Chapter 28- Addicted to Love

AN: This is the last chapter. I will have a massive epi. This journey started over a year and a half ago. Thank you for reading this. I will be going back and updating earlier chapters. Content-wise, nothing will change. Thank you. As always, thanks to ColourMeCullen, FanpireMama and SassyGeminiMom. Also, I do not own, but I did make Lauren cool.

The lights are on,
But you're not home.
You're mind is not your own.
Your heart sweats,
Your body shakes.
Another kiss is what it takes.

You can't sleep, you can't eat.
There's no doubt, you're in deep
Your throat is tight,
you can't breathe.
Another kiss is all you need.

Whoa, you like to think you're immune to the stuff,
Oh yeah.
It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough.
You know you're gonna have to face it.
You're addicted to love.

You see the signs,
but you can't read.
You're running at a different speed.
Your heart beats in double time.
Another kiss and you'll be mine.
A one track mind.

You can't be saves.
Oblivion is all you crave.
If there's some left for you, you don't mind if you do.

-Addicted to Love original by Robert Palmer this version is Florence + the Machine

Edward POV

Not having to worry about my thirst was one of the many things I was looking forward to once Bella was turned. I hated leaving her behind, worse yet dropping her off at the Greenwich train station, but I was in serious need of a good hunting trip. One could live off of suburban deer for only so long.

Alice of course, had seen a Cullen family hunting trip up near the Canadian border in the future. She hadn't seen much past that, but when I had asked about Bella, she said she had seen her hanging out with her roommate. I wasn't worrying too much about her. Summer in New York City tends to be pretty quiet, aside from tripping on uneven pavement or a crack on the sidewalk.

The trip had been pretty uneventful, very similar to the trips we had taken we had lived in Forks. It was nice to feel like a family again. Jasper exuded the love we felt for one another and it permeated through us all. After a year of such turmoil, which in our time on earth, is merely a blink of an eye, it had still felt like eternity to all of us.

Emmett was satiated after bagging a large bear. We all found our favorites, which was the advantage to hunting in such a large area. It took me a while, but I did find a tasty mountain lion, or two.

Herbivores just aren't as satisfying as carnivores or even omnivores for that matter. It had been way too long.

"Edward, I have observed that all of your intimacy with Bella has made your appetite increase," Carlisle stated. After we had spent the evening hunting and were hanging around our campsite. Esme, Rosalie, and Alice had gone to a nearby spring to bathe in the sparkling waters. Alice insisted the sulpher in the water was good for the skin. It seemed moot to me – we were already smooth and rock hard, things like lotions and bathing in natural springs weren't going to change us.

"Speaking of sexual appetite, how about Bella? If you have such an appetite, I'm sure Bella's got something for you to munch on," Emmett teased.

"Guys, you're embarrassing Edward," Jasper said.

Carlisle cleared his voice. "I was just making a scientific observation. I don't know what Emmett was insinuating. Boys…" he turned and looked sternly at Emmett and Jasper.

"Edward, I do have to say thank you. Between you and Bella, Alice and I have been going at it like bunnies," Jasper joked.

When was this torture going to end? For decades I had always sat out when the guys had these conversations and now, finally not a virgin, I still couldn't fully understand the sex life of two vampires.

The evening went on pretty uneventful and the following day we worked around some hikers. They weren't too hard to hear their thoughts or smell. They had been hiking for almost a week with very infrequent sponge baths. After decades of controlling our thirst, the seven of us decided it would be better to head farther north in order to avoid them on yet another day of hunting.

It did prove to be a good move – we stumbled upon even more mountain lions. I was feeling so glutinous after feasting on my favorite food. The day seemed so ideal – cloudy, but no rain – perfect hunting weather and then it all went downhill.

I heard a shriek coming from where Alice and Jasper had been hunting elk. Immediately I honed in on Alice's thoughts.

I saw a dark rooftop. It looked like New York City. Bella was sleeping on a chaise lounge and there was a figure standing over her. A red haired figure standing over.

"Edward, I think Bella's in trouble," Alice whispered.

"Victoria!" I screamed.

Within a matter of milliseconds everyone had gathered around me, everyone was talking at once. I had failed. I had promised that I would protect Bella and yet I continued to put her in danger. This was all my fault. We should have never gone hunting so far away.

