Chapter 14

After classes, Alice and I head towards the cafeteria, and at some point, her hand started holding onto my left arm.

At some point? It was during classes, at first, it was something shy, and then she grew more confident and... held onto my arm more firmly.

When we sit at the table, I feel all the eyes in the cafeteria on us for a long moment before they go back to what they were doing.

The Cullens are looking at us with smiles on their faces, an understanding look from Rosalie, and a teasing one from Emmett.

Alice places the food on the table and speaks with eyes full of anticipation: "I made this with a lot of care, my adoptive mother helped me. She enjoys cooking, so... I picked up various tips from her. The recipe I used for the mac and cheese is one she learned in Italy? Something like that, I didn't pay much attention since I was only thinking about making something for you." Towards the end, her voice trailed off, becoming more and more embarrassed and shy.

My face displays an affectionate smile as I gently touch her head and say, "Thank you for your effort. I think even before tasting it, I already like it a lot. Knowing that you put in this effort... makes it even more special."

She beams a beautiful, tooth-filled smile, and her dimples show. I stretch out my hands and pinch her cheeks, surprised at how soft they are.

Damian: "Did you know you're the cutest thing I've ever met?"

Alice speaks timidly as she feels my hands on her face: "You're only allowed to find me cute, no other girls, okay?"

I teasingly replied, "We've known each other for such a short time, and you already want to claim me for yourself?"

She pouts cutely and says, "Who asked you to take so long? I waited a lot, and I don't want to wait any longer than necessary." Her eyes widen as she realizes she let that slip out. The Cullens on the other side of the table also react the same way, looking in shock at Alice, who let that kind of thing slip.

I raise an eyebrow at her slip and humorously say, trying to reassure her, "Are you making it seem like you can see the future and already knew about me? It's as if you've been waiting for decades." I mess up her hair a bit in the process.

I put my fork into the macaroni, twirling it, and see the melted cheese, everything looks so appetizing. I start eating and exclaim with stars in my eyes, "This is so good! I've never eaten anything this delicious!"

Alice snaps out of the trance she was in, relieved that Damian didn't continue talking about it or take it as her 'joking.'

The Cullens on the other side also breathe a sigh of relief.

Alice gives a sweet smile and says, "I'm glad you liked it! That means today and in the future, I'll be in charge of your food!" She internally thinks, 'Conquest check!'

Alice picks up another type of food she brought and says, "Try this!"

Taking the food and tasting it, I say, "Are you a chef? This is amazing, Alice! If every meal you make is like this, your family might have to worry about me kidnapping you and taking you to my house right away!"

Alice claps her hands excitedly and says, "It won't be kidnapping if I agree with it!" Her happy face tilts slightly as she gazes dreamily at the ceiling.

Which earns a hearty laugh from a big guy on the other side of the room, an exasperated headshake from Rosalie, and an amused smile from Jasper.

My face breaks into a small smile and I say, "Don't be like that. If your family hears this, they might think you hate them."

She pouts and replies, "No, not at all. One day, I'll move in with you anyway, so why wait so long? We'd just be speeding things up a bit."

I humorously retort, "I get your point of view, but we shouldn't rush even faster. I believe we're at a good pace right now."

She pouts while crossing her arms and says, "You're a buzzkill."

But in her mind, she thinks, 'I saw in a vision yesterday that I'll be living with you soon, you silly,' and when she thinks that, a smile adorns her beautiful fairy-like face.

I try to change the subject by saying, "Is it still scheduled for this weekend?"

Alice nods eagerly and answers, "Yes! I've already scheduled it for both Saturday and Sunday!"

I tilt my head in confusion as I finish eating the pasta and start on the other dish. I say, "Wasn't it just for Saturday?"

Alice: "I don't think rushing through this project would be a good idea. We should take it slow and spread it over two days. We can watch something at your place on Saturday to get inspiration and brainstorm our idea, and then work on the project on Sunday!"

I ask in a funny tone, "And did you think about asking for my opinion on this?"

She lifts her chin and responds proudly, "Of course not!"

And that brings a big smile to my face. Unbeknownst to me, as I was enthusiastically teasing Alice, many girls present took pictures of me while I was smiling, their faces turning red, looking at Alice with jealousy and a bit of resentment.

One of these girls was so excited that she was rubbing her thighs as she hurriedly left the cafeteria with her phone in hand, which earned a strange look from a vampire who felt her emotions and knew what she was about to do.

'These young people today are so strange... Was it the right thing to keep on living? Sigh... I wish to find my soulmate too and never have to come to this hell again. It's torture.' But he remembers that Alice said he would find his soulmate in Forks, and since she was a teenager, maybe they would meet her at school... but so far, nothing.

