There had never been any doubt that there would be consequences to what had happened in the forest, Roman just wasn't sure how she was going to be able to explain everything properly without sounding crazy.

So of course, when Charlie finally caught up with her, cornering her at the station when she began to fill for her mothers shift, she didn't know much else to do other than to ramble out some partially true story about the woman running off with Julius, weaving him the story of how he wanted to take her along and she had refused adamantly to so much as leave Forks with the pair of them.

He had been very professional about the whole thing. Taking a statement and going through the process of pressing charges against the pair so if they were ever caught or decided to show their faces again...

Well, Roman didn't plan for it to get that far, not when she knew that he would be caught by the pack or the Cullen's before he could ever be seen by a human.

But it was a nice and touching sentiment, even when it made her uncomfortable and antsy, even after he left, deciding that she didn't need to worry about Marnie's shift being her responsibility any more than they were his.

Someone else would deal with it for now, and even then, they were suitably staffed. They were fine.

It didn't feel fine.

She wasn't sure if it ever would feel fine, taking over pieces of her mother's job because she had run away to become crazy.

Nudging a rather large branch with her foot, Roman wondered how it was that Marnie was only ever responsible for following the upkeep of five trails but they were all in complete disarray. They were thrashed and dangerous for such open beginner trails. She tried to swallow the urge to just scream into the blanket silence.

Roman was doing so much on her trails, putting in so much work to make sure people stayed as safe as she could make them — and this is what she was left with, this is how all her hard work was reflected.

Her jaw clenched at the sheer weight of the thing. She was going to have to arrange for someone to come and move this now.

Sighing, she glanced at her watch, trying not to cry at the time. She was going to be here a while trying to get everything sorted out again.

One week she doesn't come to work and it's like everything falls apart.

It moves, tossed to the side like it's nothing, and Roman jumps, tripping back into the dirt. Rosalie looked out of place in her ethereal, enchanting beauty, stood perfectly on the path. She's struck with the image of Venus or Minerva.

"What?" She breathes, a hand coming to rest over her racing heart. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde blinks pretty gold eyes. "Alice sent me to pick you up."

"Why?"

"You're spending the night, apparently," she says sounding incredibly bored.

She stands, brushing off the back of her pants. "But I'm supposed to be spending the night at Bella's..."

"She's coming, too."

"But, um, okay? Isn't Edward not home, though?"

"Are you going to keep asking questions?"

"Are you going to give me answers?"

Rosalie stares her down, unwavering, and Roman strengthens her stance, clenching her jaw.

"Edward didn't want either of you running off the see the dogs. He bribed Alice to keep you occupied and I was roped into doing her dirty work," the vampire drawls.

"He did what?" She seethes. "He has no right to do that!"

"Yes, well, my brother has a flare for the dramatics."

Breathing in and out in an attempt to calm herself, Roman flicks her tongue over her lips, biting down hard. "Are you going to let me go home, then? Since he isn't even here and I live there?"

"You're already supposed to be spending the night. Why should it matter if it's at a different house?" Rosalie questions.

"Because it's a breach of trust? It's manipulation and treating me like an incapable child that isn't smart enough to look after herself," she hissed. "I'm so sick of people trying to make decisions for me!"

Rosalie smiles, wide and welcoming, as she steps forward waiting for Roman to fall into place next to her. "Come on, Esme got you girl Italian and Alice said something about pedicures. Spend the night. I'm sure you can figure something out for tomorrow."

It was said full of confidence like she knew all about Alice's spotty sight when it came to her, and she just wished she was able to control when that little trick worked. If she could then none of this would ever happen. It would be perfect and easy.

They walk back to the tiny parking, Roman deciding to just forget about all the work she had to do for now ( maybe she would do it later, just to mess with Alice's plans for a perfect sleepover). God, she would get so much petty satisfaction from that.

The beautiful slick red of the Mercedes makes her stagger, a tiny whimper sound forming in her throat at the beauty of it.

And the speed! Oh, she could just imagine the speed you would get in something like this! It was enough to make her knees weak.

She had been ruined forever. Nothing was ever going to be fast enough for her ever again — first Alice, then Edward. All of Roman's previous concerns and anger are put on pause the moment she slips into the soft leather seats.

"You don't look like the kind of person to be interested in cars."

"I'm not, really, I just like the speed. I don't even own a car."

"How have you been getting here from the reservation?"

Roman shrugs. "Borrowing and lifts. It's mostly been luck."

"You have good luck."

"No, definitely not," she laughs. "They're all very motivated to keep me there."

Rosalie doesn't answer right away. "You aren't upset about them making decisions for you."

It sounds accusatory and as little as she knew about her, it probably was coming from Rosalie. It was hard to please them both, to help them understand the way she saw it.

Because to her they weren't monsters and enemies. They were people that she cared about, people that had regular emotions and motives that pushed and pulled at her just as any other person might have.

