Chapter 1 of the the week!

This is possibly be the longest one I've written yet. Lot's of secrets revealed and we explore Bella a little bit.

I'm not big on inner monologues so let me know if you want me to go a little deeper or explain something a little more.

There's something inhere people might complain about, but it's a very intricate part of the story and therefore it stays as far as Bella's own character development goes.

Read and Review. Let me know what you think.

Most importantly; Enjoy!


Bella pulled in behind Charlie's cruiser with something akin to annoyance but not quite it. It was Saturday morning for starters and she'd been woken up before fucking 9 in the morning to come spend the day down at La Push before being 'allowed' to spend the rest of the weekend over at the Cullen house.

She did not want to be here but Charlie had gotten it into his head that she was best friends with Jacob Black because she'd spent every summer playing with the boy. She'd denied it but Charlie didn't think so and maybe he'd have an argument if it wasn't for the fact that he was bestfriends with Jacob's dad and that immediately meant she had three immediate choices of friends, Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob. Rachel and Rebecca were angry and bratty twins that Bella wanted no part of so that only left Jacob. Anybody else she hung out with during those summers were all introduced to her by Jacob as they were his friends, it really was common sense with all things considered.

They weren't best friends, just friends by circumstances, it's not to say Jacob wasn't a good friend, but friend had stopped being Jacob's preferred word the moment puberty had hit them all. Bella wasn't so dense as to not recognize the impending crush and coincidentally that had been the last time she'd been to Forks since then. Picture her miffed when she returned nearly 5 years later to see him blushing and grinning at her like he did back then. Of course if Charlie wasn't so dense about things like that he'd probably tell her he didn't approve for obvious reasons that only they were privy to in this lovely town named Forks.

She frowned at that thought, it was no secret in Phoenix nearly everyone that knew her knew and there were no real problems but Forks was not Phoenix and no matter what the man said Bella knew he was embarrassed and didn't care for it. There was a logical reason Charlie wasn't involved with anyone else, not just because he was still hung up over Renee, it was simply the more noble of the two reasons.

Bela suddenly felt tired, she didn't want to be here. She really hated being around Charlie or Renee for elongated periods of time, no fault of their own really other than that they were terrible liars. She may not be good at reading people and while she's getting better at it, thanks to a certain blonde, she could always see right through her parents. So she knew when they were lying and they lied to her constantly, but they lied to themselves too and she wasn't sure what bothered her more about the whole thing.

That's what this was, one big lie to himself and she was being forced to participate simply because she lived under his roof. Just like how she'd be forced to participate again in about 3 weeks when she had to go back to Phoenix for Thanksgiving break because Renee simply just didn't know how to let go and move the fuck on.

Hands dragged against the front of her jeans as her tongue darted out to unnecessarily wet her lips before she took a heavy breath and stepped out the car.

The moment she stepped out her car, Jacob was bounding over to her. He was still as massive as ever at his full 6'8'' height but he had always been tall for his age, so she hadn't thought twice about it when she saw him that first night. It was the muscles though that had given Bella pause, she was a gym rat, the Cullen's knew that now so she knew a lot about muscle development and saying Jacob's muscle development was unnatural for his age, diet, and activity level was putting it lightly. The high temperature he ran around with alone would ensure he'd burn it right off if she ignored the fact that a temperature that high that radiated off of him would put anyone else in the ground. She could make an argument for steroids with the way he looked and they way his moods had hopscotched that first night but she knew better, although he wasn't as buff back then either.

"Bells, I missed you so much" Jacob declared as he pulled her into a giant hug, she fought the urge to strangle him, despite the way she was with the Cullen's and a handful of people back in Phoenix she did not like being touched.

He put her down after a while frowning a little at her lack of enthusiasm,

"Uh hi Jake, how's it been going?" she questioned with an awkward nod, stepping back and creating space between the two of them should the devil decide to jump back into him and he get the urge to hug her again.

Just like that, he was rambling on about his dad's old truck that he was restoring. She eyed the old rusted Chevy truck with pity, she'd restored Riley and this was not that,

"Hey, was that a 1973 Plymouth Hemi Cuda I saw you get out of earlier?" Jacob questioned eagerly

"71' actually, but yeah, she's mine"

"Who did the work, she sounds like a dream"

"I did, took me a couple months but she was worth it"

"No way, you know cars?"

