୨ ♡ ୧

For Devon, it was strange not to have that feeling of wanting to sleep. He could do it, but it was something he no longer needed because he didn't feel tired. He also didn't feel hunger (for regular food), although he could keep eating without any problem. The only thing he truly felt was thirst, specifically for blood, although having become accustomed to animal blood, everything seemed simpler. Perhaps it was his noble essence from when he was still alive; yes, he fought and got into trouble, but it was never for something truly "bad." It was always to defend the people he loved, and he couldn't harm anyone who hadn't done something wrong.

Nevertheless, everything still felt very strange, and he continued discovering things about being a vampire that he couldn't comprehend at first. Although he knew that there were still many things to discover.

On that Saturday, baseball day, Devon didn't sleep all night but stayed staring at the ceiling of his room as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Ronan had said that he could stay and keep him company whenever he needed, but Devon had to ask him to go home.

He wasn't sure that neither of them could control themselves being so close and intimate for a long time, and even though it was something both of them wanted with some desperation, it definitely wasn't going to happen when Devon knew his family was at home.

At a reasonable hour on Saturday, he got out of bed and went to take a bath. It wasn't really necessary because he no longer sweated and didn't have any bad odor, but he did it out of habit and to waste a little time on something. He chose casual and sporty clothes and went back to his room to lie down for a while until his mother called him for breakfast with Charlie and Bella.

With the latter, he hadn't had any conversation about what was happening, and he wasn't sure if that was good or not, but he didn't care much. After all, Bella seemed to be quite... peculiar. Since he was transformed, she almost seemed to hate him. He wasn't really sure, but it felt that way.

After breakfast, everyone went about their business. The game would be in the afternoon, so they still had to wait. Charlie sat at the table with a beer and his guns to clean them, Amy decided she wanted to rest and sat on the couch with a bowl of chips to watch a police series, Bella was in her room back and forth unable to decide what to wear for the day, and Devon kept his mother company on the sofa, although he wasn't paying attention to the TV. He was just thinking about what would happen next.

He had talked a little with the Cullens, but Devon still couldn't fully accept it. He had to fake his death at some point to distance himself from his family and, in general, to disappear from the records. Although he didn't want that to happen yet, he would miss his family, except for his father, of course. But it was something that would happen sooner or later, and he had to prepare himself from now on.

🥀

Edward and Ronan were in the Jeep, with Edward driving and Ronan in the passenger seat.

"We should listen to some music," Ronan said and turned on the radio, but Edward turned it off immediately.

"I don't want to," he said, staring fixedly at the road.

"You're so boring."

The only reason Edward agreed to go with Ronan was that he didn't want Devon and him to be alone. It's not like he didn't know that before they hadn't spent much time together alone in Devon's room, but it was something he categorically refused to accept.

The journey remained silent; Edward accelerated as much as possible, and Ronan limited himself to looking out the window. Even if he talked non-stop, Edward would ignore him completely.

They arrived at the Swan house in record time, following Edward's speed signals as much as possible.

Ronan was the first to get out of the car and ran straight to the front door with an irritated Edward following closely.

Bella was the one who opened it, furrowing her brow at Ronan but smiling as soon as her eyes met Edward's. Apparently, Isabella had no idea that Devon would also go with them, but it was something she had already imagined.

The girl took Edward's hand to take him to her father. She hadn't introduced him formally as Bella's boyfriend, and she thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

Devon also descended the stairs and met Ronan at the entrance. Ronan let out a bright smile upon seeing him, while Devon shook his head amused.

"Are you ready?" Ronan asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"I'm always ready."

Edward and Bella headed to the entrance with Charlie behind them, and he looked at Devon with a furrowed brow.

"Are you going too?"

"Yes. Ronan invited me to go with them," he explained.

Charlie nodded not very convinced. His little ones were growing up too fast, and he didn't like it at all. He considered Devon his little one, even though he had only known him for a few months.

"Alright," he muttered and looked at Ronan. "I hope you treat my boy well," he used a warning tone he only used at work.

Ronan let out a little laugh and didn't hesitate when he passed his arm over Devon's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Sheriff Swan. I promise to take very good care of Devon."

Charlie nodded.

"Alright. So... have a good time. Have fun and don't come back too late."

"Maybe it's your chance for a romantic date with mom," Devon told him, raising and lowering his eyebrows. "Since Bella and I arrived, it seems like you haven't had much time alone."

Charlie turned red immediately, which seemed quite adorable to everyone present.

"Mhm... sure."

Without further words, the four left the house. Edward threw the keys to Ronan, who caught them in the air.

"You drive," he said casually as he opened the back door. "This time, I'll be the copilot."

It was Edward's technique to prevent Ronan and Devon from being together because if Edward drove, Bella would want to be the copilot, and Devon and Ronan would go together in the back.

Ronan furrowed his brow, quite amused.

"Sure."

The four got into the car, and this time Ronan talked non-stop, although most of the conversation took place between Ronan and Bella. The latter wasn't very happy about being so far from Edward, but she tried not to think about it for too long.

"Since when do vampires like baseball?" Bella asked neither of the two brothers in particular.

"Well, here, it's the favorite sport, and... a storm is coming," Edward smiled a little as he looked at the girl through the rearview mirror, "only then can we play baseball. You'll see why."

His eyes went to Devon's, but he quickly looked away.

The journey was quite short after that. Ronan was a more cautious driver than Edward and took great care because there was a human on board.

They had left the road and followed a fairly rough dirt one that made Bella jump quite uncomfortably. Finally, Ronan stopped the car, and in the distance, they could see the rest of the Cullen family.

"It's good that you

've arrived," Esme said as soon as they were in front of her. "Bella can be our referee, and we need one more person to bat," she looked at Devon, "we're all excited to see how good you are."

The others were running and playing on the field; it seemed as if they were in some kind of warm-up.

"In fact, we made a bet," Emmett spoke as he approached them. "Jas says I won't be able to catch your ball."

Devon let out a big smile.

"We'll see about that."

They set up the teams, and they quickly took their positions. Everyone agreed that Devon should be the first to bat, and he did. They waited for Alice's signal, and as soon as she threw the ball, Devon hit it with all his strength.

He started running to each base while Emmett and Edward went after the ball, but Devon was faster and managed to make a complete run. Jasper didn't miss the chance to claim the money his brother now owed him.

And everything was quite fun. Even Edward, who had arrived with a grumpy face, was having a great time with his family. That was until three quite peculiar vampires arrived.

Edward's first reaction was to protect Bella from those intruders, and all the Cullens did their best to hide her. Even Devon and Ronan, who didn't want Bella to get hurt in any way.

For a moment, it seemed like things were fine, even though the atmosphere felt tense. Edward and Bella were about to leave, but suddenly, the vampire who had introduced himself as James tried to attack Bella.

It was Laurent, another one of those strange vampires, who prevented a fight from breaking out, but everyone knew that things had already become quite complicated. And when the nomads left, Bella and Edward did the same.

Devon stayed in that field, not completely sure of what had happened, but he was sure it wasn't anything good.