The next morning arrived quickly, and it was now the time for the Forge young man to go to his crush's home, and meet her parents and siblings, officially. Theo was nervously playing with his fingers as he looked out from the car's window, while Waylon threw him worried glances.
"Are you sure you want to go there? We can still turn back if you are not feeling well," Theo's father spoke reassuringly, making the young man calm down a little.
"I want to see Rosemary, I'm just nervous to meet her family," The older man nodded in understanding.
"Speaking of meeting the family, when am I meeting the young lady?" Theo blushed as this question.
"I don't know, dad," The young blond man bit his lips to keep his smile at bay. It was a bit early to tell his father an answer, it would depend on what happened today. What if he made a so bad impression that Rosemary's family wouldn't want her to get close to him? "I guess soon. You want to meet her?"
"Of course I do, especially since I ate those croissants," They shared a laugh, but Waylon stopped when he noticed the road he had to drive through. "Are you sure this is the right way?"
"Yes, she told me it was a road at the edge of the town, hidden with some trees," Waylon obliged and drove down the path, letting out a small, surprised sound when he saw the huge house.
"Okay, this is where I am leaving you. If you have any problem, you call me, and I'll be right there. You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Noticing where it was going to, Theo tried to cut his father out by escaping the vehicle.
"Fine, see you later," But Waylon wasn't done yet.
"Don't forget protection if you are doing anything, I know we haven't talk about any of this yet, but it is actually the first time I have the occasion so," The older man rambled a little, rubbing his forehead awkwardly.
"Dad!" Theo yelled lowly, glancing worriedly at the house, but sighed in relief when he saw no movement from inside.
"I know you're both young to do, um, stuff, but I want you to know," Waylon continued. Seeing that his father wasn't going to stop, Theo closed the car's door with wide eyes and walked away quickly, walking up the stairs before knocking on the door. Not even a second later, the door opened with a smiling Rosemary behind it.
"Theo! I'm so happy you're here!" The dark-haired girl quite fell into her mate's awaiting arms, who hugged her tightly against him. A throat-clearing sound made both teenagers get out of their dazed state from being in each other arms.
"So, you're the girl who made those croissants?" Theodore wanted to roll his eyes at his father; when would he get over these pastries?
"I did, Mr. Forge. Oh, wait!" Rosemary ran inside, making the Forge duo blink in confusion. Only a few seconds later, the dark-haired girl opened the door again and walked down the stairs to get beside the older man. "I made these yesterday, I'm happy to know that you liked them," She smiled politely while he looked at her with wide eyes. He haven't expected her to be so nice when they haven't even met yet. Originally, Rosemary's gift was for Theo, and Waylon only stole some.
"Oh, um, thank you," He smiled in surprise. "I'll leave you to this, then. Have a good day," With a last wave to his son, Waylon got inside his car before driving down the path. Following the blue vehicle until she couldn't anymore, Rosemary skipped towards her mate, taking his hand in hers.
"Come on, my family is waiting for us," Gulping nervously, Theo followed his crush up to the front door, closing it softly behind him. A distant chatter came to his ears and he easily recognized the voices of Rosemary's siblings, plus two others he didn't know. Probably Rosemary's parents, he thought as his stress spiked up. When they walked into the living room, a beautiful brown-haired woman got up, soon followed by a blond man. Both were having the same familiar traits that the young blond man had associated with the Cullen family; the golden eyes, the extremely pale white skin, the same inhuman confidence...
"Theo, this is my mother, Esme, and my father, Carlisle," Rosemary introduced her adoptive parents, exchanging a reassuring smile with them.
"Nice to meet you both," Theo nervously stepped up, holding his trembling hand up.
"The pleasure is all mine," Carlisle shook the young man's hand before smiling charmingly, which made Theo blink twice before he turned his sight to the motherly woman.
"It's nice to finally meet the young man we heard so much about," Esme wrapped the human in a warm hug, despise her iced skin. "Since it is a special occasion, we are making something you choose for lunch," The brown-haired vampire offered as she leaded Theo in the kitchen. After only a few seconds of hesitation, he chose some homemade pizza. Carlisle sent Alice, Jasper and Edward get the missing ingredients at the grocery store while Emmett, Rosalie, Rosemary and Theo started the pizza dough, supervised by the Cullen's parents, who were playing chess on the kitchen table.
After a few minutes of talking together, each couple got into their own bubble. Esme and Carlisle were engrossed in their game, one of their hands tangled together and Emmett was throwing part of the dough against Rosalie's head, who was glaring at him, but it soon enough degenerated as she entered her mate's battle.
Seeing her family was distracted enough, Rosemary could finally focus totally on her beloved, who seemed to struggle with his dough. Letting out a small laugh, the dark-haired girl got closer to him and stopped his move by touching his hands.
"Wait, let me show you," The vampire smiled gently before getting slightly behind the young man, wrapping her arms around his body. She then proceeded to show him the movement by guiding his hands with her owns. After a while, Theodore got the hand of it and kneaded it more confidently, making Rosemary stop. She still continued to stand there, resting her cheek against the human's shoulder with her arms wrapped around his waist.
The remaining Cullens tried to not observe them, wanting to leave them space even if they were in the same room, but couldn't help but smile in happiness at the beautiful sight of their relationship blossoming. Even Rosalie was now totally at peace with her sister's decision, now that she saw Theo and her interact with each other.
