Ben

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for reviewing this story. My muse is really not co-operating, sighs. I hope this chapter makes sense….

Chapter Seventeen-Luka

It was the end of another long day in the search for Luka. With Charlie and Billy still away on their fishing trip with Ben, Bella had the house all to herself. She and Jacob had crashed there after getting back from Port Angeles. They had fallen asleep on the sofa together. Bella was the first to wake, Jacob was still sleeping. She looked at him sleeping so peacefully and felt envious. The dark fringe of his eyelashes settled softly on his cheeks. She felt his hot breath against her face as he breathed. During the night his arms had somehow wrapped around her protectively, instinctively, even as he slept.

Jacob had been her rock the last few weeks and Bella wondered how she would have coped without him by her side, selflessly supporting her every step of the way. It troubled her to think how she was so willing to throw that all away to spend an eternity by Edward's side as a vampire. If Ben hadn't come into her life…

Bella had to push that thought aside. There was no point in dwelling in what ifs. She'd wasted too much of her life doing that already. She needed to focus on the here and now. Ben's birthday was coming up in five days-she tried not to think about the fact that it would have also been her wedding day-and she was praying she could give her little brother the best birthday surprise of his life by finding Luka and reuniting them.

She stretched her arms above her head and yawned, accidentally jostling Jacob as she did so. Immediately alert, he scanned the room quickly. He breathed through his nose, smelling for danger, she assumed. As she sat, he rose up on the sofa beside her and placed his arm casually across her shoulders.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked Bella.

Bella shrugged and he sighed, trying to stifle a yawn all at the same time. He pulled Bella closer to him. "I'm sorry you couldn't sleep." He murmured against the soft skin of her cheek. "You must be tired."

"I'll be alright." Bella smiled weakly and patted his knee. "I'll make us some breakfast and then we can go over to Esme's and meet up with the others."

Jacob nodded as he helped Bella to rise. She headed to the kitchen, but paused in the doorway, turning to look back at him. The smile he gave her was one of tenderness and love. Bella could see it how it came from deep down inside to light his eyes and spread to every part of him. It was beautiful and set off a thousand butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"Jake, I…." She began, then hesitated.

"I know, Bells." Jacob said huskily.

Bella nodded, turning away before he saw the tears glimmering in her brown eyes.


Esme ran her fingers through her billows of soft, caramel coloured hair. Her fine eyebrows drew down as she watched Carlisle weave his way toward her table. They were meeting on neutral ground in one of the most exclusive bars in Port Angeles. The beautiful couple were attracting quite the stares. Esme had already been approached by several men asking if they could buy her a drink. She had tried not to laugh at their poor attempt to flirt with her, finding dark humour in their pathetic expressions when she politely refused them.

Carlisle pulled up a chair and sat opposite his wife. He gazed at her heart shaped face, his eyes staring deeply into hers, his own pleading for understanding. "I've missed you." He murmured.

He really was a devastatingly handsome man, Esme thought as she looked him over. His blonde hair was perfectly coiffed as always, his refined features harking back to the days of the old movie stars. He was wearing an understated but expensive suit. Esme could tell by the slight smudges of darkness under his eyes that he had been burning the candle at both ends again and had not been hunting like he should.

"I've taken on some extra shifts at the hospital." Carlisle explained before she could remark on it. "The house has been so quiet without you. Esme, I'm sorry. I've made it clear to Edward that I won't help him. This time you come first. Please, come home." He reached out for her hand, already expecting her to agree.

Esme withdrew her hand and placed it in her lap as she regarded him thoughtfully. "I have always been just an extension of you."

"What?" Carlisle asked, his earnest expression turning to one of confusion. "That's a ridiculous thing to say."

"I don't think so. I've been doing a lot of thinking since we've been apart." Esme said as she tucked a lock of her caramel hair behind her ear. "I've always played the dutiful doctor's wife. I've followed you wherever your career has taken you. We all have."

"And you've always been pleased to do so." Carlisle frowned. "And you know that I've always been grateful for your support."

"What about me, Carlisle?" Esme questioned quietly.

"What about you?" Carlisle said arrogantly. "Your role has always been to take care of the family, Esme. And you do such a wonderful job, darling. You have such strong maternal instincts and have been a wonderful mother to our children. You turn any place we settle into a home and we are all so grateful for that."

"They're hardly children!" Esme's voice was frosty. "I'll ask you again, Carlisle. What about me? What about what I want?"

"I fail to understand where you're going with this, Esme." Carlisle was getting impatient. "I allow you to indulge your artistic talent. You've earned degrees in architecture, art and photography. You renovated the house when we moved in, and several others in our property portfolio."

"You allow me?" Esme's tone was getting icier by the second. She was barely hiding her anger.

"We should be having this discussion at home. Not here, Esme." Carlisle looked around warily, not happy at the stares they were attracting from the other patrons at the bar. He had indulged Esme by coming here, but she was really trying his patience. "I think you've let your compassion for that child override your good sense. You need to focus on your own family, my darling. Not on some little foundling that has turned up on the local police chief's doorstep. He's being well looked after by all accounts. You've asked me to take a step back and put your interests first, which is exactly what I have done…"

"Goodbye, Carlisle." Esme cut in coldly as she rose gracefully from her seat and walked away.


"She's left him?" Bella exclaimed in surprise. "Like really, really left him?"

