Summer
The sun broke through my window in brilliant golden rays, bathing my bed and myself in its warmth. It was a blisteringly hot June day and the wind was barely moving. I sat on the phone with Gaia while she went over her plans for this summer, detailing every moment she possibly could. All the while I was scrolling through weather reports for today's swell. "It's surfing time." I repeated again excitedly.
"When do you meet Jake?" Gaia's voice broke through my phone speaker.
"He has work today so I'm driving out just after lunch, I'm gonna hang out with Leah until he's off and then to the beach." I checked the time, I still had a few hours until I even had to strap my board to the roof.
"Has he still not phased?" Gaia exclaimed in disbelief as I placed her on speaker and set my phone down.
I shook my head as I changed webpages and opened tumblr for a moment. "Not according to what I've heard. Has Paul heard anything?"
She was silent as she thought, clearly swept up in the chores she did on the other end, so I took the opportunity to repost a few blogs and check on my queued posts. "No, they are starting to wonder if he just doesn't have the werewolf gene." Gaia finally answered.
"I'm not saying I hope he's forced to be a wolf," I sighed, "but I hope we don't have to keep this a secret for much longer."
"Me neither. I feel so bad, he gets cut out of everything now. But he isn't even sixteen yet is he?" Her dryer started up and began to rattle the phone.
I was in shock, not only from the statement Gaia had just made, but from the excerpt from a fanfic that was displayed proudly on my feed. I shook my head and answered her question before skimming the tags. "His birthday is in December, Gaia." My eyes caught on an unfamiliar tag, and curiosity got the better of me. What the hell is the omegaverse?
"Oh my god I missed his birthday!" I heard shuffling of what I can only assume was her planner. "How old is this kid!? I feel like I make him younger every time we actually see him."
"I just feel like a terrible friend because I haven't hung out with him in months. I haven't even really seen him since I was spending all that time last summer on the reservation." I groaned and shut my laptop, made a mental note to look the fanfic up later, then scooped my phone up and hopped off my bed. "It's just so hard to have him around and not let the secrets slip." I picked up my breakfast dishes and marched them downstairs while carrying my phone with my shoulder and ear. "The last thing I need to do is send him to a mental hospital because he's freaking the hell out about everything."
"Understandable." Gaia said, nearly blowing out my eardrum because I had forgotten to change it from the speaker. I quickly dropped my dishes into the sink and pulled my phone away from my ear. "Are you sure you don't want a ride to the rez? Paul and I don't hang out for another couple hours."
"I'm sure, I have to stop at the store on my way back home. Dad forgot a couple things for dinner tomorrow and asked me to pick them up on my way." That suddenly reminded me that I had been asked to set the chicken out to thaw. I quickly swapped it from freezer to fridge, then walked over to the crockpot my father had set up this morning before leaving. When I lifted the lid the hearty and wonderful smell of chili wafted up and filled the room. I stirred it quickly before replacing the lid and moving back to the sink to do my dishes.
After a few moments of silence from both of us I heard her dryer kick on, laundry day in the Spanò household apparently. I smirked and spun around to look at my kitchen. The whole house seemed to have transformed since the winter. Dad had playfully given me shit for being nervous to tell him I was back with Edward, my sleepwalking had virtually stopped, only a couple times did Edward have to wake me up as I started to fight my way out of bed. I only had scraps of those dreams now, a laugh, a glimmer of red hair, the name 'Blessing' which confused both Edward and I to no end.
Last night's dream confused me the most, Edward was out hunting with Emmet and Jasper so I had been left to my own devices for the night. Of course on nights like those the dream was able to play its course until dad was woken up by the bells on the front or back door, so I had larger scraps and understandings of those dreams. While I listened to Gaia hum while she sorted clothing I replayed the dream.
"Little bird, I need ya to listen." Blessing's voice was desperate from behind me, her accent thicker than I had ever heard it. "I've been tryin' to warn ya for months now."
"What is it?" I sighed, continuing to walk forward barefoot through the woods, the same blue satin dress as always gathered around me. I never looked back anymore, never tried to see her face, she never let me anyway. It was always "you're not ready" or "I can't let you see me yet" followed shortly by "soon."
