"Jace?" A voice said to me. My eyes opened. Carlilse's face was in front of me, dressed with concern. I blinked.
"What?" I sat up abruptly. My body lay along a maroon couch, my legs stretched to the other arm of it.
"Are you alright?" Carlilse asked me, his eyebrows etched together and his hand reaching for my arm. I was confused.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I gaped at him. "What happened?" There was movement behind me.
"Can vampires get concussions?" Leah's voice belled behind me, and I looked back at her to see how close she was. She was leaning over the back of the couch, her face inches from mine.
"Oh!" I gasped and stood up beside Carlilse. As I stood, I looked to see not just Leah and Carlilse, but Esme, Seth, Jacob, Renesmee and Edward too, all looking at me. I glanced around the room, deeply confused now.
"Where are we? Why's everyone here?" My eyes turned to Leah as she spoke.
"We're at my house. Nessie called Carlilse." Leah explained, taking a few steps towards me.
"You fainted?" Carlilse asked me, seemingly just as confused as I was.
"I did?" I don't recall fainting. But then again, I had woken up.
"Vampires don't faint." I mumbled in confusion as I looked down at my hands. I wasn't human.
"No, but you did!" Seth laughed, despite the mood of the room. "Super powers! Emmett was not kidding!"
"What? She did that?" Edward whipped his head to Seth. Seth nodded, an ear to ear grin on his face.
"It was scary, but she totally saved the day. Way to go, Jace." Seth gave me a fist bump- I gave him a semi hesitant one back.
"Claire was hanging from Sam's cliff- she almost died. Jace saved her using her gift." Edward told Carlilse, answering some unspoken question.
"Incredible. How did you do that?" He turned to me now, his face in wonder.
"I- don't know. Claire was in danger and it just happened? Why are you all here?" I was interrupted.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Leah asked me, at my side now.
"Um.." I couldn't think straight with her standing so close to me. I cleared my throat, hoping to clear my butterflies away.
"I remember..." I thought about it for a second. "Holding Claire. She was clutching to me and Quil took her."
Leah nodded. "And then you collapsed. You basically passed out. Do you remember that?" She asked me, overbearingly serious, her face just a short distance from mine. Her eyebrows etched together with worry and her mouth was in a hard line, looking into my eyes like I was a small child in need of protection.
I shook my head slightly, trying to shake away what I was feeling. "No, I don't remember." I mumbled.
I blinked and stepped back. I wouldn't be able to answer all of their questions if I could feel the warmth emanating off of her. Her proximity was intoxicating.
"Are you alright?" Leah's face cringed- almost in pain- hurt- for half a second and then went back to being concerned. Her arm reached an inch like she was going to reach for me, and as if automatically changing course it fell back at her side.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little disoriented." I smiled at her softly, wanting to reassure her.
"Disoriented?" Carlilse said, doctor mode. "Dizziness, lightheadedness?" His hands held each other in a fist, I felt like I was in his office getting an examination. I nodded.
"No just- tired. Like I... woke up from a nap. Time is thrown off." I looked at him as his eyes scanned my face, incredibly confused. I let out a sigh. "I feel exhausted."
"Physically?" Carlilse asked, a marble line in between his eyebrows. I stood perfectly still, paying attention to my body. I nodded.
"No. Physically, I can throw a boulder. But I feel like I just took a really hard math test- it's hard to think clearly. But- why's everyone here? I'm fine." I glanced around the room again. They each had nooks and lines of worry on their faces.
Esme came from behind me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, running her hand up and down my arm.
"We were worried, honey. When Renesmee called Carlilse and said you'd fainted, well that's not exactly normal for us. It sounds like you overextended yourself, dear."
"The fact that you fainted at all- well that's not something that happens among our kind. Using your gift shouldn't exhaust you like that." Carlilse spoke, adding to Esme's input.
"Perhaps not physically, but we're capable of mental exhaustion, Carlilse. She seems fine." Edward said, particularly listening to my thoughts. He had a small smirk on his lips. I glared at him.
