𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭-𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬² | 𝙏𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 ✓

𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈

Tobias started getting nervous as they drove closer to Ren's house. He pulled down the mirror, fixing his hair in the mirror.

His dirty blonde hair almost looked brown because of his mom's genes but his dad's genes still snuck in there and made him blonde. Sometimes he hated looking at his hair, it reminded him too much about how much he missed him.

Meloria noticed how nervous he was getting. She stretched out a hand, ruffling his hair slightly so it would go back to the slight wavy mess he usually had. 

"It's gonna be fine." She said with a smile, looking at him for a second before looking back at the road. He let out a sigh as he put the mirror back up. "I know, but meeting new people always makes me nervous."

"Hey, at least Ren will be there so not everyone will be new." She said hoping it would reassure him a little bit. His heartbeat was quick but remembering that he would have a friend there calmed him back down to a steady pace.

They parked in front of a modern home hidden away in the woods. He couldn't help but gawk at how beautiful it was.

Meloria placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a little squeeze of encouragement as Alice walked out with a smile. 

"I'm so glad you guys could make it! Everyone is really excited to meet you guys!" She said in her usual bubbly self. Meloria chuckled at that before going to give her friend a hug. 

It'd been a month already since she started teaching at Forks High School, so they had gotten pretty close. "Thanks for inviting us over." She said back as they walked into the house. Footsteps could be heard walking quickly down the stairs before Ren showed up at the bottom just as they were passing them.

"You're here." She said with a smile as she went to hug Tobias before going and giving Meloria a hug too. She had spent a lot of time with Tobias, mostly her laying in his bed doing homework while he worked on his latest painting.

"It's nice to see you, Ren," Meloria said with a smile as Alice led them to the living room where everyone else was.

As they walked in, Tobias' eyes were immediately drawn to a giant family portrait that hung in there in the same style as the Lucine portrait in Alice's classroom. He had guessed Ren's aunt Rosalie had painted it too.

They all stood up and smiled as they walked in. Tobias had noticed that two people from the portrait weren't there. 

"Hi, I'm Edward Cullen, this is my wife Bella and I guess you already know our daughter Renesme." He said with a slight chuckle as he looked at Tobias, or in his eyes, the boy that had been taking up most of his daughter's time these days. "It's nice to meet you two. I'm Meloria and this is my son Tobias but I'm guessing you guys already knew that from these two." She said chuckling making Alice chuckle in the process.

"That and my dad told me about newcomers in town when you got here. It's nice to have someone from back home here." Bella said with a smile.

Suddenly, a very beautiful woman with long blonde hair came up to them as a big man walked slightly behind her.

"Hi, I'm Rosalie." She said with a smile as she stretched out her hand to shake. 

Ah, Rosalie. Now I get why Lucine loves her so much. She's beautiful.

Both Meloria and Tobias took turns shaking her hand before the big guy spoke. 

"Emmett, nice to meet you." He said with a big smile. Even though he was huge and intimidated them a bit, they couldn't help but feel how nice he was. 

"Nice to meet you," Meloria said as Tobias just gave him a nod. He was trying his hardest to remember it all so he could tell Lucine. He hadn't seen her in almost a month since he started painting that morbid piece of art.

"Aunt Rosie, this is the guy I was telling you about. The one that loves painting." Ren said as she pointed at Tobias with a smile, garnering the attention of everyone in the room.

"Oh, really? You guys okay if I steal these two real quick to show them my studio?" She asked their parents even though she knew they wouldn't care much. The three nodded, so they made their way upstairs.

As Meloria sat down, Emmett asked a question she had been dreading as soon as they got there.

"So, where's your husband? Did he get caught up at work?" He asked earning a slap on the arm from Alice. "What?" He questioned as he rubbed his arm but Meloria just smiled.

"It's okay Alice. My husband disappeared a few years when Tobias was still a toddler." Emmett made an O shape with his mouth, now realizing why Alice reacted the way she did.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize." He apologized but Meloria just shook her head. "It's fine, really. I've mourned and come to terms with it all so, really, it's okay." She said nicely.

Bella smiled sadly, understanding.

"I lost my twin sister when Ren was born. That kind of pain doesn't just go away, you kind of just learn how to deal with it." She said as Edward squeezes her hand slightly in reassurance.

"If anyone knows how it feels to lose the love of your life, it's Rosalie. My sister and she were so in love before she passed. To this day, Rosalie loves her just as much as she did when they were young." She continues as she looks up at the family portrait, finding a face she hadn't seen before except in paintings.

Alice puts a hand on Meloria's shoulder, giving her a slight smile as she leans her head against her shoulder slightly.

"Now, enough of all this sad talk. Let's go to the kitchen and get some drinks in us." Alice said as she stands up, dragging Meloria up with her as she laughs.

They all walk to the kitchen, planning to have a fun night together so they could all get to know their new friend a little better.