That morning I woke up with something cold beside me and let out an involuntary shiver. Next thing I knew it was moving slightly and I looked up to see Emmett chuckling and he pulled the covers up around my body.

"Morning," He smiled and I groaned tucking my face back in the covers causing another chuckle.

"What time is it?" I muttered and he just stayed quiet and I looked up just as the alarm clock went off. "Ahh never mind," I smirked and he nodded.

"It snowed last night," He smiled and I sat up glancing outside with a small smile and saw that it still was slightly.

"That means snow balls," I smirked and threw the covers off my body and got up to begin my normal morning routine.

"What would you say if I offered to drive you to school today?"

"I would most definitely say yes," I smirked and pulled out a pair of dark washed skinny jeans and a simple v-neck deep red sweater that hugged my curves and a cropped grey leather jacket to wear with my knee high boots.

"Alright well I'll be back in one hour," he smiled walking over and giving me a soft kiss.

"See you then."


Exactly one hour later Emmett picked me up with Rose and Devan in the back, "Hi," I smiled as I hopped up and noticed the mood was considerably better.

"Hey Piper," Devan greeted while Rose just gave a small smile, after Emmett got back in we were off to the school and pulling up next to the Volvo just as Edward, Alice and Jasper got out. Quickly I popped out and raced around the Jeep.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," I glared and he turned to me surprised, "how dare you leave and not tell me anything."

"Sorry," he frowned, "I just needed to get away I didn't even say goodbye to Esme."

"Just don't do it again," I pushed against his shoulder but only succeeded in stumbling myself.

"Alright Piper," He gave a tiny smile and rolled his eyes just as a slush ball connected with the side of his face also splattering my face.

"Oops," Emmett smirked and I both Edward and I turned looking at him, "slipped."

"Emmett," I glared and he stepped forward wiping the slush off my face.

"Sorry Pip," He chuckled.

"Uh huh," stuck my tongue out at him and we all continued into the school. The first part of the day passed pretty quickly with Emmett, Jasper, and Devan constantly trying to cheer up Edward by throwing snow balls at him, but I quickly watched the demeanor change as we entered the lunch room. In fact I felt Emmett steer me away from Edward as he pretty much took place in front of the pact like a body guard, while Rose and Devan walked behind us.

"It's going to be ok," Alice murmured as she looked into the future with Jasper leading her towards the table.

"Of course it is," I heard Edward grumbled clearly irritated.

"She's not here yet, but the way she's going to come in…she won't be downwind if we sit in our regular spot."

"Of course we'll sit in our regular spot. Stop it, Alice. You're getting on my nerves. I'll be absolutely fine." I watched her blink as Jasper set her down until her eyes finally focused.

"Hmm," she commented, sounding surprised, "I think you're right."

"Of course I am," He muttered grumpily I silently just sat down wind from both Jasper and Edward thinking that maybe I shouldn't be here right now when I heard Jasper speak.

"Anything new?"

"Nothing…she must not have said anything." Edward sounded a bit surprised and I watched them all raise their eyebrows, 'why is that so surprising? I didn't say anything.'

"Maybe you're not as scary as you think you are," Emmett chuckled. "I bet I could have frightened her more than that."

I let out a snort of laughter as Edward rolled his eyes, "sorry," I tried to get a straight face as he looked down at me.

"Wonder why…?" Emmett puzzled as he rolled his eyes away from me and I let out a frustrated huff.

"We've been over that. I don't know…" He sighed and I was about to open my mouth to defend the poor girl when Alice interrupted.

"She's coming," she murmured and I watched Edwards body go rigid, "try to act human." Rolling my eyes I took a bite of my apple.

"Human you say?" Emmett smirked and watched as he held up a snow ball before clenching his fist turning into a ball of ice as he focused on Jasper. Abruptly he hurled it at Alice who obviously knew he was going to do this and just flicked her fingers and it flew so fast that my eyes couldn't follow. I saw Rose's eyes go to the far wall and looked to see it had crumbled to the floor along with a new crack in the already run down cafeteria.