"Stop!" She yelled, and I did, never did she give me such demands, such hard words. I was frozen in place and every bit of me wanted to turn around a look her in the eye. "Arabella." She never used my name, let alone my full one, just the sound alone sent a jolt of alarm through me. "I can't protect you if you don't let me. You keep blocking me out, like somethin' else is in your mind."
"What do you mean blocking you out?" I started to spin to face her but only saw the glimmer of red hair as she dove behind a tree.
"You know the rules," her voice broke slightly, desperation drenching every syllable. "Please, just trust me."
"What do you want?" All I could feel was annoyance now, of course the first night I was truly alone in months and I couldn't have a peaceful sleep.
"Whatever you're doin' tomorrow." Somehow the desperation doubled in her voice, now thick with worry. "Don't."
I felt my eyebrows scrunch together. How odd to take orders from my own brain. "Okay… I don't think I am going to take advice from a figment of my subconscious but whatever."
"What?" The fear was replaced with shock, I could basically hear her jaw drop as she spoke.
"Blessing," Heaving a sigh, I continued. "I made you up. I made you up when I was five and sleepwalking. My dad told me you were my imaginary friend." I rolled my eyes. "He had to tell me because I am sleepwalking again because of you."
"You're sleepwalking?" We were back to fear again, some shock still lingering in the words. This meant something to her, but what I did not know.
"Yeah, probably at this very minute. Probably not outside yet though, Dad would have gotten me." I looked around the dream, I recognized this piece of woods from the previous dreams but still had never found it in the real world.
"Listen to me, I am not made up, I am not imaginary, I am as real as you." Somehow, Blessing spoke with such intense emotion I could almost feel it myself. She was desperate, like she was pleading her case to the grand jury.
"Great, and now I'm delusional." I rolled my eyes, wishing more than ever that I had asked Gaia to stay the night.
"Arabella." I could practically hear the clenching of Blessing's jaw. "You aren't sleepwalking now and weren't then." She spat the words, obviously angry from behind the tree.
"That's creepy, but untrue. Last time I really saw you I woke up in the front yard in a snowdrift." I thought back to the bitter cold, though I couldn't stay angry, if it wasn't for that snowdrift Edward and I wouldn't be going on seven months together right now.
"Shit." She mumbled, and then I heard the shuffle of leaves from behind the tree she was using as coverage. "Look. You can't be sleepwalking if ya aren't asleep."
"I am literally dreaming right now. I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Now I was angry, I can't imagine many people were regularly arguing with their own brain, or that theirs was as stupid and hopeful. I had built blessing into the person I hoped for, and now I was suffering for the daydream of a five year old that fused with the knowledge of the unknown that I now had. That was the only conceivable explanation for why I had never seen her face, but had always heard her voice and seen snippets of who she was. It dawned on me that what seemed like a lifetime ago I had been in a dream where I encountered a vampiric version of myself. That had to be who Blessing was now, just the creatively animated vampiric nightmare that had partially woken me up on that plane to Alaska.
"Jesus." Blessing then did the unexpected. She stepped out from behind the tree. "Arabella ya aren't dreaming." Her eyes were golden with streaks of crimson through them, and her hair a vibrant red but a little more golden than mine. She looked like she was about nineteen, her face still round with youth, but beneath showed the hard features she would grow into, or would have. She was sparkling in the sunlight just like Edward and the rest of the Cullens, though her features didn't seem as old. She was similar to the way I had seen myself in the previous dream when I appeared in my vampire form, but where that dream I had been matching in age, this one alluded to a future of vampirism rather than a present of it.
"I don't think this is going to convince me that I'm not dreaming. If anything, Blessing, it seems even more like a dream." I shook my head. "Now if you don't mind. I am going to wake up now and make sure I haven't climbed out a window or something."
"Just don't be surprised when I'm right." Blessing growled, her lip curling up to reveal her teeth as she spoke.
The dream faded to black before I heard a deep guttural growl, the scene in front of me fading into view as I saw myself in the woods. It was a familiar area, though I couldn't place it immediately. As my eyes scanned in front of me I caught on something just behind a tree. That was when I realized I wasn't standing, I was laying. My leg was tangled in a gnarled root that protruded from the ground, and stalking towards me was a wolf I didn't recognize. It was massive like the ones in the pack, but I knew this wasn't one of them. Brown fur the color of Tigers Eye rippled in the wind, and the next thing I knew it was lunging at me with a snarl.
