Chapter 36:

A/N: I know that a lot of my chapters have been character interaction, and it seems like the story is not going anywhere, but I promise you it is. The interactions are to show the growing connection between Bella and the Denalis, the repairing connection between Bella and the Cullens, and just the relationships over all. Plus, this story just kind of can't go anywhere without the bonds, so while a chapter may seem unnecessary I promise that it is.

P.S. I have been testing the waters with a few other stories so...keep your fingers crossed.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I woke up the next day to Charlie talking rather sternly with someone downstairs. His voice, although a tad louder than usual, wasn't at full volume and carried up the stairs to allow some words like "eye on" and "don't trust" in my room.

I furrowed my brow giving a small groan. Just based on those words, if Charlie was going to get into it with someone, I needed him to wait a little longer. I had spoken with Rosalie for another half hour before she left that night to let me rest. I had laid awake for longer, however, after she left and I didn't have a chance of falling asleep since Tanya was most likely arguing with the rest of her family and didn't come.

Much to my annoyance now that I was awake and exhausted.

I took in a deep breath and sat up, rubbing my eyes when the smell of eggs and bacon floated up the stair that snapped my attention. I looked up, sniffing the food and, of course, pushed myself out of bed to get ready for the day faster so I could eat.

While I got ready to go downstairs for the food I heard the conversation down stairs both heat up and calm down. I couldn't hear anything from the other person, besides muffled sounds, but Charlie I could hear a few words from every once and a while.

It sounded like he was scolding a child, really.

However, as I came down the stairs ten minutes after getting up, I realized that the person he was talking to was not a child at all. When I walked into the kitchen I found both Charlie and Rosalie at the counter. Charlie was on the stove's side leaning on his hands on the edge while Rosalie sat on a stool. Both were having a massive staring contest while food sizzled on the stove—neither noticed me enter.

I stood there—mostly gaping at Rosalie whom I had expected the least to be here today of all days—and moved my attention between my father and her. Charlie was nearly glaring at her; more like sizing her up and figuring her out. He definitely didn't like that Rosalie showed up the day her family—as far as he knew—arrived in Denali.

Rosalie, however, was evenly holding his gaze, but wasn't challenging his authority in anyway. Her back was straight and her jaw was set, showing her determination. And, as I looked at her, I had a good idea of exactly what they were talking about earlier.

I stood there for a good thirty seconds—at least—before I smelt the food starting to burn. With Rosalie and Charlie still in their contest I quickly rushed to the stove, and removed the bacon and eggs from their pans—barely saving them.

The two at the counter finally came out of their contest as the pans banged around. Tearing their eyes off the other, they craned their necks to look at me. Charlie, realizing what I was saving, quickly forgot the contest with Rosalie and moved to help me. "Gosh, sorry, Bells. I got a little distracted," he excused, and turned off the stove.

"As I saw and heard."

He bit his lip and blushed slightly, obviously embarrassed of being caught in his I'm-Bella's-father-and-I'm-a-cop mode. He took the food and set it onto a plate. "Ah."

I nodded, taking the plate from him, and turned around. Rosalie, still at the counter, smiled at me. "Good morning, Bella," she greeted warmly.

I nodded to her as I walked to the counter. "Morning," I replied. I sat down in the seat next to her with my usual morning drink. I grabbed the fork, cut into the egg and stuffed it into my mouth.

Charlie moved forward, glancing between us when he noticed the lack of extremely awkward or tight tension. "Rosalie said that she's here to take you up to the Denali house," he said.

Ah, so that was why she was here.

I swallowed the bite while turning my attention to the blonde. "Really?" I asked. "I didn't even think you knew I was here."

She gave a small shrug, playing along with the script written out for Charlie. "I overheard Irina and Kate arguing about when they should tell us you lived up here." She paused. "And were dating Tanya."

