The day was pleasant, so much so that neither Xavier nor Bella wanted it to end.

“This is the best day I’ve had since coming to Forks,” Bella voiced.

“Then, I guess you haven’t had many good days,” Xavier noted.

“You could say that,” Bella admitted. “When you’re not around, it’s like I become a way for Mike and Eric to measure their manliness. Angela and Jessica are in a cold war, and I’m there like I exist only conceptually…”

“Find new friends,” Xavier advised.

“Tried,” Bella admitted. “Jessica, Jessie, Mike, and Eric are as normal as Forks gets,” She joked.

Xavier chucked. “It’s sad that that’s true.”

WHOOOOOOOSH

Xavier extended a hand, grabbing the football that had been aimed at Bella’s face just moments before.

“I swear,” He sighed. “You’re a magnet for stray things.”

“Wha?” Bella was at a loss.

One moment she was chill and talking to Xavier, and the next moment, he had grabbed a soccer ball inches away from her face.

Bella shuddered to think what would have happened to her face given the speed of the ball – she was very likely to die given her fragile physique.

“How do you even see that?” She questioned.

“Easy…” Xavier rose from his seat and gestured across the street where three kids were missing a soccer ball. “I have been watching those kids for a couple of minutes now, waiting for an opportunity to join them – I have that chance now.”

Without waiting to hear Bella’s reply, Xavier tossed the ball into the yard across the street and chased after the ball to have some fun with the kids.

A couple of minutes later, Bella watched in fascination as Xavier not only joined the game but led the three boys to play a better game.

--------------

“Okay, so – three on three?” Xavier balanced the ball perfectly on his heel, much to the amazement of the three kids.

“It’s been a while since we had enough players,” Damon replayed the bad news despondently. “Ted has been busy with school – applying for scholarships and all.”

“And Leslie?” Xavier frowned.

“Mom hasn’t been around much,” Samantha – one of the twins – reported. “Dad says she has gone for another stint or something.”

‘That means jail…’ Xavier muttered in his mind, but his mouth said something different. “I am sure she’ll be back soon.”

“That’s what dad says, but I don’t believe her. I know stint means a sentence,” Sam – the other twin - explained. “I read a book about prison and learned that.”

Xavier spun and flicked the ball to Sam’s feet, and the game started in earnest. The kids instantly forgot about whatever unstable situation was happening at home.

Still, they talked as they played.

“And your dad?” Xavier flicked the ball over Samantha’s head. “Has he been around?”

“Sometimes, he’s working with James again.”

‘That means drug dealing…’ Xavier thought.

“And he recently sold our bikes,” Damon added. “Ted was super mad about that…”

‘That means heroine…’ Xavier concluded.

Cocaine would lead to selling the house, and fentanyl would lead to a swift death, so the only drug available in Forks that requires selling bikes is Heroine.

The four dribbled the ball around each other, carefully not to stray onto the road. Though the road doesn’t see much traffic, each of them has had a brush with a car before.

Then, Xavier stopped.

“We need another player,” He announced and dashed across the street, pulling Bella along. “This is Bella,” The Eternal introduced. “She has two left feet so she is a striker by birth.”

“Wow…” Bella rubbed her temples in frustration. “I don’t like how you can make two left feet sound so awesome to children.”

“Samantha has two left feet too,” Sam justified.

“And an extra toe too,” Damon added.

Samantha, eager to brag, slipped out of her shoes to advertise the extra toe on her left foot with a wide, toothless, smile.

“Wow… okay,” Bella felt like someone had finally out-awkward her. “Then, I guess I have no reason not to play then…”

The game started anew.

The game naturally took on the configuration of girls versus boys, and Xavier made sure to fumble enough balls to give Bella and Samantha prideful hearts.

For the first time, Bella felt that having two left feet was an advantage in life.

Of course, she took many tumbles during the course of the game, but Xavier was always there to make sure that he protected her from the worse of it.

Samantha, Sam, and Damon took many tumbles.

Xavier’s advice ranged from ‘put dirt on it’ to ‘meh, it will heal’.

-------------

Bella struggled to walk back across the road as the game concluded, and seeing the chance, Xavier scooped the fragile teenager into his arms and dashed across the road.

It was a very accident-prone road.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

HAHA

HAHA

Bella laughed…

Xavier laughed…

They both stopped laughing when Charlie’s head popped through a window, and true to his ungentlemanly nature, Xavier simply released Bella from the bridal carry.

PLOP

Bella’s butt graced the ground.

Charlie simply shook his head and withdrew from the window, leaving Xavier at the mercy of a thoroughly enraged Isabella Swan.

“Please don’t…” Xavier quickly closed his legs when he noticed Bella was gearing up for a low shot.

“You deserve it!” Bella argued, brushing her butt and she stood once more.

“I can make it up to you.”

“How?”

“Come on…” Xavier pulled Bella along.

The duo ventured into the backyard, and though Bella took cautious steps, she was still caught unaware when Xavier reached into Charlie’s boat and withdrew two water balloons.

“No… no! No!”

Bella’s yelling didn’t help.

Xavier marched up to the fragile teenager and crushed the two water balloons over her head.

