Chapter 4: Making A Rom-Com In Real Life

Cullen House - Kitchen, Early The Next Morning

"I think the first rule we will have for you is to not do whatever that was again," Carlisle says with a tired smile. 

It was the morning after I met these odd gold-eyed vampires, and we were all in the Cullen's kitchen - Though I suppose this was my kitchen now as well. The men of the group, Carlisle and Edwin, looked haggard, while the girls, Esme, Alice, Janet, and Emily, were practically glowing. None more so than Alice, who had a beaming smile on her face since we left her bedroom a couple of minutes ago. 

I was fine as well, however, I most definitely would not have been if it wasn't for my sudden and explosive growth in power last night. Alice wasn't kidding about her never growing tired. All I'll say is I got my exercise in for the month and leave it at that.

A gentleman never kisses and tells.   

"Now, now, let's not be too hasty, darling," Esme quickly answers Carlisle in my stead. She smiled teasingly at her husband, but her eyes looked far too serious and held a bit too much animal intensity for it to really be a joke. Sighing wistfully, she continues, "I haven't seen Carlisle that determined since our vacation to Prague in the 70s..." 

Carlisle coughs several times, even though he has no working lungs or any need to breathe, and interrupts her with, "Ah, yes. That was a lovely trip. And private. Very, very private."

"I'm with Carlisle on this one," Edwin agrees grimly. "That was an odd experience..."

"I want to complain...but I also sort of don't?" Janet chuckles and adds her two cents.

"Well, I, for one, had a blast," Emily says with a Cheshire-like grin.

"...Is...is Ross going to be okay?" Edwin asks nervously.

"He'll be fine," Emily answers simply. 

Edwin and Janet share a look that seems to call that statement into doubt. No one had seen Ross yet this morning. 

"Now then, Samuel," Carlisle changes the subject after a brief lull in the conversation and turns back to me, "Let's cover some of the basic ground rules of our house..."

I was then instructed on the do's and don'ts of the Cullen household. Most of it was pretty straightforward: No murdering humans, keeping our identity a secret, calling if I was going to be home later than 11 pm, no trailing blood or mud in from outside, etc. 

During this talk, I notice the women all pull Alice into the dining room to have a discussion of their own. Loud whispers and giggles could be heard from them, and Emily's shout of, "Is that even possible!?!" was ignored brilliantly by Carlisle as he continued his explanation of their family and customs.   

The big shock to me was the fact that The Cullens didn't drink human blood, only animal blood, which was apparently why their irises were golden in color. I had thought they were just contacts, and I wanted to feel surprised, but, really, I didn't know all that much about Reds, so it actually wasn't that hard to accept.

It was...weird, though. 

I am not one to judge how people choose to live their lives, but I suppose I always associate "Eating" with "Sex." It was off-putting for me to imagine watching animals mate and then eating from their lust. Not only did my power not work like that, but it made me feel gross to even think about it. 

Of course, Red's don't eat with sex, so all I actually did was weird myself out for no reason. 

Regardless, I decided the Cullen's were a strange bunch. Strange, but in a super nice way.

"I think that should do it for now. I need to head to the hospital for work, so I will let the rest tell you about school protocol. I'm sure you lot can come up with some story or act to introduce your relationship with Alice naturally."

"I understand; thank you again," I say with a nod of my head. 

This was like a fairy tale, and I was the princess being saved by the small, cute, pixie-like knight. 

'I still can't believe I am surrounded by Reds and still somehow alive...' I think while Carlisle smiles at me and pats my shoulder.

"I'm heading out," he calls to the girls who were still whispering and giggling loudly to each other. Esme appears before him in the time it takes me to blink and kisses him passionately, nearly taking him to the ground with her enthusiasm. 

She then whispers something in his ear that causes him to cough again before she smirks at me and gives me a thumbs-up. 

Have I mentioned how out of my element I feel here?

Once Carlisle leaves, Alice dances up to me and wraps her arms around my waist. She comes only to my pecks, but that doesn't stop her from puckering her lips up at me with a look of expectation in her eyes. 

I roll my eyes, but lean down to kiss her all the same. It costs me nothing and...well, I rather enjoyed kissing her.

I am still working through that fact, but I am finding that it becomes much easier when she is around. 

...Her standing on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around me, and deepening the kiss in front of her whole family, however, was not something I was quite mentally prepared to handle. 