"Ah…"

I put another bite of food in my mouth as an awkward silence passed over the room. Charlie wouldn't stop staring at Rosalie and Rosalie wouldn't stop staring at me. It was becoming rather uncomfortable as I continued to slowly eat my food.

Then, Charlie broke the ice, "What are your intentions towards my daughter, Rosalie?"

I swallowed and looked up to him while Rosalie snapped her gaze off of me. She arched her brow and straightened her shoulders. "Excuse me?" she asked evenly.

"Your intentions," he repeated, narrowing his eyes. "What are you doing here? I know you are here to take Bella to the Denalis', but why would you come? I didn't know your family well, granted, but I do know that my daughter and you were never close, and I also know that you all left her years ago. So, why are you here and what are your intentions?"

I bit my lip and awkwardly stuffed another bite of eggs into my mouth. As I chewed, Rosalie schooled her features and nodded. "You are right, Charlie, Bella and I weren't close two years ago, but after we left I realized it was something I regretted. When I discovered she was here, I saw it as my best chance and I came here to start the amends."

She set a hand on my forearm with a gentle smile to me. "I can promise you, that if you believe I will hurt Bella you do not need to be concerned. The only thing I want from Bella is a friendship, and I won't betray it."

She squeezed my arm while I swallowed looking between my father and Rosalie. Charlie regarded her and the contact of her hand on my arm. I looked between the two, unsure of what exactly I was supposed to do at the moment with Rosalie hanging on me and Charlie watching.

Rosalie, luckily, made my decision by removing her hand and looking back to Charlie. "So, if it is alright with you, I'd like to take Bella over to the house with me. I'm sure my family would be surprised to see her, and I must say that I do love surprises." She gave a small smile.

Charlie took in a breath, tilting his head to the side in consideration. I knew it was taking everything he had not to throw Rosalie out onto the street right now—for which I much appreciated—and he seemed to be thinking of a way out.

After a moment of thought, he turned his head to me and said, "I believe I'll leave this one up to Bella."

Oh, thanks, Dad.

I resisted the urge to growl when Rosalie turned her attention to me, waiting for an answer. "Well?" she pressed. "Do you want to come with me, Bella?"

I tilted my head in consideration, biting my lower lip. I did not like being put between the cross fire here. Was I glad Charlie wasn't attack Rosalie, using his status here as a volunteer cop to arrest her?

Yes.

Was I glad that they were at least talking?

Sure.

Was I glad about being put on the spotlight to keep the other party out of the blame?

Hell no.

The last thing I wanted was to be in the middle of this small "subtle" battle for who was in charge. I mean, I already was, but I didn't want to be the decision maker of it.

The two watched me closely while they waited for my answer. Rosalie was practically begging me with her eyes to say yes, and Charlie was just watching me, showing his willingness to go along with whatever I said I would do; even if he hated it.

"Well…I have wanted to show Kate that I won Monopoly fair and square yesterday," I said after a moment's pause.

A bright grin split her face in two while Charlie reluctantly nodded, ducking his head. With a small sigh, he said, "Alright. If Bella is agreeing to it then I will too."

Rosalie grabbed my forearm gently. "I'm glad you decided to. Just finish up eating and we'll head that way as soon as you're ready to go," she said excitedly.

I nodded and went back to quietly eating my breakfast…my awkwardly quiet breakfast.

I almost sighed in relief as Rosalie drove away from the house. Even with Charlie standing in the doorway watching the car disappear with a small scowl on his face. He wasn't hiding his emotions as much now, but at least he was trying.

Rosalie chuckled. "Don't be so dramatic, Bella," she said, reaching over to pat my leg, "it wasn't that bad."

I snapped my head to her. "You showed up at my house the day you were supposed to have arrived in the town, Rosalie," I growled. "There is no way that Charlie doesn't see how odd that is, and I frankly don't know what possessed you to do it."

She shrugged. "Charlie can see it as he wants to see it, but it's already happened," she said. She spared a glance my way. "Besides, I saw my chance again when with the Denalis and my family so I took it. I figured if I could get on Charlie's good side sooner the better it was."

