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SKIN & BONES
ix. CARTOON CHARACTER
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THE FOLLOWING MORNING, BELLA and Edward entered the Cullen household with intertwined fingers and smiles plastered across their undead faces. They had undoubtedly spent the night together in their new cottage, which was needed after Rory absolutely obliterated her little sister in their fight.
"Wow, done already?" Emmett smugly greeted, a newspaper clad in his hands as he, Carlisle, and Rory sat at the table together. Each person had been reading their own thing. Emmett had a newspaper, Carlisle was reading some article on his iPad, and Rory was skimming through Twitter for her version of quick news.
"I told you they wouldn't take long," Rory commented without breaking her gaze from her phone. Jacob, who had been standing by the window, made a face at their words.
Bella shook her head, wondering aloud, "Where's Renesmee?"
"Rosie took her," Rory revealed with a subtle pout on her lips. She placed her phone onto the table and looked up at the married couple. "So... how much shit did you guys break last night?"
"None," Bella whispered, clearly lying. Everyone stifled a quiet chuckle as Bella's cellphone suddenly began to ring for what felt like the billionth time. Bella stared at the phone on the table beside Rory. "Is that Charlie?"
"He's been calling twice a day," Edward said. Jacob followed with, "He's in pretty rough shape."
"Eventually, we'll have to tell him you didn't make it," Carlisle added.
Rory's ears perked up. "Wait, what?" Rory asked.
"He needs to mourn, Bella," Edward told his wife.
Bella nodded. "Fine. We'll do it tomorrow." Then, she turned to exit the room.
"Hang on," Rory said, standing up. "You can't be serious. I survived the changing and I still have a pretty solid relationship with our dad. Why can't Bella do the same?"
Emmett shrugged. "I dunno," he admitted. "All I really know is I'm gonna miss this place."
"We always come back," Carlisle told his adopted son. "We always do."
Jacob turned around, eyebrows furrowed. "Wait... Nobody ever said anything about leaving," he defensively stated.
"Most people already think Bella's dead. We can't risk anyone seeing her," Carlisle explained.
"So you just... disappear?" Jacob queried. His eyes fell on Bella.
"Jacob, we don't have another choice," Edward argued gently.
"Wow, I must be chopping liver or something," Rory muttered. She sat back in the wooden chair. "Fine! Have it your way, assholes. But don't come crying to me when Bella has a hissy fit about missing Renée and Dad!"
Bella shot her big sister a glare. "It won't happen," Bella snapped.
Rory raised an eyebrow. "Do you really wanna pick another fight with me, sis?" she threatened.
"I'm being serious," Bella continued. "I'll be fine."
But Rory was the only person who knew Bella better than anyone, even Edward, and the two sisters knew for a fact that Bella was a big, fat liar.
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Apparently, not only was Bella Swan a bad liar, but she was also a horrible actress.
Rory stared at her little sister with a raised eyebrow, observing how Bella was accessorized with brown contacts. "Yeah, there's no way this is gonna work," Rory declared. She folded her arms over her chest. "I mean, seriously, you could've at least asked me to make Dad think you're a normal human."
"She's doing fine," Alice told Rory.
Jacob scoffed from the couch he sat on. "Yeah, for a cartoon character, maybe," he mumbled.
Everyone was a bit annoyed with Jacob Black at the moment—at least, more than usual. He had just revealed the world of werewolves to Charlie in order to explain that Bella was alive, just "going through some stuff." They had no idea what that was supposed to insinuate in the Sheriff's brain, but all they really knew was that he was going to show up at the Cullen household any minute and Bella still didn't completely have her thirst under control.
"Take a deep breath," Carlisle suggested. "It'll help with the thirst."
"Just don't forget to move your shoulders so it looks like you're breathing," Edward told his wife.
Rory took a step forward. "At least slouch a little bit," she added. "No one sits perfectly straight."
Bella paused, standing up suddenly. "Okay, I've got it," she hesitantly declared. "Move around, blink, slouch... Easy." Bella looked over at her sister as the sound of Charlie Swan's car pulled up in front of the home.
"Look, I'll be in the room if that eases your mind a little—" Rory had begun to say.
She was interrupted by Bella interjecting with, "No, that's okay. I don't need you to be there."
Rory narrowed her eyes at her sister, knowing this wasn't true. "Bella," Edward's voice came.
"No, I get it," Rory said. "Whenever you're done being mad at me for something I can't control, I'll be here." She turned around to leave the room. "As always."
Revised: January 8th, 2020