SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

Q U A T T R O

"Morning, Celia," three voices said in unison.

Cecilia turned to look over her shoulder, smiling at Renesmee, Jake and Bella, ignoring the plain looks of pity on their faces. "Good morning, guys," she replied cheerily. "How was Brazil, Bella?"

"It was... good," the woman answered, nodding as if she had to convince herself rather than Cecilia.

She couldn't help but think that Bella was the most awkward vampire to ever exist. Sure, the venom made her breathtakingly beautiful, even somewhat graceful, but she still had the social skills of a baked potato.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that, Jake," Cecilia said as she watched the shapeshifter grab one of the buns. "Rose made them, I'm positive there's some poison inside."

"Yeah, that's why you're stuffing your face with them," Jake replied, scoffing in a good humoured way.

"My head's going to get chopped off within two days anyway."

A deep silence settled in the kitchen. With a frown she watched Rose take off the apron and throwing it on the kitchen counter with more aggression than even should be possible, the sound of her heels clacking on the floor as she moved out of the kitchen. Nessie and Jake looked at her with matching expressions of horror and she rolled her eyes, taking another bite out of a bun. "You can breathe," she said, in a futile attempt to lighten the mood. "It was a joke."

"That's really cold, Celia," Jake muttered.

"Which I will be as well," she countered, a cheeky smile on her face. She knew it was inappropriate to joke about death in such a lighthearted manner, but she didn't know how else she was supposed to react. The last thing she wanted was to spend the coming day and tomorrow wailing in her room.

"So, are you up for some sleighing when you've finished your absolutely horrible breakfast?" Emmett said, all of a sudden appearing in the kitchen.

"That's your soulmate's cooking, mind you," Cecilia countered. She pretended to think his offer over for a moment. "And yes, I am, if you carry me and the sleigh up the hill every time, instead of letting me suffer the pain of hiking myself."

"Deal."

After she finished her breakfast, she changed from her pyjamas into her skiing clothes, which would protect her from most of the cold and the snow, unless Emmett decided to drop a snowball in her jacket. She looked like a chubby child, especially next to Emmett, who didn't need any special clothing considering vampires weren't affected by temperature.

"You look fatter than my good old cousin from Tennessee," Emmett said as soon as she joined him outside in the snow after she'd put on gloves, a shawl and a wool hat.

"I'm curious what you're good old cousin from Tennessee would have to say about you insulting him every other day," she countered, looking at her options. They had two sleighs, one was a traditional wooden one and the other was a terminator. It was like a big frisbee, but as soon as you would go downhill, it would accelerate to a sickening speed. She grabbed both and walked out of the garage.

The hill they used for sleighing was practically in their backyard and ever since her sleighing accident thirteen years ago, Carlisle had made sure there were no trees in which she could bump in a mile radius. She handed Emmett the wooden sleigh, while she got seated on the plastic one. "Last one down looks like your fat cousin from Tennessee," she yelled as she pushed herself off from the snow.

She cried out in joy as she went down the hill with a thrilling speed. The snow had turned into ice overnight, which only made her gain more speed. She dared to look over her shoulder, seeing Emmett was not too faraway from her. In fact, she noticed he was gaining speed on her thanks to his massive form and she willed the sleigh with all of her might to go faster.

She won, only by a centimetre, but a win is a win. "Loser," she said, chuckling. Emmett only looked at her sourly and with a loud humpf, she jumped on his back. In less than a second, she was standing on top of the hill again and two seconds later, both sleighs laid at her feet.

They continued like this for a couple of hours, going up and down the hill until Cecilia could barely feel her fingers and toes, had an ache from laughing all the time and the cold had turned her cheeks and nose a rosy red colour. She sat on top of the sleigh as Emmett pulled her home, staring at the sky absentmindedly and wondering how her family would cope after her death. She hoped they would be able to forget her within a couple of years.

"I was already wondering whether Emmett had let you sleigh into a tree again," her mother said as soon as they entered the house.

Emmett let out a loud grunt. "Do we have to keep bringing that up?"

"I liked it," she said, shrugging as if that made everything alright. "It was fun."

"But you have an odd sense of fun, Celia," Alice said, her voice chiming like bells. She walked to her, helping her out of her skiing clothes. "You like bumping into a tree, but shopping is too much for you?"

"Oh well, what can I say, right?" she chuckled as she pulled off her snow boots and placed them near the door. A little shiver crept down her spine from the sudden cold of the floor and quickly she slipped her feet in her fluffy slippers.

As she walked into the living room, she noticed Edward sitting there with Jasper and Carlisle, the three of them slightly muttering amongst them self. She took a seat opposite of them, happily surprised as Bella brought her a hot cup of chocolate.

"I used to love that stuff," Bella said as she took a seat next to the shivering girl.

"It's great," Cecilia agreed, taking a small sip and burning her tongue instantly. Patience was a virtue, something she lacked greatly.

She knew why her family was buzzing around her, keeping her busy the whole time. With the Cullens as her family, she was spoiled endlessly on a daily basis, but today it was taken to a next level. Sleeping in late, getting a brand new violin, Rose in the kitchen, sleighing with Emmett and Bella handing out affection? She didn't want to admit it, but she felt like an ignorant dog on its last day before planned euthanasia. She supposed in some way she was.

That caught the attention of Edward and Jasper, who both looked at her like she'd just stabbed them in their back with a hundred knives. She smiled sweetly, quickly trying to cover up her thoughts and feelings. "How did you like Brazil, Edward?"

"It was great," he said, obviously forcing the words out with great difficulty.

"Sorry I cut it short."

"We wanted to return home earlier anyway, right, Bella?"

It was an obvious lie, especially with Bella's capability, or rather the lack thereof, to lie spontaneously, but if it made Edward feel better, Cecilia didn't mind it. Once again he looked at her like he just snorted the sugar of a sour fruit roll-up, but she decided to ignore it, focusing her attention on her hot chocolate instead.