After I was healed, I had my dad take me over to La Push and see the others there. Billy kept him preoccupied while the others swarmed around me.
"Are you okay?"
"What happened?"
"Are the leeches dead?"
"Do you feel alright?"
"GUYS!" I finally yelled through the barrage of questions. "I'm fine really. We ran from the bad vampires to phoenix. But they ended up finding us, I ran away from the Cullens, there was a big battle, I got hurt, we went to the hospital down there, and now we are back and I'm fine. Really."
We talked for a while more before we headed back home and I upstairs into the arms of Edward.
A couple of weeks later, Edward helped me into his car, being very careful of the wisps of silk and chiffon, the flowers he'd just pinned into my elaborately styled curls, and my bulky walking cast. He ignored the angry set of my mouth.
When he had me settled, he got in the driver's seat and headed back out the long, narrow drive.
"At what point exactly are you going to tell me what's going on?" I asked grumpily. I really hated surprises. And he knew that.
"I'm shocked that you haven't figured it out yet."
I had a sneaking suspicion it was prom-which I hated-but I was holding out, hoping against hope that it was something else.
He threw a mocking smile in my direction, and my breath caught in my throat. Would I ever get used to his perfection?
"I did mention that you looked very nice, didn't I?" I verified.
"Yes." He grinned again. I'd never seen him dress in black before, and, with the contrast against his pale skin, his beauty was absolutely surreal. That much I couldn't deny.
"I'm not coming over anymore if Alice is going to treat me like Guinea Pig Barbie when I do," I griped.
I'd spent the better part of the day in Alice's staggeringly vast bathroom, a helpless victim as she played hairdresser and cosmetician. Whenever I fidgeted or complained, she reminded me that she didn't have any memories of being human, and asked me not to ruin her vicarious fun.
Then she'd dressed me in the most ridiculous dress — deep blue, frilly and off the shoulders, with French tags I couldn't read — a dress I never would have worn except in this horrible poor town. If I had had my way, the dress would have been a million times better looking than it was.
And my hair would be short.
I was distracted then by the sound of a phone ringing. Edward pulled his cell phone from a pocket inside his jacket, looking briefly at the caller ID before answering.
"Hello, Charlie," he said warily.
"Dad?" I frowned.
Dad had been… difficult since my return to Forks.
He had compartmentalized my bad experience into two defined reactions. Toward Carlisle he was almost worshipfully grateful. On the other hand, he was stubbornly convinced that Edward was at fault — because, if not for him, I wouldn't have left home in the first place. And Edward was far from disagreeing with him. These days I had rules that hadn't existed before: curfews… visiting hours.
Something Charlie was saying made Edward's eyes widen in disbelief, and then a grin spread across his face.
"You're kidding!" He laughed.
"What is it?" I demanded.
He ignored me. "Why don't you let me talk to him?" Edward suggested with evident pleasure. He waited for a few seconds.
"Hello, Tyler, this is Edward Cullen." His voice was very friendly, on the surface. I knew it well enough to catch the soft edge of menace. What was Tyler doing at my house? The awful truth began to dawn on me. I looked again at the horrible dress Alice had forced me into.
"I'm sorry if there's been some kind of miscommunication, but Bella is unavailable tonight." Edward's tone changed, and the threat in his voice was suddenly much more evident as he continued. "To be perfectly honest, she'll be unavailable every night, as far as anyone besides myself is concerned. No offense. And I'm sorry about your evening."
He didn't sound sorry at all. And then he snapped the phone shut, a huge smirk on his face.
My face and neck flushed crimson with anger. I could feel the rage-induced tears starting to fill my eyes.
He looked at me in surprise. "Was that last part a bit too much? I didn't mean to offend you."
I ignored that.
"You're taking me to the prom!" I yelled. How I had hoped and prayed I would never have to come to a stupid, horrid dance here.
He wasn't expecting the force of my reaction, that was clear. He pressed his lips together and his eyes narrowed. "Don't be difficult, Bella."
"Don't be difficult?" I demanded, incredulously. "You are taking me to Prom! In a cast! The last place on the forsaken earth I would ever go with two working legs much less one and you tell me not to be difficult!"
He gestured to his tuxedo. "Honestly, Bella, what did you think we were doing?"
The angry tears rolled over my cheeks. I remembered with dismay that I was very uncharacteristically wearing mascara. I wiped quickly under my eyes to prevent any smudges. My hand was unblackened when I pulled it away; maybe Alice had known I would need waterproof makeup.
"This is completely ridiculous. Why are you crying?" he demanded in frustration.
"Because I'm mad!"
"Bella." He turned the full force of his scorching golden eyes on me.
"What?" I muttered, distracted.
"Humor me," he insisted.
"Why the hell would I do that?" I snapped.
Prom brought back memories I didn't want to deal with. My tears weren't just from anger, as I had told him.
"Please, Bella," he pleaded with me.
I glared at him but consented. "Fine. But you'll see. I'm way overdue for more bad luck. I'll probably break my other leg. Look at this shoe! It's a death trap!" I held out my good leg as evidence.
"Hmmm." He stared at my leg longer than was necessary. "Remind me to thank Alice for that tonight."
"Alice is going to be there?"
"With Jasper, and Emmett… and Rosalie," he admitted.
The feeling of comfort disappeared.
There had been no progress with Rosalie, though I was on quite good terms with her sometimes-husband.
Emmett enjoyed having me around — he thought my bizarre human reactions were hilarious… or maybe it was just the fact that I fell down a lot that he found so funny.
Rosalie acted as if I didn't exist.
While I shook my head to dispel the direction my thoughts had taken, I thought of something else.
"Is dad in on this?" I asked, suddenly suspicious.
"Of course." He grinned, and then chuckled. "Apparently Tyler wasn't, though."
I gritted my teeth. How Tyler could be so delusional, I couldn't imagine. At school, where Charlie couldn't interfere, Edward and I were inseparable — except for those rare sunny days.
We were at the school now; Rosalie's red convertible was conspicuous in the parking lot. The clouds were thin today, a few streaks of sunlight escaping through far away in the west.
