𝐬𝐢𝐱

I spent the entirety of the week trying to get a hold of Isabella Marie Swan, but was she answering? No. She hadn't responded to a single text, call, or voicemail. I even resorted to emailing her but, no. Nothing. I felt like Paul--desperate for her attention. It was pathetic.

Today I was finally ungrounded so I decided it was high time I figure out what's going on with my best friend. And vent to her because, damn I really needed her this last week. I put my car in park and glared up at the truck and black Volvo in the drive way. So she was home and not too busy to see Edward. Huh.

I sighed before making my way to the front door and knocking. "Bella, open up!" I called out. I was feeling a little irritated at the brunette but, I knew it would only take a single apology from her to make me forgive her. I'd fold so easy.

I heard the sound of voices before the door opened. Only it wasn't Bella who opened the door, but Emmett of all people. He was towering over me with a smile that immediately made my heart pick up. The magnet in my chest was pulling and I had to fight my answering smile from seeming too excited. God why did he make me feel like this?

"Emmett? Uh, what are you doing here?" I asked, trying to calm my internal thoughts and feelings for the boy who was deemed very off limits by Billy just a week prior.

He smiled down at me, "Edward and I came to get Bella for a family dinner, care to join?"

My cheeks tinted pink at the invite and my lips curled into a smile, my annoyance with Bella momentarily forgotten. "As much fun as that sounds, I can't. Today is my first day of being ungrounded and I'm on a slight time crunch. I just needed to talk to Is real quick."

Emmett looked slightly disappointed but stepped aside to let me in. "Well, I guess I'll have to find another time to see you then. Now that you're free and all." He smiled down at me, his dimples popping out in the cutest of ways.

I swear my heart stuttered just at the sight of his smile. "Well you know how to reach me." I sent him one last small smile before rushing up the stairs and up to Bella's room.

"Bella," I called, walking into her room, where her and Edward were clearly having a moment based on their close proximity. I cleared my throat, raising an eyebrow at the girl. So this is why she's been ignoring me.

Edward spared me a glance before stepping away from Bella, "I'll let you two talk." Bella just nodded and I stepped into the room as the boy left, closing the door behind him.

I turned to Bella, "we will get to this new relationship development in a moment, but first I need to tell you what's been going on at home." I plopped down on her bed while talking, my lips moving a mile a minute. "After I left your house last week, Paul showed up and totally lost his shit because he somehow knew that we hung out with Emmett and Edward. I told him it wasn't his place, obviously, but then he got even more pissed off and told Billy.

"So then Billy comes out, right, and basically yells at me that I can't see them anymore and he's going on and on about how he 'won't let me put myself in danger'? Like, what? And I'm just trying to ask him if this is about the legends, y'know? But he won't listen to me and is just saying that he forbids me from seeing the Cullen's again."

I let out a breath before continuing, "and it really got me thinking, like, maybe Billy believes in it all? And I know you don't know what the legends are exactly but, its basically a scary story about monsters and such. But, it's ridiculous, they're not monsters." I laughed slightly at that. 

Bella was looking at me anxiously, like she knew something I didn't. I furrowed my brows slightly but before I could get a word in, she was speaking. "It sounds like Billy is just being extra protective of you. I mean, he probably has his reasons that aren't monster related." She laughed slightly, but it sounded forced and nervous.

"So, you think I should listen to him?" I asked, sitting up straighter slightly. Why was she on his side? Usually she was all about making your own choices and independence and shit.

Bella avoided eye contact as she started messing with the hem of her shirt, "yeah. I mean, it's not like you like them or anything."

I blushed slightly, muttering, "well I don't not like him." She met my eyes and I knew she knew that I was talking about Emmett. "Which is something you'd know if you'd bothered to check your phone. I've really needed you, Is. My brain is all confused and there's all these feelings I've never felt before and I don't know what to do." I dropped my gaze to the blanket, letting out a breath of air.

Bella's face softened and she sat next to me on the bed, placing her hand over mine, "I know. I'm sorry. I've been... busy."

"With Edward?" I asked with a raised brow. Bella and I shared a laugh and I took a breath, "Back to Billy though, It's weird, right?"

"I don't know, it might be just a dad thing?" She shrugged, her body going tense again.

