The First Drop Of Rain

Chapter Twenty Seven

Edward was rather shocked to see me later that night. I still had red hair, but the lower half of my hair was a particularly well done ombre that went into a flamingo pink color. Gaia had to wrestle the shears out of my hand however as I attempted to cut some Carly Rae Jepsen esq bangs. I had recounted the entire endeavor to him, including that Gaia, who was a beautiful natural brunette, now had the entire under half of her hair colored manic panic's electric lizard color. Edward had found a large amount of amusement in the entire story, informing me I painted a very vivid mental picture. We had an uneventful night and the following morning when I was forced to return to school. I had only been gone two days but those two days felt like an entire week in the grand scheme of things. Thursday had droned on, though I did enjoy lunch with Gaia, where we tried relentlessly to convince Rosalie to add a pop of color to her hair. Alice seemed taken aback by our suggestions to add color to her brunette hair. We had been relentless all day, and both Emmett and Edward seemed thoroughly amused by the entire encounter. Jasper still had a pained expression on his face, but it seemed to smooth out a little as he began to enjoy the easy going atmosphere the group put out at times like this.

The following Friday I was informed that "everything was taken care of, we can go to Alaska" through a text from Edward. When he showed up later that night he helped me pack my suitcase. It was a quick two day trip, but I would need to dress very warmly.

With my bag fully packed Edward disappeared out my window and twenty minutes later Carlisle pulled up to the house in a Tucson. Apparently part of the backstory had been that there was a field trip Carlisle was taking a few of the kids on and I had been invited along. However the trip would only consist of myself, Edward, Carlisle, and Esme. I now sat in the back seat of the car with Edward, it was 7pm and my dad was waving from the porch. He had made Carlisle promise to send updates periodically and reminded him that I would need to watch when I ate, because I got horrifically carsick on long rides. The cover story was that we would be driving down to the Redwood Forest which was only 9 hours away. However we had a short plane ride to avoid the possible 45 hour drive ahead of us.

I settled into the seat, sitting sideways and looking at Edward who had shifted to sit opposite me in a similar position. They had loaded the back of the Tucson up with everything you could imagine I needed to make me feel comfortable. I felt far too taken care of by such simple gestures, but that would be a problem for a future therapist. I had eaten an hour before the Cullens arrived, however that didn't stop Edward from insisting I have something. "Ara we are going to be driving for a couple of hours before we get to the airport, please." Edward pushed again as we rolled onto the highway, I grumbled and accepted one of the pop tarts he held out to me, earning a small smile from Esme as she held back a laugh.

"Where is the airport anyways?" I asked as I broke the s'mores pop tart in half.

"It's a small private airport, there were no commercial flights- no not even spirit airlines," Edward interjected as my shock and thoughts hit him. "We were able to charter a plane, we are taking it to Anchorage and then driving to Denali."

"Wait, Denali is a place?"

"Yes." A smile played on Edward's lips as I put two and two together. I pulled my phone out and promptly began google searching, seeing the images and sheer size of the National park this clan named itself after.

"Wait, did the Cullen name come from a place too?" I looked to Carlisle curiously, earning a smile back from the rear view mirror.

"Yes and no. Cullen was my family name before I was turned. The Denali sisters do not use their name despite being the eldest by nearly seven hundred years." I realized now that I was dealing with some very old, very powerful people, and that was terrifying.

"Have you ever worried about someone uncovering your family history with one Google search of your name?" I asked Carlisle curiously as I fought the urge to prove my point by googling the Cullen name. "Or someone building their family tree uncovering the secret and finding some obscure news paper with a picture of a supposedly long dead family member well outside of the supposed lifetime?"

"It wasn't a concern I had thought about until now." Carlisle chuckled, almost nervous.

"I mean, I'm sure I'm just being hyper vigilant, there might not even be a problem, I'm sure someone somewhere is erasing proof." I waved my hand dismissively as I groped for another subject. "I mean... the really interesting thing is the meanings behind the names in the first place." I earned a curious look from Edward, and felt inclined to continue. "Well... take Esme for example, her name means Loved. Carlisle essentially means protected, on the inverse Edward means prosperous or protector." I smiled sheepishly.

"What does your name mean?" Esme asked, she seemed so amazed by the names and the meanings they held. I resonated with that, names meant so much to me, it let me know what my mother must have thought of me when she was leaving me for the sheriff's station to find.

"So I've done a lot of research into that, seeing as it's my name and there are a few meanings. Arabella meaning both answered prayer as well as beautiful lion. My middle name Viviana simply means alive or life." I chuckled slightly at the prospect. "If I knew what my last name had destined to be I would have the full picture of what my birth mom intended while naming me. But from what I have gathered the meaning is 'an answered prayer of life.'"

"Couldn't it also mean 'the feriocity of life'?" Edward added, a slight smile playing on his lips as he watched me mull it over.

"Maybe, but based off the fact that I was given to a family who desperately wanted me, I'm going with the answered prayer bit." I countered, toying with the edge of my phone case.

"Aren't you non-religious?" Esme asked in a polite tone.

"Yes and no. Not Christian, and not religious in a technical sense. Spiritual is usually the word used, but I don't know what my mom believed in, who knows she could have been a horrible person for all I know." I shrugged simply and held onto the oh shit bar as Carlisle took a sharp turn at a scary speed. "Look I know y'all are indestructible and all that but this car does have a rollover risk." I looked nervously out the window, the memory of my mothers death particularly fresh in my mind at that moment. The panic had a grip around my throat and squeezed my chest tight, but I felt a cold brush of fingers against my outer thigh. Ripping my eyes from the window I met Edward's topaz gaze, it was one filled with worry. I knew he was aware of my thoughts, but the curiosity of if he could see them actively play out in my mind consumed me for a moment. Can you see... everything? I knew the imagery of the twisted car played in my mind, the view of the police lights, the sight of my dad crying. He gave me a somber nod and gripped my hand, sorrow filling those topaz eyes. I was sure Carlisle and Esme knew a silent conversation was happening between us, I was also sure they could guess the contents of it. My heart aches however, I wanted to unbuckle my seatbelt and slide across the seat to curl against Edward's chest and shut the world out, but the idea of no seatbelt left me petrified. Edward, knowing the internal conflict I was presented with, unfastened his own and slid to my side, pulling me into the circle of his arms while positioning my seatbelt so it wouldn't cut into my stomach or legs. He gently stroked my hair and hummed softly in a baritone medley I immediately recognized as 'Once Upon a December' from the Anastasia movie. My eyes sifted shut slowly and sure enough I drifted off to sleep, curious if Edward would even bother to wake me when we reached the plane.

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Hi! Me again! not my best work, Im well aware, life has been kinda insane however. Since I last posted, two of my friends graduated college (One undergrad one masters), my baby brother has entered the final weeks of his senior year, I've started looking for a house to buy (yup im an adult), found out I owe more in medical bills than I do on my car, got laid off from work, and filed for unemployment. So during my unexpected time off I do plan on writing to my little hearts contempt, I'm reading Midnight Sun so I will say the next chapter is in Edward's POV. I'm also feeling surpisingly fluffy (thank heartstopper for that) so I don't anticipate ripping anyones heart out brutally- but as Thanos put so beautifully- balanced, as all things should be. Stay on the edge of your seats my dear readers- because I'm one minor inconvience away from killing a character off- and I already know who it would be... just maybe a bit sooner than I planned.

anyways! peaceful reading!!

-Ash