Don't say a word. I thought to him, knowing he knew exactly what I was thinking about. He nodded slightly- you wouldn't be able to tell he was nodding. I took that as an agreement.
"I think she just needs some down time." Esme said, smiling at me and squeezing my shoulder.
I gave her a gentle smile, and laid my head on her shoulder, closing my eyes. I didn't feel like doing this right now. I wanted to sit still with my eyes closed for a while- take a pretend nap.
"You need to rest." Leah said. I opened my eyes to see her leaning against the door across from me, her arms crossed across her chest and an unreadable expression in her eyes, I couldn't touch what it was. Her face wasn't in the serious structure it was now- just deliberating. She glanced between Carlilse and me, to Esme's hand on my shoulder. I wondered what she was thinking.
"Let's head home, shall we?" Esme said, laying her head onto mine for a moment.
I lifted my head up and looked at Leah. Her head was shifted down, her eyes to the floor. I couldn't read her expression from the angle her head was.
I was tired, but I didn't want to leave. I wanted to lay back on the couch and pretend to sleep. It was silly, but I wanted to spend more time with her.
"Actually, Quil wants to speak with Jace later, after Claire is settled." Edward spoke. We met eyes.
Thanks.
He did the slight nod again in acknowledgement.
"You can stay here until then, if you want to." Leah said then, her eyes no longer shifted at the ground, her head held high now.
Butterflies filled my stomach everytime she spoke to me. I swallowed, hoping to ease them. I nodded at her with a small smile.
"Thanks." I said.
"Well, Love, we're going to go home. Please rest when you can alright? And be home soon?" Esme spoke to me, her hands running through my hair and her palms holding my chin for a moment, her voice filled with care. I smiled at her, a genuine smile and nodded.
"I will, Esme. Thank you." I embraced her fully as she held me for a few seconds, and that hole I had, that missing part of me that had been gone since my parents died, was filled for just a moment.
She squeezed me tight and pulled away, giving me one last stroke of my cheek.
"I gotta head out too, Mom wants me to help her take some food back to the house for Billy and Charlie." Seth said. He gave me a fist bump.
"What you did was so cool, Jace." He grinned as he left out the door.
"Please call if there's any complications?" Carlilse said, leaving after placing a hand on my shoulder.
Renesmee was the last one to leave.
"Don't ever do that again, okay? You scared me." She said, giving me a hug.
"I'll try my best. Talk to you later?" I said to her. She nodded and just with her eyes, glanced in the direction of Leah. Her hand reached my face.
Spill the beans later, mkay?
I laughed. "Bye Nessie."
She smiled as she left.
Leah was now standing parallel to the door after getting out of the way for everyone to leave, and we were the only ones in the house. Butterflies- no, a stampede of buffalo swarmed my stomach. Alone in a house with Leah. Damn.
She stood still, one arm clutching the other, giving me a grin.
"You can rest on the couch, if you'd like. Would you like to watch some TV- water? Oh wait-" She laughed freely. My own breathy laugh escaped my mouth.
"It's okay, actually- can I have a tour?" I asked, looking around the living room. It looked much bigger without a bunch of people in it.
Of course, the main piece- the maroon couch that sat in the middle of the living room, with a nightstand on each side, fitted with two creme colored lamps that lit the room nicely. A coffee table sat in front of it, and then a TV mounted on the wall.
Pretty maroon curtains that matched the couch decorated the windows, and metal flowers decorated the walls.
"Of course, uh, well, this is the living room." Leah said, gesturing to the room.
I nodded. Walking around the room, I examined the pictures that were placed neatly on the walls.
One, framed with a golden casing stood out to me.
"Is this you when you were little?" I asked, carefully tracing the frame with a delicate finger.
"Oh, yeah. Heh. I was seven." She said, walking over to see it closer.
You could tell it was her- the same face structure, just with baby fat- her hair half the length it was now, at her shoulders. She was on the beach in a black bathing suit with a man holding her to his side, smiling with a fish in his hand. She was looking up at him, laughing.
"Who is this?" My finger traced the man's face.
