After the whole thing, the days went by quickly. The graduation was upon them.
Before the day of Graduation and the after-party that Alice was putting up for the girls since she wanted it to be a surprise for Ashley and Bella, she sent them over to the Swan house to spend the night there.
Up until the point where they fell asleep they talked or gossiped about various events.
Bella told Ashley about how it all happened with Jacob, all the things he said. Ashley teased her and said that her theory was proven right. Bella had rolled her eyes and jokingly hit her. Then she told Ashley about the conversation she had with her mother.
Ashley nodded. "I'm surprised she told you, it's a hard time for her to get back to, considering everything she went through," Ashley said.
Bella bit her lip. "I get it, I'm surprised too but it really helped me put things into perspective, why she acts the way she does, it makes sense,"
Then, she gave Ashley a reluctant look. "Although I think she did get her wishes when she had you, I mean, she told me her dream was to sit in a front porch with Emmett by her side, both gray-haired and their grandchildren running around, even though she won't get old and get grey hair I think the rest of her dream can come true,"
Ashley sighed. "I know, believe me, I want her to be happy. I know that the stuff she went through was incredibly hard and she wants me to have the best life, especially because she couldn't but also because she's my mom. I know we're not really related but she's my mom, you know? She cared for me for all those years, loved me. She really is my mother and in exchange for all she's done for me, I want to live a full life of happiness, just like she has always wished for me,"
Bella nodded at her friend. "Yeah, I think so, although I think your biggest problem is to find a groom that she won't scare away, or possibly kill," Bella joked and Ashley laughed.
"Yeah, but I kinda think we got that covered,"
Then the conversation switched over to a subject that was bound to be talked about on a teenage girl's sleepover, boys.
Bella told Ashley about Edward's marriage proposal to her and Ashley lost her mind. "He did WHAT?" she exclaimed and as Bella nodded she couldn't contain her laughter. "Oh my god, I mean, I knew he was an old soul and all that, but marriage? Jesus, you've just turned eighteen Bells,"
Bella nodded. "I know, but he says it's his condition for turning me, he says he wants me to experience most if not all the human experiences a human should go through before I turn," she said.
Ashley furrowed her eyebrows. "And that is marriage?" she asked. "I mean when you turn you guys will have an eternity to get married, hell, you can do it multiple times, look at my parents or Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasp or my grandparents. My parents renew their vows every twenty-five years and then go on a honeymoon and all that,"
"Really?" Bella asked.
Ashley nodded. "Yeah, I'm glad they do, vampire or not, believe me when I say this, you do not want to be around my parents when they get all romantic and shit," she said and both girls burst into laughter.
Then Ashley asked Bella what the marriage meant and all the 'human experiences' Bella should go through which landed the topic on sex.
"No, he won't go further than kissing, he says he wants to be married to me when we do it," Bella said.
Ashley took a deep breath. " I don't even care that he's my uncle when I'm saying this, that boy needs to get laid, ASAP, we're living in the 2000s, no one waits for marriage to have sex, they wait for the right time and the right person, being married to someone doesn't automatically make it right,"
Bella sighed. "I know, I agree but he doesn't and I need to respect his wishes, so, I guess I'll wait," she said, then she turned to Ashley with a sinister smile. "Does that mean, uhm, you and Paul, you know?"
Ashley shook her head. "God, no! Uhm, we haven't yet," she said. "There has been too much stuff going on, we never had the time and I want it to be natural when it's the right time, you know?"
Bella nodded. "Yeah, I get it, plus I think that's how both Edward and I want it to happen too, I guess,"
"Yeah, and, I don't know, Paul and I, we talked, and I asked him to slow things down a notch, you know, so much happened and we tried to act as if nothing happened and moved too fast, my hopelessly in love Uncle Eddy gave me great advice about it actually and, I don't know, we'll see,"
Then they talked about the university applications, the ones they heard back from. Bella got an acceptance from the University of Alaska Southeast, and even though she didn't want to attend a university that'd be a good cover for her once she was turned. However, Edward wanted to hear back from Dartmouth, given if she got accepted it might be a delay.
