CULLEN FAMILY: Esme and Carlisle. Rosalie and Emmett. Jasper and Victoria. Edward. Alice. Wensley and Jessica.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Rated: T.

Author: xPaige Turnerx

Summary: COMPLETED AND WAITING TO POST. "Trust me, dating a vampire and having a wolf for a brother are the LEAST complicated aspects of my life. Every now and then my nose reenacts the elevator scene from The Shining, and I randomly wake up in the woods. Normal was shot to Hell a long time ago."

"At the center of your being

you have the answer;

you know who you are

you know what you want."

-Lao Tzu

By the time lunch rolled around, the whispers were becoming unbearable. Isabella Swan; the new girl, the weird girl who wears shades all the time, who befriends the odd Cullens, who collapses in pain, who freaks out in the middle of class and yells at people. She was officially, irrevocably, and undoubtedly the biggest outcast in Forks now. Moreso than the Cullens.

There was nowhere she could go without people talking about her, pointing at her, and she was so tired of it. Already. Not even a full day in. Bella groaned when the lunch line halted because the group in front of her were too busy watching her to move on. "Oh my god, I get it!" she snapped at them, slamming her lunch tray down. "Can we please get on with our lives?"

Two blondes popped up then, Lauren on one side and Mike on the other. They set her tray down and led her over to their usual table, Lauren all but shoving Bella into the seat. She huffed, glaring down at her friend. "You don't make it easy, do you?"

"Make what easy?"

Lauren rolled her green eyes. "Anything. Anything at any time, Bella. Why must you be so incredibly complicated?"

"I'm really not."

"Hah," Mike scoffed this time, sliding into his own seat. He eyed Bella up and down, gesturing to her with his fork before stabbing it into his salad. "Are you saying all of that is by accident?"

Bella looked herself over, huffing a little. "All of what? I was born like this, Michael."

"All of you, dork. Not your body."

"Oh." She deflated and frowned. "Yes, then. I just... it was about time somebody said something. It's not right, the way they're treated."

Lauren shook her head, leaning back in her seat. Her eyes raked over the cafeteria and the few turned heads. "No need to worry about that anymore. Nobody's mentioned the Cullens all morning."

"Really?" Bella perked up. Did I really get through to them? Did I make a difference?

A wicked grin spread across Lauren's face and Bella's stomach fell. "Too busy talking about you to even remember the Cullens exist."

"Fuck sakes," Bella muttered darkly, much to the amusement of her friends. "Why do people suck?"

Angela, who'd been silent until this point, as she often was, finally piped up. She smiled at Bella shyly, a light blush on her cheeks. Such an innocent girl. "Not all people. I think it's very sweet that you stood up for them, Bella. You're living proof that there are at least some decent people in the world."

"I'm really not," she countered, glancing over her shoulder at the Cullens' table. A little more animated today than they'd been recently, Alice was bouncing in her seat as she spoke to Rosalie. The blonde wasn't exactly smiling but she had soft eyes aimed at her sister that melted Bella's heart. "I can't believe I was such an asshole. I'm kicking Jacob's ass the next time I see him."

Mike and Lauren exchanged looks. Mike coughed a couple times, trying to make himself seem as nonchalant as possible. "So... just out of curiosity, why were you ignoring the Cullens?"

"Hm?" Bella looked back to her table a second before numerous pairs of golden eyes landed on her. Her brows furrowed and a scowl took place on her face easily as she crossed her arms. "The answer to that will never be good enough, but the short version is: I was trying to be a good friend."

A golden brow rose and Lauren tilted her head to the side, green eyes studying her friend's face. "Seems kind of counterproductive."

This time it was Bella's turn to study her friends. Angela and the other three were talking amongst themselves, while Mike and Lauren gave her their full attention. Each blonde confused and mildly concerned. They were smart, obviously, and more down to earth than most around these parts. Surely they'd pieced it together as well, surely they knew. "Have you really never noticed?" she asked, surprised. The two looked at each other again, even more confused now. "I can't be the only one to spot the pattern, can I? They're not that good at hiding it."

