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CHAPTER FOUR ᴄᴀʟᴍ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴏs
A vampire's fullness was different to that of a human's. It was sickening, in a way- that overindulgence, as if there was too much life pounding through dead veins. The moment after final satiation was bliss, thriving with the need to run, yet being pulled down with the weight of something else's blood.
To be so blatant on the topic, of course, was from Alice's influence. Though Emmett- a complete opposite to Rosalie's shrewdness and self-contempt- was flippant enough that it was no surprise that it may eventually rub off. Every conversation with him seemed to be filled with side comments referencing his vampiric qualities. The wedding had been the best example, at least to the present date.
Currently, his playful nature was at war against Rose. Emmett lay back against the grass, his wide hands spread across his stomach as if he'd eaten too much. His dark brow was bushed into his forehead, eyes staring mockingly as she rolled her eyes for the hundredth time in the last hour. Jasper sat a few metres off, laying so still with his hands resting behind his mop of blonde curls that a human may have thought him to be dead.
"I wonder if this is what a hangover feels like," Emmett blurted.
"You've never had one?" I asked, feeling the lift of Alice's chest beneath my head as she laughed at my quickness.
"Alcohol can't affect vampires- you know this, right?" Rose said.
"I meant before- when he was human," I said, shaking my head. "I thought Emmett of all of us might have."
But Emmett shook his head too, the movement crunching the grass behind it. "Nope," he said, prolonging the word. "Never even had a sip."
"I got tipsy once," Rosalie said, surprising us all. It was rare, despite her vanity, that she would talk about herself, or her past, to be more specific. "But it was still the twenties. My dad would've known the second I even tried to have a drink."
It reminded me of my own past, of nights spent trying to escape a reality I now yearned for. I voice my own memories, feeling Alice's attention shifting from the hand that rested against her leg to the centre of my face.
"I used to sneak out with Thomas with a bottle of scotch down to the field for that same reason."
"Tell us about it. You never talk about them," Alice said, her voice loud in my ear as she leaned further down.
"I once got so drunk that he had to carry me home. He'd had just as much so he ended dropping me in the middle of the cow's field and falling asleep in the process of trying to pick me up," I said, smiling lightly. "It was a shock in the morning, I'll tell you that. My mother almost had a heart attack."
"Hearing you speak so fondly makes me wish I remember."
"There's more to miss, this way," I said.
It was easy to remember those times when Thomas and I would do something stupid, inevitably leading to my mother's annoyance. He may as well have been family. Our relationship was much like that of Alice and Edward's, more like siblings than fated friends. But after the memories, came the realisation that they were gone, faded into the past- one hundred years into the past. It was always difficult to pull back from that. To be present, as Alice would say.
"My question still hasn't been answered," Emmett said as he slowly sat up, pushing out a mocking groan. At the confused look on my face, he elaborated. "Is this what a hangover feels like?"
We let out a laugh, Rose's carrying louder than the others. Her hands were laced amongst the tall blades of grass and heather, picking at it and braiding the cuttings around each other. She found something else amongst the meadow.
"Sort of. The slouchiness is there," I said, describing my own feeling of lethargy.
Rosalie's hand lifted, suddenly sending a stick hurtling toward Emmett. Alice was laughing before it even hit his hand. The stick was clutched between his fingers as he stared at it in surprise.
"Except for the fact your reaction time is still perfect," Rose said, grinning widely.
It wasn't even seconds later, when Emmett launched himself forward, tackling her to the group, sending ripples of laughter tumbling from her pink lips.
"Emmett!"
He stopped immediately as his name left her mouth, hands entwined within hers.
"What, did I ruin your hair again?" He joked.
Rose smirked. It was only a moment before Emmett understood her trick. Even if her hair had been ruffled, she did not care, not now. But it was a moment too late. Rosalie threw herself forward, knocking him forward until he was flat on his back and she was straddling him, smiling in victory.
"How about we head home? Carlisle and Esme will be back soon."
She said nothing else as she stood, pushing away from Emmett, disappearing behind the maze of trees. The other two followed. Alice and I stayed.
It was quiet without the rest of the Cullens. The wind was soft, calmed after the gusts that'd carried us during the morning's hunt, enveloped in the dark tails of a lingering mist that'd now disappeared into the damp air. The canopy of trees held some sense of protection, darkening the forest floor which was highlighted only by the small pockets of golden light that flooded, sloping as fluidly as a waterfall.
Alice was humming, her voice sending vibrations rippling down the back of my neck. It was a song I didn't recognise, probably from one of the numerous discs of piano music she had on her bookshelves. She smiled as she noticed me looking, amber eyes dazzling under the attention. I often thought of the first time I saw those eyes staring back at me as if she could see right through me, under my skin and into my thoughts. She knew me well enough now that it may as well have been true.
"You never did tell me where Edward was taking Bella for the honeymoon."
"Isle Esme," she said.
"Isle Esme?"
Alice let out a gentle laugh. "Yeah, Carlisle bought Esme an island for their wedding anniversary."
"I've definitely been using all of these added years wrong."
"Oh completely," she said, bringing her head down as she leaned over me, pressing her lips to mine. She was so close that I could feel her eyelashes fluttering against my chin. "I could buy you an island."
"I'd be satisfied without it."
Her finger looped around my chin, drawing me upwards so I was no longer laying against her but kneeling, lips catching with hers. Alice smiled against me, hand trailing from my jaw, down my neck, along my collarbone, her touch as soft as a feather, becoming harder as she moved downwards, making me all the more desperate. I took back control, hand reaching to the back of her neck, kisses straying from her lips as her hands wandered farther, daring to go lower and lower until they could go no further.
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Quick little filler until shit hits the fan. God I hate that saying. PS Jasper is NOT a soldier in this book!
