COLOURS || Seth Clearwater

THIRTY FIVE

"You're seriously telling me that you planted a herb garden back here and none of them noticed it," Virginia mused, plucking leave from the branches of odd looking plants.

Rolling her soft grey eyes, Lucinda let out a small huff and ripped off nearly an entire branch from the small Sage bush and placed it in her basket before answering. "They're not as observant as they like to think they are," she murmured, a light smile gracing her lips. "I managed to smuggle an entire elephant into my room here back in '37."

"That cant be true," Virginia rolled her eyes, grinning cheekily. "How did they not notice Dorian entering the house?"

"Virginia Whether I swear to god!—" Dorian bellowed, his upper body leaning out the kitchen window. His face was contorted into a scowl, the expression deepening when Virginia doubled over with laughter. He grabbed something off the counter — it looked an awful lot like Esme's purple baking spatula — and began waving it around outside the window as he started and stopped his sentences, trying to find the best combination of words in varying languages to curse her out.

Snorting softly out of amusement, Lucinda  tucked her hair behind her ears and set her basket down on the ground. Dorian, who was still halfway hanging out of the kitchen, opened his mouth to more than likely yell at Virginia some more, only to cut himself. His eyes honey brown seemed to focus on something further behind her, and they widened.

With furrowed brows, Lucinda slowly turned around, unable to hide the small gasp of surprise that escaped her lips. At the edge of the tree line, with a look of utter adoration and relief on his face, stood Seth. He was standing on Jacobs left side, with Leah on his right, and while the two seemed to be hesitant on entering the Cullens backyard, Seth wasted no time in surging forwards.

Not a moment later, Lucinda was in his arms. He held her tightly against him, his face buried in her hair. While his grip was tight, she didn't feel overwhelmed or trapped. She felt safe. Lucinda hooked her arms around his neck, one hand resting between his shoulder blades, the other moving up to gently tug on the hair at the nape of his neck.

"I swear to god I'm never, ever going to let go of you again," Seth mumbled into her hair, moving so the pair were gently swaying side to side.

"You aren't hearing any complaints from me," Lucinda exhaled, smiling happily at his familiar scent. Old spice, pine needles, and wet earth. After a moment of allowing herself to sink into his embrace, she pulled away from him and allowed her eyes to meet his. "You know I didn't want to ignore you, right?" She asked softly, her bottom lip pulled nervously between her teeth. "I would never ignore you. Not happily or willingly, anyway."

Seth smiled softly as he looked down at her and kissed her forehead. "I know," he murmured, then pulled her back into his arms.

The two stood there like that for a while, simply embracing the feel of the other's arms that they hadn't felt in days. Eventually, Lucinda pulled away and grabbed her basket of herbs that she'd dropped at the sight of him. "I need to get this inside and help Bella," she smiled adoringly as her eyes scanned over his face, and pushed hair away from his forehead. "I know Leah isn't exactly comfortable with being here, so if you get the chance, tell her she is more than welcome to hide away in my room. It's up the stairs, and last door on the right."

"I'll tell her," Seth agreed, his eyes crinkling at the outer corners as he smiled down at her.

After taking a moment of thought, Lucinda rose onto the tips of her toes and pressed a short but sweet kiss to his lips. Her eyes fluttered closed for a brief moment, and when she pulled away, she left another on his cheek before smiling softly walking into the house where her cauldron was brewing a potion Virginia had started early that morning.

When she reached the inside of the house, she was met with Dorian wiggling his brows, Leon smirking from the couch, and Virginia cackling over the cauldron because she liked to be dramatic.

"If any of you open your mouth to say anything, I will maim and or severely injure you," Lucinda huffed, her bright blue eyes narrowing. "I'm in the mood for murder today, don't tempt me."

"You're not killing anyone today!" Esme called from upstairs, her tone motherly.

Huffing softly in irritation, Lucinda tossed her hair over her right shoulder and smacked both Dorian and Leon on the back of the head before waltzing over to the counter, carefully placing her herbs on the cutting board Virginia had set up for her, and began mincing.

"We're just happy you're happy, Lucy," Leon promised with a laugh, flicking a small piece of tree bark across the counter and down the front of her shirt. He snickered childishly at the look he received.

Pausing only briefly, Lucinda flicked her fingers in his direction, sending out a flicker of purple sparks that smacked him on the back of the head. He let out a help, which she and Virginia both laughed at, before she went back to chopping herbs and other things, a content smile pulling at her lips. Right," she scoffed, sending him a look. "Because I absolutely believe that." She rolled her eyes. "Leon, you, Virginia and Dorian all have the mental maturity of baby cabbage; I know you."

"I take offence to that," Dorian spoke up lazily through a mouthful of chips, raising his hand so it was visible over the back of the couch.

"You were meant to," Virginia pouted, tossing a handful of chopped rose petals into the cauldron. "It was supposed to be mean. Lucy likes being mean."

Leon let it a small laugh and pushed himself off the wall to kiss a very smug Lucinda on the forehead. "She's got a reputation for it."

"I've got a reputation for a lot of things, Leon," Lucinda waved him off with a small roll of her eyes. "Like being New York's greatest home wrecker in 1860 after we got drunk and you got me pregnant again."

"I remember that," Dorian snickered. His smirk quickly fell. "Weren't we married at the time?"

Lucinda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought. "I honestly can't remember," she exhaled with a small laugh. "I've married the three of you so many times I can't differentiate anything."

"That is very true," Virginia mused. Then she cleared her throat. "The girl standing outside with Jacob and Seth, was that Leah?"

"Yes it was," Lucinda nodded, a small smile forming on her lips. "Why?"

"No reason," Virginia shrugged and turned around, but not before Lucinda saw the light blush that dusted across her cheeks.

A/N
Sorry for the late update, you guys
My mental health is giving me an ass kicking
Hannah.