Breaking the kiss and stepping back, I cough once myself and then smile tightly at her while asking, "So, what is the plan for school?"

Alice has two speeds. Go and Go Really Fast. She has been on the second since last night, and I needed her to slow down a bit as I wasn't ready for that yet.

I felt bad and understood her joy and want for me, but it was too much all at once. Those were my honest feelings. Unfortunately, I had a ton of baggage. Sitting right at the top was the fact that, were she human, her love would have literally killed me. 

That is not an exaggeration. I would have been burnt alive. Internally cooked with the temperature being the level of her love for me. Hell, if I even touch someone who is deeply in love, I will burn. That is what it meant to be a Raith, to be a White Court Vampire of Lust.

You don't just turn off 40 years of conditioning and life experiences. 

Alice, noticing that I was feeling uncomfortable, freezes, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then smiles sheepishly at me. She tentatively walks up to me again and stands on her tiptoes to whisper in my ear, "I'm sorry, Sammy. I will cool it with the PDA...I know you are new to this. I'm...I'm just so happy..."

Her words choke up at the end, and I move without conscious thought as I hug her tenderly to me.

I whisper back, "I know, and I'm happy too. I promise you that is not a lie. I...I just need time to work through this. It is all so new to me...but I am thrilled to have you as my partner to work through this with. I wouldn't want anyone else..." Then I try to add some levity, "...And you will never have to worry about my faithfulness, so you get that as a benefit."

She chuckles but then looks at me with deadly serious eyes, "I will kill you if you ever cheat on me, supercharge or not."

I blink in surprise, but she starts cackling afterward and cradles my face in her hands, something that requires her to reach up quite a bit. "I'm kidding, Sammy. ...Mostly."

"If you two are done flirting, can we discuss school?" Janet asks with a teasing smile. Her, Edwin, and Emily have been watching us since the kiss and are clearly enjoying the show, but we do have to get to school soon, and I was happy for the diversion. 

"Should we call out today? Do you need more time to adjust?" Alice asks, ignoring Janet completely and focusing entirely on me and my needs. 

"I'll be fine," I say with a tender smile at my clingy girlfriend. Lover? W-Wife?

'Holy shit, we didn't get married last night, right?'

Maybe I wasn't fine, but I would soldier through it. I was not one to hide from my problems—run away, absolutely, but I didn't hide from them. I dealt with them in whatever manner I thought most efficient and conducive to my survival, and I felt strongly that diving in as fully as I could was much better than taking it slow.

My survival was at stake. 

So, I would do everything I was comfortable with, including playing whatever part they wanted me to play. 

"If you are sure..." Alice says though the concerned frown on her face stays in place. "But I mean it: if you ever feel uncomfortable, you tell me, and it stops. We can take this at your pace."

My raised eyebrow at her got a smirk in return, but she quickly added, "I'm serious, Samuel."

"Alright, alright, I will tell you if something is too much. For now, let's hear the plan you lovely ladies concocted, yeah?" I concede with a sigh. 

Relationships were turning out to be a bit more complicated than I initially thought...though, to be fair, I didn't really think about them often before today. 

Emily takes that as an invitation to jump into our roles at school and the play they have crafted. 

"You hate each other!" She shouts with glee.

"Huh?" I ask in absolute bafflement. 

"What my muscle-brained sister meant was that you will start out not liking each other," Janet explains with a huff of annoyance. "Here's the plan..."

* | * | *

Forks High School - In The Hallway Before 2nd Period

It was time, and I was feeling...well, not nervous, but definitely jittery. I had never acted outside my feedings before, and I was worried I would fuck it up majorly. 

I'm sure that they could work around a screw-up on my part, but I really didn't want to make them do that.

I harshly let out the deep breath I was holding as I headed towards my locker, realizing how dumb I was being. I was Samuel Fucking Raith. I could talk my way into any girl's panties in the world. I could make a prude strip naked and beg me to fuck her. I was the master of seduction and the last remaining Demon of Lust.

Acting? No, this wasn't acting. I was playing the long game to conquer Alice. That was what this was. I had already decided she would be my prey and was taking the first step in marking her.

Yes, I realize that sounds creepy as hell, but my species is the definition of a predator, and I needed the confidence boost. It helped that I knew Alice would 100% be into that shit - at least in the bedroom.