It was silent for a moment.
"That's my dad." She said. I took my eyes off of the picture and looked at her. She had a small smile that didn't reach her eyes and feeling my gaze, she looked at me.
"He died 10 years ago, of a heart attack." She glanced back at the picture.
"I'm sorry. Do you miss him?" I asked. She nodded.
"Everyday." Her voice wasn't solemn, but she wasn't smiling. Her eyes looked far off in another time.
And then her stomach growled. I burst out laughing.
Leah POV
She was laughing, her torso rolled over her body, the sound of bells escaping her. I started laughing too, in response to her.
"Are you-" She giggled. "Are you hungry?" I grinned at her.
My stomach growled again. "It sounds like it." She giggled even harder, her teeth showing, her chin raised.
"Is that funny?" I asked, my cheeks hurting.
She nodded, unable to speak, giggling hysterically.
I was in hysterics too then, confused but still laughing regardless.
"What's so hilarious?" I asked, hardly able to breathe.
"Oh-" She tried to stop. "I'm sorry! I'm tired-" Another giggle.
I stood there, giggling in harmony with her- mesmerized. She was so beautiful with such a large smile on her face.
"Where's the kitchen?" She asked in between hysterics.
I pointed to the room to the right with an open archway.
As little fits of giggles came out of her, she flitted to the kitchen, opening cabinets. I was in just a moment after her.
"What're you looking for?" I asked. She stood on her tippy toes now, reaching for something on the top shelf.
Her fits turned to a smile- humming a melody under her breath and searching through my cabinets.
"I'm fixing you dinner." She jumped up with no effort, grabbing a box of noodles.
"Oh, you don't have to do that. You need to rest after what you just did."
"It's okay, I actually haven't cooked in a long time, so I don't mind . Do you like spaghetti?" She found the marinara sauce in the pantry, and the hamburger meat in the fridge within moments.
I was hungry. I actually hadn't eaten all day- I'd been too preoccupied with her in my head. I'd forgotten to eat altogether after being so anxious to see her.
"Spaghetti's good. Thanks." I said. I leaned against the archway, just watching the show. Seeing her search for items idly was entertaining- adorable even. It was something I could get used to.
"How come you didn't eat at the bonfire?" She asked me, getting water to boil in the pot, starting the stove.
"Just didn't get around to it, I guess." I said to her, smiling.
She put her neat hair up in a high ponytail, it bouncing around as she moved around the kitchen. She worked fast, cleaning and cooking in a swift motion from one thing to another.
"Do you like cooking?" I asked. She had noodles in the pot now, putting the hamburger meat in a pan. She nodded.
"I do. Or, I used to. I usually cooked for my brother, but we often just stuck with ramen and microwavable meals." She grinned. "Not a very good meal plan, if you ask me. I taught myself how to cook after two months of hot dogs." I chuckled at her response.
"What was your favorite meal?" I asked her, moving to lean against the table. I wanted to be at the counter, but I thought against it so not to get in her way.
"I loved tacos, and anything to do with basil. I made some pretty good ones too, I'll make them for you another time."
I smiled to myself. Another time. So there would be more of this? I hoped so.
"What about you, what foods do you like?" She asked me, browning the hamburger meat and stirring the noodles around.
"I really like spicy food. Hot chips, spicy chicken, hot sauce. My mom makes this spicy lasagna that's really good."
I sat down where I could see one side of her face, not wanting to lose sight of her.
Her nose crinkled and she cringed. I laughed.
"What?"
"I couldn't handle spicy food when I was human, it just burned my tongue off." She spoke in distaste. I playfully scoffed at her.
"Pfft, wimp." I teased. She looked over at me, glaring. I grinned.
"Hey, remember I'm cooking for you right now. Who knows, I could poison you and you wouldn't even notice." She teases back.
"Fair point."
She continues the hamburger meat, draining the grease from it.
"I noticed it's only really your scent that's regular here. Do you live alone?" She asked me, adding the sauce to the hamburger meat now.