He got out and walked around the car to open my door. He held out his hand.
I sat stubbornly in my seat, arms folded, feeling a secret twinge of smugness. The lot was crowded with people in formal dress: witnesses. He couldn't remove me forcibly from the car as he might have if we'd been alone.
He sighed. "When someone wants to kill you, you're brave as a lion — and then when someone mentions dancing…" He shook his head.
I glared.
"Bella, I won't let anything hurt you — not even yourself. I won't let go of you once, I promise."
I thought about that and suddenly felt much better. He could see that in my face.
"There, now," he said gently, "it won't be so bad." He leaned down and wrapped one arm around my waist. I took his other hand and let him lift me from the car.
He kept his arm tightly around me, supporting me as I limped toward the school.
In Phoenix, they held proms in hotel ballrooms. This dance was in the gym, of course.
It was probably the only room in town big enough for a dance. When we got inside, I giggled. There were actual balloon arches and twisted garlands of pastel crepe paper festooning the walls.
"This looks like a horror movie waiting to happen," I snickered.
"Well," he muttered as we slowly approached the ticket table — he was carrying most of my weight, but I still had to shuffle and wobble my feet forward — "there are more than enough vampires present."
I looked at the dance floor; a wide gap had formed in the center of the floor, where two couples whirled gracefully. The other dancers pressed to the sides of the room to give them space — no one wanted to stand in contrast with such radiance. Emmett and Jasper were intimidating and flawless in classic tuxedos. Alice was striking in a black satin dress with geometric cutouts that bared large triangles of her snowy white skin.
And Rosalie was… well, Rosalie. She was beyond belief. Her vivid scarlet dress was backless, tight to her calves where it flared into a wide ruffled train, with a neckline that plunged to her waist. I pitied every girl in the room, myself included.
"Do you want me to bolt the doors so you can massacre the unsuspecting townsfolk?" I whispered conspiratorially.
"And where do you fit into that scheme?" He glared.
"Oh, I'm with the vampires, of course."
He smiled reluctantly. "Anything to get out of dancing."
"Anything."
He bought our tickets, and then turned me toward the dance floor. I cringed against his arm and dragged my feet.
"I've got all night," he warned.
Eventually he towed me out to where his family was twirling elegantly — if in a style totally unsuitable to the present time and music. I watched in envy and want that I disguised as horror.
"Edward." My throat was so dry I could only manage a whisper. "I honestly can't dance!" I could feel the dread bubbling up inside my chest. I could of course, but not without flair.
"Don't worry, silly," he whispered back. "I can." He put my arms around his neck and lifted me to slide his feet under mine.
And then we were whirling, too.
"I feel like I'm five years old," I laughed after a few minutes of effortless waltzing.
"You don't look five," he murmured, pulling me closer for a second, so that my feet were briefly a foot from the ground.
Alice caught my eye on a turn and smiled in encouragement — I smiled back. I was surprised to realize that I was actually enjoying myself… a little.
"Okay, this isn't half bad," I admitted.
But Edward was staring toward the doors, and his face was angry.
"What is it?" I wondered aloud. I followed his gaze, disoriented by the spinning, but finally I could see what was bothering him. Jacob Black, not in a tux, but in a long-sleeved white shirt and tie, his hair smoothed back into his usual ponytail, was crossing the floor toward us.
After the first shock of recognition, I couldn't help but feel bad for Jacob. He was clearly uncomfortable — excruciatingly so. His face was apologetic as his eyes met mine.
Edward snarled very quietly.
"Behave!" I hissed.
Edward's voice was scathing. "He wants to chat with you."
Jacob reached us then, the embarrassment and apology even more evident on his face.
"Hey, Bella, I was hoping you would be here." Jacob sounded like he'd been hoping the exact opposite. But his smile was just as warm as ever.
"Hi, Jacob." I smiled back. "What's up?"
"Can I cut in?" he asked tentatively, glancing at Edward for the first time. I was shocked to notice that Jacob didn't have to look up. He must have grown half a foot since the first time I'd seen him.
Edward's face was composed, his expression blank. His only answer was to set me carefully on my feet, and take a step back.
"Thanks," Jacob said amiably.
Edward just nodded, looking at me intently before he turned to walk away.
Jacob put his hands on my waist, and I reached up to put my hands on his shoulders.
"Wow, Jake, how tall are you now?"
He was smug. "Six-two."
We weren't really dancing — my leg made that impossible. Instead we swayed awkwardly from side to side without moving our feet. It was just as well; the recent growth spurt had left him looking gangly and uncoordinated, he was probably no better a dancer than I was.
"So, how did you end up here tonight?" I asked without true curiosity. Considering Edward's reaction, I could guess.
"Can you believe my dad paid me twenty bucks to come to your prom?" he admitted, slightly ashamed.
"Yes, I can," I muttered. "Well, I hope you're enjoying yourself, at least. Seen anything you like?" I teased, nodding toward a group of girls lined up against the wall like pastel confections.
"Yeah," he sighed. "But she's taken."
He glanced down to meet my curious gaze for just a second — then we both looked away, embarrassed.
"You look really pretty, by the way," he added shyly.
"Um, thanks. So why did Billy pay you to come here?" I asked quickly, though I knew the answer.
Jacob didn't seem grateful for the subject change; he looked away, uncomfortable again.
"He said it was a 'safe' place to talk to you. I swear the old man is losing his mind."
I joined in his laughter weakly.
"Anyway, he said that if I told you something, he would get me that master cylinder I need," he confessed with a sheepish grin.
"Tell me, then. I want you to get your car finished." I grinned back. At least Jacob didn't believe any of this. It made the situation a bit easier. Against the wall, Edward was watching my face, his own face expressionless. I saw a sophomore in a pink dress eyeing him with timid speculation, but he didn't seem to be aware of her.
Jacob looked away again, ashamed. "Don't get mad, okay?"
"There's no way I'll be mad at you, Jacob," I assured him. "I won't even be mad at Billy. Just say what you have to."
