"Why would seeing your girlfriend upset Bella?" Edward asked.

"Oh, I guess we're going to have this particular conversation now." Damon said dryly. "See," He smacked Stefan on the back of the head. "I said opening your mind to him was a bad idea…but do you ever listen to your older and much wiser brother? No, of course not."

"Maybe because listening to you is a guarantee things will get shot to hell…real fast." Stefan raged back.

"Oh my God…will the two of you listen to yourselves." Bella said in an admonishing tone. "You sound like two school children bickering over space in the sandbox. Are you always like this?"

Damon gave a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Usually."

"Not always." Stefan corrected sadly.

"What changed it?"

"Katherine." Both brothers stated irritably at the same time.

Bella gasped as it suddenly felt like all the air was sucked out of the pressurized cabin. A distorted face skirted and danced within the corners of her vision until she saw it clearly.

Edward watched Bella carefully, noting her whitening pallor and dilating pupils. "Bella? Are you alright?" He asked feeling anxiety filter into his pores.

He went to cup her face in his hands but she gently batted him away. "I'm fine…I'm fine." She assured him.

"Who's Katherine?" Edward asked the two brothers wanting to understand why exactly the mere mention of the name caused such a reaction in Bella.

"Ex-vampire girlfriend…vindictive, psychotic bitch…self serving sociopath…pick any one…they all apply." Damon told him in a bored voice.

"Ex-girlfriend?" Emmett piped in. "As in for both of you?" He pointed at each of them.

"Yeah" Damon confirmed. "At the same time. Kind of disgustingly incestuous when you think about it."

Another reason, Damon thought wryly, why Elena was so different. She would never play both brothers like that. Elena was noble and honest. For her, it would always be one or the other…even if she did have feelings for them both, which he suspected strongly she did…she would only choose one. Although she already threw in his face that it would always be Stefan, he knew that could inevitably change.

Emmett laughed long and hard at this piece of information, his dirty mind coming to the forefront.

Stefan winced. It wasn't exactly a bright spot in his past. How foolish he was…how foolish they both were. "And now we have come full circle." He said to Bella. "Elena…well, she bears a very strong resemblance to Katherine."

"Oh, why sugarcoat it? Tell them like it is. Elena is Katherine's doppelganger."

"Doppelganger?" Bella questioned. "As in…?"

"As in." Damon verified with a nod. "Why don't you show her the picture you have stashed in your wallet?" he said to Stefan.

"So she is like what I am? She's the reincarnation of Katherine?" If that were the case, why the hell was Stefan with her if he hated Katherine so much?

"God, no!" Stefan said horrified at the thought as he pulled out his wallet. "Katherine is still alive…well relatively speaking anyway. Elena is her descendant and also her exact physical copy."

Hesitantly, Stefan handed over the picture of Elena into Bella's outstretched hand.

It was a completely anti-climatic moment for Bella when she looked at the photo of the pretty, brown haired girl. She almost expected to faint into her seat or at the very least have an anxiety attack the way the two brothers were watching her with baited breath. None of that happened as she stared at the girl smiling back at her.

"I definitely see the resemblance." Bella shrugged handing back the picture. "But to say she is an exact physical copy…?"

"Maybe you just have a very hazy memory of what Katherine looks like." Stefan said confused.

"No. Her face is pretty clear, believe me. Just picturing her in my head gives me the creeps."

"Then what difference do you notice that no one else does?" Damon wanted to know. Even he had been fooled, Damon thought back to when he had kissed Katherine thinking it was Elena. He felt just as much of an idiot now about the incident as he did back then.

Bella thought for a moment. "The eyes…most definitely the eyes." She nodded absently. "Elena's eyes are very warm and open. Katherine…well she's another story. Her eyes are cold and calculating...kind of like she is always planning something…something really bad."

"Bella is very perceptive." Edward told them when he saw the amazement in their faces.

"She always has been." Damon said softly. Those were bittersweet memories…the ones where Isabella kept warning them that Katherine wasn't what she seemed. At the time he chalked it up to Isabella sensing a difference because Katherine wasn't human but it wasn't until after Isabella died that he knew she had meant something more.

