BPOV

"I want to go home," I say belligerently to the man mountain currently blocking my path to the front door and with it the only escape route.

"Not until Leah reports in," he says just as belligerently.

"I've been here for two hours, Emmett!" I shout, hand on hip.

"And if it takes another two then this is where you'll stay," he grins. "And you can take that hand down off your hip. Pouting doesn't work on me."

"Asshole," I mutter as I push past him and head for the living room.

"Not the worst I've been called," he says to my back as I go.

Sam's still there, tapping away on a laptop that he's got plugged into a socket near an armchair. "Be patient a little longer," he says, never taking his eyes off the screen.

I plonk myself down into a chair opposite and pick up my own laptop. I'd already arranged for the relief manager to take over for a few days, citing a family emergency to explain my absence. Now I had to make sure that all the lists Emmett wanted from me were done.

The list of my living relatives was a short one, as was the list of my current friends. The employee list was easiest to gather as it was already on my laptop but the list of previous employees at the restaurant was proving more difficult to provide.

I had names but a lot of them had left years ago and I didn't have such up to date contact details for them. Emmett told me to do as much leg work as I could to track that information down so I'd spent the last hour and a half trawling through Facebook looking for them. Some I'd found, others there was no current trace of.

Phones rang off and on while I searched and each time one did I hoped it would be Leah with information about the state of my house. Nobody would tell me anything about the alarm having been triggered there, or what they'd found when they got there to check it out. Even Seth had refused to tell me anything the one time I tried calling him.

Edward's house was silent save for the ringing phones and it was doing my head in.

Jasper was with Alice working on something for Emmett elsewhere. Seth, Leah and Paul were at my house. Sam was working for Emmett from the living room and Edward was missing in action.

I'd called him from my office, as soon as he'd hung up on the radio caller, to check that he was alright but almost right after that the alarms had started going off at my house and I'd had to end the call.

He hadn't called me back to check that I was alright and that had hurt. And now I'd been at his house for two hours already and he hadn't come to check on me once in all that time.

I knew he had to be somewhere in the house but in the hours since I'd been there I hadn't seen or heard him.

"Seth's on his way back," Emmett called from the door of the office.

"Can I go there now?" I ask, getting to my feet in hope.

"You can. But it'll be a brief stop," he warns.

"I don't care. I just want to see the place with my own eyes and pack my own bags," I tell him as I unplug my laptop and stow it back in its bag.

I wait in the foyer for Seth despite Emmett telling me I can make myself comfortable wherever I like. I wait impatiently in the foyer all the same.

I run to the car, as Emmett had instructed, to avoid having my picture taken too many times by the press who were gathered outside the gates. Seth drives like a madman until we're through them and out into the normal everyday traffic, then he settles down and drives at a normal pace until we get to my house.

My house which has another long line of white vans parked opposite.

"Head up, chin up, smile but say nothing," Seth reminds me as we prepare to exit the vehicle.

We rush up the walk to my front door and then slip inside while men and women shout my name and a garbled mess of questions at me.

"Fucking parasites," Seth mutters as he closes the door behind us. "Be quick looking around though I can tell you what was touched or moved if you prefer?"

I stand in the centre of my open plan living space and scan the area. Nothing looks out of place to me. "I'll go pack a bag. You tell me what was out of place while I do that," I tell him as I hurry down the hall to my bedroom.

He follows behind me and sits himself on the end of my bed while I drag an old duffel bag down from the top of my closet. I start throwing t-shirts and jeans into it and then cross the room to my dresser.

"The things that were touched aren't the problem," he says as he takes the edges of duffel from me, holding them apart as I go back and forth throwing things into it. "It's that the security cameras were disabled, as was the audio equipment, but the alarm was tripped physically, when he or she actually came into the house. The rest was done remotely."

"So he, or she, was smart enough to be able to turn off some stuff but not to switch off the regular alarm?" I ask as I coil up the cords for my phone and iPod.

"I don't think it's a matter of dumb versus smart," he says, taking the cords from me and pushing them into one of the outside pockets of the bag. "I think it was deliberate. A show of not strength, but, well, a show of something. The threats so far have all mentioned that he, or she, has the nous to get into places whenever they want, this was done this way to prove that point."

"Was the call to the radio station actually made from my phone then?" I ask as I bundle up an armful of underwear and throw it into the bag.

"Alice says yes. She's traced the call to this number here."

"And the bit about the pictures?" I ask a little more loudly as I go into my bathroom and start gathering toiletries.

"True, sadly," he tells me. "There's a bit of damage to a few of the pages in one of your albums. Mostly pictures of you and Edward together but some of just you and some of just him were damaged too."

"Damaged how?" I ask as I throw my slippers into the bag and set my robe on the bed beside the bag.

"Looks like a cigarette was used to burn the faces on some of the pictures," he says sadly.

"Don't worry about it," I say, waving away his sadness. "I've got digital backups of everything in those albums on a memory stick. I can replace them."

"Smart girl," he chuckles.

"So what was touched?"

"There was an open can of beer on the coffee table in the living room," he tells me as he holds the top of the bag open for me to add the novel from my bedside cabinet. "Whoever it was had made themselves a sandwich from the contents of your pantry but they didn't eat it, just left it on the counter."

"A statement," I huff as I sit on the bag so the zip can be closed.

"We think so," he agrees as he gets to his feet, hefting the bag onto his shoulder. "You want to take anything else?"

