i really wanted to have this out by christmas but unfortunately it's a week late. enjoy and happy new year!
*
Quil tossed his remaining pizza crust into the mostly empty box, groaning as he laid back with his hands on his stomach. The other three boys were in similar positions, their hands on their stomachs, eyes closed in the blissful aftermath of their pizza dinner.
Sophie could only huff at them amusedly, her own arms folded in front of her. She had managed to eat most of her own slice, trying to focus on the fun conversations her friends were having instead of what she was eating.
The group of friends were gathered in Sophie's bedroom, sitting around on her floor. Beside the pizza box was a collection of movies the group had gone through before their food arrived, though none of them were interested in the films she had provided.
Jacob peeked an eye open and turned his head towards Sophie, who smiled down at her friend. "You okay?"
"I'm okay." She nodded, squeezing her fingers together a few times before she reached forward to grab the trash in her room. "I'm gonna throw this away and then I'll bring up some more movies to pick from."
He nodded back at her before closing his eyes again and Sophie laughed at the boy as she stood up. She jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen before shoving the trash into the trash can. Sophie stared down at it for a few moments, her mind threatening to mock her with dark thoughts.
After another long moment, she closed the lid and turned away from it, determined to not think of her illness for one night. Her blue eyes strayed towards the windows above the sink and she smiled. The sky was a spectrum of different colors as the sun went down - pinks, and oranges, and yellows, and blues streaked across the horizon and she felt the need to capture the moment on paper.
From where she stood, she could hear the boys beginning to move around in her room and figured she should probably go and find more movies. It was just her and the boys tonight in the house since Bella was at Edward's side and Charlie was, as always, preoccupied with work.
As she made her way into the living room, a knock sounded against her front door and she paused. Sophie hated when people knocked on her door, since most people she and her father knew were allowed to come straight in.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs behind her and Jacob appeared at her side. She glanced at him for a moment before moving to open her front door, stopping in her tracks when she saw who it was.
Marcus stood before her, his hands in the pockets of his black slacks, shoulders leaning casually against the side of the house. His crimson eyes landed on her first, before jumping back to Jacob. The expression on his pale skin changed minutely when he saw the werewolf but he masked it well as he looked back to his mate. "Sophie. It's good to finally see you."
"Um, you too." She mumbled, feeling a little awkward with Jacob standing right behind her. She turned to her friend, pushing her shoulder gently into his chest. "I'll be upstairs in a minute."
Jake eyed her for a moment, seeming to weigh between staying with her and leaving her alone with a vampire. He sighed after a moment, nodding at Marcus before moving away from her. "I'll pick some movies out."
Sophie said her thanks before looking back towards her mate. "Let me grab a jacket and we can talk outside."
She left the door open as she rushed into the kitchen, grabbing her jacket from the back of a chair. While it was May, it was still chilly and the nights were even colder. Sophie wrapped it around herself as she met Marcus back by the door, and shut it behind her as they stepped outside.
"Sorry." Sophie started. "I wasn't really expecting company tonight."
"No need to worry." Marcus smiled down at her. "I apologize, it is later than I would have liked to visit you. Unfortunately, we had some business to take care of."
Sophie was curious but, at the same time, felt like it was none of her business so she didn't ask about what they had to attend to. Marcus motioned towards the house. "Are you and your friends having a nice night?"
She nodded, her gaze straying towards her bedroom window. "Yeah, so far so good. Just getting ready to watch a movie, I think."
The man hummed. "Carlisle mentioned that you and Isabella are going to Florida this weekend."
"Yeah." Sophie replied, moving a little away from Marcus to lean against the other side of the house. She crossed her arms over her chest, unconsciously squeezing her upper arm as she did. "We're leaving Friday and will be back on Sunday."
"Are you looking forward to it?"
"Yeah." Sophie looked down towards her feet for a moment before locking onto Marcus'. "I haven't seen my mom in a while, so it'll be nice to see her."
"Well, I hope you both have safe travels." He smiled at her. Sophie felt her face heat and she looked away from him, shy from his intense gaze. "I should be going and letting you get back to your friends."
After she was sure most of her blush was gone, she faced Marcus again. "I'm really sorry, again. If I had known you were stopping by..."
"No need to worry, my dear. I've enjoyed our conversation, even if it was short." He assured her. "And if we don't see you before you leave, I'm sure we'll see you soon after you return."
Sophie decided very quickly that Marcus was the easiest to talk to. He didn't make her worry about her weight or awkward about the conversation and he seemed very easy-going. She smiled back up at him and nodded. "That'd be great."
Marcus slipped one of his hands out of his pocket and reached out to Sophie's own. She paused for a moment. "No mind-reading powers?"
He laughed then, the sound deep and rich. "No mind-reading powers."
She huffed a laugh before giving him her own hand. His cold hands wrapped around hers before pulling it to his lips and placing a soft kiss on the back of her hand. "Enjoy your night, Sophie."