I nodded. "Pretty much. Seth stays here sometimes, but he's usually at Mom's eating her food. Mom lives with my stepdad, Charlie." She nodded.
"You have this whole house to yourself? Doesn't it get lonely?"
"Sometimes. I'm never really here though, usually only to sleep. I'm always out doing stuff for Jacob."
"How do you eat?" She asked.
"I usually just make a sandwich." She scoffed.
"That's a crime." She put a plate together, placing it in front of me.
"From now on, I'm your personal chef." She put her hands into fists at either sides of her hips, a pride stance, beaming at me.
"Dig in." She cleaned up and washed dishes as I ate.
"You don't have to do that, I can clean." She nodded.
"No, it's okay. I like doing it. It feels human."
"Human?"
"I mean, there's not much to do as a vampire other than... Be a vampire. We don't eat, so there's not any dishes to wash. This was a regular thing that I did as a human." I nodded, it making sense.
"Now eat." She demanded, smiling.
Without another thought, I stuffed the hot spaghetti into my mouth.
She sat across from me after finishing dishes, smiling and watching me eat.
"I feel weird, like I feel like I should give you a glass of water or something." She giggled at me.
"It's okay, do you want me to wait in the living room for you to finish eating?"
"No, not at all, I like you here. I just feel rude." She nodded.
"It's okay, just your friendly neighborhood vampire chillin. Enjoy your food, Leah."
I chuckled, finishing the remaining bits of my meal.
"Thank you, that was delicious."
"Of course."
"Would you like to rest now? We can put on a show. I don't want you to overextend yourself more than you already have." She nodded.
"Actually, can I see the rest of the house?" I grinned, leading her to the living room.
I wondered why she wanted to see it, and I secretly hoped it was so that she knew her way around. For future visits. I hoped.
"This is the main bathroom here." I said, pointing to the bathroom door. We were in the hallway now.
"And this is the guest bedroom, Seth's room, and the basement." I gestured to the next three doors and the one at the end of the hall. We took a left.
"This is my room." I opened the door to let her see it, surprised when she walked in.
"There's a bathroom in here, too." I glanced at the door in the corner, my personal bathroom.
She stood in the middle of the room, deliberately looking around, admiring it.
"It's not much, but I like it." I said, unreasonably self concious.
"No, I like it. Especially the lights." She smiled softly, running her hand against the fairy lights that hung from the wall.
"Thanks." I grinned.
"You draw?" She took a few steps towards my desk, looking at the drawings I had on the wall above it.
I nodded. "Yeah, sort of. I'm not really that great at it."
"You're kidding. Leah, these are incredible." She marveled. Her pale hand ran over a particular drawing, one of the sunset on the beach.
"Heh, thank you." I didn't know what to say. Here I stood in the door way of my room, not only with a beautiful girl in it, but my imprint of all people. In just a day my life had flipped. It felt surreal.
And what made it so surreal was her. She didn't match the informal setting of my bedroom. She looked like she belonged in Paris, on a balcony of some expensive suite. How bland my room looked compared to her made this so unbelievable to me.
She looked over at me.
"What?"
I cleared my throat.
"Um, nothing." I wanted to tell her how beautiful she was to me. How she was a Greek goddess, a statue of Aphrodite herself.
I laughed to myself. Really? A Greek goddess? God Leah, you simp.
"No really, what is it?" She asked, coming closer to me. Her scent had filled the room now, sweet honey and flowers.
What was I supposed to tell her? Hey, you're really pretty and I'm kinda in love with you? No, that would be crazy.
That would be crazy, right?
"What're you thinking?" She asked, her face suddenly serious. I was confused.
"What?"
"That look. You keep looking at me like that- and I don't know what it means." She came closer to me, just a few feet away. I could easily pull her to me. It was suddenly hard to breathe in her closeness.
What should I say?
The urge to wrap my arms around her was suddenly so strong and I didn't think about it, doing it anyway.
She was against my chest within a moment, and I locked her into place against me, looking down at her face in hopes I didn't cross a line. She was surprised, but then she smiled and loosely wrapped her own arms around me, laying her head on my shoulder. I sighed, relieved that she didn't pull away.
