December 20th, 2006, Forks WA

There was a growing crowd of vampires from all over that were collecting in the Cullen's home. So many of Carlisle's friends had agreed to come and witness for the young couple that it was beginning to get stuffy and hard to move without the feeling that she was crawling and clawing her way over someone.

Estelle did not do well around so many people. So many people who asked questions out of curiosity that had her holding her tongue to keep from snapping at the discomfort. Her maman, of course, was always there to chase them away when she was done, when she had reached her own limits.

Thomas was in his element, easing in and out of sociable company that Estelle envied him for this skill not for the first time. She wished she could so easily connect and speak with others without it being a drawling, boorish affair.

That day, Estelle would have rather that nothing had changed. That everyday continued to drive her frozen skin to itch opposed to the flip that came when they returned.

She knew that it would come. This was their home, their family, but somehow she had found herself ill prepared nonetheless.

Her gaze drew to Marion the moment she heard their voices approach. Her maman was already searching for her, waiting to see how she would approach this.

If it was up to her, they would have never come. If it was up to her they would hide away in one of the rooms that they were allowed to have taken over.

Edward had claimed that Carlisle and Esme were to be back first from their search, but apparently they were held up.

She was tempted now to take refuge in their bedroom, dragging the rest of their coven with them for the space.

Better yet, Estelle would have taken her chance running across the treaty line that they were all seriously warned never to cross.

Instead, Estelle stood very still and calm next to the burning fireplace. She knew that they were to return eventually. This was their home, this was their coven and their family. She wasn't going to be able to avoid them in the end.

Estelle wished to anything that she could. If not for her own sake, then for her maman's.

Moving gracefully, Marion crossed the room to stand at her daughters elbow. It settled the younger vampire instantly, soothed a part of her that was wound tight at the anxiety of what was to come.

First she saw the blonde. Still just as beautiful, still just as commanding of the attention in the room. Others turned naturally to look, those that were not mated gazed on with appreciation. She was dressed in a smart type of casual for the time with not a hair out of place.

Rosalie's eyes swept the room quickly, expression one of open hope that turned to devastating longing and joy once she spotted Marion.

Her mother was a beauty to behold in her own right. She deserved every ounce of emotion that played across Rosalie's face.

"Marion," Rosalie breathes, every inch of her poised and pointed in the direction of who should have been her mate. "I- I didn't think..."

"Carlisle asked us to be here."

Dark hair moves closer, closing in at the other side of her mother as Thomas takes up an easy position.

"I have come with my coven," Marion continues lightly. "This is my Thomas."

Rosalie nods, gaze unwavering.

Estelle likes to imagine that Rosalie is drinking up every second that she is able to spend in her mother's presence, that she is desperate for every inch and blink of existence. Rosalie looks like she is uncertain of what she would do or say in this very moment.

It's likely that she had never thought their reunion would be anything similar to this situation.

"They've met, maman, back when I had first changed him," Estelle reminds unhelpfully, fixated on the slight wince that the blonde cannot stop herself from showing.

They were all very judgemental and critical back then, all very unwilling to give aid as the Dupuis coven had readily done for them.

"It's nice to see you again," Thomas smoothly interrupts. "My gran always had a lot to say about you."

Rosalie doesn't look away from Marion as she hums. "Oh? I'm afraid that I don't recall who your gran is."

Marion laughs lightly. Estelle has the disturbing pleasure of watching it send shivers down the blonde's spine. "You should. Our dear friend, Vera."

She gasps. "Vera?"

"She had asked me to her side. She used to reside in our old house," Estelle says much more quietly. "Thomas was in an accident. Vera asked me to change him. She passed not long after."

Estelle is silent as she watches the other woman try to digest the information. It's clear to her that she is warring with the sudden dull flash of grief for an old friend and guilt at not caring nearly enough due to finally being near her maman.

Mates were an impossible thing to comprehend. The draw, the command of your attention like magnets that call or planets that rotate around one another. They were an otherworldly sense, a thing or great force and power that could not be easily tampered.

Estelle knew that well, having been within the vicinity of her own mate and having fix difficulty to not succumb to the temptation.

He was not far from Rosalie. It made sense that most all would presume them to be a mated pair, as close together as they always tended to be. Their relationship was close and she would have assumed they would dabble together had it not been for her mother and herself.

Emmett moved towards her slowly, with lithe speed and devastating intensity focused upon her. He stalked her as though she was his prey, his gaze intent as though something to be devoured.

It was the attention of a man stubbornly devoted to his cause, decided in a course that had had them tied together for decades without truly knowing one another.

Estelle had spent much of her time growing up decidedly on her own with the sole purpose of ensuring that nothing would dare to attempt to pull her from her family. That no temptation would sway her from the life that she had planned. And Estelle had the life that she had planned, the one that she had always wanted.

