it took a little longer than i anticipated to update. i started my new semester of college, and it is significantly more difficult and time consuming than my past ones. anyway, hope you enjoy!
Sam spotted Valeria the second she had stepped outside. His mate's scent brought him comfort and a welcome distraction, as he had previously been trying to not stare at the new, unfamiliar coven of vampires that were standing across the crowd.
Valeria weaved through the crowd of guests that had arrived for the wedding, them milling around until it was time to take their seats. She found Sam in no time, standing against the back wall with Billy, Seth, and Sue — they were the only four that cared enough to come to the wedding.
Billy didn't particularly want to be there — what person did want to see the young girl he watched grow up marry a bloodsucking monster? But he owed both Bella and Charlie the respect of attending. Sue was slightly more open to the idea of the marriage, simply because she hadn't known about vampires for very long and as far as she was concerned, the Cullens were good and that's all that mattered.
Seth was excited to be at the wedding. He was just excited to be making nice with the coven at all, finding them — well, mainly Emmett and Jasper — just as fun as Valeria. Sam, of course, was there because Valeria asked him and because he was a part of the family now, as far as anyone was concerned. If he didn't attend, Edward might hold it over his head forever. Literally.
As Valeria approached, she noticed that both Billy and Sam were looking across the room at something with nervous looks on their faces, but as soon as Sam caught Valeria's comforting scent, his eyes sought her out in the crowd. Her lips, coated in a muted berry-colored lipstick, broke into a smile that he easily matched.
"Hey," she greeted, and Sam put his arms around her waist. Valeria placed her hands on his chest, straightening out the collar on his dress shirt. "I never knew you looked so good in a suit."
And he did look good in a suit. It was a black suit made by some Italian designer that Alice had forced him into. The werewolf had quickly learned how hard it was to fight off Alice when she was determined to play dress-up with those around her.
"Don't get used to it," Sam said, grinning down at her. "It's not exactly practical for when I need to phase on the fly."
Valeria shrugged before flashing a flirtatious smirk. "Oh well, I prefer you shirtless anyway."
Sam chuckled before letting his eyes rake down Valeria's form. It was a pastel purple color, made of delicate silk — Sam preferred to not think about how much it must have cost. Instead, he thought of how the garment hugged her tightly, held up by thin straps.
"You look beautiful," Sam told her, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Don't get used to it," she copied him. "I'll be back in my vintage sweaters and baggy jeans tomorrow."
While kissing the top of her head, Sam held her a little tighter. "I love your ugly sweaters—"
"Vintage!"
"Vintage," Sam repeated, grinning as Valeria giggled. She turned in his arms and leaned against his chest as she looked at the others.
"Thank you so much for coming," Valeria told them.
"Charlie needs all the moral support he can get," Billy said, only partly joking. Charlie Swan was less than pleased about his daughter getting married so young to someone he hated.
"Or someone to distract the crowd while he kidnaps Bella and hides her in a tower," Sue joked, earning a laugh from the others. "And Sam is right, Valeria. You make a beautiful bridesmaid."
"Thank you, Sue."
"Bet you'll be even prettier when you drop the "maid" part," Seth said, grinning mischievously. "Guess Sam better get on that."
Valeria couldn't see Sam's face, but he took her hands that were resting over his and interlaced their fingers. He squeezed her hand once and she knew just what he meant
Soon.
"Might ought to wait a little while," was all Valeria said. "Wouldn't want to steal the spotlight away from Bella and Edward."
Of course, they all knew that Bella would love for someone to take the focus off her. If she didn't think Alice would kill her, she might have even begged Sam to propose right after the ceremony so that she and Edward could run off without saying goodbye.
"By the way, Seth, you look quite dashing," Valeria complimented. "You finally filled into the suit Quil gave you."
Seth was dressed in the same suit he had worn to Prom, but he had hit a growth spurt since then. The jacket no longer hung off his shoulders, and he didn't have to roll the pant legs up.
The young boy smiled proudly and stood with his chest puffed out. "Soon, my muscles will be too big for Quil's puny blazer, and I can wear one of Dad's."
