Disclaimer: Twilight I not own-ie!

Thanks to every one who gave me their thought for my prologue. You all know how I love my reviews. I want to hug you all (in a not creepy way)

To my friend and msn/fanfic buddy All.The.RageR

"Love is merely a madness, and, I tell you, deserves as well a dark house and a whip as madmen do."

William Shakespeare

BPOV

I walked to the door of my room and opened it to find Heidi standing right in front of me. Of course she would already be there. For someone to be that gorgeous just doesn't seem fair. She was wearing a mini skirt which she was quite well known for, along with a form fitting white blouse with a large black pleather belt, giving her a business like yet still sexy look.

"Bella, Bella." she shook her head in disapproval. "You are far too beautiful to be wearing such rags." I followed her gaze down to my normal apparel which consisted of a tee shirt and jeans. I had always more of a fan of comfort than fashion.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no one to be dressed up for." I said quietly.

She gave me a sad expression for a moment, and then grabbed for my hand. "Come on, let's go get you some style." she said, changing her expression into a smile making her look like an angel...though I knew better.

I smiled at her attempt to lighten my mood and started walking with her. "No skirts, though." I told her to which she just rolled her eyes at me and continued down the hallways.

"Where are you guys going?" I heard Felix say from behind us.

Heidi swung us around so fast, I thought I caught whip lash. "We're going shopping." she informed him. "Why?"

He stared Heidi down for a moment before softening his expression. "Wouldn't you think it wise if I accompanied you?" he asked.

Heidi raised one eyebrow while I just stayed silent. "Why?"

"Because I was placed with the duty of being Bella's body guard." he told her.

"Felix, I'm sure Bella appreciates that you want her to be safe, but, I think I can handle it." she said before turning us back around. A small giggle escaped from my mouth and I clamped it shut with my free hand. Heidi looked over and smiled at me. "Men." she said as she rolled her eyes, making me giggle again.

Luckily for Heidi it was a cloudy day in Volterra, so she would be able to walk outside without the fear of mere humans, like myself, noticing the fantastic view of her skin sparkling, which it does in the sun. But precautions were still taken, even on cloudy days. A limo was sitting outside our building, waiting for us with it's tinted windows to hide the sparkle on sunny days. The Volturi did everything with style.

The drive didn't take long. We were headed to a series of designer shops that most people didn't have enough money to shop at. I certainly didn't. But the Volturi know no price tag. They get what they want, when they wanted, not caring about price.

Most of the shops, I didn't have much to say about whether I liked the outfits Heidi had me try on or not. But, when she told me I needed a dress for my party, I had to stop her.

"No, Heidi. The party isn't going to be formal." I told her.

"Is that what Aro said?" she asked skeptically.

"I'm not making people wear a dress and tux to celebrate my death." I told her morbidly. "I think some nice dark jeans and a pretty top will be plenty. Nothing big." I said to her.

"Okay, yeah, fine. Whatever you want. Here, how about this top?" she asked holding up a blue top. I smiled at how pretty it was. Normally I would wear nothing of the sort, but after the change I had a feeling more than my wardrobe would get an upgrade.

"I love it." I told her and with that being our final purchase of the day, we headed back to the limo.

I sat and stared out the window on the ride back, letting my mind wander.

"What are you thinking about. You're even more quiet than usual." she said to me.

I turned away from the window to look at her. "Heidi, have you ever been in love?" I asked.

"Well sure." she said with a laugh as if it were obvious. "Tons of times. But eventually I get sick of them."

I turned my head back to look out on the city. "Why do you ask Bella? Have you ever been in love?"

"No. I don't believe in it. Well, I think love exists, or rather the idea of it. But not true love. There's no such thing as true love...the kind of love that pulls you towards another. There is just the thought of it. People are more in love with the idea of true love than they are in the other person." I explained to her.

She just laughed. "Ah, Bella, you are not a romantic, are you."