"Don't be fucking cocky, spell it out for us," Lauren snapped. She didn't like being left out of the loop.

Chewing on her lip, Bella looked around the table again. "I shouldn't. It's not really my place to tell, people are entitled to their secrets."

"No way!"

The three jumped at the sudden boom of Emmett's voice, each head in the cafeteria turning to look at him. The giant winced sheepishly, ducking down at the table as each sibling reprimanded him. Slowly everyone got back to their own conversations at their table, but Bella kept watching. Both Edward and Alice were staring at her, wearing matching masks of anxiety and worry. They seemed genuinely distressed.

Tugging at her sleeve forced Bella to look back to her own table and the two blondes who were waiting impatiently. "Well?" Mike prodded. "What have we missed that you picked up on?"

Something in her gut flipped, making her stomach churn when she thought of telling the others about her suspicions. About the quarrel between the Cullens and the Res. About the matching golden eyes and pallor, about being cold to the touch.

So instead she pulled out a cherry sucker from her coat pocket and spun it around in her fingers. "Oh, just that I'm a shitty friend."

"You are," Lauren agreed with her own scowl. She snatched the sucker out of Bella's fingers and popped it in her mouth, flipping the girl off when she reached for it. "Keep your secrets then, but when you have another meltdown in the middle of class, don't say we didn't offer to lessen your burden."

Bella's chest shook with a chuckle and she smiled softly at her friends. "I'll keep it in mind."

.

.

.

"I don't suppose the apology has made its way through the family and reached you already?" Bella asked as she sat down at their lab table.

Edward ran a hand through his hair, bringing the bronze locks out of his eyes to look up at Bella. She seemed nervous, chewing on her lip and fidgeting with her pen. Edward offered her a reassuring smile. "Indeed, it has. No need for such dramatics as defending my honour to the rest of the classroom, Bella. Though Jessica appreciated it very, very much. I'm glad you realized that she does not take these petty things in stride like the rest of us, she's still very young."

Bella frowned. "You're very young."

"Am I?" Edward blinked innocently, a little too innocently. There was mirth swimming in those golden eyes of his.

She huffed. "You should be a little more cautious, take care to not just give yourself away."

"That was the plan."

"Well what happened, because you're really sucking at it right now," she grumbled.

Edward chuckled under his breath. "You happened. You're very hard to plan for, Isabella Swan. It's driving Alice crazy, but I think beneath the frustration she loves it."

"The fuck does that mean?" Bella all but growled at him, leaning forward to squint up at him. "Are you... you're normal, right?

This time Edward looked a little confused. "So you don't actually know?"

"I don't know what I know anymore!"

"Well, what do you think you know?"

She pointed an accusing finger up at the boy, a fierce glare on her face. "Stop that! Just tell me."

"I can't do that."

The two stared at each other for a few explosive moments, Bella's shoulders rigid and trembling with rage. "Of course not. Nobody can tell me but they'll flaunt it in my face and watch me freak out over it. You know what? I don't fucking care anymore. You and the Res can be as weird as you fucking want, and I'm just gonna do my own thing. That work for everyone?"

"Splendidly well, thus far," Edward agreed quietly. He waited for Bella to pull out her notebook, looking down at all the doodles in the margins. He noticed, through the months, that she had a bit of a theme when it came to her mindless doodles, and wondered if she even realized. Birds. Ravens, specifically, everywhere and of every size. Some vague, quick little blips, others in depth and lifelike, and when she wasn't drawing these birds, it was feathers. "Why don't you ever ask Alice?"

Bella blinked a few times, breaking her concentration from the teacher to look her lab partner again. "Ask Alice what?"

"You know."

"Why would I? Do you think she would tell me?"

He considered this and a new wave of anxiety started eating at his gut. "I think she might, yes."

"Really?" Bella's eyes lit up.

"Are you going to ask her?"

"No," she replied without thinking. Her brows drew together in confusion and Edward watched her closely. She spoke her thoughts aloud. "If she wants me to know, she'll tell me, and I don't want her to think it matters."

"Doesn't it?"

