Serafina made her way to the Cullen residence. She knew it would be a long day when she saw Emmett waiting in front of Rosalie, who was leaning against the home behind them. Emmett was bouncing on the balls of his feet in his excitement. He wanted to rush up to her but knew he didn't need to, as today would be his day to spend with her. He had plenty of time to get her used to the family. He smiled widely as she slowly approached them. But he groaned in annoyance as she completely sidestepped him and made her way to Rosalie.
"Come on! It's my day! Be excited!" Emmett said as he turned to the two women embracing behind him, "You guys can hug later. Stop wasting my day." He said, putting his hands on his hips. "Now come on, let's go!" he said as he sped away.
Serafina didn't move from her hug with Rosalie, "do we have to go?" she whispered.
Rosalie grinned, "If we don't go, he'll probably come back and carry you wherever he wanted us to go."
Serafina sighed, "Guess we have no choice." She said as she finally pulled away. Never letting go of Rosalie's hand as she walked her toward the forest. "Ready?" she asked as they entered the tree line.
"Yes," Rosalie answered just before she released Serafina's hand and began running, still at a slower pace, until Serafina joined her. Once they were at the same speed, they accelerated until they were racing to Emmett.
It didn't take long for them to reach the deepest part of the forest that Serafina had been to yet. Emmett was waiting impatiently with his arms crossed in the middle. He glared at them and then threw his arms up in exasperation as soon as he saw them, "It took you guys long enough!" he yelled.
"Yeah yeah, what do you have planned for us today?" Serafina asked as she rolled her eyes in response.
"You're going to love it!" he smiled as he stepped closer, "We're going to fight!"
Serafina cocked her head to the side with a raised brow, unsure if he was being serious or not. Even Rosalie looked at him slack-jawed. The two women looked at each other as they looked back at him.
"What do you mean you're going to fight?" Rosalie questioned.
"Exactly that," he looked at her as if she were crazy, "like a good old-fashioned brawl. What else would a fight mean?"
"No," Rosalie said, standing firm.
"Why do you want to fight me?" Serafina asked, putting a hand on Rosalie's shoulder to calm her down.
"Well, for one, it'd be fun. But two, it'll let you release some of your anger toward me. You'll like me after, you'll see," he answered, bouncing up and down as he began to pump himself up.
"No," Rosalie repeated.
Serafina smiled at Rosalie's reaction. But she was somewhat curious about how he thought this would be a good idea, "how exactly did you want to do this? Vampire rules or human rules?" she asked. Rosalie looked at her questioningly. Serafina shrugged.
"What are vampire rules?" Emmett asked as he stopped due to his confusion.
"It doesn't matter; I prefer human rules. If I were to go vampire rules, I would just cheat and kill them immediately." Serafina said, shaking her head.
"No, come on. I want to know. Just tell me," he said thoughtfully.
"It's more of a no holds barred type of fight. They rip limbs off, throw each other, bite, or use abilities. Things like that," Serafina explained.
"That sounds barbaric," Rosalie said, obviously unhappy.
"That sounds fun! Can our bodies withstand that kind of beating?" Emmett asked excitement building again.
"If you were to pull off a limb, it'd hurt for a bit, but as long as you put it back where it should be quick enough, it'd reattach itself. Throwing is more of a defensive move. It can disorient your enemy and give you the distance you need to prepare for your next move. Biting hurts like a motherfucker, especially since they tend to bite chunks off. But it's mostly the venom that causes an immense amount of pain. It even leaves scars. Abilities are just the icing on the cake if you have them. They can be defensive, offensive, or supportive." Serafina explained as soon as she saw Emmett's curiosity.
"Have you had these things happen to you?" Rosalie asked with worry. Her eyes trailed Serafina's figure as though looking for wounds.
"No, sweetheart, don't worry, it's never happened to me. I have an ability; I usually killed the others before they got close. But I did go out with the Volturi several times to take care of trouble. I saw how they fight. Much of it looked very painful, so I carefully ensured I didn't get mixed up in that type of fighting." Serafina told her. She then got a mischievous grin, "I can show you later if you like. Prove there are no scars." She winked.
