sixteen.

strawberry shampoo

TW: mentions of blood, PTSD, and corpses

Those naps that followed an afternoon swimming in the pool, with the smell of chlorine and sun burnt skin, and the tiredness that consumed a person's body as a result. That was how sleepy JT had been. If it hadn't been for Bella's socked feet pressing into her leg, the blonde would've likely slept through the night. The Cullens' couch was ridiculously comfortable.

And despite being in a house full of people who drank blood to survive, she felt safer on their couch than she did in her own bed.

"Hey, wake up," Bella said, pushing her toes further into JT's thigh.

JT smacked her foot. "Get those little piggies off of me," she groaned. Any fatigue that continued to cloud her brain cleared as Emmett's booming laugh filled the room. The upper half of her body shot up, allowing her to see him doubled over in laughter.

"Little piggies," he wheezed.

"Don't get me started on your little smokies, Emmett. I bet you have troll toes."

His laughter cut off harshly, and JT swallowed. Why did she keep insulting people who could end her life faster than she could blink? But Jasper began snickering instead, along with a few other people that she couldn't see.

"Troll toes?" Emmett growled. "I have beautiful feet, thank you very much."

JT pulled her blanket up further to wrap it around herself. "Sounds like you have a denial problem." Bella giggled next to her as Emmett worked up a response.

"Bella, JT, if you'll come with me," Carlisle smoothly interjected. He had come from the direction of the kitchen. Esme rounded the corner, too, carrying a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk. She handed them to the girls with a warm smile before disappearing back into the kitchen. They followed the doctor upstairs and to his office, which was decorated by several paintings and two walls of books. "What would you like to know?" He asked, leaning against his large wooden desk.

Bella and JT looked at one another. The blonde nodded in encouragement, knowing that her own mind was blank.

Bella took a deep breath. "How did you all come together like this?"

"I was turned in 1663," Carlisle began. He smiled at JT's dropped jaw. "Yes, I'm aware that I'm old."

"My doctor is over three hundred years old," JT muttered.

His smile widened a bit. "Three hundred sixty-five this year."

She scratched her head. "I'd ask for the skin care routine, but..." The blonde winced as Bella pinched her side.

Bella snickered next to her. "Continue, Carlisle."

He raised a perfectly golden eyebrow. "I was twenty-three, give or take."

"Twenty--" Bella smacked her hand over JT's mouth.

"Birthdates weren't exact back then. My father was an Anglican pastor with a passion for hunting monsters. He never caught any real monsters, of course." He shifted on his feet. It was an all too human gesture he must have perfected hundreds of years before. "He became ill, and as the dutiful son I was, I took over the hunts."

"You found them, didn't you?" Bella asked quietly before taking a bite of one of Esme's cookies.

Carlisle nodded solemnly while JT grabbed a cookie of her own. "The vampire we found killed nearly everyone, but left me. I hid in a bunker and wished for death."

"Is it quite painful?" JT questioned around a bite of chocolate goodness. Esme had done well.

The Cullen patriarch closed his eyes briefly. "It is agony, girls. Agony."

JT swallowed. All of the Cullens had gone through this transformation. All of them had experienced this agony.

"I discovered that I could survive on animal blood. After that, I traveled through Europe. I stayed with a royal Italian family for a few decades, then I traveled to the New World."

Her eyes narrowed sharply. "What was or is your stance on slavery?"

Both Carlisle and Bella took on surprised expressions at her blunt question.

"I never owned slaves, nor did I associate with those who did," Carlisle said with a quizzically furrowed brow. "I am not a man of violence, JT."

"Just checking," JT said with a shrug. She took another bite of her cookie. "Continue."

He smiled wryly at her before speaking again. "Edward was the first addition to our family, Julian shortly after. Esme followed. Then Rose, who then found Emmett. Alice and Jasper joined us later. I'll let them tell you their stories as they choose." His eyes darted to the door behind Bella and JT. "Come in, son." 

JT turned her head to see Edward leaning against the door frame. He was wearing a light green henley and dark blue jeans. He smiled crookedly at JT before looking past her to Carlisle. "Mind if I borrow JT?"

She wasn't quite sure what he wanted. "I'm being educated, Eddie. Rude of you to interrupt."

He raised a thick eyebrow. "Oh yes, I know you're very serious about your education." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

He merely smirked wider. 