"Get on his good side how? By randomly showing up?"

She shook her head. "Of course not, Bella," she said, giving me a small glare, "while I may have done that, I made sure to have a good word with him before you came down the stairs."

"Good word how?"

She sighed. "I was honest," she replied. "I let him say everything he wanted to first, and then I told him everything I had to and needed to. I let him know that I was not there to hurt you again, and that I was simply picking you up while hoping to start a new relationship with you. I also apologized for what my family did, even though he didn't seem to like that it came from me that much."

"And that worked?" I frowned.

She shook her head. "Not exactly, no," she said. "You saw his suspicion when you were downstairs and he was still interrogating me, but at least he was speaking to me about it. He took it a lot better than how I expected him to."

"You're lucky he already went off on the Denalis," I said. "Otherwise he would have gone off on you without having had talked to me about things and how I wanted to deal with everything."

She hummed. "I'm glad it worked out that way, then."

"You should be," I grumbled. Rosalie only hummed in reply as I looked out the window, letting a silence fall between us until I registered how she said "chance" earlier. "Are they fighting again?"

"Who?"

"Everyone at the house."

She nodded with an annoyed sigh. "Yes. It's been another on and off again match between both sides ever since you went home." A small smirk pulled on her lips. "I can't say that I helped out at all when I arrived covered in your scent and wearing your shorts. I've never seen Irina and Kate look so ready to kill someone."

I sighed, shaking my head. "You don't need to sound proud of yourself for that, Rosalie," I grumbled.

The blonde threw me a smile and cooed, reaching over to pat my thigh twice. "You're adorable for thinking that."

I jerked away from her hand with a snort. "Rosalie," I growled, "I'm serious. If you want this to work, you, Kate, Irina and everyone else need to play nice."

She rolled her eyes. "I thought I made it pretty clear that things weren't going to be done nicely between anyone in the families," she said, throwing me a look. "You know that we can't help ourselves, Bella. Everything in us is saying to get you the hell away from the other coven and keep you for ourselves despite the consequences. Do you have any idea how many times Esme has almost attacked Carmen since we arrived? You know how loving she is, but right now all she cares about is getting you back into our family and away from the Denalis."

I frowned. "And I know that," I said, "but I would appreciate it if you would stop acting like freaking children. I'm tired of all the fights I've had to deal with already—even if I'm not there physically—and you've only been here for three days."

She shrugged. "We have a gift for being theatrical."

"Clearly."

She snorted, kicking the car into another gear, causing the car to jump forward. As it did, I kept my eyes focused on Rosalie, making her glance at me surprised. "You're not flinching."

"Huh?" My brows furrowed in confusion. Flinching? Why would I be flinching when I'm riding in a car? Was I supposed to be afraid of the car?

She motioned towards me. "You didn't flinch," she repeated. "Usually, when we would drive, you'd flinch from the speed or ask us to slow down. I'm going over a hundred and you haven't said anything about it."

Oh, right.

I shrugged. "It doesn't bother me anymore, I suppose. Going fast doesn't really have an effect me, actually. I used to ride on the wolves' backs sometimes down at La Push, and their speed never bothered me," I explained.

She raised her brow. "You're saying you actually got over that?"

I nodded, looking down. "I got over a lot of things after I stopped being the Bella Swan you knew and went back to who I really was," I said.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed her shift in her seat awkwardly. She cleared her throat, tapping the wheel with her index finger. "And…who were you before the Bella Swan we knew?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I guess I was a younger version of who I am now," I said. "I didn't care and could stand up for myself, but obviously I was more likely to be changed. It wasn't hard for me to lose that side of me after the kids in school bullied me about the cancer's side effects."

She frowned. "Just because of the side effects you were bullied?"

