04. Healing
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EVEN BEFORE THE CAR had come to a stop, Magnolia was rushing out of the car and into the Cullen house. "Hello?' She called as she frantically looked around the house.
"In here, Magnolia," She recognized the voice of Edward calling her. She followed the sound of his voice until she arrived in the living room. The entire coven, and Bella, stood tensely. "Glad you could make it." Edward nodded politely.
Magnolia ignored him, walking over to Bella and wrapping her in a tight hug. "Are you okay, Bells?" She whispered nervously. "Is Charlie?"
They pulled back, Magnolia still holding onto the human girls' arms. "Everyones fine," Bella nodded. Magnolia searched her brown eyes for any signs of lying. "Really, Mags. I'm okay. So is Charlie."
Slowly, Magnolia nodded. She turned to Edward. "So what exactly happened?" Her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed.
"It's like I explained on the phone. There was an unfamiliar vampire in Bella's home," If it was possible for a vampire to look sleep deprived, Edward looked it. His purple eye bags were extremely prominent and his eyes were dark black, a sign of hunger. Magnolia noticed how all of the vampires eyes were that dark midnight black. Had they not been hunting?
"So it's no one we know? Victoria? The Volturi," Magnolia shuddered as she mentioned the vampire rulers.
Alice shook her head. "I would've seen them decide. I've been tracking Victoria's and Aro's decisions."
Magnolia clenched her fists, frustrated. "We should take shifts guarding Bella at her house." Carlisle suggested to the group. Timothy nodded from beside him.
"Another protection detail?" Rosalie huffed, annoyed.
"Rosalie," Carlisle scolded.
Magnolia watched Bella intensely. The poor girl had been through so much already, and now two vampires were out to kill her. She found herself moving closer to Bella as the conversation went on, until she was holding her shoulder gently. Bella's posture relaxed, obviously grateful for the small support. "No, she's right," Bella sighed after a moment. "You can't protect me, watch my dad and search for the intruder."
"And for Victoria," Rosalie glared.
"And keep yourselves fed," Bella gulped, looking between Carlisle and Edward.
"I'm not leaving you here defenceless," Edward argued.
Magnolia nodded. "Me either, Bells. There's gotta be something we can do."
Bella sighed, shaking her head. "Well, I'm not gonna let you starve, Edward. And you, Magnolia, have a life at school, I can't take that away from you again," She paused for a moment to think. Her head slowly lifted as an idea struck her. "And I wouldn't be unprotected. I have..." She trailed off, staring nervously at Edward.
"What?" He pressed. It was clear he wanted to read the girls mind as he squinted ever so slightly.
Bella hesitated and glanced at Magnolia. "...Jacob."
The idea wasn't very well-liked by Edward, but Magnolia had to admit, having Jacob and the wolves to help keep watch of Bella was smart. And though Bella tried to argue, Magnolia enlisted the help of herself and her parents, allowing the vampires more breaks.
Magnolia sat in Bella's room, stretched out on the girl's purple bedsheets. Bella sulked in the corner, arms crossed. She huffed, once again voicing her annoyance to Magnolia. "I want to be here, Bells. You can sigh all you want — I'm not leaving."
"Mags," Bella began. "The Cullen's and wolves are enough, you seriously do not need to be here." She recited the same thing she had been telling Magnolia since she arrived that night.
Magnolia chuckled, shaking her head lightly. It was endearing how much Bella cared for her well-being, but annoying how she carelessly glossed over all the times she had told Bella that she wanted to be here. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm staying put? Come on, Bella," She rose from the bed and crossed to the room, standing directly in front of Bella. "Let me be here for you. Don't push me away like you did before."
She felt guilty using that against Bella, but she had to prove her point somehow. Bella stared up at her, frowning. She stared for a moment more until sighing, finally defeated. "Fine. But this doesn't change that I'm still mad at you." Bella crossed her arms and poured.
Magnolia laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and bringing the girl closer. "Mad at me? For what? Being a good friend?" She ruffled her hair softly. "You are strange, Bella Swan."
Bella rolled her eyes and pushed Magnolia away, laughing quietly. "I just care about your safety, okay?"
"Thank you, Bella," Magnolia said softly. She was being sincere, no jokes. It made her heart swell at how much Bella cared for not just her, but pretty much everyone she knew — even Jessica. "You're the best." She scrunched her nose and smiled.
Bella returned the facial expression and wandered to her window. Her smiled dropped, however, when she glanced outside. She turned back to Magnolia, frowning deeply. "It's time. Your mom is waiting for you."