"Edward, you have to stop beating yourself up. It's counterproductive," Jasper cried, shaking me. "We all need to remain calm. Victoria was obviously evading Alice's visions. She was watching us and waiting for the right opportunity – a hole in our defenses. Well, she found it. So, what are we going to do about it?"

"Alice, do you know when this is going to happen?" Esme asked.

"Tonight. I don't know when, though." Alice said, shaken and obviously upset. "I didn't see a time. Edward, I'm so sorry. I should have seen this earlier."

"We need to focus on our plan. We have to get back to the city, but even with speeding – it's a four hour drive and it is only two hours before nightfall. We'll have to hurry,' Carlisle stated as he commandeered the situation.

We all ran back to the base of the camp. For humans it would have taken a full day to hike back down, perhaps even longer, but it only took us about thirty minutes. Well, I made it in less time, but then I was faster than the others. I was already sitting in the driver's seat with my fingers denting the steering wheel as I waited for everyone else to pile into the cars we had brought along – Jasper's Range Rover and Emmett's newest Jeep. I'd buy Jasper a new one if need be.

"Let's go," I growled as I revved up the engine and began barreling back to civilization. The odometer climbed as quickly as the V6 engine would allow, but as soon as we hit the interstate, we had to slow down. The state police had set up speed traps every twenty miles. According to one trooper, there was a state deficit and they were looking for speeders with out-of-state plates to generate some revenue. When I explained this to Carlisle he wasn't the least bit happy.

"You know the US was founded because a bunch of people didn't want to pay taxes that were being waged on them? You know how much we pay in taxes for all of our various accounts? You don't want to know. It's sick. " We really should move more money off-shore, but it's just money. Hopefully this will distract Edward a bit. Edward, is this distracting you at all?

"Carlisle…"

"Edward, we have a long drive. We won't know the situation until we get to Bella." Carlisle turned around to speak to Alice. "Have you seen anything else?"

Alice closed her eyes concentrating. In her head I saw Victoria standing over Bella, as she had previously seen. It seemed she was watching Bella sleep on a rooftop deck. By the looks of it, Bella was in the East Village. In one flash of Alice's mind, Victoria picked Bella up and threw her over the edge of the roof, cackling with laughter as she watched Bella fall to her death. Then the scene changed. Victoria was holding Bella down and biting into her jugular. The blood oozed down her neck and Victoria licked it off.

Alice's eyes popped open. "She hasn't made a decision yet. She keeps changing her mind. Edward, I thought you said she wouldn't be a threat anymore."

"I had convinced Laurent to tell Victoria that he had killed Bella, that her blood was too appealing. I don't know how she figured it out. Unless she realized Laurent was lying to her. Laurent's thoughts were so centered on Irina and his love for her; I thought he would comply…"

The car fell silent as we all pondered what had occurred in the past few months. I let out an unnecessary deep breath as I passed the sign welcoming us to New York State. We were so close, yet we still had the traffic around the city to contend with.

I kept having to slow down as we approached several speed traps, but finally we saw signs for the George Washington Bridge.

"Upper or lower level?" I asked panicked. It was always a crapshoot which level of the bi-level bridge would be the fastest. Not even my ability to read minds or Alice's ability to see the future could resolve this issue. Conditions changed frequently, a simple fender bender could cause thirty minute delays.

"Lower. Take the lower," Carlisle commanded.

I checked the rearview mirror, Rosalie followed suit as I merged into the lanes that would take us into the city. Of course, as we got closer to this main bridge, we ended up in stop and go traffic.

"Alice, how long are we going to be stuck here? Are we going to make it? What are you seeing?"

"Edward, she's still watching Bella. I see Bella is going to open her eyes and she is going to run. Everything else is fuzzy. I'm sorry. Everything keeps changing so quickly."

I slammed my hands down on the steering wheel, leaving a dent. "A cage. This car is like a cage. I can run much faster. Carlisle, please take the wheel," I growled quickly shifting the car into park and throwing my door open.

The people witnessing my plight were confused, but I sped away so quickly that they barely took notice. On foot, I could navigate around the traffic and within a minute I was on the island of Manhattan.

