A/N: Well, er, hello. Please don't hate me, I know it's been ages. But I've moved into university, so I've been concentrating on that. But I am now back, and here is an update. Hope you can forgive me, and I hope you can still review :)
LPOV
It's nearly Halloween. Mum and Dad are talking, quietly and carefully. Just about, anyway. He's still on the couch, but at least they're talking to each other and not looking like they want to kill each other while deliberately ignoring anything said.
I'm gaming with Emmett when Rosalie comes and gets us. Her eyes are shining, and there's a spring in her step. The girls have been talking babies again. And sure enough, there are knitting patterns on the dining room table. Vampires, and they have knitting circles. Mum is arguing with Alice over colours for bootees. A completed pair of bootees, in unbelievably soft wool, are being messed with by Edward and Jasper, who each have a bootee on a finger, and are making them dance along the table-top, while speaking in silly voices. Vampires.
"Lucas, we never finished the stories. If you'd like, and if the boys have quite finished, we can carry on." Edward and Jasper look suitably chastised, and hand Esme the bootees.
"Sure." I'm looking forward to it.
Rosalie goes first, and there is immediately a change in atmosphere. Emmett takes her hands.
"I was twenty-three when I was changed. I was a rich girl, with a nice house, nice family and nice clothes. I was pretty: and that was what mattered most to me. I was very pretty, and I knew it. All I wanted was to marry a rich man and settle down and have babies. Pretty babies, of course. That was my goal. Marry well, have babies. Then my father introduced me to Royce King." Her mouth twists, and she looks feral. "Very handsome, and very, very rich. He was some years older than me, but that didn't matter. He was rich and handsome, and treated me very well - presents and flowers. I decided I loved him." Her voice is bitter. "Then, about three months after we met, we got engaged. I was happy. My dream was coming true. Of course, that was when I realised he had a drink problem, and temper issues. And it still didn't matter. He was still handsome and still rich. One day, I went to visit a friend from school - her name was Vera. She was pretty, Vera, but not as beautiful as me. Plain, even. But she'd married a man she loved - oh, they loved each other so much. So obvious, even to me. I knew Royce wasn't like that. But she and her husband had had a baby recently, and I went to see them. And their baby was so unutterably beautiful, it took my breath away. His name was Henry, he had dark curls and little dimples. In that instance, if it had been offered, I would have given up my riches, my beauty, everything, if I could marry a man like Vera's husband and have pretty babies like Henry. It was not offered, and I took my leave. It was dark, and cold. Winter. Snow. I decided I would walk home. It was only ten minutes away, and the streets were very well lit. It was the twenties - not so uncommon for a young girl to be unescorted. I ran into Royce on the way home." This time, I nearly recoil. Her voice has become a hiss, and she looks positively murderous. "Royce and his friends. Drunk, but not so drunk that they didn't know what they were doing. Royce called me over. And I went. My God, like an idiot. He grabbed me and kissed me. I knew something wasn't right. 'Isn't she beautiful?' he shouted. He groped my breasts. I pushed him away, stepped back. I told him that I would see him tomorrow. But his friends caught me, held me fast. Royce told them to have their pleasure." She doesn't carry on, but I already know. "They left me bleeding in the street. I was seriously hurt, and I somehow knew I was dying. Then the angel came." Carlisle, one more described as angel. "The angel apologised. And then it was the fire.
"I screamed rather a lot. When I realised it did no good to scream, I listened. And I heard Edward asking Carlisle why he'd done it. He sounded terribly disapproving. I didn't realise it was because it would be obvious - after all, I was Rosalie Hale, daughter of one of the richest men in town, engaged to the son of another - I thought it was because he didn't like me. I was quite offended. Nobody had ever not liked me. I decided I didn't like the other voice. I was terribly cold towards Edward when I came round. The angel explained what I was, and I was furious. I knew that I would never have the babies I'd always longed for. This is not the life I would have chosen, but I soon had reason to be glad it was chosen for me." She smiles at Emmett, and he kisses that smile. "And then I took my revenge on Royce. I stole a wedding dress - very dramatic. I went after his friends first, so he'd know, he'd know what was coming for him. I didn't spill their blood - I knew I wouldn't handle it. My record is nearly as clean is Carlisle's and Bella's - I have never tasted human blood, but I have killed. Royce locked himself in a steel room. I killed him guards, and then I went for Royce. I told him what I was, what I had become, and I relished the fear in his eyes. And I killed him, I made it very slow, and terribly painful. I still hear his screams, and they still give me all the satisfaction they gave me a century ago."
When Rosalie finishes, there is silence. She looks at me.
"I am sorry. I didn't intend to scare you." I nod. Emmett clears his throat.
