A/N: another chapter down more to come.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish it was, same with Paul, Jared, Embry, and Sam.
A/N2: When Embry was described, his description came from a dream that I had about a guy who looked exactly like that. I guess you could say that he's my dream guy. Sigh.
Chapter 5: Sams POV:
When Paul came walking back to the bonfire party that the pasty Forks kids where throwing with Bella and her friend, I was shocked. Paul Lahote had imprinted on Bella Swans friend. This is going to make for an interesting time for Bella while she's in school and 'dating' that leech. I hope that this shit is over with soon. When I told Billy and Paul that it might be best to wait until after the leeches are gone to tell her. Of course Billy agreed right away seeing the logic in it, but Paul was a bit more reluctant to agree. Finally it took me telling him that one of the leeches was a mind reader and if he knew about the imprint then the leeches would have an upper hand on the situation and we don't want that to happen. When Paul finally saw reason he was upset but then we walked into Billy's house and Angela was still there, so Paul was perked up for a bit. And that was AFTER Bella being thrown off a cliff.
While it was a sight to see, Jake and Embry fighting that way, no one was prepared for her to get hurt. Embry threw Jake off of him and right into Bella who immediately went over the cliff; she preformed one of the best dives I have ever seen, the waves were way to choppy for her tiny, frail body though. I told Jake, Embry, and Quil to take the girls down to the beach while Jared, Paul, and I went for Bella Jared and I pulled Bella to safety while Paul was having a grand ol' time playing swan in the water. Embry relinquished his shirt without no complaints, no one had even asked him to do so. Shocker. I noticed him getting particularly close to Ms. Isabella Swan. When, no if, Embry ends up phasing, it would be no surprise to me if he imprints on Bella. The hired help.
After Bella and Angela were safe and warm at Billy's house with the boys, I was dead tired and in dire need of a nap. I sent Paul out for patrol and informed him that breakfast would be at Billy's today. His excitement was contagious, and we both awaited Bella's mouthwatering cooking. Don't get me wrong, I love Emily and her cooking, but there's something about Bella's food that will make me blow up a building. Jared licked his lips hungrily when he heard that Bella would be cooking.
"Is her cooking that good?" Emily asked me when she saw my facial expression.
"You have no idea. I think that she might even be better than you," Jared said, shrugging.
"Really now?" she said, nonchalance present in her voice.
"Well...maybe. You have to have it to be sure. It's a good thing that Bella's making food for us. It'll give you a break," Jared rushed to explain.
"Right," Emily dragged out, not believing him at all.
"Ooh, Sam, imagine if Bella and Emily got together and opened a diner her in La Push or maybe in Forks," Jared sighed out. Almost like he was getting off on thinking about the food. Disgusting.
"They would hit it off well I do believe," I murmured towards him when we had made it back to the Blacks place the second time that morning, and the smell that was coming from the kitchen was un-fucking-believable. I was in heaven, or close to it. Maybe limbo. Yeah, I am in limbo, the only person who would be able to take me into heaven was my Emily.
Paul had already knocked on the door before just walking in. I swear he thinks that this place is his home or my house. Now, I don't really care that they just walk in during the day like this as long as they announce their presence some how, be it a knock on the door, a shout, or stomping on the stairs and front porch. But here at Billy's? That boy needs to learn some manners. Luckily Billy was already on his way to the door, that and Chief Swan was here, Paul could be charged. Idiot.
"Good morning, boys," Billy said in a blissful voice. "Bells is already up, the boys should be up soon once they realize that the food they smell isn't a dream, and Angela is still asleep. Girls, why don't you go ahead into the kitchen?" Billy suggested while smirking at the sad look that we can all see on Pauls face.
Paul was the first to leave; he didn't say much, just that he had to go to work. Nobody was more surprised at him than at that moment. Paul absolutely despises working at the construction site, and he especially hates his foreman.
Emily and I left Billy's a little after Paul to speak to the elders. We were to inform them not only of Bella's mission, but of Paul's imprint with Angela Webber.
Making our way towards Harry and Sue Clearwater's house was soothing. Emily and I didn't have to have words spoken, we can just hold hands and be happy. Walking up the steps I noticed that Seth was in his room and Leah (uh-oh) was in the living room. I gulped loudly because Leah is the only woman to ever scare me other than my imprint...and maybe one Isabella Swan. Also Leah and I happened to date when we were in high school and when I went 'missing' when I phased, Emily came down to help her cousin search for me. Oh, and did you notice the fact that Emily is Leah's cousin? There is going to be some tension while Emily and I are here.
