A/N: Thank you so much for all the new reviews/favs/alert adds guys!!!!! I took your opinions/suggestions and tried to tie it into this chapter, and I hope it worked. Also, huuuuuuge thanks to my amazing beta Shattered-Angel-Of-Darkness!!!! I don't know what I'd do without you Bek!! Anyway though…Alright. Here's the promised Viv chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this chapter, and I don't claim to own Twilight or Blood and Chocolate. I do however, own the plot.
Vivian POV
"Wait up!"The Four were running after her, all yelling various curses and threats. She turned and smirked. "Aw, worried about having to walk home, pups?"
They glared. "No, we just don't want to have to walk when you could drive us instead", Ulf piped up.
She smiled. Esme had allowed her to take the Mazda to school today since they were in unfamiliar territory and Vivian had recently acquired her license.
She pondered as she drove, ignoring The Four completely as they bickered about the radio station.What was she going to tell Gabriel? That they had just found a new home after everything with Aiden, Astrid, and Rafe. Was she supposed to ask him to uproot The Pack again from their perfect new home because there were vampires? On top of that, she had to admit that she had really clicked with Bella. Girlfriend of a leech or not, the meat-girl was charismatic and kind. She also seemed very understanding when Vivian had told her a bit about the move. Vivian didn't want to give up the chance of an actual friend, but at the same time, was she willing to risk the Pack again for her own follies? She sighed. I suppose the best thing to do is just tell Gabe. He'll know what to do.
It wasn't until later that she realized that not only had she used a nickname for him, but she'd mentally referred to him with absolute faith in his ability to protect her and the Pack.
Vivian slammed the car door after retrieving her bag, frustrated with her current situation. To make matters worse a drizzle had started, leaving her hair and clothes damp. After insuring that the car was locked, she walked up the driveway sluggishly, yanked the door open, and tossed her bag on the couch in the sitting room. She followed suit, plopping down and closing her eyes. Why was this so difficult? It's just one girl. She snorted. Yeah, that and a family of vampires.
It seemed strange that she hadn't seen anyone since she came inside. She dismissed it as luck. Everyone seemed to be in everyone else's way lately, since some of the adults had yet to employ themselves. Esme and Renata had managed to land a job at one of the town's only two bars, and Bucky was working down at an auto shop in town. Thomas was useless, as far as she saw it. He stayed in the house, occasionally helped clean, and spent all his free time either with Vivian's mother or watching television. Rolf and Raul were working at the local grocery store stocking, and Gabriel had somehow managed to secure a job at the local police station. As she mentally took stock of where everyone would be, she realized that only she, Thomas, Aunt Persia, The Four, Magda, and Lucien would be home right now. Esme and Renata should still be home, but they were probably going in early in the hopes of securing the manager's approval. Gabriel would be getting home in approximately a half-hour, as would Rolf. She didn't know when everyone else would be returning.
Vivian looked over at her books, and the stack of homework she knew was waiting, sighed, walked upstairs, presently collapsed in a bed in her room, and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
It was dark outside when she felt someone nudging her gently. She grumbled and rolled over, and was rewarded with a rumbling chuckle. The nudge was a bit firmer this time, but she ignored it all the same. The only explanation she could mentally give herself for this exhaustion was the recent stress. She heard another chuckle, and the bed rose a bit, as if a weight had been removed. She was drifting into unconsciousness again when suddenly she was pushed over not-so-subtly and the bed went down again. Startled awake, she looked over to see a half-naked Gabriel lying beside her, smirking. She glared and swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the muscled bicep resting at eye-level. "What's going on?" She asked, half-angry, half confused.
