Soul not Included

Chapter 73

Theo was sitting outside of the house with Fred. Whatever annoyed him when he was inside yesterday wasn't passing and Theo knew that was a problem. He can't be second in command when he allowed his emotions to take over him like this. 

When Grace came back he figured that she would fix things. Explain to Esme she shouldn't have done what she did. Explain to Carlisle and the rest of the Cullen family why it's not okay to be thoughtlessly supportive of every decision but Grace didn't correct them. Grace didn't argue with Carlisle and even reasoned with her own coven that the Cullens were only doing for their family what Grace and Theo would usually do for Iz. So there was no need to be angry.

Grace was furious of course but she wasn't going to do anything about it.

Theo was waiting on Demetri to return with Bree and Diego which still weren't back as Grace went to run with Leah so she could vent her frustrations through racing. Leah easily able to out run her.

"What now?" Fred asked.

Theo couldn't be bothered to lie at this point or even think. Grace said they would be on standby. So everything they were working for was to be stopped. They weren't working on much but it was cool to have trained with Jasper that had actual military experience. Learning from him was probably the best thing that was happening for Theo and Grace. It was their dreams come true.

"We settle down. Rest and leave whenever Grace says we can I guess," Theo shrugged. "What do you think we should do?"

"Leave," Fred said easily without having to give it a thought. "We should have left a long time ago."

"I'll bring it up with Grace."

"No, you won't," Fred elbowed Theo's arm lightly.

"No. I won't."

From inside the house Fred and Theo were able to hear Bella being introduced to little Charlie again. She had left to gather herself. Edward left to talk her through it. Not that Theo thought Bella needed it. She seemed to be able to handle her emotions just fine. The one in need of emotional coaching was Edward. Bella just needed a boost in confidence. 

"Leah is still around," Fred said to himself once the topic of Jacob leaving with Seth was brought up by Bella. 

Rose hadn't been very helpful in providing Bella the information needed. Rose didn't care where Jacob went. Jacob meant absolutely nothing to her. So there was a dead end for them already. Theo didn't know either and he's sure Grace isn't worrying about it. Leah would have told her if something was wrong but more than that... Grace wasn't kidding, when she said she wasn't going to involve herself with the Cullens anymore until they asked for help directly. 

She was probably waiting for that moment when the apology they gave her went from diplomatic to pleading. Grace isn't above pettiness. A lesson she learned from Iz. Pettiness is not a virtue but sometimes pettiness shows just how upset a person truly is and is the only thing some people respond to. Some things can be argued about reasonably and both sides would be willing to listen to each other and reach a compromise, which is the optimal outcome. Some things, you will be able to only compromise by one side giving in to the other side, which is the current situation between Grace and the Cullens. A very one sided compromise. So some things... like let's say, helping a family in need that had recently crossed a line without batting an eye or thinking of how their actions affect the other group, can only be responded to by pettiness to express to them that they shouldn't have fucked with the hands that were protecting them.

Theo sighed, not that they needed protecting to begin with but it was a final request and that's the part that bothers Grace and Theo the most. They weren't people that wouldn't accomplish a task once it was entrusted to them. Being blocked from being able to do a request was annoying because the Cullens don't even know that they were doing.