Over the winter break, Bella had called and asked if she could stay with them in Forks. Well, her dad said asked, but really what she did was call and tell them that she would be staying with them, leaving no room for argument. This had annoyed Maya greatly, but she hadn't said anything when she noticed how happy her dad was to have both his girls home. Instead, she had chosen to be happy for him and herself at finally having a chance to get to know her sister. They may not have gotten along as kids, but she was sure that now that they were older, they would have the chance to really connect and get to know one another.
Although she had been sure to let the Cullens know that her sister would be arriving and that she didn't know anything about the supernatural so they had to tone down on the strangeness when they were at her house. Mainly Emmet would have to stop picking up her furniture to rearrange it when they watched movies and Alice would have to go slower as she played in Maya's closet.
She had told them that her dad sort of knew about the supernatural when she had gotten stuck as a cat. Having Edward explain for her that he had been in the room the first time she had shifted and that he knew there were other kinds of supernatural out there. The Cullens had found it amazing that he never pushed, especially when she told them about her spending some time with vampires and him simply accepting them as her "special friends". Which is why they felt comfortable enough relaxing in her house enough to sometimes forget themselves. But that would change with Bella here. Charlie may not ask questions or pry, but there was no guarantee that Bella wouldn't.
This unfortunately meant she also had to warn them about sneaking into her house in the middle of the night. Her dad may spend a lot of time at work and tend to sleep soundly, but she had no idea if her sister did. And catching her friends and boyfriend sneaking into her room in the middle of the night wasn't exactly something she wanted to have to explain to her sister.
Jasper in particular had pouted at this. He had enjoyed being able to come and go from her house as he wished so he could spend more time with his girl, but with Bella there he would have to be a lot more careful and come less often. But oh well, his bed was now officially up to Maya's standards and he was sure that her dad liked him and his siblings enough to allow Maya to come over more often.
When the day arrived for Bella to fly down, Maya had opted to stay home rather than go to the airport. She had told her dad it was in case they needed the extra space, but really, she just wanted to give them a chance to catch up without her there. Though she had not seen her sister since they were seven and was excited at the thought of getting to know her, she did remember the first summer she had come home to visit after living with the Volturi.
Bella had arrived the day after her and had a complete meltdown. Apparently, she had gotten it into her head that their parents had gotten rid of her, so seeing Maya again did not make her happy. She had spent the whole two weeks sulking and trying to pick fights with her. By the time Bella went home, Maya had agreed that she would come down to visit her dad after Bella had already left in order to keep the peace. Of course, her uncles had agreed immediately, happy to have more time with her and her dad saw it as a chance to spend time alone with each of his daughters.
But what it all boiled down to was that Maya had not seen her sister since they were 7 and even though Maya had never really cared when Bella had insulted her, they had still never had the best relationship. But none the less, Maya cared for her little sorella and wanted to get to know her now. She was sure that Bella had grown up and gotten over her childish dislike of her. But that did not mean that she was going to make what was absolutely going to be a very awkward car ride worse. From what she had heard, Bella and her dad were two peas in a pod when it came to keeping a conversation going. She was not going to subject herself to that atmosphere on top of the whole awkward "remember me, we're technically sisters" conversation.
Which was why she was currently in the kitchen attempting to figure out how to make a vegetarian pasta sauce for their dinner that night. Renee had called ahead to inform them that Bella was a vegetarian, which led to a hilarious case of both her and her dad trying to figure out what that entailed. Both of them greatly enjoyed their red meat and their go to meals reflected that. In the end they had called Esme to ask if she knew any good vegetarian meals and she had given them a few recipes to try. For a woman who never ate, Maya had to admit the woman knew her food.
She had just set the pot to simmer slowly, when she heard her dad's car pull up. She washed her hands and headed towards the door, reaching it just as Bella stepped in. Bella only glanced at her, giving her a small glare as she did, before moving past her and heading for the stairs. Her dad followed, attempting to carry Bella's three suitcases by himself.
Maya shook her head at him before moving to take one from him and following them up the stairs, listening to him explain about Bella's room and the fact that there was only one bathroom. She stopped at Bella's room to drop off the suitcase before turning around to check on dinner. She figured her sister was probably overwhelmed and decided to wait until they were seated for dinner to talk with her. Food after all always made things less awkward. Or at least that was Maya's belief.
As she stirred the sauce and put the water on to boil for the pasta, she heard a car pull into the driveway. Her dad headed out to greet them, Bella following along behind. Maya gave the sauce a quick stir, checking to make sure it wouldn't burn if left unattended before following them out.
She stepped out of the house in time to hear her uncle Billy say "I'm still dancing" before he began to try and embarrass her father. "Well, I'm glad you're finally here. Charlie here hasn't shut up about it since you told him you were coming."
"All right, keep exaggerating. I'll roll you into the mud." Charlie drawled, looking away in embarrassment.
"After I ram you in the ankles" Billy replied, getting worked up.
"You want to go?" Charlie held up his fists in a joking manner.
"Yeah, bring it!" Billy charged at him. Maya stood off to the side watching them play fight and laughing. She was always glad to see that her dad could still have fun like this when so many adults seemed to lose that ability.
"Hi I'm Jacob. We used to make mud pies together when we were little." That drew Maya's attention away from the two men as she turned to focus on the other teens.
"Right, no. I remember. Are they always like this?" Bella questioned.
"It's getting worse with old age," Jacob joked, making Maya snicker.
"Oh, come on Jake, they're not old just yet" Maya defended with a smile.
"See, this is why she is my favourite" Billy announced heading back towards them, causing Jacob to roll his eyes good naturedly. He and Maya weren't friends per say, but the two did enjoy teasing each other and their dads sometimes joined in with it.
"So, what do you think?" Charlie made his way back over to them and patted the truck.