"Just goin' to bed, Viv. Couldn't go to sleep with you sprawled across my bed like that." His smirk grew more pronounced. She then realized that it must have been Gabriel's bed she'd fallen asleep on. In her daze, she must have not noticed.Vivian was partly afraid, but remembered what Bucky had said the day before about Gabriel not being the type to sneak up on someone. The room seemed smaller suddenly; her flesh crawled with the claustrophobia. She nonetheless took Bucky's statement at face value- consequences be damned- managed to yank an oversized hoodie off the bedpost and put it on, rolled over so she was facing away from him, pulled the covers up, and was promptly asleep again.
Sunlight peeked through the shutters. Vivian languidly sat up and was about to stretch her arms above her head when she froze. Cuddled up against her, snoring quietly, was Gabriel. She swallowed her yelp of surprise and slowly lay back down. Almost as if it were not her body, she saw her hand reach out and lightly stroke the side of his jaw. She shuddered as she felt the stubble on his face, sending delicious chills down her spine. She pondered mentally. When exactly had she begun to wonder what it would be like to wake up beside him? She couldn't remember. All she knew was that this Gabriel, the sleeping, innocent Gabriel, fit the description of what she thought he might look like when he was a boy: peaceful and somehow fragile. Not the rugged, sometimes compassionate, flirtatious Gabriel she knew now. It made her wonder what he would be like were they truly mates…Nope. Not going to think about it.
A moment later, her train of thought broken, she glanced at the clock. And almost jumped out of her skin. "Shit!" She leaped up with every intention of running for the bathroom, changing, and speeding off to school, but was stopped suddenly in midair.
It appeared that she had come face-to-ribcage with a brick wall. Oh, wait, that was Gabriel. Shit! How long had he been awake?? No time to think of that now Viv, she chided herself. She might be able to make it to fourth period in time if she hurried. "Relax Vivian. Lay down." Gabriel's gravelly voice drifted over the comforter, and she found herself obeying.
"But I'm late for school!" she squealed.
"Nah, you're not. You're not going to school today. Called and told them you had a headache. You looked pretty wiped out so I figured you might need the day off today. You've been through a lot lately." Vivian smiled a bit. He'd let her stay home today because he thought she'd been too stressed. She almost hugged him.
"Thanks", she mumbled. "Wait, what about work?" She was confused. "You don't have a job, Vivian.""I know that", she grumbled. "But you do." "Got the day off. Do me a favor, go back to sleep", he groaned tiredly.She glared, got out of bed, and proceeded to make her way to the kitchen. It seemed the house was mostly empty, except for Thomas and Esme of course. However, Magda was in the kitchen making toast when Vivian started hunting through the cupboards. "So… How was your night, dear?" Magda asked with a bit of a twinkle in her eye. Vivian growled softly.
"Fine, thanks."
Magda looked almost flustered. "Did…things.. go okay?"
It suddenly clicked. "We. Are. Not. Sleeping. Together." She made each word distinct.
"With you staying home today and him taking off work, I just figured…" Magda trailed off. "Wait, he took the day off?" Vivian frowned.
"Of course. He was supposed to be working until 7:00 tonight." Put that way, she could understand Magda's assumption. Vivian nodded and filled a cup of coffee. Thank god for the new percolator. She took a sip, sighed peacefully, and walked back upstairs. She could use a nap. Why was she so tired all of a sudden? Although logically it seemed just about right, she'd never needed excessive sleep.
Oh well, she thought. Don't fight the feelin'.
When she woke up that night, Vivian decided to see a doctor. Although she'd slept for almost a full twenty-four hours, she was still unrefreshed. She informed Esme of this, who looked confused.
"You could ask Aunt Persia instead", she suggested.
Vivian hadn't thought of that. When she paid Persia a visit later, however, Aunt Persia made it clear that she dealt only with healing and illnesses of the Loup-Garou, and that Vivian's symptoms weren't something Persia recognized.
Vivian was in the kitchen later, starting dinner and thinking of a way to tell Gabriel about Bella's boyfriend when Esme came in and announced that Vivian wouldn't be going to school the next day, for she had called the local hospital to ask a nurse. Vivian's symptoms pointed to either an extremely sluggish teenager, or Mononucleosis. Theoretically, Loup-Garou weren't often affected with human viruses, but then again it wasn't impossible. She was glad for the day off, anyhow.