Alice nodded miserably. It had come as a shock to her when Esme had returned to their rented apartment and told her about the confrontation she'd had with Carlisle. "She's very upset."

"But they were so devoted to each other." Bella was completely stunned by the news. She had always thought that Carlisle and Esme were the ideal couple and had strived to be just like them when she was with Edward. She admired how tender and loving they appeared to be with one another. They seemed totally committed. She always thought that Esme adored Carlisle, just like she once adored Edward.

Everything was changing, and vampires didn't change….

"And this is all because of Ben?" Bella asked worriedly. She didn't like to think that Esme's commitment to her precious little brother had become the source of tension in her marriage to Carlisle.

"He may have been the catalyst, but I don't think he's the cause." Alice admitted. "I think that Esme has been unhappy for quite some time. She just didn't let any of us see it."

"I still can't believe it." Bella murmured.

"Don't feel guilty, Bella." Alice hurried to reassure her. "This is between Esme and Carlisle." She sighed. "Let's just focus on finding Luka. It's going to be a long ride to Seattle."

"We're taking Jake's car. I don't think the truck could make the journey. Do you want to ride with us?" Bella offered.

"Thank you, but I already have a ride." Alice suddenly perked up.

"I thought Esme wasn't driving down until later." Bella said in confusion.

"Paul's driving. We're taking the Porsche." Alice revealed, giving Bella her second shock of the day.

"You're letting Paul Lahote drive your Porsche?" She said incredulously.

"Oh, we had a little spat yesterday after we found that lead on Luka." Alice's lips pursed in disapproval at the memory. "He kept saying that vampires were shitty drivers and that werewolves were much better behind the wheel. To settle the argument, we made a bet."

"Do I even want to know what this bet is?" Bella dared to ask.

"We're going to see who can drive to and from Seattle in the fastest time." Alice wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I have to admit I'm not looking forward to the wet dog smell filling up the car all the way there. I'll have to open all the windows. How do you stand it, Bella?"

Bella rolled her eyes as she led the way out of the house. "I love the way Jake smells. I'm sure you're making this whole stench thing up anyway."

"I'm not!" Alice protested as they made their way outside.


Luka stood on the sidewalk looking left and right, holding himself in a manner that suggested he'd like to disappear altogether. He rubbed his chapped hands together, trying to infuse some warmth into them. He was worried, anxious. Dave- who ran one of the local homeless shelters-had warned him that some strangers had been around asking about him. They were an odd couple, Dave had said, an intimidatingly big native American guy and his girlfriend, a petite girl with a shock of black hair.

"You know 'em?" Dave had asked in concern. "Are they the ones you're running from?"

"I'm not running from anyone." Luka had mumbled in response as he stared at the lifelike drawing of himself on the missing person's poster.

"Sure, kid." Dave had heard it all before. He had seen many troubled kids like Luka come and go. There was only so much that he could do for them. Donations were few and far between and volunteers even harder to find. If all he could do was give kids like Luka some food and a warm bed for the night, then at least it got them off the streets for a few hours. "If you need anything…" He'd made his usual offer.

"Thanks." Luka mumbled as he pulled up the collar of the thick Parka jacket that Dave had loaned him. "I've got to move on."

"Okay, kid." Dave sighed in defeat, knowing he would probably never see Luka again.

Luka wandered along the sidewalk with his head down. He tried to make himself smaller so he wouldn't be noticed. With every jostle from a careless shopper his eyes brimmed deeper with tears until they finally fell as if they'd never stop. He felt so lost and alone. He tried to get his breathing under control. He was attracting some curious glances.

It took a while but Luka managed to compose himself enough to move on. He zipped his thick parka right up to his chin to ward off the cold. As he was about to mingle with the crowds again, he noticed a girl standing on the other side of the road. Her long, luxuriant brown hair was the same shade as Ben's. It made a lump lodge in his throat as he thought about his little brother. He stayed still, watching her carefully. The girl wasn't focusing on anything in particular, she was scanning the crowds without locking onto one thing, almost day-dream like. He stared and stared at her, trying to get a closer look at her face. There was something about her that reminded him so much of Ben. He watched as she shifted her weight from her left to her right and back again every few seconds as if thinking of moving and yet choosing to remain still.

Intrigued, Luka moved closer. He drifted across the road, nearly colliding with a passing car because he was concentrating so hard on the girl and not where he was going. It was her similarity to Ben that had him so fascinated. She looked about seventeen or eighteen. He wasn't good at guessing ages. Her skin was as pale as Ben's, but as he got nearer, it was her eyes that were the most shocking. They were the mirror of Ben's. Luka stopped mid-stride and gasped. It was overwhelming and he struggled to breathe. Only a few metres of sidewalk separated them.

Then out of the corner of his eye he noticed a tall, native American guy come out of one of the shops and approach the girl. Luka's heart began to race as he remembered the description of the guy that Dave had warned him about. This had to be the same one. He was tall, built like a pro-athlete. He watched the guy drape one muscled arm over the girl's shoulders and pull her to his chest in comfort as he whispered something in her ear that Luka couldn't make out.

Panicked, Luka melted back into the crowd and vanished.

A/N-thanks for reading!

Is it bad that I'm enjoying messing with the vamp's usual dynamics?

A lot of you have mentioned Rosalie, she'll be coming soon.