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⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧•• back to school

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     𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 EDWARD WAS A NEW MAN, he was finally ready to face his blood—singer who Alice was one—hundred percent sure was his mate as well and so was Nathaniel, he was prepared to befriend the clumsy human but mostly for humorous reasons because he knew that if it was serious, Rosalie would never speak with him again.

It was still before their lunch break, so Nathan had no idea if Edward had spoken to Bella yet and they were in gym class together in the same space they first met, only now they were mixing genders, playing a game of basketball altogether. Nathan preferred that, it was more inclusive.

"I'm open!" Nathan called out, his hand open wide to catch the ball from Jessica and she jumped, chucking it into the hoop confidently only to miss, the grin on her face dropping miserably. He chuckled lightly, his hands on his waist and Bella walked up to him, standing beside him.

"Is she always that cocky?" Isabella questioned without as much anxiety as she usually would have and Nathan turned to look at her, pretending to be out of breath. He grinned at the sight of her starting conversation, the two stood off to the side as everybody played.

"I don't know, she's your friend, is she not?" Nathan cocked a brow at the new girl, who shrugged, fiddling with the single ring on her finger nervously. He chuckled at her nervousness and leaned over to her a little, bumping his shoulder into hers, "I get it, she can get a little..."

"Overbearing?" Bella finished his sentence and he looked over at her, nodding a little with a slight smile. He never expected her to speak that much, she seemed like the quiet and shy type of girl, only ever speaking politely but it seemed like the opposite when she was comfortable, if that's what she was.

"Yeah and slightly intense, coming on too strong at times." Nathaniel nodded, his brows pinched out of habit and she looked up at him, staring at the side of his face, her dark eyes searching his features. The first thing she noticed was his irises, they were different than any other eye colour she'd ever seen before, not even in movies.

They were golden like a yellow—gold diamond and had sparkly crimson swirls in them, his eyes were magnificently beautiful and most definitely unique, "Your eyes..." She blurted out accidentally but she carried on speaking nonetheless, his attention now on her, "Your eyes they're— They're beautiful."

"Oh, thank you." Nathaniel chuckled, brushing off the compliment like it was dirt under the rug and to avoid further questions, he ran forwards, catching the ball from Tyler with a grin. Bella stayed where she was as if her feet were super glued to the ground as her eyes followed him around the court, watching as the muscly boy dribbled the ball effortlessly before jumping, throwing the ball into the hoop with perfect aim.

Students cheered and she smiled, clapping her hands together lightly. That was when the bell rang and Nathaniel turned around just before he exited the gymnasium, his eyes landing on Bella and he sent her a grin along with a wave, hoping she'd accept their newfound friendship.

His smile only widened when she gave him a tight—lipped smile, waving awkwardly in response but it wasn't as if she was forced to do it like everybody else, it was genuine. That was something he knew for a fact, and not just thanks to his gift.

After changing in the corner of the boy's changing room, having to separate himself from the rest of the students due to his wife's strict rules, he headed out into the hallway, now re—clad in his leather jacket, cream polo and black jeans.

The oldest vampire in the building strolled down the corridor, his hands stuffed into his jacket pockets and he smiled when he saw Bella heading into the cafeteria, following her into the massive, crowded room.

Though when he made it inside the room, he didn't follow Bella towards the food counter, instead making his way towards his family's table, silently sliding into the empty seat beside his mate, his arm absentmindedly snaking over her shoulders.

A grin immediately made its way onto Rose's rosy lips and she looked at the side of her husband's perfectly sculpted face, quickly pressing a kiss to his cheekbone. If warm blood was still zooming through his veins, a blush would definitely be visible upon his pale cheeks but she had to imagine it, knowing that he was internally flustered.

She smiled softly, satisfied by her mate's reaction and she leaned back in her chair, resting her head on Nathan's bicep to use as a pillow despite the fact that it felt like a brick covered in leather.

"Hey, Nate, if Rose was a worm, would you still love her?" Lola questioned randomly and Nathaniel looked over at her with an amused smirk, his eyebrows quirked.

"Of course... If Emmett was a worm, would you still love him?" He reiterated her question, laughing as he watched her scrunch her face up in disgust. While he wasn't as close to Lola as he was to some of the rest of his family, the two together were the funniest pair in the coven by fair.

"No, he'd be a fucking worm!" Lola rolled her eyes as if his question was ridiculous and he scoffed, his fingertips tapping mindlessly on Rosalie's upper—arm. Emmett grinned happily, pulling his wife closer to his side, kissing the side of her head lovingly.

"That's my girl." Emmett had a proud smile on his smug face for the rest of lunch, grateful to have a woman that matched his personality so well even though he would've definitely adored her if she was a worm, but only Edward knew that.

Edward was sat at the table too, he was just much quieter than his siblings, his eyes glued to the girl whose blood was calling to him like a siren. He couldn't read her mind and he couldn't stay away from her either, not only that but he couldn't have her, she would be endangered with him, not that she cared so much about that.

Nathaniel noticed his distant look and leaned over to his brother who was sat right beside him, he blocked out the conversation topic on feathered animals, bumping his shoulder with Edward's to pull his attention away from Bella, "Have you spoken to her yet?" At this, Rosalie hissed, sucking in a breath but both boys ignored her, expecting it.

