Chapter 9-

We were on board the fastest flight to Volterra, Italy. The Volturi had summoned all of us, which meant me too. Edward was adamant that I shouldn't go; he threw several fits on the way, and it took every single one of us to restrain him. He sat next to my window seat, sagging in his seat in defeat. I had unbuckled my belt and lifted up the armrest as soon as the sign that said we could do so flashed, putting Edward's head in my lap in an act of comfort.

He shook his head angrily, murmuring to himself about how I was comforting him when he should be comforting me. And he promptly put my head in his lap. I couldn't complain about that, his lap was far more comfortable than the plane's gaudy seats.

I had called my Dad to tell him that the Cullens were taking me camping in Montana for a few days; he wasn't all that thrilled about it at first, but Carlisle soon coaxed him into the idea, convincing him that Edward and I would not be sharing a tent. I talked to my Dad longer than usual that day; I didn't know when I was coming back, or if I was coming back at all. Edward felt so guilty about how things turned out, I could see the wheels turning in his brain as he tried to find a scenario in which we could all escape...alive.

I noticed that Rosalie kept shooting me glares the entire ride to the airport, and she never stopped when we boarded the plane either. The more glares she shot at me, the more remorseful I became; if it wasn't for me, the Cullens wouldn't be in this situation. Jasper sat right behind me on the left side of the plane, and whenever he felt the guilt begin to rise back up, he would slither his hand into the little space there was between my seat and the window and would squeeze my ankle, emanating a soothing calm that was much needed. I would reach my hand down to squeeze his in thanks.

Alice had filled me in on the Volturi during the car ride, I knew bits and pieces about them from past references, but I never knew they were that malicious and bloodthirsty. All my emotions overwhelmed me, and I closed my eyes and thought of happier things to occupy myself with.

The meals I helped prepare with Emily for the wolves, the way they acted with one another, a couple of jokesters always tackling each other. I realized with a shock now that they acted much like wolf cubs would, always play fighting and testing out their teeth.

I remembered my visits to my cousins in Seattle, they were even more perky and outrageous than Alice, dare I say it. Our fathers had named us accordingly so that we would all match; I still don't get it though. Cinderella, yes they had the nerve to actually name her after the Disney princess, the oldest out of all of us, was married and happily settling down with her husband down in California. I hadn't seen her in a long time so Ezmerella, or Emerald as she liked to be called, showed me a picture that Cindy had sent. She looked so happy and she looked like she completely belonged there, her long, honey blonde hair fluttering in the breeze as she grinned and latched on to the arm of Rodney, his black hair falling into bright blue eyes that crinkled at the edges whenever he smiled.

Emerald was a total opposite of her grounded and logical older sister, she dropped out of college as soon as she realized her dream to be a rock star and died her hair a beautiful green to match her name. She was a lot like my mother; she certainly was just as eccentric, if not, more so. Amarelle or Amy, another grounded cousin, pursued her dreams of becoming a lawyer so I never really got to see much of her either. My most favorite cousin in the whole wide world, though, was Elizabelle, she was just two and a half months older than me and we were like close sisters.

She always has an optimistic attitude and loves helping around their farm in Seattle. She does home schooling, so she's around more than her sisters are. She actually really resembles Alice if you ever gave her freckles, wide blue eyes, and a pink cowgirl hat. Her parents had gifted the hat to her as a joke, but she never took it off unless she really had to, she told me it was like her own little security blanket.

Then I remembered my mother. I recalled all the great times we had together, some memories were blurred because of the years and that pricked frustrated tears into my eyes. Then I remembered her life before she died, after she had been told she had breast cancer. I was too young to understand what the doctors had described back then, but I remember that in the end, they said there was nothing else that could be done.

My mother was such a carefree person; she stayed optimistic and even smiled as she died. I remember when they buried her in Forks Cemetery, it was too much for me so I asked Dad if I could go live in New York with a cousin from Mom's side of the family; Audrey Dwyer. Audrey became my mother since the, supporting me in any way she could, keeping me happy when she saw me begin to wilt in sadness.

She had done so much for me, when she became married, I decided to do something for her and left for Forks so that she could live happily ever after with her husband.

And then after coming back home to Forks, I met Edward.

I sighed in happiness and a cool hand stroked my hair away from my face, I opened my eyes to see Edward smiling down at me. I beamed up at him from my position in his lap, happy to see him finally smiling.

"Not that I'm complaining, " he said lowly, not wanting to disturb the others on the plane. "But what's got you so happy? Is Jasper fiddling with your emotions again?"

I chuckled and heard a similar sound coming from behind our seats. "No, he isn't," I reached up to trace his lips, loving the smooth texture of them. His lips seemed to be the softest part of his body. "I was just remembering something." I frowned at his lips, "There are times when I wish that you could read my mind." He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch, I leaned up to peck his mouth once before fully sitting up in my seat.

"Hey," he complained. "I wasn't done with you just yet." I grinned up at him and stretched, exaggerating my yawn.

"Too bad for you. I'm way too tired, we can pick up after I've had a nap." I snuggled into my seat and rested my head on a pillow, relaxing my eyelids and keeping my eyeballs still so that it would seem like I really was sleeping.

I heard him huff and it got a little cooler as he leaned closer to me, "You think after all this time watching you sleep, I wouldn't be able to tell if you were faking or not, Isabella?"

I kept still, hoping my ploy would work. In a matter of seconds he had me giggling and gasping as he tickled me without mercy. He joined in with my laughter and all of our problems seemed to melt away, for the time being. It was just Edward and I now.

Jasper stood up and leaned his head over the seats, "Quiet you guys. If you keep on laughing like that, how am I supposed to concentrate on my movie?" He had on the headphones supplied by the plane, but was grinning with laughter too.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "You're just jealous cause we're having more fun than you," I taunted.

"Oh, yeah? Well then, I'll just have to create my own fun," his head disappeared and it wasn't long before we heard Alice shrieking with laughter.

"Jasper Whitlock!" She squealed in between her giggles.

Edward kneeled on his seat to stick his head over it, "Quiet you guys. If you keep laughing like that, how am I supposed to concentrate on tickling my Bella?"

"Kiss my pretty, little butt," I heard Jasper's muffled voice say.

I laughed and looked around to see that we had attracted quite the audience, thankfully they seemed more amused than irritated. A particular stewardess was staring at the seat next to me, and I realized that Edward was still facing away, which put his amazing jean covered butt on display. I tugged him down and he faced me, still chuckling; I smiled at his laughter, now that was a sight for sore eyes.

"So," he asked, his amused expression quickly turning into that of mischief. "Your nap over yet?"

I leaned forward and answered him with a kiss. If this were to be the last time I could truly be with him, then I would make it worth our while. We kissed passionately until the overhead announced that we were going to be landing; I was sure the stewardess and every other being that was staring at my boyfriend's butt before got the hint.

Edward's arm was wrapped securely around my waist, my own security blanket for what we were about to face.

A/N: So now you have some insight on Bella's family; i just hated that she had only Renee and Charlie in SM's books.

Review if you like to stare at Edward's jean covered butt too!