We talked long into the night about what we were into, and Alice...well, let's just say she wants to explore almost everything.

I was ready, I was confident, and I was gonna make this spectacle the talk of the campus.  

Leaning against my locker and pulling out my phone, I pretend to be texting someone as I smirk at the screen. I notice Emily and Ross, who, by the way, looked a bit worse for wear today, take up positions a few lockers down from me. 

The plan was pretty simple. Alice would run down the hallway to Emily and Ross, and we would "Accidentally" crash into each other, say some nasty things, and then break off. This was going to be our "First Encounter," followed by many more over the coming months, where we slowly got closer and found hate blossoming into something altogether unexpected. 

It was a plot straight out of a romantic comedy, but it made Alice happy, so I would do my part zealously. 

Not 10 seconds later, I hear the sound of running feet.

"Emily, Ross, you gotta check this out!" Alice yells in an excited voice.

'Showtime.'

Just as Alice is about to run past me, I push off the lockers and move forward, put my phone in my pocket, and act like I am heading to my next class.

In the fraction of a second before we collide, Alice sends me a wink and a smirk.

*Bam!*

"Ah!" "What the fuck?"

Alice bounces off of me and crashes to the ground while I am pushed back roughly into the lockers behind me once again.

The plan went perfectly, with one tiny exception: the force of the push slammed my head into the locker hard enough for me to see stars and my vision to swim. 

It is only at this moment that I realize that whatever power increase I received last night has faded considerably, and I am much more human now. That also means I am much more brittle.

My knees give out, and I collapse to the ground, gasping for breath as the wind is knocked from my lungs. My head is ringing, and I find the sounds around me are suddenly muffled and unrecognizable. 

"Holy shit, Samuel, are you okay!?!" Emily shouts from, seemingly, a mile away with quite a bit more realness to her concerned tone than she should have had.

I ignore her and search out Alice. I would be fine and heal within the hour, and I needed to let her know that before she blew our cover.

Finding her wide, golden eyes once my vision stopped swimming, I saw her still on the ground, looking at me in shock and horror. Any semblance of anger, what she was supposed to be showing, was completely missing. 

I very minutely wiggle my fingers to draw her attention to my hand, and once she looks, I give her a tiny thumbs-up, letting her know I am alright and we could continue. 

I see a world of conflict in her eyes as her expression changes several times, but eventually, she lets out a breath, and her face darkens in anger. 

All of this happened in the span of a couple of seconds. Vampires have much higher reaction speeds than humans, and I was no exception, so we could still salvage this situation.

"What the fuck is your problem, Cullen?" I yell at my scowling girlfriend as I shakily get to my feet. My head still throbbed in pain, but my vision was fine again, and my hearing returned to 90%. There was a weird ringing, but I ignored that masterfully. 

"My problem?" Alice demands with a huff of indignation as she pushes herself to her feet. "You ran into me, asshole! How about an apology, huh?" 

"Did you not see me fucking denting the lockers with my skull? Where's the fire, cluts-berg? How about you get your head outta your ass, and watch where you are going!"

"Excuse me!?!" Alice screams as she stomps up to me.

I take a moment to gauge the reactions of the others in the hallway with a quick glance. 

Hook, line, and sinker. 

You would think these teens were watching their favorite drama live. 

Hell, that creepy Jessica girl was inching closer with a fucking million-watt smile on her face!

Phones were also out and recording the whole scene - Something I was confident Alice was going to find a copy of for later.

"What are you gonna do, assault me more? Was giving me a concussion not enough for you, you crazy bitch?" I yell at her and square my shoulders, not taking a fighting stance but getting ready for anything. Emily and Ross were also closing in on me, so it didn't look unnatural at all. 

"The fuck did you call my sister?" Ross demands, shoving me back into the lockers once again - With considerably less force than Alice's crash had, I will add to his benefit. I manage to keep my head well away from the metal this time. 

"I got this, Ross," Alice says, pushing him aside and getting up into my personal space. 

Once she is blocked from cameras and prying eyes by how close she is, her expression changes entirely to one of sadness and regret as she mouths, "I am so sorry, Sammy!"

I risk a quick wink to let her know we were cool, and she switches back to being pissed. 

"Listen, douchebag, I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear? It was an accident, and you are being a real dick right now for no reason."

"Oh, I am so sorry the pain you caused me is inconveniencing you," I answer her dryly, rolling my eyes. 