"Well — this is so stupid, I'm sorry, Bella — he wants you to break up with your boyfriend. He asked me to tell you 'please.'" He shook his head in disgust.
"He's still superstitious, eh?" I would have to write him another letter later to warn him to back off.
"Yeah. He was… kind of over the top when you got hurt down in Phoenix. He didn't believe…"Jacob trailed off self-consciously.
My eyes narrowed. "I fell."
"I know that," Jacob said quickly.
"He thinks Edward had something to do with me getting hurt." It wasn't a question, and despite my promise, I was angry.
Jacob wouldn't meet my eyes. We weren't even bothering to sway to the music, though his hands were still on my waist, and mine around his neck.
"Look, Jacob, I know Billy probably won't believe this, but just so you know" — he looked at me now, responding to the new earnestness in my voice — "Edward really did save my life. If it weren't for Edward and his father, I'd be dead."
"I know," he claimed, but he sounded like my sincere words had affected him some.
Maybe he'd be able to convince Billy of this much, at least.
"Hey, I'm sorry you had to come do this, Jacob," I apologized.
"At any rate, you get your parts, right?"
"Yeah," he muttered. He was still looking awkward… upset.
"There's more?" I asked in disbelief.
"Forget it," he mumbled, "I'll get a job and save the money myself."
I glared at him until he met my gaze. "Just spit it out, Jacob."
"It's so bad."
"I don't care. Tell me," I insisted.
"Okay… but, geez, this sounds bad." He shook his head. "He said to tell you, no, to warn you, that — and this is his plural, not mine" — he lifted one hand from my waist and made little quotations marks in the air — '"We'll be watching.'" He watched warily for my reaction.
It sounded like something from a mafia movie. I laughed out loud.
"Sorry you had to do this, Jake," I snickered.
"I don't mind that much." He grinned in relief. His eyes were appraising as they raked quickly over my dress. "So, should I tell him you said to butt the hell out?" he asked hopefully.
"No," I sighed. "Tell him I said thanks. I know he means well."
The song ended, and I dropped my arms.
His hands hesitated at my waist, and he glanced at my bum leg. "Do you want to dance again? Or can I help you get somewhere?"
Edward answered for me. "That's all right, Jacob. I'll take it from here."
Jacob flinched, and stared wide-eyed at Edward, who stood just beside us.
"Hey, I didn't see you there," he mumbled. "I guess I'll see you around, Bella." He stepped back, waving halfheartedly.
I smiled. "Yeah, I'll see you later."
"Sorry," he said again before he turned for the door.
Edward's arms wound around me as the next song started. It was a little up-tempo for slow dancing, but that didn't seem to concern him. I leaned my head against his chest, content.
"Feeling better?" I teased.
"Not really," he said tersely.
"Don't be mad at Billy," I sighed. "He just worries about me for Charlie's sake. It's nothing personal."
"I'm not mad at Billy," he corrected in a clipped voice. "But his son is irritating me."
I pulled back to look at him. His face was very serious.
"Why?"
"First of all, he made me break my promise."
I stared at him in confusion.
He half-smiled. "I promised I wouldn't let go of you tonight," he explained.
"Oh. Well, I forgive you."
"Thanks. But there's something else." Edward frowned.
I waited patiently.
"He called you pretty," he finally continued, his frown deepening. "That's practically an insult, the way you look right now. You're much more than beautiful."
I laughed. "You might be a little biased."
"I don't think that's it. Besides, I have excellent eyesight."
We were twirling again, my feet on his as he held me close.
"So are you going to explain the reason for all of this?" I wondered.
He looked down at me, confused, and I glared meaningfully at the crepe paper.
He considered for a moment, and then changed direction, spinning me through the crowd to the back door of the gym. I caught a glimpse of Jessica and Mike dancing, staring at me curiously. Jessica waved, and I smiled back quickly. Angela was there, too, looking blissfully happy in the arms of Ben Cheney; she didn't look away from his eyes.
As soon as we were alone and outside, he swung me up into his arms, and carried me across the dark grounds till he reached the bench beneath the shadow of the madrone trees. He sat there, keeping me cradled against his chest. The moon was already up, visible through the gauzy clouds, and his face glowed pale in the white light. His mouth was hard, his eyes troubled.
"The point?" I prompted softly.
He ignored me, staring up at the moon.
"Twilight, again," he murmured. "Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end."
"Some things don't have to end," I muttered through my teeth, instantly tense.
He sighed.
"I brought you to the prom," he said slowly, finally answering my question, "Because I don't want you to miss anything. I don't want my presence to take anything away from you, if I can help it. I want you to be human. I want your life to continue as it would have if I'd died in nineteen-eighteen like I should have."
I shuddered at his words, and then shook my head angrily. "In what strange parallel dimension would I ever have gone to prom of my own free will? If you weren't a thousand times stronger than me, I would never have let you get away with this." I only would have gone if I could dance with Aaron. I kept the smile off my face as I thought about some of our dance off's with others; we could dance like it was nobody's business!
He smiled briefly, but it didn't touch his eyes. "It wasn't so bad, you said so yourself."
"That's because I was with you."
We were quiet for a minute; he stared at the moon and I stared at him. I wished there was some way to explain how very uninterested I was in a normal human life.
"Will you tell me something?" he asked, glancing down at me with a slight smile.
"Don't I always?"
"Just promise you'll tell me," he insisted, grinning.
I knew I was going to regret this almost instantly. "Fine."
"You seemed honestly surprised when you figured out that I was taking you here," he began.
"I was," I interjected.
"Exactly," he agreed. "But you must have had some other theory… I'm curious — what did you think I was dressing you up for?"
Yes, instant regret. I pursed my lips, hesitating. "I don't want to tell you."
"You promised," he objected.
"I know."
"What's the problem?"
I knew he thought it was mere embarrassment holding me back. It wasn't. I just had to quickly come up with a reason to think I wasn't going to prom. "I think it will make you mad — or sad."
His brows pulled together over his eyes as he thought that through. "I still want to know. Please?"
