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Chapter 3:

Bella POV

I woke up to a warm bed, which might seem nice, but it's unusual. Where was Edward? I opened my eyes slowly and couldn't help the tiny feeling of disappointment. It's not like he always slept with me, but it was nice to be his arms when I woke up. I pulled myself out of bed slowly and walked to the bathroom. I looked at my reflection. My hair was a mess and I had dark circles under my eyes. I don't know why, I get plenty of sleep, but those circles are permanently painted on my face. I readjusted my hair so it didn't look as bad and splashed some water on my face in a poor attempt to wake me up.

As I was getting dressed I noticed something else that was unusual, the house was quiet. Once I wake up, my siblings don't usually make any effort to be silent. Between Emmett and Jasper bickering or Alice and Rosalie arguing over the current fashion, it was always quite noisy. Not that I minded, the sound was comforting. The silence sent a chill down my body but I quickly pulled myself together and walked downstairs. It was stupid for me to panic so easily.

I entered the kitchen and relaxed immediately. Edward smiled as he saw me.
"Cereal?"
"And here I was expecting eggs and bacon."
"Well you could have, if the kitchen wasn't destroyed yesterday."
"Cereal will do."
"Yeah, I thought so."
"So where is everybody?"
"Emmett and Alice should be back soon, they went hunting a few hours ago. The rest of the family just left."
"Why at different times?" He shrugged and I just moved on. They often went hunting separately.
"Ready for school?"
"Yup." I jumped off the stool and headed for the front door knowing that Edward would somehow already be waiting in his car by the time I locked up the house.
"As we've left on time for once, could you please keep the crazy driving to a minimum?"
"I'm insulted."
"You should be. Your driving is terrible."
"Fine then, how about you drive today?"
"You'd let me drive your car?" He sat in silence for a few seconds.
"No, it can only end badly."
"Very wise." I closed my eyes and leant back into the seat as Edward sped off. I never dared look to see at what speed we were travelling.

As we arrived at school I realized something that worried me.
"The others aren't coming into school." I stated quietly.
"No, not until lunch. Everything ok?" I nodded quickly, trying to forget about it.
"I'll have to go to class alone. No big deal." As much as I had adapted back to school, I had never been alone, but I guess it's good for me.
"I'll pay attention, I can be with you within seconds if you need me." Edward looked concerned and I forced a smile.
"Don't baby me, I'll be fine."
"You've told me that before." He frowned. I leant up and kissed his cheek.
"I'll see you in Biology." He sighed but pulled me close into his stone cold embrace.
"I love you."
"I love you too."

Lessons were reasonably ok. I sat on my own, or next to Angela when possible. Jessica sniggered at me as I walked out of Spanish and I swear I heard her whisper something about how my bodyguards were no longer present. I brushed it off.
"So, how have you been Bella?" Angela asked timidly and I gave her a small smile in response.
"I've been ok. Much better."
"I'm glad." She seemed to want to say more but held back. Finally she took a deep breath and added, "You know, if you ever want to talk to me, about anything, I'm always here to listen. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you before, but I won't make that mistake again." I gave her a quick hug, not knowing what else to do.
"Thank you." I didn't need to say anything else. We were both the awkward type and we didn't need many words to communicate. Angela and I walked to Biology together where she then took her seat next to her boyfriend Ben.
"I like Angela." Edward said as I approached our table.
"Listening in, obviously."
"You should expect it by now."
"Doesn't make it any less creepy." He laughed quietly but even so the class was called to attention and another day of pointless biology began.

I couldn't help but smile as I walked into the cafeteria and saw Emmett sitting with Alice, Emmett was waving at me like a fool but he didn't seem to mind the stares that everybody was giving him. I walked over cheerfully seeing that they had already picked up some food and I could just steal some of theirs. Alice looked at me excitedly.
"Guess what?" She asked.
"What?"
"We're going on holiday!" Well that was a surprise but I guess it could be nice.
"When?"
"Tomorrow." That startled me and I could see Edward watching me warily.
"Tomorrow?" I asked incredulously.
"Oh don't worry. I've already packed for you. It's going to be so much fun!" She squealed but I frowned.
"I have to go to school."
"You're ahead in most classes anyway. Won't be for too long. A week or two." I looked accusingly at Edward.
"What's going on?"
"Noth-"
"Don't you dare." I was fed up of the secrecy and was pretty sure that I had been lenient during the past few days, but I wanted answers. They were always honest.
"Let's go home." He sighed. "I'll explain then." I stood up stiffly and headed over to the car. Edward shouldn't lie to me. I don't care what it's about.