After school Heading to the school parking lot with Alice holding my arm more boldly now, as she started hugging it.

She guides me between the cars, leading me to her brothers who are waiting for us beside a Jeep.

Alice: "Are you nervous?" she asks in a teasing manner.

I roll my eyes amusingly and reply, "You make it sound like I'm about to meet my brothers-in-law and sister-in-law."

Alice pouts, "But they will be, so just changing the order of things for the moment."

I mess up her hair and say, "Our little fairy is very clever!"

She lifts her chin and says, "Of course, I am!" A happy smile adorns her face as she thinks, 'Our fairy? Did he just say that?! Doesn't he know there's a huntress next to him wanting to catch him as quickly as possible? If he says things like this... I'll speed up our relationship even more!!'

I ask something that left me curious, "You know, you always call your parents 'adoptive mother' and 'adoptive father' instead of just mom and dad, why?"

Alice speaks softly, "I knew my biological mother and my father... I like Esme and Carlisle, which, by the way, are their names, I don't think I've told you. I don't have many memories of my parents, just a few from when I was under 6 years old, and that has always prevented me from forgetting them. I know my father was not very kind."

I affectionately touch her head as I stop our already short steps due to the conversation and say, "Did they pass away?"

Alice answers, "My mother was quite ill and passed away early, but my father... it's complicated and I don't remember him, I only know about my mother because Carlisle and Esme helped me find information about them."

I start pulling her again toward her siblings and say, changing the subject, "Let's not talk about this anymore for now. Let's meet my future brothers and sister."

This earns me a big smile from her and a fairy full of energy again.

When we get close to them, Alice says, "Hi guys! This is Damian."

Emmett says in a playful tone, "We know, you don't stop talking about him at home and you go around the house singing about how your wedding day will be," and as he finishes speaking, it's due to pain – his blonde girlfriend hit him hard.

Rosalie speaks in a cold tone, "Don't mind what this idiot says."

Alice chuckles, and I feel my lips twitch a bit at seeing this couple. Alice points to the 6'5 giant, "This muscle-packed giant is Emmett. He might be huge, but he's a friendly and very childlike giant. However, he compensates with loyalty and being very affectionate."

Emmett grumbles, "You talk about me like I'm a kid."

Rosalie: "You have a childlike soul." She says it in a sweet tone while looking at her boyfriend. Hearing how his girlfriend talked to him perks him up again.

Alice points to Rosalie, "And this blonde is Rosalie, the ice queen of our family. But beneath her icy exterior resides a kind, maternal, loyal, and great friend kind of soul!" She says it excitedly, which prompts a small smile from Rosalie that vanishes as quickly as it appeared. But you can tell she's a good sister.

I nod to her, and she nods back in the same way. Alice points to the last one, "And this is Jasper. He has a keen sense of smell and is allergic to some scents, which makes him a bit reserved around others. But he's a great older brother and the oldest among us, so he always carries an aura of an older sibling."

Jasper gives a friendly smile as he extends his hand for a handshake and says, "It's nice to finally meet you, Damian. Our little sister hasn't stopped talking about you... which made even this short time feel like an eternity."

This earns a hearty laugh from Emmett. Alice speaks with a pout while hugging my arm, "Stop saying those things in front of him."

I mess up her hair a bit and say, "I find it cute, so don't worry."

I turn to them and say, "It's nice to meet the most talked-about family in this town. It must be a drag to have the whole school talking about you all the time."

Emmett speaks with a playful smile, "Actually, with your arrival, it has decreased. Now you share the weight with us. I've heard many girls talking about you and lots of guys being jealous of you. It's quite comfortable to have someone to share the spotlight."

Jasper: "That's true, it's more comfortable to have a smaller number of people paying attention to us, especially during lunch. With you and Alice together, it lightened the attention on our table." He thinks internally that it lightened the attention... but made the weight of emotions on my shoulders worse.

We talk for a few minutes before I see Bella break away from her friends and head toward my car. I say, "It was nice talking to you and getting to know you, but I should be going."

Alice pouts and says, "Already? Can I go with you?"

I touch her cheek a bit and say, "We'll have the weekend to work on the project, so hold on a bit, okay?"

She reluctantly agrees, "Okay... but message me when you get home, alright?"

I give a confirming nod and bid farewell to the Cullens, heading toward Bella, who has warm eyes on me. I can tell she's about to conduct a big interview with me about the Cullens... sigh.

