I do not own any of SM's novels or plotlines as I have said before. Thank you Joreyna for all of your help. Hope you enjoy.


My family came to life on the wall behind the piano, each one in their captivating presence. Alice and her fairy like movement, Rosalie and her beauty that was even better looking in person, Emmet and his bear like qualities, Jasper in his quiet and calm composure, Esme with her motherly gaze watching over her children, Carlisle and his model smile leaning against the doorframe of the room, and Edward with his curious smirk that reached his eyes.

I was in the background, my eyes on the windows to watch the outside. I had an odd feeling that that was what I would be doing in a few years. Watching for unwanted outsiders to keep my family safe.

The door opened revealing a very calm Edward. I glanced at him, my brush still wet with the purple I had used for my eyes, and my face focused.

"What's that look for?" He asked as he came closer to the painting.
I shook my head, ignoring his question to focus on my intense concentration. I wasn't going to let his inattentive attention to my thoughts bother me. He should know my facial expressions well enough to understand what I was thinking.

"I'm sensing a lot of tension."

"You should sense more."

An eyebrow rose. "Are you angry with me?"

"Well, there's a question."

"What have I done now?"

"You've never done anything before so why should you now, Mr. Perfect."

His eyebrow rumpled in confusion. I had caught his attention now and he was working diligently to figure out what it was I was grumbling about. I turned my entire figure to him and eyed him with burning curiosity. "So, did she invite you in for a cup of tea and a shag?"

Edward's growl was enough to stir the entire house from its silent slumber. It was the only thing that seemed to sleep. "Don't you ever say that about Bella."

I dropped my head in shame. That was taking it too far and I admitted it.

Edward's glower hadn't resigned from his face. "I have never heard something as coarse like that come from your mouth."

"I'm not as innocent as you think."

He barked out a harsh laugh. I was digging myself into a deeper hole. "I see that loneliness brings out the worst in you."

I opened my mouth to retort but clamped it shut at once. I wasn't going to let him coax me into a fight. That's what he wanted. He wanted me to be against him so that when Bella did become significant in this family, I would be ashamed. "I'm sorry for my crude behavior. I've just had an upsetting night, that's all."

I snapped back to my painting, glaring at the Edward I had painted on the wall. Maybe I should have made a scowl on his face instead of a smirk. A hand pressed down on my shoulder with a heavy sigh. "Apology accepted." A pause. "What happened?"

"I sort of…had a vision."

"Explain."

I didn't need to. He saw it all in my mind, the sweeping sensation of unadulterated love I had for a painting that didn't exist and never would. Funny how I loved things that never existed. The thing that was perfect for me, exactly as I wanted life to be, never existed.

He yanked his hand back. "I don't know who the man was. But I can tell you something of importance that I just learned about you."

Now he had my attention. "What?"

"The more you think, the more it disturbs you."

I scowled. "I already knew that."

He placed a finger on my lips to shut me up. "No, Lilly. The more you paint, think, comprehend the future, whatever, it messes with your mind. It tampers with your memory and creates a deeper feeling of curiosity. Stop thinking so much and you won't fall in love with your characters."

"You have no idea what you're asking of me."

"It's not that hard."

"Tell that to a writer or a musician. They fall in love with their masterpieces because it is the adaptation of their desire."

"And was he your desire?"

"I didn't create him."

"Then what are you saying?"

"He existed at one time and I only painted him from memory. I knew him. I loved him. But I didn't create him. I was just saying that the more I think, the more I remember and fall in love with the world that seemed a dream only to find that—that it actually existed at one time. It's now the object of my desire."

"So that painting is a replica of a scene you once watched?"

"Yes."

"This would be so confusing to a human. Please never tell Heath this."

"Why would I? I'm not going to speak to him ever again."

He eyed me with questioning. "Why not?"

"I have no need. He will probably become one of us and I want to disassociate myself from him."

He raised an eyebrow but settled back into a facial expression that I couldn't read. "If you say so."

I decided to change the subject. "So, what did take you so long?"

His jaw line grew tight as he glowered at my painting. "Saving Bella from death, as usual."

"Did she trip and break her face this time?"

He shot me a disgruntled glance but carried on with his conversation. "No, she conveniently found herself down an ally and was almost…"

He didn't need to finish his sentence and I immediately began to feel terrible for making fun of her. I gulped in a perfectly mortal fashion. "Is she alright?"

"Yes, she's fine. I took her to dinner and she…she took another guess at what I am."

He didn't finish again.

