บท 23: 2 prongs
These Are Not The Prongs You Are Looking ForCharlie stumbled down the stairs at night thinking about his midnight snack. He was trying to decide between a piece of toast with peanut butter or cookies. It was a tough choice. On one hand, peanut butter was healthier, but it was sticky and he would need to brush his teeth again to make sure none was left in his mouth or moustache. But, on the other hand, cookies were less messy and tasty. Especially the ones that little Harry made earlier. The little boy may be shy and quiet but he could make one mean double chocolate chunk cookie.
As he walked into the kitchen, he nearly stumbled over a small foot hidden under the island. Instantly on alert, Charlie grabbed the nearest knife in the block and held it out. He bent down and was ready to yell for Bella or one of the boys to call the station when he saw messy black hair and large dark eyes staring at him. Charlie let out a sigh of relief when he saw Harry.
"Hey sport, what are you doing under there?" Charlie asked. He looked at the child and saw that he was wearing the shirt Demetri wore earlier as a night shirt, He also had his arms wrapped around him, and was facing towards the back door.
"I came down for milk and saw someone outside. I got Demetri and he went out to see if it was safe." Harry whispered.
The alert attitude Charlie had just dropped was instantly back. If Harry saw someone outside, than Charlie believed him. Harry wasn't the type of child that would lie, Charlie knew that, even if he only knew the two brothers for a day.
"I'll go check too sport." Charlie reassured the hiding child.
Charlie straightened his back, kept his knife close at hand, and quietly made his way to the door. He opened it a crack and peeked outside, before stepping out fully. Not bothering to close the door completely in case he needed to run in quickly to phone the station, Charlie stepped out on the porch and looked around.
"Let go of me!" A snarl came from the side of the house. Charlie dashed to the corner and looked around to see Demetri pinning someone to the trunk of the tree.
"What's going on here?" Charlie called.
Two faces whipped to face him, and Charlie was a little shocked to see the pale face of Edward Cullen. "When Harry saw someone I came to look and found this pervert sitting in a tree outside your daughter's window." Demetri quickly explained.
Charlie's shocked expression quickly morphed into one of fury. "You were spying on my daughter from her window in the middle of the night?" Charlie bellowed. His voice seemed to cause the neighbours to wake as a light next door flickered on. His neighbour, Dave, stuck his head out.
"Charlie what's going on? You nearly woke the entire street!" The other man called.
"Sorry Dave, but could you do me a favour and call the station? I need someone arrested."
"Uh... Sure Charlie." The other man called before his head disappeared inside.
Another window opened and this time Bella was the one looking around for the commotion.
"What's happening Charlie?" Bella asked in a daze.
"Nothing dear just go back to sleep." Charlie called up. Bella didn't seem to want to listen as she opened her eyes further and spotted Edward and Demetri.
"Demetri what are you doing to Edward?" She screeched.
"Don't be upset with Demetri dear, he caught Edward spying on you. I think you should be thanking him." Charlie stated.
"Edward wasn't spying on me. He was watching over me like he used to do." Bella blurted out.
Charlie froze.
"Bella dear, did you just say that Edward has done this before, and you knew about it?" Charlie's voice was stone cold as he processed his daughter's words. Oh they would be having a talk.
"I.... uh-" Bella stumbled.
"Charlie? Demi? Are you okay?" A small voice called. Charlie turned to see Harry's head look around the corner. His anger faded a little at the sight of the scared child.
"We're fine, love." Demetri called.
"Okay..." Harry said before he stepped out fully from the corner. Charlie frowned a little at the sight of Harry's bare feet. He would be feeling the cold soon. Siren's in the distance broke the Chief from his thoughts.
A patrol car pulled up, and a uniformed officer stepped out. Charlie walked over and greeted the man, before instructing him to arrest Edward. The officer was hesitant at first to arrest the good doctors son, but on the command of Charlie he complied. Charlie than stepped into the house quickly for appropriate attire to go to the station in and fill out a report- Not to mention he would need to call the Cullen's and inform them of their son's less than morally acceptable hobby.
After Charlie, Edward, and the patrol car were off, Demetri and Harry went back inside and were greeted by an angry Bella.
"What did you do that for?" She demanded.
"Well Bella dear, I don't know about you but if I found a strange man outside Harry's window I would have them arrested." Demetri said with a fake appalled tone.
"You..."
"Bella don't you have school in the morning? You shouldn't miss anymore school." Harry chided from beside Demetri.
