Twilight: But The Cullens Adopt a Gen Z Kid

Chapter Five: Humans

So the fifth day, after a lot of hunting; when we went back to the same trail, I imagined the hiker not as the hiker, but as my brother. It didn't change the fire in my throat, and it didn't stop the venom that watered my mouth. But it changed my thought process. I wasn't thinking purely on instinct anymore. Carlilse and Jasper and I stood perfectly still for a long time, just a few yards away from the hiker. I eventually got desensitized, like after having a headache for so long your brain gets used to it. This day gave me so much hope, so much to look forward to. I didn't feel as lost, and the pride I felt was incredible.

When we got back home, I was beaming from ear to ear. Carlilse placed a hand on my back, a proud smile painting his lips. "That was absolutely incredible, Jace. You showed perfect restraint. Just on your fifth day!" Waves of pride and accomplishment flowed through me, and I glanced at Jasper with a grateful smile.

"That was most definitely amazing. I'm extremely proud of you." Their smiles were almost as big as mine. Emmett came out of the house, sensing our glee.

"How'd ya do, my young Padawan?" He said as he jumped up to a thick tree branch and swung down to land in front of me. I beamed at him. "Great. I didn't even almost murder him." Emmett laughed and placed both of his hands on either one of my shoulders.

"Awesome, kid! This calls for a celebration! What do you say for some black bears for dinner?"

"Sure!" I was too happy to process what he said. "Wait- how?" Emmett laughed at me. "I'll show you."

So for the next several hours we travelled a great distance to hunt down some black bears, and Emmett showed me how to take them down. When we found some cubs and their mom, I refused to hunt them. Emmett said he was only going to hunt the mom but I refused to let him, so we searched elsewhere. He huffed the entire time until we found a pair about to mate. I tried to fight him on that too, but he wasn't having it. We drank them dry.

We spent a long time playing around with my gift. Emmett had me throwing rocks and floating in weird positions and picking trees out of the ground. I didn't mind though, it was cool to see what I could do, and I needed the practice anyway.

"Pfft, 'we're taking away the chance for cubs to be born' blah blah blah. Why you gotta be so picky for?" I rolled my eyes and laughed. "I still had fun. Thank you, Em." He smiled at me, "Anytime." We arrived at the house in the middle of the night, but despite that, all of the lights were still on.

"Hi! Did you guys have fun?" Alice asked me, appearing out of nowhere. "You already know the answer to that." I giggled at her.

I went up to- my room to relax. Still shocked at how nice it was, I sighed and plopped onto the couch. It was times like this when I wish I could sleep. I missed having an eventful day and closing it with passing out in a comfy bed. What was I going to do all night?

The previous week had been so full. There was so much that had happened. I'd spent every night asking questions and spending time with each Cullen, getting to know them and understanding how I could make this easier. Except for Rosalie. She'd been nice to me, but not particularly open. Just... been there. Every Cullen I had had at least a deep conversation with, but any time I had asked Rosalie, she would seem so guarded. She must've just not liked me very much.

I suddenly had a realization. I'd spent the whole day with Emmett. I hadn't thought about my brother once. It was the first time I'd truly been happy since the change. The first time in years, really. A small smile played on my lips. Emmett reminded me so much of Aiden. It almost felt like he was right there, the same smile I remembered. It filled a hole that I hadn't realized I had.

I hopped up towards the tall bookshelf, scanning through the spines. I picked up a random one and sat back down on the couch, curling up against it and getting comfortable. Wait. I wonder...?