I WOULDN'T MIND

nine. seth

▬▬ CORI HUFFED AS SHE sat on the floor, her suitcase that she had yet to unpack opened in front of her as she held up a sheer, black lace number. In her hands it looked like scraps of fabric, and the fact that she hadn't gotten to wear it as a surprise for Emmett's birthday was upsetting to say the least. She had planned everything perfectly, they'd get to Paris just in time for his birthday, they'd check into the hotel and she'd strip off her hoodie and leggings.

"What's that?" Emmett asked, making his way into the room they shared – his copy of the book they were all reading in his large hand.

She heaved a sigh as she looked up at him, a small pout pulling at her lips. "Your birthday present."

"Aww, baby, it's amazing." He hummed as he squatted down next to her. "A little small, though." He joked, his smile growing as he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"No." She rolled her eyes. "It's for me to wear for you." He glanced at the gramnet again, looking closer this time. He could see the lace and the various straps and his eyes darkened as he looked back at his girlfriend.

"Put it on." His voice was hoarse, his gaze intense. "I wanna unwrap you." He leaned forward, brushing his nose against hers before he ghosted his lips against hers.

She grinned, pushing up onto her knees as she pressed her lips against his, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, every intention of putting on the lingerie for him, but before much else could happen that, oh so strong, wolf smell flooded the house. She groaned, her bottom lip poked out. "Jake's back." He sunk his teeth into her lip, pulling back slowly before releasing her and she whimpered, turning to mush before his very eyes. And he relished in the fact that he had that effect on her... and he knew she had the same effect, if not worse, on him.

"Let's go, Shortcake." He hummed, though he didn't want to leave that room and he definitely didn't want to put off seeing his perfect, little girlfriend in that scrape of black lace. But the matter at hand was rather serious and needed their full attention... or in his case, a mere sliver of it because now all of his thoughts were consumed with images of Cori wearing her sexy lingerie as she moaned beneath him. But he knew the real thing would be ten times better than anything his mind could cook up.

"Fine." She huffed, letting the lace slip from her fingers and back into her suitcase. And, reluctantly, the two left the room with their hands laced and their minds deeply buried in the gutter – and Edward hated his gift, so very much, in that moment.

But Cori's smile widened upon seeing Seth in the corner of the room, her hand fell from Emmett's as she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around the boy, he chuckled lightly as he patted her back. She pulled away but stayed close to him, Emmett planting himself on her other side, his hand on her waist as if to stake his claim. But Seth seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Emmett was jealous of him, he was just happy to be included.

"Sam's lost the element of surprise," Jacob filled them in, letting them know that wolves were indeed planning an attack against them... well, against the thing growing inside of Bella. "-and he doesn't wanna take you on outnumbered, so he's not gonna come at you head on." Cori swallowed hard, her head officially yanked from the gutter as the realization that she'd have to fight some of her closest friends to protect her sister settled in and her gut twisted uncomfortably. "He's got the place surrounded and he'll wait for his opportunity."

The small vampire glanced out the window, not sure if she was hoping to see one of the wolves or if she was dreading it. Emmett tugged her closer to him, pressing her into his side and she looked up at him, a forced smile on her lips and he leaned down to place a kiss to her forehead. "He won't get through without a fight." He stated, his voice low and Cori closed her eyes as she pressed her forehead into his chest.

"No fights." Carlisle looked up at him, a look of finality in his eyes, leaving no room for arguments. "We won't be the ones to break the treaty."

"The treaty is void, at least in Sam's mind." Jacob told him.

"Not in ours." Esme shook her head a little, her voice as soft as ever.

"Carlisle," Emmett stepped forward a little. "-no one's hunted for weeks." And with just a simple statement, Cori's throat burned and she shifted on her feet as she felt her stomach churn with need. Seth, sensing her sudden shift, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her gently into his side, getting a small smile as she leaned against him.

"We'll make do." Esme gave him a look and he simply nodded as Jasper's eyes flickered to Cori – who, even though she had improved a great deal, was still struggling with her thirst.

"You've done us a great service, Jacob." Carlisle told him. "Thank you."

>>>>> • <<<<<

▬▬ CORI CHUCKLED AS SHE watched Seth scarf down food in the kitchen, she was perched on the counter and he was on a stool shoving sandwich after sandwich into his mouth. "Oh, I miss food." She mumbled and he laughed with a mouthful. "Eat enough for the both of us, yeah?" She hummed and he gave her a thumbs up as he swallowed and downed the water in the glass in front of him.