But she surprises me when the fire of questions in her eyes subsides as she thinks for a moment. As I approach her, she says, "Did you ask?" It seems there won't be too many questions; she's decided to cut to the ones she wants to know.

I reply, "Yes, Edward or Eddwerd? It must be Edward."

She rolls her eyes and playfully kicks my shin. I continue, "Don't worry about him. It seems he had to go to his family's house to sort something out. And according to Alice, he's allergic to certain types of perfumes or something like that, so he reacted so dramatically... because from what I understood, he's quite the drama queen." A loud burst of laughter comes from Emmett upon hearing me say "drama queen," but I hear it because of my hearing and not because his laughter is particularly loud.

Bella rolls her eyes at my jest and responds with relief, "Alright then, when will he be back?"

Damian: "Probably this weekend."

As we start getting into the car, Bella asks, "By the way, did you see if my shirt that I wore on Sunday is at your house? I remember leaving it at my dad's place, but I couldn't find it."

I reply, "I don't think so. I remember you taking your dirty clothes to Uncle Charlie's house to wash there when you had time."

This earns shocked looks from the Cullens, who can imagine the reason behind Bella's shirt disappearance... since before Edward vanished, he was absent for an hour and came back with Bella's scent on him, but nobody asked at the time.

Rosalie speaks angrily, "Did he steal her clothes?"

Jasper speaks wearily, "He must have thought the best way to help with his problem was to have her scent close."

Alice speaks up, "But that's no excuse for him to break into her house and take her clothes."

Jasper, "I don't want to defend him. He's completely wrong and should have talked about this idiotic idea with all of us, but it seems he still thinks he's superior to everyone and does these kinds of things."

Rosalie walks toward her car and says, "Come on, we have to tell Carlisle and Esme about this. I'm sure they'll know how to deal with that idiot."

Damian and Bella were already far away when this conversation happened, so they have no idea that the Cullens have guessed the reason for Bella's shirt disappearing.

Since Bella is going to sleep over at my house today, we head there directly without any stops, as she already left some of her things at my place.

I can imagine where Bella's shirt went. Does that idiot Edward think a shirt will help him get used to Bella's scent? It just makes him look like a stalker.

But knowing Bella... I think if she found out, she wouldn't even mind and might even like it a little? After all, it was the guy she already has dominating her thoughts who did it.

And if she were a vampire and Edward was human, she would probably have the same thought as him and steal Edward's shirt too. They are made for each other.

I'm not sure how to categorize these two. He stole her shirt, but not for something perverted, yet he still broke into a house.

After arriving home and putting some dirty clothes in Bella's car for me to work on, which I plan to finish today, I also asked her to wear clothes she doesn't mind getting dirty.

I send a message to Alice: Damian: I'm home. And you, little fairy?

Alice: You took so long! I was worried and missed you. (pout emoji)

Damian sends laughing emojis and says, "You're making it sound like I took an hour to send this message."

Alice: But for me, it felt like years away from you :/

Damian: I'll make it quicker next time, okay? Will you forgive me for now?

Alice: Hmmm, only if you call me before sleeping?

Damian: Okay! I'm going to work on Bella's car. It's almost done, and she's going to help me today.

Alice: Great! Be careful, my Darling <3 Let me know when you finish ^^

Damian: Sure, talk to you later, little fairy!

After getting ready, I head straight to the garage and see Bella in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts. She's looking at her car, which looks a bit different now. I cleaned the paint so I can take it to get repainted later. It would be too messy to do it here.

She notices me approaching and says, "The engine looks like a brand-new one. Did you change everything?"

Damian: "I didn't change everything. The engine is still the same... technically because I made some modifications to it too. Just a few more things to finish, and yesterday I accelerated the process a bit. Tomorrow, I'll take it to that place Uncle Charlie mentioned to get it painted."

She nods and gets into the driver's seat, looking at the new interior. "Did you change everything in here too?"

I shrugged and said, "I asked Uncle Charlie to buy some new things for the interior. He left them here yesterday. Like the seats, which are much better now, and a new air conditioning system. You won't have to worry about being cold inside anymore."

After about two hours, I finish everything under the hood, close it, and say, "Why don't you get in and take it for a spin?"

Bella, now a bit dirty because... I couldn't resist taking the opportunity to playfully mess with her, letting her touch various parts and things that would soil her. She has a smudge on her face from me handing her a dirty tool and then absentmindedly scratching her face with the hand she used to hold it.

She nods happily and gets into the car. When she starts the engine, it sounds completely different. It used to sound like an old mixer, and now it's a respectable car with a nice rumble while still maintaining its smoothness.

