Yes, you are not mistaken. This used to be a completed fic. I don't know if you guys remember this, but I was unhappy with the original ending of this fic and promised to come back and change it. Well, here we are! I'm much happier with the direction we are going to go. There will be no Jacob. Instead, the end of this fic will be the sweet, silly antics of a vampire in a human setting. Edward and Bella will struggle to settle into each other's worlds. Don't worry. The struggle will only bring them closer.
I went through the first few chapters with some edits. The big change was that I switched everything to third person because that is how I like to write now. I would recommend reading the whole thing from the start because it really is a cute story, but if you want to start at the new chapters, they start at chapter 17. DM me if you want any reminders! Also, feel free to point out typos.
There was only one thing that made life in the rainiest region of the Pacific Northwest tolerable. It wasn't the musical pitter-patter of rain, nor the beauty of the dense, green landscapes, nor the ethereal whisps of fog that blanketed the earth.
No. The only thing that made life tolerable was a good cup of coffee. Brewed strong enough to soothe the soul. Served steaming hot to warm the body from the inside out. Mixed with enough vanilla creamer to remove the bitter notes from the drink, as well as the bitterness from the heart that came with another day without sun.
And yet, on Bella's first day of college, it seemed that the universe wanted to take from her the one thing she needed to get through it. She felt like a stranger in her own kitchen, frantically searching through the cabinets for the coffee pot she knew existed yet could not locate.
After fifteen minutes, she gave up. "Dad! Where's the coffee maker?"
Charlie strolled into the small kitchen, pulling a yellow sweater that matched the color of the cabinets over his white button-down.
"It's right there," he gestured to the corner of the kitchen that was perpetually stuffed with a random assortment of objects. "Remember we were going to learn how to use that antique spiral siphon coffee maker we found at the fair this weekend?" Because of Charlie's recent obsession with antiquing, they had been slowly replacing all their functioning, modern belongings with less functional, but more visually interesting antiques.
"Yeah, I remember," Bella said, still opening and closing the same, few cupboards, hoping what she was looking for would magically appear, "But we don't know how to work that one yet, or if it works at all. Where's the old one?"
There was a long pause before Charlie answered. "Goodwill."
Still kneeling on the floor, Bella pressed her palm into her forehead. "You donated the old one before we figured out how to work the new one?"
Bella looked up at her father. He had the decency to look ashamed as he layered on excuses about Goodwill being on the way to the school, and the coffee maker taking up space, and this and that.
"It's fine," this was typical behavior of her hair-brained, erratic father. But, she loved him anyway. "I'll get coffee on campus."
"Oh," Charlie grinned, sly and satisfied, "Coffee on campus. How academic."
With a final, exasperated shake of her head, Bella finished packing her bag and slipped the backpack over her shoulders.
"What time do you think you'll be home?"
"My last class ends at three, so definitely before dinner."
Charlie kissed his daughter's hair before she stepped away. "Have a good day."
"Only if you do, too."
Ducking from the chill of the morning, Bella hurried through the drizzle towards her truck. It was old, loud, and a gas guzzler, but Bella loved her truck. The old '67 red Chevy truck initially sparked Charlie's interest in vintage items. At the time of the initial purchase, it was the only thing they could afford, but the stories tied to each scratch and smell charmed Charlie. He came home with a set of vintage coats the very next day.
Bella heaved herself up and into the cab, managing not to flop onto the bench seat face-fist. With a thunderous roar, the truck started up and Bella began the commute she would take for the next four years.
Attending Washington State University had been an easy decision. Close enough to home to commute, good English program, in-state tuition. The brick academic buildings and clean-cut landscaping did not stand out from any other university in the country. Like everywhere in the Pacific Northwest, it was the surrounding views that made it special. Mountains towering in the distance, hazy with fog. Soft greenery sneaking between bricks and cracks in the sidewalk.
Bella parked in the commuter lot closest to the dining hall, assuming she would start and end her day with coffee. She ducked her head between her shoulders, trying her best to hide from the curious eyes that drifted in her direction, but it was hopeless. The thunderously loud, rusted, red truck and the girl who stumbled out of it made an interesting sight. Or a joke for later.
The off-brand Starbucks nearby was one of many around campus. As Bella stood in the long line of students and faculty, she felt a tap on my shoulder. She turned around and saw a halo of tight curls surrounding a pretty face with an open expression.
"Isabella Swan?"
Bella tried to hide the confusion before she made it too obvious she had no idea who this girl was. However—as Charlie often pointed out—Bella's face was an open book. The girl caught on anyway. She placed a hand on her chest, "Jessica Stanley, remember? We were partnered up at orientation."