"No," again, she answered without thinking but honestly. Her lips tugged up as she thought back to that morning. "We are who we are, the best we can do is find people who appreciate it."

Edward grinned at her. "Wise words."

She rolled her eyes, not that he would see, and looked back to the front of the room again. "Then you know they're not mine."

"Yes, well it still counts that you would repeat them and I..." Edward's words trailed off and Bella glanced at him curiously. His golden eyes stared blankly at the table in front of them and his head tilted to the side like he was listening to something particular. His normal little-crooked smile fell into a frustrated frown and he sighed, shaking his head. "She's not going to like this."

"Who?"

"Hm?" he blinked a few times and met Bella's eye. "Oh, I just heard something unpleasant."

"Right," Bella drawled but ultimately let it go. She had doubts he would tell her even if she asked him directly, and didn't feel like succumbing to the frustration she always endured around them.

The rest of the class passed by rather quickly as the two focussed on the work and Edward tapped away on his phone every few moments. Bella tried to sneak a peek every now and then but Edward expertly tilted it away or slid it back into his pocket, all without ever looking away from his notes.

Classes after that were a blur, especially when Bella realized that Alice wasn't in gym class. Quite often she skipped, but she usually took a seat up in the stands to work on her academics or take pictures with her camera for Art. With two minutes left in class and the pixie nowhere nearby, Bella was certain she'd skipped. Well. She was certain the first fifteen minutes but for some inexplicable, totally peculiar, reason she still held hope that Alice would show up.

Why was it that Alice was everywhere when Bella was trying to keep away, and now that she was actively looking to spend time with her, she was gone? Because life isn't fair and you've been told many, many times that things get complicated when we're involved, she thought to herself sourly.

The sea of students around her swept Bella out into the parking lot after school. Bella followed the large group until it started splintering off, kids heading to the buses or their own cars. Bella fished around in her pocket for her keys, staring down at her feet and stopping abruptly when a pair of familiar purple heeled boots came into view. Bella froze, head whipping up and smile growing on her face. "Alice!" she said excitedly.

The anxious frown on Alice's face fell off, a brilliant smile tugging at her lips. "Are you happy to see me, Bella?"

"Yes," Bella replied automatically. She blushed and glanced to the side. "I mean, I guess. Yeah. Maybe."

Alice hummed, rocking on the balls of her feet while she stared up at Bella. An impressive feat, considering she was wearing those heels. "I wish I could stay and enjoy this moment a little longer," she said suddenly, a shadow falling across her face. She looked over her shoulder at the other end of the parking lot. "I just came to give you my cellphone number and ask you to promise me something."

"Huh?" Bella blinked and Alice scooped up her hand in her two cooler ones, a crisp white piece of paper being placed in her palm. She closed her fingers around it before the wind could carry it away, and looked up with a confused face. "What do you mean?"

Again, the pixie was looking over her shoulder, taking a step ever closer to Bella. When she turned back, there was scarcely three inches between them. Alice's eyes searched Bella's shades for her own, frustrated and genuinely scared. "I know you're not good at keeping promises, Bella, especially after our talk this morning. I know what I'm asking you, and I know you're going to struggle with it."

"Okay...?"

"Don't go into the woods," Alice begged, her voice brimming with emotion. She squeezed Bella's hand. "It may not seem like a big deal to you but please, please don't go into the woods."

Brows furrowed, Bella tilted her head to the side. "What, like, tonight?"

"Ever. Any night, Bella. Please," Alice whispered. She clenched her jaw and looked off to the side for a moment. "You're very hard to predict, Bella, but this time I have and you can't go into the woods. Something bad happens to you in the woods."

Well that's not creepy as fuck.

Bella lightly shook her head, the gears in her mind turning. Alice, what, predicted something bad was going to happen to her in the woods? Like when Emmett said she knew Bella wanted to talk to him? He was joking when he said she was psychic, wasn't he? Was this some kind of joke? No, Alice's face was too desperate, too scared. She was being genuine. But was she really psychic?

