My final week of senior year passed in a blur of exams and party planning, and before I knew it I was sitting in the passenger seat of Edward's Volvo while Alice sat in the back, practically vibrating with excitement as she twisted around in her seat every few seconds to make sure that Jess was still following close behind.
"Calm down, Alice. God, I can hardly stand it." Edward grumbled as he glared at his sister through the rear-view mirror.
"Be nice." I hissed sternly.
"Yeah, Edward. Be nice." Alice mocked, but the teasing fell flat due to the fact she was still staring out the back window, and her voice betrayed her nerves.
"Alice," I called gently, I waited until she turned back around in her seat before I turned around in mine so I could face her. "Everything is going to be fine." I assured her. "Rose promised to have everything set up for us by the time we got home from school, Esme has baked an entire store's worth of cakes and treats, and Edward is driving so slow that there is no way in hell that Jess could get lost."
"I know, I'm just really excited." Alice grinned at me.
"I know, me too." I grinned back. "I've never been to a slumber party before." I turned back around in my seat just as Edward turned down the long driveway to the Cullen house.
"Edward!" Alice shrieks and I turn around to see that Jess missed the turn.
"Alice!" Edward mockingly mimicked, his nose scrunched up in a sneer as he came to a stop on the gravel road.
I whacked Edward on the shoulder lightly. "Don't be an ass." I sniped.
"It's not my fault that the human can't drive!" Edward whined at me – obviously Edward had had enough of Alice's anxious thoughts and had fallen into the sullen little brother role that he often embodied.
"You didn't use your turning signal!" Alice hissed furiously.
"What are you gonna do? Tell on me?" Edward scowled.
"Maybe!" Alice spat as she watched Jess' car turn onto the gravel road, she turned back around to face the front of the car again. "Alright, go on!" Alice ordered.
"Yes, your majesty" Edward muttered under his breath as he put the car in gear and started down the driveway.
"Seriously Edward, you're being a jerk." I mumbled at him. "Talk about ruining the mood."
"He's just jealous." Alice mumbled with a roll of her eyes.
"I'm not jealous." Edward sneered the word like it was dirty. "I'm just… depressed by the fact that you will be staying at my house for the next 48 hours, and I can't be with you for more than half of that." Edward mumbled sadly.
"What?" I cocked my head to the side, "What are you talking about?"
"Alice said I had to leave you alone during your slumber party." Edward pouted, which caused me to narrow my eyes suspiciously. Edward didn't pout, he frowned, he scowled, he even occasionally sulked, but he didn't pout. I closed my eyes and took a heavy breath of Edward's scent, not bothering to hide the fact I was attempting to get a read on his emotions. With Alice in the car it was a little difficult – her vampire scent of rotting decay mixed with sweet strawberry lemonade was distracting at the best of times – but I had become used to working around such obstacles. Behind Edward's usual scent of warm basil and wildflowers, I could most certainly get a hint of dejected sadness, of loneliness, but there was a subtle undercurrent of hope mixed with happiness. Edward was trying to worm his way into Alice's slumber party.
I opened my eyes and frowned at my mate. "Low blow." I shook my head in disappointment. "If you wanted to join us, you just had to ask. No need for childish games."
Edward shot me a chagrined smile as he pulled up outside his house. "I did ask. Alice said no."
We all got out of the car and I gave Edward a quick hug, reaching up on my toes to whisper in his ear, even though it wouldn't make a difference and Alice would hear it anyway, "I'll convince Alice to let you watch at least one movie with us."
I pulled out of the hug to see Edward grinning down at me. "Brilliant." He beamed.
A moment later, Jess pulled up and she and Angela stumbled out of the car, looking up at the Cullen house with wide eyes. "This is where you live?" Jess gaped.
Edward kissed my cheek affectionately. "I'll leave you to your friends." He whispered to me, I could feel his lips move against my cheek. "Just whisper my name if you need me to come save you." He continued teasingly, he then placed another kiss on my cheek before breezing inside.
"Your house is huge." Jess gawked as she pulled out an opaque garment bag from the back seat of her car.
"Jess, reel it in. Be cool." Angela whispered to Jess as she too retrieved her prom dress from the back seat.
Alice and I choked down our laughter as we waited for our friends to walk over. Each girl also had a small overnight bag – Jess had wanted to bring her make-up and nail polish collection, but Alice convinced her it was unnecessary.
"Come on inside! We'll take your bags up to Bella's room before we get settled in the living room." Alice announced as she turned on her heel and started to lead the way inside.
Jess and Angela scampered over to me, clutching their prom dresses and overnight bags in white-knuckled fists. "You have your own room here?" Jessica whispered to me as we walked through the front door.
"Yeah?" I asked confusingly.
"You're Dad's okay with you having your own room at your boyfriend's house?" Angela queried in a hushed voice, her hazel eyes wide as she looked about the stately foyer.
My ears pricked up at the sound of Edward's soft laughter and I smirked. "Do you think he would prefer I stay in Edward's room?"
Both girls giggled. "Well, when you put it like that." Jess tittered as we reached the second floor.
The guest room that I had used after I had killed James, and then again after I had thrown Edward through his window a few weeks back, had since become 'mine'. All that meant, really, was that instead of the plain cream-coloured duvet and pillows, it now had a deep purple coloured one, as well as an unnecessary amount of furry throw pillows. Esme had also changed the curtains to a lighter fabric, and had decorated the top of the dresser with framed photos of the family, as well as a few of me and Charlie from our various summers together and camping trips. Alice had delighted in filling the dresser with an assortment of clothes and pyjamas, and stated that she had even given me my own section in her walk-in closet – a very big deal, according to Edward and Jasper.
