CHEEEEEESE! CHEESE ALERT! RUN FOR THE HILLS, THE CHEESE BELLS ARE RINGING AND ALL IS DARK! You get my meaning?

I found myself for the first time as a vampire, excruciatingly nervous. As our trio turned the corner into my old road, my fingers automatically began itching, and I at once set upon the task of biting my indestructible nails down to the flesh, obviously with no success.

Esme noticed my fretting and took hold of both of my shaking hands in her caring ones. "Breathe, Jane," she soothed, smiling confidently at me, "this will be fine." I nodded my agreement, unsure whether the opposite opinion would flood into my tone if I spoke an answer. We slowed down a little as we walked past the houses, in case anyone was looking at our blurred shapes. I felt a little dizzy as wave after wave of nostalgia smacked me in the face with increasing ferocity. I took slow breaths, calming myself as we neared my old house in the corner of the road.

Its creeping vines wound its way around a bedroom window. A light switched off in one of the other upstairs windows, and I blinked in surprise at the small sign of life inside the house. As we cleared the slightly sloping drive, and saw in the living room a couple watching television with emotionless expressions and statue-like stances, I choked out a sob and crashed down into Esme's awaiting arms.

"I can't do this!" I half yelled, while Esme tried to get me back on my feet. Carlisle crouched down beside me, his cool touch on my shoulder.

"Jane," he began, his emphatic eyes boring into my own, "you don't have to do this. No one is forcing you, but look at them in there. If you go to them now, and show them you're OK after all this time, you can turn their lives around. You're their eldest daughter, and they've fretted and missed you all these years." I looked to the window again, and saw with another wrench in my heart my sister, paler and thinner than I remember, who used to torture and tease me constantly, with her sparkling blue eyes ringed with red.

I stifled another tearless sob, before getting slowly to my feet. Esme and Carlisle shouldered my slight weight to the door, and Carlisle knocked politely on the door. The three of us straightened up out of habit, as we heard a slight shuffle of feet heading towards us. My mum opened the door slightly, and her eyes narrowed as she took in Carlisle and Esme. "We're not interested in anything you have to sell this time of night, so I suggest you-" She stopped abruptly as she took in my face. "Isabel?" She whispered, her hand fluttering to her beating heart. I could have died again.

"Yes." I replied, almost as quietly as her. "Isabel Jane?" She repeated, and I laughed softly, willing just a little amount of tears to fall from my golden eyes. She joined in my laugh, and embraced me fiercely. Almost every fibre of my being went into the hug back, but a little of me remembered to cover up my ice cold skin and check my strength. I sensed rather than saw Esme's hand reach for Carlisle's. My mum pulled away from me after a long while, tears glistening down her cheeks.

"My God, Harry! Come and see!" I heard my step-dad stride over to the door, no emotion seeping into his face until he took in my face.

"Isabel? Isabel! What…How…No!" He laughed, ecstasy, confusion, anger all etched across his face consecutively. I smiled lightly, taking care not to show my venomous teeth. My mum ushered us all inside, and Carlisle and Esme stepped towards the wall lithely, giving me and my family a moment. My mum continued hugging me, until she couldn't breathe from my iron grip.

"You've gotten so strong!" She congratulated, which I found a little amusing, "Where have you been all this time?" That was when speech failed me. I did my best to hide my hesitation from my parents, but I could do nothing to stop them from noticing the slight glance at Carlisle. My mum's eyes narrowed, looking at Carlisle and Esme, standing in the corner.

"Who are you? And where have you been with my daughter?" She asked, a note of venom infecting her voice. Carlisle smiled warmly, which no one could resist calming down for.

"Hello, Mrs Norris, my name Is Carlisle Cullen, and this is my wife, Esme. We took your daughter in when we found her, and she's been living with us, receiving as much love as we give our own teenage children." My mum's eyes went from little slits to wide open. "But you're American!" She exclaimed, "Are you saying she's been in…in America?!" I looked back at my mum sheepishly, and she roared in anger.