I stand in my bedroom and look around. I go back to my dresser and take the small, metal tin from the top drawer and slide it into my handbag. "I'm good to go," I tell him with a firm nod once I've folded my robe over my arm.

"Right. There's no way to hide the fact that you've packed a bag and the press are going to latch on to that pretty quick. So be prepared for invasive questions. We'll walk quickly to the car, heads up, chins up, and drive away."

"Let's do this," I tell him with a firm nod.

EPOV

"Sign here and here and once more here," Emmett instructs me as he turns the pages of the contract. "And again here and you're all done."

I sign my name and hand him back the pen and the contract. He makes two copies of it on the copier by the window and then stuffs the original back into its envelope. He hands it to the hovering courier, reminds him to be quick about returning it to the Volturi offices and once the courier has tucked the envelope into his satchel Em walks him to the front gate.

"I've signed; now tell me what the fuck is going on?" I ask him when he returns to the office.

He gathers the two copies he's made and puts them both into the safe. "In exactly," he looks down at his watch, "One hour and forty-nine minutes your new agent is calling a press conference and you have been touted as attending at his side." I'm about to protest but he holds up a hand to stop me. "You aren't going to show and Aro has agreed to take the hit for it in return for you signing with him. You've done that so he'll cover for you."

"Why does he need to cover for me though?" I ask.

"Because I need a way to get the press away from this house, and Bella's, so that I can get you both the fuck out of here for a bit," he tells me as he starts shoving stacks of cash from the safe into a duffel bag.

"The press are here?" I ask, craning my neck so I can see out the window towards the street.

"A heap of them, yeah. And they're at Bella's house and they were at the restaurant too."

"Why though?" I ask.

"Because whoever that caller was this morning has outed you as a couple. The press want a comment from one or both of you and pictures of you together."

"So we're leaving," I mumble.

"So we're leaving," he confirms.

"But where will we go? Does Bella have a passport? How can she just up and leave work?"

"We aren't flying and she doesn't have much choice to leave work. She's organised a relief manager for a few days," he tells me as he zips the duffel bag shut and puts it by the door.

"But where will we go then?" I ask.

"I know a place," he says as he starts shoving the power cables and chargers for laptops and phones into a backpack. "It's safe, secluded and easily defendable."

The word defendable makes me feel sick, the connotations of having to defend us from anything makes me sway. I put my head between my knees and try to take deep breaths but it doesn't always help.

He's there then, on his haunches beside me. "Breathe," he tells me softly as he rubs my back. "Just stay with me Ed. I need you to stave this off and stay yourself."

"Who else would I be?" I ask through a rapidly thickening throat.

"Just breathe past it," he begs, rubbing harder. "Everyone's in place and we'll get you both out of here safely I promise. We'll take you to a safe place where you can just rest and hang out with Bella while my team and I get you out from under this threat."

"She'll hate me for doing this to her," I whisper as my body starts to regain some of its control.

"She won't. She'll want you safe too and she's said before she'll do anything I ask of her to make sure you're okay. It just so happens that this time her coming away with us is the safest thing for her too," he says quietly. "I'll fix it, Ed. I swear I'll fix it."

"I trust you," I tell him sincerely as I straighten in the chair.

"Good man," he praises now that I'm more in control. "Go and collect your bags and bring them to the foyer then we'll have something to eat and get moving."

BPOV

"Where are we going?" I ask, hand back on my hip.

"You do that a lot," Emmett chuckles as he sets his own bag beside mine in the foyer, then rising to nod at my hand on my hip.

"And that isn't an answer," I shout after him as he goes back down the hall to the office.

"I can't tell you where we're going because that would compromise the security measures I've put in place," he tells me calmly as he sets a briefcase, laptop bag and a backpack by the other bags.

"Who am I going to tell? You've taken my phone and laptop off me!" I shout again as he goes back into the office.

"You won't win," Edward says softly as he comes from the direction of the back of the house.

I look him up and down as he approaches. He's got a backpack slung over one shoulder and his phone in his hand. I haven't seen him all day. He didn't come out of wherever he'd been when I was so rudely removed from my place of work, nor when I'd come back from my broken into house. He hadn't even eaten with us!

Emmett comes back out of the office and sets a cardboard box on the ground before holding out his hand toward Edward. "Thank you," he says with a warm smile once his hand is filled with both cell phone and USB internet stick. "You can both have your phones back once we come back to town," he tells us while he's putting Edward's things into the briefcase.

I notice he locks it, thumbing the tumblers on the combination lock.

"When do I get my laptop back?" I ask.

"After Alice has run an encryption program on it," he tells me simply.

"So after we get back," I huff.

"She's already halfway to where we're going so no, Miss Indignant, it won't be that long," he grins.

"Do you want my iPod too?" I ask, holding it and its headphones out in the palm of my hand.

"Does it have wifi?" he asks.

I close my fingers around it quickly, not expecting the question. "No," I tell him as I slip it back into my pocket.

"Then you may keep it," he says, smiling widely. "And yes, I'm an asshole." Edward sniggers but I'm pissed at him too so I don't say anything. "Right, if we're done with the banter, which I've enjoyed immensely, thank you, we can get on with getting out of here."

He checks his watch, nods to himself and then takes Edward's bags outside to the waiting car. I already know not to go out there until I'm told – I'd been warned by Seth – so I stand off to one side desperately trying to ignore Edward's presence without him knowing I was ignoring him.

"Are you going to talk to me at all?" he asks softly. I shake my head no and hear him sigh.

