this is a chaotic mess. it's so dumb but i wanted the idea out of my brain before resuming with regular, not chaotic, content.
"It's gonna be fine."
"Don't people regularly get thrown through windows here?"
"Yes, but Carlisle said they have to be welcoming or leave."
"Ah, so the house is empty. You could've led with that."
Valeria rolled her eyes playfully and shoved Sam. After three days of healing, the dreaded time had come. Valeria had to tell her family about Sam and her feelings for him.
It hadn't gone... great.
Alice had quietly fumed, occasionally muttering rather insulting comments under her breath about the wolves. Rosalie had broken many, many things while ranting about how wrong it was for Sam to take Valeria away with some controlling, wolf claim and that the dog would never be accepted amongst them.
It had gone better with the boys, but only marginally. Jasper had talked about murdering Sam... lots of different and graphic ways. And he was trying to get Rosalie in on his plan. It had been Emmett who came to the rescue.
He, of course, slipped in several demeaning dog jokes and comments about Sam's stench, but he did defend him. Because if not for Sam, then Valeria might've been dead.
No matter how much they all hated the wolves, the Cullens would never forget how Sam risked his life and almost died to protect Valeria.
That had ceased their complaining momentarily, but it started up again when Esme informed them she'd be inviting Sam over to the house. Ever the mothering and nurturing woman, she wanted to properly meet Valeria's mate. And Esme Cullen wouldn't stand for anyone being rude in her house while a guest was over, meaning that they had to stay or leave.
"The house is not empty, surprisingly," Valeria said, rolling her eyes. They were about a hundred feet away from the front door, and she was prepping Sam. "They're all in there — Bella too, for moral support."
"Or she just wants to see me thrown out a window," he muttered, earning a laugh from Valeria. "Are you sure this is okay? I'm not exactly the 'meet the family' type."
"I mean, you're wearing a shirt, so you've already gone above and beyond what they expected," she said in a teasing tone. Sam looked nice and was dressed in a black henley and jeans. Valeria placed her hands on his arms, appreciating how the fabric hugged his muscles. "You look handsome. And you have another thing going for you."
"What's that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Valeria smirked and kissed him on the cheek before answering. "You aren't Paul."
That got a laugh out of Sam, knowing how Emmett and Paul didn't get along. If the hothead had imprinted on Valeria, then the chances of someone getting thrown out a window would be much higher.
"Alright," Sam said, taking Valeria's hand in his. "Let's get this over with."
Valeria led him across the yard and to the front door. He made a comment about the size of the house, which was easily three times bigger than his own — he knew it was owed to Alice and the stock market as Valeria had once told him.
"You're right," Sam stated, as they stepped inside.
"About what?" she asked, tilting her head.
"It would look much better with a moat."
From upstairs in the kitchen, Bella found herself in a very familiar environment. The entire family was gathered to meet Sam and forced to help Esme cook. It was kind of nice to not be the outsider in a situation that Bella knew would be uncomfortable for everyone.
Valeria's giggle drifted to their ears, signaling the couple's arrival. The sound put a smile on Esme's face who was glad that Sam made Valeria happy. She then cut her eyes to Rosalie and Jasper, who had scowls on their faces.
"Be nice," she commanded in a stern tone.
Rosalie and Jasper grumbled under their breath in sync, sharing an annoyed look. Emmett chuckled and wrapped an arm around Rosalie's shoulder to try and keep her calm.
It was certainly a sight to see little Valeria lead the muscular wolf who was easily more than a foot taller than her into the kitchen by his hand. Sam was as tense as the rest of the family, clearly not comfortable with the whole situation either, but he was doing it for Valeria.
"Sam!" Esme greeted brightly. "It's wonderful to meet you under less trying circumstances."
"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Cullen," he said, smiling and nodding politely. "Thank you for inviting me into your home."
Esme beamed at the nice response. "Finally, someone with manners."
Emmett scoffed and leaned against the counter. "We have manners."
"Em, you waved a knife at me the first time I came over," Bella reminded him, earning a snicker from Valeria.