Emmett sat in the drivers seat and I sat in front so that Edward couldn't sit next to me. I didn't care if I was overreacting, I wasn't in the mood. Edward looked at me sadly as he climbed into the backseat with Alice. The drive home was silent and tense. I wasn't completely surprised to see that the whole family was back from hunting, but I was disappointed. They were all hiding something from me. I walked into the living room and leaned against the wall, not wanting to make myself comfortable. I also refused to go to the dining room. I hated the formal feel of that area. I knew the Cullens sat there to discuss important issues and I wanted them to realize that this conversation was going to go my way.

"Why the holiday?" I asked. I had plenty of other questions swimming around in my head, but this was the only one that came out.
"We want to get you out of town for a few days." Esme said pleadingly. And I didn't even have to ask why.
"Vampires are coming into town." Carlisle added.
"That's happened before." I objected.
"Yeah, and we shipped you out of town." Jasper said with a small smile. I pouted, I didn't care if I was being childish.
"I'm not as fragile as you think. And much more perceptive. I can handle whatever you have to say."
"I didn't want to tell you." Edward admitted and I looked at him sadly.
"You need to stop protecting me."
"You don't understand how much protection you need."
"What else?" I asked Carlisle turning away from Edward.
"Bella, these vampires aren't just nomads. They're coming purposefully to visit us. To visit you."
"Me?" Now that did surprise me and my defensive stance relaxed slightly.
"They're called the Volturi. They are what you could call vampire royalty."
"And they're coming here?" I asked incredulously.
"Not exactly. In a way you could call them representatives."
"Why do they want to see me?" Carlisle looked uncomfortable and I turned to Jasper knowing that if someone would be honest without trying to spare my feelings, it would be him.
"We don't know." He said and I let out a small laugh. They looked at me as if I were insane.
"Bella, I don't think you understand," Edward began impatiently but I dismissed him.
"You spend so much time worrying about protecting me that I think you've become paranoid."
"You don't joke about the Volturi."
"I'm not joking. They're coming to see me. That's normal isn't it? I doubt that any other vampires have adopted a human."
"Yes, precisely." Emmett chuckled.
"The Volturi is also in charge of maintaining certain rules. They-"
"Vampires have rules?" I asked curiously as I moved to sit down on the couch. I did blush as I realized I might have overreacted…maybe.
"Yes, such as keeping our identity a secret." My heart dropped finally grasping what they meant.
"And I've broken the rule." I whispered. "What will they do?"
"We don't know. I can't see." Alice said defeated.
"Well," I tried to fill my voice with enthusiasm, "a little vacation can be fun." Emmett let out a loud laugh and came over to riffle my hair.
"You're weird, even for a human." I stuck my tongue out at him and stood up.

"I don't appreciate the lies. I know you meant well, just please don't do it again." I headed upstairs. I sat on my bed in silence. The conversation that took place seemed odd for some reason. Disorganized and just confusing. It seemed to vary between serious and lighthearted. I didn't exactly get much information. A bunch of vampire royalty was coming to see me. This obviously scared the Cullens more than it scared me. But even then, I just didn't know. I flopped back onto the bed ungracefully and exhaled loudly as I threw my arm over my face. I heard a quiet knock on the door. Great.

