𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑, paul lahote ✓

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

"August's been exchanging letters with Alec, since Volterra. She stopped just before the battle."

Emmett's eyes were nearly bulged out of his head. "Since Volterra? That was months ago!" he gasped, eyes flickering around to the others before settling back onto Augustine's sheepish figure. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't tell anyone," she clarified. "Everyone's just too nosy, or clairvoyant." That last sentence was aimed at Alice, who sat next to Jasper with her hands in the air defensively— though she wore a teasing grin.

The clairvoyant herself jumped up from her seat, taking the younger girl into her arms and pointedly clasped her right hand in her own. "This is great news, August!" she exclaimed, a wild look in her amber eyes. "We should celebrate!"

Augustine looked at the pixie girl before her with a bemused expression, as Emmett's groan radiated throughout the room. "I vote for no celebrating— can we pause and talk about how she's been chatting it up with Alec?" he said, hands thrown in the air as he huffed. "He's a boy, a scheming little twerp of a boy."

"You're mad because he's a boy, and not because he's a member of the Volturi guard?" Rosalie questioned him, eyes narrowed in her mate's direction as she tried to find the logic in his reasoning.

"Yes!" was his instantaneous reply, turning his gaze to the ravenette. "And don't even get me started on your excursion to their territory today, because—"

"You're such an oaf, holy cr—"

Carlisle clapped his hands together. "Okay," he interjected, trying to calm his now rowdy children. "It's been quite the day for us all, so why don't we—"

"For some of us more than others—"

Augustine growled at that, though there was minimal heat behind it. "Alec's irrelevant, Emmett," she reassured him, leaning into Alice's space a little. "And Paul's... Paul."

His eyebrow quirked up at that last part, still very much a Paul-hater, despite the fact that he'd stopped the stray newborn during the battle from ripping off more than just her hand. "Oh, is he?" he retorted, voice dripping in sarcasm. "He's literally a—"

"Emmett," it was Rosalie who got his attention, a knowing look on her face as she pulled him to stand upright. Patting his chest, she continued, "let's take a walk, big guy."

Emmett was mumbling away petulantly, like a big child, when Alice took both of Augustine's hands in her own. "Tomorrow, a girls shopping trip?" she proposed, lightning smile on her face. "Port Angeles? You've never been yet."

Augustine knew Emmett would get over it, would eventually push his protective big brother nature aside, so she nodded. "Pencil me in, Ali."

⋆☾ ﾟ｡⋆

The next day came in a flash, the sun rising at the same time Augustine received a text from Paul. It was a simple good morning message, paired with a singular smiley-face emoji, and it was the first text of this nature she had ever received. She sent back a message of her own, but made sure to add two smiley-faces; while she may have tolerated Paul (aka, she liked him), she would always take the chance to one-up him.

The shopping trip between the girls, with the addition of a stowaway in the form of Bella Swan in the back seat, ensued without casualty. Augustine couldn't believe that she'd been living in Forks for just shy of two years, and still hadn't been to Port Angeles until now.

The boutiques were quaint, and they'd even stopped at this small bookstore that displayed their second-hand Harry Potter collection in the window. Though she certainly didn't need anymore, for she had them all at this point, it didn't hurt to look.

While they were in the bookstore, however, Augustine took it as her opportunity to slither up to Bella with a cheeky smirk on her face. "So, my dearest future sister-in-law," she started, seeing the playful eye roll that Bella tossed her way. "You excited about your end of summer wedding?"

Bella nodded, a slight flush rising onto her cheeks. "Yeah, totally."

The ravenette leaned against the bookshelf they were standing next to. "Geez, don't sound too excited, Bells," she joked, immediately combining it with a laugh to ensure the already anxious-prone human that she was kidding.

"I am— really!" Bella reassured her. "It's just, I'm getting married, y'know?"

Married and becoming a vampire, Augustine wanted to add, but promptly kept her mouth shut. Rather, she shook her head in understanding. "It's definitely a big change," she opted to say instead. "But my brother loves you, the rest of us love you."

Bella winced. "Except Rosalie," she added, "but she's getting there... I think."

"She definitely is," Augustine assured her, knowing that although Bella was far from the blonde's favourite, she was at least trying to get along with her now. "On the bright side, you'll officially be the youngest vamp in the family!"

The human girl merely shook her head with a soft bark of laughter. "On paper, sure, but you'll always be the baby of the family," she reminded the girl.

Augustine shrugged. "Helps me get away with a lot."

"A lot, as in, getting away with writing love letters to Alec?" she quipped, putting a book back on the shelf that had been resting in her grip.

"Who told you that?" she asked, almost immediately, before scoffing out an, "and they were most certainly not love letters, Isabella."

"My fiancé told me," was her simple admission.

And despite that revelation, Augustine couldn't help but smile when she said his name. "Fair enough, I guess... you sure you wanna marry into such a nosy damn family?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, actually," she said, almost wistfully. There was a beat of silence before she asked the girl next to her a question, Alice approaching the tire after veering into a boutique across the road while the other two looked at books. "Would you wanna bring Paul as your plus one?"

Augustine shrugged. "Don't know if it's his thing," she told the older girl, "there's gonna be a lot of vampires around, and pale faces from school..."

Bella grasped her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, making the ravenette avert her gaze to the human's. "Wouldn't hurt to ask him," she responded. "I think he'd say yes."

"And you know this because you guys talk, loosely, right?" Augustine would never let that go.

"Just invite him, August— before I do it on your behalf."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would."

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

[ wyn's note ]

wonder why auggie gets exhausted when she uses her powers.... hmmmm..... LOL

also bella being paul and aug's number one shipper is just a self insert at this point. like hello i love my lovebirds sm

once again, i'm on my updatey grind when i should be studying for my final exams haha! hope you guys enjoyed this one— there'll be a bit of a time jump in the next one as we come into breaking dawn! :)

all love xx