chapter one,     welcome to forks

           THE DEEP FORESTS held many secrets inside of them. The branches, full of heavy leaves, covered all the life that was residing there. Any person in their right mind would avoid them as soon as it started to get dark. The danger was always waiting for the right moment to strike and only when you were struck once did you start to realize that. 

           The girl gently shivered as the view from her balcony was facing the dark forest. She wasn't afraid to go there, but she knew better not to go. It felt weird to be in this silence. She was so used to the city sounds – passing cars, the chatter of people, planes and just life overall. Here, life was weaved by silence. It calmed her.

           The air was fresher here in Forks, moist and clear, not polluted. The chill of it dropped on her bare skin, soothing it, making her hair stand up one by one. Hugging herself, she closed her eyes and gave into the silence, to a new beginning. She wanted to start anew desperately. What had happened in the big cities would plague her until the end of the day.

           It is a new beginning, and things will be better now. 

           "Noelle, ma chérie?" The girl heard her mother's voice from downstairs and she quickly left the balcony and closed the door. "Come down, please."

           It was never good when her mother called her to come. She has heard this phrase exactly six times in her life, every time before she started a different school. It was the seventh time which will be full of lectures with a hint of a few threatening undertones. Embracing herself for a conversation that had happened too many times, she went downstairs.

           Both her parents were in the kitchen, preparing tea as they were spending this day unpacking. They only got here early in the morning and there was a lot to do. But this house was cozy. It was, well, a house – a huge upgrade from a flat. They even had a space in the back to turn into a lovely backyard and maybe into a little garden. 

           "How's your room?" Her mother asked, filling the mugs with hot water as her father was standing beside her, looking at his daughter. 

           "I like the view," Noelle admitted. She had been to this house once before when her parents were considering buying it and she helped make the decision between three houses that were for sale. "I think I know why I am down here."

           "For tea, évidemment." Sophie shrugged innocently, but the look on her father's face told her the truth. He couldn't hide anything from her. It was always written on his face. 

            "We're just worried," he started, and the girl sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. 

            Noelle crossed her arms, leaning to the wall beside her, looking at her parents: "I know. We have been through it all six times already. Nothing has changed, I still remember what I need to do."

           Placing the prepared mugs of tea on the table in the kitchen, her mother sat down. "After what has happened in New York..."

           Biting her lip, Noelle looked at the ground, her throat becoming dry from the memory. "It's just another example of how cruel teenagers can be... But here— I mean the school is small; I doubt people will be unpredictable. Besides, we have decided that we will keep the staff updated of my condition, but not the other teenagers." She looked at her parents, noticing a visible strand of tension. "Right?"

           Her dad took a few steps closer to his daughter with a look on his face she had seen too many times. He was about to turn on his gentle parenting mode, but he'd demand her to do everything his way. 

           "We haven't sent the notice to the staff just yet, because your mother and I have been considering homeschooling," he said, noticing the way she was to disagree, he raised his hands as if to touch her shoulders and calm her down, but he quickly caught himself in the act and put them down. Even after nine years, he was doing it out of reflex. "I know what you're going to say."

           "Then case is closed. I'm not going to be homeschooled," she shrugged.

           "We almost lost you. Just a month ago," he reminded her, his voice slightly raised, but not because he was angry – he was worried. His tall figure gently leaned forward, looking his daughter in the eyes. "It took you weeks to recover. You know that homeschooling is the safest for you." 

           Tears welled in her eyes, but she wasn't going to cry in front of her parents. She had already brought so much pain to this family that she could barely stand in front of them longer than five minutes. 

           Her hands weren't still properly recovered after she had that severe reaction. It was burnt badly, and she was in intensive care for two weeks before she could eat on her own. The burnt places itched enormously and hurt in the sight of the sun, but she had plenty of meds prescribed to make this tolerable. She was fine. 

           "I do know that!" Her voice rose, but she quickly calmed herself down, because she wasn't the one to lose her temper quickly. "But I need to meet someone. I want to have friends. A friend, who won't run away from me as if I am a monster. I must take every opportunity given, especially in a small town like this."

           Eric nodded, understanding that he couldn't take his daughter away and just lock her inside, not letting her have a chance to experience something apart from pain. But he understood his own feelings – if she were to die, he'd lose his mind.

          "Alright," he agreed. "But if the kids will do anything to put you in harm's way on purpose, they will be dealt with, and you will have to be homeschooled until the issue is resolved." He meant what he said. He could be very intimidating.

          Noelle gifted their parents a smile, which was a rare occurrence. Her skinny, malnourished face, usually twisted in pain, was a horrible sight to watch for a parent – it's as if you are watching your child slowly wither away. But she was a beautiful girl, nonetheless. She had inherited her mother's bone structure, but she also inherited her height from her father, a Swedish giant. She was a peculiar beauty, who was slowly fading away. 

           "This is a new beginning," Noelle reminded them. "Away from the big mess, at last... We will be fine."

           Sophie was looking at her daughter with teary eyes, not letting herself drift away in all the sadness that was surrounding them all. "We have the papers ready. You can take them to the administration first thing in the morning."