Bella glared at both as he she opened and closed her mouth several times. Finally giving up, the human girl stomped her foot and stormed off to her room, leaving one chuckling and one giggling vampire behind.
When Charlie got home, the first thing he did was check on the children. He checked on Bella to see his daughter sleeping fitfully. He even checked the tree outside her room to make sure no other perverts were hanging about. Next, he checked the brothers and looked inside to see Demetri lying on his back, one arm behind his head and the other wrapped around a lump under the blankets- whish he guessed was Harry.
Seeing the size of his guest bedroom, he noted that it was smaller than Bella's room. He wondered if it would be more of a hassle to have them trade rooms so the brothers had more room, or to just cut down the tree to prevent any more lurkers. He would think on it in the morning. Charlie gave a big yawn as he closed the brother's door and walked to his own room. He was happy that all the members of his family were safe once more.
As the door closed Harry let out a small giggle, "Demi what are we going to do to her tomorrow?" he asked so low only a vampire could hear.
"Tomorrow we will go to 'Michigan' to hunt and come back with a few things that should get under her skin." Demetri promised. With that Harry let out another giggle, and went back to plotting more ways to bug the human.
o.O.o
As Carlisle and Esme arrived home from the police station, their children surrounded them.
"What happened?" Rosalie asked.
"Edward was arrested after being caught peeping on Bella. Charlie has him booked for the night but tomorrow we should be allowed to go and post bail. You know how slow paperwork is..." Carlisle explained.
"I can't believe he was caught." Alice whispered in disbelief.
"Demetri probably caught him off guard." Jasper responded.
"I'm not surprised." Emmett stated, turning all the Cullen's attention on him. Seeing the glare from his wife Emmett quickly defended himself "Well it's a little creepy how he sits outside her window all night every night, and with two Volturi staying there, you don't honestly think they would let that go."
Rosalie stared at him before shrugging her shoulders. "Emmett has a point. It was very creepy on Edward's part, and he was bound to be punished for it some time."
"Yeah Rosie is on my side." Emmett grinned as he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and pulled her close.
"Still that doesn't give the Volturi the right to get Edward arrested." Alice pointed out.
Emmett just shrugged his shoulders this time. "Then he shouldn't have done it knowing they were there."
Alice opened her mouth to argue again, but Carlisle stepped in. "Now now you two. Emmett has a point that no one is to blame except Edward. We will have him home tomorrow and advise him against going to Bella at night in the future. There's nothing more we can do."
And that settled the issue.
"Just as a side note... I don't think Chief Swan is going to let Edward see Bella day or night now." Emmett threw out. Emmett watched as his statement settled over the family. Carlisle, Esme, and Alice seemed upset. Jasper seemed slightly relieved, and Rosalie...
At his words, Rosalie had perked up considerably. "No human no problem." She declared and then left the room humming to herself. As she reached the top of the stairs, she paused. "Emmett love, I think for the rest of the night we should spend it privately." Rosalie said in a seductive tone.
It was Emmett's turn to perk up, "Right, night all!" He called as he raced up to his wife. It was a good night, Edward's problem aside.
o.O.o
When Edward was let out of jail with a summons for later, he was spitting mad and ready to fight Demetri and Harry. When he called up Bella, he was informed that the pair had left early that morning to 'Michigan'. Edward mentally translated that into them going hunting for the next few days. Edward spent the rest of the day brooding. He wouldn't admit that he was slightly pouting that his fight for pride as taken from him.
He had tried to go visit Bella after school, but he found that Billy Black was over on security detail. Bella had been herded into the living room to complete her homework, and when Edward tried calling he found that the elder was screening all calls. Edward mentally compared the elder so a big, old, bulldog guarding its favourite bone. Sure, he could probably get around the dog and steal the bone but there was the chance that he could also get seriously injured, literally or figuratively.
Edward and Bella were both miserable that they were forbidden from seeing each other. Yes they had school, but Charlie had seemed to get the teachers in on helping him keep that pervert away from his daughter. The rest of the student body were now wary of Edward for his perverse pleasures and slightly scared of Bella for clear lack of mental facilities, since she kept trying to return to Edward's side. Charlie was feeling like a proud father though, he was really getting the hang of this father thing.
