Notes: Thanks so much for the reviews. In truth, I'm becoming addicted to them.

Featured Music: The National - "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks"

Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. Songs and lyrics belong to their respective artists. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 25

Wish

School was finally out for summer.

And I spent every day with Edward, mostly at his house. Though, occasionally we would go to Port Angeles, even Seattle, or other cities to hang out. I would eat out less often, too, opting to dine on Esme's delicious cuisine. She would even pack me lunches, or picnics we would take to Edward's little meadow in the woods.

I had managed to keep the fear of eventually losing Edward deep in the recesses of my mind. I could never fully rid of it, but I could manage not to think about it constantly, especially when I was with him, which thankfully was most of my waking hours.

And I was becoming closer to his family in turn as well. Alice and I were especially close as I now let her dress me up most days. I gave up resisting. It was just easier and less exhausting to wear the clothes and wait while she did my hair and sometimes my makeup.

By extension, I became slightly closer to Jasper as well, though we never touched. He did, I noticed, stand closer than before, again taking his place beside Alice.

Esme and Carlisle were always accommodating and lovely towards me. And Rosalie hardly regarded me, though she didn't scowl at me as often as she used to. I think I was even wearing her down with my constant presence.

Emmett was the surprise, as he took a shining to me despite Rosalie's obvious dislike of me. I think he thought of me as a new plaything, a human curiosity he could tease and test by pushing buttons. But I secretly liked the teasing and playful banter between us. I imagined this was what having an older brother felt like.

It had always been just Phil and me as far as I could remember, and I was never good with families, but I was beginning to get the hang of it. Or maybe I was just getting the hang of a vampire family.

I was surprised, though I shouldn't have been, one day in early July, or more specifically on my birthday, when Edward picked me up and brought us back to his house and it was decorated. With flowers. Tons of it.

"Surprise!" and "Happy birthday!" they cheered.

"Ah," I said in unenthusiastic surprise. "How did you know?" I eyed Edward warily. I had asked that we take a trip to Seattle this evening for dinner. I sometimes requested nights out for particular restaurants or events, so I didn't think he would suspect today was any different. I was sure we had never mentioned birth dates to each other before, but then again, he had his ways. And he could read minds.

"Sorry," he whispered to me.

"Doctor/patient confidentiality doesn't exactly work with mind readers, I'm afraid," said Carlisle, looking apologetic.

Of course, Carlisle would know my birth date from my medical chart from when I was in the hospital after the car accident and from all the blood tests. And all Edward had to do was ask Carlisle the question and have him think about it.

But I didn't think of Edward as the surprise party type. This looked like the work of one Alice Cullen who was beaming right now.

I had to test if I was right. "Did you do all this?" I asked Edward.

He shifted his eyes to Alice. "Sorry," he mouthed.

"Yes, Edward, she knows you're sorry," said Alice rolling her eyes. "Don't worry," she said, turning to me. "He didn't betray you. I took it upon myself to find out."

She did have a knack for getting what she wanted. Who could refuse her? I was sure she would have been able to pry the information out of me herself if she tried, which she obviously didn't because she wanted to surprise me.

I patted my hand reassuringly on Edward's arm.

He took my hand and the others walked in front of us to the living room where we were surrounded by lit candles, bouquets of flowers and long, curly ribbons tied to balloons covering the ceiling. It was quite pretty, and I was sure I could appreciate it more had it not all been prepared for me.

I saw a stack of gift wrapped boxes on the table and I halted my walking. I tried to turn around and walk away when Alice zipped in front of me to block me and Edward held fast to my hand.

"Presents, Bella," she smiled big. "It's your day." She turned me back around by the shoulders and firmly pushed me closer to the table.

I looked up at Edward and he lifted my hand and kissed it.

"I really don't need presents," I pleaded. "You've all done more than necessary for me these past months. I mean, I could never repay your hospitality."

"Don't be silly, Bella," Esme said. "There's absolutely nothing to repay. I hope you don't think of your friendship to us as something that can be measured. We're just happy you came into our lives. And we just want to show you we appreciate you."

