Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable as Stephenie Meyer's work (but I wish I did, as do many others).
Edward's smile didn't exactly seem out of place; it just seemed a bit off that he was grinning at me. I hadn't said anything besides my name. Maybe he thought I looked funny. I scratched that idea. If I looked weird the others would have been smirking too. With that thought Edward's grin widened. With a small smile himself, Dr. Cullen proceeded to introduce me to the rest of the Cullens.
"You can call me Carlisle and this," he put his arm around a beautiful woman with caramel coloured hair "is my wife Esme." Esme smiled sweetly and shook my hand. Her hand too was ice cold. I almost shivered. I was so used to the pack's warmth that even a "normal" human seemed cold to me. Next, Carlisle motioned to two men who were tossing a ball between them. One was tall, not as tall as Paul and the others though, with short brown hair. He was smiling but his eyes were serious; intent.
"I'm Jasper," he said with a small nod of his head. He had a slight southern accent but I couldn't place it. The other guy looked me up and down, and chuckled. Maybe I did look funny after all.
"I'm Emmet," he said, grinning. He shook my hand vigorously, shaking the rest of me in the process. He laughed loudly at my startled expression. Emmet, I decided, was someone I could like. His carefree attitude was one that was bound to rub off.
After the guys I was introduced to two women. They were complete opposites of each other yet they were very alike what with their vampire characteristics. Both were beautiful, but the tall blonde was absolutely breathtaking. I found myself staring like an idiot and blushed. She was so good-looking it should be illegal. My self-esteem sunk below zero. Her attitude though was anything but attractive. She gave me a quick look over, so fast I almost missed it, nodded and walked over to Emmet. Carlisle gave me an apologetic smile.
"Her name is Rosalie." Even her name was beautiful, I thought with a sigh. The other woman was striking too, but she was tiny, very thin and had short, black hair. She gave me a big hug before she smiled brightly.
"I'm Alice. We're going to be great friends. And, be careful around stairs in the near future." The last was added as an afterthought. I found it very weird.
Last, but not least, was Edward. I already knew who he was but I shook his hand too. His smirk was still in place. I bit my lip to stop myself from asking why he was looking at me like I was the butt of some joke.
"One could consider you the butt of some joke," he said mockingly. I froze. He really did just read my mind. Did that mean, since Alice had warned me to be careful with stairs 'in the near future', that she could see the future? My mind went spinning again. Too much to think about alert. There was no way that was possible. Or was it? I mean, I was standing in front of vampires and my boyfriend could turn into an oversized wolf. Maybe it wasn't that bizarre after all.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts; this was not time to think about crazy stuff. I started to cross the field again when Carlisle said I was welcome to stay. From the forest came a loud snarl.
"Paul," I grumbled. In a fit of stubbornness I sat down on the grass. Paul growled again. Emmet laughed and Edward grinned.
"If you're not careful he might come get you," Edward said with a small laugh. That did sound like Paul but nonetheless I stayed put. From here I would see better than stuck behind trees.
Carlisle walked out a little from his family and welcomed the pack. Edward spoke Sam's thoughts out loud, because barking was slightly hard to understand. A little moment later Jasper walked out onto the field. He stopped next to Carlisle.
"My son Jasper has experience in this area. He will teach us what we need to know, how to stop them." Sam asked if they were different from the Cullens. I too wondered about this. I mean, weren't they all vampires?
"They are newer to this life. One could call them children. They will not have any form of tactics, only raw strength. Tonight there are twenty of them but they keep fighting amongst themselves, so that may change," Carlisle said. Edward translated Sam's thoughts again, and I thought it was a bit eerie. The pack was excited and was willing to take on more than their share. Of course they wanted too.
"Idiots," I mumbled under my breath.
"Do you know when they will arrive?" Edward said.
"They'll arrive late morning in four days. They'll come across the mountains."
I was probably only imagining things, but I thought he said it in a way that said "we're doomed." Then again, I did have a flair for the dramatic and was constantly paranoid.
The Cullen's training session was spectacular to watch. I gasped, gawked and even squeaked. The vampires were so fast! When Jasper asked Alice to come up I grabbed Bella's hand. Tiny Alice take on scary Jasper. No way! Bella and I exchanged panicked expressions and we held on a little tighter. Alice on the other hand, grinned. She stalked up to Jasper, kissed him on the cheek and bent into a fighting stance. Jasper tried to attack her but missed. Over and over again he missed. The match ended with Alice sitting on his back and laughing. I exhaled slowly; thrilled Alice could take care of herself.
After a while the initial shock and amazement wore off, and I was suddenly exhausted. I stifled a huge yawn and aimed towards the forest. Maybe I could sleep on Paul's back? Unfortunately I only managed to get halfway before I suddenly blacked out.
When I woke up I found myself in my own bed with only a sketchy description of what happened. I was slightly pissed I hardly remembered anything and I was upset with the fact that it seemed like I fainted a lot. The guys were going to make fun of me forever for it. I got out of bed, put on a pair of sweats and a tee, and made my way down to the kitchen. A welcome but highly unusual sight met me there. Paul sat in a chair with a cup of coffee in his hand and the morning paper in front of him. He looked relaxed and I thought that this was where he belonged. I smiled to myself and hugged him from behind.
"Good morning gorgeous," he murmured.
"Good morning yourself," I whispered in his ear. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, after I carried you home yesterday, by the way you reeked of vampire and you still do, your parents held me hostage thinking I'd hurt you. I explained that you fell asleep at the "party", and I that I might as well return you. They believed me and then asked if I wanted to stay the night since it was so late. I woke up an hour ago, your parents were at work and I thought I might as well enjoy a cup of coffee whilst I wait for you. Happy?"
"Extremely," I said.
Paul turned his head, kissed my cheek and maneuvered me onto his lap.
"Anything I can get you for breakfast. I'm warning you now though, I'm a bad cook."
He chuckled and took a sip of his coffee, making a face as he swallowed it. I laughed at his expression.
"It was cold," he growled as he tickled my sides. I laughed harder and somehow managed to fall off the chair.
The morning went by slowly but it was absolutely perfect. I got to spend it with Paul. Uninterrupted. However evening approached and another fight club was nearing. Even though I knew I'd be dead on my feet the following morning, I decided to tag along. Paul gave me a withering look as he passed me on his way into the forest to faze. I sat down by Bella's side again but dozed off quickly. It was extremely late when I woke up, and the session was nearing an end. I was startled to see Jacob as Jacob, and talking to Edward. I thought they hated each other? I slowly got to my feet and stumbled tiredly over to Jake. He saw me coming and caught me as I tripped.
"Are you tired, seriously? You've slept through the whole thing."
"Yeah, yeah. Just tell me what I missed."
"Nope. Snooze you lose."
I swatted him lazily on the arm and both Edward and Jake smiled at my half-hearted attempt.
"Has Alice's visions, premonitions or whatever changed?"
"Nope. Nothing has changed on their part. We however have an ace up our sleeve. We're going to use Bella's scent to make the bad-vamps go crazy."
I looked up at Jake.
"And you're sure this will work?"
"Positive."