Work Text:
sKiN oF a KiLlEr
by Mayhems_Mischief187
I Do Not Own Twilight
“You’re impossibly fast. And strong,” Bella Swan stammered, coming to a stop in the woods. Despite the leaves and twigs upon the ground, Edward Cullen did not make a sound as he approached behind her. She still knew he was there though.
He was always there.
“You’re skin is… pale white and ice cold. Your eyes change colors. And sometimes you speak like… like you’re from a different time. You never eat or drink anything. You can’t go into the sunlight.”
She gasped slightly, feeling his presence behind her. “How old are you?”
“I’m seventeen.” The response. So matter of fact, Bella nearly believed him. A twig snaps in the distance. She ignores it but feels Edward tense. Maybe he hears something she can’t.
“How long have you been seventeen?”
A pause.
“A while.”
“I know what you are,” the brunette stutters, breathing heavily.
More rustling in the distance. Edward seems upset as he nearly growls, “Say it. Out loud.”
Bella takes a few calming breaths, feeling more and more unnerved in the silence of the woods. She can only hear her own ragged breathing. Edward it seems, doesn’t need to breathe+…
“Say it,” he says more sternly, still so close behind her.
“Vampire.”
Silence. She’s not sure for how long, but she was not ready when he spoke again, barely above a whisper.
“Are you afraid?”
Bella turned and faced Edward, staring him down. “No.”
~~~~~~
I cleaned the blood off of my face and turned towards Jasper, who looked much calmer than he had in the classroom. “See Jazz? It’s okay to skip class, especially when it’s for something important like hunting. Better your grades slip than your control.”
Jasper smiled and stretched unnecessarily. “Ya know? For being such a goofball all the time, you’re more insightful than I could have ever expected.”
I rolled my eyes. “I do say smart stuff every now and then bro.”
“I’m sure you do.” I threw a rock at him, which he easily dodged.
We slowly made our way back towards the school. Alice and Rosalie were waiting for us in the parking lot. However, as we neared the edge of the woods, Jasper stopped me, forcing me into a different direction. Before I could say a word, he placed a finger on his lips and tapped his ear.
Shut up and listen.
There was an impish grin on the blond’s face, which made me smile big. Something interesting was happening, and we were getting front row seats. I focused my hearing until I could pick up voices. One I immediately recognized as my brother Edward. The other belonged to the new girl, Bella Swan. I grew concern for the girl’s safety.
At least, I was concerned until I heard one of the most awkward conversations of my life.
“How old are you?”
“I’m seventeen.” A twig snapped under my feet as I slapped my hand over my mouth to prevent the giggle from slipping out.
“How long have you been seventeen?”
A pause.
“A while.”
I pushed Jasper further into the woods as he began wheezing, trying not to burst into laughter. We rustled the bushes in our hasty retreat. Hopefully Edward is too busy doing... whatever that was… to have heard us. At this point, we watch our brother placed Bella onto his back and sprint up the cliffs at lightning speed. Jasper and I followed slower, hoping to be out of earshot of Edward.
“Emmett, that was the most awkward exchange…”
“Dude! I know! I don’t know which one was more awkward. They’re perfect for each other!”
“Okay, I think we are just far enough away and we can still hear them,” Jasper grinning, pausing for a moment, “Just, try not to laugh too hard.”
“Jazzy, I don’t think anything will be more awkward than that.”
“I have the skin of a killer Bella.”
Okay, so maybe I was wrong.
I sucked in a breath and did my best to keep quiet, shoving my fist into my mouth. I glanced over and nearly lost it because Jasper was hunched over wheezing again. Venom was built up in his eyes like tears from trying to hold in his mirth. I stumbled back, fighting for everything I had to stay silent. I whacked Jasper on the arm and began shushing him. We started to calm down, only slight giggling, until…
“As if you could outrun me! As if you could fight me off!”
All control was lost. I grabbed Jasper by the shoulders and rushed us as far away from the two lovebirds as we could. At the edge of the woods, our feet gave out from under us and we tumbled to the earth. Jasper was the first to erupt into peals of laughter, rolling onto his side. I joined in, stumbling to my feet.
“Hey, hey Jazz!” I shouted between laughs. He looked up at me and I twisted my face into a grimace. “iT’s ThE sKiN oF a KiLlEr!”
Jasper screamed in delight, laughing harder than I had ever seen him. I think as an Empath, he’s picking up on my own amusement and sending it back out tenfold, because I don’t think I’ll ever stop laughing.
“aS iF yOu CoUlD OuTrUn Me!” Jasper shrieked from the dirt.
I fell back over. This was it. I was going to be the first person, no, the first vampire to die of laughter. After 20 minutes of laughing at Edward’s expense, we calmed down and dragged ourselves out of the woods, towards the car where the girls were waiting. Alice waved happily, but my Rosie looked angry. “What the hell took you both so long? Alice said that something came up and that you would tell us.” I glanced at Alice, and then Jasper, before bursting out into laughter again.
“Brace yourselves.”
~~~~~~
Edward paused his fingers across the keys of his piano to adjust to note placement in his new composition. After his talk with Bella and being able to explain himself and be himself around her filled his heart with joy. He hoped to finish and record the composition tonight so he could show it to her at school tomorrow. As his fingers continued to glide across the ivory, happily composing and thinking of Bella, he heard voices approaching from the road. Mental voices. His siblings have finally returned home. They seemed to be in good spirits, Edward thought happily, although he could not make out a single spoken word, perhaps they will be in a good enough mood to not be too cross at me for telling Bella our secret.
As Emmett’s Jeep grew closer, The bronze haired vampire could hear the physical laughter of his siblings, which drew a chuckle out of his throat. “I do hope they tell me what is so funny,” he murmured to himself. The vehicle came to a complete stop and the rest of the Cullen kids scampered out, still laughing. Edward paused playing to make out what was being said, only to freeze up like a deer in headlights.
“iT’s ThE sKiN oF a KiLlEr!”
“aS iF yOu CoUlD OuTrUn Me!”
“aS iF yOu CoUlD fIgHt BaCk!!”
Damn them. He knew he sensed someone in the woods earlier. He cover his hands in his face and propped his elbows on the piano, emitting a loud out of tune note. The house was suddenly silent, as they all seemed to acknowledge his presence in the home, before Emmett guffawed, sending the others into another fit of laughter. Edward hissed and rushed out of the house, far from the cliffs where his heart had felt so full, and far from his family, who made his cheeks somehow feel burned from embarrassment.
This was it, Edward thought sprinting towards his favorite meadow so he could mope, I’m going to be the first person, no, the first vampire to die of embarrassment.
Bella’s song would have to wait.