That's where they spent most of the morning and afternoon, in Jacob's garage working on the very tragic story that was this rusted and dilapidated 1953 Chevy 3100 pickup truck that used to be red at some point. She was constantly wavering between the urge to send it off the cliffs on fire only to be doused out and then drowned by the ocean it would land in, never to be seen again, or breathe new life back into this truck until it purred her name in thanks and ecstasy. Of course neither of these were options for her as it was not her truck but she could help and if she was forced to be over here more often then it's all they would do that way she could ensure Jacob wouldn't fucking try and touch her.

It was Embry and Quil that showed up to inform them that lunch would be at Sam and Emily's house, who the fuck were Sam and Emily Bella didn't know but she was fucking hungry. She also noted the similarities between Jacob, Quil and Embry although they were both about 4 inches shorter than the boy.

She followed them down the road keeping polite conversation and expertly avoiding Jacob's not so subtle attempts to hold her hand or brush up against her. The house was decent sized and filled with tree sized Native Americans, quite honestly she'd fit right in if it wasn't for her pale ass skin and silver eyes, she was even taller than their tallest girl, Leah Clearwater a bitch, and not the fun kind just the angry kind. She was introduced to all of them and she was thoroughly unimpressed especially with the way Paul kept eyeing her and the not so subtle way Jacob kept growling at him and trying to stake claim. She fought the violent urge to bash his head in, there was only one person she'd ever let claim her and it sure as fuck wasn't him.

Emily was nice, a sweetheart really, which is why Bella sat and ate the less than stellar food she'd cooked for her. Part of her wondered if that was why the rest of them scarfed down the food as if it would bolt at any given moment but they seemed to be genuinely enjoying the food so she kept quiet and shot off a text to Alice.


"Esme" Alice giggled as she skipped down the steps

"Yes dear?" Esme questioned eyeing her middle daughter curiously, she'd been less than amicable after finding out Bella would be spending the entire day down in La push with the wolves, although it was thankfully not as violent of a reaction as Rosalie's had been.

"Bella says to...quote 'cook all the food, because this shit just not right' end quote" Alice recited handing over her phone for Esme to see when she gave her an unappreciative look for using such crass language

"Let her know that I'll get right on that, does she know when she'll be coming by?" Esme questioned as her mind started taking inventory of what they had and what she could make for her youngest

"She says she's leaving after the bonfire tonight, she's hoping she'll be here by 9"

"Is she at least enjoying herself?" Esme questioned, rolling her eyes at the unhappy growls that filled the air at the thought of her somehow enjoying spending time with the wolves

"Aww" Alice cooed as she eyed Rosalie, who curled her lip in distaste, Rosalie did not like cooing of any kind as she was no baby, "Bella says she misses Rosalie's glares and there's a truck she has mixed feelings about"

"What, that's not fair Rosalie is meanest one to her and she misses her?" Emmett whined, video game now forgotten

"It's because I'm prettier" Rosalie smirked

Esme smiled, because Emmett was right Rosalie was unbelievably mean to Bella but it was clearly there thing because Rosalie touched Bella, even if it was just to shove her into something or trip the poor girl and every time Rosalie growled, glared, or cursed at Bella all she got in return was a goofy and adorable smile. It warmed her heart every time she witnessed them interact. She impatiently anticipated the day Rosalie would admit the truth to herself and embrace her well deserved happiness.


Bella eyed the bonfire curiously, she'd burned a lot of things over the years but she'd never burned driftwood before, she really liked the effect the salt caused within the fire itself. She was a bit of a pyromaniac, she could admit that. She had no reason to but, unless she was on a plane, she always had one of those mini blow torch lighters on hand. At first she used to have a pretty cool zippo but after being popped with a wooden spoon one too many times by Ms. Nan she'd learned her lesson and gotten the mini blow torch instead. Ms. Nan just didn't like how much she played with the zippo and it was hard to do trick with a mini blow torch, it also didn't help that she played with it in school too.

There was more food at the bonfire but she refused to touch any of it after being offered a half charred hot dog, right now she just wanted to head back to the Cullen's house. Of course that was not the case because it would be 'impolite' to leave before Billy could tell the legends of the tribe. Sure, she'd agree if they weren't the same legends she'd heard every time she came to visit Charlie in the summers. The bonfire was something new though, they were usually told the legends when they all slept over Jacob's house as a bedtime story.

