A/N: I will be updating Mondays!
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When Bella finally awoke for the day, she seemed quite rested, but her eyes looked haunted.
"What are we going to do today, Bella?" I asked her.
She didn't answer for a few minutes, seeming uncertain of what to say. I was about to talk again when she started.
"I need a change. I can't just be plain old Bella anymore... I need something," she said, her eyes pleading with me to agree.
"Whatever you need," I said, confirming it with her.
"Let me get dressed and we'll be on our way," she said.
I questioned myself as to how far I would let her go. I questioned how far she would want to go.
Within twenty minutes we were in the car. She had grabbed a muffin and orange juice from the continental breakfast bar downstairs before we left, insisting she didn't want to waste any time eating somewhere before we got to the good stuff.
Our first stop was the mall, hitting a couple of trendy teen boutiques. These places were Alice's idea of heaven and I knew that whenever she had tried to pull Bella into these places, Bella had raised a huge stink. Now here she was, pulling me in.
The clothes she looked at were not the demure, understated things that she had always chosen before, in fact, they are the exact type of things Alice would have chosen had she ever been allowed free reign with Bella's wardrobe. Bella chose ultra low rise skinny jeans that looked like they had been painted on, and tight cleavage enhancing tops that were short enough to show bits of skin around her middle and cut deep enough to show the fabric of her white cotton bra.
After loading eleven bags into the car, we returned to the mall and she basically dragged me into Victoria's Secret. The thinks she chose here would have made Alice' jump up and down, clapping her hands together with pride.
I hoped that she would go with it for a few days and return to who she truly was. Her next two stops made me wonder.
The first was to Sephora, where she allowed the girl to do her make-up. When she was done, her lovely skin was covered in make-up. She looked different, her pure peaches and cream innocence was covered and her new style was a lot more daring. I didn't dare comment until Bella herself had passed judgement on the look.
"Wow, I hardly recognize myself," she said. "The kids at school are going to flip!"
I didn't do much more than smile as I handed over my credit card. Bella looked at the total as I signed the slip and I saw her face blanche. The old Bella was still there, and if this is what it took to bring her back, I would spend it a million times over.
She didn't hesitate and our next stop was a salon. She looked through the books of styles, obviously wanting a drastic change. I tried in vain to change her mind but she would not be dissuaded, so I enlisted the help of a stylist, Jeorge.
The flamboyant man was at Bella's side in an instant, insisting that the length was perfect but a few highlights, lowlights and some layers would be perfect and singing the praises of a flat iron. I breathed a sigh of relief as she agreed, knowing that it was nothing that couldn't be undone easily.
Leaving the salon with Bella was a new experience. The girl next door look was gone, replaced by a little fashion vixen that had all the boys drooling. The next stop was the one that finally got me to say enough is enough.
"Bella, you are not getting a tattoo," I said.
"Yes, I am," she said, just as firmly.
"Bella," I said again, in warning.
"Mom," she said. "I have wanted a tattoo for as long as I can remember, and I promise it is nothing bad. I simply want a Shakespeare quote on my back."
I took a deep breath and shook my head. Shakespeare... Likely she would choose "to thine own self be true" and I couldn't find it in myself to disagree, nor could I find it in myself to actually enter the place. I may be perfect in my composure, but the smell of her blood at her birthday party was overwhelming for me.
So I dropped her off with money for the tattoo. Edward was going to kick my ass if he saw this. Edward!
With my free time, I made my way to a cell phone store, ordering an iPhone for both Bella and I on a completely separate plan than the family. I would be sure she always had a way to contact me.
When I returned to the shop, Bella was shaking the artist's hand. When she got out of the shop she smiled softly at me. The look in her eyes more like the Bella I have known and loved for months.
"Hi," she said softly, biting her lip in trepidation.
"So how was it?" I asked.
"It hurt more than I expected, but I like it a lot more than I expected to," she said.
"You liked the pain?" I asked.
"No," she said. "The finished product."
"Ahhh," I said. "Are you going to tell me what you got?"
"A quote... From Romeo and Juliet," she said.
Since the quote I assumed she would get was from Hamlet, I found myself thinking through the play to see what she would have chose.
"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun?" I asked thinking of any famous quote I could from the play.
"Nope," she said, sitting back contemplatively as I headed back towards Forks.
"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" I asked
"Nope," she said again.
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love?" I asked again.
"Still no," she said.
"Okay I give up," I said, unable to guess what she would have chosen.
"So dear I love him that with him, all deaths I could endure. Without him, live no life," she said.
"Oh, Bella," I said completely horrified, desiring to kick his ass even more now. My poor girl was so broken. I might just have to get over myself and
"I love him with all that I am, Mom. I can't live without him. If he doesn't want me... I just can't go on," she said.