I ran across town so quickly that most people didn't look up from their conversations on their cell phones or were too pre-occupied to notice the blur of me whizzing by. The aloof nature of New Yorkers was one of the few aspects that made being a vampire and using vampire powers much easier in the open. Once cross-town, I trailed down 2nd Avenue; the little shops, restaurants and businesses that lined the street whirled by with the blue of the superfluous number of Chase bank branches standing out every few blocks. My running was timed with the lights and I never had to stop for unforgiving traffic, not that I couldn't stop a truck with my bare hand, but that would cause a scene.

Suddenly, my journey that had started hundreds of miles away came down to one little street in a tiny corner in one of the most bustling cities in the world, yet as I turned down the street, I saw the outline of the woman I love and the vampire who was set to avenge her lover's death.

As if it was possible, I ran even faster than I had been before. My eyes set on Victoria reaching out to Bella. Her touch, much like the grim reaper, would bring an untimely end to my love. I couldn't. I wouldn't. I would never let it happen. Victoria's thoughts centered on sinking her teeth into Bella and draining her of life.

In a flash of a few nanoseconds, I came barreling toward my nemesis; my only concern was to keep her from harming Bella. There was nothing around me that mattered but stopping her. With all my weight I pushed Victoria to the ground and Bella stumbled backward into the street. I couldn't stop it as Victoria was fighting back at me. Her nails dug into my impermeable skin as I fought back with all of my strength.

"If I stop and help that girl, I will get deported." I heard the thoughts in some foreign tongue as I quickly glanced to the street seeing a SUV-size taxi speeding off.

The girl he hit was Bella. Her breathing was labored and her heartbeat faint, but she was alive. I wanted to run to her, but if I let Victoria go, she'd come after us again. She'd never stop trying.

Silently, I begged and pleaded for my family to not be far behind.

"Oh, boo hoo loverboy, looks like that cab driver just made my job easier," Victoria taunted.

I held her down to the ground with all my might.

"She's still alive. She'll be fine, which is more than I can say for you," I cried, throwing another punch in Victoria's face.

Victoria squirmed under my grasp.

"How did you even find her?" I asked, trying to tighten my grip.

"Easily, I went to see Laurent again and I overheard those other vegetarians talking about you finding your mate. They even talked about how you were all surviving in New York City. It didn't take a genius to find out information. That Tanya chick sure talks a lot of shit about you. She was really upset to hear you were off the market. Disappointed. Why a human? Why her?" She sneered.

"The same reason you are here hunting her down – love. She's my mate."

"Not for long!" Victoria cried as she attempted to throw me off of her, but I held my ground.

She continued to claw at my face. Thankfully, I had just hunted and was able to hold her off. She was strong from drinking human blood, but thankfully with all the mountain lions, I could, with lots of effort, hold her off. She struggled quite a bit, before I pulled her hands down at her sides, trying to hold her down. I needed Emmett's strength. I needed Carlisle to care for Bella. Where was my family?

Edward, we're here! I heard from various members of my family. I turned around briefly, to see their headlights as they pulled the cars closer.

"Carlisle, Bella needs help. Emmett, Jasper, over here," I called out.

Only it wasn't my brothers who came to my aide.

"I've got that bitch!" Rosalie cried as she came rushing out of the backseat of one of the cars and jumping on Victoria's head.

Edward, Bella is a part of the family now. I accept that and no one fucks with my family.

Emmett and Jasper came to my aide and relieved me of holding Victoria down. Once they had a firm control over her struggling, form, I rushed to Bella's side to be of any assistance to Carlisle and blocked out their thoughts on how they were going to tear Victoria limb from limb. I tried to block out Carlisle's initial thoughts as he examined Bella. Instead I tried to figure out why she had a penis drawn on her face.

"It's not looking good, son. She definitely has a head injury. There's brain swelling." Carlisle took in a big whiff of air around Bella. I followed suit. She didn't smell the same. "That's the brain fluid building up. We need to move her to a place where I can better exam her."

"Carlisle… Can we finisher her off?" Emmett called out, seeking the approval of Carlisle, our moral compass.

"Yes, but find a trash can to put her body parts in. Make it look like some bums were drunk and set a fire or something."