"Of what?" Bella asked, clearly missing the point.
"You're homecoming present," Charlie announced, glad to have been able to get Bella something that would hopefully make her enjoy Forks more.
"This?" Bella raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
"Just bought it off Billy here" Charlie confirmed.
"I totally rebuilt the engine for you" Jacob added, excited to show off his skills.
"Oh, come on! Oh, my gosh! This is perfect! Are you joking me?" Bella exclaimed, excited for the first time since she decided to move here.
"I told you she'd love it. I'm down with the kids" Billy joked.
"Oh yeah dude. You're the bomb" Charlie deadpanned.
"Listen, you gotta double-pump the clutch when you shift, but besides that, you should be good." Jacob told Bella, happy to have the chance to show off the engine.
"That's this one?" Bella asked unsure.
Maya's eyes widened at that. Apparently, she wouldn't be the only menace on the road in town anymore if Bella didn't even know which one was the clutch.
"Yeah. Yeah, that right there." Jacob reassured her.
"All right. Do you want a ride to school or something?" Bella asked.
"Oh, I go to school on the reservation." Jacob told her, sad at not having an excuse to spend more time with the girl he had a crush on.
"That's too bad. It would've been nice to know one person." Bella said dejectedly.
"Ah hem. Person standing right here" Maya cut in, making Jacob laugh.
"Don't you have a car, Maya? Or has Charlie been driving you everyday?" Bella asked smugly, trying to rub in that Charlie clearly favoured her.
Maya shrugged, "I do, but I don't drive it much. I suck at driving. My friends usually just give me a lift to school."
What she left out was that this began shortly after a deer had jumped onto the road one day just as she came around a corner, causing her to slam on the brakes and skid across the wet road. She had not been seriously hurt, but she had hit her head pretty good. Nothing that her shifter healing couldn't fix within an hour.
Jasper and Major had still been upset about it though and tried to dismantle her car in an overprotective fit at seeing their mate hurt for the first time. She had eventually talked them out of it, with the help of Rosalie who had smacked them over the head for trying to ruin a gorgeous car like hers. After that failed attempt though, Jasper had resorted to bribes, promising her rides on his bike when the weather permitted and some very wonderful make out sessions in his pickup when it didn't.
"Wait so you don't drive like at all?" Jacob butted in with. The whole concept was foreign to the almost sixteen year old boy. What teen didn't dream of the freedom that came with being able to drive themselves wherever they wanted, when they wanted?
"Well, I can but my friends have to pass by our house to get to school and it gives us a chance to chat more" Maya shrugged, hoping they would leave it at that. She really didn't know how to explain vampire mate protectiveness to a human without making Jasper sound weird and controlling.
Just then, the timer on her phone went off and she turned to head back into the house. "Sorry, the sauce is done so I have to go deal with it. But we can definitely catch up more later. Hopefully when I'm not in danger of burning dinner." She sent him a wink making him laugh as he waved goodbye.
"That's okay Maya, we have to be getting home anyways. It was lovely to see you again Bella." Billy reached up to take her hand and give it a shake. They all said their goodbyes and Charlie stayed out to see then off, while Maya hurried into the kitchen to make sure dinner didn't burn. Bella just sort of trailing after her the whole time.
Dinner that night did not turn out as Maya had hoped. The food was fine, but her attempts to get to know her sister again failed. Even though Maya and their dad tried to include her, she only gave one-word answers or sat there in silence. Maya had also caught Bella shooting glares in her direction at one point. Apparently, she had not grown out of her wish to be an only child. Which caused Maya to suspect that she would not be getting the chance to bond with Bella so they could be sisters in more than name.
This was made clear to Maya when they were getting ready for bed later that night. She had just come out of the bathroom and was headed back to her room when Bella stopped her in the hall.
"You know, I had really hoped that you were gone for good. That Mom and Charlie had finally realized that you were nothing more than a stray that should have been left on the street to die." Bella attempted to shove Maya back as she spoke, but Maya held her ground.
Maya let out a sigh, "You know I was excited to hear that you were coming to live with us. I thought it might be a chance for us to reconnect and be actual sisters."
"Who on earth would want you as a sister" Bella scoffed, looking disgusted at the very idea.
"Yeah ... I can see you don't want that. So how about we just agree to be civil and keep the peace for the sake of Dad, alright? He's excited to have you here and I don't want anything to spoil it." Maya would be lying if she said that Bella's rejection didn't hurt. However, she comforted herself with the knowledge that she had Jane back in Italy who was her chosen sister and Alice and Rose here in Forks who were well on their way to becoming sisters as well.
Bella rolled her eyes. "Fine" she muttered before stomping past her and into the bathroom.
Maya let out another sigh as she turned around and headed to her room. Closing the door as she entered, she leaned her head against it thinking how tiring these next few months would be if Bella refused to at least play nice.
At the sound of a growl, she whipped around to face the opposite wall where Jasper was leaning.
He moved then, pushing off the wall to cross the room and bring her into his arms. "I don't like her."
Maya huffed out a laugh, resting her head against his chest. "I'm not too fond of her at the moment myself Love. But she is my sister and I do care for her. Even if its mainly just for the memories we share."
He didn't say anything and instead led her over to the bed. He pulled back the covers and laid down, pulling her so she was half on top of him before pulling the covers over them both. He kissed the top of her head and began to stroke her back gently. She snuggled into him, letting out a purr at the feeling.
"Go to sleep Darlin'. You have to be up for school in the morning."
"Stay?"
"Always."
And with that she drifted off to sleep in his arms, a smile of contentment on her face. Jasper leaned back and closed his eyes as well. Though he couldn't sleep, he did enjoy the simple feeling of having her resting in his arms, trusting him at her most vulnerable to watch over her.