Edward growled as he found himself in a corner. He couldn't see Bella at school, couldn't see her at her own house, Charlie had taken away her truck, and none of her old friends were willing to hang out with her as an excuse to let them meet. It was frustrating and all Edward wanted to do was sink his fangs into Demetri and Harry and tear them apart, but he couldn't even do that since the two were still gone. Edward wanted to kick himself for ever going to the Volturi.
Edward was stalking out of the English classroom when he noticed a book on the floor. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Looking at the famous tragedy, Edward had an idea. Romeo and Juliet had been forbidden from seeing each other as well, but they had overcome that and got together. Yes it was not the most ideal situation, and it ended with both them dead, but the fact remained that there was a few times they got together and it was great. They got married, they spent that one night together, and it was all because they had help. Edward just needed his own Nurse and Friar.
As Edward went through a mental list of people that would fit his criteria for Nurse and Friar, he flipped to the end and read Romeo's last words to Juliet. "-Thus with a kiss I die." Edward wouldn't let Bella die. He would use all the advantages that being a vampire gave him, and he would be with Bella, and they would be happy and alive! With his resolve hardening, Edward set out to talk with Alice.
o.O.o
A few days later when Demetri and Harry came back, Charlie had informed everyone that the brothers and Bella would switch around rooms. Charlie had jokingly said that with Demetri there, no one would dare try to spy on Harry. Demetri had laughed and said that he would start booby-trapping the tree, to prevent any perverts from scaling it. Charlie had approved and the two joked some more about possible traps, where they could buy the supplies, and if trapping the back porch was worth it. When they finished, Demetri and Harry went upstairs to pack up what they had there, before they brought in a few boxes from Demetri's old Honda out front.
Bella was going to argue but Charlie put his foot down. He was adamant about the move and said that if Bella felt that strongly than she could pay for the tree to be cut down. With a heavy sigh, the human girl walked upstairs and started packing. Cursing Italian vampires under her breath the whole time.
Later Bella was sitting in the living room with Charlie when Harry and Demetri came down. Charlie looked up from the paper and smiled at the pair, while Bella tried to ignore them as she worked on her homework.
"What are you two up to?" Charlie asked.
"Well Harry was wondering if it was alright to watch a DVD. It was one of our mother's favourite shows from when she was younger and Harry has been missing her terribly today." Demetri said. Bella was frustrated that she couldn't pick out the false depression in his voice so she could point it out to Charlie. He sounded so convincing.
"Sure buddy, go pop it in. What's it called?" Charlie asked, putting down his paper.
"Vampire High sir." Harry answered in his soft voice.
"Our mother thought the show was brilliant. It's about a group of vampires living under a boarding school. There's forbidden love between a human and vampire, fighting, enemies, friendship, and learning. Our mother used to make me watch it with her, so please ignore me with a start saying the lines with the actors." Demetri said as he cleared his throat in an embarrassed gesture. Bella turned towards the older vampire with wide eyes. Was he trying to give away his own secret to her father?
"Not my cup of tea but I'm willing to watch something once." Charlie gave a deep chuckle, readjusting himself so he was more comfortable.
Harry popped the DVD in and scampered back to Demetri. The older vampire picked Harry up and placed the smaller vampire beside him before picking up the remote. "What episode are we on, love?" Demetri asked the young vamp cuddled to his side.
"12."
"Ah yes... Bella there's a character with the same name as you in this episode." Demetri pressed the button to start the episode. Charlie focussed on the T.V, while Bella sent a small glare towards the Volturi member. "One of the vampires has a pet rat named Bella. Little thing goes missing though, theory being it was eaten by another vampire student, but no worries she's found in the end." Demetri sent her a wicked smirk that was missed by Charlie. Bella was getting ready to say something, but Harry turned to her, held up a single finger to his lips, and shushed her. Demetri had a teasing smile on his face as he turned to the T.V, effectively ending any protest Bella might have had to his words with "Bella you should finish your homework, we wouldn't want your marks to drop and you miss out on university."
Charlie looked at his daughter from the corner of his eye, "That's true honey; you missed too much school to be slacking now."
Harry looked at the human girl and smiled while he whispered low enough so Charlie wouldn't hear "Vamps 3, Human 0."
Bella hated them.
Head and Shoulders, Knees and ProngsCharlie sat in his usual comfortable office chair at the station and stared at the phone he just put down. Harry had called him at work and asked for permission to go to the Forks High School because Bella had forgotten the lunch he made for her. Charlie didn't have the heart to tell the little guy that Bella probably forgot the specially made brown lunch sack on purpose, and with a heavy sigh had given his consent. Only after he had made sure Demetri was going with him, and that he bundled up properly against the cold drizzle falling outside.