"Bums? Carlisle, this is post-Giuliani era New York. There aren't a whole lot of bums anymore," I replied. Throughout the years, we had seen New York evolve from the slums to a bustling metropolis, to a fallen wasteland in the seventies, but now the city was thriving again, safer than ever. Thanks to the work of one of its greatest mayors.

"It doesn't matter. Most people won't think anything of it. I've got to get her back to the townhouse, so I can at least fully examine her and monitor her condition."

Edward, it's not looking good. I need you to think about whether or not you want her to go, naturally or if you want to change her.

No. It was too soon. She wanted some semblance of a normal life. A semester as a human. More time. She wanted more. I wanted more time, but she wanted to be changed. A taxi driver is what did her in. All this time I tried to protect her from Victoria and now she wasn't even the one who brought Bella to this moment.

It couldn't be this easy. Yet, it wasn't. What would we tell her family? Her friends? Would we fake her death? I was a myriad of emotions.

"Esme, Alice, come over here and help me move Bella into the back of the car. It's okay there's only internal bleeding," Carlisle called out to the two family members who had hung back at the cars,

"I can do it," I insisted.

"No, Edward, you are too…" Carlisle paused, searching for the right word, "emotional and rightfully so. She needs you to hold her hand."

"Edward, when we get home I'll scrub this off of her face, but we need to hurry. Some of Bella's friends are going to realize she hasn't joined them soon and are going to come this way looking for her," Alice cried out as she, Carlisle, and Esme lifted Bella up off the asphalt. Bella could easily be lifted by any one of us, but we needed to keep her neck as still as possible in transporting her. I held her hand as softly as I could, listening to her labored breathing, and counting her faint heartbeats.

Before getting into the car, I turned and saw bright blue flames coming from a steel trash can. At least we would never have to worry about Victoria ever again.

My hand never left Bella's as Carlisle performed every test known to man in our Upper East Side townhouse.

"Carlisle, why do you have all of this portable medical equipment stashed here?" I asked, knowing that we had always intended to turn Bella in Connecticut or somewhere out in the country where she could hunt easily.

I was hoping to spend a few weeks helping the indigenous people in the Amazon Rainforest, but Alice could never quiet see a time where it would be dark enough. I had purchased some of this medical equipment though as preparation. I was hoping to take several of these small ultrasound devices, portable MRIs, and x-ray equipment to the villages and teach them to use them. At least now, they are getting some use.

"How bad is it? Can she recover?"

There's internal bleeding, and like I suspected, swelling in her brain. She's in a coma, Edward. It doesn't look good. She'll need to be changed, soon."

"Her parents… her friends… her life. How are we going to make her disappear? We can't change her here so close to people. Carlisle, I didn't want it to be this way."

I was so overwhelmed. There were so many decisions to be made.

"I'll gather the others and we can discuss how we are going to approach this in the dining room."

"No! I'm not leaving her side. I promised her I'd never leave. I promised her and I broke that promise. I won't ever. I won't. I promised." I wished I could cry, I sobbed, my tear ducts dry and devoid of life. Like me. Like the way Bella would be. She'd be like me, but what if she resented me for changing her before she wanted to?

"I'll bring them in here. We can discuss. Edward, son, you're not alone."

It had to be me. I had to be the one to change her. Bella would hate it if it was anyone else, even Carlisle. Would I be strong enough? What if I didn't stop? I had to stop.

As I sat lost in my own thoughts, my family quietly filed into the room.

"Edward, we're all here," Esme said softly, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"She's going to die if we don't change her, but she's not ready. We are tearing her from the life she wanted to live, even if it was only temporary and I don't know how we explain her absence. I have taken so much from her. I don't know how I can take this."

"Edward, Bella wants to be changed. She wants you. You aren't taking from her, you are giving her the opportunity at eternity with you. It's what she wants," Rosalie said softly. She never ceased to surprise me with the ways she felt toward Bella. Tonight was very eye opening.

"We'll need to put her in the back of the Land Rover and take her out to Connecticut, or maybe we should go up to the cabin we own in Vermont. It's a little bit farther, but it would be more secluded," Carlisle rambled. His thoughts continued thinking about how he'd transport Bella and still monitor her condition. Then a thought came to him. He looked at me and I shrugged and raised my eyebrow in response. It was intriguing.