Carlisle sighed. "We can continue later, JT. Your education apparently needs to wait for my impatient son." JT smiled at that. Despite their only six year physical difference, Carlisle truly did have the paternal side to him that cared for Edward and the others as though they were actually his children. 

"You heard the man." The bronze haired boy gestured behind him. "I'll give you a full house tour." 

"Oh," Bella inhaled. "In that case, you should go." 

Before JT could stop it, fear took hold in her chest at the thought of leaving Bella alone with a vampire. Bella's dark hair flashed between it's soft cleanliness to a matted, bloodied mess, and back again. When the brunette opened her mouth again, it wasn't her own voice. 

"Don't leave me again," Gaia's voice shrieked. JT flinched back harshly, bumping into another table. 

"JT." Edward's voice sounded in her ears, but the velvet tone didn't feel real. She was stuck staring at the corpse of her dead best friend in place of the Swan girl. A knife stuck out from between her ribs, and blood dribbled down her chin. 

"Don't leave me with him!" Gaia pleaded. 

"I won't," JT rasped. "I won't." Her chest hurt and tears welled in her eyes. 

Sudden warm pressure yanked JT into reality, Bella's strawberry shampoo filling her nose along with the smell of freshly cleaned clothes. "You're here. I'm Bella, and I'm here with you." 

Bella, not Gaia. 

JT's eyes cleared enough for her to see Edward and Carlisle looking at her with masked expressions. She had never hallucinated like that, or at least to that extent. God, she was crazy. And she'd embarrassed herself in front of all of them. 

Tears of humiliation and fear overtook her. She buried her face in Bella's neck and let herself be held. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what that was."

Bella held her firmly against her chest, saying nothing. She didn't have to say anything. That was the magic of Isabella Swan. The mere scent of her and the comfort of her soft limbs wrapped in an unyielding embrace, along with the sheer lack of negative judgement, was enough to reassure JT swiftly of the steadfast love in her friend's soul. 

"We'll leave you for a moment," Carlisle said gently. "Take your time." 

"God, that was awful," JT choked out. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Bella asked softly. 

JT sucked a breath until she could feel it fill her lungs completely before letting it out. Gaia's corpse was still fresh in her mind, and she clung to Bella tighter. "I just got really scared of the thought of you being in danger, I think." 

Bella weaved some of her fingers into JT's hair. "They won't hurt us, JT."

She had thought the same about Jason, but JT kept that to herself. "You can gather why I'd feel that way, though, right?" 

"Of course. It's completely valid. I'm not saying it's not." The brunette pulled back, wiping a stray tear from JT's cheek. 

JT had a sudden sense of composition, straightening her spine and wiping away the rest of her tears. "Don't look at me like that, I'll fall in love with you," she teased with a still watery tone. 

Bella blushed harshly before laughing. "Don't flirt with me to avoid your problems, goofball." 

JT threw her hands in the air. "Ah! I've been caught." She wiped at her face again. "That was embarrassing," she said, quieter this time. 

"Edward can read minds, JT. He likely saw what was going on," Bella explained, causing JT to snap her head up in surprise. 

"He can what?" She hissed. 

Bella's face flushed and she bit her lip. "You know, there's something about you that makes me tell you everything and it is going to get me into trouble if it hasn't already." 

Shit. Edward could read minds? JT felt her cheeks heat rapidly. If he could read her mind, he would know that she found him, and all of them, extremely beautiful. And he would also know how fucked she was in the head. 

JT ran a hand down her face. "Yeah, well, you seem to have a trouble magnet with or without me present," she countered. 

Bella shrugged. "Fair."

The blonde leaned against the table behind her. "I guess I have to talk to him, then." 

"Well, not technically. You could just think at him." Bella couldn't contain her giggle at her own joke. JT smiled at her. 

"I could." She looked at the door and decided to give it a shot. If you can hear my thoughts, Eddie, I'm ready for that full house tour.

Someone knocked a familiar tune before opening the door. Edward's marble face was one of concern and curiosity.  "Want to see the dungeons or the moats first?" 

"Not funny, Edward," Bella groaned. When JT looked at her in confusion, she elaborated. "I told Julian I thought there'd be dungeons or something and he teased me about it." 

"Oh," JT huffed a laugh. "Classic vampire castle, huh?" 

Edward smirked. "We even have catacombs."