"Everything okay Chief?" Rob the other officer on office duty asked.
"Yeah, just my nephew of sorts calling about Isabella." Charlie responded.
"Has that Cullen boy been back snooping around your house?" Rob asked as he put down his plain donut in interest. There wasn't a lot of interesting things that happen in a small town and the residents seemed to gravitate to anything that was news worthy.
"Not that I know of. I don't blame the good doctor, he's a great and caring man. His wife also has a large heart to adopt so many, but sometimes one just slips through your fingers and you don't notice when they develop bad hobbies. Hopefully the Good doctor and his wife are helping the lad." Charlie stated.
"Yeah, gotta feel pity for Doctor Cullen. He just gets back in town and is suddenly in the middle of a scandal."
"Yeah..." Charlie trailed off in contemplation. "Do you think I was a bit hard of Bella? I mean grounding her for so long and taking away her privileges?" Charlie knew that Rob had a teenage daughter himself, just a year or two younger than Bella.
"Parents will always wonder if they have been too hard on their child, but you know you will have gone too far if you leave a bruise." Rob stated.
"Bruise?"
"I have never hit my daughter, and never plan to. Grounding is fine, extra chores, and even once I made her write me an essay about why her attitude needed work, but I have never hurt her. Abuse doesn't solve anything it just makes more problems." Rob explained.
"I agree. I never touched Bella in such a way, and I hope I never will. Still... I wish she was more like Demetri." Charlie said. "The young man is smart, caring, and helpful. He has never used a tone I didn't like, he adores Harry, and is very responsible. Just yesterday, I came home and he had gone grocery shopping. I tried paying him back the money but he refused."
"So it's not weird at all having two unknown family members show up?"
"At first. I mean I lived a very nice bachelor life, but Bella came, and I adjusted. She was rarely home, always out with Edward or Alice, or she would stay up in her room, all quiet like. But now, Demetri and Harry have added a new life to the house. I look forward to going home and seeing what they made for dinner, or watching as Demetri chases Harry around the house."
"Children are gifts."
"That they are."
"But that Demetri fellow must have some bad habits..." Rob trailed off, leaving room for Charlie to spill some gossip he could tell his wife later.
"Ha!" Charlie laughed. "He isn't all perfect. Harry cooks because Demetri burns all the food, I find his socks everywhere, and he refuses to buy Harry pyjama's stating that his shirt is fine, he blasts classical music all day, and doesn't understand football. What young male doesn't get football?" Charlie asked completely baffled.
Rob chuckled. "I hear in some states such boys do exist. Of course, that might just be a myth like the Loch Ness Monster. And the little one?"
"Harry? Harry is... strange. Not like any kid I know. He's quiet, homeschooled apparently, but sometimes he gets this look. It's like he's plotting something, and he gets a bit hyper but Demetri is right there and stops him. Just places a hand on him and it's like he flipped some switch because Harry goes right back to that quiet polite kid, no mischief in sight."
Rob took a moment to think this over.
"You don't think their mother... you know... raised them in a less than kind way do you?" Rob asked quietly, casting suspicious eyes about.
"No, they seemed genuinely upset over her death. I don't know maybe it was just the neighbourhood they grew up in." Charlie speculated.
"Well if anything they're in good hands now." Rob pointed out, finally returning to his donut.
"I guess, just wish Bella was more reasonable about the Edward situation. Then my house would be perfect."
Rob laughed. "No house is ever perfect."
Charlie smiled at the man. "No, I guess not."
o.O.o
Bella stepped into line behind Edward to buy lunch, when her boyfriend stiffened. Looking around she didn't see anyone who could have cut themselves, or something that would catch Edwards attention like that.
"What's wrong Edward?" Bella asked.
"Harry and Demetri." The brooding vampire whispered back.
As if on cue, the doors to the cafeteria opened to admit Mrs. Cope, leading Harry and Demetri inside. The noise of the room quieted down at the sight of a child and a rather good-looking man who could give the Cullen's a run for their money.
"Now here's the cafeteria dear, I'm sure Isabella is here somewhere." Mrs Cope's voice travelled across the room. As one, the eyes of the other students shifted from the strangers to Bella. Bella felt her face heat up a little. "Thank you Mrs. Cope you were truly a great help. Bella..." The older vampire turned his eyes onto Bella, and Bella noted that Demetri's voice seemed to have developed a purr. He was acting considerably warmer to her than he usually did. "You forgot your lunch, and Harry here was worried you would starve." Demetri explained.