Rosalie's breath hitched as she froze and looked at Serafina's grin. She was so happy she could no longer blush. But she was still embarrassed. She feigned anger, pushing Serafina away. But Serafina knew the truth, she knew she embarrassed her, and only laughed while allowing herself to be pushed away.
"Hey hey hey, enough flirting! Vampire fighting sounds brutal. I want to try. But I think Rosie would kill me if I did. So, we'll stick with human fighting," Emmett interjected. Both women became embarrassed, but Serafina decided to give it a shot. She nodded at Emmett in agreement, but Rosalie gave her a look of worry, shaking her head as in no.
"I don't like this. I don't think you two should do it. Emmett is freakishly strong! Carlisle says newborns are the strongest vampires, but he thinks Emmett's strength is equal to theirs." Rosalie said, shaking her head even more emphatically.
"He does!" Emmett stated proudly. Then he looked at Serafina, "he thinks that everyone gets enhanced with the change into a vamp. Some get abilities. But others get regular stuff enhanced too. He thinks his tolerance or restraint was enhanced, which is why he has such a high tolerance for the presence of blood. He thinks Esme's compassion was enhanced. My strength. Rosalie's beauty. Different things like that. Pretty neat, huh?"
"Very. And I'd believe it too; I mean, look at that face," Serafina said, staring at Rosalie. Rosalie smiled. She subconsciously raised her chin in self-satisfaction. She was enjoying the boost to her ego.
"I'll show you my strength too! Look!" Emmett said as he walked over to a boulder conveniently placed in the middle of their clearing. The boulder made it to his waist. He had to punch down, but it didn't stop his momentum as the boulder practically exploded from the impact.
"No!" Rosalie said again.
"It'll be alright," Serafina soothed, but Rosalie gave her an incredulous look, "I trust him." She shrugged.
Rosalie still wanted to argue, but she looked past Serafina to Emmett, who made cheering gestures behind her back. He had heard her too. She trusted him. Serafina didn't even realize she had said it. She was tying her hair up and out of her face walking away from both as she prepared herself for the scuffle they'd have. Rosalie bit her tongue but she still worried.
Serafina stretched but noticed Emmett hadn't gone over to get ready yet. She whistled to call him over, "Weren't you the one who wanted to fight?"
"I'm ready!" he said as he sped to her. "Just some light boxing, right?" he asked as he began practicing his footwork.
The two began throwing light punches. Nothing serious. The footwork was impeccable for both. They would throw taunts at each other for fun. Then the moves for both began to intensify without them realizing it.
"I didn't think you knew how to box; it's impressive," Emmett grinned.
"Please, with these good looks and raised by my father and older brother. Of course, they taught me to box," Serafina laughed in response.
Rosalie smiled at that. But it didn't make her feel too much better. She crossed her arms to hide her clenched fists as she watched them. At least they weren't aiming for each other. The fighting was mostly dodging. But as their fighting intensified, they began to land pulled punches on each other. It made her antsy, so she began to pace a bit. "When do you think you'll be done?" she asked.
Serafina couldn't ignore her, so she was going to answer her. She focused on Rosalie but didn't signal Emmett to stop momentarily. While she turned her face to Rosalie, Emmett had gone for a full force cross. The impact caused Serafina's face to crack as she was cratered to the floor. Emmett immediately pulled back the punch when he realized, but the damage had been done. Rosalie saw her mate on the floor with a crack in her face as she appeared somewhat dazed, and Rosalie panicked. She didn't even realize she had sped to Emmett and grabbed him. She tossed him as hard as she could, and he barreled through several trees with a yelp. She then knelt to check on Serafina, who had already recovered enough to witness Emmett being chucked into the woods.
"Are you okay?" Rosalie asked as she softly held her jaw on the side where she had seen the crack.