SPLASH

Bella was stunned for a couple of seconds – enough time for Xavier to repeat the action one more time. Then, when she came to her senses, Bella’s eyes narrowed – the game was on.

Water balloons flew…

The hose sprayed wildly…

At least twelve gallons of water was wasted…

Bella missed a step, and Xavier – in the coolest way possible – slid on his knees to catch the teenager mid-fall.

WHOOOSH

Bella felt a strong embrace, and as they settled on the ground, Xavier couldn’t help but be captured by Bella’s innocence and naïve strength.

Her naïve strength was somehow more potent than his actual strength.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I may get ideas,” Bella threatened, though it was more the truth than anything else.

Xavier shifted his and Bella’s bodies, laying the teenager flat on the ground as he settled on top of her, using his arms to support a thin distance between them.

Their clothes were soaked, revealing more than necessary.

But their soaked clothing revealed exactly what the other person wanted to see most.

Xavier admired Bella’s curves, and her pink bra especially captured his attention – her nipples were stiff, and she was aroused.

Bella, for her part, admired the wet shirt that stuck desperately to Xavier’s abs – she counted eight of them.

Bella felt her mouth run dry – it was the first time she experienced the peculiar sensation of wetness blossoming between her legs.

It was only by some small logic more akin to self-doubt that she rationalized that someone as hot as Xavier would never truly be interested in someone as plain as herself.

“You’re beautiful…” Xavier leaned down and whispered the Gods-honest-truth into Bella’s ears.

All at once, the rationality she had been building up collapsed.

Before she even realized what was happening, Bella’s hands had extended around Xavier’s waist, pulling him down towards her body, and his head towards her lips.

Their lips met…

There were sparks once again – just like the first time…

No, even more, intense than the first time…

It was all embodying and gravity-defying!

It was air without the need to breathe, and sight without the need to open your eyes…

Unwilling to harm Bella, Xavier spun their bodies, placing his back on the ground and Bella’s thighs around his waist as she was now on top.

His hands snaked up her soft legs.

There was no control left in him – he had been trying to restrain himself, and obviously, it was not working.

He was now an Eternal, and Xavier Ikaris Aionios had no need for restraint in a world that was primed to become his.

Their lips remained connected, and saliva cycled between them with greater frequency than the most efficient engine.

Bella’s hands found purchase under Xavier’s shirt, and as she caressed the contours of his abs ever higher, the sudden thought struck her that she should be heading down instead.

The next step was near…

Wet…

Hot…

Inch-thin clothes…

The moment was perfect… if the location had been considered a bit more carefully.

COUGH

COUGH

Bella – faster than she ever had before – rocketed to her feet, finding critical balance in a time of utmost importance.

Xavier, for the first time, was unfocused – still lingering in a state of enlightenment.

Bella's subtle kick was what awakened The Eternal, and Charlie’s judgmental gaze from the backdoor brought greater clarity than his Eternal senses.

“Uhm…” Charlie scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

A normal father would have given their daughter a proper scolding, but Charlie was simultaneously out of practice and wanted to preserve the fragile relationship he still had with Bella, so his range of responses was limited.

“Bella… you should go and take a bath,” The aged man stated. “Xavier and I have to head down to the station to have a talk.”

Bella dashed up the stairs and pass Charlie without even as much as glancing back, leaving everything that came next on Xavier’s shoulders.

As he stood there awkwardly, Xavier’s mind spun and he became aware of the fact that he and Charlie were really going to take a ride to the station, considering what had happened the night before.

۞۞۞

FORK’S POLICE STATION

The ride to the station was almost wordless – a single sentence was shared between the two men.

“Aren’t you with Angela?” Charlie inquired.

“Yup…” was Xavier’s guiltless reply.

“Well…” Charlie reminded himself to tell Bella about this a bit later. “Just remember, I have guns.”

There was silence once more.

-----------

When Xavier settled in front of the officer that would be taking his statement, Charlie paused.

“You know,” Charlie said. “This is the first time I have brought you to the station and actually hope you committed the crime.”

“Wouldn’t I be hanged for this specific crime?”

“As long as it gets you away from my daughter.”

Xavier spend the next thirty minutes providing his statement about the events in the club, and what he was doing last night – his response was basic… he was doing Angela.

It took a couple of minutes for Mr. Robinson to be called and his timeline of events matched up perfectly with what Xavier had described, successfully alibiing the Eternal out.

Now, there would be no question of how Luis and Greg died.

In the first place, the police were only doing their due diligence – all the results would show as Xavier intended, it was an ordinary accident.

“Am I free to go?”

“Yeah, you are…” The Officer replied.

Xavier exited the station and was forced to walk all the way back to Charlie’s house for his Bugatti. Of course, after realizing that she had betrayed Angela, Bella was not so eager to see her accomplice.

Xavier hopped into the Bugatti and drove home, but he knew the night was far from finished – there was much to get done now that Angela would be living with him.

As for the guilt in his heart?

It was not nearly enough to stop him from pursuing Bella while loving Angela.

Something had changed inside his mind and Xavier wasn’t exactly sure of what it was.

An Eternal was entitled to many things – many things he wouldn’t pursue, but two women should be reasonable enough.