I started getting weepy. Stupid tears. I sighed. I wanted to say that that wasn't what I meant. I wasn't trying to keep count. Though I would be on the losing side. I wanted to say that they've meant more to me than anything, besides Phil. But all I could mutter with watery eyes and a soft cracking voice was, "Thank you."

"Besides," said Alice, "old stick-up-his-butt here wouldn't let us go crazy with the gift-giving. He made us limit the presents to one per person and put a price limit." She frowned.

"Good," I said, though she didn't say what the price limit was and I was a bit wary. But I guess I would find out soon.

I looked at the pile of boxes. "But wait, there's more boxes than people," I started saying when Alice pulled me over to the couch and sat me down.

"Here, this one's from Rose and me," Emmett said grabbing a big rectangular box and walking over.

I reached out both hands and was caught off guard by the weight of the box. He was holding it like it was an empty box. I sometimes forgot how strong they all were.

"Thank you," I told Emmett and looked over to Rosalie and nodded.

"Open it," Alice urged.

I was reluctant to tear open the wrapping, partly because I was sure whatever it was it would be too nice a present for me and partly because I didn't want to rip the nice paper.

I looked for a seam on the side and started carefully ripping at the tape.

"Don't you know you have to tear open gifts?" Alice said frustrated.

I laughed a bit and started tearing the paper making a mess. I exposed the box underneath and saw that it was a laptop. My mouth gaped open.

"This, this is too much," I finally managed to utter.

"Nonsense," Alice quipped and went to retrieve another box.

"You don't have to borrow Edward's now," Rosalie said emotionless.

I grew red with shame and put my head down. I felt Edward's hand on my back. He pushed my hair behind my ear and leaned in. "You can keep mine as long as you like," he whispered softly.

"No, this is great," I said looking back up at Rosalie. "You're right, I could really use this. Thank you, Rosalie, Emmett." Emmett smiled uncomfortably. Rosalie raised an eyebrow slightly.

Edward took the box from my lap and put it beside him.

Alice was back at my other side with several boxes of different sizes. She handed me a big flat box. This one was lighter than the laptop.

I tore it open and it was an unmarked white box. I lifted the sides and the cover slid up. There was tissue paper and I pushed it aside to reveal a deep green fabric. I lifted it to show a dress.

I turned to face a smiling, expectant Alice and I smiled back. "Thank you, Alice." I knew a dress could only come from Alice. Alice, who I knew was irked that I always returned to her the clothes she dressed me in. She found a way to make me keep one.

"Do you like it?" she asked, though it might as well have been rhetorically.

"Of course," I answered. I laid the dress back down in the box and hugged her.

She handed me another flat box, though a smaller one. I opened it to find a black cardigan. I looked at Alice questioningly. She handed me another box, this one with more height and heft. She urged me to open it before I could protest and I found a pair of beautiful black heels.

"Are these all from you?" I asked her. She batted her lashes at me. "I thought there was a one gift limit." I turned my head to Edward who in turn shifted his gaze in the other direction. I returned my gaze to Alice.

"It is one gift. It's one outfit," Alice explained as if I was the one being dense.

I laughed at her reasoning.

She handed me another box. "It's from Jasper," she said when I raised my eyebrows at her.

My mouth opened and my eyes immediately darted to where Jasper was standing by Emmett. He looked back expressionless.

My attention went back to the box and when I opened it, it was a digital camera. I wasn't quite sure what to say. So I just said, "Thank you." He nodded his head once.

Esme walked over to the table and lifted a gift bag and brought it over to me. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and handed me the bag.

"These are from Carlisle and me," she said. I thanked her.

I opened the bag and among the tissue paper was a new iPod and accessories, including a gift card for iTunes.

"Wow, thank you. Both of you, really, thank you for everything," I told them.

"Our pleasure," said Carlisle.

"I put some songs in there for you already," said Edward. I thanked him, too.

