Seventeen

                                    

                                          

It was the day of the wedding and Ellis was nervous. He stood stiffly against the Cullen's front door, one hand adjusting the neck of his pristine collar. His suit was a dark maroon red made out of a silky material that he had no idea of the name of and it hugged his figure nicely. The blazer and the trousers were matching in red, making the ivory shirt and the black tie stand out nicely against his caramel hair which had been tamed into smart ringlets by Alice a few hours prior. 
                          
"If Alice catches you, I won't be responsible for her reaction", the calm voice of Jasper made Ellis freeze as he was just about to run a hand through his hair and consequently ruin his hairstyle. Ellis scowled as the blonde moved closer with a soft smile. 
                          
"Is everything set up?" He asked.
                          
Jasper relaxed against the frame next to him, his presence comforting.  "Everything is in place", he replied. He smiled and Ellis felt a wave of calm wash over him. "What are you so nervous about?"
                          
"Why do I have to be the ring barer?" Ellis definitely did not whine. 
                          
"Why not? You should be honoured". 
                          
"I am", Ellis muttered. "It's just- urgh crowds. I barely know anyone who'll be there. And two many smells".
                          
"You fed last night right?" Jasper asked. Ellis had, he knew it. Jasper, Emmet and Ellis had bustled (Ellis a bit more reluctantly) Edward out for a stag party vampire style. That meant that Emmet taught Ellis how to hunt bears. "Just keep control and remember to act human. You should be fine".
                          
Ellis huffed, unamused by Jasper's typical advice. Jasper noticed as he smiled jokingly at him. "Just be glad your eyes have changed". It was true. Ellis' eyes had finally faded from the amber orange to more of a gold tone. They were still more orange than the rest of the Cullens, but they were not too bright to seem supernatural. It just meant that Ellis did not have to wear those ridiculous contacts. 
                          
Alice spared the two of them any more conversations by opening the front door. She beamed at them, dressed elegantly in a shiny lavender silk dress, hair neatly styled. A plush white cushion was tucked under her arm along with a small box. "There you are!" She beamed at Ellis. "The guests are all mingling around the seats,; the others are dealing with them. Meanwhile, you are needed over here". She caught him by the shoulders and began to steer Ellis towards the path leading towards the wood where they were having the ceremony. The path was decorated with flower petals and Ellis was glad that the smell was strong enough to dull the human scents. 
                          
Alice stopped on the edge of the trees and pushed the cushion into Ellis' arms. "It's almost time. Now when Bella comes round the house, the music will start and you shall start walking. Also mind the stray pebble next to Seth's seat and you'll be fine". With that parting comment, she produced the rings out of the box and gently placed them on top of the cushion. Ellis wanted to point out that he had never been to a wedding before, let alone been a ring barer before, but Alice was already walking back towards the house. 
                          
Ellis huffed for what felt like the thousandth time that day (having been cleaned, styled and bustled around till about an inch of his undead life) and waited. Soon enough, he heard the clumsy human tread of shoes as a man, who he recognised as Charlie Swan, came to stand at Ellis' shoulder. The man seemed uncomfortable and he kept shifting his weight around. "So", he began awkwardly. "You're the newest addition to the Cullen family". 
                          
Ellis nodded and smile politely. Carlisle had completed the paperwork a few days ago and news had spread of Ellis' adoption quite quickly for such a small town. "Yes, Ellis Hale. Nice to meet you". Charlie grunted and shifted his glaze to the trees. 
                          
"How'd you meet the family. Bella mentioned that they first met you a few months ago", Charlie asked. 
                          
"Unfortunately I was a bit of troubled kid", Ellis recited, the story easy to remember. "Never got caught by the cops though", Charlie chuckled at this. "But my parents were pretty absent. They died a few years ago and I didn't want to get caught in the foster system so I ran away. I had heard that I had distant relatives over here so I stole a plane ticket and hitchhiked. Carlisle and the others found me whilst on a outing and got me cleaned up. Actually, after hearing my story, they offered to adopt me right then and there"- Ellis pretended to chuckle -"it freaked me out and I ran again. But the offer stuck and I found myself returning. Of course, I had to clean my act up. But it hasn't been that bad so far".