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SKIN & BONES
i. BUT DAD
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"YOU READ TOO MUCH."
Lorelai Swan peered over at her father. He sat on the living room couch, a can of beer clad in his calloused hands.
"So do you," stated the immortal 18-year-old. Her eyes skimmed the newspaper headline, the paper laying flat against the coffee table. "Murders, disappearances, possible work of a serial killer. Yet another victim found in a Georgetown Alley," she read aloud. She hummed. "The newspaper's starting to sound a lot like DJ Khaled."
Charlie gave his daughter a funny look. "DJ what?"
Snorting, Lorelai glanced back at the object she had been skimming—a pamphlet for a university in Seattle. "Oh, Dad," Lorelai teased, leaning into the back of the couch and putting her feet up on the corner of the table. "What will you do without me to make jokes about trendy things you'll never care about?"
The father chuckled at the thought. "I take it you loved the University of Seattle?" he queried.
Lorelai nodded. Ever since the entire fiasco regarding Lorelai disappearing for a whole month due to her unexpected death, she was longing for some normalcy in her life. Now that the Cullens were back in town, Lorelai had achieved that to an extent. However, she wanted more; therefore, her next great idea was to go back to school.
After all, Lorelai technically never attended college. She nearly dropped out of high school due to her eating disorder in the first place. Luckily, she still managed to graduate one year early. Now that she was practically a whole new person, Lorelai figured that getting her education on would be the right thing to do.
"Seattle was... great, actually," admitted Lorelai. "I'd fly out to other places to check out their schools, too, but someone's still mad at me for disappearing for a month to live in Italy." When Charlie shot a pointed look in her direction, Lorelai held her hands up in defense. "I'm just kidding, pops."
As she said this, Bella Swan entered the home. Charlie glanced back at the clock on the side table. "Four o'clock on the dot. That kid trying to brown-nose me or something?" interrogated Charlie while Bella sat on the other side of him.
"He has a name," Bella reminded her father.
"Yeah—tall, dark, and dead inside," mumbled Lorelai, her eyes sticking to the pamphlet in her hands to save herself from the tension that continued to grow between the father and daughter.
"Now, he's too punctual for you?" continued Bella, shooting her sister a little glare.
"Alright." Charlie loudly sighed, adjusting his sitting position. "You understand why you're being punished, right?"
"I know," Bella confirmed. "I put you through hell." Bella glanced over at her sister. "Why isn't she grounded anymore?"
"Because Dad loves me more. Plus you're the adopted one."
Before Bella could complain, Charlie interrupted, "Both of you put me through hell." Lorelai stuck her tongue out at Bella as if to cheer for victory. "But I have my reasons for grounding you longer, Bella. I just... I want you to get some separation from him."
Bella sighed. "Dad, there's nothing you can say. Edward is in my life now."
Charlie took a sip of his alcohol. "Yeah, I'm gathering that," he mumbled. "So... how about this? I'll make you a deal. You're not grounded anymore if you use your newfound freedom to see some of your other friends, too... like Jacob. He's going through a really tough time right now. His dad's really worried about him. I remember when that was you and your sister. You needed a friend. Jake was there."
Bella glanced over at Lorelai, almost confused as to what Jacob was struggling with. Lorelai just shrugged and mouthed, 'Puberty.'
Rolling her eyes at her childish sister, Bella stood up. "Alright, I'll hang out with other people," she decided before heading upstairs where Edward was waiting.
Charlie turned to his daughter, who peeked up at him with her darkened eyes from behind the pamphlet. "You know, you never denied the part where I said you loved me more," Lorelai joked in attempt to lighten the mood.
"I'd love you more if you got your damn feet off my coffee table."
"But Daaad," Lorelai dragged out, laughing as he hit her arm with the newspaper.
○ ○ ○
Jasper never stopped smiling when he was with Lorelai. It wasn't necessarily a big, cheesy smile, but rather a small curvature pulling on his pink lips. He believed she was beginning to notice.
His golden eyes locked with her blackened ones. "You should go hunting soon," Jasper mentioned, somewhat worried about her eyes that displayed her hunger.
Hesitation scratched her face. "I know, I know. But this is the closest I'll get to my natural eye color again, which means I can pass them off as my regular eyes," she excused without batting an eye. "Dad's always up my ass about my "colored contacts" obsession, you know."
Jasper didn't look convinced, causing her to add, "Don't worry. I'm not falling back into old habits." She paused and smiled at him, her hand intertwining with his larger one. "You smile a lot, you know."
It seemed that Jasper was the quickest to adjust to Lorelai's transformation. She liked to believe it was due to how he no longer needed to fear the thought of accidentally breaking her again.
Though she couldn't say the same for the rest of the Cullens, who had taken weeks to remember that she was one of them now. Carlisle had taken the longest to cope with her gruesome death. After all, Carlisle was practically her second father.
Lorelai stood in front of the police station where she had planned on meeting up with her sister and her father for their weekly dinners. Just because Lorelai couldn't live off of human food anymore didn't mean she couldn't pretend to eat and enjoy it.
"I have a lot to smile about," Jasper countered. "Aside from the fact that you ditched me for Seattle immediately after we were reunited, I'd say I'm a pretty happy man."