I nodded. "It wasn't fully their fault, I suppose," I said. "Kids are so innocent sometimes that they don't know when and when not to say something. They just say it, and that was what they did. It was only a few kids that actually bullied me about it, but it all kind of fizzled out after I was in remission and my regular body came back. The end product of what the bullying had on me, though, was still standing after that."

"So that's why you were shy and awkward?"

I nodded. "Shy, awkward and prude," I said. I glanced at her. "I'm really not trying to be snotty, but in a way I should thank your family for leaving. If you hadn't, I might not have been able to break free of that and become who I really was."

Rosalie bit her lip, shifting in her seat. "I…"

I waved my hand dismissively in the air. "You don't need to say anything, Rosalie," I said. "I didn't say it to start a whole conversation with you about it. I said it because it was true."

The blonde next to me frowned. "That doesn't mean I don't want to say anything about it," she countered.

"But you don't need to, and, frankly, I think it would be better left as a topic for another day. If we are gonna be going to the Denali house together and spending the day there, I'd rather not have something like that hanging in the air between us," I said.

She pursed her lips in consideration, letting the idea roll over in her mind before she nodded. "I'll keep it as a topic for another conversation to have another day."

I nodded in agreement and settled myself in my seat, adjusting the seatbelt when it began to chafe at my skin the wrong way.

Rosalie adjusted the gear of the car again, making it jump forward, and turned the wheel to make a corner. "Bella," she called for my attention after a moment.

"Yeah?" I asked, setting the belt back on my shoulder.

"Why haven't you told the Denalis to throw us out on our asses?" I paused, taken aback by the question. Slowly, I looked over my shoulder to her while she drove, sparing me a glance out of the corner of her eye. "I don't mean to pry, but I really don't doubt the Denalis would have thrown us out the second they could after everything that has happened so far, and I'm guessing they haven't yet because of you. So—"

"—you want to know why I haven't told them to," I finished, turning my body in my seat to be facing her completely.

She nodded.

I cocked my head. "It's like I said earlier. I'm—in a strange way—grateful for you leaving. It let a door open up for me that I didn't really think was possible, and, even if the opportunity you gave me was hard to see at first, I still appreciate what it did for me."

She frowned. "So you aren't even mad about what happened?" she asked in disbelief. "You just got over it like that?" She snapped her fingers for emphasis.

I shook my head; chuckling humorlessly. "Of course not," I said, "I've been pissed at both you and your family ever since the day it happened; nor have I forgiven you." Her head lowered a little here, but it seemed like she expected it. "All that happened was that I accepted it happened. I can't change the past and I can't do anything about that.

"I had a choice to make. Choice a) Be pissed about it ever happening and live a miserable life because I let it control me, or choice b) Move on from it even if the scar can't ever fully leave, just don't let it control me. I chose the latter, and I have stuck to that choice ever since I made it."

She nodded slowly in understanding. "Then…it isn't difficult for you to be around us?" she asked, glancing at me. "You seem very comfortable around Emmett."

I shook my head. "No, it is," I corrected. I pursed my lips. "Emmett is…a little easier to be around. I haven't forgiven him for what he did, but it is easier to forget it happened when I'm around him." I glanced at her. "Besides, I wasn't as hurt by him leaving because you left. I just guessed that he moved with his mate, and I couldn't blame him for that, nor could I blame Alice for that."

My eyes hardened. "What I can blame you for, however, is leaving in the manner you did," I said. "Jasper and Alice…I understand their leaving more than yours, but it would have been nice to have something else besides, 'Well, it was nice knowing you, Bella, but we're gonna head on out' to end things."

Rosalie looked at me. "I had hoped it would end better."

I raised a brow. "How could it end better?" I asked.

She looked ahead, furrowing her brow before she shook her head negatively. "It doesn't matter," she said. She looked at me. "I'm sorry that we left in that manner, Bella, I really am. If I could change it, I would, or at least have it to where we came back to fix it."