I had woken up with a start, I was laying directly in front of my front door with my hand curled around my car keys. Fear had silently sent me back up to my room where I curled in my bed for the rest of the night, trying everything to send that dream back out of my mind.
The sound of Gaia grunting while I heard the smack of a laundry basket hitting a hardwood floor came through the phone, effectively making me jump and come back to the present. "Okay, well if you need a ride or anything while you're on rez just text me. Paul and I will be hanging out around Sam's house after lunch. Paul has patrol duty from noon till two, he's got to cover for Jared." She sighed, and I knew she was slightly annoyed by the two hour break. "Then Jared will take over again with Sam until nine. Paul has the night watch with Quil tonight though." I could tell she wasn't telling me for my benefit, but instead verbally running through the schedule to make sure she had it straight in her head.
"Noted." I smiled, still shaking off the memory of the dream.
We remained on the phone just shooting the shit until it was time for her to leave and me to start packing my stuff up to get going as well. The silence that was left after the call ended gave me far too much room to continue mulling over everything. I shoved my rash guard and wetsuit into my duffle bag. After the last incident I now had a whole medical kit with me, but it was made easier by the fact that I had my own car to hold all the stuff.
I had gotten a new board for Christmas from dad, and now I was finally going to get the chance to break it in. My excitement built as I shoved my board wax into the bag next to the first aid kit. Next in went a change of clothes, my backup phone charger, then I ran downstairs and grabbed a few water bottles, two protein bars, and a roll of crackers. With a grin I ran out to my car and loaded it up, then grabbed the straps from my trunk and ran to grab my board from the spare room that would have served as a bedroom had I ever been granted a sibling.
Thirty minutes later I was driving with my windows down towards Leah and Sam's, Niki Minaj's song Starships blasting through my speakers. I hung my hand out my window and just let the moment fill me. The warmth, the smells, the sounds. It all effectively dispelled the dream from my head. Driving only solidified my excitement for spending the day with Jake, surfing was just a highlight of the experience. As I passed into the reservation's borders I saw the glimmer of a black mass of fur in the woods. With a smirk I turned my music down and kept my eyes trained on the road. "I'm going to the house first, Jake's at work so after he gets off we will surf." I smiled knowing he heard me, but I couldn't help but feel jealous that I couldn't hear him back.
I finished driving after a few more turns, pulling into my usual spot in front of the house. Gaia stepped out of the front door and smiled widely at me as I fought my seatbelt off and pulled my phone off the charger. "Leah was just about to call you!" She laughed as I tripped on the first step that lead up to the front porch.
"I just saw Sam on my way here." I smiled as I bounded through the door and threw my arms around Leah.
"Don't forget, the wedding is on the fifteenth." Leah said sternly as she squeezed me close.
"I won't!" I laughed and squirmed under her grasp. "Honestly, how could I? You remind me every time you see me."
"That's because I'm excited." Her arms loosened as she spoke, but I could basically feel the joy radiating off her.
I wonder if this is how Jasper feels everyone's emotions. I thought idly before speaking. "Well I'm excited for you." I dropped my arms and smiled at her, quickly all three of us falling into rhythm and milling about as we talked. Many hours were spent in this house ever since Paul told Gaia everything, and many more would be to come if I had it my way. These people were like family to me, they really are the best group I could ever ask for.
After about an hour at the Uley house I got the text from Jake I had been waiting for, and a few minutes of driving later I finally got to park my car and got started on pulling everything down and out. The air was so hot today that I didn't want to put on my wetsuit, but I knew the water could be a frigid bitch. I reluctantly unpacked my wetsuit and stripped down to my bikini. I then began the wrestling match with my wetsuit, fighting to get the skin tight fabric over my limbs.
As I continued the wrestling match a car pulled up, and from the backseat of my car I could see it was Jake. "Oh my god! You got it running!?" I said as I shot straight up and stared at the project car he had been working on for the last two years.
"This was the test drive!" He exclaimed excitedly, then paused as he stared at me. "Don't tell me you forgot how to put on your wetsuit."
"I didn't forget, I just didn't remember what a bitch it was." My arm was currently trapped against my body as the wetsuit constricted against me. "But now that you're here, help a girl out."