She says, "This is amazing! Can you open the garage door so I can take it out?"

I nod at her and head to the garage door opener button, allowing her to drive the car out. She accelerates strongly... I probably should have warned her that the engine has been improved and is more powerful.

About six minutes later, Bella parks the car outside the garage and when she gets out, she hugs me and says, "Thank you, Damian! This is incredible! You didn't mention you also upgraded the sound system."

I give her a fond smile and say, "So, did you play some music during the test drive? I thought since you love music, it would be nice to have a decent sound system in there."

Bella: "It's amazing! Especially the overall feel of the car. It's smooth, easier to control, and the steering is lighter. If you don't pursue a law career, you could make it as a mechanic!"

I pout playfully and say, "With all due respect to mechanics, I'd rather go into engineering. It's much more aligned with my interests."

I turn her around as I push her towards the house and say, "Now let's take a shower, we're smelling like oil and you're looking like a little piggy."

She responds, "What are you talking about? I don't look like a piggy."

I point to a mirror not far away, with a playful smile, "So why don't you take a look?"

She looks at the mirror and sees her current state, her eyes widen, and she starts running up the stairs, shouting, "You let me go out like this! Idiot!"

I burst into laughter and head to my room, grab my phone, and send a message to Alice.

Damian: I'm done! I'm going to take a shower.

Alice: You arrive and immediately leave...

Damian: It's quick, I'm not very dirty.

Alice: Send a picture.

Damian: Seriously?

Alice: Yes! I want to see you dirty after working so much on a car... if possible, shirtless?

I raise an eyebrow at this and after thinking for a moment, I take off my shirt. I stand in front of the mirror, take a picture, and send it to her.

-On the other side of town

-Alice's POV Ding!

When I see the message that arrived, if I were human, my heart would race at a speed only a rocket could reach. My cheeks would be as red as a tomato, and...

The other thing, I don't need to be human to feel. I sense a fire growing in the lower part of my belly, something I only feel when I touch Damian...

So I think: now I understand Edward, the desire to go and watch him while he sleeps... to steal his shirts and "sleep" hugging them...

I shake my head at this. I don't want to become that... even though I already am, I can wait to possess him completely. At that moment, I'll be able to do whatever I want!

Rosalie enters my room and says, "Carlisle has arrived, he's in the living room waiting for us to talk about it."

I nod in confirmation and watch her leave my room. I take one last look at the picture I received from Damian and reluctantly hide my phone as I head to the meeting.

As I sit on the sofa, Rosalie says, "We heard Isabella talking to Damian about her shirt disappearing."

Esme and Carlisle exchange glances, already able to imagine what could be the cause of the disappearance of the shirt.

Carlisle rubs his forehead tiredly, and Jasper also speaks, "Everyone smelled Isabella's scent that night after he left and returned, confirming that he took it."

Esme shakes her head, disappointed with her son's action, "He shouldn't do that, it's disrespectful to the girl and an invasion of privacy."

Rosalie lets out a huff and says, "As if he knows what that is, he forgot that a long time ago, even with an agreement for him not to read our thoughts or memories, he still does it, which proves he can't control himself and thinks he should control everything."

Carlisle sighs and says, "That's true, his ability makes him arrogant and can give a sense that he can have everything under control, because of his powerful ability. I've seen many vampires become like this due to their gifts."

He pauses briefly and continues, "I encountered a young vampire who had a rare ability to influence the decisions of some people. It gave her a god complex. One day she met a vampire who was immune to her ability and even realized what she intended to do. He killed her right in front of her companion, who was my friend. This was about 200 years ago."

Esme speaks, "We'll have to talk to him again, he can't remain like this. In the beginning, everyone could understand and be empathetic toward his arrogance due to his gift... but he's not that boy anymore."

I speak with a smile, "You can do that, you know he listens to both of you, as he's always regarded you both as his true parents. And now with Bella being immune to his ability, that will gradually lead to a change in him. With me, Damian and Bella being immune to him, he will eventually improve in this regard."

Jasper nods and says, "Yes, having people he can't read will help him see the world differently and let him be less dependent on his gift and being a vampire."

Alice claps her hands happily, jumping off her sofa and saying as she starts walking briskly toward her room, "Great! Knew we could resolve this! Now I'm going because I have something to do!"

This lightens the atmosphere and brings a smile to everyone's face as they watch the liveliest family member head to her room, knowing she's eager to talk to her partner.

-End of POV

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more than 4k words for you today! it was very tiring because there was a lot of bug when passing the text to the webnovel.

but here it is!