There was something in the way that he watched her, the predator in his gaze, that called to her. Perhaps it was the danger that she housed beneath her skin, the darkness that kept her teetering on an edge that he promised to match, that kept her so enthralled with just the mere idea of what Emmett had promised her once long ago.

"She learned of what you had become at the end," Thoma adds, his voice teetering on that charming bewitchment. "Gran was glad that you hadn't just left gone for no reason and she could never quite bring herself to believe you deceased."

Rosalie startles at the statement, eyes finally leaving Marion with a harsh jerk before they turn to settle back. "I continue to despise the manner of my leaving. It's become a deep regret of mine."

Marion hums, eyes flitting around the room. Estelle is reminded of the complete and utter lack of privacy that they're required to put up with. Vampires were occupationally a noisy bunch. We had no choice but to always know everybody's business when they were within hearing distance.

"I'm gladdened to see that you continue to be well, Rosalie," her maman speaks softly, honestly, "we will need to catch up at a later time. It is becoming rather crowded and my family requires a moment to ourselves."

Estelle did not wait for a response, fleeing the conversation with every ounce of elegance that she possessed, and tracked their way to the room that they were sharing. A place with a semblance of privacy.

At least there no one could ogle her mother's inevitable moment of weakness.

It shoud not have been shoking that she was quite instantly halted, ambushed and corned within the doorway by the impressive bulk of Emmett's frame. It was rather annoying and disgustling poor vampire ediquette.

"Step aside," she breathes quietly.

"Give me a minute, just one minute," he speaks just as quietly, voice strained with emotion. "I haven't been able to get you out of my mind since the moment I had last seen you, since I had first saw you even."

An ugly feeling of anger bubbles up rapidly, a fire itching through dead veins. "We had started our acquaintance with a promise to share letters and a promise that you wouold visit me. Your utter disregard to the feelings of my most beloved person, my maman, told me all I truly needed to know about you."

"That's not true. That's not the extent of who I am, and Estelle, angel, I was utterly wrong about the goodness of Marion. I tried to write and call, but you moved and chasnged numbers never to write back."

"Could you not take a hint?"

Emmett glowers, brows furrowed. a sting of guilt startles her, and Estelle is quick to cling to her anger once more.

"Your Alice could find us quite easily aparently, "She snips. "You did not seem to ask or try hard enough. Even so, such an apology does not erase the foul things that were said. I cannot stand any such desparagement toward her when she had given up her entire life and existence for me."

He surges forward, grabbing hold of her upper hands. For a moment, she gets the sense that he is prepared to shake her. "When will you accpt that I would give you just as much of everything? That you would be my whole world and life if you let me. Since that first moment, I believed you to be an angel, my angel. I've been devoted to you ever since. I long for you always, Estelle, please."

Never had she been one for pretty words. Words were a weapon on their own, a twist of the tongue forged manipulation and misinformation, but their was something to be said about a man who was dripping in desperation. A man who was visibly, clearly, uncontrollably longing for her that burned her up from within.

Against her better judgement, an action so disgustingly impulsive, Estelle yanks him down towards her. She rips him through the space so violently he jolts towards her without any restraint.

For the first time, the utmost first time in her new existance, she kisses another. Kisses a man who she refused to fullh admit was likely truly her mate.

Emmett, for his part, breathes her in as though he has always waited for this moment. Lips smooth, lush against her own, Estelle taste the essense of him. The scent of him on her tongue is heady, consuming. She feels drawn under, sinking down further and further into the sense of him.

Vaguely she is aware that she has torn his top, that she grips his hari tightly in a curled fist to hold him as close against her that she could bring him.

Her bodyh is tugged upwards, thick arms banded around her body to craddle her against him. Emmett groans, a deep masculine sound that rockets straight into her core.

Estelle jerks back, strength sending him stumbling back. "No. No, absoluetly not," she growls, dragging an unecessary breath into her lungs. "No, I will not do this."

He slides towards her. She sidesteps immediately. A flicker of hurst crosses his eyes. "Estelle.."

"Get out."

"Please, Estelle."

"I said to get out, Emmett."

The expanse of his shoulders roll, head turning as though to crack his neck. His eyes smoulder. Dark and full of promise.

"This is not finished," he declares it, leaving her hovering with shaky anticipation.

Estelle wavers, stumbling for the first time in centuries to hide within the confines of the room. Shutting herself in.

Adrift, unmoored, Estelle could not recall a time in her life that she had made herself feel so unsettled.

The confines of the walls were too much, too close. She needed freedom. Space. She needed to return to Norway to pack away their things and move where they could not be found again. They needed to go back to France and the home of her papa from long ago.

Estelle needed—

"My little bird, you're all fluttery."

Estelle needed her maman.

"I do not know what to do." Her truth is whispered small, sounding much like the young teenager she had been at a time.

Marion smiles sadly, arms wide to draw her in. "Mon coeur, how many times must I remind you, that you are not the protector of my heart? Come, tell me all, my darling girl."

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