There were some more boxes, mostly smaller ones which turned out to be accessories for the laptop and camera, and accessories for me to go with the outfit.

Then Alice dragged me away to her room with her gifts for me to dress me up. After I changed into my new party dress and accessories, we came downstairs again.

We went to the living room and Edward was standing by the piano. I walked over to him, giving him a twirl in my short green dress.

I pressed against his chest and he kissed the top of my head.

"It's my turn to give you your present," he said softly.

I lifted my head up in surprise. I guess I received so many presents, probably more than I ever got in my entire life that I forgot Edward hadn't given me one. Honestly, I didn't care. I didn't need anything from him besides his time.

"You have a present for me?" I asked. Maybe I didn't need a gift from him, but I was curious what it was. "I hope you didn't break your own rules," I said teasingly.

"I didn't. I think I'm the only one who didn't break my own rules," he smiled. It was true. Everyone had ended up giving me more than one gift, if you counted all the accessories that went with it. And I still didn't know the price limit Edward had set, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if they had exceeded that as well. But considering how generous a people they were, I was sure these were reasonable gifts in their minds.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded. I lifted my hand palm up to receive its treasure.

He smiled, put his hand on my palm to hold it and pulled me to the piano bench to sit beside him.

He gracefully placed his hands on the keys and started playing.

And it was beautiful.

I watched as his long, lean fingers flicked across the white and black keys and the pleasing sounds reached my ears. The notes harmonized and danced together in the air swaying and dipping and flirting before coming to an end.

I had my eyes closed when he finished and I kept them closed for a few seconds as I let the emotions he had raised in me settle. When I finally opened my eyes I looked over at Edward. I automatically smiled at him, as I usually did when I peered into his face.

"That was amazing, Edward. Thank you," I said.

"It's called 'For Isabella,'" he said.

"You wrote it? For me?" I asked, happily surprised and more than flattered. Nobody had written me a song before. I didn't even think I was the type of person who would inspire a song, never mind a beautiful one from a beautiful one. It was the most romantic gesture I imagined I would ever come across.

He nodded once, modestly. Then he kissed me, not so modestly in front of his family.

I blushed and he lightly caressed my cheek with his thumb.

"I know it's a little bit late to be asking this but when's your birthday?" I asked quietly. I didn't think I could ever make up for all the things he's done for me, but I could try. And I had the perfect thing to start with.

His lips curled down into a slight frown. I frowned back, conveying I wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"It passed," he said.

I pouted a bit. "Well, when's your other birthday?"

"Other birthday?" his brows pinched together in a quizzical look.

"Yeah," I said. I thought it was obvious.

The ends of his eyebrows raised in understanding. "That passed, too," he said.

I exhaled deeply. He obviously wasn't going to make this easier for me. "Okay," I told him, sounding complacent. Being sneaky was so much easier when your mind was impervious to spying.

Edward's eyes shifted past me and I followed their direction. Esme was standing with a pretty white cake with candles burning.

Esme stepped forward with the cake. "Make a wish," she said.

I smiled politely and stood up from the piano bench with Edward and closed the gap.

I could have wished for a lot things. I could have wished to stay with Edward forever. I could have wished for some way to be turned. I could have wished to not be a burning blood anymore. But these would have been wasted wishes, because none of these would come true. And worse, these were all selfish wishes.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

I wish Edward to be happy always.

I opened my eyes and blew out the candles. I didn't count how many there were, but there was a lot, so probably 18. If Alice found out my birth date, she would most likely know my birth year.

I grew sad. But I tried to keep a happy face for everyone. I was officially older than Edward, at least in human years. And I was just going to grow older. Nobody liked that; but whether people liked it or not, accepted it or not, it just happened. I wouldn't have minded it so much, I think, if I didn't have to stare at the faces of never-ending youth every day.

Esme cut me a small piece of cake. After I finished it, I went to Alice's room to grab my new bag to go with my new outfit and stowed my wallet in it.

Edward and I said goodbye to the family and left for Seattle while there was still some light out.