Charlie had said that it was best to settle in, and had even begun to cart some of his own belongings over from our small 2-bedroom house. Charlie's house wasn't one of his quote-unquote 'ancestral' properties. Through clever manoeuvring and a lot of white-collar crime, Charlie managed to keep possession of a handful of properties, claiming that he was his own descendant and as such, he was planning on selling the Forks house. The issue was that there weren't a lot of people itching to move to Forks, so the sooner Charlie could get the house on the market the better. The plan was to move in with the Cullen's after graduation, and then a few weeks after that, pack up for the move to Roanoke.
When I entered my room I immediately saw that Alice had dragged in three more queen sized mattresses – each made up with fresh linen – which left only tiny runways of carpet visible for us to tip-toe through the room.
"Sorry for the tight-squeeze." Alice trilled as she danced her way around the beds to jump onto mine. "Just put your bags wherever." She flapped her hands around.
Jess and Angela exchanged glances before each of them took a mattress closest to the door, which left the one near the window for Alice. Even though she didn't sleep, god Alice was such a ridiculous vampire. I was curious to see what Alice was going to do about that. Was she planning on pretending? Because that would be boring as fuck, or was she just gonna go to bed with the rest of us and then leave once we had fallen asleep?
"Oh! Bring your dresses downstairs, Esme will hang them up in her closet so they don't get wrinkled." Alice chimed as Jess and Angela put their overnight bags on the ends of their beds. "Come on!" Alice clapped her hands excitedly as she bounced off my bed and made her way out of the cramped room with ease.
Alice didn't wait for us as she hurried downstairs, barely remembering to keep a human pace.
"She's very… enthusiastic." Jessica remarked as she wobbled her way around the mattresses and out the door. I followed behind and waited for Angela to join us in the hall.
"Yeah, she's really excited." I shrugged. "She wants tonight to be perfect, ya know? Alice has never really had that many friends." I explained kindly, hoping that Jess would read between the lines and not hold Alice's eccentric behaviours against her.
"Oh…." Jessica frowned as I led her and Angela downstairs. "I always thought she would have been really popular at her old school." She mumbled.
"Yeah, not so much." I quipped, I was trying my best to hide my amusement at Jess' comment. Other humans saw Alice for what she was – a predator. They looked at her the same way the kids in Phoenix used to look at me – with a mixture of desire and fear. But these humans, the humans who lived in this strange rainy town on the Northwestern peninsula, they didn't respond to us in the way they were supposed to, the way their instincts should have told them to. Charlie said that Forks was just one of those places – an area filled with ambient Magic. Magic that drew supernatural creatures in like a siren song, Magic that subtly changed the humans who lived there, Magic that coursed through the earth like a heart-beat, protecting the forest and the animals and made the area flourish. When Charlie had told me this, I had rolled my eyes and scoffed – I mean Magic, really? Charlie had just raised a single bushy eyebrow and pointed out that I was a werewolf, who was dating a vampire – was I really in any position to doubt the existence of Magic?
"I think it's sweet." Angela murmured kindly.
I smiled over my shoulder at her. "Yeah, so just… be patient?" I asked softly as we walked down the hall towards the living room. I knew my attempt at a hushed tone of voice was futile, but I couldn't help it. "I'm pretty sure she has this slumber party planned down to the millisecond, so just…. Go with it." I shrugged as we entered the living room.
The living room had been set up perfectly. Pastel streamers hung from the crown-moulding, and fairy lights twinkled happily as they hung around the window frames and tangles with the drapes. There were an array of cuddly blankets and pillows arranged on the large couch and arm-chairs, as well as more set up in comfy looking nests around the coffee table. The coffee table was already overflowing with food. A large bowl of pop-corn was in the middle of the feast, and then there was an assortment of cup-cakes and cake-pops and mini cheese-cakes in a variety of flavours – dear lord Esme really had been busy. There were also a bunch of little packets of crisps and a few bowls of different candy. I shook my head fondly at the display, it was way too much food for only three people – even if one of those people was a werewolf.
Alice was standing in front of it all with an expectant look on her face, I didn't even have to try to sense her overwhelming feelings of hope and anxiety, it was so painfully clear on her face for all to see.
"This looks great!" Angela beamed as she walked into the room.
"Yeah!" Jessica exclaimed, clearly surprised at the spread. "I totally call dibs on the fluffy pink blanket." Jess pointed to one of the little nests near the coffee table.
Alice's nervous smile morphed into a stunning grin. "I'm so happy you like it!" She squealed and clapped her hands excitedly. "I've got all these different movies for us to pick from, some romantic comedies and also some horror flicks! And if we get bored of that we have loads of different board-games. I also have face-masks and I can bring down all my make-up and nail-polish and we can test different looks for the prom tomorrow." Alice rambled on excitedly.
"I know you're excited, sweetheart, but remember to take a breath." Esme teased lovingly as she entered the room carrying a drinks tray. "I thought you girls might like some lemonade, I just made some fresh." Esme smiled warmly as she placed four tall glasses on the already crowded coffee table. Esme clasped the now empty tray in her hands as she turned and faced me and the two humans. "Now, we do have just a couple house rules." Esme said sternly, but the tone and serious expression didn't quite fit Esme's kind and motherly face – Carlisle was much better at playing 'bad-cop'.