"I don't let them make decisions for me. I'm a big girl that can decide on my own."

"Yet you live there."

She scoffs. "Where else was I supposed to go? Stay at Bella's? Because it would have looked great for the Chief of Police to let his daughter's girlfriend live with them. Was I supposed to move in with you? Force you to spend time with me when you barely know anything about me? If something makes sense then I'm going to go along with it. It doesn't mean I'm taking sides or being a pushover."

The blonde pressed on the gas, whizzing by. "You're a lot more vocal about your thoughts and opinions than Bella is."

"Yeah, well, we aren't the same person," she mutters, gaze locked to the window. "That's not entirely true anyway. My tongue turns to lead when it counts most."

"You're pretty confident now."

She laughs. "I don't know how. You're a pretty intimidating person."

"I hear that a lot," Rosalie sighs.

"It's not a bad thing. You just seem so certain about your opinion and the kind of person that won't lie or sugar coat things. Being blunt and sure-footed doesn't make you a bad person," Roman corrects, struggling to explain herself. "It just makes you difficult to approach, you know? Because you radiate this sort of power that no else really has."

Rosalie smiles. It's a bitter look with a glance of sharp eyes her way as they pull up to the house. "It's part of what I am. The charm."

"No, that's not what I meant. It's something no one else in your family has. It's a Rosalie thing. The charm and confidence."

"I see why they get flustered around you now," the blonde says ruefully. "You're quite the charmer when you want to be."

Shaking her head as she climbs out of the car, trailing behind the vampire that goes slow for her sake. "I'm just being honest."

There's no answer as they enter the house, Alice popping around the corner to greet her with an excited smile. She gets the feeling that this might be the girls first official sleepover, one that'll count because you can't truly have a sleepover with people you live with, not in her book, and Roman feels a little bad for being so upset with Alice knowing how she yearned for those few human experiences she could still have.

It was likely all Edward's idea, if she had to guess. He was incredibly persuasive when he wanted to be, and she suspected that it all had something to do with the way Bella ran off the other day.

Her had been fuming, ripping mad, and Roman had to watch him sit rigid, statuesque, on the bed as he waited for her return because he wasn't mad at her, she wasn't putting herself in danger, apparently — despite the fact that Leah and Seth were very much less experienced than Jacob at the whole wolf thing.

It was, she figured, mostly based on jealousy because as much as he might dislike her going to LaPush all the time, he had no real reason to protest other than vague warnings.

But there was never a cute boy with romantic feelings waiting for her when she went.

So, sure, she'll let him have his excuses this time, this once since she was always here, but never again was he going to get away with something so ridiculous no matter what his reasons were. She would make sure he understood that quite clearly.

Roman was weak-willed that way, she would admit, easily influenced by the good mood of others, she could ride of that high until she herself was buzzing with positivity — because Roman was a naturally optimistic person most of the time, or at least she liked to believe she was.

Faced with Alice's eagerness and Esme's instinctual motherly hospitality, she was more than willing to go along with everything smiling even if Bella was in a terrible mood (not with her, of course, Roman hadn't done anything wrong or presumptuous).

"And obviously Lauren isn't just going to let someone get a little bit of mud on her new shoes, right? She's always been a little snobbish like that. Anyway, so Lauren looks at Austin, right? And she just straight up kicks him, no holds, right into his chest," Roman tells, laughing over her own story. "And the boy just goes flying from the jungle gym, like shooting down. It was a 'this is Sparta' moment, I swear to you!"

"How is everyone so in love with her then?" Bella laughs, picking at her food.

She snorts. "It's a very small town. When you're pretty people seem to forget how evil you can be... and they're high school boys. I don't think they know any better."

"You're gorgeous and were never evil. How come no one is falling at your feet all the time?" She asks, the genuine curiosity making the question much kinder than it sounded.

"Ah, well, a lot of people think I'm too weird, and I mean, I'm not shy to tell them no firmly. People started saying seriously and I just knew none of them were what was right for me, what I was looking for, and then the Cullen's cane and I sad Edward for the first time and I just knew that he was going to be the only one ever," she admits, blood rushing to her burning cheeks. "No one else could ever really compare and then you showed up and it was like no one else existed! I guess people just got the message at one point."

"I can't imagine you turning anyone down."

"Believe it," Alice chimed. "It was quite entertaining, actually. I use to get a kick out of it."

"Did you have any idea what was going to happen then?" 

She shakes her head. "It wasn't quite the same at first," she says, tone short and final.

Roman shifts, eyeing her curiously. "So, what was it?"

"Are you guys finished? Come, let's paint your nails!"

Her enthusiasm was a poor distraction but she couldn't fight her strength as she was dragged along, lead to the couch where Alice was ready with nail polish and movies. She let it happen, knowing that she would find a time to get her answers later, from someone, even if the answers weren't important anymore.