"Oh if I must." Jake rolled his eyes in mock annoyance before officially stopping his car and coming over to assist me. In all honesty, I was kind of glad that I had already gotten my legs through the wetsuit. I knew Jake still felt responsible for what happened last time we were surfing and the scar that it left behind. I knew he couldn't avoid seeing it if he ever was around when I was wearing shorts, but I did hope that I could hold back a visual reminder of what had passed almost two years ago.
Once I was snug in my wetsuit and Jake in his we set off with our boards in hand, finally back in the water after such a long winter and spring. Final checks, excited gasps, and then we were running through the waist deep waves. There was something so amazing in the feeling of the ocean, the raw power of the current pushing and pulling. I soaked in that energy, pushing away the last doubts I had, shoving away the last tendrils of the dream that choked me, and pulling hope deep into my chest.
We surfed for as long as the tides allowed, by the time we were done I was starved and Jacob was half drowned with the amount of wipeouts he had. "You're out of practice my guy!" I laughed as we pushed up through the sand back to the parking lot.
"Hey! You were shakey at first too." He laughed, defending himself as he situated his board under his arm.
"But I don't live as close to the beach as you do, what's your excuse?" I teased.
"Oh come on." He huffed, ripping off part of his wetsuit as we walked.
"Hey, I found my sea legs after a moment." I pointed at him as I pulled ahead, now to my car.
"I get it. Geez." His tone sounded angry now, it felt odd coming from him. Normally I could tease him and he would tease me right back, but something seemed to be getting under his skin about it today.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it in a rude way." I mumbled as I threw my board on top of my car and began strapping it down. I heard the wet slap of Jake's wetsuit hitting the ground and when I turned around I saw the angry set of his jaw. "I said I'm sorry, you don't need to keep pouting, it was just a joke." I huffed, having little to no patience for his sour mood. I turned back to my car and checked the straps one more time before pulling my hair down from its tangled top knot and digging through my bag for my clothes.
"Shut up." Jake growled at me.
"Excuse you!" I said as I spun around to face him again, my hair sticking to my face and neck as I stared in amazement. "Jake what the hell has gotten into you!" He never spoke to me this way, not once had either of our teasing been taken so far as to lead to a fight. Matter of fact the last fight we had was last summer and it was over where we would hike. I won, but I had the knowledge of the pack's route on my side.
"No! Excuse you Arabella!" He yelled, slamming his fist down on his car. The way he said my name, I had never heard him use it like that before, so full of anger and hate. "You spend all your time ignoring me now. You spend whatever time you have on the rez with Sam and them, and then when you do finally feel inclined to hang out with me you spend that time making fun of me."
"What the hell Jake!? I'm not making fun of you I'm just teasing y-"
"Shut! Up!" Fear laced through me as he cut me off. He stood between our cats, barefoot and shirtless, shaking like a shingle in a windstorm. I backed away as far as the side of my car would let me, my eyes pinned to his hands which were balled into strained white fists.
"Jake…" I said nervously as I turned my own bare feet against the burning pavement, ready to run. The instinctual need to run began to kick deep in my gut. Flashes filled my vision, images of Jake morphing into a massive wolf, but those images weren't real. Jake still stood in front of me, steam rolling off his body.
Actual steam.
His hair was now dry and no longer sticking to him, drying nearly to a curl where it hung down around his face and neck.
Another flash.
Jacob stood in front of me, breathing heavily, and at some point between one second and the next a change happened. He began to stretch and elongate. Before I knew it he was on his hind legs because his arms had turned as well. I was pinned. Searing pain, hot blood spilling down my wetsuit and mingling with the saltwater that I had trudged up from the ocean. I was dying. I was dying and the sky was blue and the sun was bright and it was a beautiful day, but it was my last. Carlisle couldn't even save me, not with a stitch or a bite. I felt my last ragged breath rip in through my tattered chest-
The flash was gone, my feet were moving before I even registered I was running. Faster little bird. You have to move faster. Blessing's voice echoed in my head, and my body responded. I was pushing through foliage before I knew it. I was making a b-line for the pack patrol route, and suddenly I knew exactly where I was. I was in my dream, and I wasn't going to risk a glance over my shoulder.