Emmett comes back, Seth in tow, and together they take the rest of the bags outside.

"It'll be a lonely week if you aren't speaking to me," Edward whispers.

"I'm used to lonely," I mutter back.

"Me too," he says sadly as he shuffles his feet on the tiled floor.

I don't get a chance to reply because Emmett's back and it's time to go.

"Ed you're with me, Bella you're with Seth," he announces as he locks the door behind us and presses a button on his keys to set the alarms.

"We aren't travelling together?" Edward and I both ask at the same time.

Emmett grins, looking between us. "No, we aren't," he says firmly. "So you'll both have time to work all of your truculence out of your systems before we get to our first stop."

"Big word," I hear Edward chuckle behind me.

"What, system?" I gripe as I make my way to the car Seth's sitting in.

Emmett POV

The swap over of vehicles in the underground parking lot of Aro's building goes smoothly. I'd had two plain, blacked out SUV's delivered there and it took only a few minutes to transfer all our gear into them and set off again. Leaving the press far behind us, hopefully with no way to track our movements.

I keep an eye on Seth in the vehicle behind as we wind our way through the city and out the other side, heading for the open road.

Two hours into the drive – and two hours of childish silence from my travelling companion – I'd had enough.

I had no earpiece, because I couldn't guarantee that Seth would be close enough at all times to receive, so when I spot the first exit for Beaumont I use handsfree from my cell phone mounted to the dash to call him.

"What's up, boss?" he says as he answers my call.

"We're two miles from the Beaumont exit," I tell him. "The gas station is on the left about another mile after the exit ramp."

"I'll be right behind you, boss," comes his reply.

"We need gas already?" Ed asks, leaning over the console between us to see the gas gauge. They are the first words out of his mouth since we'd set off.

"I need caffeine," I tell him as I indicate to take the exit ramp ahead. I pull into the gas stop and wait until Seth has pulled in beside me before I undo my seatbelt. "Stay here until I give you the nod," I tell my mark as I exit the vehicle and meet Seth on the narrow strip of pavement at the rear of both cars.

"If it wasn't for the radio I'd be going insane," Seth gripes as he stretches his arms above his head.

"Silence is in no way fucking golden," I snipe as I shift my hips from side to side to get rid of some of the stiffness from driving.

"What's the problem between them?" he asks as he bends over at the waist to touch his toes.

"No fucking clue," I huff as I do the same. "In the interests of a much more comfortable next leg we'll get them inside with a coffee each and swap these cars out while they're hopefully sorting their shit out."

"Done," he sighs as he makes his way back to his car.

"Go on in and get a coffee for yourself but stick with Bella and sit in a booth at the back," I tell Ed, handing him a twenty.

"Where will you be?" he asks warily, taking the note from my fingers as he stands down out of the SUV.

I look down at my watch to mark the time before answering. "I'll be right here. We're swapping cars again. You have ten minutes to say what you have to say to her before we head off again. I suggest you use the time wisely."

He stares at me a moment and then nods just once before turning and walking towards the entry doors to the cafe part of the gas station. Seth comes to my side a moment later and we watch as our respective marks sidestep one another to go through the door.

"I gave him ten minutes," I tell Seth.

"I gave her fifteen," he chuckles. "You want coffee?"

"Yeah. A strong one. Black with six sugars. But don't let them stir it, I hate it sweet. Oh, and bring me a chocolate bar or something," I tell him as I dig into my pocket for some change.

"Keep it," he says with a wave of his hand towards mine that now held money. "Six sugars, no stirring, but something sugary to eat, no problem, boss," he laughs as he walks towards the doors.

"Smart ass," I throw at him. He sticks his middle finger up at me, making me laugh harder.

There are two different plain, blacked out SUV's parked up in bays beside the gas station so I drive first mine then Seth's so our current vehicles flank the new ones. I locate the concealed keys under the chassis', open both new vehicles and then start transferring our belongings into them.

BPOV

"Would you like a coffee?" Edward asks me in a soft voice as we move towards the counter.

"Please," I reply before turning to look at the inside of the cafe section.

It was clean and cheery despite the darkness outside. I move away from the counter and am about to sit in one of the chairs at a tiny round table when Edward tells me that Emmett would prefer we sit in a booth, at the back.

I nod but say nothing. I'm still so angry at him and his absence. And his complete lack of thought or care for my wellbeing during the day. And that he'd never once asked if my home was still standing, or that its contents were safe and sound, or whether or not I was worried about going back there. And there hadn't been a word from him about this fleeing bullshit. Not a fucking word! And I was pissed that he so easily handed over his phone and usb stick. And, and, well, I was just pissed. Plain and simple, just pissed off.

I say a low thank you for the coffee when he sets it in front of me a moment later but other than that I keep my head down over it and say nothing.

He needed to apologise to me and at the very least he needed to ask if I was alright. Until he did I didn't want to look at him or speak to him.

EPOV

With my head down over my coffee I try and try to think of a way to break the ice between us but nothing comes to mind.

It's obvious that she is angry with me but I have no clue what for!

I'd done exactly what Emmett had told me to do. I'd kept out of her way, and his, and had stayed in the library in the back of my house until it was time to leave. I hadn't upset her, or myself, all day, and Emmett had praised me for that, so whatever her problem was I was in the dark about it.

I steal a glance at my watch and see that we only have two minutes of the allotted ten that Emmett has given us and it was unlikely that I was going to be able to solve whatever issue now stood between us, so I gulp at my awful coffee in its horrible, cardboard cup and keep my mouth shut in case I make things worse by saying the wrong thing.