Knocking on the door, I wrapped my arms around Emily and smiled down at her. Our moment was ruined when Leah opened the door and sobbed before taking off up the stairs. Sue came out of the kitchen and smiled slightly when she saw Emily and I.
"Come on in kids," Sue said wiping her hands on the dishtowel thrown over her shoulder.
"Hi aunt Sue. Oh, you'll never believe it!" Emily exclaimed, "Paul IMPRINTED! PAUL!"
"Oh, who is this poor girl?" Sue asked, smiling at us.
"Angela Webber, she's Bella Swan's friend. She lives up in Forks," I said. "Is Harry here?"
"He's in his office dear, just go on back," Sue told me.
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Harry was surprised when we told him what we observed with Bella and Embry, and hell, the fact that Embry may phase. He had this look in his eyes...I don't know what it was but it was kind of scary. I think that he knows something concerning Embry.
Old Quil was the same way, standing stock still. Especially when he was told of Paul imprinting. They already know about Bella helping (and consequentially the whole lotion thing) and they agree that she should find a way to keep a journal. I think that the idea of her hiding it with her uh...products sounds like a good idea until a female vampire goes snooping around. Maybe with the food, I don't think that a vampire would go snooping around in food. I'll talk to Bella about it the next time that I see her.
X~x~x~x~x~x~x~X
Knowing Jared, he and Kim probably would have stayed until Angela and Bella left.
Paul, Jared, and I met up for our weekly meeting in a clearing in the deep of the woods. In our wolf form, we were able to see exactly what happened after I left Billy's house. Chief Swan was not happy about learning his daughter fell off of a cliff, especially when it was because of Jacob and Embry's horse play. Though Embry seemed to put on a calm facade, we knew he couldn't have been more terrified. His scent reeked of fear from what Jared observed.
Later on in the day when Emily sent me out to get some milk since Paul drank the last of it, I ran into Embry. Of course, knowing his disliking of me,I surreptitiously glanced at Embry; his body temperature is steadily rising every week and his height is growing impeccably fast. He should be able to turn soon. But the one thing that I do not understand is how. He's from the Makah Rez. This is going to be one messed up pack.
Bella's POV:
I hate Monday's. I really do. Not only do I have to wake up at a specific time, but I had two days of sleeping in until way after noon and have to return to my internal clock, it sucks. Right now, I think that if today was sunny then it would be the best Monday in existence. Making my way out towards my truck I see the sun trying to peek through the cloud cover, and I am hoping that the sun comes out and stays out for today at least. I don't want to run into any Cullens today.
By the time that I make it to the school, the sun is hidden behind the clouds and the stupid shiny Volvo that Edward 'Creeper' Cullen drives is three spots down from where I normally park and he's standing by the door watching me. Um, Stalker Alert much? I think someone needs to get a life. I guess it's a good thing that I used the lotion and have the bracelet that Sam and the boys gave me, I thought.
Getting out of my truck, I make my way towards Angela and Ben who she is asking to the dance. Ben said yes and Angie looked slightly happy and in pain. Odd combination, specially for her.
"Hey Angie, what's wrong?" I asked as I came up behind her, putting my arm around her waist.
"Well, you know how I have that crush on Ben?" she asked, not waiting for me to answer before barreling on, "well, I don't think I like him anymore, but I'm not sure why," she sighed.
"I'm sure you'll find out in time, maybe it's because you met your soul mate?" I asked her, inwardly smirking at the truth behind my words.
"You think so?" she asked, turning her head to look at me.
"Yup. Anything's possible my dear Angela, and in time I believe you will find that out."
"That sounds like you're accepting me as your soul mate Bella," Mike said coming up behind me trying to wrap his arms around me and kiss me on the cheek.
"Mike, get lost," I hissed out, stepping backwards onto one of his feet. "And you are definitely not my soul-mate."
"You're just saying that dear. I am and you know it," he responded blithely before walking off. I glanced at Angie and saw that she had the same look of horror on her face that I'm pretty sure I have on mine.
"So, Angie. How long has he been crazy?" I asked her, half wondering.
"I heard he was dropped on his head a lot as a baby. Maybe that has something to do with it?" she responded.
"Sometimes the asinine amount of bad parenting is awful," I mutter before hooking arms with her and leading her towards our first class of the day. When we got there, we saw that we had a sub, and it was another vampire. I'm starting to wonder how many of them there are in this coven of theirs.
