Once again, sorry it's soo horrifically late, I am seriously trying to be more regular, but at the moment I've got exams and stuff, and I am thinking about starting another Fanfic. More at the bottom!

I just want to say thank you to my beta, HopingForLove for editing all my work, and telling me always that it is good!

Enjoy!

Chapter 19 – Irrational Behaviour

Lucy's POV

"Let's get this over with," I muttered, moving forward to the house. I hoped Seth would be there to help me through it, because I had a feeling it was going to get messy.

"Aah, the prodigal daughter returns," came the snide voice of the woman I'd grown to hate; one of the only people who'd ever inspired such negative passion in me, as she came to meet us just outside the house. I was disappointed that she wasn't still being restrained.

"And with her pet too! Who'd have thought it?" Her voice was mocking, sarcastic.

"He's not my pet," I said, already trying not to lose my temper. I suddenly realised that it wasn't my hormones that had caused her temper; it was her. All those other factors probably hadn't helped, but it was principally the woman standing arrogantly in front of me, as though she expected me to leap into her arms, that was the main catalyst.

"What do you want?" I asked shortly, "Why are you here?"

"Aren't you going to say hello to me then?" she asked sweetly.

"And why would I do that?"

"Just remember, Lucy, dear, that we were the ones that brought you into this life." She said, abruptly switching from sickly sweet to bitch.

"Yes, because that would make me want to greet you even more!" I said sarcastically, "Remind of one thing though; was I begging you to change me or did you want a child yourself? Because I seem to remember that it was the latter!"

"You ungrateful girl!" she snapped, "If it wasn't for us, you'd be old already, and you wouldn't have met your little friend."

"No, instead things would have gone on as they should have, and I'd be living happily here with Seth, probably with the family and children that I have always wanted, instead of remaining fifteen eternally! I also wouldn't have been wracked with debilitating guilt for the past six months, because I am an uncontrollable monster! Apart from that, yeah everything since you changed me has been peachy!" I yelled, losing it. My vision went red and I could feel myself flickering, like a badly tuned television set, unable to stay one or the other, for, when I lost my temper I normally lost all control.

"Tut-tut, your temper hasn't improved much has it?" she clicked her teeth, sounding disapproving, "Honestly, you're not very good with the whole self-control thing are you?"

It was amazing how she could sound so smug and self-righteous at the same time as a flicker of fear flashed across her face. I don't know what caused it but it was probably my expression. I was ready to leap on her and tear her head off. I heard Seth growl nearby, and knew that he was feeling the same thing. But that calmed me slightly; Seth didn't need know quite how volatile I could be.

"Yes, because you can talk soo much about self-control, Miss I-always-get-what-I-want-when-I-want," I hissed, putting as much venom as I could into my words, "even a child who has her own family and dreams that you so can take away so callously, without a second thought, just because you want a daughter. Well, this is your dream – do you like it?" I spread my arms wide, "Or is it more of a nightmare?" With that I spun on my heel, stalking away.

"Just a minute young lady,"

I turned back, "Yes?" I forced out through gritted teeth.

"I want to speak to you."

"I have nothing left to say." I said shortly.

"You may not, but I certainly do!" she retorted, "You're not the only one who feels wronged here!"

"Oh I'm soo sorry," I breathed sarcastically, "for everything that I've ever done to you. Could you just remind me please?"

She looked surprised, almost as though she'd expected me to attack, but I wouldn't; not with Seth here, no matter how provocative she was. I wouldn't cause Seth to be afraid of me, or any other emotions stirred up by my losing control.

"Well," she blustered, "there's a whole mountain of things. Like," she fished for a wrong, clutching at straws. I watched; amused at the hole she'd dug herself.

"Like when you stole that man from me, you know the one that smelled so good!" she said triumphantly.

I laughed, "Is that it? You feel wronged because I killed someone before you did? Oh precious!" I continued in a baby voice, as though mollycoddling a little child, "I had no idea that you were so resentful about such a petty thing. I won't do it again, I promise."

Her eyes darkened with anger, and automatically I tensed up; I didn't want a fight, but if it came to one, I would be ready; I would always be ready.

Except that as I tensed, I heard slight movement behind me, as nine other vampires, a half vampire and two werewolves got ready to fight as well. I smiled to myself; it seemed that I wouldn't need to actually come to blows with her.

And right on cue, all the fight left her body. She knew that she would be no match for all of us, even though she wasn't exactly aware of the wolves' true nature.