Lorelai snorted. "It wasn't immediately and you're just bitter because I wouldn't let you go to Seattle with me," she taunted. "You're so close to graduating for the billionth time! I'm not gonna let you suddenly fail high school for your delightful girlfriend."
"Fair enough," Jasper admitted. "You never did tell me about Seattle. Did you actually make any friends without me?"
She rolled her eyes at the jab, shrugging. "Uh, yeah, kind of." Jasper analyzed her curiously, unsure of how to go about her response. Just when he was about to ask her what she meant, Bella and Edward arrived at the police station.
"I know you know what she saw. Just tell me."
"It was nothing."
Lorelai's attention moved back to her boyfriend, puzzled. "Alice got a vision at school today," quietly informed Jasper. "Victoria's back."
She frowned. "And you didn't think to tell me?" Lorelai matched, suddenly tense. She relaxed her shoulders and attempted to calm herself down. Jasper squeezed her hand, sending waves of tranquility her way.
"We have it under control," Jasper assured her.
"I want to help," retorted Lorelai. "That bitch wanted to kill me and my sister."
Jasper was hesitant. He knew she didn't have much training or experience, but it didn't seem like she was going to back down. "...Fine," he replied. Pleased, Lorelai kissed his cheek as if to thank him.
Meanwhile, Bella was still trying to pry information out of Edward. "You looked worried," she continued. "Why would you be so worried if it was nothing?"
"Sorry, B, Jazz told me everything," Lorelai cut in. Immediately, Jasper and Edward eyed the youngest vampire carefully. What was she going to say? The truth? "Everyone's talking about how there was food in your teeth all day."
Bella rolled her eyes, allowing Edward to tell his lover, "Everyone just noticed how strange Alice is."
"I think that ship sailed long ago," murmured the human before deciding to drop the conversation. She would just have to try again later. Bella glanced inside the station. A middle-aged couple could be seen speaking with Charlie. "I wonder what happened."
"Their son, Riley Biers, went missing in Seattle over a year ago," Lorelai revealed, having used her superhuman hearing to eavesdrop... as one would. "The Seattle police department contacted Dad to see if he could help. Dad's doing what he can, but... it doesn't seem like things are working out very well. It's a wonder he even let me go to Seattle anyway."
With that being said, the same thought rushed into the minds of the three vampires. Edward, Lorelai, and Jasper exchanged glances—which Bella noticed in an instant. "What?" Bella demanded. "You know something about this?"
"We've all been worried about the disappearances," explained Jasper.
Lorelai nodded. "I tried to investigate a little, but..." She paused, shaking her head as a memory ached to overtake her mind again. "Anyway, if the situation gets worse, the Volturi will probably come by for a visit."
Distress clouded Bella's skies. "If they go to Seattle, they could come here," she realized. "They could see I'm still human."
"It won't get that far," Edward assured, causing Jasper to insist, "But we'll all go to Seattle if we deem it necessary."
With that being said, Charlie stepped outside with the couple following behind him. "I'll fax these down first thing," he informed before turning to his daughters. His eyes landed on their boyfriends. "Hey..."
Lorelai beamed at her father, always happy to spend time with him. "You ready for dinner?"
"...It is still just us three, right?" Charlie queried, glancing more at Edward than Jasper. Lorelai would've snickered right in Edward's face, but she chose not to.
"Jazz was just giving me some company since Romeo and Juliet were taking so damn long," Lorelai explained. Jasper kissed the side of Lorelai's head, not wanting to disrespect Charlie by kissing her on the lips in front of him. Then, he made his way down the steps toward Edward's Volvo.
Edward smiled politely at Charlie. "I was just dropping Bella off," he assured the man before walking down the steps. He paused halfway through to face the Swan family once more. "Bella, my parents wanted to remind you about the airline tickets you got for your birthday."
"What airline tickets?" Charlie wondered, glancing between his daughters and Edward.
"Round trip tickets to see Mom in Florida," Bella informed her father. "They gave me an extra one for Rory—"
"I don't want to see her," Lorelai interrupted, a bitter taste emerging on her tastebuds at the thought of the woman who sent her daughter away years ago. "After everything, she's the last person I want to talk to."
Charlie paused, not feeling the need to defend his ex-wife against his daughter. "Well, that was generous."
Edward nodded. "It expires soon, so you might want to use it this weekend," he added.
Lorelai squinted at Edward. He was trying to send Bella away, but why? Was it Victoria? Was she making an appearance this weekend?
"I can't just drop everything and go," Bella argued gently.
"Didn't you drop everything to go hang out with me in Italy?" Lorelai teased, to which Bella reached out and hit her sister's arm.
She was mostly just trying to manipulate her sister's decision. If this really was about Victoria, then Bella needed to be far away from her.
"It might be your last chance to see her before you graduate," Edward tried to reason.
"Might not be a bad idea," Charlie agreed with Edward, surprising his eldest daughter. "Get out of town for a couple days. Get some distance."
"Hm..." Bella hummed. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing Mom." She glanced at Edward. "As long as you use the companion ticket."
"Oh, God," Lorelai mumbled. "If you two try to fuck at our mother's house, I swear to—"
"Rory."
"But Daaad!"
Revised: January 6th, 2020