"Hello class!" the vampire lady said, way too enthusiastically for a Monday morning. "My name is Esme Cullen," here she paused in her speech to turn around and write her name in perfect calligraphy before resuming her prattle. "I will be your English teacher for the next two days while Ms. Wickett is out sick." Lovely, just what we need. A school infested with vampires, I thought before she got on with our lesson of Nathaniel Hawthorn's, The Scarlet Letter.
It's a good book, that I would have to admit, but I just hope that we don't need to analyze the first sentence. The whole "A throng..." shit going on, how the "A" is symbolism for independence and freedom and a unique identity, while the juxtaposition of "throng" signifies a crowd, and absolutist ideals (especially during the Puritan times). I've heard that speech one too many times. Of course as I think that she goes on and talks about it. Lucky me (can you hear the sarcasm?). She must have caught me rolling my eyes because she calls on me to 'figure' it out.
So, I told her. I told her everything there could be known about the book. I told her about the entire first sentence, I told her the symbols of the A, the meteor shower, Pearl, everything. Even the history of Nathaniel Hawthorn, how he dropped the e from his last name because he was ashamed of his ancestors (who were judges during the Salem Witch Trials), how he was a feminist sympathizer (joining the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848), how he worked in the Boston Custom House and how he came upon the story of the Scarlet Letter through that.
To say that the whole class was shocked was to put it lightly. And to finish it off, I couldn't help but be cheeky and say something stupid. Mainly: "And there you have it folks, The Scarlet Letter 101." Right after that the bell rang too, so I smoothly made my way to the front of the class and gave a sarcastic bow before moving out the door to wait for Angie.
"Bella, you are my hero," she claimed when she saw me, I smirked and raised an eyebrow. "How did you know all that stuff?" she asked as we walked down the hall.
"Learned it all last year. I wonder if tomorrow she'll let me talk about my opinions on the symbols and the characters. It'd be great fun don't you imagine. Hell, maybe even the next time that the English teacher is out they can just get me to sub for them. All I would need to do is get out of my classes for the day. Imagine the fun in that," I told her, smirking even more.
"I don't think that the school would go for that. So, what do you wanna be when you grow up? Cause you'd make on hell of a chef or even a teacher." That was something that I wasn't too sure about myself. I love to cook, and I'm passionate about English.
"I'm not sure, I love to cook, and if I do say so myself, I'm pretty damn good at that, but I'm also passionate about English as well, or at least American Lit. That is a tough decision my dear," I told her before I split off from her at my Spanish class. Of course, hers was next door to mine so we could stay out and talk until just before the bell rang (which is what we did of course). The rest of the day sped by until lunch. It. Was. Awful. Simply put. By the time that Angie and I got to our table with the rest of our 'friends' Lauren had spilled half of her soda down her white top and tried to blame it on me. Then Jessica mentioned that Edward Cullen was staring at me. Oh the joy.
When I found where he was, sitting two tables away from his family, I debated quickly with myself whether I should go over and see what he wanted or not. I chose the latter and sat down next to Angie, who laughed and told me I was being rude. I looked up at her, and then glanced at Ominous Edward. He was crooking his finger at me, ordering me to come sit next to him. Yeah right.
"I think he wants you over there Bella," Jessica said. Sighing, I made my way over with my Pink Lemonade and stood across from him.
"What do you want?" I asked, not pleasantly, but not rude either. More...exasperated I think.
"To get to know you better," he did that half-smile thing again. Someone should tell him that it's not handsome at all. Next thing I know is that he's frowning and there's loud laughter coming from his bulky brother and a smirk on the Barbie sister's face.
"What did I say?" I asked, completely confused.
"You don't like my smile?" he asked me, completely serious. Oooh, that.
"Not that half-smile thing you do. It's creepy, and it makes you look like you're in dire need of a shit," I told him, I was being quite honest here. He did say that he wanted to get to know me better. He really shouldn't have asked. Then to pour it on real thick, I looked down and pretended to be sad and told him that it was a real shame he couldn't come to La Push this past weekend, only to see what he said.
"First Beach you mean?" he asked me. I nodded yes while chancing a glance at his family, the blonde female was glaring at me while Alice—the short pixie one—was smiling brightly at her companion. "My family and I are banned from going there, have been for generations," Eddie said, trying to sound regretful, but it was difficult for him to hide the disdain in his voice when speaking about La Push and First Beach. I wanted to hit him. Badly.
"Oh, Sam said something along those lines as well on Saturday, but he wouldn't elucidate it, it made me upset. I don't like not knowing things," I replied as the bell rang. "Are you coming?" I asked when he made no move to get up. He shook his head, staring at the table top. I shrugged and made my way towards Angela who was holding my bag for me.