"With skulls and ancient ruins?" JT gasped dramatically. "This I must see." 

Bella checked the clock on the wall before sighing. "I have to get going so I can get dinner started for Charlie. You want to come with me or are you okay here?" 

JT looked at Edward, realizing that he would see any hesitation in her mind. He shrugged, signaling he was fine with whatever she chose. She looked back to Bella. "I'll stay. I'll call later tonight, though." 

Bella gave her a small smile. "Counting on it." The brunette passed Edward in the doorway, sending him a rather chilling look before departing. It was a I'll kill you if you make her upset look if JT had ever seen one. 

"So you're a mind reader?" JT asked abruptly. 

He leaned against the door frame again. "Last I checked. Want to test?" 

JT's face flushed again. "I believe you. Does anyone else have a gift like that?" 

"A few of us, but not all. You'll find more vampires don't have one." He moved out of the doorway to give her space to leave the room. "We can talk and walk, can't we?"

She scoffed. "It's not like you don't have all the time in the world." The art consisting of graduation caps suddenly made sense. How many times had they attended high school? 

"Too many," Edward answered. "It's a little dreadful." 

"Don't do that, please." JT walked alongside him in the hallway. It felt odd knowing that he'd been in her head, that he'd seen everything. 

"For what it's worth," Edward started, gesturing up the stairs, "I don't think you're fucked in the head."

"How sweet," she sneered. "Can we get on with the tour?" 

"Eager to see the torture chambers, are we?" He chuckled. 

"Dying to see it." She was curious about the house. She had only seen Alice's room and the main floor.

"That's Rose and Emmett's room, and you know Alice and Jasper's across the hall there. Esme and Carlisle's is next to the study." They came upon a room with an open door. There were books upon books, along with several CD's. A TV was accompanied by a gaming console. 

Then Julian was coming into view with a piece of worn down paper. "My original birth certificate, you weasel." He shoved it into her face. 

Julian Abraham Carter

Metropolitan Hospital Center, NY

August 02, 1925 -- 5:19 a.m.

JT eyed him, Edward snorting beside her. "A Leo. That makes sense." 

Julian glowered. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

She pursed her lips, enjoying the taunting she was doing to him. "Nothing for you to worry about." She turned to follow Edward further down the hall. "Yet. You should focus on looking into your rights movements first. Fighting to eat bread is quite traumatic. Have you seen a therapist?"

"Hey!"

Edward chuckled. "You're going to hang onto that joke for awhile, aren't you?" 

JT shrugged with one shoulder, letting it drop as they approached another room. Two of its walls consisted of windows and ... doors? 

"Makes for easy entry and exit," Edward explained. 

JT looked up at him, suddenly aware of his closeness to her. She cleared her throat and took another step into the room. There were heavy tapestries that hung from the ceiling, a mere shade darker than the golden carpet. One of the walls was chock-full of CD's and vinyls, with a space in the middle for a rather expensive looking sound system. There was a black couch, but no bed. She looked at him again. 

"Do you not sleep?" 

"Unlike the phrase, the dead do not sleep," he answered. She understood why he found the saying funny at the diner, now. 

She approached the wall of CD's searching for anything familiar. "Sounds miserable." 

"It becomes tolerable. Makes time for several hobbies."

She gestured to the wall in front of her. "Music." 

He nodded. "Among other things." 

There was something about his room that was both calming and energizing. The natural light that was fading from the sky along with the sounds of the river right outside gave an earthy appeal while the golds from the tapestries and carpets and the vibrants colors of the vast music collection was quite telling about the boy next to her. 

And yet she barely knew anything about him. 

"I can tell you," he offered softly. "All you have to do is ask. I'm done keeping things from you." 

Her eyes scraped down his face, then scanned the room. She padded her socked feet over to the black leather couch before plopping herself down in a space between the CD stacks. "Guess it's only fair since you know my story, huh?" 

The corner of his lips turned down briefly. "I'd be inclined to agree." 

"So do tell me the story of Edward Cullen, the boy who lived."

He furrowed a brow and smiled. "I'm not Harry Potter, JT." 

"Yeah, a girl can dream."

a/n: homegirl is going through it rn, both JT and me. I'm sorry that this isn't super up to par, but my brain is barely functioning right now lmao. let me know what you think/what you'd like to see!

have a good day, drink your water, give yourself some love <3