BPOV

With no apology forthcoming I swig the last dregs of the horrible coffee and crush the stupid cardboard cup between my fingers as I stand from the booth.

He does the same, not the crushing but the standing, and we move towards the doors side by side.

He holds the door open for me, I nod my thank you, and we walk to our respective bodyguards in silence.

"Ready to go?" Seth asks, looking first at me and then at Edward who nods but says nothing when Emmett asks the same thing. "Right then, let's get going," Seth announces as he opens the passenger door of the enormous SUV for me.

I watch in the side mirror as he and Emmett meet behind the car. I can't hear what's said between them with the door shut but the grim set to Seth's lips tells me he isn't amused.

And that's just a giant case of stiff shit for him I think as I sink back into the heated leather seat and close my eyes.

EPOV

"Did you talk to her?" Emmett asks as he turns out onto the highway again.

"She didn't want to talk," I mumble.

"Did you ask if she wanted to, or are you assuming she didn't want to?"

"What's the difference? She said nothing so I said nothing."

"Bloody hell," he grumbles. "What did you do to piss her off in the first place?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Jesus Christ," he mutters but says nothing more to shed any light on the problem.

I sink back in my seat, adjust the heating so the leather heats up toasty warm and turn on the radio to a calming country station.

I flick the station now and then but stay with mostly country. I find it soothing and the words more meaningful than some of the heavier rock and roll on the other stations. Plus, I didn't feel like talking so the softer, warbling tales the singers spun filled in the gaps where conversation would've normally been.

A couple hours later Emmett presses Seth's number on his phone again and I sigh in relief. I need relief from the coffee I'd had at the last stop and hoped he was going to tell Seth we were heading for another gas station.

"I'm pulling off the highway into Quartzite," he tells our other travelling companion. "It's the last stop before we head north east and we'll both need to get gas."

"I need to stretch my legs in a bad way," comes Seth's reply.

A few minutes later we pull into another tiny gas station in another tiny town. I wait for Seth to pull his vehicle up alongside, and for Emmett to meet with him to assess the surrounds, before I undo my seatbelt and head for the nearest restroom.

Emmett POV

I remind Ed that we won't be stopping long, to stick to a back booth and to try talking to Bella again before he heads off into the store. I start refilling our vehicle. Beside me, in the next bay over, Seth does the same with his mark.

I slide my credit card through the slot to pay once the car's tank is full and wait for Seth to finish up too. We both drive our respective cars to the parking area and then walk back so we can keep an eyeball on our charges while they sip coffee.

"IPods are the most antisocial invention this century," he gripes as we stop by the windows to wait.

"At least you didn't have to listen to country for the last two hours," I hiss back. "I swear to god, if I have to listen to one more crooning, whining cowboy wail about his lost love, dog, horse, job or beloved truck I'm going to break the cardinal rule of bodyguards and kill my mark myself!"

He chuckles but doesn't disagree with my assessment of the situation in my car. "It's still gotta be better than an intermittent, off key mumbled version of some song you can't hear and can't place," he moans dramatically.

"If they come out of there still silent I'm getting that Schmidt rifle out of the trunk and finding the nearest clock tower," I chuckle, not altogether joking.

"I'll help you reload," he chuckles and I doubt he's joking either. "What is the actual problem do you know? Bella won't say shit."

"Not a fucking clue, and Ed doesn't know either," I reply as I crane my neck to relieve some tension.

"Gonna be a great week if those two are pissed at each other the whole time," he chuckles darkly.

I think about that for a second and cringe at the thought. "I'll fix it," I announce. "If they're still not playing nicely by the time we get there I'll step in and fix it."

"You sure you can? Without spilled blood I mean?" he laughs.

"Watch me," I laugh back, clapping him on the shoulder hard. "I might not know what the problem is but I sure as shit know how to get them to at least talk to one another."

"If you say so, Yoda," he grins.

"Go and call Garrett and give him our ETA. I'll watch this pair," I tell him.

"On it, boss," he tells me, switching back to serious business mode easily.

While he dials my brother I dial Aro, keeping one eye on the pair sipping their coffees in the booth.

"I made a fool of myself for you, McCarty," Aro says the instant the call connects.

"Not for me," I remind him with a chuckle. "You did it for twelve percent, you slut."

"Sluts do it for free, I do it for money. Technically that makes me a prostitute," he chuckles back.

"You agents are all about the technicalities," I laugh.

"And your dirty work is done. It'll be all over the papers tomorrow that your mark had to flit away to a family emergency. He'll come off looking like a caring, concerned family man and I'll be able to squeeze another few grand out of his name next time a sponsor wants him to promote something family oriented. All round I think we all did well."

"Sounds good. Any mention of Bella?" I ask.

"The usual speculation. Are they an item? Are they living together? Is she pregnant? The usual tripe," he says. "Rest assured that their friendship was reiterated, firmly, as was their request for a right to privacy while they conduct that long standing friendship."

"Excellent," I agree. "Just keep flogging that line and I'll call again in a few days."

"You do that," he insists. "And don't forget to give my best to your mother."

I hang up still chuckling over the creepy bastard ogling my mom.

EPOV

The last leg of the trip is silent, still. Emmett doesn't ask if I managed to get Bella talking and I worry that he no longer cares.

