AN: Sorry it's taken me soooo long. I've been kinda sick. Please review! I still want your opinions on wheth or not I should bring the Cullens back into the picture.


Drake arrived shortly, with his arm connected to Marissa's waist. I still hadn't forgotten how he'd tried to guilt Matt into leaving, but I wasn't holding it against him tonight.

"Thanks, Drake," Matt smiled his sad smile.

Drake just shrugged and Matt left quickly. He turned to Marissa and nodded and she left too.

I looked at him confused as to where she was going and he laughed lightly, "She's just double checking the area for anything."

"Oh," was all I could really say.

I had a mission tonight though. Of course, I may piss a few vampires off with my digging, but it would be worth it… right? My plan just had to work. I would get the three of them back to being friends. There honestly wasn't any real reason for them not to be.

Drake took a seat and motioned for me to sit across from him, "You look like you have something on your mind."

I could feel my lips pull up into a smile, "I do, actually."

"Alright, what is it?"

"You might be… angry when I bring this up, but I need to know," I warned him.

He seemed to realize what I was talking about and frowned, "Bella, please. This is inappropriate."

I scoffed at his comment, "Inappropriate?! You're angry with him for no good reason. He's changed so much since you last saw him. Sure, I only just recently met him, but he's told me of what he used to be like. You'd have to be blind to not see the pain and remorse in his eyes. Every time he sees you two, he looks as if he could shatter into a million pieces. Was his mistake as a new born so bad that you could never see past it? Was it so bad that you'd ignore the fact that he is a good pers- being now?"

He leaned in towards me over the table, "I don't believe he's told you the full story."

That made a lump get caught in my throat, "What are you talking about? What else is there to it?"

"He obviously didn't mention the fact that he changed Marissa. He took her life away for nothing. I had fallen in love with her as a human, but I refused to change her," that sounded familiar. "I couldn't do it. After we got in the argument, he attacked her when she came over. He was still mad from before so he didn't have as much control. He almost killed her," he spat the last part out with disgust.

I sat back against the soft, cushioned couch. I didn't know what to say. It would be hard to have Drake forgive Matt now. One thing was for sure though, I didn't blame Matt for his actions… at least not completely.

I sighed, "I can see how that would keep you from forgiving him… but he was so new to this life. He couldn't possibly have had enough control. He was angry. He'd just lost someone so close to him… If I may ask- did Marissa want to be changed?"

He looked away from me, "It doesn't matter if she did or didn't want to. There was no way she could've stopped it."

I took that as a yes, "Let me guess… she wanted you to change her, but you denied her. Her one dream was to spend eternity with you… and I'm guessing that made her feel like you didn't really love her. It made her doubt not only you, but herself."

I shook my head angrily, "Is it so bad for someone to want someone that badly. To want to be with them for forever?"

"I'm glad I'll be with her for the rest of my existence, but I could never get that picture of her bleeding body beneath his… him drinking her blood as if he couldn't get enough…" he stopped, too angry to continue.

"I don't expect you to forget that. No one could… but maybe one day you'll see him as he really is now," I whispered.

Marissa appeared behind Drake, "No one's out there for now."

I smiled at her, "Thanks…"

My stomach grumbled suddenly. I blushed and Marissa laughed, "Are you hungry?"

I nodded and stood up, "I doubt he has any food here…"

Marissa rose and I followed her to the kitchen. She opened a cabinet and surprisingly there was a ton of food. Why would he have food here? Probably for the act, in case someone - not me - came by here.

I grabbed a box of macaroni and cheese and set it on the counter. I found a pot and made my - dinner? I glanced at the clock panicked.

"What's wrong?" Marissa looked worriedly at me.

"Charlie! I- I need to call him! He's already home by now. He's going to absolutely kill me!" I started searching the room for a phone.

Drake reached into his pocket and handed me his phone. I mumbled a 'thanks' to him and quickly dialed the number.

It rang only once, "Bella?!"

"Yes, it's me. I'm so sorry, Dad. I completely forgot to tell you that I'm sleeping over at a friends house," I rushed out.

He sighed angrily, "You have got to remember to call me or at least leave me a note or something. You had me worried. You're lucky I didn't start a search team yet."

"I'm sorry," and I truly was. I never meant to make him worry.

"It's okay. So, who's house are you staying at?" He asked and I spit out the first name I could think of, "Marissa's."

"Marissa? You've never mentioned her before."

"Yeah, we just started hanging out recently. She's new here," that wasn't necessarily lying…

I could hear the smile in his voice, "I'm glad you've made a new friend." Guilt rushed over me. I never really noticed how me not hanging out with anyone anymore affected him.

"Alright, well… I'll see you tomorrow, Dad."

"Okay. Have fun, Bells."

I handed Drake his phone back and leaned against the back of the couch, closing my eyes. I hadn't realized how tired I was. I accidentally let a yawn escape from my lips.

"Bella, you should go to bed. You must be exhausted," Marissa said from next to Drake.

"I'm fine. I'll go to bed when Matt gets back," I spoke quietly.

Closing my eyes had been a bad idea because before I knew it, I was drifting asleep. The dreams that haunted me before were back once again. Flashes of that fiery red hair and those piercing red eyes. I never got away in my nightmares… no matter how fast I ran, I was no match for her. Just a weak, human girl.

Someone was shaking me awake suddenly. I yelped out thinking it was Victoria for some reason. I covered my face with my arms.

"Bella. Bella? Wake up. It's just me," Matt's gentle voice soothed me.

"Sorry…" I mumbled.

"Don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong… You want to talk about it?" it was now that I realized how much he'd changed just in the time that I've known him. He used to be so dark, but now he's so caring to me.

"Just the usual. I'm sure you heard me talking about it," stupid sleep talking…

"Sometimes it makes people feel better when they say it out loud… and when they know someone's listening," he brushed back a strand of my hair.

"It's just- Victoria. I've always known she'd be the end of me. I see it happen all the time, over and over again in my dreams. She's not stupid, you know. She'll find a way. I can feel something huge about to happen. It's like I can feel that something really big is about to happen," I had trouble describing what I was feeling. It was this annoying feeling nagging at me. Kind of like when you're trying to sleep and you can hear a clock ticking in the background, and it's the only thing you can possibly focus on.

"She's not going to get you. How many times do I have to say that to get you to finally trust me?" his tone was slightly irritated.

"I do trust you. It has nothing to do with trust. It's all numbers when it gets down to it. There's four of us. Really, only three because I don't count. Victoria is probably building up a storm of an army…" I sighed. "Will it ever end, Matt? Why can't they just leave me alone? I'm tired of running away from it. I'm tired of always being so paranoid… I want to be able to breathe again."

He looked at me sadly, "It'll be over soon. We'll take care of it."


I do not own Twilight. Please Review!