"I hope you're hungry," Esme said, ignoring Bella and Emmett's banter. "We're using Valeria's Abuela's recipe for empanadillas."
"Just don't say he's already eaten, Val," Edward muttered, remembering how that had gone last time. Sam didn't understand why that caused Valeria, Bella, and Emmett to laugh — and Rosalie looked even more annoyed if that was possible.
"It smells delicious, Mrs. Cullen, and I can quite literally always eat," Sam told her, eying the ingredients covering the kitchen island.
"Can you be trusted to help make a few, or will you be like my brother and eat all the filling before it makes it to the dough?" Valeria asked him, raising a teasing eyebrow.
"I wouldn't dare think of it," Sam promised her.
"He's thinking of it," Edward said in a flat tone.
Valeria gasped and swatted Sam on the arm, who chuckled. Then he looked at Edward. "You do that a lot?" Sam wasn't a stranger to people hearing his thoughts. No one in the pack could keep anything to themselves, so Edward blurting out his intentions to steal food when Valeria wasn't looking didn't bother him too much.
"All. Of. The. Time," Alice grumbled, speaking for the first time since Sam's arrival. It wasn't that she hated Sam, she just hated that he blocked her visions. And the smell. "So, Sam, clearly you and Valeria are close. How long have you been spending time together behind everyone's backs?"
"Shortly after you all returned to Forks," he answered, clearing his throat a bit awkwardly. "I imprinted on her that day we lost Victoria at the border, and Paul and Emmett had their little... disagreement."
Rosalie then decided to speak up, putting them all on edge as she did. She didn't even bother to hide the venom in her tone. "So, what? You think you own her now because of some stupid wolf connection?"
"Rosalie," Carlisle said sharply.
"No," Sam said, waiving Carlisle off. He didn't need his help. "It's nothing like that. She's not mine to claim or own, and she's free to make her own choices, and I would respect those choices. But I am bound to her. Everything will always come second to her, and I'm not going anywhere just because none of you particularly like me."
Valeria brushed her thumb across his knuckles, happy that he had stood up for himself and his feelings without getting angry at her family.
Rosalie accepted his answer but didn't let up on her glare. From beside her, Emmett smiled easily. "That's a good enough answer in my book," he told Sam.
"Look at that," Valeria commented, checking her watch. "Two minutes in and nothing's been broken. We're already off to a better start than Edward when he brought Bella over."
"Most of us still don't like him," Edward said, not caring that Sam could hear.
"Right, cause I completely forgot about how Rose and Bella go shopping and get mani-pedis every weekend," Valeria shot back, scoffing.
Rosalie rolled her eyes and a barely noticeable smirk grew on her lips. "At least Bella doesn't stink."
Edward sighed, hearing the thought that immediately entered Valeria's mind. "No, we aren't getting a dog to train us to get used to it."
"You're no fun," Valeria grumbled. Then she smiled up at Sam, forgetting all about the dog argument just as quickly as she had thought of it. "C'mon. I'll show you how to make an empanadilla."
Esme was thrilled as Valeria and Sam took over in the kitchen. Carlisle wrapped an arm around her waist, and they watched with loving smiles on their faces as their youngest listed off ingredients and showed Sam how to pinch the dough to make pleats.
Edward was doing his best to make Sam feel welcome, finally having come to terms with their relationship after Sam's sacrifice. So he and Bella would team up to distract Valeria long enough for Sam to swipe handfuls of food and shove them in his mouth. She caught him each time of course, and would jokingly scold him.
"Wow, I wasn't aware Jared Cameron was in the kitchen," she'd say each time he'd look at her with his mouth full.
Rosalie didn't speak anymore but she at least remained in the room, glued to Emmett's side with an uninterested look on her face. It was no surprise that Alice would have little to nothing in common with Sam, but occasionally, she'd comment on something he had said or ask questions.
Emmett was the one to get to know him the most. They talked about sports and video games. Valeria knew that Jasper had many things in common with Sam too, but the stubborn vampire had remained quiet, not uttering a word to Sam.
