Hello! As promised here's the next chapter! For those who are interested, my holiday was great! I just stayed at home and did all the things I like to do like reading, writing, listening to music and sleeping. It was always raining but I actually liked the rain. It's peaceful and everything looks cleaner after. I'm rambling, I know but that's me. I worked hard to be able to update today. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews this story. It makes me very happy and it means a lot! Please REVIEW! I hope you like it! HUgs

02/07/2010: This chapter is now beta'd. Thanks to my Beta Adri1577 for her precious help.

Chapter 3

When I first entered the house, I tried to listen to the thoughts of all the Cullens, but it was too much, so I quit. But now I was actually considering listening to Rosalie's. Maybe I could find out what she thinks of this because the only thing she has done since we arrived, is staring at us.

It can't be her! She died! But she looks so much like Bella. Her eyes are different, and she's thinner, but if she's alive, why didn't she come to us? To Edward? Instead, she's with them! They are gorgeous, even for vampires. Alice said they were her brothers, but I don't know. They seem so intense and protective of her! Maybe they lied and one of them is actually her new boyfriend. How could she do this to Edward?

It was enough! This misunderstanding had to end. Esme was also wondering. I wasn't mad about it because most people assumed that, and not everyone believed when we said they were just my brothers. It's true that they are very protective and intense about me, but that's just because we have been through a lot together.

"Rosalie!" I called trying to get her attention. I was not blocking my thoughts, so my brothers were able to hear Rosalie's through me. They were amused with her thoughts, except for the last part. I wasn't mad, but it hurt me that she thought I could do that to Edward. She glared at me, but I had her attention. "They are my brothers!" I stated. "Scott, Luke and Kurt." I introduced.

"It's very nice to meet you." Esme said happily. She believed me. Of course Rosalie was a whole different matter.

"Brothers?" She asked, as doubt filled her voice.

"Yes, brothers." I answered calmly. "Just like Alice is your sister and Jasper and… Edward are your brothers." My hesitation didn't go unnoticed. Kurt immediately put his hand on my shoulder, comforting me. I smiled at him.

"Come honey! We have a lot to talk about. Let's sit!" Esme said taking my hand and leading me to the living room. My brothers and a very bouncy Alice followed, as well as Carlisle, Emmett and Rosalie.

Esme and Alice made me sit between them and Kurt sat beside Alice. Luke, Scott and Rosalie took the couch on our right side. Emmett sat on the ground beside Rosalie and Carlisle sat in the couch's arm next to Esme.

"I can't understand!" Rosalie started. "How could you do this to Edward? Being alive and not telling him? Do you have any idea how much he suffered?"

"Rosalie!" Alice hissed, but she just kept going.

"How could you let him suffer so much? How can you say you love him and do that to him? Maybe being in the Volturi made you cold and insensitive…" She eyed our cloaks.

"Enough! That's enough!" Kurt shouted, getting up. "How dare you open your mouth to say anything against Bella? You can't judge her. You don't know what happened! I do. And what I do know is that every day I have to look in her eyes and see how much she suffers, how hard this is for her! She's not like you! She did everything she could to help all of you, and believe me when I say that she knows very well how much you all suffered. She's a much better person than you so just shut your venomous trap and think twice before you talk about what you don't know!" He stormed out of the room.

"Excuse me!" I said going after him. You don't have to come. I'll be right back! I thought to Luke and Scott. "I've got this!" I assured them aloud; they just nodded.

I didn't have to go far. Kurt was pacing in front of the house. I sat on the porch steps.

"Hey!" I called. I knew that everyone inside would hear our conversation, but I preferred to actually talk rather than think.

"Are you okay, Bells?" He asked immediately. "I'm sorry. I know that this will probably make things harder, but I just couldn't sit still and hear her say all those stupid things about you!"

"I appreciate your gesture though I think you could have explained your point in a more polite way. But she's just trying to understand. I respect that. And I should be the one apologizing."

"Why?" He asked confused.

"Because I didn't realize how much I was hurting you."

"Bells, listen to me! " He pleaded. "What hurts the most is knowing that you're in pain and not being able to help you, and seeing you hiding all those feelings just to keep us from suffering. We would prefer if you talked to us. At least we would feel like we were doing something to help you."

"Maybe we should go back. Will you apologize to Rosalie?" I looked hopefully to him, but the answer was clear in his eyes.

"Of course not! I'm not going to take back what I said!"

"I am not asking you to change your opinion, just be polite and apologize for the way you talked."

"No"

"Please. Do it for me!" I begged.

"Don't do that!"

"Please!"

"Fine! Fine!"

"And that's why I love you!" I said smiling.

"Sure. Sure." We went back inside where everybody was waiting. "I will not take back what I said, but I do apologize for my manners." Kurt stated, taking his seat next to Alice. I also took my seat, and everybody looked expectantly at me.

"What?" I asked.

