𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀
ミ★ ( bewitched, act two ) ★彡

     One thing to know about Lilith Bailey: she has an incredible sweet tooth. She'll do anything for a packet of candy and she craves sugar constantly. She's a dentist's worst nightmare because she's sure if she didn't get seen regularly, her teeth would be filled with cavities. She doesn't have a particular favourite, it just needs to be sweet—and the wolves have come to learn this, buying their way into her good books.

"Have you told Bella yet?" Lilith questioned Jake as she sat on the counter in front of him, munching on the packet of gummy worms.

     Jacob rolled his eyes before sending her a small glare as he's heard the same question if not a million times in a matter of a few days, "No, I hinted at it, but, I didn't tell her. I've told you this every time you've asked me that question."

     "You should tell Bella." Lilith said bluntly as she placed more gummy worms into her mouth, "Not hint at it."

     Jacob narrowed his eyes again and snatched the packet out of her hands making the girl gasp dramatically, "And you should stop eating my gummy worms."

     "I just don't get it!" Lilith suddenly exclaimed, throwing her arms up, "Why can't you just tell her? Why does she have to figure it out?"

      Jake ran a hand over his face as he groaned, "I don't know either, okay? In my mind, I don't want to force her into this by just telling her everything. This way, if she wants to figure it out and she does, she wants to be apart of this."

      "She's already apart of it." Lilith motioned to herself, something she's had to do several times, "And to me, it looks like you're just playing mind games with her—which I don't like. So, just tell her."

     "You're very pushy today." Jake commented jokingly and he watched as Lilith's bright expression turn into a saddened one, "Sorry." He added quietly. Sometimes Jake forgot what was said to Lilith by Edward that night; and even though she was doing better, there were some times where it struck a cord with her and reminded her of her sadness. This was one of those times.

     Lilith shook her head, "Don't be. Seriously. I need to move on from that already." She couldn't be sad by every little mean thing someone says, even when they're joking. It was hard to let go, but, she was trying and that was all that mattered, "I am going to stick to my words though, Bella deserves to be told, not played with."

     It wasn't her fault that Edward didn't like that about her—she was who she was and she wasn't going to change because of it—and she couldn't believe she was willing to change for him so he would stay. It wasn't like she was that pushy in the first place, but, he twisted it in a way to make it seem like she was worse than she really was. She wasn't pushy, she was passionate and headstrong. That's what Edward likes about her in the first place, but, of course; sometimes people's quirks that you find cute can become the thing you find most annoying over time.

     Paul, Embry and Jared soon walked into the Uley home, all jokingly shoving each other and laughing at a dumb thing that Jared had said when they looked up at Jake and Lilith in the kitchen and instantly recognised the looks on their faces.

     "Are you two having that conversation again?" Paul complained, "Seriously, again?" They all had heard the conversation at one point or another and they knew it would only go around in circles until eventually one of them got too frustrated and dropped the conversation. The pack didn't know who they wanted to win the argument at this point, they just wanted it to be over.

     Lilith shrugged, "Not my fault that Jake is being dumb and won't take my advice." She said innocently.

  Jared laughed lightly as he walked passed Jake and slapped his shoulder, "She's right, dude, tell Bella before she de-balls you for keeping this secret from her."

     "Like Kim almost did to you?" Jake raised an eyebrow in amusement.

     "Exactly! I'm speaking from experience here!" Jared exclaimed as he covered his lower region with his hands as he remembered how Kim had lost it at him because of the lies.

     Paul only rolled his eyes, "You're being dramatic. Kim barely touched you." He joined in as he snatched the packet of gummy worms away from Jake, to which Lilith snatched it from him because she knew if Paul were to have it then there wouldn't be any left. The wolf only sent her a look before he went back to bantering with the pack.

     Ever since Jake introduced Lilith to the pack, she had been spending her time—that she wasn't with Bella or at school—with them and she could tell that she was already starting to feel whole again. Maybe it was bad because she was relying on other people to make her feel better, but, she didn't think it counted as they didn't know how much they were already doing for her just by being them. They weren't going out of their way to help her out, all they did was welcome her and that was enough to change everything. Bella had noticed that things were looking up and she wondered what it was, and it was so hard for Lilith not to tell her friend why things were starting to look up once more. Lilith wanted to tell Bella so badly, but, she knew it wasn't her secret to tell, and unfortunately, she had to stick to trying to persuade Jake into finally telling her.