At freshman orientation, the upcoming class was given a partner and a scavenger hunt to learn the campus. Bella's partner—Jessica Stanley—had been hell-bent on winning the competition. She had them split up so they could divide and conquer. So, while the rest of the student body meandered around the school, enjoying their time, and making a new friend, Bella ran across campus, alone and sweaty. After all that, the girls ended up in second place.
Jessica and Bella had only said four things to each other that day. Bella was shocked she remembered her at all. Still, it was kind of her. Bella put on a brave face to return that kindness. "Oh yeah! Hey!"
Jessica smiled warmly and they chatted amicably in line. By the time their drinks had been ordered and prepared, they had been caught up on the drama on the floor of Jess' dorm room that incredibly happened in one weekend.
"When's your first class?" she asked.
Bella arrived much earlier than her first class because she accounted for both traffic and getting lost, neither of which happened. She told Jessica as much, and she said she had a large block between her two morning classes. So, they decided to keep their impromptu coffee date going. Jessica wanted to take advantage of the break in the rain. They wandered outside to sit at one of the tables smartly equipped with a heater and an umbrella. She expressed her hope that it wasn't going to be this gloomy all the time. Bella didn't have the heart to break it to her that this was one of the nicer days here in the Pacific Northwest.
With no idea what to say, Bella complimented Jessica's pants, hoping that would spark something and she would continue to do most of the talking. It worked. She had an entire saga about the pants and the sale that was going on when she bought them. When she finished, without any prompting, she continued with stories about the rest of her ensemble. Pleased with her passive role in the conversation, Bella sipped her vanilla latte.
"I love your pants, too," she concluded. "Where'd you get them?"
Bella looked down to remind herself what she put on this morning. She usually stuck with sweaters and leggings, but for the first day of school, she selected one of her nice, new outfits. Good first impressions and all that. Under her raincoat, she wore high-waited plaid pants paired with a navy blue turtleneck. "Oh, they're vintage."
"Oh," she perked up, "Are you a big thrift shopper?"
"No. My dad is, I guess. He gets very invested in his hobbies, and bounces between them. It's dizzying, but to him, that's part of the fun. Over the summer, his obsession became antiquing and thrifting."
"Gotcha," Jessica nodded. "Did your dad buy them from a thrift shop here in Seattle? Which one? Lucky Dog? Cherry? Pioneer? Crossroads?"
Bella blinked. For someone who hadn't been in town long enough to realize it rained every day, Jessica already had a good grasp on the shopping scene.
"No, not quite. Charlie did drag me into all those shops. As well as estate sales, and vintage fairs, and flea markets. We found some really cool stuff. Like this gorgeous coffee maker. And a secretary with these hidden compartments. And—,"
"What about the pants?" Jessica pressed. Clearly, a woman with a one-track mind.
"Oh. No. We were never able to find clothes in my size at those stores."
Bella adjusted the band of her pants, the high waist nicely tucking in her round belly, and smoothed the fabric over her large thighs. Charlie loved this outfit. He claimed it highlighted her best features. As if she had any.
"I was fine not having any vintage clothes, but Charlie—being Charlie—needed me to be included. He contacted some expert, and she sent us everything in her collection that could be considered my size."
"Wow! Your dad bought you a custom wardrobe? My dad would make me read over the credit card bill with him every time I came home with a new cardigan."
"No, it wasn't anything close to a custom wardrobe. It was a suitcase of random, old clothes I would have never considered wearing if it wasn't for Charlie."
Instinctively, she pulled her plain, black raincoat tighter around herself. It was a kind gesture, and honestly so expensive that Bella didn't want to think about it. So, she dutifully dressed in the clothes. Most of the pieces were too nice to wear to school, but she had a few casual outfits like this one she could wear between lazier days. She had never been interested in fashion, but even she could tell the clothes were pretty. Unfortunately, it didn't matter how special or unique her clothes were. The body underneath them was still fat.
"He only did it because he hoped that owning clothes that belonged to people who were also my size would make me feel more comfortable with my body."
Tentatively, she looked up at Jessica, afraid that she had shared too much too soon too early in the morning.
Her smile was warm, her eyes soft. She wrapped her hand around my wrist. "Well, I love the whole outfit. I think you're super brave for wearing it."
She smiled back at Jessica, allowing her to think Bella took her sentiment as the compliment she intended it to be.
oOo
Edward sat at a red light in a line of students waiting to turn into the commuter lot. He had to turn off his music, for he could hear the music playing in the other cars around him, plus the songs stuck in the heads of those not driving. Even sitting alone in his own car was an overload of stimuli. If he focused, he was able to shove all the thoughts and sounds around him into the back of his mind until they melded into an incessant hum. Pushing the sounds this far back took a lot of effort, and other things would often slip through the cracks whenever Edward attempted to clear his mind like this.