"I'll have to dig in the closet for quite some time to find his clothes from when he was your size," Sue said, chuckling. She rubbed Seth's shoulder, who grinned as he remembered his father.
The five of them stood and socialized for several more minutes, Valeria knowing she didn't have to be back right away. It was still a good thirty minutes before the wedding was meant to start, and people were still arriving. Seth was in the middle of bragging about how he got to take the lead on a patrol with Embry when they were interrupted by Valeria's favorite humans.
"Damn, Alvarez! You clean up good," Mike said, cupping his hands around his mouth to be louder.
Valeria grinned as Mike, Jessica, Eric, and Angela wandered over, all of them dressed up for the occasion.
"Bestie!" Valeria exclaimed, hugging Mike tightly. "It's been so long."
"You saw each other last week." Everyone laughed as both Sam and Jessica spoke in sync.
"We went from seeing each other every day at school to almost never seeing each other," Mike pointed out, pouting playfully. "Sam, my guy, how ya been?"
"Good. It's nice to see you again, Mike," Sam replied. He thought it was amusing that he had met Mike Newton once — three weeks ago when he and Valeria made a stop in Mike's family's store — and now thought that he and Sam were the best of friends. The pair did get along fairly well though, which was a good thing as Valeria would've been distraught if they hated each other.
Sam then looked at the others and nodded politely to them. Jessica and Angela giggled softly as the handsome man greeted them.
It hadn't been too long after Jessica learned that Valeria and Sam were officially together that she dragged Angela down to the reservation and met Sam — or more accurately, hunted him down. Evidently, she had asked about him around town until someone directed them to his house. To say that Sam and Valeria were surprised by their sudden arrival was an understatement.
The first words that had come out of Jessica's mouth were directed at Valeria, who had been standing behind Sam who had answered the door.
"You're right. He is hot!"
With Sam's ego boosted, and Valeria loudly proclaiming that he was, in fact, repulsive to look at, Jessica and Angela spent an afternoon getting to know Sam.
"It's absolutely wild that none of us had ever seen your house and now we're back for a second time in less than like four months. Also, these decorations are super—"
Eric cut himself off as his eyes settled on a group of people across the crowd. Everyone followed his line of sight, and Valeria rolled her eyes playfully and saw that he was staring at the Denali clan.
"Damn," Mike mumbled under his breath, his eyes glued to the breathtaking vampires. "Val, who is that family?"
"They have got to be related," Eric said, his eyes still wide.
"Yes," Valeria lied. While talking about the coven, she squeezed Sam's hand to ease his nerves about them. "The blonde ones, Kate, Irina, and Tanya are all sisters and cousins of Carlisle. Carmen is their aunt and married to Eleazar."
"What a gene pool," Mike said in disbelief.
Jessica rolled her eyes, feeling jealous of the beautiful women that had Mike's attention. After all, it hadn't been that long since they broke up. "You've got some, uh, drool," she told him, breaking Mike's trance-like state. Both he and Eric wiped under their mouths, making Valeria laugh.
"So," Jessica said, lowering her voice as she smirked at Valeria and Angela. "You think Bella's gonna be showing?"
Valeria bit back a smile, already having gone through this argument, while Angela scoffed. "Jess, she is not pregnant."
"Okay," Jessica said, clearly not believing it. "Who else gets married at eighteen?"
"People in cults," Eric quickly answered.
"Or turf wars," Mike added, both boys giving Valeria pointed looks.
"There is no turf war," Valeria stated, shaking her head.
"Right," Sam agreed, nodding his head. Then he grinned. "Because our love put an end to it."
Valeria groaned while Mike and Eric celebrated the "confirmation of the turf war." She playfully shoved Sam, who simply laughed, thinking it was hilarious. "Don't encourage these fools."
"I'm only a fool for you, Bestie," Mike said, placing his hand over his heart as if he had said something meaningful.
The group continued to joke around for a few more minutes. Valeria made sure to introduce Sue and Billy to her friends, not wanting them to feel left out, as they didn't know many people at the wedding.