Ashley had almost applied to all good schools in Washington but following her parents' advice, she also applied to the schools with better architecture programs. And, most of them happened to be far away from Forks. Most of them were either in New York or Texas.
Plus, since the time they spent on Ithaca, she fell in love with the program at Cornell University. It was roughly a five-hour distance between Cornell and Dartmouth and if she and Bella went there then the family wouldn't have to fall apart much.
The family could live in Hanover, Ashley would move into the dorms of the university and they'd be able to see each other on weekends and holidays.
But, it would be too away from Forks, which meant that it was too far away from Paul.
And Ashley still hadn't heard from those schools so it still wasn't decided. After that, the girls talked for about an hour before eventually falling asleep.
"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like astronaut, president, or in my case, princess. When we were ten, they asked us again, we answered rock star, cowboy, or in my case, a gold medalist. But now that we're grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how about this? 'Who the hell knows?' This isn't the time to make hard-and-fast decisions, this is the time to make mistakes, take the wrong train, and get stuck somewhere. Fall in love, a lot. Major in philosophy, because there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind, and change it again, because nothing's permanent. So, make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask what we want to be we won't have to guess. We'll know,"
Jessica gave an amazing graduation speech. It was funny and it was true. Ashley felt like it was a great way to finish high school and start her new life with Jessica's anecdotes. Although she could see the change in Bella on some parts of the speech she felt like it was a talk for later.
Her whole family was there.
Granted her parents, uncles and aunt were 'graduating' with her and her grandparents were there to see 'all of their children' graduate, it was a remarkable moment for Ashley.
She had attended other graduations of her family when she was little, but now that she was with them, and she was graduating from high school for real, it was exciting.
When the principal called her name her family was the loudest to clap and cheer as Ashley couldn't help but blush and smile.
Once the ceremony was over Alice dragged Ashley and started to take a million photos. With her parents, with her uncles, grandparents, the whole family, Bella, her human friends. By the time Alice decided it was enough Ashley was sure the memory card was full.
"Ashley, honey, we're so proud of you!" Rosalie exclaimed as she hugged her daughter properly. Then her dad hugged both her and her mom, even lifting them to air a bit.
"I can't believe you're all grown up now, wow," Emmett exclaimed.
"Emmett, buddy, slow down with the excitement, people can still hear us," Jasper commented quietly, but he was happy too. The Cullens graduated from high school all the time, but this was a special one, and one they'd never forget.
The party was on.
Since the Cullens were the mysterious bunch of the school, actually almost the whole town, everyone was excited to see their house. No one wasted time coming over to the party.
There was energetic music playing in the background, good decorations, party food, and drinks. Alice really did go all out. Teenagers were everywhere, dancing, talking, or checking the house out.
Ashley was with Jessica and Angela when Bella finally showed up. The girls hugged Bella. "Yay! You made it!" Angela exclaimed. Bella smiled and nodded.
"Hey! So, what did you guys think about my speech?" Jessica immediately asked. "Too easy-breezy? Too self-helpful? You hated it?"
Bella shook her head. "No, I think you pretty much nailed it," she replied.
"Finally, thanks Bella, she's been asking that to everyone and just can't seem to understand she did amazing," Ashley said as she rolled her eyes playfully.
Jessica giggled. "Okay, okay, I know, it's like I was born to lead, right?" she asked.
The girls smiled and nodded as Angela jumped with excitement. "Ugh, I love this song! Let's go," she said and dragged Jessica back to the dance floor.
Ashley turned to Bella. "I know right? It's crazy," she said and Bella nodded.
"Yeah, uhm, I never thought I'd see your house, this, uhm, crowded," she mumbled as she looked around.