"So, what did he want?" she asked me, laughing at my miffed face.
"To get to know me better," I mocked.
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"I know what you are," I told him that weekend. He decided that he was going to buy me dinner at a fancy restaurant while everyone else that we went to school with had fun at the dance...in the hotel next door.
Edward looked at me then, like he was shocked. "What do you mean 'I know what you are'? I'm just a normal human being," he said, trying to confuse me.
"I call bull-shit on you. You are a vampire." I stated it simply for him, so he didn't have to try to beat around the bush.
"How?"
"I know the La Push stories. I grew up there. And it doesn't help that my mom believes in them. And you guys didn't help yourselves either. You're too graceful, your voices are too even and other worldly. You never eat—I have a suggestion about how to make that look more real by the way—and you're too cold to the touch to be human. I noticed that with the Doctor," I told him. "And I'm not stupid. I figured it out on my first day here."
"So those mutts didn't tell you then?" he growled out through clenched teeth.
"Mutts?" I asked, cocking my head to the side, pretending I don't know. If I can get him to say Sams name then he's broken the treaty and they would either have to leave or be destroyed.
"Your La Push friends," he murmured.
"Only as bed time stories," I replied back, a little down. "I don't know much else though, only that you're a vampire," I lied, hoping he would tell me.
"Some of us have powers. I can read minds and that's a pain, but in a fight it's slightly good, Alice-"
"She's the short pixie one right?" I asked, making it as if I have no clue who she is.
"Yes, she has vision's of the future, nothing is set in stone and the best ways to get around her knowing is if you change your mind a lot in a short amount of time. Jasper—Alice's mate and the one who's always in pain—is an empath. He can feel and manipulate emotions around him, and it comes in handily while trying to control Emmett—he's the bear like one—only has his strength. Rosalie, she's got her beauty but not much else, she's uptight and a real pain. Carlisle—he's the doctor—has control over his blood-lust which allows him to work in hospitals, and Esme—she was the sub for English on Monday and Tuesday—she's got her compassion. She just loves everyone that she meets."
"What else is there to being a vampire," I asked, completely curious now.
"Not much, you live for eternity, none of the myths are true—so no stakes, or garlic, or sunlight—the last doesn't kill us, but it makes us sparkle," he told me. I'm just sucking all of this up, hoping that he doesn't realize what's actually going on with this.
X~x~x~x~x~x~x~X
The next day he took me to meet his family. Properly. After a night full of questions (on both sides, he asked me when my birthday was: May 13th, only a few months away)*, he drove me home with enough time for me to make dinner for Charlie.
That night, I woke up in the middle of the night again, with my window open and me freezing cold. I glanced around quickly and saw that no one was in my room. Getting out of my bed, I rushed to my window and closed it while looking outside. I saw the paleness and bronze hair of Edward Cullen. I really need to talk to dad about doing something about this window. I'm getting extremely tired of the Cullen coming into my room, I thought before climbing back into my bed.
I woke up again when my alarm went off at seven, half an hour before dad went to leave for work. I quickly got ready for school while thinking of a way to ask if something could be done about my window. As soon as I was finished brushing my teeth, I made my way downstairs and caught Charlie before he was out the door.
"Dad, can you wait a minute?" I asked him, reaching out to grab his shoulder. He turned and looked at me, and nodded.
"What do ya need Bells?" he asked, glancing at his wristwatch.
"I woke up in the middle of the night last night because my window was opened, and I know that I had it closed last night. Is there anything that can be done to stop that from happening again?" I rushed out.
"Your window came open in the middle of the night?" he said incredulously.
"Yeah, do you think that you could nail it down or something?"
"I'm sure I can get one of the boys to help out, Paul works in construction, maybe he would do it. Can we talk about this later sweetie?" dad asked, glancing at his watch again. "I need to get to work, Mark said that he had to leave for something as soon as I got there," he continued.
"Yeah, alright, that should be fine. Do you want me to send him a text? I'm sure he would love to discuss it with you?" I questioned, getting a nod in return, I started to shove my dad towards the door so he could get to work, before I grabbed a banana for breakfast and left for school.
X~x~x~x~x~x~x~X
When I got home from school that day, I immediately started to write down what I learned about the Cullens from Edward the weekend before. During school I had sent a text to Paul asking if he could come to Forks for dinner so my dad could talk with him about construction-y stuff so when the doorbell rang, I wasn't surprised to see that it was Paul.
"Come on in, Paul, I'm just writing some stuff down. Feel free to have a seat. Do you want anything to drink?" I asked, as I showed Paul in.