"Very human Em," I scoffed, "Why not just go and punch a hole there too while you're at it."

"It would look more impressive if you did it, baby," He smirked and I rolled my eyes away from him with a tiny smirk of my own.

Slowly I watched Edward flick his glance to Bella and then turn back causing Emmett to laugh softly. It was kind of funny the mixture of his smile and pain but it quickly faded into an effortless look.

"Ease up Edward," Emmett said wrapping his arm around my shoulders, "you just got to get used to it."

"Easy for you to say her scent is dulled by the medication." He scoffed then gave me little look almost like he was afraid it would have hurt my feelings.

'It's alright' I though smiling softly and he nodded. Suddenly I felt cold splash all over my right side and looked up to see that Alice had thrown a snow ball at Emmett.

"You asked for it," He smiled and leaned across the table shaking the slush at Alice.

"Eww," Rose complained as the water hit her. Alice pulled back laughing, causing all of us to laugh as I wiped the now water off my face and out of my hair. Glancing over at Edward I noticed that he was staring at the swan girl.

'You're going to freak her out.' He seemed to ignore me and soon lunch ended but none of made to get up checking for Edwards reaction.

"I…think it's ok," Alice said hesitantly. "Your mind is set. I think you'll make it through an hour."

"Why push it Edward?" Jasper asked. "Go home. Take it slow."

"What's the big deal?" Emmett disagreed and I looked up at him, "Either he will or won't kill her. Might as well get it over with, either way."

"Seriously," I glared and shook my head getting up, "I'm glad to see thats how you felt." Rolling my eyes I walked away but sent one last thought to Edward.

'You can make it.'


I ignored Emmett as I saw him standing outside of the Spanish classroom and went to take my seat. He sighed, waiting for Edward where they immediately started a silent conversation to all humans in the classroom the only way I noticed was because Edward would move his lips slightly and they would exchange glances.

A couple minutes into the class Edward suddenly popped up. "Esta bien, Edward?" Senora Goff asked.

"Me perdona," he muttered and darted towards the door.

"Emmett por favor , puedas tu ayuda a tu hermano?" she asked.

"Sure," He muttered and dashed out after Edward but reappeared a few minutes later, "He's not feeling well, going to the office." Quickly I scrawled him a note.

'Is he really ok?' I handed it over as Senora Goff turned to the board.

'Not sure…can we talk about lunch?'

'No'

'I'm sorry I said that but it's the truth.'

'Yeah that makes it all better.'

'If I hadn't thought that way then I would have never talked to you.'

Looking over at him I saw him frowning with a small amount of pain in his eyes, 'how close were you to killing me there?'

'The first or second day'

'the second?'

'umm I'd say about a 45% chance but Alice and Edward had a close watch on me.'

' I'm glad you take my death so lightly.' I handed him the note this time specifically watching his expression. The slight smirk dropped as he instantly turned to me shaking his head. Giggling softly I turned back to the board and heard him let out a relieved sigh.


The next morning I woke up to see that the wet roads had frozen over with a thin sheet of ice. "Fantastic," I groaned and quickly got dressed in a white long sleeved burnout tee with a hood on the back and a red tank underneath. I slipped into a pair of black skinny jeans and put on my black lace up army type boots.

'I'll need the extra traction today.'

I decided to leave a little early and slipped on my grey pea coat and my black fingerless gloves and a long deep red scarf. I carefully drove to the school and pulled into my spot next to Emmett's jeep and Edwards Volvo.

'Now it's time for the hard part,' I sighed and opened the door easing myself onto the ground. As soon as my feet touched ground I let out a sigh as someone chuckled off to the side. "Hush," I huffed at Emmett.

"Want some help?" He smirked but didn't wait for a response and just picked me up cradling my body against his chest.

"Well aren't you just my knight in shining armor," I giggled.