"It just came to me. We change her here and then we transport her while she is undergoing the transformation. I've been wanting to see if morphine will affect the pain felt, and hopefully that will make it more bearable for her. Alice?" Carlisle asked, looking to Alice to see if she saw anything with that scenario.

I saw it before she could articulate her short vision.

"It'll work. She will still be in some pain, but the morphine will limit her ability to vocalize the pain. That will make it easier to transport her," Alice replied, as she sat down by the bed, and began to scrub Bella's skin with a variety of solutions – soap, rubbing alcohol, even cooking spray. Thankfully it was coming out. Alice looked up with me and nodded; she already knew what I was going to want to discuss next.

"Foreign exchange program," she said quickly. Her thoughts revealed Rosalie on the phone, emails to friends, and Alice packing up Bella's dorm room.

"Who does Rosalie talk to?" I asked, confused by the vision.

"Bella's parents, of course. Charlie knows my voice, but he's never even spoken to Rose. Besides, Rose can imitate Bella's voice fairly well. At least well enough to make it believable on the phone. Sort of. Renee will think it is romantic and will be proud of Bella for taking such a rare opportunity, but Charlie will be more suspicious. We are going to need to have to hack into her email to make sure she keeps up correspondence while she is away. It may be a few weeks before she has the ability to focus long enough on not schtupping this one or hunting."

"Schtupping?"

"Hey, we're living in New York; I'm picking up the vernacular. And yes, apparently Bella is going to be hornier than those two," Alice reiterated, pointing to Emmett and Rosalie. "Unfortunately, that's what I'm seeing. There – see it's all gone." I couldn't help but smile at the very erotic almost pornographic visions that were popping into Alice's head as she stood up from her seat.

I shook my head to regain focus. There were more people to worry about. "What about her roommate? Her friends?"

"We tell them you proposed and the two of you ran off to get married. Shoshanna will believe it and her other friends have only known her for a few weeks. They'll believe anything; they barely know her."

"Edward, Alice has seen it will be all right. Your anxiety is overwhelming me. It's going to be okay. She wants this."

"New York City isn't going anywhere, well at least not until 2012 when the entire east coast falls into the ocean. She'll be back and get the NYU experience. It may take her awhile to not want to eat her classmates, but she'll be back," Emmett said, never missing an opportunity to point out his 2012 doomsday beliefs. The end is near. The end is near. Emmett chanted in his head.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"So, I guess I need to figure out how I am going to change her?" I said, unsure of myself.

"Well we should start our plan for packing up Bella's stuff. No, Edward, I won't throw out her clothes, even though some of them should not be worn in public," Alice said, taking Rosalie and Esme and shuffling out of the room.

"Edward, I am going to be right outside this room when it happens, trying to keep you calm," Jasper whispered as he left the room, leaving only Carlisle, Emmett and me.

Emmett first thought about saying something about the phallic symbol that had been drawn and removed from Bella's face, but instead chose not to. "So, umm do you need me here to like pull you off of her as you are sucking her dry?" Emmett asked.

"I think I can handle that, son. Why don't you wait with Jasper and I'll call you if I need you," Carlisle suggested.

And then there were two.

"How do you stop? Where do I bite? Why does it feel like I'm about to jump off a cliff?"

"Edward, you are about to make your mate, your mate for life. You stop because you love her. Where you bite her is really up to you. While fictional accounts have always used the neck, I prefer the left wrist, it will reach her heart almost as fast and it will be easier to pull you away, if you can't stop. But, Edward, I have complete faith in you that you will stop." My heart is so full knowing you will finally have your forever, son. You've waited so long for her.

I lifted up Bella's left arm; I was already holding the hand. Slowly, I brought her wrist closer to my mouth. She smelled like Bella, but different. The brain swelling and the internal bleed must be affecting her.

"Like this?" I asked.

Carlisle nodded and moved to stand behind me, just in case.

The venom started pooling in my mouth. Out of habit, I swallowed it back down, until I realized I didn't have to this time. That would be the last time I would crave her blood. After tonight, I would only ever crave her for being her and nothing else.

It started to pool again and I opened my mouth, bringing my lips to her wrist. For a split second, my teeth met her paper thin skin.

And then I bit down.

~fin~

AN: Don't freak out – an epi is in the works. Also, I posted a picture of my puppy in my profile. She's finally getting the hang of house breaking!