What was it that happened in the dream? I thought in a panic, but nothing would conjure through the adrenaline. Unfortunately for me I remembered just as it came to pass, my ankle twisting in the thick foliage and I was racing to meet the ground. With a hard thud I was among the bugs. Quickly I flipped over knowing full well what I would see. There stood the tiger's eye colored wolf I knew now to be my childhood best friend, and once again surfing had put my life in danger.
I was suddenly in uncharted territory as I stared at the teeth as long as fingers that were revealed by Jacobs snarling muzzle. A dagger of fear as cold as ice stabbed through me before a mass of black shot overhead and crashed into Jacob. "Sam." I sighed in relief. The snarling fight between the two was so loud and smashing that I could barely hear myself think, so naturally I jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand press to my shoulder. When I glanced up it was Jared with big concerned eyes, he looked between me and the fight a few times before helping me untangle my foot.
"Can you stand?" He asked as Jake and Sam went rolling down the side of the hill towards the beach. I tried with his help but my leg gave out immediately. "Well that's a no. You just have sprained it." Jared mumbled as he swept me up into his arms and started sprinting along the well worn path.
"Just take me to my car." My voice was pleading, some part of me terrified that my car was destroyed when he transformed.
"You can't drive with your ankle sprained like this." Jared shook his head as he turned to run me in the opposite direction of the beach.
"No, but you can." I countered.
He was silent for a moment, probably listening to the state of the fight that was tearing its way through the woods. "Fine." Jared finally huffed before turning to run to the parking lot.
With a smile of success, I put in my request for location, the adrenaline still keeping me from crying. "Take me to Sam's house please." When we made it to my car Jared slid me into the passenger seat and I craned my neck to get a look at Jake's car. Mine had gotten away without a scratch, but Jake must have phased right in front of his hood because there was a massive dent and one of the headlights was shattered. "Jake's gonna be so upset about his car." I sighed, settling down into my seat as Jared climbed into the cramped space on the other side and readjusted so he could fit.
"He's gonna be more upset when Sam's done beating his ass for chasing you." Jared laughed as he accelerated down the road.
"I'm not mad at him though, it was his first phase." I felt the adrenaline start waning, pain pulsing in my ankle.
Jared shook his head, sighing as he spoke. "But Sam's mad. He's never really forgiven himself for how you found out, so Jake just stepped on a nerve."
"I guess…" I felt my adrenaline waning fast, with what little I had left I began to fight my wetsuit off. I ripped it off over my head and then fought it down my arms and to my waist. By then I was out of breath and had no desire to fight the wetsuit down past my throbbing ankle. Tying off my wetsuit at my waist, I felt extremely thankful that my bikini top had stayed put. I reached to the back and obtained a t-shirt, throwing it over my head and grabbing the brush to detangle my now wild hair.
By the time my hair was tamed we were pulling up at Sam and Leah's house. Gaia rushed forward, ripped me out of the car and into a hug. "Careful! Her ankle!" Jared yelled as he climbed out of the car and grabbed my stuff. Leah came up on my other side and both of them helped me into the house as Jared carried my bag. I looked around curiously for a moment in search of Paul before my eyes landed on him in the kitchen with a phone pressed to his ear. "He's calling Billy and the other elders." Jared whispered.
Between the three of them my wetsuit was wrestled the rest of the way off me and I was wearing my shorts. My foot was elevated and iced, and I was in the middle of drafting a text to Edward that wouldn't make him tear Jake limb from limb.
Finally, after almost an hour, Sam and Jacob walked through the door. They didn't seem entirely at odds with each other but Jacob did look embarrassed. "Edward, I've gotta go." I mumbled into the phone, my eyes studying the differences in Jake. He already seemed taller, the way all the boys did after their first phase.
"I'm coming to pick you up." His voice was tense through the phone, he had called me as soon as he received the text. I'm fine, it's just a sprained ankle and a couple bruises. I had texted, assuming he was already about to come flying into the room, but Alice hadn't gotten to him yet so of course he called me immediately and demanded an explanation.
"No. I'm fine, Gaia can drive me home." I sighed at his stubbornness. "I'll see you tonight, unless you change your mind about having dinner with me and Dad." I already knew he did, he wasn't going to leave me alone for a month at this rate.
"I'll be there for dinner." His tone sour, I could basically hear the pout that had undoubtedly set into his lips.