"You-! ...Just stay the hell away from me, creep!" She screams and stomps off down the hallway. 

"Gladly! It should be classified as reckless endangerment to be within 20 feet of you, you psycho!" I clap back and storm off towards my next class the opposite way she left.

People are quick to get out of my way; I am 6 feet tall and fairly well-built, after all. I am sure my scowl helped a bit as well.  

The whole altercation took about 40 seconds, and no teachers or security were called. I was fairly confident we could get away with it without the situation becoming a bigger deal. It was just a teen running into another teen in the hallway—nothing really special. Certainly, my comments wouldn't have painted me in the best light, but neither of us was really at fault. Alice even admitted that it was an accident. 

The situation was special to the student body, however, as this was the first time anyone in the school had seen the Cullens get upset and even violent. Hell, Alice was practically the unofficial school mascot, at least to the boys, so I wouldn't be surprised if I earned the enmity of more than half the students at the school after today. 

Being one of the two single Cullen girls was enough to make her a school idol. All the Cullens were easily 10s, and Alice was not only single but also friendly with the rest of the students. The other Cullen "Children" were popular, but she was the only one who actively interacted with non-Cullens. 

Not to mention that everyone was convinced of the incest going on in that household. Yeah...no one really bought the sibling thing.

Elenore was also single, but her cold personality and standoff nature warded people off quite effectively - Or so I heard from both Alice and the rumor mill.

On the other hand, Alice's overly friendly personality led to her being quite popular in all grades. I had only been here half a day, and I already heard many guys talking about her and their love for her in my classes.

'Heh. They are really gonna hate my guts when we start "Dating",' I think, pushing down the smirk that was bubbling up at the thought. 

I make it to the classroom only to be confronted by Mrs. Kendra, my Economics teacher. She asks what happened, having heard a commotion from her desk, and I explain that Alice and I ran into each other in the hallway, and that I said some not-so-nice things because I hit my head on the lockers.

Mrs. Kendra nods slowly but eventually sighs and tells me to go to the nurse's office to get my head checked.

I was happy for the excuse to leave and headed towards the nurse's office with a scowl still on my face. 

When I arrived, the nurse, Miss Schwartz, looked over my head and flashed a light in my eyes to check my pupils but explained it was just a small bump. She still had me lie down, with the express rule of not falling asleep, in one of the cordoned-off rooms to make sure I didn't experience any symptoms of a concussion. 

I did as I was told and closed the plastic curtain around me so I could lie down. Honestly, it didn't sound like a bad idea. My head still hurt, and the adrenaline was wearing off, making it ache deeply as well. 

The second my head hits the pillow, and I close my eyes to get the damn fluorescent lights out of them, I hear the nurse's office door open. 

"You're Alice, right? The one Samuel ran into? Are you hurt, too?" Miss Schwartz asks as I hear her stand up and move towards the potentially injured student. 

"Just a little banged up," I hear Alice answer quietly. The nurse still wants to check on her, but Alice refuses and says she just wants to lay down for a while.  

Sighing at the stubbornness of teenagers, or at least I assume, Miss Schwartz says, "I'll go grab some ice packs for your elbows and knees from the teacher's lounge. Go to the last bed on the right. I trust you two can lay quietly in peace for 5 minutes?" 

There is a bit more sarcasm in that last question than I appreciate, but I suppose it was justified.

Alice makes her way to her section and closes the curtain behind her. After a few seconds, I hear the nurse's office door close once again.

"Don't go to sleep, Sammy."

The voice comes from directly in my right ear, and I nearly jump out of my skin in fright. 

"Jesus, Alice, are you trying to kill me?" I say in a hushed whisper, trying to get my heart rate under control. 

Alice lays next to me on my bed with a miserable expression on her face.

"I almost did," She answers in a voice as thin as newly formed ice. 

Sighing, I roll over and wrap my arms around her, pulling her in for a tight hug.

I whisper to her, "Alice, I have survived a gas explosion and healed back to perfect health. It is not that easy to kill me or even permanently harm me. After what we did last night, my healing has excelled to an higher level than ever before. I am perfectly safe, and the pain is barely there anymore. You didn't do anything wrong...It was an accident, right?" I finish with a smile as I kiss her earlobe. 

Alice shivers in my grasp and then flips me so she is straddling my waist once again. 