The woods were pretty scary, Bella knew this. Not a lot of Forkians ventured into the bush, either scared of the wildlife or local legends. Every now and then a camping party would go missing, so Charlie and the boys would have to send out the search team to bring them back, but they were always unscathed. Just lost.

She, herself, never had the particular urge to go traipsing through the woods. Yeah, they began just behind her house, but she never set a foot inside them. They were just... there. Why was Alice so concerned? Bella didn't even have plans to enter the woods.

It seemed like an easy enough promise to make, and if it made Alice feel better, that was a bonus. So Bella nodded. "Yeah, alright. I'll steer clear of the woods."

"Try," Alice murmured, still looking up at Bella like she might fade away into nothingness right there. Like she didn't truly believe Bella would keep her word. Given the girl's track record, it was a safe assumption. "Please just try."

"I will," Bella insisted. Alice still looked frenzied and almost panicked, something Bella was definitely not used to seeing in her friend. It made her... anxious and she had the sudden urge to scoop Alice up and run home with her, protect her from whatever was distressing her so. Instead, she placed her hands on Alice's shoulders, squeezing her gently but firmly and leaning down to catch that honey gaze again. "Alice, everything will be okay."

The pixie lightly shook her head, ink black spikes bouncing across her face. "For the first time in my life, I don't know if it will." The panic in her eyes faded into resignation, albeit temporary, and she leaned up on her toes. Alice pressed her cool petal lips to Bella's cheek, lingering there for a moment. "Be careful, Bella," she breathed against the warm skin.

By the time Bella blinked, Alice was gone, disappearing into the silver volvo on the other side of Buggy. Bella stood there, one hand reaching up to touch her cheek where she could still feel the phantom ghost of electrified lips. A blush steadily rose, but she had no time to enjoy it. The Cullen cars were pulling out of their spots and there was commotion going on behind her.

"Hey, why are you in such a rush? What do you want with her? Bella! Hey, Bella, watch out!"

Mike's voice was alarmed and almost desperate, enough to put Bella on guard, and she whirled around. Only to lower her guard once again at the familiar, yet oddly enraged, faces of her friends, Quil and Embry. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

Quil frowned deeply, shoving his hands in his pockets. His dark eyes flickered over to the volvo and hummer idling at the edge of the parking lot, and his shoulders began to tremble. "You broke your promise, Bella, that's what's up. What the hell were you thinking?"

"What-"

"Come with us," Embry snapped, pointing to the dirtbike across the parking lot. "Now."

Bella jutted out her hip, arms crossed over her chest. "First of all, you try giving me an order again and you'll have to explain to your momma why you're carrying all your teeth around in your pocket. Secondly, I really don't think the three of us are gonna fit on that bike. Lastly, Mike, I'm fine and you can go home. I know these guys. They're not usually such assholes."

"Cut the shit, Bella!" Embry growled at her, stalking forwards. "You're coming with us now and I don't want to hear another word of it."

Mike's face, red from anger or embarrassment, morphed into something dark and twisted. "Don't you talk to her like that, she's not going anywhere with you!" he shouted, grabbing Quil's elbow.

The large boy shoved Mike away, sending him sprawling to the frozen concrete ground. "Don't touch me!"

Quicker than anyone was expecting, Bella shot forward, palm pressed against Quil's shoulder and slamming him into the side of Buggy, pinning him there. "Don't touch him, Quil!" she seethed, pressing against his chest until he winced. "Mike, leave. Now. Embry, get on your bike and follow us. Quil, don't you dare open your mouth again and get in the fucking car. How dare you treat my friends like that."

Embry slammed his fist down on Buggy's trunk, making a noticeable dent. His entire body was shaking and his face was the picture of rage. "You don't know what you're doing, Bella," he growled under his breath. "Stop giving us orders, you're not our alpha."

"You'll find I'm everyone's alpha if you piss me off enough," Bella shot back, eyes narrowed in a glare the boys could feel. Despite her anger, she mentally high-fived herself for thinking of such a badass line on the go. Fuck yeah, I'm stone cold, bitches. "Which you just have. Get on your bike or we're going to have much bigger problems."

