Falling To The Sun | B. Swan + E. Cullen

cinquante-six

The styrofoam cup was balanced on her bony knee and Roman sat there watching it, waiting for it to begin to tip before she caught it with idle hands and set it back to balance.

There was little else she could do now with the way that she didn't want to see any of the others downstairs. Esme was fine. Carlisle and Rosalie were fine. Jasper and Alice, and Emmett were fine if they wanted to come around to see her instead of just giving her too much space, but well, her husband and wife, she didn't truly wish to see.

Because they were just letting him stay, letting Jacob cuddle up to her on the couch. Seth had told her of Edward's little plan about his offer to let Jacob give Bella the child she so desperately wanted. To think that he would just...

It was revolting and Roman refused to speak to him when he came to explain himself. She had let him talk all he wanted, talk as long and desperately that he could, but she never answered. She couldn't answer when she was sort of just clinging to the state of being okay instead of just crumbling into tears all the time.

Roman cried for everything and nothing when she was awake enough to do so.

And really, she could understand where he was coming from so maybe that's what had upset her so much about what he had done, but she couldn't just stomach it, not then, not now.

Then there was Bella and the way she was still just so in love with Jacob and had no plans of hiding it each time she had risked getting close enough to see her.

Seth had told her everything she as missing, each conversation and wish of the world downstairs that she didn't want to be a part of right now. He was the only one that came to see her consistently, the only one that braved her mood swings and silent treatments enough to stay in the room with her.

Even Edward came up less and less and she wondered if she ought to be thankful for that fact.

And when Leah finally came up after a day of being part of the new pack, yelling at her for being so incredibly dumb, nearly shifting then and there, until she saw the small imprint of a foot against Roman's stomach at all the yelling.

Her friend had frozen, words dying on her tongue before she approached slowly with her hand hovering over the skin there hesitantly.

Leah had always wanted children. It had been the plan when she was with Sam, but that was ruined and now she was a shifter that was uncertain if she would ever be able to carry children of her own. 

It felt a little like manipulation when she had asked if she wanted to feel, but if Seth had whispered to her later that Leah had different reasons for being there then no one mentioned it.

"You're going to spill it if you keep doing that," Rosalie chides from where she stood in the doorway, eyes dark and sharp as she watches Roman play with the cup of blood.

She doesn't answer as it starts to slip again and she drinks from the straw -- swallowing quickly before the taste could really register in her mouth. Drinking blood was a whole thing she didn't want to get into and part of her would have accused Jacob of bringing it up just to spite her if it wasn't working out so well.

"Oh, yeah," she mutters, glancing to the window in hopes of spotting Leah or Seth making a return. Someone always had to watch her apparently. "That would be a tragedy."

"I wish he would leave just as much as you do," the blonde says.

"You're still down there being civil with him all the time. Everyone is civil with him."

"It's for Bella's sake."

She scoffs and resists the urge to launch the cup into the blonde's face. "Isn't everything?"