WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN

≪•◦ CHAPTER NINE | DON'T FUCK WITH A SALVATORE ◦•≫

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"Cullen!?" Heather yelled as Colby walked in the door. "Uh, no, it's Colby?" Colby said with furrowed brows, completely lost and confused about what was going on and what she had just walked into.

"Do not, and I repeat, do not talk to that family of bloodsuckers!" Heather's voice was stern. Colby's eyes widened before looking over at her older sister. "Of course," she thought, knowing damn well Grace had told their mother about Colby talking to the Cullens.

"They're not bad, Mom," Colby tried to reason, but her mother wouldn't have it.

"Vampires are evil. You will not be interacting with them. They're too dangerous. You remember what happened in Italy," Heather scolded. Colby huffed. She knew the Cullens were nothing like the Italy vampires, but the fact her mom knew the family sparked curiosity.

"How do you know the Cullens, Mom?" Colby asked with a curious tone.

"That doesn't matter right now. Interact with them, and I'll ground you," Heather said and walked out of the living room.

"Really, Grace?" Colby said, looking at her older sister.

"You weren't listening to me. Instead, you backed them up, so I got my own backup," Grace said with a tight smile before leaving for her bedroom.

"What the hell," Colby mumbled as she walked out of the house, spotting her dad. "Hey, Dad, is it okay if I hang out with Bella for a while?"

Christopher just nodded, giving his daughter a small smile before walking inside. "Nice to see you too! Love you!" Colby called out as she started to walk over to Bella's. Considering they were neighbors, Colby didn't want to waste gas going next door.

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Colby parked her car beside Emmett's jeep, making sure to park in a way that prevented Grace from parking next to her. She was still mad at her older sister and now somewhat thrived on pissing her off, just as Grace did to her. It was a Salvatore thing—if a sibling pissed off another, it was like war between them until they made up or needed to have each other's backs.

When it came to the Salvatore siblings, Grace and Colby got into fights the most.

Smirking when she saw the Cullen family hanging out beside Rosalie's car, Colby immediately got out of her car and began to make her way to the family of vampires. Once in view, the family turned and smiled at her. Smiling back, she began walking towards them until a hand gripped her arm.

"Oh dear little sister, how are you and Tyler? You guys are just too cute together," Grace said loud enough for the Cullens, especially Emmett, to hear. Glaring at her sister, Colby responded with a smirk, "Get off me, Grace-Lynn. You're being ridiculous; there's nothing dangerous about them."

Grace glared and rolled her eyes at Colby, dragging her along past the Cullens, who watched in confusion. "I said get off," Colby warned again, this time shoving her sister off her. "One day you'll realize all I'm trying to do is protect you," Grace said angrily.

"I don't need a babysitter. They won't hurt me. So you can stop kissing Mom's ass. Just because she doesn't like that family doesn't mean you can bash me, threaten me, or treat me like shit because I do like them," Colby said in a low voice as they entered the school.

"They're vampires; they survive by killing people," Grace responded in the same low voice.

"And we're witches, and I don't see any of us wearing pointy hats or turning people into frogs," Colby retorted as they reached the entrance to the gym where no one was around.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Grace asked, confused.

"It's a stereotype, like what you're saying about the Cullens," Colby explained.

"When are you going to stop choosing the vampires over your family?" Grace asked, annoyed, as the Cullens walked into the building. Colby looked over, catching Emmett's eyes. He sent a smile her way, and Colby blushed a bit, smiling back. Her sister hit her shoulder. "Ow, Grace!" Colby exclaimed. "There's a difference between choosing and protecting. I'd expect you to know that. But you have to at least give them a chance."

Grace took a moment before answering her sister. "But what about what happened in Italy?" Grace said. Colby sighed. She knew what happened in Italy with both herself and Grace was really taking a toll on the older Salvatore girl.

"What Fe—"

"Please, don't say his name! I gotta go. I'll see you at lunch," Grace interrupted, her voice shaky as she walked away.

Colby sighed, watching her sister speed walk to her class. Bella came up to her, concern evident on her face. "Hey, everything okay?" Bella asked as they walked into the gym.

Colby smiled, trying to brush off the tension. "Yeah, why?"

Bella just shrugged. "You left pretty suddenly last night, like in the middle of dinner," she said with a small, yet awkward laugh.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. My little sister, uh, needed help getting back home. She tends to wander," Colby explained as they changed and got back into the gym, waiting for the coach to give them their instructions.

Bella nodded, understanding. "Family can be a handful sometimes."

"Tell me about it," Colby replied with a chuckle. "Grace is always on my case about something, and then there's Chloe and Talia... it's like herding cats."

Bella laughed. "I can imagine. At least you have a big family. It's just me and my dad here, and sometimes it gets pretty quiet. My mom and her husband were a little louder but, I don't know."

Colby gave her a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, but quiet can be nice too. Less drama."

"True," Bella agreed. "So, what are we doing in gym today?"

Colby glanced around, spotting the coach approaching with a clipboard. "Looks like we're about to find out."

The coach blew his whistle, gathering everyone's attention. "Alright, everyone, today we're doing a fitness circuit. Pair up and get ready to move!"

Colby turned to Bella with a grin. "Ready to sweat?"

Bella groaned playfully. "Not really, but let's do this."

As they paired up and started the circuit, Colby couldn't help but feel a bit lighter. Despite the family drama, moments like these with friends made everything a little easier to handle.

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"La Push, baby, you in?" Eric asked Colby as she watched Edward and Bella interact at the salad bar.

"You already asked me that, Eric. When you asked Bella, I said fine and that I'll go. Like Bella said,  please stop saying that," Colby said, laughing at Eric before turning her attention back to Edward and Bella.