All too soon, Alice was coming out to fetch Valeria and send everyone to their seats. She stood still as Alice fixed a few strands of hair and shoved an elegant bouquet in her hands. Valeria would be walking down the aisle with Emmett, who was Edward's best man — they didn't fuss with having any more bridesmaids and groomsmen.
The music was due to start any minute, but Valeria rushed to Bella's side, who looked ready to throw up as she held onto her father's arm. Bella immediately held Valeria's hand though when she was close enough, seeking out her best friend's comfort.
"Hi," Bella said weakly.
"Howdy," Valeria greeted, grinning brightly down at Bella. It eased a bit of the tension in Bella's shoulders. "Just make sure to take deep breaths and hold onto Charlie — he'll keep you from falling."
"Probably," Charlie joked, earning a sharp look from both girls. He chuckled awkwardly before apologizing. "Not the time. My bad."
"Just... think about Edward," Valeria told Bella softly, trying to get her mind off tripping. "He's at the end of that aisle and he's all that matters today."
Bella took a deep breath with her eyes closed before nodding. "Thank you, V," she said, squeezing her hand once more. Then she smiled softly. "I'm really happy that I'm gonna get to be your sister."
"You've always been my sister, Bells."
☽︎
As soon as the ceremony ended and the guests moved to the reception area, Valeria sought out Sam. He greeted her with a loving smile and a gentle kiss.
"You were perfect," he told her.
"Alice doesn't agree. She saw the funny faces that Emmett and I were making at each other during the kiss," Valeria said, giggling at her own antics.
"Well, it distracted people from Bella, which I'm sure she appreciates," Billy joked, rolling up to the two followed by Charlie, Seth, and Sue.
"I wanna go see Edward and Bella before the speeches start," Seth said excitedly.
And so Seth led the group that consisted of Billy, Sue, Charlie, Sam, and Valeria over to the newlywed couple.
"Hey man. Nice to see you," Seth greeted Edward, grinning brightly as he shook his hand. "I'm happy for you."
"Thank you," Edward said, smiling at the younger boy. Valeria was glad to see him befriending more members of the pack.
"I hope you'll be happy, Bella," Billy said, all but Charlie knowing the double meaning behind his words.
"Thank you, Billy," she replied. Then a sad smile crossed her face. "Have you heard from him?"
Billy simply shook his head. "I'm sure Jake wishes you the best."
"Well, I plan on getting drunk," Charlie stated, earning a chuckle from Sam and Valeria. "They're serving up some pretty fancy champagne. Sue, can I get you a glass?"
Billy quickly cut his eyes to Charlie, and both Sam and Valeria looked at each other with surprised and amused eyes.
"Sparkling firewater," Billy told Charlie, making sure to keep his wheelchair in between Charlie and Sue. "Sounds great."
Valeria couldn't help but giggle as Charlie, Billy, Sue, and Seth walked towards the bar. "They're gonna start fighting over her, aren't they?"
"Like children," Sam agreed, smirking. Then he kissed Valeria's forehead. "I'll go keep the peace. Bella, Edward, congrats."
"Thanks," Bella said as Sam wandered off. As soon as he was gone, the Denali clan was taking his place.
"Bella!" Carmen greeted excitedly. She wasted no time in embracing Bella, kissing her on both her cheeks while Eleazar shook Edward's hand. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Bella said, smiling fondly. "Eleazar and Carmen, right?" Carmen nodded enthusiastically as she remembered their names.
"Yes, and these are our cousins from Alaska," Edward explained. "Tanya, Kate."
"We've heard so much about you," Kate told her.
"Yes," Tanya agreed. "Val likes to tell stories."
"All good, I hope," Bella said jokingly, knowing how Valeria loved to tell embarrassing stories about people.
"Mostly," Tanya said, grinning. "As nice as you can expect with this one." As she talked, she wrapped an arm around Valeria's shoulder, giving her a hug — Kate pouted from the side, knowing she couldn't without risking Valeria copying her ability.
"Welcome to the family," Eleazar told Bella.
"Thank you."
After a moment, Carmen seemed to realize that one member of their family had yet to be introduced. She looked over her shoulder and saw Irina several feet away. "Irina, come meet Bella."
