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Bella was in the backroom of the restaurant, retying her apron around her waist, when her nose twitched, scenting the newcomers. Fucking vampires.
She sighed internally, watching as the clock ticked down the last few seconds of her break. Knowing what was waiting for her when she walked out, she was half tempted to tell her boss, Tony, that she felt sick and had to go home early.
Shaking her head at herself, she squared her shoulders and stepped out of the breakroom with her head held high. Leaving the small corridor and stepping out into the main area of the restaurant, she scanned the tables.
What she saw shocked her to the actual core.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she murmured, quiet enough that no human would hear her.
Nine pairs of eyes stared at her though. Seven pairs of golden eyes—six of them widened in shock—and two pairs of violet eyes that seemed mostly amused, and perhaps a little curious.
The tenth person at the table, blue eyes, brown hair, kept her eyes on the menu, clearly oblivious to what was going on around her.
Bella shook her head slightly, and then turned away, walking over to the bar where Tony was.
“Who’s got the ten in the back corner?” she asked.
Tony scanned the list, and then smiled at her. “Well, would you look at that? You do. They look like good tippers, Bell. Be nice.”
“Excuse you very much, I’m always nice!” she replied, mock offended, her hand pressed to her chest dramatically.
When he scoffed, she laughed, dropping the act.
“Alright, alright, I’ve got it. Be nice. ”
She grabbed one of the order books from behind the bar and a pen, and walked over to the table of people that had no business being in a restaurant, given their inability to process human food.
“Welcome to Mustava. Can I take your drink order?”
Even to herself she sounded bored, and she didn’t meet any of their eyes, instead keeping her pen poised over her order book.
“Bella?”
“Is that a wine or a spirit? I’m afraid we don’t stock it, I’m sorry.”
Three of the vampires cracked up laughing, and Bella barely stopped herself from smirking at them.
“Do you stock Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc , Isabella?” Carlisle asked, his eyes never straying from her.
“Sure we do,” she agreed. “How many bottles?”
“Two will be fine, thank you.”
She nodded her head and made a note—not because she needed it, but because there would be questions if she didn’t—and said, “I’ll be right back. Please peruse the menus, I’ll take your food orders when I bring your drinks back.”
When she arrived back at the bar, Tony was waiting for her with a slight frown on his face.
“Do you know them, Bell?” he asked, glancing over her shoulder. “Only, they haven’t taken their eyes off of you since you came out from the break room and it’s a bit weird.”
She snorted. “I… something like that, Tones. Two bottles of Screaming Eagle though, eh?”
“Fucking hell. Weird or not, I told you it was going to be a nice tip, didn’t I? You stack the glasses, I’ll go down and grab the bottles for you, Bell.”
She arranged the tray with ten wine glasses, and a few minutes later, Tony added the two bottles. Bella balanced the tray in her hands and walked back over to the table.
“Would Sir like to taste before I pour?” she offered, not even trying to conceal her amusement anymore.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Carlisle replied, and he didn’t try to hide his smile, either. “How are you here , Bella?”
“I drove my car,” Bella said, her tone bland. She didn’t owe them anything. She poured the wine into the glasses in perfectly equal measures. “Are you all ready with your food orders?”
After a murmur of confirmation, they took turns to give her their orders. She noticed that the vampires were sticking to meat—as rare as possible. Only the lone human sitting between Edward and Alice ordered something different.
Bella looked at her curiously. Surely they weren’t going to this poor girl what they’d once done to her?
“Clearly we’re not going to get any answers out of you now, Bella, but would you please meet us after your shift? Obviously we have a lot to discuss,” Edward said, the words quick and quiet enough that the human didn’t notice.
Bella chuckled. “We have nothing to discuss at all, actually, Edward,” she said, speaking at a normal volume and speed for a human.
The girl looked at her sharply, before she turned her stare to Edward, clearly questioning what she’d missed.
Bella smiled slightly. “I’ll be back with your orders shortly.”
“Isabella! We need to talk, dammit,” Edward growled.
As Bella walked away, she kept one ear on the conversations at the table.
“You told me she was dead, Alice,” Jasper snarled. “What the hell?”
“I seem to remember you telling all of us that very same thing, Alice,” Carlisle agreed. “Care to explain?”
Ooh, Daddy Cullen was mad!
Bella didn’t bother trying to hide the fact that she was shamelessly earwigging, nor that she was very amused at the heat being aimed at the pixie-like fortune teller. Jasper glanced her way and winked.
“Jasper, shut the hell up. This doesn’t even concern you,” Alice growled at him. “You’re not even a Cullen anymore!”