Harry nervously shuffled out from behind Demetri, and started walking towards her, his eyes on the floor the entire time. When he reached Bella, he used both hands to hold up the brown paper sack she had seen on the counter that morning.
"I made you a ham and cheese sandwich, applesauce, some orange slices, granola bar, and two juice boxes." Harry announced in his soft voice. Absently Bella heard a few girls coo over how cute Harry was. "I... uh..." Bella wasn't sure what to do, her mind blanked. She hadn't wanted to eat the lunch, but now here Harry was expecting her to take it in front of her schoolmates.
"Do you not want it?" Harry asked his arms starting to shake as if the weight of the bag was getting to him. "Take it Swan!" Someone hissed from behind her.
"Stay out of this!" Edward snapped back.
"So controlling, don't know why she's with him." Bella picked out Jessica's voice from the crowd.
"Well if she doesn't want it than I would be glad to take it Little man!" Emmett's voice boomed. Looking over, Bella saw Edwards biggest brother walking over with a silly grin on his face. "I bet it's delicious and I can tease Bella with how much she's missing out on your hard work." Emmett winked at Harry.
Harry nodded, before shuffling over to Emmett and handing him the brown sack. In the background more females started cooing over how nice Emmett was. Emmett opened the bag, and without missing a beat took a bite from the sandwich. He gave an exaggerated moan, and swallowed. "The most delicious sandwich I have ever eaten. And look at how big I am I eat a lot of sandwiches."
Bella could only watch as Harry gave Emmett a smile, and small thank you.
"Well now that's all cleared up, Harry love, it's time to go home. Thank you for all your assistance Mrs. Cope." Demetri drew all attention towards him. Harry scampered over to him, and Demetri reflexively placed a hand on the back of Harry's neck.
"Oh it was my pleasure." The woman giggled girlishly. Just as swift as they came, they left.
When the door closed the noise level picked up once again, this time instead of random topics of discussion, conversations were centered on Bella, Edward, and Emmett.
"Emmett is so kind, did you see what he did for the little kid." "Bella just ignored the cutie." "Edward is so rude, did you hear him snap." "Arms shaking and everything, and she stared," "Wonder how they know Bella. Why do all the good looking guys flock to her?" "I bet Emmett would make a great father one day...I would bear his children." "Me too!"
The comments flying around the room were starting to get to Bella, no matter how hard she tried to ignore them. She couldn't imagine what Edward was going through since he could read minds. She considered just abandoning lunch and hiding out somewhere.
"Look Rose! Harry made me lunch." Emmett happily cheered as he lumbered his way back to the usual Cullen table.
Rosalie just gave Emmett a suffering look before she smacked him on the back of the head. "Idiot." She said fondly. "What?" Emmett asked confused. After that lunch returned to normal, except the pitying glances Bella once got were replaced with small glares.
"They are ruining my life." Bella whispered, holding her head in her hands.
"We'll think of something." Edward tried to reassure her, but he wasn't feeling that confident either.
o.O.o
Demetri and Harry relaxed in the Swan residence, plotting their next move.
"It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow." Harry spoke up.
"We could tell Charlie that we are going to Seattle to work out your homeschooling, leave early in the morning." Demetri suggested.
"We need to look into these shape shifters the Cullen's have a treaty with." Harry stated taking out a notebook.
"What did Aro learn?"
Harry flipped a few pages before stopping. "They created a treaty that separates the werewolf and vampire lands. The Cullen's are not allowed to bite or turn any humans, and neither is allowed to tell anyone about the others."
"Felix would love to be here, he was fascinated with the shifters when Aro first spoke of them." Demetri sighed.
"Marcus didn't want us to appear threatening to the Cullen's." Harry frowned.
"I know. Maybe we should send him pictures." The older vampire grinned as a sudden idea come to him. "Oh I have the perfect plan to greet the shifters tomorrow."
Harry scooted over to Demetri and listened attentively as Demetri went over his idea. Those poor poor shifters...
So I decided to google why people don't like twilight and Oh My! Never again. Forums of nothing but fighting, insults, a few good points, but other than that it was like wading through a sea of hostility.
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Bad Joke of the day.
"What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite"
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