An odd and uncomfortable tension remained in the air, but for the most part, Sam settled into the new environment. The vampires truly did act like siblings, especially Edward who bickered like a child with Valeria, and Emmett who loved to tell embarrassing stories.
Even after Sam and Bella ate, there ended up being enough empanadillas to take back to the pack, who would devour them in minutes. And then Sam offered to dry the dishes as Esme washed them — he was really pushing to please the mother figure of the family.
As Alice was recounting a story from when Valeria was still human — she and the other girls on her volleyball team had stolen the rival team's mascot costume and took turns wearing it around school the next day — Bella received a call.
"Hey, Jess," Bella greeted, wedging the phone between her ear and shoulder. There were more than a few eye rolls when they realized who was calling — specifically from Edward, Rosalie, and Jasper.
"Hey! Mike just picked me up and we're gonna go meet everyone at the diner for lunch. You wanna come? I'll call Val next," Jessica stated.
"Oh, I actually already ate. And I don't think Val can make it either," Bella said. She met Valeria's stare, who was shaking her head back and forth quickly. Bella knew just what that shake meant and an evil smile grew. And Valeria knew just what that smile meant and she made a 'cut it out' motion with her hands while glaring at the human.
"Does she have plans already?" Jessica asked, ever so nosy.
Valeria slammed her hands on the counter and stared down Bella. "Don't you dare!"
Edward smirked, realizing what was going on from Valeria's thoughts. "Do it, Bella. I just wanna see what happens."
"I don't understand," Sam mumbled.
"Yeah," Bella continued, not breaking eye contact with Valeria. "V is just at her house right now. She's pretty busy introducing Sam to the family. As her boyfriend."
Jessica's scream was eardrum-shattering to everyone in the room and their sensitive, supernatural hearing. Bella pulled the phone back with a grin on her face.
"Omigod, omigod, omigod!" They heard Jessica say over and over in a hurried tone. "Mike! They're dating! Oh my god! Bella, hand me to Valeria or I swear to god."
Bella shoved the phone into Valeria's hand who covered the speaker. "Why would you do that to me?"
"Because she's your best friend," Bella said, smirking.
"No, Mike's my best friend."
"Well, now he knows too," she said, brightly. Bella was getting so much amusement out of it all. "I don't know why you're so upset."
"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because I wanted to enjoy my relationship for five fucking seconds before Jess—"
"Language, Valeria!" Esme scolded. "We have a guest."
From the side, all of Valeria's siblings were absolutely dying of laughter from the whole ordeal.
"I hate you, Bella," Valeria muttered. And then as she brought the phone to her ear, her tone shifted into a fake, cheerful one. "Hey, Jess. What's up? How was Stanford?"
"Valeria Cullen," Jessica began in a stern voice. "I have been asking you every day for the past month about Sam. And you always gave me so many reasons. You kept telling me and telling me that no matter how dreamy you found him, that nothing would ever come of it. And yet as soon as I leave town for a week, something happens? I can't believe you! And I had to find out from Bella? Bella!"
"Oh my god," Valeria groaned, putting her head in her hands.
"You think I'm dreamy?" Sam asked, a shit-eating grin on his face.
"IS THAT HIM?" Jessica screeched. "Give him the phone!"
"No!" Valeria shouted back. "I'm hanging up."
"Wait!" Mike called. "How does this affect the turf war?"
"There is no goddamn turf war!" It was silent for a moment after Valeria hung up. She looked at Bella and slid the phone across the counter to her. "Are you pleased?"
"Immensely," Bella said, chuckling. "That's what you get for telling Jessica Stanley details about your personal life."
"I didn't tell her details," Valeria whined. "Tyler took the phone out of my hand."
"You're a vampire with super reflexes," Rosalie said in a flat tone. Then she cut her eyes to Sam. "It may bring you comfort to know that we at least like you more than Valeria's human friends."
"You guys are just boring," Valeria said, sticking her nose up. "Mike and the rest know how to have fun."