I hadn't gotten her to talk to me. We'd just sat opposite one another and drank our coffee in total silence, again. It was frustrating and scary because I really had no clue what to do or say to make things right because I had no idea what the problem was. But she had a problem, that much was evident.

So I sat in the car with Emmett in silence – with not even the radio to take my mind off things as we were too far away from civilisation to get any decent reception – and thought about Bella's iPod. At least she had that. If we were travelling together, and if she was speaking to me or willing to even look me in the eye, we might have been able to cuddle close in the backseat and share an earbud each. But we weren't, she wasn't and we couldn't.

After leaving the last gas station it's a solid hour of highway driving with nothing to see on either side of the road until we finally take a turning. After twenty miles or so the road narrows and it's down to just one lane in either direction as we approach another small town.

The sign says Prescott but its nowhere I've ever heard of.

We go through the main street at a crawl, feeling all the slower for having been able to speed along the highways up til then. Emmett calls Seth again and gives him the name of the street he'll be looking for, in case they get separated by traffic in town.

I look out the window and think it is a hollow concern. The place is dead. Not a car in sight, or a living being either for that matter. All the stores are locked up tight and not one of them has a light on as we go by.

Em turns down what looks like any other suburban street and then pulls into the driveway of what could've been any other suburban home.

"Tilt your seat back, keep your head down and stay put," he tells me matter of factly as he disengages his seatbelt and gets out.

He doesn't wait for my reply, or even my agreement, but then he knows I'll do as I'm told. Which I do. The only sign that we're not alone is the telltale headlights that pull in behind us, illuminating the cabin of the car a little before they too are switched off.

I feel like a hostage rather than a mark.

I hear voices, but only just, and then there's a tap on my window before the door opens.

"Come inside while Seth and I switch out the bags," Emmett tells me as I step down. "Garrett this is Edward Cullen. Ed, this is my brother Garrett," he says as I come face to face with a clone of my bodyguard.

"Good to meet you, Edward," Garrett says, stepping forward and offering me his hand.

"Call me Ed, and it's good to meet you too," I reply and offer my own hand.

"Go on in," he says, tossing his head in the direction of the open front door.

I look over my shoulder and see Bella stepping down out of the other vehicle but Emmett barks at me to get inside, so I don't wait for her. I watch though. Through the glass by the side of the front door as Garrett shakes her hand. She smiles widely for him and he throws his head back and laughs at whatever she's said, making her smile even wider. I hate him.

He points to the door and then she too comes inside.

"He seems nice," she says quietly as she stands on the other side of the door, watching through the glass just like I am.

"If you say so," I mutter, hoping it's too low for her to catch.

For once I'm in luck because she doesn't reply and doesn't react. She just stares out the glass watching the three guys transfer all our things from car to car. When it's all moved Emmett comes to the door, tapping on the glass by my nose before coming inside.

"We're good to go," he tells us. "I want you both to keep your heads down below the level of the dash in the new cars as we drive out of town but once we hit the mountain road you can sit back up again. I know it'll be cramped and it'll suck, but it's what I need you to do, okay?"

"Okay," I readily agree. I'm all good doing what he tells me to do.

"Whatever," Bella huffs though.

Em ignores her comment and holds the door open for us to go through. He gets me into the new car, which is smaller than the last one but not too much smaller that I can't sink below dash level easily, then calls out to Garrett that he'll see him in a little while.

Em apologises for the jolt as he goes over the sidewalk and out onto the road and again when he swings the car harshly around a bend.

"Two more minutes and you can sit up," he warns a few minutes later. "Okay, up you come," he chuckles at last.

I crane my neck and flap my arms around to get the blood flowing again and he apologises once more for making me do that.

"Its okay, Em. I trust your judgement," I tell him sincerely. "Can I know where we're going yet?"

"We're going to my house," he says matter of factly.

"I didn't know you had a house?"

"You didn't know I had a brother either, did ya?" he chuckles.

"No, I didn't. And I'm sorry I never asked."

"Don't be. I probably wouldn't have told you anyway," he laughs.

"If your brother lives here does that mean this is where you're from?" I ask.

"Yeah," he sighs. "I grew up here. Went to school here too. In town I mean. My place is up on the mountain but it's not far. Only another ten minutes or so."

"I won't say I'm not pleased its close," I laugh.

"Yeah, long day," he agrees. "Jasper and Alice are there already so that's the other car you'll see when we pull in. Wait till he comes out and tells us its safe then you can go right in, okay?"

"Okay."

He reaches for his phone, there's no holder on the dashboard in this car for it, and asks me to dial Seth and set it to speaker for him.

"What's up, boss?" is Seth's standard answer when the call connects.

"Another mile and we'll slow right down," Em tells him. "It's all hairpin bends from there. There's no marker for the property so I go by distance. When I say set your trip meter to zero and we'll go one point six miles further along. Stay close, I'll indicate well before the turn."

"Got it, boss."

"Don't end the call so he can hear me," Emmett tells me.

He hadn't been kidding about the bends. We're climbing pretty steadily up a mountain range and the corners come thick and fast, with barely any straight stretches between them. I stay quiet while Em navigates them.

"Two one eighties in a row here," he tells Seth a minute later. "Take this one in second," he suggests another minute later, shifting down a gear himself. "Set your trip meter now," comes the command and Seth says he's done it a second later.

I watch the trip meter tick over and when it gets to one point five miles Em puts his right blinker on. I look behind me and Seth slows, his headlights shrinking away from the back of our car steadily. It's a well synchronised effort.