I had planned this night for a while now. I had bought the tickets some time ago borrowing Phil's credit card and researched some restaurants nearby the venue. And I had planned on surprising Edward.

When we reached the restaurant in record speed, there was a crowd of people a few doors down.

"What's going on there?" I asked innocently. I tugged at him and he followed.

"It's a concert for The National," he said. "Would you like to attend?"

"It's probably sold out," I said disappointed.

"Don't worry about that," he said confidently. "Just say the word and we'll go."

"You mean vampires don't need tickets?" I whispered to him teasingly. He smiled. "But wouldn't it be easier if we did?" I asked pulling out the tickets from my bag and holding them up to him.

His eyes widened for a second and he let out a laugh.

"Happy birthday to us," I said. If I had missed his birthdays, I was going to have to start somewhere, belated or not.

"All right," he relinquished, "you got me. You're the only one who can."

When we got inside, he excused himself to make a few phone calls and when he returned a few minutes later, he led me upstairs to the balcony in the VIP section. The bouncer let us through and we sat at a reserved table.

I had to roll my eyes at his having to upstage my surprise for him, though it was nice to be in the reserved section away from the crowds. And we did look like we belonged there, me dressed up and Edward looking gorgeous as always.

After the opening acts, the National came on and played their songs. I was really enjoying the music and I think Edward was enjoying himself, too. We stood by the guard rail together and I swayed to the beat.

They were playing "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks," and singing,

"All the very best of us
String ourselves up for love,"

when I suddenly felt Edward tense up. He tightened his grip on me and froze.

I knew he was hearing something I couldn't. Whether it was with his ears or his mind, I didn't know, but with the loud music, I was guessing mind.

"We should go," he said loudly by my ear.

"Do we have to?" I asked. The concert wasn't over yet, but I could see he was looking concerned. I nodded before he answered and we made our way out. He gripped my hand and led me quickly to his car. He seemed more animal than man, his eyes darting back and forth wary of his surroundings and his body tensed ready to fight or fly.

Once we were in the car and driving home, he seemed to relax a bit. When I thought it was safe and he wasn't in attack mode, I asked, "Do you want to tell me what that was about?"

"Do I want to tell you, Bella? No. Am I going to tell you?" He sighed. "Yes, because I think you should know for your own protection."

"This sounds serious," I said slightly mocking. I was trying to lighten the situation but I underestimated his concern for me at the moment.

"It is," he said ignoring my teasing tone. "There were other vampires in the area."

My eyes widened for a second. Out of fear or curiosity I wasn't sure. Maybe a mixture of both.

"There were at least two in the area, one I could hear for sure. I wasn't going to wait around and search for the other. Damn it!" he yelled and hit the steering wheel with his palm. The wheel jerked a bit with his movement.

He startled me with his outburst. He was angry.

"We're all right though. They're not following us?" I asked, trying to get him to reason. "Do they know you were there?"

"No. And they'll probably stick to high population areas. Harder to detect that way. They were hunting." He shook his head. "Alice should have seen this." He was breathing heavy.

"You can't blame Alice," I said, getting worried for her. Though she could probably take care of herself better than me. But if she was going to get an earful from Edward on my account, I was going to at least try and soften the blow. "She can't see everything. Especially things concerning me."

"But they didn't concern you, did they? They just happened to be in the area so she should have seen it," he countered.

"Well, because they didn't know about me nothing bad happened," except my night being cut short. "So there was nothing for her to foresee," I tried to reason. I didn't know if this was making total logical sense but I was going to try to argue this. It was like a game of chess between a mind reader and a soothsayer.

"That doesn't make sense," he said, calling me out.

"None of this makes sense!" I yelled, frustrated.

"She still could have predicted vampires in the area," he said.

"You're so stubborn!" I shouted. "I mean, really! Be reasonable. How many people can do what she does? Or what you do, for that matter. Don't take her for granted and just be thankful she's on your side." I crossed my arms tight and looked out the passenger side window. "I wish she could see my future," I mumbled grouchily.