I sighed. He waited. I quickly came up with a crazy excuse.
"Well… I assumed it was some kind of… occasion. But I didn't think it would be some trite human thing… prom!" I scoffed.
"Human?" he asked flatly. He'd picked up on the key word.
I looked down at my dress, fidgeting with a stray piece of chiffon. He waited in silence.
"Okay," I confessed in a rush. "So I was hoping that you might have changed your mind… that you were going to change me, after all."
A dozen emotions played across his face. Some I recognized: anger… pain… and then he seemed to collect himself and his expression became amused.
"You thought that would be a black tie occasion, did you?" he teased, touching the lapel of his tuxedo jacket.
I scowled to hide my fake embarrassment. "I don't know how these things work. To me, at least, it seems more rational than prom does." He was still grinning. "It's not funny," I said.
"No, you're right, it's not," he agreed, his smile fading. "I'd rather treat it like a joke, though, than believe you're serious."
"But I am serious."
He sighed deeply. "I know. And you're really that willing?"
The pain was back in his eyes. I bit my lip and nodded.
"So ready for this to be the end," he murmured, almost to himself, "for this to be the twilight of your life, though your life has barely started. You're ready to give up everything."
"It's not the end, it's the beginning," I disagreed under my breath.
"I'm not worth it," he said sadly.
"Do you remember when you told me that I didn't see myself very clearly?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "You obviously have the same blindness."
"I know what I am."
I sighed. "So do I."
But his mercurial mood shifted on me. He pursed his lips, and his eyes were probing.
He examined my face for a long moment.
"You're ready now, then?" he asked.
"Um." I gulped. "Yes?"
He smiled, and inclined his head slowly until his cold lips brushed against the skin just under the corner of my jaw.
"Right now?" he whispered, his breath blowing cool on my neck. I shivered involuntarily.
"Yes," I whispered, so my voice wouldn't have a chance to break. I knew he wouldn't do it so I didn't bother on telling him to stop when he got too close.
It didn't matter that my body was rigid as a plank, my hands balled into fists, my breathing erratic…
He chuckled darkly, and leaned away. His face did look disappointed.
"You can't really believe that I would give in so easily," he said with a sour edge to his mocking tone.
"A girl can dream."
His eyebrows rose. "Is that what you dream about? Being a monster?"
"Not exactly," I said, frowning at his word choice. Monster, indeed. "Mostly I dream about being with you forever."
His expression changed, softened and saddened by the subtle ache in my voice.
"Bella." His fingers lightly traced the shape of my lips. "I will stay with you — isn't that enough?" But he wouldn't though. Not really.
I forced a natural looking smile under his fingertips. "Enough for now."
He frowned at my tenacity. No one was going to surrender tonight. He exhaled, and the sound was practically a growl.
I touched his face. "Look," I said. "I love you more than everything else in the world combined. Isn't that enough?"
"Yes, it is enough," he answered, smiling. "Enough for forever."
And he leaned down to press his cold lips once more to my throat.
"Come on, Bella!" Alice yelled from the other side of the bathroom doorway.
I sighed before I finished tying the top part of the bikini around my neck and stepped out. "You know, contrary to how you think I act, I am still completely human."
Alice rolled her eyes as we headed down the stairs. We were all off to a swimming pool to hang out as a family since the James incident. It was June now and school had gotten out a week ago.
I was just glad to be out of the oh so horrifying cast.
Alice wore a bikini with blue polka dots while mine was simply white.
We met at the bottom of the stairs with Rosalie and Esme and waited for the boys. Esme's bikini was purple while Rosalie's was red.
"Damn, chick," I said to Rosalie, there had been a slight bit of progress in the last month. She didn't like me but she didn't hate me anymore. "You dress up nice."
She smiled as the boys joined us and we headed to the pool.
Edward and I floated peacefully-for now, who knew how long anything would last with Emmett around-at the opposite side of the deep end.
"Did they have swimming pools back when you were a kid or was it just lakes?"
He splashed me gently and I laughed. "We had both actually but back then we usually had to separate the girls and guys from swimming. That changed after I was turned but by then I had no desire to go swimming with humans."
I opened my mouth to say something when Edward quickly knocked me under the water. I kept my eyes open enough to see the wave of water above the surface that would have slapped into me.
I came up sputtering though and turned to look at a sheepish Emmett.
"Sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to do it that hard."
I rolled my eyes. "It's water, Emmett."
Alice came up behind him, sitting atop Jasper's shoulders and Rosalie hoisted herself onto Emmett's. "We know that, but just in case you hadn't noticed, Edward is just a tad bit overprotective."
I laughed. "Just a tad?" I asked innocently as the others laughed and Edward growled at me.
I turned back to Alice. "What are you doing?"
Her grin was just a bit too wide for my liking. "We're playing chicken!"
I squeaked as Edward picked me up onto his shoulders as Esme-sitting atop Carlisle-joined us. "And how exactly do you plan on this being fair with me playing?"
"Don't worry, Bella," Jasper said. "They'll keep it human."
I gave him a look, catching on to his phrasing quickly. "You know the guys have to be human too or this won't work."
Alice and Rosalie laughed while the boys pouted. "And you said she wouldn't catch on," Esme teased the boys.
We all took our respective positions and then counted off.
"One, two, three, go!"
Why Edward wanted to go towards Emmett and Rosalie was beyond me-or maybe Emmett was the one who headed towards us-but regardless I found myself wrestling with Rosalie.
"You know," she remarked as we tried to push the other off. "You are remarkably strong for a human."
I raised my eyes at her as I managed to push her to one side. "I'm the clumsiest human alive and you say I'm strong? Did you hit your head?"
I was paying attention to Rosalie so I didn't notice Alice and Jasper come up on the side of us until I was falling backwards.
"Ah!" I squeaked as I quickly wrapped my feet around his arms and managed to not to fall off his back into the water. I was hanging down his back through and my back cracked from stopped the downward movement.
As I crawled back up onto Edward's shoulder, Carlisle called from across the pool, "Bella, are you okay?"