"I'll see you then." I flicked my eyes up to meet Jacob's, the remorse was set deep in them. "Bye." I mumbled.
"Bye." Edward mumbled back, then the call ended and I was left staring at Jacob in silence.
"Well… "Jake started after a moment. "I guess you had a pretty good reason to be blowing me off…" he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly for a moment before continuing. "Can't really blame you for keeping a pack secret."
"I'm still a terrible friend for ignoring you just because it was easier than lying." I mumbled in return.
"So we are both terrible people then?" Jake asked, a joking smile on his lips but a hopeful look caught in his eyes.
"Well I am, but I don't blame you for what happened Jake. Sam shouldn't either." I turned my gaze to Sam, a smile playing on my lips. "It happens to the best of us."
Sam sighed and threw his arm around Jake's shoulder while still matching gaze with me. "She's right. Honestly we should give Ari more credit than we do. She has no reason to keep the secret so well, but she does."
"Mutually assured destruction." I reminded Sam, thinking back to that day when he first crashed on my couch.
•••
By the time we pulled up to my house it was just starting to get dark out, and Edward was already there sitting on the steps of my front porch with a shopping bag between his feet. "I'll have to thank Alice later because I totally forgot I had to go to the store." I sighed, looking over at Gaia, who had driven me home. "Why don't you stay for dinner?"
"Can't, I have to get up early tomorrow to help build the float for the Fourth of July parade." She smiled apologetically. "I won't have time to walk back."
"Edward can take you home. Just let him know what window Paul uses." I shrugged, the solution felt obvious to me.
Gaia stared at me for a few minutes in shock before speaking. "Window…?"
"Yeah?" I said as if it was obvious, because it was. Wasn't it?
Her jaw dropped as her eyes widened, then with a single breathy laugh she spoke. "Paul uses the front door…"
"Oh." It was my turn to let my jaw drop, out the windshield I could see Edward laughing. His hand covered his mouth and his shoulders shook, clearly amused with the whole conversation and momentarily forgetting the situation that had happened on the rez.
"Does Edward usually use the window!?" Gaia's head shook as she shouted in playful, though honest, disbelief.
"Only at night." I hesitated. "Sometimes during the day too." I mulled a second longer. "Actually that's like the main entrance to him."
"Ari. I don't know how to put this- but what the fuck?" At this point neither of us could stop laughing, my ribs hurt and my cheeks were sore, and out the windshield I saw Edward lay flat back on the porch and cover his face as he shook with laughter.
It took a while before I could speak through the laughter, the fight for air making my face hot."How did you think he was watching over me so I didn't sleepwalk?" I said as I wiped the tears from my eyes.
"I don't know!" Gi shrugged and wiped her own eyes. "I thought he might sneak up from the front door after your dad went to sleep."
"With a police dog in the house half the time?" I countered.
"He's a vampire Ari, anything's possible. Which apparently includes a cat burglar version of Edward." She managed a deadpan look for a few seconds before she saw the comment forming in my eyes, then her mouth pressed into the hard line of a smile being fought off.
"He would never burgle a cat." I said as I attempted my own deadpan, but instead managed a smirk.
"Shut up." Gaia burst out laughing, shaking her head and smiling at me. "I'm going home, have fun with your night stalker."
I suddenly was struck with the memory of a conversation between Edward and I, and had no choice but to bring it up to Gi. "I told him he has nothing on Freddie Kruger." I said as we popped the doors open and started climbing out of the car. I took some extra care to not put too much weight on my bad ankle.
"Eddie Kruger if you will." Gi said with a chuckle as she rounded the hood and smiled at him.
Edward sat up and looked at me for a beat before meeting Gi's gaze. "Great minds think alike I guess." He rolled his eyes playfully then stood and walked over to me. He slid an arm around me, supporting my bad side so I didn't have to walk on it.
"Wait, is that why you call him Eddie sometimes?" Gaia said excitedly as she shifted her eyes back to me.
"Precisely." I smirked. "Stay for dinner?" It didn't hurt to ask once more, I always loved having her around, and it might break up the third degree I was going to get from Edward later.
"Oh fine." She acted as if it was the greatest burden, but the smile on her face said otherwise.