Serafina sat up with a shy smile, "I'm alright; I just got a little distracted. I'm sorry. But can I say something?"
"Sure," Rosalie said, not removing her hand from her face as she looked her over to ensure she was alright.
"I found that to be incredibly attractive, and I would very much like to kiss you right now," Serafina said honestly. The concern Rosalie showed her expressed how much she cared. She had even thrown her brother across the forest to protect her. She loved that she cared for her safety. She looked at Rosalie but switched from looking to her eyes and lips.
"Why don't you?" Rosalie began to joke but was immediately stopped by a pair of lips softly kissing her. She initially froze. But she found she didn't feel uncomfortable at all. She liked it a lot. She closed her eyes and not only accepted the kiss but also reciprocated it.
"Holy shit, that was insane! Did you see how far she threw me? I went pretty far. It hurt, but not that bad." Emmett rambled as he made his way back to them. He was dusting himself off. He only looked up as they were separating, both with giant smiles. He stopped, "wait, was that the first kiss? Aww! That's great!" Emmett walked over to them. Rosalie gave him an annoyed look but could now think clearly and knew he wasn't a threat, so she didn't react to his approach.
"That's none of your business Emmett," Serafina practically sang. She was still floating from her high from that kiss and never removed her eyes from Rosalie. Rosalie felt her eyes and looked back at her. A shy smile now replaced the annoyed look she had just given Emmett. She stood up and then helped Serafina stand.
"Oh, sorry about that hit, by the way," Emmett said to Serafina, "You didn't call a time out, so I just followed through. I stopped as soon as I felt that impact, though! I swear!" he tried to explain.
"No, I know, it's alright," she answered, finally looking at him, "how did you like that trip Rosalie sent you on?" she grinned.
"Not going to lie. That was pretty epic," he said excitedly, "She's not even as strong as me, but she threw me really far. And that was through all those trees! It made me think. What if I threw someone as far as I could? Like Alice? How far do you think she'd go? I wouldn't throw her through trees, though. Rosie!" he accused with a glare at his sister, "but I bet I could throw her home from here." He finished with a faraway look in the direction of the Cullen house.
"I didn't even realize I did it. Sorry, but I'm not sorry," Rosalie said with a shrug.
Emmett looked at her incredulously while Serafina chuckled and hugged her from behind. Rosalie melted into her hold as she gave him a condescending grin. Both women felt much closer than before now. He saw that they were but decided not to comment on it. Yet. He figured he'd make fun of them later and let them have this moment for now. But he still wanted to throw someone.
Serafina's grin disappeared as she rolled her eyes at him, "You can't throw either of us."
Emmett looked between them before settling on Rosalie, "You know it hurt quite a bit when you did it. I think it'd only be fair." He said, attempting to make himself look pitiful while rubbing his lower back as though he was still in pain.
Rosalie scoffed, "Did you think that would be an option? That either of us would let you? There's no guilt here. I'm not going to let you throw me as an apology. Stick to your original plan. Throw Alice. I bet she'd actually like it."
"You know, she probably would. And with her petite frame, you could probably throw her really far." Serafina thought out loud.
Emmett nodded at her seriously, "I could. We should do that. We should do that now. I'll go get her!" he said as he sped off.
Both women chuckled as they watched him leave, but then Rosalie turned in Serafina's arms so they could now face each other. They leaned in and gave each other a soft peck. Softly putting their foreheads together as they kept their eyes closed, "You know they're all going to come out for the Alice throwing and ruin this moment." Serafina whispered, causing Rosalie to chuckle.
"Then keep holding me until they do," Rosalie whispered back.
And Serafina did. They reluctantly separated when they heard their approach, but even then, Serafina held her from behind as they watched the fun the family was having. Jasper and Esme were trying to talk them out of throwing Alice. Alice reassured them it would be fine as she eagerly ran to Emmett to see how far she could go. Edward immediately called dibs on the next throw. Serafina and Rosalie just watched from a distance enjoying each other's presence.