So she felt it too? I hoped. Would she let me hold her this way, unless she did feel what I was feeling?
"It's funny." She said on my shoulder.
"Hmm?" I rested my cheek against her hair.
"How connected I feel to you already. I've never been good at making friends, but it's so easy with you. I don't have to put in any effort to pretend."
I smiled. So she did feel it.
"We're friends?" I said, nestling into her.
She hummed. "Definitely."
"I feel the same way."
We stood there holding each other, just like earlier, for a long time. She rested there on my shoulder, leaning onto me, and I just let her.
I thought back to what the mind reader said- she needed time. I wanted to tell her right then, scream and let the whole world know that she was mine. But I wanted to do this the right way.
No, I wouldn't tell her until she was ready. Even then, I wouldn't tell her.
What if she felt pressured to be with me if I told her? What if she felt like she didn't have a choice?
I may not have had the choice, but she did. I would give her that.
So no, I won't tell her when she's ready. She's going to fall in love with me, just like she's supposed to. That's how this was going to happen. This was not going to be fate, she would choose me. And if she didn't, I would deal with it.
I was hers, but she wasn't mine, not yet.
Hiiiiiiiiii! I know that author's notes can be annoying and that's why I put them at the END of the chapters ;) But I have a very important message for you so please bear with me!
I just have a few things I wanted to say to you.
First off, I'm literally just a teenage twihard, mkay? I like to read and write, and I literally started this story based on a tiktok. (@tempestjenna on tiktok, she has twilight content!)
This originally started off as a joke, but it's become a story that I'm really passionate about, and seeing people read and comment and vote inspires me so much. I wake up everyday thinking, "I gotta write." My writer's block? Out the door.
Every single comment, vote, and read makes my day and I am so incredibly grateful for those who are interested in this story. I'm an aspiring writer, and hopefully someday I'll have a best seller's and I get to go back and refer to this point in time when I was just a young girl writing out her twilight fantasies.
When you vote on every chapter, comment on every one, I remember your username now. It feels like I have all of these new friends supporting and cheering me on.
So here's something to show my gratitude, I really hope you use this to make friends and inspire each other just as you have inspired me!
I want to thank each and everyone of those people that I see in my notifications everyday:
Thank you so much
@frenchlo
@simpforpplinmasks
@isahouge
@BlossomCotton21
@jaru06
@PeppasTrash
@wilderness8j
@DeathRose256
@46geid38jjdy8cys6iux
@kgabrielle393
@ChaoticEnby
@LisaSalas7
@agirlinthevillage
@Crazywithakay
@HoOd__RaT
@themildmaniac
@_h0tpOtato_x
@spookysamv
@TimeLordLady_TheDoc
@RandomFandomEmo
@maria_876
@EmmaSwan1098
@WeLiveWeLearnWeDie
@ChocolateBunnyFi
@Ionlyreadstarwars
@Fabiola_Shears_917
@1988damarisnamisnak
@Mrs-Gubler
@HiDDB5
@gabrielle0ej
@c_haust
@_ch3rryp3ach_
@venus1356
@armywlove
@ShayGriffin5
@Blissfullymikaelson
@_Lena32_
@Immortal_Raptor
@gublerweeeen
@littleleafkid
@molytac
@frostyysnowflake
@ohgollydolly1
@Worstnightmarelove
@Casanova62615
@alexsandria_marie
@Lula_Lestrange
@dreamingofwoods
@MariangelesOtaoUrtia
@wa9009434
@babygirlji
@bruhmoment101203
@persephonespubes
@FanficBaguette
@RileytheBirb
@RitaSmith7 (My grandma tehe I love you Mamaw)
@ihavetheplauge
@Faymorr1
@Xx_Kawaii-Potato_xX
@whatspunispun
@abrosune
@Lena11020
@tiffvg25
@smena19
@pharedechassiron
@toxxicbunnyboy
Follow these people, make friends, encourage each other and keep being beautiful.