"Victory or extinction!" I threw my fist in the air, quoting the movie Planet 51, which I had watched with Angela and her little brothers when we were still dating.
"Get in the house you weirdo." Gaia laughed, snatching the grocery bag from the steps and unlocking my door with the key from my keychain.
I stuck out my tongue and spoke in a playful mocking tone. "Get in the house you weirdo."
"Oh my god it's your dad's chili tonight!?" All of Gaia's possible comments immediately went out the door when the smell from the kitchen wafted out the front door as she held it open for me. "Girl, you could have led with that. That's always going to be an immediate yes for dinner."
"What's the immediate no?" Edward asked with a smile.
"His version of poor man steak." Gi stuck out her tongue in disgust, faking a gag.
I rolled my eyes and tossed my bag on the floor next to the dining room's door. "I told you it's his version of tater tot casserole."
"And I told you no matter what you call it that it's just plain wrong." She pointed at me as she kicked off her shoes and backed into the kitchen, never breaking eye contact, to unload the grocery bag.
"Why do you think mom never let him cook it?" I laughed, kicking off my flip flops and following her in with Edward at my side.
"Touché." She laughed as she began to take the lid off the crock pot and stir the chili for me. I sat down at the kitchen table, pulling Edward down into the chair next to me, and smiled as my heart filled. Just as the comfortable silence began and Edward pulled my legs up into his lap so he could get a look at my ankle, the front door opened and Maddie came running in. Dad was through the door a second later and shedding his gear and placing it in the safe just inside the dining room door.
"Hey kiddo, how was surfing?" Dad asked as he kicked off his work shoes and walked into the kitchen, smiling at Edward and giving Gaia a hug. "What brings both of you here tonight?"
"Do you even have to ask that?" Gaia rolled her eyes as she dropped her arms from the hug. "The chili, Derek. Obviously."
"Yeah yeah." Dad laughed, then took one glance at my now bruised ankle and sighed. "I'm gonna stop letting you go surfing if you're gonna keep coming back in broken bits."
"I was thinking the same thing." Edward said as he glanced up at me through his brow, his attention still on my ankle which he was poking and prodding.
"Now gentlemen, don't be so dramatic." I said in a faux British accent, waving my hand dismissively in the air. "And won't one of you get me chili? I'm starving here." I smiled as Maddie pranced up to me and set her chin on my thigh, her tail thumping the floor happily as I scratched between her ears.
All the owners of my heart were in my kitchen right now, and every second of it made me swell with joy.
About fifteen minutes later we all sat at the kitchen table and passed around the saltines and shredded cheese. Edward even had a small bowl in front of him, he had taken to eating food when over for dinner after my dad started getting suspicious of his lack of eating habits.
"Did I tell you how glad I am that you two are back together?" Dad said as he swallowed another bite of chili.
"Daaaaad." I groaned as I felt my face get red.
"Seriously Edward. I don't think I could handle hearing Haunted by that Swift girl one more time." He laughed and shook his head. "Or Back to December, or anything off that album really."
"Stop. I beg of you." I said, choking on my chili and having to set the fork down.
"I don't think you have told me that." Edward smiled, glancing at me for a second before looking back to my dad.
Gaia piped in from across the table while between bites of her food. "Well I for one am a huge fan of this pairing as well." She stuck out her tongue, bits of cracker soaked in chili still stuck to it.
"God Gaia!" I threw a wad of napkins at her as I laughed and shook my head. "You're such a messy eater."
"Maybe you should get messier!" She flung a spoonful of chili at me.
"Now now girls!" Dad said as he dodged the cracker I tossed back at her. "Save the destruction for your own places when you're grown. Not my chili night."
"Yes dad." I heaved, sitting back in my seat. There were a few solid seconds of calm before a handful of shredded cheese came flying through the air and spread across the table like confetti. "OH IT'S ON!" I yelled, hopping up onto my good leg and chasing after her as she dashed for the living room. I had a handful of crushed crackers and my eyes set on her as I hopped around the corner and chucked them.
A clean shot.
After dinner Gaia and I were both put on clean up duty, Dad retired to his room, and Edward "excused himself" for the night.
"You're still going to be the pageant girl for the parade float right?" Gaia asked as she dried another dish and placed it in the cupboard.