"Just…fine…." I mumbled as I pulled myself the rest of the way up.
We turned back towards Alice and Jasper. "Okay, chica," I said tensing. "Let's roll."
They laughed and we continued our games for several more minutes until, while I was fighting Rose again, I heard Alice gasp.
"Bella, jump left!" She screamed at me.
I didn't turn to look and see why; I simply planted one knee in Edward's back and dove underwater.
As I neared the bottom of the pool, I heard a muffled boom and muffled screams coming from above as a wave pushed me more left.
I swam up after I had started to loose air. I had just taken a deep breath when something-one of the Cullens I presumed-slammed into me sending us both back down to the bottom of the pool.
Edward had started to go back up when something pushed him back down and onto me-our lips automatically locking.
Time froze.
But not really.
It just seemed like it did. One of those moments where everything seemed to be going in slow motion.
I wasn't paying attention to his lips or how his body was laying directly on top of mine.
What I was aware of was the weirdest feeling coursing through my body-starting at my hips.
It was weird because it was somehow some of the most intense pain at the same time it was some of the best pleasure.
I opened my eyes and became aware of a strange light encompassing Edward and I. The Cullens were surrounding us underwater and I could tell by their expressions that they were frantically trying to get Edward's attention but somehow he couldn't hear them.
The pain was starting to overrun the pleasure and I was running out of air but I couldn't manage to get his lips off of mine.
His lips opened and the suction that glued his lips to mine disappeared.
As my eyes rolled back I managed to twist Edward's head to the side.
As my eyes closed I saw a glimpse of the white light blow out as if it were a force field and throw everyone out or to the side of the pool.
Darkness descended.
When I opened my eyes I knew immediately where I was even though it had been nearly ten years since I had been in this place.
The in-between.
Where I had first, unknowingly met my twins. Of course, my memory of that fact was hidden from me when I was on earth but here I could remember it with perfect clarity.
I stood up and looked around. No one was here.
"Hello?" I called out. My voice echoed off the walls.
"Hello! Future child of mine?"
A male laugh sounded from behind me and I whirled around to see a boy about my height with a strong, but lean build with soft auburn hair and striking green eyes facing me.
"Figured out the secrets, did you?"
I smiled. "Do I get to know your initials?"
He shook his head, smirking. "Unfortunately, no. The people who run this place were quite put out when you figured out what they stood for so I'm not allowed to give you a name or initials."
I pouted. "But I don't even know which kid you're supposed to be."
He shrugged. "Well, you aren't here very long. Don't even really know why they brought you here."
I was about to ask him when he flickered.
I frowned. "Jeez. You weren't kidding. How long was I out?"
I couldn't see him when he answered for the in-between fell away but I heard his voice. "About 5 minutes."
What a waste of time.
Pity I wouldn't remember the boy when I woke up again.
"Bella? Can you here me?"
Silence.
"Why isn't she answering?"
"Just hold on a minute, son," another voice answered calmly. "Wherever that blast came from, it was strong enough to knock the six of us back. She's lucky she doesn't have a concussion."
I struggled to open my eyes but all I could manage was a weak fluttering.
"Bella?" a female voice asked. A hand slipped into mine. "If you can hear me, sweetie, squeeze my hand."
I did as she asked.
"Bella, it's Carlisle," the second voice said. "I need you to open your eyes."
I tried to. Really, I did. But it was far too bright.
Alice spoke up. "Can we move her to the darker section of the pool? I think it's too bright."
I felt myself being picked up and then the blinding light that I could see from behind my closed eyes disappeared and my eyes weakly fluttered opened.
"Carlisle?" I asked, my voice raspy.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"Sore. Like I got hit by a truck. But that's normal," I said carefully sitting up with his and Edward's help.
My eyes widened when I saw what the poolroom looked like. The lifeguard's chair was floating in the pool. And about half the pool was gone; instead it looked like everything was wet.
"What happened?"
"Well," Alice began as she sat down in front of me while Carlisle went about doing a physical, "The lifeguard's chair fell down suddenly with nothing that I could see to trigger it. After the waves and screams had died down, Edward jumped in to get you but ended up slamming into you and sending you both down. After about a minute of waiting, we all went down after you too to find a white light surrounding the both of you. Somehow, not only did that white light prevent Edward from hearing our thoughts it also, when we tried to go through it to get to Edward, flung us back with such a force that we cracked part of the pool and some of us broke some of the bleachers when we landed."
"What was it? The light, I mean?" I looked from face to face as we slowly headed out to the car.
They were all silent until Jasper answered me. "We don't know."
It wasn't until a week later that I thought about what had happened at the pool. Alice had insisted on taking me bra shopping and I had reluctantly agreed.
I had been trying on a push-up bra-for only Alice knows why; I would never wear such a thing-and she was adjusting it when it started hurting.
"Ow!" I quickly undid the clasp.
"What? I didn't do anything." Alice insisted, trying to put the bra back on me.
"No, Alice I'm not putting it back on. It hurts."
"Huh, that weird." She said going to find a different style.
While she was gone I looked at myself in the mirror. I hoped I was imagining things, but my breasts looked bigger than they did a week ago.
I didn't say anything to Carlisle but as the days wore on, headaches and fatigue started adding to the list and I started getting odd cravings.
"Bananas and pickles, Bella?" Alice said as Esme-loving as always-put a plate of banana slices and pickles in front of me.
I nodded, quickly eating.
Alice shook her head at me, while Rosalie sat across from us and gave a disgusted look at my plate. "You know, Bella," she remarked, "If I didn't know Edward was such a prude and that there was no way it was possible, I would almost think you were pregnant."
I raised my eyebrows calmly while internally I was reeling. I was thankful Jasper had gone hunting with the boys for there was no way to hide my panic.
It was too soon.
Wasn't it?
When Alice dropped my off at my house that night, I went immediately to the bathroom.
I took a deep breath and-lifting up my shirt-place a hand on my stomach.
I gave out a shaky breath.
"Bella?" Alice knocked on the door lightly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just…give me a minute."
