leave your lover / edward cullen

f i v e

five | practically ancient

"AMARA, THIS IS EDWARD. He was the first vampire I turned." Carlisle introduces, glancing back and forth between Amara and Edward - the latter's eyes bulging out of his face.

Amara has a slight smirk on her face as she looked the vampire up and down. "Well, Eddie, it's certainly a joy to meet you."

"Edward can read minds," Emmett speaks up. "So, don't think anything too dirty about me or he'll hear it!"

Amara and Annie simultaneously roll their eyes, the latter slapping her hand against her husband's chest. Emmett grunts, muttering as he rubs the spot where she had hit.

"Take it easy, woman. You're stronger than me," he had muttered.

"Damn straight," Annie says, winking at Amara, who in turn sticks her tongue out at Emmett.

"And this is Bella," Carlisle says slowly, his eyes scrunching as he glances between his adoptive son and best friend. "Edward's girlfriend."

Amara's eyes flick over to Bella, a girl she knew of all too well. Her red eyes glance over the brunette's appearance, taking note of the awkward vibe that seemed to flood from her.

"Bella," Amara said slowly, her Italian accent making an appearance in her words. "How nice it is to meet you."

Bella side steps closer to her boyfriend, taking his hand as her face transforms into a calculated glare - she didn't like the way this vampire acted.

"Hello," the human said, only when Edward gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "You're Italian."

Amara nods, a smirk playing on her face as she watches Bella's every move. "I've only lived in Italy for most of my years - that's where I met Carlisle."

"So, you're old?" Bella asks.

Amara shrugs. "Practically ancient."

Bella scoots closer towards Edward, tucking herself under his arm as she watches Amara, whose smirk has yet to disappear from her face. She watches as the vampire's eyes flicked to Edward, the smirk only deepening.

"So, you read minds?" Amara asks Edward, a low chuckle that only the vampires in the room hear - and this furrows all their brows.

"Didn't you know that already?" Edward asks, but once he's noticed what he's said, he adds on. "Emmett just told you."

"Exactly," Amara nods, winking at him. "It's just intriguing. I've met a mind reader once before, not so long ago in my home country."

"You have?" Carlisle asks, stepping forward. "When?"

"Oh, a few years back," Amara says, dismissively. "He was a real prick, I came to find out. It was a shame though, I enjoyed his company."

"You? Enjoying the company of another immortal?" Carlisle laughs. "Unheard of."

"What was he like?" Annie asks, noting the unimpressed look on Amara's face as she spoke of the man.

"Does it really matter?" She says, a hint of distaste in her voice. "He was, unfortunately, one of the biggest assholes I've ever came across - and I've met countless."

"You always have a place in our home, Amara." Esme says, stepping forward to place her hand on the redhead's shoulder. Her heart ached for the lonesome girl. Esme wouldn't know what she would do if she were to spend her entire life alone.

Amara smiles at Esme, placing her own pale hand on top of one on her shoulder. "Thank you, Esme, truly."

"Why don't we find this asshole and teach him a lesson?" Emmett suggests with a smirk. "Edward, you in?"

"What?" Edward looks up at Emmett, not realizing that he had been staring at Amara as she spoke about him.

"No, no," Amara spoke, her voice back to the soft velvet that was music to the ears of many ⎯ especially Edward. "Your service won't be rendered necessary, Hulk."

Emmett let's out a loud whine, the stomp of his foot shaking the house to its foundation. He hadn't had a good, fair fight in a long time and he was anxiously awaiting the next one.

"What goes around does come around," Amara says, her eyes scanning the pale faces in front of her. She glances over Edward, not spending more than a second on his face.

"Why don't you let Alice show you to your room, yes?" Esme suggests, motioning her hand towards the staircase. "You may not sleep but if you ever need some alone time, this is where you could rest."

After Amara sends Esme a warm smile, she follows Alice's petit body gracefully towards the stairs. As they ascend upwards, Amara casts one final look at the duo.

Edward is staring up at her, at Amara, as she leaves the room. Any fool could see the affection burning behind his eyes ⎯ including Bella, whose eyes were in a focused glare up at Edward.

Quickly turning from the scene, Amara and Alice flashed up the rest of the stairs ⎯ a knowing grin on the pixie's face.

"It's a shame that that man left you, Amara," Alice speaks quietly, hiding the knowing tone in her voice. She knew all about that had happened in Europe, she saw it happen before Edward himself.

And to this day, she was the only outsider to know of it. Not Carlisle or Esme knew, nor Emmett or Annie, Jasper or Rosalie, and certainly not Bella.

"All good things must come to an end, love bug." Amara smiles tensely at Alice before disappearing into the room the Cullens has designated as her own.

Back downstairs, Bella stares at her boyfriend in a mixture of emotions ⎯ those of jealousy and suspicion running the thickest. Jasper shifts uncomfortably, inching closer towards the door to escape her strong feelings.

Edward, after hearing Jasper's thoughts of silent agony, looks away from the staircase. He smiles tensely at Bella, who is still looking at him in suspicion.

"She's peculiar, isn't her Edward?" Bella asks, her voice a tone higher than it normally would be. More tense, too.

"You could say that," Edward clears his throat, tearing his gaze from Bella's to look at Carlisle ⎯ who is also looking at him in confused suspicion.

"It's late, let's get you home," he says to Bella, his hand falling onto the small of her back in routine, leading her back towards the front door ⎯ away from the weary looks and addictive thoughts.