"Of course, Mrs Cullen." Angela nodded seriously.
Esme's stern expression immediately softened. "First, please call me Esme." Esme tried to wrangle her expression back into something resembling a strict parent. "Now, Carlisle's office is strictly out of bounds. It's usually locked, but regardless, under no circumstances are any of you to go in there." Esme paused for a beat and waited for Jess and Angela to nod their understanding. "Also, the older children are away at college-" They weren't, actually, but had all agreed to clear out for a few days so Alice could have her fun. "And I know they wouldn't appreciate anyone going into their rooms. So please, respect their privacy." Esme's expression softened once more as she smiled warmly at the two human teenagers. "Now, that's pretty much it, really. Carlisle will be home late this evening, and Edward will probably just be up in his room all night. I'll be around if any of you need anything, but other than that I trust you all to behave yourselves." Esme's gentle smile widened into an almost grin as she breezed over. Esme stopped in front of Jess and Angela and gently caressed each of their cheeks in turn as she said in a lowered voice, "Thank you both, for coming. It means so much to Alice."
Both of the humans blinked dazedly at Esme for a moment, pupils blown wide and cheeks flushed red, Jess seemed to recover first. "Yeah, yeah it's no problem, Mrs-uhhh-Esme. Thanks for having us." She hastily replied in a disorientated sort of voice.
Esme smiled back and gently took both of the opaque garment bags out of the two girl's hands. "I'll go hang these up." And with that, Esme quietly left the room.
"Your Mom is really nice." Angela mumbled dreamily.
"I know!" Alice chirped with a casual shrug. "So, I know it's really early, but I thought we could all get changed into our pyjamas. Ya know, to get in the mood."
"Good idea." I nodded.
"Ugh, yeah." Jessica agreed. "I really wanna have a shower and wash all that… school smell off me." Jess shuddered dramatically.
"We probably shouldn't use Rose's bathroom," Alice announced in a tremendous understatement. Rose was vicious when it came to her en-suite bathroom, I had only been in there once and that was so Rose could use one of her her detachable shower-heads to help me wash the caked in mud out of my hair and scalp after I had wrestled with her Mate in my human form. It truly was a beautiful bathroom, with a large square tub that looked as if it was made from a single slab of exquisite marble, and the massive shower with dozens of nozzles that could probably fit an entire football team – Rose had said that a lot of human luxuries had been lost to her when she had became a vampire, but indulging in an extensive and intensive bathing routine was a luxury that Rosalie held on to with ruthless tenacity. Apparently it didn't matter that she didn't actually need any of the fancy lotions or soaps or bath soaks, it was the ritual of it that was important. "But Esme said that we can use the master-bath, so we have that and the main bathroom." Alice finished.
"How about you and Jess get cleaned up first while Alice and I pick out some movies?" Angela suggested as she walked around the room to stand next to Alice.
"Great idea!" Alice grinned as she grabbed Angela's hand to pull her over to the dark-wood panelled wall that was actually a cleverly hidden cabinet.
"Come on, Jess. I'll show you where the bathroom is." I smiled as I exited the living room and started my way down the hall.
We walked back to my room and I quickly grabbed some clothes from the dresser and the toiletry bag I kept in the top drawer. Jess rummaged through her overnight bag for her things and I showed her the main bathroom down the hall.
"So, there's clean towels in the cupboard there as well as washcloths. There's also soap and shampoo and conditioner and stuff under the sink if you need it." I explained as I fluttered my hands in the general directions of where the things were kept. "Uhh…. I think that's it really. Is there anything else you need?" I asked as I spun around to face Jess.
Jess smiled and dropped her things on the bathroom counter. "It's a bathroom, I think I can figure it out." She drawled sarcastically.
I slumped down a little at her words. "Sorry," I mumbled.
Jess sighed dramatically and flipped her hair as she stepped over and hugged me tightly, as she let go she kept a tight grip on each of my shoulders. "You're so…. Tightly wound. Like you're waiting for the sky to fall or something." Jess rolled her eyes. "Relax a little bit, huh? Tonight's gonna be awesome, and then the prom is gonna be awesome, and then Alice's after-party is gonna be-"
"Awesome?" I cut Jess off with a teasing grin.
Jess laughed. "Exactly. Now, get out of here so I can shower. I'll meet you downstairs."
I did as I was told and quickly left the bathroom, and I heard Jess click the lock into place once I was gone. With a soft smile on my face I began to pad towards Esme and Carlisle's room, but as I passed by Edward's closed door it opened unexpectedly and a cold hand was tugging me inside by the elbow. I let out a surprised yelp as the door slammed behind me, and then suddenly I had my arms full of cuddly vampire as my clothes and toiletry bag clattered to the floor.
"Edward!" I squeaked as I wriggled in his arms to try and get a look at his face.
"Missed you." He purred into my neck.
I laughed and gently pushed him away, Edward relented but kept his hands on my waist as he smiled down at me. "It's been like, what? Half an hour?" I teased.
"Closer to forty-five minutes." Edward corrected.