"Speaking of Mike," Bella mumbled, looking down at her phone. She had a confused look on her face as she read the screen. "Val, he texted and said to remind you of your deal with him."
Valeria's face fell as she stared down at the counter with a distraught look on her face. "Oh no," she whispered to herself. But then she shook her head. No way was he actually gonna hold her to that.
"Oh, there's not a doubt in my mind that he will hold you to that," Edward said, holding back laughter.
"What deal?" Sam asked. Clearly, it involved him if Mike needed to remind Valeria about it minutes after learning of their relationship.
"Nothing," Valeria grumbled.
"Sam, how do you feel about The Beach Boys?" Edward asked, earning a groan from Valeria.
Sam looked between the two, more confused than ever. He felt certain that it'd take a while to get used to the entire family dynamic of the Cullens.
"I mean, I could probably go my entire life without hearing Kokomo ever again and die happy."
Edward couldn't help but laugh, leaning on Bella for support. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but one day, Mike Newton is gonna make me the happiest man alive."
"Oh, so you're gonna marry him and not Bella then," Emmett joked. Valeria had a high-five at the ready, both snickering as Edward rolled his eyes. Almost everyone was now picturing Edward at the altar with Mike Newton in their minds, which quickly ruined his mood.
"Just - ugh! Give your stupid boyfriend a tour or something. Show him the messy cave that is your room," Edward grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Whatever you say, Mr. Newton," Valeria said, shooting him a wink. Then she grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him out of the kitchen. Once they were out of sight of her family, her shoulders slouched. "That went a lot better than I thought it would."
"You told me it would be fine," Sam stated.
"Yeah, I lied," she said, earning a playful scoff from him. "I definitely thought Rose and Jazz would throw you out the window."
Sam shook his head in disbelief before pulling Valeria into his chest and kissing the top of her head. Really, he was ecstatic that things had gone well, knowing that Valeria's coven meant just as much to her as the pack did to Sam. "I suppose you're worth getting tossed out a window."
"How romantic," she said, giggling. With their fingers intertwined, Valeria began leading him through the house, starting with the common areas.
"And here we have the living room. Emmett and I have flipped many a table on game night in here," Valeria told him, listing facts as if it were a museum tour. "I'm told by Bella that the couches are great for napping."
After they finished the lower level, Valeria took Sam up the stairs to see the rest of the house. He paused, as most visitors did, to view the large frame containing countless graduation caps.
"They've all graduated school this many times?" he asked, eyes wide. There were well over a hundred hats layered on top of each other, ranging in every color imaginable.
Valeria nodded, thinking that the idea of returning to school in a few years sounded horrid. Graduating once was enough for her, but she understood why it was necessary to blend in. Then she pointed to the newly added yellow graduation cap in the lower right corner.
"That one's mine!" Valeria stated proudly.
"I hate that I couldn't be at your graduation. I know how important it was," Sam said, squeezing her hand.
"Charlie took a video. Maybe you can watch it some time," she suggested, leading him down the hall and stopping at the door to her room. "And besides, everyone knows teenagers only care about the graduation presents — you knocked it out of the ballpark with that one."
Sam smiled as his eyes trailed down her neck, landing on the necklace he had given her. Valeria hadn't taken it off since, not even for the battle, and it warmed his heart to know she truly liked it.
"Alright, let's see the cave where Valeria Cullen dwells."
"It's not that bad," she mumbled, opening the door. "And I cleaned up just for you."
"I'm honored," he said, looking around the new room.
It screamed Valeria, Sam thought. The walls were yellow with hand-painted art all over, ranging from flowers to portraits to random shapes in bright colors. String lights with printed-out photos clipped to them hung by the bed. Sam could spot two pictures of Seth and Valeria in a photo booth.
There were bookshelves haphazardly stacked with books, games, CDs, and movies that seemed to have no organization method. Every surface was covered in knick-knacks like brightly colored rocks and flower vases and stuffed animals and framed pictures, some of people he knew and others he didn't.