He glared at her, eyes blazing with fury at even the idea of someone other than Sam giving him an order. His genes would not allow it and it took all his self-control to stand there, fists clenched tight. Bella, on the other hand, never backed down. Her shoulders were straight and rigid, her stance strong and powerful, and she was not about to budge. These boys were lucky she was cooperating, especially after what they did to Mike.

Quil looked over his shoulder at the fancy cars and back to his packmate. "Do it, Embry. We need to leave."

"Fine!"

The two watched him storm off across the parking lot again, and Bella finally let Quil go. She stared up at him and he looked down at her, both of them silently fuming. "Did Jake send you?"

"Yes."

"So this is his fight he sent you to instigate," she grumbled. Quil lifted his lip in a silent snarl and walked around the car to get into the passenger side. Bella rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath. "It's his ass I need to kick then. So be it."

The Cullen cars were gone by the time Bella pulled out of the parking lot, and her own car was engulfed in heavy silence. Quil was pouting, staring out the window and angling his whole big body away from Bella, and she was gripping the steering wheel so tight her knuckles were white.

By the time they reached the lone highway that would take them to the Res, Quil perked up again. He shifted in his seat ever so slowly until he could turn his head and look at Bella. Those big dark eyes were wide and his lips just barely in a pout, and Bella knew a puppy-dog face when she saw one and steeled herself. "Bells?"

"Fuck off."

He winced and clasped his hands together, tapping his fingertips against each other. "Right, right, but maybe before that... um, could you maybe not be mad at me?"

"Fuck. Off. Quil."

"Please don't be mad at me," he begged quietly, leaning forward to try and catch her eye. That big, goofy, stupid face was too endearing for its own good. "Bells? I didn't want to do that, neither of us did. If it were up to me, I would have called and invited you over for another fire."

She grumbled under her breath, glancing sideways at him for a moment and then back to the road. "That would have been so much more effective. Not even a fire. If someone had just called me up and said hey, Bella, I really need to talk to you and it's important, can you head over now? Not assault my fucking friends and offend me."

"I know!" Quil threw his hands up, bumping them against the roof of Buggy. "That's what I said! I told him just to call you but he said you've been ignoring his texts lately."

"Yeah, 'cause I'm pissed at him!" she snapped. "How well you think it's going to go now? I'm double pissed. He is in for a world of trouble when I find him, Quil. So are you and Embry, okay, you don't have to do things you don't want to, especially when they're shitty things like harassing me and my friends. But you did. You chose to obey your alpha, whatever the fuck that means, so now you're on my list too."

He whined lowly. "Bella-"

"Fuck off, Quil. You wait for me to call you before we ever talk again. Mike's palms were bleeding."

Wounded and rejected, the boy flinched back in his seat and turned to look out the window again. Bella was very, very angry and no amount of pleading was going to change anything. He could only make it worse right then and decided to keep quiet for now. Maybe when Jake explained things, when she understood, she would take it all back and come find Quil again. Until then, he'd give her what she wanted. Space.

When they pulled up in front of the Black house, Quil all but spilled from the car. He jogged off to the road again, where Embry was waiting on the bike, and the two raced off down the gravel. Bella slowly got out of the car, watching them leave, and then turned to the house.

Jake was waiting for her, leaning against the railing on the porch. His eyes were dark and stormy, an impressive scowl on his face making him look more like a man than a boy. He muscles rippled and Bella knew, right then in that instant, that her friend was more than met the eye. He was just as different as the Cullens were, not in the same way, but equally so. What a hypocrite.

"Bella."

"Jackass."

His lips twitched, not with a smile, but he seemed to be fighting off a snarl. "I'm not in the mood for games, Bella."

"If you think I'm playing around, you are sorely mistaken, Jacob Black," she declared, storming over to the front of the house. She glared up at her friend, from the other side of the railing, hands on her hips. "I'm waiting for your apology."

Surprisingly, her best friend in all the world, her brother, sneered down at her. "Pull up a chair then, you'll be waiting a while."

