BPOV

Edward and I stayed in his room until dawn. It may sound strange coming from a vampire, but I've never felt more alive. We talked about everything under the sun, and then spent countless minutes staring into each other's eyes or kissing, touching, and basically enjoying ourselves. This was even better than what I fuzzily remembered from the beginning of our relationship when I was still human.

We didn't have the opportunity to do much more, however, since Alice came bouncing in just after the sun peeked over the horizon. Thankfully our clothes were still in place—more or less. She giggled and then held out a hand. "Come on, Bella. I have something to show you!"

I sighed and allowed her to drag me out of the room, Edward following close behind us. I tried to avoid Alice's surprises, but I had a feeling that as a full-fledged member of the family I wouldn't be able to dodge her as easily as I once did—not that I ever managed it, to be honest. I could admit to myself that I lacked Alice's tenacity.

We made our way down to the dining room where the rest of the family sat at the table. A black leather-bound book sat in front of the chair Alice guided me to. I glanced down at her before reluctantly taking the seat she obviously intended for me. To my surprise, her golden eyes brimmed with sympathy. A quick glance around showed a similar expression on all of my family's faces, even Rosalie's, even Edward's as he sat next to me.

Alice hovered at my side instead of taking a seat. "Bella, we know that the last week has been incredibly hard for you in a lot of ways. You've done a wonderful job staying strong, but I have seen that if you don't give yourself some time to mourn what you have lost…well, the results aren't pretty. So consider this your emotional intervention."

I looked over at her, wondering what the book in front of me had to do with mourning for my parents, for my human life. She reached down and flipped the top cover open. When I followed her movement and looked at the first page, stinging venom gathered in my eyes.

A picture of Charlie, taken over the summer during one of Alice's frequent trips to my house, stared back up at me. His dark eyes gazed happily out of the photo, a testament to the way our relationship had mended after my unfortunate trip to Phoenix. He sat in his favorite chair, a beer in one hand and remote in the other. Everything about the picture spoke of who he had been, a quiet man who liked to relax around the house after work.

Alice flipped to the next page, and Renee and Phil stared back at me. Based on the gray walls behind them and the vending machine to one side, this picture had obviously been snapped during my stay in the hospital following James' attack. My mother rested her head against Phil's shoulder with a big smile, while his arm was wrapped around her waist.

A choked sob escaped me, and I wrapped my arms around my waist as Alice kept turning the pages, showing pictures of my parents, alone or with me, more of Charlie than Renee since there had been more time to take them. The sense of loss I had been suppressing—and oh, how Alice was right about that—overwhelmed me. I barely felt Edward's arms around me as I stared at each passing photograph.

Finally Alice reached the end of the slim book and shut it softly. She picked it up and held it out to me. I reached for it wildly and cradled it against my chest. Eventually I might be able to salvage a few things from their houses, once any investigations into their deaths were finished. At this moment, though, these pictures were the strongest link I had to my human life outside of the Cullens themselves.

Edward's velvet voice whispered into my ear. "The police are still looking into their deaths. Unfortunately, your disappearance linked with so many violent deaths to those close to you in such a short time span makes you a prime suspect, so we'll need to be very careful about how we retrieve anything you might want to keep."

That thought sent my grief spiraling further out of my control. I felt calming waves from Jasper but shook my head with a glare at him. They wanted this. They wanted me to acknowledge the events of the past few days. Well, fine, but I would do it my way with no help from the resident empath. He seemed to understand because the calm departed, allowing me to slip further into sadness and pain. Edward's touch helped to fend it off just enough that I was able to feel Alice's hand on my shoulder, then Esme's firm grasp on one of the hands gripping the photo album. I heard Carlisle rise from his seat, and then I felt his hand on my hair, stroking it gently. I was surrounded by my new family, and I wanted that to be able to comfort me. The storm of tears I couldn't shed kept building with the loud sobs wrenched from my throat, though, and all I could do was allow myself to drown in it.

I was barely aware of Edward picking me up and carrying me into the living room. He sat in one of the plush chairs and held me in his lap, rocking me back and forth slightly. The others followed, even Rosalie, and gathered around us. They were silent, and I was thankful for that as I allowed sorrow to engulf me. I was unaware of the passage of time, but I wished futilely for the oblivion of sleep. When I was a human and could sleep, the world would end if only for a few hours, any pain I felt would recede. Now time stretched before me, endless. I began to understand why Edward had wanted to spare me that. It was worth almost anything to be with him, but I couldn't help wishing that the price I paid had been something other than my parents' lives.