XXXXX

Damon and Stefan rode with Bella and Edward on the two and a half hour drive towards Mystic Falls while the others piled into two other heavily tinted rental cars following them. Bella, who hadn't slept on the plane, took the opportunity to drift off for a little while in the car in hopes of avoiding the tension that ran thick in the confined space. She woke up with a yawn in time to see the "Welcome to Mystic Falls Est. 1864".

Stefan led Edward through the main street in the middle of town. Bella looked in fascination at the quaint little shops adorning Birch Street but nothing stirred the slightest inkling of a memory.

"Physically a lot has changed but the politics are still the same." Stefan told her.

Bella wasn't surprised. Small towns usually resisted change of any kind. "What do you mean by politics exactly? Are they still fighting the war?"

Stefan chuckled. "Some are but it's a lot more localized than that. The founding families are still here and to some extent they still rule the town and are futilely trying to preserve the old ways of life."

"By still living in the past." Damon mocked. "Ironic since none of them actually lived back then."

"So who are the Founding Families?"

"Well, the Salvatores, of course." Damon said with a hint of superiority. "Then there's the Gilberts, The Forbes, the Lockwoods…"

"Wait." Bella interrupted him. A shiver of fear snaked around her as she recalled with perfect clarity the memory that was restored earlier in the week. "Did you say the Lockwoods?"

"Why? Do you remember something?" Edward gave her a curious glance looking for any sign that a memory was inflicting any pain like they had before.

"Oh…err…the name just seemed kind of familiar." Bella didn't really want to explain what she actually did remember. Every single vampire in the car would freak out.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Stefan said. "Damon and I used to hang out with the Lockwood boys well with Joshua more than George anyway and Isabella would always want to tag along….funny one day he just up and disappeared to supposedly join the army and no one had heard from him since."

Edward's internal alarm screamed at him that she was lying or at least not telling the whole truth. He would let it go for now. Obviously whatever it was didn't seem to have any ill effects on her…not any that were obvious at any rate.

The rest of the short ride remained tense. Damon and Stefan picked up on Bella's lie as well but neither would say a word for fear of bringing on another attack. They did continue to watch her however and very closely.

So did Edward. Bella felt the three sets of eyes on her as acutely as if she were being observed under a microscope. Finally she threw her hands up in disgust and set her glare on each of them.

"Gah! Would you all just stop! I feel like you're all watching and waiting for me to have a nervous breakdown or something. Quite frankly, it's freaking me out."

"Bella, I'm just concerned about you." Edward pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "You aren't…well…exactly the healthiest you've ever been and I am just worried that this trip may be too much for you."

"Seriously, Edward?" If she could stomp her foot, she would. " I survived James, Laurent, motorcycles, cliff jumping and even came face to face with the Volturi. Do you really think a little trip to Virginia is going to break me? Do you honestly think that I'm that fragile? Wait…" She held up her hand "…don't answer that…I think I already know the answer."

"Bella, you have been under a tremendous…" Stefan started but quickly shut up when Bella turned her murderous expression his way.

"No. The two of you don't get to say anything either." She scowled. " You're just as bad."

"Bella, no one thinks you're going to break." Edward sighed. "In fact, you're probably more courageous than I am. More than any of us, I'd venture." He stole a glance at the two in the back seat. "If anyone's going to break, it will be me."

"You?" Bella snorted disbelievingly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes, me. I'll be the one breaking if anything happens to you." Truer words had never been spoken, he thought.

And with those words all of Bella's anger left in a whoosh. As quickly as it came it was gone. She curled her fingers into his soft bronze hair. "Edward, I'm fine and Carlisle's here to make sure I stay fine. I promise."

He took her hand from his hair and brought it to his lips. He felt too exposed, too raw right now. He had witnessed too many times, Bella diving head long into precarious situations without any regard to herself…only for others; to try and save her mother, to save him, to prevent a showdown between his family and the wolves. It was almost like her brain didn't realize her body was human or maybe she just didn't care. Part of him knew he could not fault her for it or change it. After all, wasn't her selfless nature part of what made him fall in love with her?

Damon leaned forward, planting his face in between the two front seats. "If we're done with the love fest…can someone please tell me what the fuck a Volturi is?"