"You are such a bag of dicks-"

His eyes widened and he finally snapped, swinging his legs over the railing and landing on the ground where Bella had stood. She jumped backwards with a gasp and kept shuffling back as he stalked forwards, an accusing finger jabbed in her direction. "Me? That's fucking rich, Bella. You are the one who broke her promise. You promised me, Bella. You promised, and then I had to hear through that petty grapevine that you're hanging out with them again? That you're waving the Cullen flag and freaking out on anyone who so much as blinks at them? What the actual fuck, Bella! You promised!"

"You shouldn't have asked in the first place!" she shouted back at him. Bella slapped his finger out of her face. "I shouldn't have promised and you shouldn't have asked, but fine. I can own when I'm an asshole. Yeah, I broke our fucking promise. Second time today I'll let everybody in on the newsflash, something every-fucking-body should have realized by now. I. Am. Not. A. Good. Person. I don't keep promises, I don't take shit from anyone, I'm on-fucking-guard and ready to fight anybody who so much as looks at me wrong, and I can't care for people properly. Have you met my dad? The man doesn't know how to emotion and my mother, God love her, is the wildest card out there burning bright and fast. Put them together and it doesn't make for a well-balanced child."

Jacob scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked off to the side with a shake of his head. "Don't make me pity you, Bella, that won't get you out of this."

"Choke on your pity, Jake, you're not listening to me," she growled back at him. She took a deep breath to calm herself, pushing her shades up into her hair. It was a white flag she waved, a sign of truce and that she was trying to be genuine, trying to make the effort. Jacob relaxed immensely when pale brown eyes stared back at him. "You shouldn't have asked me, Jake, you knew I didn't want to make that promise. I shouldn't have broken it, a promise to you means something to me, but you shouldn't have asked me."

He sighed deeply, running a hand through his dark hair. It stuck up in an odd and endearing way. "Bells," he huffed out. "I'm just trying to protect you, honest. You would understand if you knew, you would stay away if you knew what they are."

"I don't care," she argued.

"You would if-"

She reached forward to touch his arm, locking eyes. "Look at me, Jake. I don't care what they are. They're my friends, and that's all that matters to me. She could be Jack the Ripper for all I care-"

"She?" he echoed.

Brown eyes widened and Bella shuffled back again. "Hm? Yeah, they could be Jack the Ripper for all I care. All of them. Together. Slicing and dicing the ladies of the night. The whoooole clan of Cullens, each individual one, altogether. Not one without the other. Just me, not caring what they are. All ten of them."

"Who is she?" Jake asked, posture once again more stiff than normal. He rolled his shoulders, clenching and unclenching his fists as his mind raced. Bella singled one out, one in particular, one that meant more than the others. One that meant more. She was not just being near them, befriending them, she was invested in one. Attached. "Which one is she?"

Bella scoffed, crossing her arms. "Who is she? I don't know what you mean. There are many she's, frankly, in Forks and in their family. Five right there, but there's also Lauren, Angela, Stacy, Sarah-"

"Who is the she you were talking about, Bella?" Jacob demanded, taking a menacing step forwards.

Bumping into her car, Bella started sliding along towards the trunk. "I don't recall mentioning a she, to be honest. Are you sure you heard me say she?" she asked, putting the car between them. Jake looked decidedly more upset than he'd been when she pulled up and that was saying something, considering how angry he was before. "Lot's of things sound like she. He. Be. Me. We. Tea. Fee. Whoopie."

More lies, when was she going to stop lying to him? Right to his face? His blood boiled and he had to lean against the trunk as a wave of rage threatened to take over. "Bella," his voice was a growl, a real, genuine growl like from a wild beast. "Which one did this to you? Which one stole you?"