"What happened, Bella? Why did you disappear and never came back if you could?" Alice questioned impatiently. Rosalie was still eyeing our cloaks, so I decided to explain that first.

"I don't work for the Volturi anymore! We just use the cloaks because they are useful." The Cullens relaxed.

"What happened, Bella?" Alice insisted.

"What do you know?" I asked them. I knew that my brothers had spoken to them, after I ran.

"Tell us everything!"

"Well… Edward was hunting and I was nervous, since I was going to get married the day after, so I decided to go for a walk. I didn't go very deep into the forest, but it was enough for the Volturi. Something knocked into my head pretty hard, and I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was laying in a bed. Later I found out that Demetri and Felix had been the ones who kidnapped me and kept me unconscious until we arrived to Italy. Three days after we arrived to Volterra, Aro took blood from me and changed me. Then he sent Felix and Demetri back to Forks, and they faked my death using the blood that Aro had collected." Everyone in the room was quiet. "He never told me exactly how my death was faked, but I knew that he had done it well enough, so that you wouldn't suspect anything. As they expected, my shield had gotten stronger, and I could block any power I wished, so they spent a lot of time training me, teaching me how to fight and pushing my limits. I was a quick learner, and soon I could beat the strongest vampires of the Volturi guard. It had been just a year but it seemed like a thousand. When Aro found out that I had another gift besides my shield, he started training me himself. We grew closer, and he became some sort of a father to me. By then Scott and I were already inseparable." I smiled at him. "Ten years after I was changed, I left the Volturi, and Scott came with me. I had made some friends and in a way they were a family to me." The Cullens were shocked, to say the least. "Later Luke and Kurt joined us and that's it." I finished.

Aren't you going to tell them about David? Kurt asked mentally

Maybe later, I think that three brothers are already enough for them to handle. I replied.

"Why didn't you run? If you are so strong, I'm sure you could have run away!" Alice asked confused.

"No, I couldn't."

"Aro threatened you, didn't he?" Carlisle asked knowingly.

"The first thing Aro said to me when my change was over, was that if I tried to escape or contact you in any form, you would be the ones to pay for that."

"You said he became like a father to you, and your brothers told us he cares for you like a daughter. Why didn't you run then? Do you think he would have made you suffer so much, by doing something to us?"

"Though I knew that he cared for me as if I was his daughter, I wasn't sure how far he would go to keep me with him. And I'd rather not risk your lives to find the answer to your last question."

"And then he just let you go?" Esme asked doubtfully.

"Aro realized that that life wasn't for Bella. He finally saw how unhappy she was, so he allowed her to leave. He truly cares for her." Scott answered.

"And why didn't you come back then, Bella? It's been seventy years since you left the Volturi." Alice asked. The pain in her voice was evident. I knew that for them this wasn't making any sense, but to me at that time it made all the sense in the world. I had my reasons.

"I didn't look for you because I was afraid the Volturi would come looking for me. I was afraid Aro regretted letting me go. You wouldn't be able to fight them, and they would take me again."

"But Bella… Edward…" Alice tried.

"Exactly! Edward was the main reason why I did this. I couldn't hurt him like that! I knew how much he would suffer if the Volturi took me again. He would never heal. It would have been worse than if he thought I was dead. He would live knowing that I was alive, and we couldn't be together. I couldn't put him through that. Or he would want to join the Volturi. I couldn't let him do that either. Because even though I had convinced Aro to change some things, there are still other things they do that I don't agree with." I was sobbing by then. The Cullens were all staring at me. Esme immediately snapped out of it and hugged me.

"Oh my dear daughter! How much have you suffered? It's okay now." She whispered. I felt so safe in her arms. I had truly missed her. The warmth that seemed to come off of her was overwhelming. It went straight to my heart, and a small portion of the pain that I had been feeling from the very day I realized that I could never see the Cullens again, eighty years ago, disappeared.

"But he didn't, did he?" Rosalie asked.

"No, but that fear never left me, and I was also afraid of your reaction. I didn't know how you would take this. How Edward would take this. I felt I didn't have the right to throw myself into your lives again, besides you were already better."

"How could you know that?" Alice asked desperate.

"Does that have something to do with your gifts?" Carlisle asked curious. Should I tell them?

"Yes it has." I answered.

"What else can you do?" Emmett asked.

"You can read minds, can't you?" Rosalie guessed.

"It's not really that." I started, defeated by their insistence. "I can absorb feelings. Reading minds is just… an extra. It's a result of my ability's evolution."

"Absorb feelings? How so?" Carlisle inquired interested.

"For example, if someone is feeling sad, I can absorb the sadness. It's the same with all the other feelings." I feared I was revealing too much.

"What are the consequences for you?" This was something I didn't want to talk about.

"If I'm not involved in the situation, and I don't know the person personally and so, the consequences are almost none." I didn't have to listen to his thoughts to know what his next question would be. He would want to know what happens when I'm involved, and that was something that I didn't want to reveal. "We should get going, now." I said hoping that would stop Carlisle's questions.