I frowned, not liking how she brushed past the obvious thing bothering her, but decided to save it for another day and turned in my seat to face the front saying, "I think everyone would have liked for things to change, but they can't."

She didn't reply.

We arrived at the Denali house in relative silence after our previous conversation. There was a little small talk throughout the time, but very little compared to how our trip had started out in, and by the time we were pulling up in the Denali driveway, I was glad I would be getting out of the car.

At least, I thought I was getting out of the car when Rosalie suddenly grabbed my door and pulled it shut as soon as I opened it. I jumped, surprised from her sudden attack on the door, and looked at her while she sat still in front of me; not letting go of the door. She cocked her head to the side, listening, and then sighed.

"It sounds like Esme and Carmen have broken into a fight the others can't break with Edward and Tanya right behind them," she said.

I bit my lip suddenly getting why she closed the door. I glanced at the house, straining my own human ears to listen. I could faintly hear the sound of a particularly loud snarl and the breaking of glass. "Would it help to take me inside?" I asked.

She looked at me. "You want to go inside the house filled with ravenous, possessive vampires that currently have two physical fights going on?" she asked.

"If it would help, yes."

Rosalie shook her head at me, scoffing. Biting her lip she glanced at the house before she sighed and nodded. "Alright," she agreed. She opened her door. "But I want you to stand next to me, do you understand?"

I nodded. Not gonna happen. "Completely."

She gave a firm nod and in a blur, was out of the car and opening my door for me. I took her extended hand to pull myself out of the car. Her other hand shut the car door as soon as I was out and then slid around my waist, keeping me next to her protectively while she led me to the house and up the stairs to the door.

I could hear more of the fighting when we got closer along with swears, growls and snarls. It sounded like there were fifteen vampires fighting instead of just four. The sound made me take in a breath to calm myself and keep my resolve of calming everyone.

Rosalie glanced at me nervously while she opened the door and walked in, pulling me just a little closer into her side protectively. I followed her in and almost immediately froze when I saw the havoc of the living room. The two families were—subconsciously or not—divided to two sides of the room glaring at each other while there were two pairs of blurs in the middle.

Every once in a while, they would stop to reveal Esme on top of Carmen or Carmen on top of Esme, or even Tanya on Edward and Edward on Tanya before they blurred again. The sounds of boulders colliding when their fists hit each other rang through the air concussively, and I flinched.

Rosalie held me tightly and dipped her head down to whisper in my ear, "I told you they had been fighting." She paused. "Do you want to leave until it's over?"

I shook my head, watching the fights. Carlisle and Eleazer suddenly blurred, turning it into three fights instead of just two while both families still just watched, seeming ready to attack themselves.

I looked at her. "What brought this on?" I asked.

She cocked her head. "From what I am hearing of the constant 'mine' from everyone, most likely claims over you," she murmured.

I frowned, watching as Tanya appeared for a moment on top of Edward with her hand striking his cheek bone before they blurred again. "And this is how it turns out?" I hissed.

She shrugged. "Vampires are possessive, Bella. And, right now, you are what we are all fighting over," she said. She cocked her head. "We don't think we just act."

"Like children," I growled.

She frowned. "Well—"

I didn't let her finish as I opened my mouth and got their attention the best way I could: screaming bloody murder. The room seemed to freeze at once and I immediately had eleven pairs of black eyes on me and one pair—Rosalie's—of gold.

I closed my mouth, and looked at the three frozen fights. Esme was currently straddling Carmen, her hand ready to strike the Hispanic woman in the jaw. Eleazer and Carlisle were in a similar position, but with a Cullen on the bottom and Denali on top. Edward and Tanya, however, were currently strangling each other so hard that cracks were appearing on their necks.

Everyone in the middle had at least one web of cracks on their skin.

I turned my gaze to the three couples in the middle and narrowed my eyes. "Get off each other. Right. Now."