When the three gifted vampires came back with the vegetables, the family could complete their meal and put it in the oven. It was now the perfect occasion for Theo to speak with everyone now that he was perfectly at ease.
He could already tell that Esme and Jasper were his favorite Cullens, after Rosemary of course. The matriarch had this comforting aura around her that Theo had never known, considering his lack of mother's presence in his life. On the other hand, Jasper had the same quiet nature than Theo, which made him appreciate the curly blond vampire more. He felt like they could understand each other easily, the kind of friendship that you didn't need to talk together to understand each other.
Soon enough, pizzas were ready and everyone gathered around the table. While Theo and Rosemary seemed to wolf down their food, the others only played with their piece of pizza, eating once in a while. After their shared meal, everyone went on their way, leaving the mates alone.
"I'm going to freshen up and then we could go on a walk?" Rosemary smiled up at her mate, fiddling with her bracelet as she waited for an answer. Theo, who was happy to spend some alone time with her, agreed and the vampire walked quickly to her private bathroom, eager to throw up the dirt she had in the back of her throat. She didn't really know why she kept pretending to eat as she wanted to tell him about her vampire nature, but she still needed time to think and it gave her some delay. Rosemary had decided to tell him today, but she wanted it to happen inside the house, so she knew her family was there if anything went wrong. Their walk in the woods would give her some time to think about how she wanted to do this.
Actually, Rosemary had spent most of her night to think about it, but she always got distracted by Theodore's possible reactions, especially the worst ones. After a few disaster scenarios, Edward had come into her room and made her think about something else as they spent time together.
Once she was done with her business, the dark-haired vampire walked back to her mate, grabbing his hand, and leading him outside.
"I must say, I love your family," Theo spoke softly, helping the girl walking over some logs.
"I'm glad you do, I was afraid I pressured you into coming here," Rosemary smiled a little, looking down slightly.
"You didn't, I wanted to meet them. But I wanted to spend time with you more," He blushed, fixing his attention on some trees. A small kiss on his cheek accentuated the redness as a soft smile crept on his face. As the time went by, Rosemary didn't notice the sunbeam breaking through the trees, but Theo noted it quickly when he saw the girl sparkling.
The young human man was balancing on a branch when he saw the pale skin of his crush glowing, making it hard for him to look at her. Rosemary, completely oblivious of her sparkly little problem, continued to talk as she walked beside the branch he was on. It was only when his weight fell on her that she noticed the phenomenon. Theo had tripped on his own feet and had fallen right into the Cullen girl, who should have fallen down with the additional weight, but instead, she caught him, her eyes widening when she understood what was happening. This wasn't how I planned the things to go, she thought, biting her lip in frustration.
"Uh, your s-skin..." Theo pointed out, stuttering in confusion. What was happening? Sighing, Rosemary helped her mate back to his feet normally and stepped back to hide herself from the sun.
"I know you have noticed some, um, unusual stuff about me. About all of us, actually," She rubbed her arm to comfort herself before she pointed in the house's direction. The nod her mate gave her confirmed her thought, even if she was pretty sure about it already considering Edward's gift. "There's an explanation for this, but I don't know how you will react, and it scares me. A lot," Rosemary's voice became thick with emotions as her golden eyes were now full of venom.
"Hey, I'm not forcing you to tell me anything. I am curious, and confused, but I will wait until you are ready," Theo got closer to his crush and cupped her face in his hands when he noticed she was on the verge of crying. "Don't cry, precious..." Rosemary laughed humorlessly, wrapping her arms around her to reassure herself. However, Theo wasn't having any of it.
She would never have to face things alone now that he was here.
Untangling her arms around her body, the young man replaced them with his owns, leaving her enough space to feel comfortable, but still feeling his presence.
"Like I could cry," Rosemary whispered bitterly, but the human still heard her. When she saw he raised an eyebrow in question, she sighed in defeat and rested her head against his chest. "I can't cry. It's part of my, condition, if you want."
"What are the unusual stuff you think I know?" Theo asked in a small voice.
"Well, every weird thing about us. Our cold skin, our golden eyes, how we all look alike without being related... You noticed I bent a tray with my hands, my skin is glowing right now..." She trailed out. "The poor excuse I gave you when I bailed, the inexplicable feeling that connect us together..." Rosemary continued, staring into her mate's blue eyes, slowly getting her face closer to his.
"What does that mean?" Their lips were almost touching when the young man asked this question, making the dark-haired girl take a step back. When he saw he wasn't getting a reaction out of this, he continued, a part of him being disappointed of the distance between them now. "How do you know I know this?"
"Edward told me. Are you sure you want to know? I know it is selfish, but I don't want you to leave me," Rosemary spoke quietly, staring at her mate and waiting for his answer. Knowing he couldn't reassure more with words, Theodore did the only thing he could think of. Breaking the distance between them, he cupped her face again and pressed his lips softly against hers.
He didn't really know what happened after that. The way their lips moved together made a wave of emotions flooded through him and the only thing he could focus on was the gorgeous girl in front of him. Rosemary must have felt the same way, seeing the way she was holding his shirt tightly in her fists, making the fabric crack a little.
He knew what she was going to announce him was important, maybe life-changing, but he knew, in that exact moment, that he would face anything for her. And the way Rosemary poured her feelings for him in this first kiss proved him she was feeling the same thing.
♡
First kiss between my babies <3 Next chapter will be filled with confessions, many, many confessions...
Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it! <3