I furrowed my brows, "Maybe I should look into the legends again... maybe I'm missing something--"

"No," Bella cut me off immediately, her eyes slightly wide. "No, that would just be a waste of time. I would just wait for things to cool down. Billy will come around."

What why would she care if I looked into the legends again? It's not like she knows what's in them, right? And even if she did, why would it matter? They're just legends. I rose a brow at her, "okay, why are you being so weird?"

"I'm not being weird," she denied, breaking eye contact and standing from the bed.

"Yes, you are. What is this about?"

Bella turned around to her closet, grabbing a jacket, "it's nothing, Liv. Listen, I've got to go. Just, listen to Billy, okay?" And with that she walked out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts.

So Billy won't answer my questions about the Cullen's and now Bella doesn't want me looking into the legends. This really only leaves me with one option: look into the legends.

I stood up from Bella's bed and was moving to the door when something caught my eye on her desk. It looked like a blue journal but I vaguely recognized the tribal drawing on the cover. The book was open and face down, marking a page for something.

I turned the book over, my eyes scanning the page that contained a legend I was all too familiar with. Why did she have this? And if she was digging into the legends, then why wouldn't she want me to?

I turned away from the book, looking at her desk to see if she took notes or something. Instead I found a couple printed out articles that she had highlighted. The papers were all on the same thing: Vampires.

My stomach was sinking at the realization. No... it can't be. I set the book back down exactly as it was before and backed out of Bella's room. I need to get home and figure this out.

As soon as I got home I was researching everything about the Cullen's. I was determined to figure out every last thing about this treaty and the legends behind it. I didn't figure out anything I didn't already know.

They were the Cold Ones. They fed on blood to survive, thankfully not human based on their eye color. They were everything the legends told me to fear, everything I was supposed to stay away from. So why wasn't I scared?

Okay, I was a little scared. But, there was something in my gut, probably that damned magnet, that was telling me they wouldn't hurt me. I mean, I'd been alone with Emmett just last week and he didn't kill me. Instead of fear all I felt was curiosity. Which probably makes me sound insane, I know.

The legends also brought out another question. If the Cold Ones were real, does that mean the shifters are too? I could think of only one boy who'd have the answer to that.

So, even though I hated him right now--okay, maybe hate is a strong word-- I was stood outside of his house, pounding on his door. "Paul, open up!" I yelled, knocking again. I knew he was home, his car was in the drive way and the lights were on inside.

I opened my mouth to yell again but Paul opened the door, with a look of relief on his face. "Liv, you're here."

"Yeah, I'm still mad at you," I pushed passed him into the house, which made Paul sigh and turn to follow me into the kitchen. "I need to talk to you about something."

I turned to face Paul who was leaning against the counter with his arms crossed over his broad chest. I could feel the comfort that Paul always brought me, filling my body. Any nerves I had about talking to Paul about this vanished, he would tell me the truth.

"I know about the Cullen's," I blurted before I could lose my confidence. Paul's body tensed slightly and he went to open his mouth, but I continued, "I know that they're vampires. I... I was looking back through the legends and it all made sense."

Paul's eyes were hard, "then you know why you have to stay away from them. They're killers, Olivia."

I nodded for the sake of the argument, "I also got to thinking about something else, though. If part of the legends are true, then why not the other half?" I noticed the way Paul froze, his face drawing blank. "Are you a shifter, Paul?" 

Silence fell between us once the question was asked, a deadly quiet that I didn't dare break. It was his move now. I'd come to him, asked him about it, now it was up to him to decide how this conversation would go.

"No one is supposed to know," he said, his words answer enough.

I felt my world shift slightly, like everything was coming together and falling apart all at once. This would explain a lot. His sudden growth spurt, him ditching all of his friends a couple months ago... that means Jared and Sam. They're all shifters, protectors of the tribe.

"Oh my god," I breathed, falling down into one of the kitchen chairs. "It's all real." My head fell into my hands as I tried to gather my thoughts, "I mean, I knew it was real but... I can't believe it. The Cullen's, you guys. Oh my god."

Paul placed a hand on my shoulder, gently pulling me from my thoughts, "no one can know about this, Liv. Not Jake, not the boys, and especially not Bella."

I nodded slowly, sitting up straighter and looking at Paul, "okay. I won't tell anyone."