They would never be important again now that she had a future that she wasn't going to let go. Edward loved her, he said he did, and Roman wasn't going to lie low and be sacrificial any longer. Their happiness was entwined now, it was too late to take it back.

Bella huffed, sighing, as her toenails were painted a deep red colour. She eyed her own orange ones -- orange that made her think of August light and sunset. They were dry, pretty, and she wiggled them, marvelling at the perfection that she had never before achieved.

"Do you have my clothes?" she asks, glancing up at them.

"I took some of your stuff from Bella's," Alice tells her, not looking away from her girlfriend's feet. "Rose got your bag before she picked you up. It's in Edward's room."

"Alright, I'm going to change."

"You can't change yet, it's too early!" she protests.

She blinks. "I just want to be in something comfortable."

Moving faster, she finished Bella's nails before she could even realize what was happening. The human's shared a look, confused, as she was suddenly all for going upstairs, minding the wet polish as she skipped up the steps, waiting for them at the top. She padded along, snickering as Bella waddled in an attempt not to smudge any of Alice's, admittedly, easy work.

It was strange acting like regular teenagers at a slumber party with vampires. Somehow it was still wonderful, nice, like a bonding experience with family. If she and Bella were to join them, potentially spend forever, with them, Roman thought it more than necessary to get along.

She didn't have the chance to get to know them before and she honestly wasn't sure how much they knew her apart from the unavoidable eavesdropping that they did at lunch... but she didn't really contribute much when she was actually at the table back then — and she was hardly any better now.

They'll change that. She'll get to know them before she gave them the choice like Bella did.

Alice pushed Edward's door open, grinning, as Bella stepped in first — freezing in place. Peeking over her shoulder, her mouth dropped open, gaping at the king-size bed that he had managed to fit in perfectly without seemingly moving a thing. Ducking in, Roman brushed her fingers over the covers scared to actually touch it.

"Holy shit," she breathed, letting herself drop onto the mattress fully. "Holy shit."

"He wasn't going to make you sleep on the couches," Alice chines, smug. "I'll leave you both to get comfortable."

Roman rolls, sprawling across the large, empty space. "This is unbelievable! I'm never going to accept another bed again!"

"This is unbelievable," Bella mutters, closing the door as she stomps into the room. "First he bribes Alice, then he manages to bribe you."

She props up. "Bribe me? Hardly. I'm still spitting mad, but I've never been in a bed this nice," she states, brushing her hands over the duvet. "Don't you like it?"

"He bought it specifically for ya, Roman," Bella growls. "For all the times that he decides to kidnap us."

"Oh, he is never getting away with that again. No way in hell."

"Yeah, but he bought a bed for a house full of people who don't sleep."

Roman winced. "Right, there's no way we could figure out how to steal this, is there?"

Bella laughs, shaking her head as some of that anger fades. She steps closer, settling between Roman's spread legs — hands dropping to rest on her shoulders.

"You can sleep in the bed if you want," she says, hands coming up to brush against her neck spreading goosebumps along the sensitive skin.

"Not without you," Roman whispers. "Give me a hand."

"With what?"

Pushing her back, she stands and grabs a fistful of the blankets, tugging them until they pull away and pile on the floor where she drops them.

"We're gonna nest. Grab the pillows."

Giggling, Bella helps her fix everything so they could curl up comfortably, taking time to change.

Roman lies back, eyes fluttering closed as she rest them — soothing the heavy drag to her lids.

"I need to call Jake. I'll be right back."

She hums, waving her hand in dismissal. She lies there for a few minutes before she finally drags herself up to finish readying for bed. As much as she wanted to entertain Alice some more, Roman really was bone tired.

It's only once she's nicely tucked into the nest with Bella cuddling into her, does she realize how utterly odd it was to be spending the night in his house, odder even that he want here with them. It was sort of eerie and no matter how tired she truly was, she just couldn't get comfortable.

They must have been on the same wavelength because Bella kept fidgeting, tossing every few minutes before she came inching closer all over again.

Neither thought to say anything though, easily knowing there was nothing felt to say.

It would probably be easier to fall asleep on the bed.

There was a light knock on the door and Roman can feel Bella automatically father herself up, ready to argue in her already agitated state. She puts a hand to her thigh, aiming to calm her down a little.

She has no clue if it works because she's already telling Alice to go away. 

"It's me," Rosalie says softly, opening the door enough that Roman could see the silver glow touch her perfect face. "Can I Come in?"

°°°
Vote,
Comment,
& follow me on wattpad

I feel like I'm floundering a little because there isn't much going on plot wise at the begging of eclipse aside form a lot of Bella and Jacob hanging out? And like, Roman isn't really part of that whole thing?

I'm not sure if I should add a lil bit of something extra on the sides (again) or just go with how it's been going so far....

Any who... sorry for the late update. I've been tired lately and my mom made me go to a concert show last night so yeah... life happens gang!

Unedited

2019-11-20