We turn into what looks like a dirt road but quickly turns into the look of a driveway with trees lining it as we go along slowly. He pulls up next to a beige sedan and as soon as he's cut the engine a light comes on and I can see the house.

It is, well, average. It stretches for the width of the drive and is two storeys high but other than that it is completely unremarkable. It is beautiful in its normalness compared to some of the monstrosities in LA.

Jasper steps out onto the porch and waves down at us.

"Come on," Em tells me as he opens his door. "It's safe here," he adds.

I step down onto the gravel and look to my left. Bella's stepping down out of the other vehicle, staring up at the house just like I'd done.

"Good trip?" I hear Emmett ask Jasper as they shake hands on the porch.

"No problem," Jasper reports. "How was yours?"

"Very quiet," Em chuckles. He runs back down the short steps and opens the rear of the car. "Just grab your backpack, I'll bring the rest in soon," he tells me, handing me the bag. "Come on, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."

Seth's handing Bella her backpack as I go up the steps behind Em.

I walk into an open plan living area that is spotlessly clean and very cosy compared to my modern digs in the city. There are cushion covered sofas and throw rugs everywhere as well as photos in frames on the mantle over a real fireplace. There's even logs stacked in it ready to be lit.

"This is brilliant," I shout, having lost sight of him while I'd been looking around.

"To your right, up the stairs," he shouts back as Seth and Bella come through the door too.

"He said we could put our stuff upstairs," I nod to Seth, motioning the way to the staircase that is tucked into the far back corner of the living room.

"Up we go then," he says cheerily, nudging Bella ahead of him but behind me on the stairs.

Emmett sticks his head out of a door at the top of the stairs. "This is my room," he says with a flick of his head. "Seth's bunking in with me and Alice and Jasper are at the other end of the hall," he says as he comes out of his room to let Seth pass with his bags. "This will be yours," he says, stopping by the middle door along the short hall.

I go inside and find a double bed, a dresser and a small table and chairs under a huge picture window that had its drapes drawn.

"Thanks," I tell him as I go by him and into the room.

"What about me?" I hear Bella ask as I dump my bags onto the floor by the dresser.

"You too," I hear him say and turn to see where he's sending her in relation to where I'm staying.

"Oh tell me you're kidding?" she barks as I turn.

BPOV

"I'll bunk in with Alice and Jasper can share with him," I half whisper half hiss at Emmett, nodding towards Edward who's got his mouth hanging open like a goldfish.

"It's in here or you can stay in the barn out back. There's no heat or electricity in the main part and the office is tiny, there's no running water either but if you want you can stay out there. You'll have to wait till morning for me to shift the hay bales and get the cows out, but you're welcome to it, of course. Hayday isn't just a game up here," he grins at me.

I glare at him but his grin doesn't shift. "I'll bunk in with you then," I say firmly, hand on hip again.

"No can do," he tells me, his grin now smug. "Seth and I will bunk together at that end, Jasper and Alice at that end and you two will be right in the middle where we can protect you. That's what we're here for after all."

"You're an asshole, Em," I seethe as I go into the room and throw my backpack on the floor beside the bed angrily.

"Nobody will get by any of us to get to you so you can call me whatever you like," he says with a grin. "Now, there's just this one shared bathroom up here and it's through that door there," he points to the door directly opposite the room we're standing in. "That'll be yours. There's an ensuite one in my room and one more shared one downstairs by the laundry room so each pair will have to share, but there's unlimited hot water and good pressure so we should be fine as long as everyone plays nicely.

"Unpack your stuff or have a shower or whatever you want to do and I'll go get the rest of the gear. I'll put the kettle on so feel free to make coffee or whatever you want. Garrett's going to be coming up soon with all the food and what not so I'll be waiting up for him, but if you want to turn in go ahead, I'll show you around properly in the morning."

"Thanks Em," Edward the traitor says brightly as he drags his bag up onto the bed and unzips it.

"Yeah, thanks Em," I drawl sarcastically.

"My pleasure. Welcome to my home," he chuckles, bowing at the waist. "Play nice," he whispers to me before he turns to leave the room.

EPOV

Bella turns her back so she can kick her backpack and I look up at Em, wanting to covertly tell him thank you for making it so that we had to share. I catch his wink and then he's gone so I've got no chance, but I make a mental note to thank him in the morning.

"Top or bottom?" Bella asks, snapping me out of my musing.

"Sorry?"

"Top or bottom drawers?" she asks, nodding to the dresser.

"Oh, I don't mind."

"Bottom for you then," she says as she starts piling the contents of her backpack into the top drawers.

I hadn't actually planned to unpack. I was used to living out of a bag and figured I'd just leave my bag on the floor when Em brought it upstairs later. With nothing else to do I take my script out of my backpack and set it on the bedside cabinet. That was me unpacked.

She's still sorting out things from her backpack and it's obvious she's ignoring me so I start to feel uncomfortable just standing there with nothing to do.

"I'll check out the bathroom," I tell her as I cross the room and go across the hall.

It's small, tiny really, but again it's spotlessly clean. There's a small shower stall, a tub along the same wall as the shower and a toilet and basin on the opposite wall.

I go back into the room to see Bella sitting on the edge of the bed staring into space. I decide that coffee is the better option, rather than trying to get her to talk to me, so I back out of the room and head downstairs.

Our bags are all standing by the front door. I hear noises coming from the back of the large space and head that way.