"I try," He smiled and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Along with Rose, Devan and Jasper we headed into the school Edward and Alice dragging behind. As soon as we were inside Emmett sat me down.

Just then the sound of squealing tires filled the air and we raced back out to the parking lot just as Tyler Crowley's van crushed into Bella's truck. "That idiot," Rose growled.

"What happened?" I looked over at the scene.

"Edward just stopped that van from crushing the Bella girl, with his bare hands." Emmett frowned.

"Well this isn't good," I bit my lip.


After the EMT's had pulled the van back from Bell's truck revealing Edward and Bella, and Tyler was extracted from the ruined van all three of them had been taken to the hospital. Quickly all the teacher had ushered the students inside.

"Be right back," Emmett murmured and he snuck around everything to the wreckage and I watched him mess with something for a few seconds before coming back around.

"What were you doing?"

"Erasing evidence," He murmured before grabbing my hand and going into the building.


I heard around school that Edward came back just before biology so I wasn't surprised to see him enter Spanish. I saw Emmett give him a long look and again having another silent conversation then suddenly I watched as rage filled his entire demeanor and quickly backed away actually scared and he stared to get up. Quickly Emmett gripped his arm and forced him to stay put. There was a quick exchange and finally Edward calmed slightly. A couple seconds later I felt Emmett's hand take mine silently saying that everything was going to be ok.


Emmett's POV

I watched as Edward walked into the classroom and locked onto him, 'I hope you have a good explanation for what happened today; Rose is on a war path.'

I watched as he rolled his eyes and continued on, 'Look out for Jasper. He's not as angry but…he's not resolved.'

Quickly I saw him change as he realized what I had meant and out of my peripheral vision I watched Piper shrink away in fear. Almost instantly I had my hand on his shoulder holding him still with all my strength which I almost never got the chance to use. 'SHEESH, EDWARD! GET A GRIP! YOU'RE FREAKING OUT PIPER!'

Looking out of the corner of my eye I saw fear written all of her face, 'EASY!' I ordered, 'I'm sorry Edward but I will hurt you if you hurt her.' I finished a little more calmly and watched as he started to calm down.

'Jasper's not going to do anything until we talk. I just thought you should know what direction he's headed in.' I felt him relax even more and loosened my grip. 'Try not to make more of a spectacle of yourself. You're in enough trouble as it is.' I felt him take a deep breath and released him.

Glancing around I noticed that very few people noticed and watched as Piper un-tensed considerably. 'Damn, kid, you're a mess.' I added sympathetically.

"Bite me," He muttered causing me to chuckle lowly as I reached out my hand grabbing onto Piper's hand hoping to tell her silently that it will be ok.


"Why am I going again?" I muttered in the uncomfortable car ride again. Rose was practically fuming while Devan was trying to comfort her.

"Alice said that you need to be there," Emmett groaned not liking me to be there anymore than I did. Biting my lip I just hunched down and shut up until we pulled up to the Cullen's house. Emmett blurred around the car and helped me jump down as Devan and Rose got out and we all met up at the door quickly walking into the dining room. We all took spots around the dining room table which I had learned in the past months was used for family discussions and again my thoughts trailed to why I was here.

Sinking down in my seat between Edward and Emmett who was next to Rosalie, she was glaring right at Edward probably stringing together insults and hurling them mentally at him. I watched as Jasper hesitated and went to stand behind Rosalie picking a side of the invisible line being drawn. Looking around the table I watched as Alice came in and took her seat next to Esme without a single bit of hesitation and flicked my eyes to Jasper who was now having a tiny debate in his own mind but ended up staying where he was.

"I'm sorry," Edward spoke flicking his eyes around the table, "I didn't mean to put any of you at risk. It was thoughtless and I take full responsibility for my hasty action."

Rosalie glared at him, "What do you mean, 'take full responsibility'? Are you going to fix it?"

"Not the way you mean," He retorted, "I'm willing to leave now, if that makes things better."

