I rolled my eyes as Peter snorted at that. I turned back to the television to watch the music video, when Peter grabbed the remote and turned it off. A small growl escaped me... I blame spending too much time with vampires... which got a strange look from him. Seriously, if he was going to deal with me, he was going to have to figure out how crazy I was. There was so much I wanted to ask him, but I didn't want to be the one to bring up everything. I wanted him to tell me more about him, so much I wanted to know. There was just the small fact that I didn't want him to talk about things that he wasn't ready for.
"So now you growl?" he asked. I nodded, smirking at him. "You are full of surprises, Miss Bella." I shrugged, not wanting to move from where I was. For being hard as diamond, he was a very comfortable bed. "What do you wanna know?"
"Where are you from?"
He smiled, kissing my forehead. "I grew up in Dallas, Texas with my parents and two sisters. My father was in the army so we had moved around quite a bit, but that was where I was born and where I left my family to go off on my own before I was turned." I nodded, wanting to know even more about his family. "My sisters were twins, both younger than myself. Their names were Delilah and Serenity."
"How did you meet Jasper?" I asked. "Why does he call you his brother?"
"Jasper was the vampire to change me." His voice was cold now. "Has he told you how he was turned?" I shook my head. Edward hadn't let me be close to Jasper, even though he was my brother just as much as Emmett. "I'll explain later. I've never told anyone before, but I know that he has."
"What's your ability?" He stared down at me. "I mean, everyone brought something from their human life according to Carlisle. What did you bring?"
He grinned at me and answered, "I know shit." That was pure confusing in and of itself. "I can't explain it, I just know shit."
I nodded, knowing that it wasn't something that could be explained. Like trying to figure out what I had ever seen in Edward to think he was good enough for me.
I snuggled into Peter even more as I wondered about my future with the Cullens. Peter was a nomad and he wouldn't want to stay around with my family, but I didn't want to leave them after everything they had done for me. I owed my family so much for everything they had done for me, I had no idea how I would ever repay them.
I groaned as I realized that I had to go home and grab some things from my room that I wanted. There was no way that Peter would let me go without him, but I didn't know how to explain things to Charlie if we found him there. What was I supposed to introduce Peter as when he thought that I was still dating Edward. I also had to let him know that Renee and Phil were coming in for a weekend.
"What's wrong, baby?" he asked as he sat up with me still in his arms.
"I have to run to my dad's house," I explained.
He stood up and, with me still wrapped in the blanket, carried me out to my truck. I didn't know why the keys were in the ignition so I assumed that either I had forgotten them yesterday -- it was totally plausible with what happened yesterday -- or Alice had something to do with it. I gave him directions to the small house as I curled further into the blankets. I knew that I would have to leave them though. Charlie would be confused if he saw me walking in wrapped in blankets.
As Peter pulled up to the house, we both saw the cruiser sitting in the driveway. I groaned, running my fingers through my hair as I tried once again to think of what I was going to say to Charlie. Peter came around to the passenger side and opened the door, helping me out. He wrapped his arms around my waist, placing his chin on my head as we walked. It was uncomfortable, partially because he was, like, a foot taller than me.
"That you, Bells?" Charlie asked as we walked in, me pulling away.
"Yeah, Dad," I called back, leading Peter into the living room to find Charlie in front of the television. "Dad, this is Peter."
Charlie looked up, surveying Peter, which made me blush. "Hello, sir," Peter said, smiling at him. "Heard a lot about you from this pretty li'l lady."
"And you are?" Charlie asked.
Peter laughed. "Esme Cullen is my aunt. She offered me a place to stay while I was on leave from the military."
That got Charlie's attention, as well as mine. So he had been a soldier at one time; his voice was too level for him to even have a chance of lying.
"He's Jasper and Rosalie's older half-brother," I spoke up, feeling the lie coming out naturally. "He's been teaching me how to defend myself." Okay, so that second part was a full-blown lie, but he has shown me how far he's willing to go to protect me. "Oh, I'll be back. I need to go grab some things from upstairs."
As I went upstairs, I could hear Charlie interrogating Peter, but he seemed to be liking Peter better than Edward. I shoved a few things into a bag and went back downstairs to heard Charlie and Peter discussing sports. I groaned, having the feeling that I would be watching quite a bit of sports with Peter in the long run.
"So, Edward's visiting family?" Charlie asked.
I nodded. "He's actually considering moving there," I explained. "We've broken up anyways. The only reason I'm still hanging out with the Cullens is because of Alice."
"I'll be in the car," Peter told me, walking out.
I groaned, getting the feeling that he knew something. "You're going to be safe, right?" Charlie asked, making me look at him in shock. "Bella, I know that boy likes you. Are you okay with him in the military?"
"He makes me happy, Dad," I said, smiling softly. "He's so sweet and protective. I really don't mind moving around with him if he wants to be in the army."
"He seems like a good guy and much better than Edwin." I giggled at that. "Just be careful, alright? Don't do anything that's not safe."
I smiled and admitted, "Peter's not that kind of guy. I promise, if anything happens, it will be safe, sane, and consensual." Charlie groaned, shaking his head. "I'm joking, Dad. I'll see you later."
I ran outside to the truck to find Peter leaning against it. I giggled and kissed him on the cheek before getting in. He closed the door and walked around to the other side, climbing in and heading back to the Cullen's house.
"Safe, sane and consensual, huh?" he asked, making me blush. "Hey, I'm willing to try anythin' with you, m'dear." My blush deepened. "Now, what did we have to grab from your house?"
"Just some...uh...things." I really didn't want him to know what I needed to get. He pulled over and grabbed my bag, pulling out things from it. There was a photo album, my iPod, and -- god, why did he have to go through my bag -- a box of tampons. He grinned at me, a shit-eating grin that made me blush beyond control. Seriously, he couldn't have just let me have my privacy?
We pulled back up to the house just as the others were getting back from a hunting trip. Alice ran over and pulled me up to her room, my bag in her hands. We sat down on the bed as she said, "Charlie likes him a lot." I nodded, biting my lip. "He thinks you would be better with a military man than with Edward. Plus, in my opinion, military men know how to do some pretty-"
"Alice," I squealed, diving under the pillows so I wouldn't have to hear this. "I really don't want to hear this."
"I have a question though," she said. "What did you go by when you were five? Bella? Isabella?"
"Um, Izzy," I answered, looking down. "I went by Izzy until my grandmother passed away when I was seven." I eyed her. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing," she answered, looking suspiciously like she knew something. "Peter, stay out of Bella's stuff!"
He grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it, Pixie." He held his hand out towards me. "Now, Esme's cooking some nice food for you. Why don't we head down there and you can have lunch."
I nodded, smiling. There was something that both Peter and Alice were keeping from me and I was determined to find out what it was.
No comments:
Post a Comment