"Sorry I can't be as dramatic. No, my story is OK. 1939 - the year I was changed. It was summer, and I was in the woods. I can't fully remember why I was there. My life had been one of hard labour - my family weren't well off, we had a farm in West Virginia, right near the Blue Ridge Mountains and on the borders of what is now the Jefferson National Forest. It had been uneventful, and I assumed it would always be so. I was happy and content. I was going to marry a girl, get a farm of my own, and support my family. Life planned out, no surprises, and doing everything as simply and quickly as possible." How different he is from Rosalie. "Then everything changed. I was in the woods, and I was attacked by a bear. It was damn angry about something. Probably had a run in with a hunter, or something. It was basically tearing me apart. Then something scared it off. Of course, that something was Rose. I didn't know that - and I was waiting for death. I remember being bloody angry actually - I wasn't ready, I hadn't had my life yet. Then an angel appeared, my Rosalie. She carried me away. Such incredible speed. I thought I was already dead. Then a man came - and yes, I did think it was God. Then the fire started. Rosalie spoke to me. She said what I was becoming, I believed her. If the fire was hell, I didn't care." He smiles, and takes Rosalie in his arms. "Hell isn't so bad if you get to keep an angel with you. I fell off the wagon a few times. I always felt so terrible afterwards. But hey, this is where it's all got me. I've got no complaints and no regrets."
"Who changed you?" I ask, confused, and at the same time happy. They're so sweet. "If Rosalie found you?"
"Carlisle," Rosalie says. "I didn't think I'd have the strength."
Esme goes and gets me a drink. When she gets back, I turn to Bella and Jasper.
"So, Mom, Dad. Who's going first?"
"You know our stories."
"You haven't told me them." They look at each other.
"Jasper."
"OK. First, go to the bathroom if you need to. It's long and involved. Second, don't interrupt. And third, you might want a hand to hold for this." I nod, and reach out for his hand. Bella places her hand over ours, and rests her head on his shoulder. I'm not sure if she's forgiven him, or because she knows what's coming next. "Right. I enlisted for the Confederate Army in 1861 two years too young for it. It was what I'd always wanted to do. Yes, Lucas, that does mean I was fighting, in part, against the abolition of slavery. I assure you I had no motives in that direction. I joined to join, not because I didn't want slavery abolished. I joined to fight for the honour of the South, and our right to do what we wanted, without federal interference. I am from Texas - I was deeply, deeply patriotic. Regardless, why I joined is irrelevant. Even as a human I was - charismatic is, I believe, an appropriate word to use here. People listened to me. I was promoted, promoted, then promoted again. I was a Major before I knew where I was. The youngest Major in the Confederate Army, not counting my real age." He is proud of his rank, proud of the soldier he was. He is proud of that in his past. "I was in charge of evacuating Galveston. I had escorted some citizens to safety, got a fresh horse, and rode right back. It was almost dark. I came across three young women. Three very beautiful young women. I knew they weren't from our party - I would have noticed them. I dismounted, and approached. Hat off, the whole deal. I was turnin' on the charm quite heavily." His Southern drawl is becoming more pronounced. "I asked if they needed any help. One of them spoke. 'Can you feel it?' she asked them. Another replied to her, said yes. 'Charisma' the first speaker breathed. 'We shall keep this one.' I felt no fear yet. Further conversation revealed the one who wanted to keep me was named Maria." He shudders slightly, and Bella uses her free hand to squeeze his arm. "I woke up in some kind of frenzy. Blood was all I thought of. I wanted blood. Needed it, craved it. Human blood. Maria was building an army of newborns. The American Civil War covered the Vampire Wars in the South. She needed my help to do it. I controlled the emotions of the newborns, I kept them fighting the enemy and not each other. When the first year was over, they would be killed. I would kill them. Maria and I would replace them and start again. Finally, I grew tired of my life. There must be more than killing and death and blood. I became ashamed of who I was and questioned everything. I no longer wanted to kill humans. I wanted to break away.
"I left Maria in the company of two other vampires. She made no attempt to follow me. She knew that I would not allow myself to be caught. I walked for months. I didn't know where I was going. And then came a day that changed it all. I was very thirsty, and out during the day. It made me uncomfortable. I went inside a diner, and I met another vampire. But this vampire was like no vampire I had ever seen. Her eyes were yellow. Yellow, almost gold, where mine were red. I did not understand. But she got down from her stool almost as soon as I saw her. She told me I was late. I ducked my head, and said 'sorry, ma'am.' She held out a hand to me. I took it without thinking. All I had felt for years was bloodlust and rage and murder. Now, I felt hope. I barely even understood it. Alice brought me to the Cullen's. Carlisle gave me the path I was searching for. A way to exist without killing humans.
"I struggled, and I screwed it up a lot. I killed several people - eight, to be exact. And then, almost eighty years after I met Alice and found Carlisle, another vampire moved into the area. Her name was Isabella Swan. I knew her from our childhood in Texas and I never dreamed I would see her again. But she came, and she loved what was left of me, and she built me up. She helped me find the control I needed. And I love her, more than anything on this earth. If I were given the choice between eternity without her or one more day with her, I'd take the day. I could not, would not live without her. And I owe her my life, in so many different ways."
There is quiet. Bella is holding Jasper close, he's let go of my hand and his face is in her neck, and I can see him trembling. Her lips move in response to something he said, but none of us hear it. She doesn't let him go. I get up. I don't need to hear Bella's story. What they need now is time alone. What they need now is to be together.