"Stole me? I'm right here, Jake," Bella breathed. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she saw more and more of her friend disappear. Who this was, what this was, she had no clue, but she knew enough to sense danger. "I can be friends with you both-"

"No!" he snarled, slamming his fist on the trunk much like Embry had. Unlike Embry's little dent, however, the entire trunk lid caved in around Jake's fist. "It doesn't fucking work like that! Which one was it? Which parasite stole you away from me? That redhead? Or the blonde bitch? Was it that fucking little one? Who-"

Jacob collapsed back to the ground, clutching his throbbing jaw. He blinked the stars out of his eyes, or maybe it was dust from his rough landing, and looked up to see Bella standing over him with a fiery look on her face, her fist still clenched. He threw his head back and let out the most animalistic roar Bella had ever heard when he caught sight of her golden eyes, just like those bloodsuckers, and the way the light very faintly reflected off her skin like a dusting of diamonds. Not quite like the leeches, but close enough to make him lose his mind. "I'll kill them!"

Instead of turning around and racing off to do just that, the rage overtook his trembling body and he shot forward towards Bella. His hands darted out, connected with a chest that was just a tad too stoney to be normal, sending her toppling backwards over Buggy. He grabbed the trunk and heaved it up, flipping the entire car over their heads and into the yard.

Pure instinct had Bella shoving herself backwards through the grass, away from the beastly boy chasing her. She kicked her feet out when he got too close, impressively launching him back into the driveway a dozen feet away. Impossible. "S-stop! Jake, stop!"

Quicker than expected, he surged forwards at her again, focussed on those golden eyes. She rolled to the side, narrowly missing large hands grabbing for her, and listened to him collide with the underside of Buggy, still flipped on its side. He roared again, the hair on his arms growing, his teeth elongating, and though Bella knew this transformation was all happening quickly -as fast as it took him to lunge at her in the middle of the yard again- it felt like slow motion.

She watched as her best friend in the whole world, her brother whom she knew better than anyone else, exploded into an enormous wolf right before her very eyes.

Like... the fuck, dude?

Bella gasped just before the two collided, a clash of fists, claws, teeth, and knees. Bella swung and kicked with all her might, taking some sick satisfaction at every yelp and whimper of pain she earned. Shame followed closely after but it was hard to hold onto in the middle of a fight. Especially when she felt the warm trickle of blood on her face and knew those claws had sliced into her somewhere.

Somehow during their scuffle, Bella managed to snake her arms around that big furry neck and locked her hands. She wrapped her feet around the wolf's torso as best as she could, feeling those claws rake against her thigh but surprisingly leave no scrapes. "I said stop it!" she roared back at the snarling beast, squeezing her arms tighter and tighter.

A cloud of hot steam rolled over Bella's back seconds before a powerful jaw clamped down on her shoulder. The pressure was agonizing, enough to make her let go of the wolf to blindly reach up at whatever bit her. Fortunately, the second those fangs managed to break through the oddly tough skin, they stopped. At the first taste of blood, they withdrew quickly with a whimper.

Thank God, that could have ended badly, Bella thought, reaching up to touch her shoulder. Some bruising, to be sure, and a couple of puncture marks but they stopped before they could do any real damage. Bella scrambled to her feet, blinking wide brown eyes at the number of giant wolves standing in the yard before her.

A man walked out between them, shirtless and looking much like Jacob, if a little older. She'd seen him around La Push enough to know this was Sam Uley. "Everybody stop, just take a breath!" he yelled.

Bella let out a haggard breath, looking around for Jake... or what used to be Jake. He was nowhere to be seen. "What's going on?" she demanded. "What happened to Jacob? Where is he? Why are... what are... those are giant wolves. What the hell is going on?"

"I thought maybe you could tell me," Sam said firmly. He slowly approached Bella and she watched as all the wolves flanked him, eagerly awaiting his word. Like they could understand him? "Your skin was glowing. Not like the leeches, but still. Only, you bleed. I can clearly see your blush now."

Brows furrowed, Bella held out her hands and stared down at them. Grass stains, a smear of blood, and dirt. "My skin doesn't glow," she replied slowly. "I don't know what you're talking about and you're not freaking out over those wolves. You know more than me, so you explain."

"I can't do that, Isabella-"

She stalked forward, watching the wolves tense, and stopped abruptly. Clenching her jaw, she pointed at him and glared fiercely. "Nope, not gonna cut it. My best friend just exploded into one of your wolves there and tried to kill me. You tell me right this fucking second what is going on here and don't you dare tell me you can't. This is happening. You are telling me."