She listened to Billy tell the legends as if it was her first time hearing them all over again, the man just had a way with telling the legends. It was the equivalent of reading your favorite book over and over again, you knew everything that was going to happen yet still you reacted each and every time as if you'd never read it before, Billy's story telling was a lot like that. When he got to the story of the Cold Ones, nearly all eyes were on her. They were clearly trying to be subtle in their staring but were doing a horrible job at it. Except they weren't just staring at her to see how she would react but more like they were imploring her to realize something.

This whole trying to read Rosalie was really making her better at things like this. This legend was actually one of her favorites to listen to, Billy's voice was more raw, the emotions more real in this story than most of the others.

When it was over, they tried to get Charlie to practically force her to stay, bullshit of how it was late and dark out and unsafe for her to be driving at this time of night.

"Really, Charlie it's for her safety. It'll be like old times" Jacob bargained, she rolled her eyes, Charlie had but so much control over her,

"Goodnight dad, I'll see you Monday night" she waved at him before she was rising and heading for her car, she was stopped by hot hand gripping her arm.

Her eyes were slow as they moved to the hand on her forearm. It was a male hand, certainly not Jacob's though, the forearm was a touch on the hairy side and the rest of the arm was bulging, he was tall and standing close to intimidate her but Bella didn't get intimidated. Finally her eyes landed on the face of Sam and one of her eyebrows slowly raised in question.

"It's safer for you if you stay here" Sam rumbled, it was phrased like a suggestion but it was a clear cut command, more importantly it was a mistake.

Bella stepped closer and despite Sam having the height advantage he felt like Bella was looking down her nose at him,

"No" she stated, her tone held a kind of lazy aggression to it that Sam had never witnessed before or thought possible.

Her silver eyes glinted in the darkness, because November meant it got pitch black around 6 at night, they looked more alien than attractively exotic in that moment,

"It's safer for you if you remove your hand before I do it for you" her voice still dragged lazily yet aggressively, but it was the look she gave him that had Sam pulling his hand back slowly in fear that any sudden movements wouldn't end well for him.

Those once exotic silver eyes that he found so attractive now glinted in the moonlight like a giant ass knife of a serial killer before he stabbed his victim to death 43 times or some shit like that.

He knew she was human, despite how weak her scent was even to their noses, they could smell her and it was an intoxicating scent and very much human but it was a difficult scent to pick up without burying their noses in the source and even then, because it disappeared quickly and every other scent clinged to her in seconds drowning out her own almost immediately. Even with that knowledge he could see the predator in her eyes that she hid so easily, as human as she was, it was clear to both Sam and his wolf that she was dangerous. Promises that if she ever did cross the plane into the supernatural there was a chance no one could handle her if provoked the right way or wrong, depending on who was on the receiving end.

Bella watched him take a step back and dip his head, it wasn't an apology but recognition that he did not want to provoke her anymore, because it was it was in his best interest.

Bella gave an approving nod before she was turning on her heels and walking away, effectively dismissing Sam and the others. It wasn't hard to find her way back to the Black house and hop in her car, Ms. Nan had always taught her to pay attention to where she was going so that she could always find her way back to safety.


There was an audible sigh of relief the moment the sound of Bella's quickly approaching car met their ears. Alice was eager to go greet her best friend but there would be no plausible explanation as to why Alice would be out there when Bella pulled up, of course that was despite that they'd already done some not so human stuff and Bella hadn't blinked twice, so she stayed inside.

They heard Bella pull into the driveway just as Purple Rain began to play,

"Oh man I miss Kid, fucking Trish" Bella grunted and then she was singing along with Prince, with a surprisingly melodic voice

"Jelly can sing" Emmett noted with wide eyes, being vampires meant they had alluring voices and by extension they could all carry a decent enough tune if need be but singing was a skill for a vampire just like it was for a human and as such they appreciated good singing, and Bella could actually sing.

They could hear the door to Bella's car open and curiosity got the better of Alice who opened the front door for them all to see Bella singing as she did a simple two-step, her hips swiveling in time to the music and Rose got the feeling that Bella could dance just as well as she could sing and she was….decently impressed.