"I don't understand, you were so strong and durable last night. You were even stronger than me! You said your healing has increased, but why were you so injured by that?" She asks, laying her entire body on top of mine. 

I start running my fingers through her hair as I think of an answer.

"Well, if I had to guess, I assume I burn through the power my feeding gives me much faster than your kind. I usually need to feed daily, even if only a small amount, and I am always hungry again the next day. Not starving, but I need to eat once a week at the minimum. I also can't remember ever feeling that much stronger after feeding before, not even my first time, so I don't really know how long it lasts. It's also possible that I am letting it go without realizing it or something since I have never experienced it before; like a new muscle I need to train or something...Sorry, but I really don't have any answers either." I finish leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"So...what you're saying is that we need to do it every morning before school?" Alice asks as she lifts her head. I can see a weak smile on her face, and that her eyes are watery with unshed tears. 

We both chuckle at the joke, but I answer back seriously, "I mean, I wouldn't say no..." 

"...And maybe at lunch and between some classes..." Alice continues, her gaze becoming more intense as she stares at me.

I thought I was the hungry one!

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves," I answer, poking her cheek with a smirk. 

Alice's smile grows much more genuine as she wipes her eyes on her sleeve quickly.

"You're really okay, right? You're not just saying that to spare my feelings...?"

"Baby, I am a lot tougher than you seem to think," I say with confidence as I cup her cheek in my hand. 

"Are you now? ...How about you prove it..?" She answers before leaning in for a soft kiss that quickly turns passionate. 

It was at that moment that the door to the nurse's office opened once again, and Alice disappeared from on top of me. 

I chuckle to myself at the timing but quickly close my eyes again and lay back to relax. 

The curtain around my bed is pulled open, and Miss Schwartz announces herself loudly with, "No sleeping, Samuel. We need to make sure you don't have a concussion."

"Not sleeping," I answer, opening my eyes, meeting hers, and hitting her with a light Whammy to make her leave me alone. She meant well, but I hardly needed to be babied. 

"If you say so. You're a big boy, so I trust you to remember. Come to me when you are ready to leave, and I can give you one last check."

"You got it, doc," I answer and flop back down on the thin mattress. She closes the curtains and I hear her go over to Alice's bed to pass along the ice packs. After which, I hear the curtains closing around her bed as well as the nurse heads back to her desk. 

I imagine Alice with ice packs on her freezing cold limbs and struggle not to laugh out loud, but I almost scream out loud instead when she is suddenly on top of me once again. 

Smirking at scaring me for the second time, Alice leans in and whispers, "Can you Whammy her to ignore sounds from here? I will try to be quiet, but I can't promise I won't get us caught."

"Wait, you really want to do it here!?!" I whisper-yell incredulously. 

"Yes, Sammy. You'll heal faster if you get your power up, right? Plus, it's my job to nurse you back to health, my mate." Alice's breaths are coming heavier as she feels up my chest, and I swear I can practically see hearts glowing in her eyes. 

"...You're still really horny, aren't you?" I ask in a deadpan.

"It'll pass in the next decade or so, ...but can I tell you a secret?" She asks coyly, biting her bottom lip as she pulls her shirt off over her head.

'Wait, a decade!?!'

"Uh, sure," I answer, slightly at a loss for words. 

Alice leans down to whisper into my ear, but in a much huskier tone than before. "You talking to me like that earlier really turned me on," she shares, biting and sucking on my earlobe this time. 

My brain short-circuits for a moment, but before I knew what I was doing, I threw Alice off of me, told her to "Stay." with a smoldering gaze, and walked out of my cordoned-off bed to Whammy the school nurse into la-la land. 

I returned less than 30 seconds later to find a completely naked Alice on all fours atop the bed, smirking back at me over her shoulder with a seductive twinkle in her eye. 

"I moved. What are you going to do about it, asshole?"

Oh. I was going to have fun with her!

"You better hold your fucking voice in, you little freak, because I'm about to make you scream loud enough for the whole school to hear," I growl, ripping off my shirt and dropping my pants to the floor. 

When I was close, she spun around quickly, kissed me on the lips, and said, "Tap me three times if this is too much or if I am being too loud. I love you so much, Sammy!" before getting right back into her bratty pose.

I had my doubts about how all this would turn out initially, but I can say with 100% certainty that my second day of school at Forks High was markedly better than my first.