I rolled my eyes but I couldn't help the stupid smile that curled my lips. I reached up and cupped Edward's jaw and pulled him in for a kiss. It started off chaste, just a soft brushing of lips, but when Edward gently pulled at my bottom with his teeth I lost myself. I growled possessively as I spun us around, slamming Edward against his closed door with a muted thud. Edward gasped against my lips, the sound sent flashes of desire through my body, and I immediately began thinking of ways to coax those delicious sounds out of Edward's lips. I took advantage of his shock to deepen the kiss. I moved both of my hands up his body until they became tangled in his hair, I gripped his hair tightly and moved his head to the side so I had better access to his mouth. My tongue licked at the insides of Edward's mouth, but eventually I had to pull away so I could breathe.
With a gasp I pulled back, but immediately hid my face in Edward's neck. I ran my nose along the side of his throat, drinking in his scent as I pressed feather-light kisses against his skin.
"Bella," Edward groaned, his hands held my hips in a tight grasp, and if I had been human his grip surely would have killed me. "If you keep this up, I'm not going to be able to let you get back to your slumber party." He warned, his voice a deep rumble in my ear.
"Is that so?" I whispered against his throat, smirking as I felt Edward's grip tighten just a little bit more before he relaxed his hands.
"Oh yes." He purred dangerously. "I'll just keep you up here. All to myself."
I heaved a put upon sigh as I pulled away from Edward and out of his grip. "As much as I would enjoy that, it would upset Alice." I teased. "Also, it would probably be rude to just abandon my human friends." I added as I stooped down to pick up my things that I had dropped. "Why don't you come down in like, half an hour? We are all gonna have showers and change and then watch a movie." I reached up and pecked Edward on the cheek as I shimmied around him to open the door. "You should probably put on some pyjamas though, just so you fit in." I teased as I slipped out the door.
"For the love of- Vampires don't sleep!" Edward huffed out in frustration, keeping his voice low enough so none of the humans in the house could hear him, but loud enough to still get his point across.
I laughed lightly as I walked through Esme and Carlisle's room and into their en-suite. It wasn't as big as Rosalie's bathroom, but just as nice. I hurried my way through my shower before quickly getting dressed in a set of powder-blue pyjama shorts and the matching button-up sleep shirt. I hung up my damp towels, dropped my toiletry bag back in my room, and rushed downstairs hoping that Alice hadn't scared Angela off yet.
Apparently, I needn't worry.
"How is it that you own every Resident Evil movie on DVD, and yet you haven't seen a single one?" Angela demanded, her arms crossed in front of her chest and a stack of DVDs on the floor next to her.
"I told you!" Alice whined. "They're Emmett's." Alice's nose wrinkled, clearly showing what she thought of the Zombie franchise.
"You said we could watch horror movies." Angela challenged.
I quietly slinked into the room unnoticed, sat down on the floor near the coffee table and grabbed a handful of popcorn to watch the argument that had apparently been going on for a while.
"Yeah!" Alice rolled her eyes. "But I meant, like, slasher flicks and stuff!" Alice continued in a huff and I couldn't help but notice how Alice mimicked Jessica's annoyed teenager routine with pinpoint accuracy – I swear, if Alice had longer hair she would have emphasised her words with a flick of her hair over her shoulder.
"Well you should have been more specific." Angela sniffed, she then turned to me only slightly surprised by my presence. "Bella! You can be the tie-breaker." Angela declared. "The first Resident Evil movie," She said, holding up the DVD case. "Or…" She reached over and snatched the DVD Alice was holding out of her hand. "The Notebook." Angela's sarcastic eye roll as she frowned at the DVD in her other hand made her preferences clear.
"Zombies are cool." I said through a mouthful of popcorn and a casual shrug.
"Zombies are pretty cool." Jess agreed as she strode into the room, her damp hair curling around her face.
Angela smiled smugly at Alice who frowned in response, but she couldn't hold the expression for long before she rolled her eyes and giggled. "Alright, alright. Give that to me, I'll put it on after we both have finished with our showers." Alice laughed. Angela handed over the DVD and Alice placed it next to the TV before she led Angela upstairs.
I could hear Alice giving Angela the same quick explanation of where everything was in the main bathroom and I busied myself with trying some of the different snacks on the table.
Jess picked up one of the mini cheesecakes and gave it a bite. "Oh that's good." She murmured around the food. "Do you think Mrs Cullen is gonna make dinner or what?" She asked.
"I don't know. We can go ask, why?"
"I just don't wanna fill up on all this if there's gonna be dinner later, ya know?" Jess responded as she finished off her treat.
"Good point." I nodded. I stood up and pulled Jess along with me.
Esme was reading in the front sitting room and she looked up with a smile when we entered.
"What can I do for you girls?" Esme asked, as if she didn't hear our entire conversation. Esme was polite like that, even when there weren't any humans in the house, and it was just us supernatural weirdo's, she always behaved as if she couldn't hear every mumbled word – unless of course we were swearing, Esme never missed an opportunity to scold us for our foul language.
"We were wondering if there were plans for dinner," I announced casually as Jess hung back, half in the room, half in the hallway.
"Oh yes." Esme nodded seriously. "I had planned a build-your-own-burrito station. I'll have everything cooked and ready at 7o'clock, then you girls can make your burritos and eat them in the living room."
"Okay, good to know. Thanks Esme!" I beamed.
"It's not a problem, dear." Esme replied with a motherly smile.
