Luna
The next few days were rainy. Every morning , I would make myself a cup of coffee and sit in the living room, watching the raindrops slide down the glass on the windows.
Since it was a day off- my first day without school in a long, long time, I had nothing to do. I sat in my usual spot by the window and drank my, now lukewarm, coffee.
I texted Evelyn, asking her to come over but sadly, she already had plans.
The only other friends I had in this little rainy town were the Cullens, and I didn't want to bother them.
As soon as I thought about them, my phone rang. Damn Alice and her precognition.
"Hey, what are your plans for today?" A chirpy voice said as soon as I picked up.
"Probably just staying at home. I might study later. Why?" I replied.
"Well, get dressed, we're coming over in ten" she said happily and hung up.
I groaned and dragged myself up the stairs, not really wanting to move.
I put on a pair of black jeans and my favorite black sweater. I didn't bother putting on any make up. I dragged the brush through my hair and looked in the mirror. Good enough.
I quickly went downstairs, knowing that they would be coming over soon, that is, if they weren't already here.
As soon as I walked down the stairs, the doorbell rang.
I was right-they were already here.
I quickly opened the door and ushered them in, careful not to let much of the cold air in. "So, what's the plan?" I asked as I looked at the vampire siblings in front of me.
Alice just grinned and produced a deck of cards from her purse.
"Alright, sounds like fun" I laughed at her antics and we headed to the living room. As we got comfortable, we started playing and chatting.
We were playing a game of war when my phone rang. Knowing that since nobody else had this number, and it could only be my family, I looked at the screen.
I was right- the caller ID displayed on my screen said "Zio A". I stood up and walked a few feet away. As soon as I pressed the 'answer' button, I heard uncle Aro's excited voice.
"Cara mia, I have news for you" he all but shouted down the phone.
"i miei amici sono in giro, parla italiano per favore" I sighed.
"Sono gli amici a cui penso?" he asked curiously.
"Sì, zio." I replied and looked over at my friends. They were pretending to be engrossed in the game but I knew they were carefully listening to every word.
He sighed.
"Hai un altro mese in Forks " he said quickly.
A huge grin split my face. I thought I would have to go back as soon as I graduated.
"Grazie, zio. Ma perché hai cambiato la tua decisione?" I asked, a bit suspicious. I knew him well enough to know that he never did anything for anyone without having something to gain from it.
"L'ho convinto che dovremmo essere liberi da te per un po' più a lungo."
I heard a different voice say. My grin widened. I missed Alec a lot and hearing his voice made me extremely happy.
"Non essere cattivo con tua sorella"
Aro said with a laugh.
"Questo è ciò a cui sono i grandi fratelli", Alec replied, amusement coating his voice.
"Stai zitto. Stronzo" I muttered under my breath.
"L'ho sentito" he replied, laughing.
"Speravo lo facessi" I retorted, still grinning.
"Dov'è Jay?" I asked, confused as to why she was not with them. It struck me as odd- she never left the castle without Alec.
"Andò a Roma. Tornerà domani." said Alec, sighing.
I knew he missed his sister, they were attached at the hip. I nodded at that, even though they could not see it.
"Devo tornare ai miei amici. Ti chiamo domani" I said, sighing as well. To be honest, I wished the call had lasted longer- I missed them dearly.
"Va bene mia cara. Buon divertimento" said Aro merrily, hanging up before I could even formulate a reply.
I laughed at that and walked back to the Cullens, putting my phone on the couch. I sat down next to Alice and picked my deck of cards back up.
"You miss your family a lot, don't you?" Asked Rosalie softly.
I nodded.
"Yeah, but I will see them again soon" I responded, smiling softly.
"Is it hard, living alone at such a young age?" She inquired.
"Not really. I can provide for myself and I'm happy to be away from all the chaos for a while. My family is quite big." I explained.
"How are they like?" Interjected Alice, looking at me with interest.
I thought for a while, wondering how much I should tell them.
"Um, I moved to Italy with my parents and we live with my extended family. I consider my cousins my siblings, we've always been really close. They're fun to be around but they can be quite scary sometimes." I elaborated, smiling at the memory of Jane using her gift on Felix after he called her by the nickname she despised.
"My uncles, despite being brothers have totally different personalities, but they're all very driven and committed to their family and their jobs."
"How old are your cousins?" Inquired Jasper.
"Thirteen" I replied, laughing internally, knowing that, in reality, they were way older than my newfound friends.
"You said your family is quite big, how many of you are there?" Edward spoke up for the first time.
I knew that the whole interrogation was caused by their suspicion, so I tried not to reveal much.
"Nineteen" I said, including my parents, Louisa and myself. They looked at me, surprised.
"And we thought our family was big. How do you guys manage? " asked Emmett, bewildered.
"We have our disagreements, but we're pretty close, so we don't argue much."
Before I could say anything else, Edward spoke up yet again.
