Lost in Love

Part 2

We reached the open field, my gaze landing on the Cullen family.

They were dressed in attire fitting for a game of baseball, looking like something out of a designer magazine—chic and effortlessly glamorous, even in their casual clothes.

The open sky above was brooding, heavy with storm clouds, and the distant rumble of thunder promised that the game would soon begin.

"It's about time, Bella! The storm is about to start!" Alice’s voice rang out, her excitement contagious as she waved me over.

There was something endearing about her childlike enthusiasm that never failed to bring a smile to my face.

Despite my complicated feelings toward Edward, I’d grown to care for his family.

Alice’s lighthearted spirit made it impossible not to be drawn in, and I admired Rosalie’s strength and elegance, qualities that resonated with me on a level I couldn’t fully explain.

Each member of the Cullen family had a role, a place, like pieces in a well-oiled machine, and sometimes, just sometimes, I found myself wishing I could feel so grounded, so rooted within a family unit.

"You're going to stay by Esme and watch, okay?" Edward’s commanding tone cut through my thoughts as he joined the rest of his family.

I barely kept myself from rolling my eyes at his absurd protectiveness. Did he really think I couldn’t hold my own?

But he didn’t understand who I was—who I truly was.

I wasn’t just the “human girl” he’d come to adore. I was a Petrova, and not just any Petrova, one that's married to a Mikaelson

But Edward had never known the weight of my bloodline, and perhaps it was better that way.

"Are you alright, honey? Are you cold?" Esme’s gentle voice interrupted my inner monologue.

She was standing beside me, her motherly warmth wrapping around me like a soft blanket on a winter night.

Esme had become something like a mother to me.

Not that I was lacking a mother, but mine had always preferred my sister, Tatia.

Even now, the memory of that favoritism didn’t sting quite as sharply as it once had; the scars had faded.

I knew that if my family hadn’t favored Tatia, I would never have met Nick or his family.

I’d never have found the love that filled my heart every day, even across the distance that separated us.

A soft sigh slipped past my lips, my thoughts drifting to Nick.

My husband, my love, the one who understood me in a way no one else could.

I hadn’t seen him in over a century, and though I tried to stay strong, the ache only grew with time.

Klaus had put his siblings to rest on numerous occasions, sealing them away for their protection, but he had never daggered me.

He’d kept his promise, even through all the trials we’d faced.

"Bella? Bella?" Rosalie’s voice pulled me back to the present.

She was standing close, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, Rose! I was lost in my thoughts. What happened?" I asked, brushing off the melancholy that lingered from my memories.

"Someone’s coming," Alice whispered, her voice tinged with a rare note of worry as she gazed toward the treeline.

"I think it’s another vampire."