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Edward's Point of View

Chapter Twenty-One of Twenty-Nine

"If everyone could gather in the living room," I said softly, gazing down at my sleeping mate. It was just after midnight, and her IV was still in, but she'd finally been able to relax enough to fall into unconsciousness. This conversation wasn't going to be happening with her in the room, and I couldn't put it off anymore. We all had to start back to school the day after tomorrow. She hadn't met Tanya and the others yet, and I didn't really want her to. If Tanya wasn't demanding to meet her, then she wouldn't. Besides, I didn't think that Bella wanted to meet her, either. And they were only staying one more day. The trip had turned out to be a lot shorter than expected, what with the shopping spree that had delayed their arrival.

Silently, they all gathered. I heard the sound of high heels clicking against hard floors and heavy sighs as happenings were interrupted. I watched Bella for another few moments before regretfully turning and rushing down the stairs after pecking a little kiss on her lips.

They were all staring at me when I entered. I stood in the doorway that was straight on from the bottom of the staircase, and I could see everyone in the room. Everyone was paired with their mates, except for Kate and Tanya, who sat with each other. I turned my head completely to the left, knowing what I'd see. Alice and Jasper, as always, were in the corner of the room because that's where Jasper felt the safest, and this was a time where everyone needed to have their mates close. His arms were wrapped around her middle and she was leaning against his chest. She already knew what I'd decided to say, what path I needed us to take.

Two feet away, sitting side-by-side on one the love seats that we never used because it had somehow gotten pushed all the way in the corner and Alice and Jasper preferred to stand, sat Esme and Carlisle. Their hands were entwined on Esme's lap, and her head was on his shoulder. Both of them stared back at me as I looked at them, welcoming whatever I had to say.

Keeping my eyes flowing from left to right, I glanced over to see Carmen and Eleazar next. They were seated on the other, more used love seat that they'd inhabited the day before as well. His arm was around her shoulder and her head was tucked in his neck, and it reminded me of the way Bella preferred to sit with me when we sat on that very same mini-couch.

Next, my eyes surged over to Emmett and Rosalie. He wasn't seated next to her, but instead chose to stand behind her, hovering protectively. With the threat of the Volturi hanging over our heads, this was to be expected of him. His current stance – hunching over, watching Rose intensely – was normal for Emmett.

And finally, at the other end of the largest couch that Rose sat on, were Tanya and Kate, sitting on separate cushions. They leaned against each other's shoulders, giving their sisterly comfort to each other silently. They clung to their bond, the bond that had developed from growing up without the mother that had given birth to them only a year apart. I looked at their faces. They missed their sister, Irina, but she was gone. She was lost to the world, and the trio would never be again.

I assessed the room in a matter of a half a second before my mouth began to rattle off the speech I'd prepared while watching Bella eat her dinner.

"We all know that we have a problem among us," I started. I shifted so that my weight was evenly distributed between both of my legs and crossed my arms over my chest to show authority. I wouldn't be mistaken as dismissive and lighthearted during this discussion. My eyes locked on Alice's for a moment before I looked away, choosing to stare at the fake flowers that were in a vase on top of the mantle that framed the fireplace that was only used when Bella was in the room. "I speak for Carlisle as well as myself when I say that we never wanted to involve you, our cousins, in this dispute that has blossomed with the . . . authorities in Italy. We are very remorseful for your inclusion, but now, you're all here and you cannot escape it. Therefore, you will need to help us."

"Of course we'll have to help," Kate sneered. "We're involved, yes. If we run, Aro will chase us, and our punishment will be indefinitely worse."

"Shut up," Emmett said. His voice held no emotion as he glared down at the blonde next to his wife, but then his eyes lightened when he met my gaze. His voice wasn't as lifeless when he said, "Let my brother talk."

"Thank you, Emmett," I said, nodding at him. He bobbed his head once in acknowledgement, and I continued my speech. "I've put a lot of thought into what needs to happen now, but . . . I'm still not sure. I'm open to suggestions. What are you all thinking?"