Valeria slowly followed Irina's line of sight and suddenly realized why she looked so sad, so traumatized. She was looking at Seth and Sam.
She was looking at the same creatures that killed her mate.
"I can't do this," Irina said quietly, not taking her eyes off them.
"You promised," Tanya said sharply.
"They invited one," she spat, malice evident in her tone.
An angry type of protectiveness filled Valeria's veins, and she almost couldn't help taking a step forward, blocking Sam from Irina's vision.
"Irina, they're our friends," Edward told her quickly. He glanced nervously at Valeria, not wanting Irina to say something to set her off.
"They killed Laurent!"
"He tried to kill Bella," Edward stated calmly. It didn't matter that he was trying out the vegetarian lifestyle. He tried to hurt Edward's mate, and so none of the Cullen's particularly cared about the fate of Laurent.
"I don't believe that," Irina said, truly thinking that Bella was a liar. "He wanted to be like us. To live in peace with humans. With me."
"Bella isn't a liar, and—"
"Valeria," Edward said in a firm tone. He couldn't have her and Irina getting in a fight at the wedding. "Why don't you go find Bella's parents and let them know it's almost time for them to give their speeches."
"Right," Valeria said, taking a step away from Irina. She looked at Edward and faked a smile. "Wouldn't want anyone finding out it was my mate to rip his head off."
Valeria didn't pay Irina any mind as she gracefully walked over to Sam, kissing him gently as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She was storming out shortly after the couple's lips touched.
"That was a bit dramatic," Sam whispered, doing his best to not glance at the Denalis.
"It was certainly one way for them to learn that I'm dating a werewolf," she muttered. Then she pressed her forehead to his lovingly. "I wasn't going to let her get away with saying things about you or Seth or Bella."
They shared a soft smile before Valeria parted from him and actually did let Charlie and Renée know about the speeches starting. Renée was considerably more excited about it than Charlie, who had grumbled and downed a glass of champagne rather quickly.
The speeches were... not great.
Emmett had made a vampire joke that came off as an awkward sex joke to the humans. Valeria had wanted to laugh but she would've been the only one, so Sam slipped his hand over her mouth to silence her.
Valeria loved Jessica with her whole heart, but her speech had her sinking down in her chair. There was still some lingering jealousy that Edward had chosen Bella over not only herself but pretty much every other girl at Forks.
Personally, Valeria thought Jessica could do better than Edward anyway. She was far too bubbly for someone so broody — yes, this did earn a glare from the mind reader.
Charlie made everyone uncomfortable by talking about murdering Edward. It sounded like he had a pretty thorough plan for it too. But it earned more laughs than Emmett's joke, so it was a little better.
Alice talked about forcing Bella into designer clothes that were purposefully outside of her comfort zone for the rest of her life. It would certainly be a journey for Bella, who really had no choice in the matter.
Renée sang really badly.
Bella was ready for the ground to swallow her whole and didn't know if it'd get worse or better as Valeria's stepped on stage. Valeria tapped the microphone and cleared her throat needlessly before starting.
"Bella Bear, I've always said you can do better than Edward, and that's still true," she started, earning a couple of laughs and a whistle from Charlie. "But even I can't deny that he's better, happier, dare I say it, tolerable when you're around. Of all the people he could've fallen in love with, I'm glad it was you."
"And Edward slander aside, I am so happy to have you as part of the family. One of the best parts of getting adopted into this family was all the amazing siblings I got, and now I get you too. I'm still the bestest Cullen, but my new sister is definitely coming for second place — sorry Emmett. I love you both so much and wish you a very long and happy marriage."
They clapped after Valeria gave her speech, and Bella grinned at her as she returned to her seat next to Sam. She also mouthed a "thank you," happy that Valeria hadn't said anything particularly embarrassing.
Edward followed after Valeria's speech, holding out a champagne glass as he stared at Bella lovingly. "It's an extraordinary thing to meet someone who you can bear your soul to and who will accept you for what you are. I've been waiting, what seems like a very long time, to get beyond what I am. And with Bella, I feel like I can finally begin. So I'd like to propose a toast to my beautiful bride. No measure of time with you will be long enough. But let's start with forever."
