Too Close | Rosalie Hale

Chapter 27 - The End.

Rosalie and Lex sat around the bonfire as Garrett talked animatedly about his role in all the major American battles. That was something that Lex had noticed about him—he cared a little too much about his human life.

"I came this close to biting Custer," Garrett said as more and more vampires joined them around the fire.

Rosalie nudged Lex to get her attention and nodded in Emmett's direction. He was sitting on a log with his arm wrapped around a petite redhead from the Irish coven. Her name was Ebha and both Rosalie and Lex thought she was cool.

Ebha had a sunny disposition and a lot of charisma. She and Emmett had grown close in the short time that they had known each other, and the Cullens were all pretty sure that they would soon gain a new family member.

"Nice," Lex whispered in Emmett's direction as she sent him a nod of approval. Rosalie let out a choked laugh that she tried to conceal with a cough, but it was obviously fake—vampires didn't cough.

"Shut up," he mouthed back, trying his best to make sure that Ebha didn't notice their interaction.

His efforts were fruitless, and Ebha let out a twinkly laugh. Her red eyes glimmered in the fire's light. "Thank you, Lex."

"You're welcome, Ebha," Lex replied with a grin. She leaned closer and placed her head on Rosalie's shoulder.

Tomorrow was going to change everything, and they would be lying if they said that they weren't terrified. Lex's mind raced with all the things that could go wrong—there were so many of them. She had just gotten this family; they were all that she had in this life, and she didn't know what she would do if she lost any of them.

Rosalie's hand stroked Lex's hair, successfully breaking her away from her spiraling thoughts. Things were going to be okay—they had to be because they had each other, always.

The group sat and talked all night, save for the few mortals who still needed to sleep. It was really comforting to get to know the people that would go into battle with them—even if they didn't end up fighting the Volturi.

The following morning was silent, save for the crunching of the snow under their feet and the heartbeats of those who weren't vampires.

Lex wasn't sure how they agreed on where to meet up. Had Carlisle called Aro up and let him know the geographical coordinates or something? Couldn't they have picked somewhere warmer? Though Lex couldn't feel coldness anymore, she knew that running in fresh snow wasn't the easiest feat—even for a vampire. The Volturi were experienced fighters, and Lex couldn't help but think that the snow would only serve as a disadvantage for everyone but them, and possibly Benjamin, who could control the elements.

Rosalie curled herself into Lex's chest as they stopped walking and looked into her eyes. "I love you," Rosalie said, almost sounding urgent.

"I love you too," Lex said just as a flurry of dark hooded figures emerged from the trees.

"The redcoats are coming, the redcoats are coming," Garrett muttered.

There were so many of them—more than Lex had expected. She had only had one previous interaction with the Volturi, and there had not been nearly as many of them. They were so screwed.

"Aro's looking for Alice," Edward informed the group as the hooded figures drew nearer.

From the distance, Lex heard a wolf howl. More and more joined in as they emerged from the treeline. She would've never thought that being surrounded by vampire-killing wolves would make her feel so safe, but she felt so much better knowing that they were there, and that they were on the same side as she was.