"How could you, both of you?" she whispered, "Matthew, surely you haven't let her poison you with her spiteful words against us?"

Matt stepped forwards, "First, my name is Matt, as I have already told you a million times. I hate Matthew with a passion. Secondly, all I have heard from you since I woke up is how horrible Lucy is. You forget that I was, and still am in a way, in love with her. That love will never change, not as long as I live. So as far as I'm concerned, you are the one who has tried to turn me against Lucy. Especially as Lucy hasn't actually said a single word against you. It's true that she has made it clear that she doesn't like you in the least, but she has never actually bad-mouthed you. Which makes her a better person than you, in many more ways than that."

I gaped at Matt. I almost expected him to say 'Thank you' at the end of his speech. I had never known that he could be that deep, and also that sincere. He had always been a joker. I mean, yes there had been some times that he had been serious, but it was rare, uncharacteristic.

He caught me staring, "What? I can be serious too you know!" he said with a grin. Once again I was taken by hisnew face. It was so wrong for him to not be tanned, and the anlges of his face were too sharp. But then, maybe I was biased, because that was not the face I had loved. However, strangely enough, it suited him and the dark forest aorund him. It was as though England was for human Matt, and Forks for vampire Matt.

"Um. Yeah." I said, still looking at him as though he were about to start doing the funky chicken dance.

"Why do you never think that I am actually a deep person?" he asked, indignantly.

"Because you never show any 'deep' tendencies!" I said back, in the same tone of voice.

"Well sorry for having a laugh!" he said, once again joking around, emphasising the 'sorry'.

I rolled my eyes at him, not having to say anything to show him that he was just proving my point. He grinned wider.

"Are you going to introduce me to your new boyfriend then or what?" he said pointedly.

"Yes," came the snide voice of the woman, whom I'd already almost forgotten, "you do need to introduce your pet."

I stared at her in shock. Pet? How did she know? I hadn't told anyone, and I wasn't about to, and I hardly thought that the Cullens, or even the wolves themselves would have let her in on the secret; not when they knew how she could use it against them.

"Excuse me?" I choked out, aghast.

"Your new dinner. The next on you're going to kill. Or change. Who knows with you?" her voice was once again smug and self-satisfied; she was clearly confident that she had just said something cutting, and that would hurt me.

Seth laughed. It shocked me slightly; it was the first noise he'd made since this confrontation had started.

"Don't worry about me, old woman; Lucy can't hurt me!"

She stared at him slightly shocked, "What did you just call me?"

"Old woman. It's a term we use on the res for people we respect, and for those more mature people, although we normally say it in Quileute. It sounds better, but I figured you wouldn't understand, being English and from what I've heard, horrifically uncultured." Seth was grinning cheekily, as though he knew that he had just managed to insult her in about five different ways.

It was her turn to gawp. Then her eyes narrowed, and I knew that trouble was coming.

I was right. She threw herself at Seth, as fast as light, and I hurled myself into him, knocking him backwards so that he collided into a tree, and almost knocked it over, determined to protect him, and make sure that he was safe. She collided into me with the force of a wrecking ball and I staggered, but pretty much held firm. She bounced back, but came back at me almost immediately. I stood still, waiting to judge it, to turn invisible at exactly the right time, but Seth apparently had other ideas. With a snarl he transformed into a wolf behind me.

"No!" I yelled, but it was already too late. I watched in despair as the man's face briefly registered shock, then a cruel grin spread across his features. I wished that I had mentioned that the man had been the sickest of sadists in his former life, enjoying the torture of animals especially, and that he'd brought that with him, having the – mainly not very useful – gift of being able to incapacitate animals with a thought.

I'd completely forgotten about the woman until she collided with me, painfully, and tried to start tearing me into pieces. With a slight start I threw her off me, spun her round and pinned her arms against her back, all in one swift movement. I'd never had this much extra power or fighting ability against her before, but my concern and panic for Seth made me stronger than any non-newborn vampire. She struggled viciously, but in vain. I held her there in an iron strong grip, and looked towards Seth, fearful of what might be happening.

But I seemed to have been misplaced in my fears for him. He looked fine and was advancing on the man with a slow yet deliberate step, as though stalking his prey. All of a sudden he pounced and the man's head was immediately encased in his jaws. The woman gasped I horror and he turned, still with the man firmly ensconced. His eyes made contact with mine, as though asking for permission.