There was a brief pause before everyone laughed at the irony of that question – I, of all people, did not need to ask them to voice their thoughts, but in order to get everyone's opinion on all of the ideas, they needed to be said aloud. "No, seriously," I said over their laughter, "let's make a discussion out of this."

Carmen cleared her throat and everyone quieted down. All eyes turned to her, but she waited until I sat down on the edge of the coffee table, across from she and Eleazar, before she spoke. "As you know, I was talking earlier with Esme and Kate, and we agreed that it would be best if you and Bella were to –" her eyes roamed around the room, refusing to meet my gaze – "leave Forks for a while."

But I knew, immediately, that Esme did not want that at all. She wouldn't want her family to be broken up. She would be willing to do whatever it took to stop that from happening.

I looked to her. Her face was, as I'd expected, hesitant and remorseful. She remembered their previous conversation – how she hadn't lied to them, exactly. She just hadn't told them what she'd been truly thinking – that she didn't like the idea of losing two of her children. Bella was a daughter to her now, just as Rose and Alice were. Esme had let them assume, by her silence, that she hadn't objected. Now, she met my eyes, and she knew that I knew. They were brainstorming, she explained. I didn't think they would suggest it. And I didn't think they would include me if they did.

I didn't acknowledge that she'd been thinking towards me. The others didn't need to know her true feelings, what she didn't want them to know.

"Yes," Kate seconded her coven-sister. "It would give us a better chance at actually talking with Aro if Bella wasn't within his reach. This is the first place they'll look for her, for you all. For us. And if Bella isn't here for him to kill immediately so he can turn around and leave, he'll have to stop and think."

"Or, he'll be furious that she's not here and he'll have his guard members rip our heads off and have a bonfire while he uses Demetri to find you two," Tanya commented, cutting her sister off. "Please – he won't ever stop and listen to us. He'll barely let us register the fact that he and his guard are even here."

"Marcus is less . . ." Kate bit her lip. "Intense. He usually likes to wait, get all the facts, listen to all of the coven members before he –"

"Oh, he does not," Tanya exclaimed. "He didn't bother to stop that little demon-spawn from killing our mother, I'll have you remember!" Their mother's death at the hands of Jane, Alec and Felix hadn't been something she'd been able to let go. But she'd broken the rules and created an immortal child.

And you broke the rules and told a human about vampires, the monster inside me reminded me. I pushed the thought away.

"You think I could forget something like that?" Kate retorted sourly. "Don't even go there. Jane was under Aro's orders. This isn't a democracy, I'll have you remember." The repeating of her sister's words was meant to turn Tanya into a mockery. "There's not even a royal family. It's basically just Aro." She paused. "Someone really should do something about that."

"What will you have us do?" Rosalie chimed in. "It's not like we can –"

"Enough," Emmett raised his voice, squinting down at his wife. She turned her head to look up at him, and I saw the glare she gave him through his mind. "Let Edward talk," he insisted again. I would have to thank him for his support, even though his thoughts were suggestion-free and utterly unhelpful.

Everyone's eyes shifted back to me, but I looked at Carlisle. "What do you think?" He was, after all, Bella's doctor. His opinion would be the most important. He would best consider Bella's health.

He raised an eyebrow, thinking. "It's . . . not a terrible idea," he said. "Depending on . . ."

"What?" I demanded. "On what?"

"If you leave but you don't find a permanent residence somewhere, Bella wouldn't be able to get her chemo treatments," he reminded us all. "If you're going to be on the run, she'll miss treatments, and even though her leukemia is slow-progressing, it would grow unbelievably fast if her chemo treatments were to become irregular."

I nodded. "That's out of the question."

"Now, wait a minute," Jasper piped up from behind me, in his corner. I craned my head around to look at him. "You can't just go ruling that out yet."

"Yes, I can," I countered. "Bella's health and well-being is my top priority. Whatever we do has to be approved by Bella herself, Carlisle, as her doctor, me, as her mate, and Alice, as her physic. And a group vote that favors the idea would also be a wonderful thing."