"Come in." I left my arm where it was, I knew who it was and didn't feel the urge to look at him. I heard the door close quietly and then felt the bed sink near me a few moments later. Neither one of us said anything, and I wasn't about to break the silence first. Unfortunately, I was being stubborn with a hundred year old vampire and I knew that somehow my patience wouldn't hold.
"Why are you here?" I snapped.
"Do you want me to go?" That only irritated me more.
"No, and you know I don't. Why did you come here if you're not going to say anything?" Yes, I had an extremely thoughtful boyfriend, doesn't mean that we can't occasionally have our fights.
"I'm sorry, Bella." For some reason, I didn't want him to just apologize. I was angry. Can't he put up a fight? Can't he just do something other than back down? I finally pulled my arm back and sat up.
"Why did you lie? You must have known you couldn't really hide it from me."
"I know, I just wanted to delay it."
"Why? You wanted to protect me? You need to stop doing that."
"I can't" He looked at me sadly. "You don't understand, Bella. I know I can be overbearing, but you would be too if you were in my position." I wanted to argue but I knew he was probably right. Besides, now that I was actually looking at him, it was difficult to do anything other than stare. I sighed in defeat and scooted towards him. As soon as he saw that my anger spell had passed he had his arms around me and we lent back on the pillows.
"I'm sorry." I said after a few peaceful minutes.
"It's ok, you can't help it. You're a hormonal teenager." I shot him a quick glare but rapidly conceded. It was hard to argue with fact. Still, low blow. He saw my expression and laughed.
"You show a lot of emotion in your facial expressions. How many different feelings do you have for one thought process?" He chuckled.
"Ask Jasper, I'm sure he knows."
"Ranges between three and seven." He called from downstairs.
"Oh just go hunting." I called back annoyed and embarrassed at the same time.
"Mainly two this time."
"Thank you Jasper." Edward smiled.

"So what's going to happen now? I mean, Volturi wise."
"Alice sees them intercepting us whenever she decides on a new location. We're trying to figure it out now." He tried to hide it but I could see the underlying tension. He had not anticipated this.
"Is it really that bad?" I asked timidly and he hesitated.
"They aren't usually lenient when it comes to this particular rule. However they respect Carlisle. We just simply don't know and would rather be safe than sorry." I didn't really respond as I thought about that.
"Are you ok?"
"Yes. I'm just wondering, why now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've been living with you for several months and they haven't seemed interested. How did they find out and if they knew before, why are they suddenly taking action?" He looked at me with surprise.
"That's a good question."
"Yes, that does happen from time to time." I added sarcastically.
"Just don't worry about it for now. I'll let you know if something changes."
"Promise?"

"Yes." And I believed him. He wouldn't lie to me about this again. Esme walked into the room slowly.

"Bella?" I looked at her guiltily, Esme was the kindest person and I shouldn't have pushed her away as I did. Edward sat up and gave me a quick kiss before smiling and leaving the room.
"Can I sit down?" She said gesturing to the bed and I rolled my eyes whilst smiling.
"It's fine Esme. I'm sorry for overreacting." She returned my smile and sat next to me.
"You know we just don't want to worry you, right?"
"Of course, but sometimes you need to worry less."
"I guess we could." She laughed. "Is it ok if I order Chinese for tonight?"
"Yeah, perfect. Thank you." We sat next to each other awkwardly for a few seconds. "Uh, what's the family doing? Do you think they'd be up for a movie?" Suddenly Emmett was at my door.
"Which movie?" He asked excitedly and I couldn't help but laugh.
"I don't mind." And then Rose was by Emmett's side.
"Oh please don't let him choose again. You don't want another 'Shoot 'Em Up' situation." Rose did have a point there. That was an awful movie.
"Rose, I'm giving you the power. What are we watching?" I smiled.
"A Knight's Tale." She decided immediately and Alice was next to appear in my room.
"Heath Ledger, good choice." I stood up and pushed past my siblings, sometimes they seemed to think that my room was the living room. I was going to remind them by relocating to the actual living room. However, I obviously wasn't moving quickly enough as the next thing I knew, I was being tackled and then gently sat down on the couch.
"Thanks Jasper." I said slightly out of breath. We all crowded around the TV which was basically the size of the wall. I snuggled closer to Edward and enjoyed the movie. Halfway through, dinner arrived and Rose left to take care of it, bringing me the food on a plate. I was way too spoilt and I knew it, but I didn't complain. We spent the evening together just how we used to, the previous stress of the day completely forgotten.

We were just reaching the moment where Heath Ledger was about to win the tournament when Alice stiffened and Edward snapped his head in her direction. She gasped and Edward's grip tightened around me.

"They're here."