I find Em standing in the kitchen with the refrigerator door open, staring into it. Seth's setting out mugs and opening a can of coffee by the sink. Alice is cutting slices off a packaged chocolate cake and Jasper is hunting through cabinets, probably for plates.

"All ok?" Em asks as I enter the room.

"Yeah," I shrug. "This place is great," I tell him, looking over my shoulder at the living room again. "Do the fireplaces work?"

"Yep," he says proudly. "It gets pretty cold up here at night so they were the first things I fixed when I bought the place. Those and the plumbing, which was pretty old."

"Well I think it's fantastic," I tell him sincerely.

Headlights break the darkness outside at the same time that a shrill alarm sounds somewhere close by.

"That's Garrett," Em tells me. "Nobody comes onto the property without tripping some kind of alarm so let's get that protocol set up right from the off. If you hear that alarm I want you to go upstairs and wait for me to give the okay for you to come down again, alright?"

"Sure," I tell him. "How can you be sure its Garrett though?" I ask.

"Look," he says, pointing to what I thought was a small flat screen television perched on an old fashioned sideboard in the dining room part of the space. "There're live feeds from the road, the side gates that open out into pasture and another feed from by the barn out the back. Nobody can come at us here without me knowing who and how, I promise."

I watch the monitor, now that I know what it is, and see Em's brother getting out of the driver's side of yet another black SUV.

"You're safe here," Seth tells me, clapping me on the shoulder as he goes past me and towards the front door.

"You really are," Emmett agrees with a raise of his eyebrows at me.

"Okay," I agree. "Thank you for having us here, in your home."

"My pleasure, Ed," he says, smiling widely before going out the front door to help his brother unload yet another car.

"How are you Edward?" Alice asks across the counter.

"I'm okay. It's nice to see you again Alice," I tell her. "And thanks for coming all this way for us."

"No problem. We'll get this sorted out, I promise."

"Thanks," I tell her.

Seth comes and goes a couple times through the front door with bags of food and some electrical equipment and I offer to help but he says he'd prefer that I stay inside, out of sight.

"Well come on in, Seth's got the coffee on," Em shouts over his shoulder at his brother as he comes through the living space, heading back to the kitchen.

Bella wanders in a few minutes later and sits on the stool next to me. She doesn't address me, or even acknowledge my presence in any way. Emmett introduces her to Alice and then starts handing out mugs of coffee and passing around the plate of cake slices.

Jasper, Seth, Emmett and Garrett make two more trips to the cars before they are empty and then we're all invited to go into the living room area with our drinks.

There's plenty of room for everyone but I notice that Bella picks a seat as far as possible away from me. I end up sitting on my own in an armchair close to the now lit fireplace.

The guys talk a little about the drive, about the cars we'd swapped into and out of along the way and about how they'd managed to get both Bella and I out of Los Angeles without the press realising they'd been duped.

The conversation turns to more general topics and pretty soon we're treated to the squabbling of the two brothers as they regale the group with the teenage pranks and high jinks achieved in and around the town we were now staying in.

I sit in my armchair quietly. I have nothing to add. I don't have friends, I don't have any siblings and I have no memories of being a teenager or even any younger than the time before Emmett came to me. I feel my mood slowly slipping lower and lower as the talk gets louder and louder and the rest of the group chimes in with their own recollections of what they remember of their best years.

Bella doesn't look my way or ask or tell me anything the whole time the group interacts and I feel more isolated in this room full of people than I had through all of the day when I'd been made to stay by myself in my library at home.

The clock over the mantle reads nearly two in the morning and I've had enough so I excuse myself quietly. I grab my bag by the door and head upstairs on my own. Nobody questions me or follows me. I use the bathroom, brush my teeth and then slip between the cold, crisp sheets on Emmett's guest bed.

I close my eyes knowing that sleep wouldn't be hard to find that night. Over six hours in a car after a very stressful day saw me drifting off in minutes, thankfully leaving behind the image and sounds of the group downstairs having such a great time together.

BPOV

At three in the morning Emmett suggests everyone gets some sleep and I find myself yawning at the mere idea. The group splits apart quickly as coffee mugs are dumped into the sink to be dealt with in the morning.

Alice and Jasper head upstairs after wishing the rest of us a good sleep. Seth goes up right after and Emmett and Garrett insist on me going up to bed too while they unload more 'gear' from Garrett's car.

I wish them a good night, grab my duffel bag and head up the stairs. I slip into the bathroom opposite my room. I do my business quickly and as quietly as I can and then creep into the bedroom to find Edward asleep and snoring softly on his side of the bed.

He looks so young, so peaceful in his slumber and I try my best not to disturb him as I shuck my clothes, pull on an old t-shirt and slide carefully into the bed beside him.

I'm spent both mentally and physically after a very long, very stressful day, so I welcome the calm black of the dark room as sleep claims me.

I wake with a jolt, Edward crying in his sleep beside me, tears cascading down his cheeks and sliding over the bridge of his nose because he's lying on his side facing me.

I brush his hair back and rub my thumb over his cheek to dispel the wetness there, cooing softly that he's alright, that everything's alright, and it seems to calm him enough to fall back to sleep.

The next time I wake he's sitting up, his face as white as the sheet he's clutching in his grasping fingers. He's bitten his bottom lip and made it bleed, the telltale drips still clinging to the little bit of pale gold stubble on his chin.

"Hey, it's okay," I whisper to him, settling my hand on his thigh over the sheet.

"Blood," he moans, his eyes closed.

