petrichor [rosalie hale]

li. forming unity

Kiara's hands were still vibrating from the jeep's rumble as she slid the key out of the ignition. Her shoes crunched on the gravel drive, and as much as she wished it did, a small feeling in the back of her head told her that it didn't feel the same as the gravel under her feet in La Push. The reservation was her home... whether that was with the pack, she didn't know.

But before she could revel in the conflicting senses of nostalgia, her world tilted sideways - Edward's cold, marble-like form had her pinned against the not-as-cool metal of the jeep, his snarl a mere whisper from her face. Fury flashed in his eyes as he pressed harder, Kiara groaning a little as she felt a second dent be pressed into Emmett's jeep. She knew that the bulky vampire was going to be livid when he noticed both.

"Are you out of your mind, Kiara?" Edward's voice was a venomous hiss, the fury in his topaz eyes mirroring the storm clouds that had began to gather overhead as she had driven back towards the Cullen residence.

"Easy there, Ed," Kiara said, her tone light despite the iron grip holding her. The sarcasm in her words dripped from her mouth like honey, causing the man to flare up with more anger at how nonchalant she seemed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you missed me."

Rosalie, her golden hair catching the fading sunlight, bolted outside with the rest of the Cullen clan on her heels. The protective glint in her eye softened just a touch when it landed on Kiara. Leah and Seth emerged from the woods, their expressions wary. Tension crackled in the air like static, waiting for a spark to ignite. 

From the corner of her eye, Kiara faintly noticed Beverly place a gentle hand on her sister's arm as the blonde went to angrily move towards her adoptive brother and her mate. Rosalie simply shrugged her off, moving down and latching her own hand on Edward's wrist that was now pressed against Kiara's neck.

"Edward! Let her go, now!" Rosalie's demand sliced through the charged atmosphere, her eyes darker as she gripped tightly on his wrist. Kiara could almost hear the small cracking noises as her grip tightened around him. Edward, paid Rosalie no attention, not even flinching as she attempted to snap his wrist.

"Sam Uley? Really, Kiara?" Edward growled, unmoved by Rosalie's plea. "You've invited him here, to meet Renesmee?"

Rosalie's hand immediately fell from Edward's wrist as her gaze flickered to look at Kiara, betrayal evident in her eyes. Kiara had told her that she had gone to visit Rachel and her father - not sneak off to some secret meeting with the other alpha that had been so keen to kill them days before.

"You did what?" Her voice was ice, her earlier warmth evaporating like mist.

"Look, can we not make a scene?" Kiara suggested, even as she mentally prepared for the inevitable explosion.

"Make a scene?" Bella's voice was incredulous as she joined the fray, her maternal instincts a fiery aura around her. "You want to bring Sam - the same Sam who wanted to destroy my daughter - into this house?"

And there is was - the one person that Kiara had been hoping wouldn't be around as soon as she had felt Edward's hands on her. It wasn't like before when Jacob had called Renesmee Nessie, this was more of a serious issue. She knew that - and she knew it was stupid to have offered without checking first but she'd always loved the principle of ask first, apologise later.

"Okay, yes, when you put it like that, it sounds bad..." Kiara admitted, feeling the weight of their collective stares. Even Carlisle and Esme were looking at her with appalled expressions at the accusation that she wasn't denying.  It was like standing at the centre of a hurricane, the winds of everyone's emotions swirling dangerously close.

"Sounds bad? It is bad!" Bella's anger echoed off the trees, and Kiara felt a pang of guilt for causing her this distress. Then again, Bella had technically been the reason they were even in this predicament in the first place, but Kiara bit her tongue from voicing that as she knew there was a time and a place - and it was certainly not here.