I turned and grabbed Jess' hand to pull her back to the living room, Jess mumbled out a meek, "Thanks, Mrs Cullen." That Esme definitely wouldn't have heard if she were human. It was almost funny, seeing Jess so shy, as she was usually very loud and sure of herself. I didn't think it was because Esme was a vampire – Jess had no issues expressing herself with Alice or Edward – which made me think it was more of an adult issue. Other than teachers, I hadn't had the opportunity to see Jess interact with adults, so perhaps she was always so softly spoken when it came to those older than her. God, if only she knew how old Alice and Edward really were.
When Jess and I got back to the living room, I saw that Angela and Alice were already there, ready and waiting. And the latter did not seem pleased about the addition to our little group. Edward, pyjamas and all, was sitting in one of the blanket nests, a smug smile curling his lips and making his eyes twinkle mischievously.
Alice didn't argue, although I got the impression she was giving Edward an earful telepathically, as she put in the chosen movie for us to watch. I sat down next to Edward who immediately covered the both of us in a soft blanket and pulled me close to his side. I happily snuggled against him as I settled down to watch the movie.
XxXx
"That's it!?" I demanded loudly, as the movie faded to black on the world's worst cliffhanger "We can't leave it at that!"
Angela smiled smugly, a rare look for her. "I told you they were good."
"We have to watch the second one, at the very least." Jessica agreed with a serious nod.
Alice sighed dramatically, "Fine, but we can at least do each other's nails while we watch."
"Sorry to interrupt, children, but dinner is ready." Esme called softly, her voice drifted effortlessly through from the kitchen and into the living room.
At the promise of dinner, Angela and Jess scrambled up from their spots on the floor and I hurried along after them. Entering the kitchen I saw the island bench was full of different serving bowls with ingredients to make burritos. No words or instructions were needed as each of the humans began to fill their plates with a softly mumbled, "Thank you." To Esme.
I made myself two burritos, knowing that with my new abilities I needed more calories, I would have made myself more than two, but I could see Alice and Edward each making themselves a single burrito with thinly veiled disgust and I knew I would be eating their servings as well, so I figured that would be enough.
I was right. As we watched the movie and ate our dinner, Alice and Edward stealthily handed their own burritos off to me when the humans weren't paying attention. Esme came in silently and collected our now empty plates, a chorus of thank you's followed her as she did so.
"I'll go get the nail polish." Alice announced as she stood up gracefully.
"Oh, hold on, I'll pause the movie." Jess said as she scrambled for the remote that had been lost amongst the sea of blankets.
"No need." Alice waved her hand dismissively. "Zombies go grr, muscled men shoot guns, I'm sure I won't miss much." Alice drawled sarcastically as she left the room.
Alice, indeed, did not miss much as she quickly returned with her collection of nail polish.
We quickly settled down and began to paint each other's nails as we watched the movie. However I found myself distracted from the action on screen and my friends only a few feet away, by Edward's arm around my waist pulling me tight against his side as his other arm crossed over my stomach to grip my hip. Edward shifted and I felt his chest press against my shoulder as I continued in vain to watch the movie. His nose shifted my hair to the side as he nudged at the side of my neck before he placed a soft kiss to the side of my throat.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"Snuggling." Edward whispered back.
"I-I'm trying to watch the movie." I protested weakly.
"M-hmm" Edward hummed.
My heart was in my throat and it felt like my entire body was aflame in a red-hot blush. I turned my head, shifting slightly in Edward's arms so I could face him. I gently pressed my lips to his in a chaste kiss and pulled away before either of us could be tempted to take it any further while in the company of my friends and his sister.
Apparently, Alice wasn't in the mood for our PDA so she abruptly said, "I'll do Bella's nails next!"
"Alice you know there's no point, I'll just-" I quickly cut myself off as I remembered who was with us.
"Yes?" Alice chirped with an annoyingly knowing smile. She knew exactly why it was a waste of time, and she also knew why I couldn't say anything at the moment.
"Well, you know I have a habit of biting my nails." I quickly improvised. "It'll just get ruined anyway."
"Can't you just… not bite your nails until after the prom?" Jess rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, Bella." Alice smirked, "Why can't you?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, "Fine."
"Yay!" Alice cheered.
"What colour do you want, Bella?" Jess asked as she began to rummage around in the collection of nail polish.
"I don't know?" I replied with a clueless shrug.
Jess rolled her eyes. "What colour is your prom dress?"
"Blue?"
"Ugh, what kind of blue?" Jess demanded.
I glanced nervously up at Edward who was just smirking down at me with an amused look in his eye. "Uh… dark blue?" I squeaked.
I felt Edward's body tremble as he attempted to stifle his laughter, I didn't hesitate to elbow him sharply in the ribs. "Always so violent, my love." Edward purred in my ear.
"You are hopeless!" Jessica exclaimed, having not heard Edward's whispered comment.
Alice chuckled and shook her head. "Her dress is navy blue." She explained primly.
"Right." Jess nodded seriously and began to rummage through the nail-polish. Eventually she produced a dark blue one and tossed it over to Alice who easily caught it.
I was tempted to complain that there wasn't much difference between this dark blue and the many other dark blues in the mess of polishes but I didn't want to get the pair going, I was far too interested in watching the movie.
I obediently let Alice paint my fingernails as I watched Raccoon City be overrun with zombies, I was beginning to gain an appreciation for the genre, and could understand why Emmett – and Angela – seemed to like the movies so much.
The second film ended on yet another cliff-hanger, and the three of us loudly complained to Alice until she relented and went to fetch the third movie of the franchise.
"But," Alice paused as she inserted the DVD. "I don't know why Edward is still here. This was meant to be a girl's night, and Bella said he could stay for one movie and it's already been two." Alice scowled at her brother who smirked smugly in return.
