AN: Check it out- two chapters in one week! Don't get used to it ;)
As for the chapter itself... well, you'll see...

Disclaimer: SM owns all, I just screw around with them.

Chapter 10- Put Out the Flames

Bella POV
My emotions were swirling so fast I couldn't keep track of them. I was so deliriously happy while Garrett was kissing me, but as soon as his hands touched my body, that stupid warning in my brain kicked in and asked me what the hell I was doing. I tried to push it down, but Garrett had already noticed and was pulling away from me.

I watched him struggle so hard to control himself and was struck again by how much he put my feelings above his own. He was in pain, I knew it, but he worked so hard not to push me even a little bit. I couldn't do anything but stare at him in awe as I breathed in his delicious scent.

His face was so close to mine, like he couldn't bear to break contact with me completely, and I knew just how he was feeling. I didn't want to be away from him. I wanted to pick right up where we stopped, but I realized we probably needed to take things slowly. Needing to give him some kind of comfort, I reached up to place my hands on his back, where I rubbed gently. I marveled again at the texture of his scars, knowing how much pain they must have caused him, and wishing I could take that pain from him completely.

I felt so bad that now I was the one causing him pain, again. How many times would he put up with my fluctuating desires before he gives up? I couldn't bear to lose him now, not when I was finally beginning to see a future with him. I wanted to apologize but I couldn't find the words, and then suddenly he was staring at me.

We didn't move for a few seconds, and then I watched as he came to some realization and stepped away from me, closing in on himself and hanging his head down where he almost looked... ashamed? What does he have to be ashamed of? I'm the one who keeps throwing myself at him and then cutting him off.

I wanted to reach for him and find some way to fix this, but Peter walked in and completely ruined the moment even more than it was already ruined. I could feel my rage building and a red haze started to fill my vision when Peter flippantly called out in his lazy drawl, "So, did I miss anything?"

Slipping past my mate, I spun around with a loud roar and jumped toward Peter. I didn't even know what I was trying to do, and every bit of technique I had learned went straight out the window as I charged him. My anger went even higher when the prick didn't even move, he just stepped one foot slightly forward as he crouched down a bit.

I was gonna wipe that smirk off his face if it was the last thing I did. Aiming for his neck, I came within inches of my target before I found myself on my stomach with Peter above me, holding my hands back as my feet continued to kick the floor.

I tried to tell myself not to panic, but it was no use. Once again I was at the mercy of a larger male and I couldn't do anything to stop him. If my heart was still beating, it would have been absolutely pounding. I let out a whimper as I prepared to beg, when suddenly I was free.

Rolling to my feet, I saw Garrett holding Peter in a headlock, snarling in his ear. Peter had his hands out in submission, but I could tell by his jet-black eyes that Garrett was too far gone to see reason. I couldn't even laugh about the irony of a newborn being the reasonable one in the group, but I knew I needed to do something.

My rage was gone, replaced with pride in my mate, and probably a little more lust than I should have had at this time. My fear had disappeared as soon as I was no longer trapped, and I was grateful that Garrett knew just what I needed, even if he wasn't exactly in his right mind.

Walking over to the men, I slowly approached Garrett from the right. Reaching out carefully, I laid my hand on his arm, careful not to touch Peter as well. "Garrett? Thank you for helping me, but can you let Peter go now? I think Char kinda likes his head where it is," I spoke softly, keeping my eyes on his as I saw them finally begin to lighten.

He shook his head before dropping Peter and looking at me in shock. He backed away from both of us, actually tripping over the rug as he fell on the ground. I really didn't think vampires were capable of tripping and falling, accidentally at least.

Garrett had his hands fisted, one in his hair and the other on the ground where he sat. I wasn't sure if he was mad at me or not, so I didn't come any closer, and I saw Peter step over to Charlotte to reassure her that he was fine.

A loud growl from Garrett surprised us all, and he still wouldn't look anyone in the eye, "How many things can I fuck up in one day? I'm so sorry Bella, and Peter too, I don't even know what my problem is. My self-control is just disappearing and I have no idea what to do about it."

