The Swan Has Horns

56

Never in a million years would Bella have ever thought that another man other than Edward would make her blush. The sheer golden retriever-like appearance, and the soft smile he had on his face made her fail to believe that this was going to be the man to take her too, and from school for the past month.

"I'm Lucas, Lucas Barlowe." He had the door opened for her already and everything, a hand out waiting to help her step up into the waiting car, "I'll be picking you up, and dropping you off." Everything about him seemed radiant. The big smile on his face, and the fluffy mop of blonde hair that danced with the cold wind of Seattle.

"Bella Swan." She had nothing to say about him, a bit confused considering her brother was chatting him up as if they were old friends, letting him know what time school ended for her, and what time he expected her to be back unless said otherwise. It was very much annoying to watch him talk as if she wasn't standing right beside him, but what more could she do when she was already in deep shit.

"I know, I know, it's nice to meet the sister of Mister Swan!" He had helped her into the car with little to no sweat, a curious thought appearing in her head after noticing his abnormal body heat. Was he perhaps a shifter? If he was then sure he didn't look like the others, she surely thought that the only Shifters nearby were of Native descent, the blue eyes and blonde hair was an obvious contradiction of those words, "I'll be sure to get you back safe, and sound." He grinned, though instead of walking over to the driver side, he ended up sliding into the passenger seat, confusing the brunette as to who was in the driver's seat if he was sitting there.

"Sorry, I'm new to this area, so your brother's driver has to show me around." A bit of a frenzy he turned around to give her a shy smile, but flushed on the side when he noticed her to be a little confused. It was a little embarrassing to mention that he didn't know his way, but what else could he do, he was more than excited to finally get to visit the land of the living, along with his little bar job Antonio had given him permission to take up.

"Oh?" No complaints though, he seemed nice enough, cute even with the way he stayed pressed to the glass and watching the scene of a large city slowly fade into barely touched nature.

"I'll still make sure to get you back safely, even if I'm just a passenger for today." He winked, more excited about what was outside than the people that were inside the car. Like she said, nice enough, and if she really wanted to, she might convince him to give her extra time to chat with Edward.

"Hey Lucas," She leaned forward, curiosity eating away, "why did you accept the job to become some driver for a person like Antonio?" She had a smile on her face, but Antonio had always managed to find the weirdest of the weird to work for him. They didn't question him or the other two girls, they did exactly what they were told, and if they weren't told directly they wouldn't bother listening to Bella or Charlie. She figured very much that while Lucas didn't seem weird like the maids, he did have some sort of loyalty to Antonio. Perhaps his brother was in the Mafia, or something dealing with gangs for him to have such people working for him.

"Why wouldn't I be? I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him." A soft sign left his lips, all smiles and joyful thoughts. He'll still be locked away in some cage, if he hadn't bought him off of Frank, he owed him one.

"He saved your life? Like from death? Or?" Bella waited, she had caught the awkward glance that the driver had thrown her, but he hadn't said anything otherwise, and neither did Lucas. A simple grin on his face as he shrugged at her answer, "did he?"

~~~~~~

"Leah, you're still looking for a job aren't you?" Antonio had slyly looked up from the newspaper he was reading, feeling as old as his father to care about the terrors going on in the world, but feeling young enough to the point where he really only looked through it to feel busy in the early morning hours, "while you might not want to work with me, there are still other options I can help you with." He had been thinking about it long before they had even moved into the apartment.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm happy that you want to help, but it wouldn't hurt to have my own source of income." She tapped away on her glass, orange juice being refilled by some random maid, that left as quick as she arrived, "no offense or anything."

"None taken, though have you figured out what? If it's somewhere far, I can help provide transportation." Her old truck wouldn't last long given the distance she would need to travel, it already sputtered as is, and he prayed to get her and Bella another one in fear of those old things giving out on them in a dire situation.

"Haven't decided yet, there's a Cafe in the building, but I don't think they're hiring right now." She also didn't want to stray too far, while she did enjoy the fresh air of a different place, she couldn't help but feel slightly afraid of the unfamiliar surroundings. It wasn't like she could just run into the woods away from the world whenever something got hard, running into some random place here might result in her getting hurt, or worse, dead.

"Then keep looking, no rush." He smiled, or at least tired too, a visible tired look on his face, "I recently opened up a bar, and if you ever want to work there feel free to let me know, I'll make sure you'll go, and leave unharmed." A danger, for someone like her, she hadn't shifted yet, and she was still afraid of the unknown, he'll hate to help, and put her in danger at the same time.

"I'll think about it." She just continued to finish off her drink, the food she was eating feeling a little heavier than planned, "is- is Isla okay? I didn't speak with her because she looked tired last night." She dwindled her fingers, a bit curious as to where her favorite person had gone in the last week. She wondered what exactly was wrong with her, but she figured it had something to do with Kyrie since she's been more active since they've brought her back.

"Sleeping," Something he wished to be doing, but unfortunately work called, "we don't usually sleep very much, and while it's not needed, it's surely welcomed." It reminded him that it's been awhile since he had genuinely rested his body. Sleeping throughout the night was good, but a couple of days would be even better.

"Do you sleep?"

"Not usually, I haven't slept longer than an entire day ever since Kyrie was born." He had smiled, while time technically wasn't long ago, it was still very much special to the man's heart, "I try, but Kyrie likes to wake up everyday, maybe when she settles more, I could start sleeping in." He also didn't trust to leave her in the care of Charlie for longer than a hour, his fear of her being snatched resurfacing after going more than a couple hours of not seeing her.

"Would you like to sleep in today? Do you have work today? I mean, I don't have anything to do right now, I finished up my school work for a few days. I don't mind helping around for today." She knew for a fact Jennifer wasn't in the mood to do anything, she had looked tired the second they arrived back, and seemed eager to step back, and relax like she usually does. She hadn't spoken, nor had she said anything snarky towards anybody, not even her.

"I would like that, though I still have a bit of work that requires my attention." He had zoned out a bit, an opened black letter resting just inches away on a silver platter. He had a lot of things to do, yet there were certain things he couldn't put off any longer, "I'll still appreciate the help though. My dad would probably like some company." The man wasn't even awake yet, sleeping in on his rare day off. Maybe he was still unwell, or maybe he was just tired, all Antonio knew was that he was safe and comfortable at the moment.

"Okay," She just sat back, awkwardly fumbling around, as she thought of other things to talk about, very rarely did they have time to chat about random things, and she was starting to miss when things weren't so chaotic, "will you be busy this afternoon?"

"Shouldn't be."

"Then, would you like to go out? W-We can do whatever, I just haven't had the chance to hang out with you like promised." She flushed, peaking the grin that Antonio had plastered across his face. It reminded him of little four year old Leah, asking him to visit her.

"Of course, I'll be sure to leave my afternoon open." Afterwards though, he had letters to reply to, and a sister to get straight before the week was up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays! Sorry I've been away, been spending time with family. I'll be popping out updates, cause I plan to finish this before January 1st.