I didn't want them to fight. I also didn't want Alice to be upset, but I also didn't want Edward to leave. Partly because I was enjoying his company, but mainly because I knew if I asked him to, he would sequester himself away in his room and brood in his loneliness as he listened into our conversations. I couldn't stand the thought of Edward upset in such a way. "Well… what would it take to let him stay?" I asked hesitantly.
Alice's resulting smile could only be described as devious and I felt Edward stiffen against me. "We could paint his nails."
"Oh that would look so good!" Jess crowed, completely missing the tension between the two vampiric siblings. "Black to match his tux!" She continued obliviously.
It wasn't that Edward was entirely against the idea, well… I mean he was – for all of his modern thoughts and ideas and personal growth he was still a man raised in the early 1900's, and with that came some very strong standards and beliefs about gender and gender roles. Edward also knew that if he let Alice get away with this, it could easily become a slippery slope; first nail polish, then hair products, and then eventually she would try and get him to wear makeup and that, in Edward's mind, was a million steps too far.
Unfortunately for Edward, he couldn't voice any of this, not unless he wanted our human guest to think he was a massive misogynistic ass-hole. "Fine. That's… perfectly fine." Edward ground out as he tightened his hold on me.
And that was how Edward ended up with perfectly painted fingernails. The black polish didn't shine like my blue polish did, instead it was a flat, matte colour that seemed to fit him perfectly. I couldn't help but think that Jess was right, it would look great with his tux.
XxXx
We were half-way through the fourth Resident Evil movie – much to Alice's dismay – when it happened.
The sound of a branch breaking.
A sound that would have been perfectly normal, after all the house was in the middle of the woods, standard woodland sounds were expected. Except for the fact that this house was filled with supernatural predators, and as such, small woodland critters tended to steer clear of it, and the usual noises one would expect from a house in the middle of nowhere were usually absent.
The sound was also accompanied by a startled gasp, and then a suspicious lack of breathing.
I snapped my eyes up to Edward, whose eyes had darkened considerably. His body was stiff against mine and together we looked at Alice whose wide eyes stared back. They had both heard it as well.
I was moving and barking orders before I even knew what I was doing. "Alice, stay here with them. Edward and I will go check."
Angela and Jess, who hadn't heard anything and had no idea what the hell was going on looked up at me in confusion. "What's going on?" Jess asked.
"I heard something. Probably just a raccoon or whatever, but we do get bears out here so stay inside with Alice while Edward and I go see what it was." I snapped, forcing myself to reel in my anger.
"A bear? Are you sure you should be going out there at all?" Angela asked with wide eyes.
I groaned in annoyance, "Please, just- just stay here." I bit out before turning and striding through the house and out the back door, Edward hot on my heels.
As soon as we left the house I could smell it. Smell them. Rancid meat and puss filled wounds.
Vampire.
I looked to Edward once more, cocked my head to the side and pointed to my temple, hoping to silently ask him if he could hear the intruder's thoughts. Edward's eyes became unfocused for a moment as he concentrated before he nodded stiffly and pointed towards the woods, close to where the sound had come from.
Together, we moved silently across the damp grass of the backyard and towards the forest beyond. It took me a moment, but eventually I was able to pinpoint the vampire's location down due to their scent. A scent that was foreign to me. It didn't smell like Victoria, or Laurent, both of their scents were strong and powerful and entirely unforgettable. It wasn't Garret's scent either, the strange vampire whom I had met just the once was closer in scent to the Cullen's than the rogues I had attacked.
Just before we reached the location where the strange vampire was hiding, they revealed themselves.
She was small. No, not small, she was a child. Well, almost a child, she was most certainly young, no older than 16, that was for sure. Her clothes were dirty and torn, stained with blood and venom and dirt and mud, her hair wasn't much better. She blinked up at us, red eyes flickering between us before settling on Edward. Who the fuck was this?
I glanced at Edward, but he showed no sign of recognition.
He also showed no sign of actually doing anything any time soon.
I growled deeply in warning. "Who are you?" I demanded.
The girl did not break eye-contact with Edward as she answered. "My name is Bree. Please help me." She whimpered.
"We will help you." Edward immediately answered, although his voice had taken on a strange tone. It was a strange sort of droning sound of voice but was layered with sympathy, not entirely devoid of emotion as one would expect from a mono-tone type of voice.
Nevertheless, Edward's immediate offer of aid confused me and I shot a look at him only to see his face was blank and his eyes vacant.
"Oh, hell no." I hissed as I stood in front of Edward, breaking Bree's line of sight. I heard Edward groan tiredly behind me, "Stay behind me, Edward." I warned as I levelled the stranger in a hardened glare.
Red eyes met mine, "I just need somewhere safe to stay." She pleaded.
I let loose another growl, this one louder and more threatening than the last. "Your Jedi mind tricks don't work on me, sweetheart." I spat. "So, with that in mind, let's try this again. Who the fuck are you, and what do you want?" For the first time since revealing herself, Bree looked frightened. Her eyes widened in her small face and she looked around like she was about to bolt. Over the regular vampire stench I could sense her sudden and overwhelming fear. "Look, kid, either you answer me now or you answer me later. Running won't do you any good, because I guarantee you, I will catch you," I warned.