Like the light that was now green. And the car horns blaring behind him.
Apologizing with a small wave in the rearview window, Edward zipped into the commuter lot of Washington State University.
Though he was attending college with the rest of his family, he drove to the first day of classes alone. The rest had gone for a hunt in the wee hours of the morning, but Edward had opted out. He knew it would have been better to satisfy his thirst like the rest of them before his first day at university. However, his piano had been playing so sweetly that evening, and Edward couldn't bear to tear himself away.
Besides, all three couples were happier without their seventh wheel.
A red M3 cut Edward off and pulled into the spot he was going for, forcing him to back up slightly—angering the driver behind him—so he could park in the spot beside it. Once parked, he stepped out and stood face-to-face with the driver of the car—his sister, Rosalie. Her husband cackled in the passenger seat. Emmett appreciated a prank in any shape or form, including one as petty as taking Edward's parking spot.
"What are you doing here?" Edward asked. Rosalie preferred to take night courses, so the sun couldn't interfere with her studies.
Rosalie fluffed her hair, even though it already fell in perfect, golden ringlets down her back. "I was able to fudge former transcripts, so I get to skip the hundred-level science labs and start the three-hundred-level courses right away. Organismal Biology begins at eight this morning."
"Well, aren't you special?"
"I am! With all this extra time, I can bump my music minor up to a music major."
They exchanged tight smiles.
Rose and Edward did not get off to a good start, and they never tried to improve their relationship. She was constantly trying to one-up him, and always succeeded. She had one more degree than he did and was keen on getting more. The music interest was new, though. Edward supposed she decided to become a better musician than him, as well. Great.
From behind, Emmett hooked his elbow around Edward's neck and pulled him in for a noogie. "Can't dodge me here, now can you?" Out in public, surrounded by students, Edward had to pretend to be trapped by him, and not pull his arms off like he would if they were at home. He laughed triumphantly and cheered, "We're human!" Then, he stuck his tongue out and shook his head in tandem with the noogie.
"If you're human, quit acting like such a beast," Rosalie's tone took a complete one-eighty as she addressed Emmett. Her sharp tongue dulled; the icy glare melted into a loving gaze.
Still laughing at his own childish humor, Emmett released Edward.
"You ready to go to class?" he asked, needlessly rubbing his neck. Emmett and Edward signed up for the same Spanish class. They were both already fluent, but they needed a language credit at this particular university, and it provided an opportunity for them to spend time together.
"He'll meet you there." Rosalie wrapped one hand around her husband's massive bicep and ran the other through his dark, curly hair. "He needs to walk me to class, first."
Emmett pumped his free hand in the air, "Hell yeah!" In his thoughts, Edward could see that his brother's over-the-top excitement was genuine. After all these years, he loved Rosalie with the same schoolboy crush he developed when he first laid eyes on her. He waggled his eyebrows at Edward before turning away with Rosalie.
"See you, man," he communicated through his thoughts.
Without much else to do, Edward filtered into the crowd of bleary college students heading toward their first class of the semester. The thoughts around him were all cloudy with fatigue, most of them searching for their first cup of a hot beverage.
When he got to the Spanish room, only one other student was waiting for class to begin. Their head was on their desk. Their thoughts cursing the brightness of the dim lights and the loudness of the quiet hum in the hall said they were recovering from a hangover. Edward sat in the back on the opposite side of the room and reserved the spot next to him for Emmett.
The minutes ticked by; the class filtered in. Edward kept his nose in his book, trying his best to not draw attention to himself and not hear any of the thoughts slowly filling his head. Emmett arrived last, thoughts spinning from Rosalie's kisses. He practically had cartoon hearts spinning around his head. As soon as Emmett sat down, class began. The professor introduced herself, and then asked the class to stand up one by one and say their name, major, and one fun fact about themselves all in Spanish.
Edward barely heard the first student. Everyone else was loudly thinking of what they were going to say and translating their facts in their heads, so it got lost in the midst. Edward didn't know anyone's voice, so he couldn't differentiate the speaker from the mental voices. he stared ahead, blankly, as the voices melded together into one, indistinguishable cacophony.
The only person's introduction Edward clearly heard Emmett's, only because he knew his voice so well. "Emmett Hale. Construction Management Major. Taurus. That's right, Nance. I see that tattoo. You're a Virgo? You and I are going to get along just fine," he pointed and winked to the professor who decided she was more amused by this effervescent student than annoyed. "Fun fact about me? There are four gas stations in mid-State Wisconsin where I am no longer welcome."
It wasn't even a lie.