"So, how much further?" Bella came back with a question of her own. She really didn't want to get into a discussion about Aro and his creepy cronies.

"Not very subtle." Damon said brusquely.

"No, but effective." She replied.

"Actually…if you just take this left here. It's the drive leading to the boarding house." Stefan pointed at the street where they had to turn. All conversation of the Volturi quit but Damon made a mental note to definitely bring up the subject again. Whatever or whoever they were, they were dangerous and where there was danger, Damon was adamant about staying in the loop.

The boarding house looked more like a country manor estate; Bella thought as she got out of the car and stretched her legs. The Tudor style house loomed large and was surrounded by a thick green forest. The webbed, overhanging branches of the nearby trees obscured most of the sunlight; allowing only thin rays to filter through to the ground. Shrouded in dim light, it gave the house a gothic quality, Bella was only used to reading about.

As she stood looking up at the house, a series of car door slams alerted her that the rest of the Cullens had arrived.

The usually expansive living room of the boarding house seemed to shrink in the presence of all the room's occupants.

Esme took in the room, noting the décor with a decorator's eye, appreciating the large fireplace which leant warmth to the vast room , the dark furnishings and the Aubusson rugs that scattered the floor.

"Your home is lovely. So regal." She said in awe.

"Thank you." Stefan answered her. "Though we can't claim responsibility for any of it."

"Okay, now for the ground rules." Damon stated rubbing his hands together, feeling so much better now that he was back in his own element. "There are fourteen bedrooms in all. You can choose any with the obvious exception of mine and Stefan's. This house is old and the walls are thick but not soundproof…got it Monkey Man?" Damon smirked at Emmett. He overheard enough from him and his blonde on the plane to know where their minds were much of the time.

"I want to remind you that this is not our house, so don't break anything." Esme also told them.

"Hey, why are we being put on the spot? What about Alice and Jasper?" Emmett grumbled.

"Do you really want Esme to answer that?" Carlisle chuckled.

"Well, we know you won't have to give Bella and Eddie the same warning." Emmett guffawed loudly and barely escaped a swipe in the back of the head by Edward.

"Hey! Leave me out of this." Bella told him as she blushed furiously.

XXXXX

Elena, Bonnie and Caroline trudged through Mystic Mall like three girls on a mission; the mission was an exercise in normalcy. Because of the craziness of the past months and the knowledge that things were on the teetering verge of getting worse, the opted to spend the Saturday engaging in a normal teenage girl pursuit; shopping.

Elena knew Stefan and Damon were due back today. Checking her watch, she expected to get call at anytime. She was nervously anticipating their arrival mostly because of who they would be bringing with them. It would be up to her to keep the peace, she instinctively knew. Bonnie had been furious when she found out that along with the girl they thought was the reincarnation of Isabella Salvatore, an entourage of virtually impervious vampires were traveling with her. No, furious was actually putting it mildly, Elena amended. Bonnie had been beyond outraged.

She was in the changing room trying on some outfits when Stefan called her telling her that he had arrived home safely. Bonnie and Caroline were waiting for her when she exited the dressing room and went to the cashier to pay for her purchases. Both of them were staring at her with there arms crossed waiting for her to be finished before they descended on her. Caroline must have overheard every word of her conversation and relayed it to Bonnie.

"So" She started nervously. "Stefan wants me over there at seven for dinner."

"We're going with you." Bonnie said. "Someone needs to watch your back."

"I don't know if that's a good idea. I mean if he wanted you over, he would have asked you, right?"

"Nine vamps to two humans." Caroline said. "I'm not liking the odds, Elena. I don't care what their diet is."

"Oh come on. Stefan and Damon would never put me in a dangerous situation."

"Not intentionally but they're not exactly thinking straight lately. Either we're going with you or we're crashing the party."

"Ugh, fine. I'll just call Stefan back and let him know."

XXXXX

Bella was going to opt for a quick shower to freshen up until she saw the tub with the Jacuzzi jets in the bathroom of the bedroom she chose for her and Edward. Bella giggled to herself as she sunk down into the bubbles. She and Edward shared a bedroom before but Charlie was usually home and unaware and it almost felt dirty, like they were doing something wrong. Well, technically they were but nothing like what Charlie would assume.