As I waited for the small vampire to answer, I could feel my muscles tensing, the painful pull in my gut as the wolf inside howled to be let free. I stamped it down – turning into a giant wolf would not help the situation.
"I-I… My name really is Bree." She mumbled, casting her eyes down to her feet. Fear- no terror- continued to waft off of her. "And I really do need help." She continued and raised her eyes to mine.
"Well, using your gift on my Mate isn't the way to go about that." I snarled. Bree cowed away from me, and she raised a hand in an unmistakable gesture – she expected me to strike her. Bree began to stutter out an apology, barely able to form words due to her fear and despite myself and my werewolf instincts warning me otherwise, I couldn't help but soften at the scene. I heaved out a tired sigh, "How old are you, Bree?" I asked,
"I-I'm 15" She replied quietly.
I frowned at her. "When were you turned?" I asked.
Suddenly, Edward was growling and snarling behind me. "She's one of Victoria's!" He roared.
A rush of air told me Edward had launched himself at the still cowering child in front of us and I held out my arm to catch him. I whirled around and threw Edward to the ground. "Can't you see she is terrified!?" I demanded.
Edward was stunned silent. Seemingly unable to grasp that fact that I had stopped him so easily – what could I say? Training with Charlie had been going really well. With one hand on Edward's chest to keep him on the ground, I looked over my shoulder to see Bree had lowered herself to the ground and was hugging her knees in an attempt to appear as small as possible. "Bree, it's alright. Edward is just… very emotional. The woman who sired you well… she's an enemy of ours." I turned and looked down at Edward, "But that doesn't mean you are our enemy as well, okay?" I continued to speak to Bree, but glared down at Edward. Edward glowered at me but nodded and I removed myself from him and allowed him to stand.
I turned to face Bree, "Okay, so Edward can read minds, so he will know if you lie to us. And no more of those mind tricks, alright?" I murmured gently as I sat down on the wet grass in front of the scared child. Because vampire or not, that's what she was.
"I-I'm sorry about that, I don't mean to do it half the time." Bree mumbled as she slowly unfolded herself from the tight ball she had cowered into. She kept her gaze averted, not meeting either of our eyes as Edward sat down on the grass next to me. He was on edge, his body tensed and ready to jump up and fight at a moment's notice.
I knew that it wasn't necessary. Even my more animalistic impulses, my werewolf instincts, were telling me that this was okay. That the strange vampire truly meant no harm. I knew that I could not be affected by whatever strange voodoo she had put Edward under, so I knew that those feelings were all me. Charlie had instructed me to trust my gut. A werewolf's intuition was their most powerful gift, and a fully matured werewolf's intuition was almost never wrong. Being able to tell enemy from ally was just the tip of the iceberg, and as I grew into my abilities I understood why Charlie seemed almost clairvoyant to me in my youth.
"It's alright," I soothed, "my name is Bella." I added.
"You-you're not human, but you're not… like me?" Bree faltered.
"Do you not know what you are?" Edward interrupted.
Bree suddenly drew herself up and glared stubbornly at Edward. "Well, I'm pretty sure I'm a vampire, but it's not like anyone gave me an instruction manual." She snapped impetuously and I couldn't help but snigger at her attitude.
I placed a hand on Edward's knee to stop him from returning the girl's snappish words. "You're right. I'm not a vampire, or a human. I'm a werewolf." I answered. Bree nodded slowly and frowned in concentration as she mulled over the information. Suddenly, Edward snarled dangerously.
"Are there any others on the way here?" He demanded, his lips twitched over his teeth in a threatening display.
"What? Edward, what did you hear?" I demanded, obviously something in the girl's mind had set Edward off.
"Victoria had articles of clothing with your scent on them. She was training the newborns to react to it, to hunt it." Edward snarled, his dark eyes never leaving Bree who was once again cowering away from us.
"Bree's not here to hurt me." I declared, instinctively knowing it was the truth.
"I'm not!" Bree immediately agreed. "Wh-When the redheaded woman killed the others, I managed to escape I- I convinced her to let me go. To forget about me. It's been weeks and I have been so alone and I didn't know what to do or where to go and-and-and I thought you could help me? I don't know! I caught your scent in the woods and-and well I don't have anything else to lose, do I?" Bree's distressed rambling made my heart clench.
"You have your life." Edward snarled.
"Edward!" I chastised, I returned my attention to Bree. I quickly decided that honesty was the best policy. "The redhead's name is Victoria. She wants me dead because I killed her mate when he threatened my family. Victoria created you and the others in order to kill me, and my family. But I ruined her plans when I killed her lieutenant, which then led her to destroy all the newborns she had created. Other than you, it seems."
"I had no idea." Bree whispered.
"Carlisle is on his way." Edward announced and I could hear the tyres of Carlisle's car on the drive. "I'll go around front and meet him to fill him in. Are you alright to stay here with… her?" Edward glared at Bree, his usually kind eyes filled with venom.
"I'll be fine." I assured him and then Edward was gone in a blur of speed.
"Whose Carlisle?" Bree asked, instantly more at ease without Edward's presence.
"He's our leader – or well, one of them anyway." I answered, "My dad is the other. It's… complicated." I continued lamely.
Before I could explain further, Edward returned with Carlisle close behind. I slowly rose to my feet, "Hey, Carlisle. This is Bree, she's asked for our help." I casually explained.
"Remember, don't look her in the eye. She can't control her gift yet." Edward muttered darkly.
"I said I was sorry!" Bree snapped.