"Yep! The dress still isn't here though so I'm starting to get nervous. You said it was made to my measurements right?" I scrubbed furiously at the crockpot insert, a burnt clump of chili near the top.
Gaia smiled as she flipped the water on and kept rinsing the silverware and various dishes I had placed in the sink while she cleared the drainer. "Exactly to them. You'll see, you're gonna look stunning, promise."
"And I really can't see the dress before?" I complained, pouting at her as I took a break from scrubbing.
"Absolutely not." Gaia grinned. "And you better not have Alice describe it to you or I'll personally change the dress."
Giving a huff of annoyance, I went back to scrubbing. "So do you want to do the photo shoot before or after the parade?"
"I think I wanna do it during the fireworks actually. I have this image in my head and I'm pretty sure I can pull it off, it'll look so pretty if I do." She rinsed another bowl clean of soap and smiled at me. "I should consult with Alice and Rose to figure it out."
"I'm sure they would both love the opportunity to work on it with you." I finally finished off the dish and handed it off to her. "Rose seemed to love doing photography for the yearbook, and Alice is just a visionary so it should work out."
"Exactly what I was thinking." She grinned, rinsing the final dish and turning to look at the kitchen. We had been told to clean the food we had thrown up first and foremost, then Dad's idea of punishment was dishes after that. I wasn't going to complain.
Afterwards Gi helped me up the stairs, then made fun of the window Edward always comes through as he threw it open to take her home. "Oh hush." I said as I waved them away.
"I'll be back in ten." Edward said as he let Gaia jump on his back for a piggyback ride.
"How come she gets to go like that? Why is it always bridal style with me?" I called out as he started to climb out the window.
"Because on the day I met you, you landed yourself in the hospital." Edward teased back. "It's either bridal style or fireman. You choose." Then with a whoosh he was out the window, the sound of his and Gaia's laughter the only thing carrying back up on the breeze.
I smiled to myself as I changed into soft shorts and pulled my hair into my bedtime bun. I stood on one leg digging through the back of my closet because I knew somewhere in there were the crutches from the surfing incident of freshman year. Man. I'm really gonna be a junior this year… that's insane. I thought as I felt my hand close around one of the cold bars. "Yes!" I whispered and felt around for the second one.
Once I had both of them out I stood with them to make sure they were the right height still, did a couple practice paces, then settled them next to my nightstand and turned down my cover to climb in bed.
Before I could drop onto the mattress I felt cold arms wrap around me in a snug embrace, a kiss dropped onto my head and I melted a little bit. "I'm not mad at you." Edward said eventually, helping me climb into my bed. "I'm mad I couldn't help you. I'm mad that I had to rely on Sam to protect you."
"And Jared." I raised an eyebrow and smiled. "It wasn't a one man job." I reminded him, pulling the covers up around me and nestling in.
"Fair." Edward l laughed as he studied my face for a moment before climbing into the bed next to me.
"Always." I snuggled into his side with a contented sigh.
"Just never scare me like that again." His voice was deep and rumbled in my ear, sending chills up my spine.
"Did Alice really not see what happened?" I said with a yawn, already feeling the weight of the day pulling me into sleep.
He shook his head, jostling me slightly as he did so. "It was too quick, she needs a little more time for her premonitions."
"That's so weird." I yawned again, curling onto my pillow and flinching as I knocked one ankle into the other
"You need to elevate your ankle." Edward sighed and got up from the bed. I heard some movement around the room as he gathered items to elevate my foot, but I was slipping into a dream too quickly to care.
"Little bird I warned you!" Blessing's voice popped through the air before my eyes even adjusted. "That thing almost got you!"
"I'm fine!" I sighed, already done with this dream. Blessing stood in front of me just as she had last night, her clothes were different, her eyes a bit more brown than red, and her hair spilled more wildly over her shoulders like she had been running.
"You nearly weren't!" She shouted, and it made me flinch. At the same time I felt the cool grasp of Edward's hands on my leg as he elevated my ankle.
After a few seconds of hard silence I jumped at the sound of Edward's voice. "Ara?"
"Who is this that's always poking around and pushing me out?" Blessing growled. "I'm not in the mood for it tonight."
"What…?" I asked in shock as I felt Edward's invisible hands cup my.
"Arabella!" Edward said louder, panic lacking his voice. "You're not dreaming! You aren't asleep!"