A cloudy day, and a busy one for the Cullens, who bustled around the house, some in outfits they had worn dozens and dozens of times before.
"Can I take a picture?" Celia's voice softly traveled through the living room, and Emmett and Rosalie turned to her. She held a camera in her hand and the two graduates shared a look before Emmett grinned and Rose smiled at her.
"Of course, Celia."
Celia gestured for the entire family to smush together, and they complied with the blondes wishes.
She grinned at the photo and walked over to the "older" children.
"Hey, I know you guys have done this before, but congratulations." She said, smiling at the two.
"Thanks, Celia," Emmett grinned, pulling the girl into a hug. She squeezed back tightly, and Emmett managed to handle her newborn strength.
Celia tapped her fingers on the counter. Her very own laptop sat in front of her.
"Ooh," she mumbled, clicking on an article. It had been an hour since the Cullens left for Emmett and Rosalie's graduation, and she knew it wouldn't be much longer before they were home.
She hummed to herself quietly until she heard a noise. Her head snapped toward the front door, which she heard shuffle open almost silently.
No heartbeats, so they were vampires. They knew what they were doing, but Celia could hear them. She stood silently and put her back against the wall, right next to the doorway to the kitchen.
She refused to breath or move until she saw a figure step by her. She grabbed the person's arm and yanked, flipping them over with her newborn strength.
She leapt on top of the person, only to be grabbed from behind and snatched off of them. The figure set her down and she finally got a look at the vampires.
"James? Victoria?" She questioned incredulously, whipping around to see Laurent wave with a smile.
Celia felt nervous for a moment, but she eventually let out a sigh of relief.
"You guys scared me. What are you doing here?" She asked, returning to her seat at the counter.
The three nomads let their eyes wander around the kitchen. James adjusted his leather jacket a couple times, and Celia thought it weird that he had no shirt under it.
Victoria pulled the stool next to Celia out and plopped down into it. She craned her neck to see the computer screen, and Celia flicked away orange curls from her face.
"What is this?" Victoria asked.
"Uh, this is a theory about a reality where we are characters in a book." Celia pointed. Victoria shared a look with her mate and their other member.
"Is it real?" She questioned.
"Well, I suppose it could be. I'm not really sure, yet." Celia answered, and eventually the three nomads surrounded her to look at the screen.
They were so caught up in a video on the possibility of dimension travel, they didn't even hear the Cullens pull in. They didn't see the panicked looks spread across the faces of the Cullens in the garage as they crept into the house, ready to defend their newest member against the intruders.
However, the family found Celia huddled up with three barefooted, oddly dressed vampires. Nomads.
All four heads snapped up at a small noise, and the three strangers spun around, crouching in defensive positions, which made the Cullen's do the same.
"Woah, hey," Celia gasped as everyone growled, "wait. These are my friends, I'm sorry I didn't mean for anyone to be startled." She explained gently, moving past her new friends and to Edward. She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. Even though everyone had-- for the most part-- relaxed, Edward stared at James with an expression Celia found hard to read. She knew, however, that he was remembering the night at the ballet studio. She squeezed him, careful not to hurt him.
It's not the same guy, Edward.
She thought, as obnoxiously as she could so he would listen to her thoughts.
His eyes flicked to hers.
"Perhaps we should take our leave." Laurent spoke suggestively. Before anyone else could speak, Celia spoke loudly.
"Yes! I actually think that's a great idea." She pushed the nomads out of the room, "I'm sorry, guys. Next time?" She asked hopefully. The three shared a look, concerned about why she was acting so odd, but brushed it off and smiled.
"See you, kiddo." James said, ruffling Celia's hair. A slightly twisted smile plastered her face as she thought about Sam.
The nomads we're gone just as quick as they'd showed up, and Celia turned and walked back to the kitchen sheepishly.
"I'm really sorry, I didn't actually know they were going to be coming." She scratched the back of her head. The Cullens shared looks and then broke out into smiles, all except Edward.
"Don't apologize, Ce. This is your house, too. We're very happy that you've made friends." Esme gushed.
"Yeah, especially vampire friends." Rosalie chimed. Celia smiled lightly, trying not to think about the wolves.
Celia sat in Edward's-- their room. She closed the laptop slowly and thought more about the theory she had read about earlier that evening.
"Edward?" She asked aloud. The man turned from his radio, which played soft music, and walked toward her.
"Yes, dear?" The man asked, sitting next to Celia on the day bed and gripping her small hand in his.
"Would you like to go somewhere new with me? Somewhere possibly crazy?" She whispered, and Edward swore his heart sparked to life at the sight of her twinkling eyes, mischief and excitement in her grin.
"I would like nothing more." He replied, leaning in slowly to press their lips together.
The pulled apart after a short moment and, oh, he made it so easy. He made trying to concentrate look like breathing after their kiss, when they were already in an unknown reality without a second thought.
"Holy shit." A voice whimpered, hand over their mouth. A blonde stared with wide eyes back at the couple of vampires.
"Celia, where are we?" Edward mumbled, shocked by how fast they got to a new reality.
"You, do you know who I am?" Celia asked gently, stepping toward the blonde girl.
She stranger nodded slowly, removing her hand from her mouth as her eyes flickered to Edward and back to Celia.
"You're here." She whispered, making Celia let out a surprised laugh, then a full grin.
"It's true!" Celia exclaimed, turning to Edward, "Are, are you the author?" Celia lowered her voice, taking another step toward the stranger who gulped and nodded slowly.
She was. She was the author of Celia's story and the creator of the girl.
I mean, I was. Am.