Part II-Chapter 3: The Past Always Comes Back

Disclaimer. I own none of the original Twilight characters. Ownership belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Magnificent-U2

Son of a Dork-Ticket Outta Loserville

Ready Set Go-Tokio Hotel

Cont.

Darius looked down at me and smiled widely and grabbed my hand and led me into the glass store. When we entered he let go of my hand and I walked around. I let my eyes roam over all the beautiful glass figurines and picked up a delicate looking rose. I love roses; they remind me of the beauty and the beast. I gently put it back down and saw a different, more intricate figure. It was a beautiful silver wolf on top of a cliff that reminded me so much of La Push. The cliff was over facing a sea green ocean that looked too pointy to touch.

"Magnificent," I breathed, running my finger along the wolf.

"Great, right?" a timid voice said from behind me.

I gasped in shock before taking my hand away from the wolf and turning around. A boy who looked around 16 shuffled his feet slowly, looking down so I could only see his short brown hair and pale complexion.

"It's wonderful, how much?" I asked, retrieving the bill from my back pocket.

"You really like it?" he asked surprised, looking up for the first time and showing his bright brown eyes.

"Yea, of course. Do you know who the creator is?"

"Um, yea," he said nervously, shuffling his feet again. "It's me. That's my first piece." He grinned shyly.

"That's your first piece? That's incredible," I beamed brightly. "I'll take it. How much do you want?"

"15," he stated.

I frowned at him and made a counter offer. "I'll give you 50 dollars for it."

"50?" he stuttered, taken back. "That's way too much! No, I can't accept that."

I smiled while I pulled out one of the fifties Dad gave me.

"Here." He didn't take it. "Just take it, please?" I asked politely.

His resolve started crumbling and I smiled in encouragement while pushing the money out to him. He let out a breath of air and smiled.

"Fine, I'll go wrap it for you."

He smiled before rushing over to the counter and showing and older man the money I gave him. The man smiled wide before pulling him a hug and laughing with him. He clapped him on the back once before putting the money in an envelope and giving it back to the younger boy. The younger boy looked back and me and waved me over. I walked over to them and smiled at them both.

"I hear you gave my grandson Cory a good pay for his work. He's the best glass blower we have here. He has been working here ever since he was a toddler." The man smiled proudly.

"He has a lot of talent." I smiled.

Cory smiled at me while he wrapped up the glass in paper and put it gently in a box and stuffed it in a plastic bag. "Thank you so much. I hope you visit us again."

"I will."

I smiled before I exited the shop to meet Darius and Ryan. We started walking toward another shop and Ryan pulled out a cigarette before directing his attention to me.

"You don't mind?"

"No." I shook my head. Leah smoked occasionally so I wasn't too put out by it.

"Good." He smiled after taking a long drag. "Did you meet Cory?" he asked before taking another puff.

Darius raised a brow in question but stayed silent. "Yea, I did. I bought his first piece. It was amazing."

"He's a good kid. Kind of a nerd, but he's nice," Ryan commented. "I bet you don't hang out with kids like that though. You seem like the cheerleader type."

"I do?" I asked, astonished.

"You mean you're not?" he asked just as surprised.

"La Push doesn't have a cheerleading team yet." I chuckled.

"She was too pretty for all the girls there, Ryan. They didn't like her because they were all jealous. Girls are bitches, don't sweat it," Darius told me, slipping his arm around me casually.

"I'll try not to," I assured him.

"Wait." Ryan stopped walking at stared at me. "You're saying that you're not popular?"

"Nope." I smiled.

"Wow. I'm always right," he said awed.

I smiled up at him and remembered that I turned my phone off at the restaurant because someone kept calling me and it annoyed my mother. I reached in my back pocket and pulled it out. I turned it on and instantly the screen was buzzing with missed calls, voice messages, picture messages, and text messages.

"Seems like you're sure popular," Ryan commented, noting my phone.

"Can we stop at a bench so I can check these?" I asked timidly.

"Yea of course," Darius responded, leading us over to an arcade store that we had to walk a flight of stairs to get to. I saw a bench next to a crane game and I sat down. Ryan went over to a car video game and played it while Darius sat next to me.

I looked over the missed calls first and saw 5 different numbers displayed along with Embry and Leah's. I laughed silently and called my voicemail, quickly setting it up with a selected password and listening to the first message from Embry.

"Hey, Ness, I hope you're having fun down there. I miss you a lot. I'm sorry about this morning. Stupid Quil threw up on me and my mom walked in on me stuffing him in the shower. She just turned around and walked back in to her room. She's gotten a lot more reserved. Something happened on that trip she went on, but I'm not sure yet. Maybe she wants to play the role of Mom now." He laughed bitterly.

"Anyway, call or text me, whatever. Oh, and Quil stole your number off my phone and gave it to Jake and Kim so they're going to be blowing up your phone. I love you, bye."

I grinned after hearing it and pressed save, moving on to the next message.