"Bella," I said, my heart breaking for her.
"It's okay," she said quickly. "I don't plan to do anything stupid. I will go on. I will live, but not really. He is my everything...."
"Bella, he loves you. He messed up but he does. I just keep praying that he will get his shit together," I finished, almost muttering the last phrase to myself.
"If he loved me he'd never have left," she said sullenly.
"Oh Honey," I said. How could I explain to her, how could I make her see?
She was silent for a little while before she reached into the back seat for a book. The rest of the drive was silent, other than her occasional mutterings while she read. It was cute and I don't think she even realized she was doing it. It was after four when we pulled into Charlie's driveway. His car was gone and the lights were off, giving the house a foreboding feeling in the dim light of the cloudy day. Bella didn't seem phased, grabbing a few bags from the trunk and making her way in. She was phased however by the fact that her house key was missing from it's usual spot above the eave.
"Bella," I said, as she tried the door, finding it unlocked. "Stay here. Something is not right."
Bella stepped back, away from the door as I opened up my senses to find out what was going on.
I stepped into the living room and was greeted with a dark pair of red eyes.
"You haven't gone?" he asked in a confused voice. "I heard that all the Cullens had left town."
"What are you doing in my daughter's house?" I asked Laurent as he moved closer to me. "Last I heard you were in Denali, giving the vegetarian lifestyle a chance."
"Well, yes, Irina was a nice distraction for a little while, but the diet is not for me. It's like drinking toilet water when you are used to the taste of champagne," Laurent said.
"That doesn't answer the question as to what you are doing at my daughter's house," I said.
"I tried to visit your family at your house as I was passing through. When I saw that nobody was there, I followed your scent here. I was just... Curious as to how your human daughter lives with so little when you obviously have so much," he said.
"My daughter likes the simple things in life. If she chose to live elsewhere we would make it happen. That is what family does," I said.
"And does family get up and leave town, leaving their two most vulnerable members alone? Is that how your family works?" he asked, running his finger along my jaw.
"What makes you think they are gone?" I asked.
"Your possessions, are mostly gone. Anything personal has been taken. You forget that I have been in your home before," he said.
"No. Mostly I am angry that you would enter my home uninvited," I said.
"It's a shame he left such a pretty little thing," he said, motioning towards Bella. "Her blood calls out just as strongly as her innocence. It would be a shame for her to lose either."
"Is that a threat, Laurent?" I asked.
"Why should I do such a thing?" he asked.
"I am not certain," I replied. "I just know that you are not welcome in this home and I wish for you to leave my daughter and my family in peace."
"Oh," he said. "I see. I suppose I should give this to you, as it doesn't truly belong to me. It seems that your mate is rather desperate to get ahold of you. I hope that there isn't trouble in paradise."
"Not that it is any of your concern," I replied. "Bella and I are just closing things down here before we join the family. Yes we had a slight tiff as Bella is a little reluctant to leave her friends and family here, but we have worked it out and will be together soon."
"Then I look forward to seeing you in Alaska, when I next spend time with Irina. I am sorry to have intruded in your daughter's home," he said.
Before I could say another word he ran out the back door. I turned to grab Isabella and get her into the house. This was one person that I disagreed with Carlisle on. No matter what he said I did not trust Laurent, nor Victoria for that matter.
As Bella and I reached the front door, Laurent was next to her, having come from the back.
"Isabella, you smell as delectable as always," he said. "Fresh blood is a very welcoming scent coming from you."
With that he was gone and I pulled Bella into the house. She was trembling so hard her teeth chattered together.
"Shh," I soothed my daughter. "He's gone."
After she calmed down she set about preparing some dinner for her and Charlie. I unloaded the rest of her new things from the car and brought them into the house, scanning outside for any sign of Laurent, or God forbid, Victoria.
Bella had dinner ready to serve by six, yet Charlie did not return to the house, as she expected. She ate herself, deciding that she would give him a little time before she called the station.
"Maybe he expected us to be gone longer," she said.
This seemed unlikely but I had no inkling where he would be. After she ate and cleaned up, putting the leftovers in a container for Charlie, she dialed the station, reaching Deputy Mark.
"Hi Mark," she said. "It's Bella Swan, is Charlie there?"
"Nope," he said, laughing. "He's went out on a hot date last night and told us not to expect him in today."
"What?" Bella asked, looking at me, horrified.
"Yeah!" Mark continued. "Beautiful lady. Slim, pale as can be and long red hair. Major stunner. The chief was hooked as soon as he pulled her over. She obviously was too, sat here and waited for him to finish up last night."
Bella stood silently, her whole body quaking. She knew what was happening as well as I did, and it wasn't good.
Victoria had Charlie.