"You've bitten your lip," I whisper in the little bit of light from the rising sun outside. I reach into my backpack that's still on the floor beside the bed and take out the little pack of travel tissues I keep in the front pocket. I wipe his lip and show him the little smear on it. "See?" I ask as he looks down at it.

"I could taste it, smell it," he moans, closing his eyes again.

"It's okay," I tell him gently, tugging the sheet out of his grasp. "You're alright. I'm here," I tell him softly. "Let's try and get a little more sleep hey?"

"Yeah," he sighs as he slips down the bed and lets me pull the sheet up and over his shoulder as he turns his back to me.

I wake later to the sound of activity in the house. Edward's still asleep beside me but he's facing me now, his face calm and serene. I push his hair back from his eyes and watch him sleep for a little bit before my bladder can wait no longer for me to get up.

I try not to jostle him as I get out of the bed and apart from him groaning just a little and rolling over I think I've done a pretty good job. I pull on some sweats, grab a change of clothes and head across the hall to the bathroom as quietly as I can.

Emmett wasn't lying about the hot water or the pressure, it's divine and I stand under the hot spray longer than I normally would at my own house. I wash and rinse my hair twice and take my time soaping myself up so the hot water can do its thing to my slightly aching body.

Broken sleep does not agree with me and neither does six hours in a car I think as I pull on jeans and a t-shirt before hanging my towel on the rod under the window.

I throw my dirty clothes on the floor by the dresser once I'm back in our room and pull the door to it closed behind me when I leave. I tip toe down the hall and down the stairs and find the others in the kitchen drinking coffee and taking slices of toast off a heaped platter on the counter between them.

"Morning," I grumble as I take the mug I'd used the night before from the draining rack by the sink.

"That's a fresh pot," Seth tells me as I eye the ancient coffee machine.

"Thank the caffeine gods," I sigh as I pour a cup.

"No need to ask how you slept huh?" Emmett asks as he puts an arm over my shoulders. I shake my head by way of an answer and sip from my cup gratefully. "There's plenty of toast and cereal if you want. Go out on the back deck in the sun if you feel like it, but don't go any further down the yard than the barn or you'll trip the alarms," he tells me as he heads towards the stairs.

"It's nice out there," Alice tells me, nodding towards the double glass doors that led out onto a little deck. "Garrett bought yesterdays paper with him. It's on the table out there."

"Thanks," I mumble, still not a morning person no matter how much I wanted to will myself to be.

I go out onto the deck and plonk down into one of the chairs there. I cradle my coffee in my palms and stare down the yard towards the paddocks at the very back. There are cows lined up against the fence and sheep in a field to the left.

Apart from their sounds it's very quiet and very nice in the sun.

EPOV

I wake up with a start. I'm not in my own room. I'm cold. But I don't have a thumping headache, just a regular one.

I look around the room and remember that I'm at Emmett's house, though I still have no idea of the actual geographic location of said house. Bella's not in the room and her side of the bed is cold.

I have no clue what day it is or what the time is.

What I do have is a bottom lip that's stinging and a bladder that's about to explode.

I pull on the jeans I'd travelled in the night before and pad across the hall to the bathroom. The shower is hot and soothing to my sore body and I find myself standing under it until my skin prunes.

I shave as best I can with my shaking hands and pack everything back into my wet pack before leaving the room as I found it.

I pull on clean jeans and a jersey and roll my dirty clothes up in a ball before I remake the bed making sure to tuck the corners in tightly before pulling up the blankets.

The house is virtually silent when I get downstairs and for half a second I allow myself to panic that I've been abandoned. But there's still a pot of hot coffee in the machine and a few slices of recently made toast on a plate on the counter and I know that the others are somewhere near.

I stand at the kitchen window and stare down the expanse of the backyard. It's sunny and I can see clear to a back fence where a line of cows are munching on bundles of something green.

A brown head of hair sits below the window in front of me and I lean over a little to see who it is. The long, slim jean clad legs tell me it's Bella so I take my mug outside and join her.

"Hey," I mumble, wondering whether she'll acknowledge me this morning.

"Hey," she mumbles back as I take a seat in a deck chair beside her.

"Where is everyone?"

"Alice and Jasper are doing something for Em downstairs, though I'm not sure where downstairs is. Seth went to town to collect Garrett and they're doing something for Em there. Though I'm not sure where town is from here. And Emmett's down at the barn there," she says.

I look out over the lawn but I can't see Emmett, just the barn. "Do you think those cows are his?" I ask, nodding towards the back fence.

"No clue."

We sit in silence for a bit and it's the awkward kind. She's answered my questions but she's not offered anything else. The prospect of a whole week of feeling this way sits uneasily in my gut.

"Did you punch me in the middle of the night?" I ask as seriously as I can.

"No! God, why would you think I did?" she asks in a rush, turning to face me for the first time in twenty four hours.

"I've got a busted lip, a headache and you're plenty pissed at me," I tell her with a straight face. I see hers wobble and worry that I've gone too far and she's about to cry. "I'm kidding," I assure her as I reach out between us and take her hand in mine, pulling it towards my lap.

"You were upset in your sleep," she whispers, unable to meet my eyes but she's not turned away from me either so I count it as a win. "When I woke up you'd bitten your lip and it was bleeding. I'll get you something for your headache," she announces, pulling her hand away and rushing back inside.

"I can get it myself," I mutter under my breath but she's already gone.


A/N: Thanks for reading.

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