"Hey, girl. It's Leah. You never called me back! We have a lot to talk about. Tonight we have to talk or else I'm going to end up telling my cat. Yes you heard right. Seth convinced my parents to get a cat. He's evil, I swear, but when I turn 17 they're getting me a dog. I gave your number to Sam because Paul wants it, I hope you don't mind.

"Oh, and Kim too because she wanted to know if we heard from you. She's actually really cool. We're not exactly friends yet, but hopefully soon. All these girls are going after her now that you're gone. Closing this up! Call me, text me, e-mail me, whatever! Just talk to me soon, I'm starved for my bestie! Love you!"

I laughed softly and pressed save again. Darius looked over at me and tilted his head in question.

"My friends are ridiculous," I explained. He nodded his head and motioned for me to continue. I skipped to the next message and heard Sue's lilting voice.

"Hello, Vanessa, it's Sue. I hope you're having a wonderful time down there. Don't forget to send us a postcard! I just wanted to call and say how much everyone is missing you. I'm sure Leah is already blowing your phone up. Leah said she will text you my phone number and do not be afraid to call absolutely whenever you need some advice or just someone to talk to. I love you, Vanessa. I cannot wait until you visit us. Goodbye."

I smiled sadly and saved that one as well. Sue was the mother I absolutely wanted and adored so much. She is incredibly sweet and all around fantastic.

I played the next message and had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"VANESSA!" 2 voices screamed through the phone.

Darius looked at me and chuckled.

"Why didn't you tell us you have a phone, you poop head! It makes it so much easier to not miss you. OW! What the hell, Quil!"

"Why the fuck would you say that for, idiot! We're gonna miss her whether or not she has a phone. God you're such a dip shit sometimes, Jake!"

"Whatever," he grumbled in the phone. "We're calling to say we miss you! Happy Quil?" Jake yelled, causing me to flinch away from the phone.

"Ecstatic!" Quil yelled back.

"Vanessa, we need you here! Embry won't do anything with us he just sits on his couch feeding his beer belly," Jake explained.

"I do not!" a voice shouted from far away.

"Do too!" Jake and Quil yelled back.

"We gotta go now because Embry is about to kill us but we love you!" Jake shouted before the line went off and I saved it.

"Silly boys." I shook my head.

"Close friends of yours?" Darius asked.

"The closest." I smiled.

I listened to the next one and heard the timid voice of Kim Connweller.

"Hey, Vanessa. It's Kim. I hope you don't mind me calling you. Leah gave me your number. I hope you're having fun. I texted you so you'll have my number. Text me or call me, bye," she finished softly.

I smiled at Kim's timid voice so unlike all the others and deleted it. I waited as the next one came on and sucked in quick breath.

"Hey, Nessa. It's Paul. I got your number from Sam. I hope you do not hate it too much down there. I know there are some relatives down there that you'll probably meet. I want you to be careful. Not everyone down there is nice, baby sister."

Paul sighed and lowered his voice. "I'm sorry, Ness. I'm working on a way of getting you here sooner, but it's tough. Stick it out for now. I love you baby sis. Call me whenever you want." With that Paul supplied me with his number and I put it in my phone after saving the message.

I flipped my phone to the other side and looked through the text and picture messages. Jake sent me a picture of him and Quil and another of Embry looking through his window with a frown. I frowned along with him and saved both pictures. Leah sent me 2 text messages, one with her mom's number and one saying how much she misses me. Embry sent me 5 text messages with various I miss you and I'm sorry for this morning. His final text asked if I was mad with him and I rolled my eyes and texted him back immediately.

"Of course I'm not mad, silly. I'm spending the day with my Uncle and his friend. I'll call you tonight. Love you."-Ness.

The next four text messages were from Kim giving me her number to which I replied quickly. Jake texted me twice and Quil once. I texted both of them back and then finally typed my reply to Leah.

"I miss you too. It's fun here. Hanging with my Uncle and his friend. I'll call you later after I talk with Embry and make sure he isn't freaking out too much :P We'll spend all night talking, I promise. Love you."-V

I finally put my phone on silent and slipped it in my back pocket.

"All ready?" Darius asked me, slipping his hand in mine and pulling me up.

I wasn't use to this physical attention and it made me nervous but I swallowed that down and kept his hand in mine. With Harry he would hug me all the time and Sue would always hold my hand along with Seth, Leah, and Embry. Harry wouldn't though, I wondered if only younger men did that.

"Yes, everyone is reassured I haven't died just yet," I teased.

I was really loosening up here and I embraced it with caution.

"Where is your friend?" I asked after noticing his absence.

Darius looked down at me and answered, "He went back to work. He'll be joining us at your house for dinner, though." I nodded and Darius let go of my hand.