"So how's being a vampire?" He asked, a child-like curiosity swirling in his chocolate irises as he looked up at her.

"It took some getting used to. I'm still getting used to it." She shrugged. "Though, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Definitely not like anything in the books I've read."

"But you can run really fast."

She chuckled. "So can you." She ruffled his hair.

"Well, yeah." He mumbled. "But there has to be something you like about it."

The first thing that came to her mind was definitely not something she was willing to share with him. Ever. "Um, I don't get cold anymore." She shrugged, though that was lame and she knew it. "Oh, and, I don't sleep... ever so I read a lot. Our room has piles of books all over the place because we ran out of shelf space. It doesn't help that every time I show the slightest bit of interest in a book he buys it for me, I mean, I love him for it but pretty soon it's gonna be all books and no room."

"This what you're reading now?" He asked, picking up the book on the counter... the book they were reading in their book club.

She quickly snatched it from him before he could flip it open because even if it was unlikely that the first page he'd flip to was a sex scene, she didn't want him anywhere near that book at all. "Not for your eyes, kiddo." He pouted slightly. "Maybe when... no, not even when you're older."

"Yes, mom." He muttered, jerking another bit of food into his mouth and she chuckled as she placed the book on the other side of her, then her eyes went wide as a thought popped into her head.

"Emmett!" She called out and he was in the room in no less than a second. "Can we adopt Seth?"

"What?" The boy mumbled, his mouthful as he looked up at the girl with wide eyes.

Emmett chuckled, shaking his head a little at the sheer excitement on her face. "No, Shortcake, we can't." Her smile dropped and he wanted to take it back, he wanted to tell her yes and to draft up the adoption paper then and there. "Oh, no. Don't look at me like that." He mumbled, hating the emphasized pout on her lips.

"Why can't we?"

"He has a family." He told her, his palms flat against the counter on either side of her hips. "And I don't think we'd win a custody battle against his mom."

"Good point, Sue's a real hard ass when she wants to be."

"I'm sorry... what?" Seth mumbled, his hand slightly raised, making the two chuckle. "You wanna adopt me?"

"Yeah, you're adorable." She nodded. "But he's right." He just hummed, nodding his head.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure my mom and your dad are dating so if things go well we'll be siblings."

"That's even more amazing!" She nearly shouted, her excitement rising once again. "No legal paperwork needed. And you're still gonna be stuck with me forever."

"You're insane." Emmett chuckled, kissing her temple.

"I know." She hummed as she turned to look up at him and Seth smiled at the two before going back to his food. But all three of them looked up as Rosalie made her way into the room, passing the three as she made her way to the dishwasher.

"What's she doing?" Seth whispered as if not to disturbed the blonde as she intentionally made copious amounts of noise as she banged around the kitchen, though none of them could see exactly what she was doing. Then, with nothing more than a satisfied smirk, she gave the three a look and walked out of the kitchen with a shiny metal bowl in her hand with fido splayed on the side in italics.

Seth looked up at the two and, as if a simple look was answer enough, they all three followed after her. They stopped close to the stairs and watched as she put the bowl on the floor at Jacob's feet.

"Enjoy it, mongrel." She stood up and Travis grinned, his eyes trained on her. He loved her and her absolute badass attitude. "And don't make such a big deal out of it. Even normal human babies have been known to crack ribs." With that she turned, leaving the room. Jacob picked up the bowl, taking a bite of the hotdog before tossing the bowl like it was nothing more than a frisbee.

His plan was to hit Rosalie, but instead it hit Travis, right in the back of the head, the food inside flying in all directions, some landing on him and even his wife. Edward laughed, clearly amused, Emmett bit his lip to keep from laughing, Cori gaped at the situation and Seth looked completely confused as his wide eyes bounced around the room.

Rosalie turned, completely livid, her eyes briefly landing on Travis, who had reached out to brush the food from her curls. Her eyes flashed to Jacob, who smirked as he sat on the arm of the couch Bella was asleep on.

"You got food in my hair." She seethed out, her jaw clenched, which only made the wolf laugh harder. Edward grinned, even Emmett was on the verge of laughing, but he swallowed it when Cori elbowed his ribs, giving him a pointed look.

"Come on, babe." Travis wrapped his arm around her waist, steering her out of the room. "Let's get you cleaned up." He kissed her temple as she leaned into him, though both were still pissed and Travis was fighting every urge he had to rip the shapeshifter in two.