Too Close | Rosalie Hale

Chapter 7

A day had passed since Lex had joined the Cullens, and boy, was her throat starting to burn. Being a newborn meant that Lex had incredible speed and strength, but it also meant that she got very thirsty very quickly, and had pretty terrible self-control. Her new coven had assured her that it would get easier to control, but that it would take time.

"Come on," a voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

Her red eyes met a pair of dark topaz eyes— Rosalie's eyes. Lex shot her a quizzical look.

"Your eyes are dark, you need to feed," Rosalie explained. "You can't go alone, and I'm getting thirsty."

"Uh— yeah, c-cool," Lex stuttered nervously.

If Rosalie was being honest, she was a bit nervous as well. Alice had told her about the vision she had seen when they had first met Lex as a vampire. In Alice's vision, Lex didn't just have yellow eyes, she had Rosalie's heart as well— Alice's wording, not Rosalie's. 

Rosalie had been looking for a mate since she got turned. She had always been enamored with the idea of love, and it felt like the universe was punishing her every moment that she went without meeting her person. Years of being alone, and watching as more and more of her family found their soulmates, had made Rosalie bitter and harsh. Carlisle had hoped that Rosalie would find her mate in Edward or Emmett, but it hadn't felt right with them. They had always been more like brothers to her, but that didn't make it any easier for her to see Edward falling in love— especially with a human. 

Now that she now knew that her mate was finally here, she suddenly felt really anxious about it. At any given moment, Rosalie's mind was swarming with 'what ifs' and weirdly specific hypothetical situations. 

She couldn't help it. For the better part of a century, it had seemed like the universe had been fucking with her, and suddenly a good thing appeared in her life. Every single other time that she could recall when something good had happened to her, it had always been followed by something ridiculously horrible. So, forgive her if she didn't trust that this good thing would stay good. 

But she owed it to herself to at least try, so she had come up with a compromise with herself. Rosalie was going to take things slow with Lex.

And the first step in her slow-moving plan to possibly life altering love, was a hunting trip. It wasn't romantic at all— which Rosalie found to be extremely comforting— but they would be alone, without a mind reader listening to their every thought. It was perfect.

"I'll bring you to my favorite spot," Rosalie told the dark haired girl, a bit more enthusiastically than she was used to being. "It's where all of the mountain lions hang out— they're one of the best tasting things in Washington."

"Cool," Lex grinned. She was overjoyed that Rosalie wanted to spend time with her. 

The two girls took off running, with Rosalie leading them in the right direction. Lex was careful not to surpass her, despite the urge she felt to run as fast as she could— her newborn speed was faster than most older vampires.

Like most days in Forks, Washington, this day was a cloudy one. The sun was nearly setting behind the clouds, and Lex was glad that the weather no longer had any impact on her body, because she could tell that today was a cold day. If she still breathed, then there would have been water vapor billowing through the air with each exhale. As a human, Lex had always hated wearing bulky jackets— they had felt way too constricting, and she felt like they hindered her ability to move her arms. Right now, Instead of a jacket, she was wearing a long-sleeved top that Alice had bought for her. 

Alice had gone a little over-board with purchasing new clothes for Lex. The second that the mall had opened that day, Alice had gone in and purchased as many items as her tiny arms could carry— which was a lot because of her vampire strength. When she had come back home, she had made Lex try everything on to show her. It had been fun, but even as an immortal being who could no longer sleep, Lex had found it to be a little bit exhausting.