He stared at me. "What other options do you even have, if you don't want to take Bella and run? And besides – if Aro comes here, his intent will be to kill her. I'm positive that Bella's health and well-being includes her staying alive."

I stared back. "That's why we're having this conversation – to come up with ideas. If you don't want to help –" I jerked my thumb towards the door – "there's the exit. I'll see you later." I dismissed the fact that he'd reminded me, as if I hadn't known it already, that Aro would want Bella dead.

He glared at me before tightening his hold on his wife and looking out the window next to him. He was silent.

"Who else?" I called out. "Who has an idea?"

A hushed quiet faded in.

No one had any ideas, suggestions, comments. It was exactly what I'd been afraid of coming into this topic of discussion. Was Jasper right? Was leaving Bella and her medical care and her supportive father behind really my only option when it came to keeping her safe?

"How do we even know that Aro will kill her?" Esme asked, playing the optimist. "Maybe he'll just insist that you change her, in front of him. And that's what you want, isn't it? Changing her would cure her of her illness and everything would be okay."

"Everything would not be okay," Alice contradicted. "I hate to correct you, Esme, but Bella still has to finish high school, and she lives with her dad, and he's not just going to let her move in with us without ever crossing paths with her or seeing her, and –" She swallowed. "She can't be changed this soon. It's too early in her life. She has to be eighteen, and she has to have a plan – an excuse. She has to have some legit reason for her dad when it comes to her nonexistent visits."

Esme nodded, looking sadly down at her feet. Carlisle rubbed her arm soothingly, but she shook her head at his comfort. "This is wrong," she whispered, talking more to her mate than to the entire room, but we could all hear her. "Poor Bella. Poor Edward. They've just found each other, and Bella's just overcome her mental . . . problems, concerning her mother, but then this blood cancer, and Edward's going to lose his mate, and they never –" She sniffled, but it didn't sound like it would if she were human because of the lack of mucus. "They never had a chance." She was definitely speaking only to Carlisle.

I closed my eyes as a stab of pain hit my chest momentarily before I backed away from the pain. I paused, thinking and listening to Bella's heartbeats from upstairs. "We're getting nowhere."

"What did you expect?" Rose chuckled. "You're running this talk."

"Rose," Esme scolded. "That's enough."

Rosalie narrowed her eyes but did as Esme said.

"Who else?" I repeated, desperate. "What other ideas do we have?"

"I doubt they've left Italy yet," Eleazar spoke up. "Maybe if you go to them, but leave Bella here, and you talk to him, he might reconsider killing her." He paused. "He might let you change her, if you come with a date prepared."

"I can't leave Bella," I said. "I can't. So unless that'll work with someone else going to Italy, thus allowing me to stay here with her, we're moving on to the next suggestion."

"And I repeat," Jasper said, "what other options do you have?"

I whipped my head around to snarl at him. His pessimistic attitude was really starting to get on my nerves. Maybe if he started thinking of possible solutions instead of pointing out my lack thereof, this could be over and he and Alice could go do whatever it was they did in their free time. Although I was pretty sure all they'd been doing before I called the meeting was admiring Alice's many dresses and skirts that were hanging in her closet. As usual.

"Edward!" Carlisle rebuked me. "Jasper, that's enough from you, too. You all need to remember that it isn't just Edward and Bella on the line, here. We're all involved in this, as he and Kate both . . . argued about earlier."

"Let's all calm down," Alice finally said, tossing a monitoring glance in Jasper's direction. "We need to think harder. The future isn't changing, and that's what needs to happen. Right now, all I see is Aro, angrily pacing around that huge room that they sit in all day."

"With the thrones?" Tanya laughed. "I've always thought that was stupid."

"They have thrones?" Carmen asked, looking curiously back and forth between Alice and her fellow coven member. She tilted her head back to glare at Eleazar, who had leaned causally back on the couch with his arms stretched across its back.