There was silence in the car for a minute or two. I heard him exhale deeply and say, "I didn't mean to startle you with my anger. I'm sorry. And you're right, I can't rely solely on Alice nor can I blame her completely. But I'm not sorry about wanting to keep you safe. And if that means I'm going to be stubborn or unreasonable, then so be it."

I uncrossed my arms and wiped my face with my hands and let out a moan. He was so troublesome sometimes. "So be it," I imitated grumpily. I let out an exasperated laugh. "Why don't you tell me about these boogeymen out there, so at least I know what's going to kill me," I said.

"That's not funny," he sounded annoyed.

I giggled. "You're right. But I seriously want to know."

We had a long way home, even with his driving, so he began to tell me. He told me that most vampires were nomads, traveling alone, with a mate, or in small covens, hunting mostly undetected. They were the cause of some unsolved mysteries, murders and missing persons. And moving around helped keep them undetected and anonymous.

The Cullens were a rarity. Not only were they vegetarians who interacted with their natural prey, but their coven number of seven was quite large. Other covens that were large in number were usually for warring purposes, battling over territory. Those makeshift armies had a high turnover rate and shifting numbers.

They weren't families like the Cullens are, I thought.

I learned they were close with another family, the Denali clan in Alaska, another group of vegetarians, though they were fewer in number and mostly female.

"How close are you to them?" I asked, a curiosity piqued when I realized the members were mostly female.

"I guess you could say they're like cousins," he picked the words carefully.

"Kissing cousins?"

He cleared his throat.

I immediately knew something was up. I had been half-joking about the 'kissing' part but when he cleared his throat, an action he clearly had no need for, I knew it was a human sign of discomfort.

I turned my head to him, though he kept staring straight ahead on the road refusing to look at me. I spoke to his profile. "So you 'dated' one or more of them then? It's okay, you can tell me." I tried to sound as unaffected and nonchalant as possible to lure him into revealing information.

"No," he said, unconvincingly. "I mean, I've never dated anyone before you."

"Then how come you're so good at it?" I asked accusingly. I liked watching him squirm. It was quite un-Edward.

"What?" he said flustered. He was having trouble finding words.

"Was it Irina?" I asked. I looked for a reaction.

"What?" he repeated. "No."

"Tanya?"

"Stop guessing. I know what you're trying to do," he deflected.

My lips curled up in satisfaction. "Tanya, eh? Is she pretty? Do you think I'll ever meet her? Who do you think would win in a fight? That is if she were human or I was vamp. No wait, I think I could take her as is. Does she have a special power because it totally wouldn't work on me, right? And you don't know because you won't let me do anything, but I'm quite strong."

I saw the corner of his mouth twitch into a smile. He finally turned his face to look at me so he could roll his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, mister," I ordered, "or I won't fight for you. I'll just let her have you."

His smile didn't disappear. "I could never be hers," he said. "Even if you throw me away."

My smile faded. I couldn't imagine ever throwing him away. "Well, maybe I'll keep you then."

"Good," he said. "Cause I'd be useless without you."

My insides felt tingly. He reached his right hand over to me and I grabbed it with both of mine.

After a couple minutes of quiet, I asked, "What about this Vultura, was it?"

"Volturi," he corrected. "You remembered." He looked remorseful. "I know I said I would tell you about them, but I think that might not be the best idea."

"Why not?" I asked. He had told me most everything else.

"You shouldn't come across them. It's best if they never learn about you, but that's something I might not be able to stop. Too many people know about you already. But in case they ever do find you, it's best you don't know about them."

"What does that mean? Who knows about me besides you and your family? I can't really defend myself anyway. Isn't information the best weapon I have?"

"I told you about our kind to protect you, yes. But I never would have revealed myself to you had you not figured it out yourself first. It's more than just common sense to us. It's like law. And the Volturi uphold it."

"So does that mean you broke the law telling me all this?" He didn't respond. "Edward, answer me. Are you going to be in trouble?" I urged. I became afraid for him.