"Whatever you have is fine, and where's your bathroom?" he asked.
"Up the stairs, at the end of the hall." He grunted in response and walked off while I went into the kitchen to start dinner and to continue writing. I glanced up when he pulled out the chair across from me and smirked when he started to salivate when he smelt the lasagna in the oven.
"How are things?" he asked. It was a very simple question, but it could mean so many things.
"Angie's fine, if that's what you're wondering," he sighed in what sounded like relief. "I'm okay...creeped out some. Do you remember Mike Newton from the beach a couple of weeks ago? Well, he's convinced that I'm his soul-mate. I'm documenting," I told him while making a gesture towards the few sheets of notebook paper. "I figure that as soon as I'm done writing, I'll give it to you so you can give it to Sam. It seems like the best option at this point, no greedy eyes if you get my meaning."
"That does seem like a good idea, so we'll get updates when you do?" he asked as I nodded my head. "Billy was right, you are smart. Do you have any idea when they'll be gone by?"
"Hopefully my birthday. From this weekend, I know that Alice doesn't take 'no' for an answer, so no matter how much I say I don't want a party, I'm sure I'll get one. Maybe I will end up giving myself a paper cut or something," I said. About then there was a door slamming outside. I got up and looked out the kitchen window and saw that it was Charlie, with Sam pulling in behind him. "Why is Sam here?" I asked Paul.
"He just got promoted today, he's my new foreman. Apparently your dad called earlier and wanted to speak with someone about a project for the house," Paul told me, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.
"Makes sense," I muttered, getting out a can of beer for the both of them and setting it on the table. Dad and Sam came in at that point, and I heard them both inhale appreciatively.
"Smells good Bells," Dad said after coming in the kitchen, Sam following behind him, nodding his head quickly.
"Thanks dad. Sam, how's Emily going to take me feeding you?" I asked, glancing at him when he laughed.
"She finds it funny that I think another woman's cooking is as good as hers," he told me. Made dad and Paul laugh as well.
"Yeah, Emily's cooking is wonderful," Paul said in delight, "but I think yours takes the cake," he told me.
"Thanks, it's almost done. Dad, did you think about my question from earlier?" I questioned, turning to look at him.
"I've been meaning to add on to the house for years now Bells. I always hoped that if you ever moved in with me that you would have your own bathroom, I know that the one we have is cramped, and I thought you might like your own," Dad told me. "Maybe throw in a garage with one of those deep freezer things to store all the fish," he added.
"That would be amazing, but where would you put it? There's that tree next to my room," I reminded him.
"That tree has stopped blooming, and I was thinking about getting it down soon anyways. I don't want any over eager guys trying to get into your room while I'm trying to catch up on my beauty sleep," dad joked as I pulled out the lasagna and got down some plates. "How long do you think it would take to build that Sam?" dad asked.
"Maybe a month if we can get all the supplies within the next couple of days. Two months at the latest. We'd be able to have the foundations for it done in the first week depending on the weather," Sam responded as I set plates in front of him and Paul before going back for my own and my dads. "This is amazing, Bella," Sam moaned after he had his first bite.
"Thanks Sam. Dad, when you were thinking about this, have you thought about where I'm going to sleep? I mean, you may enjoy sleeping on the couch, but that thing is uncomfortable," I told him.
"Well, you could always have my room. I don't mind sleeping on the couch for a month or so. You'd just have to get up earlier," dad told me.
"If you want to, you could stay with Emily and I. She's been dying to get to know you more, but you'd still have to get up pretty early to make it to school on time," Sam said.
I was hesitant to answer, because not only did I not want to impose, who was gonna take care of Charlie? My thoughts must have shown on my face to them, because dad piped up next.
"If you're worried about me, don't be kiddo, I've had 17 years of living without your help. While the food might be awful, I'll survive and you'll only be a few miles down the road."
"I wouldn't want to impose on you or Emily Sam. At least talk about it with her please?" I asked him, realizing that while my dad was right, I didn't like it.
"I will, and I'll let you know when you sign the contract chief," Sam said towards my dad. After that business talk went away and the three men just started gossiping like people do in small towns.
X~x~x~x~x~x~x~X
*I have decided that Bella's birthday needed to be changed. As she's in her junior year, she should have them gone by the time that they start getting ready for tests and exams. That way she doesn't have to spend the summer with the Cullens and she can start getting to know Embry a bit more as well as the rest of the pack.
I have no idea when I will have the next chapter up by, I still have other stuff that needs to be written, and for the next week, I'll be out of town.
Any ways, let me know what you all think about this chapter.