“That doesn’t change that you lied to me, though, does it?” he replied. “And everyone else while you were at it.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” she whined. “My visions are subjective, they’re not always accurate, you know that.”
Jasper shook his head, clicking his tongue disapprovingly.
The man with violet eyes piped up then with a question. “This is the Bella Swan from Forks, right? The human girl that Edward had a thing for?”
Bella laughed, turning it into a cough when Tony looked at her oddly.
The human at the table was looking from person to person, and she looked like she was going to cry when she heard that. Bella felt a little bad for her.
“Eddie? What are they talking about?” she simpered, and Bella immediately stopped feeling bad. “I thought I was your first , your only love?”
Esme gasped. “You never told her about Bella?”
“I’m not sure why you would expect anything different, Esme. God forbid that Edward actually man up and tell the truth,” Rosalie drawled, her tone perfectly pitched boredom.
“Food’s up, Bell.”
She grinned over at Tony and pulled up one of the serving trolleys. She loaded the dishes efficiently, and pushed it towards the table, serving the guests one by one.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked politely, when she was done.
“An explanation might be nice,” Edward replied, sullenly. “I can’t believe you didn’t come and find me the moment you were changed! What on earth were you thinking Bella? Anything could have happened to you!”
“I’ll take that as a no,” Bella muttered, rolling her eyes. “Enjoy your meal, do let me know if you’d like to order anything else.”
“Bells, please? I understand why you don’t want to see Edward, but… will you meet with me and Rosie when you’ve finished your shift. Please?” Emmett begged.
Bella sighed. “There’s a bar across the street. I’ll be there at eleven. If you’re there, you’re there, if you’re not… well, it’s not like I’m going to lose any sleep over it, is it?”
…
She shook her hair down from the bun she kept it in for work, letting it cascade in loose curls down her back. Gone was the drab work uniform, replaced with dark wash jeans that looked like they’d been painted on they were so tight, a dark red tank top, and her favourite leather jacket.
She redid her make-up quickly in the small mirror she kept in her work locker, and fluffed her hair, before she left the break room, for the front of the restaurant.
Tony was locking up, and he whistled when she walked over to him.
“You look stunning,” he told her, smiling. “Got a hot date?”
“Don’t I always?” she asked, grinning, before she kissed his cheek and stepped out into the cool night air. “Night, Tones.”
She crossed the road and walked down the street a little to the bar entrance. She wasn’t surprised to find that the Cullens’—plus their guests—were already waiting for her.
Instead of joining them at the table, she walked over to the bar, and called out to the bartender.
“Whiskey on the rocks.”
“Coming right up, gorgeous.”
She tapped the bar to the beat of the music until he came back, handing her drink over to her. She put the money on the bar, took a sip, and then strolled over to the large table the vampires had commandeered.
Jasper pulled out a chair for her beside him, and she sat, setting her drink down on the table.
“I was changed by Victoria when I was twenty years old, in revenge for James. I’ve been working at the restaurant for a while, and I’ll be moving on soon; and no, you don’t need to know where I’m going. I spent a few years travelling, I’m absolutely fine for money, I’m fine with humans, and I don’t have any wish to join your family. Does that just about cover any questions you might have had?”
The two with violet eyes grinned appreciatively at the utterly shocked expressions on the Cullens’ faces. Jasper actually laughed.
“Why didn’t you come and find us, Bella? Why didn’t you come and find me? You know I love—” Edward cut himself off, when the human beside him gasped “—loved you. I was broken when I had to leave you, and it nearly destroyed me when Alice told me that you were dead! I almost went to the Volturi to have them kill me!”
She rolled her eyes, glaring at him. “Cancel my subscription, Edward. I don’t need your issues.”
“Bella!” Alice gasped, scandalised by her apparent lack of compassion.
Bella laughed. “Y’all are being awfully rude, you know. No introductions or anything. I’m disappointed. I thought your family was all about appearances, Carlisle?”
Carlisle looked chagrined. “My apologies, Bella. You’re correct that I’ve been inexplicably rude.” He gestured to the two with violet eyes. “This is Peter, and his mate Charlotte. They’re Jasper’s… coven.”
“Brother and sister, Darlin’,” Jasper corrected, offering her a charming smile. His eyes twinkled, and she was pretty sure she’d never seen a more delicious sight.
“And this is Hannah, Edward’s girlfriend.”
Bella shook her head and made a tutting sound. “ Really , Edward? Most of us live and learn; you just live, apparently. Sure you learnt your lesson last time about dating humans?”