Colby saw Edward leave Bella, and as he passed her, she sent him a small smile, which he returned with a nod. "Seriously?" Jessica asked her best friend.

"What?" Colby asked, confused, turning her attention to the Stanley girl.

"How is it that you and Bella have been able to get yourselves into their lives so quickly? You know how many people would die to be in your place?!" Jessica exclaimed as Bella joined the group.

"She really is crazy about the Cullens, isn't she?" Colby thought to herself. She noticed Edward look her way and simply nod. She knew she would be asking him about the way he responded to some of her thoughts, even if it could just be a coincidence. But the coven in Denali that she and Jason met had some abilities, so she thought it could be possible for some, if not all, of the Cullens to also be gifted with some sort of powers.

"Jess, we didn't get ourselves into their lives quickly. I mean, yeah, I consider them friends, so what's the problem?" Colby asked curiously, completely confused by her friend's question.

Jessica just stared at the Salvatore girl before sighing and shrugging as her answer.

Colby just went with it and started eating quietly, butting into conversations she was thrown into every once in a while or just having her own conversation with Bella. For the most part, lunch was calm—well, at their table, when Mike and Eric weren't throwing food at one another.

Soon the bell rang, and Colby got up to throw her tray away. As she slid the uneaten food and empty plates into the trash, someone bumped her from behind, causing her to lose balance and trip. Preparing to hit the ground, she mumbled a trail of curses, but instead of kissing the ground with her face, strong arms pulled her up to a chest.

"Careful now," the familiar voice of Emmett brought Colby back to reality.

"Well, look at that, my clumsy ass and your quick reflexes," Colby said with a laugh, barely noticing the small distance between them.

"Guess we know I'll always be there to catch you," Emmett said kindly, with a hint of a smirk on his lips. Colby blushed, hesitating when letting go of Emmett. "Best we get to class, huh?" she said with a nervous laugh. It felt strange to her; she was never the one to get nervous around people. But with Emmett, even a glance from him made her stumble over her words or blush.

"Probably," Emmett said with a laugh. The pair walked to class in comfortable silence, Emmett asking her questions every once in a while and vice versa with Colby.

Emmett and Colby were so lost in conversation that they almost didn't see Tyler waiting for Colby until Emmett stopped walking once they got to the classroom door. "Tyler? Seriously, I consider you a friend, so I'm saying this out of friendly love—this is starting to get creepy," Colby said honestly. She liked Tyler just fine and considered him a friend, but his constant popping up was starting to bother her.

"I'm guessing this is your date to prom?" Tyler asked. Colby couldn't determine if he was jealous or not. She looked at Emmett, then to Tyler. Before she could answer, Emmett put an arm around her and smiled.

"Yeah, trust me, I'm just as surprised as you are," Emmett said with a smirk, pulling her closer to his side protectively.

"I'm not, to be honest. I've seen the way she looks at you. Made me jealous, if I must admit. But I actually came to tell you that Chloe asked me to prom, and I wanted to make sure it was okay with her big sister," Tyler smiled. The entirety of the sentence surprised Colby.

Chloe had talked about Tyler a lot, which was one of the reasons she refused Tyler's request for her to go to prom with him. No one knew that, but it was a reason. "No, I'm totally okay with it. But hurt her, and no one will be able to find your body," Colby said sweetly. Tyler gulped but smiled and left.

"So you're my date to the prom, huh?" Colby asked as the two walked into the classroom and took their seats beside one another.

"Well, it's not exactly how I wanted to ask you, but if you don't—"

"No, no, I'd love to, Emmett," Colby said, making Emmett chuckle and smile.

"It's a date then. Well, speaking of dates, um, would you like to come over this weekend? Movie night maybe? My family's going hunting, so we won't be bothered," Emmett said nervously. He usually wasn't the type to get nervous at all, but Colby just made him nervous, much like he knew he made her from the way her heart would pick up speed whenever he looked at her or talked to her. He only hoped the nervousness would go away as they spent more time together.

"It's a date," Colby said, smiling widely, earning the same from Emmett as the teacher began class.

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Colby bolted out of class once she saw Chloe standing outside the door with a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong with your face? What's going on!?" Colby asked as they sped walked down the halls, similar to a lot of other students.

"It's Jaxson, he's in trouble!" Chloe said. Colby's eyes widened as she began to walk faster, Grace and Talia now by her side.

"There hasn't been a fight here in a long time," Colby heard a senior girl say as she shoved past students to get outside, seeing a circle begin to form in the parking lot.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Colby exclaimed as she and her sisters began to run towards the circle, all four fuming, but Colby was beyond pissed off. Livid.

"What's the matter, Jaxxy? Your sisters aren't going to come and save you," an unknown voice said from the center of the circle.

"Leave me alone, Dilan! I didn't do anything to you!" Jax exclaimed. Colby was still pushing her way through the crowd.

"If it wasn't for your stupid older brother, I wouldn't have to live with my psychotic mother!" Dilan said. Colby rolled her eyes.

"Your dad broke into someone's house! What was Jason supposed to do, let him go free?" Jax exclaimed. By this time, Colby made it to the front of the crowd just as Dilan punched Jaxson's jaw.

"Hey! What the fuck!?" Colby yelled. Eyes were now on her, Dilan, and Jaxson, waiting for something else to happen.

"Stay out of this, Salvatore!" Dilan screamed as he punched Jaxson again.

"I don't think so," Colby muttered to herself, grabbing Dilan by his collar and sending a hook right to Dilan's cheekbone.

"What the hell!" Dilan said, letting go of Jaxson and looking at Colby. Colby smirked as she helped her brother up and looked at Dilan.

"Don't fuck with a Salvatore."