He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair and nodded. The wolves slowly, hesitantly left one by one until it was just the two of them standing in the yard. "I suppose you'll want to hear about the Cullens as well? Jake's mentioned your insistent questions."

"No," she shook her head, "the Cullens aren't the ones who attacked me. Until then, they can tell me themselves when they're good and ready. They've earned that. You fucks, on the other hand, owe me answers." She crossed her arms over her chest, wincing at the gash she could feel in her eyebrow as it rose. "And if you so much as mention their name with that distaste around me again, I'll make you choke on your words."

Dark eyes studied her closely. "You've got a strikingly familiar temper, Miss Swan."

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So ffnet is a fuckin dick, eh? I don't know what's going on with the uploads, just that there is mass confusion all around, and I'm glad. Not that balls are being dropped (ayyoooo, I don't have time to make horrible jokes, I gotta head out) but that I'm not the only one confused. Whoopie for puzzled camaraderie!

This chapter. Dudes. My dudes. Things shift and change from here, lemme tell ya. I mean, obviously. Now the Cullens KNOW Bella knows that they're not normal, and now Bella KNOWS that they aren't normal. For real, she's not just crazy. And the wolves! Before some fans out there start yelling at me for making their lovable little wolfpack jackoffs, just chill. Just chill. They're not all jackoffs. Just most of 'em. Why? Because I found most of 'em to be jackoffs, tbh. Including Jake, like I fucking HATE Jake in the books, but I decided this time 'round I was gonna make a bunch of the unlikable characters likable.

I'm getting off track. Y'all probably wanna talk about what happened with that fight. THAT FIGHT THAT WAS SISSY STUFF AND REALLY JUST A TUSSEL BETWEEN BROTHERS. I oversold the fight at the end of the last chapter, I know. I'm a liar, sue me. Pls, god, pls dont. I have no money. But like, whoa right? Bella had GOLDEN EYES and ALMOST SPARKLY SKIN and WRESTLED WITH A WOLF. Eh? Ehhh? How many of your theories are shot to shit now?

I'm just floored, guys. Over how many of you thought that little scene between Alice and Bella was cute. That was like? Not filler but like I didn't even really consider it to be much of anything when writing it? Other than, let's talk about Bella's eyes and make sure Alice and Bella are cool again? So now when they ARE being cute, like, I have a lot to live up to and make it real fuckin adorable. Thanks. I also was blown away by how many people liked the glasses scene for the glasses-stuff. And Jess's scene IM SO HAPPY YOU GUYS APPRECIATE BELLA'S APOLOGY THEY'RE BOTH SO DRAMATIC JESS MORE BUT BELLA BECAUSE SHE KNOWS JESS VALUES THE DRAMATICS AND RESPONDS WELL TO THEM.

#shitgetsrealanon you need a smaller name because you and Cloud will eat up time itself, the beginning and the end of reality will meet and clash into one by the time I get through your names, why does everyone have such a long name, pick smaller names my god, who has the sheer TIME to type them, I get winded just SAYING them. But I really, really liked your review, so cheers, dude. Don't be shyyyyyyy, I don't bite. Unless you're into that, then we can talk. But for real, feel free to leave a review whenever you want, logged in or anon.

Cloud, I just don't have the TIME to reply to your review in detail. It would double the length of this chapter if I did. Just know IM RIGHT THERE NEXT TO YOU AND ADDICTED TO CAPS TODAY APPARENTLY BUT YEAH IM SUPER PSYCHED ABOUT STUFF TOO. And-super-happy-you-just-said-opra-and-totally-didn't-mention-or-notice-i-said-orpa-i-was-super-embarrassed-like-i-had-to-lay-my-head-down-and-sigh.

Firenuuuuubs, your reviews fire me up, get it? YOU deserve a whole review of your own, but, like, I don't even really know what that means so I can't do it. And you were right, she did launch at Jake for being a lil bish. And I appreciate the fuck out of you checkin for updates every day.

God, what a long-ass a/n. Be honest, who skimmed? I skim. I'm a lil bish too. :(

peace

Paige