     Jared made an exasperated sound at the teasing as the pack didn't believe his pain and then looked at Jacob, "Just tell her, man. End the nightmare for all of us."

     "Yeah, I really can't go though another night of your whiney thoughts." Embry agreed as he took a seat on the sofa, "I love you, but, it's too much for me." Among the fact that Jake refused to tell Bella, his mind was constantly filled with thoughts about how he wanted Bella to figure it out already so he could see her and they could be together again—which the pack all had to sit through and endure as well, thanks to the pack bond.

      "How about if I tell Bella, you try to tap into your magic again?" Jake bargained and Lilith instantly shook her head with wide eyes in refusal.

     "No thanks, I choose life." Lilith responded. The pack had all tried to convince her to give her magic a go again when they found out that she had lost it.

     Some of them wanted her to have it for different reasons—Paul wanted her to have it so he can get her to zap people he didn't like; Jared wanted her to have it so he could see all the cool stuff she could do; Embry wanted her to have it so he could get different potions and spells to help him out with school work, girls and himself; and Jake, Emily and Sam wanted her to have it so she could go back to being herself.

     "Then I won't tell Bella until you try your magic again." Jake said as he slightly nudged her while she sent him a glare.

     Sometimes Lilith thought that Jake forgets that whenever she tries to use magic, it genuinely hurts her. Which is what made that bargain unfair, because if Jake told Bella about him being a wolf, he would get something good out of it; while if Lilith tried to use magic, she would be in pain for almost hours after, "You're trying time peer pressure me, and it won't work." She told the wolf, "I've sat through those seminars several times, through several different schools, you can't peer pressure me."

     "I'd like to think it was worth a shot, Jakey." Jared winked at him, "Better luck next time."

     "Shut up, Jared." Was all Jake could say.

     "Are you hungry?" Emily asked as a greeting when Lilith walked into the kitchen the next day after hanging out with Bella.

     "No, I'm okay, thank you." Lilith answered as she walked over and gave the woman a hug to say hello. Emily sent her a look, "Promise." Lilith added on with a smile.

     "Even if I say I'm going to make some blueberry muffins?" Emily persisted with a raised eyebrow knowing that it was Lilith's weak spot.

     There was just something about Emily's baking that made Lilith lose all self control and she would devour the entire tray of whatever she made. Especially those muffins that were the size of her head. She didn't know how Emily does it so good every time, "Well, I wouldn't exactly say no to that now would I?" Lilith responded slyly.

  Emily chuckled, "Of course not." She says.

     Lilith sat as she watched the woman begin to prep the muffins with a look of admiration on her face. Emily always looked so content with life and it looked like nothing could ever get her down. Lilith didn't know how she could do that either. But, she had a sense that it had something to do with Sam.

     You couldn't feel down with someone you loved telling you they loved you and would do anything for you every morning up until the point you went to sleep. Sam always treated Emily like a queen. He valued and respected her opinion on things and protected her with every fibre in his being—but, also knew when to give her space and let her defend herself because she was so independent and strong as well. While their relationship started off rocky, everyone could see that it wouldn't stay or end that way. The two were harmonious and bounced off of each other like perfection.

     And the blonde couldn't help but miss that feeling.

     She missed feeling on top of the world and having Edward by her side giving that to her. She missed feeling like she could accomplish anything just because Edward believed in her. She missed just having her other half. And while she knew she shouldn't give so much power to a boy over herself, there was the fact that she and Edward loved each other so much that she couldn't help but give him that power because she wanted him to know that was how much she loved him.

     Half the time it didn't even make sense to her either, but, she just knew she wanted to let Edward know how much she loved him by trusting him wholeheartedly. And then it was unfortunately all thrown into Lilith's face when he told her he didn't feel the same way and that he resented her instead.

     It was still hard to find the moment where Edward realised he truely hated her. She couldn't pin point it and it made her think that maybe he hated her from the beginning and it never changed. But, she couldn't figure out why he would pretend her love her for the months that they were together, and what he would gain from it besides her trust and her love—unless gaining that was the overall game to him.