The far corner had an entire setup dedicated to art. There were canvases — both blank and complete with intricate paintings — sketchbooks, pens, brushes, and piles of different tubes of paint colors. A stained drop cloth covered that section of the floor, and Sam could almost hear Esme yelling at Valeria for getting paint on the nice hardwood floors.
"Why do you have a bed if you can't sleep?" Sam asked, looking at the pink floral comforter that had a giant stuffed shark on it.
"Because movies were made to be watched snuggled in three blankets surrounded by pillows," Valeria claimed, putting her hands on her hips.
"But you don't feel temperature — oof!" Valeria had chucked the shark at Sam's head to shut him up. He gave her a pointed look and held the stuffed animal while trying not to grin. "Was that necessary?"
"Sounds to me like someone doesn't wanna cuddle and watch a movie," Valeria told him, pretending to be annoyed. "Guess I'll stick with Water Bottle."
Sam looked confused for a moment before he looked down at the stuffed animal in his hands. "You named a dog Fish. You call Seth Bark Twain when he's a wolf. And then you named a ridiculously oversized toy shark Water Bottle."
"Yes, and? What's your point?"
Sam simply smiled adoringly at the dumb names while wrapping his arms around her, squishing Water Bottle in between them. "You're adorable."
Valeria smiled and pressed her face into his chest, loving the feeling of being in his arms. "You're pretty alright too, Sunshine."
With their hands intertwined, Valeria showed him her favorite things around her room. Sam quickly learned that Valeria was sentimental about most things, no matter how small.
There was a green and white rock that she didn't recall the name of, but Mike had brought it back from his trip to the Smoky Mountains for her. She had pressed the petals from the first flowers Alice had ever gifted her. The ticket stub from Jessica's championship-winning volleyball game. A red, child-sized cowboy hat from the year she and Jasper had gone as cowboys for Halloween.
"This is my favorite," Valeria said, leading Sam to a framed photo on her nightstand. "I had already transitioned, and we moved, but Rosalie went back to my room and got this picture so I'd have something to remember my old life."
Valeria could've been no older than fourteen in the photo, with a boy the same age next to her — the boy was in the process of shoving Valeria's arm off his shoulder. An older woman was standing behind them, and then a middle-aged couple at the end.
"That's Abuela," Valeria stated, pointed to the kind-looking elder. "She died a few months after taking this. Those are my parents, Adrian and Camila. And then that's Raph, my twin, but he also responds to assface."
"I take it you didn't get along," Sam said, unable to stop himself from chuckling at the nickname.
Valeria simply shrugged. "Eh, depended on the day. I loved him, I guess, but I didn't like him — and he didn't like me. You know how every teen movie has a douchey popular dude that people still like for some reason?"
"I'm guessing that was him?"
"Essentially," she said, shrugging once more. Anytime Valeria talked about her brother, there were lots of shrugs and 'eh's to express her feelings.
"So, I guess twins aren't always alike," Sam mused. "Or were you a douchey popular girl at your old school?"
Valeria laughed and shook her head. "No, not quite. We were similar in some ways — sporty, outgoing, well-liked. We were closer before leaving Puerto Rico, but once we got here, we had different methods of adjusting and making friends."
The way that Valeria adjusted was by copying parts of other's personalities depending on who she was talking with to fit in and make friends. She'd go from polite and well-mannered to get teachers to favor her to reading the same book as someone to give them something to talk about together or even small things like using the same body language as the other person.
The method helped her make lots of friends in the new environment and overall, made her more well-rounded. It was no surprise that her copycat tendencies translated into such a literal sense as a vampire in the form of her gift.
Raphael's means of fitting in were both similar and different in its own way. He made friends, but they were all horrible in the way that most middle school boys were horrible. By the time they made it to high school, Raphael was easily one of the most popular kids in school and had done plenty to earn the nickname 'assface' from his sister.
It was easy for people to be themselves around Raphael and come out of their shells, so to speak. People liked him and naturally gravitated towards him, making it easy to make friends. The problem was that the friends he chose were dicks, and their horrible personalities always seemed to increase ten times over when around Valeria's brother.