Gabriel came inside just as everyone was sitting down to a rather large dinner. Free time on Vivian's part and good shopping on Renata's had made for a hearty meal. Gabriel looked at the table appreciatively before he slipped into the chair by Vivian's, which had circumstantially been left empty. He piled his plate full before he addressed Vivian.
"What time did you wake up today? When I left you were still asleep."
"Around 6:00. Where were you?"
"Auto shop. Had to change the oil on my bike and I stopped to talk to Bucky. Dinner's delicious, by the way."
"Thanks", mumbled Vivian. He nodded and continued shoveling food into his mouth. Vivian wondered if now was an appropriate time to talk to him about the leech. She decided to wait until before bed. She wondered idly whether he would expect her to share his bed again tonight. Somehow the prospect didn't seem as frightening as it had the night before. When she was through eating, Vivian excused herself and slipped upstairs for a shower. She stood under the hot spray for a long time, letting the water soothe and relax her muscles before she washed off and stepped out. She put on her favorite flannel pajamas and a large t-shirt, since there was no way she would be sleeping nude with Gabriel around, although that was what she normally preferred.
Walking into the bedroom, Vivian sat on her bed with a brush and began to work the tangles out of her damp hair. She didn't notice Gabriel walk in until he had taken the brush from her hand. She growled softly but didn't object as he began to run the brush in gentle strokes through her hair. She decided now was as good a time as any. "Gabriel…" she started. The brushstrokes were steady, calming. "There's a bit of a situation."
"And that is?" he replied lazily. Vivian winced as the brush passed over a tangle. He murmured an apology. Vivian continued. "There are - Five vampires.. At the new school." The brushstrokes paused. "At your high school. Vampires." He seemed as if he was trying to digest the possibility.
He sighed. "You're sure?" Vivian nodded. "Nothing about them is… human. Their eyes are strange. Their movements too graceful. They smell strange. They're too alert, constantly. It's just really obvious. Every muscle in my body screams for the change, for protection, when they're around. I can just tell."
Gabriel nodded. "That sounds about right. I'm the only one you've told?"
"Yes. The Four know; Greg tried to tell me but didn't get a chance." Gabriel nodded again. "I'll look into it. I'd like you to find out a bit more though, if you can. Be very careful though; you might be at school but it's still not safe for you to be around them. Make sure you tell the Four to be on guard around them also. The reason you want to change around them is because our species are natural enemies."
Vivian nodded. She'd talk to Bella a bit more when she got back to school. She was lost in thought and it was when Gabriel set the brush down and tilted her chin up that she came back to the present. His face was quite close to hers suddenly. A heady masculine scent drifted to her nose. Like forest fires, pine wood, and the smell of the earth after it rains. It was rather intoxicating, she admitted a reluctantly. She found herself staying perfectly still as his face slowly lowered to hers. His lips gently brushed her cheekbone and he pulled away, the side of his mouth turned up in a slight smirk. "You're getting better about that", he teased. She growled, flung her brush- which missed, humiliatingly- at him, yanked her covers over her head, and ignored the rumbling chuckle that proceeded.
As she fell asleep though, she found herself replaying the kiss in her head over and over.
A/N: What do you guys think?? I wasn't too sure about this chapter, but I felt I just had to put It up here. It shows how much Viv is coming to like Gabe… however unwillingly lol. I also thought that since you've been asking for a bit of fluff (and I've been dying to write some lol) I could tie it into her chat with Gabriel. Don't be disappointed with his reaction to the vamps though; the next chapter is possibly in his POV and if it is we'll see what he really thought. Also possibly either Bella's or Edward's. Opinions?Hope I didn't disappoint you guys. Let me know what you thought!!!!!!!! )