"And this time she guessed right."

He nodded.

"So now she knows and there is no way of stopping this." I took an unneeded breath. "Who gave her this notion?"

"Jacob Black."

I nodded slowly in understanding. The family appeared then. The news of Bella overshadowed the creation of my painting and all eyes were on him. Jasper, oddly enough, was the first one to speak. "What are you going to do when I'm around her? You know my track record…it's enough for me just to ignore her presence at school but if you bring her here!"

"We are planning a trip tomorrow, her and me. I am going to take her to the meadow." Edwards stated without any knowledge of what Jasper had said.

"You stupid boy! How could you dare do this to us?" Rosalie yelled at him, her face even more brilliant in its anger.

Alice spoke up to keep a brawl from happening. "Rosalie, look at him." She pointed to Edward.

We all looked at him and just as Alice wanted of us, we saw it. A hint of happiness. A small twinge of laughter fixed into his eyes. None of us could bring that to him…except for the human girl Bella.

Alice carried on. "Esme, I know you see it. You saw his happiness before any of us ever took the time to recognize. Yes, Bella will be put into grave danger if she is with us. But she will also be the most loved and protected human on this planet if she is." She took a turn to examine each of our faces, saving mine for last. My eyes fell to the floor in shame before she spoke again. "I am with you, Edward."

"As am I." Carlisle spoke then, his voice that of an orchestra.

Jasper said nothing.

"I am, too." I whispered into our deafening silence.

Edward shot a glance down at me, a faint smirk playing on his lips.

"Choose whatever will make you stay with us, Edward." Esme smiled warmly with all of her motherly love.

"Well, I see who wants to be held responsible for her death if anything should happen." Rosalie's words were venom to us all. "Come on, Emmet. I do not wish to cavort with these traitors."

She left us then. This time, I wasn't going to hang around to be trapped into a conversation of who was right and who was wrong. This time, I left slowly for the stairs, weighing each of my steps carefully. To the room with my mural I came and closing the door behind me, I sat on the floor to marvel at it. The scene came to life again but this time, it was only mere imagination. Nothing more.


I had fallen to the floor, laying on my side, the scene replaying itself over and over until I knew what each person was saying and buying and thinking and dreaming and shouting and praying for. Why had I left that time period? Why was I here, stuck in this century, with a family I just happened to fall in love with? Someone had to have the answers for me! Someone had to know why it was that I was in love with a man who existed on plaster.

Nightfall. Edward came to us for only a brief moment, explaining what had transpired and what he was planning for tomorrow, though Alice already had a guess.

"You're staying with her tonight?" Esme asked her face no more confused than mine.

"Yes." A contagious grin broke out on his face and I couldn't help but smile myself.

Once he left, I stared blankly at the TV for hours, realizing the new feeling that was coming in to play on my emotions. Jealousy.

I had begged for the feeling not to come. What was there to be jealous about? It's not like I loved Edward, like I wanted him all to myself. I didn't love him like I wanted to marry him. As a brother yes, but never intimately. That belonged to the man on the mural.

No, this jealousy was of a different standard. I twitched my eyes to Esme whose look was that of a faraway place. Alice and Jasper sat on the couch, conversing Jasper's views of each side and which one he should be on. (It was becoming just the side of Rosalie and the other side of the family the more they all thought about it.) Carlisle came to sit next to Esme. Emmet was persuading Rosalie into finding the brighter side of this humans' existence. That was when it hit me. They were all focused on her. She was the new member. I was old news and just part of the family now. I didn't need to be watched over or calmed anymore. I was past a year and more controlled than Jasper would ever be.

"Emmet, do you want to hunt some bears?" I asked with hope, my eyes that of a puppy.

"Not right now, Lills."

I turned to Alice. "You want to go shopping?"

"I can't, I'm keeping an eye of Edward and Bella's future."

To Carlisle. "Want to pose for a painting?"

"Not at the moment, Lillith."

Lillith? LILLITH? What…how the…is he serious?! Did he really just call me that?

"Is something wrong?" Esme asked.

Murder was written on my face. Only one person called me that and no one else was allowed to. Not only that, but they didn't want to behave like normal people anymore! None of them. They were all too focused on keeping the worst from happening. I wanted to pull my hair out and scream.

Jealousy. It was the worst feeling I had ever had. Jasper sensed this and shot me waves of a calm state to where I was no longer thinking. Just standing there and staring off into space. Esme pulled me down into a comfortable position, wrapping her arms around me and humming to me. I tried to keep my thoughts and my body from traveling to the mural to think upon the subject that haunted my emotions. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. In fact, it was harder than actually comprehending the meaning of it all.