So no, Valeria didn't like her brother. If they hadn't been siblings, they both knew they wouldn't have even looked at the other when passing in the hallway, let alone be friends.
Sometimes when Edward and Valeria bickered, she was reminded of her brother — though Edward wasn't nearly as mean-spirited and would at least apologize eventually if he was in the wrong.
The only time the twins got along and tolerated each other was at home, where on a good day, they'd manage to enjoy each other's company while surrounded by their parents and grandmother.
"Do you miss him?" Sam asked after a moment. Valeria had been staring down at her brother's picture with a thoughtful expression.
"Does it make me a bad sister if I say not all the time?" she asked, grimacing. "There are days when I miss growing up with him — playing tricks on our parents and running through the neighborhood with the dogs and distracting Abuela while he smuggled food out of the kitchen. But I don't miss the person he grew into if that makes sense."
"Perfect sense," Sam reassured her, squeezing her hand. "I have memories of my father — good and happy ones. But I don't for a second miss the man that ran out on my mother and me. Just because they're blood relatives doesn't mean they're your family."
"You've got a whole pack of brothers," Valeria told him. He didn't need to waste any time thinking about his deadbeat dad when he had a family of seven waiting at the pack house for him.
"And you have five siblings downstairs who would do anything for you — including letting a mutt in the house," Sam said, chuckling.
"I told them they can't call you a mutt anymore," she said, pouting. "It'll probably be a while before they completely drop it from their vocabulary though."
"The transition from leech to bunny muncher wasn't exactly quick for Jake, Paul, and Leah," he pointed out. He could easily deal with Valeria's family throwing demeaning names at him. "So, anymore stops on the grand tour?"
"This is it, I'm afraid," she said, throwing her arms wide. Then she looked over at her window. "I mean, the window opens to a little balcony, but that's it."
As she spoke, Valeria walked over to the glass sliding door and opened it. There was enough space on the balcony to fit a few people — or one person and an easel, as Valeria often liked to paint there.
"The view is to die for," she added, leaning against the railing.
Sam didn't take much time to appreciate the view of the nature below. He had walked up to Valeria and placed his hands on the railing by her sides, caging her in.
"Hello there," Valeria said, looking up at him over her shoulder with a small smile. "May I help you?"
"Just appreciating the view," he said, gazing lovingly down at her. Sam brushed his nose against her jaw before placing a soft kiss to it, earning a shiver from Valeria — they both knew it wasn't because she was cold.
Valeria turned in his arms and placed her hands on his shoulders. "You know," she said, leaning her head back and standing on her toes, "your imposing werewolf height makes it very laborious to try and kiss you."
Sam smirked, and in an instant, he had lifted her by her thighs and sat her on top of the railing. Despite being indestructible, Valeria yelped in surprise and wrapped her legs around his waist, not wanting to fall.
"Better?" he asked, a wolfish grin on his face.
Valeria giggled and ran her hands down his broad chest. "Much better," she hummed, leaning in.
She lightly pecked his lips with a kiss, and Sam squeezed her waist, clearly wanting more as he chased after her. He claimed her lips again, their first proper kiss since that night that Sam had been injured.
There was no need to hold back, no fear of hurting him with her touch. Valeria's hands were free to explore the facets of his arms and chest, to tug on his hair, to bite his lip when she wanted more. Sam's fingers dug into her hips as he slipped his tongue in her mouth, earning a content moan from Valeria.
Their nice, impromptu make-out session was ruined by the bulkiest — and in Valeria's opinion at that moment, the most annoying — of the Cullen siblings.
"There doesn't seem to be a lot of talking coming from in there!" Emmett shouted while banging once on the closed door of the room.
Sam sheepishly scratched the back of his head as they parted. Valeria was biting her lip, wanting more than anything to go back to kissing him. But she also couldn't let Emmett get away with such a stunt.
"Sam, have you ever seen someone thrown out a window?" Valeria asked in an overly sweet tone. "Because you're about to."