Undisclosed Desires

“Emmett!” You cried, dropping the phone and spinning around. You pulled him into a hug before you could question why he was there.

“Hey, Lexi-pants!” He teased, ruffling your hair. You pulled away and grinned, so excited to see him.

As you looked past him, you saw Alice, Bella and Paul grinning at you. You rushed forward and threw your arms around Paul, so happy to be holding onto him, after you’d been so sure you’d never see him again. He wrapped his arms around your waist and lifted you up into the air, spinning you around.

You let emotion take control of your actions, and you leaned down and kissed him as passionately as you could. You felt Paul grin as he continued to kiss you, and Emmett let out a cheer and began clapping.

As Paul sat you down, you rushed to hug Alice and Bella. As you pulled away, you asked,
“How did you know I’d be here?”

Alice grinned and you laughed.

“Shoulda known,” you said, hugging her again.
“All I saw was that you were here and needed a ride,” she told me as we began to walk towards the exit. “You’ll have to fill me in on the details.”

Bella wrapped her arms around you and whispered,

“Are you sure you want to stay?”

“Of course,” you whispered back, hugging her tighter. “I can’t leave you or Paul again.” And that was true. Every time you had thought about moving away, you felt as if your heart was going to literally break.

Once all the hugs were over, you stared back out the glass wall of the airport, and spotted your family’s plane climbing higher into the sky. You wondered when they would notice your absence. Surely they realized something was wrong when you never came back from the bathroom. Or maybe not. You’d never know.

“Are you ready to go?” Paul asked gently, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. You swallowed nervously and nodded.

“Yeah, might as well get this show on the road.”

Emmett led the way through the airport; everyone gave him plenty of room when they saw him coming. Alice walked behind you, Paul and Bella, listening excitedly as you described your daring escape.

Bella and Paul stared at you, fascinated expressions on their faces.

“That was brilliant!” Alice exclaimed, dancing around to the front of you. She began to walk gracefully backwards as she talked.

“And wow! Where did you think of that? You’re amazing! And- oh, look out Alex.”

“What?” You asked, just in time for Alice to reach out and steady you as you stepped onto the waxed floor and nearly fell. Paul slid momentarily, but soon recovered enough to take your arm to keep you from falling.

“Sheesh, it sucks being a human,” you mumbled, glaring at Alice and Bella, who were completely unphased by the slippery floor. You felt a pang of sadness as you looked at Bella, and quickly looked away. Of course, being the vampire she was, she lightly touched your arm and asked,

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you mumbled, shaking your head. You tried to give her a convincing smile, but you knew it didn’t work too well. She was about to ask again, but Emmett said,

“Alright, who’s sitting where?”

You spotted his gigantic jeep standing out amongst the small, compact cars in the parking lot, and you couldn’t help but smile.
Just like the old days.

Emmett helped Alice into the passenger’s seat, and then lifted Bella up into the back as Paul climbed in on the other side. He leaned down and, as easily as if he were picking up a pillow, he lifted you up into the jeep as well. He let you linger on his lap for a moment as he kissed your cheek, and then he sat you down in the middle between him and Bella, keeping his arm around your shoulders.

“Hold on,” Emmett laughed, revving the jeep and throwing it into drive. You were slammed back into your seat as Emmett practically flew out of the parking lot at warp speed. Paul tightened his arm around you and rested his cheek on your head. Bella, Alice and Emmett talked back and forth about something you couldn’t understand; they were talking so fast, it was just a hum in the background.

“I’m glad you stayed,” Paul murmured, squeezing your shoulder softly. You smiled and said quietly,

“Me too. I’ll miss Nikki, but I couldn’t stand to be away from you, or Bella.” You saw Bella smile out of the corner of your eye.

It took only an hour to reach the Cullen residence, thanks to Emmett’s insane driving. You had been excited when you thought about leaving your family behind to live with the Cullens, but now, as you climbed down from the jeep, your stomach twisted nervously.
What if they don’t want me to stay here? What if I’m a burden? You thought anxiously, walking slowly towards the house.

“Now, Alex,” Edward said, his velvet voice cutting into your thoughts as he appeared beside Bella. “You know better than to think like that, don’t you?” You blushed as you nodded, smiling apologetically as Bella rolled her eyes; she always knew what you were thinking.

“You’re more than welcome to stay here,” Esme said, flitting from the porch over to you as she pulled you into a hug. “You’re like a daughter to me.”

“Thanks, Esme,” you said gratefully, hugging her back.

