IM BACK, BITCHES.
Sorry for going AWOL on you guys. This year's been… a lot. Between traveling, grinding at the gym, choking people out at BJJ, and oh yeah, working a full-time job (seriously, am I a slave?), life got hectic fast.
I know a lot of you have been waiting on this fanfic — hell, I've been waiting to get back to it. But after an unplanned hiatus, I'm finally here again.
Now, I'll be real: this chapter's short. Think of it as me waking up the old writing muscle after months of rust. Man, I was sweating just getting this little thing out — but I got it done. And that's what matters. The ball is rolling again, and I'm aiming for more chapters to start dropping soon.
So yeah… small chapter, but a big step back into the groove. I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway. Feels damn good to be back.
MAGIC AUTHOR OUT.I'm going to sleep now DAMN IT — been awake since 4 a.m...(SLAVE)
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The smell of coffee was the thing that greeted Nate when he arrived back from his late-night patrol.
He made sure not to make any sounds as he glided smoothly down on his window, the sun starting to peak from the horizon. Opening the window soundlessly, Nate stepped into his room before taking in the familiar smell of wood and coffee the house permitted.
From the sound that was coming from downstairs, Nate knew that both Bella and his uncle Charlie were awake. Going to his closet, he quickly changed his black jeans and black hoodie into something more comfortable before heading to his door to step out.
Before stepping out though, Nate took a quick glance to where his father's box lay next to his bed's frame.
There was a pause as his eyes locked on to it… a moment of contemplation passing, but his thought was broken by the vibration of his phone.
Taking a quick glance, a smile came on Nate's usual melancholic look.A text from Leah saying "Good morning" was his source of joy.Writing a quick reply and wishing her a good morning as well, Nate went downstairs to greet his family, which he was enjoying spending time with ever since he came to Forks around a month and a half ago.
The first thing that greeted him was the silence of his uncle Charlie, who was sipping on coffee while he was nose-deep reading the newspaper.
"Morning, Uncle," he said, shortly getting a cough of acknowledgment and a wave from Charlie as Nate looked at him with eyes of amusement.Taking a glance at where the other occupant of the room was, he found Bella once again on the phone speaking to Billy Black about Jacob.
"I'm sorry, Bella, but Jacob is asleep right now, he needs to rest as much as possible," Nate picked up with his keen senses as he heard his cousin's ever-raising heartbeat.
"Yeah no, I understand," she said meekly. "Tell him I said hi and that I hope he gets better soon," she whispered sadly as Billy's "Will do" came through.
Nate, who was now leaning on the kitchen door frame, locked eyes with Bella, who came off the phone. "Nate," she said, half surprised, as he nodded towards the phone."Still nothing?" he asked, already knowing the answer as she nodded meekly.
It's been exactly two weeks since Jacob's transformation and, like he expected, he hasn't been in contact with Bella considering the volatile state he was in.
Nate had been visiting the pack every day before his night patrols and keeping track of Jacob's progress, which had been going well if what Sam says is to be believed, but it still hurt him to see his cousin in such a state.Pushing off the frame, Nate gently patted her head. "I'm sure he's fine, Bella, he just needs time to heal. Mono is not something light, it can take up to 2 months for a person to get better," Nate said casually, as Bella's eyes slowly widened by his casual show of knowledge.
"How do you know that?" she asked, bewildered as Nate tilted his head. "No, hold on, how do you even know it's mono he's sick with?" Bella asked, trailing back a little from the double surprise.
But before Nate could answer, Charlie's gruff voice interrupted their conversation. "I told him about the mono," he said casually, flipping through the pages of his newspaper, which made Nate a little amused."You don't know this, but your cousin over there is a doctor," Charlie added, which made Bella's confused face even more confused.
"A doctor?" she asked, now completely forgetting about the conversation she just had with Billy. But Nate's hearing slowly faded out of concentration as it picked up the sound of a car engine approaching as it slowly pulled up to the porch and came to a stop.
Before someone with a strong frame and a smell of Red Bull and cologne approached the door and gave a rhythmic knock.
Hearing the knock on the door, Charlie put down his newspaper and locked eyes with an equally confused Bella.
Nate, who had already heard the approaching figure, was halfway down the hall already reaching for the door as he opened it fully.
There was a moment of silence as both Nate and the now-revealed person stared at each other.
But like an explosion, the silence was broken by the scream of both Nate and the guest."AHHHHHHHH!""AHHHHHHHH!""YOU BASTARD, COME HERE!" Nate's best friend said, dropping the bag he had with him and latching onto Nate's frame to try for a kiss.
At the same time, both Charlie and Bella had come running in a hurry because of the commotion, only to walk in on a funny scene where a man was latched onto Nate, trying to kiss him while Nate was trying — but failing miserably — to pry him off.
"It's too early for this," Charlie commented before taking a sip of his coffee and going back to his newspaper.
Nate, who finally pried his best friend off of himself, looked him over. He was happy, god he was happy, his best friend was there. Yet at the same time, his best friend was here. That meant he was potentially in danger, which is why when Nate asked, "What are you doing here," it came off a little harsh.
"Oh wow, get a load of this guy," Mathew commented offhandedly, already used to Nate's personality.
"To come and grace you with my presence, of course. You've been too long without me and it's starting to show — you're having withdrawal symptoms," he said, before looking past Nate at Bella.
"And you must be Bella, I'm Mathew, Nate's Ma—" Before he could finish the word'Manager', he felt a kick on his shin.
"AUGH, friend… yeah," he corrected himself, wincing as he looked at Nate. "What was that for?" he whispered to Nate, who was giving him the most diabolical side-eye.
Bella, who was witnessing this interaction, couldn't help but release a disbelieving laugh. Her cousin, who was always so calm and composed, was acting… goofy."It's nice to meet you, Mathew… Nate's friend."she said, In a way that sudgested she knew something more.
"So what are you doing here?" she asked, repeating the question Nate had asked.
"Oh, to come and visit this bastard for one, and also because I haven't had a vacation for a while. So why not spend it in the rural town of Forks?" he said, smiling from ear to ear.
"Wait, what? You're staying in Forks?" Nate finally spoke up, looking at his friend in a questioning manner."Oh no… I'm staying here," he said, not breaking the large grin on his handsome face.
Nate, who was registering the words, looked over his friend before his eyes landed on the bag that was still at the door.
"When you say here… you don't mean…"
"Yep," Mathew said.
"Please tell me you're joking?" Nate asked, already seeing all the problems having Mathew over would bring.
"Well, fortunately for you, I am not," he said with a beaming smile."Unfortunately, you mean," Nate whispered, as Bella came closer.
"I didn't know you had a friend like this," she said with a smile, while Nate shook his head in exasperation.
"Neither did I."
"Hey, lighten up a little. WE'RE GONNA BE VACATION ROOMIES, this is EXCITING!" Mathew said, bringing Nate into a side hug as he shook him.
"Woo hoo," Nate said halfheartedly as Mathew laughed hard, but as much as Nate was being sarcastic, he was happy Mathew was there.
Yet a part of him was worried for his safety, because he knew better than anyone how dangerous Forks could be.
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