What was funny about that statement is that I was a romantic. I had always wished that I would be able to witness the love everyone talks so much about. Not experience it for myself...no, I believed I would never find someone to love me in that way, but a friend or a family member. Someone that knew what love was.

But as I grew older I had come to the conclusion that true love didn't exist at all. I saw couples declare love to one another, only for one of them to be dumped and then they both move on. No, love was even more of a story book creation than vampires themselves.

"Ah, Bella, you're back." Aro exclaimed as soon as I got out of the limo.

"Aro, please tell me you didn't make the party formal." I begged him.

His mouth pulled down a little at the corners. "You don't want a formal bash?" he asked me.

"No. People don't need to get dressed up for me. I wouldn't feel comfortable. Besides, I really do not want to wear a dress at the last party of my life."

"Fine, I'll have Alec change the invitations. We're sending them out today. Isn't that exciting?"

I tried to give him my best smile, but he didn't fall for it. Truth be told, I was never a big fan of parties and the idea of Aro having a huge on for me, just didn't sit well with me.

"Bella, please, can you do me a favor?"he asked, his eyes looking straight into mine. "These next couple of weeks are your last as human. I want you to have fun. To enjoy yourself. Break out of this shell and show everyone how alive and fun loving you are. You don't want your last days as a human to be coped up in your shy shell. Crawl out of it. If only for these two weeks, crawl out of it." he repeated.

I nodded. I would try. I promised that not only to Aro but to myself. Because on the inside of me there was the person I wanted to be, but then, there was the person that I was, holding her back.

"Don't worry." Heidi whispered in my ear. "All you have to do is think 'what would Heidi do' and then do it." she said with a laugh. I smiled at her and walked to my room.

Felix was already in my room with all of my bags filling the space. He began to put them in drawers and my closet.

"You really don't have to do that, you know." I told him.

"I want to. Besides, it will go a lot faster than if you did it." he responded.

"Okay. Then by all means, proceed." I said with a laugh.

"What was that?" he asked with a smile.

"What?"

"You. You just gave up, and then you laughed." he said suspiciously, but still with a smile on his face.

I shrugged. "I'm supposed to have more fun and break out of my shell, I guess."

He walked over, stepping closet to me, his red eyes boring into mine. "Is there any way I can help you with that?" he almost purred.

I didn't know what to do or what to say. I just stood there as he continued to walk closer to me. I never thought of Felix in that way. He was really nice and had always protected me, but my feelings towards him were friendly, and nothing more. This was becoming quite awkward for me.

"Felix, Marcus wants to talk to you." Dimitri said as he poked his head into my room.

"Fine, I'll only be a minute." Felix answered still looking at me.

"He said now." Dimitri said in an official tone.

"I have to go." he said to me. I only nodded and as soon as he was gone, let out a huge sigh of relief.

I turned toward Dimitri who was still halfway in my room. "Thank you." I said, just barely above a whisper. He nodded with a smile and left me to my thoughts.

I knew I'd have to confront him about this sooner or later, but I much rather it be later...way later. He was sweet and I didn't want to hurt his feelings or lose him as a friend. My only hope is that after I was changed, his feelings would change as well.

EPOV

I had just come home from a simple hunt by myself. Rumors around the town were that there was a bear near that would occasionally come into town. Jasper, Emmett, and I had made a game out of catching the bear. Betting on who would be the first to catch it. Today, I had won.

As I neared the door of the house, I read the minds of my family members. For some reason, all of the thoughts were in shock. I ran into the house to find everyone standing in the living room and Carlisle holding a small piece of paper. It looked like a card.

"Why so shocked? Did someone send you a birthday card with your actual age?" I said jokingly. Winning the bet had put me in an unusually good mood.

They all ignored me and continued to stare at the card. I cautiously walked over to them and peeked at what it was they were looking at.

"A death day party?" my tone was disgusted. "Is that what the Volturi do to their victims nowadays? Throw them parties?"

