RELIANCE [Alice + Oc + Jasper]

CHAPTER SIX

AN: This is a bit of a collection of a time skip, not really precise on the time skip. But you'll see there's a change in the writing as it's become more of a past tense usage, with the bottom being present tense. And there's a reason why.

I wanted to sort of explain, and to be truthful I got a bit excited and decided to write this while on campus, during a rather boring lecture (so bear with me. I got the itch to write, and yeah.)

So here we go!

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CHAPTER FIVE:

....

The next couple of weeks went on as they had after her surgery.

Lorraine would wake in the morning with the minimal help of Gerard or even Arthur, who would then carry her to the couch, and then to the kitchen chair. She ate her breakfast and began working on her class assignments. The morning passed with her family getting ready for work, while she finished her work and thoroughly cleaned her plate. After that, each of her family members would approach her with a farewell kiss and warning as they made their way to the garage door for their respectable vehicles for work that day. Each of her brothers reminded her with keen, observing, eyes that she was to immediately call them if anything occurred.

Her father would chuckle and pull her into a warm embrace as he waved the older men away from her laughing form, though he too offered her that very same advice. And it would come to an end as Oliver and Caroline hushed and hurried each male member of the Malarky family away and out to their cars, sending her exasperated looks as they too left.'

For the next couple of hours, till lunch. Lorraine carried herself from the kitchen table and to the recliner before she propped her sore form onto the cushy comforter with her leg having the chance to be elevated. Her free time consisted of television scrolling, between bathroom and medication breaks. This allowed her to deal with the minor frustrations and too heavy emotions she certainly didn't want, her already worried, family members to know about. And after a good cry or processed emotion, she would clamber up off the recliner around twelve-twentyish in the afternoon.

Lunch mainly depended on how well she felt. And based on how she personally handled her recovering injuries, it was going as well as it could possibly be. She hefted herself up on the whining crutches and to the refrigerator to scramble up some sort of lunch for her to eat, less her family or even her friends come back to see her pushing down some horrendous looking pile of scraps or leftovers.

She leant on the island table, with her rear parked on a barstool, to begin the journey of cooking.

By the time she usually had lunch made, the front door would pop on open to reveal one of her brothers-tired forms or it was mostly the beaming appearance of Alice and a subdued Jasper.

The Cullens lived on further down the winding roads away from their home, neatly tucked into the trees and from prying eyes. It had been a comfort for Lorraine. But after the drunken home invader, the idea or prospect of being alone in the quiet home for too long always left her heart filling with dread. But with the attack having happened. This meant the Cullens made it their mission, it seemed, to visit and check in on the black-haired female as they rolled into the Malarky's driveway.

They being Jasper, Alice, Emmett Edward or even the solemn faced beauty that was Rosalie. Each sibling had a set of classwork for her to fill out and some new information on what sort of rumors were being spread around while she remained absent from school, especially in the senior block.

Lorraine would pass the time with them with laughter or by simply picking their mind as she did the assignments that'd been handed to her. It was a peaceful time for her as she either, cleaned up the mess she left behind, read a couple of historical books with Jasper, picked clothes for the next few days with Rosalie and Alice, played on the new GameCube with Emmett, or spoke on her favorite poets with Edward. They kept her mind busy and her sometimes returning trauma muted, while she enjoyed the peace and quiet that came with the Cullens arrival.

By the end of the day, near evening.

Her father clomped in with his work boots being kicked to the side as he shouldered his coat that held bits of shattered wood alongst the thick Carhart jacket. He greeted the children of the Cullens before squeezing Lorraine into his arms as a hello. It would be around that time the siblings would decide to leave, but not before Alice climbed onto the side of the recliner and nestled with Lorraine for a few moments, both watching the last part of a movie together. And with Jasper giving her an assessing gaze as he offered her a gentle embrace before he had to pull his partner away from the snickering black-haired girl's form.

This was a reoccurring thing for during those four weeks.

Soon the month of August faded into the falling leaves that was September; the Malarky family centering themselves closer than before as the passing of their deceased matriarch came around, near the sixteenth. Lorraine's bruises had since disappeared from her flesh. The stitching was removed after the skin had bound itself, leaving behind a pinkish set of scars. All that remained was the fixator that held the implant in place and would continue to do so for the next three months, until the screws and implant were fully functioning by themselves.

She had been accepted back into school after receiving a health check by Carlisle at the hospital a month after the attack, and once her counselor had given the green light when he had picked up on the improvement in her being.

A happiness had swelled within the very air, though it was threaded with sorrow as the memory of her mother's passing crept in on the harder days. But overall, she was eager to retain her normalcy once more and get back to being more independent for herself again. (Not that she minded the aid and assistance. She simply wished to be able to become stronger, for herself and for others.)

It was mingled with the sudden awareness of her relationship with two of the Cullen siblings. Alice, Jasper, and her seemed to have grown very close over this trial-and-error time. The two having seemed to become more attentive and protective of her as she went on. And the same could be said for her too. She noticed little ticks or habits they held and cherished them, while trying to keep their secrets and wary gazes around the ones watching them well guarded. They had become bonded to her in soul and heart, it appeared. Her happiness was mostly centered around the silent support of Jasper and the elated joy that was Alice.

Lorraine could feel a change approaching in the air, though.

Her eyes managing to pick up on the noticeable actions and slightly muffled words of the Cullens, and her own family. But whatever it was they were withholding from her, she would adapt to it and deal with the aftereffects in the long run.

For now, while she currently laid stretched out on the comfortable bed that belonged to a softly speaking Jasper, and a distantly humming Alice - while the two worked on their own assignments - she simply basked in the mutual feelings of warmth and love (the latter seeming to have awakened a wider perception of the two set before her, and which remained quite unknown, though she would eventually work out the precise emotion soon enough.)

Distractedly, she let her eyes roam the warm interior of their bedroom, wandering and feeling what was around her as she allowed her body to relax. 'This is something I could get used to...'

And what that something was, she didn't yet know.

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And there you have it! This was a bit of a quick chapter, but again. It's going along with the sort of time skip, and it pushes things along as it continues to travel onwards. I don't want to stay so focused on her recovery the entire time. This is going to be a story of her finding out that she loves two amazing people and finds that it's so wholesome and natural that it's a beautiful discovery. And how she adapts to their shared love and the secrets of their world as Vampires, which will be a topic broached here soon.

I hope you'll come to like this short piece and trust me the other chapters will be back to their lengthy word count as usual! Also, I was so excited to put out two chapters in one night, lol.

And a shout out to @Averagecrazychic and @MyLifeAsEmilee for voting!

Comment, vote, if you want!