"It doesn't matter," he finally said. His lips pressed hard. He didn't want to talk about this, I could tell.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? Oh my God, Edward. Why did you never tell me this before?" My eyes darted back and forth wildly while my mind tried to search for the memories of our conversations. What had he told me? He put himself in danger to tell me stupid tidbits I had no right to know.

He glanced over to me. "I told you, I can't seem to lie to you," he said softly with a worn smile.

"Edward, what have you done?" I asked sadly.

"You should know the truth," he said.

"What are they going to do to you?" I asked full of worry.

He didn't look away from the road. My breathing became labored. My imagination was racing to the worst – confinement, torture, death.

I suddenly got angry. Why wasn't he more concerned with his own welfare? "This is when you decide I shouldn't know the truth?" I yelled at his silence. "What will they do? You didn't have to lie. You could've just not told me! You let me keep asking you questions for my own stupid curiosity. What is wrong with you?" I screamed and hit his arm. He didn't react. "And you tell me you want to protect me?"

"I do," he said in earnestness.

"Then protect yourself! Who's going to look after me if you're gone?" I cried. What did 'gone' mean, I didn't even know though I said it. But I was afraid I was right, in whatever form of the word it meant.

I was nearly in tears when Edward put the brakes on and pulled over to the shoulder of the road.

He unbuckled my seat belt and pulled me unwillingly into his embrace.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he tried to soothe me. "I just need to make sure you're safe. I can't think about anything else sometimes when I should. But you're right, I need to think about the future. I usually have Alice for that so I'm not used to being at a disadvantage."

"It's not a disadvantage, it's the norm. You're just spoiled," I pouted.

He laughed. "Oh, I think you're the one who's spoiled me," he said, smiling.

My brows furrowed in confusion. "Stop kidding around," I scolded. "If you really care about me, you'll take care of yourself first." I didn't know what I would do if anything happened to Edward. He was far stronger and smarter than anyone I knew, but he was also, in my eyes, oddly fragile and apparently selfless to a fault.

"I can't promise that," he said. "But I will think about the consequences more carefully."

"That's not good enough," I said trying to pull away from him. I pushed myself against him enough to be able to look into his face. "What's going to happen to you if the Volturi find out I know about you?" The deep gold of his eyes was penetrating even in the dark of the car. "Will they take you away?" He didn't answer. "Do they have a prison? Will they keep you captive?"

He smiled sadly. "There is no place that could keep our kind prisoner."

I inhaled sharply. No prison. If this Volturi coven was as fearsome as Edward seemed to make them that could only mean they were capable of doing terrible things to those who betrayed their secrets.

"What have I done?" I cried softly, tears forming. It wasn't Edward's fault. It was all mine. It was my own curiosity and disregard for consequences that have put Edward in danger.

Here I was, shouting at him for not giving a damn about his welfare when I was guilty of the same thing putting him in danger. The guilt overwhelmed me, the tears overtook me.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "It's all my fault. If anything happens to you, it's my fault."

He wiped away the tears on my cheeks, but new ones streamed down. He kissed my eyes tenderly, perhaps trying to stop the tears at their source.

"Don't worry about anything," he said, his voice full of concern. "I don't want you to think about that, please. It's not your fault. And I'm okay. They're far away and there's no reason to believe they'll find out right now. Please, Bella. I can't stand it when I make you cry."

I sniffed and tried to stop my crying. He handed me a white handkerchief. I wiped my face with it, in a most unladylike way.

He was right though. I had never cried so much in my life before I met him.

"You care too much about my safety against my objections. Know that you can't stop me caring about yours either." I sniffled. "I can be stubborn, too."

He gave up arguing with me and consoled me a little longer. When I collected myself, we hit the road again. He was anxious to get far away from Seattle, I knew.

He dropped me at home. When I went inside, Phil wasn't home but I found an envelope with my name on it. It was a birthday card from Phil with some cash.

I hoped he was celebrating my eighteenth birthday and ending the night better than I had.

Maybe I should have just been selfish and wished to be with Edward always.