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BELLA MEANS BEAUTIFUL
IN THE WEEKS FOLLOWING HER BIRTHDAY, EDWARD HAD DROPPED TWO VERY LARGE BOMBSHELLS.
The first being that he was actively pursuing his human mate, a girl named Bella Swan.
And the second being that he wanted her to meet the rest of his family, tomorrow.
And mind you, he announced both of these bombshells with complete nonchalance, as if the situation was just that. Augustine would've been elated at the revelation that he, too, considered her family if it wasn't for the metaphorical bile that rose to her throat. Her excitement was pummelled to dust by complete terror.
The only other person in the room who was equally as unhappy about the situation at hand was Rosalie, a rather aggravated look upon her pristine face. "What part of 'this could end badly for all of us' did you not understand, Edward?"
From what the younger vampire gathered, there had been an accident in the school parking lot that put Bella Swan's life in danger. Edward reacted in time, using his anything but human strength to stop a vehicle from taking her life — and the human just wouldn't let it go. And what did this lead to? Edward outing their family's existence to her, rather foolishly.
However, the mate bond was a sacred thing to their kind, so it was no shock that the rest of the family was rather on board. Augustine dared to take a peek at Jasper, given that he was their newest vegetarian before she arrived, and found him with a stark grimace on his face while Alice reassuringly rubbed his arm.
At least he could go to school and tolerate the humans; Augustine couldn't remember the last time she interacted with one well. Then, she was reminded of her own shit luck with her own mate from a few weeks prior, and her mood soured even more. Her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth as her eyes wavered around the rest of the Cullens. Most were nodding, affirmative, and it led the ravenette to realize that yeah, this was actually happening.
Sparing another glance at the blonde beside her, she watched as Rosalie's eyes lowered slightly when Carlisle asked if it would be a problem. There was no room for argument, so she remained silent.
Augustine caught Edward's gaze, amber eyes radiating nothing but reassurance as he combed through her thoughts. Sometimes, she could feel him digging around, searching for something, but found she didn't really mind after a while. She only gave him a lopsided smile and inwardly declared, I'll try.
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Every interaction that Augustine had with a human since she'd been turned ended horribly, but given the amount of progress she had made while out in Forks, it seemed as though the entire family had so much faith in her — and that scared her to no end.
So, before anyone knew it, it was the day that Bella Swan would be properly introduced to the family. Esme and Carlisle were maneuvering around in the kitchen as Augustine watched, perched up on a kitchen counter as she swung her feet back and forth. She was more than encouraged to stay and meet the Swan girl, Carlisle assuring her that nothing would happen, but she had little choice in the matter anyway.
Emmett found his spot next to Esme, helping her prepare actual food that was supposed to mimic the dish from the cooking show that had been put on. It was utter normalcy, and to any onlooker they might've appeared to be just like any normal, human family. The facade was wrecked, however, by Rosalie's displeased face as she held a glass bowl in Emmett's direction.
"Is she even Italian?" Rosalie grumbled out, watching as Emmett placed the makings of a salad into the bowl she was holding. Augustine got an earful from the blonde last night about how reckless this whole situation was, and her grumpiness clearly showed by the way she held the bowl with a vice grip.
The vampire in question snickered. "Her name is Bella... she's Italian," he pointed out, as if the fact was obvious. He then looked pointedly at the youngest one among them, "unless you lied to me."
Augustine's hands were thrown up in the air. "It said so on the internet," she offered, dodging a stray piece of lettuce that the older boy threw in her direction with a laugh.
Her laugh was abruptly cut off by the distinct smell of human that wafted through the air. The girl's stomach churned, watching as the others also lifted their heads at the sudden smell. Their guest had clearly arrived, and Augustine instinctually wrapped her arms around her torso.
"Here comes the human," Rosalie teased, salad bowl still in hand as Esme dropped what she was doing with an eager smile on her face.
Augustine watched as Edward and a brunette girl timidly entered the space, the smell virtually intensifying the closer they got. Still, she wasn't about to ruin this for Edward, so she plastered on a smile that almost looked like a grimace if you stared at her too long.
Esme took charge immediately, approaching the girl with a warm smile. "Bella, we're making Italiano for you."
Edward quickly introduced Esme as his mother 'for all intents and purposes' first, given that Bella had already met almost everyone. The two exchanged brief words in Italian, much to Esme's amusement, before Edward locked eyes with the younger vampire sitting rather rigid on the counter. "And that's Augustine, our 'foster sister from Alaska'," he added, supplying air quotations as he said the phrase.
Edward had already given Bella the rundown of the younger vampire's situation when he first told her about his family, so seeing a completely new, yet teenage face in the home wasn't all that alarming.
But Augustine could tell that Bella felt just as awkward as she did, for an entirely different reason she supposed, but the timidness was clear as day. Through gritted teeth, the girl leaned forward with a, "apparently Bella means beautiful in Italian. I think I read that somewhere."
At the oddity of the phrase, Bella simply gave a small smile before Carlisle reached towards the dark haired vampire and squeezed her knee to applaud her efforts. "You've given us another excuse to use the kitchen again," he told the human girl.
Esme quickly added, "I hope you're hungry."
Bella was even quicker with a response, nodding. "Yeah, absolutely—"
"She already ate—"
At Edward's words, the glass bowl in Rosalie's grasp shattered almost instantly and the shards of glass hitting the floor echoed around the room. The noise was incredibly loud, making Augustine's head jerk away from the sound that seemed to reverberate painfully in her skull. She was already putting on such a brave face, but she was actively getting overstimulated by the sheer smell and the repetitive sound of Bella's heart pumping since the moment they arrived.
Jumping down from the kitchen counter, Augustine mumbled a small, excuse me, before leaving the room with quick footsteps that almost seemed like she was fully sprinting from the vicinity.
She made a mental note to apologize to Edward later, but she knew he must've heard it already, given the soft nod he sent in her direction that she saw from her peripheral.
The vampire just needed space to breath because that was a large baby step she took by just being in the room with the girl. Her feet had a mind of their own as she tried to wrangle herself together, leading her to a familiar place she hadn't been to in weeks.
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[ wyn's note ]
bella's met the cullens, and our girl augustine really and truly tried her best. this'll be a double update, so by the time you see this, the next chap will be out. and spoiler: our two mains are meeting face to face woop woop!)
all love! xx