"My mom?" Magnolia rushed to the window. Just like Bella had said, Ariana Siren was standing within the tree line. When she noticed her daughter standing in the window, she pointed to her wrist and cocked her head, signalling to her that it was time. She sighed and turned back to Bella. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" They quickly hugged.
Bella nodded. "Okay," She said quietly, frowning as she watched Magnolia leave her room.
Magnolia said a quick goodbye to Charlie and rushed to the woods, where her mother was waiting. They hugged tightly. "Hi, mom," Magnolia breathed out happily. It wasn't like she hadn't seen her mom — she was a teacher at the school — but it had been some time since she had spent time with her, as she's been living on the reservation.
"Hi, baby," Ariana sighed, rubbing her daughter's back softly. "How's Bella?"
They pulled back and Magnolia shrugged. "As good as you can be when a strange vampire has been stalking you or- not stalking but...you know." She chuckled awkwardly.
Ariana nodded, taking a sharp breath in. "I do. But that's why we're here," Her emerald eyes darted around the woods and the area surrounding Bella's house. "We got until 4 a.m. Alice and...Jasper will switch with us." She said the male's name with venom, fists clenching in anger.
Magnolia sighed deeply. "Let's not talk about him. I want to spend time with you, not bitch about how much we hate Jasper Hale."
This earned a laugh from Ariana. "You're right," She sighed and leaned against a tree. "But I do dislike the boy."
"Mom!" Magnolia rolled her eyes, playfully hitting her mother's arm. "Seriously, lay off it." She shook her head, chuckling.
"Sorry," Ariana apologized. There was a pause as she thought of something to say. Magnolia leaned against another tree and waited, looking around at the rustling leaves above. "Your dad says training is going well."
"Yeah," Magnolia nodded. "Really well, actually. This is the most confident I've felt in a long time. I still haven't gotten that stupid water thing down yet," She laughed, fiddling with her hands.
Ariana smiled. "You will in time," She sighed deeply. "Have you thought about coming back home?"
"Have I?" Magnolia laughed, amazed her mother would even ask that. "I didn't have a choice in leaving! It was punishment for Italy. I would love to come back home, to finally sleep in my own bed."
"I know," Ariana shook her head. "It's starting to get lonely at the house, even Elton is getting restless, and that boy loves his quiet time."
Magnolia giggled. "I guess that means I should come back," She smiled down at the ground. "Have you talk to dad about it?"
Ariana nodded softly. "Yes. He agrees you both should come home, but training should continue in the basement when Elton isn't in."
"Of course," Magnolia mumbled, smirking to herself.
The night continued as such, with Magnolia and her mother chatting, but listening for any sudden and strange noises. Finally, just as Magnolia was beginning to fall victim to her tired eyes, a voice called out. "Morning!" Alice Cullen skipped in between the two sorceresses. Magnolia envied their inability to get tired. Alice was cheery as always and following loosely behind her was Jasper. He looked extremely uncomfortable — more than usual. "We'll take it from here, you two."
"Took you long enough," Magnolia joked, giving Alice a light hug. "I think I might pass out."
Alice patted her arm softly, smiling. "We don't want that, now do we?" She chuckled and shook her head.
"Any sign of the nomad?" Jasper interrupted, his question open to either Magnolia or her mother.
As she watched him, Magnolia found herself unable to speak. Being in love with someone you hated was excruciating, to say the least. Her stomach clenched and her heart pounded as his eyes met hers for a brief moment. Her mind swirled with a mix of emotions and Jasper could feel them all — he was overwhelmed, taking a small, unconscious step backwards. Ariana eyes him suspiciously. "No. No movement. You should have a quiet night," She stepped forward and took Magnolia's arm gently. "Let's head home, sweetheart." She pulled her towards the forest.
Magnolia swallowed the lump in her throat and peeled her eyes away from Jasper. The air was thick as she passed him and she tried her best to keep her emotions in check.
Jasper watched as she was pulled away by her mother, hearing how hard and fast her heart was beating, watching as her supple skin turned a bright shade of red, feeling as she scolded herself for feeling the way she was. He frowned and groaned, rubbing his hands through his golden locks. "She said we'd try," He told Alice sadly. "But I think she said that just to make me feel better."
Frowning, Alice placed a hand on his bicep. "You gotta give her time, Jazz. She's hurting, let her heal."
AUTHORS NOTE
Kind of a filler chapter but gotta expand upon Magnolia and Jasper somehow. I'm thinking of doing a kind of enemies to lovers (even though they're not REALLY enemies) just to add some angst
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