Still In Bloom ↠ Twilight ✓

42 ; the art of trusting yourself

[warning: this chapter has mentions of domestic abuse]

Here's the thing: For the extent of his life, Wallace has lived through many different forms of pain. With his mother's death, his dad's incarceration, Daniel's murder, Shelby's depression, and having to change himself into a vampire all by himself as Bella's corpse was cooling beside him. But the thought of Veran, of someone attacking his son with any malicious intent, sends Wallace into a spiral.

Wallace has always known that he and his siblings were similar to their mother. Not in just their looks, but in personality. But now Wallace, the only one of the three of them that has a child, he experiences a fear so alike his mother's that he has no way to explain it. How do parents live when they know that their child is in danger? Is this how his mother felt?

Since his birth, Veran has been the centerpiece of Wallace's life. Every decision, even when it was made with either Bella or Edward, still revolved around Veran's every interest. But now that Wallace has knowledge that a force, unmoveable and undefeated, is coming for his son he can't find it in himself to think beyond how he can escape with Veran unscathed; even if that involves Wallace taking the brunt of the deadly intent.

"Wallace," This is Shelby's voice, attached with the feel of a hand grabbing gently at his arm.

Wallace diverts his thoughts instantly, turning to face his sister with golden eyes lining around her face as he sees her doing the same to him. Shelby is frowning slightly, lips puckered and eyebrows furrowed, and it's a face Wallace has seen often but not recently in regards to him. It sets him off-center.

"What do you need?" Wallace asks, flicking his eyes towards the moving bodies of Charlie, Sue, and Bella across the island in the kitchen of his childhood home where Wallace stands. The three others are chatting aimlessly, though Wallace if he looks close enough, could see the tension in Bella's body like a livewire.

"I asked if you could hand me the whisk," Shelby states, and for a moment Wallace is confused about what she means, but then he sees the bowl of some kind of watery dough in a glass bowl that's perched in the crook of her arm.

"Oh," Wallace states, then he's stepping backward, letting Shelby's hand fall off his arm and he's opening a drawer where he knows the random cooking utensils are found and eyes the whisk before grabbing it. Once he turns towards Shelby, whisk pointed in her direction, Shelby is still watching him with a deeply curious expression. "Here Shell,"

"Okay," Shelby states, grabbing the whisk, and then she's looking across the island at Sue and Charlie. "Hey Sue, can you take over for a moment? I need to show Wallace something real quick."

Sue Clearwater, the saint she is, nods her head instantly. "Of course,"

Once the doughy mixture is passed from Shelby's hands into Sue's russet-colored ones, Shelby is grabbing Wallace's arm once more. She leads him from the kitchen, the blonde curls of her hair bouncing as she directs him into their laundry room.

"Before you speak, please remember that I have a low bullshit meter," Shelby states, lifting a finger in the air and looking at Wallace in the eyes. "I've known you since you were still wetting the bed, so please don't lie to me."

"Thank you for telling my partners that information," Wallace intones, giving her a deep frown as he can imagine the expression on both Edward and Bella's faces in different parts of the home. He knows better than to think they aren't slightly eavesdropping - their worry for him, while overshadowed by their own for Veran, is still palpable.

Shelby is unrepentant as she always is, and she just huffs. "Wallace, what's wrong?"

For a moment, Wallace thinks about telling Shelby everything. About going against the advice of his partners and even Leah for a moment and telling her about the Volturi. Shelby knows enough, the small snippets she's safe to learn as a human, but she doesn't know about Veran's impending danger. In fact, her and Charlie only know the things they need to know and normally Shelby is okay with this - she may or may not be dating a supernatural creature, but she's very fine with not knowing about everything that goes bump in the night - but Wallace is torn if knowing about the danger her nephew faces is something that will wake her up or make her just as terrified as him.