He met her gaze. Crap. Now that topic's reopened. Why doesn't she just understand that I only do what's best for her? We've had this argument thousands of times. Here it comes. His thoughts shifted into an imitation of Carmen's voice. Eleazar, why haven't I been to the places that Tanya and Kate and every other vampire in the world have been to? Why can't I have fun? You're ruining my life.

"Eleazar, why haven't I been to the places that Tanya and Kate and every other vampire in the world have been to? Why can't I have fun?"

I held back a laugh because if I had chuckled, everyone would think that I was laughing at Carmen instead of her husband's rude predictions and that wouldn't look good for me.

Called it, Eleazar thought, and for a second I thought he was thinking towards me on purpose. "Because seeing the evil dungeon of the Volturi cabinet isn't fun. It's dangerous, and more people have walked in there than have walked out."

"You're ruining my life," she said dramatically. "My very, very long, immortal life."

"I'll buy you another diamond necklace," he offered instead of the promise of a trip she'd been pining for.

Her eyes brightened.

"Please, everyone, can we get back on topic?" I pleaded. I didn't want to sound insensitive, but – okay. Yes, I did. I needed everyone to focus on Bella. "My mate is dying. My mate is in danger. I need help here, and none of you are offering any!"

"Esme and I had a pretty good idea that you all but stabbed with a fork," Carmen said. Esme mentally winced at her inclusion on that plan.

I rested my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands, taking in a deep breath. I closed my eyes. "Carlisle."

I felt the air move as he stood and began to pace slowly, calculating. Is there such a thing as Chemo On the Go? Could they take her treatments with her? And she still has her monthly check-ups with Carol George . . . to make sure that she's got everything mentally under control . . . but is it possible? Could she survive like that? On the run?

We all sat in silence while he paced and contemplated. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper press his face into Alice's hair, and I instantly wished that Bella was in my arms. During stressful situations like this, I wanted to turn to her and know that she was right there in my arms, but she was still human, and these conversations weren't fit for her, yet. She wouldn't know of any solutions because she hadn't ever had to deal with the Volturi.

Carlisle's thoughts stopped. "With some time . . . and preparation . . . and thought . . . I do believe that it could work," he said. "The first plan, I mean – Esme's plan."

Esme beamed outwardly, ever supportive of her true love, but inside she wanted to cry.

I wanted to comfort my mother in a round-about way by refusing the idea, but Carlisle thought it would work, and – and well, Bella was my mate. This was the only option we'd come up with, and Carlisle had just said that he would work on preparing for our departure. I saw no other options, no other ideas in my family's mind. I had to leave, even though I knew Esme didn't want me to. I had to do what was best for my Bella.

"I agree with Carmen's point about Aro," Carlisle continued. "He would be easier to reason with if Bella weren't in his reach when he arrived. He will be angry, yes, and I have no doubt that we'll feel the wrath of Jane and Alec, but that won't kill us and it'll end soon enough."

"Wait," Kate spoke. The charm bracelet that she wore on her wrist jingled as she gestured broadly with her arms. "What do you mean, we'll feel Jane and Alec's wrath? You expect me to stand in your front yard in front of the Volturi and just stand there until Aro commands Jane to inflict her pain and then endure it until he tells her to stop? No. Uh-uh, I'm not doing it. I'm not suffering for – that."

"For what?" Alice snapped. "For Edward?"

Kate glared in silence at a piece of artwork that Esme had hung on our wall.

Alice raised an eyebrow. "No," she breathed. "You don't want to help Edward. But that's because of Bella. You don't want to help her." She was staring off into space as her vision took over her senses. I watched it through her mind. Kate would, in the future, complain to Tanya about not wanting to help a human because – "It was a human child like her that ultimately killed our mother."

Tanya would respond, "That child was much younger than Bella is. Besides, if Bella were to be changed now, she wouldn't be considered an immortal child. She'd be . . . well, legal."

And Kate would snap, "Are you taking his side? After all that he did to you? He broke your heart!"

And then, Alice saw nothing.

My eyes shifted back to Kate, who was staring back at me. She knew I'd seen what she'd been planning to say in Alice's mind. But I didn't call her out on it. There were more important things to deal with at that moment.