She grabbed my arm and slapped me across the face. It didn't hurt, but I covered my face and shouted anyway. My mum began crying again, and Harry pulled her into a big bear-hug, glowering a little at Carlisle and Esme, confusion and hurt aimed at me whenever his glance wavered. I straightened a little, moving tentatively over to my mother. "Mum, I'm so sorry. Mum, please-"

"Just tell me why you left, Isabel? What was so bad here?" To this I had no answer, I just stood there, my mouth hanging open. My mum sobbed a little, and I closed my mouth, sadness filling up every pore in my skin, every cell in my body. "Nothing was wrong with here, mum! I couldn't have asked for a better home, a more loving family, a more perfect life!"

"Then why break my heart, Isabel? Why do this to us?" I wished more than anything that I could cry at that moment, but nothing in this life or any other could have done it, so I hoped my perfected face would convey every single snivelling emotion I felt in my wretched mind.

"You know the worst part of it is is that," I said, quietly, my voice breaking a little, "I thought it wasn't perfect. I wanted fame, I wanted to sing, and make my life perfect to help my family. I thought that if I could sacrifice my family now, I could be reunited with you along with a better life. I realise how selfish I was, now. And I'd give anything to take any of the hurt I caused you back." I paused, the words flowing out of my mouth like the music I adored to sing. "But I wouldn't take back anything I have done all this time. I have met the most amazing family, and I have had a brilliant time, albeit the absolute underlying misery I've suffered from missing you. I've loved you this whole time, and the only reason I didn't keep in touch was because I was so ashamed, and so afraid that you would hate me."

My mum 'tsked' a little at that, and shook her head, but I continued, "I know that everything I've done to you is so wrong, and I wouldn't expect any forgiveness. But if I could leave with your blessing, I would be eternally…eternally grateful." I registered the irony in the last sentence, but didn't acknowledge it.

My mum looked up at me with a fearful expression. "You're leaving?" She whispered, letting go of Harry, and clutching at my black coat sleeves. I looked at the floor and nodded, ashamed once again. I could no longer hear her breathing, and I looked up to check she was OK, her crestfallen face meeting my porcelain copy.

"You've changed, Isabel." She said softly, looking at my pale hands. "Not just in body, which I am amazed at, but in mind. You have matured, which I can only assume is the doing of your…friends." She nodded towards Carlisle and Esme, who made a point of looking away. Harry eyed them suspiciously, before dragging his arm across my shoulders and leaning on me comically. "Well, Isabel, you're not going just yet, sit down and talk to us, and I'll make a cup of tea." I made a point of declining, but he was already gone.

I sighed inwardly as I made a point of bracing myself for expelling the tea later on in the evening. I saw Carlisle and Esme do the same thing out of the corner of my eye. My mother ushered me into the living room, Carlisle and Esme taking up the rear. We all sat down on the leather couches, my mum turning the large television off on the wall. I routinely crossed my legs, which I could vaguely remember doing in my human days.

Carlisle took the opposite sofa, and Esme settled lightly down next to him. My mum took the seat next to me, sitting as close to me as possible. I could smell her sweet scent all about me, but it didn't even conjure up any hunger in me, just homesickness.

At this point Harry came in with a pot of tea and five mismatched mugs. He settled down on the one remaining sofa and scrutinised the Cullen's intently. "So, you've been looking after Isabel all this time, have you?" He asked, a hint of sceptic in his voice, "How did you find her?" I looked at the couple opposite me, bewildered as to what their answer might be. Luckily Carlisle seemed to have thought of this, and said calmly, "Oh, well we found Isabel just near our home, outside of Seattle, in a place called Forks. There had been a lot of serial killings going on in the city, and Isabel had come out of the city to avoid it." My mum looked at me, proudly.

"Clever girl! I know you can take of yourself!" She beamed, and I laughed softly. Carlisle grimaced, as the reality of the tale retold itself in our minds.

