Better Than Revenge

After the battle at Campo Seco things were never quite the same. There was a large wake at the Cullen mansion for Bella with all of my mom’s family, the Denali clan from Alaska, and the wolves that had been part of the pack when my dad was in it. Afterwards, the vampires left Forks once again and I didn’t think that they’d ever return now that Bella was gone. Even Nessie left to keep an eye on her father to make sure he didn’t try to commit suicide but she still kept in touch with me and talked to Dylan every night on the phone. It took a while before the shock of that day wore off and things started to get back to normal, although admittedly a different normal.
On my 18th birthday, I finally saw my cousin again after almost two years apart. My parents had taken me to Phoenix to stay with my grandma Renee who had moved back to where my mom was born from Florida earlier in the year. Renesmee met up with me so that we could go with Dylan and my parents to see ASU and U of A play football at the Sundevil stadium. I was totally decked out in gold and had made a huge banner.
“Are you hoping to get shown on the jumbotron or something?” Nessie teased as we weaved through the crowd headed toward A mountain.
Dylan laced his fingers with hers and squeezed gently. “Be nice, Ness,” he said. “You know she takes after Lizzy when it comes to the sports stuff for this place.”
I smirked. “Speaking of which, who wants to make a bet with me? Loser posts naked baby pictures of themselves online. Interested?”
They both groaned and Nessie leaned against his shoulder. “We are so in trouble next year when she actually goes here.”
A little bit of my excitement left me and a rock dropped in my stomach. After all of the bad memories I’d gotten from La Push I wanted to leave but there were some things that I was seriously going to miss. With no more vampires, I didn’t need to be a wolf anymore but that was only a small part of what made leaving home so hard. The bigger thing was that I was leaving everything I knew behind. I gave them a smile. “Yeah, you’re definitely in for it ‘cause I’m going to be on the cheer team.”
Renesmee squealed and Dylan covered his ears from the inevitable squeaky girl talk. “No way! You didn’t tell me that you made it! Dammit, Drea, that is something that you should have called me for right away.”
I shrugged lightly. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
My mom’s laugh rang out from behind me. “No big deal? I wish you would have had that mindset when you wouldn’t stop telling me about it all week. I really love you, baby, but cheerleading isn’t what I want my conversations to ever be about.”
“Leave her alone, Liz,” my dad scolded playfully.
She arched a brow. “Excuse me? And you think you could make me?”
“You bet.” He growled lowly at her in a mock threat.
“Eww, Dad, c’mon. No PDA. That’s just gross to see old people flirting and crap.”
“Yeah, please, Auntie Lizzy. You’re gonna make me puke.”
“Oh all right,” Mom conceded as we finally got into the stadium. “Jake and I will go find our seats and you kids can go get shit to eat. Just make sure to bring me a cinnamon pretzel.”
She took my sign from me so I could carry whatever junk food we got and then she and Dad headed toward the bleachers. I laughed as I followed my two best friends toward the long lines of people waiting. “Hey, I’m gonna go to the bathroom really quickly. I’ll be back in a few minutes so you’d better get the lovie-dovie crap out of your systems by the time I get back,” I announced when I got annoyed with the googlie eyes they were giving each other while we waited.
I left them together and headed to the bathroom but didn’t go in. I knew that Dylan had missed Renesmee like crazy and that she had missed him just as much but I didn’t want to witness their tender reunion while I was still so alone. Sure, in the last couple of years I’d had boyfriends and stuff but it just never compared.
“Enough, Andrea,” I scolded myself. “Don’t be bitter. It’s your birthday for shit’s sake! Be happy and be happy for them.”
I froze and my eyes grew wide. The warm Phoenix air was tinted with the cold, sweet scent that brought the wolf in me back from her long hibernation. I spun on the spot but the place was so crowded that it was nearly impossible to find the source of the smell.
“Looking for me?” a velvety smooth voice said from behind me. Their cold breath caressed the back of my neck gently and sent shivers racing down my spine.
I twisted around and automatically crouched in a protective stance. A low growl started in the back of my throat and the shaking to keep the wolf at bay started in my hands. The boy staring back at me was completely unfazed. He looked about my age and was just a tiny bit taller than I was. His brown hair lay against his forehead and strands kept getting stuck in his eyes. His eyes were the most unusual shade of brown, like they couldn’t decide if they wanted to be pitch black, light gold, or blood red. I snapped up straight and my eyes got even bigger.
“Wh-what? Are you-?” I couldn’t even formulate the question in my head. This boy, the one that I’d given my whole heart to, wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be far away for both his protection and mine. I’d accepted long ago that I was never going to see my love again so I couldn’t decide if he was a hallucination or a ghost or simply a dream.
He pulled me against his chest and I felt totally secure. He was real. And he was there with me. Tears pricked in the corners of my eyes as I hugged him with all the strength I could muster.
“Why are you crying?” he whispered into my hair.
“I’ve missed you, Alec,” I mumbled. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. I thought that maybe with all of your running you’d forgotten about me.”
“Never,” he replied. “I’d never forget you. I love you forever and always. Remember?”
“Forever,” I said back.
He kissed my forehead for a second before he pulled back. “Happy birthday, puppy,” he said. I punched him in the arm for that one but he simply caught both of my fists in his