"You'll always have a friend in me."– Unknown
Alice never came back after she and Jasper left the house that evening but the family still split up to search for the friends that would help them. Isabella had meant many people over the years but very few she knew well enough to help her. However she managed to gather a fair few and now she had the very later people to ask.
Isabella finally headed to the place she was dreading the most: Scotland. She smiled as she walked through the snow to a mountain house, following a trail of scent that she hadn't smelt in so many years. It was a quaint cottage with wooden-looking walls and a spiral of smoke leaving the chimney. There were skies piled up outside.
She was a few paces away when the front door swung open to reveal a handsome, pale, black haired man with shinning golden eyes.
'Izzy?!' he called out incredulously, a wide grin spreading over his face as he ran towards her.
'Hiya, Loga-'
He picked her up when he reached her and swung around like he always used to - clearly Logan hadn't changed at all - and her bubbling laughter cut her sentence off. He placed her back down on ground and wrapped her in tight hug, resting his cheek on her head.
'Ah, Izzy, I'm so pleased to see you,' he pulled back and beamed at her. 'You look so … happy.'
Isabella wasn't sure how she was managing to look happy with everything that was going on but maybe it was the glee of seeing Logan again, she could barely feel tense when she was so relieved to see him. They just beamed at each other for a while until he pulled her back to him again.
'God, I missed you.'
'I missed you too,' Isabella whispered, tightening her hold on him, 'so much.'
They stayed there for a while until footsteps echoed from the cottage.
'Izzy?' Andie's voice now entered the mix and Logan and Isabella separated to look towards her. 'Oh my god, Izzy. Izzy! Isabella.'
Both Isabella and Logan laughed as Andie shrieked with happiness and the two girls ran to meet each other, colliding happily. They hugged tightly for a few minutes until Andie pulled back with a half sigh, half laugh. She managed to look Isabella in the face for about a second before hugging her again. Logan chuckled as he slowly walked at human pace back over.
'What brings you back to us, Izzy?' Logan asked when she and Andie were finally available to talk to again.
Isabella hated this bit - where she had to admit that that she only came back because she needed help.
'I need your help,' she said bluntly, feeling fear well up inside her.
Logan, knowing she didn't ask for help easily, placed a hand on her back and began to lead her in the cottage, 'anything. What is it?
Being vampires it was harder to beat round the bush than it would have been if they were human, they could have a drink and food before settling down to the point but vampires didn't have that luxury and Isabella didn't have time to spare.
'Andie, would you mind if I had a moment with Logan?' Isabella asked, feeling bad to be sending Andie away but she really just wanted to speak with Logan alone for a while.
Logan's eyebrows rose in surprise at her request but Andie smiled and disappeared without a word. Logan gestured her to a chair but Isabella flew back into his arms; they wrapped tightly around her in confusion.
'I don't remember you so skittish,' Logan murmured resting his chin on top of her head.
'Logan, I'm in trouble,' she whispered and he tensed, pulling back to look her in the face.
'What do you mean?' his words were spoken warily as he guided her to the seat he had gestured her to earlier.
She sat down and buried her face in her hands while he knelt in front of her, a hand grasping her wrist.
'Isabella,' he said.
She looked up at him again.
'Logan, I found my husband,' she whispered and Logan's face burst into a smile but she shook her head. 'He's in the Volturi.'
'Oh, Izzy-' he sighed heavily, pushing himself up slightly to hug her but never got around to it.
'It gets worse,' she murmured and allowed him to take her hands. 'They're coming for us-'
'No!' Logan snapped angrily. 'No. No, they can't. Why? Izzy, what happened? What did you do? Oh God, no.'
He bowed his head onto her knees repeating the word "no". Isabella bent down and rested her head on top of his.
'I'm so scared, Logan,' she admitted to him the fears that had been building up inside her - she could only tell Logan, he knew her, she couldn't tell her family and she couldn't tell Andie. 'I don't want to lose my family, I don't want to see my husband, I can't, I'm terrified, Logan, but I need to keep up a confident face for those around me. I'm breaking, Logan, I can feel it.
'I've finally become me again, Logan, I've finally found who I am as an individual but seeing my husband, I know will just bring me back to that lost girl I was when you and I first met. Logan, please help me.'
She had moved while she was speaking as had Logan so now they were both kneeling on the floor, hugging.
'Izzy, what on earth did you do to bring the wrath of the Volturi on you?' Logan asked hoarsely.
'We didn't do what we were accused of,' she promised him straight away. 'They - they think we created an immortal child.'
Logan's arms tightened around her.
'You're dead,' he muttered quietly and Isabella nodded into his shoulder. 'Izzy, I can't help you, I can't save you. If I could you know I would without a moment's thought but there's nothing I can do.'
'We're gathering friends -' Isabella began what she had told all the other people she had gathered.
'You're fighting?' Logan seemed even more horrified about this.
'No, no, of course not,' Isabella began though she knew she would along with her family if the need arouse but she wouldn't make Logan think she was going to. 'We're hoping that if enough people have seen the truth - the child is half-human, Logan - then maybe the Volturi will stop and listen -'
'Izzy, they won't!' Logan cut her off. 'I know them, they won't stop, they don't. They never give someone long enough to explain if they've seen proof - have they …?'
'Yes, in someone's thoughts.'
'Then you're dead.'
'Logan,' Isabella pleaded with his name. 'Please, help me.'
He took a deep breath, 'Andie and I will stand by you as you should have always known we would. I won't lose you unless I have to.'
Isabella threw herself at him again and, had they been human, she would have knocked him to the floor with the momentum of her hug. Logan chuckled lightly.
'I told you to be careful, Izzy,' he murmured.
'Sorry.'
There was silence for a while and Logan pushed himself up before offering her a hand.
'So,' he said as the stood looking at each other, 'who's your husband?'
Isabella's eye fluttered closed so she didn't have to see Logan's expression when she told him.
'Alec.'