He wasn't making any sense. I walked up to him and started to reach out, but pulled my hand back at the last minute, not wanting to upset him even more. His eyes shot up to mine and he shook his head quickly, "No, Bella, please don't be afraid of me! I didn't mean to scare you, honest! I just-" he cut off with another growl and clenched his fists, looking away from me again.

What on earth? Was Garrett turning into a newborn now? I kneeled down in front of him, very slowly so I wouldn't spook him. Reaching out, I placed my hand over his tightly-clenched fist that was still resting on the floor. He looked up at me in shock when I started to softly rub my fingers over his, encouraging him to relax his hand.

"Garrett? You didn't scare me. I'm not sure why you think that. I was pissed as hell at Peter, and I know I didn't fight well, but then I got scared when he pinned me, it just all happened so fast. I'm glad you helped me, but I just didn't want you to hurt Peter is all, ok?" Glancing back at our two companions, who were trying to look like they weren't eavesdropping, I added quietly, "And for the record, I really liked that kiss. I didn't really want to stop, but it's probably good that we did. Maybe we can talk about it some more later?"

He nodded, finally reaching with his free hand to pull me closer to him. He wrapped his arm lightly around my shoulders and I leaned into his touch, enjoying the peace that came from his presence. This man was becoming more important to me every single day. I knew I was getting more comfortable with him, and I needed to tell him that, but I wasn't sure how to do it.

Once again, Peter attempted to get his head bitten off by interrupting us. Garrett and I both growled a the same time when he stepped into our line of view. He held his hands up and backed away a bit. "Hey, not looking for trouble here. I just brought Sugar a gift." He pulled a bag from the corner where I guess he dropped it coming into the house. "Char said you got the newspaper shit down, so it's time for the fun stuff."

I looked at him curiously as he pulled out a colorful book and a box of crayons, "Come on little baby, you're ready for preschool!"

Garrett POV
I couldn't hold back my laughter when Bella's eyes lit up and she bounced right up to Peter for her prize. As much progress as she was making, there were still things every day that reminded me just how new she was to this life. Her ability to go from wanting to rip Peter's throat out, to taking a box of crayons from him was just one example of her mercurial emotions.

I sat quietly and watched as Charlotte helped Bella with her task, and she quickly got frustrated as the fragile wax colors broke easily in her hands. She let out an angry growl when the last crayon broke, but Peter just handed her a new box with a friendly smile.

Once again, I was grateful for Peter's presence in Bella's life. She has grown quite close to him, and making him her surrogate "sire" was probably the best thing I could have done. She told me a little about losing her father, and her friend Sam, who she viewed more as an older brother. The little she has shared about life with her mother led me to believe she was seriously lacking in authority figures during her human life.

Knowing Carlisle and Esme like I did, I'm sure they probably took Bella into their fold and treated her like a daughter. So that's another set of parents she lost abruptly as well. Taking directions from Peter and allowing Charlotte to help care for her really seemed to fill a void for my little mate.

By late afternoon, Bella was successfully holding a crayon about half the time, and we had all colored pictures at human speed to hang on our unused refrigerator. Bella stepped back and smiled at the cheerful additions to the kitchen and she leaned into my hand when I patted her shoulder.

We headed to town a little bit earlier than usual, as it had been almost two days since Bella's last hunt. She was doing well controlling her thirst as long as we kept her distracted, but her eyes were already pretty dark when we approached the outskirts of town.

Peter looked at her critically before he appeared to make a decision. "Ok, Sugar, I know I told you we would let you start hunting for yourself tonight, but I think you're a bit too thirsty for that just now. Wait here and I'll grab you something real quick, alright?"

She was swallowing venom almost frantically as she nodded, and Peter darted away into the shadows. Char and I stood close to her, and I was a bit surprised when she reached for my hand while we waited. I rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb and saw her relax a bit, even if her eyes stayed pitch black. We really should have fed her sooner.

Bella tensed beside me, and I realized a half-second too late what she was smelling. She was out of my hands and at the end of the alley before I took my first step. Char was right behind me, but the damage was already done. All we could do now was clean up and try to minimize exposure.

