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— 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 by herself in her room, lost in thought.
Embry had gone off to patrol as per Sam's orders, and Willow was on a date with Paul. This left Valencia to her own devices, and seeing as she had nothing better to do — she chose to wallow in sadness.
She told herself over and over again that the impending battle and inevitable death — murder of her sister was not her fault. And logically, she knew that was true.
Edward and James had been the start of it all, long before Valencia ever came back into the picture. But it was still hard. Victoria seeing her again after centuries of no contact was just the element they needed to throw her off. She knew that was the reason Edward insisted she be there with him.
And she understood why she had to be there. Truly, she did. She understood Edward's reasoning — which she hated because Edward made it so very easy to hate him. But Edward was not the bad guy here. It was Victoria.
Which really hurt, because deep down Valencia knew her sister wasn't what she is now. The Victoria she knew wouldn't do this. The Victoria Valencia will be reunited with will be one filled with nothing but heartbreak and vengeance. The loss of her mate has absolutely destroyed the old Victoria.
And that is what terrified Valencia the most.
The redhead was suddenly pulled out of her musings by the sound of a knock on her door. A moment later, Emily's face peeked around the edge of the door.
"Hi." She smiled shyly, before fully stepping into the room.
"I hope I wasn't interrupting you?" She questioned, trying to gauge Valencia's unreadable face.
Valencia blinked, before simply shaking her head.
The Makah woman breathed a sigh of relief, as her smile became more sure. "Phew, I'm glad! I just wanted to know if, um...maybe you'd wanna hang out?" She asked, beginning to fiddle with her fingers towards the end of her question, clearly becoming unsure of herself.
Valencia swallowed.
Now she wouldn't say she was judgmental or anything, but her abilities were sort of based on doing just that. She thrived on judging people's characters and discovering their darkest fears through digging into their minds — and as her own personal morals — only used those fears against the people who she felt deserved it.
Rotten people.
And she truly didn't think Emily a bad person for being with Sam — but after her talk with Embry about imprints, and about how the imprint got to choose what the relationship with the imprinted would look like...well, Valencia would be lying if she said she wasn't judging Emily just a little for her choices.
Nonetheless, from what Valencia had seen — Emily truly did seem like a nice woman. It would be awful if she turned the woman down now.
So instead of asking if she could think about it — like she really wanted to, she smiled. "Sure."
Emily smiled wider at her acceptance. "Great!"
— 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐈𝐍 the kitchen, a small frown on her face, as Emily began explaining what she could do to help make food for the boys.
The Makah woman stopped her rambling, as she noticed the expression on the vampire's face. "Is something wrong?" She asked, concern taking over her face.
Valencia shook her head. "No, no, I'm okay. It's just...been a really long time since I've had to cook anything. And kitchens looked far different back then."
Emily blushed, as realization finally kicked in. "Oh, my God! I am so sorry! I should've realized- We could do something else if you'd like?" Emily rambled a hint of desperation in her tone.
Valencia tilted her head. Something told the vampire that Emily was trying to impress her for some unknown reason.
"It's okay, Emily." Valencia smiled gently. "I should relearn to cook anyways. Embry would surely appreciate it if I did."
Now it was Emily's turn to frown. "Did he say that to you? Because don't think for a second that you have to cook for him or anything, Valencia. Embry's a big boy. He can do it himself if he wants to eat."
Valencia laughed. "Oh, Embry would never. I want to cook for him. Don't worry."
Emily relaxed at her words and nodded. "Okay! Then let's start..."
— 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 the boys got back from patrol, Willow and Paul had also arrived.
"Ooh, what you got for us, Emily?" Embry asked excitedly, as he grabbed a muffin and took a bite.
He suddenly paused, as he spat the bite of muffin out of his mouth and gagged. "Emily, what did you do to these muffins?"
Emily's mouth dropped open in shock, as Valencia glared.
Embry — completely oblivious to his imprint's fury, missed the muffin being flown across the room.
Directly at his face.
"Ow! What the hell?" Embry yelped, rubbing his nose.
"I made the muffins, mate." Valencia glared.
Paul and Willow shared a look, while Jared decided now was the best time to go and call Kim over, and Sam simply walked over to press a kiss to Emily's cheek.
"Oh..." Embry laughed nervously. "I meant- They taste wonderful?"
Valencia rolled her eyes while walking over to sit beside him. "It's fine. It was my first time baking in a very long time. I'll have to be more careful next time."
Embry sighed a breath of relief. "Thanks for not killing me."
Valencia smiled innocently. "Oh, don't worry, mate. Just sleep with one eye open tonight. Remember, vampires don't sleep at all."
Everyone in the room laughed, while Paul whistled. "Watch out bro." Before turning to smirk at Valencia. "Make sure you get him good, Val. And record it too."
Before Embry could retort — a sudden knock on the door got everyone's attention. Even Jared — who told Kim he'd call her back in a second.
As the person walked through the door, silence took over the room.