"Already?" Alice pouted, clutching my hand.

"We have some things to do in the morning." I had promised Jake and the kids that we would spend the morning with them in the beach. My brothers agreed that it was time for us to go.

"When will you come back?" Alice asked. "There are still so many things we want to know!" Alice whined while hugging me.

"Maybe tomorrow. Around three pm?" I suggested.

"That would be great, Bella." Alice exclaimed excitedly. "It's so good to have you back!"

"I would like to ask you something though." I said unsure of how they would take my request.

"Of course dear. Anything." Esme replied immediately.

"I want you to promise that you won't tell Edward about me until I decide so."

"Why? He would be so happy."

"Because I'm not ready Alice. This is happening too fast, and I'm not sure of what I want to do. I don't want him to suffer." This was very important to me. Alice was ready to reply, but Carlisle intervened.

"Don't worry, Bella! No one is going to tell Edward." He promised as he walked us to the door. I felt like he understood my reasons.

"See you tomorrow."

"Bye Bella." We took off running.

Alice's POV

"Why did you promise that, Carlisle? How are we supposed to keep this from Edward? How can we do it when we know that this would make him so happy?" I asked.

"Edward is not here, so I think it should be fairly easy. And I know this would make Edward happy, but we also have to think about Bella. She's confused, and she's hurting. Let's give her some time."

"But Edward will come back soon, and then we will have to guard our thoughts from him." Emmett complained.

"If it's necessary, won't you do that for Bella? She's not sure of what she's going to do, but I believe she will have things sorted when Edward gets here." Carlisle assured. "Can you see something, Alice?"

I closed my eyes and focused, but everything came up blank. I couldn't see anything!

"No, I can't! Everything is blank. I can't even see our future." I said startled.

"There's no reason to worry. Probably it's because our future depends on Bella's decisions." Carlisle explained.

"Does that mean that there's a possibility of her not staying?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, Alice. I'm afraid it does. But I have faith that she won't do that!"

"She can't. She just came back. We can't lose her again."

"Great! First she made us think she was dead, and now she comes, back but she's thinking about leaving again? She's playing with our feelings!" Rosalie accused.

"Don't be like that, Rosie." Emmett asked. "Bella is just confused. I'm sure she won't leave."

"Emmett's right! Bella just needs some time. She's suffering a lot." I supported.

"This is not being easy on her." Esme stated. "Just to think that she was all alone with the Volturi… She must have been so scared and unhappy. And all these years… I'm glad she has those boys to take care of her and help her. She did not deserve all this pain." Esme was very worried about Bella. But then, we all were.

"I feel like she only told us some parts of her life. The ones which weren't so bad. For example, she never told us what she has been doing all these years, after she left the Volturi. And she was very reluctant to answer when we asked about her abilities. There are still so many things we don't know." I said. I had a feeling she was hiding something.

"Tomorrow we will know more. But you are right, Alice. She made it simpler. There's something she doesn't want us to know." Carlisle spoke.

"Who knows what she's hiding… Maybe she has someone else…" Rosalie said in a suggestive tone.

"Stop that, Rosalie! You know Bella loves Edward. She has suffered too. Just because she's hiding some things doesn't mean she has somebody else. It must be hard for her to remember! She went through a lot, and it's only fair she doesn't want to talk about it. I know that being away was probably the hardest thing she had to do. And she did it to protect us. She spent ten years with the Volturi so that nothing happened to us!" I was getting tired of her insinuations. Why couldn't she realize how much Bella suffered?

"She didn't like when Edward left to protect her!" Rosalie accused.

"This is completely different. Bella did not leave on her own will, and she did not deny her feelings for Edward." Emmett and Rosalie turned their attention to the TV, Esme went to clean something and Carlisle went up to his study. I was the only one too nervous to do anything.

I just wanted Jasper to be here. I have been away from him for two days, and I already missed him so much. I wanted to share with him these wonderful news.

There's no way to describe how I was feeling, besides the nervousness. I was just so happy that Bella was alive. My best friend and sister was back. This was the best gift someone could ever give me. My only wish came true.

It's amazing how we felt complete before we met her, and then we couldn't live without her anymore.

If someone changed our lives, that someone was Bella and losing her, or at least thinking that, was the hardest challenge our family had ever been put through.

I couldn't understand completely why Bella didn't come back sooner, but I didn't judge her like Rosalie. Probably I would have done the same if I was in Bella's place. I knew she only meant to protect us, and that she did what she thought was the best.

She looked so pained. I'm just glad she didn't spend all those years alone. Her brothers seem really nice and you can see she trusts them a lot. They are also very protective of her. The way that big one, Kurt, stood up for her against Rosalie was amazing. Though some of the things he said bothered me.

I just couldn't wait until Edward found out about this! He's going to be so happy!

Did you like it? Let me know what you think! Please REVIEW! I'll update as soon as possible. You rock! HUgs