"No," Esme murmured. "No Edward."

I look down at my hands feeling completely out of place, "it's just a few years."

"Esme's right though," Emmett said. "You can't go anywhere now. That would be the opposite of helpful. We have to know what people are thinking now more than ever."

"Alice will catch anything major," Edward argued back. I zoned out for a minute into my own thought of why I needed to be here, why it even mattered as much. I didn't know Bella much but I knew she would never tell a soul about the secret.

Suddenly I was knocked back into reality as Rose smacked her hand down on the table, "We can't allow the human a chance to say anything. Carlisle, you must see that. Even if we all disappeared, it's not safe to leave stories behind us. We live so differently from the rest of our kind-you know that there are those who would love and excuse to point fingers. We have to be more careful than anyone else!" She started and I started to feel anger for all of this building up.

"We've left rumors behind us before," Edward interrupted.

"Just rumors and suspicion Edward. Not eyewitnesses and evidence!"

"Evidence!"

"Rose," I heard Carlisle begin but was quickly cut off by Rose again.

"Let me finish…"

"No!" I shouted reaching my boiling points and stood up scraping the chair across the floor. "You two don't want eyewitnesses…" I turned to Rose and Jasper and held out my arm, "Well go ahead…" They both just stared at me. "What? That's what I am. I'm no more part of this family than Bella is, I'm just a human like she is. She is innocent and she hasn't even given you two reasons to think about killing her. Besides I have more information about everything here, so go ahead drink away. Or crack my neck it would be easy." I looked into their eyes and Jasper's flashed slightly to regret, "go ahead if you're going to kill Bella then kill me too, come on Rose it's for the family…never know when I might talk." I dared her and she growled slightly causing Emmett to growl back and he pulled me back into my chair.

"Piper is right Rose, it's callous to even suggest this even if it is for the family," Carlisle reasoned.

"It'll be fine," Devan patted her elbow.

"The question is should we move on?" Carlisle took charge.

"No," Rose moaned. "We just got settled. I don't want to start on my sophomore year in high school again!"

"You could keep your present age, of course." Carlisle said.

"And have to move again that much sooner?" She countered. "I like it here! There's so little sun, we get to almost be normal."

"Well we certainly don't have to decide now. We can wait and see if it becomes necessary. Edward and Piper seem certain of the Swans girls silence."

I heard Rose snort and flicked my eyes to her surprisingly growling myself.

After a few seconds of silence I heard Edward's voice, "Jasper." He paused, "she won't pay for my mistake. I won't allow that."

"She benefits from it then? She should have died today, Edward. I would only set it right."

"I will not allow that," Edward hardened.

Flipping my eyes to him I saw the slight surprise fade and he shook his head, "I won't let Alice live in danger, even a slight danger. You don't feel about anyone the way I feel about her, Edward, and you haven't lived through what I have lived through, whether you've seen my memories or not. You don't understand."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emmett stiffen knowing that if Bella were to be killed I wouldn't allow it. "I'm not disputing that Jasper. But I'm telling you now that I will not let you hurt Isabella Swan." I watched them stare each other down.

"Jazz," Alice interrupted everything and Jasper flicked his eyes to her.

"Don't bother telling me you can protect yourself, Alice. I already know that. I've still got to…"

"That's not what I was going to say," Alice interrupted. "I was going to ask you for another favor." I heard a quick gasp from Edward and slowly realization dawned on everyone's face. "I know you love me. Thanks. But I would really appreciate it if you didn't try to kill Bella. First of all Edward's serious and I don't want you to fighting. Secondly she's my friend. At least she's going to be just like I saw with Piper."

"But…Alice…"

"I'm going to love her someday, Jazz. I'm going to be very put out with you if you don't let her be."

Suddenly she was far more happy, "Ah, see? Bella's not going to say anything. There's nothing to worry about."

"Alice," Edward choked out. "What…does this…?"