I sat down on the toilet, pretending to go to the bathroom.
I no longer had a doubt that I was pregnant. My stomach was hard and the symptoms of pregnancy were appearing. I now knew that the white light from a week ago had somehow, someway, been me getting pregnant with Edward's kid.
It made no sense but I didn't have time to dwell on that.
I had to figure out how to get to Aaron without being followed and without Alice watching me.
I took a deep breath, flushed the toilet, and went out to meet Alice.
I got into bed before sitting up under the covers to face Alice.
"Alice, if I asked you something would you answer it?"
Her eyes were surprised. "Of course, Bella."
She sat down next to me.
"If I requested something of you, as a friend, would you do it?"
Her eyes turned wary, but worried. "Of course."
"I need you to do something for me and you're not going to like it."
She sighed. "What is it, Bella?"
I thought about how to phrase what I needed. "I need to go away for about two months. Go see a family member."
She frowned. "Ok. We'll get you tickets. No big deal, Bella."
I shook my head. "You're not buying the tickets and that's not what I'm asking. While I'm away…" I paused.
Alice frowned. "Bella?"
I took a deep breath. "While I'm away…I need you to not look for me. For my future."
Her voice was sharp. "You have got to be joking."
I looked up at her, pleading with my eyes. "I'm not."
"Bella, that's insanity. Especially with the James incident."
"But James is dead Alice. He's not coming back. Besides, I'll be in a place that it's sunny."
"Are you going to tell me where this place is?"
"No."
"Then forget it."
I sighed. "If I tell you the general area, will you do it?"
"Edward won't like it."
"He doesn't have to know."
"And how do you propose I keep it from him?"
"Well, for one you and I are the only ones who know about this. He can't read my thoughts and you can hide yours. And I'll need to leave within the next few days so when and if he finds out it'll be too late. And you can look to see if I get to my destination safely. You just can't look after that."
"Bella, I just can't."
I was silent, desperately thinking of a way for her to agree.
"You'll be somewhere we can't immediately get to you. Why would I be okay with that, Bella?" she asked.
I looked at her, my eyes grave. "Haven't you ever had someone not in your immediate family that you would do anything for? That you would go to the ends of the earth and back to protect them? Did it not occur to you that I might have someone like that too?"
Her shoulders slumped. "You're protecting someone?"
"Yes. And you can't see what they look like."
She sighed. "Fine. I'll agree to it only if one, you tell me the general area you are going. Two, you call us once a week. And three, you tell us when you get off and board any and all planes you have to take."
"Deal."
She sighed again as I hugged her-careful to keep my stomach away from her. She would surely feel the difference. "You owe me huge for this, you know."
"We'll go shopping when I get back." I promised, scooting under the covers.
"We better," she warned as I fell asleep.
Three days later, I was in Lunang, China. Well, the outskirts of it. Close enough to town to get food and other supplies but far away enough and secluded enough that you had to be looking to find the house. It was deep into the forest and surrounded by trees.
I quickly called Alice and assured her I had landed safely before heading off to Aaron's house.
I was about 100 feet away when Aaron opened the door. "Bella?" he called, surprised. I hadn't called ahead for fear of one of the Cullens finding out where I was really going.
A blonde head of hair ducked under Aaron's arm and was running towards me. "Mom!"
I caught my daughter in a hug and floated us over back to Aaron.
Aaron opened his mouth with Rose pulled away from me abruptly; looking surprised.
"You're pregnant." She said in surprise.
I smiled. "That I am."
A couple weeks later-what we estimated to be around halfway through my pregnancy-Emmett came home with a girl that had shoulder length brown hair and stunning green eyes.
And she was every bit as half human as he was.
"Mom," he said as he tugged the reluctant-and scared it seemed-girl forward. "This is Elizabeth Albany. Liz, this is my mother, Bella McCarthy."
"You have beautiful, hair," I told the nervous girl.
She smiled slightly. "Thank you."
I turned back to my son. "So who is she?"
He frowned. "I just-"
I waved my hand at him. "Yes, you told me her name. But what is she to you?"
I'm pretty sure that they both blushed, but my son's eyes flickered towards Aaron.
I twisted my head to look at Aaron.
Aaron came to sit by me and took my hand. "Bella, Liz is Emmett's girlfriend. Has been, actually, for the past four years."
I gave him a look. "And the reason I didn't know about her before now is…what?"
"Well, we didn't want to add more stress to your life while you were running, mainly. And also because you wouldn't have freaked out."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course, I would have freaked out. The only reason I'm not freaking out now is because I know she's not the betrayer and has been with you for four years. I'm guessing you have moved when they do?"
Liz nodded at the same time Aaron asked, "betrayer?"
"I'll get to that later, Aaron. Liz, I expect you to take care of my son."
"He is my life, Mrs. McCarthy. I will do my best to make sure no harm comes to him."
"Well then," I said standing up. "Welcome to the McCarthys. And please, call me Bella." And I brought her into a hug.
Which she jumped back from when my unborn child kicked.
I winced and rubbed my stomach.
"Come on," Aaron said, leading me back to the couch. "You need to rest. All the healing Rose is giving you will be for naught."
Emmett laughed. "Yeah. You're already taking her away from her Volturi boyfriend."
I glanced up at him sharply as Aaron groaned, Liz hit his head, and from somewhere in the house Rose yelled, "EMMETT!"
"Oops," Emmett muttered.
I glared at Aaron. "Her volturi boyfriend?"
"Calm down, Bella. They aren't actually dating."
"But she has conversation with them on a regular basis?"
Rose walked into the room, then. "Well, yeah, but so do you."
I snorted. "That is way different and you know it. I deal with them cause they are sadistic to the point of amusement, okay friends, and I need to keep them in line. You, on the other hand, want to date one of them. Not while I'm alive, will I let you date a red-eyed Volturi."
Rose had been looking down but now she glanced up at me. "But you'd allow a golden-eyed Volturi?"
I folded my arms and tried to keep from wincing as my child continued to kick my stomach. "It depends on who it is. And it would be after he had been abstaining for at least a year from human blood. And after I threatened his life."