The rest of the wedding went on in traditional fashion. The wedding photographer worked tirelessly as Bella and Edward cut the cake, making sure to shove it in each other's faces as everyone cheered.
Bella was a scarlet mess as Edward removed her garter with his teeth — which she had already shimmied down to her ankle — and Emmett and Jasper were howling in the background. Then Edward dared to wink as he flung it right at Mike Newton — which all their human friends found hilarious.
Angela and Jessica had dragged Valeria to the center of the crowd when it came time for Bella to throw the bouquet. Really, she was worried about Bella launching the bouquet into a candle and burning down the wedding. Valeria hadn't even considered the thought that it'd land right into her hands, that had barely been held out.
Jessica had squealed so loudly that Valeria thought her ears might burst if possible.
Soon, Valeria was whisked to the dance floor by Sam, her arms wrapped around his neck and the bouquet loosely held in her left hand.
"Your speech was perfect," Sam told her, swaying gently to the music. "The perfect amount of Edward teasing and Bella praising."
"Well, it's a little sister's duty to annoy his big brother on his wedding day," she stated, holding her head high. "How else would he know I care about him?"
"He should expect nothing less."
"He expected me to ruin the wedding," she said, snorting. "If any of us were to ruin it, it'd be Charlie or Rosalie. Alice would kill them for ruining her masterpiece though."
"It is pretty nice," Sam agreed, looking around at the extravagant decorations. "Very nice, actually. Though not exactly what I picture for Bella."
"At least she's happy," Valeria said, smiling across the crowd at Bella, who was dancing with Edward. "And I hate to agree with Alice, but arguing over the dress was worth it. She looks amazing."
"You'd look beautiful in something like that," Sam whispered softly, brushing his nose across her jaw as he leaned his head down.
A shiver ran down Valeria's spine as she shut her eyes, leaning into his touch. The bouquet in her hand suddenly felt heavier, her hands wishing they were holding her own.
"Hold off, Uley," she said, a gentle smile on her lips. "It's tacky to propose at other people's weddings."
"Right. And we wouldn't want to be tacky," Sam said, nodding over dramatically as he grinned. "Besides, I've got it all planned out — the way at least, just not when."
"Yeah?" she asked, knowing her heart would speed up if it still beat. "Does it make me impatient if I ask how?"
"Yes, but I love that about you," he said, smiling softly. Sam leaned down and kissed her softly, and as he pulled away, Valeria stood on her toes to peck his lips once more. "When I ask you—"
Sam cut himself off, growing tense, and it only took a moment for Valeria to realize why. The familiar scent reached her nose.
"Jacob," she mumbled, looking towards the trees. She also realized that Edward and Bella were gone, likely with the wolf that had been missing for months. Valeria looked back at Sam with wide eyes. "Did you know he was coming back?"
He shook his head once, clearly worried about Jacob's sudden arrival. It wouldn't be off-brand for him to try and ruin the remainder of the reception.
They were both using their supernatural hearing, doing their best to appear like nothing was wrong as they lightly swayed to the music. Everything had been fine at first. Jacob and Bella were dancing, Jacob doing his best to accept her fate. But then the honeymoon came up, and that set him off.
"Mike," Sam said, intercepting the blonde who was passing by. "I've got to handle something. Do you mind keeping Valeria company?"
Of course, Sam didn't really wait for a reply before rushing off to either calm Jacob down or get him away from the premises. Mike had no problem with taking his place, holding Valeria a bit less intimately as they slow danced.
"Let me guess — turf war stuff?" he asked, grinning goofily as he raised an eyebrow.
"Mike," Valeria said, sighing heavily. "Do you even listen? He told you an hour ago that we put an end to the turf war."
"Right, my mistake. My mistake," he said, shaking his head in mock disappointment at himself. "So, does this get you in the wedding mood? Ready to get hitched? Have you checked with how Sam feels about your first dance being to Cheeseburger in Paradise?"
Valeria halted her dancing and huffed childishly. "We agreed on Kokomo, not Jimmy Buffet!"