I steeled myself. I was no longer a killer, and had always been a reluctant one in the first place, but I knew that this had to be done, or otherwise we would never have peace again. So closing my eyes briefly, I sealed my emotions into a box and nodded.

In one swift movement, he pulled, biting down hard and at the same time I detached both the woman's arms, before following up with her head. We made swift work of dismantling the bodies, before Jacob leapt forward with a lighter. As the sickly smoke rose, I breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground, all the strength leaving me. For once I wished I could sink into unconsciousness and just forget what had just happened. The brutality of my own actions shocked me, even though they had had to be done. I felt myself leaving reality, in a very similar way to the way I had when I'd finished recounting my history, and like then, there was nothing I could do to stop it

I suddenly became aware of a low keening noise and Seth shouting in a panicked voice.

"Lucy! Lucy! Please not again!" he pleaded to no one in particular, "I can't handle you doing it again. Please, just snap out of it already!"

I gazed at him, blankly, noting idly that he hadn't bothered to put any clothes on when phasing back again, although I also realised that since he had exploded without bothering to undress in the first place, it would be hard to put the scraps that were left back on.

"Again?" came another anxious voice. Matt, I noted dimly, "You mean she's been like this before?"

"Yes, she was mourning you. It lasted for three weeks." Said Seth shortly, "Please Lucy. I can't do that again!"

I didn't understand what they were talking about. My brain was functioning slower and slower as I drifted away from them.

"LUCY! If you do not snap out of it right now I will smack you so hard!" bellowed a loud voice in my ear, startling me, and effectively bringing me back to Earth with a bump.

The keening sound was me. I was making a noise, not unlike an animal whimpering. It was hugely disturbing, so I stopped, immediately.

"Good, well, that sorted that out then." said Matt, in a satisfied manner, "Now you know what to do next time!" he grinned cheekily at Seth, then stuck out his hand, "I believe we haven't properly been introduced yet, from one thing or another. I'm Matt and you must be Seth, Lucy's new fling thing."

Seth sniggered and I joined in.

"What?" Matt asked, confused.

"Um, Matt, you sound incredibly posh there!" I giggled.

"Except for the fling thing!" Seth added, still chuckling slightly.

"Oh great, now I'm a source of amusement!" Matt complained, rolling his eyes, "Well, that's just perfect!"

I burst into hoots of laughter, for some reason finding it all incredibly funny. Matt and Seth stopped looking amused and began to look worried again.

"What?" I asked between bouts, "It's just so funny!" I dissolved into yet more fits of laughter.

"I think she's going into hysterics. Let's take her to Carlisle." Seth said, making a motion to go and pick me up.

"Here, I can do that." Matt protested.

"No, no let me." Seth argued, "She's mine now."

"She's not anyone's," Matt said evenly, "I was just saying so you could go get some clothes. I don't think you being naked will help anyone."

"Oh, right yeah." Seth laughed nervously, "Sorry about that. Oh and by the way, in all technicalities, she is mine. I'll explain when I get back."

"No problem and you definitely will. Girls aren't property; it's just wrong."

Seth snorted, then took off, with a hurried, "See you later!" thrown back at me, before he leapt into the air and phased into a giant wolf.

Matt scooped me up into his arms and took me inside to the rest of the family where they had converged, keeping out of our way, although I didn't really know why.

Carlisle took one look at me, who was still giggling feebly, and confirmed that I was having hysterics.

"Jasper, can you calm her down?"

There was no reply, but suddenly, I didn't quite so much like laughing. In fact, I felt quite sleepy. I closed my eyes, and, for the first time in ten years, drifted into oblivion.

Sooo, a nice bit of drama and action there. If I say so myself, I'm quite pleased with this chapter, especially as I got about half way through it and then got completely stuck. Oh the joys of writers block!

Bad news! This story is coming to an end.... :( I can't see there being many more than two chapters and an epilogue. Or even 1 longer chapter then Epilogue. Which I had already written, then lost when my computer decided to shut down without warning! Grrr. Which means that it might take a while to get it up. Again.

On the good side though, I have an idea for a new Fanfic, but this time all human. It's called Desert Island, and yes, it is probably going to be slightly cliched, but I do want to try it out. Once I have written a summary I will post it up here!

One tiny problem I have is reviews. I asked for only three, and I got only two. :( Could we try again for three please. I really don't think that's much.

Thank you

Layla xxx