She nodded, coming over to me and healing the bruises on my bloated stomach. I sighed as the pain retreated as she worked her healing magic.
"Who is it?" I asked her as I relaxed back into the couch.
"Demetri." She said, not looking at me.
"Well…you could have done worse. But he's still not your boyfriend."
She nodded but glared at Emmett when he snickered.
"Yeah, Rosie. Demi's not your boyfriend."
She glared at her brother as Aaron and I tried to hide our laughs.
"It's okay, baby," I said as she groaned into the couch cushions. "Everyone has nicknames."
She snorted but let it go as Aaron and I pressed our lips together and quickly shooed Emmett and Liz out of the room.
Two weeks later, I screamed as pain shot through my stomach-falling forward before hand's that I dimly recognized as Aaron's caught me.
I was unaware of anything but the pain shooting through my stomach.
Somewhere, I was aware that my baby was coming. I dimly wondered why it was like this instead of how my twins were born before pain silenced my thoughts.
There was a pair of hands at the start and end of the line of pain-whether helping or making things worse I had no idea.
Several minutes later, I heard a baby cry.
I felt the pain in my stomach subside as I felt the skin come back together as my daughter worked her healing magic.
A baby was placed in my arms as I drifted off into darkness.
It was gone. My baby was gone.
I could feel it. Who had taken it from me?
I thrashed around fighting the darkness the held me immobile and the voices just outside it as they desperately tried to calm me.
I fought against them with all my might.
I had to find my baby.
I had gathered up a force of air to push the restraints off, when my little child was place back onto my stomach.
I relaxed as his presence floated back into my mind and the restraints lifted.
I slept easily, with my baby in my arms.
It was several hours later when I awoke. Rosalie was texting on her cell and Emmett and Liz were on the computer and Aaron was stroking my newborn baby's head gently. I struggled to prop myself up without waking my little one and Aaron was instantly by my head helping me.
"Good to see you're awake and sane."
I frowned. "Was I insane at some point?"
Rosalie nodded, shutting her phone. "We tried to get him away from you to wash him up, but you started thrashing wildly and screaming and moaning. Dad was able to wash him and have him back in your arms before you threw us off. We could feel it coming."
Oh, so it had been them.
"It…it felt like someone had taken him. Not just from my arms, but from my life. Like he was no longer here. I think in the first hours of the first sleep, the bond between mother and child is formed and that's why I reacted so bad to him being taken."
I shifted my baby boy off of my stomach to cradle him in my arms. I was surprised he was not asleep, but awake. He was oddly quiet.
His bright green eyes gazed up at me as he smiled at me and laughed.
"He's actually been awake for a while, but he's stayed silent which is really odd even for a half breed. We think he probably has a gift." Emmett said softly.
But what kind of gift could that be? That you knew when someone was sleeping, what they were…
"Emmett, think about something that makes you really angry."
He shrugged, but did so.
My little boy grew more distressed the angrier Emmett became. When he was furious, my boy burst into wails.
"Okay, now all of you think peaceful." I commanded as I rocked him back and forth, cooing softly.
He was smiling back at me within seconds.
I laughed slightly as I lifted him up vertically.
"Well, hi there my little empath." There was something familiar about his face and his faint blonde hair that I couldn't place.
"An empath? Seriously? When he gets older that's going to be so cool!" Emmett whooped.
Right on cue, my little Empath started pumping his legs up and down in excitement.
"How long have I been out?"
"Almost a day, so he's a bit more advanced then these two, but that's probably to be expected." Aaron said, sitting beside me.
"Well, you've certainly got the brightest green eyes I've ever seen my little…" I suddenly realized why the face looked familiar. "Jasper. You're a little Jasper, aren't you?"
"Jasper? As in the Empath from the Cullen family?"
"The one and the same. He looks like a little Jasper right now, though I'm sure that will change if I'm right about his dad."
"Edward?" Rose asked.
"Apparently."
"Are you going to name him that?" Liz asked coming forward.
"Yep. Jasper Anthony Swan. Born July 16, 2005."
I spent a month with my new little boy and family before I headed home. But I had a stop I had to make on the way so I boarded a plan two days early and left a tearful family behind.
No one stopped me as I headed to where I wanted to go.
"They are waiting to feed," the girl at the front desk protested as I walked past her.
I stopped in my tracks before pivoting to find Heidi.
I met her at the entryway. I didn't have to say anything. She simply turned them a different way and lead them back out into Volterra.
When she came back I handed her a bag of human blood.
She downed it quickly. "Where do you get these?"
"From the excess supply in hospitals. It's better than having you take a human life."
I turned on my heel and burst through the doors into the throne room.
All the vampires scampered back as they saw who it was who came through the door.
I had detached the attachments that made my hair look longer before coming here so they wouldn't know that I looked any different while in forks.
I looked around the throne room before tossing them their blood bags.
Once they finished I walked up to Aro. "Where is Demetri?"
He shrunk into his chair. "He's out hunting."
I raised my eyebrows. "Hunting?" I asked, sharply.
He nodded. "He's trying the animal diet."
"When did he leave?"
He answered the question that I didn't ask. "He should be back in about 15 minutes."
I turned on my heel and walked down the three steps to Jane. "Show me to his room."
She nodded curtly and led me out of the room; she knew the difference between 'friend' Bella and 'I will kick your ass if you go against me' Bella.
She showed me to his room and I sat down on the couch he had.
Jane hovered in the doorway. "When did you find out?" she asked.
"When I went home to have my third child."
She perked up instantly. "Oooh. When did you have it?"
"You know, I never would have pegged you for the 'I think babies are cute' type."
She stuck her tongue out at me as I pulled out my phone to show her pictures of my Jazz. "He's about a month old now."
"But he's so big."
"Advanced growth, remember?"
"That's crazy, Bella. They'll all be full grown by the time this war with those two are done."
"I know." I felt something shift in the castle and closed my phone. "Demetri's coming."
