher power, something above all of us." His eyes were practically glowing, but Bella appeared uncomfortable.
"Well," she said slowly, "Maybe not."
He looked at her in confusion. "How can it not? You yourself are proof."
She shifted underneath me, breathing deeply. "I've never really thought of myself in the terms most humans think of angels. I've always, on some level, assumed that most of it was hype."
"Hype?" Edward had leaned back into Jasper, who had wrapped his arm around his mate.
She nodded. "Yeah. I mean, a lot of the myths about vampires are just plain crap. What if, back a couple thousand years ago, some humans saw a few of my kind doing something heroic, and because of the way we look, just associated us with a higher power. Then, when religion began playing a more important role in human society, the rumours about us just snowballed from there, until we were messengers from on high, sent to guide humanity. There's ample evidence of humans revering things they don't understand, maybe angels are one of them." I watched as Carlisle face took on a thoughtful expression. "That's not to say I don't believe in a God, because we had to have come from somewhere, but I just can't think of myself as a divine being. I'm just…Bella."
Placing my hand on her cheek, I turned her to face me. "I don't think you could ever be just Bella."
A grin lit up her face, quickly followed by a yawn. "Sorry, I'm just a little beat."
"Why don't you come upstairs and take a nap?"
One white, perfectly formed eyebrow arched slightly. "Just a nap, huh?"
"Oh, shush," I laughed, smacking her arm lightly. I glanced at my family. "You guys should probably take this time to go over the many shocks you got today." They nodded absently, and I hopped up, pulling Bella up the stairs behind me.
I carefully closed the door behind us, leaving a small gap open and turned, only to be met with soft lips on my own. Unlike the last two, this one was tender, almost chaste, made more so by her gentle hand on my cheek. We stayed that way for a few minutes, kissing just inside my door, before I remembered the reason we had come up here in the first place.
I pulled away slowly, after one more quick kiss, chuckling at Bella's sound of protest. "Come on now, you're tired and you need to get some sleep."
"Only if you promise to stay with me." I shivered as her hot breath fanned over the back of my neck.
"Just try and keep me away," I replied, kicking off my shoes and crawling onto the high bed and stretching out, getting more than a little thrill at knowing Bella's eyes were on me.
Two small thumps were heard as she pulled off her own shoes, then the bed depressed a bit as her slight weight was added. She lay down beside me and I turned over, looking into her hooded, deep blue eyes. It still came as a surprise sometimes, just how beautiful she was, and I suspected it always would.
"So, what did you think of everything that happened today?"
"I like your family, they're nice." Her voice was soft, the musical notes washing over me.
"They like you too, but then again, how can they not?"
We had been edging closer and now Bella placed her hand on my arm, curious fingers once again picking up their patterns.
"I hope they'll be okay with all of this."
"They will be, trust me. I can see the future after all."
She let out a quiet laugh. "Well, you won't catch me betting against you."
"I also hope you know that they'll have a million questions for you tomorrow when the shock wears off."
"I can deal with questions."
All was silent for a few moments, Bella's breathing becoming slightly slower. However, I had one more question for her.
"Speaking of tomorrow, our relationship will be a pretty big deal, I don't think Forks has ever had a same-sex relationship before. Will you be okay with that?"
Her eyes, which had closed, opened slowly. "I know. I also know that I don't care what they think. I'm lucky to have found someone like you and if they have a problem with that, they can collectively kiss my ass."
"That's good. Now I can openly tell Mike off for his constant hitting on you." I snuggled closer and placed my head on her shoulder, her arms coming around me in a warm cocoon.
She hummed sleepily. "I'll warn you in advance, he's a persistent guy."
"And I'm a possessive girl." Her cheek was pressed against my head, so I could feel it when she smiled. A purr started in my chest and almost simultaneously, her breathing evened out as she fell asleep, grip tightening unconsciously.
Tiny footsteps sounded outside my door, before it was pushed open by what I'm guessing was Sanderson. He walked over and hopped up on the bed, looking at me warily like I had stolen his spot beside Bella. I merely smiled at him and he crawled over to his owner, not even bothering to turn around or knead the bed to get comfortable, just flopping against the both of us and going out like a light, purring deeply.
I knew that tomorrow was going to be an interesting experience, but I was determined to enjoy this moment, curled up beside Bella in my bed, listening to her heartbeat as she slept.
A/N: Okay, that came out quicker than I thought it would. I was terribly amused by the amount of reviewers who thought Jacob was coming to do something jerky. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and now that I only have one test left, I should be updating more frequently.
R&R.