dead or alive - The Cullens

viii

chapter; eight

act one; twilight

     ELEANOR THOUGHT EDWARD WAS NOW THE MOST IDIOTIC PERSON SHE'S EVER MET. Not only has Bella discovered we're vampires from her constant need to be around Edward, and Edward's blatant lack of secretive skills. They're now the schools new couple, and to top it all off like a cherry on top, he's invited her over for dinner.

"Can Luca stay? I beg." Eleanor was quite literally on her hands and knees in front of her parents, begging to let him be here. "What's so important your boyfriend has to be here for? No bother doing anything, we can hear every little thing." Emmett riled her up, "Okay gross, and a new human is coming to the house, and she's Edward's little thing now. Which equals some form of family drama, which I'm going to need support for, both physically and emotionally." Eleanor pleaded.

This is why Eleanor and Luca learnt basic sign language. When they're phones weren't available, or they were with everyone else and it'd be obvious they're messaging another, they decided why not learn ASL and very discreetly communicate. It became fun and their little thing.

"Get up, and yes, i suppose he can stay."Esme caved in. Eleanor jumped up and wrapped her arms around her mum tightly, "thank you, thank you, thank you!" It was obvious she was very happy about the news. She called Luca to tell her that he could stay the night.

They sat in the living room in matching pyjamas. He had a loose black top, and red plaid trousers. Eleanor had the same except hers was a tight tank top. She wore one of his hoodies on top to keep her warm.

Apparently Bella was supposed to arrive in an hour, and the family had been in the kitchen making food. The time went by excruciatingly slow. "I just want my dinner." Eleanor mumbled. They walked into the kitchen and sat at the island watching everything get prepared and cooked.

The sound of the door closing caught Eleanor's attention, "Is she even Italian?" Rosalie questioned, and Eleanor pondered on that for a few seconds. "Her names Bella." Emmett continued chopping, "I thought vampires were supposed to be smart? If someone's name is from a certain place, doesn't mean they are" Eleanor groaned. She wasn't wrong.

"I'm sure she'll love it no matter what." Carlisle reasoned, "Oh, get a whiff of that." Rosalie inhaled, referencing to Bella's scent "That's weird." Luca  muttered, he wondered if they did this weird shit when they first met him. "Here comes the human." Rosalie called out. 

Esme greeted her kindly, "We're making italiano for you." She told the guest. Eleanor and Luca sat back ready to watch some form of drama unfold, it always does. "Bella, this is Esme, my mother for all intents and purposes." Edward introduces. They exchanged some words in Italian.

 "You've given us an excuse to use the kitchen this much." Carlisle walked over, "I'm sorry, are we simply invisible?" Eleanor scoffed, "You know what they meant, they don't prepare meals this big usually." Luca kissed her cheek.

"Wait, your not a... vampire?" Bella questioned, "Nope, 100% human." Luca smiled, "How do you live here then?" Eleanor felt taken back by Bella's question, "because I'm family to them and it's none of your business." Eleanor snapped. 

"I hope your hungry." Esme attempted to diffuse the situation, "Yeah, absolutely." Bella was not at all hungry, rather the opposite. "She already ate." Edward spoke.

Rosalie squeezed the glass bole she held a bit too hard, and it shattered over the floor, "Perfect." She went up the minor step on the floor, "You two stay on the stools." Carlisle demanded. "It's just... because I know you don't eat, so..." Bella mumbled, she's got to be the most awkward person anybody's met. How does one become this socially awkward? 

"Of course, it's very considerate of you." Some days, Esme literally held this family together. When it came to arguments arising, she always diffused the tension and helped resolve problems. Not saying this is one of those times, but she always knows the right things to say. 

Emmett walked over and stood behind his mate, "Just ignore Rosalie. I do." Edward advised, "Then it's your funeral." Eleanor rolled her eyes at Edward, Rosalie was trying to get a very valid point across. And in family discussions, Edward sometimes shuts her down because he doesn't want to hear it. 

"Yeah, let's just keep pretending like this isn't dangerous for all of us." Rosalie said, earning a look of Edward that was probably meant to be a scowl, but instead he looked extremely constipated. "I would never tell anybody anything." Bella told the family. "She knows that." Carlisle looked over to Rosalie and rubbed Esme's arm.

"Yeah, well, the problem is, you two have gone public now, so..." "Emmett." Esme cut Emmett off, "No, she should know. The entire family will be implicated if this ends badly." Rosalie took a threatening step towards Bella and Edward. "Badly, as in... I would become the meal." Did this girl not listen to a word Edward told her about the family's 'vegetarian' diet?

Bella's comment made the family laugh at her like she was an absolute idiot, don't blame them. Even Rosalie cracked a smile, "Hi Bella." Alice appeared on a tree branch outside the window, with Jasper trailing closely behind.

"I'm Alice." The pixie girl introduced herself, even if Bella already knew who she was, and hoped over to her, "Are you okay Jaz?" Eleanor looked over to her brother, she received a small nod. He clearly struggled with being here. The fact that he could sense everybody's emotion, including Edward's bloodlust for Bella, did not help his control whatsoever.

"Oh you do smell good." The words made Edward and the three humans visibly cringe. "Alice, what are you...?" Edward questioned. "It's okay. Bella and I are gonna be great friends." She reassured Edward. "Sorry, Jasper's our newest vegetarian. It's a little difficult for him." Carlisle explained.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Jasper struggled to get out, Eleanor was pained at the sight of how badly Jasper was dealing with his vampiric instincts. She's never seen him this bad. "It's okay Jasper, you won't hurt her." Alice held onto his bicep. 

"Alright, I'm gonna take you on a tour of the rest of the house." Edward clearly wanted to get away from whatever this situation was. "Well, I'll see you soon." Alice called out.

"Cute!" Esme held a bright smile, as well as Alice and Carlisle. Jasper watched the direction they walked off in, and Emmett was whispering stuff to Rosalie to calm her down, as she wanted nothing to do with this human and the problems she knew she'd cause. "Clean this up. Now." Esme ordered Rosalie.

Eleanor stepped off the stool, she wanted to go back into bed, but she completely forgot about the glass. Eleanor let out a cry of pain as a rather big shard of glass went through her sock and into her foot. "Jazz, let's go for a little walk, maybe a few deer?" Alice pulled her mate away.

Carlisle rushed over to the hobbling Eleanor. There was a minor trail of blood left behind, "Lean on me, I'll take you to my office." He wrapped his arm around his daughter and took her away. Emmett picked Luca up and put him down away from the glass, "very demasculating for me." Luca muttered under his breath. 

Carlisle gave her a few stitches in her foot and wrapped a bandage around it. "Try to stay off your foot." He burned the bloody gauze, "How am I meant to get around the house? Hop?" Eleanor whined, and was passed a pair of crutches. "That or hopping I suppose." He smiled, "Glad my pain amuses you." She retorted. "I can carry you up the stairs if you'd like." He offered, to which she gladly accepted.

Carlise let her go to her room from the top of the stairs to 'get used to the crutches'. She overheard Bella talking to Luca. "How long did it take for you to get over the whole vampire thing, or did you not care?" Bella questioned, "I don't care what her family is, nor what they've done. and that is enough." Luca told Bella.

"Glad you think so. I've got some top notch stitches from Doctor Carlisle." Eleanor made her appearance known. "I'm gonna... bye." Bella muttered awkwardly and went back to Edwards bedless bedroom, where he jumped out the window with her on his back. His room was the only one without a bed, as he hadn't met his mate yet and wouldn't use it for such activities, nor did he sleep.