Before she could utter another word, he was gone.
___
Charlie was off work the next night, which was something that rarely happened nowadays. With the disappearances in Seattle, Charlie was working overtime to help in both Forks and Seattle. Sophie was glad her dad had the night off for once, and was ready to spend some time with him before she and Bella left for Florida.
"Time to eat." Sophie announced, turning away from the stove to set the hot dinner down on the table. She had cooked that evening, wanting to help her dad out since he was so busy and Bella had only just gotten home.
Charlie appeared first, his face colored with exhaustion, though he gave his daughter a tired smile and thanked her as he sat down.
Sophie scooped some food onto his plate before doing the same to her own. She glanced upwards at the sound of footsteps running down the stairs and saw Bella appear through the doorway. She looked flushed, causing her sister to watch her closely for a brief minute before turning away.
"So, girls." Charlie said a few moments later, after everyone had their plates in front of them. "Do you both have everything packed?"
"Just finished." Bella told him, blowing steam off of her food before placing it in her mouth. "I'm all set now."
Sophie nodded as she twirled spaghetti noodles around her fork. "I finished a few days ago."
Charlie hummed as he took another bite. "I'll take you to the airport in the morning before I head into work."
Sophie sighed, dropping her fork to her plate as she looked over at him. "Dad, you have the house to yourself the whole weekend. You should take a few days off and relax."
Her father chuckled and set his own utensil down before wiping his mouth. "I'd love to Soph, but with all of these disappearances, I need to help out as much as I can."
From the corner of her eye, Sophie saw Bella flick her own gaze to their dad, appearing the most interested she had all night. Their conversation of Victoria and Seattle had taken place a few nights ago and the older Swan wondered if anything had changed.
"Do you have any leads or anything?" She asked, making a mental note to speak with her sister again when they were alone.
Charlie shook his head as he began to eat again. "No. Riley Bier's parents helped as much as they could but nothing has come from it yet."
He didn't say anything else and Sophie's shoulders sagged. She wished that Charlie could have a break, even if it was just for the weekend. It hadn't been long since Harry Clearwater had died and Sophie knew he was still having a hard time coping with his friend's death, especially since he was shoved into these cases so quickly.
They all finished their dinner quietly and Bella helped Charlie with the dishes before disappearing back into her room. Sophie waited for her dad to join her on the couch, searching through the channels for something for them to watch.
Charlie joined her a moment later with a beer in his hand, a deep sigh escaping him as he fell back into the couch. Sophie passed him the TV remote and reached behind her to grab a blanket to wrap around herself.
Her dad was looking at her from the corner of his eye, watching as her thin arms wrapped around her body in order to get warm. From his seat beside her, he could see the almost ever-present goosebumps on her hairy arms. Charlie hadn't been able to check on his daughter in what felt like ages and he suddenly felt guilty that he wasn't keeping better a watch of her progress.
Sophie caught her dad looking and frowned over at him. "What's up?"
"Nothing." He shook his head and cleared his throat. "Nothing, I was just thinking that it's been a minute since I've talked to you."
Sophie let out a sound of understanding. "Well, what do you want to talk about?"
Charlie wasn't great at talking through things, something each of his daughters had in common with him. And though he had been aware of Sophie's eating disorder for years now, it was still hard for him to talk about at times. "How are you doing?"
"I'm okay." Sophie and her dad had had this conversation a million times and it never got any easier. "Really, right now, I'm okay."
"And you're eating enough?"
"I'm eating." She answered, trying her best not to wince. "Some days are harder than others. At this point, I am managing okay and I've been thinking of reasons to keep going with this recovery period."
When Charlie didn't look completely relaxed, Sophie moved closer to him on the couch and wrapped her arms around her dad. "I promise I'll tell you the minute things change again. I'm going to make this time different."
Different not just for her dad, but for herself, her family, her friends, her mates.
Charlie wrapped his arms around his thin daughter and kissed the top of her head. As much as he wanted to believe her, he knew the cycle by now. He knew that she would go through periods of wanting to really get better before relapsing again but he still clung to hope. He wanted to see Sophie healthy again more than anything else.
When Charlie dropped the girls off the next morning, Sophie gave him a long hug before going into the airport with Bella. As much as she was looking forward to this weekend, she was nervous to see her mom in person.
Renee was very well known for saying what was on her mind and she didn't have the best filter, which made Sophie extra self-conscious whenever she saw her in person. Nevertheless, it had been a long time since she had seen her mom and Sophie was excited for a break from Washington's constant gray skies.
It would also provide her a break from the real world and her current problems, including the three vampire kings that sat near Seattle waiting to see her again. She huffed, her mind wandering back to the last time she was on a plane and how much her life had changed because of it.
She only hoped Florida didn't provide her with anything else particularly life-changing.
***
Wow this took forever to update!
Sorry life has been so busy, I hope you all are happy and healthy!
pleuvoirx