My beautiful little mate was crouched just inside the alley with a terrified man and woman pinned by the brick wall. Their legs had been broken and she was growling at them each time they moved, but the worst part was what she held in her arms.

There was not a single ounce of humanity or reason left in my sweet girl at that moment; her vampire nature was completely in control. I knew there was no way that my Bella would have ever done this by choice.

My mate was snarling, black-eyed and feral, and what she held in her arms was probably going to break her heart. From my viewpoint, all I could see was a pair of tiny legs, a bit of ruffled pink skirt, and two small dress shoes. She killed a child.

Char caught the small body when Bella carelessly tossed it aside, and carried it slowly away from the monster in front of her. My mate had grabbed the mother next, and her thirst seemed to be slowing as she sat back on her heels and drank more slowly from the woman who was very close to her same size.

I kept my eyes on her as I approached, not wanting to challenge her, but unwilling to leave the man alive any longer than necessary. He shouldn't have had to see that. Peter came running up at a fast human pace just as I stepped to the man's side, and Bella turned her glare on him as she clutched the mother closer to her body.

Moving quickly, I whispered an apology to the man as I snapped his neck. I knew none of us had the appetite to drain him after this display, but we didn't have a choice about killing him or leaving him alive. He had seen too much.

I felt Bella's shock the moment she came back to herself, and she scrambled back in horror, leaving the woman where she fell. "NO! No, no, no, no, no! What did I do? Why?" She covered her face with her bloody hands, streaking her hair with red as she curled up and started to cry.

Peter stepped around her, carrying the woman while I picked up the man. We would have to take the bodies out of the city so they wouldn't be found anytime soon. They were not our usual targets, and they would definitely be missed, but there was no plausible human explanation for the violence of their deaths.

We had explained to Bella that we tried to hunt from the lower scum of humanity. We targeted gang members, druggies, criminals, with an occasional terminally ill patient thrown in if Peter got a "feeling" about them. Of course, it hadn't always been that way, and we all had a debt of innocent life on our records, but we tried to protect Bella from the pain of those kind of kills.

It was truly an example of bad timing that this family happened to walk by just as the breeze blew their scent to my too-thirsty mate. She didn't have a chance of resisting the call of that clean, healthy blood. What made it worse was now that she had a taste, she knew exactly what she was passing up each time she saw a human child or healthy young adult. I could only hope her guilt would keep her committed to our choices in prey.

When Char and Pete had the bodies ready to move, I walked over to Bella to see if she was going to give me trouble about leaving. She hadn't moved from her spot on the dirty pavement, and I just reached down and scooped her into my arms. "Shh, little one. It will be ok. We'll get you through it, and keep moving."

My words only made her cry harder as she clutched my shirt in her dirty little hands. "Bella, I'm sorry, but we really have to get out of here now, ok? We need to get you cleaned up." She still didn't answer so I ran out of town, in the opposite direction from where Peter and Char went, in search of a stream to clean the worst of the blood from my mate.

By the time we reached the small creek, Bella wasn't responding to me at all. Her eyes were blank, fixed on nothing, and she didn't move as I gently washed her skin and hair. I scooped her up again and started back to the house, knowing our friends would take a while to dispose of the bodies as far from our cabin as they could go. We had to keep suspicion away from our area.

At the house, Bella walked in robotically, stripping her bloody clothes off as she went. I heard the shower come on and she stayed in there a long time, while I burned our clothes in the fire pit outside. I dressed while she was still in the bathroom, and sat on the couch waiting for her to come out.

She still looked more like a zombie than a vampire when she reappeared, but as she sat next to me, she started talking. "I just don't understand it. How can I be so conflicted? I am horrified by what just happened, what I just did, but a part of me doesn't see anything wrong with it. A part of me is satisfied, because damn, did that taste good. And what the hell kind of person can think that?"

She raised her eyes to me sadly, finally looking at me for the first time since she ran from me in the alley. "Garrett, I killed that family, but this voice inside me fucking liked it. What am I supposed to do with that?"