"What does your family do for a living? Are they artists like you want to be?"
I thought about the answer for a while.
"My uncle and his brothers own an art foundation, so I will probably work for them at some point. Also, one of my aunts is really into art and music and I want to follow in her footsteps." I tried to be as close to the truth as possible.
I would, in fact, be working for them, just not as an artist.
At the mention of art, Alice perked up. "Art? What does she do?" She bounced on the couch in excitement.
"She loves to paint and plays the piano."
"Was she the one who taught you to play?" She looked at me curiously.
"No, it was my cousin who taught me, she's really good" I said, grinning.
I realized my mistake a bit too late.
"The thirteen year old?"
Great. They were even more suspicious.
"No, one of my older cousins." I replied, lying through my teeth, hoping Jasper didn't pick up on my deception.
Damn it. I would have to be more careful in the future.
Alice just nodded, seemingly not having any more questions, although I could still see the suspicious looks she was giving me.
Talking about my family triggered a wave of nostalgia. I missed them more than I would dare to admit. I missed my parents and our trips around Tuscany. I missed the shopping trips and friendly banter with Heidi, the piano lessons with Jane and long conversations with Alec.
I also missed the three kings and their jokes about having me for dinner every time I complained about something. We made an unusual family and I wouldn't trade them for the world.
We resumed the game after that. They taught me a few more card games, which I found really fun to play.
I had asked them to stay the night, to which they happily agreed. We watched a few movies and the Cullens pretended to be tired, which was hilarious.
I laid my head on Rosalie's shoulder and continued watching the movie. As I was falling asleep, I felt someone pick me up and carry me to my bed.
I only managed to make out a hushed conversation between the siblings before sleep overtook me.
***
As I woke up in the early morning hours, the sun was barely shining through my curtains. I walked over to my window and pulled them apart, enjoying the way the sun hit my face.
After a few minutes, I changed into a pair of sweats and a hoodie and walked downstairs, to find several pairs of golden irises staring at me.
They wore different clothes than yesterday, so I figured they must have gone hunting at some point during the night.
"Hi guys. Slept well?" I chuckled at my own joke as I skipped down the last few steps.
"Yeah, we did. We made you coffee" stated Alice as she glided over to me with a cup in her hand.
"Thanks Alice" I smiled and took the cup from her.
"So, what's the plan for today? she asked, bouncing up and down excitedly.
"Not sure. Why?" I chuckled, watching her. Her face lit up and I swore I could hear Edward groan.
"Shopping time!" She exclaimed, almost making me drop my cup in surprise.
"Alice, I don't need any more clothes. And we went shopping a few days ago." I said, looking at her pointedly.
I was sure she raided my closet at night and knew exactly how much clothes I had.
"Please, it's going to be fun" she pouted.
I groaned.
"Alright, just give me an hour."
The tiny vampire grinned. Goddamn pixie and her pouts. I liked her too much to refuse.
"I knew you would agree!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands.
I just rolled my eyes with a smile and finished my coffee.
Exactly an hour later, we all sat in Emmett's jeep, driving towards the mall.
Alice kept bouncing in her seat, rambling about all of the cute dressed she saw online and wanted to try on.
I couldn't hide my amusement at her childlike enthusiasm. I had noticed that she seemed happier than her siblings- and for the first time since meeting them, I wondered about the circumstances of their transformations.
As soon as we got out of the car, Alice grabbed my hand, pulling me out of my thoughts, and dragged me inside the huge, glass building.
Rosalie joined us a moment later and we quickly separated from the rest of the family.
"So, Luna, what's your style? We're getting you a new wardrobe" she stated, grinning at me.
I groaned yet again. Did all vampires have a weird obsession with shopping? And was Rosalie Hale, of all people, being nice to me?
"Rose, I have enough clothes. Really. My closet back home is full and certainly will not fit anything more."
I replied. Rosalie nodded, as if understanding my reasoning, but for Alice, seemingly, there was no such thing as a full closet.
I groaned at her expression- I had forgotten how convincing a vampire could be.
"Okay, okay, just a few items."
She smiled triumphantly.
"Knew I could convince you".
I just smiled and rolled my eyes at her.
Despite that, a few hours, tens of stores (and a lot of complaining from the guys) later, we walked back to the Jeep, our hands full of shopping bags. The Cullens had insisted to pay for half of my purchases (well, Alice had- the others couldn't care less and I could see Rosalie frowning from time to time. And I wasn't that comfortable with it, either. I had my own money, maybe even more than the Cullens combined).
Ignoring my protests, Alice grabbed the bags from my hands and placed them in the Jeep.
"Thanks Alice, I had so much fun." I told her as we got situated inside of the car.
"Told you so!" She grinned, her lips spreading into a smug smile.
"We'll have to do it again, before I leave."
The smug expression stayed on her face all the way back home.