Too Close | Rosalie Hale

Chapter 16

"This sucks," Lex huffed. She spent all that time helping to plan and set up for the wedding, and she didn't even get to go.

"You know it's too risky," Rosalie chastised. "Bella's father is a cop— he might recognize you. Plus, there are going to be so many humans. We can't risk it. I'm sorry, love."

"I know," Lex sighed. "That doesn't make it not suck though."

Even though Lex's appearance changed significantly after she was bitten, she wasn't entirely unrecognizable. She still kinda looked like herself— if she had been photoshopped to look like a supermodel. 

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?" Rosalie asked. "I can stay with you, if you want."

"I'm not a child," Lex replied. "I can manage a few hours on my own. Honestly, I'm probably gonna go hang out in the woods or something. Just go, and tell me if anything exciting happens— or if you overhear something mean. I love that shit."

"I'll make sure to send you a video of Jessica Stanley's speech," Rosalie laughed. "That's gonna be good."

"I have no idea who that is," Lex told her. "But I'm dying to find out." 

"I have to go," Rosalie said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Lex replied as she placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend's lips. With that, Rosalie left, leaving Lex alone in Alice and Jasper's cabin— since the wedding was in the backyard, the Cullens had thought it would be too risky fro Lex to stay in the house. Knowing what went on this cabin, Lex wasn't too keen on sticking around— or touching anything. Lex shuddered at the thought. Yeah, there was no way she was staying in this place.

Lex didn't think that she would ever get over the feeling of running as a vampire. It was so hard to explain to people who didn't understand it, but it was the only time when she ever felt truly free. There was just something about the breeze flowing through her hair, and the way that she never had to stop to catch her breath, that liberated her.

She halted at the edge of the creek that separated the vampire territory from the wolf territory. Just as she was about to turn around to continue her run, she heard a heartbeat coming from the other side of the creek. A wolf, she decided as she caught the unpleasant scent. Scanning the treeline with her eyes, she saw a flash of fur disappear behind a tree. 

A few seconds later, the wolf reemerged, though this time, he was in his human form— it was Paul Lahote.

He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of basketball shorts. Lex couldn't help but notice that he looked... sad, and kind of angry, though she wasn't sure why.

"Hey... Are you alright?" she called out.

He nodded. "Yeah... I just... I wanted to apologize... to you."

"Oh," Lex replied. "Thanks. I really appreciate it, man."

"I haven't apologized yet," he cracked a smile.

"Right," she laughed. "Go on then."

"After you went missing, I couldn't stop thinking about how shitty I was to you the last time we spoke," Paul told her. "I thought that I was doing the right thing. You didn't know what I was, and someone close to the pack had just gotten really hurt, and I didn't want anything like that to happen to you. I was trying to protect you, and I ended up ruining your whole life, and I am so sorry for that."

"Paul," Lex said softly. "What happened to me was not your fault. It was a weird mixture of dumb choices on my part, and some really terribly bad luck. And my life is not ruined— I have people who care about me, I live in a mansion for free, and I have a totally hot girlfriend who loves me just as much as I love her. Seriously, Paul, you can't beat yourself up about what happened. I'm really happy— for the most part. I still miss my parents and going out in public and stuff, but... nothing's ever all perfect, you know? But things are about as close to perfect as they can be under the circumstances."

Paul took a second to ponder her words. "I'm glad that you're happy."

Obviously, he wasn't happy that she had been turned into a leech, but at least she wasn't miserable. And at least she wasn't as bad as most leeches. He was pretty conflicted about everything— he hated leeches, and she was a leech now. He should hate her, but it felt wrong to hate her after everything.

"I should get going," Paul said awkwardly. "I'm supposed to be patrolling right now."

With that, he disappeared in the treeline. Lex turned around and ran back to the cabin. Instead of going inside, she climbed up onto the roof, and looked up at the stars. With her enhanced vision, it was like she was looking through a telescope. She wished that Rosalie was there to see them too— they were so beautiful that night. Lex's mind wandered to the wedding— she wanted to know how it was going.

Almost as if Rosalie had heard her thoughts, Lex's phone buzzed. There was a video attachment from Rosalie. Lex played it— it was Emmett's speech.

"Bella, I hope you got enough sleep these past eighteen years, because you won't be getting anymore for a while."

Lex couldn't hold back her laughter. The double entendre had not been lost on her. She seriously couldn't believe Emmett would say that in front of Bella's parents. The audacity of that boy never ceased to astound her.

A few minutes later Rosalie sent another video. It was of a brown haired girl giving a toast— Lex knew that the girl had to be Jessica Stanley. Her speech was a bit ramble-y and awkward, and Lex could feel the jealousy radiating out of the phone. She could only imagine the laughter that Rosalie must have been holding back.

"Edward is... all about Bella!" Jessica said faux cheerfully. "Even though she's not the captain of the volleyball team... I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. Or the president of the student council."

Lex was practically howling with laughter. This speech was almost painfully awkward.

"I thought you would like that," a voice called from the ground. A split-second later, Rosalie leapt gracefully onto the roof next to Lex. 

"Ro!" Lex grinned. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be celebrating with everyone else."

"It didn't feel like a real celebration without you there," the blonde girl shrugged as she cuddled into her girlfriend's side. "Besides, I don't want to celebrate a human giving up her life— her chance at normalcy. It doesn't feel right."

Lex placed a tender kiss on Rosalie's forehead in a comforting manner. "What feels right for her doesn't have to feel right for you, Ro. It's her life. You can't keep holding this choice against her."

Rosalie sighed deeply. She wasn't ready to let it go yet, and Lex could tell. But she wasn't going to force Rosalie to get over her feelings. 

Instead, she said nothing, and they watched the stars for a little while longer.

A/N:

So sorry that this update is later than usual! Things have been a little chaotic lately. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! Thank you so much for reading! I literally don't even know how to express how happy it makes me to see so many people enjoying this story!