𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑. paul lahote ✓

𝐒𝐈𝐗

┏━━━━⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆☾ ﾟ｡⋆━━━━┓

BELLA MEANS BEAUTIFUL

IN THE WEEKS FOLLOWING HER BIRTHDAY, EDWARD HAD DROPPED TWO VERY LARGE BOMBSHELLS.

The first being that he was actively pursuing his human mate, a girl named Bella Swan.

And the second being that he wanted her to meet the rest of his family, tomorrow.

And mind you, he announced both of these bombshells with complete nonchalance, as if the situation was just that. Augustine would've been elated at the revelation that he, too, considered her family if it wasn't for the metaphorical bile that rose to her throat. Her excitement was pummelled to dust by complete terror.

The only other person in the room who was equally as unhappy about the situation at hand was Rosalie, a rather aggravated look upon her pristine face. "What part of 'this could end badly for all of us' did you not understand, Edward?"

From what the younger vampire gathered, there had been an accident in the school parking lot that put Bella Swan's life in danger. Edward reacted in time, using his anything but human strength to stop a vehicle from taking her life — and the human just wouldn't let it go. And what did this lead to? Edward outing their family's existence to her, rather foolishly.

However, the mate bond was a sacred thing to their kind, so it was no shock that the rest of the family was rather on board. Augustine dared to take a peek at Jasper, given that he was their newest vegetarian before she arrived, and found him with a stark grimace on his face while Alice reassuringly rubbed his arm.

At least he could go to school and tolerate the humans; Augustine couldn't remember the last time she interacted with one well. Then, she was reminded of her own shit luck with her own mate from a few weeks prior, and her mood soured even more. Her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth as her eyes wavered around the rest of the Cullens. Most were nodding, affirmative, and it led the ravenette to realize that yeah, this was actually happening.

Sparing another glance at the blonde beside her, she watched as Rosalie's eyes lowered slightly when Carlisle asked if it would be a problem. There was no room for argument, so she remained silent.

Augustine caught Edward's gaze, amber eyes radiating nothing but reassurance as he combed through her thoughts. Sometimes, she could feel him digging around, searching for something, but found she didn't really mind after a while. She only gave him a lopsided smile and inwardly declared, I'll try.

ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

Every interaction that Augustine had with a human since she'd been turned ended horribly, but given the amount of progress she had made while out in Forks, it seemed as though the entire family had so much faith in her — and that scared her to no end.

So, before anyone knew it, it was the day that Bella Swan would be properly introduced to the family. Esme and Carlisle were maneuvering around in the kitchen as Augustine watched, perched up on a kitchen counter as she swung her feet back and forth. She was more than encouraged to stay and meet the Swan girl, Carlisle assuring her that nothing would happen, but she had little choice in the matter anyway.

Emmett found his spot next to Esme, helping her prepare actual food that was supposed to mimic the dish from the cooking show that had been put on. It was utter normalcy, and to any onlooker they might've appeared to be just like any normal, human family. The facade was wrecked, however, by Rosalie's displeased face as she held a glass bowl in Emmett's direction.