"Yes, she was, however she had sold her apartment for not nearly enough money she could have, and was left homeless," my mum's once proud expression suddenly changed to a disgusted one.

"Stupid girl!" She spat, and shook her head. I stifled a laugh, and Harry pulled a face at me from behind her. Carlisle responded warmly,

"Yes, that's what we told her. Anyway, she was busking in Forks when we came across her. We invited her into our home until she could find a place to stay, and it wasn't long before we took her in properly. All of our children are runaways that we have adopted, you see, and our heart broke to see her alone again." Carlisle concluded his slightly fabricated tale to put a hand on Esme's knee. My mother noticed the movement, and her eyes softened.

She looked down at her own hands on her lap. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter," She said, a grateful smile playing on her lips, "I can't tell you how grateful I am that you provided my daughter with a place to stay. You truly must be angels." The couple looked at each other, and I smiled at the couch. My mother mistook this for embarrassment, and laughed. She looked at my face closely, as if memorising it. "But look how much you've changed, Isabel! I can't explain it!" My eyes darted down to the floor before reaching back up to her gaze.

"Well, you know how it is, mum. America; land of opportunity, perfection. Maybe it's a placebo or something. Maybe Cheshire was holding my true potential back or something!" I laughed awkwardly, averting any gazes aimed at me. I heard a silent sigh escape from Esme's lips. My parents didn't hear it, and decided to buy my garbled explanation, not continuing the subject.

My mum turned back to the Cullen's, a business-like look smoothing onto her features. "Now, Mr and Mrs Cullen,"

"Please, call us Carlisle and Esme."

"Carlisle and Esme, you do know that if I am to allow my daughter to stay with you, it is with strict rules I allow this, regardless of her maturity and age." Harry cringed at my mother's imitation of Esme's perfect bell-like voice, and I stifled a laugh. Esme held any emotion in, and leaned forward in her seat towards my mother. No one could ignore the slight rigid pose my mother adopted as she did so. "Mrs Norris,"

"Please, call me Erin."

"Erin, may I assure you that we will make it our top priority to make sure that Isabel is happy and comfortable in our home and family. We will abide by any rules you provide us with the utmost respect." My mother nodded, and little at the reassuring tone Esme used.

"Very good. Well, you must make sure that Isabel writes or calls as often as she can, at least once a week. I've lost her once, and I'm not going to lose her completely one more time." My heart twisted into a tight knot as I registered her words, and Esme nodded. "Done," she said with a smile, "Next."

My mother smiled, "OK, Harry and I will provide her with enough money to buy a ticket home and a least a week's accommodation in a hotel, in case she need use it. Although I feel I can trust you, you understand I have to take the utmost security with my daughter." Esme smiled once again.

"Of course, Erin, that will be no trouble at all." Again my mother smiled, and she began to relax properly with Esme's agreements. "OK, and finally…she must always be allowed to pursue singing. I will not allow that to fade away." I could have danced around the room in ecstasy, but I settled for a brilliant smile at my mum. She smiled at me wearily, pride, sadness and faint bewilderment echoing throughout the smile. Esme laughed gently, "Carlisle and I, no, the whole family agree with that. She has a…a talent."

As we were leaving the house, a few hours later, I heard a faint patter of feet on the stairs, and saw my younger sister clad in green pyjamas standing on the stairs. "You think you would go without saying goodbye?" She yelled, flinging herself into my arms.

She gasped a little as I caught her easily, until I made a show of buckling under her 'weight'. "You, Karen? Never! Besides, would you ever let me?" She laughed euphorically, and wrapped her arms around me in a death grip. I heard Carlisle and Esme's silent laughter at the show, and my mother's stifled sniffs.

I felt so happy I had made my peace, and everything had gone so smoothly. Although I felt guilty at not telling the entire truth, I knew it was for the best, and for my family. At last I could put aside the agonising shame that clung to me all this time. I set my sister down, kissed her lightly on both cheeks, ignoring the slight shiver she tried to suppress from my touch, and said farewell to my family; the way I should have done the first time.