Ashley nodded. "Yeah, it's strange, but auntie made it for us, so we should try to have fun,"
"You're right, she did all this work for us, the least we could do is maybe try the food and the drinks?" Bella asked Ashley.
She nodded and then they made their way to the table. "Where's your family by the way? I haven't seen any of them since I came," Bella said.
"Oh, well, Uncle Jasp went hunting a couple of hours ago, to you know, be comfortable. Auntie is getting ready, she wants to have a grand entrance or something, I don't really know. My parents were checking to see if anything's spiked or not and Eddy was brooding in his room. No one, except for auntie, is really particularly happy about everyone here so they're trying not to get the mood down I guess, oh and also, my grandparents are in their room away from all the teenagers,"
Bella nodded as she ate some of the things on the table. She was looking around when Ashley handed her a cup. "Who are you looking for?" Ashley asked her.
Bella shrugged. "Uhm, Jacob," she admitted. "I invited him, before all the stuff and now I wonder if he's going to show up, you know since you invited Paul and all,"
Ashley bit her lip. "Oh, yeah, uhm, I don't know, Paul didn't tell me anything about it, but he texted me saying he was on his way and he's pretty close, so I guess we'll see soon," she said. Bella nodded uncomfortably.
Right then, as if it was the cue, four guys with black t-shirts and short hair walked into the house, looking around. Jacob was the first one to spot the girls and as they made their way, the girls left the food and the drinks back on the table.
As soon as Paul saw Ashley his face lighted up.
Paul grabbed Ashley and gave her a kiss on the cheek while the remaining four people looked at each other awkwardly. "What are you doing here?" Bella asked and ended the silence. Ashley looked at Paul then at the two of them.
"Okay, I guess that's our cue, have fun," she said as she grabbed Paul's hand and dragged them away.
She could feel they were going to have a conversation and she didn't want to be there for a couple of reasons. She didn't want her mood to get down, she wanted to have fun with Paul and she knew it wasn't her business so she wasn't going to stick her nose in it.
"Good call babe, I didn't wish to be in the middle of the drama," Paul said. Ashley smiled in response. "By the way, I know we haven't talked about it, but I got you a present," Paul whispered to her ear since they were by the speakers and it was hard to hear.
"What?" Ashley said, signaling she didn't hear anything so Paul made them walk the other way.
They ended up in Ashley's room. "First time in your house and you've already gotten me to your bedroom," Paul joked and Ashley rolled her eyes.
She crossed her arms, "What were you saying?" she asked.
"Oh," Paul said as he took something out of his pocket. "I couldn't help myself, today was a big day, and I felt to give you something, I know that your family probably got you way nicer stuff than this but I wanted to be a part of it,"
"Paul," Ashley said as Paul placed the necklace on her hand. It was a crescent moon.
"It's a moon, you know, like representing me, but also your family, since vampires are associated with coming out at night and all, anyway, I love you, for who you are, and you are a part of them and I didn't want you to hide it or be uncomfortable without it so I got this for you so it kind of represents the two parts of you, you know?"
Ashley looked at the necklace and then back at Paul being speechless.
"Oh, you hate it, right? I shouldn't have done it, Quil and Embry said it was too much, but no, I went there, it's too soon, oh god, uhm, well, it was that one time when I should've listened to those idiots," Paul started rambling but Ashley chuckled and shut him up by kissing him.
The truth was, Ashley loved the necklace. It was beautiful and elegant. Ashley knew that it was Paul's way of telling her he was okay with everything, that her family were vampires, his sworn enemies. It meant everything to her.
"Paul, I love it," she said once they ended the kiss.
A stupid grin appeared on his face. "Yeah?" he asked.
Ashley nodded. "Yeah, and I love you," she replied.
"I love you," Paul said and leaned forward to kiss Ashley.
As their kiss started to get heated Ashley's door was knocked heavily, causing them to part. "Yo, wolf boy, get out of there now, we gotta talk,"
It was Emmett.