“That’s none of your business,” Edward muttered, looking away.
Bella glanced at Hannah. “A word of warning, honey. He won’t change you, he won’t have sex with you, and when he’s bored, he’ll leave you alone to fall apart. My advice? Run. Quickly .”
“How do you know that he won’t have sex with me?” Hannah demanded. “He’s already agr—”
“Hannah!” Edward scolded.
Bella laughed. “ Please . The only way he’ll ever get laid is if he crawls up a chicken’s arse and waits.”
Jasper, and his coven—siblings—and Rose and Emmett all burst out laughing. Bella grinned at them, winking at Jasper.
“Well,” she said, patting her hands to her thighs, “this has been… something… but…”
“Don’t leave, Bella,” Esme said, reaching out to touch Bella’s arm.
Bella shifted out of her reach. She hesitated for a moment. The DJ took that moment to let himself be heard, promising a party like no other. The music got louder, and the crowds in the bar started migrating to the dancefloor.
Bella shrugged. “I’m going to go and dance then. Anyone coming?”
Peter and Charlotte were the first to their feet, followed quickly by Rose and Emmett. Bella tilted her head and smiled at Jasper.
“Fancy a dance, cowboy?”
Jasper grinned at her. “Thought you’d never ask, Darlin’. It’d be my absolute pleasure.”
He held out his hand, and she slid hers into it, letting him lead her to the middle of the dancefloor. She turned her back to him, and he moved close, until they were pressed together from shoulder to hip.
She lost herself to the music, and the feelings it invoked in her, and let go of the stress of the reunion. They danced through a few songs, before Charlotte appeared in front of her, pulling her away from Jasper.
As the two girls got closer together, Emmett and Rose stopped dancing and moved to stand with Peter and Jasper, watching.
“Ever get the feeling they’ve done that before, Rose?” Emmett asked pointedly, eyeing Jasper suspiciously.
“Hmm, I’m beginning to get the feeling we’ve missed quite a lot, Em.”
Bella and Charlotte stopped dancing and approached them, both smiling widely. Bella moved quickly so that she was behind Peter, and hopped onto his back. He caught her automatically, holding her legs.
“I’d say they’ve caught us good and proper, Major,” she said to Jasper. “I think it’s probably time we made a move.”
“What’s going on?” Emmett asked, looking between them all, his confusion evident.
“Bella’s been with us for years, Em,” Jasper said, patting Emmett's arm lightly. “She’s my mate.”
They moved over to the table, Bella still happily riding on Peter’s back.
“Well, it’s been fun, but we gotta go. We should do this again in another twenty years,” Bella said cheerfully.
“You stole my mate?” Edward asked Jasper, incredulous.
Bella waved him off before Jasper could answer. “Shut up, Edward, you sound better with your mouth closed.” She turned her gaze to the girl beside him. “Hayley.”
“It’s Hannah.”
Bella shrugged. “I don’t really care. Remember what I said, and if you don’t wanna take that advice, I’ll offer you some more. Get yourself a decent sex toy. Let’s bounce, people.”
Peter turned away from the table, laughing his head off, and Jasper and Charlotte followed behind them. They were out in the street before they were called back.
“Bella? Jazz? Can we… can we come see you? When you move?”
Emmett stood by the door, Rose just a step behind him.
Jasper grinned and nodded his head. “I’ll call you. Maybe you could go on another honeymoon? See you later, guys!”
Bella moved from Peter’s back to Jasper’s in the blink of an eye, pressing her lips to his neck. “I missed you this week,” she whispered in his ear, biting the lobe.
“I missed you more, baby,” he murmured, turning his head to catch her lips with his own. “Oh, so why did you seem so surprised to see us in the restaurant? You knew we’d be there?”
“Two reasons,” Bella replied, in between the kisses she was placing on the mating mark on his neck. “I didn’t expect him to actually let his human be around Peter and Charlotte, and also, I didn’t expect to see those two,” she nodded at Peter and Charlotte, “wearing contact lenses. What did you have to promise them to make that happen?”
“He ain’t promised us nothing, Baby B. We wanted to see you tear strips off of Edward, and you did not disappoint. That’s worth the irritation of these fucking things any day of the week.”
Bella snorted, while Charlotte nodded, grinning.
“Come on,” Char said, her hand in Peter’s. “Let’s go home.”
“Yes, let's,” Jasper agreed. Turning his face to Bella, he added, “It’s been far too long since I’ve had you wrapped around me. We need to make up for lost time.”