The next day she announced that she was hungry and needed to feed. When he asked her if he should accompany her, she shook her head. „I think I need some time alone for myself. To figure things out, you know. But I'll be back, although it might not be for a couple of days."
He didn't like it at all, especially the last part about being gone for more than one night, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep her here. And as much as he wanted to, it wasn't his place to tell her otherwise.
Nonetheless he was on edge the whole three days she was gone. Nothing any of his family members said or did could lure him away from his spot at his window, eyes constantly on the edge of the forest as if he could make her appear through sheer will-power.
And then, on the evening on the third day she was back. She was dirty, her hair dishevelled, and her clothes torn, but there was a happy smile on her face. She looked relaxed and completely at ease as she entered their house through the front door and put two bags on the floor.
Everyone was already assembled when she entered, looking curious. Jasper nodded to the bags. „What's this?"
She grinned, nonchalantly brushing off some dirt off her shirt. „Well, I was hungry, so I went into the woods where I found this massive bear", with that she shot a triumphant look towards Emmet who just snorted. „And I mean a really, really huge one. But it was an easy fight and afterwards I tried to phase. It didn't go so well, unfortunately, but I kept on trying. That's when I noticed I was hungry again."
Esme and Edward exchanged a look, both noticing the two bags on the floor.
„I tried to feed but the hunger just kept growing. When I came across a trashcan where somebody had thrown away a hamburger and it smelled delicious, I decided to try something else." She looked at Edward and chuckled. „It turned out that blood isn't the only thing I can eat after all."
She picked up the two bags of food, she had taken from an unlocked car (with a very bad conscience but her curiosity and her sense of smell had gotten the better of her) while the owner was talking on his phone a few feet away. But suddenly, in all her joy, she seemed to realize something and put the bags down once more. „I'm sorry, I just keep babbling about me and how I can eat normal food and all that when you all can…" She looked uneasy, but the tension was resolved when, of all members, Rosalie stepped forward. She put a hand on her arm and smiled. „Would you teach me? It's been so long since I had the opportunity to cook and there are a lot of things I saw on TV that I would like to try out."
She grinned, relieved. „Well, I'm not much of a cook myself, but that's what YouTube is for, isn't it?"
The next few weeks, lots of new odours filled the house. It seemed she was always cooking because she was constantly hungry. She switched from blood to human food and back. Her new form allowed her to eat everything she wanted, blood or otherwise. All vampires took turns helping her, even Emmet and Jasper. Out of curiosity she looked online for dishes from the time before they had become vampires and was surprised by the reaction she got. Although the memories from their human lives were hazy and far away, the food triggered something in them. Especially Jasper liked to sit in the kitchen while she cooked and tell her about his youth during the Civil war.
It was a peaceful time, and life could have gone one like this forever, but sometimes peace is just the universe taking a deep breath before it unleashes the big storm.