" Oh my god," Ashley whispered, it was her Dad. Usually, it would only be phone calls, but no, now he was on the other side of the door, which he could break easily and he was a vampire so he heard everything. It was embarrassing.
Once they opened the door Ashley could swear her cheeks were red as a tomato. Her parents were on the other side of the door. Her dad looked kind of mad and her mother's face was unreadable.
"Okay, I'm not going to comment on what was happening here, yet, because something came up and we need to talk," Emmett said as he eyed Paul.
Ashley furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean something came up dad?"
Emmett rolled his eyes. "Alice had a vision, everyone's upstairs, including the rest of the, uhm, wolves," he said.
It didn't take long for them to go to where the rest of the family and wolves were. When they entered the room Alice was telling everyone about her vision. "They'll be here in four days,"
Carlisle was walking up and down in worry. "This could turn into a bloodbath," he commented as he leaned to the table Bella and Edward were sitting on.
"Wait, what could turn into a bloodbath?" Ashley asked as they walked inside and stood between Edward and Quil. Her parents were on her left side and Paul was on her right side.
"Seattle," Edward murmured to her and Ashley nodded.
Then Edward turned to Alice. "Who's behind it?" he asked.
"I didn't see anyone I recognized, maybe one," Alice said.
Edward furrowed his eyebrows. "I know his face, he's local, Riley Biers," he paused, "He didn't start this,"
While the two were talking the wolves were looking at them, trying to figure out the situation. "Whoever did, is staying out of the action," Alice replied.
"They must be playing with the blind spots in your vision," Carlisle said.
"Either way, the army's coming, and there aren't enough of us to protect the town," Jasper interjected, looking at his family.
That was the breaking point of the wolves, they were listening to the conversation, trying to follow it but there was too much unknown information. "Hold up, what damn army?" Jacob breathed out in frustration.
"Newborns, our kind," Carlisle was fast to reply.
"What are they after?" Embry asked.
Jasper looked at Alice as she took a deep breath before answering. "They were passing around Bella's scent, a red blouse," Alice replied, immediately earning a look from Bella.
Things were starting to fall into their pieces.
"They're after Bella? What the hell does this mean?" Jacob asked, fully facing the Cullens.
"It means an ugly fight, with lives lost," Carlisle answered. With his answer, all the wolves exchanged a look.
"All right, we're in," Jacob said.
Bella was fast to reject it. "No, you'd get yourselves killed, no way," she spat.
"I wasn't asking for permission," Jacob shot back.
"Edward?" Bella pleaded.
He looked at him then back to Bella. "It means more protection for you,"
Carlisle turned to Paul. He knew from Bella and Ashley that Paul had a higher position within the pack. "Paul, do you believe Sam would agree to an understanding?"
Paul looked at Ashley, her parents then at his brothers, and finally looked at Carlisle. "As long as we get to kill some vampires,"
"Jasper?" Carlisle said turning toward him.
Jasper looked at the wolves up and down. "They'll give us the numbers, newborns won't know they even exist, that'll give us an edge,"
Carlisle nodded. "We'll need to coordinate,"
Bella stood up and walked in Carlisle's way. "Carlisle, they're gonna get hurt,"
"We'll all need some training," he replied instead and turned to the wolves. "Fighting newborns requires knowledge that Jasper has, you're welcome to join us,"
Jacob nodded. "All right, name the time and place,"
"Jake, you don't know what you're getting yourself into," Bella said, directly looking at Jacob.
"Bella," Jacob started but Paul couldn't take it anymore, so he interrupted.
"Look, I don't care what you think of us or how much you uplift your precious vampires but we, we can take care of ourselves, hell, we can do more than that. Our tribe has survived years thanks to people like us and we're not afraid. We're not just some useless puppies that run around, you've never seen us in action and you don't know what the hell you're talking about so I suggest you shut the fuck up. We don't your or anyone else's permission to fight vampires, especially if it's on our land. This is what we do, who we are, so suck it up,"
Everyone was taken aback by his sudden outburst but really, who could blame him?