"Yes, well you didn't really mean that did you? You know you don't have control over it, and yet you were still hoping to use it against us!" Edward spat back.
Ignoring both of their outbursts, Carlisle stepped forward. "Hello, Bree. It's nice to meet you. I'd like to talk with you some more, but we currently have some human guests in our house. When was the last time you hunted?" Carlisle asked kindly.
"A few days ago…" Bree replied, her voice laced with uncertainty.
Carlisle smiled indulgently, he did a remarkable job of hiding his displeasure at the fact that the small girl had just admitted to murder. Edward, less so. Which was rather hypocritical of him, all things considered, but I wasn't about to bring that up now. "If you wish to stay here, and for my family to help you, you must understand that we do not feed from humans. We drink the blood of animals to sustain ourselves, and should you choose to stay, I fully expect you to do the same."
Bree nodded eagerly. "Alright."
"Okay," Carlisle's smile was warm and fatherly. "I'll show you how to hunt, and then we can have a nice long chat." Carlisle was remarkably transparent in his desire to help Bree. I had seen how warm and paternal Carlisle was when he interacted with the Cullen kids, but I had never seen him behave this way with a stranger before. It was so obvious to me why Carlisle made such a wonderful doctor, if this was the way he treated his patients.
Carlisle and Bree disappeared into the woods and then without warning Edward grabbed me around the waist and moved the pair of us at vampiric speed. I unexpectedly found myself on Edward's lap. Edward had sat down on the porch step, and had pulled me onto his lap so that I was straddling him with my thighs on either side of his. "Edward, wha-" my question was cut off by Edwards mouth on mine and I couldn't find it in myself to complain.
I was more than happy to move my mouth against his as one of my hands drifted to tangle in his mess of bronze hair and the other clutched the front of his pyjamas in a tight fist. Everything else melted away, my worry and concern about prom and graduation and redheaded vampires and strange newborns meant nothing when I was safely encompassed within Edward's embrace. Edward's arms circled around my body, holding me close as he continued to plunder my mouth with his tongue and I was enthusiastic in my reply. Everything felt so hot, warmth pooled deep in my stomach as my body relaxed against Edward's – drifting towards him it felt inevitable, completely unavoidable like two planets colliding in the depths of space, caught in the orbit of each other's gravitational pull. Our eventual collision was inescapable. As I relaxed completely against Edward's body and became settled on his lap, I couldn't help but notice how affected Edward was by our current position. The unmistakable hardness pressed against my inner thigh and caused my gut to swoop dramatically as I groaned into Edward's mouth.
Unfortunately, we were interrupted by Jessica screeching, "I knew it!" With a gasp I pulled away from Edward to glare up at Jess, who was standing with her hands on her hip on the porch. "Oh don't look at me like that!" Jess rolled her eyes. "I knew all that crap about raccoons and bears was just an excuse!"
I clumsily untangled myself from Edward's grasp, slowly coming to stand on my own two feet at the bottom of the porch steps. "Alright, you caught us." I huffed "We'll be back inside in a moment." I gestured for Jess to go back inside.
She pursed her lips at me and crossed her arms over her chest, "If you're not back in a minute I will come back out here and turn the hose on the pair of you." She rolled her eyes and spun around to stalk back inside. "and to think we paused the movie for you and everything." She grumbled under her breath.
I cleared my throat awkwardly as I turned to face Edward who was still sitting on the porch steps. "So all… that was just… what, a ruse?" I stumbled embarrassingly over my words as I felt a hot blush cover my face and neck.
Edward looked like he would be blushing as well if he was capable of it, I could scent his uncomfortable desire and embarrassment clearly as it mingled with his warm summery scent. "Not… not entirely." He murmured as he gracefully stood. "I could hear her thoughts, and we had been gone for a suspiciously long time. I figured it was the most plausible explanation for our absence." Edward continued as he approached to stand in front of me.
"Right, that makes sense." I nodded seriously as I began to move around him to head back inside. I was unsure how I felt about Edward using our physical relationship as… as some sort of charade or cover to hide the supernatural from our human friends. It felt… wrong. To fake something like that was just so awful, and had left me feeling terrible.
"Bella, hold on." Edward loosely grabbed my wrist and used it to turn me around before I could take the first step up the porch. "You're upset." The words were a statement, but still held a lingering question in them.
"Well… yeah." I shrugged sadly. "I didn't know all that was just play-acting. I thought…" I let my sentence trail off lamely, too embarrassed to give voice to my insecurity.
"Oh, Bella." Edward crooned. He lowered his head to rest his forehead against mine. "My sweet, sweet Bella." Edward continued softly, pausing only to rub his nose against mine in a gentle Eskimo kiss. "All of… that was most definitely real. My love, being able to hold you like that, to kiss you like that… it was the greatest pleasure of my existence. Never, ever doubt that." Edward's words were murmured against my lips, and caused me to shiver deliciously. "A pleasure I would love to continue to indulge in, however, unfortunately your friend was not joking when she threatened to turn the hose on us." I could feel Edward's smile against my lips.
"I guess we better head inside, then." I murmured sadly.
"Indeed." Edward pulled away, only to snake an arm around my waist and lead me up the steps and into the house. Edward bent down to whisper in my ear, "Fret not, love, I will ensure that next time we will be free from any interruptions."
Edward's promise caused goose-pimples to erupt over my arms and a pleasing shiver to go down my spine. Next time. I was really looking forward to next time.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed the update.