She let the jet stream pulsate at her back feeling it sooth her lower back muscles with a groan of relief. She must have dozed off because when she opened her eyes there was a fluffy terry cloth robe hanging from the door hook and light blue slippers on the floor underneath the robe. Bella tied the robe on, put the slippers on, wrapped her hair in a towel and quickly padded out of the bathroom into the bedroom.

When she turned around from closing the door, she stopped short and her mouth gaped open when she saw Edward reclining on the bed with nothing but a pair of sweatpants reading a book he must have borrowed from the Salvtores' eclectic library. When he saw her, he put the book down and patted the bed beside him with a smile. When she sat down next to him, he took the towel from her hair and gently rubbed her hair dry with it enjoying the smell of the strawberry shampoo she always used.

"You took a real chance leaving the bathroom door unlocked with Emmett around." Edward told her with good natured grin. "Who knows what tricks he might have pulled had I not circumvented him."

As the gentle rubbing of the towel turned into a caress, Bella became fully aware that she had on nothing under the robe.

"How did you…? Oh it was you that put the robe and slippers in the bathroom. I assumed it was Alice."

"Guilty as charged. I hope you don't mind." He said in a low voice.

"Um…no." She responded as a blush crept to her cheeks. What exactly did he see? Was she still decently covered in bubbles when he came in?

Edward trailed his fingers down her cheek until he reached her chin and tilted her face up to meet his gaze. "So beautiful." He whispered before molding his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. His fingers itched to undo the loose knot on the belt of her robe and slip it off her shoulders to bare the smooth skin he knew he would find there but he held back. Her hands crept up to grab at his shoulders as she tentatively pulled him closer, afraid that at any moment he would break the kiss and move away like he usually did when things between them became too heated but he didn't.

Instead the kiss went on and on morphing into something deeper and more exquisite. She could taste vanilla, honey and lilac as he plundered her lips mercilessly. She was on her back beneath him now without realizing they had moved. His body loomed over hers, his shoulder muscles bunched and still his lips never left her own. With a groan, he shifted them both so his thigh pressed in between her partially open legs. Her lack of clothes made him smell her arousal that much keener he could almost taste it...wanted desperately to taste it. Trailing his lips down her face, he didn't stop until he was at the juncture of her neck and shoulder and then he pressed open mouth kisses to her heated flesh; ever mindful of the pulsing carotid artery beneath his lips…her pulse point…her essence of life and in turn his.

Bella's body arched into his, pressing herself into his thigh that was insinuated between her legs and she moaned.

"God, I want you." He growled seductively.

Bella's eyes popped open. Was this her Edward? Her carefully controlled, Type A personality, old fashioned to the point of lunacy, Edward?

Noticing the change in her breathing, he lifted his head up and looked down at her nervously. "I'm so sorry Bella. Is this not okay with you because if I…"

She put her finger on her lips to keep him from speaking and shook her head. "Shh, It's perfect. I was just wondering where all of this came from. You would have thrown yourself across the room by now."

He sat up against the wooden headboard, raking his fingers through his hair. "I don't know." He gave a groan of frustration. "I can't explain it. Usually I can control my..."

"Thirst?" She supplied with a hint of a smile as she rested her head on his bare chest and trailed her fingertips over his pectorals.

He looked at her in horror. "No! God, no. I was going to say usually I can control my hunger for you. Not in a thirsty way but in a...lustful way, I suppose is the best way to put it." He grimaced. "But it's becoming increasingly difficult for me."

"Isn't that how it's supposed to be? I know I feel that way every time I'm near you."

"It's so intense Bella, you have no idea." He admitted huskily, tightening his arm around her.

"Oh I think I do." She assured him peppering his neck with open mouthed kisses.

He groaned again, closing his eyes. Part of him wanted to crush her to him and the sane logical part of him wanted to push her away before anything happened. The problem was, what she was doing with her mouth felt do damn good, he didn't know which side of him would win.

Luckily he wouldn't have to find out. He heard footsteps approaching toward the door and Carlisle's thoughts about an impromptu dinner party.