𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭-𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬² | 𝙏𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 ✓

𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈

Two months had come and gone and Vincent was getting restless, well, more restless than usual.

Sam had tried everything but Vincent wouldn't budge. It was a mistake to let him so close to the Cullen's home; to let him see them so closely. 

He'd been sitting on an idea for a while but didn't bring it up because he never knows how the Cullens will react, especially with Carlisle and Esme gone.

They swam and swam and swam until Sam got tired. Vincent didn't know what 'tired' meant anymore. "Aren't you supposed to be some sort of superhuman because of the wolf thing? How are you tired already?" Vincent teased as he walked out of the water.

La Push was as gloomy and dreary as ever, but he loved it just as his son said.

Sam shook his head as he tried to catch his breath, taking a seat on the sand. "Funny. Unlike you, my heart still beats and my lungs still rise and fall." Vincent just rolled his eyes. 

"I think you should talk to the Cullens." Sam dropped after a few seconds of silence. Vincent looked at him, confused. "I thought you said they were dangerous." He said, not wanting to let his temper get the better.

"My opinion is biased Vincent." Vincent ran a hand through his wet hair, making it look a bit browner than his usual blonde.

"Your wife and son are good friends with them. If they really were dangerous then they would've been long dead by now." He didn't know whether to be angry at his friend for spewing nonsense and keeping him away from his family or to just let it go.

Nothing was said, leaving them in nothing but the sound of the waves washing on shore and the slight rustle of trees.

***

Meloria sat in her classroom while her students were out at lunch.

"In conclusion, I think Romeo was in the wrong." She mumbled out loud as she read over her student's first drafts. She lifted her glasses, setting them on top of her head as she rubbed her now soar nose bridge from having to wear them for so long.

It wasn't that the essay was bad, it was refreshing to see someone, for once, not seeing Romeo and Juliet as a beautifully tragic love story. 

Was it tragic? Yes.

But a beautiful love story? Not so much.

She set the paper down on top of the pile of all the other annotated papers. She leaned back against her chair. It was a cushiony brown armchair on wheels that Alice took out of storage for her. 

In Alice's words, "It used to be an old friend of mine from when I was... younger. You remind me a lot of her so I think you should have it."

Emmett helped her carry it into her classroom during the weekend around a month ago.

Her eyes couldn't help but land on a framed picture that stood under the lamp on her desk. In the picture stood her and Vincent with little Tobias on Vincent's hip.

Tobias couldn't be more than three years old in that picture. It was taken a month before Vincent died. Disappeared.

She grabbed it, looking down at it, wishing she could go back even if for just a minute. She missed her husband and Tobias missed his father.

There was a knock at the door, snapping her out of her thoughts before she could let a single tear drop. She put the picture down, letting the person they could come in.

In walked Alice, her art teacher best friend. She smiled as Alice leaned against one of the desks facing the front. "Hey, why didn't you come to the teacher's lounge to eat today?" She asked as she placed a bag of food from the diner on her desk.

"You are a lifesaver," Meloria said with a smile as she picked out a fry from the bag. "You are very welcome, now answer my question," Alice said making Meloria chuckle slightly as she swallowed the fry.

"I have a lot of papers to grade and I need to get these grades in by tomorrow so we can watch the movie next Friday." She answered with a sigh as she looked at the pile of first drafts she still had to annotate. Most of her classes already go theirs back and were working on their final draft, it was just her last two classes of the day that she had left.

"Don't stress yourself out so much. You'll have plenty of time to do all that so don't forget to take care of yourself." Alice said as she smiled at her friend. "I really don't know what I would do without you, Alice." She chuckled, "You'd be dehydrated, stressed, and probably malnourished." Meloria laughed even though she knew she was completely right.

"Tobias was telling me that you have your classes working on sculpting, how's that going?" Alice let herself fall back into the desk chair. "As good as a much of teenagers working with clay and wires can get." She said, only being able to think of some of the art her students have made.

"Please, at least tell me there are some good ones mixed in there," Meloria said before taking a bite of her burger. "Oh, definitely. Tobias is a natural in the arts. He and this other kid I was in one of my morning classes are probably some of the most talented individuals I've ever seen and I live with Rosalie." Her words made Meloria feel like a proud mother.

Although all that talent in the arts probably didn't come from her. She wasn't exactly the best when it came to painting but her husband was pretty good in his own way. Maybe Tobias got it from him.

"I was thinking, maybe you and Tobias could come over for dinner tonight," Alice suggested. "You and I could try cooking for Tobias and Ren since everyone else will be out for the night." Meloria nodded her head. "Sounds like fun. Plus, I feel like Tobias spends more time at your place than at ours these days so I might as well join him for tonight." She said making them both laugh.