erotoropia. ludus. pragma. - Caroline Black-Swan - 2

He Appears Imminently

Thank you for all the kind comments! They definitely put me back in the mood to continue writing so this chapter is dedicated to DeerLae and auravital . Thank you so much for your comments! You helped give me motivation to continue! I love all of you guys so much! <3

This chapter is a bit of a filler and not proofread, so read at your own risk!

The fancy car was silent as it pulled onto the cracked pavement of Charlie and Bella Swan's house. I opened the passenger door and stepped into the dying grass with a crunch, noting the peeling paint and resemblance of a once lively garden, things I had never paid attention to before. Jasper and Alice had dropped us off and gone back to the Cullen house to go hunting later.

Even with the constant bombardment of rain in dreary Forks, Washington, every lawn seemed to abhor the life-giving substance. I knocked on the dilapidated door lightly and glanced over at Corvin who was entranced as a bee flew from dead flower to dead flower in search of absent pollen.

Behind the closed front door there was shuffling and a loud crash -you didn't have to have  supernatural hearing to wince at the sound of shattering glass- with a curse. The door swung open and revealed a disheveled man with graying hair and a terrible case of bedhead -Charlie Swan, the man who had raised me my entire life-.

"Caroline?" he questioned, his jaw-dropping.

"The one and only!" I grinned, grudgingly returning his bone-crushing hug. I hadn't realized how much I had missed the smell that accompanied Charlie; smokey wood, crisp paper, starch from his police uniform, and his beard shaving cream. "It wasn't like the prodigal son, Charlie,"

He held me at arm's length, the emotionally awkward man struggling not to let his watery eyes overflow. "I swear to God, if you ever leave like that I'll put under house arrest," he threatened, dead serious. He glanced over my shoulder at Corvin who had somehow managed to have the bee land on his index finger. "Is he the reason why?" 

As amusing as the idea of watching Charlie load his shotgun to chase Corvin out of the state would be, I, unfortunately, needed my Beta for now. "No, he's just a friend from Mexico. Don't worry, I wouldn't date him if he was the last male on planet Earth," I said dryly, shuddering at the thought. Charlie was pleased by my answer as he ushered Alice, Jasper, and I into the house. 

"Corvin, come on!" I called, watching as he set the friendly insect onto a tree and let it fly away. "He can't do addition but is somehow a bee tamer," I muttered, closing the front door after him. Charlie sat in his traditional armchair with various beer and coffee stains, and Corvin and I were on the opposite couch.

"So how long're you staying?" asked Charlie, muting the baseball game on the television. "A month? Two?"

"Just a couple of days Charlie, sorry." I replied empathetically, "Abuela is expecting me back soon. I've almost finished off summer school so I can get my diploma," Even at my mere sixteen years of age, I had skipped seventh and eighth grade because the amount of reading I accomplished had taught me concepts that were foreign to even some teachers.

Charlie nodded, attempting to keep his placid facade but I had known him long enough to see his true disappointment. "How's your arm?" 

"Fine. Carlisle removed it almost an hour ago. I have to work with it to build the strength back though," I lied. Thanks to the Quielete shifting genes, my muscles were practically the same strength as before I had been injured. "Is Bella here?" I asked, standing up and leaving Corvin to fend for himself.

I climbed the squeaky stairs and knocked on Bella's door. "Come in," I swung the whitewashed door open and resisted the urge to snatch the alarm clock on my half-sister's nightstand and chuck it at her blockhead of a boyfriend who was seated next to Bella on her bed. They had a book open between them and it looked like Edward had been reading to his human girlfriend.

I leaned against the doorframe, tugging Tristan's leather jacket tighter, and raised an eyebrow. "Hey Bells," I greeted. The nickname started out as an insult, insinuating that Bella's head was as hollow as a bell because she never used it.

Isabella leaped off her bed -nearly tripping on her own blanket and killing herself- as her bony arms wrapped me in a hug. I gagged, the stench of vampire -specifically Ed-weirdo- engulfing my sense of smell and making my eyes water.

"You're back!"

"Very deductive reasoning, where's Sherlock?" I deadpanned. I could hear Charlie interrogating Corvin downstairs and snickered. "God, the stench,"

"I could say the same," Edward replied coolly, leaving me glaring at him. 

"Alice drove Corvin and me over because 'there was something important you needed to tell us,'" I mimicked in a high, dainty voice. I seated myself on the bed, purposely stretching my legs out and leaving Edward hardly any room on the bed without him falling off. Bella sat in the middle, her face a mix of excitement and nausea. 

"Well, um, this is probably a lot to take in," she started. I narrowed my eyes, what had she done now? "But- EdwardandIaregettingmarried," Bella said at the speed of sound.

"Huh?"

"We'regettingmarried," She repeated. I groaned in annoyance, repeating the sentence identically as the first wasn't changing anything. Edward leaned forward, his golden-blonde eyes freakily staring into my heterochromatic green and blue eyes,

"Caroline, Bella said that she and I are going to be married,"

"I'M SORRY, WHAT?!"