           "Merci, maman," Noelle whispered, quickly taking the mug from the table and getting to the living room, to rest before the anxiety swallowed her whole. "Tack pappa!" She yelled from the living room.

꒷꒦

          "DO YOU THINK we should tell him?" Alice asked, pacing from one corner of the room to the other, light on her feet. 

           "You know what he thinks about something like that. He will disappear for a month or even more," Carlisle reminded them all. 

           "But he must give it another try! Not all love is horrible! He must know that." Alice didn't back down. 

           Edward leaned away from the pianoforte and looked at the pacing woman. "It's hard not to notice that when there are three couples around you."

           "No need to be sour, Edward," Emmett smirked, sitting beside Rosalie, his arms wrapped over her shoulders. "You met your chosen one – you'll join the club soon enough."

           Edward deadpanned. "We went over this. She's a human. I am not risking her life or ours because of something that Alice saw. Future changes."

           "We have about three minutes until he gets back," Alice urged them not to get sidetracked. "What do we do?"

           "I'd say we leave it be. We shouldn't put pressure on him since he has asked that a few times already," Carlisle reminded them. "He just came back home. He agreed to join the school again and to try to blend in. To try."

           "If the future won't change, he might meet her on his own," Esme agreed to her husband. "I think he deserves a chance to do something without knowing beforehand what might happen."

           "Oh, but I saw him so happy with her!" Alice gently whined. "I saw him smile." Daydreamingly, she swayed, her floral dress moving with her. "I don't think I've ever seen him smile like that!"

           "It must be his choice. Without our influence," Carlisle concluded. 

           No one managed to say anything else as Eros walked up the stairs and appeared in the living room. Scanning the crowd, he pushed the paper bag from one hand to another. "Did Alice have a vision?"

           Eros has been away for a month. He hasn't been anywhere far, he mostly spent his time in California, getting as much sun as he could in winter. He planned to come back earlier, but he got sidetracked in New York with a few sunny days.

           It was odd, this dynamic, at first. To be the black sheep of the family. They had many differences and many disagreements, but they learnt to live together because it was interesting. The vampires of the house watched Eros as if he were an exhibition – he was everything a vampire wanted to be. To have a beating heart, a working metabolism and, yet be immortal. There was underlined jealousy, but it was quickly solved in the first days of his arrival. The vampires couldn't change what they were. He couldn't change what he was.  

           "Yeah, but it was just a messy future. Couldn't understand most of it," Edward quickly lied, his voice cold, as it usually was. "Welcome back."

           None of them could express their disappointment that he was travelling so much. After all, they were a family now, but he was tortured by his past as if it were yesterday, resulting in unexpected trips. They were trying to give him space since they knew that he loathed Forks for its weather, for the boring people, for the fact that nothing ever changes here. But they still wished that he would be home more often. 

           "I saw that you'll come back," Alice waltzed to him, giving him a tight hug, her tiny frame getting lost in his tall one. "I hope you'll stay with us for a while."

           Pushing his hand over her shoulders, he gave her a big squeeze, reassuring her: "I will. I want to see what's the big deal with Edward and the girl you saw." He put the paper bag on a little table beside him, giving his full attention to his family.

           Edward leaned away from his pianoforte, his expression cold, jaw tight – he was pissed. "She's a human."

           Eros had to remember that vampires had a whole different relationship with human blood than he did. They were practicing the animal diet, to not hurt any innocent people and learn how to be among humans. Eros has spent over three hundred years feasting on human blood – it was the most delicious thing for him and any vampire. As much as normal food kept him happy and it was delicious, nothing could beat human blood. But the craving for him wasn't as bad as for a regular vampire. He didn't catch sweet scents as often as his siblings did. 

           It was hard to change his diet. Even if he was able to eat human food, alongside Amara he never ate it because it disgusted her. His diet only consisted of blood. Fresh, warm out of the vein. Even now, he was itching with certain cravings, especially when someone's vein would pop out in the neck—just one small bite... But drinking human blood was related to her and he tried his best to get her out of his head and stuff himself with human food and occasionally blood of an animal. 

           "And?" Eros replied. They have been going to Forks school for two years now. There were bad days, of course, when they were hungry, and everyone seemed appetizing. But they managed without any casualties. 

           "I wanted to kill her," Edward admitted.

            "But he didn't," Alice moved away from Eros, waltzing to Jasper, sitting on his lap. "He has more restraint than he believes."

           Emmett chuckled, "That's why he hasn't been to school almost as long as you were absent. Even visited our distant relatives. Hunts every day." He turned to Eros. "He is totally brooding."

           Eros walked to the couch behind Emmett and Rosalie, extending his hands to the cushion and leaning his weight forward a bit, looking at Edward. "She, what, has a sweet scent?"

           "Very," mumbled Edward. 

           The curly-haired guy chuckled, one of his dimples appearing. "Come on. I came back with the thought that I'll be continuing school. You must go. Besides, I wanna meet the girl who is giving you such a hard time."

           "Oh, wait 'till you hear this..." Emmett teased.

           "He can't read her thoughts," explained Rosalie.