"They'll be home soon. And we will have some visitors from the North." Alice said from our graveyard silence after an hour or two. They. For the first time we would have human company in our home and it was almost surreal. Almost. Visitors as well which could only mean a safe guarding of the human. More trouble than we could possibly take at the moment. There was absolutely no need to worry.

"Oh, and Lilly, you shouldn't play baseball with us as we will have to buy a new bat and baseball."

I nodded and continued on my thoughts. Had the whole day passed by as I sat on the couch? I contemplated the passage of time. No, it must have only been an hour. Or more? I sighed in confusion.

That's when we heard the car swerve up and the doors slam.

We drifted away from the front room so that there wouldn't seem to be a huge party waiting for her, but we were all restless, waiting, watching, and sniffing the air for her delectable scent. Jasper lingered back the farthest, uneasy of his lust for blood. The door opened, the light flooded in, and to my worst of horrors, she appeared in the doorway hand in hand with Edward. Carlisle and Esme dissipated by the piano to greet them and her surprise was obvious as to the looks of our house. She had expected cobwebs and coffins. Silly human.

"You're very welcome, Bella." He stepped forward to her and shook her hand in a gentlemanly way.

"It's nice to meet you again, Dr. Cullen." Her voice was so kind. I was instantly jealous of it.

"Please, call me Carlisle."

"Carlisle." She smiled hugely for the whole world.

I placed my head up against the wall and focused on keeping my mind emotions from hating her. What was there not to like? She was pretty, courteous, and affectionate. If I wasn't eaten away by the fact that she stole the attention from me, then I would have adored her myself.

Esme shook hands with her then. "It's very nice to know you."

"Thank you. I'm glad to meet you, too." So nice.

"Where are Alice and Jasper?"

The moment Edward said it; Alice came bounding down the stairs to greet them. Alice kissed her cheek, making Esme and Carlisle's nerves jump to new heights. Jasper came in and comforted her but made no approach to shake her hand. Rosalie and Emmet had left so that was my signal. I came from the dining room, an odd place for me to be but no one took any notice. My hair slowly followed me in an airy fashion as I came face to face with her. I had composed a mask of tolerant indifference, but I hadn't the strength to be mean. I gave a weak smile and took her hand, more careful than usual as I was the strongest. I shook it once and let my eyes glance up to Edward.

"Bella, this is Lilly."

Bella nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to finally meet you as well."

I had tuned them out until Edward sat down to play the piano. He looked as I had drawn him before only this time, he wasn't lonely. I couldn't understand what it was that she had brought him. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the concept of something so normal giving him pleasure in life.

His eyes glanced up to mine and I let them wander to the hallway. Retreating with as much dignity as I could muster, the whole family disappeared. I wandered into my own bedroom, putting on some music to calm myself, my French double doors wide open for public viewing. Onto my small settee I sank, playing with a freshly picked Lily that Esme had brought into my room while I was blankly glaring at my mural. I was that of a romanticized painting from that of a different era, my purple eyes watching the Lily in my hand, my hair splashed about my back, the vacant sun's ray barely touching my skin to make me glow. I wanted to pull the curtains closed when footsteps interrupted my wallowing in self pity.

Edward and Bella walked by my door, stopping only for a moment to show her my room. She was impressed but her eyes lingered on me. I forced no smile or recognition of her. Instead, I turned over and sniffed the Lily like a spoiled child ignoring her mother's orders to come down the stairs and present herself in a polite fashion. They were gone before I could even blink.

Alice came flittering about into my room with a wide grin on her face. "Ready for baseball?"

"I hate baseball." I grumbled out a lie.

"No, you're just angry that you can't play this time. Besides, we need someone to keep Bella company while she watches us play."

"Esme will be there."

Her eyebrow rose. "You are turning into our pig-headed sister Rosalie. Get off your bottom and come with us. I think Bella would be more comfortable with you there."

"Why?"

"Jasper felt her relax at the sight of you. We think it's because you're the most human of us all."

"Fine." I heaved a sigh but was somewhat enjoying being the most human of my family. "I shall attend."

"Great!" She flickered past, pressing a quick prick of a kiss onto my hair before going to spread the news of our baseball game.

I stood to go but as I left my room I could have sworn I heard him calling to me from the bedroom. "Not now, Corpus." I didn't even know I said it and I didn't care…