Emmett slapped his brother on the back, "I'll turn it over to my brother-in-law."
Edward only stood halfway—it was essentially a crouch—and muttered in the direction with the least number of students, "Edward Masen. Music. Um. Emmett is married to my sister."
"Ah, come on!" Emmett stood back up on Edward's behalf. "This is Edward. Single..." he tilted his head toward a large cluster of girls at the back, who immediately giggled. "He collects teapots in the shape of birdhouses and writes songs about Art Garfunkel."
Edward sculpted a clay birdhouse for Esme one Christmas and composed one song inspired by the ionic duo, but Emmett's exaggerations still had the class chuckling. He turned to give his brother an eyeful of hate that he blatantly ignored. In defiance, Edward tuned out every other thought—including Emmett's. He spent the duration of class fixated only on the professor's voice, even though her lecture contained nothing Edward didn't already know.
At the end of class, the girl sitting next to him placed a hand with almond-shaped nails painted in the school's colors on his desk. Her blonde hair was slicked back into a low bun and her face had a glossy sheen like she put in a lot of hard work to make herself look as effortlessly beautiful as she did.
"I was going to grab something to eat," she said in a voice that was both higher and more innocent than her current internal monologue. "Would you like to join me?"
"He'd love to," Emmett answered, before Edward could say no.
Edward looked at his brother though his response was meant for the girl, "I'm so sorry, but I have other plans."
"Nope. Canceled." Emmett waved his phone in the air, like he had received a message about plans they never had. He smiled at the girl. "He's all yours."
"I already had breakfast," Edward countered.
Clearly rejected, the girl slowly removed her hand from his desk. "Maybe… some other time…"
He smiled at her as politely as he could manage. Again, Emmett spoke on his behalf. "Count him in. I'll monitor his breakfast consumption just for you."
Though his behavior was less than gentlemanly, the girl still smiled. Charmed, because she thought of Edward as shy, instead of rude. "It's a date!" she chirped before she, too, gathered her belongings and left for her next class.
"What's your problem?" Edward hissed, the moment she was out of earshot.
"What?" Emmett shrugged as he slipped his bag onto his back. Though he was turned while he attended college, he still looked out of place with a backpack on his back and a baseball cap over his curly hair. Possibly because the week before he had been drinking bear's blood in a tuxedo after a night out in town.
"I can be in charge of my social schedule, thank you very much."
"She wanted to hang out with you. We applied to college to make friends." He broadly gestured to the students around them.
"Wrong. We're here to get a degree. Besides, why on Earth do you think I would have any interest in becoming friends with that girl?"
"Didn't you hear her introduction? She's in the marching band and has season tickets to the Mariners. Music and baseball. Both things you're interested in. She would make a good friend for you."
"Her mind painted a different picture. If she could indulge in her thoughts, I would be naked and on my knees right now."
Emmett chuckled. "That's not a deterrent for friendship. Especially with a girl so pretty."
Edward snorted. "She's not pretty. She's Rosalie's twin."
"Yeah, so smokin' hot."
Before Edward could comment on that, Emmett stepped in front of him. They were outside, near the quad where they would split up for their next classes. The clouds had darkened since the morning fog, and it would rain any moment. People around them were already considering pulling out their umbrellas.
Emmett placed his large hand on Edward's shoulder. He squeezed his fingers a bit, grounding him. The humor had faded from his golden eyes. "I can't lie, man, it hurts me to see you do this."
"I'm sorry, Emmett. You just don't understand…"
It wasn't just the dizzying chaos constantly buzzing around in his head, or the struggle to focus on an actual conversation. Knowing people primarily by their deepest, darkest thoughts, trying not to treat them differently based on those thoughts.
It was better for everyone else when Edward was alone.
"I know. I get it," he empathized. Even though Edward had the evidence to prove that he didn't, he let Emmett keep speaking. "All I'm asking is that you try. Just one attempt. You fight so hard to abstain from feeding, and then reap none of the benefits. It's this…" He tapped his own chest, then Edward's, and gestured to the people around us like he would tap them as well. "…the connections we're able to make with the humans around that make our struggles worth it. It's grounding—humanizing. Connecting makes it even easier to maintain our diet."
Edward closed his eyes. Along with ignoring the thoughts that didn't belong to him, he ignored the tantalizing scent of blood pumping through the veins in the students surrounding them. He had a better hold on his instincts than his gift, but the physical battle to not pounce and feed was just as taxing as his mental battle. Had Edward needed to rest, he would be bone-tired all the time.
"I bet if you tried to form any sort of relationship with a human, your control could get up to Carlisle level." To Rosalie level, he added internally.
"I'll see what I can do."
Neither of them believed Edward.