     "What are you thinking so hard about over there?" Emily questioned over her shoulder as she stirred the bowl in front of her, Lilith had been daydreaming for so long she had missed at least fifteen minutes worth of prep time.

     "Just stuff." Lilith brushed off her previous thoughts. She would always remind herself how she was trying to be more positive and not live in the past any longer but every time she day dreamed, it would just creep up on her and she would fall down a rabbit hole of memories and bad thoughts.

     "Well, clearly it's heavy stuff if you've been deep in thought for fifteen minutes. I'm not even sure you blinked." Emily lightly joked as she placed the utensils down and turned to face the blonde and crossed her arms, "What's going on? Is there anything I can do to help."

     Lilith only pursed her lips, "Unless you know anything about magic, the only person that can help has unfortunately dropped off the face of the earth." The girl said.

      "Other than your parents." Emily reminded her.

     "Other than my parents, yes." The witch agreed. Lilith looked up at Emily seeing the familiar look on her face that she had given her every time that they'd had this same conversation, "Please don't make that face, I'll tell them eventually."

     Emily knew all about Lilith's struggles and she couldn't understand why she wouldn't just tell her parents what was happening. She wanted nothing more than to reach out to the Bailey parents and let them know but she didn't want to betray the trust they Lilith was slowly giving her. Emily couldn't help but see the parallels between her and Jacob not telling the people they cared about the secrets they were keeping from them.

     Emily didn't understand why Jacob didn't want Bella to be told and why he wanted her to jump through hoops to figure he was a shapeshifter. And she didn't understand why Lilith couldn't open up to her parents and let them know she had lost her magic without fearing that it would freak them out to death.

     But, she could see why Lilith wanted Jake and Bella to be back together once again; the two of them were practically lost without each other and she could see that they constantly search for their other half. The couple still loved each other and it was clear as day that they wanted to be back together. Lilith wanted them to clear the air once and for all so they could continue that before it was too late and they resented each other and end up like herself.

     It was hard, however, because both Bella and Jacob were extremely stubborn and didn't want to give in and wanted their way. Much like how Lilith was being about not telling her parents about losing her magic.

     "Your parents don't need you to give them the solution to your issue. They're there to help you find it, but, they can't do that if they don't know." Emily told Lilith wisely, "And I know your parents are the type to want you to be open with them about what you're going through, so they can help from what you've told me about them."

     Lilith could only sigh as she crossed her arms over the bench and rested her chin on top of them, a frown plastered over her face. "I just don't want to cause them more stress. We've moved so many times because of me—because they wanted to keep me safe when I stuffed up and almost exposed us—and then I stressed them out further when I was sad over Edward and our breakup. I just feel like this would completely tip them over the edge and it would be the final blow."

     Emily gave a sentimental look as she walked over to the bench and grabbed onto Lilith's hands, "It wouldn't be the final blow for them. Your parents are stronger than that and so is your bond with them." Parents stress over their children all the time and this was no different; sure, the reasoning could be different than normal for most people, but at the end of the day, Lilith was still their child.

     "I don't want to disappoint them either." Lilith added and Emily couldn't help but look confused, "I'm supposed to be a legacy, and that's a lot of pressure sometimes. But, how can I be a legacy when I lose my magic just after a breakup?"

     "You don't have to be a legacy just because of your power. You're a legacy because of what you and your parents stand for." Emily couldn't help but point out also, "You couldn't ever disappoint them, but, it could be disappointing for them to know that you kept this from them for so long."

     The blonde then groaned and placed her head in her hands, "You're right—I know you're right as well, but, it's just so terrifying to stand in front of them and tell them this."

     "You've got all of us to stand behind you. We're all willing to help you get to the bottom of this and we're all willing to help you get over it. You've just gotta let us." Emily said and walked over the other side of the bench towards Lilith and pulled her into a hug.

     "I'm trying." Lilith whispered to herself. She was trying to let them in so willingly like she had done with the Cullens, but she was scared of them leaving her as well just like them and she knew she wouldn't be able to handle it if they did, which was why she was so adamant about keeping them at arms length.

     But, nothing good ever came out of secrets and distance, and she knew that she needed to get over her fears soon otherwise she would have no one. Again.