Immediately, they released each other and stood, focusing on me intently. Tanya began to move towards me, but I raised my hand, stopping her. I glared at the room, seeing the snarls still being directed at each other. "Is this really how low you go? Acting like children over a toy both want to have?" I snapped. "If this was a school like my dad's you would have been paddled until your sorry asses couldn't sit for weeks."

Their heads ducked.

Esme took a step forward, making Carmen raise her lip, "But, Bella, dear, they were unfairly accusing us of—"

"I don't care!" I snapped. I looked between both families. "If there is a problem with me between you two, you solve it with me. Stop waiting until I leave to settle it, because I am fucking tired of this shit. I'm tired of hearing about fights that break out as soon as I leave because you don't want to involve me. Wake up call: it has everything to do with me."

I stomped forward, leaving Rosalie's protective hold on me and snatched both Esme and Carmen's hands, "If you are going to act like children, you are going to be punished like children." I locked their hands together, forcing them to hold hands. They hissed, trying to pull away, but I held them by their wrists, glaring at them. "Don't make this any worse for you."

The two women stopped struggling, but didn't stop glaring at each other. I glared at the room. "Make a circle. Now." Begrudgingly, the vampires walked forward and formed a circle, keeping to their families.

I rolled my eyes, and moved to Carlisle when placed himself next to Esme. I grabbed his shirt and drug him over to stand between Eleazer and Carmen. I made the three vampires hold hands, glared when they tried to move, and moved on to the next batch. Tanya and Edward. I placed Edward between Eleazer and Tanya, made the three of them hold hands, then connected Alice's hand to Tanya's, Irina's to Alice's, Emmett's to Irina's, Kate's to Emmett's and Jasper's to Kate's.

When I was done, I nodded and looked at all of them as they continued to glare at each other, grudgingly holding hands. "You are all going to hold each other's hands until you apologize." I moved down the line. "All of you."

Rosalie—the only one left out the circle for having not been in the house at the time—smirked. She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest while Kate flickered her eyes to the blonde Cullen. "Why isn't Rosalie in this?" she hissed.

I smacked her cheek, making Kate look at me. "Because she wasn't here during this fight," I said.

"But that's not fair!" Alice protested from between Irina and Tanya.

Geeze, this is like a bunch of children.

I frowned. "It is, actually, because she left instead of get into a fight; twice, actually," I said. I looked at her as she continued to smirk on the wall. "However, if she does get into a fight she will be given the same treatment."

She frowned.

I shrugged and looked around the circle one more time. When I caught Edward and Tanya trying to break their contact, I flicked both on the nose and connected their hands. "Break the contact and all of you have to stand here longer than it takes for all of you to apologize," I warned.

They went between pouts and grimaces.

I looked around the circle one more time and nodded. I looked at Rosalie. "You watch them. If any of them try to leave, you have my permission to smack them on the head." I looked at the coven leaders and parents. "That includes Tanya, Carlisle and Esme no matter what they tell you."

Rosalie, who seemed to really like being placed as the guard, nodded. "Sure thing," she smiled.

I gave her a firm nod and moved out of the circle between the opening I had between Jasper and Esme. "Now," I said, "I'm going to go get myself something to drink, and I will bring it back in here to drink while I wait for you to apologize."

And wait I did.

I had finished what I could of the water bottle I brought in and sat on the couch with Rosalie for almost an hour as we waited for them to apologize to each other. The two families were (annoyingly) stubborn in their stances of being the "toughest person" by not saying anything or cracking first.

Even though it was clear they were cracking by the minute as their glares started to go off each other and look anywhere else in the room. A few would try to look at me or Rosalie, but then look away when they realized we were waiting to either hit them or for them to apologize.

Rosalie, actually, did have to hit Emmett, Kate, Jasper and Eleazer on the head when they tried to break contact. After those four, though, she hadn't had to hit anyone and I hadn't had to flick any noses. It seemed they had realized I was serious and had decided to wait it out.

So, wait we did.