“And you can stay as well, Paul,” Edward said kindly, smiling at him. Paul, still holding onto you, tightened his grip and nodded.

“I’ll need to check with Jacob, of course…”

“What about me?” Jacob asked, walking out of the doors with Renesmee on his back.

“Paul would like to know if you’d let him stay here, with Alex,” Edward said, giving a half smile to Jacob. Jacob locked eyes with Paul. You guessed there was a silent exchange going on between them, because a few moments later, Paul nodded and Jacob said,

“Not every night, but I’ll let him stay when we can spare him.”

“Spare him?” You asked, looking up at Paul. He smiled down at you, and said,

“I help run patrols around the city,” he explained, taking your hand as he led you into the house. “To make sure you’re safe. I don’t do it every time, we take shifts-“

“And Seth’s shift is up,” Jacob cut in, patting his back. “Go relieve the kid, he needs his rest.”

“Can do. Alex, I’ll be back in a few hours,” Paul said, pulling you into a hug. “Don’t miss me too much.”

“I’ll try not to,” you said, hugging him tightly. Paul gave you a tender kiss as he pulled away, then turned and jogged into the woods.

You were still standing there, a little dazed, as Emmett took your arm and pulled you towards the house.

“You ready to move yet?”

You blushed as you walked in, ignoring the chuckle from Emmett.

“It’s good to see you, Alex,” Carlisle said, beaming as you walked forward to hug him. “We have several spare rooms, go ahead and pick whichever one you want.”

“I’ll help you pick,” Bella offered, coming up beside you. You gratefully took her hand as she led you upstairs.

“You could have Edward’s old room, or the old study, or the room connected to Alice’s…”

“Actually, I want my old room,” you said sheepishly, grinning up at her. “If it’s still available.”

“Of course!” Bella exclaimed, pulling you up the last flight of stairs. You remembered all these sights perfectly, as if you’d just been here yesterday, not last year. She veered right, and paused in front of the white door.

“Here you are,” she said, pushing the door open.

It was as if you had never left. The room was exactly how you remembered it, and it made you feel athome. You saw your carry on bag resting on your dresser, and you looked up at Bella.

“Why is my stuff already here?” you asked, thinking back. You’d left your bag lying in Emmett’s jeep, if you remembered correctly.

“Edward brought it up,” she said, walking into the room. “We all know you pretty well, Lex.”

You followed Bella to your bed, and then spun around, falling back onto the silky sheets. She sank down gracefully next to you, not even disturbing the sheets. Like before at the airport, you felt a pang of sadness as you stared at Bella.

“Are you okay, Lex?” You quickly looked away, glaring up at the ceiling.

Damn vampires. Why do they have to be so perceptive?

“I’m fine,” you tried to assure her, climbing up quickly to grab your bag. You rifled through the few things you had stashed away- three pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts, two shirts, your lap top, your secret wad of cash, a picture of you, Nichole, your dad and your mom, and the various gifts Nichole had given you for birthdays.

“You don’t have too many clothes,” Bella noted, leaning over your shoulder. You jumped slightly, sighed at how annoying that was gonna get, and said,

“I could only stash so many things in my bag without looking suspicious.”

Before Bella could reply, Alice was standing right next to you, grinning. You yelped in surprise and stumbled back; luckily, Bella caught you easily.

“Did you say you need some clothes? Because you’re the same size as Bella, and she never wears anything stylish…” Alice trailed off, taking your wrist and pulling you out of your room and down the stairs to get to her room.

She marched in and sat you down on her bed, then turned to the huge double-doors that took up one whole wall.

“Is that what you usually wear?” She asked, glancing back at you as she began to rifle through walls and walls of clothes.

“Er,” you mumbled, glancing down at your attire. You were wearing a pair of old ripped jeans and a grey baby-tee, with your old purple hoodie unzipped and hanging off your shoulders. “Yeah, this is usually it.”

“Well, say goodbye to plain!” Alice announced, spinning around and holding a blue silk shirt, a short silver skirt and a pair of over-the-knee boots. You raised an eyebrow and said,

“Alice, I don’t want to wear an outfit that costs more than my jeep.”

Alice frowned and said,

“It’s cute! It’ll fit you perfectly!”

“Here, let me do it,” Bella sighed, pushing past Alice and grabbing up a few things. She turned around and held up a really cute outfit. You grinned, and nodded.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

“Oh honestly!” Alice groaned, throwing her hands up. “Neither one of you has a fashion sense!”

And as Alice left, and Bella helped you get dressed, you couldn’t help thinking that this is how life needed to be all the time.