"No, we have biology together last." Edward told him, picking up his apple just to stare at the glossiness for a few moments before chucking it back down on the tray, causing Nathan to laugh.

"I don't know why you're laughing, we could all die." Rosalie muttered, leaning back in her chair and Edward rolled his eyes, pushing himself up from the table. He left his tray on the table and grabbed his jacket, storming out of the cafeteria.

"Way to ruin the mood, Rosie." Alice spoke up, her soft—spoken voice not matching to her words and Nathan raised his fingers from the edge of the table just a tad, telling the pixie vampire that it was okay. He knew of Rose's concerns and he understood them, but he also knew there was nothing to worry about, the Volturi knows nothing.

"Rosalie, we're not gonna die." Nathan told her, one of his hands that was rested on top of her leg beginning to gently rub against her trousers, caressing her thigh in a comforting manner. But, from the looks of the glare sent towards him on her gorgeous face told him that she wasn't relaxing under his touch in any way, his hopes of making her feel better crushed.

"And Edward isn't going to die if he doesn't have his little Bella." Rosalie moved her leg from his reach, crossing her legs under the wooden table and Nathan rested his elbows on the table, holding his face in his hands in a stressed expression. Suddenly, a sense of calm washed over the both of them and he removed his hands from his face, sending a smile to Jasper.

"Thanks, Jaz." Nathaniel thanked, receiving a nod in reply. Jasper was usually the quietest one in the Cullen family, sometimes he acted as a mediator using his gift and other times he just completely stayed out of it. He wasn't one for drama but when he was involved with no way out, he definitely made his opponent know not to mess with him.

Nathan looked over at his wife, who was turned away from him purposely, speaking with Alice and he let out a heavy sigh, standing up from the table. He lifted Edward's tray from the table in silence and headed over to the kitchen to put his items back, he wasn't one to waste food.

As he placed the juice carton and apple back, he heard footsteps head towards him and when he looked over to see who was stood beside him, he locked eyes with Bella Swan's dark ones, "Oh, hey, Bella." Nathaniel sent her a small smile, placing the tray in a box full of other used trays and she picked up an apple juice carton as she spoke.

"Hi. I just wanted to ask... Why did you and Edward disappear all week?" Bella fiddled with the small carton in her hand, her eyes on her fingers and Nathaniel looked at the side of her face, trying to come up with a believable excuse in his mind.

"Uh, Edward had something personal going on." He told her truthfully, unable to lie to her and she nodded in an understanding manner, but there was something in her deep brown eyes that screamed at him, telling him that there was more she had to say, "What else did you need to tell me?"

"Uh—" Bella cut herself off, her eyebrows furrowing. She in fact did have something else in addition to ask, but she didn't realise how obvious she made it... That was the thing, there were no signs that she was longing to say more, that was his gift — it was all to do with the eyes, "Yeah, um, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out sometime, like study or something..."

He hesitated in his mind, but he smiled nonetheless, "Of course, I'll have to bring my sister, Alice. I'm sure you'll meet her soon." At her name, Alice Cullen's eyes widened in excitement from the table, all of his family members — excluding Edward — were sat listening in to the interaction with deep concentration.

His eyes darted over to the table, and nodded his chin over her shoulder, causing Bella to turn her head to look for a short moment before looking back at Nathan, "Is she the short—haired fairy—looking one?"

"Yep, that's Ali." He sent her tight—lipped smile when he heard Alice's light and rapid footsteps approaching and as soon as she became within touching distance, she jumped onto Nathaniel's arm, her smile wide, enthusiastic and bubbly.

"Hi, I'm Alice! You're Bella?" Alice tilted her head, her speed and sudden bright mood startling Bella ever so slightly, but the human girl quickly composed herself, nodding as she placed her juice carton back down on the counter.

"Are you biological siblings? You look really alike, like twins or..." Bella trailed off, her voice betraying her out of un—comfortability due to all of the attention and Nathan noticed the look in her eye, showing how nervous she was, so he smiled, making a move to end the conversation for the Swan's sake.

"No, we're both adopted. We have class, so we better go. It was nice speaking with you again, Bella." Nathan nodded curtly at her, sending her a wider smile, to which she returned, only hers was tight and awkward.

"Oh— It was nice to meet you, Bella!" Alice exclaimed as Nathan dragged her away for a reason she didn't know, but she did notice a change in Isabella's demeanour, so she assumed it was that. The pixie vampire didn't worry too much about the subject, she knew her husband would explain it later due to his ability to not only bend emotions but to read them to, similar to Nathaniel's gift.

The two vampire siblings approached their family at their table. Rosalie held a glare, her irritation bubbling up inside of her by the minute and as soon as he set his eyes on her, she looked away, her arms crossed over her chest, causing him to let out a saddened sigh. Jasper was smirking at his mate, who whimsically bounced back into her seat, clutching onto his arm tightly. Lola was leaned back into Emmett's chest, fiddling with the rings on her fingers, clearly unbothered whilst her mate was the complete opposite, prepared to tease his older brother.

"Seems like you've fucked it up again, Natty." Emmett joked, his eyes flickering over at the side of Rosalie's sulking face, a grin on his own. Nathaniel huffed, not finding his joke to be funny as he made his way out of the cafeteria without one word to his family, he hoped to find Edward.

But he never did.

AMXLIEWRITES || MY KIND OF WOMAN