Alice giggled as Bella danced her way to the trunk to grab her duffel bag during the guitar solo, before Bella was once again ad libbing right along with Prince, her duffel bag gripped to her chest as she swayed and sang, she didn't think Bella's voice could go that high considering the soulful yet raspy voice Bella had. It wasn't a male sounding voice by any stretch but it was definitely lower on the register of female voices.

Then Unpredictable by Jamie Foxx began and Bella was once again singing, to her car this time as she danced,

"What is happening?" Anna mumbled in awe, she wondered if Bella often broke into spontaneous concerts in the middle of the night,

"It's Bella" Edward smirked as if that was the answer, but then again…..it really probably was,

"Thanks Riley, I needed that" Bella mumbled as she finally shut off the car, giving it a loving pat goodnight before locking up and heading for the front door of the Cullen house, realizing that they were all standing there watching her,

"Uh how much of that did you witness?" Bella questioned sheepishly, her hand reaching up to awkwardly scratch the back of her neck

"All of it" Alice chirped happily

"Right" Bella grunted

"Nothing to be ashamed of sweetie, I enjoyed the mini concert" Esme smiled

"Thanks Mom E" Bella smiled a goofy smile as she leaned over to drop a loving kiss on Esme's cheek, "Sorry I'm late, Jake and his buddies were trying to convince Charlie to make me spend the night instead of coming here" Bella huffed setting her duffle bag down and following Esme and her nose to the kitchen missing the wary looks the rest of the Cullen's gave one another

"Really, what for?" Esme questioned, keeping the nervousness out of her tone

"Well Sam said I'd be safer there" Bella shrugged grinning at Esme as she sat the plate of chicken parmesan down in front of her, "I told him it'd be safer if he stopped touching me"

"He touched you?" Rosalie demanded, it was one thing to have those mutts stench clinging to Bella it was another to know that they'd put their grubby little paws on what was hers, she ignored Edward's wide eyed look. Now was not the time, hell it would never be the time to talk about her epiphanies with Edward, that's why she fucking left the house.

"Any reason they would say something like that?" Edward questioned, it was a suspicious sounding question but they needed to know if the wolves had exposed them as it would be a direct violation of the treaty

"Probably because they turn into wolves and you're vampires, but I'm no mind reader" Bella shrugged nonchalantly as she continued to eat.


No one moved for a long time, Bella deciding it better to serve herself seconds rather than bother Esme at the moment,

"Which one of them told you?" Victoria demanded

"None, at least not really. I've heard all those legends for as long as I could remember. Didn't really believe in them but the similarities were pretty obvious" Bella shrugged

"You've known this entire time?" Alice squeaked

"Yeah, of course" Bella nodded, they good job of hiding their ways in public but in private...that was a whole other situation. She did dumb shit, she wasn't a dumb person, they practically had a neon sign blazing over their heads he moment they stepped into their house.

"What?" Emmett declared

"Are you serious, you know how dangerous we are and you still come to our house?" Rosalie demanded

"Yeah, you're all still great people" and this was great chicken parmesan, simple shit

"We're vampires"

"No you're a person, species is vampire"

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. We kill humans, is that not what you are?"

"You feed from animals, correct me if I'm wrong and humans kill humans too. Trust me, I've seen it happen"

"Do you not recognize how dangerous this is?" Rosalie hissed, it felt like she was no longer talking about Bella hanging with the Cullen's but more about her and Bella and their push and pull undefined relationship.

That's what it was, Bella was there and she'd push at Rosalie's boundaries the walls around the blonde's heart all the while dutifully scaling it and sometimes the blonde would pull to, urging her closer until it was all too much and she was pushing away. Bella wouldn't give up though, she'd be right there with the blonde waiting to start the process back all over again. She was hers though, the blonde had accepted that much, it was impossible not too though, because Rosalie the vampire had made the claim. It was the blonde, outside of primal instincts that was having trouble accepting any of that.

Sensing the change, Bella stood wiping her mouth with a napkin before moving until she was toe to toe with the fuming blonde, she was taller but incapable of ever looking down at the vampire

"Don't care, life's dangerous"

"That doesn't mean you actively seek it out"

"I'm not"

"You're in a house full of vampires"

"Nah, I'm in a house full of people I like spending time with, they just happen to be vampires"

"You're suicidal"

"Once, not anymore" Bella shrugged and with that admission the whole atmosphere of the room changed.