If the wolves weren't as strong as they claimed to be, how could their tribe survive for so long? How could they take down Laurent? How did they take down countless vampires in the past? They were who they were for a reason and even the Cullens knew that that's why they always thought of them as possible threats.
Bella gulped, not being able to respond to Paul. She looked at Edward and then to Ashley for some help. Ashley sighed and took a step forward, lightly touching Paul's shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"You should be happy, Bella, look at us, all working together, you are the one who wanted us to get along, remember?" Jacob smirked at Bella.
Ashley sighed at Jacob and turned around. She and Paul went back downstairs. "My party mood's all down now," she mumbled.
Paul grabbed her hand and turned her around. "I know, babe, I'm sorry," he said.
Ashley shrugged. "It's not your fault, it's not like you are the one bringing all of this upon us,"
They got to the party but it was still crowded and full of teenagers so they went to the one place she was sure no one else was, the garage. "Wow," Paul had exclaimed once they got in, eyeing all the cars.
"I know, I know," Ashley mumbled as she hopped onto the counter.
Paul nodded as he turned to his girlfriend. "Sorry, just never this many cars together in real life," he said.
Ashley smiled. "It's okay," she replied.
Then she put her hand inside her pocket and pulled the necklace out. "Can you put it on me?" she asked.
Paul nodded and she turned her back to him. He carefully put on the necklace then he sighed. "What do you think?"
Ashley furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"
Paul shrugged, "You know, the whole battle thing, aren't you freaked out? Or what I said to Bella, aren't you mad?"
Ashley sighed. "I think I'm getting used to the idea of both of my families fighting, plus I knew uncle Jasper's history, and if someone is attacking us it's only logical to fight back if the enemy only understands violence. Also, Paul, I know the pack's purpose, you guys are supposed to be fighting them, that's the whole reason you shifted, just because I don't like it doesn't mean it's not going to happen, so I'm trying to be okay with it,"
"Also, about Bella, I think she needed to hear that, I don't know why but she pictures you guys as weak, I know that my family is powerful but so are you guys. I know from what my uncle told me, and the newborns, they're dangerous Paul, really powerful, they're not to be underestimated and I think both of you stand a better chance if you stand together against them," she added.
Paul nodded. "You know, you're amazing," he finally said. Ashley smiled as she looked at him. "Most girls would probably lose their minds, finding themselves in the middle of something like this, but you, you're amazing,"
Ashley laughed. "Yeah well, I am, glad you know it," she replied and leaned on for a kiss.
Of course, Paul didn't reject and leaned forward. He was slow to kiss her, keeping in mind what they talked about a week ago, even though things in her bedroom got heated. He was letting Ashley have control.
They broke apart with a cough.
Rosalie was standing at the door, a faint smile on her lips. "Your friends are leaving to talk to Sam, thought you should know,"
Paul nodded. "Okay, thanks," he mumbled. Then he turned to Ashley. He quickly kissed her cheek, wished her goodnight, and walked out.
Rosalie crossed her arms as a smirk covered her face. She upped her left eyebrow playfully as she eyed Ashley.
"Mom, don't give me that look," Ashley pleaded, hopping off from the counter.
"What look? I'm not giving any looks," her mother replied.
Ashley rolled her eyes. "Oh, you so are,"
"So, what's going on upstairs?" she asked her mom.
"Expectedly, Carlisle and your father are breaking the party apart, I don't think we can last any longer, Edward's up with Bella, they are arguing,"
Ashley nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good call, not even I'm in a party mode anymore," she replied. "What are they arguing about?"
Rosalie shrugged. "What do you think honey? Bella's mad Edward let wolves join,"
She rolled her eyes. "I'm glad they joined, that means more protection for the both of you," she said.
Rosalie sighed. "Ashley, I promise you, we'll all be just fine, no one's going to get hurt baby," she said as she embraced Ashley in a hug.