"So," I said, "we'll start the preparations now, then?"

Carlisle nodded. "You'll have to be on the road immediately after Alice has the vision."

"How can you be so sure that Alice will have a vision?" Rose asked. She looked to our sister. "Aren't you the one who always says that if you try too hard, you'll start losing things?"

Alice's eyes flared at her doubt. "If I try too hard to watch too much at once, yes, I'll lose things, but I'm only watching Aro's decisions, waiting for him to think of us. And sometimes I peek into Bella's future, but not often enough to mess up my sight in Italy. I'm fine, and I'll have a vision. Trust me, Rose, when the three dictators decide to pay us a visit, I'll know."

…

"I hadn't thought you were real." I was outside, in the garage, with Jasper and Emmett. The sun had just risen to the point where the Earth was well-lit, but the natural light chill of the early-spring morning was in the air. My head snapped in the direction of the front door as I heard Tanya's voice. "Edward's done a good job of hiding you."

"When did they get back?" I demanded. "She and Rose are to be hunting!" Emmett was blocking my entrance the moment I tried to make an advance for the door.

"Let it go for a second," Jasper said from behind me. "Let's see how it goes. Her feelings aren't . . . angry. They're curious. And Bella is calm."

"I've just been . . . cooped up for a while, that's all," Bella responded.

"Because Edward thinks I'm going to explode on you," Tanya said. In her mind, I saw Bella shake her head.

"That's not why," she said. "It's because Carlisle wants me to rest." She was still wearing her nightgown, flowing down past her knees in the most innocent way.

Tanya sighed. "Yes, I heard about that. Around here, it's the talk of the century."

"I'm sure Edward's been . . . stressed," she agreed. "He hates that he can't do anything to help me. Talking about it makes him feel better, but he knows that . . . I don't like to think about it much."

"It's only natural for him to be panicked," Tanya responded. How odd it was, I thought, to hear my ex-girlfriend speaking so calmly with my soul mate.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked.

"Well," Tanya breathed. I imagined her expression was blank, emotionless. It made me nervous. Bella didn't need to be stressed about Tanya's natural evilness. I knew, though, that she would be. She'd be hurt that Tanya didn't like her. She'd wonder what she did wrong. I wouldn't know how to comfort her – I wouldn't know how to comfort my mate.

"That's enough," I growled, struggling to get Emmett to release my arms and step out of my way. "Move, Emmett!"

"No," he said.

"I feel your hesitation," Jasper added. "Tanya isn't bitter. She's . . ." He laughed. "Believe it or not, she's . . . sincere."

I didn't believe it. She was going too well of a job of hiding her thoughts from me to make me believe that she wasn't up to something. She's trying to hurt your mate, the monster in my head snarled.

But then, before I could open my mouth to scream at Tanya to get away from my Bella, she opened her mouth and stunned us all – me, Emmett, Jasper, Bella . . . and probably even herself. "You're his mate, Bella. As much as I'd hoped I could be that for him, I can't be, because it's you. And I'm happy for you. Both of you. And one day, I'll meet my mate. And he'll be for me what Edward is for you. I've accepted that. And so – I hope that everything goes well for you. I wish you the best, Bella. For what it's worth, I'm praying for you. I've been told that God is all-forgiving. Of course, it can't be known if that forgiveness stretches out to vampires, but if it does, he'll hear your name in my prayers."

Tanya turned and walked away, leaving the house and running immediately to the forest, intending to hunt some more, even though she wasn't thirsty anymore.

When I walked into the kitchen to minutes later, Bella was leaning against the counter, looking bewildered. But she wasn't unhappy. She smiled at me, knowing I'd heard. Perhaps she thought this would be the end of the dispute Tanya and I would have for the rest of our lives. When she slipped into my arms, I thought, well. Maybe it was.

Author's Note:

Only a few chapters left before the epilogue! I'm already working on other plots I'm hoping to introduce by February.

Please leave a review! See you next chapter.