"I told you there was a change coming. I don't know, Edward," she steadied her jaw and I had figured out that it was something she did when she was hiding something in her mind.

"What Alice? What are you hiding?" He asked and I heard Emmett grumble over to the side not liking to be left out of the loop.

"Is it about that girl?" He demanded, "Is it about Bella?"

"NO!" He shouted, the name bringing something forward, and jumped up his chair banging to the floor, causing me to jump slightly. I quickly blocked out everything and thought about what could be happening and a few seconds later it all clicked into place as I saw Alice's eyes flick between Emmett and I.

"Love her, too?" Edward whispered, "No I don't have to follow that course, I'll leave. I will change the future."

'Yeah thanks that makes me feel comfortable,' I glared up at him and huffed slightly crossing my arms.

"You can try." Alice said skeptically.

"Oh come ON!" Emmett shouted frustrated.

"He's going to fall for her," I hissed annoyed that they were all acting like this.

"Oh," He let out a little chuckle, "welcome to the club." Huffing a bit louder I turned glaring at him.

"Fall for the girl he saved?" Esme asked in a stunned voice, "Fall in love with her?"

"Oh come on," I threw up my hands but was ignored.

"What do you see, Alice? Exactly," Jasper demanded.

"It all depends on whether he's strong enough or not. Either he'll kill her himself…" She turned glaring at Edward, "Which would really irritate me and Piper, Edward, not to mention what it would do to you."

'Finally I'm acknowledged,' I thought and watched as her eyes flipped to me.

"Or she'll be one of us one someday." Suddenly everything went silent inside my head and I saw Emmett turn to me out of the corner of my eye… "The only thing he's not strong enough to do is stay away from her. That's a lost cause."

"Wait!" I shouted to finally be heard, "so that's my only choices too right?"

"Pip," I felt Emmett touch my shoulder and swerved away standing up.

"The both of us will die in some way or another." I scanned the table, "this is why you wanted me here," I growled and watched her nod her head slightly. Throwing up my hands I stormed away from the table and outside onto the porch. Soon after that I felt Edward rush out past me and saw him fly over the river in the distance the moonlight reflecting off his skin. Looking up I felt rain hit my skin and was drenched in a few seconds.

"Piper," Emmett whispered from behind me.

"Don't Emmett," I turned around glaring but it didn't stop him from walking forward and brushing some of my hair behind my ear. "You knew this and I know what this means I've read the books and heard the stories especially yours. I'd have to give up everything," I saw pain go to his eyes.

"I'm sorry Piper," He frowned avoiding my eyes.

"No you look at me," I shouted and his eyes found mine, "did you guys do this with me?"

"Yes, but it wasn't this…heated, you weren't as much of a risk to our family. I hadn't revealed anything and when you did finally figure it out Alice had seen us together already."

"Together as in…I'm a…" I implied and he just nodded. "D-do you know h-how?" I stuttered moving back from him.

"No," He frowned.

"When?" I asked and again he just shook his head, "b-but I…"

"I'm sorry I did this to you," He whispered so softly that I could barely hear him over the rain and watched him take a few steps back before walking into the house.

Putting my face down into my hands I thought about what I wanted in life, 'I wanted to finish high school, I wanted to go to college, I wanted a family with a loving husband.'

'Emmett could be that loving husband,' another part of my brain debated.

'But what about mom and dad'

'It would be difficult but they would get over it'

Slipping down onto the porch I put my forehead against my knees as the rain hit my skin, "Piper you're going to get sick," Emmett's voice interrupted my thoughts. I stayed where I was and he just walked over and just picked me up wrapping something around my body.

"Em wait," I whispered as he was crouched down in front of me.

"Yes?" He whispered back once again brushing my soaked hair back behind my ear. Looking up into his golden eyes I realized that I could let go of my family somehow but I would never be able to let go of him.

"I love you."

"Enough to stay with me forever?"

"For all eternity," I whispered.

"Love you too Piper," He smiled and bent down kissing my lips softly.