She instantly bounded away from me. "Have fun!" she said before disappearing down the hall.
Demetri obviously knew I was here, for when he rounded the corner into his room he was already wary.
He shut the door even though it didn't do anything for the sound with vampires as housemates-or castle mates.
"How was hunting?" I asked him amiably.
He paused in putting a new shirt on instead of his tore up and bloody one. I could admit that he was attractive without a shirt.
He had nice abs at the very least.
"Interesting," he said at last and pulled the shirt on over his head.
"Indeed," I said as he warily sat down on the couch beside me.
I was silent, wondering where to start and how to go about not ripping his head of but getting my point across.
"You found about me and Rose?" he asked, cringing.
I glared at him. "There is no you and Rose." I snapped.
"Bella," he pleaded.
"Not as long as you have red eyes," I tacked on, reluctantly.
His breath caught and he looked at me so hopefully I couldn't help but give in a little.
I sighed. "Look Demetri, you are no where near the top of the 'mate list' that I could have chosen for my daughter. You aren't even in the top half. But if she has to have a mate in the volturi you are one of the better ones. But you will never have her as long as you still feed off of humans. It's against everything that I am."
"I know."
"You do?" I asked surprised.
He laughed. "Bella, don't think for a moment that I could possibly think that I deserve your daughter. Rose is so much better that I could ever hope to be. I don't know how or even why she chose me, but she did. And I'm going to do everything I can, to be someone she isn't ashamed of and can live peacefully with your family. If you let me."
I sighed. "You are too charming for you own good."
He smirked. "And I have good abs."
I raised my eyebrows at him.
"Yeah, I saw you staring. "
I snorted. "Just remember who you want to date."
He snorted. "That's not hard to remember."
"Oh, really?"
He quickly backpedaled. "That's not what I mean!"
I laughed. "What do you mean then?"
"I mean it's between the woman who can kick my a** and the one who can kick my a**…better."
"Whatever you say….Demi." I laughed and heard several of the other vampires join in.
"No on asked you!" he yelled at them. I'm fairly certain he blushed even though he was vampire.
I laughed, leaning back.
He looked down at me. "You staying here?"
"Yup. You gotta problem with that?"
He held up his hands. "Hey, I'm not complaining. Not with the way you didn't take off my head for kinda-not-really dating your daughter."
"I'm kinda surprised Aaron didn't rip off your head." I commented.
"Yeah. Me too. He might have been hoping you would do that though."
"True."
When I called Aaron a couple days later, turns out he was hoping exactly that. Well, partially. As long as Demetri was trying to become vegetarian, he was willing to keep an open mind on the subject.
But they still had a way to go before we would let them become anything like Emmett and Liz.
Two days later, I landed in Seattle.
Dad couldn't pick me up-he had a new case suddenly come up-but the Cullens were all too willing to take over that job for my dad.
Within the first minute I stepped off the plane, I'm pretty sure I was nearly crushed six different times.
I could see Alice jumping up and down before I got past the gates and she beat Edward as the first one to hug me.
"You are never to do that to me again," she growled in my ear as she hugged me tightly.
"Sorry, Alice," I laughed as she released me and handed me off to Edward.
I tilted up my head to him and he kissed me long and hard; both of us completely ignoring Emmett's wolf whistle.
"Hi," I whispered when we parted.
He smiled. "You are never leaving for two months again."
I laughed. "Okay."
Each of them hugged me tightly, greeting me warmly and welcoming me home.
Even Jasper gave me a tentative hug.
"It's good to have you home, Bella," Esme said, taking my hand as we walked out of the airport.
I smiled.
Even though I had left my family far too soon, I had left Aaron, Rosalie, and Emmett sad and tearful (well, Rose and Em tearful, Aaron couldn't cry) but with a new purpose.
Guarding, raising, and protecting Jasper.
I hated to look at my son in such a way, but we all knew that if Tasha were ever able to get her hands on him before he came to have an understanding of us and our love, he would be very instrumental to her army.
I had left them in the Chinese airport headed off to Ennistimon, Ireland where they would stay for a while. It was a town close enough to sea that they could make an escape quickly if the need arose.
It was already obvious that Jasper would have a more advanced growth rate then his siblings. Only time would tell how much faster it would be.
It pained me to know that he would probably be full grown by the time I could confirm who his father was and have them meet.
But regardless of leaving my family behind, leaving my new son, finding out both of my twins had mates, and knowing Edward would leave me soon, I was oddly content.
"It's good to be home, Esme." I told her before turning to Edward.
"It's good to be home."
END BOOK 2
Wow! Can you believe it's the end of this one? I can't!
So I have a question for everyone!
Do you want me to write the sneak peek now and wait a few weeks for the first installment in the next book or do you want me to continue writing the sneak peek and the next book at the same time?
You tell me. You guys earned a sneak peak! Let's see how many reviews I get for the story as a whole!
Another thing, I know it seemed like Bella was fine with leaving baby Jasper behind but she wasn't. I just didn't spend time on the goodbyes.
Twigurl1863: Well, thank you! I appreciate the compliment and I'm glad you have liked everything so far!
Debbie-lou: Thanks!
Kyky xx 123: Did this answer your question? Haha. And thanks!
MickeyMC: Thanks!
Hlwareham: Did this answer your question? And thanks!
Crimson-goth-girl: haha, I love your enthusiasm! And girl, I totally get what you mean about stupid men but we won't get into that mess. Haha.
Ruskie Roo: Yeah, the closer we get to the Cullens finding out the more the books will become my own.
Reina13: Thanks!
Cerriddwen: haha, oh I love reading your reviews. You can be so random at times. Don't worry, it's a good thing. I will see if I can present you with some kind of birthday present. Just make sure you don't fail your classes because of my story. Then I'd feel bad.
Airforcebrat555: I'll see what I can do but I can't make any promises. Like I told Ruskie roo, the closer we get to the Cullens finding out about Bella, the more the story will deviate from SM's storyline.
GreenEyedAngel: Yes, I definitely have a plan for during bella 'depression period.' I'm glad you are liking it though!