"You were suicidal?" Alice squeaked as she moved to hug Bella who had returned to her food

"A long time ago Ali" Bella smiled down at her softly

"Why?" Alice was almost sorry she asked because of the bitter laugh that left Bella's mouth

"My parents hate me and I was dumb enough to care"

"I don't understand" Alice mumbled

"Charlie is a good man" Carlisle noted

"He is, which is why I'm alive now but his conscious as a police officer doesn't change the fact that I was not what they wanted. Never was and never will be" Bella huffed

"Why not, you're amazing" Alice huffed and Bella smiled with a nod

"I am amazing, but I'm a mistake as well, or at least that's what my mom thinks even though she'd never say it out loud" Bella shrugged as if she didn't care, because for the most part she really didn't, but it didn't change how much it simply just sucked

"Is it because you like girls?" Victoria questioned, Bella hadn't explicitly come out and told them but she wasn't hiding it either

"They wish it was just that, my mother, Renee is pretty open to things like that...things that are different but I guess I'm too different" Bella laughed that bitter laugh again that Alice was really beginning to hate

"Then why?" Anna questioned

"Renee wanted to be surprised with the gender of her baby when she was pregnant with me, Charlie went with it. Everything else was a surprise, so why not that too, right? I was born and they sure as hell were surprised, Charlie was there to see me come out, he screamed boy and the doctor came back and told him mostly girl. Renee wanted to do the surgery to make me fully female but the mortality rate was too high for Charlie to be comfortable with it so they didn't do it. Now, here I am living as the freak I was born to be"

"No" Esme's voice was stern and demanding, "You are not a freak, do you hear me young lady. You are beautiful beyond words, charming, with the biggest heart I've ever seen but you are by no means a freak. I never want to hear you talk like that again, am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am" Bella smiled wryly, Ms. Nan had given her a bit of the same speech, a wooden spoon had also been involved

Alice squeaked looking up sheepishly as Esme smacked her on the arm,

"You won't see anything Ali, I'm all tucked up" Bella chuckled with a shake of her head as she returned to her food, they asked questions and Emmett made jokes and Bella was herself once again. She was confident in who she was but it always seemed to disappear when she was telling someone about herself for the first time, the rejection of her own parents ingrained into her thoughts even though no one she'd ever trusted enough to divulge such information with had ever rejected her.


"What did I do?" Bella questioned because Rosalie was still glaring at her

The blonde in question didn't respond instead choosing to stand and grab Bella by the back of her shirt and drag her outside and into the backyard. Rosalie had the most sensitive senses out of the entire family other than hearing which was solely Esme's and while the others could ignore the clingy smell of the wolves she could and would not any longer,

"You smell like wet dog infested trash" she simply informed Bella before she turned on the hose on the poor brunette,

"FUCK" Bella yelled shooting to her feet as the cold water hit her, it was already fucking cold out considering the time of year

"Rosalie" Esme hissed disappearing to go grab a big enough towel for Bella who was struggling to get out of her now soaked clothes

"Fucking hypothermia Rose" Bella hissed as she finally yanked of all of her clothes, and raced into the warm Cullen house shivering.

Rosalie only smirked before cocking her eyebrow because she could now easily make out Bella's extra appendage in her wet boxer briefs and it was nothing at all to be embarrassed about, along with a well defined midsection. Bella followed Rosalie's line of sight and shrugged,

"I'm a grower not a shower"

A second golden eyebrow rose to join the other because now she was curious,

"Thanks Esme" Bella grinned as she let the matriarch lead her away, she knew that look and she was as proud as a peacock, Rosalie wanted her body.


"You like her" Emmett grinned wiggling his eyebrows suggestively

"Shut up" Rosalie huffed with a roll of her eyes as she quickly disappeared out the back door.

"That's a yes, isn't it?" Emmett questioned

"Oh yeah" Victoria nodded with a chuckle

"A big fat yes" Carlisle chuckled as he returned with Bella's wet clothes in his arms and grabbed her duffle bag as he headed for Bella's room after dropping her clothes in the laundry room.

It was such a big fat yes.