Taken In By The Cullens

Chapter Sixteen

Before any of the family knew it, nearly two months had sneaked by. All was well for the Cullen's, Hale's, and Hunter; Maddie was more or less healed from all her injuries, though she had many new scars to add to her collection. She had also become very familiar with each family member, bonding with them and not being as hesitant to allow someone to embrace her or pat her on the shoulder; they were pleasantly surprised to learn that the young human was actually a fan of hugs, but was just too use to having any physical contact end with some form of pain thanks to her previous guardian - they were working on that. Today, however, was a good day as it was the first day of their two weeks off from school; Carlisle had also booked the first week off from work so that he could spend some time with his family. To celebrate, they had planned a small party for them and their two werewolf friends. "Alright" Bella smiled as she pushed her phone back into her pocket from making a call "Jacob and Seth are definitely coming tomorrow" she confirmed; her daughter, happy she'd be seeing her two friends, asked if she and Maddie could go into the woods for a bit. Smiling, Carlisle nodded his head "just be home before six" he instructed before the two girls rushed to put their shoes on and ran out of the house, yelling out their goodbyes to the others before they were out of sight; it was certainly an amusing thing to laugh at. Once they were a fair distance away from their home, the girl's switched from running to walking to regain their breaths "so what do you want to do first??" Maddie asked, earning a few moments of silence as Renesmee thought about her answer "want to have a tree climbing race??" she suggested; the human rose a brow "do I, a human, want to have a tree climbing race with you, a half vampire who can move extremely fast??" she asked sarcastically, earning a laugh from her friend before shrugging "sure, why not??". After finding a large and climbable tree, the two friends counting to three before beginning their race; it was easy and within five minutes, they were high up - passed the halfway mark, that was for sure. Feeling her arms begin to ache, Maddie called for her friend stop so that they could take a break and admire the view; Renesmee mumbled out "it never gets old" as she stared out at the scenery before them.

Deciding to climb down as what they were doing was actually rather dangerous - well it was dangerous for the human at least - the two fifteen year olds carefully clung to each branch as they passed; Maddie, however, lost her footing as the branch she had stood on began to break, forcing her off of the branch to where she fell over a hundred and a half feet towards the branch. Yelling out for her friend in complete horror, Renesmee sped up her climbing process but knew she wouldn't be fast enough thanks to her human side. Screaming out in her own fear, Maddie watched as the forest ground grew closer and closer at a speed that was faithful; she curled up as much as she could, closing her eyes tightly as she waited for the pain of the impact that may just be the end of her. The seconds passed and yet....the pain wasn't there...but there were a pair of arms - one behind her back and the other under her knees - now holding her to someone's body. Opening her hesitant and confused eyes, Maddie looked up to see a girl, the same age as her - maybe a little older - but....her eyes matched the Cullen's and Hale's when they had their coloured contacts in. Was she a vampire?? That would explain how she was able to catch the human from such a full without getting hurt herself. "Maddie!!" Renesmee yelled out as she finally reached the ground herself "are you alright?!" she asked as she rushed over; the stranger carefully placed the human down onto her feet as Maddie reassured her friend that she was fine, only to be contradicted by her weak legs giving way. Thankfully, the random girl was close enough to quickly catch and return her to her arms once again "no you're not" she stared blankly; she looked up to the half vampire "come on, I'll take you both home" she instructed, earning a nod from Renesmee who lead the way. As they made their way through the forest, Maddie couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by the situation which forced her to be carried by a random stranger, yet she couldn't deny that she felt a sense of....safety being within her arms. Soon enough, they reached the house where the family all came running out, worry covering their faces as they gathered around "are you okay?!" Edward asked as he checked over his daughter for any injuries who nodded before being pulled into her parent's arms; they entered the house where the stranger sat Maddie down on one of the sofas within the living room before standing back.