The blizzard of 2016 started this, so I'm going to apologize in advance. I was rather bored and snowed in, and I'm only posting it just now because I finalized the first chapter and made it as best as I could, so I hope everyone likes it, and let me know what you think! I respond quickly with reviews, and that's my main motivation to keep writing is to tell me what you think.

Enjoy!

Missy

"Bella, believe it or not, we love you like family, but your human problems are no longer our concern," Carlisle's bell-like voice told me from over the phone. I kept trying to get a word in, but every time I tried, he cut me off.

"But…"

"No 'buts', Bella," he cut back in, and I could tell from the sound of the whoosh over the phone that he was shaking his head. "I know you're going through a tough time, but it's nothing that us vampires can fix for you."

"That's what I'm…"

"No," he cut me off, again, and I sighed, trying to regain control over my emotions. "We've moved on, and that's what you need to do, as well. I'm sorry Bella, but that's life, and you can't always get what you want."

I couldn't get a single word in, edge-wise, and my hormones began to kick in, causing me to finally lose it.

"No, you know what life is—when I die, and you have that on your fucking conscience because of what you left me here to deal with, alone, then maybe you'll see what I've been trying to tell you, all along!"

"And what is that?"

His sarcastic attitude about my well-being was pissing me off, but at the same time, I now knew how he really felt about me, and that made me not want to tell him what I needed him for, anymore, consequences be damned. "You don't deserve to know! At this point, I'll take dying over being with a family who only manipulates me and pretends to love me!"

I heard more than one gasp over the phone as Carlisle, for the first time that I've known him, stuttered out a phrase of incoherent words.

"Bella, we—" Esme's voice cut in on the phone as she took it away from Carlisle, but by then, I already heard enough, and I slammed the phone down hard enough for it to shatter with my newfound strength. I looked at my clock and saw that I had exactly twenty-four hours to get out of Forks before my father would arrive home and begin searching for me. So far I've been lucky enough to hide my defined bump behind baggy old shirts of Charlie's, but I knew I didn't have long until I would wither away, more. I've been sustaining myself on near-raw steaks, but even that was no longer staying down the way that it should.

After packing a couple of bags of personal belongings, toiletries, and a few items of clothing, I dug into my backpack and counted the money from my savings account and jar, totaling of about $4,000. Just enough money to get me where I needed to go. I put it in a safe place, making sure that I had my passport, identification, and everything else that I needed before carrying my stuff downstairs. I laid out my jacket, checking the time. It was only after five, barely two hours since the phone call to Carlisle, and I knew I couldn't leave until after dark, so that nobody would see what I looked like, or see what I was doing. So I still had at least an hour to go.

With a sigh, I lay down on the couch, setting an alarm on my ancient cell phone before I closed my eyes, willing myself to take a short nap.

(Alice's POV, during the phone call)

This was getting ridiculous, and I hated Edward for it! Of course he wasn't here, hasn't been in the three weeks we left Forks, so why should he care? I shook my head in disgust…his attitude, along with everyone else's, is making me sick.

After Carlisle told her that her life wasn't our problem, and she couldn't get what she wanted, I wanted to throw my magazine at him, but Jasper held my arm back. He lied to her and told her that we've moved on and she should do the same, but that was so far from the truth that I couldn't even put it into words. We were all just miserable without Bella, and nobody was acting like they used to, but no one wanted to go against Edward or Carlisle, either, so we didn't challenge it. Yet.

But when she told Carlisle that he would be at fault for her dying, a vision triggered deep within me. Bella, on the phone with Carlisle, crying, but at the same time she was pissed off and her cheeks were real red. She looked so gaunt and sickly, like she didn't have a lot of time. Then the vision changed, and she was in Italy, facing the Volturi, her condition much worse, though I couldn't see all of her. When I came out of it, I gasped loudly, around the same moment that everyone in the room did, too. Esme grabbed the phone from Carlisle, but only got a couple of words in before the line went dead and she slammed it down. She glared at her longtime mate and husband with a fiery burn in her eyes that resembled hate, but it was just years of pent up anger and frustration that all rose to the surface at the exact same time.

"I can't believe you," she growled, and he reacted as if she'd slapped him, even though she hadn't touched him. He might've felt better if she had. "You told her lies, and for who? The son who left us to deal with everything that he'd done wrong? Pathetic!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" he asked, but that's when Esme finally looked over at me, and her face went even paler, if all possible.

In a flash, she was right at my feet. "What'd you see, Alice?"

I could hear the fear so evident in her voice, but it took me a few moments to steady my nerves. I took a deep, unneeded breath, glaring at her and at pretty much everyone in the room. "We all had a hand in this, and Bella, as we speak, is leaving Forks."

My vague answer didn't sit well with the others, but Carlisle's cocky attitude had me on guard. "So she's leaving? What does that have to do with us?"

"What's the one law of exposure that our kind has?" I asked, standing up as Jasper did the same, standing right by my side, but as soon as I said this, I almost regretted it. Everyone else stood up, but Carlisle and Rosalie looked like they wanted to kill Bella rather than help her.

"She's going to tell humans about us?" Carlisle asked, seeming pissed off. But all I could do was shake my head. "Then what? Stop talking in riddles and just tell us!"

And that's what pissed me off enough to growl at him, wanting to tear him to sheds. I probably would've, had it not been for Esme, who didn't deserve to lose her mate. But a growl sounded from deep within my chest, and I couldn't help but let it out.

"She's on her way to Italy, to speak with the Volturi!"