It was after we passed the hour mark I started to worry we would never get to the apologizing stage when I noticed their eyes begin to lighten. It must have been subtle in the beginning, because it took a while to notice it, but it seemed that we were slowly getting there.

It was, apparently, a snail's pace because after an hour and a half, someone had yet to say anything that wasn't Rosalie or me and I was getting frustrated. At least, I was until Tanya went, "Bella?"

"Yes, Tanya?" I asked. I raised my head from its current position of looking down at my phone while I played a game. As soon as I raised it, however, I almost groaned when I saw her expression. Her eyes were half-lidded and her features were morphed into a seductive allure with a dashing smile thrown in for the hell of it.

Really? She was going to charm her way out of it?

She leaned forward slightly. "Don't you think we've been doing this long enough, love?" she purred. At the moment, not even Edward seemed to care of what stunt she was pulling to get them the hell out of the circle. Every vampire looked ready to do just what she was doing to convince me to let them go.

I raised my brow and shook my head. "I don't think so," I said, "none of you have apologized and meant it."

"But I promise that we have learned our lesson," she urged, letting her voice become just an octave lower. "You were right, we did act like children, and deserved to be punished as such. But don't you think we've been punished enough?"

Oh, two can play at this game.

I raised my brow. "You realize you acted like children?" I asked, cocking my head to the side with a hum.

All of them nodded, practically bouncing in place to be let out of the Hand Holding Circle. Tanya, however, tried a more subtle approach. "Yes," she said. "We all realize that, and we are all very, very sorry for doing it." She looked up at me through her eyelashes. "Will you please allow us to leave?"

Dammit, she actually did look adorable like that, and it did get to me. I cocked my head while as Rosalie rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Figures," she muttered under her breath.

I pushed myself off the couch when I saw a few hands loosen, ready to let go and flee. I tapped my finger on my chin, regarding them. "Well," I drawled, "I am glad that you see it my way."

She grinned. "We do."

"And that you are apologizing to me…"

"We are."

"…about behaving like children."

"Yes."

I smiled. "Then I can't wait for you to apologize to each other," I said. I did a thumbs-up while their jaws dropped and Rosalie burst into laughter on the couch. "But this is great progress." I turned and plopped back onto the couch with a grunt.

"Are you kidding me?" Emmett gawked.

"Why can't you just let us go?" Kate whined, stomping her foot on the ground like a little two year old. Her bottom lip jutted out into a pout while her face contorted.

I pointed. "That is why," I said.

Tanya growled. "Bella," she whined, her face turning into an adorable pout with incredible puppy eyes. "Please."

I cooed. "Oh, Tan, you're so adorable when you pout."

Rosalie was still laughing her ass off.

"Bella," they moaned as one.

I shook my head. "No, you guys apologize to each other and you can be released. Otherwise, I'll wait all day if I have to," I said, giving them a sickly sweet grin.

The group pouted and glared at me for a good solid two minutes before Tanya sighed, finally having enough, and grumbled, "I can't believe I am about to do this." She turned to Edward and said, "I'm sorry, Ed-Edward." Wow, she just barely made that sound genuine.

The boy looked ready to grin in his victory until I cleared my throat. He looked at me and I raised my brow, jerking my chin towards Tanya. He frowned, but turned to the blonde. Through gritted teeth, he managed, "I'm sorry, Tanya."

I smiled. "There, now you two need to apologize to the other person you are holding the hand of," I instructed. The two turned to give me the "Seriously?" look, but when they saw I wasn't kidding, did as they were told.

Soon, every vampire was apologizing to each other until it was left with Carmen and Esme who had yet to say a word to each other. Stiffly, the two women looked at each other, regarding the other with glares that should make the other a pile of ash. "I'm sorry, Esme," Carmen managed.

"I'm sorry, Carmen."

The vampires turned towards me, raising a brow for when they could release hands. I got up and said, "For trying to persuade me with Tanya's charms, you can hold onto each other for another half hour."

"WHAT?!"