           Eros' eyebrows raised and he scoffed. "Is it really about her scent or the fact that you can't read her thoughts?" He straightened his black, crossing his hands over his chest.

           Now, Edward was clearly brooding. "It's the first time it has happened to me." 

           "Honestly, good for her," shrugged Eros. "She is lucky you aren't just snooping around in her head."

           Edward's statue-like posture broke, and he offered a glare to his siblings. "Sometimes, you are all just thinking too loud. It's hard to keep my mind shut."

           "Oh," Emmett pouted. "I am sorry we have thoughts." He sarcastically apologized.

           "I wanted to kill her in biology," reminded them Edward. "I had thought of a thousand ways how to lure her out of the class and..." He didn't finish the sentence, shaking his head. 

           "Oh, shit, she took my seat in biology?" Eros noted.

            "But you didn't kill her and after this time, you won't kill her," Alice calmed him down. 

           The newest clan member nodded, taking the paper bag from the table and moving towards the kitchen. "We're getting back to school, tomorrow. I'll make sure you're on your best behavior."

       "Is it good that you're back?" Edward asked, supposedly sassily. 

          Emmett deadpanned: "Is that all the sass you have inside you?" Shaking his head out of pity, he mumbled: "Pathetic, dude."

           "What have you got there?" Esme asked relating the paper bag as Eros was moving towards the kitchen. 

           "I've decided to make spaghetti carbonara and, of course, there wasn't any authentic guanciale—they offered me bacon instead," Eros shook his head in disbelief and started to take out the ingredients, placing them on the kitchen counter. "So, I quickly got to New York and got myself some proper guanciale."

           Eros was passionate about food. He spent a lot of his time watching cooking shows, and reading books – he has finished a few culinary schools and baking courses. He has worked as a chef a few times, but he realized that he enjoyed cooking for himself and at his own pace. 

           "I still can't understand how you can eat that shit," Rosalie disapproved. "It tastes like cardboard."

           "To you," Eros reminded. "I can enjoy delicious carbonara without the need to throw it all up."

           Even if Eros was the second oldest in the clan, it surely didn't look like that at first. There was a way vampires moved with time. Youthfulness was maintained by being inquisitive, interacting with new people, and going together with time and technology. If a vampire excluded itself from society, it could become very introverted and socially awkward. If you were to speak with a vampire like that, you'd think there is something wrong with it. 

           "I'll throw out all of these gadgets when you're gone on another trip," Rosalie threatened. 

           Eros smiled to himself, slightly, shaking his head. As he was washing his hands, Esme and Carlisle joined him in the kitchen. "It's good you decided to come back," Esme admitted. "We've missed you."

           "I've realized I must help you all blend in. If I'll keep disappearing – people will start to talk." Eros admitted, taking out a cutting board and a knife.

           All of them were giving some sort of special treatment to him as he was their newest member. They all saw him as the youngest and the most inexperienced one. The latter was the truth as he had no idea how to live by the coven rules, but it wasn't hard to get going. After all, he didn't depend completely on blood. 

           But he knew deep down that this whole gentle treatment wasn't because he was the newest member. He has been with them for forty years already. It was because of his past. His reoccurring mood swings indicated that he was bothered by the nightmares again. He didn't whine to them about his past, he didn't act as a heartbroken man even if he was feeling like it. 

           He was trying to become somewhat of a person. To have a personality. To have something apart from his past. He was doing his best. 

          "We're glad that you're back," Carlisle smiled, and the pair left him alone. 

           Eros always felt odd when he felt that fatherly love coming from Carlisle. He has never experienced it from his father because he blamed Eros for the death of his mother. She died in childbirth. Her poor, fragile body couldn't deliver a normal baby, and a child like him meant death. 

           Of course, Eros felt thankful to be in this family. He didn't know what unity was before he joined this clan. He didn't know what it meant to make your own decisions and have your own dreams. But his mind always wandered, it always did, where was Amara now?

           It took all his strength not to search for her in all his little trips. Maybe he was travelling so much, with the expectation of meeting her again. He knew it was wrong. He knew it. But he has spent three centuries being with her, killing for her, setting fires to the villages and letting cities get destroyed. The worst side of him was thrilling – the killer, the psychopath. Why was he thinking about her so much? He knew she wouldn't be coming back. He knew her return would be a catastrophe. 

           The worst part was, he didn't want to love, but he ached for it. He ached for the burning feeling in his chest, for the dizziness in his head, for the dreams. But if love was going to bring out all his worst, he wasn't going to risk it. He wanted to stay in this clan. 

           With the thought of coming back to school and meeting the girl his whole family was beaming about, he had no idea that there would be someone interesting to him as well.

author speaks—
welcome to the first chapter where we dive into the beginning of the family dynamcs! how are you all feeling? how are you feeling about eros in the cullen family? in the next chapter we will have their meeting!

also there will be a lot of multilingual moments with noelle (translations will be in the comments), i will try to keep it as realistic as possible from the language switching in mid sentence to forgetting words at all

Please leave a comment or two and vote! They really keep me motivated and I get to know that you enjoy this as well! Thank you!