We walked around town for the better part of the afternoon and Ryan joined us around 7 when he got off work. We stopped by candy stores and souvenir shops. I picked up various post cards for everyone and a bunch of teen magazines for Leah along with a basket of Maybelline Cosmetics that Ryan got for free from an old girlfriend who said she adored my face. She gave me the basket once I promised to come by again for her to give me a makeover. We passed by a bar named Harry's on our way back to the house and Darius quickly put his arm around me while Ryan grabbed my hand in his rough one.

"What—" I started to say before Darius leaned down and whispered in my ear to not say anything until we passed the street. I nodded mutely, keeping my head straight forward.

"Look what we have here, fellows!" A group of older men announced before stopping in front of three of us. "Looks like our boys here found us some new meat!" a balding man bellowed before coming to slap Ryan on the back. Ryan flinched from the contact but made no effort to stop him.

"She's my niece, back off," Darius growled, wrapping his arm tighter around me.

"She's young, then?" another guy purred, intrigued. I shivered and tightened my hold on Ryan's hand.

"She's just a baby," Ryan said, keeping his hold on my hand and rubbing soothing circles with his hand.

"How old?" one of the shorter men asked, glancing over my body before smirking. "She looks 16."

"She's 14," Darius spit out. "Back off. She's John's."

Whatever preconceived notation they had before went out the window as soon as my Dad's name was spoken. Every man stood up straight and walked away back into the bar. Ryan relaxed his grip on my hand and let go but not before glaring at those men.

As soon as we were around the corner Darius took his arm away from my shoulder and Ryan let go of my hand.

"Who were those men," I asked curiously.

"No one," Darius said before Ryan could answer.

Ryan rolled his eyes at his friend. "She'll find out sooner or later. Those men are low lives. They prey after pretty girls like you. As long as you stay away from that place at night they won't bother you."

"Why did they go away when you said my dad's name?" They walked at a quicker pace and strode with bigger paces and I struggled to keep up.

"Your Dad is known around here to handle guys like those. He experienced something a long time ago that made him want to make sure girls won't get attacked by freaks like those," Darius explained. "He put up a few people in his day. This is where we grew up. I bet you didn't know that."

"I didn't. Dad told me you grew up in San Louis." Darius nodded slightly. "We went to school there, but we lived here." Darius smiled bitterly for a second. "He always tries to save those in trouble. I'm not like that at all," he mumbled to himself.

Ryan's eyes widened and he shook his head slightly at Darius. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion but didn't question him.

We arrived home in 10 minutes and went upstairs to smell an excellent aroma. I smelled garlic and my tongue started to water. Darius smiled down at me and we all walked over to the dining room table where Laura, Mom, and Dad were.

"Hey, you have fun?" Dad asked as he walked away from the stove and came to kiss my forehead.

"Yea. I bought a wolf figurine."

Dad smiled before shaking his head. "Let me guess, you also got books?" he asked, putting the pot of spaghetti on the table.

"Of course," I said shyly.

"Go put your things away and I'll make you a plate," Dad said before turning back to the table.

I went to my room and put everything in its place. I put my phone on the charger without looking at the messages. I would get to that later. I went back out to the dining room and sat next to Darius and Dad. Laura was sitting next to Ryan who looking over at her appreciatively, completely forgetting about my mother.

"So, Ness, what did you guys do today?" Dad asked as he poured Parnassian cheese over his spaghetti.

"We just walked around the shops and boardwalk. The beach is really beautiful this time of year. I wish Embry was here, he'd love to take pictures of it," I said joyfully, forgetting for a moment about my mother's distaste for him.

"The boy has talent?" Mom said, faking surprise while rolling his eyes.

"Linda," my dad warned, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I'm sure Embry would love it here. Anywhere you are he would love." Dad smiled a spot of sauce at the corner of his mouth.

"Not true," I murmured, blushing, though to be honest I knew it was completely true.

"Who's Embry?" Darius said after taking a sip of white wine.

"He's Nessa's best friend. He used to live next door to us. He's known us since he was a baby. He's in love with her, I swear, he acts like her guard dog." Dad laughed loudly.

"He does not. He's just protective," I mumbled under my breath.

"Don't be ashamed. I think it's great he's your friend. He would do anything for you. If I die that's the man I'd want to take care of you for the rest of your life."

"Can we please not talk about the boy," my mom said, rubbing her temples.

"The boy?" Darius asked amused. My mother shot him a look to which he raised his hands in surrender. "Forget I said anything."

We finished dinner fairly quickly and Darius suggested we go in the pool outside. I opted out but Darius begged me and I went along with him. My parents retired to bed and the rest of us went outside to the Jacuzzi. Laura and Ryan went into her room, to which I don't need to know what they were doing, while Darius and I went in the backyard. I stripped off my cover up and jean shorts leaving me in my bikini. Darius went inside to change into his trunks and to give Ryan a pair. He came out with towels and grinned at me.

"You ready?" he asked. Before I could comprehend what he meant he picked me up and threw me in the pool. I screamed loudly before laughing and splashing around. Maybe life would get better.

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