"I don't know. This is rather unusual. Maybe I should call Aro and see what's going on." Carlisle answered.

He walked over to the would be dining room, if we actually ate at it, and picked up his phone. The rest of us waited in the family room, giving him his space talking to his old friend.

"How was the hunt, Edward?" Jasper asked.

"Well, the bet is over." I told them. They groaned, but then were over it.

"Wait, that's it, you're no challenging me or complaining about losing?" I asked a little shocked.

I noticed Rosalie rubbing Emmett's back, making him smile up at her. "Nah, I've got better things to do." Emmett said, giving me a mental image of him and Rose in a compromising position.

I growled at him, and he gave me an apologetic smile.

"Maybe if you found someone, you wouldn't be so bad-tempered all the time." Jasper said. "The emotions you send me really don't do much but annoy me."

"I am not bad-tempered." I told them while pinching the bridge of my nose to calm myself so it wouldn't be a lie. "And I definitely don't need a woman to be happy."

"It couldn't make you worse." Rose said with a hint of a smile, which she wiped off her face as soon as I glared at her.

"I am perfectly fine with just having my family." I informed them. "Not all of us were meant to have a mate."

"Is that what you believe, Edward?" Alice asked me in a sad tone. "That you weren't meant to have anyone?"

"Whether it's what I think our not, it doesn't matter. The fact remains that I am complete without some one." I softened my tone a bit, seeing Alice's sad expression. "My family is more than I could ever want."

And it was true. My life was my family. I loved them deeply and would do anything for them. With feeling that kind of love, I didn't need a woman...I had them. And I did feel complete...most of the time.

There were nights when I could hear the words of love or the making of love that the couples in the house shared. Occasionally I would wish that I too had that. Had someone to whisper terms of endearment into their ear. Or someone's hand to simply hold. But the feelings never lasted that long. I had never met another vampire that made me feel like I couldn't live without them...and that is what it seemed everyone else in the house had. I just wasn't made to be loved. Now that I truly believed.

But I was knocked from my reverie when Carlisle entered the room. "Well?" I asked him.

He smiled at us. I heard Alice squeal from beside me. "Oh my gosh! This party is going to be so much fun!" she yelled, practically bouncing off the walls.

"Apparently, he has found a girl. She is alone and is dying herself. Aro took her in and is quite taken with her. I guess a lot of the Volturi have taken a liking to her. He is also very interested in the possibilities of her powers after the change." Carlisle explained to us. "She has specially asked us to come. Aro says she wants to live our way of life." he finished with a smile.

"She doesn't want to drink humans?" Emmett asked.

"I suppose her being human, herself, she finds it disgusting. Although her bloodlust will be rather interesting to witness. I've never heard of anyone volunteering to be changed. Maybe the bloodlust wont be so bad for her. She seems well informed about what she's about to enter into." Carlisle continued.

"So, we're going to a party?" I asked skeptically.

He simply nodded. "Although I will need to stay behind a bit after. I will teach her about our ways. Edward, I also think it would be best if you stayed as well, since you've been with me the longest. I may need your help."

"Can't I stay?" Alice asked sounding a bit sad. "Bella seems really fun."

"Alice, Jasper would miss you." Carlisle explained.

"Alice, if you want to stay, you can. Just take trips back to me every once in a while. I'm sure it wont take that long." Jasper said, soothing his wife.

"Why don't we just see how it goes first." Esme told them.

"So, when do we leave?" Emmett asked.

"And more importantly, what do we wear?" Rose looked at Alice with a smile.

"We leave in two days." I said, reading it in my father's mind. Carlisle nodded.

Two days.

Well there you go. Another chapter up. I hope you guys like it. I think it's pretty fun...well not fun, but a little deep.

At first I had a really funny quote about shopping, but given the tone I didn't think it would fit...lol.

Cheerio!

ashel-13